Robert, Fake 45 is in a heap of trouble and I am here for it. I would love to see him go bankrupt before his trial starts. So very tired of all the bullshit that the R’s put us through daily.
Looks like your babysitting skills are perfect because you tired the little one out. Good job, grandpa!
I think Trump ran because he wants to avoid convictions AND use his donations to pay for legal fees. And, I, too, and so very sick of the lying, whataboutism, and constant defense of a sociopathic, criminal narcissist.
I’m not as convinced that the Republican Party is self destructing as others but I definitely think the moderate college educated Republicans won’t vote for Trump. The real campaigns are at the local level and in state legislatures and that is where the effort and resources need to focus. Republican majority state government legislators have created some of the most restrictive laws in this country that have denied rights to a wide number of Americans and frankly have had more of an impact on our everyday life than what has happened on a national level. Unfortunately not all of the Democratic party leadership in several states have the skills and organizations to effectively compete with entrenched Republican Party organizations. The Democratic National Party leadership team needs to effectively develop a state by state strategic plan integrated with the multitude of local grass roots organizations all working together with a similar goal and message.
I agree and think that they should listen to David Pepper, author of “Saving Democracy: A User’s Manual” or follow him on Substack. He says we need to pay attention to elections in the states. In many red states, no Democrat is running in opposition to corrupt Republicans and therefore the Republicans are not accountable for what they do. This has got to change. It may take awhile. It’s a long game but an important one.
There's a Democratic National Party leadership team? Must be a stealth operation. Lack of a consistent theme and approach (platform) in the public arena is one of the major challenges the Democrats face.
The DNC has a tremendous, and effective phone bank platform that is/has been calling in the Priority States of OH, MS, VI for the elections happening in 2023. Please, check this out to learn how you can join in to reach out to voters based upon what’s a good fit for you.
I’ve been part of the DNC Call Crew going on 2 years now. They have “the best” dialer, and I’ve used a lot of dialers since 2017.
They have messaging content that is stellar, and good to go when using social media.
I recently completed 8 weeks of training w/the DNC Call Crew and it was a tight, effective, and well-run program. We also received plenty of resources to help in reaching out to voters. And I cannot say enough good things about the staff - energetic, optimistic, and very smart younger people.
This is all about boots-on-the-ground organizing that works to engage voters. And they have built quite a force! Join in!
Yes, I find it amazing that a current topic, lie, or defense hits the GOP all at the same time. I often wonder if they all receive the lie of the day texts.
I completely agree with your assertion that "the real campaigns are at the local level and in state legislatures and that is where the effort and resources need to focus." However, I am not so sure that "moderate college educated Republicans won't vote for Trump." We Democrats must understand current and potential voters and that education is only one of many salient demographic measures. Robert Hubbell wrote in this latest blog:
"For Trump's base, the indictments are proof that he is the ultimate outsider who represents the aggrieved non-college voters angry at America.”
Similarly, I don't think that this brief summary statement is correct. Yet it was Robert who pointed us toward Michael Podhorzer, former Political Director of the AFL-CIO and a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress. Podhorzer tells us that Trump's base consists of people whose voting patterns were established largely by where they grew up and by religious affiliation and that these influences over-ride one's level of education and strongly bias other demographic factors. He primarily relies on Catalist and Pew research, which he interprets with great clarity. Here are his two relevant SubStack blog posts:
And, Podhorzer's findings correspond with those of Bob Altemeyer, a retired Professor of Psychology at the University of Manitoba, who has co-authored with John Dean of Watergate fame. Altemeyer's forty years of research into the American electorate involved developing scales -- and using them to measure voting and political constituencies -- to measure authoritarianism, the love of power over all else (Power Mad scale), and right-wing Evangelicanism, a scale that correlates closely with his Authoritarian scale. Evangelicals are themselves divided in political affiliation, as are other religious groups whose members primarily support Trump and the MAGA GOP.
