Professor, You’re preaching to the choir! Most intelligent Americans know Trump is a narcissistic sociopath who should never have been elected in the first place! The 2016 election was a popularity contest that Hillary won but because of our antiquated systems, Trump became our worst president ever!
The people who think he is the second coming of Christ are lost. These people are easily manipulated into believing he is their savior. There is no convincing them otherwise! The Democratic Party needs to show the people that are still on the fence, that they are the Party that retains and improves our democracy for all Americans.
The most basic problem in America is the slow, steady transfer of wealth over the last 50 years from average Americans to the wealthiest, those for whom Musk is the hood ornament. The wealthy can't say "we robbed you blind" so they appeal to the most basic of human instincts in order to divert wrath away from themselves.
As the American economy has shifted from manufacturing to finance, so has the anger grown. The Democratic party also has corporate affiliations, as evidenced by Harris's willingness to compromise on a capital gains tax, but at least she is a step in the right direction.
"It's cool to hate.... People like Trump and Musk capitalize on it."
"borrowed" from Daniel Solomon...don't know why but can't think of a better non-entity to blame. FDR shaped my life until MLK and John Thomas came along to make sure I knew what needed to be done by white people like me. So, I chose to revert to my JESUS teachings, again, and followed MLK'S Dream. Still, at 87, it's been my path forward since being at the LINCOLN Memorial with the MARCH in '63. Still marching to stay alive to vote BLUE as I always have since I turned 18 in 1955.
Martha, I loved that so-called "tyrant" Abraham Lincoln, FDR, John F Kennedy, Martin Luther King and John Lewis. So many of these leaders have shaped my life as well. Their messages of hope, love, equality and tolerance are just as sound today as they were back when we marched for it! You are such a strong person at 87 and I have added you to that list! Vote blue, America, up and down the ballot!
Sad and if we elect this disaster again, hatred will rule the country. We have been working away from all the hatred, but it will get worse if trump gets elected. I worry about the EC effect on this election though. Trump is already trying to rig those states with the most EC votes!
Dorothy, Vlad is very aware what Martha said. He just likes to post nasty comments that he thinks are intimidating but are in fact, quite humorous! Pay him no mind!
Hey it's Vlad from Vladivostok! Hey, Vlad! How's the weather in Russia? You'd probably be better off worrying about your leader! Things are looking very good for him right now! Martha, pay absolutely no attention to Vlad. He likes to come on here and spew the very hate we are talking about! Just scroll on past and pay him no mind!
Why ask me such an insulting question, you've seen enough of my comments to know that if anything, I am a hard core leftist, well not that hardcore that I am a Marxist
@William. Unlike Bernie and Social Democrats of the past, you don't do any education nor explication of leftist/Marxist viewpoints. It ends up you just alienate folks who would otherwise vote against Trump, ergo on our side. The fact that Martha might have forgotten at the age of 87 that she didn't have the vote in 1955 is hardly anything worth taking up space here, and certainly not, IMO, worth beating up a lady who is voting blue this time regardless of the past.
Martha, you didn't vote at 18 in 1955 - the age was 21 back then. I couldn't vote in a presidential election until 1968 at age 24, due to my b'day in the second week of Nov. I had served 4 years in the U.S. Air Force to avoid the draft for which I was FORCED to register at age 18 in 1962. Yeah, I still resent that injustice for being male.
Hey. It's just my opinion and I'm allowed to have it, Rob. Further I don't appreciate your snarky comment but you're allowed to say that, too. In the final analysis if you guys want to waste time discussing if Martha voted appropriately or not and that's what you really want to do knock yourself out. I'm moving on. Goodbye.
The point is the reason the age was lowered to 18 in 1971 was the injustice of sending 18-year-old boys (my age in 1962) to fight, kill & die in a foreign war that they had NO SAY in who would lead us. Logic says if you are old enuf to be conscripted (forced into a slave army) you should be old enuf to vote.
And, women were ALLOWED to serve back then, just not forced to.
I stand corrected.... I guess I was thinking about women not being allowed to serve on the front lines. I had thought it was quite awhile before that changed. I do agree that the draft was totally wrong, and hope we never have to go back to it.
Ironically Musks Starlink can solve the problem on the $42 billion of waste fraud and abuse that is unfolding as part of the Biden Harris infrastructure bill. Here's a tweet from Bredan Carr of the fcc:
In 2021, Vice President Harris agreed to lead the Administration’s $42B plan to expand Internet to millions of Americans.
1️⃣,0️⃣3️⃣9️⃣ days later …
Not one person has been connected to the Internet. None.
With VP Harris at the helm, Politico recently reported on the “frustration” and “finger-pointing” that now define the program’s “messy, delayed rollout.”
One state official described “a chaotic implementation environment,” “dysfunction,” and “delays.”
She added that the Administration “has provided either no guidance, guidance given too late, or guidance changing midstream.” The Administration is “slowing states down,” she said.
So what has the Administration been doing over the last 1,039 days instead of connecting Americans?
It has been layering on red tape and advancing a wish list of progressive policy goals.
The $42 billion program led by Vice President Harris is being used to pursue a climate change agenda, DEI requirements, price controls, preferences for government-run networks, and rules that will lead to wasteful overbuilding. All of this will leave rural and other unconnected communities behind.
Thank you to Chairman @RepJamesComer and House @GOPoversight for the chance to testify on this failure of implementation
This is not true. Marketplace.org did a three-part series on the efforts to get Broadband out to people in rural areas of the U.S. The show is called Marketplace, hosted by Kai Ryssdal and the dates the series ran are August 26, 27, and 28.
Up in the Adirondacks we have been trying to get broad band through out the park since 2010 when I joined a non profit that was advocating this program. They are still advocating. One problem is the “last mile” which is very expensive in remote areas. Covid was very difficult because the schools went remote with many children unable to access their classroom. Now we can hope solve the problem of children who are behind grade level and disillusioned youth who have turned off school.
Starlink as a solution? You must not know how to calculate.
Price?
"How much is Starlink internet? Starlink's standard residential service includes unlimited data for $120/mo. and equipment fees range from $599 to $2,500 depending on the plan."
Speed?
"In optimal conditions, Starlink download speeds range between 50 and 250 Mbps. Comparatively, 5G can deliver average download speeds between 50 Mbps and 2 Gbps, depending on available spectrum layers."
Connectivity?
"The Starlink WiFi router stands out by offering dual bandwidth (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz), allowing it to support 128 devices simultaneously. " That means 19Mbs and 38Mbs per customer when all 128 users are connected.
Number of Satelites?
"As of August 2024, there are 6,350 Starlink satellites in orbit, of which 6,290 are working" But only a fraction of those will be able to communicate to a single location on earth.
Sadly, this kind of compromise is probably necessary until we have been able to move the Overton window. The right-wing, big money take-over has been decades in the making, and Dems have been forced to be part of it just to survive. My hope is that if we are successful in ditching 'trickle-down economics' and swinging back to a more humane economy, there will be much less need for Dems to compromise. I am especially hopeful that people will no longer have to be multi-millionaires -- or forced to serve their interests -- just to run for public office.
Yes, we've gone too far toward extreme. A good country will always be a combo of poor, middle, rich, and super-rich. We need to bring back an educated, happy, stable middle class with all classes doing their best to respect and help those with less. Kamala is a centrist and that is what we need. We are the richest and most powerful country still. We can do this.
Hello Michael Hutchinson... Thanks for reminding Us of the shift from Manufacturing to Fictionalization... This began with the Oil Shocks of the 1970's.. First was the '73 Oil Embargo triggered by the Arab-Israel War of 1973, the second by the 1979 Iranian Counter-Revolution... The American MisManagement started in 1973 for various reasosn... I remember the 1970's Starting Well, and Ending Badly... Jimmy Carter was a Realist that had Faith in the Wisdom of an Educated Populace, instead, the Populace chose Reagan who was a Fabulist in 1980... In 1980 Roanld Reagan chose Donald Regan as his first Treasury Secretary... Regan was Chairman of Merrill Lynch at the time... Regan convinced Ronald Reagan that the Future belonged in Finance... Regan initiated 'Trickle-Down Economics'... Retail Finance is Debt... Credit Cards, Loans, etc... Regan thought it would be too hard to rebuild the Midwest Manufacturing Sector, it is much easier to Manage Numbers on Computers Screens in New York, than build things that are tangible... NAFTA was formulated under Reagan, and signed by Clinton... The Health of many has tracked their Personal Financial Health... DJT's Golden Age was in the 1980s in NYC... DJT is the self-Proclaimed 'King-Of-Debt', who has filed for Bankruptcy five, or six times... Any Questions as to why DJT exploded the National Debt, and why he will do it again?... The Right-Wing Populism that DJT has harnessed expresses itself as 'Hatred & Blame Of The Other'... Bear in Mind what is happening in Europe...
You are right, Michael. Donald Trump is a defender of the billionaire class. He has deflected the people's anger by attacking immigrants, the unspecified "elites," and minorities in general. Not all billionaires appreciate his self-serving hate-mongering, and we must join forces with them.
I'm sorry, but I do not believe there are ANY people "that are still on the fence." By claiming that they are "undecided," they rationalize their embarrassing secret of their embrace of tRump and his politics of hatred. Same thing re folks who, in today's climate, claim to be "independent" voters. To me, it's almost like finding a category of "undecided" on the question along the lines of: "Should an asteroid hit the planet this afternoon, destroying all human life?" Hmmmmmmm....now THAT's a poser!
Bonnie, well said. I think that Undecideds already know that they’ll vote for Donald. They just say they’re Undecideds in order to appear thoughtful and reasonable. They want to be courted to appear in tv or in print or other media or in a focus group. They may say they want to get policy details but it’s a ruse. They’ll give some excuse couched as a reason why they can’t possibly vote for Kamala.
But, in the same way, if the Undecideds live in a Loud & Proud MAGA area, like The Villages in Florida, they may be too embarrassed, or even too frightened, to admit they support Kamala Hartis.
I cannot believe that any sane person would vote a the Orange Felon over a single issue! I too, am against the outrageous amounts of money (Our money) to bomb the Palestinians out of existence!😡😡😡💩 however I wouldn't hire Trump to be dog catcher! Besides, animal control officers have to be fast on their feet!
Few people on the fence, I would agree. I think. But what we have a big share of is low information voters. People who quite literally have no idea what is going on. I believe most low info voters vote Republican. Because to understand why the Republican world is so bad for the country in the long run, you have to get past the headlines. Which low info voters never do, by definition. Instead they look at issues directly in front of them - like the price of gas, or eggs. If they don't like it, the next question is who is in power. Democrats? Ah - I thought so. I will vote them out. Period. End of sentence.
