I have said more than once on Mike Johnson's Facebook page that what he does most consistently is lie. I said so today. Then I said so on Telegram. I think he has become tired of me on Telegram, declaring it his "safe space to relax" and be himself and make friends. After repeatedly using language with religious undertones and telling me I can rest assured that he is in "complete control," and I can "put my full trust" in him, and so on, he finally said it is important that I "trust his decisions and not question them." Very patriarchal. I had some words about that, both his arrogance and his questionable decisions. Also, that it is important for him to hear from Americans, and since he doesn't have a government email for this purpose, I have to use what I have, which is Telegram. So he heard from me again today about the spew of lies coming out of his mouth in a television interview in Louisiana and the terms he uses to describe migrants that fall short of the image of God that his faith teaches him they are created in. So I don't know how much more he will answer me, but I do have an idea of how much more I will call him out on the basic issue of Speak. The. Damn. Truth.
Safe space to relax because he’s among his brother extremist terrorists on Telegram. He is, in fact, terrorizing America. Don’t we all feel like we are being held hostage by Johnson and the extreme “Freedom Caucus”?
Johnson is one of the most perfect examples of a hypocrite to ever sit in Congress. He is one among many, but since he has risen to this position, his hypocrisy is more evident than ever. I trust him far less than even Kevin McCarthy, who was exposed as a serial liar.
I have to agree. I thought McCarthy was creepy, but mostly he just like the idea of being the top dog after all his years in House leadership. Johnson didn't even really put in his time. His arrogance surpasses even McCarthy.
And what bothers me even more are his shady Russian connections, and this idea that he is the "anointed one" sent by God to save us. It makes me feel ill. Ugh...I give you lots of credit for wrangling with him on Telegram. I have written to him but received no replies via email. I also just heard that they kicked the can down the road again with another continuing resolution. This is the definition of insanity!!
Susan!!!!! I love that you brought up: him telling you not to question his decisions. That is such a male dominated religion … thing. How dare this little man say that out loud. Oh forget it- I can’t even. I want to write all about this male dominated religious stuff but really now I only want to barf.
They can play their Christ is the head of the man but I’m the head of this house games all they want. But get the hell out of our house- no one wants them in government. The framers said so
I suppose that in the overall scheme of things, ""trust his decisions and not question them" is not the biggest or worst problem we have w/ the Speaker, but really?? In 2024? A million years ago when I was a kid, "do as I say not as I do" was already a discredited model and we've come a long way since then in our collective treatment of kids, women and other lectured at groups. I can't even remember the last time I even heard "do as I say..." And yet the Speaker of the House uses it and the corollary "shut up and don't question me" as governing principles. Kevin McCarthy was soulless and unmoored from any principle or purpose, but nothing compares to Johnson's flat-out incompetence and inappropriateness for national leadership.
I'm not sure I can describe his aspirations, but whatever they are, I am not suppose to question them, and he is in complete control and I should trust him.
Here is an example of the Alabama Life at Conception ruling:
I received a cold call from a headhunter, asking if I am interested in locum tenens work.
I am a retired, former Board Certified OB-GYN.
My two word response: "No way."
Reversal of Roe by Dobbs, combined with the once-in-a-century global pandemic has decimated the US health care system and exposed its deficits - the widening gaps that block access, render disparate care, expose inequities, result in the majority of personal bankruptcies, and worst of all, result in a drop in the average life expectancy.
Former US Surgeon General Jerome Adams is fighting a $5,000 ER bill for dehydration - and the charges for the ambulance transportation can be expected to show up soon as well.
Donald J Trump can take the blame for tipping the nation into this deepening crisis.
He brags how his Supreme Court appointments ended Roe.
Pregnancy is WAY too complicated for predominantly male legislators, who are ignorant of the working of the human body to legislate. Pregnancy can be life threatening, and a number of states are practicing medicine without a license in their draconian laws, with no exceptions. The legislatures are practicing a kind of legislative gang rape. They are using sexual behaviors to exert power and control, i.e. rape.
yes, when the number of exceptions keep occurring, the "law" is obviously flawed.
This is another reason the decisions should be left up to the individual involved in consultation with their health care team - there is no room for the politician in that exam room.
People experiencing a pregnancy crisis deserve COMPASSION and access to care!
Demographer Diane Greene Foster presented her findings of the Turnaway Study in a TED Talk,
And Beverly, the mortality rates for black women is abysmal. This is another reason Dobbs was passed, however, that part isn’t said out loud. They want to shrink the black population. Deplorable!
Jackson Women's Health was the LAST facility to provide abortion services in the entire STATE of Mississippi, and Dobbs ended its ability to provide those necessary medical services.
"Roe was not the beginning of women getting abortions,
Roe was intended to be the end of women DYING from illegal abortions," needs to be emblazoned on billboards and messages all over the country, with the info regarding maternity care deserts. Thank you.
As per a recent report on NPR, the inter-american judicial group overuled a High Court in Costa Rica on the matter of embryo status , restricting the definition of embryo's which must be protected to those in the womb only. Will this matter to the Neanderthal's in Alabama ?
Thank you again for revealing the assumed bias is not the real truth. Too many reporters or nightly pundits repeat the MAGA negative refrains against Biden, which I attribute to laziness and perhaps simply the need to simply say something. You help us wade through the misinformation broadcasts.
My counteraction: I’ve been responding to representative Rashida’s campaign acknowledging the deaths in Gaza as horrors that need to be exposed. But I also laid out the complexity of the situation such as the ongoing negotiations from Biden’s team, the corrupt war mongering of Israel’s current leaders (who are disliked by vast numbers inside Israel and in the US).
My concluding point to her was that not voting for Biden would mean Trump might well win and that in turn means everyone loses, particularly her community. She knows about Project 2025. A authoritarian country would replace our democracy so there would be no protective laws, no constitution, no personal freedoms. So I hope this outreach helps her see what needs to be done in the election itself. Vote blue.
Agree! I will talk with my Mich. rep today (Dingell) to reiterate my support for Biden and my concerns about Tlaib’s and Michael Moore’ ill-conceived protest vote against democracy.
As I understand it, many of the uncommitted votes in the MI Primary are protest votes against Biden for what's happening in Gaza, but depending on the situation in Nov, and given the likely alternative, these voters may well support him.
I'm not so sure. That wasn't what I heard this morning in an interview with the woman who was one of the organizers of the MI uncommitted vote effort. When she was asked if she would use this to send the message, but still vote for Biden in November, her reply was: "I don't know." When the interviewer said that that could result in a Trump win, she said: "We may have to have Trump short-term to send the message to the Democratic party and change their values about genocide." Unfortunately, I saw this on the morning news and don't have a link to refer you to.
Andy Levin, the former MI Congressman and James Zogby, President of the Arab-American Institute, who were also behind this effort are on Democracy Now! right now saying essentially the same thing.
This was on ABC's "Good Morning America".....who never passes up a chance to interview the voters that they can find to support the "Biden is in trouble" view. Meanwhile on MSNBC's "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell", they interviewed several Biden voters who spelled out the stakes perfectly. Those voters are out there but the "MSM" chooses to highlight the negative. Sheeshe....
