101 Comments
Jun 25Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

"In states where abortion is banned or restricted, for example, six in 10 OBGYNs say their decision-making autonomy has become worse since the Dobbs ruling."

Everyone should know that there is a passionately pro-choice OB/GYN running for the seat of former Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI-08) in Wisconsin: Kristin Lyerly.

The 8th district includes Wisconsin’s third and sixth most populous cities: Green Bay and Appleton. Both voted 51% - 48% for progressive Janet Protasiewicz for Supreme Court last year. Also, the district went for Obama by 54% in 2008.

This is definitely an opportunity for Democrats to pick-up what had been considered a “safe” GOP seat.

To help support Kristin Lyerly’s campaign, visit her website: www.KristinForWisconsin.com

.

Expand full comment

Here's Kristin Lyerly's introductory video: https://youtu.be/BpDBGTurbgo?si=8xC73JXKeV6q5bqG

.

Expand full comment

Thank you so much, as always, Robert B Hubbell and Managing Editor for this uplifting, supportive community.

Markers For Democracy in 2023 wrote postcards for Democrats Abroad, and Vote Forward in 2024 recently ran a research campaign of letters to Voters Abroad for the 2024 November 5th election.

This household wrote zillions of postcards and 30 letters, a smaller number of letters, Global postage stamps are expensive, and the format was challenging.

Voters Abroad are an important constituency, that apparently does not vote.

The Vote Forward letters included Voter re-registration requests, each letter three pages. Fingers crossed.

Expand full comment
founding
Jun 25Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Thank you for the statistic regarding age and acuity reporting. Sounds like a big editorial thumb on the scale, to me. Shameful.

Expand full comment
founding

PS. There are cultures that venerate their responsible elders. Ours is very picky in that regard.

Expand full comment

The original cultures on this continent venerate their responsible elders. Anyone listening?

Expand full comment

I keep saying that too. American culture is very superficial.

Expand full comment

I keep returning to the example of West Germany (German Federal Republic) after World War II. They chose Konrad Adenauer as Chancellor, and kept returning him to office, as he led Germans away from Naziism and toward stable democracy. Adenauer was in his 80s, and performed brilliantly. Germans called him der Alte (the old man), and meant it in a complimentary way.

Expand full comment

Sigh.

Expand full comment

The fact that CNN refuses to fact check Trump, which could be done easily by producers while the so-called debate is occurring, means that Trump will lie, and that Biden will have to decide how and when to counter the lies. Why did his team agree or were they hoodwinked by CNN? I appreciate your highlighting the centrality of reproductive rights and it’s denial to half of the citizens of this country.

Expand full comment

The issue of Biden‘s age is proof that Merrick Garland was derelict in allowing Robert Hur to issue that report. He must be fired. The failure of the cases against Trump is entirely his fault for delaying them.

Expand full comment

Fact Check:

1. At least one of the moderators must have an olfactometer. #trumpstinks

2. The media should be supplied with a list of "tells"

a. How many times and to what extent does Trump emit the sounds that accompany his flatulence?

b. How many times des he sniffle?

c. Holds his fingers together?

d. You get the idea......

Expand full comment

Since nearly everything everything trump says is a lie, how could anyone keep up? I suppose they could employ a team of, say, 10 people, and each person could check 1/10th of what he says?

Expand full comment

Actually, should be easy. The media sucks. We had to "articulate a legitimate basis" for every finding in decisions. Believe me, those decisions were "inspected, dissected" and sometimes rejected on appeal after scrutiny by the parties. Every fact was checked.

Only takes one expert on "demeanor" evidence to report all the tells.

I could not rely on "sit or squirm" evidence....but a jury (and the audience) can. The public can see when someone is sweating profusely, nodding, stammering, blinking, chocking, doesn't directly answer questions, takes an inordinate amount of time to respond, assumes postural "blocking" etc. Trump is no poker player.....

Expand full comment

Then of course, there was how he "loomed" over Hillary ... But I'm a little confused. It feels like you're conflating actual fact-checking with watching behavior?

Expand full comment

Not really. Check out forensic psychology departments. That's what they do for a living.

Expand full comment

Daniel – Trump’s flatulence is emitted from his mouth.

Expand full comment
founding

The format should play to Joe’s advantage, with or without instant fact-checking (which is very hard to do well). I predict that he will have several chances for a “there you go again” moment, and the challenge will be which one or ones to pick up.

Expand full comment

I suspect that every time Trump speaks during the debate it will be a "there you go again" moment. It would be great if President Biden calls him out every time.

