My 19-year-old daughter and I voted from abroad and have received, filled out and mailed off our ballots. We are team Harris-Walz all the way.
We also watched some of the debate post fact, and my worry would be that a lot of swing voters would not recognize that Vance was lying all the way through. I heard his wife prepped him, and I am sure she is the one teaching him to inject humanity into his appeal. I wonder why he was not asked whether his anti-immigrant rhetoric endangered his own children and his wife and her parents. I believe it does, and therefore he cannot wear the caring father role. Instead he comes across as a sociopath to those of us who could see his lies. I am wondering how that plays itself out with swing voters. I watched a The Bulwark discussion of it, and while I have different values from these former Republican political campaign managers, I think they speak from a point of view that helps me to see how things could be seen by millennial, swing voters. https://www.thebulwark.com/p/so-much-rage?utm_source=podcast-email&publication_id=87281&post_id=149718409&utm_campaign=email-play-on-substack%2Cwatch-video&r=f0qfn&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
It is frightening to me that the US is so filled with damaged people, who want White male chaos, over anything else, that this election is so, so close. It should not be. It should be Harris out front, with a fringe group voting for Trump. The fact that the fringe have become so common is just scary.
I agree. But we can’t waste any energy on fear. That’s what these wingnuts thrive on. Let’s starve the beast and elect Harris/Walz and then continue the hard work of reforming and strengthening our democracy. Thanks for the link. The Bulwark does a great job.
Perfectly said Susan Troy. Conserve your resources, save all the energy you can. Mix it in with the hope, and the belief that sanity can, and will, prevail next month. As my dear old friend Doug used to say, in my times of trouble, "leave yourself a lifeline" . Press the PAUSE button on the fear in some degree. Pause, breathe, most important, know you're in a well-filled boat. There are more of us.
Linda, I think the sad truth is that many - if not most - American voters are just not tuned in. I remember checking out of a store during the January 6th hearings and saying I was anxious to get home in time to watch. The young salesclerk asked, “what hearings?”. My friends and family are getting tired of my relentless obsession. I’d say it goes back to the golden escalator, but in reality I’ve been focused on the Republican Party’s shenanigans since the Watergate break ins.
As to trump, I think his niece Mary Trump sums up his life in the title of her book, “Too Much and Never Enough”. What a sad little man. He’s so very unhappy. But that sad little man is more than willing to take down our country in his quest for more.
I long to return to that simpler time when fiction, in books and movies, was more interesting than the news.
Yes, I agree. The presidency is supposed to be boring. The POTUS,VP and his administration going quietly about running our country as it should be. It was NEVER supposed to be about a rogue felon being on all the news, all the time. It sickens me. I think some people are worn down by it all(and yes, there are many who are unconscious or oblivious about the workings of our government). We have to rid ourselves of this cancer that is our national shame.
It is supposed to scare you Linda. But, you will stay strong as ever. Just as strong as you've shown yourself to be all this time you've been posting here. lifting us up in the massive, collective roundtable of like minded, sane, empathic Americans who are only looking forward. Thank you for your strength, and your courage.
All so true. White male Christian theocrat chaos. Go all the way! Yes, as a 66 year-old I wonder the same: how did the fringe mob become 45%? Or was it always? Now they are just emboldened and swinging their elbows wide as they goosestep through our country? How are these people so damaged that they become vulnerable to perpetrators? How did the Dems lose them? So many questions... Thanks for link. Bulwark programs have been helpful though still cringey at times :)
I agree that Bulwark programs can be cringey at times, but not as cringey as Kristin Sinema or Joe Manchin as turncoat Democrat senators. And Sarah Longwell is using her expertise to rally Republicans against Trump, which is a shared cause with the Dems. So, hearing the moderate Republican POV from the Bulwark is helpful to me to better understand the people of the USA more fully. Still, I recognize their conversion being both that Trump is truly awful and that Biden is truly good, which makes even ideas they consider unpalatable not threatening. They were all upset that he supported the Longshore Union, and yet, it worked out. Threat accomplished. Also, not using Republican sparse FEMA supports, but going all out for states, may be making those governors quietly think twice about voting for Trump.
