Let’s not put all of the blame on Trump, his oligarchs and his cronies. The current Republican Party, the Roberts Supreme Court and the racists who miss the Confederacy are happy to collaborate. A number of our fellow citizens were just waiting for a Trump to turn up. This is our America and this is our challenge going forward.
What you seem to be saying is that our current dilemma has been created by any number of contributors and collaborators. True, and as your accurate reference to unreformed Confederate racist oligarchs and their brainwashed minions implies, you appreciate that all this has very deep roots in our culture and history. Let's not forget the cruel disenfranchisement of women, the genocidal slaughter of the vast majority of Native Americans, the Jim Crow laws, the murder of union members and organizers, and the insistence that alternative governmental systems (like social democracy) are somehow tainted and equivalent with communism, rather than a more enlightened approach to governance than the money-corrupted and dominated 'form' of democracy we've all allowed to grow ever-stronger for the past seventy-odd years. Trump remains, however a 'useful idiot' for us reform-minded people in the sense that his very public presence, on view practially 24/7/365 conveys a visceral sense of horror and disgust that points directly at the forces that helped make him what he is: a monster teetering atop a monstrous system while gobbling up a criminal share of its assets.
I would just say amen, but I cannot but add: and decades long systematic destruction of democracies outside Europe and endless wars against indigenous people. Millions have been killed by insane destructions of lands and people, often on the other side of the globe, from Vietnam to Cambodia to Laos to Iraq to Libya to Yemen to Iran, just to mention a few. Not to speak about enabling the genocide of Gaza. I find it heartbreaking that so few speak about it, even among the most progressive of Americans - which can explain why almost all politicians, including basically all Democrats, supported the destruction of Iraq and Gaza.
I keep picturing the early days of the destruction of Gaza when there were still reporters sending footage of how people were coping. Kids working together to feed babies and toddlers and each other with any food and utensils they could salvage. And then to hear day after day, week after week and month after month of the numbers of innocent children and adults being killed in so many dastardly ways. How can anyone feel this is right? To kill the innocent, to settle a score? Or, as our dear president might put it, to clear the rubble for a construction projects? This is at the heart of my concern for humanity. It is not only about Jews or Palestinians. It is about getting away with, and wanting to do more of killing innocent children and people. We must own up to our responsibility to not only oppose this, but to stop it and let those responsible pay the consequence of these heinous actions.
Sandy, I'm not saying netanyahu is right. Go back to October 7th. If Israel and the US were the only countries where you felt safe, what would you do? I'd love to see a 2 state solution. I also don't think that will happen in my lifetime. I'm reminded of the Americans who have served in the IDF and do serve. (Especially prior to 10-7 and immediately after.) For those who had grandparents, parents born in Israel, or those who were born there, it gave them dual nationality. Some go back there 1x or 2x a year to visit loved ones and then get in medical exams. The people I'm thinking of don't represent netanyahu's views. The people I'm thinking of want that 2 state solution.
Please know I am not speaking of anyone who has wanted and still wants this violence to stop. I am not 'an eye, for an eye' believer. I believe in protecting the innocent, simply because they are not guilty. You speak of feeling safe in America. I have not felt safe here since Trump took office the first time and let the Proud Boys and such men loose. I certainly do not feel guilty of any of Trumps crimes. And yet there could very well be those in other countries who would see me as guilty by association, just for being an American. Why such greedy, mean, haters of humanity are allowed to be 'leader' I do not understand. To me it is all too obvious that both Trump and Bi Bi are keeping the world distracted from all of the things that they are afraid they would be found guilty of, if they were ever taken to trial. Beyond all of this, are the numbers of children and parents and grandparents who have been killed or been made to suffer for loss of their loved ones. If we cannot put ourselves in their shoes and feel their pain, we too have lost our humanity. I wish you well Lauren. I am sorry if you felt in any way I was blaming you, or all Jews. I most certainly am not. The pain I feel is caused by the big stinkers who are running these countries.
Sandy, we're on the same team. I agree with you. I've never felt safe under orange. It's worse under the second regime for many whov are Jewish. I knew you weren't blaming me. (I'm not Jewish.) Too many are blaming every Jewish person for what's going on. It's personal when so many family and friends are Jewish. Netanyahu is their orange/their pooty. Many Jewish people only know that the US and Israel are safe countries or as home. They know they wouldn't be safe in xyz. That's what my point was.
Understand that the news media has aided the GOP since Reagan ended the Fairness Doc preventing the public from knowing the facts about what the GOP has been doing. Their false statements that the GOP is better for our economy and that both parties are the same are imprinted on the foreheads of most Americans. They fail to seek the truth. I learned today that the idea of socialism being a threat has been imprinted in the minds of Americans since FDR by the GOP/rich trying to combat his regulations and the new programs that were put in to help those recovering from the Great Depression. When Khrushchev tried to threaten the US, the GOP doubled down on the supposed connection between socialism and communism.
The Fairness Doctrine would have to be rewritten to include all media - satellite, cable, internet and broadcast. The original one only addressed the broadcast networks. We know today that more people get their news from one electronic device or another. It would be good to revive it.
unfortunately there would be constitutional issues with reviving or extending the Fairness Doctrine. It was created in an era of scarcity of broadcast media, so those scarce resources had to be allocated 'fairly'. Today there is no shortage of media - on the contrary - so the compelled speech element of the Doctrine would not be sustainable in law.
How is requiring that news contain facts & evidence against any laws? The Fairness Doc was NOT PUT IN PLACE because there were limited sources for news. It was put into place so that the people could be given fact-based information. If you want to print your opinions and beliefs - then do not call your business "news". Call it gossip. Magazine of opinions, etc.
The stupidity of people who are making up their opinions about scientific ideas that are proven is ridiculous. It is an offshoot of the foolishness on social media.
Maybe not supported, but failed to object. Failing to object to what is so wrong, it is beyond wrong. It is surrender to pure evil. Wish I had a crying face emoji I knew how to get into this comment.
If any group is responsible for the suffering of Gazans, it is Hamas. They started a genocidal war against Jews and didn't care one iota about Gazan women and children. Iran brutally murdered 40,000 Iranians in ONE WEEK. What about the long systematic attempted destruction by Muslims of the only democratic country in the region, Israel. BTW, Jews are an indigenous people to Israel.
If this was not tragic it would be comic - even with full scale carpet bombings it is basically impossible to kill 40000 people in a week. To fall for such insanely silly propaganda, well I for one find it heartbreaking. I wonder why in the world you would bring up the fact that Jews are indigenous people of Palestine, as if I have spoken against Jews. But now that you brought it up. Until 1948, in spite of the tragic zionism movement, Arabs and Jews still lived reasonably peacefully together, Jews possessing some 7% of land - while today close to 90%. Please reflect on this. As you know, then more than 700000 people, about half of Arab population - would correspond to 170 million Americans today - were expelled, never to be allowed to return. Please reflect on this. And so land snitching, apartheid, occupation slowly took us to the tragedy of today, where now half of Jewish population - please read about this - is no more indigenous or semitic. Which is why basically all Israeli politicians from 1948 to today change their last names to hide their European background. But why you wish to turn this into Jews vs Muslims, god knows. I simply spoke of the genocide of Gaza - documented and officially accepted by the UN and most international bodies and basically all countries in the world but the US and a few European ones - perpetuated by the Israeli government and enabled by the US. I for one refuse to blame Jews and/or Americans - the same way that I blame nazi regime and not Germans for the Holocaust. I feel pity for your blind generalisation of Muslims - a billion people - it must be a terrible weight to carry on your shoulders.
On 12 January 2026, Esmail Baghaei, the spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirmed that security forces had directly shot at protesters.[11]
On 25 January, Time reported that a specific list included 30,304 protest-related deaths registered in civilian hospitals for 8 and 9 January alone.[3] The same day, Iran International estimated the total number of deaths at ~36,500.[4] On 28 January, Al Jazeera alleged that Iran International neither published nor made transparent the reports it cited.[12] An Iranian doctors' network cited by The Guardian estimated that the death toll could be more than 30,000, based on an estimated factor of ten undercount in the official death toll.[5] AP News reported that the government's overwhelming use of violence had caused despair among the public.[13]
Re: Until 1948, in spite of the tragic zionism movement, Arabs and Jews still lived reasonably peacefully together, Jews possessing some 7% of land - while today close to 90%. Please reflect on this. As you know, then more than 700000 people, about half of Arab population - would correspond to 170 million Americans today - were expelled, never to be allowed to return
Actually, the invading Arab countries, told them to leave. Once they won the war against the Jews and annihilated them, the Palestinians could all come back and live happily ever after.
Re: Which is why basically all Israeli politicians from 1948 to today change their last names to hide their European background.
What is your source? Or did you just pull that nonsense out of your ass?
Re: I simply spoke of the genocide of Gaza - documented and officially accepted by the UN and most international bodies and basically all countries in the world but the US and a few European ones - perpetuated by the Israeli government and enabled by the US.
You simply spoke about the "genocide" in Gaza. Not really. You blame Israel, not Hamas. Why didn't you blame Hamas? You mention the UN. Why didn't you write that UN workers aided and abetted Hamas. The UN, in my opinion, is a worthless organization.
Re: I blame nazi regime and not Germans for the Holocaust.
Really?? So who do you think made up the Nazi regime in Germany? Brazilians?
You are a terribly uninformed poster. You know very little to nothing about the region. Inform yourself. Oh yes, hold your pity for someone who is looking for your nonsense.
No one has ever questioned that Hamas is a terrorist organization. That does NOT allow Netanyahu to kill innocent people, starve them and destroy their homes. What the Israelis have done in both Gaza and Lebanon is genocide. And it is NOT excused just because of Hamas' existence. No one has the right to starve anyone in any war. It's why so much of what the Nazis did were war crimes. N's actions are war crimes. This was NOT to protect the people of Israel. N wants the land. What Iran is doing or what SOME radical muslims have done does NOT excuse what N is having his army do. Did no one ever teach you the sentence: "Two wrongs do not make a right?" Would you excuse T and Miller for what they is doing to innocent immigrants?
Gayle, sadly many don't understand that Hamas is a terrorist organization. I'm not justifying what netanyahu is doing. Far from it. But it also doesn't justify the threats of kill every Israeli. What some on the other side don't realize is the cry 'river to the sea' means the genocide of Israelis. 2 wrongs will NEVER make a right. Unfortunately, I've had to block far too many who don't understand.
