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One amusing aspect of the Speaker search is that the House Republicans are basically using Ranked Choice Voting to choose their designated nominee from the eight that have put their names in the hat. Each vote will eliminate the man (there are no women..) getting the least number of votes for the next round of voting until someone gets a majority of the votes. When I asked my state representative, a Republican, what he thought of Ranked Choice Voting his answer was “Not in my lifetime!” Think I’ll write him a note on how the House Republicans used it to choose the Speaker --- maybe. We, the People, all of us this time!

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Better yet, Cathy, when you write to your state rep, just ask him whether he thinks their voting system for electing a speaker is working well and should we use that system to elect the president. If he says it's great and yes, we should...then tell him he just advocated for RCV!

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It sounds more like an episode of Survivor. Republicans, like the Defendant, seem to see everything thru the director's lens of a reality TV show. They treat their audience as just that - an audience.

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founding

Unrealty TV show, I think.

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Yeah, I've never really understood the term. It's anything but reality. Sort of like MAGA - anything but making America great (again). America was great before the Defendant tried to "fix" it (for his personal gain), and it's taken a lot of President Biden's spare time to undo some of the damage (there's still a lot to repair, and daily havoc the Defendant continues to wreak).

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It's a bit of a rule of thumb that you look at any conservative group name and you are guaranteed the goal is pretty much the exact opposite.

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Yes, I think it's a corollary of projectionism, something that the Defendant turned into an artform, embraced by the Republican'ts.

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Plus it puts to good use people who don't read or read well and never dive into anything beyond the title.

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While I'd like to aim this high in voting for the President I'd be very satisfied if we just got rid of the Electoral College. FWIW, a Presidential vote in Wyoming is almost 4 times as valuable as a Presidential vote in California. The President should be elected like everyone else, by the popular vote. One person, one vote.

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Michael, the National Popular Vote campaign agrees with you. More info at www.nationalpopularvote.com. It's an exciting project that can succeed if more of us get our states to sign up.

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Currently 205 votes in favor, 63 pending. 270 needed to win. 270 are neither elected or pending, so maybe some of the can be persuaded to join. Some of the smallest states have signed on.

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40 times? CA population about 39 million, Wyoming less than 1 million.

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Wyoming has a population of 577,719 and 3 EC votes, IOW 1 EC vote for every 192,573 citizens. California has a population of 39,576,757 and 54 EC votes, IOW 1 EC vote for every 732,903 citizens. Therefore a WY voter is 3.8 times more likely to influence the election than a CA voter.

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Exactly. We no longer need to send electors on railroad cars and horse back to cast a vote "representing" the population of their state. We have instant communication and we need to admit that. Questions can still be settled by paper ballot vote.

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It’s just like their logic (or lack thereof) on just about every issue.

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First, Robert is absolutely right! We are winning! "An electorate fed up with MAGA extremism willing to do the hard work of retail politics" is exactly the formula that's working all across the country.

Second, Danielle Allen in the Washington Post is absolutely wrong! MAGA is not a legitimate political party and should never be recognized as one. MAGA is an extremist, authoritarian movement within the GOP that is engaged in an active insurrection against our constitutional government.

It's absurd to suggest that we should accommodate this threat to our democratic republic by granting it the legitimacy of a political party. The MAGA movement must be decisively and irreversibly defeated, its leaders publicly disgraced. There is no place for them, or their leader Donald Trump, in our multi-cultural democracy.

If Republicans can't accomplish this themselves, we'll have to do it for them. But we do not have the luxury of letting the MAGA movement survive.

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I respectfully disagree with your comments on MAGA legitimacy. There is no doubt that the group exists, and they have elected people to office, thereby establishing their legitimacy. You are quite correct, however, that we can't tolerate their continued active presence in government because they have no interest in governing under the system the rest of us recognize. To that end, you and Robert are quite right about our need to organize, select and support quality candidates, and get out the vote.

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Dave, I understand your point, that obviously MAGA exists. What I strenuously object to is Danielle Allen’s recommendation that we “usher in a three-party system” in response.

She is suggesting that traditional Republicans should surrender their party structure and apparatus to the proto-fascist movement that’s subverting it. Rather than remain true to their founding principles of constitutional conservatism, and defeating the extremists within their ranks, Ms. Allen seems to think it would be better for mainstream traditional establishment Republicans to start over as the smallest and weakest of three parties in our democratic electoral system.

It’s hard to imagine a worse way to confront the direct assault that MAGA forces, masquerading as Republicans, are at this moment conducting against our institutions of self-government. No “party” that refuses to concede an election loss has any claim to legitimacy in our system. It would be suicidal for us to agree Danielle Allen's suggestion.

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I agree with you in respect of the impact of what Ms. Allen refers to as GOP23 giving up the party infrastructure but I do like the idea of taking the cover of Republican respectability away from the MAGAts and forcing them to lay their lack of programs out to the public.

