This afternoon, President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law. Almost immediately, it will produce results. A 30% tax credit for energy-efficient windows, heat pumps, or newer models of appliances will lower people’s energy costs; the cost of drugs will be capped at $2,000 per year for people on Medicare; and health care premiums will fall for certain Americans. In the longer term, it will be easier for the country to switch to renewable energy, and wealthy Americans and corporations will bear more of the tax burden than they have paid since the 2017 Trump tax cuts.
Ok, Liz Cheney has conceded defeat in the Wyoming GOP primary. The Trumpist won. Remember, Mitch McConnell thought he torpedoed Merrick Garland. Instead he got an AG that will not relent. Cheney just might be the Special Prosecutor that drives stakes through hearts. She is now a free agent, and a national figure of consequences. Private citizen Cheney will not go quietly into the night, and in the process may make others wish they had.
Liz Cheney will not just go quietly into the night. She is continuing to be the tugboat turning that gigantic oil tanker.
Her conclusion to her concession speech was a virtual campaign announcement: "This primary election is over. But now, the real work begins."
She is taking the long view, as she has from the moment she decided to vote to impeach Trump. Trump and Trumpers will look very different in one year than they look today to their supporters, and Liz is positioned to reel them back to the traditional Republican Party--with herself at its head.
All true - and, do not let anyone forget, Liz Cheney voted against voting rights. She applauded the Dobbs decision revoking reproductive rights and publicly called Democrats baby killers. While Liz Cheney is a strong ally against Trump, she is not our friend. We who value voting and reproductive rights for all do not want Liz Cheney running the country.
It’s true. Liz Cheney is a repub and votes repub. But I do respect her honesty. What happens to our two party system when most of the honest repubs have either been defeated, resigned or choose not to run again? The Lincoln Project tweeted, “Tonight, the nation marks the end of the Republican Party. What remains shares the name and branding of the traditional GOP, but is in fact an authoritarian nationalist cult dedicated only to Donald Trump.” What’s next is up for debate.
This is so true Joan. I will cheer her on in her efforts to trounce TFG and try to bring the GOP back to "normal," but she is still a Republican, and if I've learned anything in reading HCR's newsletters over the past year, Republican nastiness is eternal (back to when they were the Democrat party).
And the same thing with Kinzinger. He beat up Kamala Harris in Twitter for describing herself and using pronouns at a conference for people with hearing and sight disabilities. Hating Trump doesn't mean you are a decent human being.
Exactly. Wishing her well as she completes her work on J6 is understood. She has a singular focus there. But in the world outside of thwarting DJT, there are other progressive agendas she would/could crush.
I didn't realize he did that. Thank you for the reminder. TFG is so disgusting everything else looks tame by comparison, but it isn't. These reminders are really important. Thanks.
Exactly. 90% of her votes were against all that we stand for. Yet grifters in the White House make strange bedfellows. I also see this as Liz having to clean up the mess her daddy made ( or at least aided and abetted). She may yet “get rid of trump. And then she will be back to taking away more of our rights. Watch the corporate money quietly flow to her.
Joan As Churchill phrased it “The enemy of my enemy is my ally [Stalin].” I applaud Liz’s kamikaze mission against Trump and abhor most of what she represents. Remember she is a Cheney and the fruit from Dick & Lynne is pretty rotten.
I'm not going to call her rotten after all she's done for our country. Heck, if she comes to Boston and needs to borrow my car--my prize possession--she can do so as long as she can drive a stick.
As for her parents, people sometimes change for the better in old age, as James Fallows recently pointed out with respect to them. (He's known Dick since they were young men.)
That's really interesting. People do change. I might be imagining it, but I had a sense of shared respect and camaraderie watching the January 6 hearings. Interesting things can happen to both people and their belief systems when they are working together on a common goal for the common good.
David I have great admiration for James Fallows since his start at The Washington Monthly. Still, on Dick Cheney, I remember his visiting CIA ten times as. VP to slant intelligence analysis on Saddam Hussein. Indeed, Lynne, after departing NEH, turned bitter foul. Would I trust Dick or Lynnne? No!
Keith, I received an email allegedly from you asking if I had an account with Amazon. This happened once before when you had been hacked. Clearly this was a Hack gone fishing. I didn't open it, but you may want to check your email. This happened within the last 20 minutes.
But in politics as in war, the enemy of my enemy often becomes, at least temporarily, my ally. (USSR in WW2 for example.) Democrats should recognize that Ms. Cheney will not go quietly into the night. She will take many Republicans with her, wherever it is that she goes, and Democrats will gladly help pay their fare to get there, although they might not want to go there themselves.
I am so curious of what Liz knows. U don’t become #2 or
#3 that fast in the house. The daughter of Dick Cheney Must know a lot more than she is telling. She knows she will win out on J6. She knows somethings we still do not.
And whatever it is that she might know can be used as a chip for future bargaining. For example, she might offer incriminating evidence but only if the Democrats first agree to modify some of the regulatory economic measures in their agenda. And she doesn't have to be in Congress to do that.
She's not going to defeat Biden in '24. She almost certainly won't be the GOP nominee. She may well run as an independent, to siphon votes from Trump or whatever MAGA cultist gets the gop nomination, to stop them.
And she has done a superb job on the Jan 6th Committee (I've watched the hearings where she was a major player, and most of the rest).
I almost never agree with her on political issues. But as she said in her concession speech, she puts Country over party. And she is a great American.
Let’s hope. I want to think he is somehow not behind her, pulling strings, that we won’t find out she is doing all of this to somehow fulfill an evil mission.
For now, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Liz Cheney has my respect. She will debate on principles. She will not cower to threats of violence and is standing up against those who incite, intimidate through lies and Demagoguery. She has been defeated kinda like Lincoln, however like Lincoln she won the moral high ground for herself and the rest of the country.
Joan, I totally agree. However, she has shown courage and the J6 Committee couldn't have accomplished what is has if she'd not been part of it. I'd never vote for her, but at least we know what she is - unlike Manchin and Sinema.
Manchin is a big-business conservative, with family financial interests in coal and Big Pharma, who is also a Democrat. He has been consistent, and has also offered some very good advice: elect more liberals.
Sinema started with the Green Party, who have an ambivalent history in the US at best. She ran for senator as a progressive Democrat, and then sold herself to hedge fund managers and other big donors. Maybe we didn't know who she was in November 2020, but we know now.
With all the drawbacks, we are better off having those two as Democrats giving the Senate majority to the Dems, than if they were Republicans with fealty to Moscow Mitch. I look forward to electing Tim Ryan, Mandela Barnes, John Fetterman, Val Demings, and maybe even Cheri Beasley, so that Manchin and Sinema no longer make the difference of letting the Republicans block so much with the filibuster.
Joan, I agree that we're better off with Manhin and Sinema than if we lost them to Republicans. I'm aware of the reasons for their stances, but the best solution is the increasingly real possibility of enlarging our presence in the Senate, as you suggested. Now, if all of the current Trump drama, plus conservative decisions regarding gun laws and the overturn of Roe v. Wade can keep us from losing the House, perhaps the cancer that is Trump will be put into remission and Biden's term will translate to more success (i.e., dealing with the corrupt SCOTUS and at least amending the filibuster, for starters).
It’s true. Liz Cheney does not in any way hold the values and priorities that many of us share. And many of us were around for her father’s reign of terror. And, yet, but—I give her credit for speaking up and out against Trump and his despicable behaviors and frightening antics. For this, Liz is a good lighting rod.
BonnieLou can you imagine how difficult it would be to have your own party spit on you. We shouldn't, and I know you aren't, overlook what a difficult position she put herself in to do the right thing. She could have very easily just joined in with the other GOP Members, but she didn't .
I agree. Liz Cheney has ambitions like many other people. But she chose to put country over party and bravo to her for that. Like Biden, let's get behind reasonable people and push, not just criticize. Governing is hard work.
As much as I admire her courage in standing up against Trump, it is right to remember that she is not our friend. I rather wish she were, but she is not. Voting rights and abortion rights are vital.
Exactly I respect her fight for democracy but I wish she would fight voter suppression and/or advocate voting rights bill - which are fundamental to democracy. But seeing how things go for anyone remotely moderate in the GOP, she would be ousted.
I posted this link yesterday but it was late in the day and don't think many saw it so am adding it again for those that feel the GOP is redeemable and can be returned to its former self. I would like to think that myself, too. As a baby boomer my own life has been with the two-party system that has created the prosperous and (largely) progressive nation we have enjoyed, until one of the two has decided to take another path.
The threat to the two-party system is very real. This article, assuming its accuracy will give everyone pause to consider this reality.
“The Trumpists and Republicans and others who follow him don't care about democracy and a good society. It is tribalism. All they care about is their side winning. They like the white supremacy. They like the misogyny. They like the fighting and chaos. They like the idea of beating up on people they view as being below them or too different from them.” Thank you for reposting the article. I missed it yesterday.
Every death star cultist I have ever encountered is an in your face type. I had a go around with one this week on Facebook. She tried to tell me that Hunter Biden and his drug problem is the real threat to national security. I told her that she knew nothing about national security, intelligence apparatus or anything else around the serving of the warrant at Tsar-a-Loco. She complained that I referred to death star as the occupant of the WH and wasn't respectful. I responded that I had no respect for him and would not say his name or refer to him as president. I said I was done with the discussion knowing full well that she was a last worder and sure enough, she appeared in my list....didn't read it....went straight to blocking. A few people actually liked my response to her. This was on the page of an ex-student who is down the fundamental Christian rabbit hole and has a hubby who is just down the R rabbit hole. It makes very sad, but they are among the unreachable.
Fundraising by any means is their guiding principle. Governing and providing leadership is nowhere in their wheelhouse. Part of fundraising for Republicans is demonstrating that fealty to tfg and his big donors: the Kochs, Mercers, Devos', Murdoch's, etc. as well as that foreign slush fund of donation PAC money ( Russia, China, Saudi). Democracy and American power has real enemies: domestic oligarchy and hostile authoritarian regimes) and these enemies are funding the Republican Party. Citizens United legalized a new oligarch form of minority rule and hostile foreign intrusion of campaign funding. CU has to be repealed before the really hard work can be done on Climate, Inequality, tax code, Education & Health Care.
BK, thanks for posting; didn’t have time to read it all but this caught my attention :
“The Trumpists and Republicans and others who follow him don't care about democracy and a good society. It is tribalism. All they care about is their side winning. They like the white supremacy. They like the misogyny. They like the fighting and chaos. They like the idea of beating up on people they view as being below them or too different from them.”
BK, there are so often very good articles and opinions posted, that is one of the main reasons I subscribe. This article is a blockbuster must-read! I did not see this link yesterday. I am going to repost with credit to you, as all should read this!
Thank you for this link. It was refreshing! Yes, refreshing. I agree that the Democrats should have impeached Trump after Muller proved that there had been obstruction of justice. I still don't understand why they didn't. And I am beyond relieved that there are people like this author who left the Republican Party as soon as it nominated Trump. I have a friend who was a life-long Republican who left to become an Independent even before Trump because she felt the party had moved too far to the right. That was a big and courageous move on her part.
We have to embrace those people who are moving away from the neo-fascist Tumpers and work with them, despite our differences. Most of us, myself included, are not that far apart politically that we can't have a decent, respectful, and possibly even informative discussion. For instance, I would love to talk to the author of this article and see how we might get together to get rid of the neo-fascists.
Lastly, it was such a relief to hear a former Republican say loudly and clearly that all the Republicans knew who Trump was--that he was a bad man and a crook from the get-go. There was absolutely no mystery about this and yet they nominated, elected, and continued to support him regardless.
This article made so much sense and I thank you for sharing it.
Thank you for that. I've written 100 of my 500 register-to-vote postcards and I'm going to plug along until I've written all 500 of them. MAGA out now.
Liz Cheney is our ally in the only fight that matters at this moment in time: democracy versus autocracy and fascism. I'm glad she's on the side of democracy.
Liz Cheney deserves credit for having led the Jan 6 committee with integrity and balance. I don’t like her voting history, but I’m willing to allow her to remain her patriotic self, and try to help rid us of ALL Trumpism. People do morph and change. She also changed her attitude towards gay people. She can and has changed. My Democratic heart is giving her a hand up.
Be careful what you hope for...the woman has integrity (for now) but she is still a solid Republican.
In early 2016 when there were those certain trump could never win, I was one of those saying, 'it isn't over till it's over'. My gut feeling was uneasy. Well, my gut feeling is uneasy where Cheney is concerned. Just sayin'.