Sadly, as climate change gets worse, we'll see more of this. Because climate change impacts mental health. The genocides are a tale as old as time. I'm not saying it's right. But we need to remember the US was based off a genocide.
Thank you,Leigh Horn. So well stated. I hope you’re running for office somewhere, or writing a book that will enlighten its readers - although you’ve stated it all so clearly in this letter. Maybe make a movie? Whatever needed, to add to positivity in the USA.
Leigh, absolutely. All of this can be traced back to the founding of the country. At the same time, I'm reminded that other countries need to fix their bloody immigration systems too because the far right is sweeping the world. Hopefully we'll get things a bit more in balance if the Dems win this fall and then in 2028. I'm not saying I want the extreme left in charge either, who threaten the Israelis with death. As with anything, there's a happy medium.
I kind of agree but the SC is certainly influenced by Trump. From dubious appointees to creating a political environment that allows Alito and Thomas to be their worst selves.
Trump has given racists and bigots permission to take their depravity public and to be PROUD of it.
They are certainly happy to collaborate but in many cases it took the environment created by Trump to inspire their bold participation.
More than a third of the voters! Anyone who did not vote for Harris (white voters) is the cause of how we got here. They are too racist, misogynistic, self-absorbed and ignorant of the responsibilities that go with the right to vote. Someone, excusing herself today for not voting for Harris, said "I can vote for anyone I want to vote for" like it's a vote for the president of her high school class. As a citizen, we have the responsibility to vote for people who will protect our democracy and ALL of the people in the nation. We have the responsibility to learn the FACTS which are much harder to do since the news media has not used facts and evidence in its reporting since Reagan ended the Fairness Doc. Their misogyny against both HRC and Harris was clear. Their focus on Benghazi for decades was obviously to hurt HRC. Their claim that Harris didn't do anything while in Central America after she & Biden were elected was a lie. Their refusal to call out any of T's lies and hate-filled statements was obvious. They have never told the public that the GOP has ONLY enriched the rich since Reagan or that the GOP has deregulated industries or ignored regulations put in place by FDR et al as gifts to the rich. Our housing crisis is continuing because GW Bush's deregulation of the housing & loan industry enabled the rich to start private equity firms to buy up millions of properties, homes, apt and condo buildings etc for cheap money. They sold or rented them for higher and higher prices after the crisis died down. Until caught they had a RENT MANAGER system in which everyone raised their rent in unison to get control of the whole market. However, those private equity firms are STILL doing this - now they are offering people (in particular senior citizens) cash for their homes or outbid everyone with a cash offer for a home on sale. What's the plan? Eventually, no one but the rich will be able to own a home. The rest of us will be too poor. The richest greedy racist white males among us have ALWAYS wanted to go back to a time when only they have any power and control of all that happens in this nation.
"...there is plenty of blame to go around, including roughly a third of the elegible voters from the 2024 election."
Perhaps they thought neither candidate was worth voting for. I don't blame them. That should be a wake-up call to both parties, but they'd rather cater to their base.
Sorry, this isn't an election for the president of your high school class. Every right we have comes with responsibilities. There are 2 candidates. One of these 2 people will win whether they are your preferred candidate or not. (PS: By far, the people of this country who are independents or democrats and vote in Democratic primaries are in the middle of the democratic spectrum.) To expect a progressive or democratic socialist to win in the democratic primaries is a mistake for 3 reasons. 1) Statistics would tell you that the voting results will model a bell curve - with a person at the top of bell being closer to the center of the party. 2) The majority of citizens in the nation believe that democratic socialism is pure socialism and is connected to communism. NO ONE bothers to explain any of the terms we throw around like capitalism - which can be regulated or unregulated AND socialism - which can be both a political and economic strategy depending on how it's used, and communism. 3) When Bernie started his rants and insisted on calling his beliefs democratic socialism, he played right into the hands of the GOP. He was wrong when he said capitalism was THE problem. He ignored the fact that by far the people believed socialism was bad. Progressives were angry when he didn't get the nomination and didn't vote for HRC - so they HELPED T win. Now AOC & Mamdani are doing a far better job of getting the word out - not by ranting, but being specific about what the GOP continues to allow the rich owners of corporations to do. In addition, people are getting to see how progressive ideas are helping NYC. BUT this applies to a minority of people. The ideas must become widespread before voters will change. In the meantime, people need to take the responsibility to actually vote for one of the 2 candidates who have a chance of winning. Doing otherwise has allowed the GOP to win the presidency at least 3 times and twice to a corrupt racist. POC after getting the vote KNEW that no president was likely to help them significantly. So they asked the question - which of the 2 candidates is LEAST likely to hurt me and my family - and then voted accordingly. White people are too self-absorbed and don't expect they will be hurt. So they act like children "If you don't want to play by my rules, I'm taking my ball home." As citizens we have not only a right to vote, but a responsibility to vote for one of the 2 candidates who is most likely (at the very least) most likely to protect our democracy. With his bigotry, known corruption, word salads, his statements about being a dictator or nazis being good people, lies, and 34 felony convictions, the ONLY answer was Harris. Our country is destroyed, future generations will pay their entire lives or with their lives to repair the damage. Anyone who did not vote for Harris is responsible. Obama and Biden BOTH warned us at the end of their terms what was going to happen if we did not pay attention and learn the facts. (Of course learning those facts became challenging to do when the news media stopped using facts & evidence in their reporting and ALL slid into the pockets of the GOP after Reagan ended the Fairness Doc.
"Sorry, this isn't an election for the president of your high school class."
Sorry, but there are things called character, conscience, integrity, values, etc.. They are rare things in our society, and neither the Dems or the Repubs seem to care not one whit about them other than as cutesy talking points.
"Our country is destroyed, future generations will pay their entire lives or with their lives to repair the damage."
Our country is not destroyed because of a single presidential term. It will, however, come to an end if our society continues to accept two power-obsessed political parties (and their sycophants) as normal. It was Ben Franklin who said that we have a republic if we can keep it, and John Adams who said that our government was meant for a moral and religious people. The Founders were much smarter and more noble in their design of our government than they are given credit for.
"Anyone who did not vote for Harris is responsible."
Gee, nice of you to take the "thirty feet above the runway view with blinders on" approach. Please elaborate on how Ms. Harris was head and shoulders above Trump.
"Of course learning those facts became challenging to do when the news media stopped using facts & evidence in their reporting and ALL slid into the pockets of the GOP..."
You mean the same media that ignored Joe Biden's mental decline?
Excuse me if I don't don't drink the partisan Kool-Aid from either side.
First of all, the GOP is a far right fascist group. That was not true in Eisenhower's days. He would be furious if he were to be here today. If you looked up Ike's policies, you would see a reflection of both Ike's actions and FDR policies in what Biden did as president. (Back then the parties were still similar.) Clinton, Obama and Biden all cleaned up the economic messes left by Reagan, GW Bush and T. The GOP created a wealth gap that is almost as big as the one before the Great Depression because they ONLY enriched the rich because their economic policies included ignoring or ending the rules put in place by FDR et al to prevent another Great Depression. The Housing Crisis was caused by GW Bush ending housing & loan regs. The GOP blamed people (esp POC) for being poor and ended or reduced programs that helped the needy. The Dems used regulated capitalism, improved the economy and cut the deficit. Of course, not everyone felt this and the news media (in the pockets of the GOP) could not be bothered to tell the public the truth. Would I like to kick Schumer out? yes, but he's the only type of dem who can win in his district.
If you actually are interested in knowing why people should have voted for Harris, start with comparing Project 2025 to Harris' policies. Were they what progressives and dem socialists wanted - no. Would a progressive or dem socialist have a chance to win the presidency in 2016 or 2024 ? NO. A course in statistics would tell you why. In addition, the large majority of people in this nation do NOT understand progressive policies and how they would help them. They are still convinced that socialism is communism. The GOP have been teaching this since FDR when they didn't like HIS regulations to improve the economy after the depression. My personal hope is that Mamdani's efforts will work in the future to help people grasp the concepts.
Listen again to the lies, hate, misogyny, bigotry, appreciation for dictators and Nazis that came out of T's mouth. Look at his life prior to coming down the escalator (which the news media never focussed on). Then look at what Harris has done with her life - not the news media version - but what she actually accomplished on behalf of others. Read her book "100 Days". I found her description of her campaign helpful. It showed her grit and her willingness to own her mistakes. (That's something that people with character and morals do.) Did you listen to her speeches?
The State of the Union speech showed zero weakness. He did his job and he did it well. Joe Biden's decline had to do with old age and likely the cancer that was building in his body. I was not pleased that he had chosen to run again. You cannot possibly say that Tapper, Cooper, et al said nothing about his decline. They even tried to use the auto signer as an issue. The last debate came after a few days of constant negotiation to get American citizens home. As a stutterer, Biden has always struggled with debates. You know what the news media NEVER did? They never said that T was not fit for office despite his corruption during his first term, despite his 34 felony convictions, despite his Epstein connections, his inability to form complete sentences, and his frequent use of odd made up words.
What did you do to seek the facts? Did you check original sources? Did you read Heather Cox Richardson or Jermaine Fowler? How about the Contrarian? Or did you stay in your own comfortable self righteous bubble?
I would like to see progressive policies happening. I was angry at Bernie's arrogant rants & misinformation. What he wanted was good. His approach did NOT endear him to centrists or people who believe in capitalism (but do not understand there are 2 types) or to people who believe that socialism is bad (but actually do not know what the word actually means).
Voting for a president is serious. We would NOT be in this horrible place if everyone who chose not to vote or voted for a 3rd party candidate who could NOT win had voted for Harris. Generations to come will pay for this failure. All because of racism, misogyny, self-absorption and ignorance of the facts. All because a woman did not fit the exact model they wanted. Immigrants, men women and children, are paying the price of the unwillingness of many to accept the responsibilities that come with our right to vote. Is that okay with you? You may not have liked Harris - but we would not be in danger of losing our democracy if she had been elected. The hole that was dug by all those who did not vote for Harris is enormous.
"First of all, the GOP is a far right fascist group."
OK, let's start with the basics: how do you define both "far right" and "fascist"? You might consider that a ridiculous request but I have to know if you're not just spouting easy and lazy talking points because you don't know any better.
