Hello everyone. I am a 72-year-old white female retired professor living in Houston. I am a follower of Robert because of his persistent optimism and encouragement. Tonight I'm at a low and here's why. I have a friend I've known over 20 years who is now in her 40's, African American, with a Ph.D. and a job at a distinguished university. She identifies as bi and has a teenage son. She is smart, thoughtful, well-read, and open-minded. Today on Facebook she posted that if Biden runs, he will lose, because young people are turning against him. She said "Tik-Tok is ablaze with young people's fury." Other friends of hers, presumably young, queer, liberal, educated, and of diverse races, posted too about how Biden is out of touch and a terrible communicator. Hugging Netanyahu was a big mistake because no one ought to sympathize those who perpetuate "settler imperialism." Black women have done their fair share of upholding the Dems but are now weary and may be ready to give up. Young people may just stay away from the polls. The brutality of the bombing of Gaza is "the final straw." Backtracking on student loans has turned off many to Biden. Some people mention that perhaps some of the "old folks" now running things may just die off like Feinstein. I am not meaning either to defend or to question these people's strong expression of their opinions. Perhaps I ought not even quote them, even in this roundabout manner. Since I'm retired I am no longer so directly in touch with younger intellectual people's views and opinions as I used to be.
I, like Robert, have followed Biden's trip to Israel and. his several speeches with deepening respect. So to me, it came as a big shock to listen in, a bit vicariously, to this outpouring of anger, frustration, despair, dislike, disappointment, critique, anger, and so on. Living in a Red state (but a Blue city), I try to be positive, active, and optimistic. But hearing this outpouring of perspectives so different from mine made me wonder whether we older white folks are deluded, really out of touch. Some of you have kids and grandkids--I know Robert does--Are you hearing things like this? What do you think? I'm a good enough friend with this person that I do plan to meet up with her and try to talk things through face to face, and of course, listen more to her. But I'm truly concerned right now. Thank you for any thoughts. Best regards to all.
I am ten years older than you are, so may be even more out of touch. Of course Black women are weary. Their burden is too heavy. Of course many young people are angry. The world they are entering is not what it should be. We need to respect their weariness and their anger and hope that they can understand, for the good of the country, for their future and ours, at least for a few minutes in the voting booth, that Joe Biden is not all powerful. He is quietly finding ways to minimize the student loan problem. He is hugging Netanyahu, not because he loves the Israeli PM (who has humiliated him in the past), but because he needs Netanyahu to behave in a humane way. Have your conversation. His Democratic colleagues have been helping in achieving important goals. Whether we consider legislation that has improved the economy like the inflation reduction act or appointments like Justice Jackson to the Supreme Court or restoration of NATO, he is making a better world. We all wish you well with your conversation. As for my grandchildren (ages 16 to 21), I don't hear the kind of anger you describe.
Thank you Leonard for this beautiful response. I will be saving it. Cynthia, it's great you will speak to your friend, which can't be easy. My kids are 23 and 26. There is so much to process, for all of us, and especially for young people. It'll take time. The news is so grim right now and their friends (and ours) are divided and hurting. But my kids and hopefully their friends, see the stark choice between Biden and Trump, and they also take in information about the good work Biden and Democrats are doing. I am sure they will be voting for Biden in November 2024. But it's up to all of us too. I was on a Zoom last week and heard Michael Tomasky say this, which I believe: "Everything you do matters. If our people do more than their people, we will win."
Cynthia & Leonard, Thanks for this thoughtful dialogue! I agree with Sarah, that I 'll be saving your response Leonard. My three children are also in their 20s and, like Sarah said, it's a time of confusion, disappointment and hurt for them, like so many of us. But... I have really driven into them the importance of their vote, that their vote has great value and has to be used, like a muscle, every time! And, being the Jewish mother that I am, I also nag them a LOT around election day, but really I don't need to. They are smart and they get it. They can complain about the status quo and their disappointments in Biden and his age or whatever, but when it comes to the voting booth, they go straight D down the ballot! I think that's true for many young people. And I think abortion rights, LGBTQ rights, and climate are forefront in their concerns and they KNOW the right wing/ Republicans oppose progress on these issues.
I should add that wage equity is also a huge priority for young people, and the affordable housing crisis. Clearly the GOP won't help on these issues. (Heck, they can't even govern their own House!) And also meant to say, in my grassroots groups we meet many young organizers, activists, campaign workers, etc and they seem FIRED UP! So, I guess I'm saying I have faith in our younger generation, I really do. Hope that helps.
I really feel bad for young people as they have suffered so much disruption in their lives. With COVID, that took away the fun things they should be doing at their age (like prom!) replaced with isolation and the lack of companionship and the
company of their peers. I have said many times ‘peer groups are second only to the strength of gravity in the lives of young people’.
That said, it is clear there is rampant anger. Most likely they lack the emotional maturity to understand the symbolism of the Biden and Netanyahu embrace. And why? They have had SO much MAGA (what is the worst adjective I could use here?) shoved in their young faces and their eyes! It is every where they look. No wonder. That movement has destroyed not only this country, it has ruined most of humanity as it has become the “norm’. Those are strong words, but please take the point as I intend it. The orange idiot has normalized BAD BEHAVIOR. Why should young people behave any differently from what could and should be their role models?
I would say god help us but christianity has been warped and abused as well. Golden rule? gone AWOL.
I am 65 and I never had children. That was my conscious choice as I felt I would not be a good parent. I have had no regrets. Especially now.
Thank you Leonard. I live on the Maine coast where there are very few people of color but many senior citizens . I was very concerned with the earlier comments but your note talked me off the ledge. I've always had faith in our younger generation including when we were that "younger" crowd.However, looking back to the 60s & 70s causes me to realize how the promises of our generation fell woefully short for gender and racial equality, environmental integrity, and social justice. I will keep faith that our children and their cohorts will make the most informed decisions, politically and otherwise to save and nurture our civilizaion and planet. It's too painful to think otherwise. I believe Cynthia will have an uplifting and healthy conversation with her friend. I look forward to her future comments.
I already get it! It's great! Thank you!!!! I recommend it to all! Thank you for all that work! I have used info in your email many times to tell others about candidates, etc. So great!
Great response, Leonard, to Cynthia's concerning post. The world Joe Biden inherited is on a much better trajectory than it would have been otherwise. What people need to understand and acknowledge is that it's much easier to destroy, as the Defendant did and does, than it is to build and rebuild. In politics, there is no such thing as instant gratification. It takes time and sustained effort to make the world a better place.
Perhaps it’s not really as bad as it appears. We know how trolls permeate social media with divisive and false things. The negative comments may be planted. So many of the young influencers like Victor Shi absolutely love President Biden. Second, you might say something like “you can vote for Biden in 2024 and another candidate of your choice in 2028 or you can stay home in 2024 and never vote again.”
I, like Cynthia, saw the headlines touting the turning of our nation's youth against Biden and found myself terribly depressed. I am a 69 yo white female and mother of three, 30, 31 and 32 years old. I am heartened by the fact that all three of them recognize the stark difference between the Dems and Republicans. They and their friends vote -- in every single election.
"touting" is exactly the word. Yet another way to sell ads. I'm 79. I don't know many young people, but those I do know certainly aren't MAGA. Complaining about the current president is pretty much standard when facing problems, particularly economic problems, of one's own, and the young certainly have such problems now far beyond what my generation faced.
But when facing the ballot, how many of those complaining really think that trump is a better choice to solve the problems? Surveys, to the extent they mean anything at all, just reflect the current fears and worries of the person polled. When it is just the person, the ballot, and the pen what will happen reflects actual choice of the future. I think all but the most brainwashed young person is smart enough to realize what that choice must be.
Thanks for posting this, Cynthia. This is very disheartening to hear. At 70 myself, I am more out of touch than you are. I did read that it was the Supreme Court that put the brakes on Biden's student loans program. I understand he is pursuing work-arounds but don't know the details.
I always like to say that democracy is not a spectator sport. In fact, it was hard fought back then, and even harder to maintain as the years go by. Sitting out an election in protest will not give them what they want. In fact, IMO they are endorsing the status quo by not voting. I have heard from many commenters who are "old" like us that we are depending on our young people to change things in this country. How can they do that if they sit on the sidelines and don't engage? If these young people are right about us oldsters having messed things up, then it's up to them to be the change they want to see.
Thank you all for a powerful & poignant discussion. I accept that 'we' older generations have f*cked up things for the younger generations. Among the daily disasters, they face a warming planet. I will be gone before the worst of it happens. Meanwhile, I will do whatever I can in my corner to fight back. I don't like the other choice.
You know - I don't accept any blame. I stood with a sign in front of the Federal bldg. in downtown Philly against the war in Vietnam. I marched in the streets with my then-husband and my children, to keep abortion legal. I marched down 5th Ave in NYC to ban more nuclear weapons, with my older daughter [now 43] in a stroller. And when my grandmother heard I'd done that, she said I'd marched for her too.
