I've quit predicting. 8 years ago I awoke in the middle of the night in London to see how much Hilary Clinton had won by, and was never so surprised and shocked -- and wrong -- in my life.
Worse, Hilary's popular vote was about 2 million higher than Trump's -- and this, once again, calls into question the undemocratic Electoral system. I think that Robert and Heather should address this critical issue in their conversation.
I fervently *hope* that Kamela Harris will get enough votes in the critical locations to win.
Trump is toast! "I never count my--," and you know how the rest of that old saying goes. Besides I don't like the stuff, toast hurts my gums, seeing as how I have zero teeth. However, looking at everything that's been tossed into the ring as of this date I would have to agree with Robert. It's like watching a long-distance shot from a high-powered rifle at an unexpecting animal. You know the outcome, but the poor critter is completely oblivious to his impending fate, as the bullet closes in on its target. Trump is what my gums dislike, hard old toast. With his pick for VP in the wings doing damage control, I find it difficult to understand just how Donnie Boy will "Ad-Vance" his sick agenda.
Look at his family history: he has ALZHEIMERS. Though his criminal daddy died of it in his 90s, fatties get disease worse and faster! (I have a large gut still and was very briefly "obese," so I know.)
None of his family will step in and stop him; they are conmen/grifters themselves, they grew up watching him con and grift. They are as useless as he is.
Slavery, in my opinion, is what will make a comeback if the GOP is elected. Their forced-birth agenda, the destruction of child-labor laws, foster-care for profit, "emergency pregnancy centers" that urge penniless girls to go ahead and have that baby: all combine to make a caste of permanent debt-slaves. Our 13th amendment can be repealed, just as Prohibition was. That's why Trump recently "charmed" Evangelists by promising that they won't need to vote any more if he's elected because everything "will be fixed." We can devolve to Old Testament times.
There's something else you should be aware of while we're distracted by atrocities in the Levant, and now election hijinks - antics & atrocities! : https://youtu.be/c4bgGwr3o7k?si=bC4bgbLhfOZRAwC9
If Haley is characterizing Harris as a centrist, I'm a'goin' with that, and better yet, that's what I consider myself to be, regardless of my economic views, and regardless of how some goddam RepubliGrifter would try to stigmatize me. (RepubliGrifter == MAGAt, and I'd recommend traditional Republicans consider using the term RepubliGrifter to distinguish themselves, as well.)
Also, it's just come to my attention the little Con Schitzinpantz - odd how a little typo transforms him from would-be European nobility to what he is in >fact<. Sometines I >love< my typos! 🤣 - is now calling VP Harris "Lyin' Kamala Harris." Might I suggest we all start calling her "Lioness Kamala Harris" as counterpropaganda ‽
An afterthought: "GriftPublicans" works too!!
Another afterthought: I just heard "The Wicked Witch of the Word's" former husband imply that we can cram that DEI candidate language back down little Con Schitzinpantz and his RepubliGrift sycophant and other worshippers' collective throats. Technically, little Con Schitzinpantz is old enough to qualify as a DEI candidate!!!! 🤣🤣🤣
Just heard "Shea D" Vance reply to the heat he's taking over "childless cat ladies," characterizing it as sarcasm. He shows that he just doesn't "get it!" He's right! It certainly >was< sarcasm, the likes of which, and far less, that stand-up comedians typically find themselves getting canceled over! 🙄
Exposing The Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissist As A Moron
A Comparison of President Biden's Mental Competency with Donald Trump's
Recently the media focus has been on the 'age issue' and the question of the mental competency of an octogenarian during President Biden's second term. So let's compare his mental competency with Donald Trump's starting with his most recent gaffow followed by a list of what he said and his cabinet members said about him during his first term. (A short list of my faves:)
Did Biden call Nancy Pelosi Nicky Haley when recently talking about the 1-6-21 assault on the capital?
Did he claim the ability to properly identify a giraffe in a multiple choice of three animals, proved he was a "real stable genius"?
Did his former college professor call him the "dumbest f--king student I ever had"?
Did Biden suggest we could build a wall with transparent concrete?
Did he ever say to the camera he wished his wife were present with him while she was literally standing next to him looking confused?
Did his own sibling say in a recorded interview that he paid someone to take the SAT for him because he was too stupid to get into college on his own?
Did Biden think people needed photo IDs to buy groceries?
Did Biden say Paris was a city in Germany?
Did he misspell basic words in dozens of different tweets only to "correct" them by misspelling them a different way?
Did he suggest injecting disinfectants into our bloodstream to kill COVID?
Did he say he didn't know what a blind trust is, despite having a "degree" in Finance?
Did he bankrupt every business he tried starting on his own, including a Casino?
Was Biden the first President in history to utter the sentence, "Belgium is a beautiful city"?
Did Biden ever say our captured prisoners of war are only heroes because they were captured?
Did he have more than a dozen of his hand picked cabinet members resign because they couldn't work with his incompetence?
Did his own Chief of Staff call him an "idiot"?
Did a Senator from his own party say, "The White House has become an adult day care center”?
Did his own Secretary of State say he was a "fucking moron"?
Did his own economic advisor say he was "dumb as shit...an idiot surrounded by clowns"?
Did his National Security Advisor say he was "a dope...an idiot [with the intelligence of] a kindergartner”?
I saved the above collection of quotes that was originally posted on a Facebook page dedicated to insuring Joe Biden's second term last year. That was before that Republican special prosecutor in his VP document's case harped on the age issue and Joe's forgetfulness of details when the guy interviewed him. I was going to submit the above to the Daily Kos before reading the two following articles updating Trump's mental problems amidst the failure of a media focus on the orange moron at the president's expense while he's trying to run this country as the GOP is fixed on trying to tear it apart.
I just read your lead article titled The media will not report that Trump appears to have middle-stage dementia, cataloging his further mental decline. A couple of days later Facebook suggested I look at a new site dedicated to the politics and humor of Jon Stewart which just 'happened' to have posted the original interview in Salon titled "Like someone pulled the metaphorical plug": Dr. John Gartner on Trump's "accelerating dementia". This whole interview was fixated on the dementia issue without mentioning that Both his Parents had Alzheimer's/dementia, which I Learned when I posted A Comparison to every response.
Trump has obviously been both a low IQ moron and a fascist all his life, his first attorney was Roy Cohn Christ's sake. For here's precisely how he became the Perfect GOP Candidate: A supreme Narcissist who first builds Hotels with his last Name plastered all over the top of each with a Will To Power Fixation that drives him to become a TV Star where the whole game was to have the contestants kiss his ass to see who was His most 'competent' Apprentice, Firing all the Losers before finally picking the Winner, Like Me. Which sets him up to run for President, Wrapping Himself In MAGA Flag to Beat all those Loser Politicians in the Primary and Lock Her Up Hillary in the 2016 Electoral College. Rejoice, rejoice an absolute field day for all the fascists, white supremacists, Christian nationalists, plutocrat billionaires, corporatists, corporate media, evangelical preachers and six Supreme Court Justices all Backing a Moronic and now progressively Demented Fuhrer for the MAGA Masses Who Worship Him Like A God, Further Feeding Its Insatiable Sociopathic Narcissism!!!
Turns out I also hadn't read the whole issue with A.J. Pennyfarthing's 10 stunning moments from Trump's late-night speech to religious broadcasters. You ain't going to be changing any preacher's or MAGA's minds about how unhinged DT is with any raft of articles cause that is the Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissistic Moron's Lowest Common Denominator Appeal To The Wrap Yourself In MAGA Flag And $60 Bible Masses!
Thomas Paine On Religions Keeping Mankind Ignorant Of The Creator
As Governments Keep Man Ignorant Of His Rights
So let us briefly update and address the two central themes in Thomas Paine's precocious quote: "It has been the scheme of the Christian Church, and of all the other invented systems of religion, to hold man in ignorance of the Creator, as it is of governments to hold man in the ignorance of his rights. The systems of the one are as false as those of the other, and are calculated for mutual support."
So let's talk about the relation between religion and polytrix in the US government. We have a Supreme Court with six Catholics, steering religion and politics to the far right, away from the Creator. We'll comeback to the original conclusion after this read about the last act taken by the Supreme Court on the first of July. TruthBeTold's post from Jim Hightower's daily news letter on 7-2:
Today the U S Supreme Court overturned the centuries long conviction of Pontius Pilate, absolving him of any responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
In a 6-3 decision along party lines, Chief Justice John Roberts found in error the long standing verdict of history that the Governor of Judea had acted out of personal motivation. Quite the contrary, Roberts wrote, it was strictly within Pilate’s official capacity that he ordered the crucifixion.
In support of his conclusion that Pilate was not acting out of personal motives, Roberts noted a heretofore unrecognized fact. Pilate actually admired Christ and had for a time considered making him court jester after being told of Christ’s whimsical parables. However, after Christ fed the multitude on three fishes and five loaves, Pilate sought to have him elevated to high priest, a plan denounced by Joseph ben Caiaphas, the incumbent. To mollify Caiaphas, but primarily to remove a threat to his regime, Pilate reluctantly ordered the crucifixion, an act well within the governor’s official duties. The first duty of every official, Roberts wrote, is to preserve and perpetuate his rule, be he governor, satrap or inspector of hides and brands.
In his concurring opinion, Justice Kavanaugh noted that crucifixion was not a death sentence, merely a punishment. Unfortunately, he wrote, some individuals perversely elected to die on the cross just to embarrass a government toward which they were ill disposed. Likewise in the case of time honored punishments such as keel-hauling and flogging there were the occasional fatalities, regrettable but hardly of consequence.
Justice Gorsuch noted in his concurrence that in olden times, measures which today are deemed cruel and unusual were in fact a necessity. Trial by water and trial by fire, he observed, were the only ways to get at the facts before the advent of the polygraph and Fox News.
Remarking the perspective she had gained occupying the Tomas de Torquemada Chair of Jurisprudence at Notre Dame, Justice Barrett stated with apodictic certainty that had prosecutors been deprived of the rack, the thumbscrew and the iron maiden, many great truths would have gone unrevealed.
Despite having been challenged to recuse himself when it was learned that Harlan Crow had given him Pilate’s solid gold death mask, Justice Thomas wrote a concurring opinion, the gist being: redemption. Romans, he observed, had long since become good Catholics and were thereby redeemed by Christ himself; they had hardly bothered anyone since their conversion, with the exception of Al Capone in Chicago, Lucky Luciano in New York, and Sam Alito in Washington, DC.
Justice Alito declared that no way could Pilate have gotten a fair trial, with the populace spreading the word that Christ was the only begotten son of God. The scriptures, Alito emphatically stated, say that we all are the children of God, and scriptures take precedence over man’s laws. “We here in this very court,” he continued, “we six justices are a testament to that divinity. If we don’t sitteth at the right hand of God, I don’t know who does.”
Justices Kagan, Sotomayor and Jackson, knowing their six confreres better than anyone, dissented.
We have a new speaker of the House who openly wants to establish a 'moral' Christian Nationalism run by the next Republican president. Who will implement a fascist plan called Project 2025, as outlined at the end of Thom Hartmann's historical analysis of what led up to The Shocking GOP Plan to Dismantle the American Government. And all the while you've watched the Republican Party champion the idea of "freedom" while you have also watched the same party openly assault various freedoms, like the freedom to vote, freedom to choose, freedom to marry who you want, freedom for your children's teachers and librarians to have them read what they want, freedom to form unions and so on. If this has been a source of confusion, then your assessments of what Republicans mean by freedom were likely too generous. Here is what they mean: 1. The freedom to tell people what to do. 2. Freedom from being told what to do.
Me too- I went to bed the night of that election with everything showing Hilary winning by something in the mid 90's percentile and woke to the huge shock and disappointment of Trump as the winner. It has been a nightmare ever since, and I really wish that he would just go away to his hideout and STAY there- with his mouth SHUT! GO KAMALA!
Amen, Amen, AMEN! Kamala must, and will, win this election! Let this energy and focus follow all of us to the very victory we’re so happy to commit to! It’s been SO long since we’ve experienced political fun and laughter! She makes me smile and enjoy a whole range of healthy, positive thoughts and emotions. ❤️ (I'm Mr. Reich's age: 78. I refuse to "expire" until the country and we the people are living in a reasonable and healthy democracy!
It will take a Constitutional amendment to do this (2/3 of Congress, 3/4 of states), something that will not happen. The best is the legally questionable (meaning untested in court as of yet) National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.
Lets not forget the 12% of Bernie Bros that crossed over to Trump out of spite, (nearly exactly the number of votes that lost Clinton several of the swings) all while screaming "ScOtTuS dOeSn'T mAtTeR!".
I voted for Hillary as a lifelong Democrat. I honestly believe, however, that Bernie would have easily beaten trump if the DNC had not intervened on her behalf.
The Clintons bought the DNC... Obama had left it shambles... That period was when the GOP made big gains in the State Legislatures, and Governorships.... That enables them to Gerrymander... They play the long game...
Much like NADER WAS TREATED IN 2000 snd Bernie in 2016 and 2018. WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW IS WHO OWNS THE MEDIA AND WHY C-SPAN DOESNT HAVE DEBATES AND WHY WE CANT REVERSE, OVERTURN OR AMEND CITIZENS UNITED. We have Congress and SCOTUS and now the President ALL OVERSEEING THEMSELVES.
Show me the data. I'm a Bernie "Bro", and know many other Bernie supporters who refused to vote for the orange stain. HRC lost because of her hubris and taking for granted Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Period.
Also, what was with anointing some delegates as "super delegates" who brought more votes than a traditional state delegate? Crummy thumb on the scale, Hillary.
Dane, I truly can’t understand that. I was a Bernie supporter & he won my state in the primary. But I immediately switched support once the decision was made. And no one knew at that time, how bad of a monster he would be.
I was not a huge Clinton supporter before either (*had* been an (I) since 1984), but had spent time on Wall Street and knew Trump as a charlatan, yet it was so much worse. I finally got off the fence and am a registered (D) now.
The Sad Irony of it is that DJT launched his 2016 Campaign as a Publicity Stunt to boost his 'Brand', and never expected to Win... DJT initially funded his Campaign to last only until the South Carolina Primary... Hillary was a very weak Candidate...
Additionally, Clinton had been in the national public eye a much longer time and gave many the foundation to not like her (if you are looking for a reason, any will do). Harris does not carry that baggage as well.
She did... but far fewer Dems voted for her than Obama for some reason and Bernie didn't really support her after he dropped out, so many of his supporters didn't either. Add to the mess that the FBI director created 10 days before the election by needlessly opening the e-mail investigation again. The FBI spent more than a year looking at that and could not find that she broke any laws and had done anything different than the Bush folks had done. This proved Comey's attack was purely political. Once he did that it was all the media could talk about until election night. Throw in the big anti-Clinton effect that the Russian bots and trolls had all year and is it any wonder she lost. The FBI should have spent more time on the Russians and the Trump connection with them. The deep rooted misogyny in this country wasn't helpful either. However... she did win the popular vote by 2.9 million (source AP) and that was the largest margin ever for a losing candidate. Goes to show that a woman CAN be elected president.
I agree Joan, Harris and the DNC better not make that mistake again.
Jill Stein got way more votes than she lost by in swing states. Indeed, a 3rd party spoiler flipped the election. Currently, Kennedy is polling much higher than Stein. Kennedy can flip this election, I'm afraid.
Hillary's use of a private email server and her requirement that State Department employees email her outside the State Dept channel is illegal, I think. The employees could have been in real trouble for the insecure messages.
Hillary did not visit Wisconsin once. Not a single time. I would still like to know who on the campaign staff was responsible for that brilliant strategy because that same person is responsible for putting US democracy in existential crisis.
That has been said so many times...but if the Republican dominated Wisconsin legislature hadn't passed strict voter ID laws right before the 2016 election, that primarily impacted Democratic voters, she would have won the state and the race. We can't discount all the voter suppression then and even more so now.
Victim shaming, Hillary Clinton WON the popular vote! She won inspite of the negative publicity, the FB reopened the prob into her private email server just days before the election. She still WON the popular vote by almost three million!
HRC was a terrible candidate to run against trump. I never thought she would carry the election. In many ways, the Clintons are sleazy (pay for a stay in the Lincoln bedroom, contribute to our Foundation and we'll see... and accept big donation for the Clinton library and then pardon Marc Rich) A New Yorker author wrote that Bill called donald and told him he should run. I think it may have been Bill's thought that one more clown in the car would help Hillary win. Backfired! She should never have called people deplorables. And, she should have appeared on election night to thank the people who worked hard to try to get her elected. (Too bad about the expensive glass ceiling)
My friends in England always ask about our undemocratic system, where our vote can be discounted with the EC. This archaic form of cheating should have been dumped decades ago.
We should've gone to the more democratic European multi-party system, Proportional Representation, too. More than two parties can run here, but it's still a two party system.
Without the EC, the religious zealots never would've hijacked the Supreme Court.
Before that election the FL GOP purged almost 200,000 voters from their rolls for mostly false charges. Almost all were in DEM districts and almost 50% were black and minority voters. Things like this take years of lawsuits to undo and with today's S. Court probably never. Also remember that Nader got about 96,000 votes in FL. If he were not on the ballot and even a couple thousand voted for Gore.... well. And considering Nader's ideas and followers I really don't think many of them would have voted for Bush.
Nader supporters have been barking for the last 24 years that it didn't make any difference. BS. In a two party system a third party person is a spoiler no matter how good their ideas are. As much as I like many of her ideas Jill is, as of today on the ballot in 24 states with 5 pending. RFK jr is on 12. No matter how much one may love these folks they will never get elected president! In a parliamentary system where candidates run at large and not by states or districts each one of them might win several seats in one house of the government and then actually have some say in what goes on. Sorry, but that is not our system!
A number of folks posting here like to talk about how the DEMs and GOP are the same so they will vote for Jill or RFK jr. If they weren't in the race then, according to them, it comes down to the lessor of two evils. Maybe so, but are you really willing to not vote and watch the MORE EVIL GOP and DT be elected? I'm not willing to watch my country become a fascist cesspool led by DT and lose my Social Security and Medicare and more because the DEMs pissed me off about a few things. No one should be willing to take that chance! Bigger fish here. Use you head, not your heart this time. Help fund a big blue wave so the DEMs have enough power in DC to actually get some good things done without always having to beg the GOP to help them with "bi-partisanship". Those asshole really don't believe in it and have been proving it for the last 50 years.
Go Kamala.... Send in some money.... VOTE BLUE! Cheers... GH
It's worth also taking a close look at "democracy" in any representative governmental system -- for example, the various parlimentary systems -- including the UK (where I now live).
And then there are many "interesting" examples of direct democracy at work (via referenda: California's Prop 13, UK's Brexit, etc.) and on the other hand the township systems of direct government that still exist in e.g. New England.
The interesting -- and very early -- suggestions of Plato in "The Republic", have never been tried to the depth he suggested, but the idea he suggested provoked the question -- centuries later in Rome -- "Who will guard the Guardians?".
The Republic suggests that 50 years of "wisdom training" for the Guardians will also guard them. Jefferson's answer was public education "to better inform the discretion" of the voting citizens. (I still like this one, but public education is now far below the needed threshold, and so are too many of the voting public.)
I should mention here that what "informed discretion" meant back then was not a party line or political doctrine, but the ability to learn the issues and "argue in a good way" to try to find civilized grounds for actions.
Exposing The Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissist As A Moron
A Comparison of President Biden's Mental Competency with Donald Trump's
Recently the media focus has been on the 'age issue' and the question of the mental competency of an octogenarian during President Biden's second term. So let's compare his mental competency with Donald Trump's starting with his most recent gaffow followed by a list of what he said and his cabinet members said about him during his first term. (A short list of my faves:)
Did Biden call Nancy Pelosi Nicky Haley when recently talking about the 1-6-21 assault on the capital?
Did he claim the ability to properly identify a giraffe in a multiple choice of three animals, proved he was a "real stable genius"?
Did his former college professor call him the "dumbest f--king student I ever had"?
Did Biden suggest we could build a wall with transparent concrete?
Did he ever say to the camera he wished his wife were present with him while she was literally standing next to him looking confused?
Did his own sibling say in a recorded interview that he paid someone to take the SAT for him because he was too stupid to get into college on his own?
Did Biden think people needed photo IDs to buy groceries?
Did Biden say Paris was a city in Germany?
Did he misspell basic words in dozens of different tweets only to "correct" them by misspelling them a different way?
Did he suggest injecting disinfectants into our bloodstream to kill COVID?
Did he say he didn't know what a blind trust is, despite having a "degree" in Finance?
Did he bankrupt every business he tried starting on his own, including a Casino?
Was Biden the first President in history to utter the sentence, "Belgium is a beautiful city"?
Did Biden ever say our captured prisoners of war are only heroes because they were captured?
Did he have more than a dozen of his hand picked cabinet members resign because they couldn't work with his incompetence?
Did his own Chief of Staff call him an "idiot"?
Did a Senator from his own party say, "The White House has become an adult day care center”?
Did his own Secretary of State say he was a "fucking moron"?
Did his own economic advisor say he was "dumb as shit...an idiot surrounded by clowns"?
Did his National Security Advisor say he was "a dope...an idiot [with the intelligence of] a kindergartner”?
I saved the above collection of quotes that was originally posted on a Facebook page dedicated to insuring Joe Biden's second term last year. That was before that Republican special prosecutor in his VP document's case harped on the age issue and Joe's forgetfulness of details when the guy interviewed him. I was going to submit the above to the Daily Kos before reading the two following articles updating Trump's mental problems amidst the failure of a media focus on the orange moron at the president's expense while he's trying to run this country as the GOP is fixed on trying to tear it apart.
I just read your lead article titled The media will not report that Trump appears to have middle-stage dementia, cataloging his further mental decline. A couple of days later Facebook suggested I look at a new site dedicated to the politics and humor of Jon Stewart which just 'happened' to have posted the original interview in Salon titled "Like someone pulled the metaphorical plug": Dr. John Gartner on Trump's "accelerating dementia". This whole interview was fixated on the dementia issue without mentioning that Both his Parents had Alzheimer's/dementia, which I Learned when I posted A Comparison to every response.
Trump has obviously been both a low IQ moron and a fascist all his life, his first attorney was Roy Cohn Christ's sake. For here's precisely how he became the Perfect GOP Candidate: A supreme Narcissist who first builds Hotels with his last Name plastered all over the top of each with a Will To Power Fixation that drives him to become a TV Star where the whole game was to have the contestants kiss his ass to see who was His most 'competent' Apprentice, Firing all the Losers before finally picking the Winner, Like Me. Which sets him up to run for President, Wrapping Himself In MAGA Flag to Beat all those Loser Politicians in the Primary and Lock Her Up Hillary in the 2016 Electoral College. Rejoice, rejoice an absolute field day for all the fascists, white supremacists, Christian nationalists, plutocrat billionaires, corporatists, corporate media, evangelical preachers and six Supreme Court Justices all Backing a Moronic and now progressively Demented Fuhrer for the MAGA Masses Who Worship Him Like A God, Further Feeding Its Insatiable Sociopathic Narcissism!!!
Turns out I also hadn't read the whole issue with A.J. Pennyfarthing's 10 stunning moments from Trump's late-night speech to religious broadcasters. You ain't going to be changing any preacher's or MAGA's minds about how unhinged DT is with any raft of articles cause that is the Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissistic Moron's Lowest Common Denominator Appeal To The Wrap Yourself In MAGA Flag And $60 Bible Masses!
I agree, but there is nothing to be done about it until and unless progressive Democrats have super majorities in both houses. And, to compound the short term problem, the Republicans are in control of the House. I fully expect Mike Johnson to implement a repeat of Trump's narrowly failed 2020 plan to subvert the popular results by rejecting electors from states Harris wins but have Republican controlled legislatures. The only way I see to keep that from happening is to have a large margin of victory.
BTW Jamie Raskin detailed the Trump strategy in his book, Unthinkable.
The unthinkable happens when people don't think. Sadly, most don't. In the Proud Tower Barbara Tuchman document how almost everyone wanted war in 1914. Then unthinkable things happened one after another, and we are still living with the consequences.
Also to keep slavery, deny the vote to women, indentured servants Native Americans and white men with no "real" property. In other words, it was part of "their" constitution that was written to keep old white guys in power, just without a king.
Well, maybe, sort of....but it's more complicated than that. During the 1787 Constituional Convention, northern states did not want to count any enslaved persons for the purpose of determining number of congressional delegates. Southern states wanted enslaved persons to be counted. The compromise was to count a slave as 3/5th of a person. The electoral college wasn't established until 1804 as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens. The electoral college may have helped southern states prior to the abolition of slavery, but now benefits rural states. I would like to abolish it because I lean to the left. But, it would result in a probability that the urban areas of the coasts and other large urban areas would elect the president. I live in a rural state, but it's Vermont--we elect Bernie and another progressive for senate plus an LGBQ female progressive for congress. Our republican governor has promised to do everything he can to prevent Trump from winning.
wow....thanks for that. I understand your argument about urban areas, and I wonder if we were to abolish the EC and use ranked choice voting how the voting would skew? I suspect the same way, isn't it inevitable at this point, and if so, what is the way of not making the rural states irrelevant?
Today, the primary beneficiaries of the federal system are corporations, especially agribusiness and the extractive industries (oil and other minerals).
That may be true now (and for the past several years) but I don't believe that was the impetus behind the design of the electoral college. Unfortunately, recent democratic presidents did not pay enough attention to D. D. Eisenhower's warnings.
I stayed up to watch all the returns. I even had champagne chilling to celebrate Secretary Clinton’s victory. I ended up having a panic attack, only the second one I’d ever had, and called my stepmother and daughter crying hysterically. My doctor put me on trazodone so I could sleep at night. I was 67 at the time I’m too old to go through that again.
I’d hoped I could stop the trazodone, but the possibility of a second, even worse, term for tfg has haunted me. The past few weeks have had me walking the floor all night, spending lots of time researching countries that are good for American expats, and working on spreadsheets of requirements for me, my son, d-i-l, granddaughters, d-i-l’s parents, daughter and s-i-l. I’m better now but I may not relax at all until January 21.
I never would have believed our democracy was so fragile. The ridiculous electoral college should have been eliminated when all the post civil war constitutional amendments were added.
Perhaps Democrats from solid Blue states could relo en masse to Red swing states as part of a “ long game" plan to dump the electoral college via constitutional convention. Just a thot.
If we lose, I thought a bunch of us could buy some land in a safe blue state. I just saw on CBS that a bunch of tech billionaires bought land in cally to build a community. I'm thinking like that, only with a tiny home community.
Susan - I used to think that Florida would become Deep Blue due to all the retirees settling in there from Bluer northern & northeastern states. Something in my algorithm must be amiss --- apparently more conservatives than liberals are attracted by the Floridian climate. Or maybe they are just repelled by the DeSantisian political climate.
It’s funny. I’m 75 and if anything more liberal than I used to be, but it looks to me like the older you get, the more “conservative” you become.
People can’t reason from A to B. People think that America used to be great, and isn’t anymore, because in the time they were thinking about “men were men” “minorities knew their place” “women didn’t have to work” but it’s just nostalgia for when they were children, had no responsibilities, and were unaware of anything political. Maybe the reason I remained a liberal is that I didn’t have a very good childhood.
Susan - Your comments are "funny", in that they made me smile with recognition, as I have had many of those same thoughts (except for your not having a very good childhood -- looking back on it mine was great ("Thanks, Mom!") -- which is a shame, as you sound like a very nice person.
I also note that you placed quotes around the word "conservative." I also do that a lot, because the term can have many meanings and is context dependent. It is quite normal for people to become "conservative" in their tastes as they grow older (and possibly wiser) -- in food, music, activities and in politics also -- as they (we) tend to know what we like/don't like and may experiment with new choices less than in our younger days.
I remember that day. I have a friend who worked the Clinton Election Night event. He explained the mood started good, but got worse as the night went on. Later, people were crying and leaving.
Too bad the popular vote doesn't matter. It's all about the swing states. She needs Kelly to win the swing states, IMO.
For this reason, I wish the poll had a "not sure" option. If she picks Kelly, I think she will win in a landslide. If she picks anybody else, it's a coin toss or a loss. But anything can happen in 100 days.
Another reason to pick Kelly is that because of his military career, he and Gabby have been vetted since high school. BTW, being an Astronaut is like being a Submarine Captain because they only pick the best and smaetest who keep their cool in all situations. I'm no astronaut, but I know that from an Annapolis Submarine Captain.)
The Klatch post ends with a poll, while the video ends on a note to have laughter. I would like to post a video ties these together.
In the video, several RNC speakers ask, "are you better off today than four years ago?" This is no coincidence. I heard a Detective once say, "investigators don't believe in coincidence." I agree. Team Trump knows damn well that the only way Trump can win is if Americans believe* they are worse off today than four years ago. This is one reason why they could not allow bipartisan, comprehensive Border reforms. The Border has to be worse today than four years ago for their "better off four years ago" argument to work.
Republicans believe they have their base on-board. The "Now versus 4 years ago" argument is their simple pitch to the independents. It's very possible that if 51% of swing states voters believe they were better off four years ago, Trump will win. Sorry! As my mom used to say, "don't count your chickens before they hatch."
I hope this video helps show that we are better off NOW after 3.5 years of Biden while having a good laugh. Thank you, Seth and A Closer Look.
Obama was careful not to be labeled as "an angry black man." I'm pretty sure he spoke with her about Midwest redneck perceptions. I can say that because I am one. Lol.
Being "an angry Black woman" could also muffle Kamala. In 2009 it was necessary to be angry and vent people's outrage, but Obama could not do this because he was Black. Today is a time to be cool and calculating, something Kamala can do.
Angry works for Trump to the MAGA's. However, the moderates Democrats, Independents, and suburban swing state soccer moms who will decide the election are different, IMO. Always keeping cool is more Presidential.
Speaking of... Kelly as an astronaut keeps his cool better than anyone under extreme stress. He's definitely VP and Presidential material.
