As you say Robert Hubbell, don't believe the polls. We know what happened with Hillary Clinton in 2016. But even assuming they are a reasonably accurate marker for current sentiment, I really don't understand why the polls are leaning Republican. Where is all the ire that Democrats said they feel about saving democracy and protecting the rule of law, women's rights, gun control, and the imbalance and overreach of the Supreme Court to name a few? Are Americans really just about the money in our bank accounts and stock portfolios? Look, I'm financially strained, too. But the worse part is how, as you say, we tend to blame the party in power if our finances go south or praise them when our finances are better. Why do we keep falling prey to the same lame logic? Don't we have eyes to see that the entire world is saddled and struggling under high inflation? Can't we see past the pain of high prices to accept the fact that the COVID pandemic led to drastic supply chain and production problems, worsened by the greed of those companies that can hold us hostage with ridiculously high prices? Add on the twisted politics of Trump-Putin-Saudi Arabia and viola-- we get massive inflation worldwide.
Under Trump, the Democrats fought for and got a lifeline to millions of Americans with the unemployment bonus, relief checks, PPP loans to small and not so small businesses (Trump and his cronies cashed in big time for millions that were supposed to go to small companies, not mega corporations.) In the face of all of this, if some Democrats decide not to vote, Independents sway to the right, and Republicans back their own and gain control of the House and/ or Senate, to me that is a moral failure due to a stubborn refusal to see past our own noses. Biden's accomplishments in less than two years are nothing short of stunning, especially in the setting of Stonewall McConnell, Manchin, and Sinema. It's like The New Deal on steroids! Infrastructure alone is worthy of praise. Four previous presidents couldn't get it done. Biden did. This will generate hundreds of thousands of jobs, plus repair an aged-out network of roads, bridges and water systems. He got climate control and finally the Feds will negotiate drug prices for Medicare. So why is Biden's approval rating still in the 40's? We should be supporting him and show gratitude by voting to expand the Democratic majority in the House and Senate. Many of these wins would likely disappear under Republican leadership.
Maybe the ugly truth is some of us don't truly want him to continue to make progress for the working class and poor. Do we really want equal pay for women? Do we really want the reinstatement of the assault weapons ban? Do we really want Blacks to gain financial equity in housing and jobs? I could go on and on. Sometimes I get the sense that sickening elitism, sexism, and bigotry are at work here. If all people do better, can obtain gainful employment, secure housing, a descent education, and have access to quality, affordable health care--it's a win-win for them, the economy, and the collective we. Historically, it also leads to less crime and desperation. So what do Americans really want? Some may feel hopeless from a lifetime of discrimination and deprivation. I can at least empathize with them. But, relinquishing their right to vote is just what those who push voter suppression laws want. Give up, don't vote, what's the point? The point is why do they fight so hard to obstruct it if voting weren't a powerful tool? Our vote is our voice, our voice matters, and you better believe our vote matters, too. I hope the polls are wrong or will change in the Democrats favor. But most of all, I pray to God that enough people will awaken from their media-fueled, self-induced coma, and vote for the Democrats to retain or even grow their majority in the Senate and the House. Amen!
Wow. Well expressed. Good questions. Sadly, I think the answer is we are a spoiled society that poo poos critical thinking. A nation of nutcases. Of selfish simplistic slobs. And then there are those who lust for power and find that hate, bigotry and demonizing the other win them support.
But here is the good news! I'm just talking about the Rethuglicans! They are in the minority. There are more registered Democrats and a lot more who are unregistered Independents. Let's hope that all those waves of newly registered women voters turn the tide. Of course the horrors of a GQP victory may be the assault on democracy and decency that will awaken the comatose masses and we will be back in a huge blue wave in 2024.
This is and always will be an endless battle. Tolerance, inclusion and support for our Planet - vs - bigotry, hate and selfish disregard for our Home.
I don't have a god to pray to, but I shout Amen to your eloquent comment. Or as the followers of the FSM say, RAmen! :)
Wrote this in another forum: Amen simply means "I agree" or "So be it". It is a legal term also used by some religious groups, where it is used at the end of a prayer or sermon. But it is still a legal term still used in some courts and political contexts. For instance, in New England I have heard it used during select board meetings when the members vote affirmatively on something: the chair says "Amen" to confirm the decision. And for most of my life, I have heard people in some communities (especially those of African descent) use "amen" in daily speech when they agree with someone. So by all means, use amen without feeling like a hypocrite. It is a wonderful lively response of agreement and solidarity!