Prof. Altemeyer recently posted on his site a frightening analysis of Trump's appeal. This is well worth a read and is linked below.
Thank you, I read it and even though Nate Cohn is widely respected, he’s basing his opinions on national polling data to suggest that never-Trump voters are more educated. I agree with him that Trump is very hard to defeat because of the influence of Fox and other right-wing media. The propaganda effect is its own story.
Michael Podhorzer just posted the second in his four-part series on the Pew midterm report and common errors in conventional election analysis. There’s a lot to take in, so I’ll have to give the second part another read. His writing is lucid.
We cannot let school boards, the likes of Glenn Youngkin, Hillsdale or Moms for Liberty to influence state and local elections. This would be an unacceptable act of complacency we cannot be party to.
Among all the mind-boggling and -numbing things about TFG's continuing hold on the GOP faithful is his ability to raise and spend their money on the legal defense of his indefensible behavior.
I love your concluding Concluding Thought. Yes, I'd call that a success, on so many levels. Your impact on your grandchildren is as evident and lasting as your impact on the rest of us. Well done!
In the words of Mike Royko, "It ain't over, 'til it's over!" Just don't know what to make of the GOP. While I know people that vote Republican because I worked in a place that was a progressive school, but had plenty of non-progressives in the business office and other roles, who were clearly Republican. Most of the facilities staff were White Chicago Firemen on their second jobs. That is a union that has not gone for Biden, instead preferring to hold on to racist, sexist beliefs from their days of inception. That is true of our police department too. The union leader is an avowed Trumper. So, looking at so many White working class racists being for Trump, I cannot have a sense of how he will do, but I know in my home city he will not be the winner. I live in Chicago and it is a Democratic stronghold. This makes it hard for me to have a good take on the nation. I know that sparsely populated Downstate Illinois is filled with Republicans, but they will not the majority make. In fact, if we would move our state prisons to the city (I proposed using empty office buildings for this in conversion given that our state prisons are in appalling physical condition) since the majority of inmates come from Chicago, which might decrease the populations in downstate communities because several of them are dependent on the prisons to employ their population. However, they neither take care of them, nor is it a very good dynamic to have so many racist White folks guarding the largely non-White populations in the prisons. I also think it is a matter of national security to move military bases from Red governed states. These states are the ones turning down health care dollars for their citizens. How can anyone vote for people like that? I have heard of people being made to feel that it is charity to get government help. How sad and brainwashed these people are.
I often wonder about this, also. Then i think about the qualifications for both careers, and having a GED or high school diploma is generally the highest need. There is some training after hiring, but often not much. That puts these careers in the MAGA most devoted supporters category. (Differing qualifications of course for different jobs and areas.)
With ignorance there is always a chance to change it. With stupidity there isn't much anyone can do. The GOP allowing this crap to go on and on is pure stupidity based on their own wants and needs and biases.
The Rs ought to just auction off their nomination. That would be consistent with their beliefs, and wonderfully reminiscent of the Roman empire. The only problem: would the winner actually pay up, in actual money?
Thank you always, Robert. As much as I appreciate the political aspect of your newsletter, I feel so grateful to be getting to know you and Jill through stories like today's Concluding Thoughts. You are really lovely people. Kind, thoughtful, funny. Reading about you with your granddaughter made me laugh, a good start to today.
I am more worried about a Third Party candidate, funded by dark money and designed to get Trump elected. Beware the Trojan Horse! Will enough Democrats recognize the ruse and stick with Biden?
The GOP, and their donors and members, are getting what they deserve for unashamedly hitching their star to Trump for so long. Now they can't shake loose of him. I plan to be amused when watching the viewership numbers of the first R debate: Without Trump designing to participate, the ratings will be abysmal. Perhaps at that point they'll realize the inevitability of their self-destruction. Far too late to do anything to correct their situation.
No complacency on our part, but no mercy or quarter should be given, as Democrats sail on to victory.
