All, I received an email from a reader who contacted the Secret Service field office in his area and was told by the agent who answered the phone that the photo of Joe Biden bound and gagged was "none of his business." If others experience such dismissive treatment from the Secret Service, can you please post details? I assume that the Secret Service would have said the same thing about Trump's "Be there! Will be wild" comment before Jan 6.
Perhaps such complaints – and especially the dismissal — need to be “elevated” to the head of the Secret Service *and* to the Secretary of the Treasury (isn’t Secret Service still part of the Treasury Department?).
Like another Commenter, I’ve been concerned that the Secret Service has been infiltrated by Trumpist values and that many of its Agents are not evenhanded.
"§871. Threats against President and successors to the Presidency
(a) Whoever knowingly and willfully deposits for conveyance in the mail or for a delivery from any post office or by any letter carrier any letter, paper, writing, print, missive, or document containing any threat to take the life of, to kidnap, or to inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States, the President-elect, the Vice President or other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President of the United States, or the Vice President-elect, or knowingly and willfully otherwise makes any such threat against the President, President-elect, Vice President or other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President, or Vice President-elect, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both."
Remember that much of the SS who actually worked with TFG, came to like him. (Erasing their texts.) I can't imagine anyone working so closely to TFG, could actually handle it without compensating someplace.
Re Welker’s email address, my guess is: ‘Kristen.Welker@nbcuni.com’ and I’ll confirm it for you in the morning. Her Twitter/X handle is @kwelkernbc. I will let her know how I feel here.
Robert often asks his readers to contact journalists about their messaging. Here is another one I have submitted just now to Amanda Terkel, the Managing Editor at NBC News, at this email: nbcnewsdigitalcontact@nbcuni.com
My name is Gary Stewart. I have had 135 Letters to the Editor published in 29 states since 2018.
I am writing about Kristen Welker’s recent bland and permissive phrasing when speaking about communications from Donald Trump.
This represents yet another perfect example of the failure of traditional media to recognize that the usual horse-race, he-said/she-said, both-sides-ism paradigm used in presidential campaigns is inappropriate when one of the candidates Is an anti-democratic authoritarian who unceasingly spouts lies and uses violent rhetoric.
This is what Robert Hubbell published in his blog, which I fully endorse:
[Here I submitted what Robert had written, "Kristen Welker of Meet the Press on Sunday...he should remain in jail pending the jury’s verdict.” I then continued.]
The treatment of Trump’s outrageous attacks and calls to violence as just indication of a “deeply divided nation”, or represent acceptable political discourse, is a total failure to inform the public in a manner that allows them to appreciate the reality of the situation the country is facing.
Let no one forget for one instant that Trump masterminded a complex, multi-pronged coup attempt that very nearly succeeded. Big lie. Fake electors. De-certification by Mike Pence. Violent overthrow of the Capitol to delay the vote counting. All Trump - to stay in office after losing the 2020 election.
Being polite to a malignant narcissist spewing vicious lies is unacceptable, and it is putting U.S. democracy in serious jeopardy.
Total rejection and condemnation of Trump's statements is warranted, and nothing short of that is sufficient for the circumstances.
Gary is way ahead of me in letters published, but I’m catching up. Getting them published is not as necessary as letting them know you are paying attention and are upset. It is important to keep writing. ALSO, why isn’t the DOJ publicly arresting people who are harassing so many public officials with vile and gross threats? How many $Millions are being spent on security because there is a raging lunatic plaguing the country?
BTW, Cheryl Johnson, I appreciated your knowledgeable educating of me and other readers of this post about the ten-year window of opportunity to gerrymander, based on the timing of the census. It gives me a chilling insight into the long game the GOP is playing. They seemingly waited for and pounced on the last gerrymandering opportunity and used it to great success to increase their advantage. Whereas Democrats in their innocence did nothing. I hope we can make our own long-game plan to pounce on gerrymandering for good at the next census. I suppose I could make a case that their last successful gerrymandering gave them control of the House in 2020.
Just watched the Agenda 47 episode. Wow. Already shared it widely. Terrifying. I actually went canvassing for Suozzi with Ahmed Baba. He is a lovely and smart guy!
Too many people are sleepwalking towards the election in Nov. Not subscribers to Robert's newsletter - but likely people we know and certainly people with 2 or more degrees of separation from us.
Remember how long it took any media to actually call his misinformation & manipulations as lies and call him a liar? Drove me insane when I knew what he said was a lie, but was whitewashed with normalization.
