Today, President Joe Biden congratulated the people of India on their 75th anniversary of independence, calling out the relationship between “our great democracies” and “our shared commitment to the rule of law and the promotion of human freedom and dignity.”
Yes. India was always an experiment in democracy, vulnerable to internal conflicts and self contradictions. Instead of preserving the ideals which drove its overthrow of British tyranny and being an exemplary contrast to its enemies, India has become more like them - a violently racist right wing religious extremist state with an authoritarian executive, a corrupt judiciary, and a legislature dominated by the craven, cowardly, and complicit. With a lot of flag waving to hide a myriad of sins. Oh, wait.
Here at home, our flag has been appropriated by those violently opposed to the virtues it is meant to symbolize. The majority of Americans oppose today's Republican party agenda, but disproportionate power distribution - perpetrated by the constitutional errors of two senators from each state no matter its population and of the electoral college, as well as later injustices such as the filibuster, gerrymandering, and the Leonard Leo Federalist Society corruption of the Supreme Court - make the struggle almost impossibly difficult for democratic minded citizens to prevail.
During my time in India I could never reconcile the fact that Gandhi is on all the paper currency but what they really worship is their military.
The Federalist Society has corrupted most of the federal judiciary. McConnell used Trump to get almost 300 young ideologues onto the bench, regardless of whether they were qualified or not. That is a wound that will take at least a generation to heal.
Sorry, but as a lawyer practicing for more than 50 years (albeit mostly in state, not federal courts), I reject your contention that most of the federal judiciary is corrupt. That that is not so is shown by the number of decisions against Trump and his co-conspirators issued by judges he appointed. The federal courts are highly imperfect, but they are not the cesspool you imply.
Thank you, Jon, for addressing the tendency toward hysteria that sometimes breaks out here because people lack the context in which to place the limited set of facts they are exposed to. I do wish people would read more widely and not depend so much on a single source. It is unfair to Heather to expect her to provide the corrective back story on everything that pops into people's minds.
The fact of right wing ideologue appointees to the Federal Bench didn't just pop into people's minds. Nor is our concern about the impact hysteria.
Instead of looking your nose down or turning it up at fellow commenters, you might provide some context for your rosy view.
I'll do your homework for you. Republicans brought in big gun DC lawyers and expert witness in their attempt to stop the count and when that failed to overturn Maine's first Ranked Choice Voting election. Their case was so egregiously flawed (the Univ. Of Maryland, College Park prof EW had never done any research on RCV and actually perjured himself in asserting otherwise, his argument was that elderly and minority voters were too stupid to understand RCV and so it violated our civil rights) that Judge Lance Walker called their argument conclusory, and invited them back when they'd learned something about Maine voters and about RCV. Walker was fast tracked by Trump et al and this was not his only fair decision.
lin•, perhaps you could respond to Jon Margolis's comment? He spoke from his decades-long experience as a lawyer. You spoke of one particular case in which you have an interest -- and you led by insulting Annie D. Stratton for no reason. The odd thing is that your anecdote about Judge Walker seems to support the proposition that the federal bench is not corrupt. (Last I looked, no one was defending the GOP's lawyers.)
Please see my reply to JM below. As MisTBlu wrote we should be concerned about the Federalist appointees on the bench. Concern is neither ignorance nor hysteria. And Yes, I did AD's homework for her by giving an actual example of a Federalist appointee who seems not to be a stinker. Black swans and all that.
My name is Annie, lin. By all means feel free to use it. I don't rate initials yet. And please don't make assumptions about how I think. You haven't been here long enough, and you don't pay enough attention to what people are actually saying.
Sounds like you didn't have your morning coffee or tea. Ad hominem attacks are not in keeping with the comment section in Dr. Richardson's Letter to America. I found this because I read widely and was aware of her expertise in American history. I assume most people who subscribe to this Substack "read widely" and don't base their comments on a "limited set of facts."
For the most part you'd be right. But quite a few don't. I addressed my post to that issue alone, and the misconceptions that sometimes arise from it. BTW, coffee and the lack or surplus of it is a running joke here that you will recognize when you've been around a bit longer. We like to kid ourselves about it. It's hard work to take oneself too seriously.
"Corruption" in the courts is not an across-the-board miasma. Key figures within the court are "corrupt" in the sense of extremist positions on specific issues. It's a bit like your sister's uncle: nice guy, polite, hard worker, kind to animals, but do NOT get him started on Space Aliens.
In addition, 90% (99%?) of all legal issues are basically paper-pushing. Much of it is routine: wills, trusts, marriages. In cases that need to be adjudicated, guilt/fault is often obvious, people plead "no contest," pay the fine, do the time, and it's done. Next.
The problem arises when a key case makes its way through the court, or is "revisited." E.g. Roe v Wade.
I think it's fair to say that there are at least four, perhaps five truly (and deeply) "corrupt" justices serving on the Supreme Court, and that has shaken the entire structure of the court system. What they have done is unconscionable, and has not been in the service of justice or society, and that has spread to a lack of confidence in the "courts" as a whole, because it affects the courts as a whole.
There's another thing I haven't seen discussed. (Doesn't mean it hasn't, but I have not seen it.) That is timing.
You do NOT approach a grieving mother who has just lost a child with your hands in your pockets, and say, "You know you really are a lousy housekeeper. Look at this dump!"
This is exactly what the SC has done. Let's hold our noses and toy with the argument that maybe their insane RvW ruling has some kind of merit. Of ALL the times to bring this up, the immediate aftermath of an attempted coup, after a political packing of the court under a filibuster conspiracy, is ... well, in the kindest possible light, it demonstrates a contemptible lack of sound judgement. But it really looks more like a parallel thrust of the coup, a conspiracy with the coup, and an additional attack on the integrity of the country.
Most of the folks who comprise the federal judiciary are not corrupt. The point is that the objectivity and impartiality of the judiciary has been corrupted by partisanship. How much shit do you have to put in the soup before it’s ruined?
I should have been more measured. It's not that the federal judiciary is corrupt it's that the Federalist Society and McConnell have attempted to corrupt it. When you appoint dozens of young, highly ideological and unqualified attorneys to lifetime positions you have diminished it's effectiveness. That a couple of Trump's appointees did the right thing in highly publicized cases is a good thing. But they are going to be on the court for decades and most of their decisions will not be highly publicized. My only hope is that a lot of them will find that they don't like the work and will resign or, sad to say, that their lack of experience will trip them up and they'll be forced to resign. The fact that some of them had never even been inside a courtroom (except for moot court) shows the lengths to which Mitch and Leo, with the unwitting help of Donald, went to to get their dream court.
I think you were quite clear from the start. And that you were misread. And then ... off to the races. I appreciate your further explication as it sometimes helps to spell things out, even when not exactly necessary.
MsTBlu just reported the facts on the number of Leo/McConnell/Trump Federal bench appointees, many of whose primary qualification is allegiance to Republican racist right wing religious extremist ideology. And some even appointed on bi partisan Senate votes.
You might put that in a greater context, which you didn't. But the stench is not lessened by a few high profile cases decided against Trump.
I’m curious Fern, about what makes a “sneer” in your world view. As I sort of thought that the suggestion that another posters words were hysterical and ignorant of facts a bit sneerish? “Thank you, Jon, for addressing the tendency toward hysteria that sometimes breaks out here because people lack the context in which to place the limited set of facts they are exposed to. I do wish people would read more widely and not depend so much on a single source.” I’m not the thought police nor a judge, so in the scheme of things it’s not that important but If pot is calling the kettle black I think it’s worth shining a light on
As worried as many of us are, having followed the spate of decisions about voting irregularities, your point is well taken. But today’s decision about keeping the affidavit sealed will tell a lot about the court. To find against the DOJ would surely be the end of US, given the secrets revealed.
Yes, and Kevin McCarthy is feeding the fire of violence now, with absolutely no thought to what his words are inflaming. The blood is on both their hands. We had January 6, and now the barrage of horrible threats and evil acts have begun. Trump would never ask any of his mindless followers to back down, but both of these titled leaders could do so. I am so filled with anger and fear right now. Every time we observe actions that give us hope that trump’s era is coming to an end, there is more bitter news. I’m needing all of you and Heather to keep hope alive.
Federalist Society honcho Leonard Leo has his summer headquarters here at 46 SouthShore Road, NorthEast Harbor, Mount Desert, Maine 04662
We have been having regular peaceful pop up protests. But Leo brought undue pressure on a sympathetic local cop to arrest a young man - for shouting 'FU gaspole' from a moving car on Main Street. Not the sort of thing the disorderly conduct statute seems to have been intended for or used for previously. That amped up the protests. Lots of thumbs up from the community and tourists. Though it turns out even many savvy and informed people don't know who Leo is.
"The sellers were the heirs of chemical giant W.R. Grace chairman and CEO J. Peter Grace, who was the head of the U.S. branch of the Knights of Malta, a 971-year-old conservative Roman Catholic order to which Leo also belongs. Two months before the closing – which occurred at the height of the Senate debate over the Kavanaugh nomination – the Leos also paid off the mortgage on their primary home in McLean, Virginia.
Adding to the level of sewage that has left the container and is openly "flooding the zone", if we are ready to face the stench and filth we are up against, here it is in words as stated by a GOP "insider" in an interview with Salon. Not fun reading but, assuming it is an accurate assessment, to paraphrase the famous quote from Jaws, "(We're) gonna need a bigger boat."
Wow! Excellent piece by Salon! Jacobus is right in her last statement about Dems are fearful of Repubs. We have to call them out loudly when they lie and foment fear!
Leo deals in dark money funneled through shell companies. Dodgy donors to dubious enterprises - including to Susan Collins and to some guy who rented buses for Jan 6 protestors.
Catholic funding? Who knows.
Knights of Malta and Opus Dei connections? Verified.
Let us not forget about two prominent members of The Federalist Society: Wray and Kavanaugh, at one time college chums. Then, remember how Kavanaugh was NOT fully vetted by the FBI.
If I recall, the FBI did not fully vet Kavanaugh because the Trump White House tied their hands by severely limiting the scope of investigation and the time frame.
"Wray confirmed that background investigations are handled differently from other FBI probes and that the scope of inquiries into judicial nominees is dictated by the White House."
If my recall is correct, there now are 13 federal district courts. There should be 13 Supreme Court Justices. Actually, I believe the Supreme Court should have 15 justices. That each justice can serve no more than 40 years. That every 8 years they come under judicial review by a select panel.
Give the “majority of Americans oppos[ing] today's Republican party agenda” the tools they need. Eliminate the primary system and institute ranked choice voting.
If ranked choice voting had been in place in Maine, it might have spared the state 8 years of misery under a despicable governor who won twice with about 36% of the vote. The independent challenger sucked away votes.
Ranked choice voting encourages us to vote for the person we truly believe represents our views and goals. But it also means that if that person is not the winner (Independent, Green or Libertarian) our second choice is counted in the final tally.
So you could have voted for Ralph Nader to show your support and if you had selected Al Gore as your second, he could have won the election.
Not exactly BA. In a tragic irony, RCV - which was instituted to correct the Elliot Cutler crew elects Paul LePage effect - cannot be used in the gubernatorial race because of a sentence in the state constitution.
RCV has worked in Maine for one Federal election. But a caveat. It totally depends on the third party/independent candidate crowd putting a major party candidate as their second ranked choice - no guarantees there.
Maine instituted RCV through a Voters Initiative - after the 'person not party crowd' gave Trump before Trump TeaParty Paul LePage the governorship TWICE by voting for, now indicted and self confessed child pornographer, self funded candidate Elliot Cutler. Ironically, because of a sentence in the state constitution, RCV cannot be used in the gubernatorial election.
Ah, but those "independents" are "purer" than the rest of us (no, they're not, they're politically illiterate morons who are the best proof that Mencken was right 98 years ago when he said "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the average American.")
Maine has an Independent Senator who caucauses with the Democrats, and was an Independent Governor before that.
Recently anyway, nobody ever lost an election by not listening to a political pundit. The side of the barn was missed so badly in 2016 that few would even venture a guess in 2020. Things really have not improved since then, beyond those willing to state the obvious and call it a prediction. How did America's pundit class get, and remain, so out of touch?
I track and often respond to Environmental Letters to the Editor and try and correct misinformation and take the opportunity to provide correct information.
I am struck by the high numbers of collective Right Wing Views who publish opinions either articles, letters and comments thereto obviously developed from a single source.
The spread of misinformation is organized by specific categories for example wind turbine energy and solar energy each with different players reflecting various but specific Far Right Wing propaganda.
So many of the “independents,” keep the Trump Idiocy afloat by adhering to the moronic anti-Science spectrum developed by the Extreme Right.
I'll go out on a limb and say that Sarah isn't coming back. At least not in AK. She burned too many bridges. Maybe now that the Republicans in AZ have forgotten John McCain she might have some support, but Kari Lake already has her market share covered. And then some.
The top 4 are supposed to be on the ballot. One of the top four withdrew from the race. the fifth person was not included then in the top four. Went to a judge who denied the fifth person a place in the top four.
Not yet. My feeling is that it works in small-population states like Maine and Alaska but I'm not certain how it would work in a large-population state like California with federal, state and local candidates plus the usual 10-15 initiatives plus all the judges and school boards etc etc etc
"If Aristotle, Livy, and Harrington knew what a republic was, the British constitution is much more like a republic than an empire. They define a republic to be a government of laws, and not of men." - John Adams
Washington, Adams, Hamilton,Monroe, Jefferson, Laurens, Madison, Franklin, et al, would be absolutely stunned at the number of members of Congress who currently flaunt the Constitution with impunity. How could so many with so little respect for the rule of law be elected to office at the same time? How could a populous be so collectively gullible at the same time?
“It’s a democracy, madam, if you can keep it” - Franklin
More likely flout than flaunt, but yes, I think the founders would be appalled. As for the pervasiveness of the corruption we witness today, there is always some background level of that, but it appears to me that Republicans turned decidedly anti-democratic and contemptuous of rule of law with Reagan, by whom the press and the public seemed utterly snookered, and the "GOP" has been hacking away at governmental integrity ever since; growing ever bolder, the more corruption has be legalized and normalized. Have they finally overplayed their hand?
And yes, they have overplayed. The majority of this nation wants democracy and fair elections that are easy to vote in. While I think we will be playing "whackamole" with the liars and deniers forever. But ultimately we will see some big names in the "big house".
The reaction on the right will be violent and bloody. But we shouldn't be intimidated. Let them rant while we calmly enforce the law.
It's more serious than playing 'whackamole.' How do we 'calmly enforce the law' when the 'reaction on the right will be violent and bloody'? When they realize that the DOJ is approaching its 'end game,' and their keeping their king out of check much longer will be impossible, they will just kick over the table and knock the chessboard to the floor. They tried that on January 6 and will try it again. If merely executing a legally obtained search warrant has resulted in physical threats to a judge and at least one attack on an FBI offfice, imagine what the result of a grand jury indictment would be. No, it's not just 'whackamole.' There is no question in my mind that the United States government is totally capable of dealing with such violations of the law and attacks on the Constitution, but doing so without diminishing our freedoms, at least temporarily, will be difficult.
I think it is "whackamole" in the sense that crime and corruption never goes entirely away, a bit like infectious illnesses never entirely go away, but now we are dealing with an "epidemic" in terms of scale.
Difficult, for sure. I did not mean to minimize the situation. Our authorities may need to fight fire with fire. There may be some violent standoffs. When I say calmy, I mean firmly and consistently under the rule of law. If that means calling on our big guns to put down violent seditionists...so be it.
I, unfortunately agree with you. The majority of people who stand for democracy may need to give up a few freedoms in order to deal with homegrown terrorists and an internet mouthpiece that spews propaganda 24/7 and gives them a place to organize. We have to deal with the modern era of this kind of cyber-warfare against our people and democracy, by our own people willing to work for the highest bidders. I am afraid there must be restrictions on anyone allowed in high positions if they are against All The People or aid and abet insurrections, treason and espionage right in front of our damned faces. And we pay for their salaries and bennies...still. The presidential pardon and the fifth amendment have nearly destroyed our ability to function judiciously with blatant criminals. Out with them, I say! Out damned spots—the pardon, the fifth and the thugs! Sounds like potential name/s of a book or a band.