Good points! Sarah is Bulwark for both the Focus Group AND George Conway show, so is Tim Miller and I think Bill Cristol? As a group I enjoy them all. And Charlie Sykes when he was with them. Agree on Sinemanchenma-- they were a blight and a drag on Biden/Dem agenda for 2 years. Shameful. I hope Gallego can hold the seat in AZ but I think it's gone in WV. MAGA and SCOMAGA go back n forth on "states rights" when it suits them. Didn't Trump turn down disaster relief for Dem Gov Cooper one season? And didn't Trump slow-walk or decline Covid supplies to Blue states? People need reminders as there are SO many crimes of Trump & MAGA... Sarah is a force for good to be sure - - and we sure need her! I wonder if Harris team is listening to her?
"To have total power is to have power over truth and fact and history and to reach for it over dreams and thoughts and emotions." - Rebecca Solnit, Orwell's Roses, p. 226, where she continues by quoting Orwell:
"From the totalitarian point of view history is something to be created rather than learned. A totalitarian state is an effect a theocracy and its ruling caste, in order to keep its position, has to be thought of as infallible. But since, in practice, no one is infallible, it is frequently necessary to rearrange past events in order to show that this or that mistake was not made, or that this or that imaginary triumph actually happened. ... Totalitarianism demands, in fact, the continuous alteration of the past, and in the long run probably demands a disbelief in the very existence of objective truth."
Solnit then points out that "[this] is significantly a language problem at a storytelling problem that can be fought to some extent with language -- with the language of history that is not manipulable by the regime, independent journalism uncovering the current situation, logic and scientific method demanding a basis for statements, and the language of ideas that invite people to find their own concepts and principles and to look at the world critically, with the commitment to honor the contracts that words make. With the language of love and fellowship that builds back relationships and drives away loneliness. With the poetry that captures nuance of experience and unexpected alignments. All these things require either the freedom to do them safely or the courage to do them when they are dangerous."
Thank you, Robert, for being part of the solution to MAGA totalitarianism. (I provided these quotes in HCR's comments too, since she is a fellow star in helping keep us tethered to reality.)
Robert’s Letter today & Heather Cox Richardson’s Letter from an American among the best ever. My humble suggestion is to share them as widely as possible. Our Democracy depends on it.
Watch tonight's LAST WORD on MSNBC in his interview of Cassidy Hutchinson and for whom she plans to vote and why. Inspiring to know there are people like her and Liz Cheney who feel this is more important that specifics of policy.
Seniors Taking Action had a Zoom meeting with Liz Cheney earlier this week (rescheduled from an earlier date). It was fantastic. In addition, to supporting Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, she has endorsed Colin Allred for Cruz's Senate seat. She had some damning things to say about Cruz's attempts to steal the 2020 election for Trump.
I really do hope that the endorsement of Harris/Walz by so many true Conservatives will finally wake up those Republicans who aren't in thrall to Trump but were going to vote (R) anyway because they simply can't conceive of voting for anyone with a (D) next to their name.
In addition to writing a ton of postcards, I have also been writing Vote Forward letters. This year thyey are encouraging including additional materials in addition to our letters. One of the the things they suggested was a 2-page nonpartisan voting guide for the US House. I thought it was it was excellent and might be a good thing to have on hand to share with friends and family.
Here in Vermont the turnip is our state vegetable. In fact, we have an annual festival that honors it, see https://www.gilfeatherturnip.org/. So we would never mistake Donald J Trump for a turnip. He is a Venus fly trap: a carnivorous plant found around Mar A Lago.
The scary part is his ability to so thoroughly take over the Republican Party. The temptation is to discount his intelligence. Clearly, his values and humanity should be discounted. But his intelligence? I don’t know.
Yes we will. We will work our tails off to defeat this ignorant, self-serving and malignant assault on our democracy and each other. I’m writing in the middle of the night because it’s still about 90 degrees and too hot to sleep. Global warming is not a hoax but Donald and MAGA are. Lovely, lovely photo 🙏
Dear Robert, This was an outstanding report on Jack Smith's latest move to bring Trump to Justice. Thank you.
Throughout this election campaign, in conversations with family, friends and even strangers I have just been introduced to, I have been likening this election to "our Normandy.." Today I see Jack Smith as displaying a heroic job in soldiering on with all his might to make this battle count for something, and I think of you and HCR as heroes too!
As an elder New Yorker, I have contributed to the Harris win by writing a check, but the way I feel more participatory as a soldier in winning this battle to save Democracy is by telling as many people as I can to sign up for Heather Cox Richardson's Letter to an American, and to Robert Hubbell's marvelous, profound dispatches because, to me, you both pass the ammunition of truth and patriotism to each and every American I encounter. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Agree heartily about our heroes of Robert Hubbell, Heather Cox Richardson, and Jack Smith - and so many, many more! But Judge Tanya Chutkan must be included in this grouping today for her diligence, intelligence, sense of urgency about our Democracy and the rule of law !