We must continue to call out the reckless rhetoric, and the officials who are reluctant to uphold the rule of law; to that end I sent the following to the Secret Service:
There is a large ("life size"?) image on the tailgate of the 2nd truck of President Biden, unconscious, hog-tied and appearing to be a kidnap victim. This is clearly a signal to the organized, armed and lawless groups who follow Trump, and it constitutes a threat to our president.
This information has been widely distributed, and needs to be investigated, and those responsible held accountable under the laws of our country. By posting this on his "truth social' account, Mr. Trump has crossed a line; he has already shown decisively that he will disregard the law, and is currently under indictment in 4 major cases, with at least one gag order in place, yet he continues to thumb his nose at law enforcement and the Constitutional democracy of the United States.
No decent, honest, law-abiding citizen would do this, and anyone else would be sanctioned and restrained by law enforcement backed by the courts. Allowing this to continue creates a two-tiered legal system, in which everyone is not equal before the law. We, the people, count on you to enforce the law equally and impartially. Please follow up on this, as is required by your job.
Thanks Tom. I also wrote them, after being unsuccessful in calling them. I also sent an email to the White House explaining that we are making demands the the USSS investigate this and we would appreciate the Feds also making sure this is investigated.
Thanks for the email address and your letter. I just wrote my own, much shorter and much less eloquent reguest to them, asking for an investigation into the threat against the life of President Biden.
I started on Medicare in July and my first impression, after having had employer-sponsored health insurance the last 45 years was "why did I have to wait so long to get this health insurance and why is this not available to everyone in this country? "
I have an expensive, high-deductible plan(4700$).The Inflation Reduction Act mandates that I not pay over a certain percentage of my income on my premium. This year I received a subsidy that reduced my premium to the 2020 level. Truly inflation-reducing. Thank you, President Biden and team !!
My multi-millionaire Senator Rick Scott, who made millions on Medicare fraud,is trying to cut your Medicare. I will be messaging…📣
Two more months until Medicare !!🤸 Thank you President Biden and team for efforts to preserve Medicare!
"As of Feb. 1, 2024, 346,408 newly eligible North Carolinians are enrolled in Medicaid and now have access to comprehensive health care, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ Medicaid Expansion Enrollment Dashboard. NCDHHS released an updated the dashboard today, and it includes enrollment data as of Feb. 1, 2024. This number is more than half of the anticipated 600,000 people who are newly eligible for coverage, expected to enroll in Medicaid expansion over the next two years."
This is in the FIRST TWO MONTHS that it has been available!
Florida is one of only 10 states that refuses to pass Medicaid expansion. We are dropping people from Medicaid as fast as NC is enrolling, including chronically ill kids. We also have one of the worst infant mortality rates.
Re Welker’s email address, my guess is: ‘Kristen.Welker@nbcuni.com’ and I’ll confirm it for you in the morning. Her Twitter/X handle is @kwelkernbc. I will let her know how I feel here.
Suzanne: I elected to write to the Managing Editor of Politics at NBC News. There are multiple people at NBC News who need to hear from us, and repeatedly.
No I do not. I was actually looking for a different resource that I had used in the past. That one was geared towards helping consumers get resolution on customer service issues. (Sending an email to a CEO often helps you get quick resolution on issues).
That website came to light after Jan 6th when there was a grassroots effort to get companies to cut contributions to GOP candidates who had voted against certifying the election.
Thank you, Terry, for the addresses. Just wrote an email to many on the list, to the folks Robert gave us and to Welker. Jeff Shell (Chief Executive Officer) just replied with an auto reply that he is no longer at NBC Universal.
Just now I wrote the following to the Execs at NBC.
Good Morning,
I am hoping that by now you both have had multiple emails discussing the comments Ms Welker made yesterday on MTP, about the funeral procession in which someone displayed an image of President Biden bound and gagged in the back of a pick -up truck" .Welker's comments were," Maybe it energizes the base?”, and A reminder that we are covering this election against the backdrop of a deeply divided nation?”
This is NOT normal politics, this is dangerous behavior that Trump condones and encourages. The Secret Service should be having a conversation with him as we speak. This is dangerous, and Trump is, once again, getting away with this type of rhetoric and worse. The press needs to be calling him out and NBC should be 1st in line with criticism for his unchecked behavior.
I just sent Kristen Welker an email with my concern that she stop normalizing Trump immediately.I did so using an urgent style.I hope others are doing so too.We stopped NBC from retaining Ronna Romney McDaniel as an analyst ( or as Jeff Tiedrich calls it on his Substack” anal cyst”lol) We can have an effect on Welker’s inane and dangerous yammering .
Thank you, again, Robert for the contacts at NBC. Until this last week I've not posted comments other than "thank you" for your wonderful newsletter. You are my first read every morning.
