You are NOT a lone voice. You articulate brilliant and with strength and compassion for millions of us.NEVER FORGET THAT. We need you, we love you, we wait to hear your words every nite you write your newsletter,
"As Dionne, notes, the only issue where a plurality of voters favors Republicans is the economy," Can you talk about this absolute fallacy in a later column? the idea that Republicans would be "better" in handling whatever "the economy" means--stock market? jobs? wages? is arguably false and absurd.
How has the media and/or right wing talking points produced this dangerous notion?
Yes; agree. Polls are blunt instruments that are largely ink blot tests that gauge how voters feel about their lives, not how they think about issues of substance.
so how can we/Democrats upend the "conventional wisdom" that Repubs are "better" for the economy? if we can do that in the next l00 days, we might retain control of Congress, arguably the most important goal there is right now.
Let’s remember that a lot of reporters seek to do their jobs—that is to report, not to analyze or interpret. So, if Republicans want to lie about the economy and their ability to (or interest in) managing it, it’s up to Democrats to debunk them.
We can use social media to fight back. I am not a frequent or prolific Twitter user, but I do communicate directly with news outlets and their talking heads when they spin the news or amplify the negatives about Biden. I'm just one, but every time someone shares my message, it is amplified. We might not have the media platform they have, but there are FAR more of us than them (talking heads, pundits, etc.) and if we all use whatever voices we have, I have no doubt someone will wise up - especially if we threaten to boycott their advertisers or refuse to tune in to their networks. I don't think we are powerless. And we can also amplify voices like E.J. Dionne and Robert by taking advantage of the "share" opportunity with this substack. I'm a WaPo subscriber, so I gift as often as I can when sharing on my FB page.
I agree completely with Ellen! People can write their own messages on social media, or they can post positive messages created by various organizations. I like Demcast ( go to https://demcast.com/amplify/ to see their Toolkit). You can select one of their campaigns - like the one called #AnEconomyForAll - and then post their messages on social media. I also like http://FieldTeam6.org. Field Team 6 will teach you how to use Twitter and then you can join them for Social Storming. It's easy and fun!
https://www.fieldteam6.org/volunteer-ops All the positive messages we can post will be an antidote to the negative messages coming from the MAGA Republicans. It really makes a difference!
Well, the majority of media is not our enemy either. Reading beyond the headlines that is generally clear with the news bringing us all the information a critical thinker needs. But then, critical thinking is required - the art of asking good questions and seeking the answers without demonizing.
Well Lauren, you point to another long standing Republican myth brought front and center by the “trickle down” nonsense of the Reagan years. Instead, every Republican has left office with a larger deficit as they fed the wealthy and corporate America - the “trickle up” approach that deepens the inequality gap at every turn.
The original draft of last night's newsletter was much longer in discussing the substance of Alito's remarks. He really is a disgrace to the Court. But it was way too long, so I cut it back. I may salvage some of the material for a later edition.
Yet, we cannot be surprised. I believe the Notre Dame law school has been a platform for other justices as well as Bill “BS” Barr who have spoken in recent years about the need to curb the secular society.
Aug 1, 2022·edited Aug 1, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
Robert! Don't change your attitude one bit. I stick with you because of your detailed analysis AND your eternal optimism in the face of a blitz of media bobbleheads telling us something they heard elsewhere. IMO, the radicals have gone too far and there is more dissatisfaction with the ridiculous Republicans and the Sicko Supreme Court than there is disappointment that Democrats haven't performed miracles.
I actually think we have done miraculous stuff considering the obstructionism fueled by the McConnells of the world - he declared he wanted Obama to have a failed presidency! That is treasonous. That's anti-American. And he has maintained that hyper partisan approach ever since. So yes, it amazing how much we have done.
Note to Justice Alito: IT IS NOT YOUR JOB to protect a religion or religions in general. Where did you get such a medieval notion? From Henry the VIII? Mr. Alito, your job is to allow the freedom of expression of all religions or faiths or lack thereof. And most of all, your job is NOT to apply your creepy version of a religion to an entire nation! The Founders would pillory you!
Very well said. Thank you. And I think Americans are getting sick of this. I would never like to live in the kind of country Mr. Arrogant Alito envisions. Never. In fact, reading the article Robert pointed us to made me want to throw up.