Good catch! Our local ABC affiliate in DC is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, who is definitely right-leaning. But this was part of the NBC national broadcast. Sometimes I wonder where George Stephanopoulos left his head and his soul since leaving the White House.
Interestingly, the DC Fox affiliate is often the most balanced reporting that we get.
I know, right? If the orange disaster wins the election, the promise of the people and organizations who would follow into his administration is to kill democracy. Can't vote in anyone besides them after that... Or vote at all, maybe.
Yes Angela, I saw an interview last night with a woman who was identified as one of the leaders of the "uncommitted" Dearborn voters.
Her parting comment was that if Trump was elected because her "uncommitted" voters abandon Biden in November, "it will be Biden's fault."
No m'am, it will be the fault of you, Rashida Tlaib and everyone who followed your advice without knowing, or perhaps without caring past their understandable hurt and anger, what carnage it could bring to our entire country (and the world) if your short-sighted campaign were to allow Trump to win Michigan in the fall.
How much comfort and satisfaction will it bring all of the "uncommitted" voters if their efforts result in a Trump, white supremacy, Christian nationalist presidency and he starts his organized and clearly stated goal of ripping apart our government, constitution, rule of law, freedoms and democracy?
I couldn't agree more. As I wrote in another comment what we see evolving on the ground in Gaza as well as the international reaction to it surely is part and parcel of the devilish script written up by Hamas.
I am quite sure, though, that not even in their wildest dreams they expected that what they unleashed on Oct 7 might tip the scale in the November elections and help the insurrectionists back to power. in the US.
Without mincing words, Angela, that woman you are referring to sounds like a complete idiot. Anyone who thinks that a short-term Trump experience is going to wake people up is living in a delusion. It will make things far, far worse than they are now. It will take decades to recover from another Trump term, which is why I find these people to be so full of crap.
Boy, I'd like to shake the woman who was interviewed until her teeth rattle! She clearly does not understand that, if Trump is elected, it will never ever be short-term. Once he's back in the White House, he will surround himself with true believers and do everything he can to cancel elections, punish his perceived enemies, and remain in the presidency until he dies. But then he will be succeeded by a vice-president selected by Trump who will continue a MAGAT regime.
Four years of a Trump administration is definitely not my idea of "short term". It will horrendously long! And 100,% anti,-Muslim, Arab, Palestinian you name it! The Pro-Palestinian folks need to get their heads straight!
Laying out the complexity of the situation you might also point out that Hamas is at least as responsible for what you rightfully call the horrors in Gaza. Since coming to power Hamas has periodically launched rocket attacks against Israel. They didn't have any strategic military purpose but served solely to elicit or rather invite an Israeli military response – which then served to turn international opinion against Israel.
The intentional and well publicized slaughter of Oct 7, the worst mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust was another chapter in the devilish script prepared by Hamas and whatever we have seen since is following this script. It actually has put Israel in a no-win situation and it looks like Netanyahu and his right-wing cabinet is eagerly playing their part in this script.
It would be great though, if at least the international community would resist assuming the role accorded to it in this playbook and would look, as you rightly point out, at the complexity of the situation. President Biden and Secretary Blinken, I would like to add, have IMHO acted quite responsibly so far.
I don't know the percentage but a lot of the death in Gaza is caused by Hamas using the Gazans as human Shields. Just like rump they care about no one but themselves. They also don't say how many people that have died in Gaza are part of Hamas. So we do not have the full picture. They do promise that when the war stops they will do the same thing as October 7th again and again.
You're right Maureen. I can't access the entire article, but here is a link to a recent WSJ article about the Hamas hostages still remaining under the brutal control of Hamas. There are thought to be about 130 hostages still held by Hamas, which includes 31 deceased hostages.
Just like Putin, those Hamas terrorists won't even release the bodies of people they've killed. I haven't heard anything lately about those tortured hostages who had been kept in horrific conditions underground for more than four months! But obviously their families and loved ones are devastated and beyond frantic to get them back.
I am about as far from being "pro-Hamas" as one can get; both its actions and its ideology are intensely destabilizing, and intended to be so. And I suspect that this is true of many of the "uncommitted" votes in Michigan. What they reflect is apparent disregard by Biden of the plight of Palestinian civilians. I believe that Biden is doing the best he can, and in light of Netanyahu's intransigence his "support for Israel" has become more and more full of holes and exceptions. Those can only get bigger as Israel rejects again the proposed solutions being negotiated.
And I have to say that the Israeli response has proven to be WAY disproportionate to the harm caused on Oct 7. The current death toll of Palestinians is up to 29 to one in comparison with Oct 7. Even if you allow that some killed were Hamasmembers--even if you accept Israel's statement made without evidence that "9,000" of the dead were Hamas--the ratio is still 20 to one.
At some point one has to consider whether this cost is worth the benefits. There is no guarantee that killing off every Hamas member, even the foot-soldiers--will stop the rise of terrorism and make Israel "safe". Iran can probably find many Palestinians now radicalized who were NOT Hamas to support. Not to mention Hezbollah and similar groups.
And the "human shield" argument gets very iffy in light of this disproportion. Not to mention that as of the end of January, the World Bank estimates that 132,590 residential buildings have been destroyed, while Hamas had 30,000 members at the outset. How did it manage to imbed it self in 132,590 homes? Did they commute? (The figures are from The Times of Israel)
Despite what some (one actually) of the more rabble rousing of the "uncommitted" movement will say, I am actually confident that most of those will vote for Biden in light of the plans trumpeted by trump and his allies.
Once again, your assessment is brilliant and it makes me more proud to wear a Biden T-shirt grocery shopping in Florida. (My New Years Rez)
I have posted lengthy TikTok vids (@rockartist) to convince others to do the same. The MAGA response to my posts has been cruel. And I’ve turned their cruelty into a sport. I ask for kind comments only. (80% fail) I then ask to continue the conversation as if we were having a beer in person, not online. There have been glimmers of softening and connection. We are all of the same country. All on the same team. We have different opinions and THAT is better than okay, it’s wonderful
Actually, the TikTok is @shawnshawngauthier (I’m kinda new to this.) if anyone cares to share some love to drown out the negative comments. Or see the sparring that has resulted in civility… leave a supportive comment.
I have no patients either for those who use epitaphs like “MAGAt” among our own ranks. Rancor will get us nowhere but backwards with heels more firmly dug in.”
Thanks David! I’m on Facebook as Shawn Shawn Gauthier. My posts there get a lot of crickets. Not sure if no one is seeing them or if no one want to wade into political discussion on FB (in my friend-world we mostly agree, anyway.)
Thanks for clearing up the worrisome rumors about the plot to overthrow the next election by Republicans if they don't win. Also, I wrote to Politico Berlin editor this morning complaining about their coverage of the Michigan election. Thanks for explaining the data. It would never enter my mind that 80% of the vote was a loss, but these people are so against Biden because they have nothing on him, that they have to make negative where it is positive, so they have absolutely no credibility with me, and make themselves irrelevant. They are furthering the work of Putin and the Treacherous-treasonous-traitors in the USA Republican party.
