Well written, Robert. I am dumbfounded by all of the Trump Republicans who say that President Biden has dementia and that he is too old and demented to be President. Trump is three years younger than Biden, that is all. Trump has always seemed demented to me. Now he is making gaffes that are pretty bad, but they brush those off.
I am also frustrated by the Trump Republicans who continue to say that President Biden and his son Hunter are crooks. I am not sure about Hunter, quite frankly, but I have not heard anything that proves that President Biden has done anything illegal or unethical. How do we refute these statements by Trump Republicans?
It’s more than the two billion, it’s the 100 year lease on 666 Madison in NYC , a deal made inside the White House and Ivanka’s 625 million deal in China both as representatives of the administration.
I think they've already been asked (it's certainly been widely suggested) but they're not interested. Perhaps there's a way that this can be forced. Dems could threaten to call for a vote to vacate the chair unless parallel investigations are undertaken. Subwoofer McCarthy would have to make a deal with Democrats to keep his chair. Maybe it could include a deal to avert a shutdown. Wouldn't that be interesting?
What about the $2 Billion loan to the Kushner family? What about the LIV Golf events held at Trump golf courses? What about the patents in China that Ivana received right after they had dinner with Xi at Mara Lago? Or ask them about Elaine Chao and the entire DeVos family, or Clarence Thomas' wife, or Justice Roberts wife, or Ted Cruz's wife, or Lauren Boeberts soon to be ex husband. Basically half the spouses in Congress and their kids would be in prison if we put every single nepo baby in jail for being unethical and selling the guise of connections of influence.
There's a video of Larry King interviewing Trump in the 1990s (not to be confused with one from the '80s). He was not demented then, and in comparison to that he sure seems demented now.
Good comment. Trump has always seemed demented to me too. I think we just can’t make sense of this. The only thing we can do is put our collective heads down and work to get the Republicans out.
One of the Republicans participating in negotiations that Politico reports on is quoted as saying “If you are a nihilist and you want to burn the place down, you don’t care.” What, I think, is moving people toward Democrats is the recklessness of Republicans. From Trump to the Freedom Caucus, they are willing to risk the country's stability, the well-being of all of his for fealty to a cult leader and for an idiosyncratic version of personal freedom.
That is also why so many of us are with the Ukrainians. Consider the extent to which Professor Snyder's thanks to the Ukrainian people is about safety and stability as well as commonly understood versions of freedom and good behavior:
Your framing appeals to Hubbell readers, but may be too abstract and academic for even many “educated” Americans.
Why not take your fine list and frame it as “Helping Americans”?
Another thing: make it future-oriented. People have already taken accomplishments to the bank, so to speak. They want to know what Democrats *will* accomplish, not so much what Democrats *have* accomplished.
Is there a more loathsome swamp creature than Gym Jordan? He insults our nation's Attorney General to gain clicks on Fox. He either is so severely deluded that he has no business being in congress to say nothing of heading the Judiciary Committee. Or he is subversive.
No, but he can be serious competition for all the many swamp creatures. It is so funny to watch him! He is sooo impressed with himself for finally getting the position he now has-playing with the ‘big boys, in his big boy underoos”! “I’m a big boy now”.
Such chaos! Thank you for the Snyder article and thanks to the reader who recommended it.
These are the kinds of reflections we need in these days when irresponsible political actors underline negative thinking. You are a shot in the arm, Robert!
Sep 21, 2023·edited Sep 21, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
I was at my Wednesday night knitting group last night with four other women. Our host, a former Republican, pulled out her phone at the start of the evening and played the video of Swalwell “verbally bitch-slapping” (Kathy’s words) Jim Jordan. Then this usually reserved entrepreneurial small business owner went on a rant about how Republicans are wasting precious time and resources protecting Trump’s treason. I was dumbfounded by her rage and amazed that everyone agreed. Not the usual order of business at knit night!
I think it is safe to say that these four suburban women, (formerly a Republican stronghold in elections) are fed up. Seven years ago, I was the only one of the five who was a Democrat (lifelong). Now, all five will vote straight blue in 2024 - and, best of all, we will spend an hour or two once in a while, writing postcards to voters, rather than crafting. Wowsa!
Good job by the bozos in Congress in supporting taking away reproductive rights and wasting time and resources chasing right wing media sound bites. Keep it up so we Dems are able to over- perform in our election results in 2024!