So here’s what I’m wondering. Trump threw together a coup attempt in 2020 in a few
months. It failed, but mainly because Pence refused to take steps that would have thrown the election into the House where Trump would have won. So my question is what’s he planning for when he loses in 2024? He will have had 4 years and surely he can find a better plan to execute. All the chaos around him might be a cover for a serious coup strategy. Anyone else worried about this?
At the same time, if he believes he is going to lose, he will be making some kind of plan just as he did months before the 2020 election. Facing prison if he loses, he will be even more desperate than he was in 2020 - and he was extremely desperate then not to lose power. So we need to be thinking about what he will do if/when he loses in 2024 - especially if polls show an almost certain loss as they probably will. Or will his plan be to seek refuge in Saudi Arabia or some other friendly country - if anyone will have him once it's clear what a loser he is? We were surprised by the revelations of the Jan 6 committee as to how deep rooted and how much planning went into a coup attempt that we all thought was just a crazy spur-of-the-moment desperate spasm of treason. We need to think seriously about what moves he could make and not be watching TV with our mouths open as we did on Jan 6.
Except that he will no longer have access to any major federal building. And, if he attempts such a thing, hopefully the ability of law enforcement is stronger.
Good question, Ned. Rest assured worry about his 2024 loss is just one of many that keep me on edge and have so since Nov 2016. The man must not ever be returned to the WH.
Nor can we be complacent or feel comfortable because Today’s Edition provides a bubble of likeminded, good people who reinforce one another. We must go on to 2024 with eyes WIDE open and fight like hell.
Thank you for summarizing GOP events. I find I am out of energy and adjectives. It is hard to imagine a more boring group of grifters nor a louder noise machine of nonsense. I'm just going to put my head down and work as hard as I can to help get all of them out of office and into jail where they belong.
Jul 31, 2023·edited Jul 31, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
I still have my Biden sticker on my car, and yesterday a man came up to me to discuss politics. He stated nothing of real substance (meaning truth) and referred to Hillary as the antichrist. He also repeated three times he wasn't a Trump fan, but focused his hatred on Biden, Hillary and Bill, and Pelosi. When he mentioned Hillary as antichrist, I put my hands up and said I was done. That those words indicated he was more than a bit delusional. He amazingly shut up.
What I learned from this encounter was the reinforcement of everything MAGA even if he wasn't a "Trump fan." The believing of false facts that I could put a name that spews the nonsense was amazing. But, it also reinforced how very sick I am of all this crap. I live on Earth One. So many people live on Earth Two and now Three. There are no discussions possible for presenting truthful facts because they are so entrenched in longtime hatred of our government, racism, anti semitic bias, and victimhood. I use my FB page to copy and past articles such as this one to spread the truthful word. But, I'm preaching to the choir so to speak because almost every friend is also tired of MAGA/GOP dysfunction. (They are probably sick of my political posts, but that's okay.) I have a dog toy of DJT, and I keep stabbing pins in his mouth and heart just hoping...
Before the 2020 election I found a Trump Dammit doll on Amazon. It’s a “stress/frustration” relieving stuffed (how appropriate) rag doll. Banging it on a desk or tabletop works. I made a small investment in several to give my family and close friends. It did the trick much like your VooDoo doll! Very therapeutic.
I love your blog, your knowledge and your optimism!
I'm just wondering if this kind of characterization of Trump supporters
"For Trump's base, the indictments are proof that he is the ultimate outsider who represents the aggrieved non-college voters angry at America" while possibly true, isn't too demeaning. Possibly these Trump supporters are not reading the blog! Nevertheless denigration seems unnecessary. Or if denigration is necessary, how about the rich supporters who are supposed to be smart enough to know better?
