It seems like everywhere we turn there are examples of Republican political corruption almost to a point of making it seem like it’s a normal everyday occurrence and no big deal. We are all numbed by these transactions. I have read about all of the various filings by Trump attorneys either to delay the trials or to have them dismissed and have come to the conclusion that instead of worrying and fretting about them we just need to focus on making sure Trump does not get elected by focusing on voter registration especially with young people. More posts by people like Taylor Swift help but it’s up to us to hit the ground and make it happen. We need to connect to young people how different their lives would be with Trump in office instead of Biden. Biden may be old but this is what he will do for your generation. The big question for the younger voter turnouts is “ what are Republicans going to do for you and the future of your lives and the health of the country. What specific programs and platforms can you count on to improve and maintain your quality of life? We all know the answer to these questions but young voters need to find the answers themselves.
I hope some group, maybe the Lincoln Project, can make a hard hitting ad for this message which we can send out. Our words alone will not convince them.
Here's the thing about the Lincoln Project. They were a scam. NONE of their candidates locally ever won an election. Georgie Porgie & Sneaky Schmidt didn't turn into Dems overnight. People need to go really local with political donations. The money GOES way further. And those elections impact you the most. Otherwise, I would also look at the State Projects. Otherwise the DNC takes care of the high profile candidates.
Anyone interested in learning more about what young people are doing to get out the vote, join Seniors Taking Action speaker series this Wednesday at 11 am EST. Check out Seniors Taking Action.org for details. This is a free and informative Zoom event.
Shouldn’t Trump be tried for treason for divulging information about our nuclear submarines to a friend of his who passed it along to multiple people? This is a disgrace. I wonder what all he told his pals Putin and Kim Jung Un?
Oct 6, 2023·edited Oct 6, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
Kevin McCarthy was totally unfit to be Speaker of the House. His tenure was littered with betrayals, and I was proud that Democrats unanimously voted "yay" on the motion to vacate.
As you say, Robert, the way forward is a bipartisan coalition, as we've been advocating for months at www.FeathersOfHope.net
It's hard to see how any Republican gets 217 votes without Democrats' help. Swing district R's will never vote for MAGA extremists.
People give Kinzinger way WAY too much credit. When he had the chance to vote on important issues, he voted along with his republican party. He quite proudly said, I remember watching him when asked who he was voting for in '20, without flinching he proclaimed, trump. As 1 of his constituents I was troubled with his words and I let him know. I contacted him, a lot. Anything I asked or voiced
concern over went unanswered. He was never in our county to hold a town meeting. It wasn't until Jan 6th that he appeared to finally grow a pair, and gain a backbone. Sometimes, it's too little, too late. His reason for retiring? His public reason? The lines were redrawn for their districts. His buddy, Darin LaHood would be the State Rep for the majority of his region. Instead of running against his "buddy", he retired. Leaving us with LaHood. LaHood was 1 of the 147 legislators that voted to overturn the 2020 election. Yeah, no. Kinzinger isn't some swell fella. Imho, anyway.
I take everything Kinzinger says with a huge grain of salt. I don't believe a word he says, because he is, after all, still a republican. I've heard Liz Cheney claim that she'll leave the republican party if trump is nominated. I hope she's willing to follow through and those aren't simply words to placate people. Kinzinger was censured here, so why he'd stay loyal to a party that isn't to him is beyond my comprehension. Of course, voting against the John Lewis Voting Rights Act was far beyond my comprehension, too. He refused to answer his constituents calls for, why. So as far as I'm concerned, Kinzinger as already burned us in IL. His words can't be trusted. He is part of this problem we have now named Donald John trump.
I'm so tired of people lionizing Kinzinger. He voted party line on everything important to our country, and Cheney 93% of the time. They are no heroes.
You're not understanding then. What we're saying is we don't trust them based on their record. To me, imho, Kinzinger hasn't proven anything, except that he knows how to throw words around that sound good. If he wanted to do something, he'd have stayed in the fight and fought for our democracy. His voting record alone, shows that he's not in it for ALL Americans. He's in for republicans, whether maga, conservative, or extreme right wing. They say trump's words are mostly word salad. When Kinzinger speaks or writes (because I know his voice so well from his answering machine), I hear Charlie Brown's teacher's voice. Waa waaa waa waa....
My opinion is no more valid than your own. Just because Erica and I are disagreeing with you, doesn't mean we don't hear you and acknowledge what you've said (i shouldn't speak for Erica! I don't know her). We simply don't agree with your statements. Makes a discussion a discussion.
Good grief, Janet. I didn't miss anything you said. I clearly said I heard you, however, I disagreed with you. It's what makes a discussion, yes? Nothing is more irritating than someone thinking that they're correct no matter what and insisting no one is listening, when others are only stating a different opinion.
That's perfect. Take your marbles and leave the sandbox in a huff. Have a great day.
Received this message from a friend, “You can vote for the 82 year-old Democrat in 2024, and then vote for the next generation Democrat in 2028...or you can vote for the 79 year-old Republican in 2024 and never vote again.”
Take it from somebody who gets his airplane porn published on the covers of leading airplane porn magazines, Robert - that's some excellent airplane porn. :-)
The thought that Gym Jordan might be the next Speaker sends shivers up and down my spine. Can anyone name a Representative more likely to be demonically partisans in his/her cover-up and support of all things Trump? He won't work with Democrats on anything. Anything. But he'll go all-in on any and all efforts to smear the Bidens. Ohioans are poorly served by this man and the residents of Ohio's 4th are especially poorly served, with perhaps an exception for those yearning for an authoritarian republic like Turkey or Poland or Hungary.
But it's well within his abilities to cause immense damage both domestically (think budget, debt, spending) and internationally (think Ukraine, China, and his pal, Putin).
Of all the truly repulsive extremist Republicans out there, Jordan is at the top of my list. While I am in California, my folks were born in Ohio and I have many fond memories of summer reunions there. I would never have expected a creep like Jordan to have appealed to them. Very sad.