I can not figure out why pretty much the entire press corps in tv, the papers & social media are so hell bent to elect Trump. It makes no sense. Have they all been brainwashed into thinking that since they personally are liberal they have to beat up on Biden to make the coverage fair? The reporters & prognosticators are not stupid. They edit & double check their work. Yet their work product “the news” is more cheerleading for Diktator Don than it is honest reportage.
Just perplexed. And really pissed off. “Liberal bias in the media?” Hardly
There are all sorts of reasons for the bias against Biden. Fear is a major factor. Even GOP legislators are terrified about what might happen to themselves and their families if they speak the truth about Trump.
Mike Johnson also repeated a claim he's made before that President Biden should address the border fiasco thru executive action. While I'm not a big fan of using Executive Orders in lieu of legislation, I think President Biden should call his bluff. A bipartisan group has put forth legislation to address the border, but it was sabotaged by the Quadefendant. I'd like to see President Biden implement the plan thru executive action and dare the Repugnicans to cry foul.
In an interview Johnson posted yesterday, he said he believed the president would accept his demand to aces by executive action, but it wouldn’t be enough. In other words, even if the president does what Johnson has been screaming for, he is already setting up to find fault with it.
I hadn't heard that, but it seems to me that he's on a very slippery slope, and his temporary occupancy of the Speaker's chair grows more tenuous by the day.
What I don't understand is that "shutting down the border" would apply only to legal ports of entry where immigrants are seeking legal access to asylum. Neither Executive action nor shutting down ports of entry will stop immigrant efforts to enter the U.S. by crossing the 1000+ mile border between ports of entry. Shutting down ports of entry would, far more likely, increase the number of people trying to cross between ports of entry, further impacting Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California. You might just as well try to hold a cup of water in the palm of your hand.
Those Democrats who indulged in a protest vote in the primary will not be voting for Trump in the general election unless they want to see a return to a Muslim ban and total disregard for the interests of Gaza's civilian population. Do we see Tlaib switching parties? I don’t think so.
The fact that they chose a protest vote in the primary indicates to me that they are informed voters and they really wanted President Biden to "hear" them on the Palestinian issue. If my perspective is correct, these same informed voters SURELY would know that the November election is critical to their own well-being and survival in America.
Robert, than you for all of your insights. I enjoy reading your daily newsletters. With regard to the IVF and abortion issues, I'd like to address the elephant in the room.
Back to basics: The so-called "belief" that "life begins at conception " is patently false. It begins long BEFORE that. In fact, the egg that eventually developed into YOU was ALIVE and well in your mother's ovary months before SHE was born! Of course, conception was a crucial point in your long journey to personhood. But I challenge anyone who claims to believe that a fertilized human egg is the moral equivalent of a baby to consider this: You are a mother of a newborn baby, and you are in the maternity ward. Your baby is in the newborn nursery down the corridor to the left. Down the corridor to the right is the IVF clinic where you have two frozen embryos. A fire breaks out and you have time to save your newborn baby or your two frozen embryos. Which will you choose? Now ask yourself this: How many frozen embryos would you have to save to make abandoning your newborn baby the “moral” choice?
Many "believers" have been, and continue to be, bamboozled by their religious leaders about this moral question. But just thinking about the above simple ethical "dilemma" reveals the truth: A fertilized human egg is NOT the moral equivalent of a baby!
And as you note, the terminology here is important. Depending on the state statute at issue, the formula being used by the anti-choice proponents is that "life begins at conception" and that life (or "potential life") IS "an unborn child."
These simplistic approaches ignore the deep question of "what is life"--something that is still subject to robust debate in the scientific community. Is a virus "life"?
Your thought experiment is helpful. I would also add that human beings do not have the ability to be frozen and brought back to life. So, the fact that blastocysts (frozen embryos) can do so suggests that they are a "pre-human" stage of life.
Thanks Robert for your reply. Concerning your last point: Even IF technology advances to the point that humans CAN be frozen and brought back to life in the future, it still would not change the basic moral truth, as revealed in that simple ethical "dilemma", that a fertilized egg is NOT the moral equivalent of a baby. So that truth is independent of technology or future changes in technology.
I heard this about the “uncommitted” vote coming out is the Listen to Michigan campaign. This campaign is not only intended to move US policy re: Gaza but also to take advantage of an issue that engages voters to get them past the current voter ennui/indifference/malaise. An energized (even if angry) voter is better than a disengaged one, and the consequences are low in the primary. The thought is that the situation in Gaza will be better by Nov, but even if it’s not, MI organizers will have a lot of engaged voters whom they can direct to Biden as a far better alternative to Trump re: Gaza. Apparently a similar strategy was used in 2012 - groups labeled Obama the Deporter-in-Chief as a way to engage young and immigrant voters early in the election cycle, and then moved those voters to a more positive view of Obama (eg better than the alternative) by election time.
Thank you for an excellent newsletter - again. Your observations about the Michigan primaries are spot on. But I'm going to continue to suggest that you and our readers spend a wee bit less time worrying about cable TV news and major newspapers. I know I keep saying it - but it bears repeating. Most voters now are already "decided". But there are some younger independents or "uncommitted" frustrated non-voters. They should be our focus. And guess what? Most of them don't watch TV news. And most of them have never heard of the "Nates". Seriously, who cares what pollsters have to say - who are usually wrong?
Too much focus on dated media consumed by our generation. More about what is happening among the people we can persuade to register...can persuade to vote. Chances are very strong that almost all people still watching cable TV are solid in their positions. The ones getting everything on their phones should be the focus.
I fully agree that the TV/cable MSM has been a failure. But that's a shrinking part of the media. To be current and effective, we need to pay attention to what's on social media. That's where the real battle is being fought. For our kids and grand kids the world is fed via the internet - not the cable cord.
I comment not to denigrate all your incredible work Robert. But I think if we win on November 5th it will be because we educated and convinced Gen Y and Z that THEIR future is at stake.
Bill, thanks for your suggestion. Here is why I am going to continue to address the media bias: The top outlets set the media narrative--a few major newspapers and five cable channels. Like it or not, tens of millions of Americans hear that false narrative. It frightens them, scares them, and depresses them. This newsletter is intended to help everyone understand why we should be hopeful IN SPITE of that narrative. I can't make that case unless I explain why the lies people are hearing are false. I am not trying to persuade people. I am trying to give them hope.
You may not need that assurance, Bill. That is great for you! But I hear every day from readers who tell me that my approach helps make it through the day.
The newsletter you would like to see exists on other platforms. (See, e.g., Jessica Craven's Chop Wood Carry Water). That's not this newsletter. I have a mission, it is reaching 100,000+ people on average on a daily basis. I am going to keep on doing it. But I urge you to promote other newsletters and sources that are focused on actions, social media, etc. etc. I promote and link to those sites so readers of this newsletter can access them if they want.
Thank you Robert! Just want to say that I agree with your take on the horse race sudden media and can barely watch anymore. They look and sound liked souped up trolls under a bridge, breathlessly giggling and salivating with glee over conflict and fear. It is frightening how much visibility they have.
And, no matter what, those of us who get what Trump is, what Johnson is…we have work ourselves to the bone to win big in November. No time to dally in our own inner upsets about any policy. Not yet. MAGA is the main, constant enemy and we have to unite behind that before all else.
