I am about to choose a medigap plan in the next few days and retire at years end. Last thing I need is Ozzy meddling in that. Medicare Advantage which is already "privatized medicare" is a risky proposition - cheap up front, but expensive when you use it. And they can and do deny care that traditional medicare would cover.
Congrats on your retirement,Susan.Agree,I don’t need Oz meddling in my traditional Medicare. Ozzy made me think of Ozzy Osbourne biting the head off a bat years ago so my mind went to how this is all bats*@t crazy.
Many are unfamiliar with ACO-Reach, a pilot program started under the Trump admin and then altered under Biden.Seniors in traditional Medicare can be unknowingly funneled into this for-profit model which has been referred to as Medicare Advantage on steroids.I believe it was Jess Craven (Chop Wood/Carry Water) who has posted about A-R so going forward I’ll share any action items.
“They have the authority to assign seniors and people with disabilities into a DCE or REACH without your full knowledge or consent,” Dr. Ed Weisbart, the Missouri chair for the Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), said. “So you still have Medicare, but now Medicare pays the DCE or the REACH [ACO], and the DCE or REACH ACO pays your doctor or hospital. And the DCE keeps nearly all of what they don’t spend on your health care. So for the first time ever, there is a middleman in traditional Medicare making a profit from your health care.”
I am fully aware of ACO - Reach. The only thing you can do to avoid it or get out of it to ask your provider if they are involved and if so, switch providers. I hope I do not have to do that at some point.
I am also. Just wanted to let her know I knew about it and shed further light on it. There is a group PNHP, Physcians for a National Health Program, where I think I first heard about these direct contracting entities.
I am afraid that that is what the next Trump administration is mostly going to be is putting a lot of criminals in charge (like the mob), and then getting as much money out of everyone as they can. There is a reason Putin is one of the richest men in the world even though his country is not.
Thanks for letting us know. While my mom was able to avoid the medicare scams before her stroke, since then she has developed dementia and is easy prey to any scam. I will try to keep an eye on this.
I spoke to an employee of the only professional rehabilitation facility in one of our major cities. This rehab is first class with not just intensive physical and occupational therapy, but RNs and doctors taking exceptional care of the patients who are usually recovering from major surgeries. If a patient is not accepted there, their alternatives are nursing homes or going home. The employee told me that one patient was just accepted and brought into this rehab, only to be told their Medicare Advantage did not cover the costs.
That is why I am choosing first to enroll in Medicare A&B, and get a Medigap G plan. It is more costly up front, but once you go into Advantage you can't get back out to Medigap without underwriting, which is pre-existing conditons refusal in most cases. You cannot even switch your Medigap plan once chosen to another plan or company without underwriting in PA - the only thing you can do of course is go to Advantage. So if at some point I cannot afford Medigap premiums there is a fallback - albeit not a very good one.
I have had for many years a (not-for-profit) Kaiser Permanente Senior Advantage plan. I am extremely pleased with it. I have never been denied tests or service or medications, and though getting appointments with specialists sometimes takes longer than I'd like, I can choose whichever physician I want. Copays are very reasonable for doctors and tests. It is unfortunate that many people bash all Medicare Advantage plans, when it is the for-profit ones that apparently deserve criticism.
I am not refusing to know that. I said Kaiser's Medicare Senior Advantage plan is not-for profit, as distinguished from the other Medicare Advantage plans, which are for-profit.
"Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente is recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and nonprofit health plans. We currently serve members in 8 states and the District of Columbia."
I remain dispirited, but not defeated. I remain disgusted, but not disheartened. I am energized, not enervated. There will be much pain for Americans, and at the hands of Republican surgeons, more will die or suffer than we can now imagine.
But what happens in the meantime, Derek? Today I AM dispirited, disgusted, AND frightened. These two appointments in the health area will likely cause me a recurrence of physical problems, an inability to pay for two expensive drugs one of which I need to survive, and the inability to pay for my regular expenses. I've always felt so terrible for people having to choose between buying their expensive medication or feeding their families! I feel like I'm in that category now, in that I cannot survive if Trump's minions play with/damage Social Security or Medicare! (Fortunately, I have only myself to feed at this point!)
I am concerned about health, but also given that the Intelligence Community leadership has resigned, which means that we are all less safe as of that moment. That means our bases, embassies, planes, ships, freight, the US itself can be a target for a malicious actor be it government or group. I am also worried that Tulsi Gabbard will fill our intelligence community with Russian spies.
Of course, this is a bigger and much more significant issue, Linda!! i had not heard that the Intelligence leadership had resigned! that is very scary! Egad!
Well spoken, Derek. Being an American today means having to work HARD to save our country. Here's to all of us and to Robert for continuing to provide vision and a hearty example of how best to be in these days.
It is all as ugly and terrifying as it can be. (And, oh my, the email I sent to Mika yesterday.) It seems that it may be increasingly up to us to brand this presidency for what it is: The Bizarro Presidency. The Musk Presidency. The Dementia Presidency. The Russian Presidency. The Clown Car With Consequences Presidency. With the MSM falling over itself to sane wash all this, we must, in our social media posts, in our conversations, stamp this thing for what it is, just as Robert is doing here today. We must find a way to pierce their isolated, insulating bubble until a Marco Rubio, say, begins to feel just a little bit of shame for being part of the concentration camp administration, until Thune starts to think twice before gloating on Fox TV, until Susan Collins (imagine this) says, whoops, I do not wish to be Gaetz tainted. We'll be writing history as they are making it. Some of them, perhaps, will stand a little taller than they currently are. Some may be shamed toward clarity.
