I thought the law making Lynching a Hate Crime after201 years when the first bill was raised in Congress was noteworthy. Now if that same supermajority could pass the Freedom to Vote, John R Lewis Act I would have more confidence.
I hope your readers will forgive my own blunt assessment of TFG’s pleas for continuing assistance with efforts to tar President Joe Biden with anything his son Hunter may or may not have done. No one gives a flying &#@ about what Hunter Biden is doing compared to the challenges the world is presently confronting, or indeed the TFG’s attempt to dismantle American democracy following the 2020 election he lost. As a small side observation I find TFG’s progeny a far greater existential threat to domestic tranquility than the Biden clan.
Can we please send TFG into some form of … well, let’s politely call it supervised assisted living? Continuing to afford him any space in our collective conscious serves only to provide unnecessary and unwanted stress.
There is simply no way to get a helpful perspective on almost any issue when we begin allowing clowns pouring into the middle ring to divert our attention during a pause between main attractions. That technique should be limited to the circus where it worked when I was a small child and easily distracted. It is a poor excuse for news coverage in the midst of the crises we are currently experiencing.
Please understand this is not a criticism of Robert’s daily advice that I find extremely helpful. Rather I plea for our major media organizations to completely and totally boycott covering, interviewing, attending, or in any way providing any coverage of TFG. No sentient person gives a 💩 what he thinks or has to say about anything that really matters.
I cannot make heads nor tails of polls, probably because I don’t pay attention to them. BUT, I do wonder whether the broader U.S. population fully appreciates the threat to our democracy posed by Trump, his former administration high level leadership, media misinformation on the right, SCOTUS, and Governors like DeSantis & Abbott, and the hardcore religious white nationalism, etc. I, like you, am troubled and unable to comprehend BUT believe truth & justice will prevail. I have written the WH/president twice urging some action regarding Merrick Garland’s silence after reading Today’s Edition. What more can we do?
I think the 7 missing hours of phone conversations will eventually be filled in. Gym Jordan, Ted Cruz, Paul Gozar, Ginni Thomas will be featured. We'll never know the content, but we'll all surely feel comfortable that we know the intent. Mr. Hubbell keeps asking, and it's a very good question ---- when will the DOJ step it up?
Thank you, again, Robert. You are a voice of reason and we need that more than anything. I think that the media 'circus' and the resulting mistrust of EVERYTHING is almost the most damaging thing to happen, and you are providing a place of calm serious thought. You give me hope!
I heard a story on NPR (I think) over the weekend that unpacked some of the polling. When asked if Biden was doing a good job with Ukraine, the polling had a 40ish% approval for Biden. However, when the efforts were broken down, i.e. no fly zone, weapons support, etc., each activity was in the 70-80% approval range. So the Fox news anti-Biden message is winning, but his actions are well received. Go figure.
It is good to read support for President Biden. He’s doing a good job. There’s just a big strain of negativity running through our country right now. And it’s time to repeat over and over that the Republican caucus in the Senate proposes to raise taxes on the middle class.
The low Biden ratings make me nuts vs the great, steady hand his team is showing in this massively layered and complex time. I agree with the statement that the polls reflect how people feel in general, scared, and responses are pointed at the poll taker and President. AND. Look at the rest of the country and Congress. Giving an inch to the "other's" position has vanished. KBJ should have been easily accepted, she already had Senate approval, but the vile attack was required to keep up the autocracy march. We can't agree. It ruins the theatre.
When one joins the military, one is NOT joining a democratic institution. And no one has been drafted into the armed forces of this country for 5 decades now. It has no conscripts, only volunteers. So, while I truly have great respect and appreciation for the men and women who volunteer to serve, I believe if they have a problem with authority and taking and carrying out orders, they probably shouldn't be there. And if they have serious religious or other objections to anything resembling commonly accepted medical practices in our society at large, perhaps they shouldn't be there either. But that's not my call. However, I'll say unequivocally that the Supreme Court sure as hell shouldn't be there attempting to interfere in command decisions.
The military does, as a matter of course, make an effort to accommodate its volunteers' religious objections in order to facilitate their desire to serve, and this is as it should be. But a line must be drawn somewhere. And when those lines are drawn, SCOTUS should keep out of it on anything short of something that could possibly be considered an outright abuse of power and authority. The military, of necessity, regularly treads upon the Constitutional rights and many liberties that its volunteers enjoy in civilian society: speech is in some situations (security and others) restricted; movement and association with others is restricted; the list goes on. It's a practice absolutely necessary to the requisite "good order and discipline" required for an effective fighting force. That is not an abuse of liberty. It is, if nothing else, only common sense.