Take climate change for instance. Almost any person, who when presented with the facts, would understand that there are measures that must be taken which will restrict some things we are accustomed to. Like gas guzzler vehicles. Or cheap gasoline. OR the need for a carbon tax. But when that same person doesn't know about, or does not otherwise accept, the dangers of climate change, and sees measures being taken which are inconvenient for him/her, well there you go. He/she is going to vote the other way.
Bonnie, the so-called "undecideds" have not decided whether they will vote, while other undecideds have not decided whether they will regiser to vote - or not. The question of who they will vote for has already decided. At least that's my take on the undecideds.
I think you nailed it. If it (still, ever?) was a contest between Trump and Harris people would have decided by now. We would also still believe some folks in this group might still be wooed - as the candidates suggest. Deciding whether to register or whether to vote is more complicated and the answer is harder to reveal publicly or defend. That is about whether this democracy is really in jeopardy (the blind, willfully ignorant, brainwashed or terminally hopeful among us) - or whether our votes really matter at all ( the beat down, worn out or cynical among us). One good thing is that we have been here before and sometimes, at the last minute people decide & act.
Bonnie, I am registered in Floriduh as No Party Affiliation - our version of "Independent." I still vote for whatever Dem is running in most elections and have always voted for the Dem Presidential candidate in the general election. I just can't vote in the primary, which turned out to be a sham since Debbie Wasserman Schultz sandbagged Bernie & pushed Hilary in 2016.
Yes, Rob Boyte ; Real skullduggery, supported by the media. They gave Bernie very little : Unfavorable mostly , "coverage" , while boosting Hillary as the "heir apparent." She attended almost exclusively, high dollar events and ignored the rural states and working class voters in the inner cities. Bernie had bigger crowds and a much better message. Wall street hated him, unsurprisingly.
I'm with you Bonnie.. The myth of the undecided is perpetuated by the Media and polling companies.
There is also a lot of talk on TV about the young black male vote, trying to blackmail the democrats. Threatening to not vote for Harris and Democrats.
Kind of cutting off the nose to spite the face.I guess they believe that Trump and the Republicans have a deal for them, because one less vote for Harris is in reality a vote for Trump even if they don't vote.
Bonnie, I think you may be right as to the “undecideds”, but I take exception to your problem wth the “independents.” As someone who usually votes Democrat, but felt the party of the nineties and until very recently this century had lost its 1930s’ progressive roots, I have considered myself an independent in line with, say, Bernie Sanders. I certainly expect many independents are planning to vote for Harris-Walz, as am I. Don’t paint wth such a broad brush when the one remaining major party has too often seemed Republican-lite.
I agree with you, Phil. I should have placed my cynicism of "independents" in the context of THIS SPECIFIC election (and the elections of 2016 and 2020). To me, a life long Republican until the GOP was radicalized by the Christian equivalent of Iran's religious oligarchy, I, too, would have preferred to cast myself as "independent."
Agreed. Trump's hate is dangerous. I think we have to stand for truth and justice. This is a reply I made last night to someone who posted a questionable story:
"I don't suggest clicking on links with questionable sources, as above. SSnews dot wtf? It's a questionable source. It is suspicious of misinformation. Please post the headline and a portion of the article so we can decide if it's news worthy. Indeed, Russia is trying to influence our election again. I'm not saying this is misinformation, but I will assure you that it wouldn't be an acceptable source for a high school English teacher.
It's going to take a lot for me to read about Donald. He told over 32,000 lies as President. He didn't "drain the swamp;" he made it deeper. His economic plan of tax cuts for the rich and deregulation would be a disaster AGAIN.
Trump lost the election fair and square in 2020. Then he lied to his supporters to start a violent insurrection at the Capitol. It was shameful. His own team and lawyers told him he lost and had no evidence of a stolen election. January 6 was one of the worst days in the United States' history.
I do not know why DJT has the Rasputin hold on the Republican Party. Ask ALL of Trump's Cabinet Members what they think of him, especially the Generals. Most all of them, including his VP, think Trump should be nowhere near the Oval Office. His Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, called him 'a moron." Trump does not speak in complete sentences. He says absolutely crazy things. He's not fit for any city/municipal level office.
For Christ's sake, Trump insulted war hero, VC POW, Senator John McCain for being captured. Did years of torture by the VC make McCain flip? No! Somebody want to tell me that Trump made a fair criticism of McCain's service and valor? What does that tell you about Trump's integrity to insult McCain's service?
When Trump was President, I lived with THREE active duty military members, including two Ft. Meade Intelligence soldiers. All three felt a lot worse about Trump than I just wrote. They worked with Army leaders, including General McChrystal in Iraq. When the Generals who served Trump as Commander In Chief think Trump is unfit and dangerous, that should really tell you something.
As a "businessman" he bankrupted a cash cow casino. Worse, he didn't pay over 2,000 businesses that built the ill-advised casino. Over 2,000 businesses sued him for not paying the 3rd check that puts them back in the black after labor and expenses. Again, what does this say about his ethics and integrity? He lacks it.
Trump politicized COVID and failed to lead when we needed a leader. The failed response and mocking of COVID was epic and made it worse. Trump's sister is a trained psychologist and has documented his years of narcissist behavior. He again showed that he is only concerned about himself when he had Speaker Johnson bury the Bi-partisan Immigration Bill so Trump could use it as a campaign issue.
Over 30,000 lies is hard to comprehend. Journalists have documented the lies and have no fear of a liable lawsuit. That's hundreds of lies a MONTH. Bill Clinton told one personal* lie and some people lost their minds and said he was unfit. Yet Trump has told over 32,000 lies about government operations and the public policy, and it's okay? It's not okay.
Sorry, our President must always tell Americans the truth. The President must have same domeatic, foreign and energy policies. Our President must lead during a global crisis and National Emergency. Our Commander in Chief must always respect our military, especially POW's like Sen.McCain. His billionaire supporters hate labor, pollute and exploit communities to make their fortunes. It's pathetic how much Billionaires are dumping into the election to increase their fortues and diminish labor and laws that protect us. Ironically, Tru.mp's policies would make us more like a Third World country.
I don't even want to go into his anti-abortion actions to appease some who call themselves Christians and Catholics. I don't "support" abortions, but that's mighty white of me because I'm a man who will never need one for millions of reasons. I sure wish men and women would think of how many women IN OUR COUNTY ALONE are sadly addicted to drugs, alcoholics or in bad health and cannot carry to term. If women are sick, addicted, mentally ill or have a reason, they should not be forced to have a child. That's tyranny. Its bad for society too
In Missouri, those women with health issues, including addiction, must come to Illinois for an abortion. An addicted mother and infant can run up a MILLION dollar healthcare bill in the FIRST MONTH. What kind of life will the child have born addicted to a mother who is addicted and cannot even care for her own health? It's inhumane. Sadly, abortion is healthcare that saves women's lives. Women deserve to make the decision with her doctor, not men totally detached from women's situations.
Republicans really should support individual liberty and freedom like the Dems. Republicans should oppose "big government" and get it out of private matters and the doctor's offices. In fact, it's the Democrats who are protecting the values that Republicans' once cherished.
In closing, Trump's claim that we "won't have a country" unless he is President is crazy because after 3.8 years of Biden we are doing far better than we were in 2020. The border would've had the best fix Congress can make, but Trump nixed it. Come on Republicans, nominate someone sane like Gov. Kasich from OH. I assure you that that our Generals will not see him as a threat to our Democracy and a Russian asset.
BTW, the US President should never meet with leaders like N. Korea, as Trump did. Trust me, the Generals and past Administrations are ALL firm on that."
(I tried to cover the main reasons why Trump should be unacceptable for Independent, moderates, and Republicans. I'm sure I forgot some. I didn't want to get too wonky. It's an argument on their terms, in hopes of speaking their language so they can understand Trump is a madman.)
Without a doubt, Trump is most certainly a certifiable madman; a demon in a suit with a long red tie that stands in for a slimy barbed tail.
In acknowleging all the wise truths posted her, I would add my own meme: Kamala Harris, (a solid upright citizen and caring human being) is running FOR President-DJT is running (from his myriad crimes and ) AGAINST the presidency.
He and his sycophants will sink the Ship of State laughing insanely.
Well said, Danny, and respective to drumpf's autocrat buddies, don't forget Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi clown prince whom drumpf bragged that he bailed out of accountability for the murder of Mr. Khashoggi, the journalist who called out MBS for his crimes against humanity in the Saudi kingdom. As Robert aptly put it, drumpf is completely devoid of substance, so he employs fear to generate revulsion, the basic fight reflex of human emotion. Thinking is not required, because drumpf has done all that for his acolytes. Let's speculate that there may be seventy thousand potential voters in seven swing states who could be swayed to vote for Harris. Then we sane people need to reach them.
Dumpy's lies as president work out as an average of 21 lies per day. The 32,000 number is almost too big to be meaningful, but can you imagine yourself lying 21 times a day? It was lower than that the first year of his presidency, but grew to almost double that by his last year. Again, can you imagine yourself, or someone you know, lying 40 times a day? That boggles my mind.
Trump and his "Believers" believe their own lies and create a "Fantasy world" of their own. They build up fictitious stories and narrative to fill in the blanks then pass it along to the gullible. Using hate to stir up emotions that clouds the intellect and this is not the first time in history this has happened. The only power we have over this is to get out and VOTE. Even then, the same gullible people will be voting and repeating the hate every election cycle.
There are millions of people who struggle to have children who would like to adopt. Wouldn't that be a better path forward? Wouldn't that be a better path forward for society (not to mention the Mother and the child)?
Liberal MSNBC is the best friend Trump could have. On the basis that there is no such thing as bad publicity,, MSNBC is keeping Trump's name front and center a thousand times a day.
And that they do a good job of, but the other day they had their camera's trained waiting for him to arrive, the same way that they had their camera's follow his caravan when he appeared in the Georgia courthouse. Covering his rants is one thing, but they also are normalizing him
Doing so attracts eyeballs, which raises ratings, which are essential for ad placement, and ads are the primary source of revenue for the media.
Cover his absurdities, his lies, he threat yes, but not train the camera on him constantly, nor follow his caravan, or wait for his airplane to land.
And the more exposure to him mouthing his lies and absurdities, meaning the camera trained on him, the more he is normalized.
Feces, he is already normalized. Look at Mark Robinson, he is normalized now, JD Vance the fascist and fascism is normalized, but let Kamala or Walz stub a toe or misspeak and the vultures are there to pounce.
Keith, you are so right! When this election is over and Kamala is in the White House, I intend to focus every single bit of my attention and energy on working to abolish the electoral college and use the popular vote. It truly annoys me that my vote does not count as much as a handful of states that actually decide who our president is going to be! No, our country needs the popular vote so that all of us know that we had a say in who was going to be our president. When you ask people that are not in these swing states if they will vote, a large percentage will say "What for? My vote doesn't count!" That is why you have so many that simply do not vote!
