"Traitorous narcissist" is far too kind although not incorrect. Wannabe fascist dictator and sociopath is more like it. What has America done to deserve 7 + years of Trump's daily dominance of the news cycle? How much more do we have to withstand from this creep?
If they are still writing that gas is $6 a gallon that is journalistic malpractice of the highest order. Over the past two months I’ve been in IL, IN, MI, WI, AZ, NY, CT. The only place where gas is Even $5 a gallon sometimes is the Chicago area and even here the $5 line is straddled with some stations above and some below it, especially out of the city. IN and MI were in the low $4 range, WI was under $4 everywhere I was, AZ was in the low to mid 4’s a month ago and maybe lower now and what really surprised me based on my Chicago experience was that NYC had stations in the low fours, as did CT.
Anyone writing about $6 gas now is likely a Republican or an incompetent phone-it-in “journalist”.
If there are punishments for Trump and his cronies, I hope it's more than the absurd 5 months at Rikers Weisselberg was sentenced to. Weisselberg cheated all Americans and the US government when he and the Trump Organization lied about taxes, income, etc. In Weisselberg's case, there's little incentive for him to tell the truth in future court dates or hearings because his family is financially set for a generation or more. Even if convicted of perjury, it's likely he'll end up gloating in a country club prison, knowing that he and the Trump Organization have gotten away with lies and crimes yet again.
Great letter, Robert. All of us reading this hope for some sort of justice. To see TFG charged with SOMETHING. And it will probably happen. Perhaps Garland will finally deliver with the Mar A Lago papers. Perhaps Georgia will file charges.
But often, the real pain inflicted on the bad guys is financial. If the Trump Organization is threatened with serious financial penalties, that could be a stake in heart of the Zombie who won't die. I am also hopeful that the Dominion (voting machines) lawsuit against Fox will meet with success. And perhaps it could be a template for future suits. If TFG and Murdoch saw their empires bankrupted the world would sigh with relief.
Note to any really wealthy Democrats or Independents who want to make a difference, please consider lawyering up and slapping some serious lawsuits on the liars and coup plotters.
Thanks for writing such hopeful words and for living on the West Coast. It means I can read you now and go to bed here in Ohio after a day of reading more pessimistic thoughts. Almost as calming as a good cognac...
We must stop thinking it hyperbolic to say that the Republican Party itself is now a threat to our democracy. I understand the queasiness about labeling many of our fellow Americans in that way. I understand that it sounds extreme and overreaching.
But how else are we to describe what we are seeing? “Charles Blow.
The image of Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the house is almost unbearable. The crazies have to lose every election or this will be a slow process. They have to be shown that crazy is not a winning ticket.
Love this newsletter and the hope it brings. Also want to bring a hard-hitting interview on PBS Newshour tonight re election deniers results in primaries in swing states to everyone’s attention. I for one am a strong believer that times are so in-flux right now that it’s useless to assume past rules-of-thumb apply when attempting to predict outcomes. And one never-before aspect of our upcoming elections will include the number of election deniers that claim they wouldn’t have let popular votes in their states in 2020 stand, w discussion about the lawsuits that might thus result should they be in charge in the future. One thing is certain: things in 2022 and 2024 are not going to be “normal” https://youtu.be/VwcNvsNu4GU
I feel like the Trump family is the great white shark of our national politics. It has to keep moving or all its corruption (moral and financial) comes home to roost. It's consumed the Republican party. It's consumed the QAnon and Infowars media. It took a bite out of our country's democracy from 2017 through 2020. It's circling back around for another bite. And with Trump, money is always a core principle: Trumpists liked all the money they could divert to their own welfare.
What I took away from Moscow Mitch's comments about the Senate being statewide races and therefore less likely to flip than the House was yeah, we can't gerrymander our way into winning a state race. When all voters have a chance to vote, GOP loses!