Susan Collins??????? I wrote to her yesterday - politely reminding her of her stupidity and naivete - REPEATEDLY - in believing the alcoholic and in thinking, for one nanosecond that the criminal learned anything.
I like The Clown Car With Consequences or the concentration camp administration. Yes, it is up to us-again-to call this as we see is because our msm is tainted$ and is NOT our friend.Mika and Joe are ring kissing out of fear of retribution from the coverage of Trump that they meted out throughout the election cycle . Too bad, because they are really on his radar now and he has no loyalty to anyone except to himself.
I despise their cowardice in this moment. As I wrote to Mika yesterday, how will they feel, at the end of a Stephen Miller segment, when she says: "Thank you VERY much for coming on the show." As she does. As she will.
Clown Car, maybe, but more like Clown Bus, and we are all in the passenger seats. While the mad clowns drive the Bus off the cliff, the Monster-in-Chief, Donald Trump survives on the precipice, as he did in 2020. Naming our disaster is probably a harmless game, and Trump hates being laughed at, so it may have a purpose. But, I think it is time to stop laughing. How many times did Berlin comedians laugh at Hitler and the Nazis from 1926 to 1933? Then the laughing stopped. The Trump Train is being normalized in every step. While my superior friends are shaking their heads in contempt at Trump and going back to business as usual, Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon, Elon Musk are mapping out the shape of a Trump dictatorship. While we all laugh at how absurd his nominations are, Trump is working the phones to get Gaetz confirmed.
Thank you for the above. More phone calls today to democrats for gratitude for fighting the fight long into the nights for the next 60us days and Republicans reminding them to decide which they want: standing a little bit taller or shamed.
Deb, I've been making those calls, too. Was flabbergasted yesterday when, after calling Fetterman's office twice and sending two emails, all I got back was a form letter on gun control issues. They can't even send me the right form letter? The best conversation I had was with Chrissy Houlahan's office. I was assured that D senators would be in session seven days a week on key matters. I might have hugged the guy on the other end of the phone.
Sorry you felt slighted by Fetterman's office. If we're tired, imagine how tired the people who were part of the limelight are. Imagine how overwhelmed their staff must feel. I've been in those offices. Most are understaffed. And extremely busy. How nice that someone in Houlahan's office was able to give you some of what you felt you needed. It does feel good when that happens.
I love Deb's idea of phone calls - or better, emails, because phone calls take more time and energy. I am just getting started on that, including thanks to people who ran but not elected. They need to hear from us too. Some of them are our best bet in 2026, and hearing from us can go a long way to encourage to keep going.
But after an ugly election, I just do not feel like getting all indignant because of not getting the appreciation or the "right form letter". I'd be satisfied that I took the time to send my appreciation to these people for sticking with a horrendously difficult election.
I'm behind because the week before the election, I took a hard fall that took a lot out of me and cut short my last week of electioneering No major injuries except maybe cracked ribs and a lot of bruises, and maybe a concussion. Question still of what caused the fall. I'm back on my feet, more or less, and the time recovering is helping me evaluate how best I can contribute to moving forward in a positive way to keep us as safe as possible until 2026 so we can build on the down-ballot gains we made this year.
Not giving up. Not gonna dis anybody who might be or become an ally. Definitely not going back.
And then there is a light of hope. Called Senstor Thine’s DC office and left a message for them and then called back and hit #3 to talk to a person. I got a very young sounding girl that did not ask my name or any other info, sounded terribly bored and so okay, bye. Called the Senator back and left a message if the unprofessional person who answered the phone and one professional to another he should be embarrassed.
My fill-in senator (a temp who was assigned to warm Dianne Feinstein's seat after her death) sends out letters that don't even mention a topic at all. They just say the equivalent of "Your call is very important to us." I am very glad she'll be gone. I can't believe she's a Democrat.
It is so serious. The question is what will cause some to step back from this cliff? I can only think of ridicule at the moment. I bet there are far better ideas than mine.
Yes, there are. Ridicule is one sure way of ensuring they will entrench where they are. That is a big part of why we're in this mess in the first place.
Let’s call the House Ethics Committee at their office number and demand that they release the report about Matt Gaetz. They are voting on this tomorrow (Wednesday, 11/20/24)!
Phone number is: (202) 225-7103
You can simply say:
"My name is _____ and I’m a resident of [state]. I’m calling to demand that the House Ethics Committee release the Matt Gaetz report. It is in the American people’s interest to know if the man tapped to lead the top law enforcement agency in the country is himself a criminal. Please do the right thing. Thanks."
I tried calling after hours and was told their mailbox is full. But I found where you can send the Ethics Committee a message on their website:
Thanks for the good info, Lynell. I called the Ethics Committee and left a message with no problem. If anyone reading this hasn't subscribed to Jessica Craven's CWCW Substack, I urge you to do so.
Thanks for that link. I altered your phone message to suit a written version and sent my message to the website. You made it easy and I really appreciate your help.
Point well taken that Biden is still President, and Trump is not even officially the president-elect yet. But the "legacy media" is still doing what they do, and the one thing we can do right now is try to throw a spanner in the works for both Trump and the more irresponsible parts of both media and Congress.