I'm not in a swing state, but I am voting for sure, anyway. there should not be "swing states". there should not be an Electoral college either. "One human , one vote", is what we should have for real Democracy ; All free and fair and most importantly ; Counted.
The main reason to eliminate the Electoral College is because it’s ripe for fraud. Remember Nov 2020-Jan 2021 when alternate electors were used? One man, one vote! 💙🇺🇸
Absolutely! I’ve heard the same thing for years from respected people. It’s time to update the Constitution to match the time which we are living in. Of course, in order to do that we have to elect adults who care about the people and the needs of all of the people.
There's a movement called The National Popular Vote Compact that calls for states to award all their electoral votes to whomever wins the overall popular vote in the United States and DC. It's been adopted by 17 states and DC. It won't go into effect until enough states to total 270 electoral votes have signed it, which hasn't hapoened yet, but the 17 states together comprise 209 EC votes, and the states where it's pending (NV, MI, NC, VA) add 50 more. Unsurprizingly, deep red states like AL & TX haven't signed on, but 259 EC votes isn't that far from 270.
Here's a Wikipedia article on it, if I've copied the link correctly (I'm a dinosaur.)
The cult members in my family will not listen to Kamala or those who think like she does. I don't know what more she can do. Those intelligent Americans must keep doing what Robert is doing and hopefully reach some on the fence.
“Most intelligent Americans “- I gotta take issue with that. Not where I live- his supporters are intelligent, leaders in the areas of making $$$. That’s why he went to LI last week- half of Wall St lives in Nassau County- he was raising money! Interesting that he never brings up Kamala is kicking his butt in that area lol. As for my family- their support is really based in racism. I’m so glad I’m going on a trip to Canada, I cut the cord w cable, unplugging because I can’t take this stress of impending doom…
Susan D ; enjoy the trip. also know that having "intelligence" about money is not necessarily all there is to intelligence. Money often rules, but it isn't everything. That is why there are problems in this world that threaten US and our entire planets' life support.
My cousin, a conservative Christian and Trump-lover, has been watching The Chosen. How she can watch the Jesus on that show and still follow Trump is completely beyond my understanding.
I am a left leaning Democrat who also has watched the Chosen. Love the portrayal of Jesus a the Messiah who not only came to save us from our sins, BUT to teach us how to LIVE by showing compassion and love to others, especially the poor, marginalized, and the outcasts of society! Didn't a MAGA Pastor once say that Jesus was to "woke????!!
We need to go beyond calling out Trump and get right to that his “solutions” to the problems he creates with the lies are much more frightening.
Describe what mass deportations along with retribution will be like. It’s easy to find the examples in Hitler’s concentration camps and Stalin’s Gulags. Of course there will also be purges as Hitler and Stalin had.
Frightening.
What will you do if there is someone you know who might point you out for rounding up, will you turn them in first?
Paranoia and fear and hatred will be our lives if the GOP wins.
There are Americans that do not pay attention to the news @ all. I have people in my neighborhood who are clueless to what is going on. When I ask them who are they planning to vote for they say, “I really haven’t been watching the news so I don’t know yet.”
There are not any remaining true undecided fence sitters. There are potential voters that lean Trump, but are too embarrassed to admit it. They will vote for Trump. There are low information potential voters. They either won’t vote, vote the same way as their spouse, or vote against whoever is currently in office. There are “double haters” that don’t like either candidate. This group was probably at an all time high when it was Biden or Trump as the choice. Some have now slid to Harris. Those that haven’t will skip the top of the ticket vote.
Yeah I have guns - but men are all about bigger and more deadly is better - I don’t need an assault rifle but some of these men are convinced you are taking their rights away if they can’t own one like Bob down the street
@Susan Beall, Not sure what your reply had to do with my comment on fence sitters. Gun owning Trumpers would fit. I know life long Democrat voters that are gun owning hunters. Hunt only the limit. Store it in the deep freeze for family and friends. That description also fits Governor Walz.
Yeah - like I said above … I own guns and I’m a Democrat - I don’t need an assault rifle - but men that follow Trump believe the democrats are coming for all their guns
Indeed Keith. What will sway many voters this election is their opinion on which candidate will help them economically. As Michael Hutchinson says, this has been a slow stready transfer of wealth for 50 years.
Why is it my father with a mid-income could have a house, a stay . a stay at home wife, -and 3 kids, put them through college, and have a comfortable enough middle class life. Contrast that with many today.
But the focus should be on how Harris will help and how Trump will hurt people economically over the next 4 years.
A sad truth: Trump long ago adopted the two main propaganda schemes of the Third Reich. (1) The "Big Lie Theory" (You repeat a lie often enough people believe it must be true) (2) Projection (accuse your enemy of the very same things you are guilty of). You can see one or both of these "strategies" in almost every sentence (when he actually makes a sentence) coming from Trump's mouth). Sadly, the MSM seems afraid to explain this reality to the broad swath of Americans who rely on the media for their "information."
Rana Foohorar wrote a piece in the Financial Times saying that, to gain the allegiance of workers in Pennsylvania (and presumably everywhere), she should apologize on behalf of the Democratic Party for having forsaken the working class for many decades. Only then, Rana’s article insists, will massive support for Kamala emerge. As we know, the polls have her running neck and neck with Drumpf in the swing states.
That could really backfire. But she couch it like "politicians for too long have blah blah "making implicit blame on Dems as Repubs. I don't know ? are the voters really ready for a little honesty? Authenticity? Not so sure..... But then, there's Bernie.
Yoda had it right: "Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." Trump is scared, and fomenting fear - all the rest follows.
Absolutely. Fear and anger allow the primitive part of the brain (survival) to take over. The reasoning part of the brain takes a backseat. (Fight, flight or freeze) If the fear and/or anger is at a sufficient level peripheral vision, hearing, memory and other senses are suppressed also. (It is what makes eye witnesses unreliable.)
JD Vance says “we cannot tell the American people that one candidate is a fascist and if he’s elected it is going to be the end of American democracy.”
TRUMP TOLD THE WORLD he will 'terminate the constitution'. His Project 2025 fills in the detail with a fascist roadmap. ENJOY!
What we really can't tell the American people ever again: 'President Trump'.
Vance is, as he almost always is, wrong. We MUST tell the American people that one candidate, the Republican candidate, IS a fascist and that he is out to destroy American democracy. And keep repeating this demonstrable fact until November 5. Let Trump be Trump. Let him continue to show us who he is.
Maryk, that is what you tell people when they agree with couch vance! Remind them of Project 2025/Agenda 47/AFPI Blueprint! If you happen to have one of those great clips on your phone that shows a montage of the orange man calling Kamala Harris and Democrats the very thing that he is crying about being called, it might not change their mind but they will have to stop talking for a minute if only to think of such phrases as "Oh yeah? You're a commie or Fake News" or any of the other sound bites they have been taught by the orange man. We have to work even harder in the next six weeks and keep standing up to lie after lie. It will get worse but then Kamala will be sworn in and everything will be grand! Vote blue, America, up and down the ballot!
I was born not long after the second world war and the horrors of the holocaust. My parents remembered how Germany once seemed the pinacle of civilization, the land of Beethoven and Goethe. I was taught as a child in almost exactly these words, that no matter how civilized you think your society is, it can turn to barbarism overnight.
One would hope we could see the parallels between now and what happened in Germany in the early 1930’s when another evil leader wanted to to be turned a country of great philosophers, musicians, writers and thinkers into a nation of Fascists. Do we want a repeat of that era because Trump and company would happily bring it to us. Trump is not under any circumstances well, he can’t even stay on subject, he’s telling us he will be our dictator and the Republican Party is standing by him ! This man has no soul, he is a felon and yet he’s allowed to run for our President? Is this America? I feel like I am living in a nightmare, in another time this man would be in prison where he belongs, where he should have been years ago. His list of crimes is as long as your arm, what do his voters see in him? I wish someone would ask what it is because for the life of me I cannot see one redeeming quality!
It just takes a few demagogues -- malignant narcissists like Trump and Vance -- to stir up hatred against target objects, by exploiting the self-righteous grievances of the "left behind": most numerous in societies where wealth is most unequally distributed. The angry far right is gaining power and support in many European countries too, in a bizarre alliance between the angry haves who want less restrictions on their freedoms, and the angry have-nots whose freedoms are constricted by lack of cash and opportunities -- blamed on governments controlled by the haves.
Yes. I agree with this. Put another way, anything like what we would consider a "normal" society requires a balancing act where people are sufficiently convinced that they have equity in their society and that they share fairly in its productivity. As Robert repeatedly points out, in the U.S. that deal was broken decades ago. And now we're living with very scarry consequences.
Your parents taught you well, Michael! It is so true about civilization turning on a dime! There are always going to be people who are born evil and have greed and power as their only motivating force! We must stand strong against these type of people. Vote blue, America, up and down the ballot!
I believer there are people like the ones you describe - born evil. But I think they're a tiny minority. A really tiny minority. I don't think they make up the masses of people who are about to vote for Trump. Most of those have somehow gotten sucked into that maelstrom by a toxic mixture of the circumstances of their lives and the rhetoric / propaganda swirling around them.
If we can move forward with our Democracy, those issues that the masses of people are so upset about need to be addressed and solutions need to be available. We have to help those who feel left out and not heard. Vote blue, America, up and down the ballot!
Thank you, Robert for outlining this so clearly. This is so hard to read, but it’s necessary to shine a light on the scope of the negativity, and hatred being perpetrated verbally and through actions by Trump, Vance, and Musk.
If Citizens United had not equated money with speech, we would not have these problems. Free speech is standing in a town square and speaking. It is not the ability to buy Twitter and have your message instantly on hundreds of millions of screens. Congress must overrule Citizens United.
Lawrence Husick ; Yes, Citizens United must go. Congress is full of MAGA "Republican" election deniers and those who violated their oaths of office by engaging or supporting insurrection by refusing to certify the results of the 2020 election for Biden. This disqualified them from holding seats in Congress. The only 'reason' they are still there is because the Criminal in chief tRUMP installed sycophant 'judges' to do his bidding. Not only did they violate the Constitution by reversing Roe v Wade, which is Unconstitutional , because they violated the Separation of states law, but they then ignored the 14th amendment section three of the disqualification clause, which would have ended Their 'tenure' on the court, as they had disabled themselves. They compounded their offense by taking away the remedy for having traitors removed from government, placing our Democratic Republic in peril. This is beyond a Constitutional crisis. But what now?! We must be defended by our huge military defense system, against "enemies ; Foreign and Domestic". C'mon now, Executive ; Be ready ; if needed ; Stand back and Stand By.
“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”
That is a beautiful quote by Nelson Mandela, GrrlScientist! Quite simply, I prefer love over hate because love fills me with a sweet, gentle feeling while hate raises the blood pressure and causes bodily distress!
In the Netherlands there was a sociopath with an Islamitic history, slaying one person and wounding anaother: the politician of the right associated the incident with migration politics: close the borders and migrants out.