I have been a Democrat all of my voting life. I've written before about my protests in these last several years; writing, calling, e-mailing, attending political mtgs and giving $. The guy who checked my heating system [elec. heat pump] tried to tell me I needed a gas furnace as back-up. I said I have elec. back-up and besides I took out the gas furnace, because I won't be responsible for climate warming if I can help it. He seemed to have no clue what I was talking about.
These people are responsible; they don't know, not willing to learn, they ignore, argue, press their ignorance on others, and since 2015; vote for that CHILD who was President and his cohorts who shout and harass, and embarrass our nation. Let's not even talk about the corporations, who are people!!, who are supporting the cohorts in Congress.
Let's just keep doing our work, keep on the work of defending, promoting our democracy, and let the negative stuff roll off, pushed on us by those who share the CHILD's sandbox and who don't want to be sent home. We must win in '24. We WILL win in '24.
If we don't have optimism that we will win in 2024, then we will fall into despair, which is unacceptable and unhelpful. The MAGATs *must* be repudiated! We can do it!
As my sister says “I blame Republicans for everything!”. I too, participated in marches, burned my bra, and felt truly empowered when the ERA was passed. The best productive years were in my early 20’s and 30’s where ai volunteered at a free clinic in Bethesda, MD and then came to CA and volunteered for years at Planned Parenthood. I protested the Vietnam War but ended up marrying a veteran. Our girls are 40 & 34 now and bless them, they are as hardcore as I am!
Wow. Hard to believe these young critics think the Radical Right would help them more. Biden is still trying on the student loans after the Supreme Court stopped him. The younger generation is facing fascism and perhaps don't recognize it. Argh.
I think, but failed to mention, that my friend and others she was alluding to are in favor of "primarying" Biden with a younger Democrat. Hakeem Jeffries is often mentioned.
That’s not going to happen even any time soon. I’m 54 and very involved with TikTok. There are many 20+ somethings highly supporting Biden and they are part of his youth counsel along with thousands of others. Look up Victor Shi & 0livia Juliana.
I have very active social media children. I'm not hearing that.... They despise Trump and the despicable people that joined him. Which living in Texas that includes a senator, governor and AG....... Not to mention the troubles pilled on reproductive rights from IDIOTS who don't understand the word CHOICE. All kinds of things going on - enough to remind them they need to vote.
CF. Sorry to hear about your friend but wonder if she’s a little out of touch due to her location in Texas. Midwest students, many women, and young people here in Wi are not blaming Biden or getting stuck on his age. Instead, They seem pretty fed up w younger white GOP men trying to take us all back a hundred years. Encourage your friend to be patient, informed, and maybe get involved in political action outside of Texas. This is no time to give up or stay home from polls.
Cynthia, As a retired professor living in Massachusetts, I hear the same from across the country, and I, too, am deeply concerned. While I won’t comment on Israel-Palestine because my post on yesterday’s site generated a continuing flow of traffic that kept me busy through the night, I would note that my thoughts for galvanizing the overall electorate plausibly would resonate as well for young voters.
Generally speaking, I am pressing Democrats to focus more on their pro-worker agenda—$15 hourly minimum wage, paid family and medical leave, the child tax credit, affordable, quality childcare, universal healthcare, investments in housing, in eldercare, and the like—all of which have received zero Republican support. Similarly, in a time of massive income and wealth inequality, when the American people want billionaires to start paying their fair share of taxes, not one Republican has supported the legislation.
As for the decisive leadership this moment demands from Joe Biden, he has to go to where the trouble is in this country, the trouble that Donald Trump is stoking, and grapple first-hand with the despair Trump / Trumpism persists in hyping. Contrary to Trump who presents himself as “the savior,” the Biden team needs to show an alternative, admittedly arduous, path that seeks to prove they can work on legitimate issues and grievances. Biden should speak for justice, for safety, and for reform, particularly for those who doubt that Democrats care about the wreckage of their dreams. Plainly stated, Biden needs to project presidential empathy not just as relating to what others are going through but also as having the will to do something about it.
Barbara Biden is doing that right now. He went to the picket lines at UAW and has his hands full with foreign policies issues and meanwhile has delivered on infrastructure , jobs , climate change. Yes his message has to get crisper but he is delivering everyday while the completion is imploding. People are noticing
Stephen, I grant Biden is doing some of what I noted. Still, I will continue to press for increasingly more action, and operate as though we’re losing by 10 points up and down the ballot, particularly seeing we have no federal guardrails to protect us from new voter suppression / election subversion measures that could proceed through state legislatures. This way, we might not have to live with four more years of Trump and his MAGA sycophants.
We differ on what should be done and when. Pritzker in Illinois is funding campaigns in states that can flip as well as others. It’s not one thing it’s many. Biden needs to continue to deliver and the trials and incompetence and rhetoric of Republicans will turn people off even more. Voter turnout has to be the key.
Stephen, We, indeed, agree on one point: “It’s not one thing; it’s many.” I would note, as drafting my original post, I was pondering all the ways we could inspire and motivate voters of all ages to get to the polls.
I too feel like Biden is actually doing all of that, and that increasing his efforts in that arena won't have the desired effect until we manage to somehow convince a large swath of the press that we are willing to read "comfort news" vs the junk news, shock-click stuff they keep dishing up.
Yehawes, Thankfully, Biden increasingly is taking further advantage of his most important tool—the bully pulpit. In my view, were he to step it up, and perhaps include other principals, jointly they could have exceedingly more of an impact on mainstream media coverage than any other factor.
In my opinion, Barbara Jo Krieger’s and Stephen Berg’s prescriptions for the 2024 campaign (and Biden’s, evidently) are too intellectual. Unfortunately, the mass of Americans get turned off by detail; they need to be reached in their gut – and in direct manner.
Remember that in 2024, centrist and left-of-center voters were mobilized by threats to abortion rights, not abstract discourses about economics or freedoms.
Democrats should put James Carville, or someone else with his temperament, in charge of messaging, not the bores they regularly trot out.
I love this comment. Life is a complicated mess right now for many people. We are all very busy trying to deal with day-to-day issues, and most people don’t have the time to intellectualize and get into deep analyses of politics. They just want to know what the candidate can and will do for them. Biden’s video ads have been very direct about that, in my opinion, and his speeches have been excellent, while keeping the details simple and clear.
Michael, Respectfully, I disagree. I would note that I was careful to list legislation that directly affects people’s day-to-day lives. As for messaging, I would frame it as follows: “Who do you want here—somebody who doesn’t support a $15 hourly minimum wage, or those who?” “Somebody who doesn’t support paid family and sick leave, or those who do?” “Doesn’t support extending the child tax credit, or those who do?” And so forth.
Biden campaigned on student loans and then completely backed off. He was pushed by wise counsel to pick it back up. He can do way more without congress, he chooses not to for whatever the reason.
I've seen this. Any government backed loan should be wiped out. WHY in the world is our government making money off of college students? And then he can go after the rest. But he literally was doing nothing for it when he was elected. He was pushed into it and I don't really believe he was actually going to do it. I think he's the best president of my lifetime (54), but he knows he can do more and so do we.
Good post Barbara. I do think Biden’s team is doing a lot of what you write of. Each day he and his team are clearly focused on important work even as they have been and are handicapped by the lack of key appointments, etc.
If you see a big crowd walking down the street, it’s easy to believe that the whole world must be with them, especially if they are loud and confident in their positions. But they may have hardly any support among those who aren’t out on that street. From all evidence, that’s the case with the young people your friend is seeing.
Cynthia! We have been talking about Jessica Craven and her fabulous ChopWoodCarryWater website. I totally forgot to mention that she is on TikTok, too! She is much younger than you and I, so is probably reaching the younger audience. I'm not on TikTok so can't speak to how you would find her there. But it may be good to tell your friend about her.
Yes, I hear the same from the same “demographic “. They are casting about for someone who could run in Bidens place and still win against Trump.
They are fed up with US’s coddling of Israel and yes, settler imperialism re: Palestine ( this is NOT antisemitism) and point out that US condemns the same behavior from Putin re: Ukraine.
There is much impatience with status quo politics and a feeling that time is up.
I am very much torn myself. I am impressed with Biden’s handling of most issues, and hear his strong chastising of Netanyahu , but the hug and the “full-throated” defense of Israel sticks in my craw.
Political change is a slow business. Biden was not a “progressive “ but has been pushed to make very positive and progressive decisions and choices by the demands of the times and of a more progressive constituency. The up and coming well-educated - (either academically or in the school of hard knocks- ) have given rise to a sea change in social justice and demands for economic equality. Hallelujah! We cannot go backwards now. But we are in a delicate place with this election.
While I support Biden and will advocate for him, I am very nervous, for all the obvious reasons. I wish we could hear more from Kamala Harris and also think we need to hear more from Gavin Newsom, Pete Buttigieg, and ???
