Let’s be honest about what is happening to people in America and all over the world; the age of telecommunications, including the rise of social media, has shortened attention spans, reduced critical thinking and revealed an emotional receptiveness to hate, fear and bigotry and a tendency to embrace purported simple solutions to complex problems. Therein lies the bulk of the answer regarding the outcome of the election. Yes, Democrats need to do a better job of communicating to people who are prone to be swayed by demagoguery. Yes, we must reintroduce civics and critical thinking skills into our educational systems. Yes, we should consider laws to deal with malign actors who seek to play on human weaknesses to subvert our society. It seems to me that we need to learn how to better defend ourselves and our society from our own worst impulses as human beings.
Well said, William. I attended public school during the era when critical thinking was encouraged, before the era of slamming public schools for being underachieving, a false narrative designed to undermine teacher autonomy and force a process of standardization--teach to the test. Today, public school teachers like my husband are fighting for the attention of their students who can barely look away from their cell phones. How do we educate young people to think critically when they have the attention span of a flea? It appears that scrolling has replaced reading. So until we help young people reign in their tech use which is highly addictive, I might add, it's an uphill struggle.
The purposeful attack on education and civics, coupled with schools not demanding that phones are kept out of the classroom, admin rarely supporting teachers over unruly students, thus devoid of meaningful consequences for said students, all combine to make classrooms with impossible learning environments. Not to mention the failure of growing good citizens. This is the result of a long term GOP plan to destroy public education and vanish an informed electorate.
Fyi, more school districts are restricting or banning cell phones. The. South Carolina district my daughter attends as a high schooler just instituted a total ban on devices during the instructional day across all grade levels. They had started the year with no devices during class time but they were allowed during class switches and ILT (lunch). And they are still teaching civics/government as required courses for graduation. But like a lot of material in teen brains, it gets retained for the duration needed and then jettisoned. Like most all of us, there needs to be a connection to something that matters for awareness and engagement, and I think that is a big part of the puzzle when talking about youth engagement. Teen/kid brains, for the most part, don't work like brains with another couple of decades on them. I know I didn't really 'get' how our government really functioned until I started seeing how dysfunctional things were getting for issues I cared about. I agree that attention spans and social media are a bad combo in our current environment, but even beforehand, there was a baseline of the same observations we are making here.
These are all good and important thoughts, my friends, about our need to bolster our educational system in so many ways, but especially with critical thinking, civics/American history classes, and better pay for teachers. We should pay attention to our local schoolboards and run for positions on them. But on the business side of the ledger, do not forget that the right wing owns the airwaves these days. That is what people are watching and listening to. I'm not exactly sure what we can do about that, but we must not forget about it.
Robin- I have a great story to share. My granddaughter took an American Government class in her public high school that was based on experiential learning. Instead of doing work sheets or listening to boring lectures, the students engaged in mock legislative sessions and court proceedings. They had to study up to play their roles, and their peers depended on them to know what they needed to do to win a case or get a bill passed. Did it work? All I can tell you is that she is still over-the-moon about that class. She notices when stuff she learned about happens in real life. And, when her boyfriend’s parents were struggling to figure out how to vote on several very bad initiatives on our ballot, she pointed out what she had learned that if the language is really confusing and the proponents are using things like double negatives, then they are probably trying to trick you into voting for something you are actually against. They voted against the initiatives and they were defeated in our state. So gratifying to see a young voter excited about what she learned and applying it in real life.
About that attention span of our screen enslaved young people . . . I highly recommend "Reader, Come Home" The reading brain in a digital world- by Maryanne Wolf.
Yes people have "a tendency to embrace purported simple solutions to complex problems". And trump exploits that. But now his simple solutions will need to show results or he will lose his marginal popularity.
Most importantly, his inability to deliver is OUR opportunity to message and narrative-frame the reality that he is America’s enemy. WE need to do this. There is no cavalry coming. There is no savior except us. Stop buying into the “Dems are at fault” trope. It shows lazy thinking, and a tendency to point fingers instead of asking “What can I do right now in my sphere of friends, family, and community”. The opportunities are many. I’m making constant calls to Grand Rapids city officials, commissioners, and representatives trying to urge them to pursue trump for non-payment of $49,000 for police and public-works services provided to his for two successful rallies during his campaign. Trump lost Kent County to Harris by 19,948 votes. Now he is stiffing Grand Rapids for services he used. Do I expect to be successful in my small campaign for justice? I chose not to think of it as a binary win/lose. I chose to see it as an exercise in civic action instead of inaction. Find your action, and let’s prove we are not alone.
I hope so. But it's also possible they will find some way to wheedle out of accountability, and followers will find a way for Trump/MAGA failures to be blamed on something yhe Dems did.
As a center left independent physician entrepreneur, I can generate a long list of Dem failures. Let’s be clear, the Dems are a key part of the problem. I’ve worked to put 100 homes into a county with a significant housing shortage and for 3 years we’ve been thwarted by the hyper liberal and unhelpful county government. It’s is shocking how little they seem to care. Shocking. I live in a city where homelessness was allowed to get out of control during the pandemic and liberals argued that people have the right to tents on sidewalks and to use the outdoors as toilets because those individuals have agency. Business has thus left the city in droves. When will the Dems and the liberals learn? When will they connect to reality and learn? I live in a city with the highest tax base in the county (not NYC) and we get so little for it. The frustrating list can go on and on. And believe me, rational centrists are extremely frustrated.
The Dems are as much the problem over decades as the Republicans and you can’t explain how we got here without discussing how the Dems allowed us to get here. Or, you can just continue to blame the Republicans and we’ll see just how effective that is.
When you say, "You can just continue to blame Republicans, and we will see how effective that is," I'm not sure if you are referring to me personally. But as I wrote, "Democrats have plenty of problems to address, but abandoning constituencies that are under attack by religious fundamentalist extremists is not the way forward."
By all means, let's address problems in the Democratic Party. Let's just stop pretending that they were the only party in the 2024 election. That's my point.
I understand and respect that Robert. But, one must first understand the environment shifting as it may over time, understand your adversary, and then design your response, measure its effectiveness, tweak your response, measure your effectiveness, etc. I know you know that. It’s not clear that the Dems do. You can pass truly meaningful legislation (the Dems have, the Rs haven’t) and you can work in other ways for those you serve (the Dems have, the Rs pretend they have but haven’t except for the Christian Nationalists) and you can still lose the public sentiment as the Dems have.
The Dems aren’t in the right game, or aren’t playing it in effective ways. Thus, they are essentially co-responsible for getting us here. That changes by changing what they do, how they talk, how they lead, what they focus on, how they connect to humans and rural America, etc… You know all of this. It is not clear that the Dems to this day do understand it, or perhaps it truly is that the liberal mind creates constituents truly are like herding cats (see George Lakoff’s work) to their own detriment. And I do believe that this is partly true and a not an insignificant issue. If this is all true, then the work is to deal with it all in the Dem Party, as late as it may be. Blame is ineffective — except for deep introspection of oneself for the sake of personal or organizational improvement as you know.