The last 10 days I've sent emails to NBC of my outrage about Ronna McDaniel hiring and now Kristen Welker/Meet the Press weak response. Thank you for motivating me to speak up and send NBC management my thoughts on Trump's Truth Social dangerous postings re Judge Merchan, his daughter and President Biden. I will no long watch their shows.
There is a stark reality we need to be aware of. The obscene rhetoric and comments by Trump are not remarks designed to attract new voters to the Republican Party whereas almost everyday the Biden Administration is doing or saying something that should appeal to most Americans. It a steady and long slow process of gaining acceptance and long overdue recognition. Americans need to feel the benefits of the Biden Administration and ask themselves who do they really feel safer and more secure with? Each day the choices between the two candidates becomes clearer and more evident and realistic. Everyone needs to keep doing what they are doing. We are truly in this together
It’s why I continue to have hope when so many that I know have none. I genuinely believe that the more stark the choice becomes, the more unlikely it is that people will choose a violence-inciting criminal over the good man that is Joe Biden. Therein lies our mission, though. We have to be the ones who keep pointing out the contrast through whatever means are at our disposal. To paraphrase a term from gambling, you must get in it to win it.
Hi Dean! I agree that we need to be the truth-tellers and make sure that people are aware of the stark contrast between our choices and the danger we are facing if, heaven forbid, Trump gets reelected.
If you aren't already following Simon Rosenberg's Hopium Chronicles I recommend it:
Cheryl Johnson, I've probably sent fifteen people to Hopium Chronicles. It's where I send knowledgeable people who require empirical arguments; if that helps I then send them here.
I agree with you.It is apparent that we are noticing those who are enemies of We The People and our democracy.We have already identified The NYT, the SCOTUS, Holy Mike Johnson, Fox Not News,some folks@NBC( Ronna McDaniel,Kristen Welker, to name a few).We must continue to be vigilant and informed which means pointing out people and institutions that are threatening our dear democracy.
If I might piggy back on your post. Some other postcard and letter writing campaigns to consider:
* I am currently writing letters for VoteRiders, which helps voters get the IDs they need to vote. It is basically writing a brief line line message at the top of a form letter that gives state specific info about their voter ID requirements for voting in person and by mail. You also hand address the envelopes - an effectlive ploy to get people to open their mail and not jsut assume it is junk mail. I found out about this opportunity on a Zoom for BigTent USA(https://www.bigtentusa.org/).
* Reclaim Our Vote ( https://www.centerforcommonground.org/reclaim-our-vote) sends postcards to mostly rural BIPOC voters in VA, NC, SC, GA, and AL. I am currently writing postcards to voters in Cobb Co. GA; they will be mailed in Late April/early May in advance of the GA primary.
*Northeast Arizona Native Democrats (https://neaznativedemocrats.org/) Postcards connect tribal voters to their local organizers, inform them about calls to action, opportunities to connect etc. This helps compensate for voting road blocks, the lack of broadband internet service and low population density plus lack of infrastructure. This program has very positive results - and increased voter participation likely made the difference in flipping AZ in 2020 and 2022.
* BlueWave Postcard Movement (https://shop.bluewavepostcards.org/) - you add a brief message to mostly preprinted postcards; their current campaign is for NV; as soon as all addresses are completed they switch to new campaign.
*Environmental Voter project - EVP identifies voters who are concerned with environmental issues/climate change and convinces them to vote
Perhaps you watched this week’s Meet The Press where host Kristen Welker spoke of Trump’s recent threats to Judges, Witnesses, DA’s Family members and Presidents as nothing out of ordinary behaviors of Trump; nothing unusual
NBC’s coverage that dismisses this behavior as “campaign fodder” desecrates journalism at its core
Perhaps the difference between Democracy and Dictatorship is not on NBC’s radar at the moment. Perhaps you could use an Air Traffic Controller on your staff
Great review of Kristen Welker from yesterday’s Meet The Press Press. I sent the following in an email to the two NBC execs:
Ms. Welker’s mollycoddling of former President Trump’s disgusting behavior and subtle threats to Judge Marchan and his daughter plus to President Biden are unacceptable. Saying this as “just being Trump” plays right into rewarding him and promoting his bid for the Presidency. It’s one thing to “report” this journalistically but quite another to almost side with him and his bad behavior. This needs to stop in the interest of preserving our democracy.
Thanks to Robert for isolating the heart of the matter and making it easy to send the following to Kristen Welker:
Dear Ms Welker,
On MTP yesterday (March 31), you commented that Trump's tweet of an image of a bound and gagged President Biden might "energize the base." Then, in reference to Trump's implied threats against Judge Merchan and his daughter, you remarked on the challenge of "covering this election against the backdrop of a deeply divided nation."