I think it is wise to be cautious. Democrats tend to be optimists and embrace the good news. But the Republicans have proved how ruthless they can be in so many ways over the past five years, especially that I'm not running in for an embrace right now. Goal one is to win as many Democratic races as possible and grind TFG and Co. into the dust. Now that would be satisfying, wouldn't it?
You are all so confused, so thoroughly brainwashed, that it would be slightly funny if it wasn't terrifying. Liz Cheney??? Are you kidding me? Absolutely pathetic.
That is not only sizzlin’, Ellie. That is exactly correct. Wyoming will rue their fake redness. They gave up their opportunity to have the true Republican nominee for President from their state.
There is no “us” or “them” when it comes to democracy and keeping trump out of the Oval Office. There’s one side and it represents a lot of people from different paths, parties, and particulars.
The defeat of Liz Cheney marks the end of the last glimmer of hope that the Republican Party might regain its footing as a legitimate conservative political movement. Instead, it has committed to being no more than a criminal gang, devoted to destroying democracy in the service of an overwhelmingly white, mainly “Christian” elite dedicated (knowingly or not) to serving the interests of a coterie of wealthy individuals and corporations. In so doing the “party” has hastened its doom.
Actually, I am over any interest in Republican reform. That is up to the members of that particular (and currently rogue) party. I am interested in restoring and expanding civil rights and preserving democracy. Rule by conspiracy theorists, evangelical Christians, nazis, and white supremacists is enough to worry about. And since the Republican Party has been complicit in aiding and abetting the same I couldn't care less what happens to them. Something better might actually take their place. All bets are off. Onward.
I'm with YOU, Susan Troy. There's nothing left to reform of the Republican party. They've been going downhill since even BEFORE Reagan came along. He nailed shut their coffin, doing as much damage as he could before even Nancy couldn't speak for his crooked, undemocratic, and criminal ass. It's time NOW for the rest of us to heal and recover, and take the lead.
Jon what you skip over is that she LOST to a Trump-boosted candidate. Yes the Rethugs have changed into the anti-democracy party - that started with Reagan. WE have a lot of work to do. And Liz has done a lot off it for us and the entire country.
It already is. I'm seeing more trucks driving around with the Trump 2024 flags and black flags. Pretty much everyday they are standoffs with the FBI. It's not going to get better just because Biden tells them to knock it off. The closer Garland circles Trump the more heightened it will be.
I would hope so. However, Utah and Idaho demographics are very different from Colorado and Nevada. Idaho is a defacto 1 party state, save for Boise and Blaine County. It is probably a mistake to stereotype a majority of Hispanics vote Democrat. Utah has the LDS Church embedded in their govt and education system. Idaho is hard right with roots from the confederacy, mining, logging, Ranching. Idaho has only one large city, and the Colleges and Universities are mostly in smaller more rural towns. These towns are dependent on big Ag to drive their economies. Idaho has big money from agriculture, exporting over 30 billion, that rivals only Texas and California, that funds campaigns and keeps hard line “yes men” in office. Idaho is last or near in every category of education. Climate change and less snow fall throughout the west will contribute to slower growth of cities, this migration is what changes states from Red to blue. Big Ag will have to move again to where the water is and where environmental laws are lax) as is already happening ( out of Arizona and California to Colorado and Idaho). So in the west what states will follow Colorado, NM, and Nevada? I’d bet on Arizona and Montana before Utah. I feel strongly Idaho will be the last stronghold of radicalism, it’s culture, history, levels of education, and concentration of one party and one industry as the driver of its economy that concentrates wealth upward will keep it that way for several more decades. Until?
I recall the changes in the potato industry as the children of the growers left to pursue their educations in fields other than potatoes. I hauled potatoes from the growers to all cities American. Growers were dismayed that their own bloodlines hence the futures of the farms were at stake. They became more dependent on Hispanic managers to handle field operations and Hispanic speaking field hands. Owners began to realize these men were intelligent human beings and as the years progressed they became the long term solution. Ownership began to change not only at the grower level but the processing plants as well. This process of immigration is and has been occurring throughout agricultural industry’s in Washington Colorado Montana North Dakota Idaho California, Florida, etc. Kansas’ potato chip industry has gone that route as well. Utah, the Mormon anomaly, gets its wealth from from religious cultism and ownership of most of Idaho along with Wyoming and Montana tentacles which also reach into Colorado and Arizona. As this population changes from majority white domination, my own observations lead me to believe we will have more political changes for the better. That is if we can manage to hand down a democracy.
As the western population grows, competition for water will be the major factor. As California has shown, Cities with diverse economies, economic opportunities, social mobility, versus big agriculture. One is expanding, one is consolidating. The western states can not sustain both cultures.
In an interview Adam Kinzinger said, "Liz Cheney will chase Trump to the gates of hell." Truly, that's all I want her to do is lock him behind those gates and toss the key. She has the tenacity and brains to do it.
Agreed and then some. But, seriously, Trump is damaged good (classic NPD- narcissistic personality disorder) and it's hard to lock them up or out. What do you do with this guy? Hitler committed suicide and they put Napoleon on an island. In learning more about NPD it seems the only thing short of a stake through the heart (also tempting) is to isolate them.
Well, I'm also going back to basics - love thine enemy. Not the sentimental love that feels good, but the spiritual practice of affirming that they are a child of God/Spirit/Universe/Source/Non physical just as I am, and the belief that such an affirmation has power. After I fantasize about that stake through the heart!!
Thanks for that. You made me laugh and I really needed to do that today. Having Trump and his lies broadcast over and over again makes me think about what it must be like to be pursued by an abusive spouse. A total nightmare.
Oh good, making folks laugh is one of my favorite things to do!! I'm going to post this in todays comments later today, but just for you - if you like Randy Rainbow (I adore his talent and his knowledge of the broadway musical!) this may also help with Trump abuse syndrome.
Standing by to hear Liz’s Maga Fascist opponent make a total fool of herself and a joke for all of Wyoming, and an embarrassment of American Democracy. Those elected by a lie, will not be able to govern for long.
Ted - unfortunately those elected by a lie do tend to govern for a long time. T is one big ball of a lie and he's still in charge! And then there are liars like McConnell and McCarthy and Cruz and Gaetz and Boebert and Greene and Jordan and ........ It's absolutely amazing that people can be that gullible or that plain stupid to keep voting for these destructive liars.
Ted, in such a red state, even one term will be enough to do a great deal of damage. Just look at the fallout from Trump's tenure. I just hope that Garland will be able to make it unpalatable for others to imitate him for much longer. Unfortunately, these cretins seem impervious to shame.
She knew exactly what the result would be when she joined the Committee, but she has the advantage of being a member of Republican royalty, so her options are significant, including as a Special Prosecutor, or a run for the presidency once the Republican party either comes to its senses or its current sane base forms another party from its ruins. That is not to diminish Cheney. Her voluntary participation with the J6 Committee and her help in orchestration of its presentations was brave and patriotic. I wish there were more people like her in the Republican party. She has grit.
In her speech she referred to Lincoln's losing elections for house and senate before becoming president. I wondered if she was drawing a comparison w/o actually saying it. I have to admit, listening to her speech, I was fascinated that I could feel such love and admiration for someone with whose policies I've been so opposed to! Can't wait to see how she continues her commitment to never let T***p near the White house ever again!
I love the idea of Lz Cheney as a special prosecutor carrying out the death of tRump and his thugs....if they aren't already wearing orange suits by then.
I had to read this paragraph twice to make sure I hadn't misread it:
"In the search to figure out how and why the text messages from Secret Service members from the time around January 6, 2021, were purged, Inspector General Joseph Cuffari, who hid the destruction from Congress for more than a year, today refused to step down from the investigation. He also said that he would not provide the documents lawmakers wanted to see, or permit House committees to interview his colleagues."
Cuffari appears to be acting like his benefactor: breaking the law, ignoring the rules, refusing to cooperate with those trying to investigate serious wrongdoing and behaving as if he doesn't have to answer to anyone. This Trump appointee is a pathetic disgrace. Why hasn't he been fired yet?
Cuffari should be a person of interest in the investigation into who destroyed evidence of a possible (definitely more probable than not) crime. If a person of interest in a crime is caught destroying evidence of that crime, they have just admitted guilt through their actions and should be arrested and prosecuted as someone who has admitted guilt. Actions speak louder than words. That should hold true for admission of guilt.
It’s situations like these that I feel punch us in the gut most. WHY is he still in his position? This action should trigger at least an administrative leave untI’ll the issue is resolved. He has deputies to take over is day-to-day. When we DON’T see accountability is powerful people is when we lose the public trust.
I understand to some degree that we want to be careful about sanctioning people in important positions (ask Alexander Vindman) because unscrupulous people weaponize false charges. But ultimately we have to hold people whose actions disproportionately affect the lives of others to a higher standard than ordinary citizens; as there are stricter rules of psychiatrists, airline pilots, architects, etc, than for more prosaic workers. How do we regard a doctor who, for reasons of negligence, has lost the lives of an extraordinary number of patients; and yet the rich and technologically advanced USA has led the world in COVID deaths.
“Because power corrupts, society’s demands for moral authority and character increase as the importance of the position increases.” - John Adams
Agree. How is it he has the “option” to step down from the investigation? I think it is time for OIG to clean house a bit - time to exterminate those moles.
So when is the vote scheduled? I mean he's not serving as a watchdog for the public,. Instead, he's emerged as a key figure covering up the role of the Secret Service and DHS in the attempted coup. Pelosi and Schumer need to make Cuffari's removal a priority when the summer recess ends.
I just stumbled through the alphabet soup of Cuffari’s first report. The gist of it seems to be two whines: 1. We got knocked down over our reporting of threats in Portland. 2. Those tasked with assessing threats were undertrained newbies. I can’t help but see his report as an all too familiar equivalency between Portland and Jan 6. Methinks he’s pouting. https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2022-04/OIG-22-29-Mar22-Redacted.pdf
I just read about half of this. I'd dearly love to read the stuff on Portland. The gist of the two "whines" you listed are really interesting to me.
1. Portland: The "threats" were GREATLY exaggerated and the dangers of "antifa" were such a tiny component of the protests there that their threat assessment seems to have been based on political beliefs rather than actual information. In the PNW, law enforcement has been dealing with the anarchist/antifa movement since the late 1990's (the WTO in Seattle was kind of the christening for that) and know that their main threat is damage to property and disruption to commerce.
2. Undertrained "newbies". In the first place, whose fault is it that your intelligence people are undertrained? After the Portland fiasco, the level of training and intel assessment should have been a top priority. I'm retired from local law enforcement, and sitting at my desk across the country, looking at social media and news reports, I could tell that something nasty was afoot.
At least it begins to look like the failures of Jan 6 were not as much a command and control failure as an intel failure, but I'm not convinced that there weren't decisions made for "optics" that cost the men and women who responded to that threat dearly.
"First, the removal process for IGs should be clarified. IGs do not have a term of office and can be removed by the President. According to the IG Act, the President has to give the reasons for the dismissal to Congress and wait 30 days before removing the IG, which is intended to discourage the removal of IGs for partisan reasons."
Yes, very strong rat smell... "We will consider." Ah, THEY will deign to consider, will they? Yes, he has the look. Central casting again. He should keep out of underground car parks.
Cuffari seems to be a bit confused about who actually runs this country. Somebody please tell him it is not the DSH, although a lot of us who live in areas patrolled by BP and ICE feel like we live in occupied territory. The agencies under DHS ignore the laws our legislature passes and what our governor sets as policy. All of us know that our freedom is at risk if we happen to be in the way, and that is especially true if your skin is brown (or your appearance even suggestive of non-white).
With this man as "Inspector General", whose job is supposedly to monitor an agency's adherence to its intended mission AS DEFINED BY CONGRESS, no wonder DHS seems like an entity unto itself. It needs to be dismantled, the purpose of each of the separated entities re-evaluated, and each should be assigned its own Inspector General who knows for whom he/she is actually working. Cuffari seems to be pretty confused about that, and should be removed. Time for some letter-writing and phone calls.
I quickly researched Cuffari. Lied about his education. Has a Ph.D in management from an online for-profit university (this one specifically referred to as a degree mill . . .) and pardon me for judging someone by their looks, but Cuffari is straight out of central casting for grifter looking Trump supporters.
My sentiments exactly. The Inspector General is a flunky???? Well, should be no surprise, chump was an expert at finding the cretins who would be bought with empty promises. BTW, those promises are what keeps the crooks in line. Pardons anyone? Investigations disappearing? Investigations as revenge? The cult has moles everywhere. Do we have enough trustworthy law enforcement. That is the question ..