It's worth reading, but it is really irritating. We've got Putin who wants to take us back to another century and then Alito who wants us back to the Middle Ages. What's with these guys?
My latest thought about religious freedom is that freedom of religion ought to be of equal weight with freedom from religion. Not only should no particular religion be favored (established), but those who do not espouse any particular religion, or who explicitly favor an absence of religion should have equal rights with those of faith. I suggest—without having yet had much chance to test the proposition—that applying that analysis will generally answer the question of whether or when the religion clauses of the First Amendment should apply. (And I suspect that I am only stating the obvious.)
good point. In Alito's remarks, he assumed that the only question was "how strongly do we protect religion," not "how do we protect the rights of people who choose not to follow an organized religion.
I have always liked Phillip Roth’s quote, “the world will be better off when we stop using the word “god.” It may seem to be a harsh statement but leaves room for sharing a spirituality in our shared humanity.
That is a good call and you put into words what I have been thinking. there are plenty of people who have a strong moral compass and act on it without being part of a religious group. I think religious proselytizing is revolting.
I’m sitting on my screen in porch in NC with a cup of coffee reading Today's Edition and appreciating every word of it and thanking you ( not enough) for not only lifting our spirits but your relentless optimism we all need every day. Everyday it seems we are overwhelmed with a myriad of stories and articles about the threats to our individual freedoms and the rule of law. We get frustrated by the behaviors of the Supreme Court Justices who are walking a thin line of legal unbiased behaviors and we are powerless to actually do anything about it. The tide i believe is shifting away from the Republicans and Trump and everyday they give voters a reason not to support them. How many more demographic groups can they piss off? Most of us and you included are impatient and want immediate change and a return to some normalcy and are afraid it might never happen. It’s 99 days till the midterm and Robert we need your continued optimism to make it to the Finnish line.
Aug 1, 2022·edited Aug 1, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
'He concluded his speech paraphrasing a quote from St. Augustine’s Confessions (“Our hearts are restless until we rest in God”) and closed with the promise that “the champions of religious liberty, who ‘go out as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves’ can expect to find hearts that are open to their message.”' from Alito's speech resembles nothing so much as a child's storytelling but one who gets to sit at the front of the class interminably. The bible for many is a collection of stories, and changed during history for political reasons, practical reason. But that doesn't mean that some can't consider it fact if they want.
'Inherit the Wind' is a great example of using rhetoric where Spencer Tracey's character pulls the knife back out, because when you use your stories to make other people do things, you are using aggression.
good points; I cut out a lot of my discussion of the substance of Alito's speech because the newsletter was way too long. But his comments were disgraceful and patronizing. He treats people who do not want a theocracy as non-entities. Where the heck is John Roberts and why can't he bring some semblance of order to his Court?
Studied 'Inherit the Wind' just last spring....the whole course shifted after an article the professor read in the NYT by Timothy Snyder. The course started right at that time. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/09/magazine/trump-coup.html
So I was very lucky to have chosen this course, which in the first class Prof Cheu said was about rhetoric using dialectic, the Oath (obscure the truth, tell the truth) and I am to remember that rhetoric is art and science. I needed to source how I got this information.
That would require asserting himself and Roberts has never been that sort of CJ. It isn't even clear that his views are so firmly set he has a foundation to stand on.
Well Dave, I'd tend to disagree. Roberts has been a strong advocate for the business community and is one of the court's 6 Catholic justices. (Yes, I don't let Justice Gorsuch off the list simply because he has shifted to another denomination - just smoke and mirrors.) If you look at those six as Republican appointees it seems to be all part of the long game of Rs, introducing church vs state, in a more subtle way since we don't want to be attacking the Catholic church while trying to separate church and state.
Well, perhaps a different word than attack, but I've had it with the church's creeping authoritarianism. Let it be known that conservative American Catholicism even defies the Pope; Catholic hospitals are overshadowing community hospitals for the sake of prohibiting abortions; Notre Dame president telling Pres Obama he could not include women's reproductive health care in the ACA; the clergy lawyers which are influencing the SCOTUS. The more the curtains are pulled back on these characters, the better. In fact, the entire concept of dark money and shadowy religious hooligans are creating an America which is unrecognizable. Enough!
You're quite right about Gorsuch John but as regards Roberts my comment is directed more toward his commitment to being a swing voter which results in the appearance that his views are flexible rather than fixed. That isn't necessarily a bad thing in itself but leaves him without the personal authority to haul his colleagues into line when they misbehave.