I'll give you the benefit of the doubt here and assume that you know better, that Trump's rhetoric and his declared intentions are a threat to our democracy. Since you know that, report it that way. Don't normalize Trump with politics-as-usual language in which Trump is "energizing his base in a deeply divided nation."
Short form: Do your job as an important figure of the Fourth Estate in a democracy.
Love the idea of donating to the Biden-Harris campaign each time Trump does or says or posts something outrageous. I just donated ten bucks. And I'll keep doing that until I run out of money.
As usual I agree with so much that you say, Robert. But I found myself reacting to your description of Joe Biden as a “good and decent man.” He is that, but is so much more than that. I am his age and can’t imagine myself handling all he is dealing with. So I think some superlatives are in order - “heroic”, ”exceptionally skilled”, “deeply spiritual,” “ honest, fierce and committed,“ “our last hope against fascism”…The list goes on and on. My point is that we don’t limit our descriptions of Trump as the dangerous monster he is. We should also consider not limiting our descriptions of Biden as the miracle he is and our untold good fortune to have him running the country. He’s a true super hero and deserves all the recognition we can give him. I know you know all this, but I had to share my reaction lest we overly downplay his super hero qualities.
Just comparing the two Easter messages of the candidates, who in their right mind (or right heart), would say. "I like this guy who uses all CAPS and shouts and spews anger and hatred." I've been in on the hiring of a lot of people in my day, as have many or you readers ot Today's Edition. If these two Easter messages were offered you as the only bit of writing you had from an applicant for a position at your business/school/college/company/church/non-profit, which would you pick? No leader in their right mind would pick Trump on the basis that his screed really tells it like it is and expresses his deep feelings. Any leader would veto that hire for the lowest position in the organization because this guy is unbalanced. How much more should we reject Trump, his language, his worldview, and his vehement hatred of his fellow Americans.
I hope Democratic operatives will pick up Ned L’s suggestion and craft some advertising along those lines. *Some* American voter surely are influenced by goodness.
All, I received an email from a reader who contacted the Secret Service field office in his area and was told by the agent who answered the phone that the photo of Joe Biden bound and gagged was "none of his business." If others experience such dismissive treatment from the Secret Service, can you please post details? I assume that the Secret Service would have said the same thing about Trump's "Be there! Will be wild" comment before Jan 6.
Perhaps such complaints – and especially the dismissal — need to be “elevated” to the head of the Secret Service *and* to the Secretary of the Treasury (isn’t Secret Service still part of the Treasury Department?).
Like another Commenter, I’ve been concerned that the Secret Service has been infiltrated by Trumpist values and that many of its Agents are not evenhanded.
Putting this here for easy retrieval:
From House.gov:
"§871. Threats against President and successors to the Presidency
(a) Whoever knowingly and willfully deposits for conveyance in the mail or for a delivery from any post office or by any letter carrier any letter, paper, writing, print, missive, or document containing any threat to take the life of, to kidnap, or to inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States, the President-elect, the Vice President or other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President of the United States, or the Vice President-elect, or knowingly and willfully otherwise makes any such threat against the President, President-elect, Vice President or other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President, or Vice President-elect, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both."
https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title18/part1/chapter41&edition=prelim#:~:text=%C2%A7879.,Presidents%20and%20certain%20other%20persons&text=(4)%20a%20person%20protected%20by,than%205%20years%2C%20or%20both
Remember that much of the SS who actually worked with TFG, came to like him. (Erasing their texts.) I can't imagine anyone working so closely to TFG, could actually handle it without compensating someplace.
This is extremely scary
See this note with Kristen Welker's email:
Suzanne Goldberg
8 hrs ago
Thank you, Robert, I’m glad I could stay up tonight to wait for your post! I saw this earlier and hoped you’d talk about it.
https://www.rawstory.com/amp/nbc-welker-irresponsible-judge-trump-2667642479
Re Welker’s email address, my guess is: ‘Kristen.Welker@nbcuni.com’ and I’ll confirm it for you in the morning. Her Twitter/X handle is @kwelkernbc. I will let her know how I feel here.
Completely agree with this opinion! I find her comments similar to TFG's observation of a white nationalists protest as "nice people on both sides."
Thank you. I have emailed Kristen and cc'd Rebecca and Carrie.
I have also emailed Kristen, and cc'ed Rebecca, Carrie and Amanda Terkel. Thank you for all the information.
