Thank you Robert, for all you do. I vacillate between abject despair and cautious hope about the next four years. I will be 65 on Sunday, and I signed up for Medicare a week ago. I’d planned to retire in two years from now, but with all the verbal diarrhea from the millionaire and billionaire sycophants who surround the Beast concerning getting rid of or otherwise crapping on SocSec and other entitlements, I will need to continue to work longer than I anticipated.
Then there are the horrible decisions being made by the same folk about mitigating climate disaster, green energy production, even the availability of EV autos, which adds to the despair. My Beast-voting mother and brother are inveterate Fox watchers, and have No. Fucking. Clue. what’s going to happen to them and their progeny because of the looming, irrevocable disaster. I fear most for my nieces and nephews and the dismal future they will face.
I’m moving on with a brave face, but a quaking heart. The Beast was limited the last time he usurped the office of the president of the US because of the people in place who provided some guardrails to keep the worst from happening. Now, he’s surrounded by lickspittles who worship the dirt he walks on, and will do literally anything he demands without question.
We must make our voices loud and strong in opposition. Silence = Complicity.
Don't forget Trump only got the vote of 1/3 of the US population. The other 2/3 (minus Harris voters) either knows or is about to learn a huge and painful about the consequences of voting. Or not voting. If they learn fast enough we can flip Congress in 2026. That is our major goal now. Find candidates to replace GOP and work hard to get their names out in public and build support. We can do this!
The US population is ~335M people and includes non-citizens and citizens under the age of 18. I think you mean 1/3 of the citizens eligible to vote. The truth is bad enough - there is no need to exaggerate.
If this was unintentional, please be more deliberate with your words. With MAGA abandoning facts altogether, the rest of us need to try harder to be factual.
U.S. News & World Report says that 64% of voter-eligible Americans voted. 36% of voter-eligible American voters did not vote. Of the 64% that voted, half voted for Harris.
As Robert has said, though, Derek, is that there are still some guardrails and that Americans will rise up if they attempt to cut Social Security and/or Medicare. My stepson told me there are more Republicans on Social Security than Democrats. I certainly know there are poor Republicans on limited incomes. However, I, too, have the quaking heart, and only sometimes have a brave face. But I'm hanging on to Robert's optimistic viewpoint for dear life!
Fortunately, I love what I do, and I work with bright and admirable colleagues. I've been working at the same school since 1982 (my first real job, right out of college) and I'm honored to see the children of graduates I knew when I started graduate themselves. I don't think I'll be here long enough to see their grandchildren graduate, but you never know.
Derek, I feel your despair and also your determination not to give up. We actually don't know for sure what will happen, we are only using our critical thinking abilities to foresee what looks likely. Look at what happened this week in South Korea and Syria, for instance. No one could have predicted those things. I like what Robert said Jessica Craven recommends: "Do one small act of resistance every day." Oak trees from little acorns grow.
I am keeping it small too. I am currently reading about and discussing democracy with a group of Democrats Abroad. Even though it conflicts with heavy soccer team schedule, and a farmers demonstration in Berlin, we are planning on having a People's March in Hamburg, Germany in January. I am on the organizing committee. We want to show our support for Democracy.
I don't know why but virtually nobody in MSM (or here) addresses the reality that Russia has undermined us, put us in this position, using psy ops. Putin demands a quid pro quo from Trump. All the other stuff pales......
It’s been Russia, Russia, Russia, since 2012. But we don’t know how many others are co-opted. Barr? McConnell? MT Greene? Certainly Tucker and several others in media. Putin has been working for 20 to undermine the West quite successfully. Trump is his biggest prize.
Daniel, I was waiting for the US to take their knowledge of the ways in which Russia undermined us and address it, but that never happened. Already Barack Obama was a key speaker and participated in a weeklong symposium at the University of Chicago during the pandemic that was addressing the ways that disinformation affected democracies. I saw no leadership on addressing or attacking this problem afterwards from the democratic party. There should have been law making and public education campaigns on it. I wish we had followed Romanias example and said with evidence of disinformation from outside governments we should not accept the results.