Annie, in the South, folks of all ethnic origins often use "amen" in daily speech when they want to indicate strong agreement with a statement. It's quite common here in Arkansas.
Same where I grew up in the far west, where a lot of Southerners of all kinds settled and brought the vernacular with them. I lived in a mixed urban neighborhood when my kids were growing up and loved being able to talk the way I'd grown up.
Here’s the challenge. Average voters fill their gas tanks, buy groceries or go out to eat and the prices are higher. They never question two things. Why are prices higher? Maybe corporations are inflating their prices and most importantly what will the Republican do about it if elected. England is a recent example of what not to do especially around tax cuts. Neither party caused inflation and neither party can totally fix it. Let’s focus on what’s important which is our personal freedoms and choices. Without those inflation is a walk in the park.
Citizens United opened the floodgates increasing an already torrential flow of dark money into an already corrupt political infrastructure. Much of main stream media is also owned and operated by this same corporate conglomerate that has very nearly turned this country into an oligarchy. We do still have immense power with our vote and don't fall victim to attempts to dissuade you from wielding that power. Call out disinformation, sing the praises for the many accomplishments of the Biden administration and take a course of action in the days leading to the midterms, our actions do matter!
That's exactly right, but if they want to be citizens, they should do the right thing and pay their damn taxes like everybody else. I've had it with these creeps, both as individuals and as corporations.
One reason is the sample of these polls. Today Peter Schorsch from Florida Politics texted and tweeted about the large lead DeSantis has over Crist. But dig deeper and see that the sample of only 719 included 476 White/Caucasian and only 85 Black or African American. Polls can skew the results depending on the people they sample. https://twitter.com/StPeteArtisan/status/1583468298070786049
Pat, a wonderfully complex and clear "thought piece," and in this case the medium is the message. The kind of focus, commitment, analysis, and discussion with others, required for a serious reading of your comment is precisely what too many Americans just plain don't want to do. Lazy, spoiled, priorities out of plumb? Sure, all of that. But America has always had a broad strain of anti-intellectualism. We are eaten up with so many other prejudices--racism, anti-Semitism--that we forget this bedrock problem that casts a pall over all the others. Too many of us don't want to spend our time. and energy thinking.
Dean, your insights are so clear-eyed and spot on!. As a lifelong nerd, I've probably heard most of the anti-intellectual criticisms. I admit intellectualism can become very insular-- and frankly boring. But critical thinking costs more than just energy. At its best, it requires introspection, and as you said, that is a price many people seem unwilling to pay. Thanks for sharing in the conversation.
Hi, Pat, I think when I talk about American anti-intellectualism, I don't so much mean, for example, the perfectly tedious academic tomes written in the dense prose of each discipline's language. That stuff is unreadable half the time. I guess what I mean is an inherent prejudice against any kind of book-learned intelligence vs. an unquestioning admiration for "street smarts" or practical hands-on skills. Or the frightening extension of that into that greatest of all false American gods, the cowboy and his world.
But I've not seen much evidence that we admire, or even acknowledge something like critical thinking. My impression is that every single bit of this grows out of some bone-deep fear, but a confession: the older I get, the less compassion I have for my fellow Americans who are sitting in the middle of the road that could lead us to a good place. It's a struggle I can only survive with a lot of meditation and silence.
I especially like "our vote is our voice." I've had that plastered on the back of my car since 2016. You have hit all the high points. Let's win this one for all of us. Thank you for your astute and passionate comments.
I agree with you. I am not watching either the news or the polls. Both make this election sound way too much like betting on a horse race, which it is not. I'm using up all my remaining postcard stamps to write postcards for Maggie Hassan. Then I'm going to thoroughly read my voting pamphlet and fill out my ballot. It's the least I can do as a citizen of the United States. "The price of apathy is to be ruled by evil men." Plato. That is not my up of tea.
Why can't we live and let live in our society? Why do some people, especially male people it seems, see gayness as a horrid disease they're afraid they'll catch? Aren't "don't say gay" laws in violation of First Amendment speech? Why can't we let a person love whomever they want to? No, I will not be a participant in the theocracy that the Extreme Court seems to have in mind. We, the People, all of us of all genders this time!
The law is broad enough to let me entertain this fantasy: "Sexual Orientation" includes straight. So sue a school in Federal Court for teaching Dick and Jane, with its white-bread vision of a mommy and daddy and kiddies three. Or bring a private right of action.