Thomas Paine On Religions Keeping Mankind Ignorant Of The Creator
As Governments Keep Man Ignorant Of His Rights
So let us briefly update and address the two central themes in Thomas Paine's precocious quote: "It has been the scheme of the Christian Church, and of all the other invented systems of religion, to hold man in ignorance of the Creator, as it is of governments to hold man in the ignorance of his rights. The systems of the one are as false as those of the other, and are calculated for mutual support."
So let's talk about the relation between religion and polytrix in the US government. We have a Supreme Court with six Catholics, steering religion and politics to the far right, away from the Creator. We'll comeback to the original conclusion after this read about the last act taken by the Supreme Court on the first of July. TruthBeTold's post from Jim Hightower's daily news letter on 7-2:
Today the U S Supreme Court overturned the centuries long conviction of Pontius Pilate, absolving him of any responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
In a 6-3 decision along party lines, Chief Justice John Roberts found in error the long standing verdict of history that the Governor of Judea had acted out of personal motivation. Quite the contrary, Roberts wrote, it was strictly within Pilate’s official capacity that he ordered the crucifixion.
In support of his conclusion that Pilate was not acting out of personal motives, Roberts noted a heretofore unrecognized fact. Pilate actually admired Christ and had for a time considered making him court jester after being told of Christ’s whimsical parables. However, after Christ fed the multitude on three fishes and five loaves, Pilate sought to have him elevated to high priest, a plan denounced by Joseph ben Caiaphas, the incumbent. To mollify Caiaphas, but primarily to remove a threat to his regime, Pilate reluctantly ordered the crucifixion, an act well within the governor’s official duties. The first duty of every official, Roberts wrote, is to preserve and perpetuate his rule, be he governor, satrap or inspector of hides and brands.
In his concurring opinion, Justice Kavanaugh noted that crucifixion was not a death sentence, merely a punishment. Unfortunately, he wrote, some individuals perversely elected to die on the cross just to embarrass a government toward which they were ill disposed. Likewise in the case of time honored punishments such as keel-hauling and flogging there were the occasional fatalities, regrettable but hardly of consequence.
Justice Gorsuch noted in his concurrence that in olden times, measures which today are deemed cruel and unusual were in fact a necessity. Trial by water and trial by fire, he observed, were the only ways to get at the facts before the advent of the polygraph and Fox News.
Remarking the perspective she had gained occupying the Tomas de Torquemada Chair of Jurisprudence at Notre Dame, Justice Barrett stated with apodictic certainty that had prosecutors been deprived of the rack, the thumbscrew and the iron maiden, many great truths would have gone unrevealed.
Despite having been challenged to recuse himself when it was learned that Harlan Crow had given him Pilate’s solid gold death mask, Justice Thomas wrote a concurring opinion, the gist being: redemption. Romans, he observed, had long since become good Catholics and were thereby redeemed by Christ himself; they had hardly bothered anyone since their conversion, with the exception of Al Capone in Chicago, Lucky Luciano in New York, and Sam Alito in Washington, DC.
Justice Alito declared that no way could Pilate have gotten a fair trial, with the populace spreading the word that Christ was the only begotten son of God. The scriptures, Alito emphatically stated, say that we all are the children of God, and scriptures take precedence over man’s laws. “We here in this very court,” he continued, “we six justices are a testament to that divinity. If we don’t sitteth at the right hand of God, I don’t know who does.”
Justices Kagan, Sotomayor and Jackson, knowing their six confreres better than anyone, dissented.
We have a new speaker of the House who openly wants to establish a 'moral' Christian Nationalism run by the next Republican president. Who will implement a fascist plan called Project 2025, as outlined at the end of Thom Hartmann's historical analysis of what led up to The Shocking GOP Plan to Dismantle the American Government. And all the while you've watched the Republican Party champion the idea of "freedom" while you have also watched the same party openly assault various freedoms, like the freedom to vote, freedom to choose, freedom to marry who you want, freedom for your children's teachers and librarians to have them read what they want, freedom to form unions and so on. If this has been a source of confusion, then your assessments of what Republicans mean by freedom were likely too generous. Here is what they mean: 1. The freedom to tell people what to do. 2. Freedom from being told what to do.
Alan, same here. In 2020, given Trump's disastrous performance during the pandemic (and all the rest), I expected a Democratic landslide. Like you, I was shocked--but not by the EC result--but by the fact that 74 million Americans had voted for this miscreant. It reminded me of old-time Russian peasants, who believed that the tsar was their god-chosen protector, and that the "elites" were the cause of their suffering.
Yes, it was the millions of Americans that was the big shock (I'm an American), and this -- among other things -- to me represented a massive failure of what public schooling was supposed to be about: not vocational prep, but "voting citizen prep". I had enough contact beforehand to realize that this had not been going well, but the actual magnitude took me aback.
Anthropology reveals this about our entire species. Many of the principles we think are important for life and society are relatively recent inventions.
This means that we have to do work to both learn and sustain them. It also means that we are essentially "extended children" who on the one hand need help to find a more comprehensive adulthood, and to not be allowed to play with matches on the other.
This is a very tricky and often completely invisible idea for most humans who think of themselves as "adults".
Exposing The Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissist As A Moron
A Comparison of President Biden's Mental Competency with Donald Trump's
Recently the media focus has been on the 'age issue' and the question of the mental competency of an octogenarian during President Biden's second term. So let's compare his mental competency with Donald Trump's starting with his most recent gaffow followed by a list of what he said and his cabinet members said about him during his first term. (A short list of my faves:)
Did Biden call Nancy Pelosi Nicky Haley when recently talking about the 1-6-21 assault on the capital?
Did he claim the ability to properly identify a giraffe in a multiple choice of three animals, proved he was a "real stable genius"?
Did his former college professor call him the "dumbest f--king student I ever had"?
Did Biden suggest we could build a wall with transparent concrete?
Did he ever say to the camera he wished his wife were present with him while she was literally standing next to him looking confused?
Did his own sibling say in a recorded interview that he paid someone to take the SAT for him because he was too stupid to get into college on his own?
Did Biden think people needed photo IDs to buy groceries?
Did Biden say Paris was a city in Germany?
Did he misspell basic words in dozens of different tweets only to "correct" them by misspelling them a different way?
Did he suggest injecting disinfectants into our bloodstream to kill COVID?
Did he say he didn't know what a blind trust is, despite having a "degree" in Finance?
Did he bankrupt every business he tried starting on his own, including a Casino?
Was Biden the first President in history to utter the sentence, "Belgium is a beautiful city"?
Did Biden ever say our captured prisoners of war are only heroes because they were captured?
Did he have more than a dozen of his hand picked cabinet members resign because they couldn't work with his incompetence?
Did his own Chief of Staff call him an "idiot"?
Did a Senator from his own party say, "The White House has become an adult day care center”?
Did his own Secretary of State say he was a "fucking moron"?
Did his own economic advisor say he was "dumb as shit...an idiot surrounded by clowns"?
Did his National Security Advisor say he was "a dope...an idiot [with the intelligence of] a kindergartner”?
I saved the above collection of quotes that was originally posted on a Facebook page dedicated to insuring Joe Biden's second term last year. That was before that Republican special prosecutor in his VP document's case harped on the age issue and Joe's forgetfulness of details when the guy interviewed him. I was going to submit the above to the Daily Kos before reading the two following articles updating Trump's mental problems amidst the failure of a media focus on the orange moron at the president's expense while he's trying to run this country as the GOP is fixed on trying to tear it apart.
I just read your lead article titled The media will not report that Trump appears to have middle-stage dementia, cataloging his further mental decline. A couple of days later Facebook suggested I look at a new site dedicated to the politics and humor of Jon Stewart which just 'happened' to have posted the original interview in Salon titled "Like someone pulled the metaphorical plug": Dr. John Gartner on Trump's "accelerating dementia". This whole interview was fixated on the dementia issue without mentioning that Both his Parents had Alzheimer's/dementia, which I Learned when I posted A Comparison to every response.
Trump has obviously been both a low IQ moron and a fascist all his life, his first attorney was Roy Cohn Christ's sake. For here's precisely how he became the Perfect GOP Candidate: A supreme Narcissist who first builds Hotels with his last Name plastered all over the top of each with a Will To Power Fixation that drives him to become a TV Star where the whole game was to have the contestants kiss his ass to see who was His most 'competent' Apprentice, Firing all the Losers before finally picking the Winner, Like Me. Which sets him up to run for President, Wrapping Himself In MAGA Flag to Beat all those Loser Politicians in the Primary and Lock Her Up Hillary in the 2016 Electoral College. Rejoice, rejoice an absolute field day for all the fascists, white supremacists, Christian nationalists, plutocrat billionaires, corporatists, corporate media, evangelical preachers and six Supreme Court Justices all Backing a Moronic and now progressively Demented Fuhrer for the MAGA Masses Who Worship Him Like A God, Further Feeding Its Insatiable Sociopathic Narcissism!!!
Turns out I also hadn't read the whole issue with A.J. Pennyfarthing's 10 stunning moments from Trump's late-night speech to religious broadcasters. You ain't going to be changing any preacher's or MAGA's minds about how unhinged DT is with any raft of articles cause that is the Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissistic Moron's Lowest Common Denominator Appeal To The Wrap Yourself In MAGA Flag And $60 Bible Masses!
The EC is outdated and should have been abolished a long time ago. Times have changed and we should update. Each person's vote should count. Electors should be done away with because they can change who they support. Also, we need to prevent fake electors as what happened in the last election.
I sense a serious exhale of "Zeitgeist." Seasoned with irony, that Trump's bully-coward ham machismo dared somebody to stand up to the act, and, whoops, it's a "girl."
Reminds me of that scene on West Wing where Sam was on some talk show, debating “Ainsley Haines”, a Republican (blonde woman on CSI Miami later on). Someone (Josh?) came running into the room yelling “come see this! Sam’s getting his ass kicked on TV! By a girl!” Fingers crossed Trump will do at least one debate and get HIS butt kicked thoroughly.
Pat Chubb ; Looks like tRUMP has already backed out of the debate that Kamala Harris wanted to have in September? the one who said "any time/any place", He was ready to debate?
Big Stretch Victor.. I want her to win. I’m backing her. I sent money to her campaign. And she knew of Joe Biden‘s deteriorating condition and did nothing. Hard for me to find a “Joan” in that How are giant secret. I want her to win. Truly I do. The hyperbole is sometimes over the top. I think that’s how we got into this mess… When “everything goes and nothing matters” it’s amazing what happens to leadership.
I’m sorry if that felt offensive I did not mean it too. I actually had to look up the word “troll”. I am on no social media. I like Substack because I like the many different views. I didn’t comment to be a troll… I just thought Joan of Arc was a bit over the top.
Professor Reich: I think Kamala Harris will win and i think this will set off hell in amerikkka. yes, i think all the subtle and not-so-subtle warnings from trump and his trumpettes will set off a vicious political war against everyone who is not a white ultra-conservative wealthy man. sorry, professor reich and heather lofthouse, but this is how things appear to me. i don't think they will accept the outcome of the election, EVEN IF KAMALA WINS IN THE BIGGEST LANDSLIDE IN HISTORY.
i hope i am wrong, but ... i dunno.
I am still hoping Mark Kelly is appointed Kamala's VP, but my second choice is still the incredibly talented and articulate Pete Buttigieg.
all that said, Joe Biden is kicking some serious ass, isn't he? his tricky method for arresting the drug lords from the Sinaloa cartel? that's like taking out osama bin laden of the drug world by appealing to their greed. Additionally, Biden will announce major Supreme Court reforms on Monday (Hallelujah), likely including term limits and an enforceable ethics code, and a constitutional amendment to limit presidential immunity. WOW! weirdly, the MSM has barely made a peep about any of these stories.
GrrlScientist, I, too, believe Vice-President Harris will win in November. Even if it does set off the orange man's cult, President Biden is still Commander-in-Chief until President Harris takes over in January. He will quell any and all vicious attacks and have them tried at domestic terrorists. I do love 'Mayor' Pete but I also know that change must occur gradually and in small doses. Today, we elect a strong black woman for President. In the future, we elect a strong gay man for President. It is in our future but not all at one time. That has been the republicans mistake. They have tried to cram religion, restrictions on women, gay bans, book bans and all sorts of dystopian garbage at us and we are saying "No, thank you". Change happens slowly. Vote blue through and through! Lotus for POTUS!
tRUMP's cult is a bunch of confused, empty windbags whose only cohesiveness will disappear when he's out of the picture. Kamala's victory will be uncontestable. I believe the MAGAt's will whine and cry as always but are incapable of any unified action. Like all bullies, they are easily cowed and the resulting jail sentences from 1/6 are too daunting for them. Cowards that they are, perhaps a few guerilla-type attacks from concealed locations but not much more.
We elected a gay governor in Colorado. It’s not even a serious point of discussion. The discussion is more around solving issues of affordability of housing and tax policy.
You are absolutely right, Dr. Gilbert. Colorado has moved past the discrimination of the LGBQT+ community and picked someone that will work to solve the issues you mentioned. That is progressive and moves Colorado citizens forward. It would be great if everyone did what you in Colorado have done. The problem is there are too many in this country that haven't moved from the label of a person. Rather than determine the best person for the job, they wouldn't vote for that person because they are gay. Having a woman run for president and a black woman at that is going to be hard but trying to get American citizens to embrace a black woman and a gay man as her running mate would be too difficult in the times we live in. I believe with all my heart we can get Vice-President Harris elected. Once she is in the White House and proves her ability, then we can look forward to the day when we can elect a gay man or woman to run this country. Vote blue through and through! Lotus for POTUS!
It matters not who wins in November, there will be violence at scale. The only difference is if it is a MAGA revolt/riot or MAGA vigilante army executing on its perceived mandate.
I am afraid for Pete, because he is gay many Americans still can’t accept that, sadly, and I fear what Trump and his monsters filth might use this against him and it would be so ugly.
It really won’t matter if the MAGAt’s accept it or not.
Look how peaceful and quiet the country has been since Biden became president compared to when Trump occupied the White House. When the MAGAt’s have the wind knocked out of their sails they’re powerless. They need the Blowhard in Chief to energize them.
Once Kamala is in office she will have the opportunity to address many issues to, hopefully, rectify some of the out dated issues affecting our country. IE: the Supreme Court; the electoral college… Oh, and ensure Trump makes it to his trial dates.
I think if Trump doesn’t accept the outcome of a Harris win his own people will come to realize that he’s a “ blowhole” - just a big mouthed bully with no real substance like Biff in Back to the Future - in fact we should get Michael J Fox to spin that -
On Friday, the orange man told the Conservative Turning Point Action Event to vote this time and they would never have to vote again. WTH? I cannot believe that American citizens would let that little comment go without screaming to the rooftops. He is basically telling everyone that he will take the White House and install a dictatorship! Telling them you will never have to vote again is signaling that he never plans on leaving it!
I want Mark Kelly as VP because he is a big, tough, macho white man with a stellar resume who can provide Trump's machismo without his racism, sexism, homophobia, and misogyny. And he's married to Gabby Giffords.
Everyone should take a look at Tim Waltz, Gov. of MN. A happy guy, lots of experience, from a small town, retired teacher, veteran and a real tough straight shooter Dem. I think he would cut T and V down to size... and fast. Go Kamala... Cheers... GH
not a chance! i think kamala should run for the presidency. but i also think that americans (who are not wealthy white penisheads) should be aware that the rage of a felon -- mafioso -- rejected will boil over and we just need to look out for each other and for ourselves.
Yes, Grrr-reporting, like Mati--my gratitude for heads up on your news bits contributions. Wha-aat! These are about-time-isms. (That I get news from you, yikes; but "it's all good"). Re "Biden to announce Supreme Court reforms M Jul 29, 2024 (possibly including term limits; Code of Ethics). And, Constitutional amendment to limit presidential immunity." Thanks, I'll look and hope to see these. Yes.
Pete Buttigieg is my second choice also! He is incredibly articulate and a fast thinker on his feet. Also a wonderful person. But I think Mark Kelly is the one, at this time.
Thomas Paine On Religions Keeping Mankind Ignorant Of The Creator
As Governments Keep Man Ignorant Of His Rights
So let us briefly update and address the two central themes in Thomas Paine's precocious quote: "It has been the scheme of the Christian Church, and of all the other invented systems of religion, to hold man in ignorance of the Creator, as it is of governments to hold man in the ignorance of his rights. The systems of the one are as false as those of the other, and are calculated for mutual support."
So let's talk about the relation between religion and polytrix in the US government. We have a Supreme Court with six Catholics, steering religion and politics to the far right, away from the Creator. We'll comeback to the original conclusion after this read about the last act taken by the Supreme Court on the first of July. TruthBeTold's post from Jim Hightower's daily news letter on 7-2:
Today the U S Supreme Court overturned the centuries long conviction of Pontius Pilate, absolving him of any responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
In a 6-3 decision along party lines, Chief Justice John Roberts found in error the long standing verdict of history that the Governor of Judea had acted out of personal motivation. Quite the contrary, Roberts wrote, it was strictly within Pilate’s official capacity that he ordered the crucifixion.
In support of his conclusion that Pilate was not acting out of personal motives, Roberts noted a heretofore unrecognized fact. Pilate actually admired Christ and had for a time considered making him court jester after being told of Christ’s whimsical parables. However, after Christ fed the multitude on three fishes and five loaves, Pilate sought to have him elevated to high priest, a plan denounced by Joseph ben Caiaphas, the incumbent. To mollify Caiaphas, but primarily to remove a threat to his regime, Pilate reluctantly ordered the crucifixion, an act well within the governor’s official duties. The first duty of every official, Roberts wrote, is to preserve and perpetuate his rule, be he governor, satrap or inspector of hides and brands.
In his concurring opinion, Justice Kavanaugh noted that crucifixion was not a death sentence, merely a punishment. Unfortunately, he wrote, some individuals perversely elected to die on the cross just to embarrass a government toward which they were ill disposed. Likewise in the case of time honored punishments such as keel-hauling and flogging there were the occasional fatalities, regrettable but hardly of consequence.
Justice Gorsuch noted in his concurrence that in olden times, measures which today are deemed cruel and unusual were in fact a necessity. Trial by water and trial by fire, he observed, were the only ways to get at the facts before the advent of the polygraph and Fox News.
Remarking the perspective she had gained occupying the Tomas de Torquemada Chair of Jurisprudence at Notre Dame, Justice Barrett stated with apodictic certainty that had prosecutors been deprived of the rack, the thumbscrew and the iron maiden, many great truths would have gone unrevealed.
Despite having been challenged to recuse himself when it was learned that Harlan Crow had given him Pilate’s solid gold death mask, Justice Thomas wrote a concurring opinion, the gist being: redemption. Romans, he observed, had long since become good Catholics and were thereby redeemed by Christ himself; they had hardly bothered anyone since their conversion, with the exception of Al Capone in Chicago, Lucky Luciano in New York, and Sam Alito in Washington, DC.
Justice Alito declared that no way could Pilate have gotten a fair trial, with the populace spreading the word that Christ was the only begotten son of God. The scriptures, Alito emphatically stated, say that we all are the children of God, and scriptures take precedence over man’s laws. “We here in this very court,” he continued, “we six justices are a testament to that divinity. If we don’t sitteth at the right hand of God, I don’t know who does.”
Justices Kagan, Sotomayor and Jackson, knowing their six confreres better than anyone, dissented.
We have a new speaker of the House who openly wants to establish a 'moral' Christian Nationalism run by the next Republican president. Who will implement a fascist plan called Project 2025, as outlined at the end of Thom Hartmann's historical analysis of what led up to The Shocking GOP Plan to Dismantle the American Government. And all the while you've watched the Republican Party champion the idea of "freedom" while you have also watched the same party openly assault various freedoms, like the freedom to vote, freedom to choose, freedom to marry who you want, freedom for your children's teachers and librarians to have them read what they want, freedom to form unions and so on. If this has been a source of confusion, then your assessments of what Republicans mean by freedom were likely too generous. Here is what they mean: 1. The freedom to tell people what to do. 2. Freedom from being told what to do.
Exposing The Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissist As A Moron
A Comparison of President Biden's Mental Competency with Donald Trump's
Recently the media focus has been on the 'age issue' and the question of the mental competency of an octogenarian during President Biden's second term. So let's compare his mental competency with Donald Trump's starting with his most recent gaffow followed by a list of what he said and his cabinet members said about him during his first term. (A short list of my faves:)
Did Biden call Nancy Pelosi Nicky Haley when recently talking about the 1-6-21 assault on the capital?
Did he claim the ability to properly identify a giraffe in a multiple choice of three animals, proved he was a "real stable genius"?
Did his former college professor call him the "dumbest f--king student I ever had"?
Did Biden suggest we could build a wall with transparent concrete?
Did he ever say to the camera he wished his wife were present with him while she was literally standing next to him looking confused?
Did his own sibling say in a recorded interview that he paid someone to take the SAT for him because he was too stupid to get into college on his own?
Did Biden think people needed photo IDs to buy groceries?
Did Biden say Paris was a city in Germany?
Did he misspell basic words in dozens of different tweets only to "correct" them by misspelling them a different way?
Did he suggest injecting disinfectants into our bloodstream to kill COVID?
Did he say he didn't know what a blind trust is, despite having a "degree" in Finance?
Did he bankrupt every business he tried starting on his own, including a Casino?
Was Biden the first President in history to utter the sentence, "Belgium is a beautiful city"?
Did Biden ever say our captured prisoners of war are only heroes because they were captured?
Did he have more than a dozen of his hand picked cabinet members resign because they couldn't work with his incompetence?
Did his own Chief of Staff call him an "idiot"?
Did a Senator from his own party say, "The White House has become an adult day care center”?
Did his own Secretary of State say he was a "fucking moron"?
Did his own economic advisor say he was "dumb as shit...an idiot surrounded by clowns"?
Did his National Security Advisor say he was "a dope...an idiot [with the intelligence of] a kindergartner”?
I saved the above collection of quotes that was originally posted on a Facebook page dedicated to insuring Joe Biden's second term last year. That was before that Republican special prosecutor in his VP document's case harped on the age issue and Joe's forgetfulness of details when the guy interviewed him. I was going to submit the above to the Daily Kos before reading the two following articles updating Trump's mental problems amidst the failure of a media focus on the orange moron at the president's expense while he's trying to run this country as the GOP is fixed on trying to tear it apart.
I just read your lead article titled The media will not report that Trump appears to have middle-stage dementia, cataloging his further mental decline. A couple of days later Facebook suggested I look at a new site dedicated to the politics and humor of Jon Stewart which just 'happened' to have posted the original interview in Salon titled "Like someone pulled the metaphorical plug": Dr. John Gartner on Trump's "accelerating dementia". This whole interview was fixated on the dementia issue without mentioning that Both his Parents had Alzheimer's/dementia, which I Learned when I posted A Comparison to every response.
Trump has obviously been both a low IQ moron and a fascist all his life, his first attorney was Roy Cohn Christ's sake. For here's precisely how he became the Perfect GOP Candidate: A supreme Narcissist who first builds Hotels with his last Name plastered all over the top of each with a Will To Power Fixation that drives him to become a TV Star where the whole game was to have the contestants kiss his ass to see who was His most 'competent' Apprentice, Firing all the Losers before finally picking the Winner, Like Me. Which sets him up to run for President, Wrapping Himself In MAGA Flag to Beat all those Loser Politicians in the Primary and Lock Her Up Hillary in the 2016 Electoral College. Rejoice, rejoice an absolute field day for all the fascists, white supremacists, Christian nationalists, plutocrat billionaires, corporatists, corporate media, evangelical preachers and six Supreme Court Justices all Backing a Moronic and now progressively Demented Fuhrer for the MAGA Masses Who Worship Him Like A God, Further Feeding Its Insatiable Sociopathic Narcissism!!!
Turns out I also hadn't read the whole issue with A.J. Pennyfarthing's 10 stunning moments from Trump's late-night speech to religious broadcasters. You ain't going to be changing any preacher's or MAGA's minds about how unhinged DT is with any raft of articles cause that is the Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissistic Moron's Lowest Common Denominator Appeal To The Wrap Yourself In MAGA Flag And $60 Bible Masses!
You have to be optimistic! Kamala hit the road running as if she had been freed from the anonymity of being VP. As a UK Citizen I would not be able to understand why the average American would pick a felon like Trump over an intelligent, articulate and honest bright woman like Kamala Harris. Well, I suppose some of us got taken in by Boris Johnson!
I love her independence of thinking over Gaza. Her statement to Netanahyu was an object lesson in diplomacy. Showed she was an independent strong woman.
Can she go one better than Hilary Clinton? Yes!
No going back! If I could vote for her I would be first in line!
As a U.S. citizen by birth & Independent for almost as many years as I've been voting; the last many years, I've voted Democrat. I was in shock in 2016, when trump won, as I'd researched him enough, over the many decades, as he'd had expressed aspirations to be "president" for some time. But he never quite got in the fray; like a reluctant bride. I prayed he wouldn't. Having been living the first 30 some odd years, in New England with family ties to NYC, WE knew who he was & what a fraud & con artist he was in reality. But later, I, having moved to the South, (weather & real estate prices as reasons - not culture) I knew the only real attention they'd paid to him down here was through "The Apprentice" show, which was all hype, smoke & mirrors. The producer, Mark Burnette, had thrown trump a lifeline when trump's finances were failing & it was obvious that he must have been a bit enamored of him. (And he reinforced this thought later, in that he'd be supportive of trump running for the office of the presidency. All the better for any wealthy person who'd desire more tax breaks, to have a trump in office, as proven by the tax bill submitted in 2017 & passed in 2018!)
Currently I'd say there may be a solid 30% in this country who might still vote for the 34 count felon & a main facilitator of the events of January 6th. Another % on the fence. ( Many largely in the South & lower mid- western states.)
But the rest of us "are hip to his tricks" and hopefully the newly registered youth vote, will vote for Kamala Harris with the rest of us.
A " trump/ jd vance ticket imo, would be disastrous to the nation & the rest of the world, in particular Ukraine. ( Trump & Vance appear too positive about putin, which is disastrous to the free world, nevermind their stance on women's rights in this country.) The destructive felon, lying, grifting con man trump, alongside a flip flopping j.d.vance, " can't make up my mind if i have a moral compass" moment to moment, one shot "wonder." (Who's done nothing of note since. Even that's up for debate on how noteworthy & true, "Hillbilly Elegy " really was respect to the story of his family & the grandfather that supported them through his union job. Though book sales & the sale of the book for TV movie rights for Vance made him $$$, but not necessary a decent, centered, human; especially if he's hanging his hopes on a trump presidency. And Vance has indicated he's anti- union to boot!)
God help us, I'd hate to see a Vance sitting in the presidential seat, if trump's health failed him. (Which it will, given all appearances & his "word salads." )
Another "emperor" wannabe type with no clothes, but younger & another flip flopper, chameleon type. We'd be in for a wicked ride, all those evangelicals & alt right maga types, tugging at his coat tails.
Yes, we have to see Kamala Harris win this election!! For all our sakes!
Trump could very well destroy our government and savage the very people who elected him along with everyone else.
Trump and these people should not be allowed to be anywhere near the federal government, much less run it. They understand nothing and have no interest in learning because they believe they already know what there is to know iaw their narrow ideological blinders.
Their only interest in the government is turning it into a piggy bank for themselves and cronies and carrying out cultural imperatives to deprive people of freedoms IAW their intolerant beliefs.
If you need evidence beyond what Trump did in his term in office you can read Project 2025.
Bonnie - I appreciate that you mention Ukraine because I tend to fear that in the US, a Ukraine loss may be worrisome, but in a somewhat theoretical sense, whilst here on the continent, it is a fire-breathing dragon at the back fence of the yard.
Christopher Foxx ; I think the answer is the media outlets pushing out non-stop lies and propaganda ; like FOX "news", a Rupert Murdoch product. There are millions of misinformed and disinformed voters. Their minds are "Set", for sure. In a toxic Fantasy Land, where a criminal is "King" and "Savior".
One key to Trump's appeal for many must be this "Trump larger than life, more than human" idea, a savior, avenging angel or King, something beyond mere mortal.
Another aspect for why people will vote for him is they are really voting the GOP brand, or perhaps, voting AGAINST" the Dem brand because of the crap they get from the media and friends.
I would add, he has confiscated the Republican brand, sadly and completely. When I see Nikki Haley, and all those who opposed him in the so-called Republican party give the seig heil and fall in line, it shows the power he has accumulated. Thank you Liz & Adam for your courage- now come out for Kamala!
Too many Americans think Trump is amusing; they want to be entertained versus governed. They have been groomed by television, which largely offers diversion instead of spaces for thoughtful civic discourse. Along these lines, corporate media has enjoyed the revenue that Trump has generated and don’t want to lose it to someone like Biden, who actually works for-the-people. Moreover, it’s more fun to write or talk about political pranks (as championed by Trump and the Republican cult) than policy. Over the last several years, the melding of politics and entertainment has disconnected practice from consequences, which has made it possible to dismiss facts and, most dangerously, deny reality.
Bread and circus politics. The emperor is expected to deliver cheap bread or else! Constitution? What's that? Climate change? Surely a bad joke! Civil rights? You better stop discriminating against Whites!
They are a bunch of reactionary, empty-headed automatons whose vacant skulls were ripe to be filled with spite and unreasoning hate. They see themselves mirrored in tRUMP and mindlessly follow along.
Christopher... the basis for the T success is racism. Pure and simple. He has been pitching this hate for decades and seems to have learned it from his father. Mom? Anyway, I don't buy the excuse from folks who say they voted for T because they aren't racist but like "his policies". His main policy is RACISM!
I am reminded of the old saying "you are what you eat". Same goes for voting in my book. If you vote for T or someone like him, you are either on the surface or deep down a racist. I used to think about 20-25% of Americans were racists. The last few elections have me recalculating this to about 40-45%. Shameful.