Since the US election I have written one German publication and two government offices to ask them to do some educating of the German public about the dangers that Russian disinformation poses. Part of that is to educate themselves.
I was just privy to this sort of propaganda from my mom's friend who belongs to Die Linke (the Left) in Germany and am writing an article about it.
My concern is not just that Trump's choices are Russian assets, but that Russia sent bomb threats to polling places in predominantly democratic precincts and that shortened how much time people had to vote. Also, the known disinformation messages were not countered by information as far as I could see. They did not reach me. So, these are big concerns with the integrity of our elections.
Daniel, it's the elephant in the room. It's the 600-pound gorilla. It's the alcoholic family member we carefully do not talk about. I believe some group in the FBI has issued warnings about this recently. Obviously the Trumpies will do nothing about it, since Trump is a Russian agent. But: another 600-pound gorilla is the many Democratic senators who are briefed on this kind of threat and DO NOTHING. They are complicit. They have done nothing for eight years, since the Russians trashed Clinton's election. Now we have four years of Trump during which we could conceivably quietly investigate the presence of Russian psy ops (or computer hacker ops, not sure if they are they same thing) in our culture and the degree of rot that exists and what we can do--using our own psy ops, for heaven's sake--about it. It's like finding out the old plumbing has been leaking in your house for ten years and you have to rip out the wallboard and replace the floors or the whole thing will collapse.
Thank you, Robert, for including my activism thoughts. I was gutted after the election, but have revived and am back in the fight. As is said, "Can't wring your hands when you're rolling up your sleeves"! Building the world we dream about takes all of us, doing something, and never, ever giving up.
I completely agree with your advice of small things to do now, and that is what I've been telling my friends since the election. I want to add another. Make small donations to groups doing the work on the ground. A few of the many I support are Red Wine & Blue, The States Project, and Leaders We Deserve. There are so many.
i just joined up to support Marc Elias' group of lawyers that will do something to support the rule of law in our country (which may be going on life support all too soon!)
The lies that Trump and acolytes throw out with abandon to the media without challenge is a rhetorical device called the "Gish Gallop". The concept here as explained by Heather Cox Richardson in Robert's newsletter after the June Biden-Trump debate: "It’s a rhetorical technique in which someone throws out a fast string of lies, non-sequiturs, and specious arguments, so many that it is impossible to fact-check or rebut them in the amount of time it took to say them." Trump uses this on his interviewers, but these are not debates, so as Robert says, make him retract or just end the interview. Another concept which is used extensively by Trump is Brandolini's Law, aka, bullshit asymmetry principle, which states, "The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than that needed to produce it."
All the more reason to follow David Pepper’s advice to stop at the first “Gish” and not proceed any further until that lie is fully addressed. Don’t let the interview continue on a gallop until the interviewee is either forced to rescind the lie or walks off in frustration. Granted, some sycophants will cry “Foul!” and call the interviewer “mean and nasty”, but it’ll prevent the fire hose of lies and propaganda from being sprayed during that particular interview.
Steve Bannon, one of Trump's governing gang of criminals, calls it "flooding the zone with shit." It certainly has been proven to work, look at the election results.
Loved the Hubbell family history lesson today and Robert’s closing message…
“We will never know how our present efforts will shape the future of this great nation. We should do our best to preserve democracy for the next generation—and then trust that they will do the same. That is all we can do. If we can do that, it will be enough.”
I submitted the word “vindman” to urban dictionary as a small way to help spread the word about who Alexander and Eugene Vindman truly are. At this moment in history, only in America can two of our greatest patriots actually be from the Ukraine, living examples of what it means to serve our country and protect our democracy!
To be clear, I receive nothing from these purchases but the joy of imagining people all over the country using this mug for a cup of coffee or tea while contributing to making the word “vindman” become part of our national lexicon.
Without a doubt, the Vindman brothers, proud sons of The Ukraine, are genuine American patriots!