I too feel torn. Objecting to settler imperialism is not antisemitism, the government of Israel is not representative of Jewish people everywhere, and not even of all in Israel. Consider how badly we'd have taken it to be grouped with MAGA during the Trump presidency. Okay, that is a bit extreme but clearly forced grouping is nonsense.
Too much attention is bafflingly paid to whether the Palestinian people in the region were ever a "legitimate" nation state or "just" tribes where the important indisputable fact is they were and are people. As were and are all Jewish people within Israel and around the globe.
But, and a very big but when likening Putin's invasion of Ukraine and Israel's desire to cleanse Gaza of Hamas - the people of Ukraine did not host or include a terrorist element willingly or unwillingly which repeatedly caused death and destruction in Russia, nor a recent horrific escalation of violence in probable response to nascent peace developing between their neighbors.
The hug doesn't bother me at all. I know whose friend Netanyahu has been. I descry the provision of arms above what we annually pay for (which should be enough) but accept the deterrence of war ships as necessary and wise. I applaud the supply of humanitarian aid to both sides of the border since there are newly bereaved and homeless in Israel and Gaza.
Torn... in feeling some space develop between my ideas of what would be the ideal US positioning and that being taken, but not torn in the slightest from my solid support of Biden and his handling of the crisis so far. I accept "good enough" when I understand that "perfect" is a flavor, and the alternatives are foul.
You're absolutely right, Janet. The minute I read your last sentence, the long-buried tape in my head of Trump shoving his way to the front of a group of NATO leaders (like someone's drunk uncle lurching to the head of the line at the beer concession near a football stadium) popped into my head.
Lol, I just laughed out loud at your description of Trump pushing the Montenegro head of state (I think that’s who it was) out of the way. He is such an uncouth bully, someone so repulsive that I’m at the point where I can’t look at his face anymore. Making a big deal about that hug, and not focusing instead on what Biden‘s purpose was in going there, is just petty nonsense.
My sons (39 and 36) are knowledgable and engaged. They create their own "news" sources, and they are firm Democrats. They also are in a privileged group, so I think we are blind to the true struggles of minority voters. Especially those who identify in several categories. We need to find D champions in each of those groups to explain what is at stake. We here are not viable messengers, sorry to say.
Cheer up Cynthiaa - social media is not the real world
Joe Biden won the nomination in 2020 because he was campaigning to be President of the United States, not President of Twitter.
Ask any Democratic operative and they will tell you a universal truth about all those loud voices on social media: they don't vote.
One more thing: your friend is an outlier. Black women her age tend to skew more moderate-to-conservative on a national level, especially in the South. (Yet another reason why Biden won in 2020.)
Oh dear, why do I only have "like" or pass... why no belly laugh icon for "President of Twitter"?
Sadly, social media is the real world to too many and not all of them younger people. Algorithms forcing people's feed down rabbit holes to avoid feeding them mildly differing opinions or diverse view points for fear it will cause indigestion have been as much to blame for the divisions in this nation as those who deliberately foment hate, who take advantage of them as useful tools.
The divide is clearly evident on a local level. Here in my small town on Cape Cod the national economic forces that have deepened the gulf between the haves and have nots are starkly real. Wealthy part timers have been building lavish homes and an already stressed housing supply means the average cost of a house is well in excess of a million dollars. Kids who grew here have to leave to find a job and affordable housing. We can’t even recruit young doctors. The fishing industry is defunct which leaves manuel labor or seasonal tourism jobs as the only options for most.
Conflict over affordable housing projects and a wildly expensive DPW facility has pushed citizens over the edge pitting young against old. Arguments revolve around preserving the town’s abundant natural resources and out of towners trying to take over “our town”. A recent voter registrstion drive by the out of towners has resulted in citizen challenges with venomous accusations flying of voter fraud and voter intimidation. Sound familiar? The issue has resulted in cancelling Town Meeting, an unheard of event. And this in ultra liberal Massachusetts.
The young appear to be angry over their fate. The old outraged over rising taxes and protecting the past. Compromise is a dirty word.
So yes, there is a toxic age divide in my personal experience.
People believe what they want to believe and obviously she is being influenced by some outside source of information. People need to be judged by their qualifications and the job they are doing and not by age, sexual orientation or the color of their skin. For the record many young people are disgusted with politics and politicians in general but the current Republican Party is not the answer for them. She has become a pawn in the misinformation propaganda campaigns. I
Just one thing, Biden did not “backtrack” on student loans. He was prevented from moving forward with his original loan forgiveness plan due to a supreme court decision. He’s now doing everything he can to help these students through other channels, and he is succeeding. The public appears to be misinformed about a number of things, and I attribute this to mainstream media’s dereliction of duty.
Sorry to bug you, Cynthia. But I think if you share with your friend this TikTok video of Jessica Craven, it might have an impact. She speaks to how the young people's vote is trying to be suppressed by certain people.
Thanks Lynell, I love Jessica Craven and I subscribe to her newsletter, but I don’t use TikTok, so I appreciate this link. I believe Jessica is a force of nature.
Kudos, Robert, for recognizing what an important role Fani Wllis has played already in protecting democracy and the rule of law in the United States. Her courage and fortitude have come at a vital time.
Many ❤️❤️❤️ for this. I read some articles in the WAPO and NYT while DA Willis was working on this case, and many opinion writers said she was going to ruin her career. Some people really should not be in the news business; they believe they are soothsayers, when they are simply just wrong.
I write to readers who are phone- or text-banking, writing postcards, and the like to VA voters and who don’t subscribe to Simon Rosenberg’s Hopium Chronicles Substack. Rosenberg has urged us to speak and/ or write on behalf of 6 state legislature candidates in very close races: 1) HD 21 Josh Thomas, 2) HD 65 Joshua Cole, 3) HD 82 Kimberly Pope Adams, 4) HD 97 Michael Feggans, 5) SD 16 Schuyler VanValkenburg, and 6) SD 31 Russet Perry #
Here, I would add, aside from flipping VA’s State House and holding the Senate, Rosenberg is most intent on repudiating Governor Youngkin, whom party elites are eyeing as a VP candidate who would add legitimacy, albeit purported, to the Presidential ticket. I don’t believe I am being hyperbolic in stating that Rosenberg views the 23 Virginia state elections as among the most critical for 23 & 24.
Sometimes we miss how to connect the dots. I think in a subtle way something is happening we all may have missed. The MAGNA approach has always been to inundate and intimate a style Trump has made into an art form. Fani Willis, Jack Smith, Judge Engron and a host of others will not be intimidated and are doing their job. Yesterday in a closed door session Jim Jordon was told enough is enough and his intimidation actually backfired. Alex Jones intimidation has lead to a massive law suit and possible recovery for the victims of the school massacre. Some Republicans are beginning to push back against their own party members and as more defendants plead guilty and agree to testify and they read the handwriting on the wall. . The situation can only get worse for Trump and many Republicans who are running for re-election. Sometime we expect big things to happen to make things better but the reality is it’s the small things and I believe we are seeing a lot of small little things happening now. It’s refreshing.
From your lips to God's ear! I suspect you might be right. The MAGA infestation may well have crested without undoing the core bulwarks of democracy. 🙏
Kind of “one day at a time” or “one apple falling each day” a la Powell & Chesebro. Let’s hope those small things start to add up.
A friend recently sent me an X post by Lindy Li which succinctly pointed out that several recent events were all at Trump’s initiative. The on-going failure of his sycophants may be the start of the imperative that we get him off the stage, a stage he is on for only one reason - to save his own hide and inflict further damage to our country and any who oppose him. He is one sick ego.
True but there is no longer any value in supporting Trump because Republicans have internal polls that tell him how toxic Trump is. He’s no longer the answer.
I hope you’re right, Stephen. However, I fear that Trump is like the Shmoo toy of yore, which popped back up each time it was knocked over. Or Richard Nixon, whose political career was repeatedly declared dead until (with the unwitting, witless help of the far left) he became President.
"We may have just witnessed the high-water mark of the Freedom Caucus."
That is absolutely right, Robert! Even better, what we've witnessed is a series of humiliating defeats for the Freedom Caucus. We are well on our way to marginalizing the minority MAGA faction in the House.
While this is undoubtedly a victory for the institution, the MAGA assault is not over. The House is still without a Speaker and cannot function, which is the extremists' intent. And we should be under no illusions about the motives of those who opposed Mr. Jordan's bid. Many just don't like him, but would gladly support one of the other election deniers who've announced their candidacy.
Reaching a bipartisan consensus on a replacement Speaker is obviously the only feasible solution. But getting there will require a lot more work on everyone's part. There's fierce opposition on the Republican right to ANY cooperation with Democrats, even if the Dems agree to the new Speaker being Republican.