It sounds familiar. Like I wrote before: Trump should have been locked in on january 10th, because justice delayed is jusitice denied. Now the system is in trouble. Musk should be persecuted, the mayor of Springfield should file a complaint against the Republican Party because of rousing threats and risk of violence without justification.
The position of Trump is complicated, but a perverted system should defend itself. I cannot understand why it does not.
The Republican city officials in Springfield, Ohio, the Republican state officials in Ohio all should be held accountable, too, because the LEGAL immigrants from Haiti were essentially recruited to come and work in Springfield by the businesses there who needed workers. They were INVITED by Springfield (and Ohio) business interests and thus their arrival was not unintended, not a surprise and in no way illegal! So why didn't those businesses and the city of Springfield PREPARE for their INVITED arrival?! The immigrants there are the scapegoated victims who came in good faith and with proper authority. It is shameful, on so many fronts, how they are being targeted for the failings of greedy business and local Republicans and the venal, violent, sadistic thugs wanting to get into OUR government offices - again - where they demonstrated that they know how to soil and stain and destroy, and nothing more. There were NO Haitian immigrants doing those vile things in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021; they were WORKING in Springfield, Ohio!!
Your comment leaves me a bit puzzled. The immigrants were not illegal and they were working. That is the problem: we need workers and we don't want immigrants.
This is a contradiction to solve.
But that's not the problem; the Republicans are creating danger for Springfield, knowingly with some crazy rumor.
Annie, the orange man wouldn't let his republican sycophants pass a bipartisan immigrant bill that had everything the republicans wanted because this is the very reason why. He wanted to use the border in his campaign. Making up storied like the one in Springfield, Ohio is in his wheelhouse! He is trying to scare Americans into voting for him!
Corporations, business men, want the cheap labor that immigrants, legal or illegal,provide, yet they finance the xenophobic, racist, fascist politico's and movements, that demand that immigration be stopped.. It is a win win because they know that the economic health of the USA is a magnet, and that so long as we are healthy there will always be migration, legal or illegal, but the same racist xenophobes can be counted on to vote for people who will lower the taxes of the 10% and de regulate industry.
There is a whole swath of America between 40 and 50% that are as dumb as a bag of hammers.
Tom, the system doesn't defend itself because the majority of those running the system are spineless cowards. That's the very sad truth of the matter. Until a large enough group stands together to reign in this campaign of insanity and hatred, we will always be one infinitesimal step away from total breakdown and outright fascism.
I agree, Diane. This will become more exhausting by the year! We absolutely must take whatever steps necessary to push these conspiracy theorists and nut-jobs back to the extreme side of the left/right spectrum!
I believe you have described the terror that Trump spreads clearly on a daily basis. It’s right out of the fascist handbook. Repeat, repeat, terror, doom, until reasonable people are so brainwashed they can’t see reason.
No, I am the Devil incarnate! Donald works for me. Remember when he said, "No puppet! No puppet!" That was me! I like to put words in his mouth sometimes. But being the Devil isn't as much fun as you might think. The days are long, the nights are hot, and I can't just take a soul -- I have to persuade someone to give it up. Ridiculous waste of my time!
I think the time has come to shut down the sewer formerly known as Twitter. If it refuses to be reasonable and continues to be selective rather than impartial then it has to go, in the interest of the democratic republic.
The fact that it might cost the vile major shareholder a pretty penny is just a side effect.
Since any thinking person knows that there will be chaos from trump & his mob if he loses (WHEN he loses!) and it won't just be in the form of violence but will also be in the form of obstructing the results of the election which is, in its own way, a coup, the overthrowing of our government. So, what I want to know is what our government - i.e. the DOJ - is preparing to do to protect our government from the expected efforts to overthrow the government! I really think Merrick Garland and every other relevant authority should be making fierce public speeches NOW about what should be a powerful governmental response to attempts to overthrow the government. And with all of the nefarious schemes already in place for the trump mobs to obstruct the election and its results, why isn't DOJ already involved to protect citizens' right to vote? During the 1960s, DOJ sent/authorized protection for voters and election centers in the face of those who tried to thwart citizens' voting. Why isn't that still done now when we see daily reports of the "legal" upending of Constitutionally protected voting rights?! trump is allowed to seem strong because the legitimate forces of OUR government seem weak and outfoxed by his and his mob's plotting and conniving.
Because Merrick Garland is a hideous COWARD and WOOSE who wishes to remain "impartial." I have BEGGED BIDEN to fire his ass over and over again. Biden isn't doing his job either. What passes for "justice" in this country is SICKENING and DISGUSTING.
Trump feeds from the negativity that we refer to as Hate. He seems to relish the anti-social entanglements which hatred gives birth to. The man turns the stomachs of everyday people just like you and me. Sadly, he reminds me of a mosquito, for the man's only talent is sucking.
Tell a malignant narcissist like Trump how odious they are, and it's fuel for their aggrieved self-righteousness. You can never win, because they must always win -- and everything is a competition. If not outright war.
Waging war -- by demonising and encouraging hatred of a target object -- is a classic distraction technique of narcissistic rulers, to boost solidarity among their sycophantic followers and turn attention away from their own failings.
You raise a good point Donald. In political discourse, there is a tendency towards Orwellian language, facilitated by the paucity of words to describe feelings, opinions and situatations.
We tend to reduce our feelings and opinions to hate and love/like.
An overworked word is phobia or phobic. It has propaganda value, because we give it propaganda value, and hurl it around.
One can be alarmed, concerned, disgusted aware of something or a threat without being
phobic
Am I squashphobic, because I detest squash?. Am I poultryphobic because I detest the taste texture of fowl.?
A person who is aware of and concerned with the social, cultural problems that come with religious domination of a state or community, are they Christophobic, Judeophobic, Hinduphobic or Islamomphobic? Even homophoibia, while there are people whose heart rates rise, whose adrenal glands go into overdrive when confronted with queers, most people don't,
I know a guy, his landlords are lesbians, he says that he doesn't hate gays, just is uncomfortable around them. He is not homophobic, but is either a repressed gay, or is a narcissist and believes gays to to him what he does to women, and that is mentally undress and have sex with them.
It is the same with hate. Hate is a very powerful emotion, it takes a lot of one's emotional energy, and actually shortens ones life, an weakens the immune system. It drives people insane and to insane acts, like murder and assassination attempts.
I don't hate Trump, but I do despise him, he disgusts me, as do his followers.
They can live with hatred in fact they revel in your hate, but being despised and disgusted, now that is downright injurious to their frail ego's.
Trump thrives on hate as much as he does adoration and Diet Coke, what wounds him is ridicule, rejection, being despised, being laughed at. He craves respect and hate is a form of respect, because the source of hate and respect is fear. Ask someone who has been in jail or prison.
The most terrifying thing is that, even should trump lose, these creatures will still spread their venom. The Danger still exists and until Education is improved their message will be swallowed by the gullible. Religion is part of the problem.
I imagine those of us here likely would agree that antisemitism, racism, misogyny, and xenophobia, in large part, constitute the beating heart of the Trump/Vance campaign. Nonetheless, my principal concern rests less with the campaign than with the large minority bloc of the electorate that would vote to impose the outcomes of these ideologies on the rest of us—the majority.
One antidote, in my view, is to fund ads that repeatedly highlight the ugliest, nastiest rhetoric, expressly targeting soft as opposed to hardcore so-called MAGA, and to ask, “Is this really who you are?” “Do you want to associate yourself with this mean-spirited, coldhearted decadence that will generate only anger and aggression, making communication near impossible?”
Ultimately, I’m trusting that enough of us would reject a society in which we do not even respect each other enough to listen to each other.
Professor, You’re preaching to the choir! Most intelligent Americans know Trump is a narcissistic sociopath who should never have been elected in the first place! The 2016 election was a popularity contest that Hillary won but because of our antiquated systems, Trump became our worst president ever!
The people who think he is the second coming of Christ are lost. These people are easily manipulated into believing he is their savior. There is no convincing them otherwise! The Democratic Party needs to show the people that are still on the fence, that they are the Party that retains and improves our democracy for all Americans.
The most basic problem in America is the slow, steady transfer of wealth over the last 50 years from average Americans to the wealthiest, those for whom Musk is the hood ornament. The wealthy can't say "we robbed you blind" so they appeal to the most basic of human instincts in order to divert wrath away from themselves.
As the American economy has shifted from manufacturing to finance, so has the anger grown. The Democratic party also has corporate affiliations, as evidenced by Harris's willingness to compromise on a capital gains tax, but at least she is a step in the right direction.
It's the culture, stupid. It's "cool" to hate.
"It's cool to hate.... People like Trump and Musk capitalize on it."
"borrowed" from Daniel Solomon...don't know why but can't think of a better non-entity to blame. FDR shaped my life until MLK and John Thomas came along to make sure I knew what needed to be done by white people like me. So, I chose to revert to my JESUS teachings, again, and followed MLK'S Dream. Still, at 87, it's been my path forward since being at the LINCOLN Memorial with the MARCH in '63. Still marching to stay alive to vote BLUE as I always have since I turned 18 in 1955.
Martha, I loved that so-called "tyrant" Abraham Lincoln, FDR, John F Kennedy, Martin Luther King and John Lewis. So many of these leaders have shaped my life as well. Their messages of hope, love, equality and tolerance are just as sound today as they were back when we marched for it! You are such a strong person at 87 and I have added you to that list! Vote blue, America, up and down the ballot!
Those are the canon of "Great, Heroic Americans."
Can you guess where Bunkerboy is? "Traitors Against America" with all the Insurrectionists of the mid 1800s AND of the early 2020s.
Tribalism, Jumping to Conclusions Mind Reading, Joy of Sabotage, Anxiety Placebos are "wild cards," ....did anyone miss my detailed comments on these?
And still vibrant! Thanks, Martha, for the life you have lived and the choices you made.
Sad and if we elect this disaster again, hatred will rule the country. We have been working away from all the hatred, but it will get worse if trump gets elected. I worry about the EC effect on this election though. Trump is already trying to rig those states with the most EC votes!
Electoral College?
Way to be Martha!
Martha, the 26th Amendment which was passed and ratified in 1971, lowered the voting age from 18 to 21.
Why did you feel the need to lie?
Oh, c’mon, William! She didn’t say she voted when she was 18. She said she has voted blue since she turned 18. You owe her an apology.
Dorothy, Vlad is very aware what Martha said. He just likes to post nasty comments that he thinks are intimidating but are in fact, quite humorous! Pay him no mind!
She has MARCHED and voted blue … Don’t be such a pissant, William… I’ve been an activist since I was fourteen … Of course, didn’t vote that young …
Nope Dorothy. That is not what this sentence says:
marching to stay alive to vote BLUE as I always have since I turned 18 in 1955.
She said she voted blue since 1955.