As suggested in an earlier comment the important take away from the Michigan vote is VOTER ENGAGEMENT. It’s not that they didn’t vote for Biden. Many of these “uncommitted” will stay engaged and vote in Nov. We always say voter turn out is what’s critical to winning in Nov. I would be hard pressed to believe that the “uncommitted” from yesterday will go to the polls and vote for Trump. They WILL go the polls and will overwhelmingly vote for Biden. I cannot fathom any significant number of them voting for Trump. So, as I read it this record breaking primary turnout for “uncommitted” will morph into a win for Biden biggly.
I hope you are right. As noted by a couple of readers, the leaders of the uncommitted movement say they might not vote for Biden. That is harmful messaging, even if it is a bluff. Once you convince someone that not voting for Biden is acceptable, it will be very difficult to change their minds.
I might add, Robert, that Michael Moore has been spearheading this issue, and he continues to speak falsehoods, something that I never thought I would hear from him. I always considered Michael Moore a truth teller, but he lost a subscriber yesterday (me) because of his rallying cry that “Biden is not listening.“ He seems to believe he has the supernatural powers of understanding what’s going on in Biden‘s brain and what’s happening behind the scenes with the president and Anthony Blinken. He gives NO credit to the president for the negotiations that he has been spearheading over these several months. President Biden has been working tirelessly on a cease-fire and on getting aid to Palestinians for weeks and months now, yet Moore continues to voice the falsehood that President Biden is not doing anything at all.
These one-issue people who threaten to vote against our only hope for a continued Democratic Republic have a few screws loose in their heads. We need to counteract their nonsense. A protest vote in a primary is fine, but threatening to not vote for President Biden because they think that Trump will “shake things up” is pure idiocy and anti-American, to say the least.
I heard they might not vote at all, also, which would be still be disastrous for them. I am sympathetic to the plight of our Palestinian and Arab Americans. They have lost patience and see our nation financing and supplying a country bent on killing and displacing their people. Netanyahu is despised by a majority of Israelis. He is their Hitler. The Likud Party are his generals. It is a sickening situation there. My father used to tell me there will never be peace in the Middle East. I hope, in my lifetime, that Biden & Blinken prove him wrong.
Media reporters are attending Trump's primary events for the chance to interview attendees attempting to figure out what they think and why. Among the many reasons and explanations supporters provide is this idea that Trump is a "Strong Man". They confuse a STRONG MAN for a Strongman, a literal henchman. This appears to be a remnant of the Wild West mythology. The renegade gang comes to town and takes over the town instilling fear and retribution with a six-shooter and are quick to draw their pistols to mete out justice letting the blood flowing in the street to speak for their intentions. The townspeople see themselves as ill equipped to fight back against gun slingers who are quick to shoot and ask questions later.
Then, this unknown fella who carries a quiet demeanor with a threatening strut chewing a stick of tumbleweed comes to town while the townsfolk try to figure him out. He sees what's going on in the town, gets into a scuffle with one of the outlaws with whom he is about to have a shoot-out. The visitor pulls aside his long coat to reveal a glistening pearl handled revolver known throughout the land while sweat beads on the forehead of the outlaw. The savior cowboy walks slowly away, and proceeds to garner the support of the townsfolk in an ultimate battle that frees the town of the desperados. That evening the redeemer rides off into the sunset and all is restored in the town.
Wow. This is a salvation story of the "true believers". It is a childish desire to be saved. It is a religious message that there is someone who cares about us and will care for us, and redeem us in times of hardship. This is the authoritarian model. Scary as it may seems, 30% of the population are not willing to participate, are not willing to get dirty, work hard, assert themselves in the messy political arena called Democracy. These are people who need an enemy. These are people who need to feel victimized. These are folks who represent themselves as outcasts for the sake of an excuse as to why they have not stepped forward to claim the change they want. This is the community who have viewed themselves as entitled, an entitlement that derives from their social isolation and inbred thoughts and ideas. As the saying goes, "Be careful of what you wish for". All is not as it seems.
Stop twisting yourself in knots. Without the "Uncommitted" vote, Biden would have gotten 96% of the vote..if half the "Uncommitted" voters vote for Biden in November, he gets 90% of the primary voters.
Mr. Trump lost ~30% of the GOP primary voters in a Democratic state that Biden won in 2020 by 150,000. Has the Times lost its ability to do basic math? Perhaps the Times has entered the realm of "alternative facts"; a strange discipline to take away from the Trump administration.
Given the facts, I'd sure rather be Biden than Trump, not just in Michigan, but in the general election.
When will the Times stop embarrassing itself and begin reporting 2024 election trends accurately?
In yesterday's Hopium Chronicles, Simon Rosenberg stated that an uncommitted vote under 20% was likely good news for Biden, so the 13% doesn't overly concern me. Still, the President should take it as a message received. I'm not qualified to speak about what that means in terms of policy, but I do hope he’s listening. The raw numbers don't portend disaster, as the media would like to amplify, but they do indicate there is work to do in Michigan.
As I wrote, we shouldn't dismiss or ignore the sizable uncommitted vote. But something I haven't heard anyone address is this: Why was the turnout for Biden in a Democratic primary four times larger than turnout for Obama in 2012? Just as the uncommitted vote was larger, the overall voter was off the charts larger--and 85% of that vote went to Biden. that is an important development that we should understand ,as well.
I have said more than once on Mike Johnson's Facebook page that what he does most consistently is lie. I said so today. Then I said so on Telegram. I think he has become tired of me on Telegram, declaring it his "safe space to relax" and be himself and make friends. After repeatedly using language with religious undertones and telling me I can rest assured that he is in "complete control," and I can "put my full trust" in him, and so on, he finally said it is important that I "trust his decisions and not question them." Very patriarchal. I had some words about that, both his arrogance and his questionable decisions. Also, that it is important for him to hear from Americans, and since he doesn't have a government email for this purpose, I have to use what I have, which is Telegram. So he heard from me again today about the spew of lies coming out of his mouth in a television interview in Louisiana and the terms he uses to describe migrants that fall short of the image of God that his faith teaches him they are created in. So I don't know how much more he will answer me, but I do have an idea of how much more I will call him out on the basic issue of Speak. The. Damn. Truth.
Thanks for holding his feet to the fire, Susan. Mike Johnson shouldn't have a 'safe space to relax.' Anywhere!
Safe space to relax because he’s among his brother extremist terrorists on Telegram. He is, in fact, terrorizing America. Don’t we all feel like we are being held hostage by Johnson and the extreme “Freedom Caucus”?
Feel like it. Ya. Actually it’s a reality not a feeling.
(That was not meant to sound aggressive )
You're good, Susan...Keep it up!
Hates divorce. Thinks women should be subservient.
How do his divorced colleagues and Republican women oxymorons in Congress handle that?
How can he hate divorce and support Trump?
All evidence to the contrary notwithstanding, not all Republicans are hypocrites, and not all hypocrites are Republicans. But many are.
by being a hypocrite.
Johnson is one of the most perfect examples of a hypocrite to ever sit in Congress. He is one among many, but since he has risen to this position, his hypocrisy is more evident than ever. I trust him far less than even Kevin McCarthy, who was exposed as a serial liar.