As for the American Climate Corp, my paternal grandfather was foreman on a CCC crew that helped develop several of the most loved State parks along the North Shore of Lake Superior - a fabulous legacy enjoyed by thousands each day. Imagine the legacy for participants in the Climate Corp - a more livable world and a career path in government service!
Again I recall reading in Life magazine in 1964 that that was the first time in yonks that a majority of the nation's newspapers had endorsed the Democratic candidate for president. The media have always opposed Democrats; this is nothing new. The difference today, with their relentless attacks on Biden contrasting with their fond-parent-of-erring-boy attitude towards the Defendant, is one of degree.
Of more importance, I think, is the Fed's decision not to raise interest rates this month. Has Powell given up on his campaign to create a recession? Or has he decided to hold off until another time, closer to the election? So far, Bidenomics is winning!
Powell policy is the middle class and blue collar folks absorb higher interest rates and job loss to cure inflation. The lack of push back on this is disappointing. Also disappointing is that Powell has not been replaced.
Yes, the middle and lower classes are bearing the brunt of Powell’s and the Fed’s money policy. The steep rise in credit card rates and mortgage rates are two real-world tough examples that are currently affecting the poor. The rich don’t care as much because their savings accounts are actually gaining significantly. Current rates are about 4.5% compared to 0.02% last spring! This is how policy trickles down to actual citizens and voters.
High interest rates and unemployment don't address the present cause of inflation, which is profit-taking by big business. As I imply in my original comment above, I wonder if Powell's motive isn't "recession for the hell of it" -- to give Rs something to blame on Biden next year.
I believe monetary policy, especially interest rates and Fed borrowing, are just about the only arrows the Fed has in its quiver. They are forced to work with the tools they have.
The real solution to this problem is to eliminate the tax deduction for business borrowing. That, more than anything else, drives Fed policy and accrues to the disadvantage of anyone who owes relatively small amounts for credit cards, mortgages, car loans, or medical bills that were financed. If corporate managers had to pay for their borrowing they'd have to make much more considered decisions on spending and, possibly, do a better job of managing the businesses they're responsible for.
I have never understood why moderate Republican representatives just sit back and allow the Freedom Caucus to cause chaos. Are they being threatened with "well funded primary opponents"? I continue to keep my fingers crossed that they will work with Democrats to keep our government funded.
Many in this country do not realize how much agriculture depends on federal funding.
We are retired, and have our crop ground in the Conservation Reserve Program. This program pays farmers to idle highly erodible land and reduce run-off into rivers and streams. It is also a boon for wildlife, and has been responsible for sharp increases in pheasant, turkey and deer populations here in hilly SW Wisconsin. (This is not a give-away; we have regular land maintenance that must be performed to control weeds etc, which can cost a considerable amount of money.) Those annual "rent" checks from the government come in mid October. We have two neighbors, recent widows, that also have their crop ground in the CRP. Farmers who had to pull cattle early off of pasture because of a severe drought in our area have been able to apply for disaster relief to offset the cost of buying extra hay. A government shutdown means that none of us will receive that income. I have already written our representative Derrick Van Orden (the guy who screamed at the young people in the rotunda) about this and will write again shortly.
I do not know Mr. Hufstedler, but I still belatedly wish him a very happy 101st birthday! He plainly proves the point that Cicero makes in the essay, “On Old Age,” that I quoted in a comment posted in response to yesterdays Newsletter:
“I am particularly grateful for the reference to Governor Newsom’s “full throated” defense of Biden and rebuttal of the “too old” to run claim. At least Washington Post writers are claiming that millions of potential voters, including Democrats, are expressing “too old” anxiety about Biden’s candidacy. This is a threat or vulnerability that must not be ignored. We need to remind ourselves and everyone else that Cicero correctly reminds us in his essay “On Old Age,” “ The great affairs of life are not performed by physical strength, or activity, or nimbleness of body, but by deliberation, character, expression of opinion.””
Sep 21, 2023·edited Sep 21, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
Excellent news in the special election trends, but we cannot allow that to lead to complacency. The only thing worse than someone feeling that their vote won't make a difference is someone feeling their vote is not needed.
The message we need to convey is that everyone must vote in order to make sure America (and the world) knows how big the majority really is. It's going to take a massive BLUE WAVE to wash away the toxic RED TIDE!
