President Biden awarded 19 Medals of Freedom (3 posthumous) to individuals who make one proud to be an American. The recipients reflect the diversity, inclusion, intelligence and service of real American patriots.
Watch the White House ceremony. Be inspired.
Note the contrast with the former administration, now embroiled in facing criminal accountability.
There really is only ONE choice if America is to move forward. "R" stands for "reverse."
The Republicans do not intend to Represent, they plan to RULE.
Is she still alive? And supports who? I don't see her supporting Trump, if that's what you're asking, but as you can tell from my initial question, I have not been following her.
Yup! And she'll turn 90 next year. I hadn't paid much attention before, but she has had an illustrious career. And thanks for helping me draw my attention to her. In this day and age of a GOP gone sour, the Doles are refreshing!
Monday for sure. The tomatoes will be planted and most of the massive weeds out back will be pulled. My hedge against political insanity. Burnout solves nothing.
Thank you for all the hot tips, Robert. I'm registered for next Tuesday's Focus For Democracy's Zoom. I'm lookong forward to being a poll worker, come November. LA County did not need me for the primary, but I'm high on the list of volunteers. Up here in Altadena they are always great people. If any organized interferene comes down, I want to be there with them. That's the least I can do.
Same here in Western New York. I have volunteered to be a poll worker this November. I’m waiting to hear when the required orientation class will be held. One can only read so many political newsletters before the need to participate becomes apparent. Burnout is a waste of potential.
I don’t get Hope Hicks. Born to a wealthy family in Connecticut and college educated she was as close to Trump as anyone and saw first hand his lies and deceit. The Access Hollywood tape showed loud and clear Trump total disrespect for women and then add the Stormy Daniel's episode right after the birth of his son and any self respecting woman would have quit. Even today in a court room Hope Hicks continued supporting Trump and miraculously could not recall major events happening around her. This blind dedication to Trump by individuals who should know better is a hallmark of the Trump Administration and those individuals are waiting in the wings to make a return to the stage.
I love the line "By a show of hands..." regarding Trump’s auditors. That Truth Social's auditors were engaged in a massive fraud uncovered by thebSEC is, well, too rich.
Last year FL GOP legislators made it legal to carry a gun with no permit or training. The Fl Attorney General is one of 26 GOP AG’s suing the Biden Admin.
Seniors Taking Action is proud to be a co- host with Markers for Democracy for the Thursday, May 9, 7PM EST zoom call. The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, and The States—with NC Democratic Chair Anderson Clayton and Author David Pepper.
Please donate to our NC Giving Circle whose funds go to support down ballot candidates seeking to get rid of the supermajority in the state. Ile place the link in the following comment. Register for the zoom at the link provided in Robert’s message and see you there.
Every time I hear Anderson Clayton speak, I get inspired!
I am currently writing postcards for Nicole Sidman (NC HD-105) who is running against Tricia Cotham who switched for (D) to (R) in the middle of the long session and who is singularly responsible for the NC abortion ban rammed through by the GOP (once Cotham's flip gave them a veto-proof super majority). The GOP rewarded her by redrawing the district much redder, but the Mecklenberg County Dems are determined to win back this seat! I think there have already been 3 or 4 canvasses in the district - they started right after Nicole won her primary on super Tuesday.
FYI - If there are any postcard or letter writers out there who want to help flip NC blue, here are some volunteer opportunities:
* Field Team 6 (www.fieldteam6.org) has a postcard campaign to register likely Democrats that are woman in NC-01 (Don Davis's, disctrict which is the only competitive US house seat in the state after the regerrymander). The focus is on reproductive rights and postcards are mail as you go. You provide postcards and stamps. (FT6 also has text- and phone-banks for those who don't do postcards).
* Postcards to Swing States (https://www.turnoutpac.org/postcards/) has postcards they will mail you for free to any od 11 swing states including NC. They give you a choice of 3 short, nonpartisan get-out-the-vote messages and the list of names and addresses. You provide postage. Postcards will get mailed in mid-October and minimum order is 200 postcards.