"'He's not the speaker [Patrick McHenry], he's just the speaker pro tem,' Brian Kalt, a professor of law at Michigan State University told Insider, 'and the whole point of having a speaker in line is that they were elected as speaker, not just appointed by someone to preside temporarily. So, as I read the statute, section 19 of title 3, Patty Murray is next in line.'
"As a result, House Republicans for the time being would be skipped over entirely. If President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were unable to serve as President of the United States, the power would then fall to Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, President Pro Tempore (not to be confused with McHenry's temporary title) and then Secretary of State Antony Blinken following her."
Whoever ends up being "elected" Speaker, I'd feel much better knowing that the Biden-Harris team has upped their security details. Just my two cents.
The Constitution mentions two legislative offices: Speaker of the House and President Pro Tem of the Senate. Both are constitutional officers and are in the line of succession. The Constitution does not mention "Acting Speaker" or Interim Speaker or Speaker Pro Tem" of the House. McHenry is not a constitutional officer and is not in the line of succession.
Lynell, just thinking about this subject is a stark reminder of the stakes here, and why it's imperative that Democrats take responsibility for seeing that a non-MAGA establishment Republican becomes the next Speaker. The alternative, worse case scenario, could be a President Jim Jordan or Steve Scalise.
Some say that Democrats have no responsibility to solve the Republican Party's problems. But given that party's utter failure to be a governing partner, it is absolutely the Democrats' responsibility to solve our country's problems. That's precisely what we're arguing to the electorate.
Democrats voted unanimously to remove the sitting Speaker of the House. It was unquestionably the right thing to do. But no institution can function without competent leadership. And at the moment, none is on the horizon.
To make matters worse, there is a faction within the chamber conducting an active assault against the House itself. Who else other than the Democratic conference can possibly defend the heart of our self-governing republic? By acting honorably and responsibly to remove an incompetent leader, Democrats have also assumed major responsibility for the consequences of that action.
In answer to your question, E-Verify is a federal database which enables employers to determine whether prospective employees are legally here (citizens, legal immigrnts) or not. at least five states require its use, and millions of companies use it without a requirement.
The whole "border thing" is confusing and messy. But the vast majority of Americans are worried about immigration. For multiple reasons. Some legit. Some manufactured.
What's missing here is a comprehensive plan from the Biden administration to be presented to Congress over and over and over. Even if it doesn't get passed until we retake the House, it will lay down a clear policy of the US trying to help - but admitting that we can only do so much for this wave of humanity.
I am not qualified to layout the details. But the two guiding principles must be to exercise more control over illegal border crossings and to allow a lot more people in legally. A lot more. The truth is we desperately need the workers. But we can't just feed them to overcrowded cities. Every region of the country must participate.
As for a wall, it seems to me that more personnel and more technology could do more to make the border less porous. And there is more we could do to combat the gangs of thugs that are getting paid to shepherd people across the line. Asking Congress for more money to do these things might not succeed right away, but it sure would be good politics. And eventually the funds would be approved.
The wave of people escaping South and Central America has only begun. What looks like a flood of humans now will look like a trickle in a few short years. Same in Europe. Failed nation states and the Climate Crisis are combining to relocate hundreds of millions of desperate souls. We demonize them at our own moral peril.
"Failed nation states and the Climate Crisis are combining to relocate hundreds of millions of desperate souls. We demonize them at our own moral peril." ✅
“… the two guiding principles must be to exercise more control over illegal border crossings and to allow a lot more people in legally. A lot more. The truth is we desperately need the workers.” —
Merely saying that we need to allow more people into the US legally evades facing a number of thorny questions.
For starters: In what *occupational categories* do we need the workers? What should be their legal status (temporary work visas, green cards, or other statuses)? Why should we be privileging migrants at our southern border over potential immigrants from other parts of the world (is that fair?)? Should the US actively prosecute those who have willfully broken our immigration laws? If not, and to be fair to immigrants who play by the rules, should undocumented migrants be denied eligibility for green cards?
Bill Alstrom raises worthy points, but we should not let a sense of crisis at the southern border stampede us into making hasty decisions.
Thank you for the thoughtful comment. There should nothing hasty about the process. But it needs to begin. And yes, we need to welcome people from all over the world.
But the border stampede is not something we can wish away. Mother Nature and Human Actions are sending people to the border in an unstoppable stampede. We can't stop it. We must manage it.
As to what workers we need? Our local hardware store is threatening to close due a lack of employees. From car loaders to managers. Our HOA has challenges every month to get repairs done. Landscape companies and restaurants are closing for lack of employees. My GP is booking out 18 months because there is a shortage of primary care doctors. Nurses and teachers are taking early retirement and replacements are not on the way.
Hard working immigrants are the answer and they pay taxes - unlike many of our richest citizens!
Propublica projects that within several decades, MILLIONS of Americans will be climate refugees. Under those circumstances, we should allow "a lot more" in? If anything, we should be stabilizing, or even reducing our population.
There is a simple way to stanch the flow of migrants at the border: a national, mandatory E-Verify. If they can't get jobs, they won't come, and those here will leave. (E-Verify is a federal database to check whether prospective employees are citizens, immigrants in the country legally, or not.
Unfortunately, just as the Republicans are in denial about global warming, the Democrats are in denial about immigration. Our country is well beyond environmental sustainability. We are running out of water, as the NYT reported a few weeks ago. Propublica projects that within several decades, MILLIONS of Americans will be climate refugees. (Read the link. It will scare you.)
Furthermore, the Republicans HAVE tried to pass a national, mandatory E-Verify TWICE since November 2016. The first time, neither Trump nor then Speaker Paul Ryan backed the bill--Ryan, I suspect because he's a big biz GOPer, and they like the cheap labor, which keeps workers' wages down; and Trump probably wanted a wall as a monument to himself and didn't want E-Verify because it would have pre-empted the need for a wall. The second time was this past spring. Both times the bills had very little support from Democrats.