You raise a valid point. But what do we say about a group of voters who continue support a twice indicted, twice impeached former president who paid hush money to an adult film actress and was found to have committed sexual assault in a department store? At some point, their support for Trump cannot be minimized or rationalized because they are upset about inflation or globalization. And their overwhelming belief that Joe Biden stole the 2020 election is dangerous to American democracy. How can they support the J6 Insurrection if they are not angry at America? So, I used strong words, but I think they are true and fair. But should we refrain from describing Trump's voters in that fashion. Maybe. But (as a sincere question), what would it gain us?
It would gain us nothing but I think if you or I are approached with an encounter with a Trumpian, I would tell them “I believe you feel that way.” and then I would leave. You’re not invalidating their diatribe but you’re not agreeing with them either.
It may not gain us anything but down the road we must pave the way for opening up the divide to new ways of connecting that allow us to move beyond the entrenched outlook on either side. It’s a long journey but somewhere and sometime we must build bridges, not walls.
I feel we have to define the motives for supporting Trump. I think those that have announced running against him, are ever so gentle with their words, and are so low in the polls just want to be his VP pick. Exception is Chris Christie at this point. The mega donors are wanting to get someone in that sides with their needs to keep taxes low, deregulate big business, and push keeping taxes on the middles class as well as abolishing women's right to choose health care options, and push evangelical Christianity. The common citizens have love his message of misogyny, racism, hate anyone other than MAGA, and support white nationalism and closing all borders. This last group's hatred is over the top, and they are willing and able to believe anything that comes out of MAGA's Lying mouths.
On Saturday in Erie, PA, TFG reignited the firestorm around his first impeachment by citing a release Thursday of an uncorroborated report of Hunter Biden and Burisma. TFG said, “In light of this information, the U.S. Congress should refuse to authorize a single additional payment of our depleted stockpiles … until the FBI, [Justice Department] and [Internal Revenue Service] hand over every scrap of evidence they have on the Biden crime family’s corrupt business dealings."
The cited report was released by the House Oversight Committee despite an agreement and warnings from the FBI that doing so put confidential FBI sources and others at risk.
In light of the Committee's indiscretion and on the heels of the superseding indictment in the classified document case, it is particularly telling that TFG has thrown chum into the shark infested waters at one of his rallies. That he has done so by invoking the basis for his first impeachment is yet another middle finger moment from this POS who cares nothing about the survival of our democracy or Ukraine's.
I remember the days of goodnight books. Enjoy while you can. My main worry is the laws the cretins have passed since the 2020 election to stack the deck. Making cheating legal is an old tried and true tactic used by authoritarians because it works. Dems may be screaming “stolen election” in 2024. Repubs seriously tried in 2020 and failed. They learned from their mistakes.
Robert, Fake 45 is in a heap of trouble and I am here for it. I would love to see him go bankrupt before his trial starts. So very tired of all the bullshit that the R’s put us through daily.
Looks like your babysitting skills are perfect because you tired the little one out. Good job, grandpa!
I think Trump ran because he wants to avoid convictions AND use his donations to pay for legal fees. And, I, too, and so very sick of the lying, whataboutism, and constant defense of a sociopathic, criminal narcissist.
His many bankruptcies havenʻt hurt him yet.
I’m not as convinced that the Republican Party is self destructing as others but I definitely think the moderate college educated Republicans won’t vote for Trump. The real campaigns are at the local level and in state legislatures and that is where the effort and resources need to focus. Republican majority state government legislators have created some of the most restrictive laws in this country that have denied rights to a wide number of Americans and frankly have had more of an impact on our everyday life than what has happened on a national level. Unfortunately not all of the Democratic party leadership in several states have the skills and organizations to effectively compete with entrenched Republican Party organizations. The Democratic National Party leadership team needs to effectively develop a state by state strategic plan integrated with the multitude of local grass roots organizations all working together with a similar goal and message.
I agree and think that they should listen to David Pepper, author of “Saving Democracy: A User’s Manual” or follow him on Substack. He says we need to pay attention to elections in the states. In many red states, no Democrat is running in opposition to corrupt Republicans and therefore the Republicans are not accountable for what they do. This has got to change. It may take awhile. It’s a long game but an important one.