Take a look at all the politically-based Subsatcks you read. How many of them do you consider "mainstream", "right of center" or "left of center"? If they all look at the world essentially the same way and blame other people or groups for all our ills and only your side is right and virtuous, it's a safe bet you're in an ideological bubble.
"That was not true in Eisenhower's days. He would be furious if he were to be here today."
Would JFK recognize today's Democratic party?
And from a George Washington meme: "Me and my homies woulda been stackin' bodies by now".
"If you actually are interested in knowing why people should have voted for Harris..."
You missed the point...I was asking YOU personally why you thought Harris was the better candidate. Don't hide behind the typical talking points.
"Voting for a president is serious."
Which is why some people get so fed up with the parties and their candidates that not voting is also a choice. Again, both parties need to take notice and adjust accordingly. Neither appears willing to do so.
Yes, the oligarchs and Confederacy-lovers, racists and corporate power mongers have existed throughout our history and raise their ugly heads periodically when conditions are ripe. Conditions became ripe during trump’s first term - including disastrous Supreme Court confirmations ( lets not forget the help McConnell gave trump)-and again in 2024. Even if trump succumbs to age and ill health these other players in the demise of democracy, who have swelled under trump and the former Republican Party nowMAGA Party - the J6ers, the tech-bro Kings, the Heritage Foundation and Project 25 - will still be there. But the rallying point is trump, for the voters and every left behind person with a grudge its trump. His role as outrageous figurehead is important.
Conditions became ripe when Reagan became president, cut the Fairness Doctrine (first noticeable Hitler step) started cutting or ignoring the regulations that FDR et al had put in place to help the nation recover from the Great Depression, and started making racist comments about POC & poverty in the cities in order to convince the public that they were not worthy of assistance. Look up which Supreme Court justices that Reagan and GW Bush put on the court. Every GOP president followed in Reagan's footsteps with economic policies that enriched the rich, increased the wealth gap, and hurt the rest of us.
Yes of course. You could probably go back beyond Reagan to the failure to hold the traitors from the Civil War accountable. I was just responding to not holding trump fully responsible.
While many of the ills of the Republican party have been fermenting since the fall of "Tricky Dicky," and the ushering in of "The Great Communicator," I lay blame for our current affairs at the feet of Mitch McConnell. Had he, as the Senate Republican Leader in 2020, voted to convict p45, we wouldn't be in the mess we're in today. No p47. No cronyism. No grifting. No self-dealing. No sycophants. No truly unquified cabinet members. Not as much lying. But most of all, no Stephen Miller!
Let us be clear, it wasn't just T voters who are to blame. Those who just didn't vote or voted for a candidate who could not vote are ALSO at fault. They were primarily white people who CHOSE not to see the danger in 2024. They chose not to see the consequences of allowing a man who had zero issues with spewing his hate and lies. They CHOSE to believe that innocent immigrants would NOT face consequences from the threat to deport illegal immigrants. Instead, because of everyone who made the decision not to vote for Harris, there are immigrants being dragged out of their homes, men-women-children being cruelly treated every single day in our concentration camps. An old senile Black man was picked up off the street and immediately deported to a country he had NEVER lived in. Our constitution is being ignored EVERY SINGLE DAY. We are the Germans who ignored what was done to the Jews by choosing NOT to vote for Harris. Now generations will pay for what voters did in 2024.
See my comments to others above. BOTH SIDES ARE NOT THE SAME. That is a lie created by the GOP and repeated by all of the news media who have been in GOP pockets since Reagan ended the Fairness Doc.
"See my comments to others above. BOTH SIDES ARE NOT THE SAME."
Yes they are - both are primarily concerned with power. How to acquire it, maintain it and expand it, no matter the cost. The Kronies videos capture that perfectly.
"...GOP pockets since Reagan ended the Fairness Doc."
Here's a video clip that has aged liked fine wine in regard to complaints about the "Fairness Doctrine":
The video does not provide the facts. What Friedman is doing is speaking around the topic with lots of words trying to impress the viewers so they will just believe what he says. News without facts and evidence is USELESS. It's the same garbage argument used by people to deny scientific facts - like vaccines.
Then look at all the shows on cable news, the networks, papers, podcasts and things like Substack. Do you really want "fairness" in this particular forum mandated by law? Or do you just want it for other forums that disagree with your worldview?
Friedman's point is that you don't get "fairness" by having others determine what "fair" is. What we have today is exactly what Friedman advocated for back in 1979. Different outlets with their own views, inviting mostly people with the same views.
Just as I want facts and evidence from scientific papers. I want facts and evidence from any outlet that claims it is REPORTING the news. Freedman PURPOSEFULLY talks about "fairness" and avoids talking about facts.
If a group wants to just talk or write about their views start a paper/magazine - but do NOT call it news. Opinions & beliefs are not facts. When we make important decisions we need facts. I can believe the earth is flat. That does NOT make it flat. I can believe I am 50. That does not make it a fact. When I make a decision about voting, it needs to be based on facts - not on what I want to believe.
I suspect that before the Mid Terms, Karma is going to bare its teeth and bite the Orange Ogre on the ass. I saw lowly hamburger for sale at the local Publix yesterday for $13.49 a pound... How many kids will go to bed with little but bread in their stomachs? I am so dreadfully sick of the casual and oblivious cruelty of tRump and his adoring MAGAts.
Congressional Republicans may not care about the price of hamburger, but they don't want to lose their elections and implication in the EPSTEIN coverup should scare them to holy hell.
The article pointed out that we are spending more, but we are getting significantly less for what we are spending. The price per pound (or ounce) is increasing on so many staple items that it's sapping the kitchen-table economy.
The people that did not vote for Harris CHOSE not to see him for who he is. LOOK at how INNOCENT immigrants are being treated in our concentration camps!
Not only are children suffering from the SNAP cuts but so are senior citizens who don’t draw enough social security to pay their bills or their doctor visits. Stephen Miller is a psychopath. He needs to be removed from the White House. It’s not only billionaires who are benefiting from Trump’s economy but others who don’t see what this economy has actually done to others.
The average American may not follow politics closely, and may not be very bright. But one thing the average American *does* know and understand is when they are having trouble making ends meet at the end of the month, and when they see themselves or their neighbors lose (or worry about losing) their jobs.
And when that happens no amount of "it really isn't bad" happy talk from the politicians in charge is going to make them feel better. All happy talk does is convince them that the politician is either a g*ddamn liar or completely out of touch with the average person.
Wasn't it Bessent, or one of the other toadies, who crowed that Americans are using credit cards as never before, as if that were an achievement. Another D headline if they choose to use it!
Who actually benefits from credit card debt? I’d like to understand this phenomenon better. Took me years of bummer living to escape from mine, back in my ‘30’s…
"The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities recently found that in 12 states, 700,000 fewer children are receiving SNAP food; “nearly half of the 1.6-million-person decline among people of all ages in those states.”
I take this statistic personally. When I was teaching, I used my own money to buy snacks to have in my classroom. I turned a blind eye when some of my students took more than one, because so many of them came from poor households and probably weren't getting enough to eat at home.
If Dems regain the House and take the Senate, I hope they reverse these SNAP cuts as a matter of moral urgency.
Fortunately for you (and many of the rest of us) the hunger is only of a short-term duration! Long-term it's much worse. Hope the lab analysis is favorable for you.
“The American people understand the hell that we inherited..."
This highlights the danger of radical right-wing oligarchs controlling the media. The true message about the Biden administration -- that he and the fed brought the bad economy in for a soft landing, without a recession and against all odds; that he dealt with the pandemic after Trump had blown it; or that he was stymied in many efforts to deal with immigration by right-wing obstruction -- never really got through. For Obersturmbannführer Miller to get away with lies of this magnitude simply spotlights the problem.
THANK YOU!!!!!!! You are the first person that has made such a clear comment like this. The public has no clue. That's not an excuse because if anyone couldn't see T's hate and bigotry pouring out of his mouth, then they were choosing not to see or hear.
I find myself reading headlines on Substack these days &/or skimming the articles for something I may have missed. November can’t come soon enough! We each have our own ways of pushing back. Each of us must continue to take care of ourselves first: ”rest and renew” as I like to frame it…basically take a physical & mental break from the rump spun chaos. We must be our best as we continue to support our democracy over the summer and through the hills of AI generated BS until we can vote. Let’s show the world who has the power people!!!!!
You are a mensch and a fearless Truth-Teller. If only there were more like you the world would be a much better place. Thanks a million for getting the word out.
“Trump’s overall approval has dropped in many polls to the mid-30’s.”
How can 1 in 3 Americans APPROVE of this absolute Nutjob?! Does NOT make sense! So….SO…sad! That 30% wants to drag American down into the Hell they live in. So far, they’ve succeeded! What must the rest of the World think of Americans, who elected this incompetent childish wrecking ball of a nutjob……TWICE?! It’s certainly not “admiration”!
I wonder at the 1/3 number too! It's amazingly awful! I have relatives who live abroad, and they do wonder how Americans have been fooled twice by DJT. They don't hate us; they just wonder at our stupidity. (Not that other countries haven't been stupid over the years, but we're the latest; and we might just sit atop most of the others.)
Exactly! The amount of Stupidity is absolutely flabbergastingly unbelievably….crazy! And, THAT is what America’s reputation is now! SO sad! SO disappointing! But….we earned it by electing this Clown!
Some folks are just single-issue voters who won't see the tremendous damage being done to other parts of our country. Others are genuine white supremacists who are thrilled that hate is now encouraged, even if their own families can't afford to eat. There are some very good folks who support King Con because they have been sold on his "promises" and won't believe any reporting from the "left" (even if it's demonstrably accurate). We just have to accept that human beings are very complicated. But we can simplify our messages on signs that we parade in the streets and across our highways! Speak out! Vote!
Unfortunately, the truth is that - had the many millions of white people who chose not to vote or who voted 3rd party had instead voted for Harris, she would have won even with the cheating or it would have at least proven that T did NOT win fairly.
I am a Texas Democrat. What I see from the outside is that the Texas Republican party has been in an extremely vicious internal war since just prior to the normal, establishment Republicans attempting to impeach Paxton. After they were blocked in that endeavor through shenanigans, the MAGA faction primaried and purged ALL insurgents from the party. This purge had the by-product of electing MAGA Republicans who dutifully voted to pass school vouchers, which enraged the rural Texas voters who are the backbone of the Texas Republican party.