This is not the first time the US has had to deal with rebellion. Washington sent troops to subdue anti-tax rebels. They backed down. I have complete faith in our law enforcement system and personnel to take out and/or take control of any fascists who take up arms against us and the US. Their commanders will calmly give the orders as directed by a calm and careful President.
One can dream, but they have been busy on all fronts. It’s their last shot at the power “conservatives” have dreamed of for decades, and their “get out of jail free card”
Founders would be appalled, tho not surprised, I don't believe. What's your definition of 'overplaying' ??? What are you thinking happens in that case?
On the one hand I worry that Republicans may succeed in a procedural coup. On the other, their narrative has become so shamelessly wacko, enough prodding might cause it to collapse.
Rupert for starters, way before social media. The minister of propaganda. Stop with the “how can a populous be so collectively gullible at the same time.” Deliberate ignorance is way worse than stupidity…
I think the issue is not for the most part lack of cognitive ability, and I know some quite clever MAGA believers. I think we are all vulnerable to some measure of narcissistic cult dynamics, and certainly our team vs theirs, which schools very much encourage. The killer mental malware is encouragement and often coercion to demonize outsiders and reject any input from outside the cult as heresy. I think it can resemble psychosis.
I agree and note that we are stunned that some of them we slaveholders. Yet the Revolution could easily have produced a new Boss, same as the old Boss, and didn't. Lucky for us the their project was pretty firm foundation for operating and even expanding shared human empowerment, so long as the preponderance of the population approached it in good faith. But in any configuration of give and take there is a temptation to cheat. We reinforce good faith by shunning the cheaters, especially in sports, but the urge is so much more compelling in political contests, and sometimes the results are horrifying. We even dress up our ugliest narcissistic bullying in regal robes, and claim that God made us do it.
One of Lincoln's most repeated thoughts was "As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy." The issue of the era was literal slavery, but insofar as it can be considered the core of a democracy, I think it still works when you change out "master" for "bully" or another name for coercive subjugation. It took us longer to recognize systemic bullying in societal responses to gender. Not surprisingly the origins of the women's suffrage movement and abolition were allied. The struggle to universalize the rights of life, liberty and responsible pursuit of happiness goes on. Bullying and justice are polar opposites.
We were somehow caught snoozing when Republicans opened their medicine show for the teachings of Milton Friedman,, who claimed as an axiom "The only corporate social responsibility a company has is to maximize its profits." and a "Republican" Supreme Court that grants the rights of persons to corporations. What kind of citizen is that?
Republicans are wont to claim the authority of the Bible, yet Timothy says the the love of money is the root of all evil. "Love" in this context I take to mean, that which you value over all else, that for which you sacrifice other things, and in my view, money is a species of power. What does such "love" displace? Follow the money.
To what degree has the legitimatized love of money warped and displaced the national aspiration of liberty and justice for all; actually all.
"And it is not always linked to intelligence because it needn’t be."
My mother told me that. I think wisdom has something to do with emotional and intellectual maturity, and I think that has more to do with integrity than talent, and is only loosely connect to age (contrast Trump with Greta Thunberg). And I think intelligence is allied but not identical with powers of observation, the ability to recognize what is there and what is most significant. That is where the young often show up adults who are set in their ways. It is the kid who shouts without reservation that "the Emperor is naked".
Do you remember the Golden Calf of the Old Testament? At 8, I knew what it meant. Of course it helped that my mother was fond of saying from time to time “The love of money is the root of all evil.” She was a ferocious Virginian and knew noblesse oblige.
Almost impossible for democratically-inclined citizens to prevail? And yet Democrats control the White House and both houses of Congress, they have a good chance to increase the majority in the Senate, and the chances of holding on to the House are improving with every passing day.
Jon, While I share your understanding at the federal level, I, nonetheless, believe we should operate as though we were trailing by 10 points. As for defending democracy at the state and local levels, I understand that groups like The States Project are mobilizing in unprecedented ways, well aware that Republicans ruthlessly are organizing to fill state and local positions with their own people—people who don’t believe in free and fair elections.
As a final point, I would note that Democracy Docket founder Marc Elias has discussed a Republican election subversion plan he expects will be enacted as early as this fall. Admittedly, Elias is not suggesting that Republican election officials are laying the groundwork blatantly to declare their candidates the winner whether or not the candidate wins enough votes. He views the Republican election subversion plan as more sophisticated than that. Rather, Elias anticipates that Republicans will use “false allegations of fraud as a pretext to remove ballots from the vote totals and then certify those incomplete results.”
Though I don’t doubt that when litigation ensues Elias and his team will mount arguments whose conclusions can be nailed to the post with confirming evidence, I am not as confident that our courts will stand for the beacons of democracy that we need them to be.
Jon, Your reply does not account for a critical fact: GOP controlled state legislatures currently are changing state election rules to change who can be in charge, how votes are counted, and how they’re certified. Here, I would note, that while we can contend with voter suppression measures by turbo-charging turnout, no amount of organizing is going to get us around voter nullification provisions.
My point is not to give up, but to recognize, absent any federal voter protection safeguards barring a severely gutted 1965 Voting Rights Act, that we will have to summon a renewed definition of ourselves as citizens—something closer to the nation of active stakeholders that leaders like Thomas Jefferson had in mind.
I think we really need to stop promoting the right wing lie that the Democrats control Congress. The slim margin in the House was made acutely clear with H.R. 1808, the assault weapon ban. which passed 217-213. Five Democrats voted no. If it wasn't for the yes votes of two Republicans the bill would have failed because the vote would have been tied at 215-215. The Senate is 50:50 so the only thing they have any control over is the committees. That's not nothing but it doesn't amount to "control of Congress."
@MisTBlu, Though your reply was not addressed to me, I would note, with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, that the messaging should focus on the increasingly impressive list of Democratic accomplishments despite the narrow margin in the House and the 50-50 Senate. I understand, starting next week, that the President, the Vice President and Cabinet members plan to hit the campaign trail both to amplify the Party’s achievements and to underscore the outstanding transformative legislation that will become law if the Dems hold the House and pick up 2 Senate seats.
Well, if Democrats don't control Congress no one does. Back early in the GWB administration the president's main policy plank was to get rid of, or hollow out, Social Security. Didn't happen, although Republicans had majorities in both houses, and the White House, too. Still, it would have been wrong in almost everyone's eyes to say that they did not control Congress.
To me, complete control of Congress means having a super majority in the Senate, something no party has had since the 95th session (1977-1979).
Using GWB's attempts to radically change Social Security isn't very applicable as there was never a bill on which Congress had to take a vote. Even the wingiest Republican understands that they can bad talk entitlements*; they can talk up the benefits of privatization; they can even pull a Rick Scott and propose eliminating it completely; but they can do that knowing that there will never be an actual bill to which they'd be required to say Aye.
*the use of the term "entitlements" instead of "benefits" is all part of the decades long effort to undermine Social Security and, since 1965, Medicare.
lin, While I don’t dispute any of your points regarding either India or the States, from my perspective here in the States, we stay in the fight despite seemingly impossible odds and despite perhaps never knowing, before making significant progress, whether or how our individual efforts mattered.
I think that a large part of what keeps authoritarianism popular is the uncertainty of faith part of it, and by "faith" I'm not talking about God or the Force, or whatever taking one's side. It the matter of putting discipline and effort into something that ultimately depends on the kindred efforts of like-minded people whose behavior you cannot control. It's doing something because you think it's the just thing to do with no assurance of reward at the end of it. It's contributing to a wave that may or may not make a difference.
Authoritarians, by contrast, get things done as a matter of edict. Do or else. Ruling by rewards and fear, they tend to get what they ask for; or at least they don't tolerate resistance. Build the Wall, devastate the families of outsiders, win no matter what, no holds barred. So long as you can bear to identify with that agenda, it can make you feel invulnerable. Unless you think about it.
@ J L Graham, First my apologies for this exceedingly delayed reply, which I hope, after a number of days, you still find meaningful. To start, I believe a host of factors have to be taken into account when those to whom we could lose our democracy believe they are fighting for their freedoms. Broadly speaking, no democracy can survive with a working/middle class so aggrieved that it is willing to accept any authoritarian option seeming to offer, in their view, a modicum of social and economic equity. I count among said persons those who have been the victims of modernity’s unevenly distributed opportunity and prosperity, whether due to technological changes that increasingly have rewarded higher educated workers over the less skilled, rising immigration which, admittedly, has driven down certain wages, or the shift in manufacturing from high- to low-wage countries, which also has held down salaries.
Though I’ve only partially accounted for those for whom, in my view, freedom has come to be defined negatively or defensively, I believe we disregard, at our peril, the increasing numbers of people today who feel consistently devalued and subjugated.
"disproportionate power distribution - perpetrated by the constitutional errors of two senators from each state no matter its population and of the electoral college, as well as later injustices such as the filibuster" as a naturalized citizen this is impossible for me to wrap my head around! This "constitutional
Lin, excellent description of our world today. The international list of Democracies has included India for quite some time. I believed that was an optimistic mistake. Now I’m thinking the same of the USA. The diehard repubs here already claim USA is a republic not a Democracy. We can’t divide ourselves by North/South this time.
Irenie, I hope you don’t mind my writing considering your reply was addressed to lin.
While I subscribe to your point about India and the States, I would note that we were founded as a democratic republic (a representative government by popular consent) and remain so, though we have become increasingly democratic. Recall, for example, that in 1789 only white male property owners could vote, and that neither the Senate nor the Presidency was subject to the vote of the people. Having said that, I would amplify that the anti-democratic institutions lin mentions—the electoral college; the Senate, replete with 2 Senators from each state regardless of population size; and the disfunctional, and in my view, unconstitutional filibuster that operates as a veto of the minority over the will of the majority all either should be reformed, if not abolished.
Given the difficult mechanics of amending the Constitution, there are some options to consider that do not require it.
-> Repeal the 1929 law limiting the size of the House of Representatives, passed explicitly for racist and anti-immigrant reasons. This would at least make the House and therefore the electoral college more responsive to the majority.
-> The National Compact for the Popular Vote, once adopted by enough states to produce a majority in the electoral college, would direct all those states' electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote.
-> Elect more Senators who are willing to get rid of the filibuster, or at least set it aside to pass important legislation.
Joan, Thank you for your listing of realistic reforms, to which I would add granting statehood to DC and Puerto Rico. Additionally, I would note, while an advocate of the Interstate Compact, I don’t expect it to get much beyond the 196, give or take, electoral votes it has so far amassed.
Granting statehood to Washington, D.C. is appropriate, is known to be wanted by the residents, and would help with the balance of power in the Senate. It's not clear that the people of Puerto Rico want statehood, nor who they would elect if they had it.
Joan, While responding to your most recent comment, I noticed I had neglected to ❤️ your earlier one for redirecting my thinking to more feasible remedies.
The question is not republic vs democracy. The question is whether we will have a winner-take-all authoritarian hierarchy with a subgroup of white men ruling harshly over the rest of us, or an increasingly representative and pluralist democracy.
democratic republic... just a democracy would be too crazy and wild, too.
don't think we're so much north/south divided today ... tho it does often seem that way. we're divided in many ways now... esp up/down (have/have not) instead of right/left or north/south
Heather's book, "How the South Won the Civil War" (her excellent online history classes based on it) makes the case that among other things, that war was about oligarchy (south at that time) vs. democracy (north at that time). and we can see right now where we are on that.
Right. A democratic republic. "Demos" is people and the "public" in republic is people as well. Non-representative democracy does not scale well at all, and is pretty irrelevant to discussions of American politics; yet for some reason right wingers think it is clever to claim that we are not supposed to be a democracy. The truth is that most modern Republicans don't really want a real republic. They just want to rule the roost.
The Republican Party is developing a new name for itself: the Denier Party. They deny the elections are fair. They deny climate change. They want to deny the American people of their social safety nets of Social Security and Medicare. They have denied women their rights - reproductive rights, right to privacy, right from undue search and seizure, and even the right to life itself. They want to deny LGBTQ the right to marry who they choose and love. They are denying child care support for families working two jobs to make ends meet. They are denying people like my sister with Type 1 diabetes affordable insulin. Let's deny all of them the right to represent us at any level - local, state or federal. Let's deny them our vote. We, the People, united shall not be defeated!
When the rural people are hoodwinked by the clown with a flame thrower, and feel that they can defeat the “educated elitist,” you know that the fat is in the fire. Common sense ain’t common when snake oil salesmen have the megaphone… Democrats had better scream loud and clear that repubs want to kill SS, Medicare, and Medicaid. It might wake a few…
It will be interesting how this plays out in Washington's third district since the R who will be running in the fall has talked about social security and medicare in a negative way. I hope the D uses what he has said which was used in the ads of his R opponent in the primary. I also hope she prevails because he is a death star endorsed nut case.
I like the reference to the Death Star... of democracy. It makes me think we need to use common film and movie references (and a lot of repetition) to capture the imaginations of the vulnerables who are so easily manipulated. I cannot believe I just wrote that...but I did. New. Desperate times call for new kinds of opposition to The Death party. The thing about non-repubs is that they also have a very keene sense of humor and it should be used-- like educational cartoons for adults. Fetterman's recent ad with a fetching, stand-up, real life-looking mouse talking about serious things on a microphone was so well done. It captures and holds you there during the entire message. (Well at least those who like cute, furry creatures, and even have something clever to say). NON-repubs need a marketing arm like that to get our messaging and history and importance of voting out...Anyone out there in the creative messaging videography business?
Some here have aptly used the term "Neo-Confederates". I prefer dropping the prefix and just using the original "Confederates" as time has not changed their reasoning of being anti-Union (democracy) or their commitment to white supremacy as they have been since the Pilgrims arrived.
Sorry to rain on the parade, but rule of law means innocent until proven guilty through due process, so indictment is still a long way from conviction. Rule of law, as emphasized by Garland. But fingers crossed!
Who gets the parade, Ellie? It has always been very easy to lock up young black men for alleged drug offenses and other low-level 'crimes', while it appears much, much harder for the 'Rule of Law' to nail the big fish, such as Trump and his ilk. For whom does the arc bend in favor of -- the ultra rich and Big Business v. the 'others' when it comes to our economic system and The Rule of Law?
That is tragically true that the rule of law continues to be subject to racism and classism, with white privilege systemic exploitation. Rule of law is the foundation of our democracy, and both are ideals, principles, and a system of governance to which we continue to aspire, with far too many shortcomings along the way. Garland quite succinctly named it on Aug. 11:
“Without fear or favor” is his phrase that I’ve slipped in my pocket to have at all times. Truly what sets Atty Gen Garland and the DOJ apart from previous rendition under former administration.
Sorry Fern…the system wouldn’t let me give your comments a “like!” Your contribution to this on-going debacle has “hit the nail squarely on the head!” Never has it been so obvious…to so many…that money, influence and power smother the rule of law! We aren’t talking about some petty crime here…but the future of America!!!!! Perhaps the title…”America the Land of Laws” should be changed to…the “Land where the Privileged Few can get the Golden Get-out-of-Jail Ticket!” What has happened to us???
Oh...I know your right and, is a little "wrong" OK...no! At the level I was referring to we are talking flagrant, blatant disregard for the truth and adherence to our laws with immense repercussions. If those people have their way we may never recover!
The court of public opinion is different from a jury empowered to make a finding of fact after a trial with the presentation of evidence that was gathered by law enforcement investigators--much of which we are not likely to see ahead of time.
From everything we have been through & witnessed these last several years, after securing democracy we are going to have to lighten up a bit. Ever vigilant, but not militant. Yes?
I think the comments since the Mar a Lago news broke show how traumatized and deeply wounded we all are. Each person is addressing the pain in their own way to piece their spirits back together and recover. Meanwhile, Biden's address and bill signing today is more than enough reason to raise a glass or two.
Understand (and share) your feelings on this, Ted, but in my mind parties on indictment mean little. Conviction will call for some kind of celebration, but with deep reflection. My plans are to keep gathering people to work on strengthening the democratic process, and then celebrating each success, no matter how minor. I got tired a while back of letting the Trump crowd control my agenda. We all tend to get caught up in it, and diverted from what we really need to focus on: rebuilding democratic processes and re-creating a viable economy that gives dignity to more people.