Exactly. She voted blue SINCE 1955 doesn’t say she voted blue IN 1955.
You’re parsing the syntax, William. If she were on the witness stand, maybe you could browbeat her on syntax until she cries …
Give it a rest Bill. Who cares? It matters not when she voted.
I'd love to if you and the others would get off my back.
You can do it. I know you can. I have faith in you.
Hey it's Vlad from Vladivostok! Hey, Vlad! How's the weather in Russia? You'd probably be better off worrying about your leader! Things are looking very good for him right now! Martha, pay absolutely no attention to Vlad. He likes to come on here and spew the very hate we are talking about! Just scroll on past and pay him no mind!
WTF, you replied to the wrong post.
Hey Farrar, where are you from again comrade?
Moscow ttovarishch
Why ask me such an insulting question, you've seen enough of my comments to know that if anything, I am a hard core leftist, well not that hardcore that I am a Marxist
@William. Unlike Bernie and Social Democrats of the past, you don't do any education nor explication of leftist/Marxist viewpoints. It ends up you just alienate folks who would otherwise vote against Trump, ergo on our side. The fact that Martha might have forgotten at the age of 87 that she didn't have the vote in 1955 is hardly anything worth taking up space here, and certainly not, IMO, worth beating up a lady who is voting blue this time regardless of the past.
Martha, you didn't vote at 18 in 1955 - the age was 21 back then. I couldn't vote in a presidential election until 1968 at age 24, due to my b'day in the second week of Nov. I had served 4 years in the U.S. Air Force to avoid the draft for which I was FORCED to register at age 18 in 1962. Yeah, I still resent that injustice for being male.
You know what? We have bigger fish to fry than when Martha voted. It matters not. Move on dot org
We're not frying anything here Renee, and you can have more than one discussion simultaneously.
Hey. It's just my opinion and I'm allowed to have it, Rob. Further I don't appreciate your snarky comment but you're allowed to say that, too. In the final analysis if you guys want to waste time discussing if Martha voted appropriately or not and that's what you really want to do knock yourself out. I'm moving on. Goodbye.
Martha may well have lived in a state that did allow 18-year-olds to vote in 1955. There were not many, but there were some.
Women weren't allowed to serve back then. I'm wondering what your point is.
The point is the reason the age was lowered to 18 in 1971 was the injustice of sending 18-year-old boys (my age in 1962) to fight, kill & die in a foreign war that they had NO SAY in who would lead us. Logic says if you are old enuf to be conscripted (forced into a slave army) you should be old enuf to vote.
And, women were ALLOWED to serve back then, just not forced to.
I stand corrected.... I guess I was thinking about women not being allowed to serve on the front lines. I had thought it was quite awhile before that changed. I do agree that the draft was totally wrong, and hope we never have to go back to it.
Liberals are not full of hate?
MLK got alot done without hate or violence! We desperately need more real Christian leaders like him! KERP ON MARCHING!💙💙💙💙💢🙏👍👍👍
Martha could've voted blue in both Georgia and Kentucky starting in 1955 as both states allowed 18 year olds to vote in various elections.
The
It's the culture, stupid. It's "cool" to hate.
People like Trump and Musk capitalize on it.
Want to hurt them? Blue tsunami. https://www.fieldteam6.org/
Daniel, Martha quoted you a little earlier! You rock! Vote blue, America, up and down the ballot!
Trumpet 🎺 and the Boy Wanker : Both are simply Exhausting…
Trumpet 🎺 has spoken so loud and so long that that Everyone is exhausted …
They Have Successfully Killed Off There Own Supporters…
This is a New Political phenomenon Give Him Enough Rope and He Has Killed His Own Campaign…
#MuskWanker #SpaceKaren is a dangerous criminal and SHOULD BE IN PRISON RIGHT NOW
Ironically Musks Starlink can solve the problem on the $42 billion of waste fraud and abuse that is unfolding as part of the Biden Harris infrastructure bill. Here's a tweet from Bredan Carr of the fcc:
In 2021, Vice President Harris agreed to lead the Administration’s $42B plan to expand Internet to millions of Americans.
1️⃣,0️⃣3️⃣9️⃣ days later …
Not one person has been connected to the Internet. None.
With VP Harris at the helm, Politico recently reported on the “frustration” and “finger-pointing” that now define the program’s “messy, delayed rollout.”
One state official described “a chaotic implementation environment,” “dysfunction,” and “delays.”
She added that the Administration “has provided either no guidance, guidance given too late, or guidance changing midstream.” The Administration is “slowing states down,” she said.
So what has the Administration been doing over the last 1,039 days instead of connecting Americans?
It has been layering on red tape and advancing a wish list of progressive policy goals.
The $42 billion program led by Vice President Harris is being used to pursue a climate change agenda, DEI requirements, price controls, preferences for government-run networks, and rules that will lead to wasteful overbuilding. All of this will leave rural and other unconnected communities behind.
Thank you to Chairman @RepJamesComer and House @GOPoversight for the chance to testify on this failure of implementation
This is not true. Marketplace.org did a three-part series on the efforts to get Broadband out to people in rural areas of the U.S. The show is called Marketplace, hosted by Kai Ryssdal and the dates the series ran are August 26, 27, and 28.
Up in the Adirondacks we have been trying to get broad band through out the park since 2010 when I joined a non profit that was advocating this program. They are still advocating. One problem is the “last mile” which is very expensive in remote areas. Covid was very difficult because the schools went remote with many children unable to access their classroom. Now we can hope solve the problem of children who are behind grade level and disillusioned youth who have turned off school.
Starlink as a solution? You must not know how to calculate.
Price?
"How much is Starlink internet? Starlink's standard residential service includes unlimited data for $120/mo. and equipment fees range from $599 to $2,500 depending on the plan."
Speed?
"In optimal conditions, Starlink download speeds range between 50 and 250 Mbps. Comparatively, 5G can deliver average download speeds between 50 Mbps and 2 Gbps, depending on available spectrum layers."
Connectivity?
"The Starlink WiFi router stands out by offering dual bandwidth (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz), allowing it to support 128 devices simultaneously. " That means 19Mbs and 38Mbs per customer when all 128 users are connected.
Number of Satelites?
"As of August 2024, there are 6,350 Starlink satellites in orbit, of which 6,290 are working" But only a fraction of those will be able to communicate to a single location on earth.
Michael, I feel we must move toward stakeholder capitalism. Our country would definitely benefit by just that one move!
Sadly, this kind of compromise is probably necessary until we have been able to move the Overton window. The right-wing, big money take-over has been decades in the making, and Dems have been forced to be part of it just to survive. My hope is that if we are successful in ditching 'trickle-down economics' and swinging back to a more humane economy, there will be much less need for Dems to compromise. I am especially hopeful that people will no longer have to be multi-millionaires -- or forced to serve their interests -- just to run for public office.
You are unfortunately right about this!
Yes, we've gone too far toward extreme. A good country will always be a combo of poor, middle, rich, and super-rich. We need to bring back an educated, happy, stable middle class with all classes doing their best to respect and help those with less. Kamala is a centrist and that is what we need. We are the richest and most powerful country still. We can do this.
She happily reminds me of the New Deal Democrats in my parents time
Hello Michael Hutchinson... Thanks for reminding Us of the shift from Manufacturing to Fictionalization... This began with the Oil Shocks of the 1970's.. First was the '73 Oil Embargo triggered by the Arab-Israel War of 1973, the second by the 1979 Iranian Counter-Revolution... The American MisManagement started in 1973 for various reasosn... I remember the 1970's Starting Well, and Ending Badly... Jimmy Carter was a Realist that had Faith in the Wisdom of an Educated Populace, instead, the Populace chose Reagan who was a Fabulist in 1980... In 1980 Roanld Reagan chose Donald Regan as his first Treasury Secretary... Regan was Chairman of Merrill Lynch at the time... Regan convinced Ronald Reagan that the Future belonged in Finance... Regan initiated 'Trickle-Down Economics'... Retail Finance is Debt... Credit Cards, Loans, etc... Regan thought it would be too hard to rebuild the Midwest Manufacturing Sector, it is much easier to Manage Numbers on Computers Screens in New York, than build things that are tangible... NAFTA was formulated under Reagan, and signed by Clinton... The Health of many has tracked their Personal Financial Health... DJT's Golden Age was in the 1980s in NYC... DJT is the self-Proclaimed 'King-Of-Debt', who has filed for Bankruptcy five, or six times... Any Questions as to why DJT exploded the National Debt, and why he will do it again?... The Right-Wing Populism that DJT has harnessed expresses itself as 'Hatred & Blame Of The Other'... Bear in Mind what is happening in Europe...
Dreat rresponse i couldn't have said it better myself
💙💙💙👏👏👏👏
You are right, Michael. Donald Trump is a defender of the billionaire class. He has deflected the people's anger by attacking immigrants, the unspecified "elites," and minorities in general. Not all billionaires appreciate his self-serving hate-mongering, and we must join forces with them.
Hutchinson, you’re exactly right.
I'm sorry, but I do not believe there are ANY people "that are still on the fence." By claiming that they are "undecided," they rationalize their embarrassing secret of their embrace of tRump and his politics of hatred. Same thing re folks who, in today's climate, claim to be "independent" voters. To me, it's almost like finding a category of "undecided" on the question along the lines of: "Should an asteroid hit the planet this afternoon, destroying all human life?" Hmmmmmmm....now THAT's a poser!
Bonnie, well said. I think that Undecideds already know that they’ll vote for Donald. They just say they’re Undecideds in order to appear thoughtful and reasonable. They want to be courted to appear in tv or in print or other media or in a focus group. They may say they want to get policy details but it’s a ruse. They’ll give some excuse couched as a reason why they can’t possibly vote for Kamala.
But, in the same way, if the Undecideds live in a Loud & Proud MAGA area, like The Villages in Florida, they may be too embarrassed, or even too frightened, to admit they support Kamala Hartis.
I cannot believe that any sane person would vote a the Orange Felon over a single issue! I too, am against the outrageous amounts of money (Our money) to bomb the Palestinians out of existence!😡😡😡💩 however I wouldn't hire Trump to be dog catcher! Besides, animal control officers have to be fast on their feet!
Few people on the fence, I would agree. I think. But what we have a big share of is low information voters. People who quite literally have no idea what is going on. I believe most low info voters vote Republican. Because to understand why the Republican world is so bad for the country in the long run, you have to get past the headlines. Which low info voters never do, by definition. Instead they look at issues directly in front of them - like the price of gas, or eggs. If they don't like it, the next question is who is in power. Democrats? Ah - I thought so. I will vote them out. Period. End of sentence.
Take climate change for instance. Almost any person, who when presented with the facts, would understand that there are measures that must be taken which will restrict some things we are accustomed to. Like gas guzzler vehicles. Or cheap gasoline. OR the need for a carbon tax. But when that same person doesn't know about, or does not otherwise accept, the dangers of climate change, and sees measures being taken which are inconvenient for him/her, well there you go. He/she is going to vote the other way.