Excellent question. Given where I see my cop friends going with their "sincerely held beliefs" I have NO confidence that we have trustworthy law enforcement, especially at the federal level. Although it is possible that the targeted and personal attacks against the FBI might be enough to break through their holy alliance to tfg.
Same questions I had, thanks. What, other than Hubris, gives this guy the idea that he's in a position to do that? He would do well to remember that "pride goeth before a fall".
These types have never heard or understood those lessons. Most of the wisdom we take for granted is lost on them. If they read at all, it's some tacky self-help book on how to screw over everybody else and win. That is their full credo and creed.
Because Biden and the Democrats are absolutely feckless. Unless the legislative or Executive Orders will benefit the corporate donors; then you can 100% count on them.
hmm...count up the major legislative efforts that have passed, compare them to the last few administrations in their first 2 years and get back to me on the support for "feckless".
Patient, persistent, able and willing to talk until consensus is reached, non-self-aggrandizing, what other adjectives should I list to describe the difference between this government and the last? And, this without a veto-proof majority. I think the experience and political maturity of this administration and Democratic leadership in both houses is beginning to reveal itself. There was a ton of garbage to shovel out on top of a pandemic to start the term, took some time to get traction, but now we're seeing the fruits of all that labor. The garbage of the last government is still being sorted for misplaced documents and evidence for criminal behavior; an extra burden on us ALL as we attempt to look and think forward. I'd like to just forget it, but that would simply encourage all of it to be repeated ad nauseum.
❤️ Well spoken, Nathan. Thank you for your insightful take on fecklessness. How in the world does someone come up with that given the accomplishments of this administration, especially compared with the disintegration of the previous, truly feckless administration?
yup...the definition of feckless; "lacking initiative or strength of character; irresponsible". Who does that describe, after all? The combination of destructive characteristics we endured from tfg is almost beyond belief when you seek to fully encapsulate it. He has certainly made his mark on history, sort of like Caligula, except that the roman version met an end more appropriate to his misdeeds.
feckless? Uh, been watching too much Faux News, by the sound of it. Going up against a "over our dead body" Repub controlled Senate is hard work and it appears as if Biden has come out ahead on a number of big items. Of course all the trumpettes don't see it that way; those bits of progess isn't in the benefit of Repub/trump love affair with big business. Maybe time for a look-see into what's really happening, don't ya think?
Feckless compared to what?? We aren't naive. We just know how rotten the other party is, and the Democrats are passing laws that will benefit real people.
Unless you want a government system engaged in a pissing contest to the bottom, comparing one feckless party to the other fascist party and calling the feckless party's legislation a "success" makes no sense whatsoever.
No. We hold all elected leaders accountable for their feckless servitude to the corporations that are running this shit show. Including the political party we happen to prefer. And we don't try to gaslight each other in an effort to win political points that most certainly are not earned. FWIW and IMHO - any government that celebrates passing infrastructure clearly doesn't understand that maintaining our damn infrastructure is the very minimum that should be done every year! See what I mean? Let's just be real about what this is and quit playing political theater with each other.
Good luck! Politicians make a lot of trade-offs working their way up to the national level. I just vote for the least awful, and sometimes we get something.
" maintaining our damn infrastructure is the very minimum that should be done every year..."
Shawna, I absolutely agree. That should be the baseline. But the fact is that for four years we had a government that failed to do that, and made every effort to dismantle important parts of the existing infrastructure, including democracy itself.
The current administration has had to fight like hell to get things back on track. It took skill, and experience, and determination as well as a commitment not to give up, but we are seeing the results. The Biden administration came through for the people and our hope for a meaningful future. We avoided the attempt to turn our government into an autocracy, and we're still not our of the woods. I agree with that corporations have way too much influence, and hope that now we can really begin to deal with regulation of corporate business, election funding reforms, and other things that have gotten lost or set aside during the decades controlled by corporate-oriented Congresses operating under the guise of "personal rights". Yeah, right.
I think that the Biden administration and all of us have the right to celebrate. I hope we are now on the path to getting the people's business done without constant obstruction, and with the honest participation of people of many perspectives that can help decision-makers craft viable policy.
Not sure what you mean by the term "political theater". It's feels dismissive, as if we haven't been watching what has been going on for not just the last 6 years, but for the last 40 years to distance our country from its commitment to the ideals of the Declaration of Independence and the tentative steps of the Constitution toward implementing those ideals.
Yes, there are at times some performative displays on this forum. It usually is tuned out and gives way to thoughtful and often insightful discussion. And sometimes that evolves into goofiness. I hope that is ok with you. Because, you see, we have become a community of people who, like all communities, have come to see each other as whole human beings who share bits about themselves, and that helps us reach deeper into the issues that affect all our lives.
Geez, now I need to get another cup of coffee. My brain just wasn't ready for that much output this earlier in the day.
Now I'm going to do something that I avoided because for me, it just didn't feel right. Right now, for some reason, it does:
Do you disagree with the substance of the legislation? Or is it simply that the "feckless" party and not the "fascist" party came up with it? If the latter is true, you can count me as a proud feckless. If the former, what do you propose we do about the existential problems facing our constitutional republic and world?
The substance of the so-called Inflation Reduction Act is a pretty good example of the kind of feckless legislation our feckless government is capable of; it nibbles at the edges of some of our major problems we face but doesn't go nearly far enough to really solve or address anything. What I propose we do is get real about what it's going to take so we can finely implement solutions that will actually allow our people to live in security and dignity. It took us decades to get here; it will take at least that and more to dig our way out. But we can't do that until we actually get real with each other.
you made my point. digging our way out will take time. And, beating the draft horse all the way to the barn doesn't seem like the best approach to me. Again, politics is the art of the possible; Labeling the party making attempts at reform to be a bunch of craven carpet-baggers even as the other party has completely spun off the rails doesn't seem all that helpful to me. One holds up ideals, seeks ways to move towards them, finds inducements and disincentives to move the body politic in the correct direction without resorting to petty squabbles that drive people into their corners and slowly, the sausage gets made. Even that seems impossible at times, but look what just happened in the last 30 days; somehow against all imagination, major pieces of legislation passed. SOMETHING has been accomplished, however imperfect. The "gun control" measure was frankly embarrassing, but it represents what was possible under the current circumstance.
Some of this is the price we pay for neo-liberalism, which Bill Clinton mightily served. These so-called public-private partnerships, where the private sector gains a lot and the public sector gains peanuts.
I agree to an extent with your premise. I find that all too often the comments here are cheering in support of a party that has all too often failed to act on the threat posed by the right since Reagan.
I admit that the Dems were asleep at the wheel several times and especially when Trump got elected. That election forced us little people to engage in politics like never before. We should be triumphant in areas that we helped to convince our reps that we mean business. I, personally, will not let anyone take that away from me. Our government was infiltrated by the worst of the worse and after two years of a massive clean-up, discoveries were made and are being aggressively pursued. We renewed the trust of our allies and foreign nations. We are assisting in the fighting of Putin’s assault on Ukraine. We passed a major bill for giving money back to the population which will help pull the indigent out of poverty and to make our environment safe to exist in. If that’s not progress, I don’t know what is! We crawled out of a damn cave and can see a light now. We have a lot of work to do, still and that’s okay. We will cut through the proverbial thorns that the Pro-Rape Party puts up. Yes, we will!
Thanks for this post Marlene. I was getting ready to just walk away from the computer. We need to stay positive, as hard as it is. There are so many things that could be improved in our country if those in power thought of their oaths and not themselves only.
Obama promised 'hope and change' and then brought neither. Clinton facilitated the export of middle class jobs and ended Glass-Steagall which facilitated the eventual Great Recession which Obama and his A/G Holder refused to hold any financial institutions accountable for. And this is from the political party whose values are supposed to support the PEOPLE. When Biden promised his donor class that "nothing would fundamentally change", he wasn't kidding.
Obviously election reform would help quite a lot, but with the other massive problems we're facing I don't see the political will emerging. Canada does have pretty good control of their election process, but according to some who live there, there is still plenty of public property being sold off.
The things that this Congress has achieved despite the Republican’s attempts otherwise is nothing short of miraculous. Now it is up to those of us who value the country’s democratic values to make sure we share the news/facts of these accomplishments, and also make sure everyone knows that their Republican representatives in Congress voted AGAINST these bills. I saw President Biden’s press conference today in which he forcefully did just that.
I've lost track of how many excuses Trump has used to explain why he had Top Secret classified documents at Mar-a-Lardo. It boils down to "Mine! Mine! Mine!" He needs a lengthy time-out...in an orange jumpsuit...in a cell... with a stainless steel toilet. No more gold toilets for you!
Thank goodness for you HCR. So appreciate your letters and your Tuesday politics chat. Hope you are doing well, that you get some sleep, wedding planning is good, and that you have some tiny semblance of how much you mean.
I will be brief: the actions of the president are laudable. Historic. Economically-nation-altering. But the president and the Dems will get nothing from it outside their own house. My prediction.
The struggles to explain/pivot/blame others by the Orang are just that: struggles. Now it’s Meadow’s fault. Eventually the blame game will play out and nobody wants to play duck-duck-goose/gray duck once the stakes are criminal… it will come down to the simple fact that 45 did what he always does: acted above the law. The Archivists (I’ve been scolded for referring to them as ‘librarians’ even though it was just a metaphor) have presented a cogent argument that was the basis for a warrant. Nothing more. If it were able to be resolved in a more discreet fashion, it would have and I trust them for exhausting their remedies.
Our Nation can’t have top-secret materials sitting next to Christmas lights in the basement at Maralago. This should infuriate every American that this is the level of RESPECT given these documents, whether “declassified” or not… there’s no excuse: but 45 just keeps trying.
Wouldn’t any parent simply ask that a child admit to the wrong-doing and expect a mea-culpa when caught? Think about that.
His extreme narcissism resembles that of all other despots who feel they are totally entitled to take whatever they want and f the rest. Self-absorption, greed and power are very, very dangerous mixes. I said this in Nov. 2016 and lost friends over what was so damned obvious, but I guess you have to have studied history to understand the absolute danger of the really feckless party of white supremacist nazis masquerading as Christians. Can we finally say it now without getting blocked and shut down?
I just watched the Woodstock '99 documentary. This happened right after our first massacre of young people by a weapon of mass destruction at Columbine. I don't know how I missed how violent a percentage of the 200,000 young people became, but that raw, brutal, destructive mob energy is what the small percentage of our homegrown nazi-like citizens are demonstrating-- encouraged by a despotic party willing to burn down our democracy like the young people who burned down Woodstock '99, love, peace and brotherhood be damned. The leaders of the destruction of our democracy need to be quietly whisked away and then put on public trial. Our military and Natl. Guard needs to be vetted on who supports nazis and who supports our democracy and cleaned out. Public trials similar to the J6 Committee should be provided so all Americans can be educated by Facts instead of faux fiction. And I do think it is time for habeas corpus to be suspended until the wannabe nazis are dealt with. I may sound radical, but I saw this in 2016 and it is not going to get better if we do not pre-emptively protect ourselves and our country from these madmen (and a few madwomen) supported by hostile domestic and foreign entities.
I watched Woodstock 99 and arrived at the same conclusion. It was like a preview of what was coming down the road 23 years later. Thank you for your comment.
❤️ It was unnerving to watch that documentary and what humans are capable as a mob energy. Both sides -- the money makers and the mob did nothing constructive for one another. It did not do my heart well in light of the current radical anti-democracy mob energy...
“In his year and a half in office, Biden has demonstrated the opposite: that government can work. The measures that Democrats, and those Republicans who are willing to work across the aisle, have passed are enormously popular: lower medical costs, including a provision finalized today for over-the-counter hearing aids; bridge repair; broadband access; and investment in science.”
General Grant, President Abraham Lincoln “and all who fought in our nation’s tragic Civil War, including my own great-great-grandfathers, saved our union. Their courage saved freedom, and if we listen closely, they are speaking to us down through generations. We must not idly squander what so many have fought and died for.” https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/17/us/politics/liz-cheney-concession-speech.html
Is there a white board somewhere on which Trump keeps scribbling his lies and excuses for stealing secret national security documents from the federal government? If not, how does he keep track of them all, some contradictory?
Of course he hasn't pronounced publicly this astounding claim about the documents that the NYT reported today: "It not theirs, it's mine." In other words, he confessed to felony crimes, including violating the Espionage Act. And there are witnesses.