If we continue to campaign for Harris and democracy the election won’t be close. In 2016 most voters didn’t know Trump so he won. In 2020 they knew him and he was beaten soundly by Joe Biden who campaigned from his basement. In 2022 Trump’s campaign fell far short of the “red wave” that was supposed to take over the Congress. Trump has already been proven in court hearings that he is guilty of insurrection. Insurrection, fraud, theft and sexual abuse. They are Trump’s hallmarks. His defeat won’t be close. Harris will swamp him and the candidates who support him.
All GOP incumbant congressional candidates must be called out for supporting Trump, placing him above the law and the constitution with their voting block capacity.
Hi George, I believe you are right but what I am worried about is dirty tricks in the vote count. Are we fully prepeared to defend the true vote count?
I agree with you, George, but only if we all work as hard as we are able to make victory real. I worry and that propels me and others to action. I hope you are right and I'll continue to do what small things I can to make you and all the rest of us right. I worry less about dirty tricks after the fact (Trump couldn't sustain them when he had the power of the presidency in 2016, he is unlikely to sustain them now when we are all prepared for his evil) than a slippage of energy and success and a swamping of money before the election. I am too neurotic to follow, Simon Rosenberg's good advice, "Worry less. Work more." I say, "Worry for the forces of darkness are real (see Vance at the debate), but work to defeat darkness and worry."
Those two small words “so what” define Trump to his very core: “nothing matters to me except my own power and self aggrandizement and I will destroy our republic and set the world ablaze to protect them.” Thanks for reminding us of the stakes in this election and strengthening us to do all we can to protect our precious freedom from this monster.
It does not take a lot of intelligence to understand that Trump’s behavior on January 6th had nothing to do with his position as sitting president. His claim of immunity should therefore be automatically rejected by any apolitical court of law. Two points on this. One: we should work to change the way judges are appointed to avoid political appointments. Two: the MAGA crowd doesn’t care that Trump tried to overturn the election, didn’t care if there was bloodshed (including his own VP), etc.
What amazes and saddens me is I have a friend, who I aways believed to be very intelligent. She was a top editor for Hearst publications back in the day when the twp party system still had some dignity and patriotism. But sadly she has evolved into a complete MAGA hag. How on earth did this happen and how many more are just like her?
I worry about what a bumpy ride election night and the outcome may be if Trump and his supporters dispute the Harris win., and even worse, the Supreme Court decides the victor!
It is risible to think that this distinction must be drawn. Risible and tragic, because our right-wing Supreme Court justices think that our Presidents, or at least some of them, must be free to break the law. Just imagine where we would — or will — be with a national election, replacing state contests and an electoral college, with the administration of the presidential election falling under the authority of . . . the President.
Yesterday, the Editorial Board of the Washington Post did something I never thought would happen in a thousand years- They endorsed Angela Alsobrooks, the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate from Maryland, over their good friend, Larry Hogan, Jr. This may well foreshadow that even the rats are abandoning SS Trump.
Hogan is an ass if he thinks he'll be forgiven by MAGA pols by saying he doesn't support Trump or Harris. Press Pass on Bulwark has an article on him. He's all but crawling to kiss the ring, despite his words. Hogan and the others should wake up to the fact that Trump's response to them will also be a "So what?".
Unfortunately, in today's world, in this time, according to the current RNC you cannot be a Republican and not vote for Trump. That is the only litmus test the current party has - Trump. Pence still believed in the party, in his oath of office. Trump's response: Hang Mike Pence.
“[Trump] is manifestly unfit to hold public office, and his effort to overthrow the constitutional order should disqualify him in the eyes of every American who values the peace and liberty that flow from constitutional order.”
I would add that 43 US senators disagreed with this conclusion, and most are actively supporting him in 2024.
All 43 are “manifestly unfit” as well.
This will not be over until every elected official who joined in this attempted coup are out of office. (Two are running for Senate Majority Leader.)
If someone has already mailed in the absentee ballot, how do they know if it arrived? Post Offices are closed or damaged in the hurricane zone, so many ballots might be under water.
I was disappointed that Ari Melber gave Peter Navarro a platform to spread his election lies. Navarro's prison stint for Contempt of Congress and his continued false claims of election fraud disqualify him as someone who deserves to be part of legitimate public discourse.