Why? Because starting with Reagan, the RNC has infused divisiveness into the political arena. It is all a part of their goal to divide and conquer; to promulgate weaponized propaganda and fear-mongering. Read The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein. THAT’S what “trickle down economics” is.
I sincerely hope your optimistic assessment of the result of turnout proves to be right the morning of November 9, Robert, and if so I will join you in a celebratory dance on the streets across the western SFV.
But I remember the 1974 Democratic primary campaign for State Controller, which the best politician I ever worked for lost to a stooge named Ken Cory who campaigned as "The man the oil companies fear the most!" despite the occupant of the office of State Controller of California having exactly zip/zero/nada/none/no way/definitely not! any influence on the price of a gallon of gasoline anywhere. But it was six months after the 1973 oil embargo that introduced Americans to gas lines and raised the price from 25 cents a gallon to 60 cents a gallon (I'm sure you have been gasping to drive past one of the "cheap" stations here and see regular gas at $6.19/gallon as I did today - and don't even think about the price being charged at the others). And that guy won with that slogan. And went on to win the general in November with it. And then spent three terms demonstrating he was the worthless piece of shit and tool of "the interests" we knew he was from the beginning.
Mencken has yet to be disproven from his observation back during the Scopes Monkey Trial 98 years ago that "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public."
I filled up in NC at around $3.70 this past year while listening to a couple at the next pump bemoan that "gas prices are over $5 per gallon" because they had seen it in the media. When a media story spotlighting a price across the country has more credibility than a station sign over their heads, people are just shopping for drama, lies, and to be a wrongly mistreated character in their own choice of story.
The GOP just can't keep the government out of peoples' bedrooms. They claim they're the party of non-interference and Reagan said "Government is the problem". I guess they can't help hypocrisy, it being their daily bread. But come-on: "The first thing MAGA extremists will do is attempt to stigmatize LGBTQ people by introducing a national “Don’t Say Gay” bill on steroids. See The Guardian, Republicans aim to pass national ‘don’t say gay’ law. The law is a stalking horse, pretending to be a prohibition on the use of federal funds in discussing LGBTQ issues with children under ten."
I hope Dems and Independents don't let this one last voting opportunity go up in smoke. Protect your liberty: VOTE BLUE.
In the long run, I think this anti gay strategy is another nail in the GQP coffin. I don't think they have any idea how many LGBTQIA people there are and how many of them are loved by friends and relatives. I think the vast majority of Americans will be offended by this bigotry. Hoping...
Our Kitchen Table group is in the last week of postcarding before election. Our little group picks up postcards, addresses and stamps from my porch after 3 on Thursdays. We have sent over 9,000 postcards since January 2022. We know there are many similar clusters of good folks texting, calling and writing. Be one of them. There are a lot of kitchen tables in America.
"At this point, the media should be viewed as a giant spin machine that has kicked into warp drive. Ignore it and focus on getting more people to the polls."
Yes! Absolutely this is the case. The major media in this country is owned by a handful of giant corporations, and its news and commentary actively promotes a corporate political agenda, which is mostly a right wing agenda.
At last a court makes the obvious point about subpoenas and privilege. Having one doesn't mean you don't have to show up. You can raise the privilege for individual questions. Why this seems to have escaped the members of the trump Subpoena Resistance Brigade has been beyond me for both court and congressional hearing matters.
I’m a little angry this morning. Let’s stop talking about Trump and focus who is on the ballot instead. If MAGA candidates win there will be huge challenges to our lives that would take years to recover from if ever. We have the best candidates like Beasley, Ryan, Demings and Fetterman who are not getting the support they need from the DNC. Biden is not on the ballot either so let’s focus on the people who matter. The Republicans and people like Rick Scott and a Kevin McCarthy have clearly told us what they will do when they control things and are using the assumptive close technique which is telling people what they will do as if it is a done deal. We need to change the narrative. The bottom line is that most voters have made up their minds. It’s who shows up at the polls in November that determines who wins. The ball is in our court.
Admittedly I have never been as involved in political volunteering as I am now, but it sure feels like pollsters and reporters are tripping over themselves to come up with SOMEthing new everyday, and I am finding huge almost hourly swings all over the place a little hard to believe. Here in TX, I sure don’t see the folks who were upset about Dobbs having moved on to gas prices.
I recommend following Simon Rosenberg @SimonWDC, whom I believe Robert has written about before. Simon looks at actual registration and election data, and that is hopeful.