The Democrats need to smarten up about sustainability, and the effect of a population explosion on it. It's a form of wrongheaded American exceptionalism that we can take in all the migrants who want to come here.
If we're going to save our country for our progeny, we need to face the fact that we can't save the world.
I've been following it closely for more than two decades. And I took environmental science in a class at Berkeley in 1975, taught by John Holdren, who later became Pres O's Science Advisor. If you have questions, you can ask me here, or at supernova1@aol.com
I am on the same page Bill. Well said. As shocking as your last paragraph is, I agree entirely. We (meaning our administration) and the world at large need to get moving on this. I am reminded of the parable of the wise king who saw signs of a plague coming in the future and set aside grain et al, for seven years. Then, he was right. (Please excuse my Biblical ignorance, but I remember this story from childhood.)
Like Jordan has done, refugee camps need to be established in politically neutral nations. As sad as those camps are, I can think of nothing else to bring a margin of safety, food, and shelter to stateless millions.
Not that you asked my opinion, Kathleen, but I think it's a token of concession. He's giving a little to the other side, 'cause they will bite him in the back on migration this coming election. He's done the same with fossil fuel drilling permits. "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away!" Seriously, I think Joe's done a remarkable job, but he is a consumate politician, and he knows when to yield and when to play.
I love your comment, and I totally agree that Biden is a consummate politician. He is saying he is required to spend the money. The question is - is that true? It seems believable, but I just hope that is not a fib to cover what he's doing. I LOVE Biden, Hope.
Biden, like Nancy Pelosi, is a superb politician. Both have decades of experience and the ability to learn from mistakes to thank for their skills.
I wish to hell Biden's immigration policies were more in line with what I think we need, which is to stabilize our population, or even reducing it, and only let in as many immigrants as we can without growing our population, which would be no more than 200,000 if that).
But as much as I care about stabilizing the population, at this juncture, preserving Democracy is more important than any single other issue, and Biden is a decent human being, and no politician is going to give you everything you want, but no president has come closer since FDR.
And if Biden ***thinks*** he needs to fib, he probably does.
The money was appropriated for the wall. Biden tried to get the money reappropriated. FACT CHECK:I tried to get them to reappropriate it, to redirect that money. They didn’t. They wouldn’t. And in the meantime, there’s nothing under the law other than they have to use the money for what it was appropriated. I can’t stop that.”
And according to Biden's own words in his press conference on Thursday(?) Friday(?), he specified that he wanted to redirect the border wall money for more personnel on the border and for more personnel to assist migrants entering across the border. DHS said no.
Hi David. "We're all in this together." Sometimes I read in your notes that we must seal U.S. borders to save our own. Am I right? Of course we should not allow an endless flow of migrants. However I'm of the belief that we (our government) might do better to help set up refugee camps and settlements with international agreements. This week I think some of our administrators were in Mexico to ask for assistance in stemming the flow. Gates are closing on Venezuelans and some are being deported. It is a huge, huge problem. I feel sorry for Pres Biden. This issue will cost him the presidency if he can't show results soon.
Hope, yes you're reading me correctly. It's ridiculous to think that we can save the world by letting the world come here, which is basically what the left wing position on immigration comes out to be. We're as blind about immigration as the GOP is about global warming. Our groundwater is drying up. Our virgin land, which supplies necessary ecosystem services--clean water, clean air, fertile soil, biodiversity, pollination, disease prevention, and much more (tick borne diseases almost certainly emerged because of damage to ecosystems, as did HIV and COVID, though the latter two emerged on other continents) is being turned into agribusiness and sprawl, and animals, plants, even insects--the bottom of the food chain--are disappearing. As a kid in the summers of 1959-60, every day I saw butterflies in the yard--lots of them. Now, days go by without seeing any.
Except for immigration, Biden's done immensely well. He's the second coming of FDR. A lot of people are already working hard on how to make sure he wins again and the Democrats stay in power. I hope he'll stanch the flood at the border, and I wish he'd lead the Democratic party towards that end--almost all the Democrats voted this spring against a national mandatory E-Verify. The GOP has gone batshit. I think the Democrats may learn from the flood that it's not good idea to encourage ad lib immigration.
That's quite an article David. Thanks for posting it. I wonder if you would like to read some books on "Deep Adaptation"? Carolyn Baker, among others is a proponent of preparation for dystopia. Most of us think of rebuilding, renewing infrastructure and trying to live with all the same models. That won't work. We need to adapt to radical change, including psychological changes for what is about to arrive. More than "living simply," we will live, if we live at all, much like tribal societies which integrate themselves with nature, the environment and each other. We'll use resources sparingly and wisely. Corporate capitalism will shut its doors since it relies too much on exploitation of resources.
It's always good to chat with you, and I appreciate that you are farther ahead than most in trying to face a brave new future. G'night.
I'd rather read something more the scale of a magazine article. I'm not 20, I'm 70, and I'm skeptical that things are going to change that much in the 20-25 years that I probably have left, and I sure hope I won't be living in a dystopia in my latter years. \
I'd like to know more about what this adaptation you speak of is about but I don't want to spend a huge amount of time on it. If you have any magazine articles, you can email them to me at supernova1@aol.com
So much going on today! Fake 45 pulling his continual delay tactics. He pulled his lawsuit against Michael Cohen out too. He should be responsible for Cohen’s attorney fees for filing it in the first place. When I think of this maniac, I can’t help but think about “The Lord of the Flies”. It is his head that should be on a stick. He has Jordan now, running around like a crazed animal begging R’s to vote him in as Speaker. Can you imagine having this schmuck at the helm of this dilapidated ship??
Qevin was a joke. A horrible one, at that. After 15 tries, the guy gets the speakership for a minute and a half. He needs to go back to Bakersfield to scoop ice cream into cones.
I understand there’s a hearing on October 16th about the gag order Chutkin could issue against Big Mouth. He is planning to strut right into the Capitol building next week. What should happen is that the Capitol police should refuse his admission to get inside.