Biblically, the "wisdom of the serpent" is what led to the Fall of Eve and Adam. Perhaps Mr. Alito should become a bit more familiar with the Scripture he claims to be guided by.
It occurred to me later that Mr. Alito may have unwittingly revealed his true spiritual guide but that's a little snarky.
I was planning on sending a link to the latest podcast of "That Trippi Show" and your last paragraph gave me the perfect opportunity. As you know, Joe Trippi is a longtime Democrat who been a strategist for many years. This podcast (about 36 minutes) is right up Robert's alley: optimistic with facts to back it up. I encourage you to listen to it. But, for me, one of the best take-aways is that if people vote for Democrats, they will have freedom of reproductive choice, freedom to vote, freedom to marry whom they want (etc.) plus inflation. If they vote for Republicans, they will have none of these freedoms and will still have inflation. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/traditional-political-physics-need-not-apply/id1523896927?i=1000571526879
Right! Add Putin to the cast of lunatics screwing up the World today!
Need to promote and increase funding for H2 fuel-cell technology - zero carbon emissions, more efficient and user-friendly! See GM, BMW & Toyota! EV's are a stop gap - batteries have a bigger carbon footprint than we realize! IMO! There are plans to strip lithium from the Southern Oregon desert to meet the demand for lithium batteries!
As always, thank you for another great newsletter. Why do people trust republicans with economy? There has been no minimum wage increase or help to average worker ( rights and benefits). Universal health care would be great start for improving worker wages. But republicans still want to destroy the affordable care act Republicans want to reduce or get rid of Medicare and social security. Republicans want to get regulations that protect workers and those living near worksites so people are not safe living in area- air, water and earth.
I'm only mentioning one of your important points, Lewis, because it continues to amaze me that the less financially fortunate Republican voters would support their party knowing the party wants to pull a huge safety net out from under them and their families.
I believe that a large number of non-wealthy Republican voters do not know that one of the Republican party's long held goals is to take Medicare and Social Security away from the American people. Why have Democrats left this huge cudgel on the floor for so long?
"At the risk of bringing down the digital wrath of blog-savvy oldsters, I've noticed that a considerable number of the anti-reform Republican "hooligans," as Rachel Maddow describes them, who turn up at various town hall meetings to shout incomprehensible loud noises just happen to be senior citizens. And while the old people who turn up to protest health care reform are, to some extent, victims of the usual Republican lies and disinformation, they're still adults and therefore responsible for their opinions, their actions and their ziplock baggies filled with crazy."
Great article. Thanks. I hope all these old people (and at 71 myself I'm entitled to say that) aren't victims of Republican lies. They are certainly old enough to think for themselves and see past that. I think we need a clear understanding of how government plans work in simple language that gets away from "socialism." These are my peers and I can't understand why they want to shoot themselves in the foot. Maybe they'd like to go back to the good old days during the Depression when seniors had to scavenge out of garbage cans which is what led politicians to create Social Security in the first place. Why is it that people who know the least yell the loudest?
I am also feeling a glimmer of hope for November in terms of holding the Senate. Our group has been texting for John Fetterman. Although we get the usual MAGA responses, not one response positive for Oz. Women ask his position on reproductive rights. This seat can be flipped.
Aug 1, 2022·edited Aug 1, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
I hope my Catholic friends will forgive me for this criticism of Samuel Alito and his comments. However, I feel that a Conference on Religious Liberty, sponsored by a Catholic University, taking place in Rome with the history of the Catholic Church over millennia is the very last place I would expect to take guidance on Religious Liberty. It would be more appropriate if he delivered to us a history lesson on the Inquisition.
I cut this from last night's newsletter, but your comments are on point and prompt me to include it: When a Roman general achieved a victory in a foreign province, the general was entitled to a parade on his return to Rome. That parade was called a "triumph." Alito's speech was the functional equivalent of a "triumph" for the reactionary religious majority on the Court. The symbolism could not have been more "in your face" to non-Christians and to Christians who want their religions to stay out of politics (which includes me).
It is way, way, way past time for Justice Roberts to get to work on that badly needed Code of Ethics for the US Supreme Court including both its Justices and all of their law clerks.