Yes I agree - people are unaware of the facts
Maybe "Wilfully Ignorant?"
In Florida, we have a category. "No Party." Our data shows most historically trend Republican. We also have many people who only vote occasionally.
Anecdotally, many people do not have a clue. Truly may be the "lunmpen proletariat" but they may be persuadable.
“Take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”
Elie Wiesel 1928–2016
Unfortunately, the Lumpenproletariat have been notable for being persuadable only by the extreme right!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90WD_ats6eE
Bonnie, the so-called "undecideds" have not decided whether they will vote, while other undecideds have not decided whether they will regiser to vote - or not. The question of who they will vote for has already decided. At least that's my take on the undecideds.
I think you nailed it. If it (still, ever?) was a contest between Trump and Harris people would have decided by now. We would also still believe some folks in this group might still be wooed - as the candidates suggest. Deciding whether to register or whether to vote is more complicated and the answer is harder to reveal publicly or defend. That is about whether this democracy is really in jeopardy (the blind, willfully ignorant, brainwashed or terminally hopeful among us) - or whether our votes really matter at all ( the beat down, worn out or cynical among us). One good thing is that we have been here before and sometimes, at the last minute people decide & act.
Good point! Thanks for that perspective.
Bonnie, I am registered in Floriduh as No Party Affiliation - our version of "Independent." I still vote for whatever Dem is running in most elections and have always voted for the Dem Presidential candidate in the general election. I just can't vote in the primary, which turned out to be a sham since Debbie Wasserman Schultz sandbagged Bernie & pushed Hilary in 2016.
Yes, Rob Boyte ; Real skullduggery, supported by the media. They gave Bernie very little : Unfavorable mostly , "coverage" , while boosting Hillary as the "heir apparent." She attended almost exclusively, high dollar events and ignored the rural states and working class voters in the inner cities. Bernie had bigger crowds and a much better message. Wall street hated him, unsurprisingly.
I'm with you Bonnie.. The myth of the undecided is perpetuated by the Media and polling companies.
There is also a lot of talk on TV about the young black male vote, trying to blackmail the democrats. Threatening to not vote for Harris and Democrats.
Kind of cutting off the nose to spite the face.I guess they believe that Trump and the Republicans have a deal for them, because one less vote for Harris is in reality a vote for Trump even if they don't vote.
Bonnie, I think you may be right as to the “undecideds”, but I take exception to your problem wth the “independents.” As someone who usually votes Democrat, but felt the party of the nineties and until very recently this century had lost its 1930s’ progressive roots, I have considered myself an independent in line with, say, Bernie Sanders. I certainly expect many independents are planning to vote for Harris-Walz, as am I. Don’t paint wth such a broad brush when the one remaining major party has too often seemed Republican-lite.
I agree with you, Phil. I should have placed my cynicism of "independents" in the context of THIS SPECIFIC election (and the elections of 2016 and 2020). To me, a life long Republican until the GOP was radicalized by the Christian equivalent of Iran's religious oligarchy, I, too, would have preferred to cast myself as "independent."
Agreed. Trump's hate is dangerous. I think we have to stand for truth and justice. This is a reply I made last night to someone who posted a questionable story:
"I don't suggest clicking on links with questionable sources, as above. SSnews dot wtf? It's a questionable source. It is suspicious of misinformation. Please post the headline and a portion of the article so we can decide if it's news worthy. Indeed, Russia is trying to influence our election again. I'm not saying this is misinformation, but I will assure you that it wouldn't be an acceptable source for a high school English teacher.
It's going to take a lot for me to read about Donald. He told over 32,000 lies as President. He didn't "drain the swamp;" he made it deeper. His economic plan of tax cuts for the rich and deregulation would be a disaster AGAIN.
Trump lost the election fair and square in 2020. Then he lied to his supporters to start a violent insurrection at the Capitol. It was shameful. His own team and lawyers told him he lost and had no evidence of a stolen election. January 6 was one of the worst days in the United States' history.
I do not know why DJT has the Rasputin hold on the Republican Party. Ask ALL of Trump's Cabinet Members what they think of him, especially the Generals. Most all of them, including his VP, think Trump should be nowhere near the Oval Office. His Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, called him 'a moron." Trump does not speak in complete sentences. He says absolutely crazy things. He's not fit for any city/municipal level office.
For Christ's sake, Trump insulted war hero, VC POW, Senator John McCain for being captured. Did years of torture by the VC make McCain flip? No! Somebody want to tell me that Trump made a fair criticism of McCain's service and valor? What does that tell you about Trump's integrity to insult McCain's service?
When Trump was President, I lived with THREE active duty military members, including two Ft. Meade Intelligence soldiers. All three felt a lot worse about Trump than I just wrote. They worked with Army leaders, including General McChrystal in Iraq. When the Generals who served Trump as Commander In Chief think Trump is unfit and dangerous, that should really tell you something.
As a "businessman" he bankrupted a cash cow casino. Worse, he didn't pay over 2,000 businesses that built the ill-advised casino. Over 2,000 businesses sued him for not paying the 3rd check that puts them back in the black after labor and expenses. Again, what does this say about his ethics and integrity? He lacks it.
Trump politicized COVID and failed to lead when we needed a leader. The failed response and mocking of COVID was epic and made it worse. Trump's sister is a trained psychologist and has documented his years of narcissist behavior. He again showed that he is only concerned about himself when he had Speaker Johnson bury the Bi-partisan Immigration Bill so Trump could use it as a campaign issue.
Over 30,000 lies is hard to comprehend. Journalists have documented the lies and have no fear of a liable lawsuit. That's hundreds of lies a MONTH. Bill Clinton told one personal* lie and some people lost their minds and said he was unfit. Yet Trump has told over 32,000 lies about government operations and the public policy, and it's okay? It's not okay.
Sorry, our President must always tell Americans the truth. The President must have same domeatic, foreign and energy policies. Our President must lead during a global crisis and National Emergency. Our Commander in Chief must always respect our military, especially POW's like Sen.McCain. His billionaire supporters hate labor, pollute and exploit communities to make their fortunes. It's pathetic how much Billionaires are dumping into the election to increase their fortues and diminish labor and laws that protect us. Ironically, Tru.mp's policies would make us more like a Third World country.
I don't even want to go into his anti-abortion actions to appease some who call themselves Christians and Catholics. I don't "support" abortions, but that's mighty white of me because I'm a man who will never need one for millions of reasons. I sure wish men and women would think of how many women IN OUR COUNTY ALONE are sadly addicted to drugs, alcoholics or in bad health and cannot carry to term. If women are sick, addicted, mentally ill or have a reason, they should not be forced to have a child. That's tyranny. Its bad for society too
In Missouri, those women with health issues, including addiction, must come to Illinois for an abortion. An addicted mother and infant can run up a MILLION dollar healthcare bill in the FIRST MONTH. What kind of life will the child have born addicted to a mother who is addicted and cannot even care for her own health? It's inhumane. Sadly, abortion is healthcare that saves women's lives. Women deserve to make the decision with her doctor, not men totally detached from women's situations.
Republicans really should support individual liberty and freedom like the Dems. Republicans should oppose "big government" and get it out of private matters and the doctor's offices. In fact, it's the Democrats who are protecting the values that Republicans' once cherished.
In closing, Trump's claim that we "won't have a country" unless he is President is crazy because after 3.8 years of Biden we are doing far better than we were in 2020. The border would've had the best fix Congress can make, but Trump nixed it. Come on Republicans, nominate someone sane like Gov. Kasich from OH. I assure you that that our Generals will not see him as a threat to our Democracy and a Russian asset.
BTW, the US President should never meet with leaders like N. Korea, as Trump did. Trust me, the Generals and past Administrations are ALL firm on that."
(I tried to cover the main reasons why Trump should be unacceptable for Independent, moderates, and Republicans. I'm sure I forgot some. I didn't want to get too wonky. It's an argument on their terms, in hopes of speaking their language so they can understand Trump is a madman.)
I know... "Tell me how you really feel?" Right?
Without a doubt, Trump is most certainly a certifiable madman; a demon in a suit with a long red tie that stands in for a slimy barbed tail.
In acknowleging all the wise truths posted her, I would add my own meme: Kamala Harris, (a solid upright citizen and caring human being) is running FOR President-DJT is running (from his myriad crimes and ) AGAINST the presidency.
He and his sycophants will sink the Ship of State laughing insanely.
It feels good to Vote FOR and not just against!!!! GO KAMALA!💙💙💙💙💙💯
The comparison between Trump and Rasputin is an insult to Rasputin!
Well said, Danny, and respective to drumpf's autocrat buddies, don't forget Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi clown prince whom drumpf bragged that he bailed out of accountability for the murder of Mr. Khashoggi, the journalist who called out MBS for his crimes against humanity in the Saudi kingdom. As Robert aptly put it, drumpf is completely devoid of substance, so he employs fear to generate revulsion, the basic fight reflex of human emotion. Thinking is not required, because drumpf has done all that for his acolytes. Let's speculate that there may be seventy thousand potential voters in seven swing states who could be swayed to vote for Harris. Then we sane people need to reach them.
Dumpy's lies as president work out as an average of 21 lies per day. The 32,000 number is almost too big to be meaningful, but can you imagine yourself lying 21 times a day? It was lower than that the first year of his presidency, but grew to almost double that by his last year. Again, can you imagine yourself, or someone you know, lying 40 times a day? That boggles my mind.
Trump and his "Believers" believe their own lies and create a "Fantasy world" of their own. They build up fictitious stories and narrative to fill in the blanks then pass it along to the gullible. Using hate to stir up emotions that clouds the intellect and this is not the first time in history this has happened. The only power we have over this is to get out and VOTE. Even then, the same gullible people will be voting and repeating the hate every election cycle.
Totally agre. Well written, lots here to read; will save.
There are millions of people who struggle to have children who would like to adopt. Wouldn't that be a better path forward? Wouldn't that be a better path forward for society (not to mention the Mother and the child)?
Liberal MSNBC is the best friend Trump could have. On the basis that there is no such thing as bad publicity,, MSNBC is keeping Trump's name front and center a thousand times a day.
MSNBC only points out t-rump's lies & actions to destroy democracy. Would you rather have them just sweep this under the carpet?
And that they do a good job of, but the other day they had their camera's trained waiting for him to arrive, the same way that they had their camera's follow his caravan when he appeared in the Georgia courthouse. Covering his rants is one thing, but they also are normalizing him
Doing so attracts eyeballs, which raises ratings, which are essential for ad placement, and ads are the primary source of revenue for the media.
Not covering Trump on the news media will give him even more normalcy
Cover his absurdities, his lies, he threat yes, but not train the camera on him constantly, nor follow his caravan, or wait for his airplane to land.