Hermine, the point here is that Trump cannot not make appointments without the Senate's approval. The more embarrassing we make it for Senators to be seen as aligned with somebody like Gaetz, the better. Eventually Trump will have to select someone with some real qualifications and ability to run the Justice Dept. Right now he is playing a game of distraction, and our role is to call him on it. The fewer crackpots the better.
Probably system overloaded. Copy what you wrote (just in case) and try again. If it still doesn't go, try clicking on the link again (this is why I always copy my web messages- just in case I have to redo the process).
Robert: FYI. Don't let our lack of response mean we are not reading your wonderful messages. I suspect many people are like us: still too stunned and sad to do much of anything, including engaging with good people like you . While I no longer watch TV news or read MSM newspapers, I read you, Joyce, Simon, Marc and Heather each day. (Heather's Gettysburg address piece today was especially riveting.) Thanks for your patience with us. We will crawl out of our holes and get to work...eventually. Bill Welsch, Punta Gorda, FL
I’d love it if you would produce a list of all of the Special Elections about to roll in for Congressional seats and how this audience can be supportive. Sounds like Dems couldn’t possibly clinch the House majority?
A really good source does seem to be Chop Wood, Carry Water. I only just started reading her newsletters, but as Robert promised, they are full of things we can do.
Trumps whacko appointments are smokescreens for his other weird and preposterous appointments all designed to keep people outraged and distracted.He used this ploy constantly in his first putrid term and is continuing it today. Some of his stuff may well happen but a lot of it is” special effects”.
I agree, Victoria, and some of the people whose insights I consider reliable (fwtw) also agree. I think sometimes we create our own silos in trying to understand what is going on and what matters, even when the people who create the very forums we are on themselves have been trying to get us to move beyond that. I am recovering from an injury, which allowed a lot of time to explore the various information resources (I am by nature and experience a researcher). The consensus aligns with your take point on.
While I worry about the awful nominees to our federal Departments, especially DOJ, DOD, DOE, and, in fact most of our Federal Government, I am a little bit comforted that these are in the public domain and subject to Congressional Oversight and coverage in the Media. I'm fearful of Trump getting his daily dose of advise from Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller, Tucker Carlson, and a host of demonstrably self-centered business oligarchs who whisper to him on planes and at dinner at Mar a Lago or on the golf course. Trump doesn't read; he doesn't contemplate. He reacts.
Threats made by for months Russian propaganda to frighten Dems, destruction of ballots, bomb scares at Dem precincts, etc. On election eve, the FBI issued a statement. "Since our statement on Friday, the Intelligence Community (IC) has been observing foreign adversaries, particularly Russia, conducting additional influence operations intended to undermine public confidence in the integrity of U.S. elections and stoke divisions among Americans."
If voters were wary of the "other" it was because Russia and a complying media and Republican proaganda targeted visceral voters. To me the "other" is Russia.
From Time Magazine:
The FBI said in a statement it was aware of the threats, many of which originated from Russian email domains, but the agency also downplayed their risk. “None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far,” the statement said.
In Pennsylvania, a polling place in West Chester was evacuated because of a threat, according to Josh Maxwell, chair of the Chester County Board of Elections. The Government Services Center was searched by dogs, and voters at the two polling stations in the center were redirected to neighboring polling places that extended their voting hours to accommodate them.
A Pennsylvania judge also granted a motion to extend voting in Clearfield County, northeast of Pittsburgh, after a bomb threat targeted an administrative building where votes were being counted, according to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
In Georgia, several voting locations extended their hours due to bomb threats, according to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger as reported by CNN. “We identify the source that it was from Russia,” he said in an earlier press conference.
Officials in DeKalb County, where five polling places suspended voting due to bomb threats, said no bombs were found, and voters were able to re-enter the polling booths and vote.
Fulton County Police Chief W. Wade Yates said that out of 177 polling places in the county, 32 faced bomb threats, and five required evacuation and had their hours extended as a result. Yates said authorities intend to prosecute those who made the threats.
Officials in Wisconsin and Michigan also confirmed bomb threats in several polling locations in the state, according to ABC7 Chicago. And Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said Tuesday that four locations in Navajo County faced bomb threats that federal and state authorities dismissed as “not credible.” Fontes said the threats came from emails with Russian domains, and that the motive looks to be to “ensue chaos” and not to “impact any political outcome.”
I've once again lost adjectives. That said - I have not resorted to blaming the Democrats and Harris - They ran the best disciplined and focused campaigns I've seen since I immigrated here in 1967.
BUT: I DO, UNEQUIVOCALLY, HOLD MERRICK GARLAND THE MAIN PLAYER FOR SADDLING US WITH TRUMP. HE IS NOT A BAD MAN, BUT HE HAS DONE THE UNITED STATES INCREDIBLE HARM WITH HIS PASSIVE, AND I DARESAY, INCOMPETENT, YES INCOMPETENT HANDLING ON NOT ONE - BUT AN UNPRECEDENTED NUMBER OF OPPORTUNITIES TO FINALLY HOLD THE CRIMINAL RESPONSIBLE. AND HE DID NOT. As I have said before, Weasel McConnell (Sorry Robert - but that's who he is) must be chortling at preventing GARLAND'S appointment to SCOTUS ---- resulting in his being more effective than others in deep sixing the criminal's ultimately getting his 'just desserts' for a life of crime and deception. I can't think of a single other person who contributed more to the criminal's election.
Is everyone(!) in 45's new Cabinet a sex offender?
Did people REALLY, knowingly, and willingly, ignore all of his abhorrent traits and actions
just because they didn't want to vote for a Black woman or because "of the price of eggs and gas"?