Dear Robert, here’s some free advice (we all know what that’s worth) from an old (85) retired psychotherapist: there are some folks that need to have a doom & gloom perspective, they CAN’T Give it up.
I read the Insider story this weekend, and the lesson here is that no matter the likelihood of this event taking place, there are plenty of people who do not like this country's bedrock foundation and who will continue working to undermine it on this and any other front they can find. All day, every day. And who are these people? They are Republicans. And whether their names are Rick Santorum or Donald Trump, Marjorie Taylor Greene or Lauren Boebert, they all have the blessing of, and are in good standing with, the GOP.
I don't normally put a lot of stock in guilt by association, but after the past six years, membership in the GOP is an automatic disqualifier for even consideration for my vote, no matter the office being sought, and at this point in our history it should be for anyone who cares about democracy, the rule of law and equal rights for all in this country.
It is amazing that in a few short years, the GOP has become a party that views the Constitution as the problem that needs to be overcome, undermined, or overthrown.
I am--as they say these days--shocked but not surprised, at the incredibly un-American and antidemocratic bulldozing of this country's deeply held and cherished beliefs by the dregs of the Republican party.
I keep feeling it could only help the cause of freedom to publicize the driving engine of this attempted coup: a handful of rich mega-donors like Charles Koch, the Mercer family and any other arrogant billionaire disciples of autocracy who are leading this assault from inside their little "Citizens United Camouflaged Club of gods."
As dirty and hateful as the most visible parts of this un-American machine are---Moscow Mitch "rules and laws are for suckers" McConnell, Samuel "I've never heard of the separation of church and state" Alito, Clarence "I've never met an impropriety I could resist" Thomas, their three McConnell-rammed Catholic White Nationalist toadies, Kevin "if I only had a spine" McCarthy, Jim "I look the other way when doctors molest college boys" Jordan, Ted "Cancun" Cruz, Lindsay "I'll do ANYTHING to stay in the club" Graham, Josh "By gosh, I'm a masculine insurrectionist" Hawley, and the other totally emasculated, immoral, pathetic Trump trolls---they are not the drivers of it.
What harm is there in "The Lincoln Project" bringing these bashful insurrectionist coup plotters front and center in a video ad that could go viral? Putin doesn't hide his maniacal light under a bushel. Why should his fellow aspiring dictators?
Whew!! C C!! You said a mouthful, and said it well. When it comes to this kind of wordsmithing, 'Josh "By gosh, I'm..." Hawley' definitely Top Shelf. And "...bashful insurrectionist coup plotters..." pretty much covers it. Props.
I wish I could find the reference to remind people that Donald Trump remarked that the American economy does better under Democratic presidents. He did say that.
Aug 1, 2022·edited Aug 1, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
According to 538 (whether you like them or not): "Democrats are now slightly favored to win the Senate." The House is a heavier lift, but a massive voter turnout could do the trick. Keep in mind that the Senate approves judges and presidential appointments. So even if we have to bear Jim Jordan's circus of "Hunter Biden's laptop investigations" in the House, Biden would still get his Supreme Court justices, court of appeals judges, district court judges, cabinet members, and agency heads.
You are NOT a lone voice. You articulate brilliant and with strength and compassion for millions of us.NEVER FORGET THAT. We need you, we love you, we wait to hear your words every nite you write your newsletter,
"As Dionne, notes, the only issue where a plurality of voters favors Republicans is the economy," Can you talk about this absolute fallacy in a later column? the idea that Republicans would be "better" in handling whatever "the economy" means--stock market? jobs? wages? is arguably false and absurd.
How has the media and/or right wing talking points produced this dangerous notion?
Yes; agree. Polls are blunt instruments that are largely ink blot tests that gauge how voters feel about their lives, not how they think about issues of substance.
so how can we/Democrats upend the "conventional wisdom" that Repubs are "better" for the economy? if we can do that in the next l00 days, we might retain control of Congress, arguably the most important goal there is right now.
I remind all of this link of the list of Biden's accomplishments in his first year that Robert has already published and linked to:
https://whatbidenhasdone.wordpress.com/2022/01/20/year-one-what-biden-has-done-mega-thread/
Please share this with all who wonder what the Biden administration is doing.
I know .... but i think it creates a false picture, especially when they don't 'cover' the good stuff, of which there is plenty!