I have been touting the importance of Marc Elias and Democracy Docket for a while, and shared his recent post encouraging people to follow and donate. We need him now more than ever.
Outstanding column. I found your statement that interviewers should not proceed with an interview when trump tells a lie to be thought-provoking.* I realize that is from an attorney's perspective. If you are questioning someone during a court hearing, an attorney doesn't gloss over a witness's lie and move on with questioning. Rather, the liar's feet are held to the fire. One thing I find fascinating about the multiple substacks to which I subscribe is that each writer comes from a different professional background, such as economics and history (Snyder's Eastern European history, and Heather Cox Richardson's American history). Reading so many different writers gives a panoramic view of what's going on. *[Thinking about what I just wrote, I realize that in my work as a psychotherapist, I, also, did not gloss over lies. I didn't "hold people's feet to the fire", but we didn't move on until we explored why the patient was lying to themselves and/or to others about whatever the issue might have been.]
I have been a longtime supporter (both financially and as a volunteer) of the Movement Voter Project (https://movement.vote). MVP is "year-round on the ground", supporting GOTV efforts in election years and building local community power all the time. While I continue to be horrified by Trump's reelection, I feel very good about my MVP involvement. and am all in going forward. Even the reprehensible Mainstream Media has highlighted the success and importance of grass roots organizations in building a strong democracy that works for all citizens. MVP is holding a briefing this afternoon if you would like to learn more about the organization: https://movement.vote/briefing. I promise that you will find hope and community in these dark times at the briefing. Good things are happening to mitigate the impending doom of the next administration.
Thanks. I'm a firm believer in "year round on the ground" organizations, and will use that slogan in encouraging others. I didn't know about the Movement Voter project and will add them to my list for donations. Spreading the word around our circles is easy to do.
I keep waiting for an interviewer to say, “Mr. Trump, if you believe that you are a fool. If you do not, you are a liar. There is no third choice.” And, by the way, it is perfectly proper to address the president as Mr. ____ or Ms. _____ with no honorific.
I would like to recommend listening to Ben Wickler as he camapaigns for National DNC chair. I heard him on Molly Jong-Fast Fast Politics (Dec. 9th.) He has a clear vision for the job ahead and the credentials (chair in Wisconsin) that his approach works.
As a lifelong environmental advocate, I perhaps have more experience with losing big political battles than most here. And no one is more hyperaware of what Trump’s climate denial will do to the planet. I literally spent a couple days just wandering around my beautiful outdoor community here in MN right after the election wondering what the hell many were thinking. Then I remembered - they weren’t thinking; just following the fake promises of a failed business man turned criminal. Gobsmacking in its hubris and stupidity. But real.
I appreciate your focus on the down ballot battles we won, on the legal challenges the next Administration will face, and supporting the challenges and actions we can take right now.
Reporting for duty, Virginia. Time to take heart and take action. Thanks for all that you do!
I've re-engaged. Called my Senators regarding wacko cabinet nominees. Attending an Indivisible meeting tomorrow. Paid member of Democracy Docket. F@#$_in tired of all of this!
"Trump wrongly claims that he can “end” birthright citizenship—a right explicitly guaranteed in the 14th Amendment. His proposal has been met with derision and scorn by legal scholars,...." but not scorned or denied by our bible thumping holier-than-thou House Speaker. It's going to be curiouser and curiouser to see Michael Johnson debase himself to MAGA over the next 2 years. We suspected he was all show but now we'll have a chance to see him prove it. Maybe it will all become too much for the good citizens of Louisiana (4th).
Yes. And with words to the effect that the Bible was mightier than the Constitution. I love how his hypocrisy oozes through. Remember that great picture of Elon, Trump Musk and RFK eating McDonalds on Trump's jet and Johnson photo-bombing on the right just so he gets his clicks? What a guy.
Yes, like those who support the likes of Marjorie Taylor-Greene, their constituents know who they are, and that is why they vote for them. I lived in Louisiana for a long time, and can testify to that.