The breaking news I long for is bigger than Trump's eventual indictment, whether on federal or state charges or hopefully both. That news is evidence that he sold top secret documents to foreign interests for millions of dollars, putting the nation and those who work to protect it in danger.
THIS to me is the big news of the day...and tomorrow! "It not theirs, it's mine." It proves 'specific intent' to commit the crime. It obviates all defenses. Two witnesses (including Philbin?)...hopefully the crime exception to the attorney-client privilege allows for it's admission by Philbin, otherwise it is impeachment evidence then admissible to rebut a defense of 'oh my I did not know'. IF true, Heather is reporting a leak of info here, THIS ties the knot in the noose for a high probability of conviction for crimes along the lines listed in Search Warrant. So far, there has not been direct explicit evidence of any crimes (even the call to GA-Sec of State didn't say manufacture but rather 'find', though that is approaching explicit), rather inferences are needed, which are permissible in law but open to, in some manner, arguable alternative explanations which then get rebutted by other facts. BUT this statement is the coup de grâce to any discussion about crimes related to those papers. Wonder if Merrick Garland waited until he had that statement before getting the Search Warrant so his case would be airtight?
George Conway has a piece in the Washingtopn post that replicates the script Trump has used so many time. It has to do with cookies... https://wapo.st/3bZ2PR5
I have been waiting for him to finally admit he is dyslexic and use that as a reason why either he wouldn't have taken them (ie "why? who reads?") or that he didn't understand what they said.
Admit he has a fault? I admit, far fetched. But I also believe he'll do anything to save his skin.
Good morning all. Here on the western edge of Missouri we are, frankly, talking less about the neofascists in our midst and more about "innovative" (read really, really old) ways of grazing cattle--by creating copses of trees and encouraging the use of the wooded areas as "living barns" that provide shade, keep the area cooler, and act as carbon sponges. I heard the MAGIC WORDS this morning on NPR, which had picked up one of our local stories for the national feed (that aired 4 days ago): “That habitat was created intentionally by a lot of indigenous communities that lived here,” said Ashley Conway-Anderson, an agroforestry professor at the University of Missouri. “Intentionally managed with fire, and then once fire opened things up, what came next was grass and what came next was large grazing herbivores.” https://www.kcur.org/2022-08-12/getting-cattle-into-the-forest-could-help-climate-change-farmers-and-the-livestock I cannot tell you how important this is: the longest-lived Big Lie in US history has been the Big Lie of the Empty Land. White people claimed that the First Nations people didn't exist, and when confronted with them, that they were "primitives" who did not manipulate the land to derive benefits. To hear someone at the Ag school at Mizzou admit that First Nations people knew what the f**k they were doing warmed my heart in the middle of all of this nonsense.
Second thought of the day: I knew Cheney would lose, but when I heard the news this morning, I instantly thought that Randy Rainbow should write a song about her, to the tune of "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina." And of course, I began constructing lyrics in my head: "Don't cry for me, Grand Old Party: the truth is you f**ked me over. I did my duty; you all are crazy. I kept my promise--now go and bite me . . ."
"the longest-lived Big Lie in US history has been the Big Lie of the Empty Land." Thank you! Finally, people are waking up to this fact and incorporating that knowledge into policy. United Shades of America just aired a program on this topic.
Reporting on Tax law changes remind me of an costume drama about English nobility with their estate.
The heir says something like -'We must maintain the estate to provide employment for those supporting the estate for the benefit of us all." Employment such as maids, cooks, gardeners and farm labor.
Same GOP argument from employers like Walmart and Amazon. Both employe thousands of low paying retail and warehouse positions earning corporate profits and shareholder wealth increase. The GOP helps further complains these same employees earn so little they often qualify for food stamps, Medicaid etc. These programs allow businesses not to pay a living wage. The government benefits is a huge transfer of wealth to Corporations. An artificially low minimum wage sweetens corporate wealth- as many states to require beneficiaries to work minimum amount. This creates another pool of cheap labor with the real cost of benefits and a substantial savings in labor cost create more corporate wealth.
What telegenic salesman Reagan was really selling was neo-feudalism. The founders rebelled against inherited titles, yet recreated even more sociopathic versions of feudal estates as slave plantations. I got sick of hearing Republicans bang on about "job creators", while funneling more and more money to the very rich, money that was used to buy back stock, not hire workers. Nobody hires for the hell of it. They hire to serve and profit from a market. But what is a market but people with money to spend, money they derive, for the most part, from jobs. And where people have money to spend, business is drawn like a magnet, even to the very remote and dangerous Yukon in the gold rush there. In Reaganese, "supply side" is the rich; but that's rubbish.
“Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.” - Lincoln
Middle class Americans indirectly benefit from retirement investments in corporations. Corporate raiders who killed unions and defined benefit pension plans- pocketed the spoils - at the expense of blue collar worker's living wage.
Anything that protects or aids workers, such as minimum wage, is angrily denounced by the "GOP" as "job killing"; but massive mergers and "downsizing", perma-temps and "gig" employment, and massive offshoring, that proceeded even in the depths of "Great Recession" unemployment is "efficiency".
"The GOP helps further complains these same employees earn so little they often qualify for food stamps, Medicaid etc."
I don't know if the story was true, but someone commenting on a blog claimed that one of the things he was handed when he applied for a job at Walmart was a handout on how to apply for "food stamps".
As usual, the Republicans don't want to reach across the aisle, they want to be both sides of the aisle. So short a time ago, they were bewailing the nasty Democrat's defunding of the police but are now saying that the police are the problem in America. Not just whataboutism, it's WTFism.
Liz Cheney made a concession speech to our nation and the world. It transcends Wyoming or Republican politics. And yet I have been unable to locate a complete version of that speech through Google or major news outlets. The C-Span version was longer but one could not navigate to it after the fact, only seeing an error message that it had been permanently moved.
The inability to obtain news of record is a scandal and another way that our national fabric is breaking down. Does anyone have access to her full speech or at least a full transcript? If so, could you post it please? And have you found reliable sources for the complete versions of such news of record?
I think Cheney's best contribution would be a run for president in 2024, at least through the primaries, if her goal is truly to deny TFG the White House, to adequately split the vote that he is "primaried" out of the GOP race for candidacy. This presumes that a "silent majority" actually still exists under the party flag.
HCR, I appreciate that you owned up to your initial low expectation of Biden while acknowledging his experience in foreign affairs. And with the slim margins that he has to deal with in the House and Senate, he has worked hard and passed a Big Deal indeed ! Joe Biden is a Senior Citizen and a hard worker whose heart is in the right place. It's always easier to tear something down than it is to build something up. Thanx for being our news source HCR.
I think the imbecile credulity of the Trumpist true believers is a logical outgrowth, metastasis, of the Republican Politics of Faith by which belief replaced reason. However hypocritical and cynical the American Catholic establishment is, American Evangelicalism leaves it in the dust. (Buckley to Bannon vs Billie Graham to the latest unindicted Evangelical.)
In this instance, despite the presence and participation of other religious extremist groups, America today is certainly the most Christian of nations - in the worst way.
Ok, Liz Cheney has conceded defeat in the Wyoming GOP primary. The Trumpist won. Remember, Mitch McConnell thought he torpedoed Merrick Garland. Instead he got an AG that will not relent. Cheney just might be the Special Prosecutor that drives stakes through hearts. She is now a free agent, and a national figure of consequences. Private citizen Cheney will not go quietly into the night, and in the process may make others wish they had.
Liz Cheney will not just go quietly into the night. She is continuing to be the tugboat turning that gigantic oil tanker.
Her conclusion to her concession speech was a virtual campaign announcement: "This primary election is over. But now, the real work begins."
She is taking the long view, as she has from the moment she decided to vote to impeach Trump. Trump and Trumpers will look very different in one year than they look today to their supporters, and Liz is positioned to reel them back to the traditional Republican Party--with herself at its head.
All true - and, do not let anyone forget, Liz Cheney voted against voting rights. She applauded the Dobbs decision revoking reproductive rights and publicly called Democrats baby killers. While Liz Cheney is a strong ally against Trump, she is not our friend. We who value voting and reproductive rights for all do not want Liz Cheney running the country.
But, we want her to invoke as much damage as possible to Trump. She is in a position to do that.
Agree. I just want her to defeat tfg.
David and Goliath?
It’s true. Liz Cheney is a repub and votes repub. But I do respect her honesty. What happens to our two party system when most of the honest repubs have either been defeated, resigned or choose not to run again? The Lincoln Project tweeted, “Tonight, the nation marks the end of the Republican Party. What remains shares the name and branding of the traditional GOP, but is in fact an authoritarian nationalist cult dedicated only to Donald Trump.” What’s next is up for debate.
This is so true Joan. I will cheer her on in her efforts to trounce TFG and try to bring the GOP back to "normal," but she is still a Republican, and if I've learned anything in reading HCR's newsletters over the past year, Republican nastiness is eternal (back to when they were the Democrat party).
And the same thing with Kinzinger. He beat up Kamala Harris in Twitter for describing herself and using pronouns at a conference for people with hearing and sight disabilities. Hating Trump doesn't mean you are a decent human being.
Exactly. Wishing her well as she completes her work on J6 is understood. She has a singular focus there. But in the world outside of thwarting DJT, there are other progressive agendas she would/could crush.
I didn't realize he did that. Thank you for the reminder. TFG is so disgusting everything else looks tame by comparison, but it isn't. These reminders are really important. Thanks.
Exactly. 90% of her votes were against all that we stand for. Yet grifters in the White House make strange bedfellows. I also see this as Liz having to clean up the mess her daddy made ( or at least aided and abetted). She may yet “get rid of trump. And then she will be back to taking away more of our rights. Watch the corporate money quietly flow to her.
Joan As Churchill phrased it “The enemy of my enemy is my ally [Stalin].” I applaud Liz’s kamikaze mission against Trump and abhor most of what she represents. Remember she is a Cheney and the fruit from Dick & Lynne is pretty rotten.
I'm not going to call her rotten after all she's done for our country. Heck, if she comes to Boston and needs to borrow my car--my prize possession--she can do so as long as she can drive a stick.
As for her parents, people sometimes change for the better in old age, as James Fallows recently pointed out with respect to them. (He's known Dick since they were young men.)
That's really interesting. People do change. I might be imagining it, but I had a sense of shared respect and camaraderie watching the January 6 hearings. Interesting things can happen to both people and their belief systems when they are working together on a common goal for the common good.
Well said. Thanks!
David I have great admiration for James Fallows since his start at The Washington Monthly. Still, on Dick Cheney, I remember his visiting CIA ten times as. VP to slant intelligence analysis on Saddam Hussein. Indeed, Lynne, after departing NEH, turned bitter foul. Would I trust Dick or Lynnne? No!
That stuff is nearly two decades in the past, and Dick, at least, is in his 80s. But I'd want to verify before I trusted.
David, I agree 100%.
Thanks Linda.
Keith, I received an email allegedly from you asking if I had an account with Amazon. This happened once before when you had been hacked. Clearly this was a Hack gone fishing. I didn't open it, but you may want to check your email. This happened within the last 20 minutes.
Fern just fishing
I get the same with different emails
Thank you, Keith.
Cheers!
Yes, Joan, we must remember that she is not an ally of the Dems.
But in politics as in war, the enemy of my enemy often becomes, at least temporarily, my ally. (USSR in WW2 for example.) Democrats should recognize that Ms. Cheney will not go quietly into the night. She will take many Republicans with her, wherever it is that she goes, and Democrats will gladly help pay their fare to get there, although they might not want to go there themselves.
I am so curious of what Liz knows. U don’t become #2 or
#3 that fast in the house. The daughter of Dick Cheney Must know a lot more than she is telling. She knows she will win out on J6. She knows somethings we still do not.
And whatever it is that she might know can be used as a chip for future bargaining. For example, she might offer incriminating evidence but only if the Democrats first agree to modify some of the regulatory economic measures in their agenda. And she doesn't have to be in Congress to do that.
Thanks.
Ummmm. It’s a completely new game. She’s our ally right now in this battle. Let’s focus on that. By doing that, we win the race.
🗽
And because she has warranted feeling like this, she just may win enough of us over to defeat (Biden) in 2024. She's just said she may run.
She may be a voice of reason compared to Trump, but she does not share our values.
She's not going to defeat Biden in '24. She almost certainly won't be the GOP nominee. She may well run as an independent, to siphon votes from Trump or whatever MAGA cultist gets the gop nomination, to stop them.
And she has done a superb job on the Jan 6th Committee (I've watched the hearings where she was a major player, and most of the rest).