And the more exposure to him mouthing his lies and absurdities, meaning the camera trained on him, the more he is normalized.
Feces, he is already normalized. Look at Mark Robinson, he is normalized now, JD Vance the fascist and fascism is normalized, but let Kamala or Walz stub a toe or misspeak and the vultures are there to pounce.
Keith, you are so right! When this election is over and Kamala is in the White House, I intend to focus every single bit of my attention and energy on working to abolish the electoral college and use the popular vote. It truly annoys me that my vote does not count as much as a handful of states that actually decide who our president is going to be! No, our country needs the popular vote so that all of us know that we had a say in who was going to be our president. When you ask people that are not in these swing states if they will vote, a large percentage will say "What for? My vote doesn't count!" That is why you have so many that simply do not vote!
I'm not in a swing state, but I am voting for sure, anyway. there should not be "swing states". there should not be an Electoral college either. "One human , one vote", is what we should have for real Democracy ; All free and fair and most importantly ; Counted.
The main reason to eliminate the Electoral College is because it’s ripe for fraud. Remember Nov 2020-Jan 2021 when alternate electors were used? One man, one vote! 💙🇺🇸
I agree ; Texas Road Trip, and would add : the Electoral College IS a fraud.
And an anachronism from Jim Crow and slavery days
Heather Cox Richardson has an important article on the Electoral College here
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/september-20-2024-837
Harris has a 50-50 chance of being elected via the college
Hip, Hip Hooray, Laurie! Totally agree!
Thank you, Peggy.
I 👍 agree
Absolutely! I’ve heard the same thing for years from respected people. It’s time to update the Constitution to match the time which we are living in. Of course, in order to do that we have to elect adults who care about the people and the needs of all of the people.
There's a movement called The National Popular Vote Compact that calls for states to award all their electoral votes to whomever wins the overall popular vote in the United States and DC. It's been adopted by 17 states and DC. It won't go into effect until enough states to total 270 electoral votes have signed it, which hasn't hapoened yet, but the 17 states together comprise 209 EC votes, and the states where it's pending (NV, MI, NC, VA) add 50 more. Unsurprizingly, deep red states like AL & TX haven't signed on, but 259 EC votes isn't that far from 270.
Here's a Wikipedia article on it, if I've copied the link correctly (I'm a dinosaur.)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Popular_Vote_Interstate_Compact
Betsy L ; thank you for this information and update.
The cult members in my family will not listen to Kamala or those who think like she does. I don't know what more she can do. Those intelligent Americans must keep doing what Robert is doing and hopefully reach some on the fence.
“Most intelligent Americans “- I gotta take issue with that. Not where I live- his supporters are intelligent, leaders in the areas of making $$$. That’s why he went to LI last week- half of Wall St lives in Nassau County- he was raising money! Interesting that he never brings up Kamala is kicking his butt in that area lol. As for my family- their support is really based in racism. I’m so glad I’m going on a trip to Canada, I cut the cord w cable, unplugging because I can’t take this stress of impending doom…
Susan D ; enjoy the trip. also know that having "intelligence" about money is not necessarily all there is to intelligence. Money often rules, but it isn't everything. That is why there are problems in this world that threaten US and our entire planets' life support.
If Trump wins, I may be MOVING there
My cousin, a conservative Christian and Trump-lover, has been watching The Chosen. How she can watch the Jesus on that show and still follow Trump is completely beyond my understanding.
I am a left leaning Democrat who also has watched the Chosen. Love the portrayal of Jesus a the Messiah who not only came to save us from our sins, BUT to teach us how to LIVE by showing compassion and love to others, especially the poor, marginalized, and the outcasts of society! Didn't a MAGA Pastor once say that Jesus was to "woke????!!
We need to go beyond calling out Trump and get right to that his “solutions” to the problems he creates with the lies are much more frightening.
Describe what mass deportations along with retribution will be like. It’s easy to find the examples in Hitler’s concentration camps and Stalin’s Gulags. Of course there will also be purges as Hitler and Stalin had.
Frightening.
What will you do if there is someone you know who might point you out for rounding up, will you turn them in first?
Paranoia and fear and hatred will be our lives if the GOP wins.
Those who forget to remember are doomed to repeat
There are Americans that do not pay attention to the news @ all. I have people in my neighborhood who are clueless to what is going on. When I ask them who are they planning to vote for they say, “I really haven’t been watching the news so I don’t know yet.”
Not surprised!
I don’t think they are going to vote at all.
Aka: nearly 70%!
Fence sitters? In what world do they live? Do they think, who should I vote for? If one is not filled with hate, could they be undecided?
There are not any remaining true undecided fence sitters. There are potential voters that lean Trump, but are too embarrassed to admit it. They will vote for Trump. There are low information potential voters. They either won’t vote, vote the same way as their spouse, or vote against whoever is currently in office. There are “double haters” that don’t like either candidate. This group was probably at an all time high when it was Biden or Trump as the choice. Some have now slid to Harris. Those that haven’t will skip the top of the ticket vote.
For men- all they hear is they want to take my guns away … it’s almost cave-man ish
Susan Beall ; Women have guns too. Check out the diaper bags and purses with concealed carry compartments.
Yeah I have guns - but men are all about bigger and more deadly is better - I don’t need an assault rifle but some of these men are convinced you are taking their rights away if they can’t own one like Bob down the street
Susan ; you are right; there are no diaper bags large enough to conceal carry an AR-15. and there is too much trouble going on if you have to.
There is ABSOLUTELY 💯 PERCENT NO NEED FOR AN ASSAULT RIFLE ON THE STRRETS
@Susan Beall, Not sure what your reply had to do with my comment on fence sitters. Gun owning Trumpers would fit. I know life long Democrat voters that are gun owning hunters. Hunt only the limit. Store it in the deep freeze for family and friends. That description also fits Governor Walz.
Yeah - like I said above … I own guns and I’m a Democrat - I don’t need an assault rifle - but men that follow Trump believe the democrats are coming for all their guns
You have to wonder, who is still on the fence? Incredible that there’s any questions left to be answered.
Indeed Keith. What will sway many voters this election is their opinion on which candidate will help them economically. As Michael Hutchinson says, this has been a slow stready transfer of wealth for 50 years.
Why is it my father with a mid-income could have a house, a stay . a stay at home wife, -and 3 kids, put them through college, and have a comfortable enough middle class life. Contrast that with many today.
But the focus should be on how Harris will help and how Trump will hurt people economically over the next 4 years.
A sad truth: Trump long ago adopted the two main propaganda schemes of the Third Reich. (1) The "Big Lie Theory" (You repeat a lie often enough people believe it must be true) (2) Projection (accuse your enemy of the very same things you are guilty of). You can see one or both of these "strategies" in almost every sentence (when he actually makes a sentence) coming from Trump's mouth). Sadly, the MSM seems afraid to explain this reality to the broad swath of Americans who rely on the media for their "information."
Rana Foohorar wrote a piece in the Financial Times saying that, to gain the allegiance of workers in Pennsylvania (and presumably everywhere), she should apologize on behalf of the Democratic Party for having forsaken the working class for many decades. Only then, Rana’s article insists, will massive support for Kamala emerge. As we know, the polls have her running neck and neck with Drumpf in the swing states.
That could really backfire. But she couch it like "politicians for too long have blah blah "making implicit blame on Dems as Repubs. I don't know ? are the voters really ready for a little honesty? Authenticity? Not so sure..... But then, there's Bernie.
Yoda had it right: "Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." Trump is scared, and fomenting fear - all the rest follows.
Absolutely. Why Love is the Answer. Or maybe duct tape :D
Absolutely. Fear and anger allow the primitive part of the brain (survival) to take over. The reasoning part of the brain takes a backseat. (Fight, flight or freeze) If the fear and/or anger is at a sufficient level peripheral vision, hearing, memory and other senses are suppressed also. (It is what makes eye witnesses unreliable.)
JD Vance says “we cannot tell the American people that one candidate is a fascist and if he’s elected it is going to be the end of American democracy.”
TRUMP TOLD THE WORLD he will 'terminate the constitution'. His Project 2025 fills in the detail with a fascist roadmap. ENJOY!
What we really can't tell the American people ever again: 'President Trump'.
Vance is, as he almost always is, wrong. We MUST tell the American people that one candidate, the Republican candidate, IS a fascist and that he is out to destroy American democracy. And keep repeating this demonstrable fact until November 5. Let Trump be Trump. Let him continue to show us who he is.
Maryk, that is what you tell people when they agree with couch vance! Remind them of Project 2025/Agenda 47/AFPI Blueprint! If you happen to have one of those great clips on your phone that shows a montage of the orange man calling Kamala Harris and Democrats the very thing that he is crying about being called, it might not change their mind but they will have to stop talking for a minute if only to think of such phrases as "Oh yeah? You're a commie or Fake News" or any of the other sound bites they have been taught by the orange man. We have to work even harder in the next six weeks and keep standing up to lie after lie. It will get worse but then Kamala will be sworn in and everything will be grand! Vote blue, America, up and down the ballot!
Yes, Maryk ; And tRUMP promised a "bloodbath" if he did not "win".
I was born not long after the second world war and the horrors of the holocaust. My parents remembered how Germany once seemed the pinacle of civilization, the land of Beethoven and Goethe. I was taught as a child in almost exactly these words, that no matter how civilized you think your society is, it can turn to barbarism overnight.
One would hope we could see the parallels between now and what happened in Germany in the early 1930’s when another evil leader wanted to to be turned a country of great philosophers, musicians, writers and thinkers into a nation of Fascists. Do we want a repeat of that era because Trump and company would happily bring it to us. Trump is not under any circumstances well, he can’t even stay on subject, he’s telling us he will be our dictator and the Republican Party is standing by him ! This man has no soul, he is a felon and yet he’s allowed to run for our President? Is this America? I feel like I am living in a nightmare, in another time this man would be in prison where he belongs, where he should have been years ago. His list of crimes is as long as your arm, what do his voters see in him? I wish someone would ask what it is because for the life of me I cannot see one redeeming quality!
Absolutely.
It just takes a few demagogues -- malignant narcissists like Trump and Vance -- to stir up hatred against target objects, by exploiting the self-righteous grievances of the "left behind": most numerous in societies where wealth is most unequally distributed. The angry far right is gaining power and support in many European countries too, in a bizarre alliance between the angry haves who want less restrictions on their freedoms, and the angry have-nots whose freedoms are constricted by lack of cash and opportunities -- blamed on governments controlled by the haves.
Yes. I agree with this. Put another way, anything like what we would consider a "normal" society requires a balancing act where people are sufficiently convinced that they have equity in their society and that they share fairly in its productivity. As Robert repeatedly points out, in the U.S. that deal was broken decades ago. And now we're living with very scarry consequences.
Absolutely.