Let’s remember that a lot of reporters seek to do their jobs—that is to report, not to analyze or interpret. So, if Republicans want to lie about the economy and their ability to (or interest in) managing it, it’s up to Democrats to debunk them.
We can use social media to fight back. I am not a frequent or prolific Twitter user, but I do communicate directly with news outlets and their talking heads when they spin the news or amplify the negatives about Biden. I'm just one, but every time someone shares my message, it is amplified. We might not have the media platform they have, but there are FAR more of us than them (talking heads, pundits, etc.) and if we all use whatever voices we have, I have no doubt someone will wise up - especially if we threaten to boycott their advertisers or refuse to tune in to their networks. I don't think we are powerless. And we can also amplify voices like E.J. Dionne and Robert by taking advantage of the "share" opportunity with this substack. I'm a WaPo subscriber, so I gift as often as I can when sharing on my FB page.
I agree completely with Ellen! People can write their own messages on social media, or they can post positive messages created by various organizations. I like Demcast ( go to https://demcast.com/amplify/ to see their Toolkit). You can select one of their campaigns - like the one called #AnEconomyForAll - and then post their messages on social media. I also like http://FieldTeam6.org. Field Team 6 will teach you how to use Twitter and then you can join them for Social Storming. It's easy and fun!
https://www.fieldteam6.org/volunteer-ops All the positive messages we can post will be an antidote to the negative messages coming from the MAGA Republicans. It really makes a difference!
I wonder why they don't? And why is every 'drop in popularity' discussed constantly and so seldom the many many accomplishments?
News tends to be negative--"If it bleeds, it leads." So a decline in popularity attracts more attention than an increase. Go figure, but it's true.
The media is not our friend!!
Well, the majority of media is not our enemy either. Reading beyond the headlines that is generally clear with the news bringing us all the information a critical thinker needs. But then, critical thinking is required - the art of asking good questions and seeking the answers without demonizing.
Well Lauren, you point to another long standing Republican myth brought front and center by the “trickle down” nonsense of the Reagan years. Instead, every Republican has left office with a larger deficit as they fed the wealthy and corporate America - the “trickle up” approach that deepens the inequality gap at every turn.
Actually, that would be really helpful right now. Good idea.
Alito IS inappropriate. What he says and does is inappropriate. Period.
The original draft of last night's newsletter was much longer in discussing the substance of Alito's remarks. He really is a disgrace to the Court. But it was way too long, so I cut it back. I may salvage some of the material for a later edition.
Please do. I'd very much like to read it!
Sammy’s law library has only one book ‘the Baltimore catechism’!
Yet, we cannot be surprised. I believe the Notre Dame law school has been a platform for other justices as well as Bill “BS” Barr who have spoken in recent years about the need to curb the secular society.
Agreed. On top of this, he is arrogant. Bad combination.
Robert! Don't change your attitude one bit. I stick with you because of your detailed analysis AND your eternal optimism in the face of a blitz of media bobbleheads telling us something they heard elsewhere. IMO, the radicals have gone too far and there is more dissatisfaction with the ridiculous Republicans and the Sicko Supreme Court than there is disappointment that Democrats haven't performed miracles.
I actually think we have done miraculous stuff considering the obstructionism fueled by the McConnells of the world - he declared he wanted Obama to have a failed presidency! That is treasonous. That's anti-American. And he has maintained that hyper partisan approach ever since. So yes, it amazing how much we have done.
Note to Justice Alito: IT IS NOT YOUR JOB to protect a religion or religions in general. Where did you get such a medieval notion? From Henry the VIII? Mr. Alito, your job is to allow the freedom of expression of all religions or faiths or lack thereof. And most of all, your job is NOT to apply your creepy version of a religion to an entire nation! The Founders would pillory you!
Like your address to Alito, and agree!
Very well said. Thank you. And I think Americans are getting sick of this. I would never like to live in the kind of country Mr. Arrogant Alito envisions. Never. In fact, reading the article Robert pointed us to made me want to throw up.
I can’t bring myself to read it.
It's worth reading, but it is really irritating. We've got Putin who wants to take us back to another century and then Alito who wants us back to the Middle Ages. What's with these guys?