I have to agree. I thought McCarthy was creepy, but mostly he just like the idea of being the top dog after all his years in House leadership. Johnson didn't even really put in his time. His arrogance surpasses even McCarthy.
And what bothers me even more are his shady Russian connections, and this idea that he is the "anointed one" sent by God to save us. It makes me feel ill. Ugh...I give you lots of credit for wrangling with him on Telegram. I have written to him but received no replies via email. I also just heard that they kicked the can down the road again with another continuing resolution. This is the definition of insanity!!
🤦🏽♀️👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽🩷❤️🔥❤️🔥
Thank you so much for your continued effort to declaim truth to power to that slimy lordling, who has a mouthful of sanctimonious lying pap.
Susan!!!!! I love that you brought up: him telling you not to question his decisions. That is such a male dominated religion … thing. How dare this little man say that out loud. Oh forget it- I can’t even. I want to write all about this male dominated religious stuff but really now I only want to barf.
They can play their Christ is the head of the man but I’m the head of this house games all they want. But get the hell out of our house- no one wants them in government. The framers said so
I suppose that in the overall scheme of things, ""trust his decisions and not question them" is not the biggest or worst problem we have w/ the Speaker, but really?? In 2024? A million years ago when I was a kid, "do as I say not as I do" was already a discredited model and we've come a long way since then in our collective treatment of kids, women and other lectured at groups. I can't even remember the last time I even heard "do as I say..." And yet the Speaker of the House uses it and the corollary "shut up and don't question me" as governing principles. Kevin McCarthy was soulless and unmoored from any principle or purpose, but nothing compares to Johnson's flat-out incompetence and inappropriateness for national leadership.
Hubris and arrogance are a deadly mix. The man apparently has aspirations, but for what?
I'm not sure I can describe his aspirations, but whatever they are, I am not suppose to question them, and he is in complete control and I should trust him.
You go!
Maybe the best place for him to relax will be in HELL
“I lie. Its what I do. My God approves. I do it all for Him”
Mike’s God, The Donald is well pleased
Good for you. Way to go Susan! Thanks.
Good for you. At least you are ONE American who is speaking truth in the face of a deluge of unknown "others" to whom he bends the knee.
Trust his decisions and not question them??? Trust THIS GUY’S decisions? And not QUESTION them? 🤮🤮🤮
Here is an example of the Alabama Life at Conception ruling:
I received a cold call from a headhunter, asking if I am interested in locum tenens work.
I am a retired, former Board Certified OB-GYN.
My two word response: "No way."
Reversal of Roe by Dobbs, combined with the once-in-a-century global pandemic has decimated the US health care system and exposed its deficits - the widening gaps that block access, render disparate care, expose inequities, result in the majority of personal bankruptcies, and worst of all, result in a drop in the average life expectancy.
Former US Surgeon General Jerome Adams is fighting a $5,000 ER bill for dehydration - and the charges for the ambulance transportation can be expected to show up soon as well.
Donald J Trump can take the blame for tipping the nation into this deepening crisis.
He brags how his Supreme Court appointments ended Roe.
Roe-vember is coming...
I forgot to make a point about the call - "obstetric deserts."
Job Search companies are desperately trying to find health care workers
as the laws resulting from the SCOTUS decision ending Roe
affect every aspect of the health care system.
36% of counties in the USA were maternity care deserts IN 2022.
(Citation: March of Dimes)
That represented over seven MILLION American women THEN.
Maternal mortality is increasing. The majority of those deaths are preventable.
When compared to other developed nations, the USA ranks LAST.
Roe was not the beginning of women getting abortions,
Roe was intended to be the end of women DYING from illegal abortions.
WOMEN ARE DYING due to Trump, SCOTUS and the GOP theocracy.
Pregnancy is WAY too complicated for predominantly male legislators, who are ignorant of the working of the human body to legislate. Pregnancy can be life threatening, and a number of states are practicing medicine without a license in their draconian laws, with no exceptions. The legislatures are practicing a kind of legislative gang rape. They are using sexual behaviors to exert power and control, i.e. rape.
yes, when the number of exceptions keep occurring, the "law" is obviously flawed.
This is another reason the decisions should be left up to the individual involved in consultation with their health care team - there is no room for the politician in that exam room.
People experiencing a pregnancy crisis deserve COMPASSION and access to care!
Demographer Diane Greene Foster presented her findings of the Turnaway Study in a TED Talk,
"What happens when we deny people abortions?"
Summary: "TRUST WOMEN.".
And Beverly, the mortality rates for black women is abysmal. This is another reason Dobbs was passed, however, that part isn’t said out loud. They want to shrink the black population. Deplorable!
Jackson Women's Health was the LAST facility to provide abortion services in the entire STATE of Mississippi, and Dobbs ended its ability to provide those necessary medical services.
Yes, I know. 😡
Excellent: Your couplet:
"Roe was not the beginning of women getting abortions,
Roe was intended to be the end of women DYING from illegal abortions," needs to be emblazoned on billboards and messages all over the country, with the info regarding maternity care deserts. Thank you.
And women will continue seeking abortions no matter what the law may be. There is no way, ever, to "end abortion".
As per a recent report on NPR, the inter-american judicial group overuled a High Court in Costa Rica on the matter of embryo status , restricting the definition of embryo's which must be protected to those in the womb only. Will this matter to the Neanderthal's in Alabama ?
💙 Roe-vember Dr. Beverly !!
Thank you again for revealing the assumed bias is not the real truth. Too many reporters or nightly pundits repeat the MAGA negative refrains against Biden, which I attribute to laziness and perhaps simply the need to simply say something. You help us wade through the misinformation broadcasts.
My counteraction: I’ve been responding to representative Rashida’s campaign acknowledging the deaths in Gaza as horrors that need to be exposed. But I also laid out the complexity of the situation such as the ongoing negotiations from Biden’s team, the corrupt war mongering of Israel’s current leaders (who are disliked by vast numbers inside Israel and in the US).
My concluding point to her was that not voting for Biden would mean Trump might well win and that in turn means everyone loses, particularly her community. She knows about Project 2025. A authoritarian country would replace our democracy so there would be no protective laws, no constitution, no personal freedoms. So I hope this outreach helps her see what needs to be done in the election itself. Vote blue.
Agree! I will talk with my Mich. rep today (Dingell) to reiterate my support for Biden and my concerns about Tlaib’s and Michael Moore’ ill-conceived protest vote against democracy.
As I understand it, many of the uncommitted votes in the MI Primary are protest votes against Biden for what's happening in Gaza, but depending on the situation in Nov, and given the likely alternative, these voters may well support him.
A second Trump term would mean NO ONE IS SAFE. That includes everyone in Gaza also.
I'm not so sure. That wasn't what I heard this morning in an interview with the woman who was one of the organizers of the MI uncommitted vote effort. When she was asked if she would use this to send the message, but still vote for Biden in November, her reply was: "I don't know." When the interviewer said that that could result in a Trump win, she said: "We may have to have Trump short-term to send the message to the Democratic party and change their values about genocide." Unfortunately, I saw this on the morning news and don't have a link to refer you to.
Andy Levin, the former MI Congressman and James Zogby, President of the Arab-American Institute, who were also behind this effort are on Democracy Now! right now saying essentially the same thing.