Robert often asks his readers to contact journalists about their messaging. Here is another one I have submitted just now to Amanda Terkel, the Managing Editor at NBC News, at this email: nbcnewsdigitalcontact@nbcuni.com
My name is Gary Stewart. I have had 135 Letters to the Editor published in 29 states since 2018.
I am writing about Kristen Welker’s recent bland and permissive phrasing when speaking about communications from Donald Trump.
This represents yet another perfect example of the failure of traditional media to recognize that the usual horse-race, he-said/she-said, both-sides-ism paradigm used in presidential campaigns is inappropriate when one of the candidates Is an anti-democratic authoritarian who unceasingly spouts lies and uses violent rhetoric.
This is what Robert Hubbell published in his blog, which I fully endorse:
[Here I submitted what Robert had written, "Kristen Welker of Meet the Press on Sunday...he should remain in jail pending the jury’s verdict.” I then continued.]
The treatment of Trump’s outrageous attacks and calls to violence as just indication of a “deeply divided nation”, or represent acceptable political discourse, is a total failure to inform the public in a manner that allows them to appreciate the reality of the situation the country is facing.
Let no one forget for one instant that Trump masterminded a complex, multi-pronged coup attempt that very nearly succeeded. Big lie. Fake electors. De-certification by Mike Pence. Violent overthrow of the Capitol to delay the vote counting. All Trump - to stay in office after losing the 2020 election.
Being polite to a malignant narcissist spewing vicious lies is unacceptable, and it is putting U.S. democracy in serious jeopardy.
Total rejection and condemnation of Trump's statements is warranted, and nothing short of that is sufficient for the circumstances.
Gary is way ahead of me in letters published, but I’m catching up. Getting them published is not as necessary as letting them know you are paying attention and are upset. It is important to keep writing. ALSO, why isn’t the DOJ publicly arresting people who are harassing so many public officials with vile and gross threats? How many $Millions are being spent on security because there is a raging lunatic plaguing the country?
Great letter. Thank you for writing
"Being polite to a malignant narcissist spewing vicious lies is unacceptable, and it is putting U.S. democracy in serious jeopardy."
I agree💯percent.
I highly recommend watching (and sharing!) this recent episode of PoliticsGirl:
Trump’s America: AGENDA 47 A conversation with Ahmed Baba
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW-NjxL5oUw&t=1s
There is a companion episode on Project 2025 that I also recommend:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPgeg_Jij8c&t=12s
BTW, Cheryl Johnson, I appreciated your knowledgeable educating of me and other readers of this post about the ten-year window of opportunity to gerrymander, based on the timing of the census. It gives me a chilling insight into the long game the GOP is playing. They seemingly waited for and pounced on the last gerrymandering opportunity and used it to great success to increase their advantage. Whereas Democrats in their innocence did nothing. I hope we can make our own long-game plan to pounce on gerrymandering for good at the next census. I suppose I could make a case that their last successful gerrymandering gave them control of the House in 2020.
Just watched the Agenda 47 episode. Wow. Already shared it widely. Terrifying. I actually went canvassing for Suozzi with Ahmed Baba. He is a lovely and smart guy!
Thank you!
Too many people are sleepwalking towards the election in Nov. Not subscribers to Robert's newsletter - but likely people we know and certainly people with 2 or more degrees of separation from us.
Thank you for the inspiration. I just wrote to her.
I wrote to the two named in the column, good luck to us all!
Remember how long it took any media to actually call his misinformation & manipulations as lies and call him a liar? Drove me insane when I knew what he said was a lie, but was whitewashed with normalization.
Great letter! I have written to Rebecca Blumenthal & Carrie Budoff. Thank you, Robert for their email addresses.
I sent what Robert published, with a message that I fully agreed with everything he said. Jeez, Welker keeps demonstrating her incompetence.
Bravo!
We must continue to call out the reckless rhetoric, and the officials who are reluctant to uphold the rule of law; to that end I sent the following to the Secret Service:
to the US Secret Service:
Equal.Opportunity@usss.dhs.gov
threat against the President of the US
I am writing as an American citizen to report a threat against the President of the United States; it is documented with video here:
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/112180192938619231
There is a large ("life size"?) image on the tailgate of the 2nd truck of President Biden, unconscious, hog-tied and appearing to be a kidnap victim. This is clearly a signal to the organized, armed and lawless groups who follow Trump, and it constitutes a threat to our president.
This information has been widely distributed, and needs to be investigated, and those responsible held accountable under the laws of our country. By posting this on his "truth social' account, Mr. Trump has crossed a line; he has already shown decisively that he will disregard the law, and is currently under indictment in 4 major cases, with at least one gag order in place, yet he continues to thumb his nose at law enforcement and the Constitutional democracy of the United States.