My latest thought about religious freedom is that freedom of religion ought to be of equal weight with freedom from religion. Not only should no particular religion be favored (established), but those who do not espouse any particular religion, or who explicitly favor an absence of religion should have equal rights with those of faith. I suggest—without having yet had much chance to test the proposition—that applying that analysis will generally answer the question of whether or when the religion clauses of the First Amendment should apply. (And I suspect that I am only stating the obvious.)
good point. In Alito's remarks, he assumed that the only question was "how strongly do we protect religion," not "how do we protect the rights of people who choose not to follow an organized religion.
I have always liked Phillip Roth’s quote, “the world will be better off when we stop using the word “god.” It may seem to be a harsh statement but leaves room for sharing a spirituality in our shared humanity.
That is a good call and you put into words what I have been thinking. there are plenty of people who have a strong moral compass and act on it without being part of a religious group. I think religious proselytizing is revolting.
I’m sitting on my screen in porch in NC with a cup of coffee reading Today's Edition and appreciating every word of it and thanking you ( not enough) for not only lifting our spirits but your relentless optimism we all need every day. Everyday it seems we are overwhelmed with a myriad of stories and articles about the threats to our individual freedoms and the rule of law. We get frustrated by the behaviors of the Supreme Court Justices who are walking a thin line of legal unbiased behaviors and we are powerless to actually do anything about it. The tide i believe is shifting away from the Republicans and Trump and everyday they give voters a reason not to support them. How many more demographic groups can they piss off? Most of us and you included are impatient and want immediate change and a return to some normalcy and are afraid it might never happen. It’s 99 days till the midterm and Robert we need your continued optimism to make it to the Finnish line.
'He concluded his speech paraphrasing a quote from St. Augustine’s Confessions (“Our hearts are restless until we rest in God”) and closed with the promise that “the champions of religious liberty, who ‘go out as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves’ can expect to find hearts that are open to their message.”' from Alito's speech resembles nothing so much as a child's storytelling but one who gets to sit at the front of the class interminably. The bible for many is a collection of stories, and changed during history for political reasons, practical reason. But that doesn't mean that some can't consider it fact if they want.
'Inherit the Wind' is a great example of using rhetoric where Spencer Tracey's character pulls the knife back out, because when you use your stories to make other people do things, you are using aggression.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/07/alito-rome-religious-liberty-foreign-leaders-secularism.html?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
good points; I cut out a lot of my discussion of the substance of Alito's speech because the newsletter was way too long. But his comments were disgraceful and patronizing. He treats people who do not want a theocracy as non-entities. Where the heck is John Roberts and why can't he bring some semblance of order to his Court?
Alito is way out of line.
Studied 'Inherit the Wind' just last spring....the whole course shifted after an article the professor read in the NYT by Timothy Snyder. The course started right at that time. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/09/magazine/trump-coup.html
So I was very lucky to have chosen this course, which in the first class Prof Cheu said was about rhetoric using dialectic, the Oath (obscure the truth, tell the truth) and I am to remember that rhetoric is art and science. I needed to source how I got this information.
That would require asserting himself and Roberts has never been that sort of CJ. It isn't even clear that his views are so firmly set he has a foundation to stand on.
Well Dave, I'd tend to disagree. Roberts has been a strong advocate for the business community and is one of the court's 6 Catholic justices. (Yes, I don't let Justice Gorsuch off the list simply because he has shifted to another denomination - just smoke and mirrors.) If you look at those six as Republican appointees it seems to be all part of the long game of Rs, introducing church vs state, in a more subtle way since we don't want to be attacking the Catholic church while trying to separate church and state.
Well, perhaps a different word than attack, but I've had it with the church's creeping authoritarianism. Let it be known that conservative American Catholicism even defies the Pope; Catholic hospitals are overshadowing community hospitals for the sake of prohibiting abortions; Notre Dame president telling Pres Obama he could not include women's reproductive health care in the ACA; the clergy lawyers which are influencing the SCOTUS. The more the curtains are pulled back on these characters, the better. In fact, the entire concept of dark money and shadowy religious hooligans are creating an America which is unrecognizable. Enough!
You're quite right about Gorsuch John but as regards Roberts my comment is directed more toward his commitment to being a swing voter which results in the appearance that his views are flexible rather than fixed. That isn't necessarily a bad thing in itself but leaves him without the personal authority to haul his colleagues into line when they misbehave.
Biblically, the "wisdom of the serpent" is what led to the Fall of Eve and Adam. Perhaps Mr. Alito should become a bit more familiar with the Scripture he claims to be guided by.