* Reclaim Our Vote (https://www.centerforcommonground.org/reclaim-our-vote) - they encourage BIPOC voters in southern states with voter suppression to overcome barriers and vote. They will start their first of two postcard campaigns in NC soon. In order to volunteer, you must complete a brief on-line training and use specific "Reclaim Our Vote" postcards. If you are interested in participating, I recommend completing the training and ordering postcards from the printer. If you are local to the coordinator (in Durham?) you can pick up postcard packets with names & addresses and labels (with voting details). Otherwise, you can download names & addresses and the Avery label template. These are "hold and mail between <dates>"
Cheryl. We are writing for field team 6 to Cong districts 1 and 13. If you are in the Raleigh Durham area you can write with us or on your own. In order supplies of cards and can access names and addresses through our partnership with FT6
There is a wholesale effort going on in Mecklenburg County to flip or keep things blue. Good luck to all of you.
Hi Ilene, FT6 has updated their website to list just NC-01 on the dropdown menu since NC-13 is no longer in play with the GOP re-gerrymander. UGH! However, I'm not sure they updated their instruction sheet.
I'm in Charlotte, so I am not going to be able to join you in person, but I appreciate the offer.
I’ll check with them. We still have names and I feel Dem candidate should get support. Otherwise they have to spend nothing there and push it to races like #1
The incumbent in NC-13, Wiley Nickel, withdrew from the race after the new district was announced and unfortunately the GOP candidate is running unopposed.
I’ve come to understand why tRump continues to believe not only that the Dems cheated in 2020, but that he actually won. tRump cheated in numerous ways in 2016, and won. It is beyond his comprehension that he could cheat in 2020 and lose, so the Dems must have cheated even more. It is also beyond his abilities to comprehend any win without cheating involved.
Robert correctly notes that "Trump will scrape the bottom of the barrel to find sychopants willing to lie no matter the consequences." He's got some on board now: Kash Patel, Richard Grinnell to name two. His lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove must be struggling with their oath keeping too.
"Scraping the bottom of the barrel" of course accurately conveys the meaning of finding the most despicable and unqualified people to further his agenda. Unfortunately he doesn't need to scrape. The barrel is bottomless.
Thank you, Robert, for providing a trial lawyer’s perspective on the election-interference case in New York, a welcome change from the breathless reporters who deliver play -by-play coverage without understanding of what is really going on. It strikes me that the chances of juror nullification decline with each passing day. Even if a Trump loyalist somehow snuck on the jury—which is very unlikely—sitting in the courtroom, just a few feet from the man, watching him stretch and scratch (and maybe sleep) will diminish TFG’s stature, a process that the evidence will accelerate. They say no man is a hero to his valet (except, perhaps, the Earl of Grantham); the same is true of a famous defendant and his jurors.
The energy and drive of such as Anderson Clayton, playing the long game, is an inspiration to me, and a promise that the rising generations are not going down without the fight of the century, or of the millennium.
Unfortunately, Robert, I fear you are wrong on this account: The judgment of history will not be diminished or altered if a juror nullifies the prosecution’s case by rendering a political judgment rather than a legal one.
Trump will be fully primed to Trumpet that a hung jury “Fully Exonerated” him — just as he did with Barr’s 4-page summary of the Mueller report — which concluded the opposite of “exoneration.”
Also, being prepped with actual declining crime numbers under Biden to counter a MAGA neighbor’s insistence that crime is way up will be a waste of breath. Facts will not persuade the “all-in on Trumpers.”
I’m not suggesting giving up on them per se, but using facts to show them the light is like using light to show bats a banana. Doesn’t work and they’re not interested.
Your neighbor has Fox News showing burning college campuses on so long that their TVs look like a fireplace. When Time magazine presented Trump with the Biden’s impressive crime stats, he pushed back with “fake news.” THAT will be the unchallenged argument Fox News highlights in the face of the facts.