"suspected??" We knew it from the start and he just spent several years proving he's all puréed bullshit. Goes down very easily and plausibly but is fouler than foul.
That is a fascinating history of your family. It is remarkable, as you say, that from a simple farmer (immigrant) who could neither read nor write, descended a famous astronomer who discovered galaxies in space, and a pro-democracy writer and leader thrust into a crucial moment of our history.
I also really appreciate your plug for Marc Elias who is another one of democracy’s heroes, who deserves our expanded support. I think many if not all of us are feeling the pain and disillusionment he expresses so well in regards to the press and our leaders succumbing so readily to the incoming autocratic regime.
Thank you Robert, for all you do. I vacillate between abject despair and cautious hope about the next four years. I will be 65 on Sunday, and I signed up for Medicare a week ago. I’d planned to retire in two years from now, but with all the verbal diarrhea from the millionaire and billionaire sycophants who surround the Beast concerning getting rid of or otherwise crapping on SocSec and other entitlements, I will need to continue to work longer than I anticipated.
Then there are the horrible decisions being made by the same folk about mitigating climate disaster, green energy production, even the availability of EV autos, which adds to the despair. My Beast-voting mother and brother are inveterate Fox watchers, and have No. Fucking. Clue. what’s going to happen to them and their progeny because of the looming, irrevocable disaster. I fear most for my nieces and nephews and the dismal future they will face.
I’m moving on with a brave face, but a quaking heart. The Beast was limited the last time he usurped the office of the president of the US because of the people in place who provided some guardrails to keep the worst from happening. Now, he’s surrounded by lickspittles who worship the dirt he walks on, and will do literally anything he demands without question.
We must make our voices loud and strong in opposition. Silence = Complicity.
Don't forget Trump only got the vote of 1/3 of the US population. The other 2/3 (minus Harris voters) either knows or is about to learn a huge and painful about the consequences of voting. Or not voting. If they learn fast enough we can flip Congress in 2026. That is our major goal now. Find candidates to replace GOP and work hard to get their names out in public and build support. We can do this!
The US population is ~335M people and includes non-citizens and citizens under the age of 18. I think you mean 1/3 of the citizens eligible to vote. The truth is bad enough - there is no need to exaggerate.
If this was unintentional, please be more deliberate with your words. With MAGA abandoning facts altogether, the rest of us need to try harder to be factual.
Here’s some facts…
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/12/10/trump-hegseth-controversial-nominee-playbook-00193349
Kindly and respectfully stated, Cheryl. Thank you. I am noting your words for being thoughtful in many different situations.
Thanks for the kind words, Linda!
💙💙💙
U.S. News & World Report says that 64% of voter-eligible Americans voted. 36% of voter-eligible American voters did not vote. Of the 64% that voted, half voted for Harris.
https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2024-11-15/how-many-people-didnt-vote-in-the-2024-election
As Robert has said, though, Derek, is that there are still some guardrails and that Americans will rise up if they attempt to cut Social Security and/or Medicare. My stepson told me there are more Republicans on Social Security than Democrats. I certainly know there are poor Republicans on limited incomes. However, I, too, have the quaking heart, and only sometimes have a brave face. But I'm hanging on to Robert's optimistic viewpoint for dear life!
Derek!!! Lickspittles, what a great word
"I'm moving on with a brave face, but a quaking heart."
Me too, Derek.
I'm sorry you must work extra years.
Fortunately, I love what I do, and I work with bright and admirable colleagues. I've been working at the same school since 1982 (my first real job, right out of college) and I'm honored to see the children of graduates I knew when I started graduate themselves. I don't think I'll be here long enough to see their grandchildren graduate, but you never know.
That makes me feel much better. Thanks.
Derek, I feel your despair and also your determination not to give up. We actually don't know for sure what will happen, we are only using our critical thinking abilities to foresee what looks likely. Look at what happened this week in South Korea and Syria, for instance. No one could have predicted those things. I like what Robert said Jessica Craven recommends: "Do one small act of resistance every day." Oak trees from little acorns grow.