Sorry, I know I sound a bit preachy here. It's too early in my day and I haven't had coffee yet. I promise you that I cackle with delight every time Trump or one of his cronies get taken down a notch. I laugh with delight with each success of someone who is helping to strengthen democracy - yay for all those judges who refuse to play Trump's game, and for all those people whose postcards are making a difference.
And I probably would attend your party anyway if it weren't for the fact that you live in Idaho. If it were a matter of simply crossing the state line for a few hours ok. But it would mean a long cross-country trip, and I am more likely to head through Canada north of the lakes and drop down into Washington state to see fam and friends. Beats going through the Dakotas right now.
OMG, love it! We really should do that when the time comes. And it's starting to feel like it's coming. Actually right now would be good. But definitely a Zoom party!!!
Enough with the nonsense. My rant today is taken care of from Leigh McGowan, Politics Girl, straight from her kitchen. Another if only, but her rant on the lead of every news program…. Well, alrighty then.
Her podcasts, usually one or two a month, are in depth and excellent. Her last one was with Ruth Ben-Ghiat. Here’s the link. https://youtu.be/-3yAKh54CXA
If you are asking Christine above about her use of the words "ranting" and "nonsense", I suggest you wait for her reply, which I cannot provide. As a reader of Christine's comments for quite some time, I venture to offer my own, personal take on both her post and that of Leigh McGowan's post on her "Politics Girl" column.
As I read this thread, it begins "They may yet bring the Trump crime family to justice..." with subsequent conversations about the US's pattern of not enforcing the laws equitably to those of non-white and poor. It then travels around a bit to Giuliani. So, IMO, it is possible for Christine to want to express some of her opinions about either topic in a forceful and emotionally important manner (hence the use of the word "rant" which means to "speak in a loud and impassioned way")
For me, what ranting does is release some of the emotion behind some of the unbelievably awful things that tfg has done, especially as pertains to this search warrant. It certainly helps the person communicating to bleed off some of the pressure of the content of the thoughts.
And it helps to know you are not alone in your feelings. Rants often express the anger and frustration that leads to action. It's where we begin, where we return when we need to, and where we connect in our search for the best ways to address the causes of that anger and frustration. I love and bless you all for letting me rant from time to time and then giving me love for it so I can keep going.
Well Tom, sometimes it is hard to find words to express what we feel - especially when issues are complex, convoluted and confusing - as many of today's challenges seem intended to be ... personally, I love it when someone like Leigh Mcgowan has the clarity and ability to say it right out loud - off the top of her head, without a script or editor to create the marketable 'message'. So, for me, her bold, honest expression produces clarity and a sense of relief - a breath of fresh air in a polluted atmosphere of canned attitudes and opinions crafted to distract and disrupt attention from the facts and related truths - a huge help to me since truth actually matters ... to me ....
Tom, an honest question deserves an honest answer - so I am responding, even though you would rather I not ... I revised my comment before I read this from you - as I did not mean to judge you - or make it personal to you. So please accept my apology for implying that you might be deceived or delusional. I feel sometimes a rant can be counter-productive - like driving a nail all the way through the floor, into the ground. A lot of the rants I hear from media figures do just that - losing track of relevant facts - amounting to 'nonsense.' That is another reason I appreciate Leigh Mcgowan's rants. She is precise, factual, and does not mince words. I appreciate your sincere honesty, and I hope this makes sense to you without offending or judging you.
One more thing - as I share this, it occurs to me, a lot of this inflammatory media hype is designed to provoke volatility so people are caught up in emotional reactions, compelling conflict, alienating us from each other - preventing communication and consensus - without which democratic process cannot succeed. Possibly, that is the goal of so many impassioned opinions - to arouse unreasoning arguments so we fail to accept each others' differences, and simply shut each other out.
It seems to me, that would defeat the whole democratic experiment which hopefully will allow us to embrace our differences, and live in peace with diversity ... what are the alternatives?
With each day comes a new shocking Trump revelation. It's like a plot to a political thriller that's escaped the novelist's mind and mutated so bizarrely that it nearly defies comprehension. Basically, Trump who claims the election was a hoax has been paying people to, in some cases, copy voting data that they weren't authorized to examine.
And why in the hell is anyone from the private sector allowed to tap into any state or county's election system on behalf of the losing candidate? Who knows what else might have been done. It all adds up to another attack on democracy.
They have a cadre of evil that goes back before Nixon; I remember Spiro, Rupert, Lee, Roger, Paul, Newt, Karl, Frank Luntz, too many to name but includes ALEC, the think tanks and the evil of 2000, for starters. The attack on democracy goes back, even to the Coup of 1933 (Google knows).
Heather writes: "Trump’s lawyers paid computer experts to copy data from election systems in Georgia. The breach was successful and significant, although authorities maintain the machines can be secured before the next election."
Read WashPo article to which it refers, cited in Heather's notes. WOW! Virtually no fraud in voting, but amazing amount of attempted fraud after voting by Trumpers!
Got that right Christine. Thank you. One of Garland's cited statutes is 18 USC 2071. "shall forfeit her/his office" (if any) & be "disqualified from holding ANY office in the United Sates."
We will see if they withdraw their request. I'm betting they won't because going in they were trying to expose the DOJ's investigation(s) and knew they risked jeopardizing said investigations.
The argument can be made that the media is just doing their job. Unfortunately, if the media had been doing their job in the past, there's a good chance we would not be in this position today.
Maybe you don't think the Fourth Estate shares responsibility for the decline of democracy and the rise of right-wing extremism. I do and I have cancelled all my subscriptions to the MSM, and I don't watch network or cable news. I get the important news from reliable and honest aggregators. I doubt I miss much of importance, and frankly, I'm certain I've been more aware and informed than most people of what has been happening in this country for decades, including the subjugation of the MSM by the rich and powerful.
The question should be, who are the trusted independent news aggregators? Glad you asked. You're reading one now - Letters from an American! There are many others who like Heather source their news from responsible and vetted journalists, reporters and experts.
Edited to correct per Mike S. Thanks for correcting me, Mike.
Heather, I love that you've been publishing your Letters "early" rather than in the wee hours. I hope this means your getting some decent shut eye.
"Today, President Joe Biden congratulated the people of India on their 75th anniversary of independence, calling out the relationship between “our great democracies” and “our shared commitment to the rule of law and the promotion of human freedom and dignity.”
Your opening paragraph displays the ways in which we praise independence on one hand but condone racism, bigotry, religious intolerance, and feminicide on the other. Biden's words reflect a strangely blind perspective with regard to the realities of "law and order" in India, a country in which women and girls can be gang raped on a train or in the street, then, if she lives, is cast out by her family. Where Muslims are attacked by Hindus. We need to hold all of our leaders accountable for the language used to describe such concepts as "commitment to the rule of law and the promotion of human freedom and dignity.” And isn't it funny, that we have reached a point in our own country where "the rule of law and the promotion of human freedom and dignity" are quickly falling by the wayside for millions and millions of US Americans?
the reality in our own country as Mike S rightly pointed out:
"such concepts as "commitment to the rule of law and the promotion of human freedom and dignity [have] always [been] denied from certain groups from the very origin of “our” country in 1619. And, for the most part, continue to be “fallen by the wayside”.
I'm hoping our Pres was applying an elementary school teacher's tactic. Praise the class bully for something he got right in the hope a seed is planted that will overgrow the cracked foundation. But yeah, India is a hot mess, literally.
Maybe. I desperately hope so, and hope that's what Prof. Richardson thinks. But he's gone beyond praising despots in his long career, as have many US politicians of the Cold War era. And last week he flew across the world to visit and bump fists with the despotic leader of Saudi Arabia, who murdered an American journalist in cold blood without consequence.
It is so frustrating, the posturing and protection of a despicable and putrid infection in so much of the world. There are days I wonder, if there is a God, are they apologizing to all the animals, insects, and fungi? Apologizing that the evolution to humans got out of hand, jumped some barrier, and created the real evil and monstrous?
Include slime in the list of creatures that we need to apologize to. It’s a one-called organism that has more intelligence than some of my neighbors (PBS NOVA, The Mind of Slime).
Not that I want to apologize for the President, but that trip was to "loosen" the price of petroleum for us and Europe in view of Russia/NATO's embargo. It seems to have some success. I believe he did address that murder. I certainly don't have an ear to the inside, but Biden is also negotiating for the last of Guantanamo inmates to be transferred to Saudi Arabia. That would be a major accomplishment! I have to say I am gaining respect for "Slow to Go Joe." He has no illusions of complete political success, but he persists and he's a master at coalition building.
I feel the same revulsion. But if our leaders never connected with any leaders who did bad stuff, we would live in complete isolation. You can't influence the world from within a bubble. That's my big picture take on it.
On the other hand, MSB is a monster who shares a lot with the Taliban when it comes to values. I personally couldn't imagine being in the same room with him.
Of course, we have our own American Taliban. And we were responsible for three or more wars where millions were displaced or wounded or slaughtered....just sayin'...
In my lifetime I don't remember a president taking an amiable photo with a ruler who had personally and in recent memory ordered the grisly murder of an American.
Any diplomat or President who ever had a photo taken with Stalin or Putin was standing next to a murderer. It was a grisly murder of a Saudi Citizen working in the US. Not defending anything other than the need to engage.
I'm actually more upset with how MBS treats the women of his country. And then there are the executions...
PS re: "grisly murder of a Saudi Citizen"--yes, but he was working , living, educating his kids in the US, with a US wife. What I call an American. I never called him a citizen. (I'm ambivalent about that term and its history of use as a form of exclusion.)
I agree with you about what is more morally appalling in MBS! That wasn't my point, but I wasn't clear--my point (I'm "of a certain age") was that there was a time when the US thought of its primary obligation as the protection of Americans. Not the highest goal imaginable, but one the Constitution recognizes as a part of what the nation state is for, alongside managing the borders against foreign aggression. It would have been literally unimaginable before last week, a photo like that of a US President when a situation of this kind remains protested and unresolved.
The sad fact is, it's hard to influence and negotiate with entities that you have publicly humiliated and alienated. Leaders and officials in high office have their egos to feed, and so our leaders have to use both carrot and stick. It's not disingenuous to praise the fact of a historical landmark in public and apply pressure in private regarding human rights issues. One attracts more flies with honey than vinegar.
Nathan, While I appreciate your perspective, specifically considering that India is a crucial partner (with Japan and Australia) in checking China’s increasingly aggressive push to promote its power in the Asian Pacific region, I fear the global consequences of remaining publicly silent despite our full awareness of the devaluation and degradation of fellow humans (virtually everywhere) in the name of some pernicious ideology.
We often disagree, Nathan, and to a certain degree, I understand your point. However, issues in India have been difficult and complicated forever. Since Independence there has been violence against opposing factions. The current political climate is strongly nationalistic, anti Muslim and, as a result, there has been a renewed escalation of violence.
It is disturbing to me that most replying to my comment completely ignore the atrocious violent acts against women and girls in India, up to and including feminicide. It's not surprising though given the treatment of women and girls throughout the America's.
It's disingenuous to hold our country up as a leader in human and civil rights when we have denied both to millions since our founding and are clearly losing ground on both fronts today. As a people, we need a reality check and a reset.Wearing blinders is a dangerous fault many of us have.
(As Robin below pointed out below, you catch more flies with a dead squirrel than with honey. Right now our dead squirrel is Donald Trump and the Republican party. They have clearly attracted millions of flies who are willing to do anything to tank the US. Ignoring their capacity for destruction is dangerous...flies lay eggs which in turn become maggots which in turn become flies. And on and on and on.)
Any country with a caste system, which includes India (oldest caste system) the United States (since 1419) and Nazi Germany (who admired and copied US model of caste) is going to have difficulty presenting a shining democracy. The US is again very involved trying to thwart the evils of caste with the principles of democracy to outwit an authoritarian, white christian nationalist male “strongman” takeover.
Until human beings let go of the need to have a foot on the neck of someone they consider “beneath” their status, democracy will be a strong foundation with flailing arms.
I find your comments, as usual Daria, forthright and practical and perceptive.
Daria I appreciate this comment. I just want to add that it's not only indigenous women and girls in the US who suffer massive violence. About 1/3 of all women in the US are raped at least once, about the same proportion beaten. As in India, you don't have to be a member of an oppressed minority to suffer gendered violence. (Admittedly the Indian murder rate for women is somewhat higher than ours--but ours is 2x that of Turkey, more than 3x that of Saudi Arabia, 5x that of China.)
It's disingenuous to hold our country up as a leader in human and civil rights when we have denied both to millions since our founding and are clearly losing ground on both fronts today. ..”
Sadly, true. I’ve made the mistake of reading 2 books at once: the 1619 Project AND “One Person, No Vote”…..very disheartening, to say the least.
Indeed, flies are more attracted to honey than to vinegar, but it’s not due solely to these ingredients’ respective tastes (as one would assume) but to the fact that flies have receptors that allow them to detect in the vinegar’s acid compounds a microbial growth that may signal decay that can harm them. The metaphor still applies to your interpretation of Biden’s praise of India’s positive elements, though—but at an even deeper level, perhaps? https://animals.howstuffworks.com/insects/why-flies-prefer-honey-to-vinegar.htm
Oh, gosh, now I have to point out that last summer I had a kitchen infestation of vinegar flies instead of the usual fruit flies. MUCH harder to get rid of. In my experience, little black ants and certain wasps like honey more than flies do, anyway. Had those last year too. So I guess if that's what you want to catch, go for it. Personally, I don't put dead squirrels in my kitchen compost. They go out in the bin for yard waste, well covered. All to say that some figures of speech probably need to be discarded (or take the chance of people running with puns and literal interpretations, which are all good fun) (and we need some of that right now).
“Personally, I don't put dead squirrels in my kitchen compost.” Annie, I laughed out loud—in the Y’s sauna room 🤣. Your entire posting is loaded with gem-quality puns! I needed this today THANKS 🙏
Rose, you just made my day even better than it was, and today was a good day to start with. A great way to end it. Thanks! (That whole thread was precious, wasn't it?)
Excellent point Daria. India has moved farther away from democracy and so are we. I don’t know about India, but I believe it’s not too late and we can save ours with involvement and educating others. At least that is my hope.
Despite India's short falls, it's doing better than Russia and China. As of late, we are not great role models, like when the Trump official criticized crack downs in Hong Kong and spokesperson for Chinese Foreign ministry tweeted in response "I can't breath" referencing George Floyd.
I agree with you. India is hardly an exemplar of a fine democracy. Their leader is an elitist bigot and responsible for much suffering. But Heather inspires me to look at this stuff from a historical perspective. 100 years ago India was under the thumb of a brutal foreign power who had thought of Indians as almost subhuman. A country that is only 75 years old is the equivalent of a toddler. I guess by that analogy we might be viewed as a teenage country. We are both really just getting started.
I also think that the "destruction of our democracy" is misleading. I don't think it ever really existed in a solid and complete way. Think of it as a graph with ups and downs. Just a few years ago the vast majority of African Americans in the South couldn't vote. This week commemorates the ratification of the 19th Amendment. 102 years ago women couldn't vote in the US of A. And the plentiful post WWII "peace time" prosperity was hardly shared with the masses - nor was the ability to vote.
"Universal suffrage" is still a work in progress in America. We still exclude many by statute (those serving time or who served their sentence) and we marginalize many by making voting difficult.
I will think of the US as a democracy when voter registration is an automatic part of graduating high school. I will believe we are a democracy when we require voting by law. With penalties for not participating. We will be a democracy when true American history, government and civics are required courses. And I would add one or two years of National Service as extra points on the way to national adulthood.
I don't think we will be a true democracy for many decades or more. The evil will take that long to quash. We are just kids as a nation. And we are slow learners.
I agree with all your sentiments (as usual) but I think we are still in the building process while we lived in the illusion of a democracy - a work in progress that we can help with.
'...the news today is full not of the defense of democracy, but of those trying to overthrow it.' (Letter)
The determination of Trump, the Republican Party, along with major Donors to overthrow the government of United States of America -- about that, there is no doubt. Remember, connected to the BIG LIES, are the efforts to overturn Joe Biden's presidential victory, limit access to voting and nullify election results, along with whatever Trump may have already done with the classified government documents that he wouldn't turn over. Our rights are being decided away and not by us; books are being banned and political violence isn't in the air (at least not yet) but it is on the ground.