So what to do? Accept that 30% of MAGA are as unreachable as the 30% who backed Nixon post-resignation in 1974.
And focus on building communities on commonalities — not by convincing them to relinquish their convictions.
The goal is NOT to win them over. (Can’t happen, won’t happen.) The goal is creating a space of calm that is inviting to Independents and the Trump-fatigued. Sharing facts with a MAGA zealot is the same as pitching a bean ball while THEY’RE leaning into the pitch. It makes you, the pitcher, look like the bad guy while the bat guy earns all the sympathy of the crowd of Independents and Former Trumpsters.
I think the solution lies in proudly displaying Biden pride — without the confrontation. Buy a Tshirt at the newly launched DemsMakeLifeBetter.org. Or BeantownStrong.com.
I wear mine in South Florida every week and it may surprise you (as it surprised me) I’ve never had a negative response. I’m happy to report that people in-real-life are kind and neighborly. Even your MAGA neighbors. Wear a shirt… just as an experiment… and enjoy the unexpected results.
THIS is the way to ultimately enjoy the results on 11/5/2024. #LFG
An interesting tack. Headwinds are strong Slack off a bit and a reach will get you there drier, which is better than fast and soaked to the bone. If you catch my drift.
To me, Robert does not mis-characterize Hope Hicks’s tears. Any nervousness was likely over her own potential culpability. She’s 35 and has lived a little.
It doesn't sound like Trump has much wiggle room. Does he have further ways to squirm out of this?
I am wondering...
When/if Trump is convicted in the Election Interference Case, what are the penalties on the books that would guide the sentencing? How much flexibility is there in the sentencing? How long after the verdict is the sentence announced? And does the jury or the judge determine the sentence?
A juror could believe that Trump acted to protect himself from Melania's wrath. That doesn't seem to be supported by the evidence, but who knows what a motivated juror could conclude? That's why we should recognize that the trial evidence will establish Trump's culpability for the ages.
As I said yesterday, people trying to keep their wives from finding out about their affairs don't use code names. The fact that he had one tells us everything we need to know.
I did some digging. Trump is charged with four felonies in this case. The maximum sentence is 10 years each, or 40 years total. The judge decides the sentence. If Trump appeals, the case could drag on for many months or years. But I wonder what bail he would set for him?
Yes, finally getting Trump in front of a jury shows clearly who he really is and more importantly, who he isn’t. BUT, the biggest American disgrace is how the federal courts are protecting him. Judge Cannon seems to work about an hour a week, and Supreme Court has 5 1/2 arrogant Trumpers. Totally corrupt.
President Biden awarded 19 Medals of Freedom (3 posthumous) to individuals who make one proud to be an American. The recipients reflect the diversity, inclusion, intelligence and service of real American patriots.
Watch the White House ceremony. Be inspired.
Note the contrast with the former administration, now embroiled in facing criminal accountability.
There really is only ONE choice if America is to move forward. "R" stands for "reverse."
The Republicans do not intend to Represent, they plan to RULE.
The big difference is they deserved the metal.
Wonder whether Liddy Dole supports him?
I can't imagine that, Daniel. Her husband surely wouldn't have!
Is she still alive? And supports who? I don't see her supporting Trump, if that's what you're asking, but as you can tell from my initial question, I have not been following her.
She is alive and looking great., David.
Yup! And she'll turn 90 next year. I hadn't paid much attention before, but she has had an illustrious career. And thanks for helping me draw my attention to her. In this day and age of a GOP gone sour, the Doles are refreshing!
Thank you for this. I’m going to watch this now.
Good news very bad news…….. for Steve Bannon.
His fraud case with potential serious jail time was postponed until September.
The Judge with be Judge Merchan.
That's great news, Steven.
Monday for sure. The tomatoes will be planted and most of the massive weeds out back will be pulled. My hedge against political insanity. Burnout solves nothing.
