Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, among others, says inflation is largely being caused not by wage growth but by excess profits due to price gouging enabled by monopoly power. Since this country almost completely stopped enforcing antitrust laws in the 1980s, much of our free market has devolved into a set of oligopolies, and corporate profits are at an 80-year high.
Yes, agree. But I think Reich is saying that corporations are exacerbating inflation by raising prices faster than inflation. If monopoly power alone were enough, we wouldn’t have had ten years of low inflation followed by high inflation after the pandemic caused labor shortages.
He is not the only economist saying that corporate greed is fueling inflation. I am still upset by the apparent lack of pressure on railroad executives to give a human right, paid sick leave, to workers as they haul in record profits.
I am afraid that Biden’s stance on this one will come back to hurt the Democratic Party.
Send this to President Biden, either through his contact form if you want to edit it, or using Resistbot if you don’t (quick send: text SIGN PGHBUB to 50409.) [H/T]
While I understand the need to avert a rail strike, I’m extremely disappointed that the U.S. Senate passed legislation, brokered by you, that forces freight rail employees to remain on the job or be fired while voting down a companion bill that would have finally given them seven days of compensated sick leave.
I am writing you to now ask that you remedy this outrageous situation by signing an executive order guaranteeing at least seven days of paid days off for illness to railroad and other workers. This is within your power; Obama did something like it in in 2015, signing an EO requiring all federal contractors to guarantee seven paid sick days to their workers. Unfortunately he specifically exempted the rail industry from it, even though they are federal contractors. It’s your turn to fix this.
Please, unless you want to lose your self-designated “most pro-labor President ever” status, issue an Executive Order immediately stating that all federal contractors governed by the Railway Labor Act must extend 7 paid sick days, as federal contractors under the FSLA and other laws must. Thanks.
I do understand the tight scheduling. But that's no excuse for whittling down the workforce and not granting the workforce paid sick days. No excuse except for corporate profits at the expense of safety - worker safety, passenger safety, consumer safety.
No doubt there is corporate greed but the only way to combat it is from push back from the consumers who buy the products. We live in a free market society and the markets ( consumers) determine the price and profits and until consumers act the gouging continues.
I respectfully disagree. We can't stop buying food or gas for the car. But the government can start enforcing some anti trust laws. Allowing mega mergers is simply asking for inflation caused by profiteering. And...here's the big and easy one for legislators who care more for their constituents than their big dollar donors: WINDFALL PROFITS TAXES!
Also some of the enforcement problem is that our legislators who are the ones who make laws, receive money from the corporations. There needs to be some way to control this. Unfortunately it's the legislators who must control it.
Right, teachers in some states are charged a windfall profit tax that cuts their earned social security benefits from prior or later private employment if they have a state pension.
There are still antitrust laws, even if their enforcement is only a fading memory. The comment here about Krogers takes on greater significance now in the context of Krogers's plan to absorb Albertsons-Safeway. There isn’t much room for consumer activism when food retail is monopolized.
Our local Krogers has gone totally to not using cashiers. It’s self service. All lanes are open but we scan our own groceries. Don’t really have a viable option to shop as the other grocery store always has a lot of bare shelves.
You might want to consider using Kroger's pickup feature, which is free if you buy a minimum of $35. You order online, set a pickup date and time, and then you go to the pickup area and have the shopper deliver your groceries into the trunk of your car or your back seat or wherever you want them to.
Two pluses: You don't have to listen to the "background" music, and you don't have to be exposed to maskless shoppers.
A minus: There may be items in the store that are not available for pickup.,
I drive south to the Los Angeles area often for family issues.
I am still paying nearly $5 a gallon for gas. I know I pay high taxes in CA ( and I am happy to do that for my state) but gas companies are making phenomenal profits.
I did buy a hybrid but others are unable to afford a car to accommodate their travel needs.
He joins the long and ever increasing list of folks who have destroyed their careers and/or legacies in the service of trump and his surrogates (Giuliani, Barr, Judge Cannon, Flynn... I could go on and on). And then there are those who lost their careers standing up to him (Cheney, Bowers, etc). It seems the MAGA train wreck continues... I just hope that I get to see the end of it in my lifetime.
I'm not so sure we have seen the end of Cheney's career, or Kinzinger's, and certainly not Raffensburgers. Out of the ashes of the GOP will necessarily rise some kind of center-right party. I won't be part of it, but I will welcome it with leaders of integrity like them.