This was on ABC's "Good Morning America".....who never passes up a chance to interview the voters that they can find to support the "Biden is in trouble" view. Meanwhile on MSNBC's "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell", they interviewed several Biden voters who spelled out the stakes perfectly. Those voters are out there but the "MSM" chooses to highlight the negative. Sheeshe....
Good catch! Our local ABC affiliate in DC is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, who is definitely right-leaning. But this was part of the NBC national broadcast. Sometimes I wonder where George Stephanopoulos left his head and his soul since leaving the White House.
Interestingly, the DC Fox affiliate is often the most balanced reporting that we get.
Thanks but I think you mean the ABC national broadcast. And I couldn't agree with you more about Stephanopoulos.
WHAT the hell are they talking about?? “Short-term”??!! Good god
I know, right? If the orange disaster wins the election, the promise of the people and organizations who would follow into his administration is to kill democracy. Can't vote in anyone besides them after that... Or vote at all, maybe.
Yes Angela, I saw an interview last night with a woman who was identified as one of the leaders of the "uncommitted" Dearborn voters.
Her parting comment was that if Trump was elected because her "uncommitted" voters abandon Biden in November, "it will be Biden's fault."
No m'am, it will be the fault of you, Rashida Tlaib and everyone who followed your advice without knowing, or perhaps without caring past their understandable hurt and anger, what carnage it could bring to our entire country (and the world) if your short-sighted campaign were to allow Trump to win Michigan in the fall.
How much comfort and satisfaction will it bring all of the "uncommitted" voters if their efforts result in a Trump, white supremacy, Christian nationalist presidency and he starts his organized and clearly stated goal of ripping apart our government, constitution, rule of law, freedoms and democracy?
I couldn't agree more. As I wrote in another comment what we see evolving on the ground in Gaza as well as the international reaction to it surely is part and parcel of the devilish script written up by Hamas.
I am quite sure, though, that not even in their wildest dreams they expected that what they unleashed on Oct 7 might tip the scale in the November elections and help the insurrectionists back to power. in the US.
Putin and Iran must be rejoicing.
Angela, once in place, there is no “short term” trump
Who the (intercourse) is she kidding?
Without mincing words, Angela, that woman you are referring to sounds like a complete idiot. Anyone who thinks that a short-term Trump experience is going to wake people up is living in a delusion. It will make things far, far worse than they are now. It will take decades to recover from another Trump term, which is why I find these people to be so full of crap.
Boy, I'd like to shake the woman who was interviewed until her teeth rattle! She clearly does not understand that, if Trump is elected, it will never ever be short-term. Once he's back in the White House, he will surround himself with true believers and do everything he can to cancel elections, punish his perceived enemies, and remain in the presidency until he dies. But then he will be succeeded by a vice-president selected by Trump who will continue a MAGAT regime.
Four years of a Trump administration is definitely not my idea of "short term". It will horrendously long! And 100,% anti,-Muslim, Arab, Palestinian you name it! The Pro-Palestinian folks need to get their heads straight!
Hard to draw conclusions from ONE interviewee, and that an organizer of the movement.
Laying out the complexity of the situation you might also point out that Hamas is at least as responsible for what you rightfully call the horrors in Gaza. Since coming to power Hamas has periodically launched rocket attacks against Israel. They didn't have any strategic military purpose but served solely to elicit or rather invite an Israeli military response – which then served to turn international opinion against Israel.
The intentional and well publicized slaughter of Oct 7, the worst mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust was another chapter in the devilish script prepared by Hamas and whatever we have seen since is following this script. It actually has put Israel in a no-win situation and it looks like Netanyahu and his right-wing cabinet is eagerly playing their part in this script.
It would be great though, if at least the international community would resist assuming the role accorded to it in this playbook and would look, as you rightly point out, at the complexity of the situation. President Biden and Secretary Blinken, I would like to add, have IMHO acted quite responsibly so far.
I don't know the percentage but a lot of the death in Gaza is caused by Hamas using the Gazans as human Shields. Just like rump they care about no one but themselves. They also don't say how many people that have died in Gaza are part of Hamas. So we do not have the full picture. They do promise that when the war stops they will do the same thing as October 7th again and again.
You're right Maureen. I can't access the entire article, but here is a link to a recent WSJ article about the Hamas hostages still remaining under the brutal control of Hamas. There are thought to be about 130 hostages still held by Hamas, which includes 31 deceased hostages.
Just like Putin, those Hamas terrorists won't even release the bodies of people they've killed. I haven't heard anything lately about those tortured hostages who had been kept in horrific conditions underground for more than four months! But obviously their families and loved ones are devastated and beyond frantic to get them back.
https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/hamas-hostages-israel-gaza-41432124#comments_sector
I am about as far from being "pro-Hamas" as one can get; both its actions and its ideology are intensely destabilizing, and intended to be so. And I suspect that this is true of many of the "uncommitted" votes in Michigan. What they reflect is apparent disregard by Biden of the plight of Palestinian civilians. I believe that Biden is doing the best he can, and in light of Netanyahu's intransigence his "support for Israel" has become more and more full of holes and exceptions. Those can only get bigger as Israel rejects again the proposed solutions being negotiated.
And I have to say that the Israeli response has proven to be WAY disproportionate to the harm caused on Oct 7. The current death toll of Palestinians is up to 29 to one in comparison with Oct 7. Even if you allow that some killed were Hamasmembers--even if you accept Israel's statement made without evidence that "9,000" of the dead were Hamas--the ratio is still 20 to one.
At some point one has to consider whether this cost is worth the benefits. There is no guarantee that killing off every Hamas member, even the foot-soldiers--will stop the rise of terrorism and make Israel "safe". Iran can probably find many Palestinians now radicalized who were NOT Hamas to support. Not to mention Hezbollah and similar groups.
And the "human shield" argument gets very iffy in light of this disproportion. Not to mention that as of the end of January, the World Bank estimates that 132,590 residential buildings have been destroyed, while Hamas had 30,000 members at the outset. How did it manage to imbed it self in 132,590 homes? Did they commute? (The figures are from The Times of Israel)
Despite what some (one actually) of the more rabble rousing of the "uncommitted" movement will say, I am actually confident that most of those will vote for Biden in light of the plans trumpeted by trump and his allies.
Once again, your assessment is brilliant and it makes me more proud to wear a Biden T-shirt grocery shopping in Florida. (My New Years Rez)
I have posted lengthy TikTok vids (@rockartist) to convince others to do the same. The MAGA response to my posts has been cruel. And I’ve turned their cruelty into a sport. I ask for kind comments only. (80% fail) I then ask to continue the conversation as if we were having a beer in person, not online. There have been glimmers of softening and connection. We are all of the same country. All on the same team. We have different opinions and THAT is better than okay, it’s wonderful
You rock, Shawn !
👕🛒🧢
Thanks, Kathy! Let’s make Florida as blue as our beautiful beaches.
Actually, the TikTok is @shawnshawngauthier (I’m kinda new to this.) if anyone cares to share some love to drown out the negative comments. Or see the sparring that has resulted in civility… leave a supportive comment.
I have no patients either for those who use epitaphs like “MAGAt” among our own ranks. Rancor will get us nowhere but backwards with heels more firmly dug in.”