At www.FeathersOfHope.net we are continuing to make calls to potential Republican allies who may yet support a bipartisan governing coalition. See our latest post here:
I believe that there are many of us sitting out here waiting for Jack Smith to roll up and indict some of the 140+- Repugs who did a lot more illegal organizing and conspiring against the election than just voting against certifying the 2020 election. We suffer DJT’s rantings that the advertising fed media continuously broadcasts with the excuse that it’s supposedly news, but being forced to see the sideshow antics of the MAGA Repugs highjack thé working days of Congress without any downside to their behavior except being out of work on election day and becoming highly paid lobbyists is disheartening. Make them use their new found lobbying cash and Fox News commentary dough to retain some costly defense attorneys. Writing that retainer check will pull up their undies into an uncomfortable place. When DJT learned that his attorneys had waved goodbye as bit players in his fantasy life and I could imagine the spaghetti plate hitting the dining room wall, that was my pleasant fantasy. Jordan, Gozar, Graham and others need to write those retainer checks and lie awaken thinking about Jack Smith coming to get them.
If you are able, please join BigTentUSA for the discussion with Professor Heather Cox Richardson on Wednesday, October 25th. It will be richly rewarded. My spouse and I traveled this past week from the Indianapolis area to Traverse City, Michigan to listen to Professor Richardson engage in a discussion before a sold out audience over her new book Democracy Awakening, Notes on the State of America with guest host, Neal Rubin, a Detroit Free Press columnist. She was delightful and engaging. Each member of the audience also received an autographed copy of her new book. The assured optimism that she brings to the table about the future of democracy based upon her deep command of history and calm hand will inspire you as well!
Yes, this was a momentous week, but it was filled with events demonstrating this country’s resolve “at a time of testing” as Richardson’s puts it in her new book, to create a nation “based not in religion or race or hierarchies of wealth or tradition, but in the rule of law” where “every person is equal before the law and entitled to a voice in government.” But our Founders’ theory of government and hopes have never gone unchallenged, even as they are being assailed today. Professor Richardson reminds us how this “testing...comes out rests, as it always has, in our own hands.” I would submit we are up for that challenge.
I too, saw HCR, in Houston at The Progressive Forum Thursday night, also sold out. Any opportunity you all have to see or listen to her please take it. She, and her book, explain how we got here, where we are now, and in section 3, how to fix things. She is brilliant, and a real hero.
The event in Traverse City was sponsored by the National Writer Series that has brought authors and their books to TC since 2010 in order to hold great conversations with today’s best authors and to build the reading and writing skills of youth. It was a wonderful forum in which to host HCR’s visit.
I had preordered the book so I read it within days of its release. I also routinely listen to Heather Cox Richardson in her live Facebook chats on Tuesday afternoons, and she did a special event for that community before the book released, before the intense book tour began. If you read her nightly Letters from an American, you'll recognize large swathes of content, but the book weaves the themes together in a new way. I'm sure I will read it again.
When does Trump have to pay the fine? Is it like a traffic ticket where you pay before you leave the courtroom or is there more process?
How many more appeals does Jones have before he has to pay up? It sounds like progress is being made, but very slowly. The same applies to Steve Bannon, this won't end until some of these people actually pay the price of their transgressions.
'The wheels of justice grind slow but grind fine': These days, it can seem that the wheels’ mechanisms have jammed … except in Fanni Willis’s and Judge Engoron courts.
Liz Cheney, Cassidy Hutchinson, Fani Willis, Letitia James, Nancy Pelosi, Katherine Clark, E. Jean Carroll, Ruby Freeman, Shaye Moss... and so many others. In 2016, I thought women would block Trump from the White House. When it didn't happen, I was heartbroken, and my faith was shaken. But now...? Women are standing up to the biggest bully (and traitor) of our times. Did you hear Letitia James? Did you see her smile? Just thinking of her, and of Fani Willis and her RICO suit, renews my faith in womankind!
When I phoned my Republican Congressman Thursday, the aide noted my opinion, then asked me who I supported as leader nominee. I advised that I’m a registered independent in a Red state with open primaries, and support a person not part of MAGA leadership and a person who understands leadership and solutions.
One can only remain hopeful that such people exist.
The obligatory thank you email I received from my congressman was, sadly, that he will support whomever their leadership committee chooses to nominate. He’s clearly not a leader.
How can one individual represent his district in Congress for 16 years and not pass one piece of legislation? Brian Stelter in Vanity Fair writes that Jordon and the rest of the his fellow travelers are creations of right wing media. By giving Jordon, Greene, Gaetz, Bobert, etc, etc a place to vent and inflame MAGAs, they have risen to a level of control, that in the past, would have relegated them to the back of the House in the kiddy seats. But today? Today they are conservative media darlings, and we are all the worse for it.
I'm not on facebook or twitter or any other social media, but after reading Cynthia's post about her African American friend and the follow-up comments, I wonder (perhaps a bit toooo cynically) if they're being influenced by foreign bots posing as American accounts. I, too, do have some Black women colleagues who are indeed tired of societal bs, some of whose sons believed the covid vaccinations would cause sterility. One colleague isn't registered to vote because she doesn't want to be called for jury duty in a system stacked against Blacks. But I also have colleagues and had Black students and parents, some same-sex, who were truly afraid and distraught (9 year olds crying in class the next day) when tfg was elected. So, I dunno....it's disheartening to hear/read about. But about 77.9% of the population is 18 and over which means a whooooole lotta potential voters out there https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/adult-and-under-the-age-of-18-populations-2020-census.html It's mind-twisting but I feel like we just gotta keep plugging on...and continue caring about our friends and their concerns.
And then there's Fany Willis and her team - yowza!!! 🤸♀️🤸♀️ And Judge Engoron! 👏 And Alex Jones has to pay up - glory be! The MAGArs are getting some comeuppance in Congress 😈 Two hostages released 🙏
Finally, I appreciate the quote about the VA elections. It gives me some good "verbiage" to write in my pile of VoteForward letters. 🤗
"One colleague isn't registered to vote because she doesn't want to be called for jury duty in a system stacked against Blacks." How can she not see that her position serves only to perpetuate the problem she is angry about?
Let’s be clear and read what is so evident before us. The MAGA objective is to stop government. Full stop. They are succeeding. What looks like incompetence is actually their success. We need to make it very clear for the next year till Election Day that it is Republicans that are stopping government because they will blame Biden for the dysfunction.
By the way, each of these congresspeople are getting paid 174,000 plus great benefits and expenses while they do nothing. That’s over $476 a day. Total is $75,342,000 a year. Where is the taxpayer outrage.
DK – I’d like to amend your comment slightly. The MAGA objective is to *discredit* government in the eyes of so many people that they will not vote, so MAGA-ites and conservatives will win elections. Stopping government and frustrating voters is their chosen tactic.
Thank you. Our reality is, as others have also written, “there is no internet in governing, only destroying.” We must purge the system by 2024. No “ifs,” “ands,” or “buts!”
A terrible choice. Emmer would actually be more divisive as Speaker if that’s possible, in my opinion. His only difference with Jordan is that he voted in favor of certifying Biden’s win. Whip smart, and deeply Catholic, a national abortion ban would likely be his first action. He represents the MN district that used to be represented by Michelle Bachman. Ugh!
I think he may be the only non-election denier on the list of names I've seen of people who are thinking of running. But they were all, although mostly unknown to most people, of the MAGA variety. Why have no "moderates" (is there such a thing) considered running? Is it a non-starter that a moderate, non-MAGA would never be able to get 217?
Hello everyone. I am a 72-year-old white female retired professor living in Houston. I am a follower of Robert because of his persistent optimism and encouragement. Tonight I'm at a low and here's why. I have a friend I've known over 20 years who is now in her 40's, African American, with a Ph.D. and a job at a distinguished university. She identifies as bi and has a teenage son. She is smart, thoughtful, well-read, and open-minded. Today on Facebook she posted that if Biden runs, he will lose, because young people are turning against him. She said "Tik-Tok is ablaze with young people's fury." Other friends of hers, presumably young, queer, liberal, educated, and of diverse races, posted too about how Biden is out of touch and a terrible communicator. Hugging Netanyahu was a big mistake because no one ought to sympathize those who perpetuate "settler imperialism." Black women have done their fair share of upholding the Dems but are now weary and may be ready to give up. Young people may just stay away from the polls. The brutality of the bombing of Gaza is "the final straw." Backtracking on student loans has turned off many to Biden. Some people mention that perhaps some of the "old folks" now running things may just die off like Feinstein. I am not meaning either to defend or to question these people's strong expression of their opinions. Perhaps I ought not even quote them, even in this roundabout manner. Since I'm retired I am no longer so directly in touch with younger intellectual people's views and opinions as I used to be.