That the Court effectively kept its mitts off the officer's pens signing the orders this time around is a good thing. And I agree that the number of justices on the court should probably be increased for a couple of reasons, along with a revision of some kind to the actual length of "lifetime" appointments. But any "court packing" done by this - or any future - president would be a bad thing, I think, because it would only exacerbate the already declining view of the Court's "legitimacy" among the public writ large. If this were to happen, better that it happens through an actual bipartisan act of Congress, barring the possibility of a future presidential candidate running on the expansion of the number of justices on the Court as a serious campaign issue, and then being elected with such an overwhelming majority of the popular vote that his (her) election would be seen as a bona fide mandate on which to act. Of course, neither of these things will likely occur until Old Scratch starts organizing snowball fights among the folks in his neighborhood. But still...
The concept of the rule of law is already suffering in this country. But while I DO NOT personally like the make-up of this Court at the present time, I don't think changing it by presidential fiat is a good idea, for if the decisions of the Court are not seen as legitimate by the vast majority of the citizens of our country - even those that some of us may not "like" - how long will it be before they are not only no longer respected in word, but are no longer respected in deed as well? What the Court does now may, if needs be, possibly be undone or at least modified in the future. But only if the rule of law itself has not been undone in the meantime.
On Biden ratings, they declined last year partly due to the relentless media loops on the Kabul "incompetence" (little on the amazing evacuation of 125,000), and then the relentless media focus on the "failure" of the $3.5T proposal, whatever it was. Little on the amazingly successful Relief and then Infrastructure trillions, and little on the components of the $3.5T. And now of course Fox has a daily diet of Biden's "pathetic dementia", "weakness", must be "impeached as failed Commander in Chief", and even mainstream media have an inveterate skeptical bias. There is no mention that Biden's "failing ratings" are in fact above Trump's when he was President.
Todays edition is one of the best ever written because it reasonably discussed why Biden’s poll numbers are low. I think the comments about how the polls reflect how voters feel about themselves and their current situation rather than the actual performance of the President not only nails one of the reasons the poll numbers are low but in part explains the attraction to Trump. Messaging needs to somehow incorporate an emphasis on the mood and anxiety of most voters. I think many voters of both parties are scared ( of different things ) and are tired of the 24/7 attacks ,political polarization and misinformation and out right lies and are looking for accountability for perceived and real crimes and don’t know to make it end. There is a high level of frustration and anger with no immediate end in site. We need to fix this.
Biden’s low ratings is in also because Republicans say everything is bad and press lap it up. But they don’t promote anything that is good. Trump was a salesman who said “I created 2 million jobs last year” even though that was the worst performance of job creation in 8 years. He couldn’t legislate but boy if he told you you were doing better you believed him because he is a salesman. Biden is a legislator, what we needed, not a salesman. The Republicans denying good and saying all is bad is part of our messaging problem. Dems did not want the country in malaise so they didn’t bash everything Republicans said.
About Democrats messaging: If it's so easy to fix how come it's never been fixed!! Democrats are like Sunday dinner at my nono's house: 12 people at the table engaging in 20 conversations at the same time!!
Two things jumped out at me: first, I have seen the light about Merrick Garland. He really is avoiding getting "political." That is so egregious and short-sighted that I simply took too long trying to see him and his (in)actions in the best possible light. Second, the reactionary justices who want to support religious freedom for Navy Seals by allowing them to ignore well-established military procedures is nuts. Two things to keep in mind about such a situation: read what you're signing up for the military and if it includes (as I suspect it does) the list of vaccinations as part of the rules, find a different way to serve your country. We don't have a draft at this point, so if you don't agree with the rules, don't join up. Second, it seems the Conscientiously Objector alternative might come into play if you find out later that you can't live with the terms of enlistment. Good newsletter today, Robert. Thank you.
"...setting up an ugly and bloody battle for the Republican nomination." Alas, I don't for a minute believe that Republicans will allow themselves to be drawn into such a battle. They will rally and go in lockstep--even if it means re-nominating Donald Trump. And as for Biden's low ratings, all you have to look at is mainstream media's relentless picking at details that normally wouldn't matter--except that the media got hooked on the drug of breathless excitement when Trump was pretend president. Biden doesn't afford them the same nonstop outrageous headlines, so they have to parse things like "those 9 words" at the end of a powerful speech--a speech that got lost in the "gotcha" culture of mainstream media. AND as for the Attorney General, I think he's a lost cause. He's got some kind of blind spot where Donald Trump's transgressions are concerned. I think whatever the January 6 committee comes up with is all we are going to get in terms of a national reckoning for Trump. Infuriating, but something we have to face and move on.
It's no longer "saying the quiet part out loud". Russian interference in 2016? yes. Russian interference in 2020? yes. Now the Russians are openly saying they want to help their guy get reinstated now. Please note this tweet and video: https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1508943310483767302
I thought the law making Lynching a Hate Crime after201 years when the first bill was raised in Congress was noteworthy. Now if that same supermajority could pass the Freedom to Vote, John R Lewis Act I would have more confidence.