45 is projection, deflection, denial and distraction. No one generates more lies than he does.
"Happy" 82nd Birthday, President Joe Biden. Give yourself and the world a present by taking an extraordinary move to save SOMETHING of our democracy. Supreme Court? Checks in the mail?
I don't suppose there's any way to make DC & Puerto Rico states?
The rest of what I WANT to say is not who I want to be, so I erased it.
Make today a better one than yesterday, y'all. Do something.
Thank you so much, Robert, for your newsletter. It is the first thing I look for when I wake up in the morning. Your stabilizing dependability is so appreciated!
I am reading Alexie Navalny‘s book right now, and he begins the book by saying he learned to be direct. He skips words like a “alleged” and “adjudicated,” because they stand in the way of calling out corruption. Those qualifiers become a buffer between autocrats and their misdeeds. People have said that Trump is not Hitler and Trump is not Stalin, and Trump is not Putin. But I think JD Vance got it right: Trump is America’s Hitler, so perhaps he is also America’s Stalin and America’s Putin. Though our system and history are different from Germany’s, Russia’s, and the USSR’s, Trump‘s playbook is exactly the same. It’s not bizarre, it’s carefully planned and historically based. The shock and awe we are already experiencing as we try to process his incompetent and corrupt nominees is deliberate, not accidental. At first, I had hope that watching the administration flounder under the burden of the American government bureaucracy might be enough for Americans to flip Congress in two years and kick out Trump and his followers for good after four. But as I read Navalny’s book, I’m not sure. It seems that people get used to incompetence. Political talk criticizing the government in the comfort and privacy of one’s own home takes the place of the investigative reporting, journalistic integrity, and activism in the public sphere that is necessary to drive out a dictator. If Trump and his ilk continue to follow the playbook, the next thing we can look for is lifting term limits. And who will complain? Where will the cavalry come from?
We have already lost the Boston Globe (today published an opinion that what RFK says is not all wrong), the Washington Post, the New York Times, and a range of broadcast journalists and executives who have, even before Trump takes office, collapsed in a heap of sycophancy. Cold comfort that Navalny describes the same.
Perhaps if we are more direct: if we continue to refer to Trump as the rapist, the felon, the Putin stooge, as America’s Hitler, perhaps then we will keep fresh in our mind what we are fighting for and what we are fighting against.
Excellent comments, Mary. I'm reading Navalny's book too, and I'm astounded at what he endured, all because he refused to kowtow to Putin's brutal authoritarian regime. He fought with all his energy and intelligence, calling out the Kremlin and cronies' BS constantly, without hesitation. Navalny said to his followers (ostensibly to all of us fighting corruption), "You are not allowed to give up."
We will not give up. We will fight you, Trump, and every single boot-licker in your clown car.
We must recount! This could be the end of free and fair elections if we don’t! Please read! It’s not a conspiracy! I’m enraged…have been from the start. This is proof that the election was stolen.
Robert, thank you from the deepest part of my heart. Your strength, hard work and time to pull it all together for us each day and your kind words and love and support. The mix is indeed a bright spot of my day. We will fight the fight. Thank you again xo
Dr Oz is a graduate of the very blue blood Tower Hill School in Wilmington DE. Isn’t it amazing how these scions of Americas most elite institutions are filling the ranks of this most rank admin? Or should I say #FucktheIvyLeague
I am about to choose a medigap plan in the next few days and retire at years end. Last thing I need is Ozzy meddling in that. Medicare Advantage which is already "privatized medicare" is a risky proposition - cheap up front, but expensive when you use it. And they can and do deny care that traditional medicare would cover.
Congrats on your retirement,Susan.Agree,I don’t need Oz meddling in my traditional Medicare. Ozzy made me think of Ozzy Osbourne biting the head off a bat years ago so my mind went to how this is all bats*@t crazy.
Many are unfamiliar with ACO-Reach, a pilot program started under the Trump admin and then altered under Biden.Seniors in traditional Medicare can be unknowingly funneled into this for-profit model which has been referred to as Medicare Advantage on steroids.I believe it was Jess Craven (Chop Wood/Carry Water) who has posted about A-R so going forward I’ll share any action items.
“They have the authority to assign seniors and people with disabilities into a DCE or REACH without your full knowledge or consent,” Dr. Ed Weisbart, the Missouri chair for the Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), said. “So you still have Medicare, but now Medicare pays the DCE or the REACH [ACO], and the DCE or REACH ACO pays your doctor or hospital. And the DCE keeps nearly all of what they don’t spend on your health care. So for the first time ever, there is a middleman in traditional Medicare making a profit from your health care.”
https://homehealthcarenews.com/2022/05/medicare-advantage-on-steroids-advocates-push-back-on-aco-reach-model/
OMG. I hadn’t heard about that. Please continue to let us know anything else we can do.
I am fully aware of ACO - Reach. The only thing you can do to avoid it or get out of it to ask your provider if they are involved and if so, switch providers. I hope I do not have to do that at some point.
I am so glad you are fully aware. I am not and I appreciate Kathy's contribution to the discussion.
I am also. Just wanted to let her know I knew about it and shed further light on it. There is a group PNHP, Physcians for a National Health Program, where I think I first heard about these direct contracting entities.
Thanks for explaining that Susan.
They sure know how to enrich themselves off the taxpayer dollar at every opportunity. It is insane.