Lastly, I am tempted to forego Twitter until after the election. At least currently, for me, it’s an unbalanced view of the news.
Wow! This was outstanding. Thank you for continued insight, relentless optimism and hope. Having grown up in a suburb of Motor City, I particularly appreciated (and was saddened by) the allusions to the price of gas.
I have long despised the continuous reporting of poll numbers. Certainly, I can see that polling has some value to campaigns but it has no value for voters. Are we supposed to be thinking that if a majority of people think a certain way, we are supposed to too? Reporters should be reporting on what has already happened, not predicting what they think is going to happen.
I also think that polling is likely to be much less accurate that in the past. Many people simply do not answer their phones if they do not recognize the number. If they do answer, how many simply refuse to participate in the poll. And as you have pointed out, polls do not capture newly registered voters and mainly focus on likely voters.
In my in box today was one "poll" that said Terrible, Horrible Awful news: Beto is 7 points behind so give us money(!) because it's So Desperate and one that said Wonderful Tremendous Fabulous news: Beto is 2 points behind so give us money(!) because we're almost There!! First, I know which one would be more motivating to me, second, both are terrible huckster toned emails, and third it's an example of polls as just another way to lie with statistics. One of these might be right, both might be wrong, but they can't both be right and in the absence of solid evidence it's better to consider them at best as badly tainted.
Thank you Robert. As Jessica Craven notes in her "Chop Wood, Carry Water", "Early voting numbers continue to be record-setting. Good. And the phrase I keep hearing, over and over, is this: 'We are within the margin of effort.' Not error, mind you."
"Effort."
Jessica's energy is amazing. She is an incredible resource for action. I am so grateful she is on our side!
With a caveat: Part of the RNC plan has included using media to weaponize propaganda, create divisiveness with flak media. Rupert Murdoch was recruited during the Reagan administration with this in mind. Read up on the Koch Brothers, The Shock Doctrine, Weaponized Flak, Data & Democracy--the Mercers, etc. This goes far beyond a generalization of “Dems vs Republicans”. The RNC operates like a crime syndicate and their love of Russia is a love of Fascist-minded, billionaire mobsters to rule the world.
Snyder talked about larger forces and resisting normalizing their message.
Indigenous scholars speak about the tenet of Resurgence. "Resurgence means to have the courage and imagination to envision life beyond the State." (Corntassel, J. Re-envisioning Resurgence: Indigenous Pathways to Decolonizeation and Sustainable Self-Determination" in Decolonization-Indigeneity, Education and Society, 2012 p 89)
The state is a large force threatening existence.
So this is something quiet common in our time, but has also been coming for a long time, and has come to many groups. I don't say this to generalize everything but to understand that as Robert says, we don't have to stand still. My prof (T. Beeds, Laurentian University) said, we are not trees. We do not have to stand still.
“it will be a sad commentary on the knowledge of the American voter about who controls gas prices. Oil is a global commodity whose price is controlled by producers; refiners and distributors control the price of gas at the pump. Note that “the President of the United States” and “Congress” are missing from the list of entities controlling gas prices.”
Yet when asked, the Dems and the Administration does t tell this to the American people or share gas prices and inflation rates from around the world. The R’s main message is that the D’s are responsible for inflation - yet no effort is spent correcting this view.
Inflation is an issue in the GLOBAL economy, the Dems policies didn’t cause it. Biden and Congress can have only SOME effect on it and the Biden administration really is doing all it can to help bring down inflation in this country.
Again - if anyone has a contact inside the Democratic Party apparatus, PLEASE SHARE THIS IDEA. we should be flooding the media with this
point.
WE SHOULD BE FLOODING ALL MEDIA WITH THUS POINT. -- it’s the most important thing on the voters’ minds and we are blowing it.
As you say Robert Hubbell, don't believe the polls. We know what happened with Hillary Clinton in 2016. But even assuming they are a reasonably accurate marker for current sentiment, I really don't understand why the polls are leaning Republican. Where is all the ire that Democrats said they feel about saving democracy and protecting the rule of law, women's rights, gun control, and the imbalance and overreach of the Supreme Court to name a few? Are Americans really just about the money in our bank accounts and stock portfolios? Look, I'm financially strained, too. But the worse part is how, as you say, we tend to blame the party in power if our finances go south or praise them when our finances are better. Why do we keep falling prey to the same lame logic? Don't we have eyes to see that the entire world is saddled and struggling under high inflation? Can't we see past the pain of high prices to accept the fact that the COVID pandemic led to drastic supply chain and production problems, worsened by the greed of those companies that can hold us hostage with ridiculously high prices? Add on the twisted politics of Trump-Putin-Saudi Arabia and viola-- we get massive inflation worldwide.