I hope your readers will forgive my own blunt assessment of TFG’s pleas for continuing assistance with efforts to tar President Joe Biden with anything his son Hunter may or may not have done. No one gives a flying &#@ about what Hunter Biden is doing compared to the challenges the world is presently confronting, or indeed the TFG’s attempt to dismantle American democracy following the 2020 election he lost. As a small side observation I find TFG’s progeny a far greater existential threat to domestic tranquility than the Biden clan.
Can we please send TFG into some form of … well, let’s politely call it supervised assisted living? Continuing to afford him any space in our collective conscious serves only to provide unnecessary and unwanted stress.
There is simply no way to get a helpful perspective on almost any issue when we begin allowing clowns pouring into the middle ring to divert our attention during a pause between main attractions. That technique should be limited to the circus where it worked when I was a small child and easily distracted. It is a poor excuse for news coverage in the midst of the crises we are currently experiencing.
Please understand this is not a criticism of Robert’s daily advice that I find extremely helpful. Rather I plea for our major media organizations to completely and totally boycott covering, interviewing, attending, or in any way providing any coverage of TFG. No sentient person gives a 💩 what he thinks or has to say about anything that really matters.
I cannot make heads nor tails of polls, probably because I don’t pay attention to them. BUT, I do wonder whether the broader U.S. population fully appreciates the threat to our democracy posed by Trump, his former administration high level leadership, media misinformation on the right, SCOTUS, and Governors like DeSantis & Abbott, and the hardcore religious white nationalism, etc. I, like you, am troubled and unable to comprehend BUT believe truth & justice will prevail. I have written the WH/president twice urging some action regarding Merrick Garland’s silence after reading Today’s Edition. What more can we do?
I think the 7 missing hours of phone conversations will eventually be filled in. Gym Jordan, Ted Cruz, Paul Gozar, Ginni Thomas will be featured. We'll never know the content, but we'll all surely feel comfortable that we know the intent. Mr. Hubbell keeps asking, and it's a very good question ---- when will the DOJ step it up?
Thank you, again, Robert. You are a voice of reason and we need that more than anything. I think that the media 'circus' and the resulting mistrust of EVERYTHING is almost the most damaging thing to happen, and you are providing a place of calm serious thought. You give me hope!
I heard a story on NPR (I think) over the weekend that unpacked some of the polling. When asked if Biden was doing a good job with Ukraine, the polling had a 40ish% approval for Biden. However, when the efforts were broken down, i.e. no fly zone, weapons support, etc., each activity was in the 70-80% approval range. So the Fox news anti-Biden message is winning, but his actions are well received. Go figure.
It is good to read support for President Biden. He’s doing a good job. There’s just a big strain of negativity running through our country right now. And it’s time to repeat over and over that the Republican caucus in the Senate proposes to raise taxes on the middle class.
The low Biden ratings make me nuts vs the great, steady hand his team is showing in this massively layered and complex time. I agree with the statement that the polls reflect how people feel in general, scared, and responses are pointed at the poll taker and President. AND. Look at the rest of the country and Congress. Giving an inch to the "other's" position has vanished. KBJ should have been easily accepted, she already had Senate approval, but the vile attack was required to keep up the autocracy march. We can't agree. It ruins the theatre.
When one joins the military, one is NOT joining a democratic institution. And no one has been drafted into the armed forces of this country for 5 decades now. It has no conscripts, only volunteers. So, while I truly have great respect and appreciation for the men and women who volunteer to serve, I believe if they have a problem with authority and taking and carrying out orders, they probably shouldn't be there. And if they have serious religious or other objections to anything resembling commonly accepted medical practices in our society at large, perhaps they shouldn't be there either. But that's not my call. However, I'll say unequivocally that the Supreme Court sure as hell shouldn't be there attempting to interfere in command decisions.
The military does, as a matter of course, make an effort to accommodate its volunteers' religious objections in order to facilitate their desire to serve, and this is as it should be. But a line must be drawn somewhere. And when those lines are drawn, SCOTUS should keep out of it on anything short of something that could possibly be considered an outright abuse of power and authority. The military, of necessity, regularly treads upon the Constitutional rights and many liberties that its volunteers enjoy in civilian society: speech is in some situations (security and others) restricted; movement and association with others is restricted; the list goes on. It's a practice absolutely necessary to the requisite "good order and discipline" required for an effective fighting force. That is not an abuse of liberty. It is, if nothing else, only common sense.