Expand full comment

Urge everyone to read this column about the one question that should be asked Regarding reproductive rights: https://popular.info/p/one-question-trump-must-be-asked?utm_campaign=email-half-post&r=1metx&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Expand full comment

I agree. But did you see the CNN piece where an interviewer called a Republican operative on her misdirection and lying and then simply cut her off? Bound to be some repercussions but it was a joy to see this happen. Perhaps the CNN moderators will get a dose of whatever their associate had - gumption comes to mind - and call Mr. Ex-President on his lies and misbehavior.

Expand full comment

Today I read that CNN will fact check, but I think that's only streaming. I think they will also be doing a post debate analysis.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/how-to-watch-thursday-s-cnn-presidential-debate/ar-BB1oS3mp?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=e10323b2928747bb9e066c05b6b27526&ei=76

Expand full comment
Jun 25Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

The deficit has increased under Trump because of his tax cuts for billionaire donors. Guess who is bankrolling Trump's campaign? Billionaires fund Trump for tax cuts: Follow the money

https://thedemlabs.org/2024/06/24/billionaires-fund-trump-for-tax-cuts-follow-the-money/

Expand full comment

I am a father and grandfather and forced birth and reproductive rights are very much issues that I am very concerned about, as I’ve commented before.

Today I’m going to add that I, and everyone else, need to be concerned about the people who are born as a result of forced births. People raised in poverty, people raised by unprepared single women, schools with students that are in homes without proper supervision, people in households with too many other children.

I read one analysis that theorized that the reduction of crime in the 1990’s was the result of abortion made legal in the 1970’s.

It isn’t callous and unappreciative of life to recognize that not every conception is going to lead to a desired baby.

Think of the lives improved if children are wanted rather than forced.

Expand full comment

👏👏👏

Expand full comment

Ron Johnson deserves recall. He deserves censure. He deserves to never be a sitting senator again. He's a full-on MAGA disgrace of a man and senator. The other signers are idiots too - too cowed by the MAGA steam-roller to think for themselves and ask what their parents would have thought of unbridled support for the orange Putin wannabe.

Expand full comment

Should have been named in the WI fake elector case.

Expand full comment

He doesn't deserve to wear the mantle of a US Senator. He's a disgrace who poorly serves to citizens of the great State of Wisconsin. He should ruminate on the Oath of Office he took when he first stepped up. It is: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."

Expand full comment

another oathbreaking insurrectionist

Expand full comment

Fingers crossed while taking the oath of office?

Expand full comment

Glad he’s not our Senator…wouldn’t have made it through the primaries. He needs to be removed or replaced.

Expand full comment

I was thinking about the MAGA’s and why they are so roiled up all the time. I know why i am but why are they. And then it dawned on me. Every time they see a commercial celebrating a gay couple, an inter racial couple, a multi cultural family, it pokes that sore spot. At Charlottesville white nationalists were chanting Jews will not replace us. It could be immigrants will not replace us. It could be women will not replace us. Fill in the blank for your own hot button. I’m just saying, it is in their faces all the time. We can’t stop the advertising. We can’t stop the television shows themselves. Does anyone have an idea about what we can do? How do we make “the other” less frightening?

Expand full comment

Get visceral.

Every time you see a pet ad, a pet or animal chastity on Facebook or other social media, say the magic words, "Trump hates dogs."

On military and history sites "Not suckers or losers."

On charity sites: "Trump stole from kids with cancer."

Expand full comment
Jun 25·edited Jun 25

A letter writer in our Gannett paper recently disputed Trump said “suckers and losers” according to his reliable source, Sarah Huckabee Sanders. I could not stop,laughing.🤣

I’m finding many in Florida are unaware of Amendment 4.

“Trump is pushing women to death’s door.”

Expand full comment

FT6 has a weekly Florida phone banking program Thursdays from 2-4 edt. Below is the link. 40,000 phone numbers and they need volunteers. .

https://www.mobilize.us/ft6/event/632594/

Expand full comment

Kathy, Thankyou for sharing this new resource. I have already shared it with several of my friends. I wish i was a facile as they are with so many facts and figures at my fingertips.

Expand full comment

"animal chastity"?

Expand full comment

It was dark and my typing skills suck. "CHARITY."

Expand full comment

Ah! You turned on the light - thanks!

Expand full comment

@Linda Milberg,

substantially reducing immigration would have reduced that problem. It's a universal sort of problem. I lived in Paris the year I was 12. Having often approached foreigners in Harvard square prior to that year, to ask them about themselves, I didn't understand why many Parisians took such a dislike to Americans. I understand it now. We flooded the place.

But I agree strongly with what Daniel Solomon is suggesting directly in response to you.