I am afraid that that is what the next Trump administration is mostly going to be is putting a lot of criminals in charge (like the mob), and then getting as much money out of everyone as they can. There is a reason Putin is one of the richest men in the world even though his country is not.
Thanks for letting us know. While my mom was able to avoid the medicare scams before her stroke, since then she has developed dementia and is easy prey to any scam. I will try to keep an eye on this.
This one with ACO - Reach is a legal, but sneaky one. I know I am going to have to watch out for it too.
Kathy, I just sent you a message. Wanted you to alert you in this public space so you know (I hope) that I’m not a kook. Thank you.
Exactly right Susan about Medicare Advantage. Good luck!
I spoke to an employee of the only professional rehabilitation facility in one of our major cities. This rehab is first class with not just intensive physical and occupational therapy, but RNs and doctors taking exceptional care of the patients who are usually recovering from major surgeries. If a patient is not accepted there, their alternatives are nursing homes or going home. The employee told me that one patient was just accepted and brought into this rehab, only to be told their Medicare Advantage did not cover the costs.
That is why I am choosing first to enroll in Medicare A&B, and get a Medigap G plan. It is more costly up front, but once you go into Advantage you can't get back out to Medigap without underwriting, which is pre-existing conditons refusal in most cases. You cannot even switch your Medigap plan once chosen to another plan or company without underwriting in PA - the only thing you can do of course is go to Advantage. So if at some point I cannot afford Medigap premiums there is a fallback - albeit not a very good one.
I have had for many years a (not-for-profit) Kaiser Permanente Senior Advantage plan. I am extremely pleased with it. I have never been denied tests or service or medications, and though getting appointments with specialists sometimes takes longer than I'd like, I can choose whichever physician I want. Copays are very reasonable for doctors and tests. It is unfortunate that many people bash all Medicare Advantage plans, when it is the for-profit ones that apparently deserve criticism.
Look it up. "Medicare" Advantage is private for profit insurance. If you refuse to know this, I am sorry
I am not refusing to know that. I said Kaiser's Medicare Senior Advantage plan is not-for profit, as distinguished from the other Medicare Advantage plans, which are for-profit.
"Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente is recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and nonprofit health plans. We currently serve members in 8 states and the District of Columbia."
They are nearly all for profit. What you describe is very rare.
I remain dispirited, but not defeated. I remain disgusted, but not disheartened. I am energized, not enervated. There will be much pain for Americans, and at the hands of Republican surgeons, more will die or suffer than we can now imagine.
But we will prevail.
Me too, Derek! Thanks for the pep talk 💙🩵
But what happens in the meantime, Derek? Today I AM dispirited, disgusted, AND frightened. These two appointments in the health area will likely cause me a recurrence of physical problems, an inability to pay for two expensive drugs one of which I need to survive, and the inability to pay for my regular expenses. I've always felt so terrible for people having to choose between buying their expensive medication or feeding their families! I feel like I'm in that category now, in that I cannot survive if Trump's minions play with/damage Social Security or Medicare! (Fortunately, I have only myself to feed at this point!)
I am concerned about health, but also given that the Intelligence Community leadership has resigned, which means that we are all less safe as of that moment. That means our bases, embassies, planes, ships, freight, the US itself can be a target for a malicious actor be it government or group. I am also worried that Tulsi Gabbard will fill our intelligence community with Russian spies.
Of course, this is a bigger and much more significant issue, Linda!! i had not heard that the Intelligence leadership had resigned! that is very scary! Egad!
https://www.pogo.org/investigations/ic-and-cia-ig-investigation
Well spoken, Derek. Being an American today means having to work HARD to save our country. Here's to all of us and to Robert for continuing to provide vision and a hearty example of how best to be in these days.
It is all as ugly and terrifying as it can be. (And, oh my, the email I sent to Mika yesterday.) It seems that it may be increasingly up to us to brand this presidency for what it is: The Bizarro Presidency. The Musk Presidency. The Dementia Presidency. The Russian Presidency. The Clown Car With Consequences Presidency. With the MSM falling over itself to sane wash all this, we must, in our social media posts, in our conversations, stamp this thing for what it is, just as Robert is doing here today. We must find a way to pierce their isolated, insulating bubble until a Marco Rubio, say, begins to feel just a little bit of shame for being part of the concentration camp administration, until Thune starts to think twice before gloating on Fox TV, until Susan Collins (imagine this) says, whoops, I do not wish to be Gaetz tainted. We'll be writing history as they are making it. Some of them, perhaps, will stand a little taller than they currently are. Some may be shamed toward clarity.
Don't count on Susan Collins to do the right thing. Ever. She's as slippery as they come.
Totally agree, Pam (from here in Belfast)
Believe me, I know. She might be more infuriating than ANY of them. I just hold out ... vague hope? Knowing Tommy Tuberville, say, will do nothing.
Susan Collins??????? I wrote to her yesterday - politely reminding her of her stupidity and naivete - REPEATEDLY - in believing the alcoholic and in thinking, for one nanosecond that the criminal learned anything.
I like The Clown Car With Consequences or the concentration camp administration. Yes, it is up to us-again-to call this as we see is because our msm is tainted$ and is NOT our friend.Mika and Joe are ring kissing out of fear of retribution from the coverage of Trump that they meted out throughout the election cycle . Too bad, because they are really on his radar now and he has no loyalty to anyone except to himself.
I despise their cowardice in this moment. As I wrote to Mika yesterday, how will they feel, at the end of a Stephen Miller segment, when she says: "Thank you VERY much for coming on the show." As she does. As she will.