I, like Robert, have followed Biden's trip to Israel and. his several speeches with deepening respect. So to me, it came as a big shock to listen in, a bit vicariously, to this outpouring of anger, frustration, despair, dislike, disappointment, critique, anger, and so on. Living in a Red state (but a Blue city), I try to be positive, active, and optimistic. But hearing this outpouring of perspectives so different from mine made me wonder whether we older white folks are deluded, really out of touch. Some of you have kids and grandkids--I know Robert does--Are you hearing things like this? What do you think? I'm a good enough friend with this person that I do plan to meet up with her and try to talk things through face to face, and of course, listen more to her. But I'm truly concerned right now. Thank you for any thoughts. Best regards to all.
I am ten years older than you are, so may be even more out of touch. Of course Black women are weary. Their burden is too heavy. Of course many young people are angry. The world they are entering is not what it should be. We need to respect their weariness and their anger and hope that they can understand, for the good of the country, for their future and ours, at least for a few minutes in the voting booth, that Joe Biden is not all powerful. He is quietly finding ways to minimize the student loan problem. He is hugging Netanyahu, not because he loves the Israeli PM (who has humiliated him in the past), but because he needs Netanyahu to behave in a humane way. Have your conversation. His Democratic colleagues have been helping in achieving important goals. Whether we consider legislation that has improved the economy like the inflation reduction act or appointments like Justice Jackson to the Supreme Court or restoration of NATO, he is making a better world. We all wish you well with your conversation. As for my grandchildren (ages 16 to 21), I don't hear the kind of anger you describe.
Thank you Leonard for this beautiful response. I will be saving it. Cynthia, it's great you will speak to your friend, which can't be easy. My kids are 23 and 26. There is so much to process, for all of us, and especially for young people. It'll take time. The news is so grim right now and their friends (and ours) are divided and hurting. But my kids and hopefully their friends, see the stark choice between Biden and Trump, and they also take in information about the good work Biden and Democrats are doing. I am sure they will be voting for Biden in November 2024. But it's up to all of us too. I was on a Zoom last week and heard Michael Tomasky say this, which I believe: "Everything you do matters. If our people do more than their people, we will win."
Cynthia & Leonard, Thanks for this thoughtful dialogue! I agree with Sarah, that I 'll be saving your response Leonard. My three children are also in their 20s and, like Sarah said, it's a time of confusion, disappointment and hurt for them, like so many of us. But... I have really driven into them the importance of their vote, that their vote has great value and has to be used, like a muscle, every time! And, being the Jewish mother that I am, I also nag them a LOT around election day, but really I don't need to. They are smart and they get it. They can complain about the status quo and their disappointments in Biden and his age or whatever, but when it comes to the voting booth, they go straight D down the ballot! I think that's true for many young people. And I think abortion rights, LGBTQ rights, and climate are forefront in their concerns and they KNOW the right wing/ Republicans oppose progress on these issues.
I should add that wage equity is also a huge priority for young people, and the affordable housing crisis. Clearly the GOP won't help on these issues. (Heck, they can't even govern their own House!) And also meant to say, in my grassroots groups we meet many young organizers, activists, campaign workers, etc and they seem FIRED UP! So, I guess I'm saying I have faith in our younger generation, I really do. Hope that helps.
Nice posts.
I really feel bad for young people as they have suffered so much disruption in their lives. With COVID, that took away the fun things they should be doing at their age (like prom!) replaced with isolation and the lack of companionship and the
company of their peers. I have said many times ‘peer groups are second only to the strength of gravity in the lives of young people’.
That said, it is clear there is rampant anger. Most likely they lack the emotional maturity to understand the symbolism of the Biden and Netanyahu embrace. And why? They have had SO much MAGA (what is the worst adjective I could use here?) shoved in their young faces and their eyes! It is every where they look. No wonder. That movement has destroyed not only this country, it has ruined most of humanity as it has become the “norm’. Those are strong words, but please take the point as I intend it. The orange idiot has normalized BAD BEHAVIOR. Why should young people behave any differently from what could and should be their role models?
I would say god help us but christianity has been warped and abused as well. Golden rule? gone AWOL.
I am 65 and I never had children. That was my conscious choice as I felt I would not be a good parent. I have had no regrets. Especially now.
Thank you Leonard. I live on the Maine coast where there are very few people of color but many senior citizens . I was very concerned with the earlier comments but your note talked me off the ledge. I've always had faith in our younger generation including when we were that "younger" crowd.However, looking back to the 60s & 70s causes me to realize how the promises of our generation fell woefully short for gender and racial equality, environmental integrity, and social justice. I will keep faith that our children and their cohorts will make the most informed decisions, politically and otherwise to save and nurture our civilizaion and planet. It's too painful to think otherwise. I believe Cynthia will have an uplifting and healthy conversation with her friend. I look forward to her future comments.
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I already get it! It's great! Thank you!!!! I recommend it to all! Thank you for all that work! I have used info in your email many times to tell others about candidates, etc. So great!
Great response, Leonard, to Cynthia's concerning post. The world Joe Biden inherited is on a much better trajectory than it would have been otherwise. What people need to understand and acknowledge is that it's much easier to destroy, as the Defendant did and does, than it is to build and rebuild. In politics, there is no such thing as instant gratification. It takes time and sustained effort to make the world a better place.
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Len
Thanks, Leonard!
Perhaps it’s not really as bad as it appears. We know how trolls permeate social media with divisive and false things. The negative comments may be planted. So many of the young influencers like Victor Shi absolutely love President Biden. Second, you might say something like “you can vote for Biden in 2024 and another candidate of your choice in 2028 or you can stay home in 2024 and never vote again.”
I, like Cynthia, saw the headlines touting the turning of our nation's youth against Biden and found myself terribly depressed. I am a 69 yo white female and mother of three, 30, 31 and 32 years old. I am heartened by the fact that all three of them recognize the stark difference between the Dems and Republicans. They and their friends vote -- in every single election.
"touting" is exactly the word. Yet another way to sell ads. I'm 79. I don't know many young people, but those I do know certainly aren't MAGA. Complaining about the current president is pretty much standard when facing problems, particularly economic problems, of one's own, and the young certainly have such problems now far beyond what my generation faced.
But when facing the ballot, how many of those complaining really think that trump is a better choice to solve the problems? Surveys, to the extent they mean anything at all, just reflect the current fears and worries of the person polled. When it is just the person, the ballot, and the pen what will happen reflects actual choice of the future. I think all but the most brainwashed young person is smart enough to realize what that choice must be.
Great comment, Annette! I too thought of Victor Shi and count him as one of the young people.
Powerful last sentence, Annette!
I think your last sentence should be part of every democratic campaign message going forward. Congrats
Thanks for posting this, Cynthia. This is very disheartening to hear. At 70 myself, I am more out of touch than you are. I did read that it was the Supreme Court that put the brakes on Biden's student loans program. I understand he is pursuing work-arounds but don't know the details.
I always like to say that democracy is not a spectator sport. In fact, it was hard fought back then, and even harder to maintain as the years go by. Sitting out an election in protest will not give them what they want. In fact, IMO they are endorsing the status quo by not voting. I have heard from many commenters who are "old" like us that we are depending on our young people to change things in this country. How can they do that if they sit on the sidelines and don't engage? If these young people are right about us oldsters having messed things up, then it's up to them to be the change they want to see.
Well, I’d suggest it is up to ALL of us to change “what we want to see.”
Agreed!
Thank you all for a powerful & poignant discussion. I accept that 'we' older generations have f*cked up things for the younger generations. Among the daily disasters, they face a warming planet. I will be gone before the worst of it happens. Meanwhile, I will do whatever I can in my corner to fight back. I don't like the other choice.
You know - I don't accept any blame. I stood with a sign in front of the Federal bldg. in downtown Philly against the war in Vietnam. I marched in the streets with my then-husband and my children, to keep abortion legal. I marched down 5th Ave in NYC to ban more nuclear weapons, with my older daughter [now 43] in a stroller. And when my grandmother heard I'd done that, she said I'd marched for her too.
I have been a Democrat all of my voting life. I've written before about my protests in these last several years; writing, calling, e-mailing, attending political mtgs and giving $. The guy who checked my heating system [elec. heat pump] tried to tell me I needed a gas furnace as back-up. I said I have elec. back-up and besides I took out the gas furnace, because I won't be responsible for climate warming if I can help it. He seemed to have no clue what I was talking about.
These people are responsible; they don't know, not willing to learn, they ignore, argue, press their ignorance on others, and since 2015; vote for that CHILD who was President and his cohorts who shout and harass, and embarrass our nation. Let's not even talk about the corporations, who are people!!, who are supporting the cohorts in Congress.
Let's just keep doing our work, keep on the work of defending, promoting our democracy, and let the negative stuff roll off, pushed on us by those who share the CHILD's sandbox and who don't want to be sent home. We must win in '24. We WILL win in '24.
Bravo, Lauren!
Brava, Lauren.
If we don't have optimism that we will win in 2024, then we will fall into despair, which is unacceptable and unhelpful. The MAGATs *must* be repudiated! We can do it!