As usual, Robert, your Concluding Thoughts today are among the most important in your incredible newsletter. I agree 1000%! We can expect turmoil to continue, and more damage to be done, but McCarthy had to go. I have the utmost confidence in Hakeem Jeffries to navigate the Democratic leader-ship through the troubled waters ahead. I don't plan to worry about it. I'd prefer to expend my efforts on ensuring that Democrats and Independents send Republicans (and everyone else) an undeniable message - "Don't mess with our democracy!"
Re contacting Ohio schools...I have no contacts but have looked up high schools in the first five districts listed. I'm short on time this morning but will try to add the last five later. Here is a sample email plus email addresses for this principals. I've emailed the ones I've printed below--it takes minutes!
Dear Mr. Cates,
I’m a retired educator, and in my retirement I am volunteering as a voter registrar, and in particular trying to increase registration among previously underrepresented eligible voters, including youth voters.
Please see the article below and share with your students. Registration for the upcoming election is October 10. I will paste the nuts and bolt paragraph below.
With best regards,
Cathy Murphree
Those with a driver’s license or state ID can register online here. If you live in Ohio and don’t have a state ID, you can still register by printing out this form and mailing it in. Note that you’ll need an ID to vote, so check out this recent post from VoteRiders, and get your ID as well, today.
On the subject of Dems voting out McCarthy, the single most critical fact was his reneging on the debt limit deal with Biden. The power of the speaker, or any politician, is that when they agree to something, they do it. The debt limit deal was a big deal. Dropping that in days meant he was completely untrustworthy and no commitment of his was believable. I suspect, but have no proof, that the Dems had already gotten indications that McCarthy was not going to bring up Ukraine funding in a separate bill. Since that was the basis of the CR being voted through by the Senate, that meant that he had lied about about a major deal again.
I'll be interested in seeing if either Scalise or Jordan can actually get 217 votes in the Rep caucus. If either does, a shutdown in Nov is assured. Plan ahead for those who can.
Very thorough report, Robert. My retired faculty friends and I are applying some of your psychological insights into the GOP and your philosophy on winning and losing (eg, if you lose, you keep on living and eventually you win) to our local university financial crisis. This kind of manufactured crisis seems to occur every ten or fifteen years with predictable loss of jobs, courses, and instructors. The long range view that you encourage enable us to look for recurring cycles, financial indicators with analysis thereof, and a dose of hope and common sense, and to avoid the traps that administrators lay. Thank you. Follow the money: It is in the administrators’ pockets—surprise, surprise!
RE: “Mr. Biden said on Thursday that he had no choice but to use the money for the wall.” Here’s a novel idea: Just don’t spend the money. That would send a message that the Dems are not (at least not always) a party of spendthrifts. If the money needs to be spent, why not use it to study Israel’s smart border system, rather than pursue a centuries-old failed solution? There is so much the U.S. could learn from the rest of the world, if only it were willing.
There may be built-in requirements that the money be spent by a certain date (not sure what might happen if not spent by that possible date). I don't believe the president has the power to stop appropriated funds from being spent by the appropriate agency (tfg's efforts to withhold Congressional appropriated funding for Ukraine if President Zelensky did not announce an investigation of Hunter Biden). However, Biden did try to convince DHS to spend it for border-related purposes like more border patrol agents. DHS said no.
Two points. First, it is refreshing to read that a mere $20,000 Republican scandal in Arkansas is a scandal. Who would have thought that in this age of major lies and fraud anyone would bother caring and reporting this?
Second, it is a mistake to assume that Republicans want a Speaker so they can govern. The plan is not to govern and stop Congress from working. The Republicans want economic and border crises to campaign on and will manufacture them.
If they knew how to increase crime they would do that too.
The challenge we face is making it clear to those who don’t follow the political news as the readers here do, who is to blame. It will be very difficult, especially when Trump will claim that he can fix government instantly just as he will end the war in Ukraine immediately. What do we have to lose when we are stuck in quicksand and a monster throws us a lifeline?
It is imperative that all citizens understand that the only good way out is to vote the Republicans out of power.
Every crisis needs to be clearly called the Trump Republican crisis. The next shutdown threat needs to already be labeled Republican. They own the crisises and the way out is to fire them. BTW, they are each getting paid $174,000 plus benefits and office funds by the taxpayers and do nothing useful.
It seems like everywhere we turn there are examples of Republican political corruption almost to a point of making it seem like it’s a normal everyday occurrence and no big deal. We are all numbed by these transactions. I have read about all of the various filings by Trump attorneys either to delay the trials or to have them dismissed and have come to the conclusion that instead of worrying and fretting about them we just need to focus on making sure Trump does not get elected by focusing on voter registration especially with young people. More posts by people like Taylor Swift help but it’s up to us to hit the ground and make it happen. We need to connect to young people how different their lives would be with Trump in office instead of Biden. Biden may be old but this is what he will do for your generation. The big question for the younger voter turnouts is “ what are Republicans going to do for you and the future of your lives and the health of the country. What specific programs and platforms can you count on to improve and maintain your quality of life? We all know the answer to these questions but young voters need to find the answers themselves.
I hope some group, maybe the Lincoln Project, can make a hard hitting ad for this message which we can send out. Our words alone will not convince them.
Unfortunately the Lincoln Project does not exist anymore. I’m sure another group will step up.
Stephen, I'm sorry but I don't know what you mean. They are still alive and kicking and making great ads! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjwzT6M73pM
Here's another great ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptOMINt9kNw
But they certainly are not the group they were during the last Presidential election. Maybe in time they will be.
Here's the thing about the Lincoln Project. They were a scam. NONE of their candidates locally ever won an election. Georgie Porgie & Sneaky Schmidt didn't turn into Dems overnight. People need to go really local with political donations. The money GOES way further. And those elections impact you the most. Otherwise, I would also look at the State Projects. Otherwise the DNC takes care of the high profile candidates.