Under Trump, the Democrats fought for and got a lifeline to millions of Americans with the unemployment bonus, relief checks, PPP loans to small and not so small businesses (Trump and his cronies cashed in big time for millions that were supposed to go to small companies, not mega corporations.) In the face of all of this, if some Democrats decide not to vote, Independents sway to the right, and Republicans back their own and gain control of the House and/ or Senate, to me that is a moral failure due to a stubborn refusal to see past our own noses. Biden's accomplishments in less than two years are nothing short of stunning, especially in the setting of Stonewall McConnell, Manchin, and Sinema. It's like The New Deal on steroids! Infrastructure alone is worthy of praise. Four previous presidents couldn't get it done. Biden did. This will generate hundreds of thousands of jobs, plus repair an aged-out network of roads, bridges and water systems. He got climate control and finally the Feds will negotiate drug prices for Medicare. So why is Biden's approval rating still in the 40's? We should be supporting him and show gratitude by voting to expand the Democratic majority in the House and Senate. Many of these wins would likely disappear under Republican leadership.
Maybe the ugly truth is some of us don't truly want him to continue to make progress for the working class and poor. Do we really want equal pay for women? Do we really want the reinstatement of the assault weapons ban? Do we really want Blacks to gain financial equity in housing and jobs? I could go on and on. Sometimes I get the sense that sickening elitism, sexism, and bigotry are at work here. If all people do better, can obtain gainful employment, secure housing, a descent education, and have access to quality, affordable health care--it's a win-win for them, the economy, and the collective we. Historically, it also leads to less crime and desperation. So what do Americans really want? Some may feel hopeless from a lifetime of discrimination and deprivation. I can at least empathize with them. But, relinquishing their right to vote is just what those who push voter suppression laws want. Give up, don't vote, what's the point? The point is why do they fight so hard to obstruct it if voting weren't a powerful tool? Our vote is our voice, our voice matters, and you better believe our vote matters, too. I hope the polls are wrong or will change in the Democrats favor. But most of all, I pray to God that enough people will awaken from their media-fueled, self-induced coma, and vote for the Democrats to retain or even grow their majority in the Senate and the House. Amen!
Wow. Well expressed. Good questions. Sadly, I think the answer is we are a spoiled society that poo poos critical thinking. A nation of nutcases. Of selfish simplistic slobs. And then there are those who lust for power and find that hate, bigotry and demonizing the other win them support.
But here is the good news! I'm just talking about the Rethuglicans! They are in the minority. There are more registered Democrats and a lot more who are unregistered Independents. Let's hope that all those waves of newly registered women voters turn the tide. Of course the horrors of a GQP victory may be the assault on democracy and decency that will awaken the comatose masses and we will be back in a huge blue wave in 2024.
This is and always will be an endless battle. Tolerance, inclusion and support for our Planet - vs - bigotry, hate and selfish disregard for our Home.
I don't have a god to pray to, but I shout Amen to your eloquent comment. Or as the followers of the FSM say, RAmen! :)
Wrote this in another forum: Amen simply means "I agree" or "So be it". It is a legal term also used by some religious groups, where it is used at the end of a prayer or sermon. But it is still a legal term still used in some courts and political contexts. For instance, in New England I have heard it used during select board meetings when the members vote affirmatively on something: the chair says "Amen" to confirm the decision. And for most of my life, I have heard people in some communities (especially those of African descent) use "amen" in daily speech when they agree with someone. So by all means, use amen without feeling like a hypocrite. It is a wonderful lively response of agreement and solidarity!
Amen!!!
I didn't know that. Thanks!
Annie, in the South, folks of all ethnic origins often use "amen" in daily speech when they want to indicate strong agreement with a statement. It's quite common here in Arkansas.
Same where I grew up in the far west, where a lot of Southerners of all kinds settled and brought the vernacular with them. I lived in a mixed urban neighborhood when my kids were growing up and loved being able to talk the way I'd grown up.
Republicans are only in the minority if Democrats overwhelming don’t show up and vote but have the majority of media attention and misinformation.
Agreed and seconded!
Thanks so much for the compliment. Rethuglicans--that's one I will be using for sure. Right now, I am running on hope.
Rethuglicans. Brilliant!