Thank you to the reference (and Janet) to the Tim Snyder podcast and yes it was beautiful. The GOP has transitioned from the Party of Lincoln to the Party of Trump to the Party of Putin.
For the ongoing issues of "journalists posing as amateur neurologists" (love it, Robert!) and the "drift of major media outlets to the right," thank you, Robert, for highlighting for the past few days the work we can do through the Media and Democracy (MAD) Project. We have the world of the media as another venue for bending the arc of justice--by winning hearts and minds.
An issue we all know about that I predict will increasingly motivate rational, independent voters, and can even do so at the local level is book banning. My goodness, I see my dear Texas is again being highlighted:-)
As intended the vague wording of HB 1069 is leading to chaos at our local Fl school board meetings including those being silenced for reading the definition of certain words aloud from a dictionary.
I wonder if dictionaries, especially slang dictionaries, will be next on the banned books lists. Dictionaries contain lots of words that these censors would find offensive.
Thank you for your writings, it always calms me reading your work.
I will have to say watching Gym Jordan perform - I noticed he is always screaming into a microphone and then sprinting away..... NEVER stays around to back up anything that comes out of his mouth.
I appreciate reader Janet's inclusion of the link to Prof. Snyder's "thank you" note to Ukraine. In its own way, it's a document of historical significance. On Substack and elsewhere, I regularly follow Pro. Snyder, our country's top historian on all things Eastern Europe, and would encourage anyone who might be interested to take (for free) his Yale course on Ukraine. Just go look for it on YouTube.
Well written, Robert. I am dumbfounded by all of the Trump Republicans who say that President Biden has dementia and that he is too old and demented to be President. Trump is three years younger than Biden, that is all. Trump has always seemed demented to me. Now he is making gaffes that are pretty bad, but they brush those off.
I am also frustrated by the Trump Republicans who continue to say that President Biden and his son Hunter are crooks. I am not sure about Hunter, quite frankly, but I have not heard anything that proves that President Biden has done anything illegal or unethical. How do we refute these statements by Trump Republicans?
Ask them whether they would be in favor of parallel investigations of Hunter Biden and Jared Kushner's $2 billion "investment" by the Saudis.
It’s more than the two billion, it’s the 100 year lease on 666 Madison in NYC , a deal made inside the White House and Ivanka’s 625 million deal in China both as representatives of the administration.
I think they've already been asked (it's certainly been widely suggested) but they're not interested. Perhaps there's a way that this can be forced. Dems could threaten to call for a vote to vacate the chair unless parallel investigations are undertaken. Subwoofer McCarthy would have to make a deal with Democrats to keep his chair. Maybe it could include a deal to avert a shutdown. Wouldn't that be interesting?
What about the $2 Billion loan to the Kushner family? What about the LIV Golf events held at Trump golf courses? What about the patents in China that Ivana received right after they had dinner with Xi at Mara Lago? Or ask them about Elaine Chao and the entire DeVos family, or Clarence Thomas' wife, or Justice Roberts wife, or Ted Cruz's wife, or Lauren Boeberts soon to be ex husband. Basically half the spouses in Congress and their kids would be in prison if we put every single nepo baby in jail for being unethical and selling the guise of connections of influence.
There's a video of Larry King interviewing Trump in the 1990s (not to be confused with one from the '80s). He was not demented then, and in comparison to that he sure seems demented now.
He may not have been demented, but he was certainly depraved. Both get worse over time once they've begun.
Good comment. Trump has always seemed demented to me too. I think we just can’t make sense of this. The only thing we can do is put our collective heads down and work to get the Republicans out.
H Biden is a private citizen who has never had a role in government.
The Kuschners anyone?
SPOT ON
One of the Republicans participating in negotiations that Politico reports on is quoted as saying “If you are a nihilist and you want to burn the place down, you don’t care.” What, I think, is moving people toward Democrats is the recklessness of Republicans. From Trump to the Freedom Caucus, they are willing to risk the country's stability, the well-being of all of his for fealty to a cult leader and for an idiosyncratic version of personal freedom.
That is also why so many of us are with the Ukrainians. Consider the extent to which Professor Snyder's thanks to the Ukrainian people is about safety and stability as well as commonly understood versions of freedom and good behavior:
Safety:
Feeding the world
Making nuclear war less likely
Security in Europe
Security in the Pacific
Plus a more common understanding of freedom
Giving democracy a chance
Talking about freedom
Showing courage
Searching for truth
Giving us a chance to be on the right side.