Respectfully, who exactly do you think “the Dems” are? They are us. You included! You are not some special case hovering above the fray, perhaps like a judge or an arm chair general, with some unique level of understanding or insight that “the Dems” are too obstinate or stupid to grasp. If you have not seen or heard the extensive examination of what has gone wrong and what needs to be done then perhaps you are either too consumed with anger over the loss (understandable, but enough already) or, for some other reason, not paying attention. Of course mistakes were made; actions that are only now obvious in hindsight were not taken. We are painfully aware of the issues and are grappling with how to address and fix the problems. That should be evident just from the very public conversation identifying and speaking to the problems and how to fix them. I agree with Robert, we should all quit the excessive self flagellation and get on with the work. And one last thing, we shouldn’t sit on the sidelines and throw stones at those who are on the field working on the problems. Instead, we should get on the field with them and be part of the solution. Let’s take a deep breath, remember who we are fighting and what we are fighting for, and reengage with renewed vigor.
I appreciate that William. But, after 50+ years, the Dems have yet to learn. Perhaps like you, I’ve tried to have this dialog over and over to no avail over decades.
I’m not angry, I’m not complaining. These are facts… the Dems did nothing to counteract Reagan’s “the government is bad” message over decades when they could have. That is one of innumerable examples.
I have my first talk on climate change in 1990… to no avail obviously. The medical profession, the Dem Party, Physicians for Social Responsibility and many more (certainly the Repubs but we expected that) failed society, failed humanity at addressing it and it may well be the most important threat that humans yet face. Yes, I failed also to figure out how to drive awareness, acceptance and action over 35 years now. I failed to figure out how to get the Dems to wake up over 50 years now and counting. The answer isn’t in critiquing the Repubs… they are doing what they promised to do for decades and decades. Were the Dems paying attention, building the skills to manage the public message and public sentiment? No, not than I can tell. We got here because the Dems failed in so many ways so continuously to recognize, acknowledge and address the evil right in front of our / their eyes.
Let’s examine your argument. Over a period of 50 years you have tried to guide the Democratic Party to no avail. Your advice was ignored. Hence, the Party failed and you failed. Let me note a few deficiencies. You aver that Democrats ignored the alarms raised by you and others over the environment beginning in the 1990s. Have you forgotten Al Gore, and all those who have fought the environmental issues over all this time, for example? Let’s note that the Democratic Party, true to its name is not a dictatorship. It’s a collaboration of millions of citizens each with their own points of view and particular interests who share commonality of vision and purpose. Leading such a group involves hard work, consensus building and compromise if it is to win elections. Policy, strategy, tactics, communications, messaging, organizing, candidate selection and finance, are all keys to success. With each one of these keys one must consider how any decision affects the others and ultimately how and where it affects the vote. The people who work on these matters care deeply about the outcome. The Democratic Party has made enumerable improvements, not just in people’s lives, but in how it goes about the essential task of constructing a winning majority. We engage in self examination and act to correct course when appropriate, granted sometimes too late ( Biden’s withdrawal). Are mistakes sometimes made, opportunities overlooked, of course. No one is perfect. Has the Party abandoned the middle class and poor? No. Just look at the accomplishments of the Biden Administration and the programs Kamala Harris espoused. Was there a failure to get that message across to many voters who clearly voted against their own interests? Yes. The people at the top of the Administration and Campaign clearly made some mistakes. I might sum it up by saying that this last election was waged on our part much like the previous election without recognizing how much the terrain, particularly the communications and messaging terrain, had changed. Much discussion has gone over this and much has been learned. If you are not fully up to date on all the discussion, that’s on you. Incidentally, I speak as someone who has been active in the Democratic Party for nearly 60 years in many capacities and on all levels, local, state and national . I am sorry that you are so down on the Party. I understand your frustration after such a devastating defeat. I feel it myself. Instead of being an armchair general, I recommend getting back in the fray. We all care about the same vision and values. What you are engaging in is a form of defeatism and self flagellation. For God’s sake man, enough already! It serves no useful purpose. If you have some very specific recommendations make them, your ideas may or may not win general acceptance, others may disagree with details, but get back with the common effort to move the Party and our nation forward. I am with Robert Hubbell on this point.
This is the biggest bunch of nonsense I have heard for a long time. Although of course Dems are not perfect; no one is. But Republicans repeatedly stop anything that will help people. They worked diligently to deny people access to health care. Dems have had to focus on that one thing for over a decade. Dems work very hard to assure people can earn a solid living. They have to fight Republicans on this over and over again. Maybe if the Republicans weren't working so hard against every day people, Dems could more effectively address homelessness. The city I live in is led by Dems and have made real progress on the homeless program. The person above just wants special treatment for the wealthy, which is what Republicans are all about.
You just don’t blame blame blame… you fix yourself in order to more effectively win and solve problems. The Dems need to fix themselves (against all odds)…
And don’t forget the corporate run DNC repeatedly choosing candidates for us. All to enrich and protect corporate Dems. I blame them for this the most.
The Dems brought us the most labor-friendly president we have had in years. Bernie Sanders had no chance of winning the presidency. He was not even a Democrat but expected the Democratic Party to jump into his band wagon. Hillary Clinton won the nomination fair and square. She, too, has worked for the regular people. I saw Bernie Sanders at work at the Democratic Convention with my own eyes. When we finally, after many decades, nominated a woman, Bernie Sanders tried to take over the convention. It was ungracious left a terrible impression on me. Even though he made many good points. Which the Democrats picked up and acted on, by the way.
While I agree for the most part, these people do not want to listen to the Dems. If you'd care to elaborate on what exactly "a better job of communicating" looks like, I'm all ears. But, these people do not want to listen.
Absolutely right, Tom. And it's also inexplicable why Democrats have been so inept at, or adverse to, creating a unified, quick response team since 2015, on the same social media sites that rapidly produce that false reality.
The Dems are as much the problem as the Republicans. They consistently failed to push back and counteract over 50+ years, because they have such a hard time being pragmatic and unified. And it continues to this very moment. And yet most on the left just continue to make comments about Trump and his voters when the Dems and their voters, while well-meaning and not frankly malignant like the Republicans, are the problem and need to be the solution… but even now they seem to inept to figure this out, which is a key part of how we got here.
Interesting that Trump campaigned for 8 years straight and couldn't even muster 50% of the vote, while his opponent had only 107 days (not to mention that Trump can say anthing he wants, just make it up as he goes). The Dems ARE the party of the people and work diligently for that. The Republicans work diligently to stop that.
Pardon me if I misunderstood your comment. But respectfully Charles, while the Democrats have not used a strong, effective means of fighting Republican disinformation and lies--which I believe is a critical failure on their part--I want to clarify that in general, I think Republicans are clearly the problem and Democrats have the only solutions at this point.
When you lose, and you lose the audience, you don’t blame someone someone else. You blame yourself. You reform yourself. The Democrats have driven over regulation and have done nothing to address it. That is incredibly frustrating. Have the Democrats talked about over-regulation or done anything about it? No. I am not one who hates our government but many apparently do. Have the Democrats addressed that and have the Democrats lead a coherent effort at government, efficiency, and effectiveness, for example? No. There are numerable problems that the Democrats could have been on top of and won much more public support. Not far left wing issues, but centrist issues. Did they do that? No. I don’t like debt in my life and I’m not a big fan of government debt particularly when it has such adverse consequences. Have the Democrats done anything about that or even talked about it openly? No.