Hi Robert, when you said focus on the second part of this quote from Mitch, "I think there’s probably a greater likelihood the House flips than the Senate. Senate races are just different — they’re statewide, candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome." besides bad GOP nominees, also the part about "statewide" is key, since in states like Ohio and Wisconsin, the state legislatures are gerrymandered beyond possibility of winning, but you can't gerrymander for statewide elections. Statewide, Democrats have the majority in many of the swing states. If we can get Dems out to vote, we win! The GOP can suppress the vote by reducing the number of drop boxes to one per county like in Ohio, but if we get Democrats out, we can still win in Wisconsin, Ohio, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
I just started re-reading "Laboratories of Autocracy" by David Pepper, former head of the Ohio Democratic Party. I'm reading it aloud to my 22-year-old soon who is concussed and can't read right now. He follows the news and is really engaged in the book, which is written with a lot of great (scary) stories to explain the way things are now. I really recommend the book. So educational. Last night on MSNBC I heard Michael Beschloss saying he fears for our Democracy...but he wasn't saying in 2024. He was saying this fall! I hope everyone is engaging now to help. FULL COURT PRESS. I have mentioned PostcardsToVoters.org before here. Volunteers across the country recently handwrote 204,000 postcards to Democrats in Kansas to ask them to vote NO on the confusing ballot amendment that would have gutted choice in Kansas. Then volunteers wrote 53,000 reminder postcards to Minnesota Democrats to GOTV for Jeff Ettinger in Special Election in a tough district. He shockingly lost by only a few points, improving his chances for prevailing in November. We just got done writing for Pat Ryan's Special Election this Tuesday. In September, we will start writing for major races all over the country. HELP WANTED! It's easy to join or restart with PostcardsToVoters.org ! Just text "join" or "hello"to 484-275-2229, or write an email to Join@TonytheDemocrat.org. PTV postcards can be written and mailed from any location in the USA. All you need to get started are postcards and stamps!
I don’t understand why, according to McConnell, the House would be more likely to flip than the Senate. Aren’t the Republican candidates for the House as crazy as the Republican Senate candidates? It seems odd to make that prediction.
Several important facts with regard to the possible eventual release of portions on the affidavit attached to the application for the search warrant provide important context. First, the motions to release the affidavit were submitted by media sources (NY Times, Washington Post, and others). Despite Trump’s verbal statements supporting release of the affidavit, his attorneys did not file a motion requesting the release. There is speculation they expected the judge not to unseal it and hoped to use that to make the point this was all a “secret plot” against Trump. We will eventually see how this all plays out. However, more information supporting Trump’s illegal actions are unlikely to be good for him. His legal challenges continue to build and are likely to get much worse.
When I saw that all the major media outlets were part of the push to publish the underlying documents for the Mar-A-Largo search I realized that we the people are now in very deep trouble, our own media outlets are against democracy!!! They are not team players for letting the DOJ do its job. Why? Because they want exciting headlines to sell papers and they are now stuck in the fear and negativity that is engulfing our psyche due to Trump’s ability to create chaos. There is plenty of positive news, news to abate fear, news that can calm instead of fan the flames.
"Traitorous narcissist" is far too kind although not incorrect. Wannabe fascist dictator and sociopath is more like it. What has America done to deserve 7 + years of Trump's daily dominance of the news cycle? How much more do we have to withstand from this creep?
If they are still writing that gas is $6 a gallon that is journalistic malpractice of the highest order. Over the past two months I’ve been in IL, IN, MI, WI, AZ, NY, CT. The only place where gas is Even $5 a gallon sometimes is the Chicago area and even here the $5 line is straddled with some stations above and some below it, especially out of the city. IN and MI were in the low $4 range, WI was under $4 everywhere I was, AZ was in the low to mid 4’s a month ago and maybe lower now and what really surprised me based on my Chicago experience was that NYC had stations in the low fours, as did CT.
Anyone writing about $6 gas now is likely a Republican or an incompetent phone-it-in “journalist”.
If there are punishments for Trump and his cronies, I hope it's more than the absurd 5 months at Rikers Weisselberg was sentenced to. Weisselberg cheated all Americans and the US government when he and the Trump Organization lied about taxes, income, etc. In Weisselberg's case, there's little incentive for him to tell the truth in future court dates or hearings because his family is financially set for a generation or more. Even if convicted of perjury, it's likely he'll end up gloating in a country club prison, knowing that he and the Trump Organization have gotten away with lies and crimes yet again.
Great letter, Robert. All of us reading this hope for some sort of justice. To see TFG charged with SOMETHING. And it will probably happen. Perhaps Garland will finally deliver with the Mar A Lago papers. Perhaps Georgia will file charges.
But often, the real pain inflicted on the bad guys is financial. If the Trump Organization is threatened with serious financial penalties, that could be a stake in heart of the Zombie who won't die. I am also hopeful that the Dominion (voting machines) lawsuit against Fox will meet with success. And perhaps it could be a template for future suits. If TFG and Murdoch saw their empires bankrupted the world would sigh with relief.
Note to any really wealthy Democrats or Independents who want to make a difference, please consider lawyering up and slapping some serious lawsuits on the liars and coup plotters.
Thanks for writing such hopeful words and for living on the West Coast. It means I can read you now and go to bed here in Ohio after a day of reading more pessimistic thoughts. Almost as calming as a good cognac...
So well said! I could not agree more!
“ I thought I would share this comment.
We must stop thinking it hyperbolic to say that the Republican Party itself is now a threat to our democracy. I understand the queasiness about labeling many of our fellow Americans in that way. I understand that it sounds extreme and overreaching.