Yes, and therein lies the dilemma: the propaganda firehose.
As my sister says “I blame Republicans for everything!”. I too, participated in marches, burned my bra, and felt truly empowered when the ERA was passed. The best productive years were in my early 20’s and 30’s where ai volunteered at a free clinic in Bethesda, MD and then came to CA and volunteered for years at Planned Parenthood. I protested the Vietnam War but ended up marrying a veteran. Our girls are 40 & 34 now and bless them, they are as hardcore as I am!
Wow. Hard to believe these young critics think the Radical Right would help them more. Biden is still trying on the student loans after the Supreme Court stopped him. The younger generation is facing fascism and perhaps don't recognize it. Argh.
I think, but failed to mention, that my friend and others she was alluding to are in favor of "primarying" Biden with a younger Democrat. Hakeem Jeffries is often mentioned.
That’s not going to happen even any time soon. I’m 54 and very involved with TikTok. There are many 20+ somethings highly supporting Biden and they are part of his youth counsel along with thousands of others. Look up Victor Shi & 0livia Juliana.
I have very active social media children. I'm not hearing that.... They despise Trump and the despicable people that joined him. Which living in Texas that includes a senator, governor and AG....... Not to mention the troubles pilled on reproductive rights from IDIOTS who don't understand the word CHOICE. All kinds of things going on - enough to remind them they need to vote.
CF. Sorry to hear about your friend but wonder if she’s a little out of touch due to her location in Texas. Midwest students, many women, and young people here in Wi are not blaming Biden or getting stuck on his age. Instead, They seem pretty fed up w younger white GOP men trying to take us all back a hundred years. Encourage your friend to be patient, informed, and maybe get involved in political action outside of Texas. This is no time to give up or stay home from polls.
Cynthia, As a retired professor living in Massachusetts, I hear the same from across the country, and I, too, am deeply concerned. While I won’t comment on Israel-Palestine because my post on yesterday’s site generated a continuing flow of traffic that kept me busy through the night, I would note that my thoughts for galvanizing the overall electorate plausibly would resonate as well for young voters.
Generally speaking, I am pressing Democrats to focus more on their pro-worker agenda—$15 hourly minimum wage, paid family and medical leave, the child tax credit, affordable, quality childcare, universal healthcare, investments in housing, in eldercare, and the like—all of which have received zero Republican support. Similarly, in a time of massive income and wealth inequality, when the American people want billionaires to start paying their fair share of taxes, not one Republican has supported the legislation.
As for the decisive leadership this moment demands from Joe Biden, he has to go to where the trouble is in this country, the trouble that Donald Trump is stoking, and grapple first-hand with the despair Trump / Trumpism persists in hyping. Contrary to Trump who presents himself as “the savior,” the Biden team needs to show an alternative, admittedly arduous, path that seeks to prove they can work on legitimate issues and grievances. Biden should speak for justice, for safety, and for reform, particularly for those who doubt that Democrats care about the wreckage of their dreams. Plainly stated, Biden needs to project presidential empathy not just as relating to what others are going through but also as having the will to do something about it.
Barbara Biden is doing that right now. He went to the picket lines at UAW and has his hands full with foreign policies issues and meanwhile has delivered on infrastructure , jobs , climate change. Yes his message has to get crisper but he is delivering everyday while the completion is imploding. People are noticing
Stephen, I grant Biden is doing some of what I noted. Still, I will continue to press for increasingly more action, and operate as though we’re losing by 10 points up and down the ballot, particularly seeing we have no federal guardrails to protect us from new voter suppression / election subversion measures that could proceed through state legislatures. This way, we might not have to live with four more years of Trump and his MAGA sycophants.
We differ on what should be done and when. Pritzker in Illinois is funding campaigns in states that can flip as well as others. It’s not one thing it’s many. Biden needs to continue to deliver and the trials and incompetence and rhetoric of Republicans will turn people off even more. Voter turnout has to be the key.
Stephen, We, indeed, agree on one point: “It’s not one thing; it’s many.” I would note, as drafting my original post, I was pondering all the ways we could inspire and motivate voters of all ages to get to the polls.
Barbara, inspiring ALL voters is key. That’s why everyone needs to pitch in. No one person can reach ALL. Thanks again.
I too feel like Biden is actually doing all of that, and that increasing his efforts in that arena won't have the desired effect until we manage to somehow convince a large swath of the press that we are willing to read "comfort news" vs the junk news, shock-click stuff they keep dishing up.
Yehawes, Thankfully, Biden increasingly is taking further advantage of his most important tool—the bully pulpit. In my view, were he to step it up, and perhaps include other principals, jointly they could have exceedingly more of an impact on mainstream media coverage than any other factor.
In my opinion, Barbara Jo Krieger’s and Stephen Berg’s prescriptions for the 2024 campaign (and Biden’s, evidently) are too intellectual. Unfortunately, the mass of Americans get turned off by detail; they need to be reached in their gut – and in direct manner.
Remember that in 2024, centrist and left-of-center voters were mobilized by threats to abortion rights, not abstract discourses about economics or freedoms.
Democrats should put James Carville, or someone else with his temperament, in charge of messaging, not the bores they regularly trot out.
I love this comment. Life is a complicated mess right now for many people. We are all very busy trying to deal with day-to-day issues, and most people don’t have the time to intellectualize and get into deep analyses of politics. They just want to know what the candidate can and will do for them. Biden’s video ads have been very direct about that, in my opinion, and his speeches have been excellent, while keeping the details simple and clear.
Michael, Respectfully, I disagree. I would note that I was careful to list legislation that directly affects people’s day-to-day lives. As for messaging, I would frame it as follows: “Who do you want here—somebody who doesn’t support a $15 hourly minimum wage, or those who?” “Somebody who doesn’t support paid family and sick leave, or those who do?” “Doesn’t support extending the child tax credit, or those who do?” And so forth.
Good framing // Mike
OMG talk about someone who is out of touch with current needs. I loved Carville 20 years ago. He is not the one.
:-(
Biden campaigned on student loans and then completely backed off. He was pushed by wise counsel to pick it back up. He can do way more without congress, he chooses not to for whatever the reason.
Erica - https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/biden-harris-administration-announces-additional-9-billion-student-debt-relief
I've seen this. Any government backed loan should be wiped out. WHY in the world is our government making money off of college students? And then he can go after the rest. But he literally was doing nothing for it when he was elected. He was pushed into it and I don't really believe he was actually going to do it. I think he's the best president of my lifetime (54), but he knows he can do more and so do we.
Good post Barbara. I do think Biden’s team is doing a lot of what you write of. Each day he and his team are clearly focused on important work even as they have been and are handicapped by the lack of key appointments, etc.
Thanks for your thoughtful post.
If you see a big crowd walking down the street, it’s easy to believe that the whole world must be with them, especially if they are loud and confident in their positions. But they may have hardly any support among those who aren’t out on that street. From all evidence, that’s the case with the young people your friend is seeing.
Well said.
I hope you’re right.
👏👏 Thank you.
Cynthia! We have been talking about Jessica Craven and her fabulous ChopWoodCarryWater website. I totally forgot to mention that she is on TikTok, too! She is much younger than you and I, so is probably reaching the younger audience. I'm not on TikTok so can't speak to how you would find her there. But it may be good to tell your friend about her.
Yes, I hear the same from the same “demographic “. They are casting about for someone who could run in Bidens place and still win against Trump.
They are fed up with US’s coddling of Israel and yes, settler imperialism re: Palestine ( this is NOT antisemitism) and point out that US condemns the same behavior from Putin re: Ukraine.
There is much impatience with status quo politics and a feeling that time is up.
I am very much torn myself. I am impressed with Biden’s handling of most issues, and hear his strong chastising of Netanyahu , but the hug and the “full-throated” defense of Israel sticks in my craw.
Political change is a slow business. Biden was not a “progressive “ but has been pushed to make very positive and progressive decisions and choices by the demands of the times and of a more progressive constituency. The up and coming well-educated - (either academically or in the school of hard knocks- ) have given rise to a sea change in social justice and demands for economic equality. Hallelujah! We cannot go backwards now. But we are in a delicate place with this election.
While I support Biden and will advocate for him, I am very nervous, for all the obvious reasons. I wish we could hear more from Kamala Harris and also think we need to hear more from Gavin Newsom, Pete Buttigieg, and ???
I too feel torn. Objecting to settler imperialism is not antisemitism, the government of Israel is not representative of Jewish people everywhere, and not even of all in Israel. Consider how badly we'd have taken it to be grouped with MAGA during the Trump presidency. Okay, that is a bit extreme but clearly forced grouping is nonsense.
Too much attention is bafflingly paid to whether the Palestinian people in the region were ever a "legitimate" nation state or "just" tribes where the important indisputable fact is they were and are people. As were and are all Jewish people within Israel and around the globe.