“Biden may be old”, but so is Trump.
If people think age is an issue [it shouldn’t be], why is it an issue only for the *Democrat*?
I would love to see the orange idiot on a bicycle! Bbwahahahaha!
Anyone interested in learning more about what young people are doing to get out the vote, join Seniors Taking Action speaker series this Wednesday at 11 am EST. Check out Seniors Taking Action.org for details. This is a free and informative Zoom event.
Your link is broken. I found it here. Thanks for the referral. https://seniorstakingaction.org/
Shouldn’t Trump be tried for treason for divulging information about our nuclear submarines to a friend of his who passed it along to multiple people? This is a disgrace. I wonder what all he told his pals Putin and Kim Jung Un?
Your point is right, but the crime would be espionage, not treason. Both grave offenses against the US.
Thank you, Robert. I did think about espionage, but decided he is a traitor for doing it. Thank you for the correction.
Kevin McCarthy was totally unfit to be Speaker of the House. His tenure was littered with betrayals, and I was proud that Democrats unanimously voted "yay" on the motion to vacate.
As you say, Robert, the way forward is a bipartisan coalition, as we've been advocating for months at www.FeathersOfHope.net
It's hard to see how any Republican gets 217 votes without Democrats' help. Swing district R's will never vote for MAGA extremists.
.
People give Kinzinger way WAY too much credit. When he had the chance to vote on important issues, he voted along with his republican party. He quite proudly said, I remember watching him when asked who he was voting for in '20, without flinching he proclaimed, trump. As 1 of his constituents I was troubled with his words and I let him know. I contacted him, a lot. Anything I asked or voiced
concern over went unanswered. He was never in our county to hold a town meeting. It wasn't until Jan 6th that he appeared to finally grow a pair, and gain a backbone. Sometimes, it's too little, too late. His reason for retiring? His public reason? The lines were redrawn for their districts. His buddy, Darin LaHood would be the State Rep for the majority of his region. Instead of running against his "buddy", he retired. Leaving us with LaHood. LaHood was 1 of the 147 legislators that voted to overturn the 2020 election. Yeah, no. Kinzinger isn't some swell fella. Imho, anyway.
Cheney was no different, she voted party line 93% of the time.
I take everything Kinzinger says with a huge grain of salt. I don't believe a word he says, because he is, after all, still a republican. I've heard Liz Cheney claim that she'll leave the republican party if trump is nominated. I hope she's willing to follow through and those aren't simply words to placate people. Kinzinger was censured here, so why he'd stay loyal to a party that isn't to him is beyond my comprehension. Of course, voting against the John Lewis Voting Rights Act was far beyond my comprehension, too. He refused to answer his constituents calls for, why. So as far as I'm concerned, Kinzinger as already burned us in IL. His words can't be trusted. He is part of this problem we have now named Donald John trump.
She should have done that after Trump "won." I'm not impressed by her doing now.
I'm so tired of people lionizing Kinzinger. He voted party line on everything important to our country, and Cheney 93% of the time. They are no heroes.
You're not understanding then. What we're saying is we don't trust them based on their record. To me, imho, Kinzinger hasn't proven anything, except that he knows how to throw words around that sound good. If he wanted to do something, he'd have stayed in the fight and fought for our democracy. His voting record alone, shows that he's not in it for ALL Americans. He's in for republicans, whether maga, conservative, or extreme right wing. They say trump's words are mostly word salad. When Kinzinger speaks or writes (because I know his voice so well from his answering machine), I hear Charlie Brown's teacher's voice. Waa waaa waa waa....
My opinion is no more valid than your own. Just because Erica and I are disagreeing with you, doesn't mean we don't hear you and acknowledge what you've said (i shouldn't speak for Erica! I don't know her). We simply don't agree with your statements. Makes a discussion a discussion.
Good grief, Janet. I didn't miss anything you said. I clearly said I heard you, however, I disagreed with you. It's what makes a discussion, yes? Nothing is more irritating than someone thinking that they're correct no matter what and insisting no one is listening, when others are only stating a different opinion.
That's perfect. Take your marbles and leave the sandbox in a huff. Have a great day.
Received this message from a friend, “You can vote for the 82 year-old Democrat in 2024, and then vote for the next generation Democrat in 2028...or you can vote for the 79 year-old Republican in 2024 and never vote again.”
Brilliant!!!!!!
Take it from somebody who gets his airplane porn published on the covers of leading airplane porn magazines, Robert - that's some excellent airplane porn. :-)
A high compliment! Thanks!
The thought that Gym Jordan might be the next Speaker sends shivers up and down my spine. Can anyone name a Representative more likely to be demonically partisans in his/her cover-up and support of all things Trump? He won't work with Democrats on anything. Anything. But he'll go all-in on any and all efforts to smear the Bidens. Ohioans are poorly served by this man and the residents of Ohio's 4th are especially poorly served, with perhaps an exception for those yearning for an authoritarian republic like Turkey or Poland or Hungary.
The good news is that it will be the end of his career.
But it's well within his abilities to cause immense damage both domestically (think budget, debt, spending) and internationally (think Ukraine, China, and his pal, Putin).
Of all the truly repulsive extremist Republicans out there, Jordan is at the top of my list. While I am in California, my folks were born in Ohio and I have many fond memories of summer reunions there. I would never have expected a creep like Jordan to have appealed to them. Very sad.
How do Ohioans in his district feel about him?
Evidently, a majority of those voting like him. Means more normal people need to vote in the 4th
Per this Yahoo article - https://news.yahoo.com/republicans-temporarily-played-themselves-presidential-231659928.html
"'He's not the speaker [Patrick McHenry], he's just the speaker pro tem,' Brian Kalt, a professor of law at Michigan State University told Insider, 'and the whole point of having a speaker in line is that they were elected as speaker, not just appointed by someone to preside temporarily. So, as I read the statute, section 19 of title 3, Patty Murray is next in line.'