As I mentioned, the Republicans become frankly malignant, but the Democrats allowed that to happen by their inept management and messaging over the course of 5+ decades. When Regan told the country that it was OK to hate your government. Did the Democrats do anything to counteract that? No. All they did is throw more red meat by making the government look like the purveyor of over regulation and over taxation which in many ways it is. Believe me, I congratulate the Democrats for getting legislation through under incredibly adverse circumstances. I also criticize the Democrats because they did nothing to control the public dialogue that would allow the public to actually acknowledge what they did. The Democrats are a huge part of the problem.
Overregulation? Are you serious? Capitalism is out of control. Twelve individuals have more wealth than the rest of the populace. The insurance industry is so out of control that most people supported the murder of a CEO (I do not, but most people I know did, and I understand it). This country needs universal health care, free child care for working families, and increased regulation, not less.
Two opposites can be true at once. We are both over regulated and underregulated; e.g. some regulations just are obstructions that need to be changed and yet other areas need good, working, protective regulations.
The things you want I mostly agree with but that is legislation and policy, not regulation. And you don’t get it through over regulation (needs a discussion) but through changing public sentiment and then legislating. A large percentage of people to whom you want to give childcare and healthcare just voted for Trump. The public mindset, discourse and understanding have to be aggressively managed in order to get public support. True? That takes years of brutally hard work. The Dems have failed at that sadly, to the country’s detriment.
I mean, really. I would argue that the reason Dems lose is twofold: One, right wing conservative interests have been buying up mainstream media since the 1980s and now their hegemony is complete. You can count the NYTimes and the formerly great WaPo among them. All Fox Lite now. And the TV channel I encounter most frequently in public spaces is the original Fox News. It's everywhere and it's constant. All this bitching about Democrats' messaging? If it's completely suppressed by right wing corporate media, how is that the Dems' fault? The Harris-Walz campaign tried their hardest to get around that and go directly to the voters. But they really did not have much time. And BTW, we will never know if Biden could have won the election. We can argue about it all we like, but we will never know because he was badgered into stepping aside, which he did with a great deal of grace.
And the other reason: At the slightest hint of things not going well, Democrats turn on their own. It honestly sickens me. Yes, Dems have to offer candidates that corporations approve of to win at this time in our history. Bernie could not even win the primary. But somehow his fans think he could win the general election? I don't like it, either, but corporations own this country. The best we can do at ths time is elect someone like Biden who truly does have the working class at heart. But the credit he's received for his dogged work along these lines has been minimal. Even among Dems.
If we don't like corporate candidates, we need to find a way to weaken corporations, not blast the Democratic Party for trying to work with the shitty hand we've been dealt in this country, IMO, starting with Reagan and his corporate overlords.
Don’t believe 3rd parties are viable in the US. I’m a Dem advocate as an independent. But please, focus on fixing the Dem problems. If the Dems have pissed me off and those like me in the center, then the party’s in deep long term trouble and that’s just what it’s done. Sure, go further left… that will be helpful. Rather, how about addressing over regulation, how about focusing on government efficiency and effectiveness (in their wisdom, the Dems allowed Trump to claim that instead of doing it themselves)… the list goes on and on, and you all will argue and blame others.
Reading that one guys suicide note was interesting. He was so close to getting it, like its astounding to me how many people on the far right will talk complain about the 1% and the inequity we see in our current system, and instead of voting for policies that would help everyone, they still continue to vote for billionaires and against their own interests because they hate marginalized groups more...
I am writing today to thank you for your incredible persistence in doing all you can to encourage and sustain us despite all the obstacles that are put in your way. And thank you so much for doing your half hour Substack get- togethers on Saturdays. I find them enjoyable and helpful and I try to attend. I did watch The Mark Elias video you put in today and was very glad I did. It's excellent. And I have just subscribed to his Democracy Docket which even turns out to be free. I can't tell you how much I appreciate all you do.
That is lovely. We are also lifting Robert up as he is surfing across the Hubbell crowd of supporters. And he will get home from LAX someday, but will inspire so many along the way!
'Brilliant' came immediately to my mind as well. Thank you once again, Robert. Your compelling articulate informed wise and humane Voice is uniquely and consistently inspiring.
I agree that the Democrats are not to blame. The people who voted for Trump, Elon Musk and Putin are to blame. The people who did not vote, which is a form of voting (the lazy man's way to vote for whoever wins), are to blame. Putin's war on Ukraine is to blame, and the fact that so many people are really uninformed in the US, which is an indictment of both our education system and our information system (media), is to blame.
I also had travel troubles because Europe was hit by snow. So, my daughter and I flew from the US to Amsterdam which went without a hitch. Then, when we got to the airport her plane to her German city was delayed, while mine was cancelled and they had switched me to a flight for an airport on the other side of the country from where I live, somewhat like sending someone who was going to Chicago to Houston. So, I saw that, walked the very long distance to the place where they were straightening out these problems and asked if I could get on my daughter's delayed flight with her, because I knew I could get a train to my city from there. So, they put me on that flight, on which we sat for 2 hours while the plane waited its turn to be de-iced. Then, we got to her city in about an hour. From there I went to her place and we hung out with the family she rents from, which is like family by now, and had a meal. Then I went to the train station and took the train home. That train ride, because I chose the direct train, which is longer by about 1.5 hours, was 4 hrs and 17 minutes long. The longer route can be shorter if you have a transfer and you miss it because of a delay of your train, and I did not want to deal with a transfer. From there, I walked to the bus right outside of the station which came in 4 minutes, and rode it 20 minutes to the corner of my block. When I got home I read that the airport they were going to sent me to was basically shut down, and I know a train from there would have been more like 9-12 hours. So, I lucked out. Because that flight would have been cancelled, and I would have missed my daughter's flight. The best thing is that our suitcases ended up with us so I can say we made it home in one piece. Most of the airports in England were shut down.
Today, even though the airport was basically shut down where I live yesterday due to not enough de-icing equipment, it is now 51 degrees out. It will be cooler this week, but no polar vortex.
I am recommending that people subscribe to Ann Telnaes Substack to support her leaving the WaPo. I consider the media landscape in the US to be abysmal at this point. There are so many places that do not have a local newspaper anymore. Venture capitalists should not be owning newspapers. In fact, I am not sure how to work the funding in the US. It is truly abysmal.
Whew! Glad you made it. I always appreciate your comments. Stay safe and warm.
I've never understood why we don't have our own "balancing act" to counter Faux Snooze with facts and clear, concise analysis of those facts. Followed by ramifications of different responses to critical situations. Surely we can afford it. And we desperately need it.
You are right. We can not afford not to have better media. We do need democratic media ownership as well. Glad there is Blue Sky. We need a democratic alternative to so many radio programs which reach audiences in rural areas that no print media comes to. Programs like Alex Jones' Info Wars are a danger to our population. It is not healthy for people to get that riled up. These Right wing programs monetize getting people angry and keeping them that way. An unfortunate outcome of market research is that all the bad guys know how to keep us addicted to bad media and tech too. We have to be offering healthier alternatives.
Linda, this very conversation made me decide to upgrade from free to paid on Midas Touch substack. I've been guarding my money, waiting to see if I would lose my social security income, but I've decided MT seems to be doing the job of countering Fox better than anyone else is.
Yes. I am spending money I need to get the work on my house done, on subscribing so that I am supporting people who are doing the important work of informing us. I am writing about this to my politicians in Germany as well. I at least has someone in charge of communications in my political party read what I had to say and respond. I am trying to convince them to get off of X. They are conflicted. They want to be in a mixed audience. I am responding that the algorithms of X, will twist their message and amplify that of their opponents in the AfD.