But, and a very big but when likening Putin's invasion of Ukraine and Israel's desire to cleanse Gaza of Hamas - the people of Ukraine did not host or include a terrorist element willingly or unwillingly which repeatedly caused death and destruction in Russia, nor a recent horrific escalation of violence in probable response to nascent peace developing between their neighbors.
The hug doesn't bother me at all. I know whose friend Netanyahu has been. I descry the provision of arms above what we annually pay for (which should be enough) but accept the deterrence of war ships as necessary and wise. I applaud the supply of humanitarian aid to both sides of the border since there are newly bereaved and homeless in Israel and Gaza.
Torn... in feeling some space develop between my ideas of what would be the ideal US positioning and that being taken, but not torn in the slightest from my solid support of Biden and his handling of the crisis so far. I accept "good enough" when I understand that "perfect" is a flavor, and the alternatives are foul.
I agree with Michael, and the hug was unavoidable. Netanyahu reached out to hug him. What was the president to do, push him away?
You're absolutely right, Janet. The minute I read your last sentence, the long-buried tape in my head of Trump shoving his way to the front of a group of NATO leaders (like someone's drunk uncle lurching to the head of the line at the beer concession near a football stadium) popped into my head.
Lol, I just laughed out loud at your description of Trump pushing the Montenegro head of state (I think that’s who it was) out of the way. He is such an uncouth bully, someone so repulsive that I’m at the point where I can’t look at his face anymore. Making a big deal about that hug, and not focusing instead on what Biden‘s purpose was in going there, is just petty nonsense.
Yehawes, your post is very wise.
Anthony Blinkin!
My sons (39 and 36) are knowledgable and engaged. They create their own "news" sources, and they are firm Democrats. They also are in a privileged group, so I think we are blind to the true struggles of minority voters. Especially those who identify in several categories. We need to find D champions in each of those groups to explain what is at stake. We here are not viable messengers, sorry to say.
Cheer up Cynthiaa - social media is not the real world
Joe Biden won the nomination in 2020 because he was campaigning to be President of the United States, not President of Twitter.
Ask any Democratic operative and they will tell you a universal truth about all those loud voices on social media: they don't vote.
One more thing: your friend is an outlier. Black women her age tend to skew more moderate-to-conservative on a national level, especially in the South. (Yet another reason why Biden won in 2020.)
Oh dear, why do I only have "like" or pass... why no belly laugh icon for "President of Twitter"?
Sadly, social media is the real world to too many and not all of them younger people. Algorithms forcing people's feed down rabbit holes to avoid feeding them mildly differing opinions or diverse view points for fear it will cause indigestion have been as much to blame for the divisions in this nation as those who deliberately foment hate, who take advantage of them as useful tools.
Thank you - I also wish there were multiple reaction icons-- maybe someday.
The divide is clearly evident on a local level. Here in my small town on Cape Cod the national economic forces that have deepened the gulf between the haves and have nots are starkly real. Wealthy part timers have been building lavish homes and an already stressed housing supply means the average cost of a house is well in excess of a million dollars. Kids who grew here have to leave to find a job and affordable housing. We can’t even recruit young doctors. The fishing industry is defunct which leaves manuel labor or seasonal tourism jobs as the only options for most.
Conflict over affordable housing projects and a wildly expensive DPW facility has pushed citizens over the edge pitting young against old. Arguments revolve around preserving the town’s abundant natural resources and out of towners trying to take over “our town”. A recent voter registrstion drive by the out of towners has resulted in citizen challenges with venomous accusations flying of voter fraud and voter intimidation. Sound familiar? The issue has resulted in cancelling Town Meeting, an unheard of event. And this in ultra liberal Massachusetts.
The young appear to be angry over their fate. The old outraged over rising taxes and protecting the past. Compromise is a dirty word.
So yes, there is a toxic age divide in my personal experience.
People believe what they want to believe and obviously she is being influenced by some outside source of information. People need to be judged by their qualifications and the job they are doing and not by age, sexual orientation or the color of their skin. For the record many young people are disgusted with politics and politicians in general but the current Republican Party is not the answer for them. She has become a pawn in the misinformation propaganda campaigns. I
Just one thing, Biden did not “backtrack” on student loans. He was prevented from moving forward with his original loan forgiveness plan due to a supreme court decision. He’s now doing everything he can to help these students through other channels, and he is succeeding. The public appears to be misinformed about a number of things, and I attribute this to mainstream media’s dereliction of duty.
Plus https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/biden-harris-administration-announces-additional-9-billion-student-debt-relief
Excellent. Now, if the major newspapers would spread this far and wide, that would be great.
Sorry to bug you, Cynthia. But I think if you share with your friend this TikTok video of Jessica Craven, it might have an impact. She speaks to how the young people's vote is trying to be suppressed by certain people.
https://www.tiktok.com/@jesscraven101/video/7224257918844128555
Thanks Lynell, I love Jessica Craven and I subscribe to her newsletter, but I don’t use TikTok, so I appreciate this link. I believe Jessica is a force of nature.
Morning, Janet!
Good Morning! I hope you have a glorious autumn weekend.
And you as well, thank you!
Kudos, Robert, for recognizing what an important role Fani Wllis has played already in protecting democracy and the rule of law in the United States. Her courage and fortitude have come at a vital time.
I can’t like your comment enough. Fani Willis is a true American hero.
Many ❤️❤️❤️ for this. I read some articles in the WAPO and NYT while DA Willis was working on this case, and many opinion writers said she was going to ruin her career. Some people really should not be in the news business; they believe they are soothsayers, when they are simply just wrong.
I write to readers who are phone- or text-banking, writing postcards, and the like to VA voters and who don’t subscribe to Simon Rosenberg’s Hopium Chronicles Substack. Rosenberg has urged us to speak and/ or write on behalf of 6 state legislature candidates in very close races: 1) HD 21 Josh Thomas, 2) HD 65 Joshua Cole, 3) HD 82 Kimberly Pope Adams, 4) HD 97 Michael Feggans, 5) SD 16 Schuyler VanValkenburg, and 6) SD 31 Russet Perry #
Here, I would add, aside from flipping VA’s State House and holding the Senate, Rosenberg is most intent on repudiating Governor Youngkin, whom party elites are eyeing as a VP candidate who would add legitimacy, albeit purported, to the Presidential ticket. I don’t believe I am being hyperbolic in stating that Rosenberg views the 23 Virginia state elections as among the most critical for 23 & 24.
Sometimes we miss how to connect the dots. I think in a subtle way something is happening we all may have missed. The MAGNA approach has always been to inundate and intimate a style Trump has made into an art form. Fani Willis, Jack Smith, Judge Engron and a host of others will not be intimidated and are doing their job. Yesterday in a closed door session Jim Jordon was told enough is enough and his intimidation actually backfired. Alex Jones intimidation has lead to a massive law suit and possible recovery for the victims of the school massacre. Some Republicans are beginning to push back against their own party members and as more defendants plead guilty and agree to testify and they read the handwriting on the wall. . The situation can only get worse for Trump and many Republicans who are running for re-election. Sometime we expect big things to happen to make things better but the reality is it’s the small things and I believe we are seeing a lot of small little things happening now. It’s refreshing.
From your lips to God's ear! I suspect you might be right. The MAGA infestation may well have crested without undoing the core bulwarks of democracy. 🙏
I think like all things it’s shelf life is wearing out.
Kind of “one day at a time” or “one apple falling each day” a la Powell & Chesebro. Let’s hope those small things start to add up.
A friend recently sent me an X post by Lindy Li which succinctly pointed out that several recent events were all at Trump’s initiative. The on-going failure of his sycophants may be the start of the imperative that we get him off the stage, a stage he is on for only one reason - to save his own hide and inflict further damage to our country and any who oppose him. He is one sick ego.
True but there is no longer any value in supporting Trump because Republicans have internal polls that tell him how toxic Trump is. He’s no longer the answer.
I hope they see that loud and clear by Election Day. Thanks Stephen.
I hope you’re right, Stephen. However, I fear that Trump is like the Shmoo toy of yore, which popped back up each time it was knocked over. Or Richard Nixon, whose political career was repeatedly declared dead until (with the unwitting, witless help of the far left) he became President.
We control whether he becomes President by getting out the vote.
"We may have just witnessed the high-water mark of the Freedom Caucus."
That is absolutely right, Robert! Even better, what we've witnessed is a series of humiliating defeats for the Freedom Caucus. We are well on our way to marginalizing the minority MAGA faction in the House.
While this is undoubtedly a victory for the institution, the MAGA assault is not over. The House is still without a Speaker and cannot function, which is the extremists' intent. And we should be under no illusions about the motives of those who opposed Mr. Jordan's bid. Many just don't like him, but would gladly support one of the other election deniers who've announced their candidacy.
Reaching a bipartisan consensus on a replacement Speaker is obviously the only feasible solution. But getting there will require a lot more work on everyone's part. There's fierce opposition on the Republican right to ANY cooperation with Democrats, even if the Dems agree to the new Speaker being Republican.