Thank you for all the hot tips, Robert. I'm registered for next Tuesday's Focus For Democracy's Zoom. I'm lookong forward to being a poll worker, come November. LA County did not need me for the primary, but I'm high on the list of volunteers. Up here in Altadena they are always great people. If any organized interferene comes down, I want to be there with them. That's the least I can do.
Have a great weekend all.
Same here in Western New York. I have volunteered to be a poll worker this November. I’m waiting to hear when the required orientation class will be held. One can only read so many political newsletters before the need to participate becomes apparent. Burnout is a waste of potential.
Over $5 mill pledged in March. One donor pledged $3 mil.
I remember that. I'm not in that league.Friend and Family and Galvanie Action look very effective.
Thank you!
Get those tomatoes in. It's gettng late.
I don’t get Hope Hicks. Born to a wealthy family in Connecticut and college educated she was as close to Trump as anyone and saw first hand his lies and deceit. The Access Hollywood tape showed loud and clear Trump total disrespect for women and then add the Stormy Daniel's episode right after the birth of his son and any self respecting woman would have quit. Even today in a court room Hope Hicks continued supporting Trump and miraculously could not recall major events happening around her. This blind dedication to Trump by individuals who should know better is a hallmark of the Trump Administration and those individuals are waiting in the wings to make a return to the stage.
"any self-respecting woman would have quit" - You answered your own question.
Sad but true, Stephen!
I love the line "By a show of hands..." regarding Trump’s auditors. That Truth Social's auditors were engaged in a massive fraud uncovered by thebSEC is, well, too rich.
The falsification of financial statements by management and outside auditors is a federal crime under the Sarbane Oxley act
👍👏👏🙏
Violent crime is at a 50-year low.👏 while Florida leads the country in mass shootings.😡
https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2024/05/02/mass-shootings-down-29-from-last-year-and-almost-100-fewer-people-have-died/
Last year FL GOP legislators made it legal to carry a gun with no permit or training. The Fl Attorney General is one of 26 GOP AG’s suing the Biden Admin.
https://www.wfla.com/news/florida/florida-among-states-suing-to-block-biden-rule-requiring-background-checks-at-gun-shows/
Tell a friend !!!
Back to using my “weapons” of choice:✍️📣📲💲👕🛒
In Flawduh you can carry a gun any place except it's outlawed to carry around the people who made the law. I believe it's no governmental buildings.
Not surprised
You go, Kathy -- esp love t-shirt & shopping cart!!!! Road warrior 👍👏
Seniors Taking Action is proud to be a co- host with Markers for Democracy for the Thursday, May 9, 7PM EST zoom call. The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, and The States—with NC Democratic Chair Anderson Clayton and Author David Pepper.
Please donate to our NC Giving Circle whose funds go to support down ballot candidates seeking to get rid of the supermajority in the state. Ile place the link in the following comment. Register for the zoom at the link provided in Robert’s message and see you there.
As an NC resident, I say thank you!
Every time I hear Anderson Clayton speak, I get inspired!
I am currently writing postcards for Nicole Sidman (NC HD-105) who is running against Tricia Cotham who switched for (D) to (R) in the middle of the long session and who is singularly responsible for the NC abortion ban rammed through by the GOP (once Cotham's flip gave them a veto-proof super majority). The GOP rewarded her by redrawing the district much redder, but the Mecklenberg County Dems are determined to win back this seat! I think there have already been 3 or 4 canvasses in the district - they started right after Nicole won her primary on super Tuesday.
FYI - If there are any postcard or letter writers out there who want to help flip NC blue, here are some volunteer opportunities:
* Field Team 6 (www.fieldteam6.org) has a postcard campaign to register likely Democrats that are woman in NC-01 (Don Davis's, disctrict which is the only competitive US house seat in the state after the regerrymander). The focus is on reproductive rights and postcards are mail as you go. You provide postcards and stamps. (FT6 also has text- and phone-banks for those who don't do postcards).