Salman Rushdie is not silent about the subjugation of the people.
"How to defeat terrorism? Don't be terrorized. Don't let fear rule your life. Even if you are scared.”
"Memory is a way of telling you what's important to you."
"Free speech is life itself."
"There is no such thing as perfect security, only varying levels of insecurity."
"When thought becomes excessively painful, action is the finest remedy."
"Fundamentalism isn’t about religion, it’s about power."
Salman Rushdie is addressing us all. If We don't protect our rights, who will?
I would have liked to have separate "like"-hearts for each quote. Especially this one:
"How to defeat terrorism? Don't be terrorized. Don't let fear rule your life. Even if you are scared.”
Many acts of terrorism are rather local, and appalling and upsetting. What gives them "nuclear" spread is media attention. To not be scared may however depend on not knowing what is happening in the media shadow.
So agree, Jeri. I made the mistake of clicking on WaPo's so-called "Biden Administration" articles that I mistakenly thought were going to be articles about Biden. When I opened it up, no less than five out of the seven columns led with the headline..."Trump..." I didn't read a single one. Disgusted is the only word I can think of for what I felt.
I hope you let WaPo know. I do. It's also useful to keep in mind that WaPo has several section. If you land in the opinion section, the articles you are led to are also in the opinion section, and they run the gamut. WaPo allows a wide range of opinions. I also read numerous recent opinion pieces that praised Biden and pointed out his accomplishments. Over in the news section, the reportage tends to be far more supportive of Biden, as they are reporting events and news, not opinion. The sections are listed at the top of every page online, and if you find yourself stuck on the opinion page, just click on the other sections to find actual news, well thought out and written.
Thanks, really, Annie, for your guidance. As a native Washingtonian, I am a subscriber to WaPo. Admittedly, I do not know how to navigate the online version and mostly get opinion pieces automatically emailed to me. As you say, most are supportive of Biden. It just annoyed me to see a section titled "Biden Administration" turn up articles that focused on 45, though I didn't read them because of their headlines. But yes, I was trying to find a news section. Your explanation propels me to try again.
Free speech will bring the death of Democracy. It is allowing “news” outlets to spread lies with their megaphone, and mislead millions of people who will not only vote with the lies as their only compass, but who will also turn to violence when their chosen outcome isn’t achieved. This is all because of and directly related to constant lies they are fed on a daily basis.
Lies should not be allowed to spread unchecked. Once something has been proven to be a lie, it should not be allowed a megaphone.
It’s not free speech at fault. A most precious right. It is social media. Suspend it all for a year, go back to post-it notes and pagers, internet only for research and the instant news cycle and misinformation fueling discord would ‘POOF’……vanish. I’d even be willing to write checks again.
Social media cannot be relied on to monitor their own responsibility towards communication and collaboration and democracy.
That would be my wish if a genie appeared right now. Suspend all social media. I’d have to read Professor Richardson in a book or hear her in a lecture.
Trump and his ilk of idiots would be a lagging postscript.
I agree. Social media can be dangerous. I only go on now to look at family and friend's pictures and still I'm drawn to comment on other things rolling by.
Agree completely, but how is it to be done? Who is the fact checker? Is it "false flag"operation to announce entertainment as "news", and could that, or its (secret) financiers be criminalized? Is the magaphone the problem? There were always rumours, but they rarely hade today's chance of spreading.
Agree with Christine: the problem is not with "free speech". The problem is how rapidly lies are spread by social media. Not sure how to reconcile the two.
Anne-Louise, Perhaps, these may interest you as well.
. "A photograph is a moral decision taken in one-eighth of a second."
- Salman Rushdie.
"Masks beneath masks until suddenly the bare bloodless skull."
- Salman Rushdie.
"But there's one thing we must all be clear about: terrorism is not the pursuit of legitimate goals by some sort of illegitimate means. Whatever the murderers may be trying to achieve, creating a better world certainly isn't one of their goals. Instead they are out to murder innocent people."
Now let us consider Kash Patel, aide to Devin Nunes then Pentagon chief of staff to honcho Christopher Miller. Patel and Miller are implicated in obstructing deployment of National Guard troops on Jan 6 - and they are among Trump appointees whose Jan 6 text messages have been disappeared. In June, as the DOJ was closing in, Trump appointed Patel one of his official representatives to the National Archives for access to his presidential records. Patel has been peddling the declassified lie (which the Heritage Society has amplified as 'it doesn't matter that there is no evidence as long as Trump thought of declassifying them.') Oh, and Patel's published a children's book peddling the GOP Big Lie - The Plot Against the King. You can't make this stuff up.
On one side of the balance we have landmark legislation across the spectrum of domestic issues, international cooperation in action against Russian hegemony and highly visible evidence for crimes against our democratic institutions through the 1/6 committee and suggested through federal search warrants, subpoenas and hopefully, soon, indictments. On the other side of the balance we have significant traction by the MAGA acolytes across many state and congressional primary winners heading to the general election. The munitions are piling up in anticipation of a full frontal assault on, and defense of democracy in November's election, followed promptly by many declarations of intent to jump into the ring for the 2024 election. These are dramatic and consequential times for our nation. I am hoping and praying that decent Americans of all stripes will see through the barrage of money and campaign messages (alternate facts, fake news, pure wacko anti-democratic platforms, proposed exertion of power against the republic) and do something very simple; vote down the Big Lie and those who endorse it. I doubt there are many who believe that conservative values have no seat at the table in government. I'm confident that a robust majority of the electorate also believes that truth matters and that legislative debate and compromise in the interest of the American people is what the founding fathers meant for Congress, the Senate and all the colonies that became states as well as future states down the decades and centuries to follow. What will destroy our 220+ year experiment in governance by the people will be apathy and low voter turnout. We have an amazing set of events and issues that should serve to galvanize the electorate. May we have eye-popping, unbelievable voter turnout this November as well as a finely honed, aggressive attack on the political misinformation abounding through our media. Ideas matter, people matter. We need better than TV personalities and professional athletes representing us in Washington DC. We need serious, sober individuals who fully intend to swear to defend the constitution, irrespective of where they stand on the political spectrum.
"Trump’s lawyers paid computer experts to copy data from election systems in Georgia. The breach was successful and significant, although authorities maintain the machines can be secured before the next election."
I want to believe that we will have eye-popping voter turnout in November along with a guarantee that all of those votes are treated as the legitimate voice of the American people without a whiff of tampering.
The question. Will eye-popping voter turnout overcome unprecedented Republican dirty tricks and evil strategies that we know about and some that we have no clue about. What we know is bad enough, but the evil oozing under the radar (but known all to well by Fox-watchers) is never ending. Seems the money is on the evil, at least in red Texas. Pray that I am wrong.
We've gone in less than a human lifetime - 77 years - from being the country that saved the world on August 15, 1945, to the country that is potentially the greatest threat to that victory if a man accused by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of "supporting those beliefs we fought against" and his followers are successful this November.
Yes but FDR had a very long and hard job getting members of Congress to agree that Hitler had to be fought as a great many of them didn't believe it was really any problem for them.....so that war could be declared and eventually won.
I’m glad you took a break and I’m especially glad you are back today. None of this was covered in the news. Thank you so much for teaching us and keeping us aware.
Should we believe that all the classified documents in tfg's possession have been recovered?
Also, I would be happy to hear DOJ state that they will handle the Trump case like all other ongoing investigations. Enough "exceptionalism." It's ruining this country.
If the National Guard has not been compromised by election-deniers, I'd like to see The Arrest made. Whenever it comes, it is going to provoke violence, so to me the real question is whether the violence can be contained and extinguished, instance by instance.
it's interesting that the focus has been on Mar a Lago, when the president has homes in NYC, New Jersey and elsewhere, plenty of time to visit all of those locations over the course of 4 years, not to mention business locations as well as the family cabal what frequented both wings of the White House for 4 years. The executive office was clearly a sieve for dissemination of documents up to and including top secret-identified materials. I guess you can move a lot of material in a briefcase if you have approximately 1500 days to do it.
In each future case of violence a swift and strong response will tamp down the majority of participants. Think of January 6th and the strong emotion in the videos. National Guard showed up and the rowdies melted.
Judith. National Guard, police agencies of all descriptions and military are all to a point corrupted. It is still a good bit of difference when not following direct orders.
I am very concerned for the upcoming mid terms about the integrity of the voting machines that were breached or potentially breached in Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Arizona! It has been previously stated that once breached, it is not feasible to attempt to "reprogram" them for accurate use. This really needs to be a priority for replacement. The expense, though large, is minimal compared to the negative impact if those machines are compromised and recounts are demanded, as they should be. Do those states have paper ballots for a recount/backup? A stitch in time saves nine...
I have an alternative solution: ditch the machines altogether and go back to paper ballots. We use them here in Australia and there has (AFAIK) never been a vote count controversy.
I guess I thought they had made their way around the state. We started using paper in August of 2020. The ballot is completed like an SAT answer form and then fed into a scanner, which records the vote. The ballot drops into a locked ballot bag and is kept by the Election Commission for a fixed period of time in case of an audit or lawsuit. The only way I know to get a paper ballot otherwise is to vote by absentee (mail).
On Rachel’s broadcast tonight she spoke of Flynn being under investigation as the 45 was adding him to his cabinet. Didn’t President Obama warn the 45 that he should NOT hire him for any position?
Yes. India was always an experiment in democracy, vulnerable to internal conflicts and self contradictions. Instead of preserving the ideals which drove its overthrow of British tyranny and being an exemplary contrast to its enemies, India has become more like them - a violently racist right wing religious extremist state with an authoritarian executive, a corrupt judiciary, and a legislature dominated by the craven, cowardly, and complicit. With a lot of flag waving to hide a myriad of sins. Oh, wait.
Here at home, our flag has been appropriated by those violently opposed to the virtues it is meant to symbolize. The majority of Americans oppose today's Republican party agenda, but disproportionate power distribution - perpetrated by the constitutional errors of two senators from each state no matter its population and of the electoral college, as well as later injustices such as the filibuster, gerrymandering, and the Leonard Leo Federalist Society corruption of the Supreme Court - make the struggle almost impossibly difficult for democratic minded citizens to prevail.
During my time in India I could never reconcile the fact that Gandhi is on all the paper currency but what they really worship is their military.
The Federalist Society has corrupted most of the federal judiciary. McConnell used Trump to get almost 300 young ideologues onto the bench, regardless of whether they were qualified or not. That is a wound that will take at least a generation to heal.
Sorry, but as a lawyer practicing for more than 50 years (albeit mostly in state, not federal courts), I reject your contention that most of the federal judiciary is corrupt. That that is not so is shown by the number of decisions against Trump and his co-conspirators issued by judges he appointed. The federal courts are highly imperfect, but they are not the cesspool you imply.
Thank you, Jon, for addressing the tendency toward hysteria that sometimes breaks out here because people lack the context in which to place the limited set of facts they are exposed to. I do wish people would read more widely and not depend so much on a single source. It is unfair to Heather to expect her to provide the corrective back story on everything that pops into people's minds.
Sheesh, ADS .
The fact of right wing ideologue appointees to the Federal Bench didn't just pop into people's minds. Nor is our concern about the impact hysteria.
Instead of looking your nose down or turning it up at fellow commenters, you might provide some context for your rosy view.
I'll do your homework for you. Republicans brought in big gun DC lawyers and expert witness in their attempt to stop the count and when that failed to overturn Maine's first Ranked Choice Voting election. Their case was so egregiously flawed (the Univ. Of Maryland, College Park prof EW had never done any research on RCV and actually perjured himself in asserting otherwise, his argument was that elderly and minority voters were too stupid to understand RCV and so it violated our civil rights) that Judge Lance Walker called their argument conclusory, and invited them back when they'd learned something about Maine voters and about RCV. Walker was fast tracked by Trump et al and this was not his only fair decision.
lin•, perhaps you could respond to Jon Margolis's comment? He spoke from his decades-long experience as a lawyer. You spoke of one particular case in which you have an interest -- and you led by insulting Annie D. Stratton for no reason. The odd thing is that your anecdote about Judge Walker seems to support the proposition that the federal bench is not corrupt. (Last I looked, no one was defending the GOP's lawyers.)
Please see my reply to JM below. As MisTBlu wrote we should be concerned about the Federalist appointees on the bench. Concern is neither ignorance nor hysteria. And Yes, I did AD's homework for her by giving an actual example of a Federalist appointee who seems not to be a stinker. Black swans and all that.
My name is Annie, lin. By all means feel free to use it. I don't rate initials yet. And please don't make assumptions about how I think. You haven't been here long enough, and you don't pay enough attention to what people are actually saying.
Sounds like you didn't have your morning coffee or tea. Ad hominem attacks are not in keeping with the comment section in Dr. Richardson's Letter to America. I found this because I read widely and was aware of her expertise in American history. I assume most people who subscribe to this Substack "read widely" and don't base their comments on a "limited set of facts."
For the most part you'd be right. But quite a few don't. I addressed my post to that issue alone, and the misconceptions that sometimes arise from it. BTW, coffee and the lack or surplus of it is a running joke here that you will recognize when you've been around a bit longer. We like to kid ourselves about it. It's hard work to take oneself too seriously.
"Corruption" in the courts is not an across-the-board miasma. Key figures within the court are "corrupt" in the sense of extremist positions on specific issues. It's a bit like your sister's uncle: nice guy, polite, hard worker, kind to animals, but do NOT get him started on Space Aliens.
In addition, 90% (99%?) of all legal issues are basically paper-pushing. Much of it is routine: wills, trusts, marriages. In cases that need to be adjudicated, guilt/fault is often obvious, people plead "no contest," pay the fine, do the time, and it's done. Next.
The problem arises when a key case makes its way through the court, or is "revisited." E.g. Roe v Wade.
I think it's fair to say that there are at least four, perhaps five truly (and deeply) "corrupt" justices serving on the Supreme Court, and that has shaken the entire structure of the court system. What they have done is unconscionable, and has not been in the service of justice or society, and that has spread to a lack of confidence in the "courts" as a whole, because it affects the courts as a whole.
There's another thing I haven't seen discussed. (Doesn't mean it hasn't, but I have not seen it.) That is timing.
You do NOT approach a grieving mother who has just lost a child with your hands in your pockets, and say, "You know you really are a lousy housekeeper. Look at this dump!"
This is exactly what the SC has done. Let's hold our noses and toy with the argument that maybe their insane RvW ruling has some kind of merit. Of ALL the times to bring this up, the immediate aftermath of an attempted coup, after a political packing of the court under a filibuster conspiracy, is ... well, in the kindest possible light, it demonstrates a contemptible lack of sound judgement. But it really looks more like a parallel thrust of the coup, a conspiracy with the coup, and an additional attack on the integrity of the country.
and the whole premise rests on justified confidence in it's process.
Yes. There is a presumption of trust. They have seriously violated that, and it is why I say their actions are unconscionable.
Most of the folks who comprise the federal judiciary are not corrupt. The point is that the objectivity and impartiality of the judiciary has been corrupted by partisanship. How much shit do you have to put in the soup before it’s ruined?
Your metaphor stinks. :-) As intended. I love it!
I should have been more measured. It's not that the federal judiciary is corrupt it's that the Federalist Society and McConnell have attempted to corrupt it. When you appoint dozens of young, highly ideological and unqualified attorneys to lifetime positions you have diminished it's effectiveness. That a couple of Trump's appointees did the right thing in highly publicized cases is a good thing. But they are going to be on the court for decades and most of their decisions will not be highly publicized. My only hope is that a lot of them will find that they don't like the work and will resign or, sad to say, that their lack of experience will trip them up and they'll be forced to resign. The fact that some of them had never even been inside a courtroom (except for moot court) shows the lengths to which Mitch and Leo, with the unwitting help of Donald, went to to get their dream court.
MisTBlu
I think you were quite clear from the start. And that you were misread. And then ... off to the races. I appreciate your further explication as it sometimes helps to spell things out, even when not exactly necessary.
In my view, no quarter to bullies;)
Hmm JM a bit tetchy? Defensive much?