I almost never agree with her on political issues. But as she said in her concession speech, she puts Country over party. And she is a great American.
And remember who her daddy is. A master puppeteer.
Pfffft on her daddy. He’s not mine. And Liz has her own mind.
Carey, she isn't culpable for her father's actions. Sometimes, the apple falls very far from the tree.
Let’s hope. I want to think he is somehow not behind her, pulling strings, that we won’t find out she is doing all of this to somehow fulfill an evil mission.
She is not pro-choice, right?
For now, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Liz Cheney has my respect. She will debate on principles. She will not cower to threats of violence and is standing up against those who incite, intimidate through lies and Demagoguery. She has been defeated kinda like Lincoln, however like Lincoln she won the moral high ground for herself and the rest of the country.
Joan, I totally agree. However, she has shown courage and the J6 Committee couldn't have accomplished what is has if she'd not been part of it. I'd never vote for her, but at least we know what she is - unlike Manchin and Sinema.
We know those other two.
Manchin is a big-business conservative, with family financial interests in coal and Big Pharma, who is also a Democrat. He has been consistent, and has also offered some very good advice: elect more liberals.
Sinema started with the Green Party, who have an ambivalent history in the US at best. She ran for senator as a progressive Democrat, and then sold herself to hedge fund managers and other big donors. Maybe we didn't know who she was in November 2020, but we know now.
With all the drawbacks, we are better off having those two as Democrats giving the Senate majority to the Dems, than if they were Republicans with fealty to Moscow Mitch. I look forward to electing Tim Ryan, Mandela Barnes, John Fetterman, Val Demings, and maybe even Cheri Beasley, so that Manchin and Sinema no longer make the difference of letting the Republicans block so much with the filibuster.
And keeping Raphael Warnock!
Joan, I agree that we're better off with Manhin and Sinema than if we lost them to Republicans. I'm aware of the reasons for their stances, but the best solution is the increasingly real possibility of enlarging our presence in the Senate, as you suggested. Now, if all of the current Trump drama, plus conservative decisions regarding gun laws and the overturn of Roe v. Wade can keep us from losing the House, perhaps the cancer that is Trump will be put into remission and Biden's term will translate to more success (i.e., dealing with the corrupt SCOTUS and at least amending the filibuster, for starters).
It’s true. Liz Cheney does not in any way hold the values and priorities that many of us share. And many of us were around for her father’s reign of terror. And, yet, but—I give her credit for speaking up and out against Trump and his despicable behaviors and frightening antics. For this, Liz is a good lighting rod.
BonnieLou can you imagine how difficult it would be to have your own party spit on you. We shouldn't, and I know you aren't, overlook what a difficult position she put herself in to do the right thing. She could have very easily just joined in with the other GOP Members, but she didn't .
Exactly. "...but she didn't." Bravo!
I agree. Liz Cheney has ambitions like many other people. But she chose to put country over party and bravo to her for that. Like Biden, let's get behind reasonable people and push, not just criticize. Governing is hard work.
As much as I admire her courage in standing up against Trump, it is right to remember that she is not our friend. I rather wish she were, but she is not. Voting rights and abortion rights are vital.
Exactly I respect her fight for democracy but I wish she would fight voter suppression and/or advocate voting rights bill - which are fundamental to democracy. But seeing how things go for anyone remotely moderate in the GOP, she would be ousted.
❤️
Thank you Liz for giving yourself to fight against the would be dictator. Thank you!
I posted this link yesterday but it was late in the day and don't think many saw it so am adding it again for those that feel the GOP is redeemable and can be returned to its former self. I would like to think that myself, too. As a baby boomer my own life has been with the two-party system that has created the prosperous and (largely) progressive nation we have enjoyed, until one of the two has decided to take another path.
The threat to the two-party system is very real. This article, assuming its accuracy will give everyone pause to consider this reality.
https://www.salon.com/2022/08/15/longtime-insider-cheri-jacobus-america-is-not-going-to-recover-from-donald-trump/
“The Trumpists and Republicans and others who follow him don't care about democracy and a good society. It is tribalism. All they care about is their side winning. They like the white supremacy. They like the misogyny. They like the fighting and chaos. They like the idea of beating up on people they view as being below them or too different from them.” Thank you for reposting the article. I missed it yesterday.
They don't just like "fighting and chaos". They thrive on it. It feeds their amygdalae which seems to be masquerading as their souls.
Every death star cultist I have ever encountered is an in your face type. I had a go around with one this week on Facebook. She tried to tell me that Hunter Biden and his drug problem is the real threat to national security. I told her that she knew nothing about national security, intelligence apparatus or anything else around the serving of the warrant at Tsar-a-Loco. She complained that I referred to death star as the occupant of the WH and wasn't respectful. I responded that I had no respect for him and would not say his name or refer to him as president. I said I was done with the discussion knowing full well that she was a last worder and sure enough, she appeared in my list....didn't read it....went straight to blocking. A few people actually liked my response to her. This was on the page of an ex-student who is down the fundamental Christian rabbit hole and has a hubby who is just down the R rabbit hole. It makes very sad, but they are among the unreachable.
Unreachable indeed. I've watched one friend slide so far down there it is unbelievable.
It is so exasperating that none of their politics is about governing.
Fundraising by any means is their guiding principle. Governing and providing leadership is nowhere in their wheelhouse. Part of fundraising for Republicans is demonstrating that fealty to tfg and his big donors: the Kochs, Mercers, Devos', Murdoch's, etc. as well as that foreign slush fund of donation PAC money ( Russia, China, Saudi). Democracy and American power has real enemies: domestic oligarchy and hostile authoritarian regimes) and these enemies are funding the Republican Party. Citizens United legalized a new oligarch form of minority rule and hostile foreign intrusion of campaign funding. CU has to be repealed before the really hard work can be done on Climate, Inequality, tax code, Education & Health Care.
Yes. Yes it is.
Ally! YES!!!
I don’t see restoration until Citizen's United is repealed/overturned. What are we spending in total campaigns now compared to pre Citizen's United?
it's a pivotal and poisonous piece in today's American politics...
BK, thanks for posting; didn’t have time to read it all but this caught my attention :
“The Trumpists and Republicans and others who follow him don't care about democracy and a good society. It is tribalism. All they care about is their side winning. They like the white supremacy. They like the misogyny. They like the fighting and chaos. They like the idea of beating up on people they view as being below them or too different from them.”
Thanks for posting this BK. A read that cements what I already suspected. It is all extremely troubling.
Excellent piece. Thank you.
BK, there are so often very good articles and opinions posted, that is one of the main reasons I subscribe. This article is a blockbuster must-read! I did not see this link yesterday. I am going to repost with credit to you, as all should read this!
Thank you for this link. It was refreshing! Yes, refreshing. I agree that the Democrats should have impeached Trump after Muller proved that there had been obstruction of justice. I still don't understand why they didn't. And I am beyond relieved that there are people like this author who left the Republican Party as soon as it nominated Trump. I have a friend who was a life-long Republican who left to become an Independent even before Trump because she felt the party had moved too far to the right. That was a big and courageous move on her part.
We have to embrace those people who are moving away from the neo-fascist Tumpers and work with them, despite our differences. Most of us, myself included, are not that far apart politically that we can't have a decent, respectful, and possibly even informative discussion. For instance, I would love to talk to the author of this article and see how we might get together to get rid of the neo-fascists.
Lastly, it was such a relief to hear a former Republican say loudly and clearly that all the Republicans knew who Trump was--that he was a bad man and a crook from the get-go. There was absolutely no mystery about this and yet they nominated, elected, and continued to support him regardless.
This article made so much sense and I thank you for sharing it.
Here's a counterpoint--at least for the short term:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/08/15/republicans-midterm-advantage-shrinking-trump/
Thank you for that. I've written 100 of my 500 register-to-vote postcards and I'm going to plug along until I've written all 500 of them. MAGA out now.
Are the democrats really operating in fear of the republicans?
I thought he Republicans were operating in fear of their own base of misinformed violent prone radicalized supporters?
Thank you, BK. The headlines say it all.
In a world where truth matters, she would have won. May she be free to kick arses all around the land
Liz Cheney is our ally in the only fight that matters at this moment in time: democracy versus autocracy and fascism. I'm glad she's on the side of democracy.
Liz Cheney deserves credit for having led the Jan 6 committee with integrity and balance. I don’t like her voting history, but I’m willing to allow her to remain her patriotic self, and try to help rid us of ALL Trumpism. People do morph and change. She also changed her attitude towards gay people. She can and has changed. My Democratic heart is giving her a hand up.
Liz Cheney ALSO changed her stance on gay people, too. You didn't read my whole post. Shame on you for your mis-reading. And crappy grammar.
Thank you, Ellie, for this very hopeful and hopefully correct prediction.
Be careful what you hope for...the woman has integrity (for now) but she is still a solid Republican.
In early 2016 when there were those certain trump could never win, I was one of those saying, 'it isn't over till it's over'. My gut feeling was uneasy. Well, my gut feeling is uneasy where Cheney is concerned. Just sayin'.
I remember from where she came.
I think it is wise to be cautious. Democrats tend to be optimists and embrace the good news. But the Republicans have proved how ruthless they can be in so many ways over the past five years, especially that I'm not running in for an embrace right now. Goal one is to win as many Democratic races as possible and grind TFG and Co. into the dust. Now that would be satisfying, wouldn't it?
Understood, Kim.
You are all so confused, so thoroughly brainwashed, that it would be slightly funny if it wasn't terrifying. Liz Cheney??? Are you kidding me? Absolutely pathetic.
Really, I don't recall seeing your name as part of the January 6th Committee. 🤔
Charles Blundon - "Liz Cheney??? Are you kidding me? Absolutely pathetic."
I don't know what that means. Please explain.
Agreed.
Kim, she votes Party line for the most part as I recall. But then, so do the Democrats.
She could have taken a easy road and she would have easily retained her seat in Congress and that nutcase wouldn't be taking her seat in January.
Is it just me but, does Cheney's replacement remind you of a Boebert/MTG combo?
“Moral courage is rarer than great intellect and bravery in battle.”-Robert Kennedy
It is encouraging and inspiring to see a person go “all in” for our founding principles.
Assertive moral courage occurs when one shucks off the fear.
That is not only sizzlin’, Ellie. That is exactly correct. Wyoming will rue their fake redness. They gave up their opportunity to have the true Republican nominee for President from their state.
🗽
Yes, Liz is a righty, but, like John McCain before her, she is a true American hero.
I can live with that assessment. I never voted for McCain either.
The "tugboat turning" analogy is spot on! 👏👍😊
Agree, Keltik. I thought best one of day goes to Ellie.
🗽
But will she work for us or them!
There is no “us” or “them” when it comes to democracy and keeping trump out of the Oval Office. There’s one side and it represents a lot of people from different paths, parties, and particulars.
Unita! 🗽
The defeat of Liz Cheney marks the end of the last glimmer of hope that the Republican Party might regain its footing as a legitimate conservative political movement. Instead, it has committed to being no more than a criminal gang, devoted to destroying democracy in the service of an overwhelmingly white, mainly “Christian” elite dedicated (knowingly or not) to serving the interests of a coterie of wealthy individuals and corporations. In so doing the “party” has hastened its doom.
In a normal election season I would agree. I live in Texas where normal is as sinister as it gets
Actually, I am over any interest in Republican reform. That is up to the members of that particular (and currently rogue) party. I am interested in restoring and expanding civil rights and preserving democracy. Rule by conspiracy theorists, evangelical Christians, nazis, and white supremacists is enough to worry about. And since the Republican Party has been complicit in aiding and abetting the same I couldn't care less what happens to them. Something better might actually take their place. All bets are off. Onward.
I'm with YOU, Susan Troy. There's nothing left to reform of the Republican party. They've been going downhill since even BEFORE Reagan came along. He nailed shut their coffin, doing as much damage as he could before even Nancy couldn't speak for his crooked, undemocratic, and criminal ass. It's time NOW for the rest of us to heal and recover, and take the lead.
BK reposted a Salon article that addresses this: https://www.salon.com/2022/08/15/longtime-insider-cheri-jacobus-america-is-not-going-to-recover-from-donald-trump/
Jon what you skip over is that she LOST to a Trump-boosted candidate. Yes the Rethugs have changed into the anti-democracy party - that started with Reagan. WE have a lot of work to do. And Liz has done a lot off it for us and the entire country.
Her term isn't up until January 2023. I expect she will be on full tilt to damage Trump as much as she can until then.
Have at it Liz !