Expand full comment
Jun 25·edited Jun 25

Hi Linda,

Lynell previously shared Greg Olear’s excellent Substack post and podcast link of his interview with Billy Ray, who has been working with Dem party on messaging. It was very helpful for me as I’ve had these conversations with voters.It is challenging when trying to discuss reproductive rights, gun safety ++…..and many are focused on “those people in the bathrooms”. The Podcast is easy listening and time flew as I post-carded!

https://open.substack.com/pub/gregolear/p/the-opposite-of-chaos-is-community?r=fqsxl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Expand full comment

I read a very interesting article about this (should have kept the link). It suggested that people who go to convicted-felon-trump rallies get addicted to the feeling of being all riled up. Like stress junkies - they love the feeling, so they keep going back for more. Doesn't really matter what they are riled up about, they just want their next fix.

Expand full comment

National service in which people of all backgrounds have to collaborate. When individuals become known rather than stereotypes, good things happen.

Expand full comment

Oh, yes!

Expand full comment

Are the “others” really frightening? (I admit it, Kimberly Guilfoyle scares me!) Or are people just feeling that their dominance is being challenged by those competent “others” that are popping up everywhere.

People with conservative personality characteristics can’t stand their boat being rocked. They have less tolerance for uncertainty. They value loyalty to their own group much more than they value fairness to those not in their group.

We will ALL be replaced—by those younger than we are. We won’t be in charge. That is the great replacement.

Expand full comment

I submitted this comment to Nate Cohn and Ruth Ingelick at the Times.

Rather than adjusting your polling group to match the average of American voters, you guys persist in reporting results from biased, overweighted rural, MAGA polls. Your polls are at least 5% under on Joe Biden. It makes good shock journalism but your forecasts are far from reality. Joe Biden is in the lead in most swing states and the Times refuses to report the facts.

Election 2024 Polls: Biden vs. Trump https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/us/elections/polls-president.html?smid=nytcore-android-share

Expand full comment

Great observation! The flip side is that Trump is probably over-represented in these polls given the errors in selection of respondents.

Expand full comment

Absolutely. Nate Cohn admits his poll leans GOP. I checked the NYTimes/ Sienna participant group and it's been 35% rural voters. America is 21-22% rural. So Rural voters are about 59% overweighted. Rural voters prefer Trump almost 2-1. So, on the one hand it's not surprising that the Times poll gets pro-Trump responses. On the other hand, it's terrible news for Trump that Biden is catching up even with an overweighted MAGA cohort.

Expand full comment

Good for you. Thank you.

Expand full comment

For those who don't already follow Jessica Valenti's excellent substack, "Abortion, every Day," I highly recommend it.

Remember, half the voters in Red States are women.

Vote BLUE.

Expand full comment

Robert, don’t dismiss post-menopausal women as the rest of society does.

In your piece today, you imply that only women (and men) of childbearing age care deeply about reproductive freedoms.

We are the women who remember the struggles to gain the constitutional right to control decisions about our bodies, and kept reproductive health at the forefront of our voting priorities for decades as it was constantly under attack by the religious right.

We care deeply about the health and rights of our children, nieces, nephews, grand children and neighbors. We coined and lived the “It Takes a Village” philosophy. We continue to educate and support the younger generations and will continue to cast our votes for reproductive health. And, we are a large voting block!

Expand full comment

A(wo)men, my Sister. And, I for one, am not wild about the idea that I continue to be “unequal.”

Expand full comment

Individuals everywhere accept that there are tall and short people. Large and small people. Brown eyes, blue eyes, blond and red hair. And multiple variations in between. Yet somehow these same people believe there are only two, straightforward genders - male and female. Having spent over 40 years in genetics and health care, I can tell you that is not the case. There are many genes involved in making that appearant male or female. And sometimes those genes have variations. Thus you get individuals who are ‘different.’ And because this is a complex issue, I fail to see how politicians and the courts feel it is up to them to decide who gets gender affirming care and who does not. No one without some advanced degree in a medical or genetic science, should have a voice in this. I’m talking to you, SCOTUS.

Expand full comment

👏👏👏

Expand full comment

The party of life. The Right to Life Party. Uhuh. As Robert relates: "The finding of the JAMA investigation was that “recorded infant deaths in Texas and 28 comparison states found that the Texas abortion ban was associated with unexpected increases in infant and neonatal mortality in 2022.” Moreover, the results show that Texas experienced a “12.9% increase [in infant mortality], whereas the rest of the US experienced a comparatively lower 1.8% increase.”" Great job, guys (and I mean 'Guys').

Expand full comment

Those infant and maternal deaths numbers out of Texas are truly frightening. And MAGA has every intention to pass a total abortion ban nationwide. Kevin Roberts, the head of the Heritage Foundation and driving force behind Project 2025 couldn't be any clearer: "Abortion is not health care, it is murder of a human being." And they want to rename the Department of Health and Human Services to 'Department of Life' – right out of A Handmaid's Tale.