Here’s the challenge. Average voters fill their gas tanks, buy groceries or go out to eat and the prices are higher. They never question two things. Why are prices higher? Maybe corporations are inflating their prices and most importantly what will the Republican do about it if elected. England is a recent example of what not to do especially around tax cuts. Neither party caused inflation and neither party can totally fix it. Let’s focus on what’s important which is our personal freedoms and choices. Without those inflation is a walk in the park.
Spot on!
Citizens United opened the floodgates increasing an already torrential flow of dark money into an already corrupt political infrastructure. Much of main stream media is also owned and operated by this same corporate conglomerate that has very nearly turned this country into an oligarchy. We do still have immense power with our vote and don't fall victim to attempts to dissuade you from wielding that power. Call out disinformation, sing the praises for the many accomplishments of the Biden administration and take a course of action in the days leading to the midterms, our actions do matter!
Spot on!
That's exactly right, but if they want to be citizens, they should do the right thing and pay their damn taxes like everybody else. I've had it with these creeps, both as individuals and as corporations.
One reason is the sample of these polls. Today Peter Schorsch from Florida Politics texted and tweeted about the large lead DeSantis has over Crist. But dig deeper and see that the sample of only 719 included 476 White/Caucasian and only 85 Black or African American. Polls can skew the results depending on the people they sample. https://twitter.com/StPeteArtisan/status/1583468298070786049
Pat, a wonderfully complex and clear "thought piece," and in this case the medium is the message. The kind of focus, commitment, analysis, and discussion with others, required for a serious reading of your comment is precisely what too many Americans just plain don't want to do. Lazy, spoiled, priorities out of plumb? Sure, all of that. But America has always had a broad strain of anti-intellectualism. We are eaten up with so many other prejudices--racism, anti-Semitism--that we forget this bedrock problem that casts a pall over all the others. Too many of us don't want to spend our time. and energy thinking.
Dean, your insights are so clear-eyed and spot on!. As a lifelong nerd, I've probably heard most of the anti-intellectual criticisms. I admit intellectualism can become very insular-- and frankly boring. But critical thinking costs more than just energy. At its best, it requires introspection, and as you said, that is a price many people seem unwilling to pay. Thanks for sharing in the conversation.
Hi, Pat, I think when I talk about American anti-intellectualism, I don't so much mean, for example, the perfectly tedious academic tomes written in the dense prose of each discipline's language. That stuff is unreadable half the time. I guess what I mean is an inherent prejudice against any kind of book-learned intelligence vs. an unquestioning admiration for "street smarts" or practical hands-on skills. Or the frightening extension of that into that greatest of all false American gods, the cowboy and his world.
But I've not seen much evidence that we admire, or even acknowledge something like critical thinking. My impression is that every single bit of this grows out of some bone-deep fear, but a confession: the older I get, the less compassion I have for my fellow Americans who are sitting in the middle of the road that could lead us to a good place. It's a struggle I can only survive with a lot of meditation and silence.
p.s. I am the world's worst (or best) Nerd
I hope you are wrong, but I'm afraid you are correct.
Well said! I’ll second that!
I especially like "our vote is our voice." I've had that plastered on the back of my car since 2016. You have hit all the high points. Let's win this one for all of us. Thank you for your astute and passionate comments.
Susan, thanks for joining in the conversation. I have another throwback favorite from 2008--"fired up and ready to go!"
I agree with you. I am not watching either the news or the polls. Both make this election sound way too much like betting on a horse race, which it is not. I'm using up all my remaining postcard stamps to write postcards for Maggie Hassan. Then I'm going to thoroughly read my voting pamphlet and fill out my ballot. It's the least I can do as a citizen of the United States. "The price of apathy is to be ruled by evil men." Plato. That is not my up of tea.
Why can't we live and let live in our society? Why do some people, especially male people it seems, see gayness as a horrid disease they're afraid they'll catch? Aren't "don't say gay" laws in violation of First Amendment speech? Why can't we let a person love whomever they want to? No, I will not be a participant in the theocracy that the Extreme Court seems to have in mind. We, the People, all of us of all genders this time!
The law is broad enough to let me entertain this fantasy: "Sexual Orientation" includes straight. So sue a school in Federal Court for teaching Dick and Jane, with its white-bread vision of a mommy and daddy and kiddies three. Or bring a private right of action.
Why? Because starting with Reagan, the RNC has infused divisiveness into the political arena. It is all a part of their goal to divide and conquer; to promulgate weaponized propaganda and fear-mongering. Read The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein. THAT’S what “trickle down economics” is.