Go Kamala... Send in your money and VOTE. Cheers... GH
Christopher, as a youngish person, I was always so curious as to why in the world did Germans side with Hitler??? Which made me read many books both historical fiction and non fiction on the topic. Unfortunately in my 59th year, on vacation in Florida with friends, I heard the beginnings of support for trump by friends… I was shocked… I said even then…his message reminded me of Hitler’s… I was poo poo’d but they had not read the books I had… it has affected my life in ways I never imagined… good and bad..
There are some parallels between the rise of Trump and the rise of the Nazi Party in 1920s Germany. For a detailed description, read William L Shirer’s “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.
FWIW, in my opinion the principal difference between Trump’s political rise and Hitler’s is the condition of their respective countries: Germany was exhausted, defeated and treated like an international pariah, while the USA is strong, rich and the leader of the Democracies. And many other fundamental differences exist between DJT and AH ( intelligence, fanaticism and a coherent- though twisted - world view). Where DJT has to fabricate a false narrative about “American Carnage “ the Nazis could just point to the chaos and economic misery created by losing the Great War and then the Great Depression to convince the German voters to vote for their candidates.
Ever watch Fox News? If so you would understand the mindset. Fox keeps its viewers angry, outraged and so amped up it becomes an addiction and gives people a purpose, meaning and target. Fox News has made fellow Americans the enemy and has split the country. Those who are addicted to it are not interested in intellectual honesty, truth and objective reasoning. Critical thinking doesn’t fit into their values. They driven by emotion and not willing to hear from anyone who has a different opinion. It’s like a religious cult. Sad and sickening.
It is also like a Clint Eastwood film: it starts with a despicable act of violence, and then you watch the rest of the movie, because you want to see the bad guy wiped out. In the Fox version the bad guys are "the elites," "deep state," and the "woke." This movie might not have the desired ending.
Reading Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal has a similar effect on people. I notice my friends who read it, as far more worried about crime than the rest of us.
They are less trusting of their fellow citizens. (And, strangely, they think of themselves as very well informed)
Americans are fed up with lies from their government (e.g. War in Vietnam, invasion of Iraq). To remedy their dismay, some turn to a liar who lies about alleged lies by others.
As someone also in UK, (but originally from USA) I find it so hard to comprehend this DJT cult, but Irene if we look back at BoJos campaign it was no different than DJTs. He lied, lied, lied! The promises about the NHS, Brexit etc. But in the end he was found out! They are populist disrupter politicians who say what they think the people want most of which turns out to be lies! They also are bought by wealthy donors, so have the money to run glitzy campaigns. They are promise politicians who never deliver for the real people of their country!
Catherine Reid - While Donald and Boris both are untruthful, Donald is pathologically so, and more prolific and less self-aware than BoJo.
The more important distinction is that BoJo never was a threat to parliamentary democracy, while the destruction of the American polity is the logical end point of Trumpian politics— one-man rule.
If BoJo had been allowed by his derelict party to remain we might have seen a different "permitted" man being given freer rein. As it is the Tories promulgated laws restricting freedom to protest.
If one believed in astrology, one would have to say that the stars lined up just right this past week to make this a great one for Kamala Harris, the democratic party, and America. But let's give credit where credit is due, not to the stars but to Harris herself for a brilliant start, and the important Democrats for lining up behind her, and just lots of non-famous people for showing and giving their support, both morally and in terms of money. It has been a remarkable turnaround and a great week.
I agree wholeheartedly with you, Adam! I also would like to give credit to President Biden for putting the love for his country ahead of himself. It took courage and I will forever be grateful for that. Vote blue through and through! Lotus for POTUS!
I seriously doubt Kamala will pick Beshear, but as a Kentucky voter, I think he's the best choice. These are my reasons.
Not only does Andy Beshear know what rural people, working people, small businesses, and poor people need and want most, he knows how to talk to us. That is the reason, Beshear won the governorship twice in a state that has a Republican legislature and kept McConnell in office for 40 years and elected Rand Paul to the Senate. As Reich correctly pointed out, Beshear has contained the Republican party.
Beshear is the only VP candidate who has first hand experience in farming, ranching, resource extraction and manufacturing that dominate southern economies. Beshear is the only governor in the country who has built a public-private-nonprofit partnership between our state and the Netherlands that is dedicated to the education and support of our future farmers.
If anyone here has been following the Tennessee legislature battles, it is plain to see that young people are building a new south. Someone in the Democratic Party needs to get on board, and Beshear is the man to do it.
Beshear talks about his faith, but never tries to sell it. When tornadoes hit, mines collapse, or labour strikes, a whole lot of people take comfort from Beshear's quiet faith, and steady Leadership
During Trump's Covid years, Beshear's daily updates made Kentucky the only state where people wore masks and did not scream at each other everywhere they went. Thousands upon thousands of people put out yard signs thanking nurses, doctors, and teachers (and really wamed the heart). Bourbon County is the only place I saw any deviation from social distancing rules. They raise racehorses in that county and all the Covid distancing signs read please keep one horse length between you.
Beshear's family, his wife and two kids, are lovely, well grounded people. And everyone loves Winnie (Andy's family dog).
Thanks to Beshear "Team Kentucky" is not a slogan. Team Kentucky means exactly what it says. I write or say Team Kentucky several times every week. I wish every American could know what it feels like to be part of a team in their state too.
The Trump team picked Vance because they wanted to plant him in key swing states like PA and NC so that he could rip away votes from the Democrats. A common saying is that the space between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia is called "Pennsyl-tucky."
This is why Beshear would be such an effective counter. (The Trumpists have fallen into their own trap -- falling for Vance's grift.) In an interview this week, Governor Beshear made the ultimate Appalachian slam against Vance: "He ain't from here."
Waxing poetic for a bit, there's another consideration: The nation could be losing former president Carter ANY day now. If people are concerned about Project 2025, there are plenty of wonderful evangelicals who are strongly opposed to it -- on religious grounds. Andy Beshear is such a person.
It used to be said that "As Maine goes, so goes the nation." Today, I believe that state is Georgia. And I thank all of you for having Georgia on your mind.
Thomas, Senators Ossoff and Warnock are awesome - thank you Georgia.
People cheered when Beshear made that comment "he ain't from here" (and believe you me, "ain't" ain't in Beshear's toolbox). WTF was wrong with Ron Howard? His movie version of Hillbilly Elegy was as stereotype-ugly as another damned Deliverance. Roar.
raffey, they have now become our beloved senators. That night they won their run-off elections -- January 5, 2021 -- I shed tears of joy. (Followed by Jan 6, the joy was short-lived)
During the runoff election in January of 2023 between Warnock and Walker, I joked that you KNOW Georgia is changing when you can get my sorry white ass out on a FREEZING day to vote for one of two black men for US Senator.
I did not know Ron Howard did that movie. Darn. I'm going to just pretend it didn't happen.
Thomas Paine On Religions Keeping Mankind Ignorant Of The Creator
As Governments Keep Man Ignorant Of His Rights
So let us briefly update and address the two central themes in Thomas Paine's precocious quote: "It has been the scheme of the Christian Church, and of all the other invented systems of religion, to hold man in ignorance of the Creator, as it is of governments to hold man in the ignorance of his rights. The systems of the one are as false as those of the other, and are calculated for mutual support."
So let's talk about the relation between religion and polytrix in the US government. We have a Supreme Court with six Catholics, steering religion and politics to the far right, away from the Creator. We'll comeback to the original conclusion after this read about the last act taken by the Supreme Court on the first of July. TruthBeTold's post from Jim Hightower's daily news letter on 7-2:
Today the U S Supreme Court overturned the centuries long conviction of Pontius Pilate, absolving him of any responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
In a 6-3 decision along party lines, Chief Justice John Roberts found in error the long standing verdict of history that the Governor of Judea had acted out of personal motivation. Quite the contrary, Roberts wrote, it was strictly within Pilate’s official capacity that he ordered the crucifixion.
In support of his conclusion that Pilate was not acting out of personal motives, Roberts noted a heretofore unrecognized fact. Pilate actually admired Christ and had for a time considered making him court jester after being told of Christ’s whimsical parables. However, after Christ fed the multitude on three fishes and five loaves, Pilate sought to have him elevated to high priest, a plan denounced by Joseph ben Caiaphas, the incumbent. To mollify Caiaphas, but primarily to remove a threat to his regime, Pilate reluctantly ordered the crucifixion, an act well within the governor’s official duties. The first duty of every official, Roberts wrote, is to preserve and perpetuate his rule, be he governor, satrap or inspector of hides and brands.
In his concurring opinion, Justice Kavanaugh noted that crucifixion was not a death sentence, merely a punishment. Unfortunately, he wrote, some individuals perversely elected to die on the cross just to embarrass a government toward which they were ill disposed. Likewise in the case of time honored punishments such as keel-hauling and flogging there were the occasional fatalities, regrettable but hardly of consequence.
Justice Gorsuch noted in his concurrence that in olden times, measures which today are deemed cruel and unusual were in fact a necessity. Trial by water and trial by fire, he observed, were the only ways to get at the facts before the advent of the polygraph and Fox News.
Remarking the perspective she had gained occupying the Tomas de Torquemada Chair of Jurisprudence at Notre Dame, Justice Barrett stated with apodictic certainty that had prosecutors been deprived of the rack, the thumbscrew and the iron maiden, many great truths would have gone unrevealed.
Despite having been challenged to recuse himself when it was learned that Harlan Crow had given him Pilate’s solid gold death mask, Justice Thomas wrote a concurring opinion, the gist being: redemption. Romans, he observed, had long since become good Catholics and were thereby redeemed by Christ himself; they had hardly bothered anyone since their conversion, with the exception of Al Capone in Chicago, Lucky Luciano in New York, and Sam Alito in Washington, DC.
Justice Alito declared that no way could Pilate have gotten a fair trial, with the populace spreading the word that Christ was the only begotten son of God. The scriptures, Alito emphatically stated, say that we all are the children of God, and scriptures take precedence over man’s laws. “We here in this very court,” he continued, “we six justices are a testament to that divinity. If we don’t sitteth at the right hand of God, I don’t know who does.”
Justices Kagan, Sotomayor and Jackson, knowing their six confreres better than anyone, dissented.
We have a new speaker of the House who openly wants to establish a 'moral' Christian Nationalism run by the next Republican president. Who will implement a fascist plan called Project 2025, as outlined at the end of Thom Hartmann's historical analysis of what led up to The Shocking GOP Plan to Dismantle the American Government. And all the while you've watched the Republican Party champion the idea of "freedom" while you have also watched the same party openly assault various freedoms, like the freedom to vote, freedom to choose, freedom to marry who you want, freedom for your children's teachers and librarians to have them read what they want, freedom to form unions and so on. If this has been a source of confusion, then your assessments of what Republicans mean by freedom were likely too generous. Here is what they mean: 1. The freedom to tell people what to do. 2. Freedom from being told what to do.
Thomas Paine On Religions Keeping Mankind Ignorant Of The Creator
As Governments Keep Man Ignorant Of His Rights
So let us briefly update and address the two central themes in Thomas Paine's precocious quote: "It has been the scheme of the Christian Church, and of all the other invented systems of religion, to hold man in ignorance of the Creator, as it is of governments to hold man in the ignorance of his rights. The systems of the one are as false as those of the other, and are calculated for mutual support."
So let's talk about the relation between religion and polytrix in the US government. We have a Supreme Court with six Catholics, steering religion and politics to the far right, away from the Creator. We'll comeback to the original conclusion after this read about the last act taken by the Supreme Court on the first of July. TruthBeTold's post from Jim Hightower's daily news letter on 7-2:
Today the U S Supreme Court overturned the centuries long conviction of Pontius Pilate, absolving him of any responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
In a 6-3 decision along party lines, Chief Justice John Roberts found in error the long standing verdict of history that the Governor of Judea had acted out of personal motivation. Quite the contrary, Roberts wrote, it was strictly within Pilate’s official capacity that he ordered the crucifixion.
In support of his conclusion that Pilate was not acting out of personal motives, Roberts noted a heretofore unrecognized fact. Pilate actually admired Christ and had for a time considered making him court jester after being told of Christ’s whimsical parables. However, after Christ fed the multitude on three fishes and five loaves, Pilate sought to have him elevated to high priest, a plan denounced by Joseph ben Caiaphas, the incumbent. To mollify Caiaphas, but primarily to remove a threat to his regime, Pilate reluctantly ordered the crucifixion, an act well within the governor’s official duties. The first duty of every official, Roberts wrote, is to preserve and perpetuate his rule, be he governor, satrap or inspector of hides and brands.
In his concurring opinion, Justice Kavanaugh noted that crucifixion was not a death sentence, merely a punishment. Unfortunately, he wrote, some individuals perversely elected to die on the cross just to embarrass a government toward which they were ill disposed. Likewise in the case of time honored punishments such as keel-hauling and flogging there were the occasional fatalities, regrettable but hardly of consequence.
Justice Gorsuch noted in his concurrence that in olden times, measures which today are deemed cruel and unusual were in fact a necessity. Trial by water and trial by fire, he observed, were the only ways to get at the facts before the advent of the polygraph and Fox News.
Remarking the perspective she had gained occupying the Tomas de Torquemada Chair of Jurisprudence at Notre Dame, Justice Barrett stated with apodictic certainty that had prosecutors been deprived of the rack, the thumbscrew and the iron maiden, many great truths would have gone unrevealed.
Despite having been challenged to recuse himself when it was learned that Harlan Crow had given him Pilate’s solid gold death mask, Justice Thomas wrote a concurring opinion, the gist being: redemption. Romans, he observed, had long since become good Catholics and were thereby redeemed by Christ himself; they had hardly bothered anyone since their conversion, with the exception of Al Capone in Chicago, Lucky Luciano in New York, and Sam Alito in Washington, DC.
Justice Alito declared that no way could Pilate have gotten a fair trial, with the populace spreading the word that Christ was the only begotten son of God. The scriptures, Alito emphatically stated, say that we all are the children of God, and scriptures take precedence over man’s laws. “We here in this very court,” he continued, “we six justices are a testament to that divinity. If we don’t sitteth at the right hand of God, I don’t know who does.”
Justices Kagan, Sotomayor and Jackson, knowing their six confreres better than anyone, dissented.
We have a new speaker of the House who openly wants to establish a 'moral' Christian Nationalism run by the next Republican president. Who will implement a fascist plan called Project 2025, as outlined at the end of Thom Hartmann's historical analysis of what led up to The Shocking GOP Plan to Dismantle the American Government. And all the while you've watched the Republican Party champion the idea of "freedom" while you have also watched the same party openly assault various freedoms, like the freedom to vote, freedom to choose, freedom to marry who you want, freedom for your children's teachers and librarians to have them read what they want, freedom to form unions and so on. If this has been a source of confusion, then your assessments of what Republicans mean by freedom were likely too generous. Here is what they mean: 1. The freedom to tell people what to do. 2. Freedom from being told what to do.
Also, considering that Andy is in his second term -- and term-limited. And his hand-picked Lt. Governor, Jacqueline Coleman, would assume office.
I keep getting the impression that Reich lives in a West Coast-DC bubble. (I sure hope I'm wrong, but people in these eastern/southeastern states are very sensitive to it.)
Kelly would not gather anything in these critical battleground states along the Appalachian range. Arizona has 11 electoral votes; Georgia 16. Walz would be a great choice too. With a ONE vote majority in the Minnesota state house, he's gotten family leave, improved medical care, school lunches and a host of other accomplishments.
I like Mark Kelly, BUT we could easily lost the Senate without him. Its a risky trade off, that I do not support at all.
Reich has good instincts and is usually on target. However, he does not think like we do and it shows (by we, I mean rural, mid-west and southern states).
Unfortunately, my simple, honest and accurate observation will probably elicit a bunch of comments with stereotypical assumptions about what I mean - and 99% of those assumptions will be really mean. Andy Beshear does not make those kinds of mistakes. Since Beshear thinks like us, he can say he same things, without sounding arrogant or preachy.
When Beshear is fighting the Republican legislature over issues like teacher pay and private schools, I get teary eyed listening to him. He really knows how to pull out what matters most in our hearts.
I'm a Midwesterner in a farming area, too. My only concern about Beshear is that he's not known nationwide and we have only less than 100 days to the election and even less to early voting. I understand the Senate worries concerning Mark Kelly, but this time around, I think winning the White House is more important. I think Mark Kelly would appeal to Mid-westerners and he is already known nationwide. Also, he has experience with the Senators. Plus I think he compliments Kamala Harris. He may not be as young as Beshear, but he would have great appeal with older voters, I believe.
Ruth, as I said, I seriously doubt Harris will pick Beshear. That said, conservative Americans looking for an alternative to Donald Trump would find Andy Beshear appealing.
Since there are a lot - and I mean a lot - of alternative seeking conservatives in rural areas, I think dismissing Beshear’s appeal to these voters is a mistake. Conservatives would not change their party, but they could very likely do what Kentuckians do. Instead of voting the party line, or voting against Democrats, they would vote FOR Beshear. Not only would their vote for Beshear be in keeping with their faith, they could finally register a protest vote against MAGA. I think this is especially true for conservative women.
While the swing states will decide the election, there are not enough swing voters to make a difference for either party. However, a protest vote from within the Republican party, could sway the election. And there is a very good chance, that a lot of conservatives are ready to register a protest vote (against Trump and MAGA).
PS. I like Kelly, but come November, I want Democrats to win the House, the Senate and the White House.
Thomas Paine On Religions Keeping Mankind Ignorant Of The Creator
As Governments Keep Man Ignorant Of His Rights
So let us briefly update and address the two central themes in Thomas Paine's precocious quote: "It has been the scheme of the Christian Church, and of all the other invented systems of religion, to hold man in ignorance of the Creator, as it is of governments to hold man in the ignorance of his rights. The systems of the one are as false as those of the other, and are calculated for mutual support."
So let's talk about the relation between religion and polytrix in the US government. We have a Supreme Court with six Catholics, steering religion and politics to the far right, away from the Creator. We'll comeback to the original conclusion after this read about the last act taken by the Supreme Court on the first of July. TruthBeTold's post from Jim Hightower's daily news letter on 7-2:
Today the U S Supreme Court overturned the centuries long conviction of Pontius Pilate, absolving him of any responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
In a 6-3 decision along party lines, Chief Justice John Roberts found in error the long standing verdict of history that the Governor of Judea had acted out of personal motivation. Quite the contrary, Roberts wrote, it was strictly within Pilate’s official capacity that he ordered the crucifixion.
In support of his conclusion that Pilate was not acting out of personal motives, Roberts noted a heretofore unrecognized fact. Pilate actually admired Christ and had for a time considered making him court jester after being told of Christ’s whimsical parables. However, after Christ fed the multitude on three fishes and five loaves, Pilate sought to have him elevated to high priest, a plan denounced by Joseph ben Caiaphas, the incumbent. To mollify Caiaphas, but primarily to remove a threat to his regime, Pilate reluctantly ordered the crucifixion, an act well within the governor’s official duties. The first duty of every official, Roberts wrote, is to preserve and perpetuate his rule, be he governor, satrap or inspector of hides and brands.
In his concurring opinion, Justice Kavanaugh noted that crucifixion was not a death sentence, merely a punishment. Unfortunately, he wrote, some individuals perversely elected to die on the cross just to embarrass a government toward which they were ill disposed. Likewise in the case of time honored punishments such as keel-hauling and flogging there were the occasional fatalities, regrettable but hardly of consequence.
Justice Gorsuch noted in his concurrence that in olden times, measures which today are deemed cruel and unusual were in fact a necessity. Trial by water and trial by fire, he observed, were the only ways to get at the facts before the advent of the polygraph and Fox News.
Remarking the perspective she had gained occupying the Tomas de Torquemada Chair of Jurisprudence at Notre Dame, Justice Barrett stated with apodictic certainty that had prosecutors been deprived of the rack, the thumbscrew and the iron maiden, many great truths would have gone unrevealed.
Despite having been challenged to recuse himself when it was learned that Harlan Crow had given him Pilate’s solid gold death mask, Justice Thomas wrote a concurring opinion, the gist being: redemption. Romans, he observed, had long since become good Catholics and were thereby redeemed by Christ himself; they had hardly bothered anyone since their conversion, with the exception of Al Capone in Chicago, Lucky Luciano in New York, and Sam Alito in Washington, DC.
Justice Alito declared that no way could Pilate have gotten a fair trial, with the populace spreading the word that Christ was the only begotten son of God. The scriptures, Alito emphatically stated, say that we all are the children of God, and scriptures take precedence over man’s laws. “We here in this very court,” he continued, “we six justices are a testament to that divinity. If we don’t sitteth at the right hand of God, I don’t know who does.”
Justices Kagan, Sotomayor and Jackson, knowing their six confreres better than anyone, dissented.
We have a new speaker of the House who openly wants to establish a 'moral' Christian Nationalism run by the next Republican president. Who will implement a fascist plan called Project 2025, as outlined at the end of Thom Hartmann's historical analysis of what led up to The Shocking GOP Plan to Dismantle the American Government. And all the while you've watched the Republican Party champion the idea of "freedom" while you have also watched the same party openly assault various freedoms, like the freedom to vote, freedom to choose, freedom to marry who you want, freedom for your children's teachers and librarians to have them read what they want, freedom to form unions and so on. If this has been a source of confusion, then your assessments of what Republicans mean by freedom were likely too generous. Here is what they mean: 1. The freedom to tell people what to do. 2. Freedom from being told what to do.
Hope per se is not enough, but it's a powerful engine when there are real reasons to sustain it. After months of deepening despair, Harris's candidacy gives hope a solid basis.
I am not a Us citizen or resident…only an interested bystander to your election..but I am vested in the outcome, and the global existential threat to democracy posed by Project 2025 and a Republican Party on the slippery slide to authoritarianism.
Yes Siree Bob we are mad! How dare republicans tell us we must remain barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen! Those days are so well passed us! Women have every right to CHOOSE what they can and cannot do with their bodies. The republicans would have everyone believe that women are killing babies willy-nilly and that is so not true. In studies done, there is proof that those women who got abortions simply because they had been reckless were a VERY small percentage compared to women who had to endure the heartbreak and hurt because they had to get an abortion. It is a horrendous and depressingly sad experience that no woman wants to do. Also, these republicans want to go back to treating women as second-class citizens. We are not living in the past. This is the future and we will move forward. Vote blue through and through! Lotus for POTUS!
Peggy, I agree! And I am boycotting the KC Chiefs for the remarks their kicker have to a WOMEN'S college as a commencement address: (I give my interpretation)follow the bible and give your husband babies and stay in the kitchen. I know that's what you all are dreaming of. Nope, nada and not!
What a wonderful thing to say, James! You are most welcome. It won't be just women but men as well. Strong, intelligent men who value women as their equals and know we have problem-solving skills that are actually very good. It isn't that women hate men. We just don't like men that feel they are superior and can tell us what to do! Vote blue through and through! Lotus for POTUS!
Oh, I definitely and dearly think women are our equals and in some areas our superiors as are men more skilled in some areas also. I just think that the recent events about abortion have activated women to realize that they must be politically active to protect their rights and they therefore will actively vote for freedom and democracy. When we work together, we are so much stronger.
I mean, gosh, who doesn't know females who just had first period, haven't had last? The Heritage F. guy stated emphatically, "Abortion is NEVER health care." What small, small circle of human connections he must have. I keep hoping there is a "stealth" vote of men who have connections to women who had "complications." (Crossed fingers?)
Mad, as in angry, Or mad as hatters? I think they are justifiably angry, yet enthusiastically invigorated about the change in the Democrat "ticket"! Even though a madman who is disabled and disqualified has media like Fox "news" spreading his lies to millions of hapless voters, and an "Electoral College", and "Supreme" court waiting in the wings to sabotage the will of the voters. Surely "Madness " is the backdrop! I hope President Biden can effect some changes needed to the Supreme Court that can remedy this situation in the next 6 months.
What’s that old saying about hell hath no fury like woman scorned?
Women are mobilizing. A call the other night broke zoom and raised 2 million dollars.
All this reminds me of the women’s marches that happened all over the country when Mr. Marmalade was elected. We didn’t want him then. We don’t want him now.
if the American public prefers to elect a twice impeached, convicted felon, a rapist , a liar and a cheat to the highest office of the land, rather than give Kamala Harris a chance, they will contribute to the end of democracy as we know it and encourage the dictators of this world to prevail.
Trumpamania is on the attack as of Friday night in Florida. He told a group of Christians, “Get out and vote. Just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what: it’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians…. Get out, you’ve got to get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again, we’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.”
Being a supposed Christian, I can find NO reason to vote for the orange nightmare. He defies everything Jesus taught. And if one doesn't believe in Jesus, that's fine with me too. Character matters. I hope voters think this too.
Thomas Paine On Religions Keeping Mankind Ignorant Of The Creator
As Governments Keep Man Ignorant Of His Rights
So let us briefly update and address the two central themes in Thomas Paine's precocious quote: "It has been the scheme of the Christian Church, and of all the other invented systems of religion, to hold man in ignorance of the Creator, as it is of governments to hold man in the ignorance of his rights. The systems of the one are as false as those of the other, and are calculated for mutual support."
So let's talk about the relation between religion and polytrix in the US government. We have a Supreme Court with six Catholics, steering religion and politics to the far right, away from the Creator. We'll comeback to the original conclusion after this read about the last act taken by the Supreme Court on the first of July. TruthBeTold's post from Jim Hightower's daily news letter on 7-2:
Today the U S Supreme Court overturned the centuries long conviction of Pontius Pilate, absolving him of any responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
In a 6-3 decision along party lines, Chief Justice John Roberts found in error the long standing verdict of history that the Governor of Judea had acted out of personal motivation. Quite the contrary, Roberts wrote, it was strictly within Pilate’s official capacity that he ordered the crucifixion.
In support of his conclusion that Pilate was not acting out of personal motives, Roberts noted a heretofore unrecognized fact. Pilate actually admired Christ and had for a time considered making him court jester after being told of Christ’s whimsical parables. However, after Christ fed the multitude on three fishes and five loaves, Pilate sought to have him elevated to high priest, a plan denounced by Joseph ben Caiaphas, the incumbent. To mollify Caiaphas, but primarily to remove a threat to his regime, Pilate reluctantly ordered the crucifixion, an act well within the governor’s official duties. The first duty of every official, Roberts wrote, is to preserve and perpetuate his rule, be he governor, satrap or inspector of hides and brands.
In his concurring opinion, Justice Kavanaugh noted that crucifixion was not a death sentence, merely a punishment. Unfortunately, he wrote, some individuals perversely elected to die on the cross just to embarrass a government toward which they were ill disposed. Likewise in the case of time honored punishments such as keel-hauling and flogging there were the occasional fatalities, regrettable but hardly of consequence.
Justice Gorsuch noted in his concurrence that in olden times, measures which today are deemed cruel and unusual were in fact a necessity. Trial by water and trial by fire, he observed, were the only ways to get at the facts before the advent of the polygraph and Fox News.
Remarking the perspective she had gained occupying the Tomas de Torquemada Chair of Jurisprudence at Notre Dame, Justice Barrett stated with apodictic certainty that had prosecutors been deprived of the rack, the thumbscrew and the iron maiden, many great truths would have gone unrevealed.
Despite having been challenged to recuse himself when it was learned that Harlan Crow had given him Pilate’s solid gold death mask, Justice Thomas wrote a concurring opinion, the gist being: redemption. Romans, he observed, had long since become good Catholics and were thereby redeemed by Christ himself; they had hardly bothered anyone since their conversion, with the exception of Al Capone in Chicago, Lucky Luciano in New York, and Sam Alito in Washington, DC.
Justice Alito declared that no way could Pilate have gotten a fair trial, with the populace spreading the word that Christ was the only begotten son of God. The scriptures, Alito emphatically stated, say that we all are the children of God, and scriptures take precedence over man’s laws. “We here in this very court,” he continued, “we six justices are a testament to that divinity. If we don’t sitteth at the right hand of God, I don’t know who does.”
Justices Kagan, Sotomayor and Jackson, knowing their six confreres better than anyone, dissented.
We have a new speaker of the House who openly wants to establish a 'moral' Christian Nationalism run by the next Republican president. Who will implement a fascist plan called Project 2025, as outlined at the end of Thom Hartmann's historical analysis of what led up to The Shocking GOP Plan to Dismantle the American Government. And all the while you've watched the Republican Party champion the idea of "freedom" while you have also watched the same party openly assault various freedoms, like the freedom to vote, freedom to choose, freedom to marry who you want, freedom for your children's teachers and librarians to have them read what they want, freedom to form unions and so on. If this has been a source of confusion, then your assessments of what Republicans mean by freedom were likely too generous. Here is what they mean: 1. The freedom to tell people what to do. 2. Freedom from being told what to do.
Everything you have here in your comment including the link to article by dailykos The shocking GOP Plan to DISMANTLE THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT revealed?, needs to be shared with all Democracy loving Americans ASAP!! They all need to know that their FREEDOMS ARE IN SERIOUS JEOPARDY! Apathy will do us in. We cannot let that happen! Thank you Sean for your leadership. I hope you have a Substack of your own.
Yesterday's letter titled 7-27-23 -> 7-27-24 to Common Dreams, Princeton Press editors and Kamala Harris's Chief of Staff:
4. GOD'S PROOF Of GOD Via GOD'S PROOF Of WHO I AM: Yesterday 7-27-23 produced the following most amazing, incredible event of my life! I was posting replies to a fellow's query on Neil deGrasse Tyson's Facebook page about the Big Bang with The Sixth Class of String Theory. I then got to the following post:
Travis Boothe 4: The 11-21-22 date I posted this on my Facebook homepage is the Culmination of Three Revelations that define my Destiny in life and as such are the ultimate example of God's Cosmically Coordinated Coincidence Control that was Meant to be Fulfilled on that day. My late partner A.J. Meyer and I are the Two "Witnesses" of Revelation 11. A.J.'s model of the universe came from his vision of Revelation 21, while God's Definition of God in Revelation 21:6 refers to the Beginning and End of the Anti de Sitter Universe so Fulfills that Revelation in the 21st Century. And finally my Prophesy of Jesus revealing Himself as Christ the
Messiah on His 12-25-2122 22nd birthday, hence Fulfilling the last book of
the Bible, Revelation 22.