Clown Car, maybe, but more like Clown Bus, and we are all in the passenger seats. While the mad clowns drive the Bus off the cliff, the Monster-in-Chief, Donald Trump survives on the precipice, as he did in 2020. Naming our disaster is probably a harmless game, and Trump hates being laughed at, so it may have a purpose. But, I think it is time to stop laughing. How many times did Berlin comedians laugh at Hitler and the Nazis from 1926 to 1933? Then the laughing stopped. The Trump Train is being normalized in every step. While my superior friends are shaking their heads in contempt at Trump and going back to business as usual, Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon, Elon Musk are mapping out the shape of a Trump dictatorship. While we all laugh at how absurd his nominations are, Trump is working the phones to get Gaetz confirmed.
Amerikka
The Trumph comrades are hard at work implementing the Putin KBG communist dictatorship model for comrade Trumph ,
while we the people and media are cleverly distracted by the clown weak appointments for the Trumph Putin dictatorship!
KBG operatives electronically evaporated millions of the one hundred million "no shows" Harris votes.
You betcha!
Who agrees ?
Thank you for the above. More phone calls today to democrats for gratitude for fighting the fight long into the nights for the next 60us days and Republicans reminding them to decide which they want: standing a little bit taller or shamed.
Deb, I've been making those calls, too. Was flabbergasted yesterday when, after calling Fetterman's office twice and sending two emails, all I got back was a form letter on gun control issues. They can't even send me the right form letter? The best conversation I had was with Chrissy Houlahan's office. I was assured that D senators would be in session seven days a week on key matters. I might have hugged the guy on the other end of the phone.
Sorry you felt slighted by Fetterman's office. If we're tired, imagine how tired the people who were part of the limelight are. Imagine how overwhelmed their staff must feel. I've been in those offices. Most are understaffed. And extremely busy. How nice that someone in Houlahan's office was able to give you some of what you felt you needed. It does feel good when that happens.
I love Deb's idea of phone calls - or better, emails, because phone calls take more time and energy. I am just getting started on that, including thanks to people who ran but not elected. They need to hear from us too. Some of them are our best bet in 2026, and hearing from us can go a long way to encourage to keep going.
But after an ugly election, I just do not feel like getting all indignant because of not getting the appreciation or the "right form letter". I'd be satisfied that I took the time to send my appreciation to these people for sticking with a horrendously difficult election.
I'm behind because the week before the election, I took a hard fall that took a lot out of me and cut short my last week of electioneering No major injuries except maybe cracked ribs and a lot of bruises, and maybe a concussion. Question still of what caused the fall. I'm back on my feet, more or less, and the time recovering is helping me evaluate how best I can contribute to moving forward in a positive way to keep us as safe as possible until 2026 so we can build on the down-ballot gains we made this year.
Not giving up. Not gonna dis anybody who might be or become an ally. Definitely not going back.
And then there is a light of hope. Called Senstor Thine’s DC office and left a message for them and then called back and hit #3 to talk to a person. I got a very young sounding girl that did not ask my name or any other info, sounded terribly bored and so okay, bye. Called the Senator back and left a message if the unprofessional person who answered the phone and one professional to another he should be embarrassed.
My fill-in senator (a temp who was assigned to warm Dianne Feinstein's seat after her death) sends out letters that don't even mention a topic at all. They just say the equivalent of "Your call is very important to us." I am very glad she'll be gone. I can't believe she's a Democrat.
My concern is that those names don't infer the seriousness of this.
I agree. This is very serious. I'm afraid the jokes are a form of nervous denial.
Nothing funny about comrade Trumph taking over his new 2025 Amerikka!
The Putin KBG fix is in!
They focused targeted propaganda on Latinos and young men to offset the female voters!
Plus evaporation of Harris votes.
Who agrees ?
I really am not joking. I don’t find any of this funny. I am saying that shaming them is a weapon we have to use. Among many.
It is so serious. The question is what will cause some to step back from this cliff? I can only think of ridicule at the moment. I bet there are far better ideas than mine.
Yes, there are. Ridicule is one sure way of ensuring they will entrench where they are. That is a big part of why we're in this mess in the first place.
Don't just say something; do something!
This from Jessica Craven, ChopWoodCarryWater:
Let’s call the House Ethics Committee at their office number and demand that they release the report about Matt Gaetz. They are voting on this tomorrow (Wednesday, 11/20/24)!
Phone number is: (202) 225-7103
You can simply say:
"My name is _____ and I’m a resident of [state]. I’m calling to demand that the House Ethics Committee release the Matt Gaetz report. It is in the American people’s interest to know if the man tapped to lead the top law enforcement agency in the country is himself a criminal. Please do the right thing. Thanks."
I tried calling after hours and was told their mailbox is full. But I found where you can send the Ethics Committee a message on their website:
https://oce.house.gov/contact-us/send-us-a-message
Thanks, Lynell. It only took about two minutes to complete the form and leave a message. I encourage everyone to do it.
I submitted a form. Thanks for the information!
I submitted the form also. Thank you
Done! Thank you for making it so easy, Lynell. I’m forwarding the info urging my circle to do the same.
Thanks for the good info, Lynell. I called the Ethics Committee and left a message with no problem. If anyone reading this hasn't subscribed to Jessica Craven's CWCW Substack, I urge you to do so.
Yes, Yes, Mary!
Thanks, Lynell. Message sent!