John Cornyn, the last traditional Republican left, took a stand against Paxton and MAGA. Somehow, he thought he could denounce Paxton and embrace Trump. Now, with Cornyn's defeat at the hands of Trump, the illusion they could make that logically inconsistent idea work is gone. Establishment Republicans are now saying their party is dead. What are they going to do? They have more money than MAGA. They have the infrastructure, but do they have the will?
The Establishment Republican leaders like Cornyn aren't necessarily our friends, but they are committed to democracy. As it stands for this election, the disaffected voters on the ground are there for Democrats to woo. And those voters do like Talarico.
The above dynamic is underappreciated by the national political pundit class. Also, Texas Democrats are strategizing and coordinating separate and apart from the DC Democratic party which seems to be using a strategy called "Operation Screw-it-Up".
I hope you TX Dems can reach out to some of those upset R's in your state. Convince just a few that it's time to burst that MAGA blister before it turns to gangrene. They don't have to love Talarico or any of the other Democratic candidates, but they should find it in their own best interest to get MAGA out of office.
They can always find and vote for "normal" Republicans in 2028 if they can find some.
NOOOOOOOO! There are zero Eisenhower GOP left. The last group of decent GOP were the ones who pushed Nixon out after their was solid proof of what he had done. The last one standing was McCain. Kinzinger and Cheney voted against our HC and didn't stand for anything until they served on T's impeachment trial. Just because Cornyn has stood up against Paxton means nothing - given his inability to go against the BBB, against T's war in Iran, against the concentration camps in our nation, against the AI data centers being built that will destroy our water and raise the cost of electricity. I'm really tired of people praising the snakes who have hurt so many people. Massie stood up regarding the Epstein issues and then slowly dropped it until he lost his recent race. Green finally stood up against T - she has NOT changed her views. All GOP pretended that it was okay to vote for a convicted felon, rapist, Epstein follower, corrupt failed businessman, liar, a serial filer of lawsuits. We need a full clean out of every single GOP. That is the only way to force real conservatives with fair ideas to build a new party. The racists have to go.
"Kinzinger and Cheney voted against our HC and didn't stand for anything until they served on T's impeachment trial."
Kinzinger and Cheney served on T's impeachment trial simply because they were "anti-Trumpers" who wouldn't rock the boat or disagree with whatever narrative the Democrats wanted to craft.
"All GOP pretended that it was okay to vote for a convicted felon, rapist, Epstein follower, corrupt failed businessman, liar, a serial filer of lawsuits."
It really has to irk Democrats to the Nth dgree that, after all they did to discredit or imprison Trump, he still managed to beat Harris, even in the popular vote.
"We need a full clean out of every single GOP."
Then Democrats need to offer the voters something more than "Trump sucks so vote for us." That's what happened in 2020 and then they lost the White House and the Senate in 2024. What are your ideas?
Hal, please stop. I've suggested that you look up the policies of democrats from JFK to Biden. If you do so, you will see the similarities - EVEN TO Eisenhower. So any attempt to claim that they moved far left is simply foolish at this point.
Are you truly serious with your comment about my "ALL GOP pretended...." That is an illogical sequitur. Let's see, how did T beat Harris? Factors: too many people believed the GOP lies from Reagan on, Elon Musk, his millions, his raffle, and his helpful satellites, Thiel, fixing the votes in the 7 states that are toss-ups? a news media being in the pockets of the GOP since Reagan ended the Fairness Doc? racism? misogyny? Take your pick.
"Are you truly serious with your comment about my "ALL GOP pretended...." That is an illogical sequitur."
So what? Am I being docked for debating points?
"Factors: too many people believed the GOP lies from Reagan on, Elon Musk, his millions, his raffle, and his helpful satellites, Thiel, fixing the votes in the 7 states that are toss-ups? a news media being in the pockets of the GOP since Reagan ended the Fairness Doc? racism? misogyny? Take your pick."
This is how I know you're in a liberal ideological bubble: there was not one mention of anything you thought the Democrats might have done wrong to lose the 2024 election.
A little off topic . Watch what happens with the Ebola outbreak. It could get much worse and Trump and his minions have no clue. With all the different emergencies facing the United States and the world it is like a pick your own disaster game.
I'm sure that any disaster will be blamed on Biden....or Obama....
My wish is for all the GOP representatives and uber-donors to live among working class Americans for a few years without access to their excessive powers.
It has indeed been reported that we aren't prepared for the next pandemic, whatever it turns out to be. If Trump's reaction is the same as he was to Covid, we will be in a world of hurt.
If I had to blame one person for this disaster, it would be Mitch McConnell, for effectively stealing two SCOTUS seats. If Obama had been allowed to seat Garland and Trump had not been allowed to seat Coney-Barrett with just weeks to go in his first "term," the court would be 5-4 liberal. Trump would be in prison where he belongs. Roe would likely still be in place. The VRA would not be gutted. And of course all the damage wrought by Trump and his goons like Miller would never have happened. People have no idea the pain that's yet to come. I just saw a frightening report about how Canada controls the railway that runs from there to the Gulf of Mexico. It has shifted its trade partnerships overseas because the buffoon Trump insisted on antagonizing the country with his stupid trade wars. Our farmers are stuck with product they can't move. And prices at the grocery store are going to skyrocket worse than they already have. Auto manufacturers are sitting idle because they can't get parts in a timely fashion. The damage Trump has done and continues to do every day will take 20 years to fix, if it can be fixed. So thanks, Mitch. I hope you sleep well at night.
Also, Mitch discouraged Republican Senators from voting to convict Trump after his second impeachment, on the grounds that the justice system would deal with Trump after he left office. We know how that turned out. Had Trump been convicted by the Senate, he could never have held US office again.
Indeed. After that self-righteous speech he made on the Senate floor, he turns around and lets the oaf off the hook. I'm telling you, Mitch is the root of all evil.
I wonder if our society will ever again be characterized by at least attempting to speak the truth. Of course, there have always been liars, con men, and swindlers. But in the public and government sphere there once was an expectation of approximating the truth. From Limbaugh to Fox News and on to MAGA Trumpism, the steady degrading to reach this point of Stephen Miller's deliberate fabrication is simply staggering. In fact, if a Republican politician spoke truthfully, he or she would likely be drummed out of the Party.
NONE of the news media is telling the truth. That was the game. Reagan ended the Fairness Doc and allowed Murdoch to have Fox News with its bold lies and misinformation. But that wasn't the whole goal. Like Hitler took control of the German newspapers, Reagan wanted the GOP to have control of the news media. Removing the expectation that the news media use facts and evidence in its reporting led to the news media reporting based on opinions and beliefs. I will never forget when I heard one of the newscasters say this aloud. She was on CBS, NOT FOX. She added that it was up to the listeners to make decisions based on this info. Decisions require FACTS. What Scott Pelley has said about what has happened to 60 Minutes is too little too late. 90% of all journalists had slid into the pockets of the GOP during the 80's.
Jen Rubin, i’d like to announce the third coming: @ the ripe age of 85, I’ve been impregnated virtually- by AI & S Miller; I’m to give birth to ‘a corporation’ who will be eligible to vote in the midterms.
You can try your worst to fool ‘the American people’, whom i’ve never met,
but don’t even begin to try to fool Jen Rubin or her readers.
This American person is ready to take you on one to one.
Herr Stephen "Adolf Eichmann" Miller is without a doubt the most vile of the vile. Everything that comes out of his mouth is venomous vomitus of the most heinous kind. His irrational hatred of people of color is imbedded in every ounce of his being. If he were really paying attention to what is actually happening on Earth 1, he would not be able to continue the junta's pogrom of lying and deceit and just plain ignoring the truth when it's slapping him in his smug, affectless face.
As Jen so meticulously exposed in her post, what we are living through right now is paradise lost, a hell on earth and the greatest (worst) shit show on earth.
My concern about the midterms is that when people downtrodden and struggling, they may be too focused on their personal plight or cynical to even bother to vote. Time and time again, some of us cast ballots for candidates who are diametrically opposed to our own best interests.
Another thing we have to worry about is the recent war on mail voting that the fascists just declared with the USPS aiding and abetting the effort. Granted, this Putinesque move will hopefully be struck down by the judiciary system but let's not hold our collective breath. The rulings of the MAGAt SCOTUS are not always encouraging (see Trump v. US granting presidential immunity, Louisiana v. Callais eviscerating the VRA of 1965, striking down Roe v. Wade, Noem v. Basquez that allows ICE to stop people based on race, language, location or employment aka The Kavanaugh Concurrence to name just a few).
Oh, and let's not forget the gerrymandering project that may backfire in their faces.
Let’s not put all of the blame on Trump, his oligarchs and his cronies. The current Republican Party, the Roberts Supreme Court and the racists who miss the Confederacy are happy to collaborate. A number of our fellow citizens were just waiting for a Trump to turn up. This is our America and this is our challenge going forward.
What you seem to be saying is that our current dilemma has been created by any number of contributors and collaborators. True, and as your accurate reference to unreformed Confederate racist oligarchs and their brainwashed minions implies, you appreciate that all this has very deep roots in our culture and history. Let's not forget the cruel disenfranchisement of women, the genocidal slaughter of the vast majority of Native Americans, the Jim Crow laws, the murder of union members and organizers, and the insistence that alternative governmental systems (like social democracy) are somehow tainted and equivalent with communism, rather than a more enlightened approach to governance than the money-corrupted and dominated 'form' of democracy we've all allowed to grow ever-stronger for the past seventy-odd years. Trump remains, however a 'useful idiot' for us reform-minded people in the sense that his very public presence, on view practially 24/7/365 conveys a visceral sense of horror and disgust that points directly at the forces that helped make him what he is: a monster teetering atop a monstrous system while gobbling up a criminal share of its assets.
Well put!
I would just say amen, but I cannot but add: and decades long systematic destruction of democracies outside Europe and endless wars against indigenous people. Millions have been killed by insane destructions of lands and people, often on the other side of the globe, from Vietnam to Cambodia to Laos to Iraq to Libya to Yemen to Iran, just to mention a few. Not to speak about enabling the genocide of Gaza. I find it heartbreaking that so few speak about it, even among the most progressive of Americans - which can explain why almost all politicians, including basically all Democrats, supported the destruction of Iraq and Gaza.