"As a result, House Republicans for the time being would be skipped over entirely. If President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were unable to serve as President of the United States, the power would then fall to Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, President Pro Tempore (not to be confused with McHenry's temporary title) and then Secretary of State Antony Blinken following her."
Whoever ends up being "elected" Speaker, I'd feel much better knowing that the Biden-Harris team has upped their security details. Just my two cents.
The Constitution mentions two legislative offices: Speaker of the House and President Pro Tem of the Senate. Both are constitutional officers and are in the line of succession. The Constitution does not mention "Acting Speaker" or Interim Speaker or Speaker Pro Tem" of the House. McHenry is not a constitutional officer and is not in the line of succession.
Lynell, just thinking about this subject is a stark reminder of the stakes here, and why it's imperative that Democrats take responsibility for seeing that a non-MAGA establishment Republican becomes the next Speaker. The alternative, worse case scenario, could be a President Jim Jordan or Steve Scalise.
Some say that Democrats have no responsibility to solve the Republican Party's problems. But given that party's utter failure to be a governing partner, it is absolutely the Democrats' responsibility to solve our country's problems. That's precisely what we're arguing to the electorate.
Democrats voted unanimously to remove the sitting Speaker of the House. It was unquestionably the right thing to do. But no institution can function without competent leadership. And at the moment, none is on the horizon.
To make matters worse, there is a faction within the chamber conducting an active assault against the House itself. Who else other than the Democratic conference can possibly defend the heart of our self-governing republic? By acting honorably and responsibly to remove an incompetent leader, Democrats have also assumed major responsibility for the consequences of that action.
A bipartisan coalition is the only way forward.
.
I had no idea of all that, Lynell. Thanks for the info.
In answer to your question, E-Verify is a federal database which enables employers to determine whether prospective employees are legally here (citizens, legal immigrnts) or not. at least five states require its use, and millions of companies use it without a requirement.
Hey, David. Just found your message in my SP*M folder. So sorry for delay. Thanks for explaining E-Verify for me!
You're welcome Lynell!
The whole "border thing" is confusing and messy. But the vast majority of Americans are worried about immigration. For multiple reasons. Some legit. Some manufactured.
What's missing here is a comprehensive plan from the Biden administration to be presented to Congress over and over and over. Even if it doesn't get passed until we retake the House, it will lay down a clear policy of the US trying to help - but admitting that we can only do so much for this wave of humanity.
I am not qualified to layout the details. But the two guiding principles must be to exercise more control over illegal border crossings and to allow a lot more people in legally. A lot more. The truth is we desperately need the workers. But we can't just feed them to overcrowded cities. Every region of the country must participate.
As for a wall, it seems to me that more personnel and more technology could do more to make the border less porous. And there is more we could do to combat the gangs of thugs that are getting paid to shepherd people across the line. Asking Congress for more money to do these things might not succeed right away, but it sure would be good politics. And eventually the funds would be approved.
The wave of people escaping South and Central America has only begun. What looks like a flood of humans now will look like a trickle in a few short years. Same in Europe. Failed nation states and the Climate Crisis are combining to relocate hundreds of millions of desperate souls. We demonize them at our own moral peril.
"Failed nation states and the Climate Crisis are combining to relocate hundreds of millions of desperate souls. We demonize them at our own moral peril." ✅
“… the two guiding principles must be to exercise more control over illegal border crossings and to allow a lot more people in legally. A lot more. The truth is we desperately need the workers.” —
Merely saying that we need to allow more people into the US legally evades facing a number of thorny questions.
For starters: In what *occupational categories* do we need the workers? What should be their legal status (temporary work visas, green cards, or other statuses)? Why should we be privileging migrants at our southern border over potential immigrants from other parts of the world (is that fair?)? Should the US actively prosecute those who have willfully broken our immigration laws? If not, and to be fair to immigrants who play by the rules, should undocumented migrants be denied eligibility for green cards?
Bill Alstrom raises worthy points, but we should not let a sense of crisis at the southern border stampede us into making hasty decisions.
Thank you for the thoughtful comment. There should nothing hasty about the process. But it needs to begin. And yes, we need to welcome people from all over the world.
But the border stampede is not something we can wish away. Mother Nature and Human Actions are sending people to the border in an unstoppable stampede. We can't stop it. We must manage it.
As to what workers we need? Our local hardware store is threatening to close due a lack of employees. From car loaders to managers. Our HOA has challenges every month to get repairs done. Landscape companies and restaurants are closing for lack of employees. My GP is booking out 18 months because there is a shortage of primary care doctors. Nurses and teachers are taking early retirement and replacements are not on the way.
Hard working immigrants are the answer and they pay taxes - unlike many of our richest citizens!
Propublica projects that within several decades, MILLIONS of Americans will be climate refugees. Under those circumstances, we should allow "a lot more" in? If anything, we should be stabilizing, or even reducing our population.
https://www.propublica.org/article/climate-change-will-force-a-new-american-migration
There is a simple way to stanch the flow of migrants at the border: a national, mandatory E-Verify. If they can't get jobs, they won't come, and those here will leave. (E-Verify is a federal database to check whether prospective employees are citizens, immigrants in the country legally, or not.
Unfortunately, just as the Republicans are in denial about global warming, the Democrats are in denial about immigration. Our country is well beyond environmental sustainability. We are running out of water, as the NYT reported a few weeks ago. Propublica projects that within several decades, MILLIONS of Americans will be climate refugees. (Read the link. It will scare you.)
https://www.propublica.org/article/climate-change-will-force-a-new-american-migration
Furthermore, the Republicans HAVE tried to pass a national, mandatory E-Verify TWICE since November 2016. The first time, neither Trump nor then Speaker Paul Ryan backed the bill--Ryan, I suspect because he's a big biz GOPer, and they like the cheap labor, which keeps workers' wages down; and Trump probably wanted a wall as a monument to himself and didn't want E-Verify because it would have pre-empted the need for a wall. The second time was this past spring. Both times the bills had very little support from Democrats.