I so appreciate your dedicated work, Robert, and that of Heather Cox Richardson, Mark Elias and others. That said, I have to question your statement that “only one party in our two-party system can be relied upon to honor the Constitution and follow the rule of law,” when the Democratic Party is silent about the Constitutional provision of Amendment 14 Section 3 that prohibits anyone engaged in insurrection from holding public office. With this silence aren’t we ignoring the Constitution and setting precedent for continued overriding or ignoring of clear Constitutional requirements and rule of law? I haven’t found peace in understanding this issue.
It appears it's o.k. for tRump to ignore Amendment 14 Section 3. However, when Democrats ignore it, we are not adhering to the constitution either. Our Electoral College Electors must not vote to confirm a felon. He should never have been allowed to run for office in the first place.
I just called my representative and Senators to ask them to object to certification today. Trump is constitutionally disqualified unless Congress removes his disability by a vote of two thirds of each house.
This is a day that SHOULD go down in infamy. It is appropriate that the flag will fly at half-mast. It should also be turned upside down.
But it is important for each of us to do something, because, to quote Joan Baez, “action is the antidote to despair.” I will find some simple, peaceful act to do today that celebrates what I value in America. Probably go for a walk in the 9” of snow we are getting here in Indianapolis and make some photographs of the fleeting beauty of our natural world. Peace to all.
James, I agree that January 6th, 2025 is a day “that should go down in infamy.” On one hand, we rightly praise Democrats’ commitment to the peaceful transfer of power. On the other, we rightly regard with dismay our inability to enforce Section 3 of the 14th to block an elected President, indicted by a jury of his peers for inciting insurrection, from taking office. I would urge that none of us underestimates the challenge of navigating the results of a seeming democratic election that stand in real tension and contrast with the principles of the Constitution.
The message Democrats send is irrelevant in critical areas of the country where political information is controlled by Fox and Sinclair (as well as the online attack media). This point is regularly ignored or obscured by the circular firing squad.
The Dems have decades of failed, terrible, ineffective messaging and managing the public dialogue, why does anyone think they’d be able to do so now? Please, focus on the abundant Dem challenges… it’s the only way the problems are going to be addressed, which is not encouraging given their history.
Why are you even on this side, Charles? Trying to switch people to the Republican Party? The Democrats are the only ones who have ever worked for "the people", the only major party that doesn't run on hate of various people. I keep thinking they are going to run out of people to hate, but they keep finding new groups to hate. THAT is what needs addressing.
I’m on the countryside, Mary. And you might consider writing a book. “How to further alienate people who are trying to help you.” Mary, those working class people that you tried to help firmly rejected you. I know that is illogical, but it is the fact and you should try to figure out why that is. And it would be best to try to capture the middle and people like me, not further alienate us.
Robert, pay attention because this exchange is an exact representation for why the Democrats have and will continue to struggle.
Charles, please don't attack people who disagree with you. And I think you have made your viewpoint abundantly clear in this Comment section. Perhaps give other people some space to share their views. Asking politely.
More than the messaging, it has been the policies. Trade deals, longer stronger patent protection, media monopolies, financial deregulation, and nothing strengthening unions. This has been the legacy of Democrats under Clinton and Obama, and of course all Republicans support these policies. Biden started to undue this legacy but it was too little too late, and yes, the messaging was weak.
Great writing from an LAX parking lot. I donate monthly to Democracy Docket and the ACLU. "If you obtain your news only from Fox..." and other dubious sources, therein lies the problem! Democracy needs a bullhorn.
I'm reminded of the poem Piet Hein wrote in occupied Denmark, do you know it? The Nazis allowed it to be published because they thought it was just a funny bit of doggerel:
Losing one glove
is certainly painful,
but nothing
compared to the pain,
of losing one,
throwing away the other,
and finding
the first one again.
The Danes understood its true meaning. They had lost their freedom (the first glove) to the Nazis. But if they failed to resist, they would also lose their honor (the second glove). They had to preserve their honor for the day they got their freedom back, or they had lost everything.
Maybe we do need to do things differently; I'm not a strategist. But we can't try to make ourselves more palatable to voters by abandoning women or queer people or any other vulnerable population. That's throwing away the second glove.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. We (Democrats) lost because we had the courage or perhaps the temerity to run a woman for President. Clearly many white males, Democrats, could not bring themselves to vote for a woman. What other excuse is there? Men didn’t vote because of the price of eggs or illegal aliens ‘taking their jobs’ that they knew they don’t want in the first place. They didn’t want a woman as President because ‘God forbid’ a woman in the White House might inspire the woman in their life to take a bigger role in their households. Think about it. People react to what is happening in their life. All the other issues are just rhetoric to give men an excuse to blather about why they ‘had’ to vote for trump. Ask anyone who offers one of these excuses - ‘the price of eggs is too high’ - Ask them what the price of eggs is and how much had it increased under President Biden and when was the last time they bought a carton of eggs. I GUARANTEE they will have no response. Don’t believe me, try it.
I hasten to add, I’m a woman who has supported Kamala Harris from the beginning and still do, I’m just sick that this country still can’t see past gender.
THANK YOU for this very sensible and fact-based perspective on the election. I have no patience for writers who opine about "what the Democrats did wrong." I really appreciate your commentary.
It may sound strange to compliment someone for being sane, but sanity seems in short supply these days. I love to read what you write because it always allows me to breathe a little deeper, knowing your sanity is out there, talking us down from whatever media cliff we’ve climbed on that day. Keep it up. You are so appreciated in these times of danger.
Thank you for this column. Like so many readers, I read Weissman’s article, but as a native Detroiter, I thought he was wrong. He seems to forget that heads of companies have been motivated by profit since the beginning of time. What we saw in Detroit (and throughout the Rust Belt) started not with any particular government action but as a response to growing competition from automobile makers in Germany and Japan. Blaming unions for higher costs, auto makers (and allied industries) began shifting production to other countries where there were no unions and where labor costs were lower. This “de-industrialization” was led by the private sector. Indeed, if a government had attempted to force a company to keep manufacturing in the U.S., it would have been criticized as Socialist. What did Weissman expect Joe Biden and the Democrats to do? Recreate the industrial economy of the early 1950’s when unions were stronger and more jobs were available? Restrict automation (as the Dockworkers union wanted)? Weissman seems to blame the Democrats for “globalization” which he says wrecked the American working class. But globalization was a private sector movement not unlike the move by early 20th century companies to transfer production from New England to the non-union South. The freedom of capitalists to make business decisions in the interest of shareholder profits without regard for their consequences is entirely a Republican ethos. Weissman is wrong to blame the Democrats who have been left to clean up the resulting mess,
Let’s be honest about what is happening to people in America and all over the world; the age of telecommunications, including the rise of social media, has shortened attention spans, reduced critical thinking and revealed an emotional receptiveness to hate, fear and bigotry and a tendency to embrace purported simple solutions to complex problems. Therein lies the bulk of the answer regarding the outcome of the election. Yes, Democrats need to do a better job of communicating to people who are prone to be swayed by demagoguery. Yes, we must reintroduce civics and critical thinking skills into our educational systems. Yes, we should consider laws to deal with malign actors who seek to play on human weaknesses to subvert our society. It seems to me that we need to learn how to better defend ourselves and our society from our own worst impulses as human beings.