I keep picturing the early days of the destruction of Gaza when there were still reporters sending footage of how people were coping. Kids working together to feed babies and toddlers and each other with any food and utensils they could salvage. And then to hear day after day, week after week and month after month of the numbers of innocent children and adults being killed in so many dastardly ways. How can anyone feel this is right? To kill the innocent, to settle a score? Or, as our dear president might put it, to clear the rubble for a construction projects? This is at the heart of my concern for humanity. It is not only about Jews or Palestinians. It is about getting away with, and wanting to do more of killing innocent children and people. We must own up to our responsibility to not only oppose this, but to stop it and let those responsible pay the consequence of these heinous actions.
Sandy, I'm not saying netanyahu is right. Go back to October 7th. If Israel and the US were the only countries where you felt safe, what would you do? I'd love to see a 2 state solution. I also don't think that will happen in my lifetime. I'm reminded of the Americans who have served in the IDF and do serve. (Especially prior to 10-7 and immediately after.) For those who had grandparents, parents born in Israel, or those who were born there, it gave them dual nationality. Some go back there 1x or 2x a year to visit loved ones and then get in medical exams. The people I'm thinking of don't represent netanyahu's views. The people I'm thinking of want that 2 state solution.
Dear Lauren,
Please know I am not speaking of anyone who has wanted and still wants this violence to stop. I am not 'an eye, for an eye' believer. I believe in protecting the innocent, simply because they are not guilty. You speak of feeling safe in America. I have not felt safe here since Trump took office the first time and let the Proud Boys and such men loose. I certainly do not feel guilty of any of Trumps crimes. And yet there could very well be those in other countries who would see me as guilty by association, just for being an American. Why such greedy, mean, haters of humanity are allowed to be 'leader' I do not understand. To me it is all too obvious that both Trump and Bi Bi are keeping the world distracted from all of the things that they are afraid they would be found guilty of, if they were ever taken to trial. Beyond all of this, are the numbers of children and parents and grandparents who have been killed or been made to suffer for loss of their loved ones. If we cannot put ourselves in their shoes and feel their pain, we too have lost our humanity. I wish you well Lauren. I am sorry if you felt in any way I was blaming you, or all Jews. I most certainly am not. The pain I feel is caused by the big stinkers who are running these countries.
Sandy, we're on the same team. I agree with you. I've never felt safe under orange. It's worse under the second regime for many whov are Jewish. I knew you weren't blaming me. (I'm not Jewish.) Too many are blaming every Jewish person for what's going on. It's personal when so many family and friends are Jewish. Netanyahu is their orange/their pooty. Many Jewish people only know that the US and Israel are safe countries or as home. They know they wouldn't be safe in xyz. That's what my point was.
Understand that the news media has aided the GOP since Reagan ended the Fairness Doc preventing the public from knowing the facts about what the GOP has been doing. Their false statements that the GOP is better for our economy and that both parties are the same are imprinted on the foreheads of most Americans. They fail to seek the truth. I learned today that the idea of socialism being a threat has been imprinted in the minds of Americans since FDR by the GOP/rich trying to combat his regulations and the new programs that were put in to help those recovering from the Great Depression. When Khrushchev tried to threaten the US, the GOP doubled down on the supposed connection between socialism and communism.
The Fairness Doctrine would have to be rewritten to include all media - satellite, cable, internet and broadcast. The original one only addressed the broadcast networks. We know today that more people get their news from one electronic device or another. It would be good to revive it.
unfortunately there would be constitutional issues with reviving or extending the Fairness Doctrine. It was created in an era of scarcity of broadcast media, so those scarce resources had to be allocated 'fairly'. Today there is no shortage of media - on the contrary - so the compelled speech element of the Doctrine would not be sustainable in law.
How is requiring that news contain facts & evidence against any laws? The Fairness Doc was NOT PUT IN PLACE because there were limited sources for news. It was put into place so that the people could be given fact-based information. If you want to print your opinions and beliefs - then do not call your business "news". Call it gossip. Magazine of opinions, etc.
The stupidity of people who are making up their opinions about scientific ideas that are proven is ridiculous. It is an offshoot of the foolishness on social media.
Thank you for the law update. If we could just mandate telling no lies we'd be ahead of the game.
Maybe not supported, but failed to object. Failing to object to what is so wrong, it is beyond wrong. It is surrender to pure evil. Wish I had a crying face emoji I knew how to get into this comment.
If any group is responsible for the suffering of Gazans, it is Hamas. They started a genocidal war against Jews and didn't care one iota about Gazan women and children. Iran brutally murdered 40,000 Iranians in ONE WEEK. What about the long systematic attempted destruction by Muslims of the only democratic country in the region, Israel. BTW, Jews are an indigenous people to Israel.
If this was not tragic it would be comic - even with full scale carpet bombings it is basically impossible to kill 40000 people in a week. To fall for such insanely silly propaganda, well I for one find it heartbreaking. I wonder why in the world you would bring up the fact that Jews are indigenous people of Palestine, as if I have spoken against Jews. But now that you brought it up. Until 1948, in spite of the tragic zionism movement, Arabs and Jews still lived reasonably peacefully together, Jews possessing some 7% of land - while today close to 90%. Please reflect on this. As you know, then more than 700000 people, about half of Arab population - would correspond to 170 million Americans today - were expelled, never to be allowed to return. Please reflect on this. And so land snitching, apartheid, occupation slowly took us to the tragedy of today, where now half of Jewish population - please read about this - is no more indigenous or semitic. Which is why basically all Israeli politicians from 1948 to today change their last names to hide their European background. But why you wish to turn this into Jews vs Muslims, god knows. I simply spoke of the genocide of Gaza - documented and officially accepted by the UN and most international bodies and basically all countries in the world but the US and a few European ones - perpetuated by the Israeli government and enabled by the US. I for one refuse to blame Jews and/or Americans - the same way that I blame nazi regime and not Germans for the Holocaust. I feel pity for your blind generalisation of Muslims - a billion people - it must be a terrible weight to carry on your shoulders.
Oops, got the wrong month.
On 12 January 2026, Esmail Baghaei, the spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirmed that security forces had directly shot at protesters.[11]
On 25 January, Time reported that a specific list included 30,304 protest-related deaths registered in civilian hospitals for 8 and 9 January alone.[3] The same day, Iran International estimated the total number of deaths at ~36,500.[4] On 28 January, Al Jazeera alleged that Iran International neither published nor made transparent the reports it cited.[12] An Iranian doctors' network cited by The Guardian estimated that the death toll could be more than 30,000, based on an estimated factor of ten undercount in the official death toll.[5] AP News reported that the government's overwhelming use of violence had caused despair among the public.[13]
Re: Until 1948, in spite of the tragic zionism movement, Arabs and Jews still lived reasonably peacefully together, Jews possessing some 7% of land - while today close to 90%. Please reflect on this. As you know, then more than 700000 people, about half of Arab population - would correspond to 170 million Americans today - were expelled, never to be allowed to return
Actually, the invading Arab countries, told them to leave. Once they won the war against the Jews and annihilated them, the Palestinians could all come back and live happily ever after.
Re: Which is why basically all Israeli politicians from 1948 to today change their last names to hide their European background.
What is your source? Or did you just pull that nonsense out of your ass?
Re: I simply spoke of the genocide of Gaza - documented and officially accepted by the UN and most international bodies and basically all countries in the world but the US and a few European ones - perpetuated by the Israeli government and enabled by the US.
You simply spoke about the "genocide" in Gaza. Not really. You blame Israel, not Hamas. Why didn't you blame Hamas? You mention the UN. Why didn't you write that UN workers aided and abetted Hamas. The UN, in my opinion, is a worthless organization.
Re: I blame nazi regime and not Germans for the Holocaust.
Really?? So who do you think made up the Nazi regime in Germany? Brazilians?
You are a terribly uninformed poster. You know very little to nothing about the region. Inform yourself. Oh yes, hold your pity for someone who is looking for your nonsense.
No one has ever questioned that Hamas is a terrorist organization. That does NOT allow Netanyahu to kill innocent people, starve them and destroy their homes. What the Israelis have done in both Gaza and Lebanon is genocide. And it is NOT excused just because of Hamas' existence. No one has the right to starve anyone in any war. It's why so much of what the Nazis did were war crimes. N's actions are war crimes. This was NOT to protect the people of Israel. N wants the land. What Iran is doing or what SOME radical muslims have done does NOT excuse what N is having his army do. Did no one ever teach you the sentence: "Two wrongs do not make a right?" Would you excuse T and Miller for what they is doing to innocent immigrants?
Gayle, sadly many don't understand that Hamas is a terrorist organization. I'm not justifying what netanyahu is doing. Far from it. But it also doesn't justify the threats of kill every Israeli. What some on the other side don't realize is the cry 'river to the sea' means the genocide of Israelis. 2 wrongs will NEVER make a right. Unfortunately, I've had to block far too many who don't understand.
I know what river to the sea means. I am old. Have you explained it to those who are using it?
Sadly, as climate change gets worse, we'll see more of this. Because climate change impacts mental health. The genocides are a tale as old as time. I'm not saying it's right. But we need to remember the US was based off a genocide.
Thank you.
You're most welcome! Thanks back atcha.
Thank you,Leigh Horn. So well stated. I hope you’re running for office somewhere, or writing a book that will enlighten its readers - although you’ve stated it all so clearly in this letter. Maybe make a movie? Whatever needed, to add to positivity in the USA.
Focus, focus!
Leigh, absolutely. All of this can be traced back to the founding of the country. At the same time, I'm reminded that other countries need to fix their bloody immigration systems too because the far right is sweeping the world. Hopefully we'll get things a bit more in balance if the Dems win this fall and then in 2028. I'm not saying I want the extreme left in charge either, who threaten the Israelis with death. As with anything, there's a happy medium.
I kind of agree but the SC is certainly influenced by Trump. From dubious appointees to creating a political environment that allows Alito and Thomas to be their worst selves.
Trump has given racists and bigots permission to take their depravity public and to be PROUD of it.
They are certainly happy to collaborate but in many cases it took the environment created by Trump to inspire their bold participation.
Influenced, enabled, or both, the Court has indeed facilitated Trump.
Quite correct, Carol - there is plenty of blame to go around, including roughly a third of the elegible voters from the 2024 election.