Marty thank you for posting this. I turned on my radio and was disappointed that Ari, whose show I usually love, was letting Republican talking heads muse about Tr*mp’s “strengths” and chances of winning and indeed pitching his candidacy, on the same day Jack Smith’s motion informed us that Tr*mp stated he didn’t care about his own VP’s safety from the Tr*mp-incited mob.
I am disappointed in Ari Melber. He seems to like to hobnob with celebrities, even from the dark side, so much that he will follow name recognition wherever it goes. I've written to him at MSNBCTVinfo@nbcuni.com complaining of a false equivalency in his reporting of Vance saying lies about Haitians and "to be fair" Democrats mocking Vance's weirdness with a couch. Both untrue, but of a very different moral magnitude. I have not heard back. If you are disappointed, let MSNBC and Melber know.
Things I value about this forum are that we are free to speak and that we listen to one another. I'm sympathetic to some degree that folks don't like giving GOP/MAGA a "platform". My gut churns listening to them - - which is why I stopped watching Sunday news shows. I don't know why people are chafed by Ari having the panel he had. Ari is not going to "go rogue" on us. He periodically has these specimens on exhibit and it's usually valuable. The interviews he had a while back with Navarro, nauseating as Navarro was/is, gave great insight into the mindset behind Jan 6 from the inside, eg, the future of America summed up as a "Green Bay Sweep". It really exposed Navarro and Trump. I look at it as a biopsy or post mortem. Look at the diseased organs and tissue to see how far it has spread, what does the disease look like, etc. Ari is a master of respectfully putting this on a slide for inspection. Or, at times, he really gets in the face of these MAGAts in a very direct way. Have you forgotten that? I was in jury duty this week so I need to go back and watch it; but I just saw a clip of it and it looks maybe interesting yet cringey. These are likely people who lost their way as Americans and maybe it would help to know just how. Think of it as a character study, a novel. Maybe they can be reclaimed? Conversely, how do you feel when a Lib goes on Fox or gets biased questions on Sunday morning? Waste of time?
I didn't mind Navarro as much as the other guy next to him. The one who said 1/6 was bad and he was against Trump. And then changed his mind. And his reason for supporting Trump - "well, I'm not doing so good". The hell with the Constitution, the country. It's all about ME, ME, ME!!!!
For the next month, whatever happens with the dock strike, in the Middle East, Ukraine, and at the border, “don’t change the subject” is the right response. Donald Trump is unqualified to be president and very dangerous for every American and the world. In addition to his rapes, frauds, anti healthcare, anti reproductive rights, pro Putin, document stealing, Project 2025, insurrection, he promises violence with his mass deportations and retribution. History has vivid examples of how this works for the countries with such leaders. Every citizen in Germany and the Soviet Union suffered under Hitler and Stalin.
My 19-year-old daughter and I voted from abroad and have received, filled out and mailed off our ballots. We are team Harris-Walz all the way.
We also watched some of the debate post fact, and my worry would be that a lot of swing voters would not recognize that Vance was lying all the way through. I heard his wife prepped him, and I am sure she is the one teaching him to inject humanity into his appeal. I wonder why he was not asked whether his anti-immigrant rhetoric endangered his own children and his wife and her parents. I believe it does, and therefore he cannot wear the caring father role. Instead he comes across as a sociopath to those of us who could see his lies. I am wondering how that plays itself out with swing voters. I watched a The Bulwark discussion of it, and while I have different values from these former Republican political campaign managers, I think they speak from a point of view that helps me to see how things could be seen by millennial, swing voters. https://www.thebulwark.com/p/so-much-rage?utm_source=podcast-email&publication_id=87281&post_id=149718409&utm_campaign=email-play-on-substack%2Cwatch-video&r=f0qfn&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
It is frightening to me that the US is so filled with damaged people, who want White male chaos, over anything else, that this election is so, so close. It should not be. It should be Harris out front, with a fringe group voting for Trump. The fact that the fringe have become so common is just scary.
I agree. But we can’t waste any energy on fear. That’s what these wingnuts thrive on. Let’s starve the beast and elect Harris/Walz and then continue the hard work of reforming and strengthening our democracy. Thanks for the link. The Bulwark does a great job.
So what? What are we going to do about it?
GOTV. https://www.mobilize.us/
So what, Donald Trump?” We will tell you what: We will work our tails off to beat you and your MAGA followers up and down the ballot. That’s what!