* Postcards to Swing States (https://www.turnoutpac.org/postcards/) has postcards they will mail you for free to any od 11 swing states including NC. They give you a choice of 3 short, nonpartisan get-out-the-vote messages and the list of names and addresses. You provide postage. Postcards will get mailed in mid-October and minimum order is 200 postcards.
* Reclaim Our Vote (https://www.centerforcommonground.org/reclaim-our-vote) - they encourage BIPOC voters in southern states with voter suppression to overcome barriers and vote. They will start their first of two postcard campaigns in NC soon. In order to volunteer, you must complete a brief on-line training and use specific "Reclaim Our Vote" postcards. If you are interested in participating, I recommend completing the training and ordering postcards from the printer. If you are local to the coordinator (in Durham?) you can pick up postcard packets with names & addresses and labels (with voting details). Otherwise, you can download names & addresses and the Avery label template. These are "hold and mail between <dates>"
* Vote Forward (www.votefwd.org) - Vote Forward has GOTV letter writing campaigns in NC and several other swing states (https://votefwd.org/campaigns). There are Social and Political campaigns which target lower-propensity voters in different audiences. See https://help.votefwd.org/article/81-whats-the-difference-between-priority-social-and-political-campaigns for a comparison of who is targeted.
Cheryl. We are writing for field team 6 to Cong districts 1 and 13. If you are in the Raleigh Durham area you can write with us or on your own. In order supplies of cards and can access names and addresses through our partnership with FT6
There is a wholesale effort going on in Mecklenburg County to flip or keep things blue. Good luck to all of you.
Hi Ilene, FT6 has updated their website to list just NC-01 on the dropdown menu since NC-13 is no longer in play with the GOP re-gerrymander. UGH! However, I'm not sure they updated their instruction sheet.
I'm in Charlotte, so I am not going to be able to join you in person, but I appreciate the offer.
I’ll check with them. We still have names and I feel Dem candidate should get support. Otherwise they have to spend nothing there and push it to races like #1
The incumbent in NC-13, Wiley Nickel, withdrew from the race after the new district was announced and unfortunately the GOP candidate is running unopposed.
https://ballotpedia.org/North_Carolina's_13th_Congressional_District_election,_2024
From Ballotpedia today
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Frank Pierce advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 13.
He is running unopposed in the primary. Frank Pierce is the Democratic candidate
Just signed up, Ilene. Thanks for the reminder.
I’ve come to understand why tRump continues to believe not only that the Dems cheated in 2020, but that he actually won. tRump cheated in numerous ways in 2016, and won. It is beyond his comprehension that he could cheat in 2020 and lose, so the Dems must have cheated even more. It is also beyond his abilities to comprehend any win without cheating involved.
Interesting idea. Thanks.
Robert correctly notes that "Trump will scrape the bottom of the barrel to find sychopants willing to lie no matter the consequences." He's got some on board now: Kash Patel, Richard Grinnell to name two. His lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove must be struggling with their oath keeping too.
"Scraping the bottom of the barrel" of course accurately conveys the meaning of finding the most despicable and unqualified people to further his agenda. Unfortunately he doesn't need to scrape. The barrel is bottomless.
And he's very good at surrounding himself with the worst people.
Thank you, Robert, for providing a trial lawyer’s perspective on the election-interference case in New York, a welcome change from the breathless reporters who deliver play -by-play coverage without understanding of what is really going on. It strikes me that the chances of juror nullification decline with each passing day. Even if a Trump loyalist somehow snuck on the jury—which is very unlikely—sitting in the courtroom, just a few feet from the man, watching him stretch and scratch (and maybe sleep) will diminish TFG’s stature, a process that the evidence will accelerate. They say no man is a hero to his valet (except, perhaps, the Earl of Grantham); the same is true of a famous defendant and his jurors.