I am keeping it small too. I am currently reading about and discussing democracy with a group of Democrats Abroad. Even though it conflicts with heavy soccer team schedule, and a farmers demonstration in Berlin, we are planning on having a People's March in Hamburg, Germany in January. I am on the organizing committee. We want to show our support for Democracy.
I don't know why but virtually nobody in MSM (or here) addresses the reality that Russia has undermined us, put us in this position, using psy ops. Putin demands a quid pro quo from Trump. All the other stuff pales......
IMHO it is war.
Das gleiche auf deutsch. Denken Rumania.
It’s been Russia, Russia, Russia, since 2012. But we don’t know how many others are co-opted. Barr? McConnell? MT Greene? Certainly Tucker and several others in media. Putin has been working for 20 to undermine the West quite successfully. Trump is his biggest prize.
Daniel, I was waiting for the US to take their knowledge of the ways in which Russia undermined us and address it, but that never happened. Already Barack Obama was a key speaker and participated in a weeklong symposium at the University of Chicago during the pandemic that was addressing the ways that disinformation affected democracies. I saw no leadership on addressing or attacking this problem afterwards from the democratic party. There should have been law making and public education campaigns on it. I wish we had followed Romanias example and said with evidence of disinformation from outside governments we should not accept the results.
Since the US election I have written one German publication and two government offices to ask them to do some educating of the German public about the dangers that Russian disinformation poses. Part of that is to educate themselves.
I was just privy to this sort of propaganda from my mom's friend who belongs to Die Linke (the Left) in Germany and am writing an article about it.
My concern is not just that Trump's choices are Russian assets, but that Russia sent bomb threats to polling places in predominantly democratic precincts and that shortened how much time people had to vote. Also, the known disinformation messages were not countered by information as far as I could see. They did not reach me. So, these are big concerns with the integrity of our elections.
Daniel, it's the elephant in the room. It's the 600-pound gorilla. It's the alcoholic family member we carefully do not talk about. I believe some group in the FBI has issued warnings about this recently. Obviously the Trumpies will do nothing about it, since Trump is a Russian agent. But: another 600-pound gorilla is the many Democratic senators who are briefed on this kind of threat and DO NOTHING. They are complicit. They have done nothing for eight years, since the Russians trashed Clinton's election. Now we have four years of Trump during which we could conceivably quietly investigate the presence of Russian psy ops (or computer hacker ops, not sure if they are they same thing) in our culture and the degree of rot that exists and what we can do--using our own psy ops, for heaven's sake--about it. It's like finding out the old plumbing has been leaking in your house for ten years and you have to rip out the wallboard and replace the floors or the whole thing will collapse.
Thank you, Robert, for including my activism thoughts. I was gutted after the election, but have revived and am back in the fight. As is said, "Can't wring your hands when you're rolling up your sleeves"! Building the world we dream about takes all of us, doing something, and never, ever giving up.
Strong work, Vicky C.!
Thank you for your kind words! I'm lucky to have a great team. It might take a village to raise a child, but it takes a team to repair the world.
"It might take a village to raise a child, but it takes a team to repair the world."
I love that, Vicky. And I want to remember it. Thank you.
I completely agree with your advice of small things to do now, and that is what I've been telling my friends since the election. I want to add another. Make small donations to groups doing the work on the ground. A few of the many I support are Red Wine & Blue, The States Project, and Leaders We Deserve. There are so many.
i just joined up to support Marc Elias' group of lawyers that will do something to support the rule of law in our country (which may be going on life support all too soon!)
The lies that Trump and acolytes throw out with abandon to the media without challenge is a rhetorical device called the "Gish Gallop". The concept here as explained by Heather Cox Richardson in Robert's newsletter after the June Biden-Trump debate: "It’s a rhetorical technique in which someone throws out a fast string of lies, non-sequiturs, and specious arguments, so many that it is impossible to fact-check or rebut them in the amount of time it took to say them." Trump uses this on his interviewers, but these are not debates, so as Robert says, make him retract or just end the interview. Another concept which is used extensively by Trump is Brandolini's Law, aka, bullshit asymmetry principle, which states, "The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than that needed to produce it."