It is a contradiction in terms for election deniers to campaign for election or re-election and I'm curious to see how long they can maintain the current situation. The essential point right now, as for the last 3 weeks, is the formation of an effective coalition between the surprisingly still unified Democrats and enough courageous Republicans to elect a Speaker they can all support for the next 14 months and on that, I think you, Ms. Allen, and I agree. As odd as it sounds, we need a return to classic politics to enable the give and take that gets things done.

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Exactly, Dave. MAGA is using the GOP as cover for their subversion. It's pretty clear now who are the real RINO's.

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Clear at least to you and I, but to most of those notionally independent Republicans, at least publicly, not so much.

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Wonderful exchange of ideas. Great points made both ways. It sounds like you agree it's a cancer with the dispute being over chemo or excision.

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founding

“We can’t tolerate their continued active presence in government....” is right on. Yet, as I have posted on Today’s Edition and elsewhere, they Republicans MUST break from taking direction in the House from TFG!! Moreover, those Republicans who have enabled his lawless conduct and destructive efforts to undermine our democracy MUST at some point, recognize and step away from their enabling of Trump since the very first impeachment. Their track record is appalling.

That is the fantasy I have for seeing a renewed and serious Republican Party.

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Please excuse my quibble. All you say is correct, but it is a sad commentary on the American public that the Democrats' most visible raison d'être is demolishing MAGA and TFG. Of course we must, however too many Americans remain in the dark or distaste for all the Democratic party stands for. Unfortunately, too many people believe what my grandson said last weekend. He will be old enought to vote in the next election, but he will not, he says, because the choices are both undesirable.

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author

Hope, when a would-be tyrant seeks to destroy our democracy, Democrats are right to make defeating that threat there number one priority. If they didn't, there are priorities are irrelevant.

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As always Robert, I appreciate your insight and kind words. I have a tendency to see the dark side of things, but you open my eyes and my heart. Thank you.

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Then we must work harder to both understand & communicate how there is only one choice, before choice no longer exists.

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founding

Yes!!!

We cannot surrender our one power -- VOTING -- before it is forcibly taken from us.

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The Democrats are by no means perfect, but when they are in charge, progress happens, sometimes maddeningly slow, but it does occur. Under MAGA leadership, and even under the so-called “sane” Republicans, all we get is regression and erosion of Democracy. We must get young people to understand that if the 2016 election and Trump’s shifting of the SCOTUS to the far right isn't enough for them to understand that then we need to try much harder.

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founding

He just silenced himself. A key step in an autocracy. I am sad for him.

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Never fear, I salted the conversation with how the Biden administration created jobs, opportunities in American manufacturing, trying to lower student debt and how much I like the emphasis on human services. These are things that will be on his mind in the near future.

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People have Sid that in every election I can remember. Their loss!

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founding

Then your grandson has no deep understanding of our constitutional government and democracy wherein the engagement of all voting citizens can determine the direction they want the country to take. His silence (I don’t care.) will be one more non-vote leaving the country in the hands of big money and failed elected leaders.

I hope there will be other grandsons who can fill the vacuum and stand strong for democracy, his and everyone’s future.

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Thanks, John. I think he's having a moment of adolescent angst. I am planting seeds...there's still time and maybe some maturity ahead. As for deep understanding....probably not, but he's young. Neither of his parents were educated in the US, so there's likely a missing piece in his understanding of US politics.

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founding

Certainly he is not alone. Some days I have adult angst.

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“During a campaign stop in New Hampshire, [Trump] praised Viktor Orbán “as one of the strongest leaders anywhere in the world. He’s the leader of Turkey.” Orbán is NOT the leader of Turkey; the leader of Turkey is Recep Erdoğan.”

Sadly, his followers don’t know the difference anyway. They hear a name that doesn’t sound “American” and it’s all the same to them.

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Can we bury the Republican Party in an unmarked mass grave? :-)

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Oct 24, 2023·edited Oct 24, 2023

Would it not be more appropriate to mark the grave, lest we forget?

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founding

DW, you mark it, but for this 80 year old JFK Democrat I don’t think a marker will ever be necessary.

Imagine having lived a lifetime inspired by “how might you serve your country” to “the big steal” and now faced with the terror of “march on the Capitol if you really want to save your country.”

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Let’s do it on Halloween! 🤩

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founding

Well Halloween came early and all the clown suits have been rented by the Republicans.

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founding

We can only bury them in their current condition if they rest in piece next to DJT’s grave. Which poses a chicken and egg question. Must the Republican Party as we have known it die before DJT? Or, must DJT die before the Republican Party can regain its footing/senses?

Will they ever again be able to govern? More to the point, Do they want to ever again govern?

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Excellent newsletter today and thank you.

I’ll just like to add for durability that this Democratic groundswell is what our Democracy is supposed to look like all the time. It’s what We The People is. I am so exhausted from my boots being on the ground every day, all day fir the past 8 years. But even if I step down from organizational leadership after 2024, I’m training myself that I will still be involved because if not, the cycle will repeat and we’ll slip backwards in a matter of time. The Democrats are showing people what Democracy is truly made from. If we do survive this, I will and do carry all of you in my soul, far and wide, who will never know each other but are out there caring and working tirelessly to protect and sustain our country.