And when she’s done with that it will be Full-Tilt-Boogie going after us.
It already is. I'm seeing more trucks driving around with the Trump 2024 flags and black flags. Pretty much everyday they are standoffs with the FBI. It's not going to get better just because Biden tells them to knock it off. The closer Garland circles Trump the more heightened it will be.
That is scary and accurate. Bullies never want to suffer the consequences of their actions.
100%
Biden should appoint her to something when her term is up.
Laurie, Ethics Committee was my thought.
No way.
Great idea, but it would limit her.
Excellent points Roy Victor Cuellar. I like your thinking..
I have some wishful thinking that the democrat will take the seat from Themis Trumplican and turn WY blue. Wouldn’t that be fun.
Colorado and Nevada demographics point to exactly that. It is coming, we just don’t know how fast.
So Ted, as Idaho demographics change over to Hispanic dominance can we expect to win our freedom here too?
I would hope so. However, Utah and Idaho demographics are very different from Colorado and Nevada. Idaho is a defacto 1 party state, save for Boise and Blaine County. It is probably a mistake to stereotype a majority of Hispanics vote Democrat. Utah has the LDS Church embedded in their govt and education system. Idaho is hard right with roots from the confederacy, mining, logging, Ranching. Idaho has only one large city, and the Colleges and Universities are mostly in smaller more rural towns. These towns are dependent on big Ag to drive their economies. Idaho has big money from agriculture, exporting over 30 billion, that rivals only Texas and California, that funds campaigns and keeps hard line “yes men” in office. Idaho is last or near in every category of education. Climate change and less snow fall throughout the west will contribute to slower growth of cities, this migration is what changes states from Red to blue. Big Ag will have to move again to where the water is and where environmental laws are lax) as is already happening ( out of Arizona and California to Colorado and Idaho). So in the west what states will follow Colorado, NM, and Nevada? I’d bet on Arizona and Montana before Utah. I feel strongly Idaho will be the last stronghold of radicalism, it’s culture, history, levels of education, and concentration of one party and one industry as the driver of its economy that concentrates wealth upward will keep it that way for several more decades. Until?
I recall the changes in the potato industry as the children of the growers left to pursue their educations in fields other than potatoes. I hauled potatoes from the growers to all cities American. Growers were dismayed that their own bloodlines hence the futures of the farms were at stake. They became more dependent on Hispanic managers to handle field operations and Hispanic speaking field hands. Owners began to realize these men were intelligent human beings and as the years progressed they became the long term solution. Ownership began to change not only at the grower level but the processing plants as well. This process of immigration is and has been occurring throughout agricultural industry’s in Washington Colorado Montana North Dakota Idaho California, Florida, etc. Kansas’ potato chip industry has gone that route as well. Utah, the Mormon anomaly, gets its wealth from from religious cultism and ownership of most of Idaho along with Wyoming and Montana tentacles which also reach into Colorado and Arizona. As this population changes from majority white domination, my own observations lead me to believe we will have more political changes for the better. That is if we can manage to hand down a democracy.
Pat, u nailed it 100%.
As the western population grows, competition for water will be the major factor. As California has shown, Cities with diverse economies, economic opportunities, social mobility, versus big agriculture. One is expanding, one is consolidating. The western states can not sustain both cultures.
In an interview Adam Kinzinger said, "Liz Cheney will chase Trump to the gates of hell." Truly, that's all I want her to do is lock him behind those gates and toss the key. She has the tenacity and brains to do it.
I relish the thought and will keep it clearly front and center.
I probably shouldn't wish someone eternal damnation. But this sure is tempting!!
Agreed and then some. But, seriously, Trump is damaged good (classic NPD- narcissistic personality disorder) and it's hard to lock them up or out. What do you do with this guy? Hitler committed suicide and they put Napoleon on an island. In learning more about NPD it seems the only thing short of a stake through the heart (also tempting) is to isolate them.
Well, I'm also going back to basics - love thine enemy. Not the sentimental love that feels good, but the spiritual practice of affirming that they are a child of God/Spirit/Universe/Source/Non physical just as I am, and the belief that such an affirmation has power. After I fantasize about that stake through the heart!!
Thanks for that. You made me laugh and I really needed to do that today. Having Trump and his lies broadcast over and over again makes me think about what it must be like to be pursued by an abusive spouse. A total nightmare.
Oh good, making folks laugh is one of my favorite things to do!! I'm going to post this in todays comments later today, but just for you - if you like Randy Rainbow (I adore his talent and his knowledge of the broadway musical!) this may also help with Trump abuse syndrome.
https://youtu.be/MdSZRkeQfnk
Pax tibi
Thanks ....for the peace and the chuckle!! I don't know why substack is underlining peace in red. Maybe they don't recognize the word??
Standing by to hear Liz’s Maga Fascist opponent make a total fool of herself and a joke for all of Wyoming, and an embarrassment of American Democracy. Those elected by a lie, will not be able to govern for long.
Unfortunately, she's a smart one. She doesn't believe in the lie, but knows how to use it.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/16/us/politics/harriet-hageman-trump-cheney.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20220817&instance_id=69519&nl=the-morning®i_id=72640990&segment_id=101603&te=1&user_id=9e97cca006be6b36e98481a58aa5c177
Ted - unfortunately those elected by a lie do tend to govern for a long time. T is one big ball of a lie and he's still in charge! And then there are liars like McConnell and McCarthy and Cruz and Gaetz and Boebert and Greene and Jordan and ........ It's absolutely amazing that people can be that gullible or that plain stupid to keep voting for these destructive liars.
Ted, in such a red state, even one term will be enough to do a great deal of damage. Just look at the fallout from Trump's tenure. I just hope that Garland will be able to make it unpalatable for others to imitate him for much longer. Unfortunately, these cretins seem impervious to shame.
She knew exactly what the result would be when she joined the Committee, but she has the advantage of being a member of Republican royalty, so her options are significant, including as a Special Prosecutor, or a run for the presidency once the Republican party either comes to its senses or its current sane base forms another party from its ruins. That is not to diminish Cheney. Her voluntary participation with the J6 Committee and her help in orchestration of its presentations was brave and patriotic. I wish there were more people like her in the Republican party. She has grit.
" I wish there were more people like her in the Republican party. She has grit." Me, too.
Respect Liz, but keep your eyes open!
In her speech she referred to Lincoln's losing elections for house and senate before becoming president. I wondered if she was drawing a comparison w/o actually saying it. I have to admit, listening to her speech, I was fascinated that I could feel such love and admiration for someone with whose policies I've been so opposed to! Can't wait to see how she continues her commitment to never let T***p near the White house ever again!
I love the idea of Lz Cheney as a special prosecutor carrying out the death of tRump and his thugs....if they aren't already wearing orange suits by then.
Liz Chaney, my hero. God’s cosmic joke. Go get ‘em girl
I especially like your last line.
Fingers crossed.
👍🏼
I had to read this paragraph twice to make sure I hadn't misread it:
"In the search to figure out how and why the text messages from Secret Service members from the time around January 6, 2021, were purged, Inspector General Joseph Cuffari, who hid the destruction from Congress for more than a year, today refused to step down from the investigation. He also said that he would not provide the documents lawmakers wanted to see, or permit House committees to interview his colleagues."
Cuffari appears to be acting like his benefactor: breaking the law, ignoring the rules, refusing to cooperate with those trying to investigate serious wrongdoing and behaving as if he doesn't have to answer to anyone. This Trump appointee is a pathetic disgrace. Why hasn't he been fired yet?
Cuffari should be a person of interest in the investigation into who destroyed evidence of a possible (definitely more probable than not) crime. If a person of interest in a crime is caught destroying evidence of that crime, they have just admitted guilt through their actions and should be arrested and prosecuted as someone who has admitted guilt. Actions speak louder than words. That should hold true for admission of guilt.
Obstruction of justice.
It’s situations like these that I feel punch us in the gut most. WHY is he still in his position? This action should trigger at least an administrative leave untI’ll the issue is resolved. He has deputies to take over is day-to-day. When we DON’T see accountability is powerful people is when we lose the public trust.
I understand to some degree that we want to be careful about sanctioning people in important positions (ask Alexander Vindman) because unscrupulous people weaponize false charges. But ultimately we have to hold people whose actions disproportionately affect the lives of others to a higher standard than ordinary citizens; as there are stricter rules of psychiatrists, airline pilots, architects, etc, than for more prosaic workers. How do we regard a doctor who, for reasons of negligence, has lost the lives of an extraordinary number of patients; and yet the rich and technologically advanced USA has led the world in COVID deaths.
“Because power corrupts, society’s demands for moral authority and character increase as the importance of the position increases.” - John Adams
My thoughts as well. He needs to be fired.
Agree. How is it he has the “option” to step down from the investigation? I think it is time for OIG to clean house a bit - time to exterminate those moles.
There are certainly times when the words "you're fired" benefit the public.
Because IGs are appointed to a specific term of office and can only be removed by a majority vote of Congress. To preserve their "independence."
REVISION: A president can fire an IG, but has to give 30 days between announcing it and doing it to give Congress the opportunity to weigh in.
So when is the vote scheduled? I mean he's not serving as a watchdog for the public,. Instead, he's emerged as a key figure covering up the role of the Secret Service and DHS in the attempted coup. Pelosi and Schumer need to make Cuffari's removal a priority when the summer recess ends.
I just stumbled through the alphabet soup of Cuffari’s first report. The gist of it seems to be two whines: 1. We got knocked down over our reporting of threats in Portland. 2. Those tasked with assessing threats were undertrained newbies. I can’t help but see his report as an all too familiar equivalency between Portland and Jan 6. Methinks he’s pouting. https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2022-04/OIG-22-29-Mar22-Redacted.pdf
I just read about half of this. I'd dearly love to read the stuff on Portland. The gist of the two "whines" you listed are really interesting to me.
1. Portland: The "threats" were GREATLY exaggerated and the dangers of "antifa" were such a tiny component of the protests there that their threat assessment seems to have been based on political beliefs rather than actual information. In the PNW, law enforcement has been dealing with the anarchist/antifa movement since the late 1990's (the WTO in Seattle was kind of the christening for that) and know that their main threat is damage to property and disruption to commerce.
2. Undertrained "newbies". In the first place, whose fault is it that your intelligence people are undertrained? After the Portland fiasco, the level of training and intel assessment should have been a top priority. I'm retired from local law enforcement, and sitting at my desk across the country, looking at social media and news reports, I could tell that something nasty was afoot.
At least it begins to look like the failures of Jan 6 were not as much a command and control failure as an intel failure, but I'm not convinced that there weren't decisions made for "optics" that cost the men and women who responded to that threat dearly.
❤️
Apparently the president can remove him.
"First, the removal process for IGs should be clarified. IGs do not have a term of office and can be removed by the President. According to the IG Act, the President has to give the reasons for the dismissal to Congress and wait 30 days before removing the IG, which is intended to discourage the removal of IGs for partisan reasons."
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2022/08/09/who-is-watching-the-watchdogs/
Didn't trump fire several IGs? Or was it that their terms came up during his term?
Yes. You're right.
"In what the Washington Post called “slow motion Friday night massacres,” President Trump removed a string of IGs in the last year of his Administration without providing the specific reasons for the removal or waiting 30 days. " https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2022/08/09/who-is-watching-the-watchdogs/
CNN's Anne Grayer has a succinct Update on the DHS Watchdog's Obstruction of Congress & the J6 Committee investigation.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/16/politics/house-overisght-obstruction-dhs-inspector-general-secret-service-text-messages/index.html
I smell a rat and by gawwd, he looks like one too! Smoke these criminals out and fast, because they are ruining our country!
Yes, very strong rat smell... "We will consider." Ah, THEY will deign to consider, will they? Yes, he has the look. Central casting again. He should keep out of underground car parks.
Faster than a speeding bullet needed now
Why still nothing on removing him?
He will be removed but there's laws as with everything else. It isn’t easy getting replaced in national, state, or local governments.
Unless you’re an elected prosecutor in Florida…
He filed a lawsuit in Federal Court today. Maybe he and Disney can join forces.
Not when doing it lawfully, anyhow! Appeared to be so much easier in the last administration - you know, just ignore the laws!
Cuffari seems to be a bit confused about who actually runs this country. Somebody please tell him it is not the DSH, although a lot of us who live in areas patrolled by BP and ICE feel like we live in occupied territory. The agencies under DHS ignore the laws our legislature passes and what our governor sets as policy. All of us know that our freedom is at risk if we happen to be in the way, and that is especially true if your skin is brown (or your appearance even suggestive of non-white).