5: It took me 11 days to collate, write and edit the final above copy,
only adding the 5D to 4D solution to wave-function collapse in the first
days after the 11-21-22 post. I answered the top two questions posed at
the Strings 2000 physics conference so am 22 years ahead of every
physicist on this planet. Most of the papers I wrote over the first 20
years are available on the Summary page at my 241mumbers.com website and the papers on the cosmology I wrote over the last two years are available in serial order on my Facebook page, culminating in the 11-21-22 paper
In a nutshell, the above is from the concluding sections of the preceding
chapter 1 - God's Unified Five Dimensional Universe as - I DID NOT POST
THE ABOVE, GOD DID!!!!!!!!!!!
As I said above last year, I wrote the intro and final sentence and posted
this on my Facebook page the day after I copied and pasted the body of
GOD'S post on Travis Boothe's timeline on a note to Fred and Ingrid here.
So now that you all firmly know Who I Am, let's first review what I've
shared with you over the last remarkable week. I first wrote the Common
Dreams team on the 17th with the subject line First Step Saving The Biden
Presidency. Having no response last Saturday I summarized the history of
what I'm up to in 7-21, sending it out the next day as 7-21 -> 9-11, Cc'd
to the Biden team and Bcc'd to the Princeton crew. Left the Biden team off
my note Bcc'd to Kevin Coffey on 7-23 whose Vision of 9-11 thirty years
before it happened on 9-11-01 was actually meant for Kevin to meet me on 3-23-24 to Confirm that Revelation 11:7's Living "Witness" Will Expose The Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissistic Moron As The ANTICHRIST On 9-11-24! Lead in to that short note: Hi folks, turns out that my followup note to the Common Dreams crew, Cc'd to Kamala Harris's Chief of Staff Sheila Nix on Sunday 7-21, headed by Revelation 21:6, was the most significant now Public example of GOD'S Cosmically Coordinated Coincidence Control!!!!!
Nearly the first thing out of the orange moron's mouth when he heard he
was now running against an ex-prosecutor who put felons back where they
belong was "You know she's dumber than a rock". Right after the Republican special prosecutor in the VP documents case questioned the mental competency of an octogenarian President, on Superbowl Sunday 2-11 I sent the full first version of A Comparison to the then present and incoming Whitehouse "communication" directors. I followed up both on their submission page a number of times and then from 241 with promises they'd get back to you trying to have the Daily Kos publish it. I refer to two of their articles in one issue, the first being "The media will not report
that Trump appears to have middle-stage dementia". On July 8 Robert Reich posted Why isn’t the media reporting on Trump’s growing dementia? In fact that was the first thing Jim Hightower mentioned in the short note I sent you on the 23rd. I do believe right after referring to "the worst president in history" and "crooked Joe Biden," Trump actually ended his record hour and a half long acceptance speech re-referring to "the late,
great Hannibal Lector". And all the while Common Dreams Plays It's All
Politics As Usual, Last Out The Gate To Mention Trump's Obvious Dementia, Let Alone His Fascist Supreme Narcissism. Has anybody ever mentioned Mary Trump's psychoanalysis in her book or the Lincoln Project in your rag?
At some time you may have included an article on Christian Nationalism,
but I'm pretty sure I've never seen any Opinion piece on the Supreme Court
Presidential Immunity Decision as it's been 10 days since I sent you So in
summary. Whose ambiguous title was changed last night to Thomas Paine On Religions Keeping Mankind Ignorant Of The Creator. Just added
TruthBeTold's brilliant post about the Supreme Court's Decision from Jim
Hightower's site on 7-2. Which ends with this stunning quote from Sam
Alito: “We here in this very court,” he continued, “we six justices are a testament to that divinity. If we don’t sitteth at the right hand of God, I don’t know who does.”
The next paragraph goes on to dissect the Christian Nationalist Theocratic Project 2025 agenda, as originally exposed in Thom's historical analysis dating back to Andrew Jackson.
And finally has anybody ever mentioned Trump's lead in the Electoral
College Vote Before 7-21? Which still holds in the latest poll as of
yesterday in 4 states with one a tie. Don't know why they
didn't include the other two states but yesterday professor Reich stressed
how important it is that Harris campaign team focus on turning those swing states blue and how his podcasts focused on those states have shifted his swing sample's opinions by up to 18% Bluer. It would be sweet to have him complete the Opinion page by sharing this with your readers.
God bless Jimmy Hightower and his Daddy! Is this all his, or yours? I am assuming the Thomas Paine quote is pristine, and astounding. I am grateful that email tagged me back into this fascinating thread! What wonderful company I keep!
We must never let that happen! His followers are willing to go along with this? He’s 78 years old and showing several signs of dementia, how’s he going to rule? What exactly do the Republicans /Traitors plan for the future? They certainly plan to steal our Democracy and run a very dangerous Dictatorship.
Exposing The Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissist As A Moron
A Comparison of President Biden's Mental Competency with Donald Trump's
Recently the media focus has been on the 'age issue' and the question of the mental competency of an octogenarian during President Biden's second term. So let's compare his mental competency with Donald Trump's starting with his most recent gaffow followed by a list of what he said and his cabinet members said about him during his first term. (A short list of my faves:)
Did Biden call Nancy Pelosi Nicky Haley when recently talking about the 1-6-21 assault on the capital?
Did he claim the ability to properly identify a giraffe in a multiple choice of three animals, proved he was a "real stable genius"?
Did his former college professor call him the "dumbest f--king student I ever had"?
Did Biden suggest we could build a wall with transparent concrete?
Did he ever say to the camera he wished his wife were present with him while she was literally standing next to him looking confused?
Did his own sibling say in a recorded interview that he paid someone to take the SAT for him because he was too stupid to get into college on his own?
Did Biden think people needed photo IDs to buy groceries?
Did Biden say Paris was a city in Germany?
Did he misspell basic words in dozens of different tweets only to "correct" them by misspelling them a different way?
Did he suggest injecting disinfectants into our bloodstream to kill COVID?
Did he say he didn't know what a blind trust is, despite having a "degree" in Finance?
Did he bankrupt every business he tried starting on his own, including a Casino?
Was Biden the first President in history to utter the sentence, "Belgium is a beautiful city"?
Did Biden ever say our captured prisoners of war are only heroes because they were captured?
Did he have more than a dozen of his hand picked cabinet members resign because they couldn't work with his incompetence?
Did his own Chief of Staff call him an "idiot"?
Did a Senator from his own party say, "The White House has become an adult day care center”?
Did his own Secretary of State say he was a "fucking moron"?
Did his own economic advisor say he was "dumb as shit...an idiot surrounded by clowns"?
Did his National Security Advisor say he was "a dope...an idiot [with the intelligence of] a kindergartner”?
I saved the above collection of quotes that was originally posted on a Facebook page dedicated to insuring Joe Biden's second term last year. That was before that Republican special prosecutor in his VP document's case harped on the age issue and Joe's forgetfulness of details when the guy interviewed him. I was going to submit the above to the Daily Kos before reading the two following articles updating Trump's mental problems amidst the failure of a media focus on the orange moron at the president's expense while he's trying to run this country as the GOP is fixed on trying to tear it apart.
I just read your lead article titled The media will not report that Trump appears to have middle-stage dementia, cataloging his further mental decline. A couple of days later Facebook suggested I look at a new site dedicated to the politics and humor of Jon Stewart which just 'happened' to have posted the original interview in Salon titled "Like someone pulled the metaphorical plug": Dr. John Gartner on Trump's "accelerating dementia". This whole interview was fixated on the dementia issue without mentioning that Both his Parents had Alzheimer's/dementia, which I Learned when I posted A Comparison to every response.
Trump has obviously been both a low IQ moron and a fascist all his life, his first attorney was Roy Cohn Christ's sake. For here's precisely how he became the Perfect GOP Candidate: A supreme Narcissist who first builds Hotels with his last Name plastered all over the top of each with a Will To Power Fixation that drives him to become a TV Star where the whole game was to have the contestants kiss his ass to see who was His most 'competent' Apprentice, Firing all the Losers before finally picking the Winner, Like Me. Which sets him up to run for President, Wrapping Himself In MAGA Flag to Beat all those Loser Politicians in the Primary and Lock Her Up Hillary in the 2016 Electoral College. Rejoice, rejoice an absolute field day for all the fascists, white supremacists, Christian nationalists, plutocrat billionaires, corporatists, corporate media, evangelical preachers and six Supreme Court Justices all Backing a Moronic and now progressively Demented Fuhrer for the MAGA Masses Who Worship Him Like A God, Further Feeding Its Insatiable Sociopathic Narcissism!!!
Turns out I also hadn't read the whole issue with A.J. Pennyfarthing's 10 stunning moments from Trump's late-night speech to religious broadcasters. You ain't going to be changing any preacher's or MAGA's minds about how unhinged DT is with any raft of articles cause that is the Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissistic Moron's Lowest Common Denominator Appeal To The Wrap Yourself In MAGA Flag And $60 Bible Masses!
Thomas Paine On Religions Keeping Mankind Ignorant Of The Creator
As Governments Keep Man Ignorant Of His Rights
So let us briefly update and address the two central themes in Thomas Paine's precocious quote: "It has been the scheme of the Christian Church, and of all the other invented systems of religion, to hold man in ignorance of the Creator, as it is of governments to hold man in the ignorance of his rights. The systems of the one are as false as those of the other, and are calculated for mutual support."
So let's talk about the relation between religion and polytrix in the US government. We have a Supreme Court with six Catholics, steering religion and politics to the far right, away from the Creator. We'll comeback to the original conclusion after this read about the last act taken by the Supreme Court on the first of July. TruthBeTold's post from Jim Hightower's daily news letter on 7-2:
Today the U S Supreme Court overturned the centuries long conviction of Pontius Pilate, absolving him of any responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
In a 6-3 decision along party lines, Chief Justice John Roberts found in error the long standing verdict of history that the Governor of Judea had acted out of personal motivation. Quite the contrary, Roberts wrote, it was strictly within Pilate’s official capacity that he ordered the crucifixion.
In support of his conclusion that Pilate was not acting out of personal motives, Roberts noted a heretofore unrecognized fact. Pilate actually admired Christ and had for a time considered making him court jester after being told of Christ’s whimsical parables. However, after Christ fed the multitude on three fishes and five loaves, Pilate sought to have him elevated to high priest, a plan denounced by Joseph ben Caiaphas, the incumbent. To mollify Caiaphas, but primarily to remove a threat to his regime, Pilate reluctantly ordered the crucifixion, an act well within the governor’s official duties. The first duty of every official, Roberts wrote, is to preserve and perpetuate his rule, be he governor, satrap or inspector of hides and brands.
In his concurring opinion, Justice Kavanaugh noted that crucifixion was not a death sentence, merely a punishment. Unfortunately, he wrote, some individuals perversely elected to die on the cross just to embarrass a government toward which they were ill disposed. Likewise in the case of time honored punishments such as keel-hauling and flogging there were the occasional fatalities, regrettable but hardly of consequence.
Justice Gorsuch noted in his concurrence that in olden times, measures which today are deemed cruel and unusual were in fact a necessity. Trial by water and trial by fire, he observed, were the only ways to get at the facts before the advent of the polygraph and Fox News.
Remarking the perspective she had gained occupying the Tomas de Torquemada Chair of Jurisprudence at Notre Dame, Justice Barrett stated with apodictic certainty that had prosecutors been deprived of the rack, the thumbscrew and the iron maiden, many great truths would have gone unrevealed.
Despite having been challenged to recuse himself when it was learned that Harlan Crow had given him Pilate’s solid gold death mask, Justice Thomas wrote a concurring opinion, the gist being: redemption. Romans, he observed, had long since become good Catholics and were thereby redeemed by Christ himself; they had hardly bothered anyone since their conversion, with the exception of Al Capone in Chicago, Lucky Luciano in New York, and Sam Alito in Washington, DC.
Justice Alito declared that no way could Pilate have gotten a fair trial, with the populace spreading the word that Christ was the only begotten son of God. The scriptures, Alito emphatically stated, say that we all are the children of God, and scriptures take precedence over man’s laws. “We here in this very court,” he continued, “we six justices are a testament to that divinity. If we don’t sitteth at the right hand of God, I don’t know who does.”
Justices Kagan, Sotomayor and Jackson, knowing their six confreres better than anyone, dissented.
We have a new speaker of the House who openly wants to establish a 'moral' Christian Nationalism run by the next Republican president. Who will implement a fascist plan called Project 2025, as outlined at the end of Thom Hartmann's historical analysis of what led up to The Shocking GOP Plan to Dismantle the American Government. And all the while you've watched the Republican Party champion the idea of "freedom" while you have also watched the same party openly assault various freedoms, like the freedom to vote, freedom to choose, freedom to marry who you want, freedom for your children's teachers and librarians to have them read what they want, freedom to form unions and so on. If this has been a source of confusion, then your assessments of what Republicans mean by freedom were likely too generous. Here is what they mean: 1. The freedom to tell people what to do. 2. Freedom from being told what to do.
Not sure if you know about the John Fugelsang Podcast. He is an authority on the Bible. His father was a Franciscan Friar and his mother was a nun! He covers all the events with a voice that is addicting!
Thanks for the Fugelsang reminder! I always credit him with the wonderful quip that Mitt Romney is a "human windsock!" Just thought about him in context of being a humorist, but you connect more background.
New last paragraph of Exposing....: So since the huge event of Joe Biden bowing out and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for President of the United States of America on Sunday the 21st of July, there is only one question before us: Would you rather have a Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissistic Moron whose Parents Both Also Had Dementia running this country or the Daughter of Two University Professors?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/26/trump-turning-point-speech-vance/ has at part of the quote, saying: “The former president urged attendees at the faith-themed event to vote — ‘Vote early. Vote absentee. Vote on Election Day. I don’t care how, but you have to get out and vote,’ he said — and promised that in four years, ‘we’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.’”
Thanks but so painful! The word "smarmy" comes to mind, but inadequate to contemplate the reciprocal side of those who somehow are bought in to the fakery religiosity. I don't think "cult" requires the leader to be a cynical, consciously manipulative fake who despises his victim/followers, but this is what is made manifest here. It calls up the ancient question about the reality of evil.
But, I'm also very hopeful that President Harris will not make "toast" of Federal Trade Commission Chair, Linda Kahn, since two billionaire democratic donors (one is Barry Diller) wants Kahn fired for doing her job very well in favor of the average American consumer.
Kahn is outstanding and is championed by Senators Sanders and Warren.
What a great Coffee Klatch! So much energy! Thank you Professor Reich and Ms. Lofthouse! What a difference a week makes! I agree that we need to get on that blue wave. It is so important for our Democracy! I would like to say that President Biden will always be my hero. For the great things he has done in office for every American to his selfless decision to step aside and let the younger generation show what they can do. I believe Vice-President Harris will build on everything President Biden started and our country will be so much better off than it was when the orange man was in office. People are starting to wake up and take notice and the energy is building! You mentioned Project 2025 and how the orange stain is trying to distance himself from it. If you simply remind people that Agenda47 is Project 2025 in different words, he can't use that as an argument. He may say his policies and platform will follow Agenda47, but he is actually saying I will implement Project 2025(Agenda47) immediately in office. We MUST keep telling people about Project 2025/Agenda47 all the way up to election. Vote Blue through and through! Lotus for POTUS!
Thank you for mentioning Agenda47. For tRump adherents they are all over correcting people and trying to twist into a pretzel that Agenda47 is different than Project2025. There are differences but both are a dystopian white men only fascist America.
Here is how one of my friends, a maga cult member replies on my fb feed
“what’s your version of the project? So many out there they can’t get it right” By the “they” she means Dems.
And:
“ it’s
Not to be confused with Donald Trump's package of proposals, Agenda 47 as stated and Demos have”
I don’t believe for a moment my tRumpster friend has read either. I have read both.
Thomas Paine On Religions Keeping Mankind Ignorant Of The Creator
As Governments Keep Man Ignorant Of His Rights
So let us briefly update and address the two central themes in Thomas Paine's precocious quote: "It has been the scheme of the Christian Church, and of all the other invented systems of religion, to hold man in ignorance of the Creator, as it is of governments to hold man in the ignorance of his rights. The systems of the one are as false as those of the other, and are calculated for mutual support."
So let's talk about the relation between religion and polytrix in the US government. We have a Supreme Court with six Catholics, steering religion and politics to the far right, away from the Creator. We'll comeback to the original conclusion after this read about the last act taken by the Supreme Court on the first of July. TruthBeTold's post from Jim Hightower's daily news letter on 7-2:
Today the U S Supreme Court overturned the centuries long conviction of Pontius Pilate, absolving him of any responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
In a 6-3 decision along party lines, Chief Justice John Roberts found in error the long standing verdict of history that the Governor of Judea had acted out of personal motivation. Quite the contrary, Roberts wrote, it was strictly within Pilate’s official capacity that he ordered the crucifixion.
In support of his conclusion that Pilate was not acting out of personal motives, Roberts noted a heretofore unrecognized fact. Pilate actually admired Christ and had for a time considered making him court jester after being told of Christ’s whimsical parables. However, after Christ fed the multitude on three fishes and five loaves, Pilate sought to have him elevated to high priest, a plan denounced by Joseph ben Caiaphas, the incumbent. To mollify Caiaphas, but primarily to remove a threat to his regime, Pilate reluctantly ordered the crucifixion, an act well within the governor’s official duties. The first duty of every official, Roberts wrote, is to preserve and perpetuate his rule, be he governor, satrap or inspector of hides and brands.
In his concurring opinion, Justice Kavanaugh noted that crucifixion was not a death sentence, merely a punishment. Unfortunately, he wrote, some individuals perversely elected to die on the cross just to embarrass a government toward which they were ill disposed. Likewise in the case of time honored punishments such as keel-hauling and flogging there were the occasional fatalities, regrettable but hardly of consequence.
Justice Gorsuch noted in his concurrence that in olden times, measures which today are deemed cruel and unusual were in fact a necessity. Trial by water and trial by fire, he observed, were the only ways to get at the facts before the advent of the polygraph and Fox News.
Remarking the perspective she had gained occupying the Tomas de Torquemada Chair of Jurisprudence at Notre Dame, Justice Barrett stated with apodictic certainty that had prosecutors been deprived of the rack, the thumbscrew and the iron maiden, many great truths would have gone unrevealed.
Despite having been challenged to recuse himself when it was learned that Harlan Crow had given him Pilate’s solid gold death mask, Justice Thomas wrote a concurring opinion, the gist being: redemption. Romans, he observed, had long since become good Catholics and were thereby redeemed by Christ himself; they had hardly bothered anyone since their conversion, with the exception of Al Capone in Chicago, Lucky Luciano in New York, and Sam Alito in Washington, DC.
Justice Alito declared that no way could Pilate have gotten a fair trial, with the populace spreading the word that Christ was the only begotten son of God. The scriptures, Alito emphatically stated, say that we all are the children of God, and scriptures take precedence over man’s laws. “We here in this very court,” he continued, “we six justices are a testament to that divinity. If we don’t sitteth at the right hand of God, I don’t know who does.”
Justices Kagan, Sotomayor and Jackson, knowing their six confreres better than anyone, dissented.
We have a new speaker of the House who openly wants to establish a 'moral' Christian Nationalism run by the next Republican president. Who will implement a fascist plan called Project 2025, as outlined at the end of Thom Hartmann's historical analysis of what led up to The Shocking GOP Plan to Dismantle the American Government. And all the while you've watched the Republican Party champion the idea of "freedom" while you have also watched the same party openly assault various freedoms, like the freedom to vote, freedom to choose, freedom to marry who you want, freedom for your children's teachers and librarians to have them read what they want, freedom to form unions and so on. If this has been a source of confusion, then your assessments of what Republicans mean by freedom were likely too generous. Here is what they mean: 1. The freedom to tell people what to do. 2. Freedom from being told what to do.
Exposing The Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissist As A Moron
A Comparison of President Biden's Mental Competency with Donald Trump's
Recently the media focus has been on the 'age issue' and the question of the mental competency of an octogenarian during President Biden's second term. So let's compare his mental competency with Donald Trump's starting with his most recent gaffow followed by a list of what he said and his cabinet members said about him during his first term. (A short list of my faves:)
Did Biden call Nancy Pelosi Nicky Haley when recently talking about the 1-6-21 assault on the capital?
Did he claim the ability to properly identify a giraffe in a multiple choice of three animals, proved he was a "real stable genius"?
Did his former college professor call him the "dumbest f--king student I ever had"?
Did Biden suggest we could build a wall with transparent concrete?
Did he ever say to the camera he wished his wife were present with him while she was literally standing next to him looking confused?
Did his own sibling say in a recorded interview that he paid someone to take the SAT for him because he was too stupid to get into college on his own?
Did Biden think people needed photo IDs to buy groceries?
Did Biden say Paris was a city in Germany?
Did he misspell basic words in dozens of different tweets only to "correct" them by misspelling them a different way?
Did he suggest injecting disinfectants into our bloodstream to kill COVID?
Did he say he didn't know what a blind trust is, despite having a "degree" in Finance?
Did he bankrupt every business he tried starting on his own, including a Casino?
Was Biden the first President in history to utter the sentence, "Belgium is a beautiful city"?
Did Biden ever say our captured prisoners of war are only heroes because they were captured?
Did he have more than a dozen of his hand picked cabinet members resign because they couldn't work with his incompetence?
Did his own Chief of Staff call him an "idiot"?
Did a Senator from his own party say, "The White House has become an adult day care center”?
Did his own Secretary of State say he was a "fucking moron"?
Did his own economic advisor say he was "dumb as shit...an idiot surrounded by clowns"?
Did his National Security Advisor say he was "a dope...an idiot [with the intelligence of] a kindergartner”?
I saved the above collection of quotes that was originally posted on a Facebook page dedicated to insuring Joe Biden's second term last year. That was before that Republican special prosecutor in his VP document's case harped on the age issue and Joe's forgetfulness of details when the guy interviewed him. I was going to submit the above to the Daily Kos before reading the two following articles updating Trump's mental problems amidst the failure of a media focus on the orange moron at the president's expense while he's trying to run this country as the GOP is fixed on trying to tear it apart.
I just read your lead article titled The media will not report that Trump appears to have middle-stage dementia, cataloging his further mental decline. A couple of days later Facebook suggested I look at a new site dedicated to the politics and humor of Jon Stewart which just 'happened' to have posted the original interview in Salon titled "Like someone pulled the metaphorical plug": Dr. John Gartner on Trump's "accelerating dementia". This whole interview was fixated on the dementia issue without mentioning that Both his Parents had Alzheimer's/dementia, which I Learned when I posted A Comparison to every response.
Trump has obviously been both a low IQ moron and a fascist all his life, his first attorney was Roy Cohn Christ's sake. For here's precisely how he became the Perfect GOP Candidate: A supreme Narcissist who first builds Hotels with his last Name plastered all over the top of each with a Will To Power Fixation that drives him to become a TV Star where the whole game was to have the contestants kiss his ass to see who was His most 'competent' Apprentice, Firing all the Losers before finally picking the Winner, Like Me. Which sets him up to run for President, Wrapping Himself In MAGA Flag to Beat all those Loser Politicians in the Primary and Lock Her Up Hillary in the 2016 Electoral College. Rejoice, rejoice an absolute field day for all the fascists, white supremacists, Christian nationalists, plutocrat billionaires, corporatists, corporate media, evangelical preachers and six Supreme Court Justices all Backing a Moronic and now progressively Demented Fuhrer for the MAGA Masses Who Worship Him Like A God, Further Feeding Its Insatiable Sociopathic Narcissism!!!
Turns out I also hadn't read the whole issue with A.J. Pennyfarthing's 10 stunning moments from Trump's late-night speech to religious broadcasters. You ain't going to be changing any preacher's or MAGA's minds about how unhinged DT is with any raft of articles cause that is the Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissistic Moron's Lowest Common Denominator Appeal To The Wrap Yourself In MAGA Flag And $60 Bible Masses!
I've quit predicting. 8 years ago I awoke in the middle of the night in London to see how much Hilary Clinton had won by, and was never so surprised and shocked -- and wrong -- in my life.
Worse, Hilary's popular vote was about 2 million higher than Trump's -- and this, once again, calls into question the undemocratic Electoral system. I think that Robert and Heather should address this critical issue in their conversation.
I fervently *hope* that Kamela Harris will get enough votes in the critical locations to win.
“and this, once again, calls into question the undemocratic Electoral system.”
There is no question. It’s a perverse anti-democratic relic and it has to go.
It was created to DEFEND/BOLSTER SLAVERY, both literal and figurative, and NOTHING more! It is obsolete by OVER A CENTURY.
Trump is toast! "I never count my--," and you know how the rest of that old saying goes. Besides I don't like the stuff, toast hurts my gums, seeing as how I have zero teeth. However, looking at everything that's been tossed into the ring as of this date I would have to agree with Robert. It's like watching a long-distance shot from a high-powered rifle at an unexpecting animal. You know the outcome, but the poor critter is completely oblivious to his impending fate, as the bullet closes in on its target. Trump is what my gums dislike, hard old toast. With his pick for VP in the wings doing damage control, I find it difficult to understand just how Donnie Boy will "Ad-Vance" his sick agenda.
The only way DT can advance his sick agenda is if there are enough sick and frightened people willing to buy it.
“Poor critter”….how about evil critter?
tRump will toast himself as his dementia spirals more and more. His family needs to step in and stop him.
Look at his family history: he has ALZHEIMERS. Though his criminal daddy died of it in his 90s, fatties get disease worse and faster! (I have a large gut still and was very briefly "obese," so I know.)
None of his family will step in and stop him; they are conmen/grifters themselves, they grew up watching him con and grift. They are as useless as he is.
Slavery, in my opinion, is what will make a comeback if the GOP is elected. Their forced-birth agenda, the destruction of child-labor laws, foster-care for profit, "emergency pregnancy centers" that urge penniless girls to go ahead and have that baby: all combine to make a caste of permanent debt-slaves. Our 13th amendment can be repealed, just as Prohibition was. That's why Trump recently "charmed" Evangelists by promising that they won't need to vote any more if he's elected because everything "will be fixed." We can devolve to Old Testament times.
And it will never change. The chance for an Amendment is beyond our reach
No very lightly toasted toast? I like mine more like warm bread and I only am missing one tooth from a 2-month coma!
Agreed
We also need to continue to crack down on gerrymandering. It's already built in crooked at that level :(
Swerl, I'm hoping that Common Cause makes a difference in this issue.
Uh, folks,
There's something else you should be aware of while we're distracted by atrocities in the Levant, and now election hijinks - antics & atrocities! : https://youtu.be/c4bgGwr3o7k?si=bC4bgbLhfOZRAwC9
On a brighter note, something that bodes well for Harris: https://youtu.be/dx4m-9_ea30?si=ifDvnt2YfHcMtXA5
If Haley is characterizing Harris as a centrist, I'm a'goin' with that, and better yet, that's what I consider myself to be, regardless of my economic views, and regardless of how some goddam RepubliGrifter would try to stigmatize me. (RepubliGrifter == MAGAt, and I'd recommend traditional Republicans consider using the term RepubliGrifter to distinguish themselves, as well.)
Also, it's just come to my attention the little Con Schitzinpantz - odd how a little typo transforms him from would-be European nobility to what he is in >fact<. Sometines I >love< my typos! 🤣 - is now calling VP Harris "Lyin' Kamala Harris." Might I suggest we all start calling her "Lioness Kamala Harris" as counterpropaganda ‽
An afterthought: "GriftPublicans" works too!!
Another afterthought: I just heard "The Wicked Witch of the Word's" former husband imply that we can cram that DEI candidate language back down little Con Schitzinpantz and his RepubliGrift sycophant and other worshippers' collective throats. Technically, little Con Schitzinpantz is old enough to qualify as a DEI candidate!!!! 🤣🤣🤣
Just heard "Shea D" Vance reply to the heat he's taking over "childless cat ladies," characterizing it as sarcasm. He shows that he just doesn't "get it!" He's right! It certainly >was< sarcasm, the likes of which, and far less, that stand-up comedians typically find themselves getting canceled over! 🙄
Speaking of comedians: https://youtu.be/XBdvqtdmjbw?si=YBGQCVCIPFjHMtvd
I like Lioness
👍👍
Thank you for the videos. Nice!
👍👍
Personally, my favorite is
republiCONS.
"Lioness" I like it! I'll use it. Trump will have to come up with a new epithet.
👍👍
Exposing The Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissist As A Moron
A Comparison of President Biden's Mental Competency with Donald Trump's
Recently the media focus has been on the 'age issue' and the question of the mental competency of an octogenarian during President Biden's second term. So let's compare his mental competency with Donald Trump's starting with his most recent gaffow followed by a list of what he said and his cabinet members said about him during his first term. (A short list of my faves:)
Did Biden call Nancy Pelosi Nicky Haley when recently talking about the 1-6-21 assault on the capital?
Did he claim the ability to properly identify a giraffe in a multiple choice of three animals, proved he was a "real stable genius"?
Did his former college professor call him the "dumbest f--king student I ever had"?
Did Biden suggest we could build a wall with transparent concrete?
Did he ever say to the camera he wished his wife were present with him while she was literally standing next to him looking confused?
Did his own sibling say in a recorded interview that he paid someone to take the SAT for him because he was too stupid to get into college on his own?
Did Biden think people needed photo IDs to buy groceries?
Did Biden say Paris was a city in Germany?
Did he misspell basic words in dozens of different tweets only to "correct" them by misspelling them a different way?
Did he suggest injecting disinfectants into our bloodstream to kill COVID?