Creepy. And women can't just go to blue states to get medical care, the whole US will be a red state. Going to Canada or Mexico then? Good luck, as you might somehow have to navigate around producing a mandatory non-pregnancy certification when leaving the country. Unthinkable? Everything might be possible if the zealots are allowed to take over the country.

Listen to "at Heritage we believe in telling the truth with a smile on our face" Kevin Roberts on abortion in the last two minutes of this clip. But take the time to listen to the whole 15 minutes. It's a chilling glimpse into the mindset of a man who is at the center of the plot against America.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxEcSjWRipI

Expand full comment

Thanks for the link, Stefan.Yes, Kevin Roberts and Project 2025…Truly creepy!

I’ve been sharing this short 1 min video from the Heritage Foundation about the “senseless use of birth control pills” and “ending recreational sex”.

https://x.com/Heritage/status/1662534135762624520

Expand full comment

So, what does Heritage want to do about condoms?

I suppose it is only unmarried women who should give up “recreational sex”? Do not married people have recreational (non-reproductive) sex with each other?

Expand full comment

Take a gander at this Project 2025 gem on male condoms.

Eliminate men’s preventive services from the women’s preventive services mandate. In December 2021, HRSA updated its women’s preventive services guidelines to include male condoms after claiming for years that it had no authority to do so because Congress explicitly limited the mandate to “women’s” preventive care and screenings. HRSA should not incorporate exclusively male contraceptive methods into guidelines that specify they encompass only women’s services.

Project 2025, page 485

https://open.substack.com/pub/project2025istheocracy/p/reader-question-what-does-project?r=fqsxl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Expand full comment

Here is another creepy testament to what they have in store for the rest of us. Abortion ban is just the beginning

https://x.com/TheSWPrincess/status/1797290096418295909

Expand full comment

Everyone needs to point out that Project 2025 is a recipe to turn our democracy into a dictatorship. Full stop. We need to stop them,.

Expand full comment

The GOP is truly the death party.

Expand full comment

Robert, when you write: "First Roe v. Wade, next transgender rights, then LGBTQ+ rights (including same-sex marriage), and then contraception. The reactionary majority is coming for it all. They are telling us as loudly and clearly as they can." My guess is that they'll still avoid touching the Loving Decision, don't you?

Expand full comment

I don’t think Ginni would approve of the Court taking up the Loving decision…..

Expand full comment
Jun 25·edited Jun 25

That's my bet too. But she sure did all she could do to help the insurrection.

Expand full comment

Open the door and you can't close it. She'll find that out if they keep this up.

Expand full comment

If only there was a way to show we were big fans of Biden’s government… maybe a Biden T-shirt?

DemsMakeLifeBetter.org

BeantownStrong.org

🛒👕🛒👕🛒👕🛒👕🛒

Expand full comment

I'm getting positive comments everytime I wear mine...and not just to the grocery. The theater, the park, a bike rally....anywhere there will be a lot of people around.

Expand full comment

That's amazing! Same here. Grocery runs were my training wheels. Once I felt comfy in well lit, populated stores... I extended the reach of being a "Biden Billboard."

Expand full comment

I fear it's worse than you're assessing, Robert. When the top issues include "1. Government, 2. Immigration, 3. Inflation, & 4. abortion" in that order, that means FOX, the rich, and the GOP control 75% of the messaging. Anyone who says "Government is the top issue" is repeating a right wing talking point that ALL Politicians are crooked (Because if Biden is crooked, it doesn't matter that Trump is.) Selling DC as the source of pain, not progress is the way the GOP rips control, and sells "a small government" the same way slaveholders sold "state's rights." IT IS A VERY EFFECTIVE SMOKESCREEN. Having a blanket anti-government stance advances Reagan's lie that the 9 most frightening words in the English language are "I'm from the government and I'm here to help." With that quip, Reagan got millions to vote against their own interests because it felt somehow true and the humor hid his insidious intentions. Reagan shivved the middle class and poverty stricken and gave all the "government help" to the rich who truly didn't NEED help. The rich then poured money into the "government is bad" messaging. FOLLOW THE MONEY behind that message. Fox New's entire existence relies on people being angry at Biden, AOC, Pelosi, Schumer, Obama, Elizabeth Warren and all those who are trying with every fiber of their being to make government efficient and effective. And THAT means providing a path for all to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Those promises are hoarded by those who abuse the government and refuse to pay their fair share.

Expand full comment

"...the humor hid his insidious intentions." Indeed, many MAGAts think the felon is funny, a great entertainer.

Expand full comment