Right on, Joan. Democrats must be taking a 50 state approach and fielding candidates in every race. Thank you.
Could not agree more.
There's a Democratic National Party leadership team? Must be a stealth operation. Lack of a consistent theme and approach (platform) in the public arena is one of the major challenges the Democrats face.
All,
The DNC has a tremendous, and effective phone bank platform that is/has been calling in the Priority States of OH, MS, VI for the elections happening in 2023. Please, check this out to learn how you can join in to reach out to voters based upon what’s a good fit for you.
https://democrats.org/take-action/
I’ve been part of the DNC Call Crew going on 2 years now. They have “the best” dialer, and I’ve used a lot of dialers since 2017.
They have messaging content that is stellar, and good to go when using social media.
I recently completed 8 weeks of training w/the DNC Call Crew and it was a tight, effective, and well-run program. We also received plenty of resources to help in reaching out to voters. And I cannot say enough good things about the staff - energetic, optimistic, and very smart younger people.
This is all about boots-on-the-ground organizing that works to engage voters. And they have built quite a force! Join in!
This is wonderful news Angela. Thanks for sharing
Yes, I find it amazing that a current topic, lie, or defense hits the GOP all at the same time. I often wonder if they all receive the lie of the day texts.
💯 I have given up waiting for a DNC campaign strategy; gotta give it to the GOP for knowing how to do it.
In spades
I completely agree with your assertion that "the real campaigns are at the local level and in state legislatures and that is where the effort and resources need to focus." However, I am not so sure that "moderate college educated Republicans won't vote for Trump." We Democrats must understand current and potential voters and that education is only one of many salient demographic measures. Robert Hubbell wrote in this latest blog:
"For Trump's base, the indictments are proof that he is the ultimate outsider who represents the aggrieved non-college voters angry at America.”
Similarly, I don't think that this brief summary statement is correct. Yet it was Robert who pointed us toward Michael Podhorzer, former Political Director of the AFL-CIO and a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress. Podhorzer tells us that Trump's base consists of people whose voting patterns were established largely by where they grew up and by religious affiliation and that these influences over-ride one's level of education and strongly bias other demographic factors. He primarily relies on Catalist and Pew research, which he interprets with great clarity. Here are his two relevant SubStack blog posts:
https://open.substack.com/pub/michaelpodhorzer/p/confirmation-bias-is-a-hell-of-a
https://michaelpodhorzer.substack.com/p/the-emerging-anti-maga-majority
And, Podhorzer's findings correspond with those of Bob Altemeyer, a retired Professor of Psychology at the University of Manitoba, who has co-authored with John Dean of Watergate fame. Altemeyer's forty years of research into the American electorate involved developing scales -- and using them to measure voting and political constituencies -- to measure authoritarianism, the love of power over all else (Power Mad scale), and right-wing Evangelicanism, a scale that correlates closely with his Authoritarian scale. Evangelicals are themselves divided in political affiliation, as are other religious groups whose members primarily support Trump and the MAGA GOP.
Prof. Altemeyer recently posted on his site a frightening analysis of Trump's appeal. This is well worth a read and is linked below.
https://theauthoritarians.org/why-do-so-many-people-still-support-donald-trump/
Here's a link to Altemeyer's website. He and John Dean have warned for many years about the rise of authoritarianism in the U.S.A.
https://theauthoritarians.org
Based on your comments which I partly agree with you might enjoy reading this article. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/31/upshot/poll-trump-republican-primary.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Thank you, I read it and even though Nate Cohn is widely respected, he’s basing his opinions on national polling data to suggest that never-Trump voters are more educated. I agree with him that Trump is very hard to defeat because of the influence of Fox and other right-wing media. The propaganda effect is its own story.