MsTBlu just reported the facts on the number of Leo/McConnell/Trump Federal bench appointees, many of whose primary qualification is allegiance to Republican racist right wing religious extremist ideology. And some even appointed on bi partisan Senate votes.
You might put that in a greater context, which you didn't. But the stench is not lessened by a few high profile cases decided against Trump.
I’m curious Fern, about what makes a “sneer” in your world view. As I sort of thought that the suggestion that another posters words were hysterical and ignorant of facts a bit sneerish? “Thank you, Jon, for addressing the tendency toward hysteria that sometimes breaks out here because people lack the context in which to place the limited set of facts they are exposed to. I do wish people would read more widely and not depend so much on a single source.” I’m not the thought police nor a judge, so in the scheme of things it’s not that important but If pot is calling the kettle black I think it’s worth shining a light on
As worried as many of us are, having followed the spate of decisions about voting irregularities, your point is well taken. But today’s decision about keeping the affidavit sealed will tell a lot about the court. To find against the DOJ would surely be the end of US, given the secrets revealed.
Mitch may have delivered the blow that will eventually be fatal. He certainly tried hard enough.
Yes, and Kevin McCarthy is feeding the fire of violence now, with absolutely no thought to what his words are inflaming. The blood is on both their hands. We had January 6, and now the barrage of horrible threats and evil acts have begun. Trump would never ask any of his mindless followers to back down, but both of these titled leaders could do so. I am so filled with anger and fear right now. Every time we observe actions that give us hope that trump’s era is coming to an end, there is more bitter news. I’m needing all of you and Heather to keep hope alive.
💀💀💀
Federalist Society honcho Leonard Leo has his summer headquarters here at 46 SouthShore Road, NorthEast Harbor, Mount Desert, Maine 04662
We have been having regular peaceful pop up protests. But Leo brought undue pressure on a sympathetic local cop to arrest a young man - for shouting 'FU gaspole' from a moving car on Main Street. Not the sort of thing the disorderly conduct statute seems to have been intended for or used for previously. That amped up the protests. Lots of thumbs up from the community and tourists. Though it turns out even many savvy and informed people don't know who Leo is.
re Protests, excellent op-ed
https://www.mdislander.com/opinions/commentary/viewpoint-what-has-changed-on-mount-desert-island
re Leo
https://newrepublic.com/article/166993/leonard-leo-christian-right-future
re House purchase
"The sellers were the heirs of chemical giant W.R. Grace chairman and CEO J. Peter Grace, who was the head of the U.S. branch of the Knights of Malta, a 971-year-old conservative Roman Catholic order to which Leo also belongs. Two months before the closing – which occurred at the height of the Senate debate over the Kavanaugh nomination – the Leos also paid off the mortgage on their primary home in McLean, Virginia.
https://www.centralmaine.com/2019/08/18/why-did-trumps-judge-whisperer-buy-a-house-on-the-maine-coast/
Adding to the level of sewage that has left the container and is openly "flooding the zone", if we are ready to face the stench and filth we are up against, here it is in words as stated by a GOP "insider" in an interview with Salon. Not fun reading but, assuming it is an accurate assessment, to paraphrase the famous quote from Jaws, "(We're) gonna need a bigger boat."
https://www.salon.com/2022/08/15/longtime-insider-cheri-jacobus-america-is-not-going-to-recover-from-donald-trump/
Absolutely great link. I am already in full court press mode but this article gives me more energy.
Wow! Excellent piece by Salon! Jacobus is right in her last statement about Dems are fearful of Repubs. We have to call them out loudly when they lie and foment fear!
Thank you, lin!! An eye-opener, for sure! Leo is despicable. Do you think the Catholic Order is funding him?
Leo deals in dark money funneled through shell companies. Dodgy donors to dubious enterprises - including to Susan Collins and to some guy who rented buses for Jan 6 protestors.
Catholic funding? Who knows.
Knights of Malta and Opus Dei connections? Verified.
👍🏻
Wow. Thanks for this information, including about about who "gaspole" is in the first place. All new to me.
Let us not forget about two prominent members of The Federalist Society: Wray and Kavanaugh, at one time college chums. Then, remember how Kavanaugh was NOT fully vetted by the FBI.
A $200,000 baseball ticket debt was mysteriously paid off for Kavanaugh right before his nomination.
Nobody checked to see who paid.
Kavanaugh is a political prostitute for someone.
If I recall, the FBI did not fully vet Kavanaugh because the Trump White House tied their hands by severely limiting the scope of investigation and the time frame.
"Wray confirmed that background investigations are handled differently from other FBI probes and that the scope of inquiries into judicial nominees is dictated by the White House."
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/10/kavanaugh-fbi-probe-limit-888667
Thank you for clarifying this. Still, Kavanaugh and Wray are reported as having been or are colleagues/associates. The "Politico" article is helpful.
👍🏻
Yes, you are so correct on every count.
Truth.
I wonder if India's celebration of her Military is because of the endless hostility and hatred toward Pakistan?
EXPAND THE COURTS NOW!!!
If my recall is correct, there now are 13 federal district courts. There should be 13 Supreme Court Justices. Actually, I believe the Supreme Court should have 15 justices. That each justice can serve no more than 40 years. That every 8 years they come under judicial review by a select panel.
Am really hoping that happens.
Not is some of them are indicted for crimes against democracy!
Give the “majority of Americans oppos[ing] today's Republican party agenda” the tools they need. Eliminate the primary system and institute ranked choice voting.
We will see how ranked choice voting works.
If ranked choice voting had been in place in Maine, it might have spared the state 8 years of misery under a despicable governor who won twice with about 36% of the vote. The independent challenger sucked away votes.
Ranked choice voting encourages us to vote for the person we truly believe represents our views and goals. But it also means that if that person is not the winner (Independent, Green or Libertarian) our second choice is counted in the final tally.
So you could have voted for Ralph Nader to show your support and if you had selected Al Gore as your second, he could have won the election.
Good post. Similarly, I voted Ross Perot in 1992.
His resistance to NAFTA rang true.
All these years later we know he was right.
That “giant sucking sound” was indeed huge job losses for Americans.
Not exactly BA. In a tragic irony, RCV - which was instituted to correct the Elliot Cutler crew elects Paul LePage effect - cannot be used in the gubernatorial race because of a sentence in the state constitution.
RCV has worked in Maine for one Federal election. But a caveat. It totally depends on the third party/independent candidate crowd putting a major party candidate as their second ranked choice - no guarantees there.
Maine instituted RCV through a Voters Initiative - after the 'person not party crowd' gave Trump before Trump TeaParty Paul LePage the governorship TWICE by voting for, now indicted and self confessed child pornographer, self funded candidate Elliot Cutler. Ironically, because of a sentence in the state constitution, RCV cannot be used in the gubernatorial election.
Ah, but those "independents" are "purer" than the rest of us (no, they're not, they're politically illiterate morons who are the best proof that Mencken was right 98 years ago when he said "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the average American.")
Maine has an Independent Senator who caucauses with the Democrats, and was an Independent Governor before that.
Recently anyway, nobody ever lost an election by not listening to a political pundit. The side of the barn was missed so badly in 2016 that few would even venture a guess in 2020. Things really have not improved since then, beyond those willing to state the obvious and call it a prediction. How did America's pundit class get, and remain, so out of touch?
... excess privilege ...?
'Liked' it, not sure Substack noticed.
Spoilers, at least in my lifetime
I track and often respond to Environmental Letters to the Editor and try and correct misinformation and take the opportunity to provide correct information.
I am struck by the high numbers of collective Right Wing Views who publish opinions either articles, letters and comments thereto obviously developed from a single source.
The spread of misinformation is organized by specific categories for example wind turbine energy and solar energy each with different players reflecting various but specific Far Right Wing propaganda.
So many of the “independents,” keep the Trump Idiocy afloat by adhering to the moronic anti-Science spectrum developed by the Extreme Right.
Keep on correcting misinformation please.
We are using it in Alaska. And I see other states are.
When it delivers Sarah Palin back to office, write and tell us how good it is.
No contest - vote for Mary Peltola
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/mary-peltola-palin-aug-blueamp?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=9ce69685-3386-4129-81ff-9a19ad960511
(( Sarah needs to go back to basketball!!))
I'll go out on a limb and say that Sarah isn't coming back. At least not in AK. She burned too many bridges. Maybe now that the Republicans in AZ have forgotten John McCain she might have some support, but Kari Lake already has her market share covered. And then some.
RCV in operation in CA & includes not only primaries, but voting registrtion & voting rights.
Ranked choice is already used in Maine and Alaska as well as about 20 cities and local communities in the US.
Yes, we had a bit of a problem on the first go round here.
Can you elaborate?
The top 4 are supposed to be on the ballot. One of the top four withdrew from the race. the fifth person was not included then in the top four. Went to a judge who denied the fifth person a place in the top four.
Portland (OR) will use it for city council races if a major overhaul of the grossly antiquated city government structure is approved in a referendum.
You are talking about Alaska, yes?
Yes. But CA is going to try it, are they not?
Not yet. My feeling is that it works in small-population states like Maine and Alaska but I'm not certain how it would work in a large-population state like California with federal, state and local candidates plus the usual 10-15 initiatives plus all the judges and school boards etc etc etc
No they are not considering it. We are too populated.
OK. good to know.
Yes, see https://www.fairvoteca.org.
Our specific county has not adopted ranked voting so this is news to me.
"and to the republic for which it stands"
"If Aristotle, Livy, and Harrington knew what a republic was, the British constitution is much more like a republic than an empire. They define a republic to be a government of laws, and not of men." - John Adams
Washington, Adams, Hamilton,Monroe, Jefferson, Laurens, Madison, Franklin, et al, would be absolutely stunned at the number of members of Congress who currently flaunt the Constitution with impunity. How could so many with so little respect for the rule of law be elected to office at the same time? How could a populous be so collectively gullible at the same time?
“It’s a democracy, madam, if you can keep it” - Franklin
More likely flout than flaunt, but yes, I think the founders would be appalled. As for the pervasiveness of the corruption we witness today, there is always some background level of that, but it appears to me that Republicans turned decidedly anti-democratic and contemptuous of rule of law with Reagan, by whom the press and the public seemed utterly snookered, and the "GOP" has been hacking away at governmental integrity ever since; growing ever bolder, the more corruption has be legalized and normalized. Have they finally overplayed their hand?
Yes.
And yes, they have overplayed. The majority of this nation wants democracy and fair elections that are easy to vote in. While I think we will be playing "whackamole" with the liars and deniers forever. But ultimately we will see some big names in the "big house".
The reaction on the right will be violent and bloody. But we shouldn't be intimidated. Let them rant while we calmly enforce the law.
It's more serious than playing 'whackamole.' How do we 'calmly enforce the law' when the 'reaction on the right will be violent and bloody'? When they realize that the DOJ is approaching its 'end game,' and their keeping their king out of check much longer will be impossible, they will just kick over the table and knock the chessboard to the floor. They tried that on January 6 and will try it again. If merely executing a legally obtained search warrant has resulted in physical threats to a judge and at least one attack on an FBI offfice, imagine what the result of a grand jury indictment would be. No, it's not just 'whackamole.' There is no question in my mind that the United States government is totally capable of dealing with such violations of the law and attacks on the Constitution, but doing so without diminishing our freedoms, at least temporarily, will be difficult.
I think it is "whackamole" in the sense that crime and corruption never goes entirely away, a bit like infectious illnesses never entirely go away, but now we are dealing with an "epidemic" in terms of scale.
Difficult, for sure. I did not mean to minimize the situation. Our authorities may need to fight fire with fire. There may be some violent standoffs. When I say calmy, I mean firmly and consistently under the rule of law. If that means calling on our big guns to put down violent seditionists...so be it.
Glad to see that those of US who want to retain democracy are ready for a fight. Meanwhile, as the pen is mightier than the sword… .
I, unfortunately agree with you. The majority of people who stand for democracy may need to give up a few freedoms in order to deal with homegrown terrorists and an internet mouthpiece that spews propaganda 24/7 and gives them a place to organize. We have to deal with the modern era of this kind of cyber-warfare against our people and democracy, by our own people willing to work for the highest bidders. I am afraid there must be restrictions on anyone allowed in high positions if they are against All The People or aid and abet insurrections, treason and espionage right in front of our damned faces. And we pay for their salaries and bennies...still. The presidential pardon and the fifth amendment have nearly destroyed our ability to function judiciously with blatant criminals. Out with them, I say! Out damned spots—the pardon, the fifth and the thugs! Sounds like potential name/s of a book or a band.
You are surely right about whackamole, but we really need to get whacking.
You nailed it.
This is not the first time the US has had to deal with rebellion. Washington sent troops to subdue anti-tax rebels. They backed down. I have complete faith in our law enforcement system and personnel to take out and/or take control of any fascists who take up arms against us and the US. Their commanders will calmly give the orders as directed by a calm and careful President.
Teflon Don is going down, down, down.....
J L Graham. " Have they finally overplayed their hand?" That is my bet.
Keep waiting for the moment when they do. And when it comes, let’s be ready for it with new language for democracy and the schools to teach it.
One can dream, but they have been busy on all fronts. It’s their last shot at the power “conservatives” have dreamed of for decades, and their “get out of jail free card”
Founders would be appalled, tho not surprised, I don't believe. What's your definition of 'overplaying' ??? What are you thinking happens in that case?
On the one hand I worry that Republicans may succeed in a procedural coup. On the other, their narrative has become so shamelessly wacko, enough prodding might cause it to collapse.
Rupert for starters, way before social media. The minister of propaganda. Stop with the “how can a populous be so collectively gullible at the same time.” Deliberate ignorance is way worse than stupidity…
I think the issue is not for the most part lack of cognitive ability, and I know some quite clever MAGA believers. I think we are all vulnerable to some measure of narcissistic cult dynamics, and certainly our team vs theirs, which schools very much encourage. The killer mental malware is encouragement and often coercion to demonize outsiders and reject any input from outside the cult as heresy. I think it can resemble psychosis.
I refer to it as "chosen ignorance".
But there is a lot of genuine stupidity brought on by cupidity. We mustn’t confuse “shrewd” with “intelligent.”
Or "wise"
Picky detail: Franklin’s quote was “A republic, madam, if you can keep it.”
Word, Joan.
I agree and note that we are stunned that some of them we slaveholders. Yet the Revolution could easily have produced a new Boss, same as the old Boss, and didn't. Lucky for us the their project was pretty firm foundation for operating and even expanding shared human empowerment, so long as the preponderance of the population approached it in good faith. But in any configuration of give and take there is a temptation to cheat. We reinforce good faith by shunning the cheaters, especially in sports, but the urge is so much more compelling in political contests, and sometimes the results are horrifying. We even dress up our ugliest narcissistic bullying in regal robes, and claim that God made us do it.
One of Lincoln's most repeated thoughts was "As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy." The issue of the era was literal slavery, but insofar as it can be considered the core of a democracy, I think it still works when you change out "master" for "bully" or another name for coercive subjugation. It took us longer to recognize systemic bullying in societal responses to gender. Not surprisingly the origins of the women's suffrage movement and abolition were allied. The struggle to universalize the rights of life, liberty and responsible pursuit of happiness goes on. Bullying and justice are polar opposites.
We were somehow caught snoozing when Republicans opened their medicine show for the teachings of Milton Friedman,, who claimed as an axiom "The only corporate social responsibility a company has is to maximize its profits." and a "Republican" Supreme Court that grants the rights of persons to corporations. What kind of citizen is that?
Republicans are wont to claim the authority of the Bible, yet Timothy says the the love of money is the root of all evil. "Love" in this context I take to mean, that which you value over all else, that for which you sacrifice other things, and in my view, money is a species of power. What does such "love" displace? Follow the money.
To what degree has the legitimatized love of money warped and displaced the national aspiration of liberty and justice for all; actually all.
Man!!! You are on a roll today, JL... great things you're writing!! Thank you for bringing your wise observations to this group.
And thank you, JL Graham for “wise,” which for me implies “good.” And it is not always linked to intelligence because it needn’t be.
"And it is not always linked to intelligence because it needn’t be."