It occurred to me later that Mr. Alito may have unwittingly revealed his true spiritual guide but that's a little snarky.
Snarky works. Thanks.
Sometimes, thanks Susan.
You go, Dave!
Well said.
I was planning on sending a link to the latest podcast of "That Trippi Show" and your last paragraph gave me the perfect opportunity. As you know, Joe Trippi is a longtime Democrat who been a strategist for many years. This podcast (about 36 minutes) is right up Robert's alley: optimistic with facts to back it up. I encourage you to listen to it. But, for me, one of the best take-aways is that if people vote for Democrats, they will have freedom of reproductive choice, freedom to vote, freedom to marry whom they want (etc.) plus inflation. If they vote for Republicans, they will have none of these freedoms and will still have inflation. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/traditional-political-physics-need-not-apply/id1523896927?i=1000571526879
Thanks for the link! I will check it out!
When I tried, my PC locked-up!
Me too.
Please try again....I just tested it and it worked.
Apple podcast so perhaps why not working on non-Apple devices ?
Able to view with IPad👍
Annette, you are assolutely right! Trump and his band of lunetics caused the inflation!
Sorry for the misspell - absolutely!!
Corporate tax cuts = record profits for Exxon…🤔
Right! Add Putin to the cast of lunatics screwing up the World today!
Need to promote and increase funding for H2 fuel-cell technology - zero carbon emissions, more efficient and user-friendly! See GM, BMW & Toyota! EV's are a stop gap - batteries have a bigger carbon footprint than we realize! IMO! There are plans to strip lithium from the Southern Oregon desert to meet the demand for lithium batteries!
As always, thank you for another great newsletter. Why do people trust republicans with economy? There has been no minimum wage increase or help to average worker ( rights and benefits). Universal health care would be great start for improving worker wages. But republicans still want to destroy the affordable care act Republicans want to reduce or get rid of Medicare and social security. Republicans want to get regulations that protect workers and those living near worksites so people are not safe living in area- air, water and earth.
I'm only mentioning one of your important points, Lewis, because it continues to amaze me that the less financially fortunate Republican voters would support their party knowing the party wants to pull a huge safety net out from under them and their families.
I believe that a large number of non-wealthy Republican voters do not know that one of the Republican party's long held goals is to take Medicare and Social Security away from the American people. Why have Democrats left this huge cudgel on the floor for so long?
For a very entertaining perspective on this issue, read this 2009 article by Bob Cesca in the HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/get-your-goddamn-governme_b_252326
Here is the first paragraph:
"At the risk of bringing down the digital wrath of blog-savvy oldsters, I've noticed that a considerable number of the anti-reform Republican "hooligans," as Rachel Maddow describes them, who turn up at various town hall meetings to shout incomprehensible loud noises just happen to be senior citizens. And while the old people who turn up to protest health care reform are, to some extent, victims of the usual Republican lies and disinformation, they're still adults and therefore responsible for their opinions, their actions and their ziplock baggies filled with crazy."
Great article. Thanks. I hope all these old people (and at 71 myself I'm entitled to say that) aren't victims of Republican lies. They are certainly old enough to think for themselves and see past that. I think we need a clear understanding of how government plans work in simple language that gets away from "socialism." These are my peers and I can't understand why they want to shoot themselves in the foot. Maybe they'd like to go back to the good old days during the Depression when seniors had to scavenge out of garbage cans which is what led politicians to create Social Security in the first place. Why is it that people who know the least yell the loudest?
I am also feeling a glimmer of hope for November in terms of holding the Senate. Our group has been texting for John Fetterman. Although we get the usual MAGA responses, not one response positive for Oz. Women ask his position on reproductive rights. This seat can be flipped.
Good to hear, Noreen! And thanks for doing your part.
What group are you working with?
SFVIndivisible
And thank you for the wonderful daily support!!
I hope my Catholic friends will forgive me for this criticism of Samuel Alito and his comments. However, I feel that a Conference on Religious Liberty, sponsored by a Catholic University, taking place in Rome with the history of the Catholic Church over millennia is the very last place I would expect to take guidance on Religious Liberty. It would be more appropriate if he delivered to us a history lesson on the Inquisition.