That the Court effectively kept its mitts off the officer's pens signing the orders this time around is a good thing. And I agree that the number of justices on the court should probably be increased for a couple of reasons, along with a revision of some kind to the actual length of "lifetime" appointments. But any "court packing" done by this - or any future - president would be a bad thing, I think, because it would only exacerbate the already declining view of the Court's "legitimacy" among the public writ large. If this were to happen, better that it happens through an actual bipartisan act of Congress, barring the possibility of a future presidential candidate running on the expansion of the number of justices on the Court as a serious campaign issue, and then being elected with such an overwhelming majority of the popular vote that his (her) election would be seen as a bona fide mandate on which to act. Of course, neither of these things will likely occur until Old Scratch starts organizing snowball fights among the folks in his neighborhood. But still...
The concept of the rule of law is already suffering in this country. But while I DO NOT personally like the make-up of this Court at the present time, I don't think changing it by presidential fiat is a good idea, for if the decisions of the Court are not seen as legitimate by the vast majority of the citizens of our country - even those that some of us may not "like" - how long will it be before they are not only no longer respected in word, but are no longer respected in deed as well? What the Court does now may, if needs be, possibly be undone or at least modified in the future. But only if the rule of law itself has not been undone in the meantime.
On Biden ratings, they declined last year partly due to the relentless media loops on the Kabul "incompetence" (little on the amazing evacuation of 125,000), and then the relentless media focus on the "failure" of the $3.5T proposal, whatever it was. Little on the amazingly successful Relief and then Infrastructure trillions, and little on the components of the $3.5T. And now of course Fox has a daily diet of Biden's "pathetic dementia", "weakness", must be "impeached as failed Commander in Chief", and even mainstream media have an inveterate skeptical bias. There is no mention that Biden's "failing ratings" are in fact above Trump's when he was President.
Todays edition is one of the best ever written because it reasonably discussed why Biden’s poll numbers are low. I think the comments about how the polls reflect how voters feel about themselves and their current situation rather than the actual performance of the President not only nails one of the reasons the poll numbers are low but in part explains the attraction to Trump. Messaging needs to somehow incorporate an emphasis on the mood and anxiety of most voters. I think many voters of both parties are scared ( of different things ) and are tired of the 24/7 attacks ,political polarization and misinformation and out right lies and are looking for accountability for perceived and real crimes and don’t know to make it end. There is a high level of frustration and anger with no immediate end in site. We need to fix this.
Biden’s low ratings is in also because Republicans say everything is bad and press lap it up. But they don’t promote anything that is good. Trump was a salesman who said “I created 2 million jobs last year” even though that was the worst performance of job creation in 8 years. He couldn’t legislate but boy if he told you you were doing better you believed him because he is a salesman. Biden is a legislator, what we needed, not a salesman. The Republicans denying good and saying all is bad is part of our messaging problem. Dems did not want the country in malaise so they didn’t bash everything Republicans said.
About Democrats messaging: If it's so easy to fix how come it's never been fixed!! Democrats are like Sunday dinner at my nono's house: 12 people at the table engaging in 20 conversations at the same time!!
Two things jumped out at me: first, I have seen the light about Merrick Garland. He really is avoiding getting "political." That is so egregious and short-sighted that I simply took too long trying to see him and his (in)actions in the best possible light. Second, the reactionary justices who want to support religious freedom for Navy Seals by allowing them to ignore well-established military procedures is nuts. Two things to keep in mind about such a situation: read what you're signing up for the military and if it includes (as I suspect it does) the list of vaccinations as part of the rules, find a different way to serve your country. We don't have a draft at this point, so if you don't agree with the rules, don't join up. Second, it seems the Conscientiously Objector alternative might come into play if you find out later that you can't live with the terms of enlistment. Good newsletter today, Robert. Thank you.
"...setting up an ugly and bloody battle for the Republican nomination." Alas, I don't for a minute believe that Republicans will allow themselves to be drawn into such a battle. They will rally and go in lockstep--even if it means re-nominating Donald Trump. And as for Biden's low ratings, all you have to look at is mainstream media's relentless picking at details that normally wouldn't matter--except that the media got hooked on the drug of breathless excitement when Trump was pretend president. Biden doesn't afford them the same nonstop outrageous headlines, so they have to parse things like "those 9 words" at the end of a powerful speech--a speech that got lost in the "gotcha" culture of mainstream media. AND as for the Attorney General, I think he's a lost cause. He's got some kind of blind spot where Donald Trump's transgressions are concerned. I think whatever the January 6 committee comes up with is all we are going to get in terms of a national reckoning for Trump. Infuriating, but something we have to face and move on.
It's no longer "saying the quiet part out loud". Russian interference in 2016? yes. Russian interference in 2020? yes. Now the Russians are openly saying they want to help their guy get reinstated now. Please note this tweet and video: https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1508943310483767302