Perfectly said Susan Troy. Conserve your resources, save all the energy you can. Mix it in with the hope, and the belief that sanity can, and will, prevail next month. As my dear old friend Doug used to say, in my times of trouble, "leave yourself a lifeline" . Press the PAUSE button on the fear in some degree. Pause, breathe, most important, know you're in a well-filled boat. There are more of us.
Linda, I think the sad truth is that many - if not most - American voters are just not tuned in. I remember checking out of a store during the January 6th hearings and saying I was anxious to get home in time to watch. The young salesclerk asked, “what hearings?”. My friends and family are getting tired of my relentless obsession. I’d say it goes back to the golden escalator, but in reality I’ve been focused on the Republican Party’s shenanigans since the Watergate break ins.
As to trump, I think his niece Mary Trump sums up his life in the title of her book, “Too Much and Never Enough”. What a sad little man. He’s so very unhappy. But that sad little man is more than willing to take down our country in his quest for more.
I long to return to that simpler time when fiction, in books and movies, was more interesting than the news.
Yes, I agree. The presidency is supposed to be boring. The POTUS,VP and his administration going quietly about running our country as it should be. It was NEVER supposed to be about a rogue felon being on all the news, all the time. It sickens me. I think some people are worn down by it all(and yes, there are many who are unconscious or oblivious about the workings of our government). We have to rid ourselves of this cancer that is our national shame.
Boring competence can be a beautiful thing...
Goes back to Watergate? Yes but maybe Dallas, even...
Yes fiction used to be outlandish, and parody was funny and different than reality.... Not so anymore...
It is supposed to scare you Linda. But, you will stay strong as ever. Just as strong as you've shown yourself to be all this time you've been posting here. lifting us up in the massive, collective roundtable of like minded, sane, empathic Americans who are only looking forward. Thank you for your strength, and your courage.
Thank you. Feeling more uplifted already from you and this community.
"I wonder why he was not asked whether his anti-immigrant rhetoric endangered his own children and his wife and her parents." ✅
He was staying off the personal family stuff and rightly so
California's ballots don't come until the 7th.
Thanks. I was starting to wonder...
All so true. White male Christian theocrat chaos. Go all the way! Yes, as a 66 year-old I wonder the same: how did the fringe mob become 45%? Or was it always? Now they are just emboldened and swinging their elbows wide as they goosestep through our country? How are these people so damaged that they become vulnerable to perpetrators? How did the Dems lose them? So many questions... Thanks for link. Bulwark programs have been helpful though still cringey at times :)
I agree that Bulwark programs can be cringey at times, but not as cringey as Kristin Sinema or Joe Manchin as turncoat Democrat senators. And Sarah Longwell is using her expertise to rally Republicans against Trump, which is a shared cause with the Dems. So, hearing the moderate Republican POV from the Bulwark is helpful to me to better understand the people of the USA more fully. Still, I recognize their conversion being both that Trump is truly awful and that Biden is truly good, which makes even ideas they consider unpalatable not threatening. They were all upset that he supported the Longshore Union, and yet, it worked out. Threat accomplished. Also, not using Republican sparse FEMA supports, but going all out for states, may be making those governors quietly think twice about voting for Trump.
Good points! Sarah is Bulwark for both the Focus Group AND George Conway show, so is Tim Miller and I think Bill Cristol? As a group I enjoy them all. And Charlie Sykes when he was with them. Agree on Sinemanchenma-- they were a blight and a drag on Biden/Dem agenda for 2 years. Shameful. I hope Gallego can hold the seat in AZ but I think it's gone in WV. MAGA and SCOMAGA go back n forth on "states rights" when it suits them. Didn't Trump turn down disaster relief for Dem Gov Cooper one season? And didn't Trump slow-walk or decline Covid supplies to Blue states? People need reminders as there are SO many crimes of Trump & MAGA... Sarah is a force for good to be sure - - and we sure need her! I wonder if Harris team is listening to her?
"To have total power is to have power over truth and fact and history and to reach for it over dreams and thoughts and emotions." - Rebecca Solnit, Orwell's Roses, p. 226, where she continues by quoting Orwell:
"From the totalitarian point of view history is something to be created rather than learned. A totalitarian state is an effect a theocracy and its ruling caste, in order to keep its position, has to be thought of as infallible. But since, in practice, no one is infallible, it is frequently necessary to rearrange past events in order to show that this or that mistake was not made, or that this or that imaginary triumph actually happened. ... Totalitarianism demands, in fact, the continuous alteration of the past, and in the long run probably demands a disbelief in the very existence of objective truth."