I cut this from last night's newsletter, but your comments are on point and prompt me to include it: When a Roman general achieved a victory in a foreign province, the general was entitled to a parade on his return to Rome. That parade was called a "triumph." Alito's speech was the functional equivalent of a "triumph" for the reactionary religious majority on the Court. The symbolism could not have been more "in your face" to non-Christians and to Christians who want their religions to stay out of politics (which includes me).
It is way, way, way past time for Justice Roberts to get to work on that badly needed Code of Ethics for the US Supreme Court including both its Justices and all of their law clerks.
Why do you think he hasn’t done it? Something I haven’t understood. Why are law associations not demanding it?
Dear Robert, here’s some free advice (we all know what that’s worth) from an old (85) retired psychotherapist: there are some folks that need to have a doom & gloom perspective, they CAN’T Give it up.
Ha! Thanks. I know that all too well from my in box. I hear from them every morning. But, they read the newsletter nonetheless. Go figure.
Thanks, Pat, for your professional insight !
Loved the line of a previous commenter here( apologies as I can’t remember who) ….
“Ok,Doomer, what are you going to do about it?”
Sam the sham! What a disgrace to those who wore the SCOTUS robes and who believed in the law!
I read the Insider story this weekend, and the lesson here is that no matter the likelihood of this event taking place, there are plenty of people who do not like this country's bedrock foundation and who will continue working to undermine it on this and any other front they can find. All day, every day. And who are these people? They are Republicans. And whether their names are Rick Santorum or Donald Trump, Marjorie Taylor Greene or Lauren Boebert, they all have the blessing of, and are in good standing with, the GOP.
I don't normally put a lot of stock in guilt by association, but after the past six years, membership in the GOP is an automatic disqualifier for even consideration for my vote, no matter the office being sought, and at this point in our history it should be for anyone who cares about democracy, the rule of law and equal rights for all in this country.
It is amazing that in a few short years, the GOP has become a party that views the Constitution as the problem that needs to be overcome, undermined, or overthrown.
Yeah, especially since that was the "bedrock" they used to stand on in defense of so much of their so-called conservative ideology.
I am--as they say these days--shocked but not surprised, at the incredibly un-American and antidemocratic bulldozing of this country's deeply held and cherished beliefs by the dregs of the Republican party.
I keep feeling it could only help the cause of freedom to publicize the driving engine of this attempted coup: a handful of rich mega-donors like Charles Koch, the Mercer family and any other arrogant billionaire disciples of autocracy who are leading this assault from inside their little "Citizens United Camouflaged Club of gods."
As dirty and hateful as the most visible parts of this un-American machine are---Moscow Mitch "rules and laws are for suckers" McConnell, Samuel "I've never heard of the separation of church and state" Alito, Clarence "I've never met an impropriety I could resist" Thomas, their three McConnell-rammed Catholic White Nationalist toadies, Kevin "if I only had a spine" McCarthy, Jim "I look the other way when doctors molest college boys" Jordan, Ted "Cancun" Cruz, Lindsay "I'll do ANYTHING to stay in the club" Graham, Josh "By gosh, I'm a masculine insurrectionist" Hawley, and the other totally emasculated, immoral, pathetic Trump trolls---they are not the drivers of it.
What harm is there in "The Lincoln Project" bringing these bashful insurrectionist coup plotters front and center in a video ad that could go viral? Putin doesn't hide his maniacal light under a bushel. Why should his fellow aspiring dictators?
Whew!! C C!! You said a mouthful, and said it well. When it comes to this kind of wordsmithing, 'Josh "By gosh, I'm..." Hawley' definitely Top Shelf. And "...bashful insurrectionist coup plotters..." pretty much covers it. Props.
Thank you for the compliment!
I wish I could find the reference to remind people that Donald Trump remarked that the American economy does better under Democratic presidents. He did say that.
Here it is: https://theweek.com/speedreads/561052/trump-2004the-economy-does-better-under-democrats
Turns out even a broken clock is right twice a day. :-)
According to 538 (whether you like them or not): "Democrats are now slightly favored to win the Senate." The House is a heavier lift, but a massive voter turnout could do the trick. Keep in mind that the Senate approves judges and presidential appointments. So even if we have to bear Jim Jordan's circus of "Hunter Biden's laptop investigations" in the House, Biden would still get his Supreme Court justices, court of appeals judges, district court judges, cabinet members, and agency heads.
Let’s do everything we can to hold both houses. Talk no more of any loss, but work to make winning our reality.