Did he say he didn't know what a blind trust is, despite having a "degree" in Finance?
Did he bankrupt every business he tried starting on his own, including a Casino?
Was Biden the first President in history to utter the sentence, "Belgium is a beautiful city"?
Did Biden ever say our captured prisoners of war are only heroes because they were captured?
Did he have more than a dozen of his hand picked cabinet members resign because they couldn't work with his incompetence?
Did his own Chief of Staff call him an "idiot"?
Did a Senator from his own party say, "The White House has become an adult day care center”?
Did his own Secretary of State say he was a "fucking moron"?
Did his own economic advisor say he was "dumb as shit...an idiot surrounded by clowns"?
Did his National Security Advisor say he was "a dope...an idiot [with the intelligence of] a kindergartner”?
I saved the above collection of quotes that was originally posted on a Facebook page dedicated to insuring Joe Biden's second term last year. That was before that Republican special prosecutor in his VP document's case harped on the age issue and Joe's forgetfulness of details when the guy interviewed him. I was going to submit the above to the Daily Kos before reading the two following articles updating Trump's mental problems amidst the failure of a media focus on the orange moron at the president's expense while he's trying to run this country as the GOP is fixed on trying to tear it apart.
I just read your lead article titled The media will not report that Trump appears to have middle-stage dementia, cataloging his further mental decline. A couple of days later Facebook suggested I look at a new site dedicated to the politics and humor of Jon Stewart which just 'happened' to have posted the original interview in Salon titled "Like someone pulled the metaphorical plug": Dr. John Gartner on Trump's "accelerating dementia". This whole interview was fixated on the dementia issue without mentioning that Both his Parents had Alzheimer's/dementia, which I Learned when I posted A Comparison to every response.
Trump has obviously been both a low IQ moron and a fascist all his life, his first attorney was Roy Cohn Christ's sake. For here's precisely how he became the Perfect GOP Candidate: A supreme Narcissist who first builds Hotels with his last Name plastered all over the top of each with a Will To Power Fixation that drives him to become a TV Star where the whole game was to have the contestants kiss his ass to see who was His most 'competent' Apprentice, Firing all the Losers before finally picking the Winner, Like Me. Which sets him up to run for President, Wrapping Himself In MAGA Flag to Beat all those Loser Politicians in the Primary and Lock Her Up Hillary in the 2016 Electoral College. Rejoice, rejoice an absolute field day for all the fascists, white supremacists, Christian nationalists, plutocrat billionaires, corporatists, corporate media, evangelical preachers and six Supreme Court Justices all Backing a Moronic and now progressively Demented Fuhrer for the MAGA Masses Who Worship Him Like A God, Further Feeding Its Insatiable Sociopathic Narcissism!!!
Turns out I also hadn't read the whole issue with A.J. Pennyfarthing's 10 stunning moments from Trump's late-night speech to religious broadcasters. You ain't going to be changing any preacher's or MAGA's minds about how unhinged DT is with any raft of articles cause that is the Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissistic Moron's Lowest Common Denominator Appeal To The Wrap Yourself In MAGA Flag And $60 Bible Masses!
Thomas Paine On Religions Keeping Mankind Ignorant Of The Creator
As Governments Keep Man Ignorant Of His Rights
So let us briefly update and address the two central themes in Thomas Paine's precocious quote: "It has been the scheme of the Christian Church, and of all the other invented systems of religion, to hold man in ignorance of the Creator, as it is of governments to hold man in the ignorance of his rights. The systems of the one are as false as those of the other, and are calculated for mutual support."
So let's talk about the relation between religion and polytrix in the US government. We have a Supreme Court with six Catholics, steering religion and politics to the far right, away from the Creator. We'll comeback to the original conclusion after this read about the last act taken by the Supreme Court on the first of July. TruthBeTold's post from Jim Hightower's daily news letter on 7-2:
Today the U S Supreme Court overturned the centuries long conviction of Pontius Pilate, absolving him of any responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
In a 6-3 decision along party lines, Chief Justice John Roberts found in error the long standing verdict of history that the Governor of Judea had acted out of personal motivation. Quite the contrary, Roberts wrote, it was strictly within Pilate’s official capacity that he ordered the crucifixion.
In support of his conclusion that Pilate was not acting out of personal motives, Roberts noted a heretofore unrecognized fact. Pilate actually admired Christ and had for a time considered making him court jester after being told of Christ’s whimsical parables. However, after Christ fed the multitude on three fishes and five loaves, Pilate sought to have him elevated to high priest, a plan denounced by Joseph ben Caiaphas, the incumbent. To mollify Caiaphas, but primarily to remove a threat to his regime, Pilate reluctantly ordered the crucifixion, an act well within the governor’s official duties. The first duty of every official, Roberts wrote, is to preserve and perpetuate his rule, be he governor, satrap or inspector of hides and brands.
In his concurring opinion, Justice Kavanaugh noted that crucifixion was not a death sentence, merely a punishment. Unfortunately, he wrote, some individuals perversely elected to die on the cross just to embarrass a government toward which they were ill disposed. Likewise in the case of time honored punishments such as keel-hauling and flogging there were the occasional fatalities, regrettable but hardly of consequence.
Justice Gorsuch noted in his concurrence that in olden times, measures which today are deemed cruel and unusual were in fact a necessity. Trial by water and trial by fire, he observed, were the only ways to get at the facts before the advent of the polygraph and Fox News.
Remarking the perspective she had gained occupying the Tomas de Torquemada Chair of Jurisprudence at Notre Dame, Justice Barrett stated with apodictic certainty that had prosecutors been deprived of the rack, the thumbscrew and the iron maiden, many great truths would have gone unrevealed.
Despite having been challenged to recuse himself when it was learned that Harlan Crow had given him Pilate’s solid gold death mask, Justice Thomas wrote a concurring opinion, the gist being: redemption. Romans, he observed, had long since become good Catholics and were thereby redeemed by Christ himself; they had hardly bothered anyone since their conversion, with the exception of Al Capone in Chicago, Lucky Luciano in New York, and Sam Alito in Washington, DC.
Justice Alito declared that no way could Pilate have gotten a fair trial, with the populace spreading the word that Christ was the only begotten son of God. The scriptures, Alito emphatically stated, say that we all are the children of God, and scriptures take precedence over man’s laws. “We here in this very court,” he continued, “we six justices are a testament to that divinity. If we don’t sitteth at the right hand of God, I don’t know who does.”
Justices Kagan, Sotomayor and Jackson, knowing their six confreres better than anyone, dissented.
We have a new speaker of the House who openly wants to establish a 'moral' Christian Nationalism run by the next Republican president. Who will implement a fascist plan called Project 2025, as outlined at the end of Thom Hartmann's historical analysis of what led up to The Shocking GOP Plan to Dismantle the American Government. And all the while you've watched the Republican Party champion the idea of "freedom" while you have also watched the same party openly assault various freedoms, like the freedom to vote, freedom to choose, freedom to marry who you want, freedom for your children's teachers and librarians to have them read what they want, freedom to form unions and so on. If this has been a source of confusion, then your assessments of what Republicans mean by freedom were likely too generous. Here is what they mean: 1. The freedom to tell people what to do. 2. Freedom from being told what to do.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/31/2190709/-The-Shocking-GOP-Plan-to-Dismantle-the-American-Government-Revealed?detail=emaildkre&pm_source=DKRE&pm_medium=email
????
Me too- I went to bed the night of that election with everything showing Hilary winning by something in the mid 90's percentile and woke to the huge shock and disappointment of Trump as the winner. It has been a nightmare ever since, and I really wish that he would just go away to his hideout and STAY there- with his mouth SHUT! GO KAMALA!
Amen, Amen, AMEN! Kamala must, and will, win this election! Let this energy and focus follow all of us to the very victory we’re so happy to commit to! It’s been SO long since we’ve experienced political fun and laughter! She makes me smile and enjoy a whole range of healthy, positive thoughts and emotions. ❤️ (I'm Mr. Reich's age: 78. I refuse to "expire" until the country and we the people are living in a reasonable and healthy democracy!
Trump said election was rigged. What about his race with Hillary. Did Russia interfere?
I wish I had never heard from him after that election!
Clinton ran a terrible ground game. Harris won’t make that mistake.
I think that was a big part of her loss.
I’m hoping if democrats take house, senate & WH, they will do something about the electoral college.
It will take a Constitutional amendment to do this (2/3 of Congress, 3/4 of states), something that will not happen. The best is the legally questionable (meaning untested in court as of yet) National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.
And the Supreme Court!!!
If dems slow walk I will bite a nail. A real carpenters nail.
If Trump should win, we had better take both Houses
And while at it clean up the Supreme Court
If Trump loses Republicans in Congress will do their utmost to paralyze the federal government, which is their primary objective anyway.
Comey with the assist.
Jim, I've always wondered who set that up
That certainly sealed the deal. Why, why, why?
Joan, She won the vote of the people..period. The press and last minute BS took her down.
Lets not forget the 12% of Bernie Bros that crossed over to Trump out of spite, (nearly exactly the number of votes that lost Clinton several of the swings) all while screaming "ScOtTuS dOeSn'T mAtTeR!".
I voted for Hillary as a lifelong Democrat. I honestly believe, however, that Bernie would have easily beaten trump if the DNC had not intervened on her behalf.
The Clintons bought the DNC... Obama had left it shambles... That period was when the GOP made big gains in the State Legislatures, and Governorships.... That enables them to Gerrymander... They play the long game...
Me too! I hated how he was treated at the Democratic Convention.
I would have to hold my nose to vote for Bernie. I am a progressive but unlike Bernie, I know you have educate not shout, not insult
Much like NADER WAS TREATED IN 2000 snd Bernie in 2016 and 2018. WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW IS WHO OWNS THE MEDIA AND WHY C-SPAN DOESNT HAVE DEBATES AND WHY WE CANT REVERSE, OVERTURN OR AMEND CITIZENS UNITED. We have Congress and SCOTUS and now the President ALL OVERSEEING THEMSELVES.
Show me the data. I'm a Bernie "Bro", and know many other Bernie supporters who refused to vote for the orange stain. HRC lost because of her hubris and taking for granted Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Period.
Also, what was with anointing some delegates as "super delegates" who brought more votes than a traditional state delegate? Crummy thumb on the scale, Hillary.
Dane, I truly can’t understand that. I was a Bernie supporter & he won my state in the primary. But I immediately switched support once the decision was made. And no one knew at that time, how bad of a monster he would be.
I was not a huge Clinton supporter before either (*had* been an (I) since 1984), but had spent time on Wall Street and knew Trump as a charlatan, yet it was so much worse. I finally got off the fence and am a registered (D) now.
If we had only know then ...
The Sad Irony of it is that DJT launched his 2016 Campaign as a Publicity Stunt to boost his 'Brand', and never expected to Win... DJT initially funded his Campaign to last only until the South Carolina Primary... Hillary was a very weak Candidate...
Additionally, Clinton had been in the national public eye a much longer time and gave many the foundation to not like her (if you are looking for a reason, any will do). Harris does not carry that baggage as well.
Clinton's baggage was old-school and huge, including a propensity to war, all problems Harris doesn't have.
Tell that to faux news or newsmax
She did... but far fewer Dems voted for her than Obama for some reason and Bernie didn't really support her after he dropped out, so many of his supporters didn't either. Add to the mess that the FBI director created 10 days before the election by needlessly opening the e-mail investigation again. The FBI spent more than a year looking at that and could not find that she broke any laws and had done anything different than the Bush folks had done. This proved Comey's attack was purely political. Once he did that it was all the media could talk about until election night. Throw in the big anti-Clinton effect that the Russian bots and trolls had all year and is it any wonder she lost. The FBI should have spent more time on the Russians and the Trump connection with them. The deep rooted misogyny in this country wasn't helpful either. However... she did win the popular vote by 2.9 million (source AP) and that was the largest margin ever for a losing candidate. Goes to show that a woman CAN be elected president.
I agree Joan, Harris and the DNC better not make that mistake again.
Go Kamala... Cheers... GH
Jill Stein got way more votes than she lost by in swing states. Indeed, a 3rd party spoiler flipped the election. Currently, Kennedy is polling much higher than Stein. Kennedy can flip this election, I'm afraid.
Hillary's use of a private email server and her requirement that State Department employees email her outside the State Dept channel is illegal, I think. The employees could have been in real trouble for the insecure messages.
Clinton also had 30 years of Republican hate that had attacked her.
Hillary did not visit Wisconsin once. Not a single time. I would still like to know who on the campaign staff was responsible for that brilliant strategy because that same person is responsible for putting US democracy in existential crisis.
She came once to our state, unannounced and made no public appearances. She did attend a private fundraising event.
That has been said so many times...but if the Republican dominated Wisconsin legislature hadn't passed strict voter ID laws right before the 2016 election, that primarily impacted Democratic voters, she would have won the state and the race. We can't discount all the voter suppression then and even more so now.
We flipped the Supreme Court and finally got a fair map. That's major.
Victim shaming, Hillary Clinton WON the popular vote! She won inspite of the negative publicity, the FB reopened the prob into her private email server just days before the election. She still WON the popular vote by almost three million!
I came up with a list of about 14 factors that hurt Hillary. Not any one thing.
Was a 3rd party one of them?
Even in a rather bluish state of Colorado the ground game looks more like Obama ‘08 than Clinton or Biden. Lots of updates for social media as well.
HRC was a terrible candidate to run against trump. I never thought she would carry the election. In many ways, the Clintons are sleazy (pay for a stay in the Lincoln bedroom, contribute to our Foundation and we'll see... and accept big donation for the Clinton library and then pardon Marc Rich) A New Yorker author wrote that Bill called donald and told him he should run. I think it may have been Bill's thought that one more clown in the car would help Hillary win. Backfired! She should never have called people deplorables. And, she should have appeared on election night to thank the people who worked hard to try to get her elected. (Too bad about the expensive glass ceiling)
I
I thought she could have done more to bring in the Bernie Sanders followers.
Comey. Subsequently fired by Trump.
Yep. I just re-watched Frontline's doc on Trump and the Russia investigation called "Trump's Showdown." I recommend it.
She had help from the FBI if you call that help?
My friends in England always ask about our undemocratic system, where our vote can be discounted with the EC. This archaic form of cheating should have been dumped decades ago.
We should've gone to the more democratic European multi-party system, Proportional Representation, too. More than two parties can run here, but it's still a two party system.
Without the EC, the religious zealots never would've hijacked the Supreme Court.
Exactly! We should have rioted when the election was completely stolen from Al Gore!! We’ve been cheated ever since.
Before that election the FL GOP purged almost 200,000 voters from their rolls for mostly false charges. Almost all were in DEM districts and almost 50% were black and minority voters. Things like this take years of lawsuits to undo and with today's S. Court probably never. Also remember that Nader got about 96,000 votes in FL. If he were not on the ballot and even a couple thousand voted for Gore.... well. And considering Nader's ideas and followers I really don't think many of them would have voted for Bush.
Nader supporters have been barking for the last 24 years that it didn't make any difference. BS. In a two party system a third party person is a spoiler no matter how good their ideas are. As much as I like many of her ideas Jill is, as of today on the ballot in 24 states with 5 pending. RFK jr is on 12. No matter how much one may love these folks they will never get elected president! In a parliamentary system where candidates run at large and not by states or districts each one of them might win several seats in one house of the government and then actually have some say in what goes on. Sorry, but that is not our system!
A number of folks posting here like to talk about how the DEMs and GOP are the same so they will vote for Jill or RFK jr. If they weren't in the race then, according to them, it comes down to the lessor of two evils. Maybe so, but are you really willing to not vote and watch the MORE EVIL GOP and DT be elected? I'm not willing to watch my country become a fascist cesspool led by DT and lose my Social Security and Medicare and more because the DEMs pissed me off about a few things. No one should be willing to take that chance! Bigger fish here. Use you head, not your heart this time. Help fund a big blue wave so the DEMs have enough power in DC to actually get some good things done without always having to beg the GOP to help them with "bi-partisanship". Those asshole really don't believe in it and have been proving it for the last 50 years.
Go Kamala.... Send in some money.... VOTE BLUE! Cheers... GH
It's worth also taking a close look at "democracy" in any representative governmental system -- for example, the various parlimentary systems -- including the UK (where I now live).
And then there are many "interesting" examples of direct democracy at work (via referenda: California's Prop 13, UK's Brexit, etc.) and on the other hand the township systems of direct government that still exist in e.g. New England.
The interesting -- and very early -- suggestions of Plato in "The Republic", have never been tried to the depth he suggested, but the idea he suggested provoked the question -- centuries later in Rome -- "Who will guard the Guardians?".
The Republic suggests that 50 years of "wisdom training" for the Guardians will also guard them. Jefferson's answer was public education "to better inform the discretion" of the voting citizens. (I still like this one, but public education is now far below the needed threshold, and so are too many of the voting public.)
I should mention here that what "informed discretion" meant back then was not a party line or political doctrine, but the ability to learn the issues and "argue in a good way" to try to find civilized grounds for actions.
Exposing The Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissist As A Moron
A Comparison of President Biden's Mental Competency with Donald Trump's
Recently the media focus has been on the 'age issue' and the question of the mental competency of an octogenarian during President Biden's second term. So let's compare his mental competency with Donald Trump's starting with his most recent gaffow followed by a list of what he said and his cabinet members said about him during his first term. (A short list of my faves:)
Did Biden call Nancy Pelosi Nicky Haley when recently talking about the 1-6-21 assault on the capital?
Did he claim the ability to properly identify a giraffe in a multiple choice of three animals, proved he was a "real stable genius"?
Did his former college professor call him the "dumbest f--king student I ever had"?
Did Biden suggest we could build a wall with transparent concrete?
Did he ever say to the camera he wished his wife were present with him while she was literally standing next to him looking confused?
Did his own sibling say in a recorded interview that he paid someone to take the SAT for him because he was too stupid to get into college on his own?
Did Biden think people needed photo IDs to buy groceries?
Did Biden say Paris was a city in Germany?
Did he misspell basic words in dozens of different tweets only to "correct" them by misspelling them a different way?
Did he suggest injecting disinfectants into our bloodstream to kill COVID?
Did he say he didn't know what a blind trust is, despite having a "degree" in Finance?
Did he bankrupt every business he tried starting on his own, including a Casino?
Was Biden the first President in history to utter the sentence, "Belgium is a beautiful city"?
Did Biden ever say our captured prisoners of war are only heroes because they were captured?
Did he have more than a dozen of his hand picked cabinet members resign because they couldn't work with his incompetence?
Did his own Chief of Staff call him an "idiot"?
Did a Senator from his own party say, "The White House has become an adult day care center”?
Did his own Secretary of State say he was a "fucking moron"?
Did his own economic advisor say he was "dumb as shit...an idiot surrounded by clowns"?
Did his National Security Advisor say he was "a dope...an idiot [with the intelligence of] a kindergartner”?
I saved the above collection of quotes that was originally posted on a Facebook page dedicated to insuring Joe Biden's second term last year. That was before that Republican special prosecutor in his VP document's case harped on the age issue and Joe's forgetfulness of details when the guy interviewed him. I was going to submit the above to the Daily Kos before reading the two following articles updating Trump's mental problems amidst the failure of a media focus on the orange moron at the president's expense while he's trying to run this country as the GOP is fixed on trying to tear it apart.
I just read your lead article titled The media will not report that Trump appears to have middle-stage dementia, cataloging his further mental decline. A couple of days later Facebook suggested I look at a new site dedicated to the politics and humor of Jon Stewart which just 'happened' to have posted the original interview in Salon titled "Like someone pulled the metaphorical plug": Dr. John Gartner on Trump's "accelerating dementia". This whole interview was fixated on the dementia issue without mentioning that Both his Parents had Alzheimer's/dementia, which I Learned when I posted A Comparison to every response.
Trump has obviously been both a low IQ moron and a fascist all his life, his first attorney was Roy Cohn Christ's sake. For here's precisely how he became the Perfect GOP Candidate: A supreme Narcissist who first builds Hotels with his last Name plastered all over the top of each with a Will To Power Fixation that drives him to become a TV Star where the whole game was to have the contestants kiss his ass to see who was His most 'competent' Apprentice, Firing all the Losers before finally picking the Winner, Like Me. Which sets him up to run for President, Wrapping Himself In MAGA Flag to Beat all those Loser Politicians in the Primary and Lock Her Up Hillary in the 2016 Electoral College. Rejoice, rejoice an absolute field day for all the fascists, white supremacists, Christian nationalists, plutocrat billionaires, corporatists, corporate media, evangelical preachers and six Supreme Court Justices all Backing a Moronic and now progressively Demented Fuhrer for the MAGA Masses Who Worship Him Like A God, Further Feeding Its Insatiable Sociopathic Narcissism!!!
Turns out I also hadn't read the whole issue with A.J. Pennyfarthing's 10 stunning moments from Trump's late-night speech to religious broadcasters. You ain't going to be changing any preacher's or MAGA's minds about how unhinged DT is with any raft of articles cause that is the Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissistic Moron's Lowest Common Denominator Appeal To The Wrap Yourself In MAGA Flag And $60 Bible Masses!
Hillary won the popular vote by nearly 3 million
I agree, but there is nothing to be done about it until and unless progressive Democrats have super majorities in both houses. And, to compound the short term problem, the Republicans are in control of the House. I fully expect Mike Johnson to implement a repeat of Trump's narrowly failed 2020 plan to subvert the popular results by rejecting electors from states Harris wins but have Republican controlled legislatures. The only way I see to keep that from happening is to have a large margin of victory.
BTW Jamie Raskin detailed the Trump strategy in his book, Unthinkable.
The unthinkable happens when people don't think. Sadly, most don't. In the Proud Tower Barbara Tuchman document how almost everyone wanted war in 1914. Then unthinkable things happened one after another, and we are still living with the consequences.
Ths US Electoral System is a “byproduct” of the Confederacy, which was based on slavery.
The EC is a way for small states to have more influence.
Also to keep slavery, deny the vote to women, indentured servants Native Americans and white men with no "real" property. In other words, it was part of "their" constitution that was written to keep old white guys in power, just without a king.
Vote Blue! Cheers... GH
Well, maybe, sort of....but it's more complicated than that. During the 1787 Constituional Convention, northern states did not want to count any enslaved persons for the purpose of determining number of congressional delegates. Southern states wanted enslaved persons to be counted. The compromise was to count a slave as 3/5th of a person. The electoral college wasn't established until 1804 as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens. The electoral college may have helped southern states prior to the abolition of slavery, but now benefits rural states. I would like to abolish it because I lean to the left. But, it would result in a probability that the urban areas of the coasts and other large urban areas would elect the president. I live in a rural state, but it's Vermont--we elect Bernie and another progressive for senate plus an LGBQ female progressive for congress. Our republican governor has promised to do everything he can to prevent Trump from winning.
wow....thanks for that. I understand your argument about urban areas, and I wonder if we were to abolish the EC and use ranked choice voting how the voting would skew? I suspect the same way, isn't it inevitable at this point, and if so, what is the way of not making the rural states irrelevant?
Today, the primary beneficiaries of the federal system are corporations, especially agribusiness and the extractive industries (oil and other minerals).
That may be true now (and for the past several years) but I don't believe that was the impetus behind the design of the electoral college. Unfortunately, recent democratic presidents did not pay enough attention to D. D. Eisenhower's warnings.
And a nod to the losers
I stayed up to watch all the returns. I even had champagne chilling to celebrate Secretary Clinton’s victory. I ended up having a panic attack, only the second one I’d ever had, and called my stepmother and daughter crying hysterically. My doctor put me on trazodone so I could sleep at night. I was 67 at the time I’m too old to go through that again.
I’d hoped I could stop the trazodone, but the possibility of a second, even worse, term for tfg has haunted me. The past few weeks have had me walking the floor all night, spending lots of time researching countries that are good for American expats, and working on spreadsheets of requirements for me, my son, d-i-l, granddaughters, d-i-l’s parents, daughter and s-i-l. I’m better now but I may not relax at all until January 21.
I never would have believed our democracy was so fragile. The ridiculous electoral college should have been eliminated when all the post civil war constitutional amendments were added.
Perhaps Democrats from solid Blue states could relo en masse to Red swing states as part of a “ long game" plan to dump the electoral college via constitutional convention. Just a thot.
If we lose, I thought a bunch of us could buy some land in a safe blue state. I just saw on CBS that a bunch of tech billionaires bought land in cally to build a community. I'm thinking like that, only with a tiny home community.
I’ve heard that proposed seriously. I think some areas, like the North Carolina research triangle near Duke, might be ok. 🤷🏻♀️
Susan - I used to think that Florida would become Deep Blue due to all the retirees settling in there from Bluer northern & northeastern states. Something in my algorithm must be amiss --- apparently more conservatives than liberals are attracted by the Floridian climate. Or maybe they are just repelled by the DeSantisian political climate.
It’s funny. I’m 75 and if anything more liberal than I used to be, but it looks to me like the older you get, the more “conservative” you become.
People can’t reason from A to B. People think that America used to be great, and isn’t anymore, because in the time they were thinking about “men were men” “minorities knew their place” “women didn’t have to work” but it’s just nostalgia for when they were children, had no responsibilities, and were unaware of anything political. Maybe the reason I remained a liberal is that I didn’t have a very good childhood.
Susan - Your comments are "funny", in that they made me smile with recognition, as I have had many of those same thoughts (except for your not having a very good childhood -- looking back on it mine was great ("Thanks, Mom!") -- which is a shame, as you sound like a very nice person.
I also note that you placed quotes around the word "conservative." I also do that a lot, because the term can have many meanings and is context dependent. It is quite normal for people to become "conservative" in their tastes as they grow older (and possibly wiser) -- in food, music, activities and in politics also -- as they (we) tend to know what we like/don't like and may experiment with new choices less than in our younger days.
In your defense: Hillary Clinton DID INDEED win the 2016 election.
I remember that day. I have a friend who worked the Clinton Election Night event. He explained the mood started good, but got worse as the night went on. Later, people were crying and leaving.
Too bad the popular vote doesn't matter. It's all about the swing states. She needs Kelly to win the swing states, IMO.
For this reason, I wish the poll had a "not sure" option. If she picks Kelly, I think she will win in a landslide. If she picks anybody else, it's a coin toss or a loss. But anything can happen in 100 days.
Another reason to pick Kelly is that because of his military career, he and Gabby have been vetted since high school. BTW, being an Astronaut is like being a Submarine Captain because they only pick the best and smaetest who keep their cool in all situations. I'm no astronaut, but I know that from an Annapolis Submarine Captain.)
The Klatch post ends with a poll, while the video ends on a note to have laughter. I would like to post a video ties these together.
In the video, several RNC speakers ask, "are you better off today than four years ago?" This is no coincidence. I heard a Detective once say, "investigators don't believe in coincidence." I agree. Team Trump knows damn well that the only way Trump can win is if Americans believe* they are worse off today than four years ago. This is one reason why they could not allow bipartisan, comprehensive Border reforms. The Border has to be worse today than four years ago for their "better off four years ago" argument to work.
Republicans believe they have their base on-board. The "Now versus 4 years ago" argument is their simple pitch to the independents. It's very possible that if 51% of swing states voters believe they were better off four years ago, Trump will win. Sorry! As my mom used to say, "don't count your chickens before they hatch."
I hope this video helps show that we are better off NOW after 3.5 years of Biden while having a good laugh. Thank you, Seth and A Closer Look.
Don't worry! Organize to GOTV!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aCrZiW4BaVM&list=PLJaq64dKJZoqsh7PGGUi-SARV4wUz_lVa&index=1&pp=iAQB
Worse, Hilary's popular vote was about 2 million higher than Trump's...
Clinton won California alone by 4.3 million votes higher than Trump. So the erosion of 2.3 million in the other states also means something.
Having just ONE state selecting the president presents problems too.
Obama was careful not to be labeled as "an angry black man." I'm pretty sure he spoke with her about Midwest redneck perceptions. I can say that because I am one. Lol.
Being "an angry Black woman" could also muffle Kamala. In 2009 it was necessary to be angry and vent people's outrage, but Obama could not do this because he was Black. Today is a time to be cool and calculating, something Kamala can do.
Angry works for Trump to the MAGA's. However, the moderates Democrats, Independents, and suburban swing state soccer moms who will decide the election are different, IMO. Always keeping cool is more Presidential.
Speaking of... Kelly as an astronaut keeps his cool better than anyone under extreme stress. He's definitely VP and Presidential material.
I hope Kari Lake doesn't cop his Senate seat when it's put back up for grabs in a special election.
Thomas Paine On Religions Keeping Mankind Ignorant Of The Creator
As Governments Keep Man Ignorant Of His Rights
So let us briefly update and address the two central themes in Thomas Paine's precocious quote: "It has been the scheme of the Christian Church, and of all the other invented systems of religion, to hold man in ignorance of the Creator, as it is of governments to hold man in the ignorance of his rights. The systems of the one are as false as those of the other, and are calculated for mutual support."
So let's talk about the relation between religion and polytrix in the US government. We have a Supreme Court with six Catholics, steering religion and politics to the far right, away from the Creator. We'll comeback to the original conclusion after this read about the last act taken by the Supreme Court on the first of July. TruthBeTold's post from Jim Hightower's daily news letter on 7-2:
Today the U S Supreme Court overturned the centuries long conviction of Pontius Pilate, absolving him of any responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
In a 6-3 decision along party lines, Chief Justice John Roberts found in error the long standing verdict of history that the Governor of Judea had acted out of personal motivation. Quite the contrary, Roberts wrote, it was strictly within Pilate’s official capacity that he ordered the crucifixion.