Michael Podhorzer just posted the second in his four-part series on the Pew midterm report and common errors in conventional election analysis. There’s a lot to take in, so I’ll have to give the second part another read. His writing is lucid.
https://open.substack.com/pub/michaelpodhorzer/p/all-politics-are-local-all-political
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you very much for these links.
Wow! Stephen, you are on point with regard to our need to focus on state and local elections.
In addition, it is vitally important to give our attention to school boards. Here’s a reason to be focused on the school boards. NBC report a the Hillsdale College role in and finding of the history curricula that is being pushed by the “erase history” crowd. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/hillsdale-college-1776-curriculum-k12-education-conservative-rcna93397
We cannot let school boards, the likes of Glenn Youngkin, Hillsdale or Moms for Liberty to influence state and local elections. This would be an unacceptable act of complacency we cannot be party to.
School boards are often overlooked especially by voters whose children are out of school.
Among all the mind-boggling and -numbing things about TFG's continuing hold on the GOP faithful is his ability to raise and spend their money on the legal defense of his indefensible behavior.
I love your concluding Concluding Thought. Yes, I'd call that a success, on so many levels. Your impact on your grandchildren is as evident and lasting as your impact on the rest of us. Well done!
The obvious reason we cannot take anything for granted.
In the words of Mike Royko, "It ain't over, 'til it's over!" Just don't know what to make of the GOP. While I know people that vote Republican because I worked in a place that was a progressive school, but had plenty of non-progressives in the business office and other roles, who were clearly Republican. Most of the facilities staff were White Chicago Firemen on their second jobs. That is a union that has not gone for Biden, instead preferring to hold on to racist, sexist beliefs from their days of inception. That is true of our police department too. The union leader is an avowed Trumper. So, looking at so many White working class racists being for Trump, I cannot have a sense of how he will do, but I know in my home city he will not be the winner. I live in Chicago and it is a Democratic stronghold. This makes it hard for me to have a good take on the nation. I know that sparsely populated Downstate Illinois is filled with Republicans, but they will not the majority make. In fact, if we would move our state prisons to the city (I proposed using empty office buildings for this in conversion given that our state prisons are in appalling physical condition) since the majority of inmates come from Chicago, which might decrease the populations in downstate communities because several of them are dependent on the prisons to employ their population. However, they neither take care of them, nor is it a very good dynamic to have so many racist White folks guarding the largely non-White populations in the prisons. I also think it is a matter of national security to move military bases from Red governed states. These states are the ones turning down health care dollars for their citizens. How can anyone vote for people like that? I have heard of people being made to feel that it is charity to get government help. How sad and brainwashed these people are.
Someone needs to call out the police union for supporting a felon.
So true!
So many good points, police and fireman being trumpery boggles my mind. But it’s a fact in places I know well.
I often wonder about this, also. Then i think about the qualifications for both careers, and having a GED or high school diploma is generally the highest need. There is some training after hiring, but often not much. That puts these careers in the MAGA most devoted supporters category. (Differing qualifications of course for different jobs and areas.)
my family members associated with fire fighting are salt of the earth types, or so I thought. Apparently easily manipulated by celebrity fools.
I have some, too. It makes me sad, but often frustrated.
More than frustrated, I don’t tolerate deliberate ignorance very well.
With ignorance there is always a chance to change it. With stupidity there isn't much anyone can do. The GOP allowing this crap to go on and on is pure stupidity based on their own wants and needs and biases.
The NYPD needs at least two years of college, which makes it even scarier since they're nothing more than a terrorist organization.
Scary indeed!
The Rs ought to just auction off their nomination. That would be consistent with their beliefs, and wonderfully reminiscent of the Roman empire. The only problem: would the winner actually pay up, in actual money?
Thank you always, Robert. As much as I appreciate the political aspect of your newsletter, I feel so grateful to be getting to know you and Jill through stories like today's Concluding Thoughts. You are really lovely people. Kind, thoughtful, funny. Reading about you with your granddaughter made me laugh, a good start to today.