Solnit then points out that "[this] is significantly a language problem at a storytelling problem that can be fought to some extent with language -- with the language of history that is not manipulable by the regime, independent journalism uncovering the current situation, logic and scientific method demanding a basis for statements, and the language of ideas that invite people to find their own concepts and principles and to look at the world critically, with the commitment to honor the contracts that words make. With the language of love and fellowship that builds back relationships and drives away loneliness. With the poetry that captures nuance of experience and unexpected alignments. All these things require either the freedom to do them safely or the courage to do them when they are dangerous."
Thank you, Robert, for being part of the solution to MAGA totalitarianism. (I provided these quotes in HCR's comments too, since she is a fellow star in helping keep us tethered to reality.)
Timothy Snyder makes similar points about Russia and its use of history under Putin.
Thank you Eric, for the book recommendation. It's my next read!
Thank you, Eric, for the penetrating quotation from George Orwell.
Robert’s Letter today & Heather Cox Richardson’s Letter from an American among the best ever. My humble suggestion is to share them as widely as possible. Our Democracy depends on it.
Hi Brent, I wrote something very much like your sentiments to Robert.
HCR and Robert are such amazing soldiers in winning the battle to save Democracy. I wrote how I liken this election to "Our Normandy."
IIt was a nice affirmation to read your comment.
Watch tonight's LAST WORD on MSNBC in his interview of Cassidy Hutchinson and for whom she plans to vote and why. Inspiring to know there are people like her and Liz Cheney who feel this is more important that specifics of policy.
Thanks, Merrimon! …”So important that we get past this period of Donald Trump for America to begin healing.”💙
https://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/cassidy-hutchinson-voting-for-harris-fmr-trump-white-house-aide-explains-her-2024-choice-220739141797
Post on Fox: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASMLggH0iyo
I appreciate you posting the link. Thank you so much, Kathy.
Seniors Taking Action had a Zoom meeting with Liz Cheney earlier this week (rescheduled from an earlier date). It was fantastic. In addition, to supporting Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, she has endorsed Colin Allred for Cruz's Senate seat. She had some damning things to say about Cruz's attempts to steal the 2020 election for Trump.
I really do hope that the endorsement of Harris/Walz by so many true Conservatives will finally wake up those Republicans who aren't in thrall to Trump but were going to vote (R) anyway because they simply can't conceive of voting for anyone with a (D) next to their name.
In addition to writing a ton of postcards, I have also been writing Vote Forward letters. This year thyey are encouraging including additional materials in addition to our letters. One of the the things they suggested was a 2-page nonpartisan voting guide for the US House. I thought it was it was excellent and might be a good thing to have on hand to share with friends and family.
https://cdn.sanity.io/files/ww74w4oh/production/be6dd6a4c00e96d166c9cd03f447d74dc1a1a56a.pdf
Possible inscription on Trump’s tombstone:
“SO WHAT!”
Indeed. That man has about as much intellectual curiosity as a turnip.
Here in Vermont the turnip is our state vegetable. In fact, we have an annual festival that honors it, see https://www.gilfeatherturnip.org/. So we would never mistake Donald J Trump for a turnip. He is a Venus fly trap: a carnivorous plant found around Mar A Lago.
Less than a turnip, I think!
Racist catnip
The scary part is his ability to so thoroughly take over the Republican Party. The temptation is to discount his intelligence. Clearly, his values and humanity should be discounted. But his intelligence? I don’t know.
The scary part is the ability of the Republicans Party to BE taken over!
GOP RIP
Soon?
Love it!
Maybe add: Covfefe!
Or “How Much?”
Perfect!
Yes we will. We will work our tails off to defeat this ignorant, self-serving and malignant assault on our democracy and each other. I’m writing in the middle of the night because it’s still about 90 degrees and too hot to sleep. Global warming is not a hoax but Donald and MAGA are. Lovely, lovely photo 🙏
Dear Robert, This was an outstanding report on Jack Smith's latest move to bring Trump to Justice. Thank you.
Throughout this election campaign, in conversations with family, friends and even strangers I have just been introduced to, I have been likening this election to "our Normandy.." Today I see Jack Smith as displaying a heroic job in soldiering on with all his might to make this battle count for something, and I think of you and HCR as heroes too!
As an elder New Yorker, I have contributed to the Harris win by writing a check, but the way I feel more participatory as a soldier in winning this battle to save Democracy is by telling as many people as I can to sign up for Heather Cox Richardson's Letter to an American, and to Robert Hubbell's marvelous, profound dispatches because, to me, you both pass the ammunition of truth and patriotism to each and every American I encounter. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Agree heartily about our heroes of Robert Hubbell, Heather Cox Richardson, and Jack Smith - and so many, many more! But Judge Tanya Chutkan must be included in this grouping today for her diligence, intelligence, sense of urgency about our Democracy and the rule of law !