Raffensberger is questionable regarding his career. Yes, he fought back against Trump but he speaks with forked-tongue because said he would vote for him if he ran for Prez again. What kinda bs is that?
What happened to that guy? Why does he have such a penchant for selecting the most despicable clients possible? Certainly there is good money defending good people. Or at least mix it up a bit. I think he is either a masochist or just a jerk. Thoughts?
I wouldn't let him near the dung beetles, which recycle the poop. (I've found dung beetles in dog poop in my yard.) I wouldn't let him near my dog, or near the goldfish in my brother's fish pond.
Nothing more important or meaningful than "Grandparent duty!" Enjoy every moment, including the skinned knees, and don't make the same mistake we made: going to the donut shop for breakfast! Thanks for all your time and wisdom.
I've never really liked donuts. The last time I ate one was probably around 2005. I've probably had fewer than 10 since the millennium, and fewer than 150 in my life--which began early in the Eisenhower Administration.
Anyone who is over 40, and has cholesterol or blood sugar that's the least bit high should consider them poison--especially if such people are inactive.
If their blood sugar and cholesterol levels are low, share the donuts if it gives both of you joy.
Dec 3, 2022·edited Dec 3, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
As Democrats keep the government functioning despite the clown show in the GOP, they must also find a way to use this moment to change the popular narrative that really came to prominence with Reagan. I'm referring to a story about hard-working Americans who deserve to keep their hard-won earnings, rather than contribute to a government that just stands between them and their desire for law and order and good Christian values. They are able to push this myth in the face of rising inequality and the obvious corruption of their leaders and heroes because of the right wing media machine, which Democrats and Independents must find a way to counter.
It seems to me that without that media bubble, normal and decent Americans would see through the economic hogwash as we witness the destructive consequences of concentrating wealth in the hands of Elon, Kanye, and Trump. Oh, and the Murdochs, Kochs, Sacklers, Mercers, Peter Thiel, and so on, in contrast to the increasing struggles of ordinary people.
The promotion of violence, through hateful rhetoric, and enabled by refusing to enact sensible gun laws would be a political problem without the constant drumbeat of fear that Tucker's audience and others are hearing. I just don't think we could be at this level of open misogyny, anti-semitism, and racism if we weren't so isolated both in our media consumption and in our physical sorting into communities of the like-minded.
I don't know how Democrats change the narrative, but at this point of complete and public moral collapse on the part of the Republicans, we have to find a way. Some people working on this: Simon Rosenberg at NDN has a presentation entitled "With Democrats, Things Get Better" that lays out an economic counter-argument to the GOP lies. https://www.ndn.org/WithDemocrats. The Lincoln Project is starting something they call Resolute Square and (I think) bringing together a variety of people working in this area, like their never-Trump Republican core, plus Joe Trippi, Molly Jong-Fast and Tara McGowan (I am not sure--you seem to have to join to get very much information---maybe someone else knows more), and there's the Crooked Media group as well as lots of good podcasts. The Bulwark is a great place to find common ground with people well to the right of me, at least, but who reject the current GOP. Supporting the growing independent local news outlets is critical. I am familiar with the Missouri Independent, the MinnPost, and The Minnesota Reformer, but there must be many others. I'm sure there are other efforts out there, but so far a liberal response to the Reagan myth seems to be scattered, underfunded, and unable to gain traction. In the next two years, again WHILE GOVERNING (one of the secrets of the GOP is they don't do that, so they have fewer balls in the air), we must help people see through the wall of Republican lies that so far is much bigger an stronger and harder to overcome than anything Trump did on the southern border.
One thing I have to keep reminding my progressive friends is that in the more rural areas of this country, meaning the Rocky Mtn states, midwest, parts of the south, and rural parts of just about every state, there are extremely few media choices and practically no internet access.
I remember years ago when Sinclair Broadcasting went around most of those areas buying up the radio and TV stations. The result for the media for all these Americans (and thus voters) is Fox programming, church programs, country music, sports and the farm report. Other conservatives bought the small newspapers and shut them down so there is only one paper in the area. NY Times?? WSJ?? even Robert Hubbell? Not available.
One of the main reasons every Republican legislator was against the infrastructure bill was because a large part of it was to bring the internet to rural America. If you live in rural America you have to travel to larger cities to get alternate information, not something many of them have the time and money to do.
And then there is the longstanding Republican move to get on and control local schools boards, and then work they way up the educational ladder. I remember that from the Reagan years. And for a decade or more rich conservatives like the Koch brothers, have made major, huge, donations to colleges and universities. And not just the religious based ones. This allows them to control the viewpoints promoted at the school, and even to be on the Board of Chancellors of the school. I believe it is David Koch who has a building named after him at MIT, my daughter’s alma mater. I almost had a heart attack when I saw his name during a visit there several years back.