I am more worried about a Third Party candidate, funded by dark money and designed to get Trump elected. Beware the Trojan Horse! Will enough Democrats recognize the ruse and stick with Biden?
The GOP, and their donors and members, are getting what they deserve for unashamedly hitching their star to Trump for so long. Now they can't shake loose of him. I plan to be amused when watching the viewership numbers of the first R debate: Without Trump designing to participate, the ratings will be abysmal. Perhaps at that point they'll realize the inevitability of their self-destruction. Far too late to do anything to correct their situation.
No complacency on our part, but no mercy or quarter should be given, as Democrats sail on to victory.
I will dream with you
Mike Pence reminds me of pablum
Sour pablum, at that!
With a fly.
Waiter…there’s a fly…
So here’s what I’m wondering. Trump threw together a coup attempt in 2020 in a few
months. It failed, but mainly because Pence refused to take steps that would have thrown the election into the House where Trump would have won. So my question is what’s he planning for when he loses in 2024? He will have had 4 years and surely he can find a better plan to execute. All the chaos around him might be a cover for a serious coup strategy. Anyone else worried about this?
Yes; but Trump won't be in charge of the DOJ, FBI, military when he loses. And Kamala Harris will be in charge of the electoral count.
At the same time, if he believes he is going to lose, he will be making some kind of plan just as he did months before the 2020 election. Facing prison if he loses, he will be even more desperate than he was in 2020 - and he was extremely desperate then not to lose power. So we need to be thinking about what he will do if/when he loses in 2024 - especially if polls show an almost certain loss as they probably will. Or will his plan be to seek refuge in Saudi Arabia or some other friendly country - if anyone will have him once it's clear what a loser he is? We were surprised by the revelations of the Jan 6 committee as to how deep rooted and how much planning went into a coup attempt that we all thought was just a crazy spur-of-the-moment desperate spasm of treason. We need to think seriously about what moves he could make and not be watching TV with our mouths open as we did on Jan 6.
I will always remember Michael Cohens closing remarks in February 2019 before a Congressional committee: https://youtu.be/5xhHv-7vIRs
SA goes where the money is, they aren't taking him in, not by a long shot.
Thanks for that comforting perspective!
Except that he will no longer have access to any major federal building. And, if he attempts such a thing, hopefully the ability of law enforcement is stronger.
🙋♀️
YES!!!
Good question, Ned. Rest assured worry about his 2024 loss is just one of many that keep me on edge and have so since Nov 2016. The man must not ever be returned to the WH.
Nor can we be complacent or feel comfortable because Today’s Edition provides a bubble of likeminded, good people who reinforce one another. We must go on to 2024 with eyes WIDE open and fight like hell.
That's what Hitler did. His first attempt landed him in prison, and we all know what happened the second time.
Thank you for summarizing GOP events. I find I am out of energy and adjectives. It is hard to imagine a more boring group of grifters nor a louder noise machine of nonsense. I'm just going to put my head down and work as hard as I can to help get all of them out of office and into jail where they belong.
I still have my Biden sticker on my car, and yesterday a man came up to me to discuss politics. He stated nothing of real substance (meaning truth) and referred to Hillary as the antichrist. He also repeated three times he wasn't a Trump fan, but focused his hatred on Biden, Hillary and Bill, and Pelosi. When he mentioned Hillary as antichrist, I put my hands up and said I was done. That those words indicated he was more than a bit delusional. He amazingly shut up.
What I learned from this encounter was the reinforcement of everything MAGA even if he wasn't a "Trump fan." The believing of false facts that I could put a name that spews the nonsense was amazing. But, it also reinforced how very sick I am of all this crap. I live on Earth One. So many people live on Earth Two and now Three. There are no discussions possible for presenting truthful facts because they are so entrenched in longtime hatred of our government, racism, anti semitic bias, and victimhood. I use my FB page to copy and past articles such as this one to spread the truthful word. But, I'm preaching to the choir so to speak because almost every friend is also tired of MAGA/GOP dysfunction. (They are probably sick of my political posts, but that's okay.) I have a dog toy of DJT, and I keep stabbing pins in his mouth and heart just hoping...