Well said, William. I attended public school during the era when critical thinking was encouraged, before the era of slamming public schools for being underachieving, a false narrative designed to undermine teacher autonomy and force a process of standardization--teach to the test. Today, public school teachers like my husband are fighting for the attention of their students who can barely look away from their cell phones. How do we educate young people to think critically when they have the attention span of a flea? It appears that scrolling has replaced reading. So until we help young people reign in their tech use which is highly addictive, I might add, it's an uphill struggle.
The purposeful attack on education and civics, coupled with schools not demanding that phones are kept out of the classroom, admin rarely supporting teachers over unruly students, thus devoid of meaningful consequences for said students, all combine to make classrooms with impossible learning environments. Not to mention the failure of growing good citizens. This is the result of a long term GOP plan to destroy public education and vanish an informed electorate.
Fyi, more school districts are restricting or banning cell phones. The. South Carolina district my daughter attends as a high schooler just instituted a total ban on devices during the instructional day across all grade levels. They had started the year with no devices during class time but they were allowed during class switches and ILT (lunch). And they are still teaching civics/government as required courses for graduation. But like a lot of material in teen brains, it gets retained for the duration needed and then jettisoned. Like most all of us, there needs to be a connection to something that matters for awareness and engagement, and I think that is a big part of the puzzle when talking about youth engagement. Teen/kid brains, for the most part, don't work like brains with another couple of decades on them. I know I didn't really 'get' how our government really functioned until I started seeing how dysfunctional things were getting for issues I cared about. I agree that attention spans and social media are a bad combo in our current environment, but even beforehand, there was a baseline of the same observations we are making here.
These are all good and important thoughts, my friends, about our need to bolster our educational system in so many ways, but especially with critical thinking, civics/American history classes, and better pay for teachers. We should pay attention to our local schoolboards and run for positions on them. But on the business side of the ledger, do not forget that the right wing owns the airwaves these days. That is what people are watching and listening to. I'm not exactly sure what we can do about that, but we must not forget about it.
See just one of several recent stories by NPR on the purchase of newspapers, radio and TV stations by big money and the right wing.
https://www.npr.org/2021/10/18/1046952430/the-consequences-of-when-a-hedge-fund-buys-newspapers
Robin- I have a great story to share. My granddaughter took an American Government class in her public high school that was based on experiential learning. Instead of doing work sheets or listening to boring lectures, the students engaged in mock legislative sessions and court proceedings. They had to study up to play their roles, and their peers depended on them to know what they needed to do to win a case or get a bill passed. Did it work? All I can tell you is that she is still over-the-moon about that class. She notices when stuff she learned about happens in real life. And, when her boyfriend’s parents were struggling to figure out how to vote on several very bad initiatives on our ballot, she pointed out what she had learned that if the language is really confusing and the proponents are using things like double negatives, then they are probably trying to trick you into voting for something you are actually against. They voted against the initiatives and they were defeated in our state. So gratifying to see a young voter excited about what she learned and applying it in real life.
About that attention span of our screen enslaved young people . . . I highly recommend "Reader, Come Home" The reading brain in a digital world- by Maryanne Wolf.
Yes people have "a tendency to embrace purported simple solutions to complex problems". And trump exploits that. But now his simple solutions will need to show results or he will lose his marginal popularity.
Most importantly, his inability to deliver is OUR opportunity to message and narrative-frame the reality that he is America’s enemy. WE need to do this. There is no cavalry coming. There is no savior except us. Stop buying into the “Dems are at fault” trope. It shows lazy thinking, and a tendency to point fingers instead of asking “What can I do right now in my sphere of friends, family, and community”. The opportunities are many. I’m making constant calls to Grand Rapids city officials, commissioners, and representatives trying to urge them to pursue trump for non-payment of $49,000 for police and public-works services provided to his for two successful rallies during his campaign. Trump lost Kent County to Harris by 19,948 votes. Now he is stiffing Grand Rapids for services he used. Do I expect to be successful in my small campaign for justice? I chose not to think of it as a binary win/lose. I chose to see it as an exercise in civic action instead of inaction. Find your action, and let’s prove we are not alone.
I hope so. But it's also possible they will find some way to wheedle out of accountability, and followers will find a way for Trump/MAGA failures to be blamed on something yhe Dems did.
As a center left independent physician entrepreneur, I can generate a long list of Dem failures. Let’s be clear, the Dems are a key part of the problem. I’ve worked to put 100 homes into a county with a significant housing shortage and for 3 years we’ve been thwarted by the hyper liberal and unhelpful county government. It’s is shocking how little they seem to care. Shocking. I live in a city where homelessness was allowed to get out of control during the pandemic and liberals argued that people have the right to tents on sidewalks and to use the outdoors as toilets because those individuals have agency. Business has thus left the city in droves. When will the Dems and the liberals learn? When will they connect to reality and learn? I live in a city with the highest tax base in the county (not NYC) and we get so little for it. The frustrating list can go on and on. And believe me, rational centrists are extremely frustrated.
The Dems are as much the problem over decades as the Republicans and you can’t explain how we got here without discussing how the Dems allowed us to get here. Or, you can just continue to blame the Republicans and we’ll see just how effective that is.
When you say, "You can just continue to blame Republicans, and we will see how effective that is," I'm not sure if you are referring to me personally. But as I wrote, "Democrats have plenty of problems to address, but abandoning constituencies that are under attack by religious fundamentalist extremists is not the way forward."
By all means, let's address problems in the Democratic Party. Let's just stop pretending that they were the only party in the 2024 election. That's my point.
I understand and respect that Robert. But, one must first understand the environment shifting as it may over time, understand your adversary, and then design your response, measure its effectiveness, tweak your response, measure your effectiveness, etc. I know you know that. It’s not clear that the Dems do. You can pass truly meaningful legislation (the Dems have, the Rs haven’t) and you can work in other ways for those you serve (the Dems have, the Rs pretend they have but haven’t except for the Christian Nationalists) and you can still lose the public sentiment as the Dems have.
The Dems aren’t in the right game, or aren’t playing it in effective ways. Thus, they are essentially co-responsible for getting us here. That changes by changing what they do, how they talk, how they lead, what they focus on, how they connect to humans and rural America, etc… You know all of this. It is not clear that the Dems to this day do understand it, or perhaps it truly is that the liberal mind creates constituents truly are like herding cats (see George Lakoff’s work) to their own detriment. And I do believe that this is partly true and a not an insignificant issue. If this is all true, then the work is to deal with it all in the Dem Party, as late as it may be. Blame is ineffective — except for deep introspection of oneself for the sake of personal or organizational improvement as you know.
Dear Mr. Kilo,
Respectfully, who exactly do you think “the Dems” are? They are us. You included! You are not some special case hovering above the fray, perhaps like a judge or an arm chair general, with some unique level of understanding or insight that “the Dems” are too obstinate or stupid to grasp. If you have not seen or heard the extensive examination of what has gone wrong and what needs to be done then perhaps you are either too consumed with anger over the loss (understandable, but enough already) or, for some other reason, not paying attention. Of course mistakes were made; actions that are only now obvious in hindsight were not taken. We are painfully aware of the issues and are grappling with how to address and fix the problems. That should be evident just from the very public conversation identifying and speaking to the problems and how to fix them. I agree with Robert, we should all quit the excessive self flagellation and get on with the work. And one last thing, we shouldn’t sit on the sidelines and throw stones at those who are on the field working on the problems. Instead, we should get on the field with them and be part of the solution. Let’s take a deep breath, remember who we are fighting and what we are fighting for, and reengage with renewed vigor.