Your parents taught you well, Michael! It is so true about civilization turning on a dime! There are always going to be people who are born evil and have greed and power as their only motivating force! We must stand strong against these type of people. Vote blue, America, up and down the ballot!
I believer there are people like the ones you describe - born evil. But I think they're a tiny minority. A really tiny minority. I don't think they make up the masses of people who are about to vote for Trump. Most of those have somehow gotten sucked into that maelstrom by a toxic mixture of the circumstances of their lives and the rhetoric / propaganda swirling around them.
If we can move forward with our Democracy, those issues that the masses of people are so upset about need to be addressed and solutions need to be available. We have to help those who feel left out and not heard. Vote blue, America, up and down the ballot!
Thank you, Robert for outlining this so clearly. This is so hard to read, but it’s necessary to shine a light on the scope of the negativity, and hatred being perpetrated verbally and through actions by Trump, Vance, and Musk.
If Citizens United had not equated money with speech, we would not have these problems. Free speech is standing in a town square and speaking. It is not the ability to buy Twitter and have your message instantly on hundreds of millions of screens. Congress must overrule Citizens United.
Lawrence Husick ; Yes, Citizens United must go. Congress is full of MAGA "Republican" election deniers and those who violated their oaths of office by engaging or supporting insurrection by refusing to certify the results of the 2020 election for Biden. This disqualified them from holding seats in Congress. The only 'reason' they are still there is because the Criminal in chief tRUMP installed sycophant 'judges' to do his bidding. Not only did they violate the Constitution by reversing Roe v Wade, which is Unconstitutional , because they violated the Separation of states law, but they then ignored the 14th amendment section three of the disqualification clause, which would have ended Their 'tenure' on the court, as they had disabled themselves. They compounded their offense by taking away the remedy for having traitors removed from government, placing our Democratic Republic in peril. This is beyond a Constitutional crisis. But what now?! We must be defended by our huge military defense system, against "enemies ; Foreign and Domestic". C'mon now, Executive ; Be ready ; if needed ; Stand back and Stand By.
Professor Reich: as Nelson Mandela once said:
“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”
we've got a big job ahead of us.
That is a beautiful quote by Nelson Mandela, GrrlScientist! Quite simply, I prefer love over hate because love fills me with a sweet, gentle feeling while hate raises the blood pressure and causes bodily distress!
In the Netherlands there was a sociopath with an Islamitic history, slaying one person and wounding anaother: the politician of the right associated the incident with migration politics: close the borders and migrants out.
It sounds familiar. Like I wrote before: Trump should have been locked in on january 10th, because justice delayed is jusitice denied. Now the system is in trouble. Musk should be persecuted, the mayor of Springfield should file a complaint against the Republican Party because of rousing threats and risk of violence without justification.
The position of Trump is complicated, but a perverted system should defend itself. I cannot understand why it does not.
The Republican city officials in Springfield, Ohio, the Republican state officials in Ohio all should be held accountable, too, because the LEGAL immigrants from Haiti were essentially recruited to come and work in Springfield by the businesses there who needed workers. They were INVITED by Springfield (and Ohio) business interests and thus their arrival was not unintended, not a surprise and in no way illegal! So why didn't those businesses and the city of Springfield PREPARE for their INVITED arrival?! The immigrants there are the scapegoated victims who came in good faith and with proper authority. It is shameful, on so many fronts, how they are being targeted for the failings of greedy business and local Republicans and the venal, violent, sadistic thugs wanting to get into OUR government offices - again - where they demonstrated that they know how to soil and stain and destroy, and nothing more. There were NO Haitian immigrants doing those vile things in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021; they were WORKING in Springfield, Ohio!!
The voters of Ohio can fix this mess. Let’s find out who they really are.
I am voting for Issue 1 to start, which is designed to destroy the Republican gerrymandering of Ohio.
Kathy Hughes. sending the people of Ohio good thoughts that it passes. Up with Democracy!
Your comment leaves me a bit puzzled. The immigrants were not illegal and they were working. That is the problem: we need workers and we don't want immigrants.
This is a contradiction to solve.
But that's not the problem; the Republicans are creating danger for Springfield, knowingly with some crazy rumor.
Annie, the orange man wouldn't let his republican sycophants pass a bipartisan immigrant bill that had everything the republicans wanted because this is the very reason why. He wanted to use the border in his campaign. Making up storied like the one in Springfield, Ohio is in his wheelhouse! He is trying to scare Americans into voting for him!
Annie Cross, beautifully said. Thank you 🙏💕
Annie Cross: I could not have said it better, thank you.
Corporations, business men, want the cheap labor that immigrants, legal or illegal,provide, yet they finance the xenophobic, racist, fascist politico's and movements, that demand that immigration be stopped.. It is a win win because they know that the economic health of the USA is a magnet, and that so long as we are healthy there will always be migration, legal or illegal, but the same racist xenophobes can be counted on to vote for people who will lower the taxes of the 10% and de regulate industry.
There is a whole swath of America between 40 and 50% that are as dumb as a bag of hammers.
Tom, the system doesn't defend itself because the majority of those running the system are spineless cowards. That's the very sad truth of the matter. Until a large enough group stands together to reign in this campaign of insanity and hatred, we will always be one infinitesimal step away from total breakdown and outright fascism.
Yes, I'm afraid you are right: spineless cowards.
But I talk to a system. It should use the defensive means it has.
I agree, Diane. This will become more exhausting by the year! We absolutely must take whatever steps necessary to push these conspiracy theorists and nut-jobs back to the extreme side of the left/right spectrum!
As for Eloff Muskow we need a vote on the ballot to export this cancer from our country!
He should not be loose. He is a traitor, and a danger to the world.
I believe you have described the terror that Trump spreads clearly on a daily basis. It’s right out of the fascist handbook. Repeat, repeat, terror, doom, until reasonable people are so brainwashed they can’t see reason.
He is the devil incarnate.
Anne Crawford, you summed it up perfectly --->. the devil incarnate 👹👺👿☠️
No, I am the Devil incarnate! Donald works for me. Remember when he said, "No puppet! No puppet!" That was me! I like to put words in his mouth sometimes. But being the Devil isn't as much fun as you might think. The days are long, the nights are hot, and I can't just take a soul -- I have to persuade someone to give it up. Ridiculous waste of my time!
I think the time has come to shut down the sewer formerly known as Twitter. If it refuses to be reasonable and continues to be selective rather than impartial then it has to go, in the interest of the democratic republic.
The fact that it might cost the vile major shareholder a pretty penny is just a side effect.
Since any thinking person knows that there will be chaos from trump & his mob if he loses (WHEN he loses!) and it won't just be in the form of violence but will also be in the form of obstructing the results of the election which is, in its own way, a coup, the overthrowing of our government. So, what I want to know is what our government - i.e. the DOJ - is preparing to do to protect our government from the expected efforts to overthrow the government! I really think Merrick Garland and every other relevant authority should be making fierce public speeches NOW about what should be a powerful governmental response to attempts to overthrow the government. And with all of the nefarious schemes already in place for the trump mobs to obstruct the election and its results, why isn't DOJ already involved to protect citizens' right to vote? During the 1960s, DOJ sent/authorized protection for voters and election centers in the face of those who tried to thwart citizens' voting. Why isn't that still done now when we see daily reports of the "legal" upending of Constitutionally protected voting rights?! trump is allowed to seem strong because the legitimate forces of OUR government seem weak and outfoxed by his and his mob's plotting and conniving.
Because Merrick Garland is a hideous COWARD and WOOSE who wishes to remain "impartial." I have BEGGED BIDEN to fire his ass over and over again. Biden isn't doing his job either. What passes for "justice" in this country is SICKENING and DISGUSTING.
Trump feeds from the negativity that we refer to as Hate. He seems to relish the anti-social entanglements which hatred gives birth to. The man turns the stomachs of everyday people just like you and me. Sadly, he reminds me of a mosquito, for the man's only talent is sucking.
Tell a malignant narcissist like Trump how odious they are, and it's fuel for their aggrieved self-righteousness. You can never win, because they must always win -- and everything is a competition. If not outright war.
Waging war -- by demonising and encouraging hatred of a target object -- is a classic distraction technique of narcissistic rulers, to boost solidarity among their sycophantic followers and turn attention away from their own failings.
You raise a good point Donald. In political discourse, there is a tendency towards Orwellian language, facilitated by the paucity of words to describe feelings, opinions and situatations.
We tend to reduce our feelings and opinions to hate and love/like.
An overworked word is phobia or phobic. It has propaganda value, because we give it propaganda value, and hurl it around.
One can be alarmed, concerned, disgusted aware of something or a threat without being
phobic
Am I squashphobic, because I detest squash?. Am I poultryphobic because I detest the taste texture of fowl.?
A person who is aware of and concerned with the social, cultural problems that come with religious domination of a state or community, are they Christophobic, Judeophobic, Hinduphobic or Islamomphobic? Even homophoibia, while there are people whose heart rates rise, whose adrenal glands go into overdrive when confronted with queers, most people don't,
I know a guy, his landlords are lesbians, he says that he doesn't hate gays, just is uncomfortable around them. He is not homophobic, but is either a repressed gay, or is a narcissist and believes gays to to him what he does to women, and that is mentally undress and have sex with them.
It is the same with hate. Hate is a very powerful emotion, it takes a lot of one's emotional energy, and actually shortens ones life, an weakens the immune system. It drives people insane and to insane acts, like murder and assassination attempts.
I don't hate Trump, but I do despise him, he disgusts me, as do his followers.
They can live with hatred in fact they revel in your hate, but being despised and disgusted, now that is downright injurious to their frail ego's.
Trump thrives on hate as much as he does adoration and Diet Coke, what wounds him is ridicule, rejection, being despised, being laughed at. He craves respect and hate is a form of respect, because the source of hate and respect is fear. Ask someone who has been in jail or prison.
For forty years Trump's #1 goal: EVADE PRISON
He will happily burn the planet to the ground to do that
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#Fascists #MAGA @GOP #Giuliani #Hitler
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The most terrifying thing is that, even should trump lose, these creatures will still spread their venom. The Danger still exists and until Education is improved their message will be swallowed by the gullible. Religion is part of the problem.
I imagine those of us here likely would agree that antisemitism, racism, misogyny, and xenophobia, in large part, constitute the beating heart of the Trump/Vance campaign. Nonetheless, my principal concern rests less with the campaign than with the large minority bloc of the electorate that would vote to impose the outcomes of these ideologies on the rest of us—the majority.
One antidote, in my view, is to fund ads that repeatedly highlight the ugliest, nastiest rhetoric, expressly targeting soft as opposed to hardcore so-called MAGA, and to ask, “Is this really who you are?” “Do you want to associate yourself with this mean-spirited, coldhearted decadence that will generate only anger and aggression, making communication near impossible?”
Ultimately, I’m trusting that enough of us would reject a society in which we do not even respect each other enough to listen to each other.