The Democrats need to smarten up about sustainability, and the effect of a population explosion on it. It's a form of wrongheaded American exceptionalism that we can take in all the migrants who want to come here.
If we're going to save our country for our progeny, we need to face the fact that we can't save the world.
Wow; I am ignorant on this subject. You have got me thinkin… will check it out
I've been following it closely for more than two decades. And I took environmental science in a class at Berkeley in 1975, taught by John Holdren, who later became Pres O's Science Advisor. If you have questions, you can ask me here, or at supernova1@aol.com
That is not constitutional.
I am on the same page Bill. Well said. As shocking as your last paragraph is, I agree entirely. We (meaning our administration) and the world at large need to get moving on this. I am reminded of the parable of the wise king who saw signs of a plague coming in the future and set aside grain et al, for seven years. Then, he was right. (Please excuse my Biblical ignorance, but I remember this story from childhood.)
Like Jordan has done, refugee camps need to be established in politically neutral nations. As sad as those camps are, I can think of nothing else to bring a margin of safety, food, and shelter to stateless millions.
I agree that something must be done. This is a humanitarian crisis. I do not understand the wall!
Not that you asked my opinion, Kathleen, but I think it's a token of concession. He's giving a little to the other side, 'cause they will bite him in the back on migration this coming election. He's done the same with fossil fuel drilling permits. "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away!" Seriously, I think Joe's done a remarkable job, but he is a consumate politician, and he knows when to yield and when to play.
I love your comment, and I totally agree that Biden is a consummate politician. He is saying he is required to spend the money. The question is - is that true? It seems believable, but I just hope that is not a fib to cover what he's doing. I LOVE Biden, Hope.
Biden, like Nancy Pelosi, is a superb politician. Both have decades of experience and the ability to learn from mistakes to thank for their skills.
I wish to hell Biden's immigration policies were more in line with what I think we need, which is to stabilize our population, or even reducing it, and only let in as many immigrants as we can without growing our population, which would be no more than 200,000 if that).
But as much as I care about stabilizing the population, at this juncture, preserving Democracy is more important than any single other issue, and Biden is a decent human being, and no politician is going to give you everything you want, but no president has come closer since FDR.
And if Biden ***thinks*** he needs to fib, he probably does.
BIDEN tried to reappropriate the money. The law forbid him to do it. He is NOT in favor of the wall.
https://www.factcheck.org/2023/10/bidens-border-wall-explained/
The money was appropriated for the wall. Biden tried to get the money reappropriated. FACT CHECK:I tried to get them to reappropriate it, to redirect that money. They didn’t. They wouldn’t. And in the meantime, there’s nothing under the law other than they have to use the money for what it was appropriated. I can’t stop that.”
And according to Biden's own words in his press conference on Thursday(?) Friday(?), he specified that he wanted to redirect the border wall money for more personnel on the border and for more personnel to assist migrants entering across the border. DHS said no.
Hope, see my comment directly above yours.
Hi David. "We're all in this together." Sometimes I read in your notes that we must seal U.S. borders to save our own. Am I right? Of course we should not allow an endless flow of migrants. However I'm of the belief that we (our government) might do better to help set up refugee camps and settlements with international agreements. This week I think some of our administrators were in Mexico to ask for assistance in stemming the flow. Gates are closing on Venezuelans and some are being deported. It is a huge, huge problem. I feel sorry for Pres Biden. This issue will cost him the presidency if he can't show results soon.
Hope, yes you're reading me correctly. It's ridiculous to think that we can save the world by letting the world come here, which is basically what the left wing position on immigration comes out to be. We're as blind about immigration as the GOP is about global warming. Our groundwater is drying up. Our virgin land, which supplies necessary ecosystem services--clean water, clean air, fertile soil, biodiversity, pollination, disease prevention, and much more (tick borne diseases almost certainly emerged because of damage to ecosystems, as did HIV and COVID, though the latter two emerged on other continents) is being turned into agribusiness and sprawl, and animals, plants, even insects--the bottom of the food chain--are disappearing. As a kid in the summers of 1959-60, every day I saw butterflies in the yard--lots of them. Now, days go by without seeing any.
Except for immigration, Biden's done immensely well. He's the second coming of FDR. A lot of people are already working hard on how to make sure he wins again and the Democrats stay in power. I hope he'll stanch the flood at the border, and I wish he'd lead the Democratic party towards that end--almost all the Democrats voted this spring against a national mandatory E-Verify. The GOP has gone batshit. I think the Democrats may learn from the flood that it's not good idea to encourage ad lib immigration.
I agree, David. I think we Dems are modifying our stance. May we do it in a compassionate way and not simply turn our backs.
That's quite an article David. Thanks for posting it. I wonder if you would like to read some books on "Deep Adaptation"? Carolyn Baker, among others is a proponent of preparation for dystopia. Most of us think of rebuilding, renewing infrastructure and trying to live with all the same models. That won't work. We need to adapt to radical change, including psychological changes for what is about to arrive. More than "living simply," we will live, if we live at all, much like tribal societies which integrate themselves with nature, the environment and each other. We'll use resources sparingly and wisely. Corporate capitalism will shut its doors since it relies too much on exploitation of resources.
It's always good to chat with you, and I appreciate that you are farther ahead than most in trying to face a brave new future. G'night.
I'd rather read something more the scale of a magazine article. I'm not 20, I'm 70, and I'm skeptical that things are going to change that much in the 20-25 years that I probably have left, and I sure hope I won't be living in a dystopia in my latter years. \
I'd like to know more about what this adaptation you speak of is about but I don't want to spend a huge amount of time on it. If you have any magazine articles, you can email them to me at supernova1@aol.com
I'll look...
Thank you Hope!