I appreciate that William. But, after 50+ years, the Dems have yet to learn. Perhaps like you, I’ve tried to have this dialog over and over to no avail over decades.
I’m not angry, I’m not complaining. These are facts… the Dems did nothing to counteract Reagan’s “the government is bad” message over decades when they could have. That is one of innumerable examples.
I have my first talk on climate change in 1990… to no avail obviously. The medical profession, the Dem Party, Physicians for Social Responsibility and many more (certainly the Repubs but we expected that) failed society, failed humanity at addressing it and it may well be the most important threat that humans yet face. Yes, I failed also to figure out how to drive awareness, acceptance and action over 35 years now. I failed to figure out how to get the Dems to wake up over 50 years now and counting. The answer isn’t in critiquing the Repubs… they are doing what they promised to do for decades and decades. Were the Dems paying attention, building the skills to manage the public message and public sentiment? No, not than I can tell. We got here because the Dems failed in so many ways so continuously to recognize, acknowledge and address the evil right in front of our / their eyes.
Dear Mr. Kilo,
Let’s examine your argument. Over a period of 50 years you have tried to guide the Democratic Party to no avail. Your advice was ignored. Hence, the Party failed and you failed. Let me note a few deficiencies. You aver that Democrats ignored the alarms raised by you and others over the environment beginning in the 1990s. Have you forgotten Al Gore, and all those who have fought the environmental issues over all this time, for example? Let’s note that the Democratic Party, true to its name is not a dictatorship. It’s a collaboration of millions of citizens each with their own points of view and particular interests who share commonality of vision and purpose. Leading such a group involves hard work, consensus building and compromise if it is to win elections. Policy, strategy, tactics, communications, messaging, organizing, candidate selection and finance, are all keys to success. With each one of these keys one must consider how any decision affects the others and ultimately how and where it affects the vote. The people who work on these matters care deeply about the outcome. The Democratic Party has made enumerable improvements, not just in people’s lives, but in how it goes about the essential task of constructing a winning majority. We engage in self examination and act to correct course when appropriate, granted sometimes too late ( Biden’s withdrawal). Are mistakes sometimes made, opportunities overlooked, of course. No one is perfect. Has the Party abandoned the middle class and poor? No. Just look at the accomplishments of the Biden Administration and the programs Kamala Harris espoused. Was there a failure to get that message across to many voters who clearly voted against their own interests? Yes. The people at the top of the Administration and Campaign clearly made some mistakes. I might sum it up by saying that this last election was waged on our part much like the previous election without recognizing how much the terrain, particularly the communications and messaging terrain, had changed. Much discussion has gone over this and much has been learned. If you are not fully up to date on all the discussion, that’s on you. Incidentally, I speak as someone who has been active in the Democratic Party for nearly 60 years in many capacities and on all levels, local, state and national . I am sorry that you are so down on the Party. I understand your frustration after such a devastating defeat. I feel it myself. Instead of being an armchair general, I recommend getting back in the fray. We all care about the same vision and values. What you are engaging in is a form of defeatism and self flagellation. For God’s sake man, enough already! It serves no useful purpose. If you have some very specific recommendations make them, your ideas may or may not win general acceptance, others may disagree with details, but get back with the common effort to move the Party and our nation forward. I am with Robert Hubbell on this point.
This is the biggest bunch of nonsense I have heard for a long time. Although of course Dems are not perfect; no one is. But Republicans repeatedly stop anything that will help people. They worked diligently to deny people access to health care. Dems have had to focus on that one thing for over a decade. Dems work very hard to assure people can earn a solid living. They have to fight Republicans on this over and over again. Maybe if the Republicans weren't working so hard against every day people, Dems could more effectively address homelessness. The city I live in is led by Dems and have made real progress on the homeless program. The person above just wants special treatment for the wealthy, which is what Republicans are all about.
You just don’t blame blame blame… you fix yourself in order to more effectively win and solve problems. The Dems need to fix themselves (against all odds)…
And don’t forget the corporate run DNC repeatedly choosing candidates for us. All to enrich and protect corporate Dems. I blame them for this the most.
The Dems brought us the most labor-friendly president we have had in years. Bernie Sanders had no chance of winning the presidency. He was not even a Democrat but expected the Democratic Party to jump into his band wagon. Hillary Clinton won the nomination fair and square. She, too, has worked for the regular people. I saw Bernie Sanders at work at the Democratic Convention with my own eyes. When we finally, after many decades, nominated a woman, Bernie Sanders tried to take over the convention. It was ungracious left a terrible impression on me. Even though he made many good points. Which the Democrats picked up and acted on, by the way.
Bernie! In 2016. Exactly.
No way!!
Your first sentence sets it out SO well.
While I agree for the most part, these people do not want to listen to the Dems. If you'd care to elaborate on what exactly "a better job of communicating" looks like, I'm all ears. But, these people do not want to listen.
Republicans, alas,are masters at getting people to vote against their own interest by creating their own false reality.
Absolutely right, Tom. And it's also inexplicable why Democrats have been so inept at, or adverse to, creating a unified, quick response team since 2015, on the same social media sites that rapidly produce that false reality.
The Dems are as much the problem as the Republicans. They consistently failed to push back and counteract over 50+ years, because they have such a hard time being pragmatic and unified. And it continues to this very moment. And yet most on the left just continue to make comments about Trump and his voters when the Dems and their voters, while well-meaning and not frankly malignant like the Republicans, are the problem and need to be the solution… but even now they seem to inept to figure this out, which is a key part of how we got here.
Interesting that Trump campaigned for 8 years straight and couldn't even muster 50% of the vote, while his opponent had only 107 days (not to mention that Trump can say anthing he wants, just make it up as he goes). The Dems ARE the party of the people and work diligently for that. The Republicans work diligently to stop that.
Pardon me if I misunderstood your comment. But respectfully Charles, while the Democrats have not used a strong, effective means of fighting Republican disinformation and lies--which I believe is a critical failure on their part--I want to clarify that in general, I think Republicans are clearly the problem and Democrats have the only solutions at this point.
When you lose, and you lose the audience, you don’t blame someone someone else. You blame yourself. You reform yourself. The Democrats have driven over regulation and have done nothing to address it. That is incredibly frustrating. Have the Democrats talked about over-regulation or done anything about it? No. I am not one who hates our government but many apparently do. Have the Democrats addressed that and have the Democrats lead a coherent effort at government, efficiency, and effectiveness, for example? No. There are numerable problems that the Democrats could have been on top of and won much more public support. Not far left wing issues, but centrist issues. Did they do that? No. I don’t like debt in my life and I’m not a big fan of government debt particularly when it has such adverse consequences. Have the Democrats done anything about that or even talked about it openly? No.
As I mentioned, the Republicans become frankly malignant, but the Democrats allowed that to happen by their inept management and messaging over the course of 5+ decades. When Regan told the country that it was OK to hate your government. Did the Democrats do anything to counteract that? No. All they did is throw more red meat by making the government look like the purveyor of over regulation and over taxation which in many ways it is. Believe me, I congratulate the Democrats for getting legislation through under incredibly adverse circumstances. I also criticize the Democrats because they did nothing to control the public dialogue that would allow the public to actually acknowledge what they did. The Democrats are a huge part of the problem.