In support of his conclusion that Pilate was not acting out of personal motives, Roberts noted a heretofore unrecognized fact. Pilate actually admired Christ and had for a time considered making him court jester after being told of Christ’s whimsical parables. However, after Christ fed the multitude on three fishes and five loaves, Pilate sought to have him elevated to high priest, a plan denounced by Joseph ben Caiaphas, the incumbent. To mollify Caiaphas, but primarily to remove a threat to his regime, Pilate reluctantly ordered the crucifixion, an act well within the governor’s official duties. The first duty of every official, Roberts wrote, is to preserve and perpetuate his rule, be he governor, satrap or inspector of hides and brands.
In his concurring opinion, Justice Kavanaugh noted that crucifixion was not a death sentence, merely a punishment. Unfortunately, he wrote, some individuals perversely elected to die on the cross just to embarrass a government toward which they were ill disposed. Likewise in the case of time honored punishments such as keel-hauling and flogging there were the occasional fatalities, regrettable but hardly of consequence.
Justice Gorsuch noted in his concurrence that in olden times, measures which today are deemed cruel and unusual were in fact a necessity. Trial by water and trial by fire, he observed, were the only ways to get at the facts before the advent of the polygraph and Fox News.
Remarking the perspective she had gained occupying the Tomas de Torquemada Chair of Jurisprudence at Notre Dame, Justice Barrett stated with apodictic certainty that had prosecutors been deprived of the rack, the thumbscrew and the iron maiden, many great truths would have gone unrevealed.
Despite having been challenged to recuse himself when it was learned that Harlan Crow had given him Pilate’s solid gold death mask, Justice Thomas wrote a concurring opinion, the gist being: redemption. Romans, he observed, had long since become good Catholics and were thereby redeemed by Christ himself; they had hardly bothered anyone since their conversion, with the exception of Al Capone in Chicago, Lucky Luciano in New York, and Sam Alito in Washington, DC.
Justice Alito declared that no way could Pilate have gotten a fair trial, with the populace spreading the word that Christ was the only begotten son of God. The scriptures, Alito emphatically stated, say that we all are the children of God, and scriptures take precedence over man’s laws. “We here in this very court,” he continued, “we six justices are a testament to that divinity. If we don’t sitteth at the right hand of God, I don’t know who does.”
Justices Kagan, Sotomayor and Jackson, knowing their six confreres better than anyone, dissented.
We have a new speaker of the House who openly wants to establish a 'moral' Christian Nationalism run by the next Republican president. Who will implement a fascist plan called Project 2025, as outlined at the end of Thom Hartmann's historical analysis of what led up to The Shocking GOP Plan to Dismantle the American Government. And all the while you've watched the Republican Party champion the idea of "freedom" while you have also watched the same party openly assault various freedoms, like the freedom to vote, freedom to choose, freedom to marry who you want, freedom for your children's teachers and librarians to have them read what they want, freedom to form unions and so on. If this has been a source of confusion, then your assessments of what Republicans mean by freedom were likely too generous. Here is what they mean: 1. The freedom to tell people what to do. 2. Freedom from being told what to do.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/31/2190709/-The-Shocking-GOP-Plan-to-Dismantle-the-American-Government-Revealed?detail=emaildkre&pm_source=DKRE&pm_medium=email
You should write a screen play. I'd buy a ticket.
Alan, same here. In 2020, given Trump's disastrous performance during the pandemic (and all the rest), I expected a Democratic landslide. Like you, I was shocked--but not by the EC result--but by the fact that 74 million Americans had voted for this miscreant. It reminded me of old-time Russian peasants, who believed that the tsar was their god-chosen protector, and that the "elites" were the cause of their suffering.
Yes, it was the millions of Americans that was the big shock (I'm an American), and this -- among other things -- to me represented a massive failure of what public schooling was supposed to be about: not vocational prep, but "voting citizen prep". I had enough contact beforehand to realize that this had not been going well, but the actual magnitude took me aback.
I lost faith in the American people in 2016 and realized how blind, stupid, and ignorant they are now!
Anthropology reveals this about our entire species. Many of the principles we think are important for life and society are relatively recent inventions.
This means that we have to do work to both learn and sustain them. It also means that we are essentially "extended children" who on the one hand need help to find a more comprehensive adulthood, and to not be allowed to play with matches on the other.
This is a very tricky and often completely invisible idea for most humans who think of themselves as "adults".
Exposing The Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissist As A Moron
A Comparison of President Biden's Mental Competency with Donald Trump's
Recently the media focus has been on the 'age issue' and the question of the mental competency of an octogenarian during President Biden's second term. So let's compare his mental competency with Donald Trump's starting with his most recent gaffow followed by a list of what he said and his cabinet members said about him during his first term. (A short list of my faves:)
Did Biden call Nancy Pelosi Nicky Haley when recently talking about the 1-6-21 assault on the capital?
Did he claim the ability to properly identify a giraffe in a multiple choice of three animals, proved he was a "real stable genius"?
Did his former college professor call him the "dumbest f--king student I ever had"?
Did Biden suggest we could build a wall with transparent concrete?
Did he ever say to the camera he wished his wife were present with him while she was literally standing next to him looking confused?
Did his own sibling say in a recorded interview that he paid someone to take the SAT for him because he was too stupid to get into college on his own?
Did Biden think people needed photo IDs to buy groceries?
Did Biden say Paris was a city in Germany?
Did he misspell basic words in dozens of different tweets only to "correct" them by misspelling them a different way?
Did he suggest injecting disinfectants into our bloodstream to kill COVID?
Did he say he didn't know what a blind trust is, despite having a "degree" in Finance?
Did he bankrupt every business he tried starting on his own, including a Casino?
Was Biden the first President in history to utter the sentence, "Belgium is a beautiful city"?
Did Biden ever say our captured prisoners of war are only heroes because they were captured?
Did he have more than a dozen of his hand picked cabinet members resign because they couldn't work with his incompetence?
Did his own Chief of Staff call him an "idiot"?
Did a Senator from his own party say, "The White House has become an adult day care center”?
Did his own Secretary of State say he was a "fucking moron"?
Did his own economic advisor say he was "dumb as shit...an idiot surrounded by clowns"?
Did his National Security Advisor say he was "a dope...an idiot [with the intelligence of] a kindergartner”?
I saved the above collection of quotes that was originally posted on a Facebook page dedicated to insuring Joe Biden's second term last year. That was before that Republican special prosecutor in his VP document's case harped on the age issue and Joe's forgetfulness of details when the guy interviewed him. I was going to submit the above to the Daily Kos before reading the two following articles updating Trump's mental problems amidst the failure of a media focus on the orange moron at the president's expense while he's trying to run this country as the GOP is fixed on trying to tear it apart.
I just read your lead article titled The media will not report that Trump appears to have middle-stage dementia, cataloging his further mental decline. A couple of days later Facebook suggested I look at a new site dedicated to the politics and humor of Jon Stewart which just 'happened' to have posted the original interview in Salon titled "Like someone pulled the metaphorical plug": Dr. John Gartner on Trump's "accelerating dementia". This whole interview was fixated on the dementia issue without mentioning that Both his Parents had Alzheimer's/dementia, which I Learned when I posted A Comparison to every response.
Trump has obviously been both a low IQ moron and a fascist all his life, his first attorney was Roy Cohn Christ's sake. For here's precisely how he became the Perfect GOP Candidate: A supreme Narcissist who first builds Hotels with his last Name plastered all over the top of each with a Will To Power Fixation that drives him to become a TV Star where the whole game was to have the contestants kiss his ass to see who was His most 'competent' Apprentice, Firing all the Losers before finally picking the Winner, Like Me. Which sets him up to run for President, Wrapping Himself In MAGA Flag to Beat all those Loser Politicians in the Primary and Lock Her Up Hillary in the 2016 Electoral College. Rejoice, rejoice an absolute field day for all the fascists, white supremacists, Christian nationalists, plutocrat billionaires, corporatists, corporate media, evangelical preachers and six Supreme Court Justices all Backing a Moronic and now progressively Demented Fuhrer for the MAGA Masses Who Worship Him Like A God, Further Feeding Its Insatiable Sociopathic Narcissism!!!
Turns out I also hadn't read the whole issue with A.J. Pennyfarthing's 10 stunning moments from Trump's late-night speech to religious broadcasters. You ain't going to be changing any preacher's or MAGA's minds about how unhinged DT is with any raft of articles cause that is the Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissistic Moron's Lowest Common Denominator Appeal To The Wrap Yourself In MAGA Flag And $60 Bible Masses!
The EC is outdated and should have been abolished a long time ago. Times have changed and we should update. Each person's vote should count. Electors should be done away with because they can change who they support. Also, we need to prevent fake electors as what happened in the last election.
I sense a serious exhale of "Zeitgeist." Seasoned with irony, that Trump's bully-coward ham machismo dared somebody to stand up to the act, and, whoops, it's a "girl."
Reminds me of that scene on West Wing where Sam was on some talk show, debating “Ainsley Haines”, a Republican (blonde woman on CSI Miami later on). Someone (Josh?) came running into the room yelling “come see this! Sam’s getting his ass kicked on TV! By a girl!” Fingers crossed Trump will do at least one debate and get HIS butt kicked thoroughly.
Pat Chubb ; Looks like tRUMP has already backed out of the debate that Kamala Harris wanted to have in September? the one who said "any time/any place", He was ready to debate?
He can run. (Well maybe not RUN) He can waddle. And weeble. But he can’t fall up.
100,000 newly registered Democrats. Big texting day for FT 6. Register more Democrats to save the world.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/about-us
Pet lovers unite.
https://danielsolomon.substack.com/p/pet-owners-unite
Dogs and cats!
She may be the Joan of Arc that we need.
Big Stretch Victor.. I want her to win. I’m backing her. I sent money to her campaign. And she knew of Joe Biden‘s deteriorating condition and did nothing. Hard for me to find a “Joan” in that How are giant secret. I want her to win. Truly I do. The hyperbole is sometimes over the top. I think that’s how we got into this mess… When “everything goes and nothing matters” it’s amazing what happens to leadership.
Fanny, so what was she supposed to do? You seem to be a troll.
I’m sorry if that felt offensive I did not mean it too. I actually had to look up the word “troll”. I am on no social media. I like Substack because I like the many different views. I didn’t comment to be a troll… I just thought Joan of Arc was a bit over the top.
Professor Reich: I think Kamala Harris will win and i think this will set off hell in amerikkka. yes, i think all the subtle and not-so-subtle warnings from trump and his trumpettes will set off a vicious political war against everyone who is not a white ultra-conservative wealthy man. sorry, professor reich and heather lofthouse, but this is how things appear to me. i don't think they will accept the outcome of the election, EVEN IF KAMALA WINS IN THE BIGGEST LANDSLIDE IN HISTORY.
i hope i am wrong, but ... i dunno.
I am still hoping Mark Kelly is appointed Kamala's VP, but my second choice is still the incredibly talented and articulate Pete Buttigieg.
all that said, Joe Biden is kicking some serious ass, isn't he? his tricky method for arresting the drug lords from the Sinaloa cartel? that's like taking out osama bin laden of the drug world by appealing to their greed. Additionally, Biden will announce major Supreme Court reforms on Monday (Hallelujah), likely including term limits and an enforceable ethics code, and a constitutional amendment to limit presidential immunity. WOW! weirdly, the MSM has barely made a peep about any of these stories.
GrrlScientist, I, too, believe Vice-President Harris will win in November. Even if it does set off the orange man's cult, President Biden is still Commander-in-Chief until President Harris takes over in January. He will quell any and all vicious attacks and have them tried at domestic terrorists. I do love 'Mayor' Pete but I also know that change must occur gradually and in small doses. Today, we elect a strong black woman for President. In the future, we elect a strong gay man for President. It is in our future but not all at one time. That has been the republicans mistake. They have tried to cram religion, restrictions on women, gay bans, book bans and all sorts of dystopian garbage at us and we are saying "No, thank you". Change happens slowly. Vote blue through and through! Lotus for POTUS!
tRUMP's cult is a bunch of confused, empty windbags whose only cohesiveness will disappear when he's out of the picture. Kamala's victory will be uncontestable. I believe the MAGAt's will whine and cry as always but are incapable of any unified action. Like all bullies, they are easily cowed and the resulting jail sentences from 1/6 are too daunting for them. Cowards that they are, perhaps a few guerilla-type attacks from concealed locations but not much more.
Absolutely. With a blue wave it will end idiot representatives posing with weapons and encouraging violence. Dems can return decorum to congress.
From your mouth to the goddesses ears.
The funny thing is I have my family in NY supporting Trump. Good people but easily manipulated. Harris will win, substantially.
true, all that. and, most of them are armed.
Peggy, you just said it, N so well!! Lotus for Potus
My vote is based on the content of character, not skin color or sexual preference.
Gerald, if only everyone would do that!
Interesting that news people speak about Latinos and asians as if their members share the same race or the same culture.
Point well taken, Peggy.
We elected a gay governor in Colorado. It’s not even a serious point of discussion. The discussion is more around solving issues of affordability of housing and tax policy.
You are absolutely right, Dr. Gilbert. Colorado has moved past the discrimination of the LGBQT+ community and picked someone that will work to solve the issues you mentioned. That is progressive and moves Colorado citizens forward. It would be great if everyone did what you in Colorado have done. The problem is there are too many in this country that haven't moved from the label of a person. Rather than determine the best person for the job, they wouldn't vote for that person because they are gay. Having a woman run for president and a black woman at that is going to be hard but trying to get American citizens to embrace a black woman and a gay man as her running mate would be too difficult in the times we live in. I believe with all my heart we can get Vice-President Harris elected. Once she is in the White House and proves her ability, then we can look forward to the day when we can elect a gay man or woman to run this country. Vote blue through and through! Lotus for POTUS!
Right on the money!
It matters not who wins in November, there will be violence at scale. The only difference is if it is a MAGA revolt/riot or MAGA vigilante army executing on its perceived mandate.
i hope biden and our protectors understand there is a tremendous number of vigilante “patriots” preparing in our western states.
Biden will be ready to contain the violence.
I am afraid for Pete, because he is gay many Americans still can’t accept that, sadly, and I fear what Trump and his monsters filth might use this against him and it would be so ugly.
It really won’t matter if the MAGAt’s accept it or not.
Look how peaceful and quiet the country has been since Biden became president compared to when Trump occupied the White House. When the MAGAt’s have the wind knocked out of their sails they’re powerless. They need the Blowhard in Chief to energize them.
Once Kamala is in office she will have the opportunity to address many issues to, hopefully, rectify some of the out dated issues affecting our country. IE: the Supreme Court; the electoral college… Oh, and ensure Trump makes it to his trial dates.
I think if Trump doesn’t accept the outcome of a Harris win his own people will come to realize that he’s a “ blowhole” - just a big mouthed bully with no real substance like Biff in Back to the Future - in fact we should get Michael J Fox to spin that -
Yes, a movie about an alternative future were Trump to win- might be a money maker.
On Friday, the orange man told the Conservative Turning Point Action Event to vote this time and they would never have to vote again. WTH? I cannot believe that American citizens would let that little comment go without screaming to the rooftops. He is basically telling everyone that he will take the White House and install a dictatorship! Telling them you will never have to vote again is signaling that he never plans on leaving it!
my apologies, heather. i had a brain fart and gave you the wrong last name. *hanging my head in shame*
I want Mark Kelly as VP because he is a big, tough, macho white man with a stellar resume who can provide Trump's machismo without his racism, sexism, homophobia, and misogyny. And he's married to Gabby Giffords.
Everyone should take a look at Tim Waltz, Gov. of MN. A happy guy, lots of experience, from a small town, retired teacher, veteran and a real tough straight shooter Dem. I think he would cut T and V down to size... and fast. Go Kamala... Cheers... GH
I can’t tell if you’re arguing that Harris shouldn’t run. Are you suggesting because Trump et al will react badly that we should cave to the bullies?
not a chance! i think kamala should run for the presidency. but i also think that americans (who are not wealthy white penisheads) should be aware that the rage of a felon -- mafioso -- rejected will boil over and we just need to look out for each other and for ourselves.
I think anyone who is paying attention can see and feel this worry, yet, we PERSIST!
Yes, Grrl, it's going to be a fight, listen to them and know it! We didnt believe it last time, but we can prepare and we will fight back!
Yes, Grrr-reporting, like Mati--my gratitude for heads up on your news bits contributions. Wha-aat! These are about-time-isms. (That I get news from you, yikes; but "it's all good"). Re "Biden to announce Supreme Court reforms M Jul 29, 2024 (possibly including term limits; Code of Ethics). And, Constitutional amendment to limit presidential immunity." Thanks, I'll look and hope to see these. Yes.
Pete Buttigieg is my second choice also! He is incredibly articulate and a fast thinker on his feet. Also a wonderful person. But I think Mark Kelly is the one, at this time.
wow. i heard it first here. thank you, GrrlScientst!
You are right- so let us be ready for that
Thomas Paine On Religions Keeping Mankind Ignorant Of The Creator
As Governments Keep Man Ignorant Of His Rights
So let us briefly update and address the two central themes in Thomas Paine's precocious quote: "It has been the scheme of the Christian Church, and of all the other invented systems of religion, to hold man in ignorance of the Creator, as it is of governments to hold man in the ignorance of his rights. The systems of the one are as false as those of the other, and are calculated for mutual support."
So let's talk about the relation between religion and polytrix in the US government. We have a Supreme Court with six Catholics, steering religion and politics to the far right, away from the Creator. We'll comeback to the original conclusion after this read about the last act taken by the Supreme Court on the first of July. TruthBeTold's post from Jim Hightower's daily news letter on 7-2:
Today the U S Supreme Court overturned the centuries long conviction of Pontius Pilate, absolving him of any responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
In a 6-3 decision along party lines, Chief Justice John Roberts found in error the long standing verdict of history that the Governor of Judea had acted out of personal motivation. Quite the contrary, Roberts wrote, it was strictly within Pilate’s official capacity that he ordered the crucifixion.
In support of his conclusion that Pilate was not acting out of personal motives, Roberts noted a heretofore unrecognized fact. Pilate actually admired Christ and had for a time considered making him court jester after being told of Christ’s whimsical parables. However, after Christ fed the multitude on three fishes and five loaves, Pilate sought to have him elevated to high priest, a plan denounced by Joseph ben Caiaphas, the incumbent. To mollify Caiaphas, but primarily to remove a threat to his regime, Pilate reluctantly ordered the crucifixion, an act well within the governor’s official duties. The first duty of every official, Roberts wrote, is to preserve and perpetuate his rule, be he governor, satrap or inspector of hides and brands.
In his concurring opinion, Justice Kavanaugh noted that crucifixion was not a death sentence, merely a punishment. Unfortunately, he wrote, some individuals perversely elected to die on the cross just to embarrass a government toward which they were ill disposed. Likewise in the case of time honored punishments such as keel-hauling and flogging there were the occasional fatalities, regrettable but hardly of consequence.
Justice Gorsuch noted in his concurrence that in olden times, measures which today are deemed cruel and unusual were in fact a necessity. Trial by water and trial by fire, he observed, were the only ways to get at the facts before the advent of the polygraph and Fox News.
Remarking the perspective she had gained occupying the Tomas de Torquemada Chair of Jurisprudence at Notre Dame, Justice Barrett stated with apodictic certainty that had prosecutors been deprived of the rack, the thumbscrew and the iron maiden, many great truths would have gone unrevealed.
Despite having been challenged to recuse himself when it was learned that Harlan Crow had given him Pilate’s solid gold death mask, Justice Thomas wrote a concurring opinion, the gist being: redemption. Romans, he observed, had long since become good Catholics and were thereby redeemed by Christ himself; they had hardly bothered anyone since their conversion, with the exception of Al Capone in Chicago, Lucky Luciano in New York, and Sam Alito in Washington, DC.
Justice Alito declared that no way could Pilate have gotten a fair trial, with the populace spreading the word that Christ was the only begotten son of God. The scriptures, Alito emphatically stated, say that we all are the children of God, and scriptures take precedence over man’s laws. “We here in this very court,” he continued, “we six justices are a testament to that divinity. If we don’t sitteth at the right hand of God, I don’t know who does.”
Justices Kagan, Sotomayor and Jackson, knowing their six confreres better than anyone, dissented.
We have a new speaker of the House who openly wants to establish a 'moral' Christian Nationalism run by the next Republican president. Who will implement a fascist plan called Project 2025, as outlined at the end of Thom Hartmann's historical analysis of what led up to The Shocking GOP Plan to Dismantle the American Government. And all the while you've watched the Republican Party champion the idea of "freedom" while you have also watched the same party openly assault various freedoms, like the freedom to vote, freedom to choose, freedom to marry who you want, freedom for your children's teachers and librarians to have them read what they want, freedom to form unions and so on. If this has been a source of confusion, then your assessments of what Republicans mean by freedom were likely too generous. Here is what they mean: 1. The freedom to tell people what to do. 2. Freedom from being told what to do.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/31/2190709/-The-Shocking-GOP-Plan-to-Dismantle-the-American-Government-Revealed?detail=emaildkre&pm_source=DKRE&pm_medium=email
Exposing The Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissist As A Moron
A Comparison of President Biden's Mental Competency with Donald Trump's
Recently the media focus has been on the 'age issue' and the question of the mental competency of an octogenarian during President Biden's second term. So let's compare his mental competency with Donald Trump's starting with his most recent gaffow followed by a list of what he said and his cabinet members said about him during his first term. (A short list of my faves:)
Did Biden call Nancy Pelosi Nicky Haley when recently talking about the 1-6-21 assault on the capital?
Did he claim the ability to properly identify a giraffe in a multiple choice of three animals, proved he was a "real stable genius"?
Did his former college professor call him the "dumbest f--king student I ever had"?
Did Biden suggest we could build a wall with transparent concrete?
Did he ever say to the camera he wished his wife were present with him while she was literally standing next to him looking confused?
Did his own sibling say in a recorded interview that he paid someone to take the SAT for him because he was too stupid to get into college on his own?
Did Biden think people needed photo IDs to buy groceries?
Did Biden say Paris was a city in Germany?
Did he misspell basic words in dozens of different tweets only to "correct" them by misspelling them a different way?
Did he suggest injecting disinfectants into our bloodstream to kill COVID?
Did he say he didn't know what a blind trust is, despite having a "degree" in Finance?
Did he bankrupt every business he tried starting on his own, including a Casino?
Was Biden the first President in history to utter the sentence, "Belgium is a beautiful city"?
Did Biden ever say our captured prisoners of war are only heroes because they were captured?
Did he have more than a dozen of his hand picked cabinet members resign because they couldn't work with his incompetence?
Did his own Chief of Staff call him an "idiot"?
Did a Senator from his own party say, "The White House has become an adult day care center”?
Did his own Secretary of State say he was a "fucking moron"?
Did his own economic advisor say he was "dumb as shit...an idiot surrounded by clowns"?
Did his National Security Advisor say he was "a dope...an idiot [with the intelligence of] a kindergartner”?
I saved the above collection of quotes that was originally posted on a Facebook page dedicated to insuring Joe Biden's second term last year. That was before that Republican special prosecutor in his VP document's case harped on the age issue and Joe's forgetfulness of details when the guy interviewed him. I was going to submit the above to the Daily Kos before reading the two following articles updating Trump's mental problems amidst the failure of a media focus on the orange moron at the president's expense while he's trying to run this country as the GOP is fixed on trying to tear it apart.
I just read your lead article titled The media will not report that Trump appears to have middle-stage dementia, cataloging his further mental decline. A couple of days later Facebook suggested I look at a new site dedicated to the politics and humor of Jon Stewart which just 'happened' to have posted the original interview in Salon titled "Like someone pulled the metaphorical plug": Dr. John Gartner on Trump's "accelerating dementia". This whole interview was fixated on the dementia issue without mentioning that Both his Parents had Alzheimer's/dementia, which I Learned when I posted A Comparison to every response.
Trump has obviously been both a low IQ moron and a fascist all his life, his first attorney was Roy Cohn Christ's sake. For here's precisely how he became the Perfect GOP Candidate: A supreme Narcissist who first builds Hotels with his last Name plastered all over the top of each with a Will To Power Fixation that drives him to become a TV Star where the whole game was to have the contestants kiss his ass to see who was His most 'competent' Apprentice, Firing all the Losers before finally picking the Winner, Like Me. Which sets him up to run for President, Wrapping Himself In MAGA Flag to Beat all those Loser Politicians in the Primary and Lock Her Up Hillary in the 2016 Electoral College. Rejoice, rejoice an absolute field day for all the fascists, white supremacists, Christian nationalists, plutocrat billionaires, corporatists, corporate media, evangelical preachers and six Supreme Court Justices all Backing a Moronic and now progressively Demented Fuhrer for the MAGA Masses Who Worship Him Like A God, Further Feeding Its Insatiable Sociopathic Narcissism!!!
Turns out I also hadn't read the whole issue with A.J. Pennyfarthing's 10 stunning moments from Trump's late-night speech to religious broadcasters. You ain't going to be changing any preacher's or MAGA's minds about how unhinged DT is with any raft of articles cause that is the Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissistic Moron's Lowest Common Denominator Appeal To The Wrap Yourself In MAGA Flag And $60 Bible Masses!
You have to be optimistic! Kamala hit the road running as if she had been freed from the anonymity of being VP. As a UK Citizen I would not be able to understand why the average American would pick a felon like Trump over an intelligent, articulate and honest bright woman like Kamala Harris. Well, I suppose some of us got taken in by Boris Johnson!
I love her independence of thinking over Gaza. Her statement to Netanahyu was an object lesson in diplomacy. Showed she was an independent strong woman.
Can she go one better than Hilary Clinton? Yes!
No going back! If I could vote for her I would be first in line!
“As a UK Citizen I would not be able to understand why the average American would pick a felon like Trump”
As a US citizen, so would I.
It’s clear millions do, and I don’t deny that fact of reality. But I cannot understand the mindset of these people.
EU here. It is beyond my comprehension that this is even a race. How can 47% of the people there think DJT is a reasonable option?
As a U.S. citizen by birth & Independent for almost as many years as I've been voting; the last many years, I've voted Democrat. I was in shock in 2016, when trump won, as I'd researched him enough, over the many decades, as he'd had expressed aspirations to be "president" for some time. But he never quite got in the fray; like a reluctant bride. I prayed he wouldn't. Having been living the first 30 some odd years, in New England with family ties to NYC, WE knew who he was & what a fraud & con artist he was in reality. But later, I, having moved to the South, (weather & real estate prices as reasons - not culture) I knew the only real attention they'd paid to him down here was through "The Apprentice" show, which was all hype, smoke & mirrors. The producer, Mark Burnette, had thrown trump a lifeline when trump's finances were failing & it was obvious that he must have been a bit enamored of him. (And he reinforced this thought later, in that he'd be supportive of trump running for the office of the presidency. All the better for any wealthy person who'd desire more tax breaks, to have a trump in office, as proven by the tax bill submitted in 2017 & passed in 2018!)
Currently I'd say there may be a solid 30% in this country who might still vote for the 34 count felon & a main facilitator of the events of January 6th. Another % on the fence. ( Many largely in the South & lower mid- western states.)
But the rest of us "are hip to his tricks" and hopefully the newly registered youth vote, will vote for Kamala Harris with the rest of us.
A " trump/ jd vance ticket imo, would be disastrous to the nation & the rest of the world, in particular Ukraine. ( Trump & Vance appear too positive about putin, which is disastrous to the free world, nevermind their stance on women's rights in this country.) The destructive felon, lying, grifting con man trump, alongside a flip flopping j.d.vance, " can't make up my mind if i have a moral compass" moment to moment, one shot "wonder." (Who's done nothing of note since. Even that's up for debate on how noteworthy & true, "Hillbilly Elegy " really was respect to the story of his family & the grandfather that supported them through his union job. Though book sales & the sale of the book for TV movie rights for Vance made him $$$, but not necessary a decent, centered, human; especially if he's hanging his hopes on a trump presidency. And Vance has indicated he's anti- union to boot!)
God help us, I'd hate to see a Vance sitting in the presidential seat, if trump's health failed him. (Which it will, given all appearances & his "word salads." )
Another "emperor" wannabe type with no clothes, but younger & another flip flopper, chameleon type. We'd be in for a wicked ride, all those evangelicals & alt right maga types, tugging at his coat tails.
Yes, we have to see Kamala Harris win this election!! For all our sakes!
Trump could very well destroy our government and savage the very people who elected him along with everyone else.
Trump and these people should not be allowed to be anywhere near the federal government, much less run it. They understand nothing and have no interest in learning because they believe they already know what there is to know iaw their narrow ideological blinders.
Their only interest in the government is turning it into a piggy bank for themselves and cronies and carrying out cultural imperatives to deprive people of freedoms IAW their intolerant beliefs.
If you need evidence beyond what Trump did in his term in office you can read Project 2025.
This is not a drill.
Bonnie - I appreciate that you mention Ukraine because I tend to fear that in the US, a Ukraine loss may be worrisome, but in a somewhat theoretical sense, whilst here on the continent, it is a fire-breathing dragon at the back fence of the yard.
We here in the US are saying the same thing. Nearly 1/2 still support him ? That’s whacked out.
Christopher Foxx ; I think the answer is the media outlets pushing out non-stop lies and propaganda ; like FOX "news", a Rupert Murdoch product. There are millions of misinformed and disinformed voters. Their minds are "Set", for sure. In a toxic Fantasy Land, where a criminal is "King" and "Savior".
One key to Trump's appeal for many must be this "Trump larger than life, more than human" idea, a savior, avenging angel or King, something beyond mere mortal.
Another aspect for why people will vote for him is they are really voting the GOP brand, or perhaps, voting AGAINST" the Dem brand because of the crap they get from the media and friends.
I would add, he has confiscated the Republican brand, sadly and completely. When I see Nikki Haley, and all those who opposed him in the so-called Republican party give the seig heil and fall in line, it shows the power he has accumulated. Thank you Liz & Adam for your courage- now come out for Kamala!
The first thing Liz and Adam have to do is to analytically destroy SCOTUS ruling on presidential immunity.