Democrats know how to govern…
They passed laws in the last Congress for….
Medicare Reform
Social Security
Infrastructure
Climate Change
Job Security
Union Rights
US Manufacturing
Women’s Rights
Lower Drug Costs
Civil Rights
War Weapons Ban
Voting Rights
All these laws were and are opposed by the GOP…They are for nothing …
It’s no wonder Democrats are winning special elections
In a new Congress Democrats will continue to pass new laws to help AMERICA
Your typing fingers to god’s ears.
Your framing appeals to Hubbell readers, but may be too abstract and academic for even many “educated” Americans.
Why not take your fine list and frame it as “Helping Americans”?
Another thing: make it future-oriented. People have already taken accomplishments to the bank, so to speak. They want to know what Democrats *will* accomplish, not so much what Democrats *have* accomplished.
Is there a more loathsome swamp creature than Gym Jordan? He insults our nation's Attorney General to gain clicks on Fox. He either is so severely deluded that he has no business being in congress to say nothing of heading the Judiciary Committee. Or he is subversive.
I'd like to up subversive to seditious
No, but he can be serious competition for all the many swamp creatures. It is so funny to watch him! He is sooo impressed with himself for finally getting the position he now has-playing with the ‘big boys, in his big boy underoos”! “I’m a big boy now”.
Such chaos! Thank you for the Snyder article and thanks to the reader who recommended it.
These are the kinds of reflections we need in these days when irresponsible political actors underline negative thinking. You are a shot in the arm, Robert!
I was at my Wednesday night knitting group last night with four other women. Our host, a former Republican, pulled out her phone at the start of the evening and played the video of Swalwell “verbally bitch-slapping” (Kathy’s words) Jim Jordan. Then this usually reserved entrepreneurial small business owner went on a rant about how Republicans are wasting precious time and resources protecting Trump’s treason. I was dumbfounded by her rage and amazed that everyone agreed. Not the usual order of business at knit night!
I think it is safe to say that these four suburban women, (formerly a Republican stronghold in elections) are fed up. Seven years ago, I was the only one of the five who was a Democrat (lifelong). Now, all five will vote straight blue in 2024 - and, best of all, we will spend an hour or two once in a while, writing postcards to voters, rather than crafting. Wowsa!
Good job by the bozos in Congress in supporting taking away reproductive rights and wasting time and resources chasing right wing media sound bites. Keep it up so we Dems are able to over- perform in our election results in 2024!
As for the American Climate Corp, my paternal grandfather was foreman on a CCC crew that helped develop several of the most loved State parks along the North Shore of Lake Superior - a fabulous legacy enjoyed by thousands each day. Imagine the legacy for participants in the Climate Corp - a more livable world and a career path in government service!
God, I love this administration!
Great news and ditto on loving this Administration 😊
Sheila, I would LOVE to join your knitting group! There is hope after all
💙💙💙
Again I recall reading in Life magazine in 1964 that that was the first time in yonks that a majority of the nation's newspapers had endorsed the Democratic candidate for president. The media have always opposed Democrats; this is nothing new. The difference today, with their relentless attacks on Biden contrasting with their fond-parent-of-erring-boy attitude towards the Defendant, is one of degree.
Of more importance, I think, is the Fed's decision not to raise interest rates this month. Has Powell given up on his campaign to create a recession? Or has he decided to hold off until another time, closer to the election? So far, Bidenomics is winning!
Powell policy is the middle class and blue collar folks absorb higher interest rates and job loss to cure inflation. The lack of push back on this is disappointing. Also disappointing is that Powell has not been replaced.
Yes, the middle and lower classes are bearing the brunt of Powell’s and the Fed’s money policy. The steep rise in credit card rates and mortgage rates are two real-world tough examples that are currently affecting the poor. The rich don’t care as much because their savings accounts are actually gaining significantly. Current rates are about 4.5% compared to 0.02% last spring! This is how policy trickles down to actual citizens and voters.
High interest rates and unemployment don't address the present cause of inflation, which is profit-taking by big business. As I imply in my original comment above, I wonder if Powell's motive isn't "recession for the hell of it" -- to give Rs something to blame on Biden next year.
I believe monetary policy, especially interest rates and Fed borrowing, are just about the only arrows the Fed has in its quiver. They are forced to work with the tools they have.