Thank you so much for including the website. I sent my message to them just now.
Thank you. Called and sent email.
Thanks! I did that! It really helped to be able to do this on-line, as I have to leave for work in about 2 minutes!
Thanks for that link. I altered your phone message to suit a written version and sent my message to the website. You made it easy and I really appreciate your help.
Hardly matters when the president himself is a criminal.
We still need to make noise!
The president is not a criminal. He's still president for another couple of months.
Point well taken that Biden is still President, and Trump is not even officially the president-elect yet. But the "legacy media" is still doing what they do, and the one thing we can do right now is try to throw a spanner in the works for both Trump and the more irresponsible parts of both media and Congress.
Hermine, the point here is that Trump cannot not make appointments without the Senate's approval. The more embarrassing we make it for Senators to be seen as aligned with somebody like Gaetz, the better. Eventually Trump will have to select someone with some real qualifications and ability to run the Justice Dept. Right now he is playing a game of distraction, and our role is to call him on it. The fewer crackpots the better.
Mmm. I typed up my message, but when I hit send I get a message that it is not a verified address. Anybody else get that?
Probably system overloaded. Copy what you wrote (just in case) and try again. If it still doesn't go, try clicking on the link again (this is why I always copy my web messages- just in case I have to redo the process).
Sorry, but writing emails/letters and calling congress has proven to be abjectly ineffective. We need a new approach. Open to suggestions.
Demand recounts and nation wide get off your ass and protest against comrade Trumphs regime!
Robert: FYI. Don't let our lack of response mean we are not reading your wonderful messages. I suspect many people are like us: still too stunned and sad to do much of anything, including engaging with good people like you . While I no longer watch TV news or read MSM newspapers, I read you, Joyce, Simon, Marc and Heather each day. (Heather's Gettysburg address piece today was especially riveting.) Thanks for your patience with us. We will crawl out of our holes and get to work...eventually. Bill Welsch, Punta Gorda, FL
Reading the Gettysburg address always brings tears.
I think you are the best cheerleader for our Democracy. Thanks to your posts I am reenergized and ready to take back our country. 🙏
Ballot Curing for Adam Gray and Derek Tran:
https://www.mobilize.us/?org_ids=945&org_ids=34152&org_ids=38709&q=ballot
I’d love it if you would produce a list of all of the Special Elections about to roll in for Congressional seats and how this audience can be supportive. Sounds like Dems couldn’t possibly clinch the House majority?
A really good source does seem to be Chop Wood, Carry Water. I only just started reading her newsletters, but as Robert promised, they are full of things we can do.
Trumps whacko appointments are smokescreens for his other weird and preposterous appointments all designed to keep people outraged and distracted.He used this ploy constantly in his first putrid term and is continuing it today. Some of his stuff may well happen but a lot of it is” special effects”.
I agree, Victoria, and some of the people whose insights I consider reliable (fwtw) also agree. I think sometimes we create our own silos in trying to understand what is going on and what matters, even when the people who create the very forums we are on themselves have been trying to get us to move beyond that. I am recovering from an injury, which allowed a lot of time to explore the various information resources (I am by nature and experience a researcher). The consensus aligns with your take point on.
While I worry about the awful nominees to our federal Departments, especially DOJ, DOD, DOE, and, in fact most of our Federal Government, I am a little bit comforted that these are in the public domain and subject to Congressional Oversight and coverage in the Media. I'm fearful of Trump getting his daily dose of advise from Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller, Tucker Carlson, and a host of demonstrably self-centered business oligarchs who whisper to him on planes and at dinner at Mar a Lago or on the golf course. Trump doesn't read; he doesn't contemplate. He reacts.
For me this is deja vu. GWB named 21 interim appointees per year for 8 years. Tried to do in several agencies. I worked for an anti labor DOL.
How do you say "it was the Russians, stupid" in Russian?
The appointment of Tulsi Gabbard, looks like a Trump payoff in thanks for a "big steal" https://substack.com/inbox/post/151721941?r=1nic41&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true
Threats made by for months Russian propaganda to frighten Dems, destruction of ballots, bomb scares at Dem precincts, etc. On election eve, the FBI issued a statement. "Since our statement on Friday, the Intelligence Community (IC) has been observing foreign adversaries, particularly Russia, conducting additional influence operations intended to undermine public confidence in the integrity of U.S. elections and stoke divisions among Americans."
If voters were wary of the "other" it was because Russia and a complying media and Republican proaganda targeted visceral voters. To me the "other" is Russia.
From Time Magazine:
The FBI said in a statement it was aware of the threats, many of which originated from Russian email domains, but the agency also downplayed their risk. “None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far,” the statement said.
In Pennsylvania, a polling place in West Chester was evacuated because of a threat, according to Josh Maxwell, chair of the Chester County Board of Elections. The Government Services Center was searched by dogs, and voters at the two polling stations in the center were redirected to neighboring polling places that extended their voting hours to accommodate them.
A Pennsylvania judge also granted a motion to extend voting in Clearfield County, northeast of Pittsburgh, after a bomb threat targeted an administrative building where votes were being counted, according to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
In Georgia, several voting locations extended their hours due to bomb threats, according to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger as reported by CNN. “We identify the source that it was from Russia,” he said in an earlier press conference.
Officials in DeKalb County, where five polling places suspended voting due to bomb threats, said no bombs were found, and voters were able to re-enter the polling booths and vote.