Overregulation? Are you serious? Capitalism is out of control. Twelve individuals have more wealth than the rest of the populace. The insurance industry is so out of control that most people supported the murder of a CEO (I do not, but most people I know did, and I understand it). This country needs universal health care, free child care for working families, and increased regulation, not less.
Two opposites can be true at once. We are both over regulated and underregulated; e.g. some regulations just are obstructions that need to be changed and yet other areas need good, working, protective regulations.
The things you want I mostly agree with but that is legislation and policy, not regulation. And you don’t get it through over regulation (needs a discussion) but through changing public sentiment and then legislating. A large percentage of people to whom you want to give childcare and healthcare just voted for Trump. The public mindset, discourse and understanding have to be aggressively managed in order to get public support. True? That takes years of brutally hard work. The Dems have failed at that sadly, to the country’s detriment.
Sorry for the poor editing and typos as that was sent before I intended.
So, as a Democratic voter now I'm the problem?
I mean, really. I would argue that the reason Dems lose is twofold: One, right wing conservative interests have been buying up mainstream media since the 1980s and now their hegemony is complete. You can count the NYTimes and the formerly great WaPo among them. All Fox Lite now. And the TV channel I encounter most frequently in public spaces is the original Fox News. It's everywhere and it's constant. All this bitching about Democrats' messaging? If it's completely suppressed by right wing corporate media, how is that the Dems' fault? The Harris-Walz campaign tried their hardest to get around that and go directly to the voters. But they really did not have much time. And BTW, we will never know if Biden could have won the election. We can argue about it all we like, but we will never know because he was badgered into stepping aside, which he did with a great deal of grace.
And the other reason: At the slightest hint of things not going well, Democrats turn on their own. It honestly sickens me. Yes, Dems have to offer candidates that corporations approve of to win at this time in our history. Bernie could not even win the primary. But somehow his fans think he could win the general election? I don't like it, either, but corporations own this country. The best we can do at ths time is elect someone like Biden who truly does have the working class at heart. But the credit he's received for his dogged work along these lines has been minimal. Even among Dems.
If we don't like corporate candidates, we need to find a way to weaken corporations, not blast the Democratic Party for trying to work with the shitty hand we've been dealt in this country, IMO, starting with Reagan and his corporate overlords.
Then form your own third party to further divide and weaken the country.
Don’t believe 3rd parties are viable in the US. I’m a Dem advocate as an independent. But please, focus on fixing the Dem problems. If the Dems have pissed me off and those like me in the center, then the party’s in deep long term trouble and that’s just what it’s done. Sure, go further left… that will be helpful. Rather, how about addressing over regulation, how about focusing on government efficiency and effectiveness (in their wisdom, the Dems allowed Trump to claim that instead of doing it themselves)… the list goes on and on, and you all will argue and blame others.
Reading that one guys suicide note was interesting. He was so close to getting it, like its astounding to me how many people on the far right will talk complain about the 1% and the inequity we see in our current system, and instead of voting for policies that would help everyone, they still continue to vote for billionaires and against their own interests because they hate marginalized groups more...
I am writing today to thank you for your incredible persistence in doing all you can to encourage and sustain us despite all the obstacles that are put in your way. And thank you so much for doing your half hour Substack get- togethers on Saturdays. I find them enjoyable and helpful and I try to attend. I did watch The Mark Elias video you put in today and was very glad I did. It's excellent. And I have just subscribed to his Democracy Docket which even turns out to be free. I can't tell you how much I appreciate all you do.
Agree with everything you said 👆!
Hang in there Robert—‘cause we’re hanging on to you!
That is lovely. We are also lifting Robert up as he is surfing across the Hubbell crowd of supporters. And he will get home from LAX someday, but will inspire so many along the way!
Brilliant, as always, Robert! I go with your and Krugman's analysis any day.
'Brilliant' came immediately to my mind as well. Thank you once again, Robert. Your compelling articulate informed wise and humane Voice is uniquely and consistently inspiring.
I agree that the Democrats are not to blame. The people who voted for Trump, Elon Musk and Putin are to blame. The people who did not vote, which is a form of voting (the lazy man's way to vote for whoever wins), are to blame. Putin's war on Ukraine is to blame, and the fact that so many people are really uninformed in the US, which is an indictment of both our education system and our information system (media), is to blame.
I also had travel troubles because Europe was hit by snow. So, my daughter and I flew from the US to Amsterdam which went without a hitch. Then, when we got to the airport her plane to her German city was delayed, while mine was cancelled and they had switched me to a flight for an airport on the other side of the country from where I live, somewhat like sending someone who was going to Chicago to Houston. So, I saw that, walked the very long distance to the place where they were straightening out these problems and asked if I could get on my daughter's delayed flight with her, because I knew I could get a train to my city from there. So, they put me on that flight, on which we sat for 2 hours while the plane waited its turn to be de-iced. Then, we got to her city in about an hour. From there I went to her place and we hung out with the family she rents from, which is like family by now, and had a meal. Then I went to the train station and took the train home. That train ride, because I chose the direct train, which is longer by about 1.5 hours, was 4 hrs and 17 minutes long. The longer route can be shorter if you have a transfer and you miss it because of a delay of your train, and I did not want to deal with a transfer. From there, I walked to the bus right outside of the station which came in 4 minutes, and rode it 20 minutes to the corner of my block. When I got home I read that the airport they were going to sent me to was basically shut down, and I know a train from there would have been more like 9-12 hours. So, I lucked out. Because that flight would have been cancelled, and I would have missed my daughter's flight. The best thing is that our suitcases ended up with us so I can say we made it home in one piece. Most of the airports in England were shut down.
Today, even though the airport was basically shut down where I live yesterday due to not enough de-icing equipment, it is now 51 degrees out. It will be cooler this week, but no polar vortex.
I am recommending that people subscribe to Ann Telnaes Substack to support her leaving the WaPo. I consider the media landscape in the US to be abysmal at this point. There are so many places that do not have a local newspaper anymore. Venture capitalists should not be owning newspapers. In fact, I am not sure how to work the funding in the US. It is truly abysmal.
Whew! Glad you made it. I always appreciate your comments. Stay safe and warm.
I've never understood why we don't have our own "balancing act" to counter Faux Snooze with facts and clear, concise analysis of those facts. Followed by ramifications of different responses to critical situations. Surely we can afford it. And we desperately need it.
You are right. We can not afford not to have better media. We do need democratic media ownership as well. Glad there is Blue Sky. We need a democratic alternative to so many radio programs which reach audiences in rural areas that no print media comes to. Programs like Alex Jones' Info Wars are a danger to our population. It is not healthy for people to get that riled up. These Right wing programs monetize getting people angry and keeping them that way. An unfortunate outcome of market research is that all the bad guys know how to keep us addicted to bad media and tech too. We have to be offering healthier alternatives.
Linda, this very conversation made me decide to upgrade from free to paid on Midas Touch substack. I've been guarding my money, waiting to see if I would lose my social security income, but I've decided MT seems to be doing the job of countering Fox better than anyone else is.
Yes. I am spending money I need to get the work on my house done, on subscribing so that I am supporting people who are doing the important work of informing us. I am writing about this to my politicians in Germany as well. I at least has someone in charge of communications in my political party read what I had to say and respond. I am trying to convince them to get off of X. They are conflicted. They want to be in a mixed audience. I am responding that the algorithms of X, will twist their message and amplify that of their opponents in the AfD.