I’m beginning to think of Judge Tanya Chutkan as a latter-day Judge John Sirica. Both have been no-nonsense upholders of law and decency.
If we continue to campaign for Harris and democracy the election won’t be close. In 2016 most voters didn’t know Trump so he won. In 2020 they knew him and he was beaten soundly by Joe Biden who campaigned from his basement. In 2022 Trump’s campaign fell far short of the “red wave” that was supposed to take over the Congress. Trump has already been proven in court hearings that he is guilty of insurrection. Insurrection, fraud, theft and sexual abuse. They are Trump’s hallmarks. His defeat won’t be close. Harris will swamp him and the candidates who support him.
All GOP incumbant congressional candidates must be called out for supporting Trump, placing him above the law and the constitution with their voting block capacity.
Hi George, I believe you are right but what I am worried about is dirty tricks in the vote count. Are we fully prepeared to defend the true vote count?
Mark Elias and his law group, plus Democracy Docket have already said they are ready to defend vote counts just as he did in 2020.
Fabulous!
Yes we are
Haha, yes I agree. This new move by Jack Smith is well played, as for Melania's move, I have a couple of theories.
What we really need to do is call out the House Members who would not certify the election. They should be held accountable.
There will be many more House-Senate tag teams on 1/6/25 than last time around.
I wish your premise was right. Many Republicans and lots of unregistered youth have not reached the same conclusion yet.
I agree with you, George, but only if we all work as hard as we are able to make victory real. I worry and that propels me and others to action. I hope you are right and I'll continue to do what small things I can to make you and all the rest of us right. I worry less about dirty tricks after the fact (Trump couldn't sustain them when he had the power of the presidency in 2016, he is unlikely to sustain them now when we are all prepared for his evil) than a slippage of energy and success and a swamping of money before the election. I am too neurotic to follow, Simon Rosenberg's good advice, "Worry less. Work more." I say, "Worry for the forces of darkness are real (see Vance at the debate), but work to defeat darkness and worry."
Those two small words “so what” define Trump to his very core: “nothing matters to me except my own power and self aggrandizement and I will destroy our republic and set the world ablaze to protect them.” Thanks for reminding us of the stakes in this election and strengthening us to do all we can to protect our precious freedom from this monster.
His version of “I really don’t care, do U?”
He's been so whating all his life.
Trump's kindred psychotic soul is General Jack D Ripper from Dr Strangelove...
It does not take a lot of intelligence to understand that Trump’s behavior on January 6th had nothing to do with his position as sitting president. His claim of immunity should therefore be automatically rejected by any apolitical court of law. Two points on this. One: we should work to change the way judges are appointed to avoid political appointments. Two: the MAGA crowd doesn’t care that Trump tried to overturn the election, didn’t care if there was bloodshed (including his own VP), etc.
Hi, I agree completely.
What amazes and saddens me is I have a friend, who I aways believed to be very intelligent. She was a top editor for Hearst publications back in the day when the twp party system still had some dignity and patriotism. But sadly she has evolved into a complete MAGA hag. How on earth did this happen and how many more are just like her?
I worry about what a bumpy ride election night and the outcome may be if Trump and his supporters dispute the Harris win., and even worse, the Supreme Court decides the victor!
It is risible to think that this distinction must be drawn. Risible and tragic, because our right-wing Supreme Court justices think that our Presidents, or at least some of them, must be free to break the law. Just imagine where we would — or will — be with a national election, replacing state contests and an electoral college, with the administration of the presidential election falling under the authority of . . . the President.
Yesterday, the Editorial Board of the Washington Post did something I never thought would happen in a thousand years- They endorsed Angela Alsobrooks, the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate from Maryland, over their good friend, Larry Hogan, Jr. This may well foreshadow that even the rats are abandoning SS Trump.
Hogan is an ass if he thinks he'll be forgiven by MAGA pols by saying he doesn't support Trump or Harris. Press Pass on Bulwark has an article on him. He's all but crawling to kiss the ring, despite his words. Hogan and the others should wake up to the fact that Trump's response to them will also be a "So what?".
It must be hard to be decent and principled, as Larry Hogan is, yet be a *Republican* standard-bearer.