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author

Amy. Thank you for your eight years of leadership!

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I believe I said several days ago that we have three political parties. The only question is when it will finally be made official. Welcome Speaker Jeffries!!

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Although the impact is far from apparent, Fani Willis has singlehandedly achieved more for the advancement of lawyers in marginalized groups than all the "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" committees and Centers throughout bar associations and law schools combined. Despite conscious efforts by groups within legal organizations, the legal profession has failed noticeably to give people of color and religious and sexual differences a place to excel on talent rather than the bias accompanying those differences. I have watched with a smiling satisfaction how Ms. Willis - bless her heart - has advanced the cause of equity and inclusion of lawyers, mediators, and judges across our professional landscape. Thank you, Ms. Willis, for quietly being excellent at your job. No grandstanding, just capable performance. Hurray for her! The competence of this Black woman lawyer says a lot that words cannot.

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Right on!!

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Thank you, Robert, for your continued and mostly successful efforts to enhance our understanding of what's going on here in the U.S. and the rest of the world.

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I'm waiting with "baited" breath to hear Robert's (and maybe Joyce Vance's) analysis of the Defendant's motions. As a layman, I found the introductions to each of the 3 linked motions to be laughable. For those who are interested, the intros are mercifully brief and fairly straightforward. I hope Judge Chutkan borrows a few lines from Fani Willis's response to former Speaker-dreamer Jordan.

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A friend of mine teaches Political Sciences courses at a major university and gave me the following thoughts. I wanted to share them with you. He suggested that the Jim Jordan attempt to win the Speaker role and the overt use of bullying, threats and intimidation against fellow Republicans was designed to help Jordan win but more importantly send a message to other politicians that this type of aggression is waiting for you if you try and buck the MAGA system. Imagine if you were a decent conservative fed up Republican who wanted to change the dynamics of your party the real threats to you and your family would be a deterrent against your wanting to buck the system. The Republicans will never fix their own party politics only the voters will and can. This should be a warning that if we want changes we need to make them ourselves in the voting booth. His final comment was many of his students (graduate level) are disgusted with all of politics and don’t trust the media or social platforms to provide truthful information and are desperate to change this dynamic. This feeling of anxiety and mistrust has led to many young people dropping out and not voting because they don’t think it would make a difference. This is what we together need to change and we need to partner with them to make it happen. In the early 60’s JFK and “ Camelot “ converted young idealistic students like myself and we rallied around the concept we should get involved and make a difference. We need another Camelot.

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The GOP has become a political version of the mafia. It is a violent criminal organization that uses the trappings of office to maintain a false veneer of respectability.

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Thanks for following the political situation in Wisconsin and the heroic efforts of Democrats to fight back against a rigged situation. If it can be done in Wisconsin, it can be done anywhere. We followed your link to Jennifer Rubin's article. Her final comment is right in line with your daily Hubble-hope and

deserves reposting:

The Wisconsin lesson: Even in less than ideal conditions, defenders of the rule of law and democracy can organize, instill hope, drive public opinion and defeat authoritarian efforts to protect incumbents.

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I agree, and the fact that Ben Wikler is now working with the chair of the Democratic party in Michigan, who is also incredible, to inspire and lift up other state parties is really hopeful to me.

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Oct 24, 2023·edited Oct 24, 2023

Bannon loves chaos. He seems to be the thought leader for the GOP - - at least the MAGA end of the GOP. Another guy who loves chaos in the US is Vladimir Putin. I wonder if this symmetry is as obvious to the rest of the GOP as it is to me?

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Not to put too fine a point on it - Fox also loves the chaos. National interest be damned.

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Athletes who win races concentrate on what they need to do to win. They are peripherally aware of their opponents, but not hyper focused on them during the race. The Dems need to focus on working to meet various groups of voters and getting out the vote.

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Oct 24, 2023·edited Oct 24, 2023

Here in Wisconsin, Republicans have become aware that the jig is up. They are frantically trying to get through legislation that ostensibly creates fair maps, BUT leaves the ultimate approval of those maps still in the hands of the gerrymandered legislature. Gov. Evers has vowed to veto the bill.

Note: I gladly donated money for the Dem's ad campaign. Our post card group contacted both of our R legislators about their attempt to subvert their constituents' choice. (Protasewicz won our otherwise pink counties in SW Wisconsin by margins of 3-8%.)

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founding

Orban and Trump are both turkeys. (On another site, several commenters suggested that Trump was hung(a)ry, and so thought of (T)urkey. But others pointed out that if that were the case, he would have pegged Orban as president of Big Mac.).

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Too funny! The only lol so far today. Thank you Jon.

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😂

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So, the Nazi RICO Party, the Financial Crime Party and the Democratic Party. Who will win?

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