No decent, honest, law-abiding citizen would do this, and anyone else would be sanctioned and restrained by law enforcement backed by the courts. Allowing this to continue creates a two-tiered legal system, in which everyone is not equal before the law. We, the people, count on you to enforce the law equally and impartially. Please follow up on this, as is required by your job.
Thank you.
A+ for initiative!
Thank you!!!
Thanks Tom. I also wrote them, after being unsuccessful in calling them. I also sent an email to the White House explaining that we are making demands the the USSS investigate this and we would appreciate the Feds also making sure this is investigated.
Thanks for the email address and your letter. I just wrote my own, much shorter and much less eloquent reguest to them, asking for an investigation into the threat against the life of President Biden.
Amen!!
I have read the average American/Family is $400 away from a financial crisis
I had to go to the ER yesterday, and my deductible was $500.
Our health care system is BROKEN, and women's access to the full range of needed services is dwindling.
Legislators are inserting themselves between the patient and the health care provider.
The GOP's solution is "get sick, die quick."
VOTE BLUE!
I started on Medicare in July and my first impression, after having had employer-sponsored health insurance the last 45 years was "why did I have to wait so long to get this health insurance and why is this not available to everyone in this country? "
I hope you are better today Beverly!
Totally agree that Medicare for All is needed and should be the right of all citizens.
Dr. Beverly, hope all is ok today..💙
I have an expensive, high-deductible plan(4700$).The Inflation Reduction Act mandates that I not pay over a certain percentage of my income on my premium. This year I received a subsidy that reduced my premium to the 2020 level. Truly inflation-reducing. Thank you, President Biden and team !!
My multi-millionaire Senator Rick Scott, who made millions on Medicare fraud,is trying to cut your Medicare. I will be messaging…📣
Two more months until Medicare !!🤸 Thank you President Biden and team for efforts to preserve Medicare!
❤️🤍💙
45 million people have health care under the Affordable Care Act
I am in NC where they FINALLY passed Medicaid expansion last year. Per this blog post:
https://acasignups.net/24/02/16/north-carolina-aca-medicaid-expansion-reaches-346k
"As of Feb. 1, 2024, 346,408 newly eligible North Carolinians are enrolled in Medicaid and now have access to comprehensive health care, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ Medicaid Expansion Enrollment Dashboard. NCDHHS released an updated the dashboard today, and it includes enrollment data as of Feb. 1, 2024. This number is more than half of the anticipated 600,000 people who are newly eligible for coverage, expected to enroll in Medicaid expansion over the next two years."
This is in the FIRST TWO MONTHS that it has been available!
Great news for NC,Cheryl !
Florida is one of only 10 states that refuses to pass Medicaid expansion. We are dropping people from Medicaid as fast as NC is enrolling, including chronically ill kids. We also have one of the worst infant mortality rates.
https://health.wusf.usf.edu/health-news-florida/2024-03-25/thousands-florida-kids-lost-medicaid-now-some-have-no-coverage
hope you are okay, Beverly.
Thank you, Robert, I’m glad I could stay up tonight to wait for your post! I saw this earlier and hoped you’d talk about it.
https://www.rawstory.com/amp/nbc-welker-irresponsible-judge-trump-2667642479
Re Welker’s email address, my guess is: ‘Kristen.Welker@nbcuni.com’ and I’ll confirm it for you in the morning. Her Twitter/X handle is @kwelkernbc. I will let her know how I feel here.
Suzanne: I elected to write to the Managing Editor of Politics at NBC News. There are multiple people at NBC News who need to hear from us, and repeatedly.
Thank you, Gary!
What is the Managing Editor’s email? Thank you.
I used the following email: nbcnewsdigitalcontact@nbcuni.com
This I got from the NBC News website, for contacting the editors of the various departments.
Not caps - nobody at NBC uses caps.
TC, “no thinking caps”?
It seems all the comments are directed toward the worker bees instead of those who can actually make heads roll. e.g. Something seems very rotten at Comcast/NBCUniversal. And as is my experience, rot starts at the top and works its way down. Underlings like Welker, Terkel, Todd, et al, don't make policy. Ceaser Conde is the Chairman of NBC Universal News Group. Mike Cavanagh is the President of Comcast. Both men do make policy .https://www.nbcuniversal.com/leadership Brian Roberts is the Chairman and CEO of Comcast. Cavanagh and Conde are his direct reports. https://corporate.comcast.com/news-information/leadership-overview/brian-l-roberts. https://www.nbcuniversal.com/leadership Comcast is described as a 'family' business begun by Robert's father that values 'integrity' /s https://corporate.comcast.com/impact/values-integrity
But Comcast seems more like a business that has lost its way and doesn't know it.