Unfortunately, in today's world, in this time, according to the current RNC you cannot be a Republican and not vote for Trump. That is the only litmus test the current party has - Trump. Pence still believed in the party, in his oath of office. Trump's response: Hang Mike Pence.
“[Trump] is manifestly unfit to hold public office, and his effort to overthrow the constitutional order should disqualify him in the eyes of every American who values the peace and liberty that flow from constitutional order.”
I would add that 43 US senators disagreed with this conclusion, and most are actively supporting him in 2024.
All 43 are “manifestly unfit” as well.
This will not be over until every elected official who joined in this attempted coup are out of office. (Two are running for Senate Majority Leader.)
The GOP congressional incuments must be held accountable.
Here is the link for the information on the impact of Hurricane Helene on Voting in North Carolina. This information is from Marc Elias:
https://www.democracydocket.com/analysis/will-hurricane-helene-disrupt-elections-in-north-carolina/
Thanks!
If someone has already mailed in the absentee ballot, how do they know if it arrived? Post Offices are closed or damaged in the hurricane zone, so many ballots might be under water.
Thank you. I've been wondering about this.
I was disappointed that Ari Melber gave Peter Navarro a platform to spread his election lies. Navarro's prison stint for Contempt of Congress and his continued false claims of election fraud disqualify him as someone who deserves to be part of legitimate public discourse.
Marty thank you for posting this. I turned on my radio and was disappointed that Ari, whose show I usually love, was letting Republican talking heads muse about Tr*mp’s “strengths” and chances of winning and indeed pitching his candidacy, on the same day Jack Smith’s motion informed us that Tr*mp stated he didn’t care about his own VP’s safety from the Tr*mp-incited mob.
I am disappointed in Ari Melber. He seems to like to hobnob with celebrities, even from the dark side, so much that he will follow name recognition wherever it goes. I've written to him at MSNBCTVinfo@nbcuni.com complaining of a false equivalency in his reporting of Vance saying lies about Haitians and "to be fair" Democrats mocking Vance's weirdness with a couch. Both untrue, but of a very different moral magnitude. I have not heard back. If you are disappointed, let MSNBC and Melber know.
Thank you for the adivice. I will do it!
Things I value about this forum are that we are free to speak and that we listen to one another. I'm sympathetic to some degree that folks don't like giving GOP/MAGA a "platform". My gut churns listening to them - - which is why I stopped watching Sunday news shows. I don't know why people are chafed by Ari having the panel he had. Ari is not going to "go rogue" on us. He periodically has these specimens on exhibit and it's usually valuable. The interviews he had a while back with Navarro, nauseating as Navarro was/is, gave great insight into the mindset behind Jan 6 from the inside, eg, the future of America summed up as a "Green Bay Sweep". It really exposed Navarro and Trump. I look at it as a biopsy or post mortem. Look at the diseased organs and tissue to see how far it has spread, what does the disease look like, etc. Ari is a master of respectfully putting this on a slide for inspection. Or, at times, he really gets in the face of these MAGAts in a very direct way. Have you forgotten that? I was in jury duty this week so I need to go back and watch it; but I just saw a clip of it and it looks maybe interesting yet cringey. These are likely people who lost their way as Americans and maybe it would help to know just how. Think of it as a character study, a novel. Maybe they can be reclaimed? Conversely, how do you feel when a Lib goes on Fox or gets biased questions on Sunday morning? Waste of time?
I didn't mind Navarro as much as the other guy next to him. The one who said 1/6 was bad and he was against Trump. And then changed his mind. And his reason for supporting Trump - "well, I'm not doing so good". The hell with the Constitution, the country. It's all about ME, ME, ME!!!!
Team Harris/Walz released this pronto after the debate. They’re on it !📣
“He peacefully gave over power.”
https://x.com/KamalaHQ/status/1841330834780954704
And here’s the ad:JD Vance’s Damning Non-Answer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax0KIhHFnaE
Harris/Walz team should win an Emmy for their turn arounds. 💙
For the next month, whatever happens with the dock strike, in the Middle East, Ukraine, and at the border, “don’t change the subject” is the right response. Donald Trump is unqualified to be president and very dangerous for every American and the world. In addition to his rapes, frauds, anti healthcare, anti reproductive rights, pro Putin, document stealing, Project 2025, insurrection, he promises violence with his mass deportations and retribution. History has vivid examples of how this works for the countries with such leaders. Every citizen in Germany and the Soviet Union suffered under Hitler and Stalin.
“Don’t change the subject!!!!”