End result, deprive them of any information, dumb down their critical thinking skills, keep their area less well developed, don’t give them access to anything and it becomes very easy to tell them how to vote, as they have no other recourse than to believe the only story in town. Especially if you get the Sunday preacher to repeat the same thing every week.
So while it is laudable for all these Democrats and progressives to create these great talking programs, they will never reach far beyond “the choir”. It has taken Republicans 30+ years to accomplish this mind takeover of most of America. It is going to take us near the same amount of time to just to bring in the infrastructure, and then we will have the monumental task of trying to get all these people to trust and believe what we are “preaching.”
Don’t get me wrong. I am not against our doing just that. I just think we progressives need to understand exactly what we are up against, how infiltrated the right wing agenda is into every aspect of many American’s lives, and minds. It will take our thinking far outside the box and creating something totally new to start making inroads. Doing the same ole, same ole, in a slightly better version and expecting different results is not going to work.
One thing I see making a difference is one-on-one conversations over time, building relationships with the voters. This is why I heavily support Movement Voter Project. They fund hundreds of small groups in every state, building ongoing relationships, year round, with the voters in their areas, helping them solve everyday problems they have and then, at election time, bringing them new and more correct information about voting in their elections. Yes, they begin in the cities, but then they expand to the rural areas. There is a group in Wisconsin with several staff who focus solely on the farmers in up state, going farm to farm. It may take a few years, but they are already making a difference.
Cathleen - thank you so much for that perspective. As a born and bred East Coaster, and city dweller, the idea of minimal internet, and only one local newspaper is not a scenario that was part of my mind-set. Very helpful!!! and provides a whole lot of options that I hadn't considered.
Elenor, out here in the hinterlands, if you aren't in a pretty big city it is likely that you don't have a local newspaper at all, or possibly a weekly.
So interesting. I hadn't considered the anti-information aspect of opposing rural broadband. Of course, it's as likely that most people will use it to check in on The Daily Wire and such.
The Minnesota Reformer is an example of an online publication that would be more available to people in rural parts of the state with improved broadband, and here's an interesting piece from a Democrat who ran for the state Senate against the odds that illustrates your point about the massive, long-term work that will need to be done, but also that there are people out there in rural areas who aren't represented by their current GOP electeds, and are hungry to connect with like-minded people. https://minnesotareformer.com/2022/12/01/a-democrat-on-what-its-like-running-in-ruby-red-rural-minnesota/. If you click on the author, she has done a whole series on the experience of being a Democrat and trying to talk to her neighbors over the past few years.
Cathleen, I very much agree with you. We must put feet on the ground and work diligently to communicate with and listen to folks from rural areas - all areas really. Your example of Kentucky is just one. I think Jessica Craven's work and that of such groups as Activate America (https://www.activateamerica.vote/what-we-do) will be important in the coming years/elections because we much extent our efforts to all corners of the country. In Colorado the effort of Adam Firsch to beat Lauren Boebert was astonishing with only a 600 vote difference. And the independent The Colorado Sun has played an important role throughout our state. We need more folks like them to expand the conversation and voter outreach. https://coloradosun.com/2022/11/30/lauren-boebert-adam-frisch-recount-colorado-begins/
Can’t ❤️ this but your telling of what the Repubs did/do in the rural areas makes perfect sense. They are squeezing the inhabitants brains and filling them up with plenty of untruths. That’s why they will always stay in the dark. People need help.
And they are keeping people as poor as possible as another means of control. In the article I mentioned from The Nation, they talk about Kentucky being a Republican stronghold for over 30 years. The writer states that Kentucky is 87% white with one of the highest poverty rates in America. And that in Appalachian areas of the country the corporate extraction, union busting and political neglect have left the people with diminished economic opportunities. Pretty hard to think beyond Maslov’s hierachy of needs to just survive and take time to consider who to vote for. Easier to just check every box with an “R” as they have been told to do for decades.
Ellen, you are so right about changing the narrative. I am reading (again) “Strongmen” by Ruth Ben-Ghiat. She talks about how strongmen throughout the ages have controlled their narratives by propaganda and the control of the media whether it was radio, newsreels at the movies or TV. Resolute Square is attempting to get into this fight and take on Fox, Brietbart etc. Their website and content is available to all and there are also various subscription levels for added content. I decided to join at the “supporting member” level which makes me help to contribute to the effort. The Lincoln Project folks have bankrolled this endeavor with their own money so I am hoping for great things from them. Check them out at https://resolutesquare.com/
Fantastic -- thank you! This has been my concern too and Ellen has captured this problem so completely.