The energy and drive of such as Anderson Clayton, playing the long game, is an inspiration to me, and a promise that the rising generations are not going down without the fight of the century, or of the millennium.
Unfortunately, Robert, I fear you are wrong on this account: The judgment of history will not be diminished or altered if a juror nullifies the prosecution’s case by rendering a political judgment rather than a legal one.
Trump will be fully primed to Trumpet that a hung jury “Fully Exonerated” him — just as he did with Barr’s 4-page summary of the Mueller report — which concluded the opposite of “exoneration.”
Also, being prepped with actual declining crime numbers under Biden to counter a MAGA neighbor’s insistence that crime is way up will be a waste of breath. Facts will not persuade the “all-in on Trumpers.”
I’m not suggesting giving up on them per se, but using facts to show them the light is like using light to show bats a banana. Doesn’t work and they’re not interested.
Your neighbor has Fox News showing burning college campuses on so long that their TVs look like a fireplace. When Time magazine presented Trump with the Biden’s impressive crime stats, he pushed back with “fake news.” THAT will be the unchallenged argument Fox News highlights in the face of the facts.
So what to do? Accept that 30% of MAGA are as unreachable as the 30% who backed Nixon post-resignation in 1974.
And focus on building communities on commonalities — not by convincing them to relinquish their convictions.
The goal is NOT to win them over. (Can’t happen, won’t happen.) The goal is creating a space of calm that is inviting to Independents and the Trump-fatigued. Sharing facts with a MAGA zealot is the same as pitching a bean ball while THEY’RE leaning into the pitch. It makes you, the pitcher, look like the bad guy while the bat guy earns all the sympathy of the crowd of Independents and Former Trumpsters.
I think the solution lies in proudly displaying Biden pride — without the confrontation. Buy a Tshirt at the newly launched DemsMakeLifeBetter.org. Or BeantownStrong.com.
I wear mine in South Florida every week and it may surprise you (as it surprised me) I’ve never had a negative response. I’m happy to report that people in-real-life are kind and neighborly. Even your MAGA neighbors. Wear a shirt… just as an experiment… and enjoy the unexpected results.
THIS is the way to ultimately enjoy the results on 11/5/2024. #LFG
-Shawn Shawn
An interesting tack. Headwinds are strong Slack off a bit and a reach will get you there drier, which is better than fast and soaked to the bone. If you catch my drift.
To me, Robert does not mis-characterize Hope Hicks’s tears. Any nervousness was likely over her own potential culpability. She’s 35 and has lived a little.
She is an actress on a stage. She is currently employed by a friend of Trump’s
It doesn't sound like Trump has much wiggle room. Does he have further ways to squirm out of this?
I am wondering...
When/if Trump is convicted in the Election Interference Case, what are the penalties on the books that would guide the sentencing? How much flexibility is there in the sentencing? How long after the verdict is the sentence announced? And does the jury or the judge determine the sentence?
A juror could believe that Trump acted to protect himself from Melania's wrath. That doesn't seem to be supported by the evidence, but who knows what a motivated juror could conclude? That's why we should recognize that the trial evidence will establish Trump's culpability for the ages.
As I said yesterday, people trying to keep their wives from finding out about their affairs don't use code names. The fact that he had one tells us everything we need to know.
I did some digging. Trump is charged with four felonies in this case. The maximum sentence is 10 years each, or 40 years total. The judge decides the sentence. If Trump appeals, the case could drag on for many months or years. But I wonder what bail he would set for him?
Earlier this week Popular Information did this excellent article about “the crime wave” republicans keep pushing. https://open.substack.com/pub/popularinformation/p/the-biggest-political-deception-of?r=2n1rj&utm_medium=ios
Yes, finally getting Trump in front of a jury shows clearly who he really is and more importantly, who he isn’t. BUT, the biggest American disgrace is how the federal courts are protecting him. Judge Cannon seems to work about an hour a week, and Supreme Court has 5 1/2 arrogant Trumpers. Totally corrupt.