My mother told me that. I think wisdom has something to do with emotional and intellectual maturity, and I think that has more to do with integrity than talent, and is only loosely connect to age (contrast Trump with Greta Thunberg). And I think intelligence is allied but not identical with powers of observation, the ability to recognize what is there and what is most significant. That is where the young often show up adults who are set in their ways. It is the kid who shouts without reservation that "the Emperor is naked".
I hope it is useful.
Great post. Thank you.
Do you remember the Golden Calf of the Old Testament? At 8, I knew what it meant. Of course it helped that my mother was fond of saying from time to time “The love of money is the root of all evil.” She was a ferocious Virginian and knew noblesse oblige.
Almost impossible for democratically-inclined citizens to prevail? And yet Democrats control the White House and both houses of Congress, they have a good chance to increase the majority in the Senate, and the chances of holding on to the House are improving with every passing day.
Jon, While I share your understanding at the federal level, I, nonetheless, believe we should operate as though we were trailing by 10 points. As for defending democracy at the state and local levels, I understand that groups like The States Project are mobilizing in unprecedented ways, well aware that Republicans ruthlessly are organizing to fill state and local positions with their own people—people who don’t believe in free and fair elections.
As a final point, I would note that Democracy Docket founder Marc Elias has discussed a Republican election subversion plan he expects will be enacted as early as this fall. Admittedly, Elias is not suggesting that Republican election officials are laying the groundwork blatantly to declare their candidates the winner whether or not the candidate wins enough votes. He views the Republican election subversion plan as more sophisticated than that. Rather, Elias anticipates that Republicans will use “false allegations of fraud as a pretext to remove ballots from the vote totals and then certify those incomplete results.”
Though I don’t doubt that when litigation ensues Elias and his team will mount arguments whose conclusions can be nailed to the post with confirming evidence, I am not as confident that our courts will stand for the beacons of democracy that we need them to be.
The antidote is not to elect those people. In Arizona, I suggest Adrian Fontes, Democratic candidate for secretary of state.
https://electfontes.com/
Jon, Your reply does not account for a critical fact: GOP controlled state legislatures currently are changing state election rules to change who can be in charge, how votes are counted, and how they’re certified. Here, I would note, that while we can contend with voter suppression measures by turbo-charging turnout, no amount of organizing is going to get us around voter nullification provisions.
My point is not to give up, but to recognize, absent any federal voter protection safeguards barring a severely gutted 1965 Voting Rights Act, that we will have to summon a renewed definition of ourselves as citizens—something closer to the nation of active stakeholders that leaders like Thomas Jefferson had in mind.
I read a few different pieces yesterday. Here's one: https://flux.community/matthew-sheffield/2022/06/election-fraud-is-real-and-its-republicans-who-are-doing-it/
Suz, Thanks for the link. I do worry that we are failing to address the efforts underway to undermine the fall elections.
I think we really need to stop promoting the right wing lie that the Democrats control Congress. The slim margin in the House was made acutely clear with H.R. 1808, the assault weapon ban. which passed 217-213. Five Democrats voted no. If it wasn't for the yes votes of two Republicans the bill would have failed because the vote would have been tied at 215-215. The Senate is 50:50 so the only thing they have any control over is the committees. That's not nothing but it doesn't amount to "control of Congress."
@MisTBlu, Though your reply was not addressed to me, I would note, with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, that the messaging should focus on the increasingly impressive list of Democratic accomplishments despite the narrow margin in the House and the 50-50 Senate. I understand, starting next week, that the President, the Vice President and Cabinet members plan to hit the campaign trail both to amplify the Party’s achievements and to underscore the outstanding transformative legislation that will become law if the Dems hold the House and pick up 2 Senate seats.
Excellent!
Well, if Democrats don't control Congress no one does. Back early in the GWB administration the president's main policy plank was to get rid of, or hollow out, Social Security. Didn't happen, although Republicans had majorities in both houses, and the White House, too. Still, it would have been wrong in almost everyone's eyes to say that they did not control Congress.
To me, complete control of Congress means having a super majority in the Senate, something no party has had since the 95th session (1977-1979).
Using GWB's attempts to radically change Social Security isn't very applicable as there was never a bill on which Congress had to take a vote. Even the wingiest Republican understands that they can bad talk entitlements*; they can talk up the benefits of privatization; they can even pull a Rick Scott and propose eliminating it completely; but they can do that knowing that there will never be an actual bill to which they'd be required to say Aye.
*the use of the term "entitlements" instead of "benefits" is all part of the decades long effort to undermine Social Security and, since 1965, Medicare.
oh no there's definitely control of Congress ... big $$$$ controls Congress
lin, While I don’t dispute any of your points regarding either India or the States, from my perspective here in the States, we stay in the fight despite seemingly impossible odds and despite perhaps never knowing, before making significant progress, whether or how our individual efforts mattered.
I think that a large part of what keeps authoritarianism popular is the uncertainty of faith part of it, and by "faith" I'm not talking about God or the Force, or whatever taking one's side. It the matter of putting discipline and effort into something that ultimately depends on the kindred efforts of like-minded people whose behavior you cannot control. It's doing something because you think it's the just thing to do with no assurance of reward at the end of it. It's contributing to a wave that may or may not make a difference.
Authoritarians, by contrast, get things done as a matter of edict. Do or else. Ruling by rewards and fear, they tend to get what they ask for; or at least they don't tolerate resistance. Build the Wall, devastate the families of outsiders, win no matter what, no holds barred. So long as you can bear to identify with that agenda, it can make you feel invulnerable. Unless you think about it.
@ J L Graham, First my apologies for this exceedingly delayed reply, which I hope, after a number of days, you still find meaningful. To start, I believe a host of factors have to be taken into account when those to whom we could lose our democracy believe they are fighting for their freedoms. Broadly speaking, no democracy can survive with a working/middle class so aggrieved that it is willing to accept any authoritarian option seeming to offer, in their view, a modicum of social and economic equity. I count among said persons those who have been the victims of modernity’s unevenly distributed opportunity and prosperity, whether due to technological changes that increasingly have rewarded higher educated workers over the less skilled, rising immigration which, admittedly, has driven down certain wages, or the shift in manufacturing from high- to low-wage countries, which also has held down salaries.
Though I’ve only partially accounted for those for whom, in my view, freedom has come to be defined negatively or defensively, I believe we disregard, at our peril, the increasing numbers of people today who feel consistently devalued and subjugated.
It’s uphill for sure, but certainly possible. If we each do what we can, the odds get better.
Geometrically
WE SHALL PREVAIL!!! The Light Always Outshines The Darkness!!! They can all either go to prison, or move to Budapest!!!
"disproportionate power distribution - perpetrated by the constitutional errors of two senators from each state no matter its population and of the electoral college, as well as later injustices such as the filibuster" as a naturalized citizen this is impossible for me to wrap my head around! This "constitutional
Lin, excellent description of our world today. The international list of Democracies has included India for quite some time. I believed that was an optimistic mistake. Now I’m thinking the same of the USA. The diehard repubs here already claim USA is a republic not a Democracy. We can’t divide ourselves by North/South this time.
Irenie, I hope you don’t mind my writing considering your reply was addressed to lin.
While I subscribe to your point about India and the States, I would note that we were founded as a democratic republic (a representative government by popular consent) and remain so, though we have become increasingly democratic. Recall, for example, that in 1789 only white male property owners could vote, and that neither the Senate nor the Presidency was subject to the vote of the people. Having said that, I would amplify that the anti-democratic institutions lin mentions—the electoral college; the Senate, replete with 2 Senators from each state regardless of population size; and the disfunctional, and in my view, unconstitutional filibuster that operates as a veto of the minority over the will of the majority all either should be reformed, if not abolished.
Given the difficult mechanics of amending the Constitution, there are some options to consider that do not require it.
-> Repeal the 1929 law limiting the size of the House of Representatives, passed explicitly for racist and anti-immigrant reasons. This would at least make the House and therefore the electoral college more responsive to the majority.
-> The National Compact for the Popular Vote, once adopted by enough states to produce a majority in the electoral college, would direct all those states' electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote.
-> Elect more Senators who are willing to get rid of the filibuster, or at least set it aside to pass important legislation.
Joan, Thank you for your listing of realistic reforms, to which I would add granting statehood to DC and Puerto Rico. Additionally, I would note, while an advocate of the Interstate Compact, I don’t expect it to get much beyond the 196, give or take, electoral votes it has so far amassed.
Granting statehood to Washington, D.C. is appropriate, is known to be wanted by the residents, and would help with the balance of power in the Senate. It's not clear that the people of Puerto Rico want statehood, nor who they would elect if they had it.
Joan, Thank you for the questions regarding statehood for Puerto Rico. I will do my homework before, again, raising the matter.
Joan, While responding to your most recent comment, I noticed I had neglected to ❤️ your earlier one for redirecting my thinking to more feasible remedies.
The question is not republic vs democracy. The question is whether we will have a winner-take-all authoritarian hierarchy with a subgroup of white men ruling harshly over the rest of us, or an increasingly representative and pluralist democracy.
democratic republic... just a democracy would be too crazy and wild, too.
don't think we're so much north/south divided today ... tho it does often seem that way. we're divided in many ways now... esp up/down (have/have not) instead of right/left or north/south
Heather's book, "How the South Won the Civil War" (her excellent online history classes based on it) makes the case that among other things, that war was about oligarchy (south at that time) vs. democracy (north at that time). and we can see right now where we are on that.
Right. A democratic republic. "Demos" is people and the "public" in republic is people as well. Non-representative democracy does not scale well at all, and is pretty irrelevant to discussions of American politics; yet for some reason right wingers think it is clever to claim that we are not supposed to be a democracy. The truth is that most modern Republicans don't really want a real republic. They just want to rule the roost.
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Yes, lin, your "oh wait" should have had exclamation points!! Sounds exactly like the modern rethuglican's total regime goals.
The Republican Party is developing a new name for itself: the Denier Party. They deny the elections are fair. They deny climate change. They want to deny the American people of their social safety nets of Social Security and Medicare. They have denied women their rights - reproductive rights, right to privacy, right from undue search and seizure, and even the right to life itself. They want to deny LGBTQ the right to marry who they choose and love. They are denying child care support for families working two jobs to make ends meet. They are denying people like my sister with Type 1 diabetes affordable insulin. Let's deny all of them the right to represent us at any level - local, state or federal. Let's deny them our vote. We, the People, united shall not be defeated!
When the rural people are hoodwinked by the clown with a flame thrower, and feel that they can defeat the “educated elitist,” you know that the fat is in the fire. Common sense ain’t common when snake oil salesmen have the megaphone… Democrats had better scream loud and clear that repubs want to kill SS, Medicare, and Medicaid. It might wake a few…
It will be interesting how this plays out in Washington's third district since the R who will be running in the fall has talked about social security and medicare in a negative way. I hope the D uses what he has said which was used in the ads of his R opponent in the primary. I also hope she prevails because he is a death star endorsed nut case.
I like the reference to the Death Star... of democracy. It makes me think we need to use common film and movie references (and a lot of repetition) to capture the imaginations of the vulnerables who are so easily manipulated. I cannot believe I just wrote that...but I did. New. Desperate times call for new kinds of opposition to The Death party. The thing about non-repubs is that they also have a very keene sense of humor and it should be used-- like educational cartoons for adults. Fetterman's recent ad with a fetching, stand-up, real life-looking mouse talking about serious things on a microphone was so well done. It captures and holds you there during the entire message. (Well at least those who like cute, furry creatures, and even have something clever to say). NON-repubs need a marketing arm like that to get our messaging and history and importance of voting out...Anyone out there in the creative messaging videography business?
That’s why they have also developed the name of “the Party of NO”. My favorite is the Pro-Rape Party.
McConnell was the Party of No.
Trump is the Party of Nihilism.
Google:
Leonard Leo = Corrupt Courts
McTurtleneck also called himself “the Grim Reaper’” and took much pride in that name. Ugh…
He thought that was witty? Did that enhance him in some way?
The problem with Mitch is that he’s as smart as he is evil. He has no humor whatsoever.
Maybe embalmed, in a preserved evil way?
Some here have aptly used the term "Neo-Confederates". I prefer dropping the prefix and just using the original "Confederates" as time has not changed their reasoning of being anti-Union (democracy) or their commitment to white supremacy as they have been since the Pilgrims arrived.
Totally agree! They are what they have always been.
Why don't we just call them the Fascist Party? Kind of absurd to call a party dedicated to the destruction of the Republic "Republican."
They are the party of death for all the reasons you have described plus more.
Cathy, we can invest in this dream to come true by voting, which I plan to do at every opportunity
The answer is YES!
"...the Denier Party...Let's deny them our vote." 🤗
The American Notzi Party perhaps...
Thank You, as always, Cathy. May I copy & post?
Yes, you may, MaryPat.
Thanks Cathy!
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They may yet bring the Trump crime family to justice...
Who’s throwing indictment parties? U all r invited to mine!
Sorry to rain on the parade, but rule of law means innocent until proven guilty through due process, so indictment is still a long way from conviction. Rule of law, as emphasized by Garland. But fingers crossed!
Who gets the parade, Ellie? It has always been very easy to lock up young black men for alleged drug offenses and other low-level 'crimes', while it appears much, much harder for the 'Rule of Law' to nail the big fish, such as Trump and his ilk. For whom does the arc bend in favor of -- the ultra rich and Big Business v. the 'others' when it comes to our economic system and The Rule of Law?
“When the rich rob the poor it’s called business. When the poor fight back it’s called violence.” Mark Twain
This
Love!
That is tragically true that the rule of law continues to be subject to racism and classism, with white privilege systemic exploitation. Rule of law is the foundation of our democracy, and both are ideals, principles, and a system of governance to which we continue to aspire, with far too many shortcomings along the way. Garland quite succinctly named it on Aug. 11:
https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1557823290575552513?s=20&t=SH5Z8-lr-MoqcPwrY1Cvnw
“Without fear or favor” is his phrase that I’ve slipped in my pocket to have at all times. Truly what sets Atty Gen Garland and the DOJ apart from previous rendition under former administration.
Unita, Ellie. 🗽
Sorry Fern…the system wouldn’t let me give your comments a “like!” Your contribution to this on-going debacle has “hit the nail squarely on the head!” Never has it been so obvious…to so many…that money, influence and power smother the rule of law! We aren’t talking about some petty crime here…but the future of America!!!!! Perhaps the title…”America the Land of Laws” should be changed to…the “Land where the Privileged Few can get the Golden Get-out-of-Jail Ticket!” What has happened to us???
Thank you from all of us, Bob. Unfortunately, I think what you wrote has always been so here in America.
Oh...I know your right and, is a little "wrong" OK...no! At the level I was referring to we are talking flagrant, blatant disregard for the truth and adherence to our laws with immense repercussions. If those people have their way we may never recover!
Yes. “Too big to fail” comes to mind. All equal before the law?
We all know the answer
Exactly, equal treatment under the law- Yeah, right!!!
William Whitman - Exactly, equal treatment under the law
“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘸, 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘫𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘥𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥.” ― Anatole France
Rhetorical questions, right Fern?
Sadly, YES, Dave. We must change it; many are in the fight for Equal Justice.
Well said!!
Exactly, dear Fern! How much proof of GUILT a thousand times over must we all see so sickeningly clearly before justice is served?!
The court of public opinion is different from a jury empowered to make a finding of fact after a trial with the presentation of evidence that was gathered by law enforcement investigators--much of which we are not likely to see ahead of time.
Conservatism: “There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.” - Frank Wilhoit. https://crookedtimber.org/2018/03/21/liberals-against-progressives/#comment-729288
Sometimes it’s just good to celebrate the little things. After sentencing, we throw a gala!
Heck, Ted. I'll go to your indictment party. Life's too short!
From everything we have been through & witnessed these last several years, after securing democracy we are going to have to lighten up a bit. Ever vigilant, but not militant. Yes?
I think the comments since the Mar a Lago news broke show how traumatized and deeply wounded we all are. Each person is addressing the pain in their own way to piece their spirits back together and recover. Meanwhile, Biden's address and bill signing today is more than enough reason to raise a glass or two.
Upon conviction a new national holiday inviting the world to join us.