With this man as "Inspector General", whose job is supposedly to monitor an agency's adherence to its intended mission AS DEFINED BY CONGRESS, no wonder DHS seems like an entity unto itself. It needs to be dismantled, the purpose of each of the separated entities re-evaluated, and each should be assigned its own Inspector General who knows for whom he/she is actually working. Cuffari seems to be pretty confused about that, and should be removed. Time for some letter-writing and phone calls.
Let the firing process begin, TC.
Include Louis DeJoy.
Please. But, to my coffee fueled thinking, you misspelled indict.
Is there no provision that says one can inflict wounds on such individuals and put them in a pen of starving pigs? Just asking.
I quickly researched Cuffari. Lied about his education. Has a Ph.D in management from an online for-profit university (this one specifically referred to as a degree mill . . .) and pardon me for judging someone by their looks, but Cuffari is straight out of central casting for grifter looking Trump supporters.
I'm soooo surprised!
(/snark)
My sentiments exactly. The Inspector General is a flunky???? Well, should be no surprise, chump was an expert at finding the cretins who would be bought with empty promises. BTW, those promises are what keeps the crooks in line. Pardons anyone? Investigations disappearing? Investigations as revenge? The cult has moles everywhere. Do we have enough trustworthy law enforcement. That is the question ..
Excellent question. Given where I see my cop friends going with their "sincerely held beliefs" I have NO confidence that we have trustworthy law enforcement, especially at the federal level. Although it is possible that the targeted and personal attacks against the FBI might be enough to break through their holy alliance to tfg.
I think they used to call that Obstruction of Justice in the old days.
I dunno, Linda. Looks to me like Cuffari just got himself on Garland's list.
Yee haw ! I like this.
It's still called that today but no one, so far, does anything about it anymore.
Cuff Joseph Cuffari! He has besmirched his oath of office to serve his country. Let’s all chant “Lock him up.”
We could go one better and actually lock him up.
Good one, Dave. Like your style. <3
Thanks Annie.
Same questions I had, thanks. What, other than Hubris, gives this guy the idea that he's in a position to do that? He would do well to remember that "pride goeth before a fall".
Yep. What little pride he has left.
Salud, Brother Dave.🗽
These types have never heard or understood those lessons. Most of the wisdom we take for granted is lost on them. If they read at all, it's some tacky self-help book on how to screw over everybody else and win. That is their full credo and creed.
I read it 3 or 4 times and still came away confused for the same reasons as you :-).
Because Biden and the Democrats are absolutely feckless. Unless the legislative or Executive Orders will benefit the corporate donors; then you can 100% count on them.
hmm...count up the major legislative efforts that have passed, compare them to the last few administrations in their first 2 years and get back to me on the support for "feckless".
Patient, persistent, able and willing to talk until consensus is reached, non-self-aggrandizing, what other adjectives should I list to describe the difference between this government and the last? And, this without a veto-proof majority. I think the experience and political maturity of this administration and Democratic leadership in both houses is beginning to reveal itself. There was a ton of garbage to shovel out on top of a pandemic to start the term, took some time to get traction, but now we're seeing the fruits of all that labor. The garbage of the last government is still being sorted for misplaced documents and evidence for criminal behavior; an extra burden on us ALL as we attempt to look and think forward. I'd like to just forget it, but that would simply encourage all of it to be repeated ad nauseum.
Truth, Nathan! Absolute Truth! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Well said, sir.
❤️ Well spoken, Nathan. Thank you for your insightful take on fecklessness. How in the world does someone come up with that given the accomplishments of this administration, especially compared with the disintegration of the previous, truly feckless administration?
yup...the definition of feckless; "lacking initiative or strength of character; irresponsible". Who does that describe, after all? The combination of destructive characteristics we endured from tfg is almost beyond belief when you seek to fully encapsulate it. He has certainly made his mark on history, sort of like Caligula, except that the roman version met an end more appropriate to his misdeeds.
feckless? Uh, been watching too much Faux News, by the sound of it. Going up against a "over our dead body" Repub controlled Senate is hard work and it appears as if Biden has come out ahead on a number of big items. Of course all the trumpettes don't see it that way; those bits of progess isn't in the benefit of Repub/trump love affair with big business. Maybe time for a look-see into what's really happening, don't ya think?
❤️
Feckless compared to what?? We aren't naive. We just know how rotten the other party is, and the Democrats are passing laws that will benefit real people.
Unless you want a government system engaged in a pissing contest to the bottom, comparing one feckless party to the other fascist party and calling the feckless party's legislation a "success" makes no sense whatsoever.
So we should toss out the good because we can't have the perfect?
No. We hold all elected leaders accountable for their feckless servitude to the corporations that are running this shit show. Including the political party we happen to prefer. And we don't try to gaslight each other in an effort to win political points that most certainly are not earned. FWIW and IMHO - any government that celebrates passing infrastructure clearly doesn't understand that maintaining our damn infrastructure is the very minimum that should be done every year! See what I mean? Let's just be real about what this is and quit playing political theater with each other.
You should run for office. Seriously.
Good luck! Politicians make a lot of trade-offs working their way up to the national level. I just vote for the least awful, and sometimes we get something.
" maintaining our damn infrastructure is the very minimum that should be done every year..."
Shawna, I absolutely agree. That should be the baseline. But the fact is that for four years we had a government that failed to do that, and made every effort to dismantle important parts of the existing infrastructure, including democracy itself.
The current administration has had to fight like hell to get things back on track. It took skill, and experience, and determination as well as a commitment not to give up, but we are seeing the results. The Biden administration came through for the people and our hope for a meaningful future. We avoided the attempt to turn our government into an autocracy, and we're still not our of the woods. I agree with that corporations have way too much influence, and hope that now we can really begin to deal with regulation of corporate business, election funding reforms, and other things that have gotten lost or set aside during the decades controlled by corporate-oriented Congresses operating under the guise of "personal rights". Yeah, right.
I think that the Biden administration and all of us have the right to celebrate. I hope we are now on the path to getting the people's business done without constant obstruction, and with the honest participation of people of many perspectives that can help decision-makers craft viable policy.
Not sure what you mean by the term "political theater". It's feels dismissive, as if we haven't been watching what has been going on for not just the last 6 years, but for the last 40 years to distance our country from its commitment to the ideals of the Declaration of Independence and the tentative steps of the Constitution toward implementing those ideals.
Yes, there are at times some performative displays on this forum. It usually is tuned out and gives way to thoughtful and often insightful discussion. And sometimes that evolves into goofiness. I hope that is ok with you. Because, you see, we have become a community of people who, like all communities, have come to see each other as whole human beings who share bits about themselves, and that helps us reach deeper into the issues that affect all our lives.
Geez, now I need to get another cup of coffee. My brain just wasn't ready for that much output this earlier in the day.
Now I'm going to do something that I avoided because for me, it just didn't feel right. Right now, for some reason, it does:
Salud, Shawna.
Do you disagree with the substance of the legislation? Or is it simply that the "feckless" party and not the "fascist" party came up with it? If the latter is true, you can count me as a proud feckless. If the former, what do you propose we do about the existential problems facing our constitutional republic and world?
The substance of the so-called Inflation Reduction Act is a pretty good example of the kind of feckless legislation our feckless government is capable of; it nibbles at the edges of some of our major problems we face but doesn't go nearly far enough to really solve or address anything. What I propose we do is get real about what it's going to take so we can finely implement solutions that will actually allow our people to live in security and dignity. It took us decades to get here; it will take at least that and more to dig our way out. But we can't do that until we actually get real with each other.
you made my point. digging our way out will take time. And, beating the draft horse all the way to the barn doesn't seem like the best approach to me. Again, politics is the art of the possible; Labeling the party making attempts at reform to be a bunch of craven carpet-baggers even as the other party has completely spun off the rails doesn't seem all that helpful to me. One holds up ideals, seeks ways to move towards them, finds inducements and disincentives to move the body politic in the correct direction without resorting to petty squabbles that drive people into their corners and slowly, the sausage gets made. Even that seems impossible at times, but look what just happened in the last 30 days; somehow against all imagination, major pieces of legislation passed. SOMETHING has been accomplished, however imperfect. The "gun control" measure was frankly embarrassing, but it represents what was possible under the current circumstance.
Some of this is the price we pay for neo-liberalism, which Bill Clinton mightily served. These so-called public-private partnerships, where the private sector gains a lot and the public sector gains peanuts.
❤️
I agree to an extent with your premise. I find that all too often the comments here are cheering in support of a party that has all too often failed to act on the threat posed by the right since Reagan.
I admit that the Dems were asleep at the wheel several times and especially when Trump got elected. That election forced us little people to engage in politics like never before. We should be triumphant in areas that we helped to convince our reps that we mean business. I, personally, will not let anyone take that away from me. Our government was infiltrated by the worst of the worse and after two years of a massive clean-up, discoveries were made and are being aggressively pursued. We renewed the trust of our allies and foreign nations. We are assisting in the fighting of Putin’s assault on Ukraine. We passed a major bill for giving money back to the population which will help pull the indigent out of poverty and to make our environment safe to exist in. If that’s not progress, I don’t know what is! We crawled out of a damn cave and can see a light now. We have a lot of work to do, still and that’s okay. We will cut through the proverbial thorns that the Pro-Rape Party puts up. Yes, we will!
Thanks for this post Marlene. I was getting ready to just walk away from the computer. We need to stay positive, as hard as it is. There are so many things that could be improved in our country if those in power thought of their oaths and not themselves only.
❤️
I have been bitching about it for decades, but the blaming of Dems sort of misses the point since chump, don’t you think
Obama promised 'hope and change' and then brought neither. Clinton facilitated the export of middle class jobs and ended Glass-Steagall which facilitated the eventual Great Recession which Obama and his A/G Holder refused to hold any financial institutions accountable for. And this is from the political party whose values are supposed to support the PEOPLE. When Biden promised his donor class that "nothing would fundamentally change", he wasn't kidding.
Obviously election reform would help quite a lot, but with the other massive problems we're facing I don't see the political will emerging. Canada does have pretty good control of their election process, but according to some who live there, there is still plenty of public property being sold off.
Shawna,
Did you read the letter that Dr. Richardson wrote to us today? I recommend it.
If you read it carefully, you will see that this legislation, plus the recent past legislation for our US Military Vets, helps the people like us.
Which, by the way, I am a donor. $50 at a time. If that counts as major, then, I am very happy to be major.
Aside from being complicit, he is being also loyal having the Republican psychosis, which is incurable.
Once the Republican toilet seat is donned, one is doomed.
I would like to know the answer to that question based on his recent refusals.
The things that this Congress has achieved despite the Republican’s attempts otherwise is nothing short of miraculous. Now it is up to those of us who value the country’s democratic values to make sure we share the news/facts of these accomplishments, and also make sure everyone knows that their Republican representatives in Congress voted AGAINST these bills. I saw President Biden’s press conference today in which he forcefully did just that.
I've lost track of how many excuses Trump has used to explain why he had Top Secret classified documents at Mar-a-Lardo. It boils down to "Mine! Mine! Mine!" He needs a lengthy time-out...in an orange jumpsuit...in a cell... with a stainless steel toilet. No more gold toilets for you!
An 8 x 10 windowless cell on the third sub-basement of the Florence SuperMax.
An American can dream..
All that matters to Trump is Trump.
He does kind of remind me of those seagulls on 'Finding Nemo'. :)
Enamel bucket.
Thank goodness for you HCR. So appreciate your letters and your Tuesday politics chat. Hope you are doing well, that you get some sleep, wedding planning is good, and that you have some tiny semblance of how much you mean.
I will be brief: the actions of the president are laudable. Historic. Economically-nation-altering. But the president and the Dems will get nothing from it outside their own house. My prediction.
The struggles to explain/pivot/blame others by the Orang are just that: struggles. Now it’s Meadow’s fault. Eventually the blame game will play out and nobody wants to play duck-duck-goose/gray duck once the stakes are criminal… it will come down to the simple fact that 45 did what he always does: acted above the law. The Archivists (I’ve been scolded for referring to them as ‘librarians’ even though it was just a metaphor) have presented a cogent argument that was the basis for a warrant. Nothing more. If it were able to be resolved in a more discreet fashion, it would have and I trust them for exhausting their remedies.
Our Nation can’t have top-secret materials sitting next to Christmas lights in the basement at Maralago. This should infuriate every American that this is the level of RESPECT given these documents, whether “declassified” or not… there’s no excuse: but 45 just keeps trying.