All the more reason to follow David Pepper’s advice to stop at the first “Gish” and not proceed any further until that lie is fully addressed. Don’t let the interview continue on a gallop until the interviewee is either forced to rescind the lie or walks off in frustration. Granted, some sycophants will cry “Foul!” and call the interviewer “mean and nasty”, but it’ll prevent the fire hose of lies and propaganda from being sprayed during that particular interview.
"Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me."
In Trump's case, I question whether it is only 1 order of magnitude harder!
Steve Bannon, one of Trump's governing gang of criminals, calls it "flooding the zone with shit." It certainly has been proven to work, look at the election results.
I support Marc Elias/Democracy Docket and also the political activism of Scott Dworkin and his Watchdog Coalition.Scott makes it easy to take action!
https://open.substack.com/pub/dworkin/p/corporate-media-doesnt-deserve-us?r=fqsxl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Loved the Hubbell family history lesson today and Robert’s closing message…
“We will never know how our present efforts will shape the future of this great nation. We should do our best to preserve democracy for the next generation—and then trust that they will do the same. That is all we can do. If we can do that, it will be enough.”
Another easy action is to subscribe/share Medias Touch.This made my day along with Rupert Murdoch news !!
“MeidasTouch Network is now beating Fox once again in the latest Playboard chart. We also lead CNN and MSNBC—and it’s not even close.”
https://www.meidasplus.com/p/fox-interns-crying-over-meidasglorious?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
📣
Hi, all, here’s a suggestion for the person on your holiday gift list who loves democracy and is hard to shop for …
https://urbandictionary.store/products/mug?_sp=76972332-4cd8-46a4-9587-ed249fa105d7.1733832688032&defid=18378970
I submitted the word “vindman” to urban dictionary as a small way to help spread the word about who Alexander and Eugene Vindman truly are. At this moment in history, only in America can two of our greatest patriots actually be from the Ukraine, living examples of what it means to serve our country and protect our democracy!
To be clear, I receive nothing from these purchases but the joy of imagining people all over the country using this mug for a cup of coffee or tea while contributing to making the word “vindman” become part of our national lexicon.
Without a doubt, the Vindman brothers, proud sons of The Ukraine, are genuine American patriots!
I bought mine!
Oops, forgot the entry link: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Vindman
Thank you, Robert. Marc Elias’s work matters, and I support Democracy Docket with grateful dollars for the legal sense he provides.
I have been touting the importance of Marc Elias and Democracy Docket for a while, and shared his recent post encouraging people to follow and donate. We need him now more than ever.
Outstanding column. I found your statement that interviewers should not proceed with an interview when trump tells a lie to be thought-provoking.* I realize that is from an attorney's perspective. If you are questioning someone during a court hearing, an attorney doesn't gloss over a witness's lie and move on with questioning. Rather, the liar's feet are held to the fire. One thing I find fascinating about the multiple substacks to which I subscribe is that each writer comes from a different professional background, such as economics and history (Snyder's Eastern European history, and Heather Cox Richardson's American history). Reading so many different writers gives a panoramic view of what's going on. *[Thinking about what I just wrote, I realize that in my work as a psychotherapist, I, also, did not gloss over lies. I didn't "hold people's feet to the fire", but we didn't move on until we explored why the patient was lying to themselves and/or to others about whatever the issue might have been.]
I have been a longtime supporter (both financially and as a volunteer) of the Movement Voter Project (https://movement.vote). MVP is "year-round on the ground", supporting GOTV efforts in election years and building local community power all the time. While I continue to be horrified by Trump's reelection, I feel very good about my MVP involvement. and am all in going forward. Even the reprehensible Mainstream Media has highlighted the success and importance of grass roots organizations in building a strong democracy that works for all citizens. MVP is holding a briefing this afternoon if you would like to learn more about the organization: https://movement.vote/briefing. I promise that you will find hope and community in these dark times at the briefing. Good things are happening to mitigate the impending doom of the next administration.