More than a third of the voters! Anyone who did not vote for Harris (white voters) is the cause of how we got here. They are too racist, misogynistic, self-absorbed and ignorant of the responsibilities that go with the right to vote. Someone, excusing herself today for not voting for Harris, said "I can vote for anyone I want to vote for" like it's a vote for the president of her high school class. As a citizen, we have the responsibility to vote for people who will protect our democracy and ALL of the people in the nation. We have the responsibility to learn the FACTS which are much harder to do since the news media has not used facts and evidence in its reporting since Reagan ended the Fairness Doc. Their misogyny against both HRC and Harris was clear. Their focus on Benghazi for decades was obviously to hurt HRC. Their claim that Harris didn't do anything while in Central America after she & Biden were elected was a lie. Their refusal to call out any of T's lies and hate-filled statements was obvious. They have never told the public that the GOP has ONLY enriched the rich since Reagan or that the GOP has deregulated industries or ignored regulations put in place by FDR et al as gifts to the rich. Our housing crisis is continuing because GW Bush's deregulation of the housing & loan industry enabled the rich to start private equity firms to buy up millions of properties, homes, apt and condo buildings etc for cheap money. They sold or rented them for higher and higher prices after the crisis died down. Until caught they had a RENT MANAGER system in which everyone raised their rent in unison to get control of the whole market. However, those private equity firms are STILL doing this - now they are offering people (in particular senior citizens) cash for their homes or outbid everyone with a cash offer for a home on sale. What's the plan? Eventually, no one but the rich will be able to own a home. The rest of us will be too poor. The richest greedy racist white males among us have ALWAYS wanted to go back to a time when only they have any power and control of all that happens in this nation.
"...there is plenty of blame to go around, including roughly a third of the elegible voters from the 2024 election."
Perhaps they thought neither candidate was worth voting for. I don't blame them. That should be a wake-up call to both parties, but they'd rather cater to their base.
Sorry, this isn't an election for the president of your high school class. Every right we have comes with responsibilities. There are 2 candidates. One of these 2 people will win whether they are your preferred candidate or not. (PS: By far, the people of this country who are independents or democrats and vote in Democratic primaries are in the middle of the democratic spectrum.) To expect a progressive or democratic socialist to win in the democratic primaries is a mistake for 3 reasons. 1) Statistics would tell you that the voting results will model a bell curve - with a person at the top of bell being closer to the center of the party. 2) The majority of citizens in the nation believe that democratic socialism is pure socialism and is connected to communism. NO ONE bothers to explain any of the terms we throw around like capitalism - which can be regulated or unregulated AND socialism - which can be both a political and economic strategy depending on how it's used, and communism. 3) When Bernie started his rants and insisted on calling his beliefs democratic socialism, he played right into the hands of the GOP. He was wrong when he said capitalism was THE problem. He ignored the fact that by far the people believed socialism was bad. Progressives were angry when he didn't get the nomination and didn't vote for HRC - so they HELPED T win. Now AOC & Mamdani are doing a far better job of getting the word out - not by ranting, but being specific about what the GOP continues to allow the rich owners of corporations to do. In addition, people are getting to see how progressive ideas are helping NYC. BUT this applies to a minority of people. The ideas must become widespread before voters will change. In the meantime, people need to take the responsibility to actually vote for one of the 2 candidates who have a chance of winning. Doing otherwise has allowed the GOP to win the presidency at least 3 times and twice to a corrupt racist. POC after getting the vote KNEW that no president was likely to help them significantly. So they asked the question - which of the 2 candidates is LEAST likely to hurt me and my family - and then voted accordingly. White people are too self-absorbed and don't expect they will be hurt. So they act like children "If you don't want to play by my rules, I'm taking my ball home." As citizens we have not only a right to vote, but a responsibility to vote for one of the 2 candidates who is most likely (at the very least) most likely to protect our democracy. With his bigotry, known corruption, word salads, his statements about being a dictator or nazis being good people, lies, and 34 felony convictions, the ONLY answer was Harris. Our country is destroyed, future generations will pay their entire lives or with their lives to repair the damage. Anyone who did not vote for Harris is responsible. Obama and Biden BOTH warned us at the end of their terms what was going to happen if we did not pay attention and learn the facts. (Of course learning those facts became challenging to do when the news media stopped using facts & evidence in their reporting and ALL slid into the pockets of the GOP after Reagan ended the Fairness Doc.
"Sorry, this isn't an election for the president of your high school class."
Sorry, but there are things called character, conscience, integrity, values, etc.. They are rare things in our society, and neither the Dems or the Repubs seem to care not one whit about them other than as cutesy talking points.
"Our country is destroyed, future generations will pay their entire lives or with their lives to repair the damage."
Our country is not destroyed because of a single presidential term. It will, however, come to an end if our society continues to accept two power-obsessed political parties (and their sycophants) as normal. It was Ben Franklin who said that we have a republic if we can keep it, and John Adams who said that our government was meant for a moral and religious people. The Founders were much smarter and more noble in their design of our government than they are given credit for.
"Anyone who did not vote for Harris is responsible."
Gee, nice of you to take the "thirty feet above the runway view with blinders on" approach. Please elaborate on how Ms. Harris was head and shoulders above Trump.
"Of course learning those facts became challenging to do when the news media stopped using facts & evidence in their reporting and ALL slid into the pockets of the GOP..."
You mean the same media that ignored Joe Biden's mental decline?
Excuse me if I don't don't drink the partisan Kool-Aid from either side.
First of all, the GOP is a far right fascist group. That was not true in Eisenhower's days. He would be furious if he were to be here today. If you looked up Ike's policies, you would see a reflection of both Ike's actions and FDR policies in what Biden did as president. (Back then the parties were still similar.) Clinton, Obama and Biden all cleaned up the economic messes left by Reagan, GW Bush and T. The GOP created a wealth gap that is almost as big as the one before the Great Depression because they ONLY enriched the rich because their economic policies included ignoring or ending the rules put in place by FDR et al to prevent another Great Depression. The Housing Crisis was caused by GW Bush ending housing & loan regs. The GOP blamed people (esp POC) for being poor and ended or reduced programs that helped the needy. The Dems used regulated capitalism, improved the economy and cut the deficit. Of course, not everyone felt this and the news media (in the pockets of the GOP) could not be bothered to tell the public the truth. Would I like to kick Schumer out? yes, but he's the only type of dem who can win in his district.
If you actually are interested in knowing why people should have voted for Harris, start with comparing Project 2025 to Harris' policies. Were they what progressives and dem socialists wanted - no. Would a progressive or dem socialist have a chance to win the presidency in 2016 or 2024 ? NO. A course in statistics would tell you why. In addition, the large majority of people in this nation do NOT understand progressive policies and how they would help them. They are still convinced that socialism is communism. The GOP have been teaching this since FDR when they didn't like HIS regulations to improve the economy after the depression. My personal hope is that Mamdani's efforts will work in the future to help people grasp the concepts.
Listen again to the lies, hate, misogyny, bigotry, appreciation for dictators and Nazis that came out of T's mouth. Look at his life prior to coming down the escalator (which the news media never focussed on). Then look at what Harris has done with her life - not the news media version - but what she actually accomplished on behalf of others. Read her book "100 Days". I found her description of her campaign helpful. It showed her grit and her willingness to own her mistakes. (That's something that people with character and morals do.) Did you listen to her speeches?
The State of the Union speech showed zero weakness. He did his job and he did it well. Joe Biden's decline had to do with old age and likely the cancer that was building in his body. I was not pleased that he had chosen to run again. You cannot possibly say that Tapper, Cooper, et al said nothing about his decline. They even tried to use the auto signer as an issue. The last debate came after a few days of constant negotiation to get American citizens home. As a stutterer, Biden has always struggled with debates. You know what the news media NEVER did? They never said that T was not fit for office despite his corruption during his first term, despite his 34 felony convictions, despite his Epstein connections, his inability to form complete sentences, and his frequent use of odd made up words.
What did you do to seek the facts? Did you check original sources? Did you read Heather Cox Richardson or Jermaine Fowler? How about the Contrarian? Or did you stay in your own comfortable self righteous bubble?
I would like to see progressive policies happening. I was angry at Bernie's arrogant rants & misinformation. What he wanted was good. His approach did NOT endear him to centrists or people who believe in capitalism (but do not understand there are 2 types) or to people who believe that socialism is bad (but actually do not know what the word actually means).
Voting for a president is serious. We would NOT be in this horrible place if everyone who chose not to vote or voted for a 3rd party candidate who could NOT win had voted for Harris. Generations to come will pay for this failure. All because of racism, misogyny, self-absorption and ignorance of the facts. All because a woman did not fit the exact model they wanted. Immigrants, men women and children, are paying the price of the unwillingness of many to accept the responsibilities that come with our right to vote. Is that okay with you? You may not have liked Harris - but we would not be in danger of losing our democracy if she had been elected. The hole that was dug by all those who did not vote for Harris is enormous.
"First of all, the GOP is a far right fascist group."
OK, let's start with the basics: how do you define both "far right" and "fascist"? You might consider that a ridiculous request but I have to know if you're not just spouting easy and lazy talking points because you don't know any better.
Take a look at all the politically-based Subsatcks you read. How many of them do you consider "mainstream", "right of center" or "left of center"? If they all look at the world essentially the same way and blame other people or groups for all our ills and only your side is right and virtuous, it's a safe bet you're in an ideological bubble.
"That was not true in Eisenhower's days. He would be furious if he were to be here today."
Would JFK recognize today's Democratic party?
And from a George Washington meme: "Me and my homies woulda been stackin' bodies by now".
"If you actually are interested in knowing why people should have voted for Harris..."
You missed the point...I was asking YOU personally why you thought Harris was the better candidate. Don't hide behind the typical talking points.
"Voting for a president is serious."
Which is why some people get so fed up with the parties and their candidates that not voting is also a choice. Again, both parties need to take notice and adjust accordingly. Neither appears willing to do so.
Yes, the oligarchs and Confederacy-lovers, racists and corporate power mongers have existed throughout our history and raise their ugly heads periodically when conditions are ripe. Conditions became ripe during trump’s first term - including disastrous Supreme Court confirmations ( lets not forget the help McConnell gave trump)-and again in 2024. Even if trump succumbs to age and ill health these other players in the demise of democracy, who have swelled under trump and the former Republican Party nowMAGA Party - the J6ers, the tech-bro Kings, the Heritage Foundation and Project 25 - will still be there. But the rallying point is trump, for the voters and every left behind person with a grudge its trump. His role as outrageous figurehead is important.