Fragmentation in media consumption, with our silos and echo chambers, is a big problem -- how do we build media/messaging coalitions, get louder and come together in a bigger way?
I recently saw the Obama Foundation doing a lot of work to educate and develop young people to become the new Democracy Defenders. Maybe with some good funding (e.g., Melinda French (Gates), McKennzie Bezos & others) a strong media component could be developed.
I followed Way To Win, Research Collaborative etc. in the last few months. I believe their strategy was excellent and will continue to make a difference into the next series of elections.
This is very encouraging. I saw that final ad and thought it was terrific. It's tough to see how Dems compete with the GOP "sugar daddy" and corporate funding model, with gazillionaires willing to invest big dollars over decades. How can we get our activated supporters to make these kinds of investments as well as sending money to candidates?
Ellen, if you're in mn theres also radio station AM 950 but it too is one of the scattered, underfunded outlets and interested in being community in MN with others, I'm parr of a giv
I left out the whole "crime" narrative, which mainly functions by activating racial anxiety. Dems have a good story to tell about guns and crime, a larger meaning to public safety, and ending the crime-inducing school-to-prison pipeline. It's not an easy thing to change minds, but the RW media machine has shown how it can be done with enough repetition.
Since you mention the border, I want to say that I think we (Democrats) have a de facto open borders policy that is like shooting ourselves in the feet. It's also bad policy for workers, and bad policy for the environment.
Re workers: There's a new book that anyone interested in immigration should read. Back of the Hiring Line: A 200-Year History of Immigration Surges, Employer Bias, and Depression of Black Wealth. It's scholarly, going through the relevant academic economic literature, statements of Black leaders beginning with Frederick Douglass (whose sons were downwardly mobile because of mass immigration), Black periodicals, and gov't commissions on immigration reform (296 footnotes). It also reads well because the author spent several decades as an environmental journalist.
Two nuggets: Black workers predominated in meat packing in 1980, earning good middle class wages, having organized their way up since the '20s. By the former decade's end, immigrant workers predominated in meat packing, under atrocious conditions, earning barely over minimum wage.
The author interviewed Black former poultry workers, who'd lost their jobs to immigrants. They told him they couldn't go back to their old jobs as they'd have to live in their cars, or live several families to a house, because the new wages were so low. A lesson from this: there really are no jobs American workers won't do. The problem is immigrant workers are often easily exploitable, and earn wages no American worker should have to work for. (In parts of the Central Valley, immigrant workers earn as little as $2-$3/hour picking crops.)
The other problems with mass immigration are environmental. Over the last 30 years, our population grew by the equivalent of four NY States--half of that from immigration. Over the next 40, the Census Bureau projects growth by nearly four NY States--90% due to immigration.
We don't need to be adding 10s of millions of immigrants when 10s of millions of Americans are going to become climate refugees.
And I'm not even going into the toll the immigration-driven population boom will take on ecosystem services--clean water, clean air, pollination, disease prevention, and many more--stuff I learned about at Berkeley in '75, along with global warming, from the man who became Pres. O's Science Advisor. Suffice it to say that Lyme and other tick-borne diseases that originated in the US occurred because the population explosion disrupted ecosystems, as HIV and COVID likely did in Africa and Asia, and deforestation and extinction--the results of population growth--will likely result in more emergent diseases
Not quite sure how we got to immigration here. It seems that whoever occupies the WH owns the immigration issue. But, in fact, Congress has long since surrendered their responsibility leaving President to grapple with the issue while Senators and Representatives collect votes doing nothing about it. Here are some points shared in previous posts.
1. The last Immigration Reform legislation was in 1986 under Ronald Reagan. 2. When George W. Bush introduced a legislative proposal during this first year in office it was quickly sabotaged by his own party, led by hardcore anti-immigration members of congress and pressure groups. 3. The heiress of the Mellon Foundation has been sited as a major contributor to the endless Immigration controversy with an significant impact to this day. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/14/us/anti-immigration-cordelia-scaife-may.html
4. Along with Tucker Carlson and a raft of other agitators we Americans show how insane and insecure we can be as the strongest global economy. Excerpt: "Mrs. May’s story helps explain the ascendance of once-fringe views in the debate over immigration in America, including exaggerated claims of criminality, disease or dependency on public benefits among migrants. Though their methods radically diverged, Mrs. May and the killer in the recent mass shooting in El Paso applied the same language, both warning of an immigrant “invasion,” an idea also promoted by Mr. Trump." As found in the article link above.