I sincerely hope your optimistic assessment of the result of turnout proves to be right the morning of November 9, Robert, and if so I will join you in a celebratory dance on the streets across the western SFV.
But I remember the 1974 Democratic primary campaign for State Controller, which the best politician I ever worked for lost to a stooge named Ken Cory who campaigned as "The man the oil companies fear the most!" despite the occupant of the office of State Controller of California having exactly zip/zero/nada/none/no way/definitely not! any influence on the price of a gallon of gasoline anywhere. But it was six months after the 1973 oil embargo that introduced Americans to gas lines and raised the price from 25 cents a gallon to 60 cents a gallon (I'm sure you have been gasping to drive past one of the "cheap" stations here and see regular gas at $6.19/gallon as I did today - and don't even think about the price being charged at the others). And that guy won with that slogan. And went on to win the general in November with it. And then spent three terms demonstrating he was the worthless piece of shit and tool of "the interests" we knew he was from the beginning.
Mencken has yet to be disproven from his observation back during the Scopes Monkey Trial 98 years ago that "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public."
I filled up in NC at around $3.70 this past year while listening to a couple at the next pump bemoan that "gas prices are over $5 per gallon" because they had seen it in the media. When a media story spotlighting a price across the country has more credibility than a station sign over their heads, people are just shopping for drama, lies, and to be a wrongly mistreated character in their own choice of story.
The GOP just can't keep the government out of peoples' bedrooms. They claim they're the party of non-interference and Reagan said "Government is the problem". I guess they can't help hypocrisy, it being their daily bread. But come-on: "The first thing MAGA extremists will do is attempt to stigmatize LGBTQ people by introducing a national “Don’t Say Gay” bill on steroids. See The Guardian, Republicans aim to pass national ‘don’t say gay’ law. The law is a stalking horse, pretending to be a prohibition on the use of federal funds in discussing LGBTQ issues with children under ten."
I hope Dems and Independents don't let this one last voting opportunity go up in smoke. Protect your liberty: VOTE BLUE.
Yes indeed. Protect your liberty and vote blue!
In the long run, I think this anti gay strategy is another nail in the GQP coffin. I don't think they have any idea how many LGBTQIA people there are and how many of them are loved by friends and relatives. I think the vast majority of Americans will be offended by this bigotry. Hoping...
My long held view is: every LGBTQ individual has a mom, a dad, probably siblings, and all or nearly all love them just as they are.
Our Kitchen Table group is in the last week of postcarding before election. Our little group picks up postcards, addresses and stamps from my porch after 3 on Thursdays. We have sent over 9,000 postcards since January 2022. We know there are many similar clusters of good folks texting, calling and writing. Be one of them. There are a lot of kitchen tables in America.
I've been working with two postcarding groups and will have sent out 800 postcards by the end of this weekend. It helps a lot.
"At this point, the media should be viewed as a giant spin machine that has kicked into warp drive. Ignore it and focus on getting more people to the polls."
Yes! Absolutely this is the case. The major media in this country is owned by a handful of giant corporations, and its news and commentary actively promotes a corporate political agenda, which is mostly a right wing agenda.
At last a court makes the obvious point about subpoenas and privilege. Having one doesn't mean you don't have to show up. You can raise the privilege for individual questions. Why this seems to have escaped the members of the trump Subpoena Resistance Brigade has been beyond me for both court and congressional hearing matters.
I’m a little angry this morning. Let’s stop talking about Trump and focus who is on the ballot instead. If MAGA candidates win there will be huge challenges to our lives that would take years to recover from if ever. We have the best candidates like Beasley, Ryan, Demings and Fetterman who are not getting the support they need from the DNC. Biden is not on the ballot either so let’s focus on the people who matter. The Republicans and people like Rick Scott and a Kevin McCarthy have clearly told us what they will do when they control things and are using the assumptive close technique which is telling people what they will do as if it is a done deal. We need to change the narrative. The bottom line is that most voters have made up their minds. It’s who shows up at the polls in November that determines who wins. The ball is in our court.
Well said, Stephen.
Admittedly I have never been as involved in political volunteering as I am now, but it sure feels like pollsters and reporters are tripping over themselves to come up with SOMEthing new everyday, and I am finding huge almost hourly swings all over the place a little hard to believe. Here in TX, I sure don’t see the folks who were upset about Dobbs having moved on to gas prices.