Ambition is all for too many. Nikki, Graham, Rubio. etc
Too many Americans think Trump is amusing; they want to be entertained versus governed. They have been groomed by television, which largely offers diversion instead of spaces for thoughtful civic discourse. Along these lines, corporate media has enjoyed the revenue that Trump has generated and don’t want to lose it to someone like Biden, who actually works for-the-people. Moreover, it’s more fun to write or talk about political pranks (as championed by Trump and the Republican cult) than policy. Over the last several years, the melding of politics and entertainment has disconnected practice from consequences, which has made it possible to dismiss facts and, most dangerously, deny reality.
Bread and circus politics. The emperor is expected to deliver cheap bread or else! Constitution? What's that? Climate change? Surely a bad joke! Civil rights? You better stop discriminating against Whites!
They are a bunch of reactionary, empty-headed automatons whose vacant skulls were ripe to be filled with spite and unreasoning hate. They see themselves mirrored in tRUMP and mindlessly follow along.
Christopher... the basis for the T success is racism. Pure and simple. He has been pitching this hate for decades and seems to have learned it from his father. Mom? Anyway, I don't buy the excuse from folks who say they voted for T because they aren't racist but like "his policies". His main policy is RACISM!
I am reminded of the old saying "you are what you eat". Same goes for voting in my book. If you vote for T or someone like him, you are either on the surface or deep down a racist. I used to think about 20-25% of Americans were racists. The last few elections have me recalculating this to about 40-45%. Shameful.
Go Kamala... Send in your money and VOTE. Cheers... GH
Christopher, as a youngish person, I was always so curious as to why in the world did Germans side with Hitler??? Which made me read many books both historical fiction and non fiction on the topic. Unfortunately in my 59th year, on vacation in Florida with friends, I heard the beginnings of support for trump by friends… I was shocked… I said even then…his message reminded me of Hitler’s… I was poo poo’d but they had not read the books I had… it has affected my life in ways I never imagined… good and bad..
There are some parallels between the rise of Trump and the rise of the Nazi Party in 1920s Germany. For a detailed description, read William L Shirer’s “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.
FWIW, in my opinion the principal difference between Trump’s political rise and Hitler’s is the condition of their respective countries: Germany was exhausted, defeated and treated like an international pariah, while the USA is strong, rich and the leader of the Democracies. And many other fundamental differences exist between DJT and AH ( intelligence, fanaticism and a coherent- though twisted - world view). Where DJT has to fabricate a false narrative about “American Carnage “ the Nazis could just point to the chaos and economic misery created by losing the Great War and then the Great Depression to convince the German voters to vote for their candidates.
Every society has "losers" demagogues appeal to.
Yes, it's disgusting,
Yes, I read all that stuff in early 70's. So, I knew it COULD happen here.
Ever watch Fox News? If so you would understand the mindset. Fox keeps its viewers angry, outraged and so amped up it becomes an addiction and gives people a purpose, meaning and target. Fox News has made fellow Americans the enemy and has split the country. Those who are addicted to it are not interested in intellectual honesty, truth and objective reasoning. Critical thinking doesn’t fit into their values. They driven by emotion and not willing to hear from anyone who has a different opinion. It’s like a religious cult. Sad and sickening.
It is also like a Clint Eastwood film: it starts with a despicable act of violence, and then you watch the rest of the movie, because you want to see the bad guy wiped out. In the Fox version the bad guys are "the elites," "deep state," and the "woke." This movie might not have the desired ending.
Reading Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal has a similar effect on people. I notice my friends who read it, as far more worried about crime than the rest of us.
They are less trusting of their fellow citizens. (And, strangely, they think of themselves as very well informed)
Americans are fed up with lies from their government (e.g. War in Vietnam, invasion of Iraq). To remedy their dismay, some turn to a liar who lies about alleged lies by others.
As someone also in UK, (but originally from USA) I find it so hard to comprehend this DJT cult, but Irene if we look back at BoJos campaign it was no different than DJTs. He lied, lied, lied! The promises about the NHS, Brexit etc. But in the end he was found out! They are populist disrupter politicians who say what they think the people want most of which turns out to be lies! They also are bought by wealthy donors, so have the money to run glitzy campaigns. They are promise politicians who never deliver for the real people of their country!
Catherine Reid - While Donald and Boris both are untruthful, Donald is pathologically so, and more prolific and less self-aware than BoJo.
The more important distinction is that BoJo never was a threat to parliamentary democracy, while the destruction of the American polity is the logical end point of Trumpian politics— one-man rule.
If BoJo had been allowed by his derelict party to remain we might have seen a different "permitted" man being given freer rein. As it is the Tories promulgated laws restricting freedom to protest.
The watchword must always be "Vigilance"!!
Yes, Irene!!!!!
If one believed in astrology, one would have to say that the stars lined up just right this past week to make this a great one for Kamala Harris, the democratic party, and America. But let's give credit where credit is due, not to the stars but to Harris herself for a brilliant start, and the important Democrats for lining up behind her, and just lots of non-famous people for showing and giving their support, both morally and in terms of money. It has been a remarkable turnaround and a great week.
I agree wholeheartedly with you, Adam! I also would like to give credit to President Biden for putting the love for his country ahead of himself. It took courage and I will forever be grateful for that. Vote blue through and through! Lotus for POTUS!
I seriously doubt Kamala will pick Beshear, but as a Kentucky voter, I think he's the best choice. These are my reasons.
Not only does Andy Beshear know what rural people, working people, small businesses, and poor people need and want most, he knows how to talk to us. That is the reason, Beshear won the governorship twice in a state that has a Republican legislature and kept McConnell in office for 40 years and elected Rand Paul to the Senate. As Reich correctly pointed out, Beshear has contained the Republican party.
Beshear is the only VP candidate who has first hand experience in farming, ranching, resource extraction and manufacturing that dominate southern economies. Beshear is the only governor in the country who has built a public-private-nonprofit partnership between our state and the Netherlands that is dedicated to the education and support of our future farmers.
If anyone here has been following the Tennessee legislature battles, it is plain to see that young people are building a new south. Someone in the Democratic Party needs to get on board, and Beshear is the man to do it.
Beshear talks about his faith, but never tries to sell it. When tornadoes hit, mines collapse, or labour strikes, a whole lot of people take comfort from Beshear's quiet faith, and steady Leadership
During Trump's Covid years, Beshear's daily updates made Kentucky the only state where people wore masks and did not scream at each other everywhere they went. Thousands upon thousands of people put out yard signs thanking nurses, doctors, and teachers (and really wamed the heart). Bourbon County is the only place I saw any deviation from social distancing rules. They raise racehorses in that county and all the Covid distancing signs read please keep one horse length between you.
Beshear's family, his wife and two kids, are lovely, well grounded people. And everyone loves Winnie (Andy's family dog).
Thanks to Beshear "Team Kentucky" is not a slogan. Team Kentucky means exactly what it says. I write or say Team Kentucky several times every week. I wish every American could know what it feels like to be part of a team in their state too.
The Trump team picked Vance because they wanted to plant him in key swing states like PA and NC so that he could rip away votes from the Democrats. A common saying is that the space between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia is called "Pennsyl-tucky."
This is why Beshear would be such an effective counter. (The Trumpists have fallen into their own trap -- falling for Vance's grift.) In an interview this week, Governor Beshear made the ultimate Appalachian slam against Vance: "He ain't from here."
Waxing poetic for a bit, there's another consideration: The nation could be losing former president Carter ANY day now. If people are concerned about Project 2025, there are plenty of wonderful evangelicals who are strongly opposed to it -- on religious grounds. Andy Beshear is such a person.
It used to be said that "As Maine goes, so goes the nation." Today, I believe that state is Georgia. And I thank all of you for having Georgia on your mind.
Thomas, Senators Ossoff and Warnock are awesome - thank you Georgia.
People cheered when Beshear made that comment "he ain't from here" (and believe you me, "ain't" ain't in Beshear's toolbox). WTF was wrong with Ron Howard? His movie version of Hillbilly Elegy was as stereotype-ugly as another damned Deliverance. Roar.
raffey, they have now become our beloved senators. That night they won their run-off elections -- January 5, 2021 -- I shed tears of joy. (Followed by Jan 6, the joy was short-lived)
During the runoff election in January of 2023 between Warnock and Walker, I joked that you KNOW Georgia is changing when you can get my sorry white ass out on a FREEZING day to vote for one of two black men for US Senator.
I did not know Ron Howard did that movie. Darn. I'm going to just pretend it didn't happen.
Thomas Paine On Religions Keeping Mankind Ignorant Of The Creator
As Governments Keep Man Ignorant Of His Rights
So let us briefly update and address the two central themes in Thomas Paine's precocious quote: "It has been the scheme of the Christian Church, and of all the other invented systems of religion, to hold man in ignorance of the Creator, as it is of governments to hold man in the ignorance of his rights. The systems of the one are as false as those of the other, and are calculated for mutual support."
So let's talk about the relation between religion and polytrix in the US government. We have a Supreme Court with six Catholics, steering religion and politics to the far right, away from the Creator. We'll comeback to the original conclusion after this read about the last act taken by the Supreme Court on the first of July. TruthBeTold's post from Jim Hightower's daily news letter on 7-2:
Today the U S Supreme Court overturned the centuries long conviction of Pontius Pilate, absolving him of any responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
In a 6-3 decision along party lines, Chief Justice John Roberts found in error the long standing verdict of history that the Governor of Judea had acted out of personal motivation. Quite the contrary, Roberts wrote, it was strictly within Pilate’s official capacity that he ordered the crucifixion.
In support of his conclusion that Pilate was not acting out of personal motives, Roberts noted a heretofore unrecognized fact. Pilate actually admired Christ and had for a time considered making him court jester after being told of Christ’s whimsical parables. However, after Christ fed the multitude on three fishes and five loaves, Pilate sought to have him elevated to high priest, a plan denounced by Joseph ben Caiaphas, the incumbent. To mollify Caiaphas, but primarily to remove a threat to his regime, Pilate reluctantly ordered the crucifixion, an act well within the governor’s official duties. The first duty of every official, Roberts wrote, is to preserve and perpetuate his rule, be he governor, satrap or inspector of hides and brands.
In his concurring opinion, Justice Kavanaugh noted that crucifixion was not a death sentence, merely a punishment. Unfortunately, he wrote, some individuals perversely elected to die on the cross just to embarrass a government toward which they were ill disposed. Likewise in the case of time honored punishments such as keel-hauling and flogging there were the occasional fatalities, regrettable but hardly of consequence.
Justice Gorsuch noted in his concurrence that in olden times, measures which today are deemed cruel and unusual were in fact a necessity. Trial by water and trial by fire, he observed, were the only ways to get at the facts before the advent of the polygraph and Fox News.
Remarking the perspective she had gained occupying the Tomas de Torquemada Chair of Jurisprudence at Notre Dame, Justice Barrett stated with apodictic certainty that had prosecutors been deprived of the rack, the thumbscrew and the iron maiden, many great truths would have gone unrevealed.
Despite having been challenged to recuse himself when it was learned that Harlan Crow had given him Pilate’s solid gold death mask, Justice Thomas wrote a concurring opinion, the gist being: redemption. Romans, he observed, had long since become good Catholics and were thereby redeemed by Christ himself; they had hardly bothered anyone since their conversion, with the exception of Al Capone in Chicago, Lucky Luciano in New York, and Sam Alito in Washington, DC.
Justice Alito declared that no way could Pilate have gotten a fair trial, with the populace spreading the word that Christ was the only begotten son of God. The scriptures, Alito emphatically stated, say that we all are the children of God, and scriptures take precedence over man’s laws. “We here in this very court,” he continued, “we six justices are a testament to that divinity. If we don’t sitteth at the right hand of God, I don’t know who does.”
Justices Kagan, Sotomayor and Jackson, knowing their six confreres better than anyone, dissented.
We have a new speaker of the House who openly wants to establish a 'moral' Christian Nationalism run by the next Republican president. Who will implement a fascist plan called Project 2025, as outlined at the end of Thom Hartmann's historical analysis of what led up to The Shocking GOP Plan to Dismantle the American Government. And all the while you've watched the Republican Party champion the idea of "freedom" while you have also watched the same party openly assault various freedoms, like the freedom to vote, freedom to choose, freedom to marry who you want, freedom for your children's teachers and librarians to have them read what they want, freedom to form unions and so on. If this has been a source of confusion, then your assessments of what Republicans mean by freedom were likely too generous. Here is what they mean: 1. The freedom to tell people what to do. 2. Freedom from being told what to do.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/31/2190709/-The-Shocking-GOP-Plan-to-Dismantle-the-American-Government-Revealed?detail=emaildkre&pm_source=DKRE&pm_medium=email
I sure wish my "Like" button worked.
Thomas Paine On Religions Keeping Mankind Ignorant Of The Creator
As Governments Keep Man Ignorant Of His Rights
So let us briefly update and address the two central themes in Thomas Paine's precocious quote: "It has been the scheme of the Christian Church, and of all the other invented systems of religion, to hold man in ignorance of the Creator, as it is of governments to hold man in the ignorance of his rights. The systems of the one are as false as those of the other, and are calculated for mutual support."
So let's talk about the relation between religion and polytrix in the US government. We have a Supreme Court with six Catholics, steering religion and politics to the far right, away from the Creator. We'll comeback to the original conclusion after this read about the last act taken by the Supreme Court on the first of July. TruthBeTold's post from Jim Hightower's daily news letter on 7-2:
Today the U S Supreme Court overturned the centuries long conviction of Pontius Pilate, absolving him of any responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
In a 6-3 decision along party lines, Chief Justice John Roberts found in error the long standing verdict of history that the Governor of Judea had acted out of personal motivation. Quite the contrary, Roberts wrote, it was strictly within Pilate’s official capacity that he ordered the crucifixion.
In support of his conclusion that Pilate was not acting out of personal motives, Roberts noted a heretofore unrecognized fact. Pilate actually admired Christ and had for a time considered making him court jester after being told of Christ’s whimsical parables. However, after Christ fed the multitude on three fishes and five loaves, Pilate sought to have him elevated to high priest, a plan denounced by Joseph ben Caiaphas, the incumbent. To mollify Caiaphas, but primarily to remove a threat to his regime, Pilate reluctantly ordered the crucifixion, an act well within the governor’s official duties. The first duty of every official, Roberts wrote, is to preserve and perpetuate his rule, be he governor, satrap or inspector of hides and brands.
In his concurring opinion, Justice Kavanaugh noted that crucifixion was not a death sentence, merely a punishment. Unfortunately, he wrote, some individuals perversely elected to die on the cross just to embarrass a government toward which they were ill disposed. Likewise in the case of time honored punishments such as keel-hauling and flogging there were the occasional fatalities, regrettable but hardly of consequence.
Justice Gorsuch noted in his concurrence that in olden times, measures which today are deemed cruel and unusual were in fact a necessity. Trial by water and trial by fire, he observed, were the only ways to get at the facts before the advent of the polygraph and Fox News.
Remarking the perspective she had gained occupying the Tomas de Torquemada Chair of Jurisprudence at Notre Dame, Justice Barrett stated with apodictic certainty that had prosecutors been deprived of the rack, the thumbscrew and the iron maiden, many great truths would have gone unrevealed.
Despite having been challenged to recuse himself when it was learned that Harlan Crow had given him Pilate’s solid gold death mask, Justice Thomas wrote a concurring opinion, the gist being: redemption. Romans, he observed, had long since become good Catholics and were thereby redeemed by Christ himself; they had hardly bothered anyone since their conversion, with the exception of Al Capone in Chicago, Lucky Luciano in New York, and Sam Alito in Washington, DC.
Justice Alito declared that no way could Pilate have gotten a fair trial, with the populace spreading the word that Christ was the only begotten son of God. The scriptures, Alito emphatically stated, say that we all are the children of God, and scriptures take precedence over man’s laws. “We here in this very court,” he continued, “we six justices are a testament to that divinity. If we don’t sitteth at the right hand of God, I don’t know who does.”
Justices Kagan, Sotomayor and Jackson, knowing their six confreres better than anyone, dissented.
We have a new speaker of the House who openly wants to establish a 'moral' Christian Nationalism run by the next Republican president. Who will implement a fascist plan called Project 2025, as outlined at the end of Thom Hartmann's historical analysis of what led up to The Shocking GOP Plan to Dismantle the American Government. And all the while you've watched the Republican Party champion the idea of "freedom" while you have also watched the same party openly assault various freedoms, like the freedom to vote, freedom to choose, freedom to marry who you want, freedom for your children's teachers and librarians to have them read what they want, freedom to form unions and so on. If this has been a source of confusion, then your assessments of what Republicans mean by freedom were likely too generous. Here is what they mean: 1. The freedom to tell people what to do. 2. Freedom from being told what to do.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/31/2190709/-The-Shocking-GOP-Plan-to-Dismantle-the-American-Government-Revealed?detail=emaildkre&pm_source=DKRE&pm_medium=email
Sean, why did you feel the need to post this piece so many times?
Because I like Beshear too but prefer Kelly for VP. Because I'm the one who will Fulfill Revelations 21:6 and 11:7.
and Beshear is young.
And this is why he tops my list for VP.
I absolutely understand your reluctance to see this happen, but for every reason you so eloquently stated, he’s the guy.
linda, I would love to see Kamala Harris pick Beshear. A loss for our state would be a win for the nation.
Also, considering that Andy is in his second term -- and term-limited. And his hand-picked Lt. Governor, Jacqueline Coleman, would assume office.
I keep getting the impression that Reich lives in a West Coast-DC bubble. (I sure hope I'm wrong, but people in these eastern/southeastern states are very sensitive to it.)
Kelly would not gather anything in these critical battleground states along the Appalachian range. Arizona has 11 electoral votes; Georgia 16. Walz would be a great choice too. With a ONE vote majority in the Minnesota state house, he's gotten family leave, improved medical care, school lunches and a host of other accomplishments.
I like Mark Kelly, BUT we could easily lost the Senate without him. Its a risky trade off, that I do not support at all.
Reich has good instincts and is usually on target. However, he does not think like we do and it shows (by we, I mean rural, mid-west and southern states).
Unfortunately, my simple, honest and accurate observation will probably elicit a bunch of comments with stereotypical assumptions about what I mean - and 99% of those assumptions will be really mean. Andy Beshear does not make those kinds of mistakes. Since Beshear thinks like us, he can say he same things, without sounding arrogant or preachy.
When Beshear is fighting the Republican legislature over issues like teacher pay and private schools, I get teary eyed listening to him. He really knows how to pull out what matters most in our hearts.
I'm a Midwesterner in a farming area, too. My only concern about Beshear is that he's not known nationwide and we have only less than 100 days to the election and even less to early voting. I understand the Senate worries concerning Mark Kelly, but this time around, I think winning the White House is more important. I think Mark Kelly would appeal to Mid-westerners and he is already known nationwide. Also, he has experience with the Senators. Plus I think he compliments Kamala Harris. He may not be as young as Beshear, but he would have great appeal with older voters, I believe.
Ruth, as I said, I seriously doubt Harris will pick Beshear. That said, conservative Americans looking for an alternative to Donald Trump would find Andy Beshear appealing.
Since there are a lot - and I mean a lot - of alternative seeking conservatives in rural areas, I think dismissing Beshear’s appeal to these voters is a mistake. Conservatives would not change their party, but they could very likely do what Kentuckians do. Instead of voting the party line, or voting against Democrats, they would vote FOR Beshear. Not only would their vote for Beshear be in keeping with their faith, they could finally register a protest vote against MAGA. I think this is especially true for conservative women.
While the swing states will decide the election, there are not enough swing voters to make a difference for either party. However, a protest vote from within the Republican party, could sway the election. And there is a very good chance, that a lot of conservatives are ready to register a protest vote (against Trump and MAGA).
PS. I like Kelly, but come November, I want Democrats to win the House, the Senate and the White House.
Thomas Paine On Religions Keeping Mankind Ignorant Of The Creator
As Governments Keep Man Ignorant Of His Rights
So let us briefly update and address the two central themes in Thomas Paine's precocious quote: "It has been the scheme of the Christian Church, and of all the other invented systems of religion, to hold man in ignorance of the Creator, as it is of governments to hold man in the ignorance of his rights. The systems of the one are as false as those of the other, and are calculated for mutual support."
So let's talk about the relation between religion and polytrix in the US government. We have a Supreme Court with six Catholics, steering religion and politics to the far right, away from the Creator. We'll comeback to the original conclusion after this read about the last act taken by the Supreme Court on the first of July. TruthBeTold's post from Jim Hightower's daily news letter on 7-2:
Today the U S Supreme Court overturned the centuries long conviction of Pontius Pilate, absolving him of any responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
In a 6-3 decision along party lines, Chief Justice John Roberts found in error the long standing verdict of history that the Governor of Judea had acted out of personal motivation. Quite the contrary, Roberts wrote, it was strictly within Pilate’s official capacity that he ordered the crucifixion.
In support of his conclusion that Pilate was not acting out of personal motives, Roberts noted a heretofore unrecognized fact. Pilate actually admired Christ and had for a time considered making him court jester after being told of Christ’s whimsical parables. However, after Christ fed the multitude on three fishes and five loaves, Pilate sought to have him elevated to high priest, a plan denounced by Joseph ben Caiaphas, the incumbent. To mollify Caiaphas, but primarily to remove a threat to his regime, Pilate reluctantly ordered the crucifixion, an act well within the governor’s official duties. The first duty of every official, Roberts wrote, is to preserve and perpetuate his rule, be he governor, satrap or inspector of hides and brands.
In his concurring opinion, Justice Kavanaugh noted that crucifixion was not a death sentence, merely a punishment. Unfortunately, he wrote, some individuals perversely elected to die on the cross just to embarrass a government toward which they were ill disposed. Likewise in the case of time honored punishments such as keel-hauling and flogging there were the occasional fatalities, regrettable but hardly of consequence.
Justice Gorsuch noted in his concurrence that in olden times, measures which today are deemed cruel and unusual were in fact a necessity. Trial by water and trial by fire, he observed, were the only ways to get at the facts before the advent of the polygraph and Fox News.
Remarking the perspective she had gained occupying the Tomas de Torquemada Chair of Jurisprudence at Notre Dame, Justice Barrett stated with apodictic certainty that had prosecutors been deprived of the rack, the thumbscrew and the iron maiden, many great truths would have gone unrevealed.
Despite having been challenged to recuse himself when it was learned that Harlan Crow had given him Pilate’s solid gold death mask, Justice Thomas wrote a concurring opinion, the gist being: redemption. Romans, he observed, had long since become good Catholics and were thereby redeemed by Christ himself; they had hardly bothered anyone since their conversion, with the exception of Al Capone in Chicago, Lucky Luciano in New York, and Sam Alito in Washington, DC.
Justice Alito declared that no way could Pilate have gotten a fair trial, with the populace spreading the word that Christ was the only begotten son of God. The scriptures, Alito emphatically stated, say that we all are the children of God, and scriptures take precedence over man’s laws. “We here in this very court,” he continued, “we six justices are a testament to that divinity. If we don’t sitteth at the right hand of God, I don’t know who does.”
Justices Kagan, Sotomayor and Jackson, knowing their six confreres better than anyone, dissented.
We have a new speaker of the House who openly wants to establish a 'moral' Christian Nationalism run by the next Republican president. Who will implement a fascist plan called Project 2025, as outlined at the end of Thom Hartmann's historical analysis of what led up to The Shocking GOP Plan to Dismantle the American Government. And all the while you've watched the Republican Party champion the idea of "freedom" while you have also watched the same party openly assault various freedoms, like the freedom to vote, freedom to choose, freedom to marry who you want, freedom for your children's teachers and librarians to have them read what they want, freedom to form unions and so on. If this has been a source of confusion, then your assessments of what Republicans mean by freedom were likely too generous. Here is what they mean: 1. The freedom to tell people what to do. 2. Freedom from being told what to do.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/31/2190709/-The-Shocking-GOP-Plan-to-Dismantle-the-American-Government-Revealed?detail=emaildkre&pm_source=DKRE&pm_medium=email
Hope per se is not enough, but it's a powerful engine when there are real reasons to sustain it. After months of deepening despair, Harris's candidacy gives hope a solid basis.
Hope? Eat more hopium! Worry less work harder. Here's the link to Simon Rosenberg's appearance on FP Wellman's On Democracy program and Substack. https://fpwellman.substack.com/p/whatwhat-is-this-feeling?utm_campaign=email-half-post&r=zc69i&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
I am not a Us citizen or resident…only an interested bystander to your election..but I am vested in the outcome, and the global existential threat to democracy posed by Project 2025 and a Republican Party on the slippery slide to authoritarianism.
As are we all 'out here', Mel. What happens in the US impacts everywhere whether we like that or not.
thank you
Women are mad and will vote.
Yes Siree Bob we are mad! How dare republicans tell us we must remain barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen! Those days are so well passed us! Women have every right to CHOOSE what they can and cannot do with their bodies. The republicans would have everyone believe that women are killing babies willy-nilly and that is so not true. In studies done, there is proof that those women who got abortions simply because they had been reckless were a VERY small percentage compared to women who had to endure the heartbreak and hurt because they had to get an abortion. It is a horrendous and depressingly sad experience that no woman wants to do. Also, these republicans want to go back to treating women as second-class citizens. We are not living in the past. This is the future and we will move forward. Vote blue through and through! Lotus for POTUS!
Peggy, I agree! And I am boycotting the KC Chiefs for the remarks their kicker have to a WOMEN'S college as a commencement address: (I give my interpretation)follow the bible and give your husband babies and stay in the kitchen. I know that's what you all are dreaming of. Nope, nada and not!
Absolutely, Marilyn!!
Butker is his name... seems appropriate!
Thanks Peggy, I think women will save us from this madness.
What a wonderful thing to say, James! You are most welcome. It won't be just women but men as well. Strong, intelligent men who value women as their equals and know we have problem-solving skills that are actually very good. It isn't that women hate men. We just don't like men that feel they are superior and can tell us what to do! Vote blue through and through! Lotus for POTUS!
Oh, I definitely and dearly think women are our equals and in some areas our superiors as are men more skilled in some areas also. I just think that the recent events about abortion have activated women to realize that they must be politically active to protect their rights and they therefore will actively vote for freedom and democracy. When we work together, we are so much stronger.
Absolutely!
I mean, gosh, who doesn't know females who just had first period, haven't had last? The Heritage F. guy stated emphatically, "Abortion is NEVER health care." What small, small circle of human connections he must have. I keep hoping there is a "stealth" vote of men who have connections to women who had "complications." (Crossed fingers?)
I hope men are just as mad as women...and vote, as well!
We sure as he'll are and we will vote!
We are mad too, and we can do this.
Mad, as in angry, Or mad as hatters? I think they are justifiably angry, yet enthusiastically invigorated about the change in the Democrat "ticket"! Even though a madman who is disabled and disqualified has media like Fox "news" spreading his lies to millions of hapless voters, and an "Electoral College", and "Supreme" court waiting in the wings to sabotage the will of the voters. Surely "Madness " is the backdrop! I hope President Biden can effect some changes needed to the Supreme Court that can remedy this situation in the next 6 months.
initiate impeachment proceedings against the justices, starting with Thomas.
Excellent Idea... and AOC already has and she also included alito too.
What’s that old saying about hell hath no fury like woman scorned?
Women are mobilizing. A call the other night broke zoom and raised 2 million dollars.
All this reminds me of the women’s marches that happened all over the country when Mr. Marmalade was elected. We didn’t want him then. We don’t want him now.
WOW! Amen to that!
if the American public prefers to elect a twice impeached, convicted felon, a rapist , a liar and a cheat to the highest office of the land, rather than give Kamala Harris a chance, they will contribute to the end of democracy as we know it and encourage the dictators of this world to prevail.
I am going on 94 and I want to stay alive until Trump is gone and I never have to hear his name or see him.
I knew that “Money Money” song that introduced The Apprentice was trouble.
You go girl!!! Keep the faith!
Mary, you go, gal!
Trumpamania is on the attack as of Friday night in Florida. He told a group of Christians, “Get out and vote. Just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what: it’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians…. Get out, you’ve got to get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again, we’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.”
Being a supposed Christian, I can find NO reason to vote for the orange nightmare. He defies everything Jesus taught. And if one doesn't believe in Jesus, that's fine with me too. Character matters. I hope voters think this too.
Thomas Paine On Religions Keeping Mankind Ignorant Of The Creator
As Governments Keep Man Ignorant Of His Rights
So let us briefly update and address the two central themes in Thomas Paine's precocious quote: "It has been the scheme of the Christian Church, and of all the other invented systems of religion, to hold man in ignorance of the Creator, as it is of governments to hold man in the ignorance of his rights. The systems of the one are as false as those of the other, and are calculated for mutual support."
So let's talk about the relation between religion and polytrix in the US government. We have a Supreme Court with six Catholics, steering religion and politics to the far right, away from the Creator. We'll comeback to the original conclusion after this read about the last act taken by the Supreme Court on the first of July. TruthBeTold's post from Jim Hightower's daily news letter on 7-2:
Today the U S Supreme Court overturned the centuries long conviction of Pontius Pilate, absolving him of any responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
In a 6-3 decision along party lines, Chief Justice John Roberts found in error the long standing verdict of history that the Governor of Judea had acted out of personal motivation. Quite the contrary, Roberts wrote, it was strictly within Pilate’s official capacity that he ordered the crucifixion.
In support of his conclusion that Pilate was not acting out of personal motives, Roberts noted a heretofore unrecognized fact. Pilate actually admired Christ and had for a time considered making him court jester after being told of Christ’s whimsical parables. However, after Christ fed the multitude on three fishes and five loaves, Pilate sought to have him elevated to high priest, a plan denounced by Joseph ben Caiaphas, the incumbent. To mollify Caiaphas, but primarily to remove a threat to his regime, Pilate reluctantly ordered the crucifixion, an act well within the governor’s official duties. The first duty of every official, Roberts wrote, is to preserve and perpetuate his rule, be he governor, satrap or inspector of hides and brands.