But how else are we to describe what we are seeing? “Charles Blow.
Voters are slowly coming to the same reality.
The image of Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the house is almost unbearable. The crazies have to lose every election or this will be a slow process. They have to be shown that crazy is not a winning ticket.
Love this newsletter and the hope it brings. Also want to bring a hard-hitting interview on PBS Newshour tonight re election deniers results in primaries in swing states to everyone’s attention. I for one am a strong believer that times are so in-flux right now that it’s useless to assume past rules-of-thumb apply when attempting to predict outcomes. And one never-before aspect of our upcoming elections will include the number of election deniers that claim they wouldn’t have let popular votes in their states in 2020 stand, w discussion about the lawsuits that might thus result should they be in charge in the future. One thing is certain: things in 2022 and 2024 are not going to be “normal” https://youtu.be/VwcNvsNu4GU
I feel like the Trump family is the great white shark of our national politics. It has to keep moving or all its corruption (moral and financial) comes home to roost. It's consumed the Republican party. It's consumed the QAnon and Infowars media. It took a bite out of our country's democracy from 2017 through 2020. It's circling back around for another bite. And with Trump, money is always a core principle: Trumpists liked all the money they could divert to their own welfare.
What I took away from Moscow Mitch's comments about the Senate being statewide races and therefore less likely to flip than the House was yeah, we can't gerrymander our way into winning a state race. When all voters have a chance to vote, GOP loses!
Let’s keep our eyes on the prize, and keep on keepin’ on. Full speed right up through November 8th.
Hi Robert, when you said focus on the second part of this quote from Mitch, "I think there’s probably a greater likelihood the House flips than the Senate. Senate races are just different — they’re statewide, candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome." besides bad GOP nominees, also the part about "statewide" is key, since in states like Ohio and Wisconsin, the state legislatures are gerrymandered beyond possibility of winning, but you can't gerrymander for statewide elections. Statewide, Democrats have the majority in many of the swing states. If we can get Dems out to vote, we win! The GOP can suppress the vote by reducing the number of drop boxes to one per county like in Ohio, but if we get Democrats out, we can still win in Wisconsin, Ohio, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
I just started re-reading "Laboratories of Autocracy" by David Pepper, former head of the Ohio Democratic Party. I'm reading it aloud to my 22-year-old soon who is concussed and can't read right now. He follows the news and is really engaged in the book, which is written with a lot of great (scary) stories to explain the way things are now. I really recommend the book. So educational. Last night on MSNBC I heard Michael Beschloss saying he fears for our Democracy...but he wasn't saying in 2024. He was saying this fall! I hope everyone is engaging now to help. FULL COURT PRESS. I have mentioned PostcardsToVoters.org before here. Volunteers across the country recently handwrote 204,000 postcards to Democrats in Kansas to ask them to vote NO on the confusing ballot amendment that would have gutted choice in Kansas. Then volunteers wrote 53,000 reminder postcards to Minnesota Democrats to GOTV for Jeff Ettinger in Special Election in a tough district. He shockingly lost by only a few points, improving his chances for prevailing in November. We just got done writing for Pat Ryan's Special Election this Tuesday. In September, we will start writing for major races all over the country. HELP WANTED! It's easy to join or restart with PostcardsToVoters.org ! Just text "join" or "hello"to 484-275-2229, or write an email to Join@TonytheDemocrat.org. PTV postcards can be written and mailed from any location in the USA. All you need to get started are postcards and stamps!
I don’t understand why, according to McConnell, the House would be more likely to flip than the Senate. Aren’t the Republican candidates for the House as crazy as the Republican Senate candidates? It seems odd to make that prediction.
Several important facts with regard to the possible eventual release of portions on the affidavit attached to the application for the search warrant provide important context. First, the motions to release the affidavit were submitted by media sources (NY Times, Washington Post, and others). Despite Trump’s verbal statements supporting release of the affidavit, his attorneys did not file a motion requesting the release. There is speculation they expected the judge not to unseal it and hoped to use that to make the point this was all a “secret plot” against Trump. We will eventually see how this all plays out. However, more information supporting Trump’s illegal actions are unlikely to be good for him. His legal challenges continue to build and are likely to get much worse.
When I saw that all the major media outlets were part of the push to publish the underlying documents for the Mar-A-Largo search I realized that we the people are now in very deep trouble, our own media outlets are against democracy!!! They are not team players for letting the DOJ do its job. Why? Because they want exciting headlines to sell papers and they are now stuck in the fear and negativity that is engulfing our psyche due to Trump’s ability to create chaos. There is plenty of positive news, news to abate fear, news that can calm instead of fan the flames.