I so appreciate your dedicated work, Robert, and that of Heather Cox Richardson, Mark Elias and others. That said, I have to question your statement that “only one party in our two-party system can be relied upon to honor the Constitution and follow the rule of law,” when the Democratic Party is silent about the Constitutional provision of Amendment 14 Section 3 that prohibits anyone engaged in insurrection from holding public office. With this silence aren’t we ignoring the Constitution and setting precedent for continued overriding or ignoring of clear Constitutional requirements and rule of law? I haven’t found peace in understanding this issue.
It appears it's o.k. for tRump to ignore Amendment 14 Section 3. However, when Democrats ignore it, we are not adhering to the constitution either. Our Electoral College Electors must not vote to confirm a felon. He should never have been allowed to run for office in the first place.
I just called my representative and Senators to ask them to object to certification today. Trump is constitutionally disqualified unless Congress removes his disability by a vote of two thirds of each house.
Thank you. I have written but will also call now.
Picking Dems apart, as you just did, is the reason we can't always defeat Republicans, even though they are the party of hate.
I absolutely did not pick Dems apart. Can you explain your viewpoint more?
Very good point.
This is a day that SHOULD go down in infamy. It is appropriate that the flag will fly at half-mast. It should also be turned upside down.
But it is important for each of us to do something, because, to quote Joan Baez, “action is the antidote to despair.” I will find some simple, peaceful act to do today that celebrates what I value in America. Probably go for a walk in the 9” of snow we are getting here in Indianapolis and make some photographs of the fleeting beauty of our natural world. Peace to all.
James, I agree that January 6th, 2025 is a day “that should go down in infamy.” On one hand, we rightly praise Democrats’ commitment to the peaceful transfer of power. On the other, we rightly regard with dismay our inability to enforce Section 3 of the 14th to block an elected President, indicted by a jury of his peers for inciting insurrection, from taking office. I would urge that none of us underestimates the challenge of navigating the results of a seeming democratic election that stand in real tension and contrast with the principles of the Constitution.
The message Democrats send is irrelevant in critical areas of the country where political information is controlled by Fox and Sinclair (as well as the online attack media). This point is regularly ignored or obscured by the circular firing squad.
The Dems have decades of failed, terrible, ineffective messaging and managing the public dialogue, why does anyone think they’d be able to do so now? Please, focus on the abundant Dem challenges… it’s the only way the problems are going to be addressed, which is not encouraging given their history.
Why are you even on this side, Charles? Trying to switch people to the Republican Party? The Democrats are the only ones who have ever worked for "the people", the only major party that doesn't run on hate of various people. I keep thinking they are going to run out of people to hate, but they keep finding new groups to hate. THAT is what needs addressing.
I’m on the countryside, Mary. And you might consider writing a book. “How to further alienate people who are trying to help you.” Mary, those working class people that you tried to help firmly rejected you. I know that is illogical, but it is the fact and you should try to figure out why that is. And it would be best to try to capture the middle and people like me, not further alienate us.
Robert, pay attention because this exchange is an exact representation for why the Democrats have and will continue to struggle.
Charles, please don't attack people who disagree with you. And I think you have made your viewpoint abundantly clear in this Comment section. Perhaps give other people some space to share their views. Asking politely.
Thank you, Robert. I agree completely. And thank you for your moderation and for your work.
More than the messaging, it has been the policies. Trade deals, longer stronger patent protection, media monopolies, financial deregulation, and nothing strengthening unions. This has been the legacy of Democrats under Clinton and Obama, and of course all Republicans support these policies. Biden started to undue this legacy but it was too little too late, and yes, the messaging was weak.
Go Dems! The only party willing to work for the people.
Get real.
Great writing from an LAX parking lot. I donate monthly to Democracy Docket and the ACLU. "If you obtain your news only from Fox..." and other dubious sources, therein lies the problem! Democracy needs a bullhorn.
I'm reminded of the poem Piet Hein wrote in occupied Denmark, do you know it? The Nazis allowed it to be published because they thought it was just a funny bit of doggerel:
Losing one glove
is certainly painful,
but nothing
compared to the pain,
of losing one,
throwing away the other,
and finding
the first one again.
The Danes understood its true meaning. They had lost their freedom (the first glove) to the Nazis. But if they failed to resist, they would also lose their honor (the second glove). They had to preserve their honor for the day they got their freedom back, or they had lost everything.
Maybe we do need to do things differently; I'm not a strategist. But we can't try to make ourselves more palatable to voters by abandoning women or queer people or any other vulnerable population. That's throwing away the second glove.
Excellent. Thank you fo sharing this.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. We (Democrats) lost because we had the courage or perhaps the temerity to run a woman for President. Clearly many white males, Democrats, could not bring themselves to vote for a woman. What other excuse is there? Men didn’t vote because of the price of eggs or illegal aliens ‘taking their jobs’ that they knew they don’t want in the first place. They didn’t want a woman as President because ‘God forbid’ a woman in the White House might inspire the woman in their life to take a bigger role in their households. Think about it. People react to what is happening in their life. All the other issues are just rhetoric to give men an excuse to blather about why they ‘had’ to vote for trump. Ask anyone who offers one of these excuses - ‘the price of eggs is too high’ - Ask them what the price of eggs is and how much had it increased under President Biden and when was the last time they bought a carton of eggs. I GUARANTEE they will have no response. Don’t believe me, try it.
I hasten to add, I’m a woman who has supported Kamala Harris from the beginning and still do, I’m just sick that this country still can’t see past gender.
We lost because RFKjr flipped his voting base to Trump and Musk bought voters.
How large was RFK,Jr.'s support?
THANK YOU for this very sensible and fact-based perspective on the election. I have no patience for writers who opine about "what the Democrats did wrong." I really appreciate your commentary.
It may sound strange to compliment someone for being sane, but sanity seems in short supply these days. I love to read what you write because it always allows me to breathe a little deeper, knowing your sanity is out there, talking us down from whatever media cliff we’ve climbed on that day. Keep it up. You are so appreciated in these times of danger.
Thanks, Robert, for covering all the bases that I neglected to acknowledge needed to be covered!
Thank you for this column. Like so many readers, I read Weissman’s article, but as a native Detroiter, I thought he was wrong. He seems to forget that heads of companies have been motivated by profit since the beginning of time. What we saw in Detroit (and throughout the Rust Belt) started not with any particular government action but as a response to growing competition from automobile makers in Germany and Japan. Blaming unions for higher costs, auto makers (and allied industries) began shifting production to other countries where there were no unions and where labor costs were lower. This “de-industrialization” was led by the private sector. Indeed, if a government had attempted to force a company to keep manufacturing in the U.S., it would have been criticized as Socialist. What did Weissman expect Joe Biden and the Democrats to do? Recreate the industrial economy of the early 1950’s when unions were stronger and more jobs were available? Restrict automation (as the Dockworkers union wanted)? Weissman seems to blame the Democrats for “globalization” which he says wrecked the American working class. But globalization was a private sector movement not unlike the move by early 20th century companies to transfer production from New England to the non-union South. The freedom of capitalists to make business decisions in the interest of shareholder profits without regard for their consequences is entirely a Republican ethos. Weissman is wrong to blame the Democrats who have been left to clean up the resulting mess,