This expresses how tens of millions of Americans feel: "it also reinforced how very sick I am of all this crap."
I have a VooDoo doll that I got in New Orleans and I do the same thing.
Before the 2020 election I found a Trump Dammit doll on Amazon. It’s a “stress/frustration” relieving stuffed (how appropriate) rag doll. Banging it on a desk or tabletop works. I made a small investment in several to give my family and close friends. It did the trick much like your VooDoo doll! Very therapeutic.
Goodnight Moon is a great antidote to politics today.
I love your blog, your knowledge and your optimism!
I'm just wondering if this kind of characterization of Trump supporters
"For Trump's base, the indictments are proof that he is the ultimate outsider who represents the aggrieved non-college voters angry at America" while possibly true, isn't too demeaning. Possibly these Trump supporters are not reading the blog! Nevertheless denigration seems unnecessary. Or if denigration is necessary, how about the rich supporters who are supposed to be smart enough to know better?
You raise a valid point. But what do we say about a group of voters who continue support a twice indicted, twice impeached former president who paid hush money to an adult film actress and was found to have committed sexual assault in a department store? At some point, their support for Trump cannot be minimized or rationalized because they are upset about inflation or globalization. And their overwhelming belief that Joe Biden stole the 2020 election is dangerous to American democracy. How can they support the J6 Insurrection if they are not angry at America? So, I used strong words, but I think they are true and fair. But should we refrain from describing Trump's voters in that fashion. Maybe. But (as a sincere question), what would it gain us?
It would gain us nothing but I think if you or I are approached with an encounter with a Trumpian, I would tell them “I believe you feel that way.” and then I would leave. You’re not invalidating their diatribe but you’re not agreeing with them either.
Willfully ignorant
It may not gain us anything but down the road we must pave the way for opening up the divide to new ways of connecting that allow us to move beyond the entrenched outlook on either side. It’s a long journey but somewhere and sometime we must build bridges, not walls.
I feel we have to define the motives for supporting Trump. I think those that have announced running against him, are ever so gentle with their words, and are so low in the polls just want to be his VP pick. Exception is Chris Christie at this point. The mega donors are wanting to get someone in that sides with their needs to keep taxes low, deregulate big business, and push keeping taxes on the middles class as well as abolishing women's right to choose health care options, and push evangelical Christianity. The common citizens have love his message of misogyny, racism, hate anyone other than MAGA, and support white nationalism and closing all borders. This last group's hatred is over the top, and they are willing and able to believe anything that comes out of MAGA's Lying mouths.
Ever heard the expression "More money than brains"?
Good call.
On Saturday in Erie, PA, TFG reignited the firestorm around his first impeachment by citing a release Thursday of an uncorroborated report of Hunter Biden and Burisma. TFG said, “In light of this information, the U.S. Congress should refuse to authorize a single additional payment of our depleted stockpiles … until the FBI, [Justice Department] and [Internal Revenue Service] hand over every scrap of evidence they have on the Biden crime family’s corrupt business dealings."
The cited report was released by the House Oversight Committee despite an agreement and warnings from the FBI that doing so put confidential FBI sources and others at risk.
In light of the Committee's indiscretion and on the heels of the superseding indictment in the classified document case, it is particularly telling that TFG has thrown chum into the shark infested waters at one of his rallies. That he has done so by invoking the basis for his first impeachment is yet another middle finger moment from this POS who cares nothing about the survival of our democracy or Ukraine's.
I remember the days of goodnight books. Enjoy while you can. My main worry is the laws the cretins have passed since the 2020 election to stack the deck. Making cheating legal is an old tried and true tactic used by authoritarians because it works. Dems may be screaming “stolen election” in 2024. Repubs seriously tried in 2020 and failed. They learned from their mistakes.