At www.FeathersOfHope.net we are continuing to make calls to potential Republican allies who may yet support a bipartisan governing coalition. See our latest post here:
https://jerryweiss.substack.com/p/the-struggle-continues
.
All things considered, last week was a good one for democracy. Looking forward to next week as well to keep it going!
I believe that there are many of us sitting out here waiting for Jack Smith to roll up and indict some of the 140+- Repugs who did a lot more illegal organizing and conspiring against the election than just voting against certifying the 2020 election. We suffer DJT’s rantings that the advertising fed media continuously broadcasts with the excuse that it’s supposedly news, but being forced to see the sideshow antics of the MAGA Repugs highjack thé working days of Congress without any downside to their behavior except being out of work on election day and becoming highly paid lobbyists is disheartening. Make them use their new found lobbying cash and Fox News commentary dough to retain some costly defense attorneys. Writing that retainer check will pull up their undies into an uncomfortable place. When DJT learned that his attorneys had waved goodbye as bit players in his fantasy life and I could imagine the spaghetti plate hitting the dining room wall, that was my pleasant fantasy. Jordan, Gozar, Graham and others need to write those retainer checks and lie awaken thinking about Jack Smith coming to get them.
Biden’s simple yet masterfully constructed speech may be this momentous week’s highlight.
If you are able, please join BigTentUSA for the discussion with Professor Heather Cox Richardson on Wednesday, October 25th. It will be richly rewarded. My spouse and I traveled this past week from the Indianapolis area to Traverse City, Michigan to listen to Professor Richardson engage in a discussion before a sold out audience over her new book Democracy Awakening, Notes on the State of America with guest host, Neal Rubin, a Detroit Free Press columnist. She was delightful and engaging. Each member of the audience also received an autographed copy of her new book. The assured optimism that she brings to the table about the future of democracy based upon her deep command of history and calm hand will inspire you as well!
Yes, this was a momentous week, but it was filled with events demonstrating this country’s resolve “at a time of testing” as Richardson’s puts it in her new book, to create a nation “based not in religion or race or hierarchies of wealth or tradition, but in the rule of law” where “every person is equal before the law and entitled to a voice in government.” But our Founders’ theory of government and hopes have never gone unchallenged, even as they are being assailed today. Professor Richardson reminds us how this “testing...comes out rests, as it always has, in our own hands.” I would submit we are up for that challenge.
I too, saw HCR, in Houston at The Progressive Forum Thursday night, also sold out. Any opportunity you all have to see or listen to her please take it. She, and her book, explain how we got here, where we are now, and in section 3, how to fix things. She is brilliant, and a real hero.
The event in Traverse City was sponsored by the National Writer Series that has brought authors and their books to TC since 2010 in order to hold great conversations with today’s best authors and to build the reading and writing skills of youth. It was a wonderful forum in which to host HCR’s visit.
We have INPRINT here in Houston. Great authors every month - a real pleasure. BTW, love TC!
Lived in SSM in the U.P. for a while. What a gorgeous and breathtaking area around the Lakes.
I had preordered the book so I read it within days of its release. I also routinely listen to Heather Cox Richardson in her live Facebook chats on Tuesday afternoons, and she did a special event for that community before the book released, before the intense book tour began. If you read her nightly Letters from an American, you'll recognize large swathes of content, but the book weaves the themes together in a new way. I'm sure I will read it again.
I am signed up!
When does Trump have to pay the fine? Is it like a traffic ticket where you pay before you leave the courtroom or is there more process?
How many more appeals does Jones have before he has to pay up? It sounds like progress is being made, but very slowly. The same applies to Steve Bannon, this won't end until some of these people actually pay the price of their transgressions.
'The wheels of justice grind slow but grind fine': These days, it can seem that the wheels’ mechanisms have jammed … except in Fanni Willis’s and Judge Engoron courts.
The good news: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/alex-jones-cant-use-bankruptcy-to-avoid-paying-sandy-hook-families-judge-rules_n_653293e3e4b00cb3c697259b Of course, Jones will likely appeal but eventually will have to pay up.
Liz Cheney, Cassidy Hutchinson, Fani Willis, Letitia James, Nancy Pelosi, Katherine Clark, E. Jean Carroll, Ruby Freeman, Shaye Moss... and so many others. In 2016, I thought women would block Trump from the White House. When it didn't happen, I was heartbroken, and my faith was shaken. But now...? Women are standing up to the biggest bully (and traitor) of our times. Did you hear Letitia James? Did you see her smile? Just thinking of her, and of Fani Willis and her RICO suit, renews my faith in womankind!
Thanks Robert, keep bringing the positive energy! That essential for change for the good!
When I phoned my Republican Congressman Thursday, the aide noted my opinion, then asked me who I supported as leader nominee. I advised that I’m a registered independent in a Red state with open primaries, and support a person not part of MAGA leadership and a person who understands leadership and solutions.
One can only remain hopeful that such people exist.
The obligatory thank you email I received from my congressman was, sadly, that he will support whomever their leadership committee chooses to nominate. He’s clearly not a leader.
How can one individual represent his district in Congress for 16 years and not pass one piece of legislation? Brian Stelter in Vanity Fair writes that Jordon and the rest of the his fellow travelers are creations of right wing media. By giving Jordon, Greene, Gaetz, Bobert, etc, etc a place to vent and inflame MAGAs, they have risen to a level of control, that in the past, would have relegated them to the back of the House in the kiddy seats. But today? Today they are conservative media darlings, and we are all the worse for it.
I'm not on facebook or twitter or any other social media, but after reading Cynthia's post about her African American friend and the follow-up comments, I wonder (perhaps a bit toooo cynically) if they're being influenced by foreign bots posing as American accounts. I, too, do have some Black women colleagues who are indeed tired of societal bs, some of whose sons believed the covid vaccinations would cause sterility. One colleague isn't registered to vote because she doesn't want to be called for jury duty in a system stacked against Blacks. But I also have colleagues and had Black students and parents, some same-sex, who were truly afraid and distraught (9 year olds crying in class the next day) when tfg was elected. So, I dunno....it's disheartening to hear/read about. But about 77.9% of the population is 18 and over which means a whooooole lotta potential voters out there https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/adult-and-under-the-age-of-18-populations-2020-census.html It's mind-twisting but I feel like we just gotta keep plugging on...and continue caring about our friends and their concerns.
And then there's Fany Willis and her team - yowza!!! 🤸♀️🤸♀️ And Judge Engoron! 👏 And Alex Jones has to pay up - glory be! The MAGArs are getting some comeuppance in Congress 😈 Two hostages released 🙏
Finally, I appreciate the quote about the VA elections. It gives me some good "verbiage" to write in my pile of VoteForward letters. 🤗
"One colleague isn't registered to vote because she doesn't want to be called for jury duty in a system stacked against Blacks." How can she not see that her position serves only to perpetuate the problem she is angry about?
I know. I tried. 😟
Rumor has it that Tom Emmer is the new hope out of the Republican caucus. Is that progress or just a setup for another round of frustration?
Let’s be clear and read what is so evident before us. The MAGA objective is to stop government. Full stop. They are succeeding. What looks like incompetence is actually their success. We need to make it very clear for the next year till Election Day that it is Republicans that are stopping government because they will blame Biden for the dysfunction.
By the way, each of these congresspeople are getting paid 174,000 plus great benefits and expenses while they do nothing. That’s over $476 a day. Total is $75,342,000 a year. Where is the taxpayer outrage.
DK, agree with your comment completely that "what looks like incompetence is actually their success."
Do we know where to vent our taxpayer outrage? I'd like to join that chorus.
DK – I’d like to amend your comment slightly. The MAGA objective is to *discredit* government in the eyes of so many people that they will not vote, so MAGA-ites and conservatives will win elections. Stopping government and frustrating voters is their chosen tactic.
Thank you. Our reality is, as others have also written, “there is no internet in governing, only destroying.” We must purge the system by 2024. No “ifs,” “ands,” or “buts!”
A terrible choice. Emmer would actually be more divisive as Speaker if that’s possible, in my opinion. His only difference with Jordan is that he voted in favor of certifying Biden’s win. Whip smart, and deeply Catholic, a national abortion ban would likely be his first action. He represents the MN district that used to be represented by Michelle Bachman. Ugh!
Emmer is a very poor choice. In the Jordan mold.
I think he may be the only non-election denier on the list of names I've seen of people who are thinking of running. But they were all, although mostly unknown to most people, of the MAGA variety. Why have no "moderates" (is there such a thing) considered running? Is it a non-starter that a moderate, non-MAGA would never be able to get 217?
TFG has let it be known (I believe via his pretend Twitter) that he does not support Emmer.
But that does not necesarily make Emmer a good choice.
The country desperately needs a Speaker who is NOT endorsed by Trump. But that is just the first non-negotiable criteria.