I think you meant Cesar Conde
Here is a helpful link with some executive email addresses:
https://executive-emails.com/l-p/nbc-universal/
Cheryl. an interesting resource. do you know who compiled it?
No I do not. I was actually looking for a different resource that I had used in the past. That one was geared towards helping consumers get resolution on customer service issues. (Sending an email to a CEO often helps you get quick resolution on issues).
That website came to light after Jan 6th when there was a grassroots effort to get companies to cut contributions to GOP candidates who had voted against certifying the election.
They know it but it’s all about profits.
Thank you, Terry, for the addresses. Just wrote an email to many on the list, to the folks Robert gave us and to Welker. Jeff Shell (Chief Executive Officer) just replied with an auto reply that he is no longer at NBC Universal.
Also no longer at NBC: Jen Friedman and Steve Burke.
Just now I wrote the following to the Execs at NBC.
Good Morning,
I am hoping that by now you both have had multiple emails discussing the comments Ms Welker made yesterday on MTP, about the funeral procession in which someone displayed an image of President Biden bound and gagged in the back of a pick -up truck" .Welker's comments were," Maybe it energizes the base?”, and A reminder that we are covering this election against the backdrop of a deeply divided nation?”
This is NOT normal politics, this is dangerous behavior that Trump condones and encourages. The Secret Service should be having a conversation with him as we speak. This is dangerous, and Trump is, once again, getting away with this type of rhetoric and worse. The press needs to be calling him out and NBC should be 1st in line with criticism for his unchecked behavior.
I just sent Kristen Welker an email with my concern that she stop normalizing Trump immediately.I did so using an urgent style.I hope others are doing so too.We stopped NBC from retaining Ronna Romney McDaniel as an analyst ( or as Jeff Tiedrich calls it on his Substack” anal cyst”lol) We can have an effect on Welker’s inane and dangerous yammering .
Thank you, again, Robert for the contacts at NBC. Until this last week I've not posted comments other than "thank you" for your wonderful newsletter. You are my first read every morning.
The last 10 days I've sent emails to NBC of my outrage about Ronna McDaniel hiring and now Kristen Welker/Meet the Press weak response. Thank you for motivating me to speak up and send NBC management my thoughts on Trump's Truth Social dangerous postings re Judge Merchan, his daughter and President Biden. I will no long watch their shows.
thanks for doing your part!
There is a stark reality we need to be aware of. The obscene rhetoric and comments by Trump are not remarks designed to attract new voters to the Republican Party whereas almost everyday the Biden Administration is doing or saying something that should appeal to most Americans. It a steady and long slow process of gaining acceptance and long overdue recognition. Americans need to feel the benefits of the Biden Administration and ask themselves who do they really feel safer and more secure with? Each day the choices between the two candidates becomes clearer and more evident and realistic. Everyone needs to keep doing what they are doing. We are truly in this together
It’s why I continue to have hope when so many that I know have none. I genuinely believe that the more stark the choice becomes, the more unlikely it is that people will choose a violence-inciting criminal over the good man that is Joe Biden. Therein lies our mission, though. We have to be the ones who keep pointing out the contrast through whatever means are at our disposal. To paraphrase a term from gambling, you must get in it to win it.
Hi Dean! I agree that we need to be the truth-tellers and make sure that people are aware of the stark contrast between our choices and the danger we are facing if, heaven forbid, Trump gets reelected.
If you aren't already following Simon Rosenberg's Hopium Chronicles I recommend it:
https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/
I also recommend checking out these resources:
www.activateamerica.vote/amplify
https://demcastusa.com/
Cheryl Johnson, I've probably sent fifteen people to Hopium Chronicles. It's where I send knowledgeable people who require empirical arguments; if that helps I then send them here.
I agree with you.It is apparent that we are noticing those who are enemies of We The People and our democracy.We have already identified The NYT, the SCOTUS, Holy Mike Johnson, Fox Not News,some folks@NBC( Ronna McDaniel,Kristen Welker, to name a few).We must continue to be vigilant and informed which means pointing out people and institutions that are threatening our dear democracy.
If I might piggy back on your post. Some other postcard and letter writing campaigns to consider:
* I am currently writing letters for VoteRiders, which helps voters get the IDs they need to vote. It is basically writing a brief line line message at the top of a form letter that gives state specific info about their voter ID requirements for voting in person and by mail. You also hand address the envelopes - an effectlive ploy to get people to open their mail and not jsut assume it is junk mail. I found out about this opportunity on a Zoom for BigTent USA(https://www.bigtentusa.org/).