Puzzling that Dems would let him get by with such a scheme.
The real solution to this problem is to eliminate the tax deduction for business borrowing. That, more than anything else, drives Fed policy and accrues to the disadvantage of anyone who owes relatively small amounts for credit cards, mortgages, car loans, or medical bills that were financed. If corporate managers had to pay for their borrowing they'd have to make much more considered decisions on spending and, possibly, do a better job of managing the businesses they're responsible for.
I have never understood why moderate Republican representatives just sit back and allow the Freedom Caucus to cause chaos. Are they being threatened with "well funded primary opponents"? I continue to keep my fingers crossed that they will work with Democrats to keep our government funded.
Many in this country do not realize how much agriculture depends on federal funding.
We are retired, and have our crop ground in the Conservation Reserve Program. This program pays farmers to idle highly erodible land and reduce run-off into rivers and streams. It is also a boon for wildlife, and has been responsible for sharp increases in pheasant, turkey and deer populations here in hilly SW Wisconsin. (This is not a give-away; we have regular land maintenance that must be performed to control weeds etc, which can cost a considerable amount of money.) Those annual "rent" checks from the government come in mid October. We have two neighbors, recent widows, that also have their crop ground in the CRP. Farmers who had to pull cattle early off of pasture because of a severe drought in our area have been able to apply for disaster relief to offset the cost of buying extra hay. A government shutdown means that none of us will receive that income. I have already written our representative Derrick Van Orden (the guy who screamed at the young people in the rotunda) about this and will write again shortly.
Any of us, no matter the age, would have been challenged to execute the President’s Asian trip schedule. And appear conscious. :)
I do not know Mr. Hufstedler, but I still belatedly wish him a very happy 101st birthday! He plainly proves the point that Cicero makes in the essay, “On Old Age,” that I quoted in a comment posted in response to yesterdays Newsletter:
“I am particularly grateful for the reference to Governor Newsom’s “full throated” defense of Biden and rebuttal of the “too old” to run claim. At least Washington Post writers are claiming that millions of potential voters, including Democrats, are expressing “too old” anxiety about Biden’s candidacy. This is a threat or vulnerability that must not be ignored. We need to remind ourselves and everyone else that Cicero correctly reminds us in his essay “On Old Age,” “ The great affairs of life are not performed by physical strength, or activity, or nimbleness of body, but by deliberation, character, expression of opinion.””
Great quote. Thank you 🙏
Excellent news in the special election trends, but we cannot allow that to lead to complacency. The only thing worse than someone feeling that their vote won't make a difference is someone feeling their vote is not needed.
The message we need to convey is that everyone must vote in order to make sure America (and the world) knows how big the majority really is. It's going to take a massive BLUE WAVE to wash away the toxic RED TIDE!
Thank you to the reference (and Janet) to the Tim Snyder podcast and yes it was beautiful. The GOP has transitioned from the Party of Lincoln to the Party of Trump to the Party of Putin.
For the ongoing issues of "journalists posing as amateur neurologists" (love it, Robert!) and the "drift of major media outlets to the right," thank you, Robert, for highlighting for the past few days the work we can do through the Media and Democracy (MAD) Project. We have the world of the media as another venue for bending the arc of justice--by winning hearts and minds.
https://mediaanddemocracyproject.substack.com/
An issue we all know about that I predict will increasingly motivate rational, independent voters, and can even do so at the local level is book banning. My goodness, I see my dear Texas is again being highlighted:-)
https://popular.info/?utm_campaign=pub&utm_medium=web
As intended the vague wording of HB 1069 is leading to chaos at our local Fl school board meetings including those being silenced for reading the definition of certain words aloud from a dictionary.
I wonder if dictionaries, especially slang dictionaries, will be next on the banned books lists. Dictionaries contain lots of words that these censors would find offensive.
Thank you for your writings, it always calms me reading your work.
I will have to say watching Gym Jordan perform - I noticed he is always screaming into a microphone and then sprinting away..... NEVER stays around to back up anything that comes out of his mouth.
I appreciate reader Janet's inclusion of the link to Prof. Snyder's "thank you" note to Ukraine. In its own way, it's a document of historical significance. On Substack and elsewhere, I regularly follow Pro. Snyder, our country's top historian on all things Eastern Europe, and would encourage anyone who might be interested to take (for free) his Yale course on Ukraine. Just go look for it on YouTube.