Conditions became ripe when Reagan became president, cut the Fairness Doctrine (first noticeable Hitler step) started cutting or ignoring the regulations that FDR et al had put in place to help the nation recover from the Great Depression, and started making racist comments about POC & poverty in the cities in order to convince the public that they were not worthy of assistance. Look up which Supreme Court justices that Reagan and GW Bush put on the court. Every GOP president followed in Reagan's footsteps with economic policies that enriched the rich, increased the wealth gap, and hurt the rest of us.
Yes of course. You could probably go back beyond Reagan to the failure to hold the traitors from the Civil War accountable. I was just responding to not holding trump fully responsible.
While many of the ills of the Republican party have been fermenting since the fall of "Tricky Dicky," and the ushering in of "The Great Communicator," I lay blame for our current affairs at the feet of Mitch McConnell. Had he, as the Senate Republican Leader in 2020, voted to convict p45, we wouldn't be in the mess we're in today. No p47. No cronyism. No grifting. No self-dealing. No sycophants. No truly unquified cabinet members. Not as much lying. But most of all, no Stephen Miller!
Truth!
Those who voted for Mr. Trump, instead of Harris, are finding out the consequence of their judgment. Some as expected, the rest betrayed.
Let us be clear, it wasn't just T voters who are to blame. Those who just didn't vote or voted for a candidate who could not vote are ALSO at fault. They were primarily white people who CHOSE not to see the danger in 2024. They chose not to see the consequences of allowing a man who had zero issues with spewing his hate and lies. They CHOSE to believe that innocent immigrants would NOT face consequences from the threat to deport illegal immigrants. Instead, because of everyone who made the decision not to vote for Harris, there are immigrants being dragged out of their homes, men-women-children being cruelly treated every single day in our concentration camps. An old senile Black man was picked up off the street and immediately deported to a country he had NEVER lived in. Our constitution is being ignored EVERY SINGLE DAY. We are the Germans who ignored what was done to the Jews by choosing NOT to vote for Harris. Now generations will pay for what voters did in 2024.
At the top of the list should be the name Peter Thiel.
I have no problem blaming his supporters. I also welcome HELL over their version of Heaven. I'm glad I'm not the only one.
"Let’s not put all of the blame on Trump, his oligarchs and his cronies."
Agreed. Let's blame it on how our system of government is being gamed by both sides:
"Get Konnected with The Kronies Action Figures"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDXuPQ9ML9E
As an added bonus:
"Introducing General Surgeon, The Team Medic"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGgY5V4YZZ4
See my comments to others above. BOTH SIDES ARE NOT THE SAME. That is a lie created by the GOP and repeated by all of the news media who have been in GOP pockets since Reagan ended the Fairness Doc.
"See my comments to others above. BOTH SIDES ARE NOT THE SAME."
Yes they are - both are primarily concerned with power. How to acquire it, maintain it and expand it, no matter the cost. The Kronies videos capture that perfectly.
"...GOP pockets since Reagan ended the Fairness Doc."
Here's a video clip that has aged liked fine wine in regard to complaints about the "Fairness Doctrine":
"Milton Friedman - Fairness Or Freedom?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqrBa09jiAI
The video does not provide the facts. What Friedman is doing is speaking around the topic with lots of words trying to impress the viewers so they will just believe what he says. News without facts and evidence is USELESS. It's the same garbage argument used by people to deny scientific facts - like vaccines.
"The video does not provide the facts."
Then look at all the shows on cable news, the networks, papers, podcasts and things like Substack. Do you really want "fairness" in this particular forum mandated by law? Or do you just want it for other forums that disagree with your worldview?
Friedman's point is that you don't get "fairness" by having others determine what "fair" is. What we have today is exactly what Friedman advocated for back in 1979. Different outlets with their own views, inviting mostly people with the same views.
Just as I want facts and evidence from scientific papers. I want facts and evidence from any outlet that claims it is REPORTING the news. Freedman PURPOSEFULLY talks about "fairness" and avoids talking about facts.
If a group wants to just talk or write about their views start a paper/magazine - but do NOT call it news. Opinions & beliefs are not facts. When we make important decisions we need facts. I can believe the earth is flat. That does NOT make it flat. I can believe I am 50. That does not make it a fact. When I make a decision about voting, it needs to be based on facts - not on what I want to believe.
I suspect that before the Mid Terms, Karma is going to bare its teeth and bite the Orange Ogre on the ass. I saw lowly hamburger for sale at the local Publix yesterday for $13.49 a pound... How many kids will go to bed with little but bread in their stomachs? I am so dreadfully sick of the casual and oblivious cruelty of tRump and his adoring MAGAts.
Congressional Republicans may not care about the price of hamburger, but they don't want to lose their elections and implication in the EPSTEIN coverup should scare them to holy hell.
I suspect it already is, but they are so brainwashed by Faux Snooze, tribalistic, and cowed by their Orange Hitler that they are immobilized.
Pressure them anyway!
I do not give a d--n about any of them. They are complicit in every dirty rotten thing the GOP and T have done since Reagan.
One would think so, but they are unwilling to give up the payouts that get from the billionaires.
The article pointed out that we are spending more, but we are getting significantly less for what we are spending. The price per pound (or ounce) is increasing on so many staple items that it's sapping the kitchen-table economy.
The people that did not vote for Harris CHOSE not to see him for who he is. LOOK at how INNOCENT immigrants are being treated in our concentration camps!
Not only are children suffering from the SNAP cuts but so are senior citizens who don’t draw enough social security to pay their bills or their doctor visits. Stephen Miller is a psychopath. He needs to be removed from the White House. It’s not only billionaires who are benefiting from Trump’s economy but others who don’t see what this economy has actually done to others.
The average American may not follow politics closely, and may not be very bright. But one thing the average American *does* know and understand is when they are having trouble making ends meet at the end of the month, and when they see themselves or their neighbors lose (or worry about losing) their jobs.
And when that happens no amount of "it really isn't bad" happy talk from the politicians in charge is going to make them feel better. All happy talk does is convince them that the politician is either a g*ddamn liar or completely out of touch with the average person.
Wasn't it Bessent, or one of the other toadies, who crowed that Americans are using credit cards as never before, as if that were an achievement. Another D headline if they choose to use it!
Who actually benefits from credit card debt? I’d like to understand this phenomenon better. Took me years of bummer living to escape from mine, back in my ‘30’s…
The banks that charge 18-20% or more on unpaid balances. Great benefits for them.
🙄…thank you, why am I not surprised? If it wasn’t for Warren Buffet and a very few like him: Eat the rich.
"The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities recently found that in 12 states, 700,000 fewer children are receiving SNAP food; “nearly half of the 1.6-million-person decline among people of all ages in those states.”
I take this statistic personally. When I was teaching, I used my own money to buy snacks to have in my classroom. I turned a blind eye when some of my students took more than one, because so many of them came from poor households and probably weren't getting enough to eat at home.
If Dems regain the House and take the Senate, I hope they reverse these SNAP cuts as a matter of moral urgency.
Healthy, well-fed children also learn and do better in school. We need this trend, for their good and for that of the country.
I'm waiting this morning for a fasting blood draw and, believe me, hunger makes it difficult to think even in the short term.
Fortunately for you (and many of the rest of us) the hunger is only of a short-term duration! Long-term it's much worse. Hope the lab analysis is favorable for you.
“The American people understand the hell that we inherited..."
This highlights the danger of radical right-wing oligarchs controlling the media. The true message about the Biden administration -- that he and the fed brought the bad economy in for a soft landing, without a recession and against all odds; that he dealt with the pandemic after Trump had blown it; or that he was stymied in many efforts to deal with immigration by right-wing obstruction -- never really got through. For Obersturmbannführer Miller to get away with lies of this magnitude simply spotlights the problem.
THANK YOU!!!!!!! You are the first person that has made such a clear comment like this. The public has no clue. That's not an excuse because if anyone couldn't see T's hate and bigotry pouring out of his mouth, then they were choosing not to see or hear.
I find myself reading headlines on Substack these days &/or skimming the articles for something I may have missed. November can’t come soon enough! We each have our own ways of pushing back. Each of us must continue to take care of ourselves first: ”rest and renew” as I like to frame it…basically take a physical & mental break from the rump spun chaos. We must be our best as we continue to support our democracy over the summer and through the hills of AI generated BS until we can vote. Let’s show the world who has the power people!!!!!
You are a mensch and a fearless Truth-Teller. If only there were more like you the world would be a much better place. Thanks a million for getting the word out.
“Trump’s overall approval has dropped in many polls to the mid-30’s.”
How can 1 in 3 Americans APPROVE of this absolute Nutjob?! Does NOT make sense! So….SO…sad! That 30% wants to drag American down into the Hell they live in. So far, they’ve succeeded! What must the rest of the World think of Americans, who elected this incompetent childish wrecking ball of a nutjob……TWICE?! It’s certainly not “admiration”!
I wonder at the 1/3 number too! It's amazingly awful! I have relatives who live abroad, and they do wonder how Americans have been fooled twice by DJT. They don't hate us; they just wonder at our stupidity. (Not that other countries haven't been stupid over the years, but we're the latest; and we might just sit atop most of the others.)
Exactly! The amount of Stupidity is absolutely flabbergastingly unbelievably….crazy! And, THAT is what America’s reputation is now! SO sad! SO disappointing! But….we earned it by electing this Clown!
Clowns are supposed to be funny. We aren't laughing. This man is a walking disaster.
Some folks are just single-issue voters who won't see the tremendous damage being done to other parts of our country. Others are genuine white supremacists who are thrilled that hate is now encouraged, even if their own families can't afford to eat. There are some very good folks who support King Con because they have been sold on his "promises" and won't believe any reporting from the "left" (even if it's demonstrably accurate). We just have to accept that human beings are very complicated. But we can simplify our messages on signs that we parade in the streets and across our highways! Speak out! Vote!
Without artificial aids it wouldn't have happened either time.
Unfortunately, the truth is that - had the many millions of white people who chose not to vote or who voted 3rd party had instead voted for Harris, she would have won even with the cheating or it would have at least proven that T did NOT win fairly.
Polls are poorly done. They try to project the feelings of 1000 people onto a population with millions of voters. Many people just ignore polls.