I recommend following Simon Rosenberg @SimonWDC, whom I believe Robert has written about before. Simon looks at actual registration and election data, and that is hopeful.
Lastly, I am tempted to forego Twitter until after the election. At least currently, for me, it’s an unbalanced view of the news.
Listen to Michael Moore and be heartened:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rumble-with-michael-moore/id1490354763?i=1000580722433
Wow! This was outstanding. Thank you for continued insight, relentless optimism and hope. Having grown up in a suburb of Motor City, I particularly appreciated (and was saddened by) the allusions to the price of gas.
I have long despised the continuous reporting of poll numbers. Certainly, I can see that polling has some value to campaigns but it has no value for voters. Are we supposed to be thinking that if a majority of people think a certain way, we are supposed to too? Reporters should be reporting on what has already happened, not predicting what they think is going to happen.
I also think that polling is likely to be much less accurate that in the past. Many people simply do not answer their phones if they do not recognize the number. If they do answer, how many simply refuse to participate in the poll. And as you have pointed out, polls do not capture newly registered voters and mainly focus on likely voters.
In my in box today was one "poll" that said Terrible, Horrible Awful news: Beto is 7 points behind so give us money(!) because it's So Desperate and one that said Wonderful Tremendous Fabulous news: Beto is 2 points behind so give us money(!) because we're almost There!! First, I know which one would be more motivating to me, second, both are terrible huckster toned emails, and third it's an example of polls as just another way to lie with statistics. One of these might be right, both might be wrong, but they can't both be right and in the absence of solid evidence it's better to consider them at best as badly tainted.
Thank you Robert. As Jessica Craven notes in her "Chop Wood, Carry Water", "Early voting numbers continue to be record-setting. Good. And the phrase I keep hearing, over and over, is this: 'We are within the margin of effort.' Not error, mind you."
"Effort."
Jessica's energy is amazing. She is an incredible resource for action. I am so grateful she is on our side!
https://chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions.substack.com/p/chop-wood-carry-water-1020-798
The "media" is as liberal as the corporations that own them.
HA!
With a caveat: Part of the RNC plan has included using media to weaponize propaganda, create divisiveness with flak media. Rupert Murdoch was recruited during the Reagan administration with this in mind. Read up on the Koch Brothers, The Shock Doctrine, Weaponized Flak, Data & Democracy--the Mercers, etc. This goes far beyond a generalization of “Dems vs Republicans”. The RNC operates like a crime syndicate and their love of Russia is a love of Fascist-minded, billionaire mobsters to rule the world.
Yesterday I listened to Prof. Snyder talk about essence vs existence and how many believed Zelensky would leave as his existence was threatened by a large force. Those of us who have faced this probably did not think he would leave. https://snyder.substack.com/p/thinking-truth-and-freedom-with-zelenskyi?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2#details
Snyder talked about larger forces and resisting normalizing their message.
Indigenous scholars speak about the tenet of Resurgence. "Resurgence means to have the courage and imagination to envision life beyond the State." (Corntassel, J. Re-envisioning Resurgence: Indigenous Pathways to Decolonizeation and Sustainable Self-Determination" in Decolonization-Indigeneity, Education and Society, 2012 p 89)
The state is a large force threatening existence.
So this is something quiet common in our time, but has also been coming for a long time, and has come to many groups. I don't say this to generalize everything but to understand that as Robert says, we don't have to stand still. My prof (T. Beeds, Laurentian University) said, we are not trees. We do not have to stand still.
Robert, you just noted
“it will be a sad commentary on the knowledge of the American voter about who controls gas prices. Oil is a global commodity whose price is controlled by producers; refiners and distributors control the price of gas at the pump. Note that “the President of the United States” and “Congress” are missing from the list of entities controlling gas prices.”
Yet when asked, the Dems and the Administration does t tell this to the American people or share gas prices and inflation rates from around the world. The R’s main message is that the D’s are responsible for inflation - yet no effort is spent correcting this view.
Inflation is an issue in the GLOBAL economy, the Dems policies didn’t cause it. Biden and Congress can have only SOME effect on it and the Biden administration really is doing all it can to help bring down inflation in this country.
Again - if anyone has a contact inside the Democratic Party apparatus, PLEASE SHARE THIS IDEA. we should be flooding the media with this
point.
WE SHOULD BE FLOODING ALL MEDIA WITH THUS POINT. -- it’s the most important thing on the voters’ minds and we are blowing it.