Fulton County Police Chief W. Wade Yates said that out of 177 polling places in the county, 32 faced bomb threats, and five required evacuation and had their hours extended as a result. Yates said authorities intend to prosecute those who made the threats.
Officials in Wisconsin and Michigan also confirmed bomb threats in several polling locations in the state, according to ABC7 Chicago. And Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said Tuesday that four locations in Navajo County faced bomb threats that federal and state authorities dismissed as “not credible.” Fontes said the threats came from emails with Russian domains, and that the motive looks to be to “ensue chaos” and not to “impact any political outcome.”
I've once again lost adjectives. That said - I have not resorted to blaming the Democrats and Harris - They ran the best disciplined and focused campaigns I've seen since I immigrated here in 1967.
BUT: I DO, UNEQUIVOCALLY, HOLD MERRICK GARLAND THE MAIN PLAYER FOR SADDLING US WITH TRUMP. HE IS NOT A BAD MAN, BUT HE HAS DONE THE UNITED STATES INCREDIBLE HARM WITH HIS PASSIVE, AND I DARESAY, INCOMPETENT, YES INCOMPETENT HANDLING ON NOT ONE - BUT AN UNPRECEDENTED NUMBER OF OPPORTUNITIES TO FINALLY HOLD THE CRIMINAL RESPONSIBLE. AND HE DID NOT. As I have said before, Weasel McConnell (Sorry Robert - but that's who he is) must be chortling at preventing GARLAND'S appointment to SCOTUS ---- resulting in his being more effective than others in deep sixing the criminal's ultimately getting his 'just desserts' for a life of crime and deception. I can't think of a single other person who contributed more to the criminal's election.
Is everyone(!) in 45's new Cabinet a sex offender?
Did people REALLY, knowingly, and willingly, ignore all of his abhorrent traits and actions
just because they didn't want to vote for a Black woman or because "of the price of eggs and gas"?
45 is projection, deflection, denial and distraction. No one generates more lies than he does.
"Happy" 82nd Birthday, President Joe Biden. Give yourself and the world a present by taking an extraordinary move to save SOMETHING of our democracy. Supreme Court? Checks in the mail?
I don't suppose there's any way to make DC & Puerto Rico states?
The rest of what I WANT to say is not who I want to be, so I erased it.
Make today a better one than yesterday, y'all. Do something.
Thank you so much, Robert, for your newsletter. It is the first thing I look for when I wake up in the morning. Your stabilizing dependability is so appreciated!
I am reading Alexie Navalny‘s book right now, and he begins the book by saying he learned to be direct. He skips words like a “alleged” and “adjudicated,” because they stand in the way of calling out corruption. Those qualifiers become a buffer between autocrats and their misdeeds. People have said that Trump is not Hitler and Trump is not Stalin, and Trump is not Putin. But I think JD Vance got it right: Trump is America’s Hitler, so perhaps he is also America’s Stalin and America’s Putin. Though our system and history are different from Germany’s, Russia’s, and the USSR’s, Trump‘s playbook is exactly the same. It’s not bizarre, it’s carefully planned and historically based. The shock and awe we are already experiencing as we try to process his incompetent and corrupt nominees is deliberate, not accidental. At first, I had hope that watching the administration flounder under the burden of the American government bureaucracy might be enough for Americans to flip Congress in two years and kick out Trump and his followers for good after four. But as I read Navalny’s book, I’m not sure. It seems that people get used to incompetence. Political talk criticizing the government in the comfort and privacy of one’s own home takes the place of the investigative reporting, journalistic integrity, and activism in the public sphere that is necessary to drive out a dictator. If Trump and his ilk continue to follow the playbook, the next thing we can look for is lifting term limits. And who will complain? Where will the cavalry come from?
We have already lost the Boston Globe (today published an opinion that what RFK says is not all wrong), the Washington Post, the New York Times, and a range of broadcast journalists and executives who have, even before Trump takes office, collapsed in a heap of sycophancy. Cold comfort that Navalny describes the same.
Perhaps if we are more direct: if we continue to refer to Trump as the rapist, the felon, the Putin stooge, as America’s Hitler, perhaps then we will keep fresh in our mind what we are fighting for and what we are fighting against.
Excellent comments, Mary. I'm reading Navalny's book too, and I'm astounded at what he endured, all because he refused to kowtow to Putin's brutal authoritarian regime. He fought with all his energy and intelligence, calling out the Kremlin and cronies' BS constantly, without hesitation. Navalny said to his followers (ostensibly to all of us fighting corruption), "You are not allowed to give up."
We will not give up. We will fight you, Trump, and every single boot-licker in your clown car.
https://www.planetcritical.com/p/cyber-security-experts-warn-election-hacked
We must recount! This could be the end of free and fair elections if we don’t! Please read! It’s not a conspiracy! I’m enraged…have been from the start. This is proof that the election was stolen.
Do something! COUNT!
DO you know of how one might support this ---- and - has there been any word from the Democrats getting on board with this?
Good to see you post this link, Meg. Another reader has posted it on this page, so it hopefully is going to gain traction.
Robert, thank you from the deepest part of my heart. Your strength, hard work and time to pull it all together for us each day and your kind words and love and support. The mix is indeed a bright spot of my day. We will fight the fight. Thank you again xo
Dr Oz is a graduate of the very blue blood Tower Hill School in Wilmington DE. Isn’t it amazing how these scions of Americas most elite institutions are filling the ranks of this most rank admin? Or should I say #FucktheIvyLeague