So much going on today! Fake 45 pulling his continual delay tactics. He pulled his lawsuit against Michael Cohen out too. He should be responsible for Cohen’s attorney fees for filing it in the first place. When I think of this maniac, I can’t help but think about “The Lord of the Flies”. It is his head that should be on a stick. He has Jordan now, running around like a crazed animal begging R’s to vote him in as Speaker. Can you imagine having this schmuck at the helm of this dilapidated ship??
Qevin was a joke. A horrible one, at that. After 15 tries, the guy gets the speakership for a minute and a half. He needs to go back to Bakersfield to scoop ice cream into cones.
I understand there’s a hearing on October 16th about the gag order Chutkin could issue against Big Mouth. He is planning to strut right into the Capitol building next week. What should happen is that the Capitol police should refuse his admission to get inside.
Marlene, Well said! Your comments hit the nail on the head.
As usual, Robert, your Concluding Thoughts today are among the most important in your incredible newsletter. I agree 1000%! We can expect turmoil to continue, and more damage to be done, but McCarthy had to go. I have the utmost confidence in Hakeem Jeffries to navigate the Democratic leader-ship through the troubled waters ahead. I don't plan to worry about it. I'd prefer to expend my efforts on ensuring that Democrats and Independents send Republicans (and everyone else) an undeniable message - "Don't mess with our democracy!"
Amen!
Re contacting Ohio schools...I have no contacts but have looked up high schools in the first five districts listed. I'm short on time this morning but will try to add the last five later. Here is a sample email plus email addresses for this principals. I've emailed the ones I've printed below--it takes minutes!
Dear Mr. Cates,
I’m a retired educator, and in my retirement I am volunteering as a voter registrar, and in particular trying to increase registration among previously underrepresented eligible voters, including youth voters.
Please see the article below and share with your students. Registration for the upcoming election is October 10. I will paste the nuts and bolt paragraph below.
With best regards,
Cathy Murphree
Those with a driver’s license or state ID can register online here. If you live in Ohio and don’t have a state ID, you can still register by printing out this form and mailing it in. Note that you’ll need an ID to vote, so check out this recent post from VoteRiders, and get your ID as well, today.
Entire article:
https://open.substack.com/pub/thecivicscenter/p/calling-ohio-100000-18-year-olds?r=8vyqy&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Schools:
1. Lorain High School
Melissa Cheers, Principal, mcheers@loraincsd.org <mcheers@loraincsd.org>;
2. Cuyahoga Falls High School
Jason Smith, Principal, cf_smithja@cftigers.org
3. Warren G. Harding High School, Dr. Janis Ulicny, Principal could not find email address
4. Butler Schools – Arcanum High School Ty Cates, Principal ty_cates@arcanum-butler.k12.oh.us
5. Hamilton Schools, Hamilton High School Main Campus, Jonathan Szary, Principal
jszary@hcsdoh.org
Cathy, this is simply brilliant! On my to-do list today.
Thank you!!
"Principal couldn't find email address?" Unbelievable!
On the subject of Dems voting out McCarthy, the single most critical fact was his reneging on the debt limit deal with Biden. The power of the speaker, or any politician, is that when they agree to something, they do it. The debt limit deal was a big deal. Dropping that in days meant he was completely untrustworthy and no commitment of his was believable. I suspect, but have no proof, that the Dems had already gotten indications that McCarthy was not going to bring up Ukraine funding in a separate bill. Since that was the basis of the CR being voted through by the Senate, that meant that he had lied about about a major deal again.
I'll be interested in seeing if either Scalise or Jordan can actually get 217 votes in the Rep caucus. If either does, a shutdown in Nov is assured. Plan ahead for those who can.
It's worrisome, because no Speaker means more chaos. But I agree that either of those men would be awful!
Very thorough report, Robert. My retired faculty friends and I are applying some of your psychological insights into the GOP and your philosophy on winning and losing (eg, if you lose, you keep on living and eventually you win) to our local university financial crisis. This kind of manufactured crisis seems to occur every ten or fifteen years with predictable loss of jobs, courses, and instructors. The long range view that you encourage enable us to look for recurring cycles, financial indicators with analysis thereof, and a dose of hope and common sense, and to avoid the traps that administrators lay. Thank you. Follow the money: It is in the administrators’ pockets—surprise, surprise!
RE: “Mr. Biden said on Thursday that he had no choice but to use the money for the wall.” Here’s a novel idea: Just don’t spend the money. That would send a message that the Dems are not (at least not always) a party of spendthrifts. If the money needs to be spent, why not use it to study Israel’s smart border system, rather than pursue a centuries-old failed solution? There is so much the U.S. could learn from the rest of the world, if only it were willing.
There may be built-in requirements that the money be spent by a certain date (not sure what might happen if not spent by that possible date). I don't believe the president has the power to stop appropriated funds from being spent by the appropriate agency (tfg's efforts to withhold Congressional appropriated funding for Ukraine if President Zelensky did not announce an investigation of Hunter Biden). However, Biden did try to convince DHS to spend it for border-related purposes like more border patrol agents. DHS said no.
Please consider donating to https://www.turnup.us/initiatives to get young people voting.
Two points. First, it is refreshing to read that a mere $20,000 Republican scandal in Arkansas is a scandal. Who would have thought that in this age of major lies and fraud anyone would bother caring and reporting this?
Second, it is a mistake to assume that Republicans want a Speaker so they can govern. The plan is not to govern and stop Congress from working. The Republicans want economic and border crises to campaign on and will manufacture them.
If they knew how to increase crime they would do that too.
The challenge we face is making it clear to those who don’t follow the political news as the readers here do, who is to blame. It will be very difficult, especially when Trump will claim that he can fix government instantly just as he will end the war in Ukraine immediately. What do we have to lose when we are stuck in quicksand and a monster throws us a lifeline?
It is imperative that all citizens understand that the only good way out is to vote the Republicans out of power.
Every crisis needs to be clearly called the Trump Republican crisis. The next shutdown threat needs to already be labeled Republican. They own the crisises and the way out is to fire them. BTW, they are each getting paid $174,000 plus benefits and office funds by the taxpayers and do nothing useful.