* Reclaim Our Vote ( https://www.centerforcommonground.org/reclaim-our-vote) sends postcards to mostly rural BIPOC voters in VA, NC, SC, GA, and AL. I am currently writing postcards to voters in Cobb Co. GA; they will be mailed in Late April/early May in advance of the GA primary.
*Northeast Arizona Native Democrats (https://neaznativedemocrats.org/) Postcards connect tribal voters to their local organizers, inform them about calls to action, opportunities to connect etc. This helps compensate for voting road blocks, the lack of broadband internet service and low population density plus lack of infrastructure. This program has very positive results - and increased voter participation likely made the difference in flipping AZ in 2020 and 2022.
* BlueWave Postcard Movement (https://shop.bluewavepostcards.org/) - you add a brief message to mostly preprinted postcards; their current campaign is for NV; as soon as all addresses are completed they switch to new campaign.
*Environmental Voter project - EVP identifies voters who are concerned with environmental issues/climate change and convinces them to vote
To NBC
NBC’s Normalization of Political Violence
Dear Ms Blumenstein
Perhaps you watched this week’s Meet The Press where host Kristen Welker spoke of Trump’s recent threats to Judges, Witnesses, DA’s Family members and Presidents as nothing out of ordinary behaviors of Trump; nothing unusual
NBC’s coverage that dismisses this behavior as “campaign fodder” desecrates journalism at its core
Perhaps the difference between Democracy and Dictatorship is not on NBC’s radar at the moment. Perhaps you could use an Air Traffic Controller on your staff
Great review of Kristen Welker from yesterday’s Meet The Press Press. I sent the following in an email to the two NBC execs:
Ms. Welker’s mollycoddling of former President Trump’s disgusting behavior and subtle threats to Judge Marchan and his daughter plus to President Biden are unacceptable. Saying this as “just being Trump” plays right into rewarding him and promoting his bid for the Presidency. It’s one thing to “report” this journalistically but quite another to almost side with him and his bad behavior. This needs to stop in the interest of preserving our democracy.
Can’t wait for Welker’s email address!
Thanks to Robert for isolating the heart of the matter and making it easy to send the following to Kristen Welker:
Dear Ms Welker,
On MTP yesterday (March 31), you commented that Trump's tweet of an image of a bound and gagged President Biden might "energize the base." Then, in reference to Trump's implied threats against Judge Merchan and his daughter, you remarked on the challenge of "covering this election against the backdrop of a deeply divided nation."
I'll give you the benefit of the doubt here and assume that you know better, that Trump's rhetoric and his declared intentions are a threat to our democracy. Since you know that, report it that way. Don't normalize Trump with politics-as-usual language in which Trump is "energizing his base in a deeply divided nation."
Short form: Do your job as an important figure of the Fourth Estate in a democracy.
Sincerely,
Love the idea of donating to the Biden-Harris campaign each time Trump does or says or posts something outrageous. I just donated ten bucks. And I'll keep doing that until I run out of money.
I too think it's a great idea and I plan to do the same though I fear the totals will be astronomical!
As usual I agree with so much that you say, Robert. But I found myself reacting to your description of Joe Biden as a “good and decent man.” He is that, but is so much more than that. I am his age and can’t imagine myself handling all he is dealing with. So I think some superlatives are in order - “heroic”, ”exceptionally skilled”, “deeply spiritual,” “ honest, fierce and committed,“ “our last hope against fascism”…The list goes on and on. My point is that we don’t limit our descriptions of Trump as the dangerous monster he is. We should also consider not limiting our descriptions of Biden as the miracle he is and our untold good fortune to have him running the country. He’s a true super hero and deserves all the recognition we can give him. I know you know all this, but I had to share my reaction lest we overly downplay his super hero qualities.
Just comparing the two Easter messages of the candidates, who in their right mind (or right heart), would say. "I like this guy who uses all CAPS and shouts and spews anger and hatred." I've been in on the hiring of a lot of people in my day, as have many or you readers ot Today's Edition. If these two Easter messages were offered you as the only bit of writing you had from an applicant for a position at your business/school/college/company/church/non-profit, which would you pick? No leader in their right mind would pick Trump on the basis that his screed really tells it like it is and expresses his deep feelings. Any leader would veto that hire for the lowest position in the organization because this guy is unbalanced. How much more should we reject Trump, his language, his worldview, and his vehement hatred of his fellow Americans.
I hope Democratic operatives will pick up Ned L’s suggestion and craft some advertising along those lines. *Some* American voter surely are influenced by goodness.