I'd support you but I'm not on tiktok. If you need Facebook support I'll be happy to provide it.
Thanks David! I’m on Facebook as Shawn Shawn Gauthier. My posts there get a lot of crickets. Not sure if no one is seeing them or if no one want to wade into political discussion on FB (in my friend-world we mostly agree, anyway.)
I sent you a friend request. I'm not as thoughtful and respectful as you are, but I share your perspectives.
Thanks for clearing up the worrisome rumors about the plot to overthrow the next election by Republicans if they don't win. Also, I wrote to Politico Berlin editor this morning complaining about their coverage of the Michigan election. Thanks for explaining the data. It would never enter my mind that 80% of the vote was a loss, but these people are so against Biden because they have nothing on him, that they have to make negative where it is positive, so they have absolutely no credibility with me, and make themselves irrelevant. They are furthering the work of Putin and the Treacherous-treasonous-traitors in the USA Republican party.
I can not figure out why pretty much the entire press corps in tv, the papers & social media are so hell bent to elect Trump. It makes no sense. Have they all been brainwashed into thinking that since they personally are liberal they have to beat up on Biden to make the coverage fair? The reporters & prognosticators are not stupid. They edit & double check their work. Yet their work product “the news” is more cheerleading for Diktator Don than it is honest reportage.
Just perplexed. And really pissed off. “Liberal bias in the media?” Hardly
There are all sorts of reasons for the bias against Biden. Fear is a major factor. Even GOP legislators are terrified about what might happen to themselves and their families if they speak the truth about Trump.
You’re telling me TRumpy MAGAs are threatening members of the press?
Where is the FBI? Political threatening is major illegal
Mike Johnson also repeated a claim he's made before that President Biden should address the border fiasco thru executive action. While I'm not a big fan of using Executive Orders in lieu of legislation, I think President Biden should call his bluff. A bipartisan group has put forth legislation to address the border, but it was sabotaged by the Quadefendant. I'd like to see President Biden implement the plan thru executive action and dare the Repugnicans to cry foul.
The courts will shut Biden down.
True but make them.
No doubt, but somebody will have to make the case.
In an interview Johnson posted yesterday, he said he believed the president would accept his demand to aces by executive action, but it wouldn’t be enough. In other words, even if the president does what Johnson has been screaming for, he is already setting up to find fault with it.
I hadn't heard that, but it seems to me that he's on a very slippery slope, and his temporary occupancy of the Speaker's chair grows more tenuous by the day.
What I don't understand is that "shutting down the border" would apply only to legal ports of entry where immigrants are seeking legal access to asylum. Neither Executive action nor shutting down ports of entry will stop immigrant efforts to enter the U.S. by crossing the 1000+ mile border between ports of entry. Shutting down ports of entry would, far more likely, increase the number of people trying to cross between ports of entry, further impacting Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California. You might just as well try to hold a cup of water in the palm of your hand.
Those Democrats who indulged in a protest vote in the primary will not be voting for Trump in the general election unless they want to see a return to a Muslim ban and total disregard for the interests of Gaza's civilian population. Do we see Tlaib switching parties? I don’t think so.
The fact that they chose a protest vote in the primary indicates to me that they are informed voters and they really wanted President Biden to "hear" them on the Palestinian issue. If my perspective is correct, these same informed voters SURELY would know that the November election is critical to their own well-being and survival in America.
👆
Robert, than you for all of your insights. I enjoy reading your daily newsletters. With regard to the IVF and abortion issues, I'd like to address the elephant in the room.
Back to basics: The so-called "belief" that "life begins at conception " is patently false. It begins long BEFORE that. In fact, the egg that eventually developed into YOU was ALIVE and well in your mother's ovary months before SHE was born! Of course, conception was a crucial point in your long journey to personhood. But I challenge anyone who claims to believe that a fertilized human egg is the moral equivalent of a baby to consider this: You are a mother of a newborn baby, and you are in the maternity ward. Your baby is in the newborn nursery down the corridor to the left. Down the corridor to the right is the IVF clinic where you have two frozen embryos. A fire breaks out and you have time to save your newborn baby or your two frozen embryos. Which will you choose? Now ask yourself this: How many frozen embryos would you have to save to make abandoning your newborn baby the “moral” choice?
Many "believers" have been, and continue to be, bamboozled by their religious leaders about this moral question. But just thinking about the above simple ethical "dilemma" reveals the truth: A fertilized human egg is NOT the moral equivalent of a baby!
Sincerely,
Justin StormoGipson, MD
Hi, Justing. Good points.
And as you note, the terminology here is important. Depending on the state statute at issue, the formula being used by the anti-choice proponents is that "life begins at conception" and that life (or "potential life") IS "an unborn child."
These simplistic approaches ignore the deep question of "what is life"--something that is still subject to robust debate in the scientific community. Is a virus "life"?
Your thought experiment is helpful. I would also add that human beings do not have the ability to be frozen and brought back to life. So, the fact that blastocysts (frozen embryos) can do so suggests that they are a "pre-human" stage of life.
Thanks Robert for your reply. Concerning your last point: Even IF technology advances to the point that humans CAN be frozen and brought back to life in the future, it still would not change the basic moral truth, as revealed in that simple ethical "dilemma", that a fertilized egg is NOT the moral equivalent of a baby. So that truth is independent of technology or future changes in technology.
I heard this about the “uncommitted” vote coming out is the Listen to Michigan campaign. This campaign is not only intended to move US policy re: Gaza but also to take advantage of an issue that engages voters to get them past the current voter ennui/indifference/malaise. An energized (even if angry) voter is better than a disengaged one, and the consequences are low in the primary. The thought is that the situation in Gaza will be better by Nov, but even if it’s not, MI organizers will have a lot of engaged voters whom they can direct to Biden as a far better alternative to Trump re: Gaza. Apparently a similar strategy was used in 2012 - groups labeled Obama the Deporter-in-Chief as a way to engage young and immigrant voters early in the election cycle, and then moved those voters to a more positive view of Obama (eg better than the alternative) by election time.
Robert,
Thank you for an excellent newsletter - again. Your observations about the Michigan primaries are spot on. But I'm going to continue to suggest that you and our readers spend a wee bit less time worrying about cable TV news and major newspapers. I know I keep saying it - but it bears repeating. Most voters now are already "decided". But there are some younger independents or "uncommitted" frustrated non-voters. They should be our focus. And guess what? Most of them don't watch TV news. And most of them have never heard of the "Nates". Seriously, who cares what pollsters have to say - who are usually wrong?
Too much focus on dated media consumed by our generation. More about what is happening among the people we can persuade to register...can persuade to vote. Chances are very strong that almost all people still watching cable TV are solid in their positions. The ones getting everything on their phones should be the focus.
I fully agree that the TV/cable MSM has been a failure. But that's a shrinking part of the media. To be current and effective, we need to pay attention to what's on social media. That's where the real battle is being fought. For our kids and grand kids the world is fed via the internet - not the cable cord.
I comment not to denigrate all your incredible work Robert. But I think if we win on November 5th it will be because we educated and convinced Gen Y and Z that THEIR future is at stake.