Understand (and share) your feelings on this, Ted, but in my mind parties on indictment mean little. Conviction will call for some kind of celebration, but with deep reflection. My plans are to keep gathering people to work on strengthening the democratic process, and then celebrating each success, no matter how minor. I got tired a while back of letting the Trump crowd control my agenda. We all tend to get caught up in it, and diverted from what we really need to focus on: rebuilding democratic processes and re-creating a viable economy that gives dignity to more people.
Sorry, I know I sound a bit preachy here. It's too early in my day and I haven't had coffee yet. I promise you that I cackle with delight every time Trump or one of his cronies get taken down a notch. I laugh with delight with each success of someone who is helping to strengthen democracy - yay for all those judges who refuse to play Trump's game, and for all those people whose postcards are making a difference.
And I probably would attend your party anyway if it weren't for the fact that you live in Idaho. If it were a matter of simply crossing the state line for a few hours ok. But it would mean a long cross-country trip, and I am more likely to head through Canada north of the lakes and drop down into Washington state to see fam and friends. Beats going through the Dakotas right now.
Zoom party!
OMG, love it! We really should do that when the time comes. And it's starting to feel like it's coming. Actually right now would be good. But definitely a Zoom party!!!
And it would obviate the necessity to pass through the Dakotas or Idaho or some of the other states which have gone off the rails.
Enough with the nonsense. My rant today is taken care of from Leigh McGowan, Politics Girl, straight from her kitchen. Another if only, but her rant on the lead of every news program…. Well, alrighty then.
Share everywhere. https://youtu.be/fNXl6hiDO5o
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She's always so clear, straightforward and simply said, Christine!
Thanks for this Christine. I'll have to check her out more often.
Her podcasts, usually one or two a month, are in depth and excellent. Her last one was with Ruth Ben-Ghiat. Here’s the link. https://youtu.be/-3yAKh54CXA
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I'm kinda getting hooked on her 🤔
Done. Thank you.
And "ranting" does what? What does it produce, who does it help?
And what "nonsense"?
If you are asking Christine above about her use of the words "ranting" and "nonsense", I suggest you wait for her reply, which I cannot provide. As a reader of Christine's comments for quite some time, I venture to offer my own, personal take on both her post and that of Leigh McGowan's post on her "Politics Girl" column.
As I read this thread, it begins "They may yet bring the Trump crime family to justice..." with subsequent conversations about the US's pattern of not enforcing the laws equitably to those of non-white and poor. It then travels around a bit to Giuliani. So, IMO, it is possible for Christine to want to express some of her opinions about either topic in a forceful and emotionally important manner (hence the use of the word "rant" which means to "speak in a loud and impassioned way")
For me, what ranting does is release some of the emotion behind some of the unbelievably awful things that tfg has done, especially as pertains to this search warrant. It certainly helps the person communicating to bleed off some of the pressure of the content of the thoughts.
And it helps to know you are not alone in your feelings. Rants often express the anger and frustration that leads to action. It's where we begin, where we return when we need to, and where we connect in our search for the best ways to address the causes of that anger and frustration. I love and bless you all for letting me rant from time to time and then giving me love for it so I can keep going.
I guess the answer is blowing in the wind.
Sounds like you're breaking wind.
Tom in CT - And "ranting" does what? What does it produce, who does it help?
And your alternative is?
"nonsense"?
If you have found flaws in her analysis or specific disputes with each (any?) of her statements, please share them.
Beat me to it.
Thank you, you spared me a reply, Ron.
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Well Tom, sometimes it is hard to find words to express what we feel - especially when issues are complex, convoluted and confusing - as many of today's challenges seem intended to be ... personally, I love it when someone like Leigh Mcgowan has the clarity and ability to say it right out loud - off the top of her head, without a script or editor to create the marketable 'message'. So, for me, her bold, honest expression produces clarity and a sense of relief - a breath of fresh air in a polluted atmosphere of canned attitudes and opinions crafted to distract and disrupt attention from the facts and related truths - a huge help to me since truth actually matters ... to me ....
Wow why are you all so offended? I was asking an honest question. Please don't reply, I don't need to be judged.
Tom, an honest question deserves an honest answer - so I am responding, even though you would rather I not ... I revised my comment before I read this from you - as I did not mean to judge you - or make it personal to you. So please accept my apology for implying that you might be deceived or delusional. I feel sometimes a rant can be counter-productive - like driving a nail all the way through the floor, into the ground. A lot of the rants I hear from media figures do just that - losing track of relevant facts - amounting to 'nonsense.' That is another reason I appreciate Leigh Mcgowan's rants. She is precise, factual, and does not mince words. I appreciate your sincere honesty, and I hope this makes sense to you without offending or judging you.
One more thing - as I share this, it occurs to me, a lot of this inflammatory media hype is designed to provoke volatility so people are caught up in emotional reactions, compelling conflict, alienating us from each other - preventing communication and consensus - without which democratic process cannot succeed. Possibly, that is the goal of so many impassioned opinions - to arouse unreasoning arguments so we fail to accept each others' differences, and simply shut each other out.
It seems to me, that would defeat the whole democratic experiment which hopefully will allow us to embrace our differences, and live in peace with diversity ... what are the alternatives?
Honest? Seriously?
Giuliani finally coming to face the music is a relief.
He can plead the Fifth, and then what??
Disbarred? He's only suspended.
With each day comes a new shocking Trump revelation. It's like a plot to a political thriller that's escaped the novelist's mind and mutated so bizarrely that it nearly defies comprehension. Basically, Trump who claims the election was a hoax has been paying people to, in some cases, copy voting data that they weren't authorized to examine.
And why in the hell is anyone from the private sector allowed to tap into any state or county's election system on behalf of the losing candidate? Who knows what else might have been done. It all adds up to another attack on democracy.
They have a cadre of evil that goes back before Nixon; I remember Spiro, Rupert, Lee, Roger, Paul, Newt, Karl, Frank Luntz, too many to name but includes ALEC, the think tanks and the evil of 2000, for starters. The attack on democracy goes back, even to the Coup of 1933 (Google knows).
Heather writes: "Trump’s lawyers paid computer experts to copy data from election systems in Georgia. The breach was successful and significant, although authorities maintain the machines can be secured before the next election."
Read WashPo article to which it refers, cited in Heather's notes. WOW! Virtually no fraud in voting, but amazing amount of attempted fraud after voting by Trumpers!
They never slowed down in their race to the bottom, nor will they now.
Please to all news outlets and interested parties, leave the DOJ alone to do their job! Unsealing the affidavit would play into Tr’s hands.
We have ALL been waiting for just this! Patience …
Got that right Christine. Thank you. One of Garland's cited statutes is 18 USC 2071. "shall forfeit her/his office" (if any) & be "disqualified from holding ANY office in the United Sates."
Yes Bryan, that would be the icing on the cake! But there are so many waiting to take his place. I fear DeSantis the most.
We will see if they withdraw their request. I'm betting they won't because going in they were trying to expose the DOJ's investigation(s) and knew they risked jeopardizing said investigations.
The argument can be made that the media is just doing their job. Unfortunately, if the media had been doing their job in the past, there's a good chance we would not be in this position today.
Maybe you don't think the Fourth Estate shares responsibility for the decline of democracy and the rise of right-wing extremism. I do and I have cancelled all my subscriptions to the MSM, and I don't watch network or cable news. I get the important news from reliable and honest aggregators. I doubt I miss much of importance, and frankly, I'm certain I've been more aware and informed than most people of what has been happening in this country for decades, including the subjugation of the MSM by the rich and powerful.
What are your trusted independent news sources?
The question should be, who are the trusted independent news aggregators? Glad you asked. You're reading one now - Letters from an American! There are many others who like Heather source their news from responsible and vetted journalists, reporters and experts.
ok - who else besides HRC?
Whole-heartedly agree! This is one time they don't need to snoop - shut up and let 'im do 'is job!
Edited to correct per Mike S. Thanks for correcting me, Mike.
Heather, I love that you've been publishing your Letters "early" rather than in the wee hours. I hope this means your getting some decent shut eye.
"Today, President Joe Biden congratulated the people of India on their 75th anniversary of independence, calling out the relationship between “our great democracies” and “our shared commitment to the rule of law and the promotion of human freedom and dignity.”
Your opening paragraph displays the ways in which we praise independence on one hand but condone racism, bigotry, religious intolerance, and feminicide on the other. Biden's words reflect a strangely blind perspective with regard to the realities of "law and order" in India, a country in which women and girls can be gang raped on a train or in the street, then, if she lives, is cast out by her family. Where Muslims are attacked by Hindus. We need to hold all of our leaders accountable for the language used to describe such concepts as "commitment to the rule of law and the promotion of human freedom and dignity.” And isn't it funny, that we have reached a point in our own country where "the rule of law and the promotion of human freedom and dignity" are quickly falling by the wayside for millions and millions of US Americans?
the reality in our own country as Mike S rightly pointed out:
"such concepts as "commitment to the rule of law and the promotion of human freedom and dignity [have] always [been] denied from certain groups from the very origin of “our” country in 1619. And, for the most part, continue to be “fallen by the wayside”.
I'm hoping our Pres was applying an elementary school teacher's tactic. Praise the class bully for something he got right in the hope a seed is planted that will overgrow the cracked foundation. But yeah, India is a hot mess, literally.
Yes, I think that's what he was doing. That's the way I read it.
My thought as well.
Maybe. I desperately hope so, and hope that's what Prof. Richardson thinks. But he's gone beyond praising despots in his long career, as have many US politicians of the Cold War era. And last week he flew across the world to visit and bump fists with the despotic leader of Saudi Arabia, who murdered an American journalist in cold blood without consequence.
It is so frustrating, the posturing and protection of a despicable and putrid infection in so much of the world. There are days I wonder, if there is a God, are they apologizing to all the animals, insects, and fungi? Apologizing that the evolution to humans got out of hand, jumped some barrier, and created the real evil and monstrous?
Include slime in the list of creatures that we need to apologize to. It’s a one-called organism that has more intelligence than some of my neighbors (PBS NOVA, The Mind of Slime).
I saw that Nova episode!--totally amazing.
Yes! It too!
Yes, I know. I have to remind myself to look for what's beautiful, what's kind, what's decent. It's still there. Focus on it. It needs us.
Yes Mary. I need to shift my focus many times a day. It's very easy to get sucked into that negative whirlpool.
Not that I want to apologize for the President, but that trip was to "loosen" the price of petroleum for us and Europe in view of Russia/NATO's embargo. It seems to have some success. I believe he did address that murder. I certainly don't have an ear to the inside, but Biden is also negotiating for the last of Guantanamo inmates to be transferred to Saudi Arabia. That would be a major accomplishment! I have to say I am gaining respect for "Slow to Go Joe." He has no illusions of complete political success, but he persists and he's a master at coalition building.
I feel the same revulsion. But if our leaders never connected with any leaders who did bad stuff, we would live in complete isolation. You can't influence the world from within a bubble. That's my big picture take on it.
On the other hand, MSB is a monster who shares a lot with the Taliban when it comes to values. I personally couldn't imagine being in the same room with him.
Of course, we have our own American Taliban. And we were responsible for three or more wars where millions were displaced or wounded or slaughtered....just sayin'...
In my lifetime I don't remember a president taking an amiable photo with a ruler who had personally and in recent memory ordered the grisly murder of an American.
Any diplomat or President who ever had a photo taken with Stalin or Putin was standing next to a murderer. It was a grisly murder of a Saudi Citizen working in the US. Not defending anything other than the need to engage.
I'm actually more upset with how MBS treats the women of his country. And then there are the executions...
PS re: "grisly murder of a Saudi Citizen"--yes, but he was working , living, educating his kids in the US, with a US wife. What I call an American. I never called him a citizen. (I'm ambivalent about that term and its history of use as a form of exclusion.)
I agree with you about what is more morally appalling in MBS! That wasn't my point, but I wasn't clear--my point (I'm "of a certain age") was that there was a time when the US thought of its primary obligation as the protection of Americans. Not the highest goal imaginable, but one the Constitution recognizes as a part of what the nation state is for, alongside managing the borders against foreign aggression. It would have been literally unimaginable before last week, a photo like that of a US President when a situation of this kind remains protested and unresolved.
I wasn't aware that Putin had assassinated any American, but I'm not omniscient!
Ha! Love it! That's how it's done! (Speaking from 16 years of having done so)
The sad fact is, it's hard to influence and negotiate with entities that you have publicly humiliated and alienated. Leaders and officials in high office have their egos to feed, and so our leaders have to use both carrot and stick. It's not disingenuous to praise the fact of a historical landmark in public and apply pressure in private regarding human rights issues. One attracts more flies with honey than vinegar.
Actually you can attract the most flies with a dead squirrel. ‘Dave Barry’
😂🤣😂🤣😂
🪰🪰🪰🪰🪰🪰🪰🪰🪰🪰🪰🪰
🤣👏
Nathan, While I appreciate your perspective, specifically considering that India is a crucial partner (with Japan and Australia) in checking China’s increasingly aggressive push to promote its power in the Asian Pacific region, I fear the global consequences of remaining publicly silent despite our full awareness of the devaluation and degradation of fellow humans (virtually everywhere) in the name of some pernicious ideology.
We often disagree, Nathan, and to a certain degree, I understand your point. However, issues in India have been difficult and complicated forever. Since Independence there has been violence against opposing factions. The current political climate is strongly nationalistic, anti Muslim and, as a result, there has been a renewed escalation of violence.
It is disturbing to me that most replying to my comment completely ignore the atrocious violent acts against women and girls in India, up to and including feminicide. It's not surprising though given the treatment of women and girls throughout the America's.
It's disingenuous to hold our country up as a leader in human and civil rights when we have denied both to millions since our founding and are clearly losing ground on both fronts today. As a people, we need a reality check and a reset.Wearing blinders is a dangerous fault many of us have.
(As Robin below pointed out below, you catch more flies with a dead squirrel than with honey. Right now our dead squirrel is Donald Trump and the Republican party. They have clearly attracted millions of flies who are willing to do anything to tank the US. Ignoring their capacity for destruction is dangerous...flies lay eggs which in turn become maggots which in turn become flies. And on and on and on.)
Any country with a caste system, which includes India (oldest caste system) the United States (since 1419) and Nazi Germany (who admired and copied US model of caste) is going to have difficulty presenting a shining democracy. The US is again very involved trying to thwart the evils of caste with the principles of democracy to outwit an authoritarian, white christian nationalist male “strongman” takeover.
Until human beings let go of the need to have a foot on the neck of someone they consider “beneath” their status, democracy will be a strong foundation with flailing arms.
I find your comments, as usual Daria, forthright and practical and perceptive.
Unita, Sister. 🗽
Well said, Christine. And thanks.
Unita y Salud!
Daria I appreciate this comment. I just want to add that it's not only indigenous women and girls in the US who suffer massive violence. About 1/3 of all women in the US are raped at least once, about the same proportion beaten. As in India, you don't have to be a member of an oppressed minority to suffer gendered violence. (Admittedly the Indian murder rate for women is somewhat higher than ours--but ours is 2x that of Turkey, more than 3x that of Saudi Arabia, 5x that of China.)
Edited, thanks, Mary.
It's disingenuous to hold our country up as a leader in human and civil rights when we have denied both to millions since our founding and are clearly losing ground on both fronts today. ..”
Sadly, true. I’ve made the mistake of reading 2 books at once: the 1619 Project AND “One Person, No Vote”…..very disheartening, to say the least.
Indeed, flies are more attracted to honey than to vinegar, but it’s not due solely to these ingredients’ respective tastes (as one would assume) but to the fact that flies have receptors that allow them to detect in the vinegar’s acid compounds a microbial growth that may signal decay that can harm them. The metaphor still applies to your interpretation of Biden’s praise of India’s positive elements, though—but at an even deeper level, perhaps? https://animals.howstuffworks.com/insects/why-flies-prefer-honey-to-vinegar.htm
Oh, gosh, now I have to point out that last summer I had a kitchen infestation of vinegar flies instead of the usual fruit flies. MUCH harder to get rid of. In my experience, little black ants and certain wasps like honey more than flies do, anyway. Had those last year too. So I guess if that's what you want to catch, go for it. Personally, I don't put dead squirrels in my kitchen compost. They go out in the bin for yard waste, well covered. All to say that some figures of speech probably need to be discarded (or take the chance of people running with puns and literal interpretations, which are all good fun) (and we need some of that right now).