I am a Texas Democrat. What I see from the outside is that the Texas Republican party has been in an extremely vicious internal war since just prior to the normal, establishment Republicans attempting to impeach Paxton. After they were blocked in that endeavor through shenanigans, the MAGA faction primaried and purged ALL insurgents from the party. This purge had the by-product of electing MAGA Republicans who dutifully voted to pass school vouchers, which enraged the rural Texas voters who are the backbone of the Texas Republican party.
John Cornyn, the last traditional Republican left, took a stand against Paxton and MAGA. Somehow, he thought he could denounce Paxton and embrace Trump. Now, with Cornyn's defeat at the hands of Trump, the illusion they could make that logically inconsistent idea work is gone. Establishment Republicans are now saying their party is dead. What are they going to do? They have more money than MAGA. They have the infrastructure, but do they have the will?
The Establishment Republican leaders like Cornyn aren't necessarily our friends, but they are committed to democracy. As it stands for this election, the disaffected voters on the ground are there for Democrats to woo. And those voters do like Talarico.
The above dynamic is underappreciated by the national political pundit class. Also, Texas Democrats are strategizing and coordinating separate and apart from the DC Democratic party which seems to be using a strategy called "Operation Screw-it-Up".
I hope you TX Dems can reach out to some of those upset R's in your state. Convince just a few that it's time to burst that MAGA blister before it turns to gangrene. They don't have to love Talarico or any of the other Democratic candidates, but they should find it in their own best interest to get MAGA out of office.
They can always find and vote for "normal" Republicans in 2028 if they can find some.
NOOOOOOOO! There are zero Eisenhower GOP left. The last group of decent GOP were the ones who pushed Nixon out after their was solid proof of what he had done. The last one standing was McCain. Kinzinger and Cheney voted against our HC and didn't stand for anything until they served on T's impeachment trial. Just because Cornyn has stood up against Paxton means nothing - given his inability to go against the BBB, against T's war in Iran, against the concentration camps in our nation, against the AI data centers being built that will destroy our water and raise the cost of electricity. I'm really tired of people praising the snakes who have hurt so many people. Massie stood up regarding the Epstein issues and then slowly dropped it until he lost his recent race. Green finally stood up against T - she has NOT changed her views. All GOP pretended that it was okay to vote for a convicted felon, rapist, Epstein follower, corrupt failed businessman, liar, a serial filer of lawsuits. We need a full clean out of every single GOP. That is the only way to force real conservatives with fair ideas to build a new party. The racists have to go.
"There are zero Eisenhower GOP left."
There are also zero JFK Democrats left.
"Kinzinger and Cheney voted against our HC and didn't stand for anything until they served on T's impeachment trial."
Kinzinger and Cheney served on T's impeachment trial simply because they were "anti-Trumpers" who wouldn't rock the boat or disagree with whatever narrative the Democrats wanted to craft.
"All GOP pretended that it was okay to vote for a convicted felon, rapist, Epstein follower, corrupt failed businessman, liar, a serial filer of lawsuits."
It really has to irk Democrats to the Nth dgree that, after all they did to discredit or imprison Trump, he still managed to beat Harris, even in the popular vote.
"We need a full clean out of every single GOP."
Then Democrats need to offer the voters something more than "Trump sucks so vote for us." That's what happened in 2020 and then they lost the White House and the Senate in 2024. What are your ideas?
Hal, please stop. I've suggested that you look up the policies of democrats from JFK to Biden. If you do so, you will see the similarities - EVEN TO Eisenhower. So any attempt to claim that they moved far left is simply foolish at this point.
Are you truly serious with your comment about my "ALL GOP pretended...." That is an illogical sequitur. Let's see, how did T beat Harris? Factors: too many people believed the GOP lies from Reagan on, Elon Musk, his millions, his raffle, and his helpful satellites, Thiel, fixing the votes in the 7 states that are toss-ups? a news media being in the pockets of the GOP since Reagan ended the Fairness Doc? racism? misogyny? Take your pick.
"So any attempt to claim that they moved far left is simply foolish at this point."
We can start with illegal immigration:
"Chuck Schumer in 2009: Illegal Immigration is wrong, plain and simple"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdAyn89hFIo
"Bill Clinton on Illegal Immigration at 1995 State of the Union"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IrDrBs13oA
"Are you truly serious with your comment about my "ALL GOP pretended...." That is an illogical sequitur."
So what? Am I being docked for debating points?
"Factors: too many people believed the GOP lies from Reagan on, Elon Musk, his millions, his raffle, and his helpful satellites, Thiel, fixing the votes in the 7 states that are toss-ups? a news media being in the pockets of the GOP since Reagan ended the Fairness Doc? racism? misogyny? Take your pick."
This is how I know you're in a liberal ideological bubble: there was not one mention of anything you thought the Democrats might have done wrong to lose the 2024 election.
A little off topic . Watch what happens with the Ebola outbreak. It could get much worse and Trump and his minions have no clue. With all the different emergencies facing the United States and the world it is like a pick your own disaster game.
While there is no shortage of what to worry about, the public health situation is the one I'm most concerned about at this time
I'm sure that any disaster will be blamed on Biden....or Obama....
My wish is for all the GOP representatives and uber-donors to live among working class Americans for a few years without access to their excessive powers.
It has indeed been reported that we aren't prepared for the next pandemic, whatever it turns out to be. If Trump's reaction is the same as he was to Covid, we will be in a world of hurt.
Another reason why it makes Zero sense that anyone voted for this idiot.
A lot of people have the "it can't happen to me" denial going strongly, even after the Covid experience. This does not cross their minds.
If I had to blame one person for this disaster, it would be Mitch McConnell, for effectively stealing two SCOTUS seats. If Obama had been allowed to seat Garland and Trump had not been allowed to seat Coney-Barrett with just weeks to go in his first "term," the court would be 5-4 liberal. Trump would be in prison where he belongs. Roe would likely still be in place. The VRA would not be gutted. And of course all the damage wrought by Trump and his goons like Miller would never have happened. People have no idea the pain that's yet to come. I just saw a frightening report about how Canada controls the railway that runs from there to the Gulf of Mexico. It has shifted its trade partnerships overseas because the buffoon Trump insisted on antagonizing the country with his stupid trade wars. Our farmers are stuck with product they can't move. And prices at the grocery store are going to skyrocket worse than they already have. Auto manufacturers are sitting idle because they can't get parts in a timely fashion. The damage Trump has done and continues to do every day will take 20 years to fix, if it can be fixed. So thanks, Mitch. I hope you sleep well at night.
You omitted the damage done by the Citizens United decision, but otherwise right on target all the way.
That decision was made before he stole the seats, I think, but you're right. That was as horrific a ruling as any the Roberts court has made.
Thank you for the note; I should have looked it up. Citizens United has been around since 2010. Campaign finance has never been the same since.
Also, Mitch discouraged Republican Senators from voting to convict Trump after his second impeachment, on the grounds that the justice system would deal with Trump after he left office. We know how that turned out. Had Trump been convicted by the Senate, he could never have held US office again.
Indeed. After that self-righteous speech he made on the Senate floor, he turns around and lets the oaf off the hook. I'm telling you, Mitch is the root of all evil.
I wonder if our society will ever again be characterized by at least attempting to speak the truth. Of course, there have always been liars, con men, and swindlers. But in the public and government sphere there once was an expectation of approximating the truth. From Limbaugh to Fox News and on to MAGA Trumpism, the steady degrading to reach this point of Stephen Miller's deliberate fabrication is simply staggering. In fact, if a Republican politician spoke truthfully, he or she would likely be drummed out of the Party.
It started long before Limbaugh. Nixon was known for his lies, Reagan, Norquist and Gingrich were in there too.
Mark Twain said it all about truth & lies: https://www.twainquotes.com/Lies.html The Internet has applified all that many times over.
NONE of the news media is telling the truth. That was the game. Reagan ended the Fairness Doc and allowed Murdoch to have Fox News with its bold lies and misinformation. But that wasn't the whole goal. Like Hitler took control of the German newspapers, Reagan wanted the GOP to have control of the news media. Removing the expectation that the news media use facts and evidence in its reporting led to the news media reporting based on opinions and beliefs. I will never forget when I heard one of the newscasters say this aloud. She was on CBS, NOT FOX. She added that it was up to the listeners to make decisions based on this info. Decisions require FACTS. What Scott Pelley has said about what has happened to 60 Minutes is too little too late. 90% of all journalists had slid into the pockets of the GOP during the 80's.
Says something very important about our educational systems here in the US… I’m not sure quite what that is, though.
Jen Rubin, i’d like to announce the third coming: @ the ripe age of 85, I’ve been impregnated virtually- by AI & S Miller; I’m to give birth to ‘a corporation’ who will be eligible to vote in the midterms.
You can try your worst to fool ‘the American people’, whom i’ve never met,
but don’t even begin to try to fool Jen Rubin or her readers.
This American person is ready to take you on one to one.
Do you still think there are going to be free and fair elections in November?!? Try reading this: https://thiswillhold.substack.com/p/trump-is-replicating-votegov-to-recreate
Trump Is Replicating Vote.gov to Recreate Musk's 2024 Election-Rigging Platform!
Herr Stephen "Adolf Eichmann" Miller is without a doubt the most vile of the vile. Everything that comes out of his mouth is venomous vomitus of the most heinous kind. His irrational hatred of people of color is imbedded in every ounce of his being. If he were really paying attention to what is actually happening on Earth 1, he would not be able to continue the junta's pogrom of lying and deceit and just plain ignoring the truth when it's slapping him in his smug, affectless face.
As Jen so meticulously exposed in her post, what we are living through right now is paradise lost, a hell on earth and the greatest (worst) shit show on earth.
My concern about the midterms is that when people downtrodden and struggling, they may be too focused on their personal plight or cynical to even bother to vote. Time and time again, some of us cast ballots for candidates who are diametrically opposed to our own best interests.
Another thing we have to worry about is the recent war on mail voting that the fascists just declared with the USPS aiding and abetting the effort. Granted, this Putinesque move will hopefully be struck down by the judiciary system but let's not hold our collective breath. The rulings of the MAGAt SCOTUS are not always encouraging (see Trump v. US granting presidential immunity, Louisiana v. Callais eviscerating the VRA of 1965, striking down Roe v. Wade, Noem v. Basquez that allows ICE to stop people based on race, language, location or employment aka The Kavanaugh Concurrence to name just a few).
Oh, and let's not forget the gerrymandering project that may backfire in their faces.
And here we are living in American 2026.