Wouldn’t any parent simply ask that a child admit to the wrong-doing and expect a mea-culpa when caught? Think about that.
His parents apparently never did, nor any Republicans. Why we have an old, decrepit toddler raging and pissing on himself and us
His extreme narcissism resembles that of all other despots who feel they are totally entitled to take whatever they want and f the rest. Self-absorption, greed and power are very, very dangerous mixes. I said this in Nov. 2016 and lost friends over what was so damned obvious, but I guess you have to have studied history to understand the absolute danger of the really feckless party of white supremacist nazis masquerading as Christians. Can we finally say it now without getting blocked and shut down?
I just watched the Woodstock '99 documentary. This happened right after our first massacre of young people by a weapon of mass destruction at Columbine. I don't know how I missed how violent a percentage of the 200,000 young people became, but that raw, brutal, destructive mob energy is what the small percentage of our homegrown nazi-like citizens are demonstrating-- encouraged by a despotic party willing to burn down our democracy like the young people who burned down Woodstock '99, love, peace and brotherhood be damned. The leaders of the destruction of our democracy need to be quietly whisked away and then put on public trial. Our military and Natl. Guard needs to be vetted on who supports nazis and who supports our democracy and cleaned out. Public trials similar to the J6 Committee should be provided so all Americans can be educated by Facts instead of faux fiction. And I do think it is time for habeas corpus to be suspended until the wannabe nazis are dealt with. I may sound radical, but I saw this in 2016 and it is not going to get better if we do not pre-emptively protect ourselves and our country from these madmen (and a few madwomen) supported by hostile domestic and foreign entities.
I watched Woodstock 99 and arrived at the same conclusion. It was like a preview of what was coming down the road 23 years later. Thank you for your comment.
❤️ It was unnerving to watch that documentary and what humans are capable as a mob energy. Both sides -- the money makers and the mob did nothing constructive for one another. It did not do my heart well in light of the current radical anti-democracy mob energy...
Agree
Too funny. Absolutely true as well. Trump refused to let his Mom ever take is diaper off and now look what we have.
What a feat and win!
“In his year and a half in office, Biden has demonstrated the opposite: that government can work. The measures that Democrats, and those Republicans who are willing to work across the aisle, have passed are enormously popular: lower medical costs, including a provision finalized today for over-the-counter hearing aids; bridge repair; broadband access; and investment in science.”
Listening to Liz Cheney's concession speech tonite was listening to history, a moment in time which came too soon for this last of the GOP lawmaker.
General Grant, President Abraham Lincoln “and all who fought in our nation’s tragic Civil War, including my own great-great-grandfathers, saved our union. Their courage saved freedom, and if we listen closely, they are speaking to us down through generations. We must not idly squander what so many have fought and died for.” https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/17/us/politics/liz-cheney-concession-speech.html
Is there a white board somewhere on which Trump keeps scribbling his lies and excuses for stealing secret national security documents from the federal government? If not, how does he keep track of them all, some contradictory?
Of course he hasn't pronounced publicly this astounding claim about the documents that the NYT reported today: "It not theirs, it's mine." In other words, he confessed to felony crimes, including violating the Espionage Act. And there are witnesses.
The breaking news I long for is bigger than Trump's eventual indictment, whether on federal or state charges or hopefully both. That news is evidence that he sold top secret documents to foreign interests for millions of dollars, putting the nation and those who work to protect it in danger.
Will anyone be surprised by such headlines?
THIS to me is the big news of the day...and tomorrow! "It not theirs, it's mine." It proves 'specific intent' to commit the crime. It obviates all defenses. Two witnesses (including Philbin?)...hopefully the crime exception to the attorney-client privilege allows for it's admission by Philbin, otherwise it is impeachment evidence then admissible to rebut a defense of 'oh my I did not know'. IF true, Heather is reporting a leak of info here, THIS ties the knot in the noose for a high probability of conviction for crimes along the lines listed in Search Warrant. So far, there has not been direct explicit evidence of any crimes (even the call to GA-Sec of State didn't say manufacture but rather 'find', though that is approaching explicit), rather inferences are needed, which are permissible in law but open to, in some manner, arguable alternative explanations which then get rebutted by other facts. BUT this statement is the coup de grâce to any discussion about crimes related to those papers. Wonder if Merrick Garland waited until he had that statement before getting the Search Warrant so his case would be airtight?
George Conway has a piece in the Washingtopn post that replicates the script Trump has used so many time. It has to do with cookies... https://wapo.st/3bZ2PR5
Coffee through nose at that earlier this morning.
Sorry about that, but glad you seemed to like it!
Not. At. All.
It is my firm belief it has already happened. Saudi's giving J. Kushner 2 Billion???
Not an iota
I have been waiting for him to finally admit he is dyslexic and use that as a reason why either he wouldn't have taken them (ie "why? who reads?") or that he didn't understand what they said.
Admit he has a fault? I admit, far fetched. But I also believe he'll do anything to save his skin.
Here’s a review. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/alex-holder-trump-documentary-jan-6-revelations-1380400/
I've despised him since the '80's! 🤢
Liz Cheney's new name is Obi Wan.
I think it’s Obi Wana in the feminine!
Salud, TC. 🗽
🤣👏
Younger Obi-Wan? Or original film?
Original, the good one.
Good morning all. Here on the western edge of Missouri we are, frankly, talking less about the neofascists in our midst and more about "innovative" (read really, really old) ways of grazing cattle--by creating copses of trees and encouraging the use of the wooded areas as "living barns" that provide shade, keep the area cooler, and act as carbon sponges. I heard the MAGIC WORDS this morning on NPR, which had picked up one of our local stories for the national feed (that aired 4 days ago): “That habitat was created intentionally by a lot of indigenous communities that lived here,” said Ashley Conway-Anderson, an agroforestry professor at the University of Missouri. “Intentionally managed with fire, and then once fire opened things up, what came next was grass and what came next was large grazing herbivores.” https://www.kcur.org/2022-08-12/getting-cattle-into-the-forest-could-help-climate-change-farmers-and-the-livestock I cannot tell you how important this is: the longest-lived Big Lie in US history has been the Big Lie of the Empty Land. White people claimed that the First Nations people didn't exist, and when confronted with them, that they were "primitives" who did not manipulate the land to derive benefits. To hear someone at the Ag school at Mizzou admit that First Nations people knew what the f**k they were doing warmed my heart in the middle of all of this nonsense.
Second thought of the day: I knew Cheney would lose, but when I heard the news this morning, I instantly thought that Randy Rainbow should write a song about her, to the tune of "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina." And of course, I began constructing lyrics in my head: "Don't cry for me, Grand Old Party: the truth is you f**ked me over. I did my duty; you all are crazy. I kept my promise--now go and bite me . . ."
It's been too long since we had something new from Randy Rainbow!
"the longest-lived Big Lie in US history has been the Big Lie of the Empty Land." Thank you! Finally, people are waking up to this fact and incorporating that knowledge into policy. United Shades of America just aired a program on this topic.
OMG Ilove it! “Now go and bite me…”
Reporting on Tax law changes remind me of an costume drama about English nobility with their estate.
The heir says something like -'We must maintain the estate to provide employment for those supporting the estate for the benefit of us all." Employment such as maids, cooks, gardeners and farm labor.
Same GOP argument from employers like Walmart and Amazon. Both employe thousands of low paying retail and warehouse positions earning corporate profits and shareholder wealth increase. The GOP helps further complains these same employees earn so little they often qualify for food stamps, Medicaid etc. These programs allow businesses not to pay a living wage. The government benefits is a huge transfer of wealth to Corporations. An artificially low minimum wage sweetens corporate wealth- as many states to require beneficiaries to work minimum amount. This creates another pool of cheap labor with the real cost of benefits and a substantial savings in labor cost create more corporate wealth.
What telegenic salesman Reagan was really selling was neo-feudalism. The founders rebelled against inherited titles, yet recreated even more sociopathic versions of feudal estates as slave plantations. I got sick of hearing Republicans bang on about "job creators", while funneling more and more money to the very rich, money that was used to buy back stock, not hire workers. Nobody hires for the hell of it. They hire to serve and profit from a market. But what is a market but people with money to spend, money they derive, for the most part, from jobs. And where people have money to spend, business is drawn like a magnet, even to the very remote and dangerous Yukon in the gold rush there. In Reaganese, "supply side" is the rich; but that's rubbish.
“Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.” - Lincoln
Middle class Americans indirectly benefit from retirement investments in corporations. Corporate raiders who killed unions and defined benefit pension plans- pocketed the spoils - at the expense of blue collar worker's living wage.
Anything that protects or aids workers, such as minimum wage, is angrily denounced by the "GOP" as "job killing"; but massive mergers and "downsizing", perma-temps and "gig" employment, and massive offshoring, that proceeded even in the depths of "Great Recession" unemployment is "efficiency".
"The GOP helps further complains these same employees earn so little they often qualify for food stamps, Medicaid etc."
I don't know if the story was true, but someone commenting on a blog claimed that one of the things he was handed when he applied for a job at Walmart was a handout on how to apply for "food stamps".
I know a lady receiving food stamps. She periodically must report her work hours
Exactly, couldn’t be more true and telling
As usual, the Republicans don't want to reach across the aisle, they want to be both sides of the aisle. So short a time ago, they were bewailing the nasty Democrat's defunding of the police but are now saying that the police are the problem in America. Not just whataboutism, it's WTFism.
I've had a sense their objective was not just to win over Democrats but to destroy them -- all! Politicide??
WTFism!!! I’m stealing this, with permission of course
Take it. Would make a good bumper sticker if it wasn't a Republican party plank
Liz Cheney made a concession speech to our nation and the world. It transcends Wyoming or Republican politics. And yet I have been unable to locate a complete version of that speech through Google or major news outlets. The C-Span version was longer but one could not navigate to it after the fact, only seeing an error message that it had been permanently moved.
The inability to obtain news of record is a scandal and another way that our national fabric is breaking down. Does anyone have access to her full speech or at least a full transcript? If so, could you post it please? And have you found reliable sources for the complete versions of such news of record?
I believe you can find it here: https://youtu.be/sUGArGhLc9k
Thank you. That’s a speech for the ages.
I think Cheney's best contribution would be a run for president in 2024, at least through the primaries, if her goal is truly to deny TFG the White House, to adequately split the vote that he is "primaried" out of the GOP race for candidacy. This presumes that a "silent majority" actually still exists under the party flag.
Thank you
In case Rowshan's doesn't work for you here is a written and video version by NYT: Gifted: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/17/us/politics/liz-cheney-concession-speech.html?unlocked_article_code=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACEIPuomT1JKd6J17Vw1cRCfTTMQmqxCdw_PIxftm3iWka3DFDm8diPkORJCH_0bRZKF4IN8yzXGQRNJHPa5qT_t0xeJEJE1qTUyzupaJk5RDIzkwrcj7eFIK6K_3fOJy9y72PC7-If1jxba7slWKamXuXvSIgWkgLA80vZc2fAu1incNlrOWRrIl2YJ_360nAptqVHxXMnnxyvrrCh90O9yCbxjOuEJhC6wCB2alzZPL4KkAcQ5SFVvMUHt6hG83495YM98XV73te19iIIGtxOVMVRE7aduhFJYzRIPLlrV1sbGrqByEzcW-w_5eB7xiFVQJZk4g_mXTVLmGxzi6&smid=url-share
My bad. Here's the full speech:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?&q=liz+cheney%27s+concession+speech&docid=20849066119766&mid=4453D867A659CF267ED04453D867A659CF267ED0&view=detail&form=VDRVSR&ajaxhist=0
HCR, I appreciate that you owned up to your initial low expectation of Biden while acknowledging his experience in foreign affairs. And with the slim margins that he has to deal with in the House and Senate, he has worked hard and passed a Big Deal indeed ! Joe Biden is a Senior Citizen and a hard worker whose heart is in the right place. It's always easier to tear something down than it is to build something up. Thanx for being our news source HCR.
American democracy hangs on the cross - and Republicans are crying 'give us Trump.'
I just don't get it. It is mind-boggling to me the garbage that those who support tfg will believe.
I think the imbecile credulity of the Trumpist true believers is a logical outgrowth, metastasis, of the Republican Politics of Faith by which belief replaced reason. However hypocritical and cynical the American Catholic establishment is, American Evangelicalism leaves it in the dust. (Buckley to Bannon vs Billie Graham to the latest unindicted Evangelical.)
In this instance, despite the presence and participation of other religious extremist groups, America today is certainly the most Christian of nations - in the worst way.
i've also believed these things to be true for decades.