“Personally, I don't put dead squirrels in my kitchen compost.” Annie, I laughed out loud—in the Y’s sauna room 🤣. Your entire posting is loaded with gem-quality puns! I needed this today THANKS 🙏
Rose, you just made my day even better than it was, and today was a good day to start with. A great way to end it. Thanks! (That whole thread was precious, wasn't it?)
It was masterful, indeed!
A dilemma within my own family…
Excellent point Daria. India has moved farther away from democracy and so are we. I don’t know about India, but I believe it’s not too late and we can save ours with involvement and educating others. At least that is my hope.
Despite India's short falls, it's doing better than Russia and China. As of late, we are not great role models, like when the Trump official criticized crack downs in Hong Kong and spokesperson for Chinese Foreign ministry tweeted in response "I can't breath" referencing George Floyd.
Ha! China is really good at bristling comebacks! Not that they have room to talk. I think they cannot forgive, tfg's "China Virus."
Nice Spoonbills!
Love 'em. So strangely beautiful.
I agree with you. India is hardly an exemplar of a fine democracy. Their leader is an elitist bigot and responsible for much suffering. But Heather inspires me to look at this stuff from a historical perspective. 100 years ago India was under the thumb of a brutal foreign power who had thought of Indians as almost subhuman. A country that is only 75 years old is the equivalent of a toddler. I guess by that analogy we might be viewed as a teenage country. We are both really just getting started.
I also think that the "destruction of our democracy" is misleading. I don't think it ever really existed in a solid and complete way. Think of it as a graph with ups and downs. Just a few years ago the vast majority of African Americans in the South couldn't vote. This week commemorates the ratification of the 19th Amendment. 102 years ago women couldn't vote in the US of A. And the plentiful post WWII "peace time" prosperity was hardly shared with the masses - nor was the ability to vote.
"Universal suffrage" is still a work in progress in America. We still exclude many by statute (those serving time or who served their sentence) and we marginalize many by making voting difficult.
I will think of the US as a democracy when voter registration is an automatic part of graduating high school. I will believe we are a democracy when we require voting by law. With penalties for not participating. We will be a democracy when true American history, government and civics are required courses. And I would add one or two years of National Service as extra points on the way to national adulthood.
I don't think we will be a true democracy for many decades or more. The evil will take that long to quash. We are just kids as a nation. And we are slow learners.
I agree with all your sentiments (as usual) but I think we are still in the building process while we lived in the illusion of a democracy - a work in progress that we can help with.
You and Leonard Cohen! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDi2mJcByns
Thank you! It's coming! "Democracy is coming to the U..S..A!"
Hallelujah! :)
How did you know that he is my favorite?
You are right. I stand corrected. I should not write late at night.
Yes you should. I’ll read it.
😜
🙃🌷🌷🌷
“quickly falling by the wayside”?
Or
Were always denied from certain groups from the very origin of “our” country in 1619? And, for the most part, continue to be “fallen by the wayside”.
I stand corrected and will revise. Thanks.
'...the news today is full not of the defense of democracy, but of those trying to overthrow it.' (Letter)
The determination of Trump, the Republican Party, along with major Donors to overthrow the government of United States of America -- about that, there is no doubt. Remember, connected to the BIG LIES, are the efforts to overturn Joe Biden's presidential victory, limit access to voting and nullify election results, along with whatever Trump may have already done with the classified government documents that he wouldn't turn over. Our rights are being decided away and not by us; books are being banned and political violence isn't in the air (at least not yet) but it is on the ground.
Salman Rushdie is not silent about the subjugation of the people.
"How to defeat terrorism? Don't be terrorized. Don't let fear rule your life. Even if you are scared.”
"Memory is a way of telling you what's important to you."
"Free speech is life itself."
"There is no such thing as perfect security, only varying levels of insecurity."
"When thought becomes excessively painful, action is the finest remedy."
"Fundamentalism isn’t about religion, it’s about power."
Salman Rushdie is addressing us all. If We don't protect our rights, who will?
I would have liked to have separate "like"-hearts for each quote. Especially this one:
"How to defeat terrorism? Don't be terrorized. Don't let fear rule your life. Even if you are scared.”
Many acts of terrorism are rather local, and appalling and upsetting. What gives them "nuclear" spread is media attention. To not be scared may however depend on not knowing what is happening in the media shadow.
Morning, Olof!
A reader wrote in response to a WaPo article yesterday: "Problem is the media wails about DJT wailing and not about Biden’s governing.."
Indeed, so sick of it. NSM is failing us
So agree, Jeri. I made the mistake of clicking on WaPo's so-called "Biden Administration" articles that I mistakenly thought were going to be articles about Biden. When I opened it up, no less than five out of the seven columns led with the headline..."Trump..." I didn't read a single one. Disgusted is the only word I can think of for what I felt.
Yep. Through and through. Enough already.
🗽
I hope you let WaPo know. I do. It's also useful to keep in mind that WaPo has several section. If you land in the opinion section, the articles you are led to are also in the opinion section, and they run the gamut. WaPo allows a wide range of opinions. I also read numerous recent opinion pieces that praised Biden and pointed out his accomplishments. Over in the news section, the reportage tends to be far more supportive of Biden, as they are reporting events and news, not opinion. The sections are listed at the top of every page online, and if you find yourself stuck on the opinion page, just click on the other sections to find actual news, well thought out and written.
Thanks, really, Annie, for your guidance. As a native Washingtonian, I am a subscriber to WaPo. Admittedly, I do not know how to navigate the online version and mostly get opinion pieces automatically emailed to me. As you say, most are supportive of Biden. It just annoyed me to see a section titled "Biden Administration" turn up articles that focused on 45, though I didn't read them because of their headlines. But yes, I was trying to find a news section. Your explanation propels me to try again.
Free speech will bring the death of Democracy. It is allowing “news” outlets to spread lies with their megaphone, and mislead millions of people who will not only vote with the lies as their only compass, but who will also turn to violence when their chosen outcome isn’t achieved. This is all because of and directly related to constant lies they are fed on a daily basis.
Lies should not be allowed to spread unchecked. Once something has been proven to be a lie, it should not be allowed a megaphone.
It’s not free speech at fault. A most precious right. It is social media. Suspend it all for a year, go back to post-it notes and pagers, internet only for research and the instant news cycle and misinformation fueling discord would ‘POOF’……vanish. I’d even be willing to write checks again.
Social media cannot be relied on to monitor their own responsibility towards communication and collaboration and democracy.
That would be my wish if a genie appeared right now. Suspend all social media. I’d have to read Professor Richardson in a book or hear her in a lecture.
Trump and his ilk of idiots would be a lagging postscript.
🗽
I agree. Social media can be dangerous. I only go on now to look at family and friend's pictures and still I'm drawn to comment on other things rolling by.
Agree completely, but how is it to be done? Who is the fact checker? Is it "false flag"operation to announce entertainment as "news", and could that, or its (secret) financiers be criminalized? Is the magaphone the problem? There were always rumours, but they rarely hade today's chance of spreading.
Agree with Christine: the problem is not with "free speech". The problem is how rapidly lies are spread by social media. Not sure how to reconcile the two.
I've copied out those quotes.
Anne-Louise, Perhaps, these may interest you as well.
. "A photograph is a moral decision taken in one-eighth of a second."
- Salman Rushdie.
"Masks beneath masks until suddenly the bare bloodless skull."
- Salman Rushdie.
"But there's one thing we must all be clear about: terrorism is not the pursuit of legitimate goals by some sort of illegitimate means. Whatever the murderers may be trying to achieve, creating a better world certainly isn't one of their goals. Instead they are out to murder innocent people."
- Salman Rushdie
Thanks, Fern. No wonder Khomeini was afraid of him.
Now let us consider Kash Patel, aide to Devin Nunes then Pentagon chief of staff to honcho Christopher Miller. Patel and Miller are implicated in obstructing deployment of National Guard troops on Jan 6 - and they are among Trump appointees whose Jan 6 text messages have been disappeared. In June, as the DOJ was closing in, Trump appointed Patel one of his official representatives to the National Archives for access to his presidential records. Patel has been peddling the declassified lie (which the Heritage Society has amplified as 'it doesn't matter that there is no evidence as long as Trump thought of declassifying them.') Oh, and Patel's published a children's book peddling the GOP Big Lie - The Plot Against the King. You can't make this stuff up.
Special rung in Hell for Patel, kids!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/15/trump-fbi-search-solomon-patel/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kash_Patel
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/03/us/politics/jan-6-pentagon-texts.html
GEEEEZUSSSS!🤬
Is Patel still with the Archives? Wasn't he at Bedminster today?
President Biden needs to flush out all of tfg's embedded spies from the government. Drain the swamp, as it were....
The swamp is overflowing
Indeed. Sadly, indeed.
Hi.Jeri.
Yes!
OMG! I said exactly the same thing as I finished reading lin's comment....before I got to yours.
https://www.emptywheel.net/2022/08/12/john-solomon-and-kash-patel-may-be-implicated-in-the-trump-related-espionage-act-investigation/
Another scathing report about Patel and Solomon.
🗽
Wow, thanks, my sister Christine. I can only copy Marlene's reaction: GEEEEZUSSSS!🤬
I strongly recommend reading all of the comments after reading this report from emptywheel. Talk about sizzlin'!
Just read them all, fascinating. And yes, “sizzlin’” is correct!
😱
Whaaaaaaaaat tango foxtrot?!?? 😡🤬🤯
Browsed the wikipedia on Patel. WTF?
On one side of the balance we have landmark legislation across the spectrum of domestic issues, international cooperation in action against Russian hegemony and highly visible evidence for crimes against our democratic institutions through the 1/6 committee and suggested through federal search warrants, subpoenas and hopefully, soon, indictments. On the other side of the balance we have significant traction by the MAGA acolytes across many state and congressional primary winners heading to the general election. The munitions are piling up in anticipation of a full frontal assault on, and defense of democracy in November's election, followed promptly by many declarations of intent to jump into the ring for the 2024 election. These are dramatic and consequential times for our nation. I am hoping and praying that decent Americans of all stripes will see through the barrage of money and campaign messages (alternate facts, fake news, pure wacko anti-democratic platforms, proposed exertion of power against the republic) and do something very simple; vote down the Big Lie and those who endorse it. I doubt there are many who believe that conservative values have no seat at the table in government. I'm confident that a robust majority of the electorate also believes that truth matters and that legislative debate and compromise in the interest of the American people is what the founding fathers meant for Congress, the Senate and all the colonies that became states as well as future states down the decades and centuries to follow. What will destroy our 220+ year experiment in governance by the people will be apathy and low voter turnout. We have an amazing set of events and issues that should serve to galvanize the electorate. May we have eye-popping, unbelievable voter turnout this November as well as a finely honed, aggressive attack on the political misinformation abounding through our media. Ideas matter, people matter. We need better than TV personalities and professional athletes representing us in Washington DC. We need serious, sober individuals who fully intend to swear to defend the constitution, irrespective of where they stand on the political spectrum.
"Trump’s lawyers paid computer experts to copy data from election systems in Georgia. The breach was successful and significant, although authorities maintain the machines can be secured before the next election."
I want to believe that we will have eye-popping voter turnout in November along with a guarantee that all of those votes are treated as the legitimate voice of the American people without a whiff of tampering.
Believe, but do everything you can to Get Out The Vote.
It doesn't happen by itself.
Do everything we can.......VOTE!!!!!
Truth matters.
There's an LFAA reader whose profile says "Fight Truth Decay." Appropriate for these times IMO.
FIGHT TRUTH DECAY! Stealing! Love this.
Yes, it does. And I want to be able to trust that the delivery system is just and unimpeded.
The question. Will eye-popping voter turnout overcome unprecedented Republican dirty tricks and evil strategies that we know about and some that we have no clue about. What we know is bad enough, but the evil oozing under the radar (but known all to well by Fox-watchers) is never ending. Seems the money is on the evil, at least in red Texas. Pray that I am wrong.
Exactly. It is very difficult to shake this sort of thinking.
You're right, Jeri, it's worrisome.
Yes, Nathan, yes!
I second that!
We've gone in less than a human lifetime - 77 years - from being the country that saved the world on August 15, 1945, to the country that is potentially the greatest threat to that victory if a man accused by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of "supporting those beliefs we fought against" and his followers are successful this November.
That's quite an accomplishment.
Yes but FDR had a very long and hard job getting members of Congress to agree that Hitler had to be fought as a great many of them didn't believe it was really any problem for them.....so that war could be declared and eventually won.
And then Pearl Harbor stung. If it hadn't been for the Axis, would America have entered the fray?
Japan saved us from ourselves
Hitler attacked American shipping on the North Atlantic which helped too
It was touch and go
A very sad one.
A fetid accomplishment. One that must be crushed.
🗽
It’s just disheartening, TC, and gross.
I’m glad you took a break and I’m especially glad you are back today. None of this was covered in the news. Thank you so much for teaching us and keeping us aware.
I heard it on Rachel Maddow’s and Lawrence O’Donnell’s shows on MSNBC.
I heard /read this through WaPo and NPR.
Should we believe that all the classified documents in tfg's possession have been recovered?
Also, I would be happy to hear DOJ state that they will handle the Trump case like all other ongoing investigations. Enough "exceptionalism." It's ruining this country.
If the National Guard has not been compromised by election-deniers, I'd like to see The Arrest made. Whenever it comes, it is going to provoke violence, so to me the real question is whether the violence can be contained and extinguished, instance by instance.
it's interesting that the focus has been on Mar a Lago, when the president has homes in NYC, New Jersey and elsewhere, plenty of time to visit all of those locations over the course of 4 years, not to mention business locations as well as the family cabal what frequented both wings of the White House for 4 years. The executive office was clearly a sieve for dissemination of documents up to and including top secret-identified materials. I guess you can move a lot of material in a briefcase if you have approximately 1500 days to do it.
We have been toast from the beginning, we gave a narcissistic moron the keys to the kingdom. He wasted not a nanosecond
In each future case of violence a swift and strong response will tamp down the majority of participants. Think of January 6th and the strong emotion in the videos. National Guard showed up and the rowdies melted.
I worry that in some communities the Guard itself is compromised by membership of deniers.
Judith. National Guard, police agencies of all descriptions and military are all to a point corrupted. It is still a good bit of difference when not following direct orders.
Criminal indictment....go get him Merrick!
Go Merrick!
The sleeping little giant awakes.
I am very concerned for the upcoming mid terms about the integrity of the voting machines that were breached or potentially breached in Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Arizona! It has been previously stated that once breached, it is not feasible to attempt to "reprogram" them for accurate use. This really needs to be a priority for replacement. The expense, though large, is minimal compared to the negative impact if those machines are compromised and recounts are demanded, as they should be. Do those states have paper ballots for a recount/backup? A stitch in time saves nine...
I have an alternative solution: ditch the machines altogether and go back to paper ballots. We use them here in Australia and there has (AFAIK) never been a vote count controversy.
We use paper ballots in Michigan, counted in the machine, but able to double check by hand.
Same in Massachusetts.
TN too. Compared to the dinosaurs we used to vote on, these are a walk in the park. Voters seem to like them.
MLM, I’ve not used a paper ballot to vote in TN, only machine. 🤷🏼♀️ Wonder if I can request paper?!
Chattanooga/Hamilton County have had paper & scanner voting for years. l really like it.
I guess I thought they had made their way around the state. We started using paper in August of 2020. The ballot is completed like an SAT answer form and then fed into a scanner, which records the vote. The ballot drops into a locked ballot bag and is kept by the Election Commission for a fixed period of time in case of an audit or lawsuit. The only way I know to get a paper ballot otherwise is to vote by absentee (mail).
One of the very rare occasions I’d like the “old days” option. Here’s hoping they reach my Western corner soon.
We have paper ballots in my state as well. but not all states do. Wish they did.
On Rachel’s broadcast tonight she spoke of Flynn being under investigation as the 45 was adding him to his cabinet. Didn’t President Obama warn the 45 that he should NOT hire him for any position?
Katrina, yes he did.
Flynn and Guiliani were both working for Erdowan. Manifort for the Russians
I remembered that for some reason after so
Much else that has happened
Since
But that probably made Flynn more attractive to tfg! Birds of a feather…