Thanks. I'm a firm believer in "year round on the ground" organizations, and will use that slogan in encouraging others. I didn't know about the Movement Voter project and will add them to my list for donations. Spreading the word around our circles is easy to do.
Thanks, Kate!
I keep waiting for an interviewer to say, “Mr. Trump, if you believe that you are a fool. If you do not, you are a liar. There is no third choice.” And, by the way, it is perfectly proper to address the president as Mr. ____ or Ms. _____ with no honorific.
I would like to recommend listening to Ben Wickler as he camapaigns for National DNC chair. I heard him on Molly Jong-Fast Fast Politics (Dec. 9th.) He has a clear vision for the job ahead and the credentials (chair in Wisconsin) that his approach works.
Wikler.
Do you know who we can contact to support Ben Wickler? Our Democratic Senators and Representatives? I don't know anything about the process.
See, it's Wikler. If one person gets it wrong, many others will follow them. If he's going to save our democracy, let's spell his name right.
As a lifelong environmental advocate, I perhaps have more experience with losing big political battles than most here. And no one is more hyperaware of what Trump’s climate denial will do to the planet. I literally spent a couple days just wandering around my beautiful outdoor community here in MN right after the election wondering what the hell many were thinking. Then I remembered - they weren’t thinking; just following the fake promises of a failed business man turned criminal. Gobsmacking in its hubris and stupidity. But real.
I appreciate your focus on the down ballot battles we won, on the legal challenges the next Administration will face, and supporting the challenges and actions we can take right now.
Reporting for duty, Virginia. Time to take heart and take action. Thanks for all that you do!
I've re-engaged. Called my Senators regarding wacko cabinet nominees. Attending an Indivisible meeting tomorrow. Paid member of Democracy Docket. F@#$_in tired of all of this!
Comments on vacation until I can think of something to say about the hateful stupid people that won’t make me sound hateful and stupid.
Perfect, Alta!
"Trump wrongly claims that he can “end” birthright citizenship—a right explicitly guaranteed in the 14th Amendment. His proposal has been met with derision and scorn by legal scholars,...." but not scorned or denied by our bible thumping holier-than-thou House Speaker. It's going to be curiouser and curiouser to see Michael Johnson debase himself to MAGA over the next 2 years. We suspected he was all show but now we'll have a chance to see him prove it. Maybe it will all become too much for the good citizens of Louisiana (4th).
Wasn’t mike Johnson one of the j6 planners? He wants to implement Christian nationalism.
Yes. And with words to the effect that the Bible was mightier than the Constitution. I love how his hypocrisy oozes through. Remember that great picture of Elon, Trump Musk and RFK eating McDonalds on Trump's jet and Johnson photo-bombing on the right just so he gets his clicks? What a guy.
Johnson is a reflection of his constituents. They vote for him.
I don't doubt that. What I object to is his duplicitousness.
Yes, like those who support the likes of Marjorie Taylor-Greene, their constituents know who they are, and that is why they vote for them. I lived in Louisiana for a long time, and can testify to that.
Not necessarily with partisan gerrymandering.
Yes. He's completely project 2025 but 100% mealy-mouthed about it. Butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.
"suspected??" We knew it from the start and he just spent several years proving he's all puréed bullshit. Goes down very easily and plausibly but is fouler than foul.
But the lying.....
That is a fascinating history of your family. It is remarkable, as you say, that from a simple farmer (immigrant) who could neither read nor write, descended a famous astronomer who discovered galaxies in space, and a pro-democracy writer and leader thrust into a crucial moment of our history.
I also really appreciate your plug for Marc Elias who is another one of democracy’s heroes, who deserves our expanded support. I think many if not all of us are feeling the pain and disillusionment he expresses so well in regards to the press and our leaders succumbing so readily to the incoming autocratic regime.