Bill, thanks for your suggestion. Here is why I am going to continue to address the media bias: The top outlets set the media narrative--a few major newspapers and five cable channels. Like it or not, tens of millions of Americans hear that false narrative. It frightens them, scares them, and depresses them. This newsletter is intended to help everyone understand why we should be hopeful IN SPITE of that narrative. I can't make that case unless I explain why the lies people are hearing are false. I am not trying to persuade people. I am trying to give them hope.
You may not need that assurance, Bill. That is great for you! But I hear every day from readers who tell me that my approach helps make it through the day.
The newsletter you would like to see exists on other platforms. (See, e.g., Jessica Craven's Chop Wood Carry Water). That's not this newsletter. I have a mission, it is reaching 100,000+ people on average on a daily basis. I am going to keep on doing it. But I urge you to promote other newsletters and sources that are focused on actions, social media, etc. etc. I promote and link to those sites so readers of this newsletter can access them if they want.
And more power to you for all that you do. Thanks for responding. As Joyce always says (and you too).
We're in this together.
Thank you Robert! Just want to say that I agree with your take on the horse race sudden media and can barely watch anymore. They look and sound liked souped up trolls under a bridge, breathlessly giggling and salivating with glee over conflict and fear. It is frightening how much visibility they have.
And, no matter what, those of us who get what Trump is, what Johnson is…we have work ourselves to the bone to win big in November. No time to dally in our own inner upsets about any policy. Not yet. MAGA is the main, constant enemy and we have to unite behind that before all else.
As suggested in an earlier comment the important take away from the Michigan vote is VOTER ENGAGEMENT. It’s not that they didn’t vote for Biden. Many of these “uncommitted” will stay engaged and vote in Nov. We always say voter turn out is what’s critical to winning in Nov. I would be hard pressed to believe that the “uncommitted” from yesterday will go to the polls and vote for Trump. They WILL go the polls and will overwhelmingly vote for Biden. I cannot fathom any significant number of them voting for Trump. So, as I read it this record breaking primary turnout for “uncommitted” will morph into a win for Biden biggly.
I hope you are right. As noted by a couple of readers, the leaders of the uncommitted movement say they might not vote for Biden. That is harmful messaging, even if it is a bluff. Once you convince someone that not voting for Biden is acceptable, it will be very difficult to change their minds.
I might add, Robert, that Michael Moore has been spearheading this issue, and he continues to speak falsehoods, something that I never thought I would hear from him. I always considered Michael Moore a truth teller, but he lost a subscriber yesterday (me) because of his rallying cry that “Biden is not listening.“ He seems to believe he has the supernatural powers of understanding what’s going on in Biden‘s brain and what’s happening behind the scenes with the president and Anthony Blinken. He gives NO credit to the president for the negotiations that he has been spearheading over these several months. President Biden has been working tirelessly on a cease-fire and on getting aid to Palestinians for weeks and months now, yet Moore continues to voice the falsehood that President Biden is not doing anything at all.
These one-issue people who threaten to vote against our only hope for a continued Democratic Republic have a few screws loose in their heads. We need to counteract their nonsense. A protest vote in a primary is fine, but threatening to not vote for President Biden because they think that Trump will “shake things up” is pure idiocy and anti-American, to say the least.
Correction: Antony Blinken
Sometimes, Moore drives me crazy. For all the good he does, he shoots himself in the foot.
Exactly!! I think his ego gets in the way of common sense sometimes.
I heard they might not vote at all, also, which would be still be disastrous for them. I am sympathetic to the plight of our Palestinian and Arab Americans. They have lost patience and see our nation financing and supplying a country bent on killing and displacing their people. Netanyahu is despised by a majority of Israelis. He is their Hitler. The Likud Party are his generals. It is a sickening situation there. My father used to tell me there will never be peace in the Middle East. I hope, in my lifetime, that Biden & Blinken prove him wrong.
Media reporters are attending Trump's primary events for the chance to interview attendees attempting to figure out what they think and why. Among the many reasons and explanations supporters provide is this idea that Trump is a "Strong Man". They confuse a STRONG MAN for a Strongman, a literal henchman. This appears to be a remnant of the Wild West mythology. The renegade gang comes to town and takes over the town instilling fear and retribution with a six-shooter and are quick to draw their pistols to mete out justice letting the blood flowing in the street to speak for their intentions. The townspeople see themselves as ill equipped to fight back against gun slingers who are quick to shoot and ask questions later.
Then, this unknown fella who carries a quiet demeanor with a threatening strut chewing a stick of tumbleweed comes to town while the townsfolk try to figure him out. He sees what's going on in the town, gets into a scuffle with one of the outlaws with whom he is about to have a shoot-out. The visitor pulls aside his long coat to reveal a glistening pearl handled revolver known throughout the land while sweat beads on the forehead of the outlaw. The savior cowboy walks slowly away, and proceeds to garner the support of the townsfolk in an ultimate battle that frees the town of the desperados. That evening the redeemer rides off into the sunset and all is restored in the town.
Wow. This is a salvation story of the "true believers". It is a childish desire to be saved. It is a religious message that there is someone who cares about us and will care for us, and redeem us in times of hardship. This is the authoritarian model. Scary as it may seems, 30% of the population are not willing to participate, are not willing to get dirty, work hard, assert themselves in the messy political arena called Democracy. These are people who need an enemy. These are people who need to feel victimized. These are folks who represent themselves as outcasts for the sake of an excuse as to why they have not stepped forward to claim the change they want. This is the community who have viewed themselves as entitled, an entitlement that derives from their social isolation and inbred thoughts and ideas. As the saying goes, "Be careful of what you wish for". All is not as it seems.
Here is my letter to the NYTimes about its ongoing antiBiden bias.
You can write to:
nate.cohn@nytimes.com
joe.kahn@nytimed.co
david.halbfinger@nytimes.com
Stop twisting yourself in knots. Without the "Uncommitted" vote, Biden would have gotten 96% of the vote..if half the "Uncommitted" voters vote for Biden in November, he gets 90% of the primary voters.
Mr. Trump lost ~30% of the GOP primary voters in a Democratic state that Biden won in 2020 by 150,000. Has the Times lost its ability to do basic math? Perhaps the Times has entered the realm of "alternative facts"; a strange discipline to take away from the Trump administration.
Given the facts, I'd sure rather be Biden than Trump, not just in Michigan, but in the general election.
When will the Times stop embarrassing itself and begin reporting 2024 election trends accurately?
Thanks
Merrill Weingrod
401-480-8003
In yesterday's Hopium Chronicles, Simon Rosenberg stated that an uncommitted vote under 20% was likely good news for Biden, so the 13% doesn't overly concern me. Still, the President should take it as a message received. I'm not qualified to speak about what that means in terms of policy, but I do hope he’s listening. The raw numbers don't portend disaster, as the media would like to amplify, but they do indicate there is work to do in Michigan.
As I wrote, we shouldn't dismiss or ignore the sizable uncommitted vote. But something I haven't heard anyone address is this: Why was the turnout for Biden in a Democratic primary four times larger than turnout for Obama in 2012? Just as the uncommitted vote was larger, the overall voter was off the charts larger--and 85% of that vote went to Biden. that is an important development that we should understand ,as well.