In his concurring opinion, Justice Kavanaugh noted that crucifixion was not a death sentence, merely a punishment. Unfortunately, he wrote, some individuals perversely elected to die on the cross just to embarrass a government toward which they were ill disposed. Likewise in the case of time honored punishments such as keel-hauling and flogging there were the occasional fatalities, regrettable but hardly of consequence.
Justice Gorsuch noted in his concurrence that in olden times, measures which today are deemed cruel and unusual were in fact a necessity. Trial by water and trial by fire, he observed, were the only ways to get at the facts before the advent of the polygraph and Fox News.
Remarking the perspective she had gained occupying the Tomas de Torquemada Chair of Jurisprudence at Notre Dame, Justice Barrett stated with apodictic certainty that had prosecutors been deprived of the rack, the thumbscrew and the iron maiden, many great truths would have gone unrevealed.
Despite having been challenged to recuse himself when it was learned that Harlan Crow had given him Pilate’s solid gold death mask, Justice Thomas wrote a concurring opinion, the gist being: redemption. Romans, he observed, had long since become good Catholics and were thereby redeemed by Christ himself; they had hardly bothered anyone since their conversion, with the exception of Al Capone in Chicago, Lucky Luciano in New York, and Sam Alito in Washington, DC.
Justice Alito declared that no way could Pilate have gotten a fair trial, with the populace spreading the word that Christ was the only begotten son of God. The scriptures, Alito emphatically stated, say that we all are the children of God, and scriptures take precedence over man’s laws. “We here in this very court,” he continued, “we six justices are a testament to that divinity. If we don’t sitteth at the right hand of God, I don’t know who does.”
Justices Kagan, Sotomayor and Jackson, knowing their six confreres better than anyone, dissented.
We have a new speaker of the House who openly wants to establish a 'moral' Christian Nationalism run by the next Republican president. Who will implement a fascist plan called Project 2025, as outlined at the end of Thom Hartmann's historical analysis of what led up to The Shocking GOP Plan to Dismantle the American Government. And all the while you've watched the Republican Party champion the idea of "freedom" while you have also watched the same party openly assault various freedoms, like the freedom to vote, freedom to choose, freedom to marry who you want, freedom for your children's teachers and librarians to have them read what they want, freedom to form unions and so on. If this has been a source of confusion, then your assessments of what Republicans mean by freedom were likely too generous. Here is what they mean: 1. The freedom to tell people what to do. 2. Freedom from being told what to do.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/31/2190709/-The-Shocking-GOP-Plan-to-Dismantle-the-American-Government-Revealed?detail=emaildkre&pm_source=DKRE&pm_medium=email
Everything you have here in your comment including the link to article by dailykos The shocking GOP Plan to DISMANTLE THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT revealed?, needs to be shared with all Democracy loving Americans ASAP!! They all need to know that their FREEDOMS ARE IN SERIOUS JEOPARDY! Apathy will do us in. We cannot let that happen! Thank you Sean for your leadership. I hope you have a Substack of your own.
Sincerely Keith Olson
Yesterday's letter titled 7-27-23 -> 7-27-24 to Common Dreams, Princeton Press editors and Kamala Harris's Chief of Staff:
4. GOD'S PROOF Of GOD Via GOD'S PROOF Of WHO I AM: Yesterday 7-27-23 produced the following most amazing, incredible event of my life! I was posting replies to a fellow's query on Neil deGrasse Tyson's Facebook page about the Big Bang with The Sixth Class of String Theory. I then got to the following post:
Travis Boothe 4: The 11-21-22 date I posted this on my Facebook homepage is the Culmination of Three Revelations that define my Destiny in life and as such are the ultimate example of God's Cosmically Coordinated Coincidence Control that was Meant to be Fulfilled on that day. My late partner A.J. Meyer and I are the Two "Witnesses" of Revelation 11. A.J.'s model of the universe came from his vision of Revelation 21, while God's Definition of God in Revelation 21:6 refers to the Beginning and End of the Anti de Sitter Universe so Fulfills that Revelation in the 21st Century. And finally my Prophesy of Jesus revealing Himself as Christ the
Messiah on His 12-25-2122 22nd birthday, hence Fulfilling the last book of
the Bible, Revelation 22.
5: It took me 11 days to collate, write and edit the final above copy,
only adding the 5D to 4D solution to wave-function collapse in the first
days after the 11-21-22 post. I answered the top two questions posed at
the Strings 2000 physics conference so am 22 years ahead of every
physicist on this planet. Most of the papers I wrote over the first 20
years are available on the Summary page at my 241mumbers.com website and the papers on the cosmology I wrote over the last two years are available in serial order on my Facebook page, culminating in the 11-21-22 paper
In a nutshell, the above is from the concluding sections of the preceding
chapter 1 - God's Unified Five Dimensional Universe as - I DID NOT POST
THE ABOVE, GOD DID!!!!!!!!!!!
As I said above last year, I wrote the intro and final sentence and posted
this on my Facebook page the day after I copied and pasted the body of
GOD'S post on Travis Boothe's timeline on a note to Fred and Ingrid here.
So now that you all firmly know Who I Am, let's first review what I've
shared with you over the last remarkable week. I first wrote the Common
Dreams team on the 17th with the subject line First Step Saving The Biden
Presidency. Having no response last Saturday I summarized the history of
what I'm up to in 7-21, sending it out the next day as 7-21 -> 9-11, Cc'd
to the Biden team and Bcc'd to the Princeton crew. Left the Biden team off
my note Bcc'd to Kevin Coffey on 7-23 whose Vision of 9-11 thirty years
before it happened on 9-11-01 was actually meant for Kevin to meet me on 3-23-24 to Confirm that Revelation 11:7's Living "Witness" Will Expose The Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissistic Moron As The ANTICHRIST On 9-11-24! Lead in to that short note: Hi folks, turns out that my followup note to the Common Dreams crew, Cc'd to Kamala Harris's Chief of Staff Sheila Nix on Sunday 7-21, headed by Revelation 21:6, was the most significant now Public example of GOD'S Cosmically Coordinated Coincidence Control!!!!!
Nearly the first thing out of the orange moron's mouth when he heard he
was now running against an ex-prosecutor who put felons back where they
belong was "You know she's dumber than a rock". Right after the Republican special prosecutor in the VP documents case questioned the mental competency of an octogenarian President, on Superbowl Sunday 2-11 I sent the full first version of A Comparison to the then present and incoming Whitehouse "communication" directors. I followed up both on their submission page a number of times and then from 241 with promises they'd get back to you trying to have the Daily Kos publish it. I refer to two of their articles in one issue, the first being "The media will not report
that Trump appears to have middle-stage dementia". On July 8 Robert Reich posted Why isn’t the media reporting on Trump’s growing dementia? In fact that was the first thing Jim Hightower mentioned in the short note I sent you on the 23rd. I do believe right after referring to "the worst president in history" and "crooked Joe Biden," Trump actually ended his record hour and a half long acceptance speech re-referring to "the late,
great Hannibal Lector". And all the while Common Dreams Plays It's All
Politics As Usual, Last Out The Gate To Mention Trump's Obvious Dementia, Let Alone His Fascist Supreme Narcissism. Has anybody ever mentioned Mary Trump's psychoanalysis in her book or the Lincoln Project in your rag?
At some time you may have included an article on Christian Nationalism,
but I'm pretty sure I've never seen any Opinion piece on the Supreme Court
Presidential Immunity Decision as it's been 10 days since I sent you So in
summary. Whose ambiguous title was changed last night to Thomas Paine On Religions Keeping Mankind Ignorant Of The Creator. Just added
TruthBeTold's brilliant post about the Supreme Court's Decision from Jim
Hightower's site on 7-2. Which ends with this stunning quote from Sam
Alito: “We here in this very court,” he continued, “we six justices are a testament to that divinity. If we don’t sitteth at the right hand of God, I don’t know who does.”
The next paragraph goes on to dissect the Christian Nationalist Theocratic Project 2025 agenda, as originally exposed in Thom's historical analysis dating back to Andrew Jackson.
And finally has anybody ever mentioned Trump's lead in the Electoral
College Vote Before 7-21? Which still holds in the latest poll as of
yesterday in 4 states with one a tie. Don't know why they
didn't include the other two states but yesterday professor Reich stressed
how important it is that Harris campaign team focus on turning those swing states blue and how his podcasts focused on those states have shifted his swing sample's opinions by up to 18% Bluer. It would be sweet to have him complete the Opinion page by sharing this with your readers.
Sincerely, Sean Sheeter (aka Terry K.)
It’s all for one (Kamala). We all need to work together as one and get it done!
God bless Jimmy Hightower and his Daddy! Is this all his, or yours? I am assuming the Thomas Paine quote is pristine, and astounding. I am grateful that email tagged me back into this fascinating thread! What wonderful company I keep!
Well said!
Sadly, too many people are ready to do nothing but what they are told by their master, feeling free to hate, attack, and live in total ignorance.
We must never let that happen! His followers are willing to go along with this? He’s 78 years old and showing several signs of dementia, how’s he going to rule? What exactly do the Republicans /Traitors plan for the future? They certainly plan to steal our Democracy and run a very dangerous Dictatorship.
Exposing The Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissist As A Moron
A Comparison of President Biden's Mental Competency with Donald Trump's
Recently the media focus has been on the 'age issue' and the question of the mental competency of an octogenarian during President Biden's second term. So let's compare his mental competency with Donald Trump's starting with his most recent gaffow followed by a list of what he said and his cabinet members said about him during his first term. (A short list of my faves:)
Did Biden call Nancy Pelosi Nicky Haley when recently talking about the 1-6-21 assault on the capital?
Did he claim the ability to properly identify a giraffe in a multiple choice of three animals, proved he was a "real stable genius"?
Did his former college professor call him the "dumbest f--king student I ever had"?
Did Biden suggest we could build a wall with transparent concrete?
Did he ever say to the camera he wished his wife were present with him while she was literally standing next to him looking confused?
Did his own sibling say in a recorded interview that he paid someone to take the SAT for him because he was too stupid to get into college on his own?
Did Biden think people needed photo IDs to buy groceries?
Did Biden say Paris was a city in Germany?
Did he misspell basic words in dozens of different tweets only to "correct" them by misspelling them a different way?
Did he suggest injecting disinfectants into our bloodstream to kill COVID?
Did he say he didn't know what a blind trust is, despite having a "degree" in Finance?
Did he bankrupt every business he tried starting on his own, including a Casino?
Was Biden the first President in history to utter the sentence, "Belgium is a beautiful city"?
Did Biden ever say our captured prisoners of war are only heroes because they were captured?
Did he have more than a dozen of his hand picked cabinet members resign because they couldn't work with his incompetence?
Did his own Chief of Staff call him an "idiot"?
Did a Senator from his own party say, "The White House has become an adult day care center”?
Did his own Secretary of State say he was a "fucking moron"?
Did his own economic advisor say he was "dumb as shit...an idiot surrounded by clowns"?
Did his National Security Advisor say he was "a dope...an idiot [with the intelligence of] a kindergartner”?
I saved the above collection of quotes that was originally posted on a Facebook page dedicated to insuring Joe Biden's second term last year. That was before that Republican special prosecutor in his VP document's case harped on the age issue and Joe's forgetfulness of details when the guy interviewed him. I was going to submit the above to the Daily Kos before reading the two following articles updating Trump's mental problems amidst the failure of a media focus on the orange moron at the president's expense while he's trying to run this country as the GOP is fixed on trying to tear it apart.
I just read your lead article titled The media will not report that Trump appears to have middle-stage dementia, cataloging his further mental decline. A couple of days later Facebook suggested I look at a new site dedicated to the politics and humor of Jon Stewart which just 'happened' to have posted the original interview in Salon titled "Like someone pulled the metaphorical plug": Dr. John Gartner on Trump's "accelerating dementia". This whole interview was fixated on the dementia issue without mentioning that Both his Parents had Alzheimer's/dementia, which I Learned when I posted A Comparison to every response.
Trump has obviously been both a low IQ moron and a fascist all his life, his first attorney was Roy Cohn Christ's sake. For here's precisely how he became the Perfect GOP Candidate: A supreme Narcissist who first builds Hotels with his last Name plastered all over the top of each with a Will To Power Fixation that drives him to become a TV Star where the whole game was to have the contestants kiss his ass to see who was His most 'competent' Apprentice, Firing all the Losers before finally picking the Winner, Like Me. Which sets him up to run for President, Wrapping Himself In MAGA Flag to Beat all those Loser Politicians in the Primary and Lock Her Up Hillary in the 2016 Electoral College. Rejoice, rejoice an absolute field day for all the fascists, white supremacists, Christian nationalists, plutocrat billionaires, corporatists, corporate media, evangelical preachers and six Supreme Court Justices all Backing a Moronic and now progressively Demented Fuhrer for the MAGA Masses Who Worship Him Like A God, Further Feeding Its Insatiable Sociopathic Narcissism!!!
Turns out I also hadn't read the whole issue with A.J. Pennyfarthing's 10 stunning moments from Trump's late-night speech to religious broadcasters. You ain't going to be changing any preacher's or MAGA's minds about how unhinged DT is with any raft of articles cause that is the Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissistic Moron's Lowest Common Denominator Appeal To The Wrap Yourself In MAGA Flag And $60 Bible Masses!
Wow! A lot of great pro democracy quotes in that statement!!
Yikes!
Thomas Paine On Religions Keeping Mankind Ignorant Of The Creator
As Governments Keep Man Ignorant Of His Rights
So let us briefly update and address the two central themes in Thomas Paine's precocious quote: "It has been the scheme of the Christian Church, and of all the other invented systems of religion, to hold man in ignorance of the Creator, as it is of governments to hold man in the ignorance of his rights. The systems of the one are as false as those of the other, and are calculated for mutual support."
So let's talk about the relation between religion and polytrix in the US government. We have a Supreme Court with six Catholics, steering religion and politics to the far right, away from the Creator. We'll comeback to the original conclusion after this read about the last act taken by the Supreme Court on the first of July. TruthBeTold's post from Jim Hightower's daily news letter on 7-2:
Today the U S Supreme Court overturned the centuries long conviction of Pontius Pilate, absolving him of any responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
In a 6-3 decision along party lines, Chief Justice John Roberts found in error the long standing verdict of history that the Governor of Judea had acted out of personal motivation. Quite the contrary, Roberts wrote, it was strictly within Pilate’s official capacity that he ordered the crucifixion.
In support of his conclusion that Pilate was not acting out of personal motives, Roberts noted a heretofore unrecognized fact. Pilate actually admired Christ and had for a time considered making him court jester after being told of Christ’s whimsical parables. However, after Christ fed the multitude on three fishes and five loaves, Pilate sought to have him elevated to high priest, a plan denounced by Joseph ben Caiaphas, the incumbent. To mollify Caiaphas, but primarily to remove a threat to his regime, Pilate reluctantly ordered the crucifixion, an act well within the governor’s official duties. The first duty of every official, Roberts wrote, is to preserve and perpetuate his rule, be he governor, satrap or inspector of hides and brands.
In his concurring opinion, Justice Kavanaugh noted that crucifixion was not a death sentence, merely a punishment. Unfortunately, he wrote, some individuals perversely elected to die on the cross just to embarrass a government toward which they were ill disposed. Likewise in the case of time honored punishments such as keel-hauling and flogging there were the occasional fatalities, regrettable but hardly of consequence.
Justice Gorsuch noted in his concurrence that in olden times, measures which today are deemed cruel and unusual were in fact a necessity. Trial by water and trial by fire, he observed, were the only ways to get at the facts before the advent of the polygraph and Fox News.
Remarking the perspective she had gained occupying the Tomas de Torquemada Chair of Jurisprudence at Notre Dame, Justice Barrett stated with apodictic certainty that had prosecutors been deprived of the rack, the thumbscrew and the iron maiden, many great truths would have gone unrevealed.
Despite having been challenged to recuse himself when it was learned that Harlan Crow had given him Pilate’s solid gold death mask, Justice Thomas wrote a concurring opinion, the gist being: redemption. Romans, he observed, had long since become good Catholics and were thereby redeemed by Christ himself; they had hardly bothered anyone since their conversion, with the exception of Al Capone in Chicago, Lucky Luciano in New York, and Sam Alito in Washington, DC.
Justice Alito declared that no way could Pilate have gotten a fair trial, with the populace spreading the word that Christ was the only begotten son of God. The scriptures, Alito emphatically stated, say that we all are the children of God, and scriptures take precedence over man’s laws. “We here in this very court,” he continued, “we six justices are a testament to that divinity. If we don’t sitteth at the right hand of God, I don’t know who does.”
Justices Kagan, Sotomayor and Jackson, knowing their six confreres better than anyone, dissented.
We have a new speaker of the House who openly wants to establish a 'moral' Christian Nationalism run by the next Republican president. Who will implement a fascist plan called Project 2025, as outlined at the end of Thom Hartmann's historical analysis of what led up to The Shocking GOP Plan to Dismantle the American Government. And all the while you've watched the Republican Party champion the idea of "freedom" while you have also watched the same party openly assault various freedoms, like the freedom to vote, freedom to choose, freedom to marry who you want, freedom for your children's teachers and librarians to have them read what they want, freedom to form unions and so on. If this has been a source of confusion, then your assessments of what Republicans mean by freedom were likely too generous. Here is what they mean: 1. The freedom to tell people what to do. 2. Freedom from being told what to do.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/31/2190709/-The-Shocking-GOP-Plan-to-Dismantle-the-American-Government-Revealed?detail=emaildkre&pm_source=DKRE&pm_medium=email
Not sure if you know about the John Fugelsang Podcast. He is an authority on the Bible. His father was a Franciscan Friar and his mother was a nun! He covers all the events with a voice that is addicting!
Thanks for the Fugelsang reminder! I always credit him with the wonderful quip that Mitt Romney is a "human windsock!" Just thought about him in context of being a humorist, but you connect more background.
John Fugelsang has an extraordinary talent. I love listening to John as he belittles Trump. And his comedic humor is so good!
New last paragraph of Exposing....: So since the huge event of Joe Biden bowing out and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for President of the United States of America on Sunday the 21st of July, there is only one question before us: Would you rather have a Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissistic Moron whose Parents Both Also Had Dementia running this country or the Daughter of Two University Professors?
I cannot express how much his saying "my" beautiful Christians upsets me! Christians belong to Christ - PERIOD!
Trump is taking advantage of the knuckleheads that think Trump is the 2nd coming!
Yes! Who in that audience doesn't stand up and go, WHAT? These people are OK with worshipping Trump. Incredible.
He sounds like Satan enticing Christians
Good lord, to coin a phrase. Do you have a link? Want to see it!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/26/trump-turning-point-speech-vance/ has at part of the quote, saying: “The former president urged attendees at the faith-themed event to vote — ‘Vote early. Vote absentee. Vote on Election Day. I don’t care how, but you have to get out and vote,’ he said — and promised that in four years, ‘we’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.’”
Mmerose, I don't have a link, but if you go to PBS News (hour) on youtube and click "live", you may be able to find it there.
https://www.youtube.com/live/Uo-I6YW_jWY?si=l97hKLpDYTn6P4Ec
Thanks but so painful! The word "smarmy" comes to mind, but inadequate to contemplate the reciprocal side of those who somehow are bought in to the fakery religiosity. I don't think "cult" requires the leader to be a cynical, consciously manipulative fake who despises his victim/followers, but this is what is made manifest here. It calls up the ancient question about the reality of evil.
DJT is such a Fake! He just reads the words, there’s nothing real about what he’s saying. Makes me sick to even watch him!
BRAT is the acronym for “Bury Republican Arrogance Team”
I would make the A- ___hole!
How about "Biden Replacement Arrogance Team?"
Yes, Kamala will make "toast" of Trump/Vance.
But, I'm also very hopeful that President Harris will not make "toast" of Federal Trade Commission Chair, Linda Kahn, since two billionaire democratic donors (one is Barry Diller) wants Kahn fired for doing her job very well in favor of the average American consumer.
Kahn is outstanding and is championed by Senators Sanders and Warren.
What a great Coffee Klatch! So much energy! Thank you Professor Reich and Ms. Lofthouse! What a difference a week makes! I agree that we need to get on that blue wave. It is so important for our Democracy! I would like to say that President Biden will always be my hero. For the great things he has done in office for every American to his selfless decision to step aside and let the younger generation show what they can do. I believe Vice-President Harris will build on everything President Biden started and our country will be so much better off than it was when the orange man was in office. People are starting to wake up and take notice and the energy is building! You mentioned Project 2025 and how the orange stain is trying to distance himself from it. If you simply remind people that Agenda47 is Project 2025 in different words, he can't use that as an argument. He may say his policies and platform will follow Agenda47, but he is actually saying I will implement Project 2025(Agenda47) immediately in office. We MUST keep telling people about Project 2025/Agenda47 all the way up to election. Vote Blue through and through! Lotus for POTUS!
Thank you for mentioning Agenda47. For tRump adherents they are all over correcting people and trying to twist into a pretzel that Agenda47 is different than Project2025. There are differences but both are a dystopian white men only fascist America.
Here is how one of my friends, a maga cult member replies on my fb feed
“what’s your version of the project? So many out there they can’t get it right” By the “they” she means Dems.
And:
“ it’s
Not to be confused with Donald Trump's package of proposals, Agenda 47 as stated and Demos have”
I don’t believe for a moment my tRumpster friend has read either. I have read both.
Peggy, you say it all and well...whoop whoop 👍
Thank you, Marilyn! Now let's do this! Vote blue through and through! Lotus for POTUS!
Thomas Paine On Religions Keeping Mankind Ignorant Of The Creator
As Governments Keep Man Ignorant Of His Rights
So let us briefly update and address the two central themes in Thomas Paine's precocious quote: "It has been the scheme of the Christian Church, and of all the other invented systems of religion, to hold man in ignorance of the Creator, as it is of governments to hold man in the ignorance of his rights. The systems of the one are as false as those of the other, and are calculated for mutual support."
So let's talk about the relation between religion and polytrix in the US government. We have a Supreme Court with six Catholics, steering religion and politics to the far right, away from the Creator. We'll comeback to the original conclusion after this read about the last act taken by the Supreme Court on the first of July. TruthBeTold's post from Jim Hightower's daily news letter on 7-2:
Today the U S Supreme Court overturned the centuries long conviction of Pontius Pilate, absolving him of any responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
In a 6-3 decision along party lines, Chief Justice John Roberts found in error the long standing verdict of history that the Governor of Judea had acted out of personal motivation. Quite the contrary, Roberts wrote, it was strictly within Pilate’s official capacity that he ordered the crucifixion.
In support of his conclusion that Pilate was not acting out of personal motives, Roberts noted a heretofore unrecognized fact. Pilate actually admired Christ and had for a time considered making him court jester after being told of Christ’s whimsical parables. However, after Christ fed the multitude on three fishes and five loaves, Pilate sought to have him elevated to high priest, a plan denounced by Joseph ben Caiaphas, the incumbent. To mollify Caiaphas, but primarily to remove a threat to his regime, Pilate reluctantly ordered the crucifixion, an act well within the governor’s official duties. The first duty of every official, Roberts wrote, is to preserve and perpetuate his rule, be he governor, satrap or inspector of hides and brands.
In his concurring opinion, Justice Kavanaugh noted that crucifixion was not a death sentence, merely a punishment. Unfortunately, he wrote, some individuals perversely elected to die on the cross just to embarrass a government toward which they were ill disposed. Likewise in the case of time honored punishments such as keel-hauling and flogging there were the occasional fatalities, regrettable but hardly of consequence.
Justice Gorsuch noted in his concurrence that in olden times, measures which today are deemed cruel and unusual were in fact a necessity. Trial by water and trial by fire, he observed, were the only ways to get at the facts before the advent of the polygraph and Fox News.
Remarking the perspective she had gained occupying the Tomas de Torquemada Chair of Jurisprudence at Notre Dame, Justice Barrett stated with apodictic certainty that had prosecutors been deprived of the rack, the thumbscrew and the iron maiden, many great truths would have gone unrevealed.
Despite having been challenged to recuse himself when it was learned that Harlan Crow had given him Pilate’s solid gold death mask, Justice Thomas wrote a concurring opinion, the gist being: redemption. Romans, he observed, had long since become good Catholics and were thereby redeemed by Christ himself; they had hardly bothered anyone since their conversion, with the exception of Al Capone in Chicago, Lucky Luciano in New York, and Sam Alito in Washington, DC.
Justice Alito declared that no way could Pilate have gotten a fair trial, with the populace spreading the word that Christ was the only begotten son of God. The scriptures, Alito emphatically stated, say that we all are the children of God, and scriptures take precedence over man’s laws. “We here in this very court,” he continued, “we six justices are a testament to that divinity. If we don’t sitteth at the right hand of God, I don’t know who does.”
Justices Kagan, Sotomayor and Jackson, knowing their six confreres better than anyone, dissented.
We have a new speaker of the House who openly wants to establish a 'moral' Christian Nationalism run by the next Republican president. Who will implement a fascist plan called Project 2025, as outlined at the end of Thom Hartmann's historical analysis of what led up to The Shocking GOP Plan to Dismantle the American Government. And all the while you've watched the Republican Party champion the idea of "freedom" while you have also watched the same party openly assault various freedoms, like the freedom to vote, freedom to choose, freedom to marry who you want, freedom for your children's teachers and librarians to have them read what they want, freedom to form unions and so on. If this has been a source of confusion, then your assessments of what Republicans mean by freedom were likely too generous. Here is what they mean: 1. The freedom to tell people what to do. 2. Freedom from being told what to do.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/31/2190709/-The-Shocking-GOP-Plan-to-Dismantle-the-American-Government-Revealed?detail=emaildkre&pm_source=DKRE&pm_medium=email
Exposing The Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissist As A Moron
A Comparison of President Biden's Mental Competency with Donald Trump's
Recently the media focus has been on the 'age issue' and the question of the mental competency of an octogenarian during President Biden's second term. So let's compare his mental competency with Donald Trump's starting with his most recent gaffow followed by a list of what he said and his cabinet members said about him during his first term. (A short list of my faves:)
Did Biden call Nancy Pelosi Nicky Haley when recently talking about the 1-6-21 assault on the capital?
Did he claim the ability to properly identify a giraffe in a multiple choice of three animals, proved he was a "real stable genius"?
Did his former college professor call him the "dumbest f--king student I ever had"?
Did Biden suggest we could build a wall with transparent concrete?
Did he ever say to the camera he wished his wife were present with him while she was literally standing next to him looking confused?
Did his own sibling say in a recorded interview that he paid someone to take the SAT for him because he was too stupid to get into college on his own?
Did Biden think people needed photo IDs to buy groceries?
Did Biden say Paris was a city in Germany?
Did he misspell basic words in dozens of different tweets only to "correct" them by misspelling them a different way?
Did he suggest injecting disinfectants into our bloodstream to kill COVID?
Did he say he didn't know what a blind trust is, despite having a "degree" in Finance?
Did he bankrupt every business he tried starting on his own, including a Casino?
Was Biden the first President in history to utter the sentence, "Belgium is a beautiful city"?
Did Biden ever say our captured prisoners of war are only heroes because they were captured?
Did he have more than a dozen of his hand picked cabinet members resign because they couldn't work with his incompetence?
Did his own Chief of Staff call him an "idiot"?
Did a Senator from his own party say, "The White House has become an adult day care center”?
Did his own Secretary of State say he was a "fucking moron"?
Did his own economic advisor say he was "dumb as shit...an idiot surrounded by clowns"?
Did his National Security Advisor say he was "a dope...an idiot [with the intelligence of] a kindergartner”?
I saved the above collection of quotes that was originally posted on a Facebook page dedicated to insuring Joe Biden's second term last year. That was before that Republican special prosecutor in his VP document's case harped on the age issue and Joe's forgetfulness of details when the guy interviewed him. I was going to submit the above to the Daily Kos before reading the two following articles updating Trump's mental problems amidst the failure of a media focus on the orange moron at the president's expense while he's trying to run this country as the GOP is fixed on trying to tear it apart.
I just read your lead article titled The media will not report that Trump appears to have middle-stage dementia, cataloging his further mental decline. A couple of days later Facebook suggested I look at a new site dedicated to the politics and humor of Jon Stewart which just 'happened' to have posted the original interview in Salon titled "Like someone pulled the metaphorical plug": Dr. John Gartner on Trump's "accelerating dementia". This whole interview was fixated on the dementia issue without mentioning that Both his Parents had Alzheimer's/dementia, which I Learned when I posted A Comparison to every response.
Trump has obviously been both a low IQ moron and a fascist all his life, his first attorney was Roy Cohn Christ's sake. For here's precisely how he became the Perfect GOP Candidate: A supreme Narcissist who first builds Hotels with his last Name plastered all over the top of each with a Will To Power Fixation that drives him to become a TV Star where the whole game was to have the contestants kiss his ass to see who was His most 'competent' Apprentice, Firing all the Losers before finally picking the Winner, Like Me. Which sets him up to run for President, Wrapping Himself In MAGA Flag to Beat all those Loser Politicians in the Primary and Lock Her Up Hillary in the 2016 Electoral College. Rejoice, rejoice an absolute field day for all the fascists, white supremacists, Christian nationalists, plutocrat billionaires, corporatists, corporate media, evangelical preachers and six Supreme Court Justices all Backing a Moronic and now progressively Demented Fuhrer for the MAGA Masses Who Worship Him Like A God, Further Feeding Its Insatiable Sociopathic Narcissism!!!
Turns out I also hadn't read the whole issue with A.J. Pennyfarthing's 10 stunning moments from Trump's late-night speech to religious broadcasters. You ain't going to be changing any preacher's or MAGA's minds about how unhinged DT is with any raft of articles cause that is the Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissistic Moron's Lowest Common Denominator Appeal To The Wrap Yourself In MAGA Flag And $60 Bible Masses!
Kamala will expose Trump for being an empty suit and the foolish “Wizard of Oz”