First of all, you should know that I'm a left wing Democrat, from a family of left wing Democrats. One of my maternal great uncles was a union lawyer who ran the Colorado Democratic party for most of the first half of the last century, and gave the speech recommending an end to prohibition at the '32 Democratic convention. My father spent his first two years after graduating college trying to unionize a shop where he had gotten a job while the depression was still going on. (His efforts failed because there was too much turnover.) My reasons for opposing mass immigration are Democratic reasons.
There's a book I highly recommend: Back of the Hiring Line: A 200-Year History of Immigration Surges, Employer Bias and Depression of Black Wealth. The book is scholarly--covers the relevant academic economic literature (296 footnotes) yet highly readable, as the author had spent 3 decades as an ENVIRONMENTAL (emphasis deliberate) journalist.
Two nuggets out of many: in 1980, Black workers predominated in the meat packing industry. They earned good middle class wages, having organized towards that end since the 1920s. But during the 1980s, immigration surged. (This was also when the Reagan amnesty happened.) By that decade's end, immigrants predominated in meat packing, earning barely over minimum wage, and laboring under atrocious conditions. This was deliberate on the part of the meat packing companies. The oversupply of cheap labor, coupled with the ease of exploiting immigrants, made it easy for companies to reduce wages to sh!t.
The author also interviewed Black poultry workers who'd been fired. Among other things, he asked them if they'd want their old jobs back. The problem, he was told, was that the companies were now paying such low wages that they (the fired workers) would have to either live in their cars, or live many to a house, on such wages. This gives the lie to the notion there are jobs Americans won't do. The problem is pay no American should have to accept.
Mass immigration also creates environmental problems, and quality of life problems. Our population grew by 83 million from 1990-2020. That's 4 NY State equivalents--a huge number of people. Two of those NYs were immigrants.
I hope that hearing this enables you to understand why a lot of Americans view immigration as an invasion. I don't know what you do, but if immigrants were taking so many jobs in your profession that your colleagues were losing their jobs to them, and the pay was dropping, I suspect you'd feel like an invasion was going on.
There's also an environmental argument. That sort of growth leads to a lot of building of new roads, new housing developments, businesses, etc. All that results in a lot of new global warming emissions. Not just from more people driving, and more houses being heated, etc. Virgin land contains massive amounts of carbon, most of which gets released to the atmosphere when such land is developed. Development for four NY State populations is huge.
Additionally, virgin land supplies "ecosystem services," which all of us require. There are many ecosystem services, including clean water, clean air, pollination, support for wildlife, lumber, and disease prevention. Diseases emerge when ecosystems are destroyed by development. Lyme, other tick-borne diseases, HIV, and COVID are among the diseases that have emerged due to disruption of ecosystems. The relevant scholars predict that there are going to be more emerging diseases if we don't stop causing deforestation and extinctions.
(By the way, I learned about global warming, and ecosystem services in 1975 in a class at UC Berkeley taught by John Holdren, who later became Pres O's Science Advisor.)
David, Thank you for sharing your insights. I hope that someday our country will again have a functional two party system to is prepared to address your/our concerns on this and many other essential threats to our country and the globe.
A lot to agree with here. Start with "It seems to me that without that media bubble, normal Americans...." The group listed has to be headed by Musk these days. See my later post re: Musk and the rapid rise of hateful posts to Twitter. Your concluding observation about needing to help people see through the wall of Republican/Reagan mythology is long overdue. I, like you, have not been able to figure out why "the response has been so scattered, underfunded and unable to gain traction." We must deepen and broaden efforts to address lies, misinformation, hate speech, and violent rhetoric. Thank you.
Good news indeed! On another note I’m baffled by the likes of Newt Gingrich’s comments praising Pres. Biden. Such a turnaround and of course I’m suspicious. Any thoughts?
Hi, Juanita. As a Georgian I feel obligated to warn you and everyone here that Newt is a devious planner and a master tactician. I know him from his days at Kennesaw State. We lived in Cobb County then, and my daughter was a student there.
I wouldn't say that Newt is an evil man like tfg, Steven Miller, Cruz, or the rest of them. Or a weasel like Jim Jordan, Nunes or McCarthy. These people are easy to recognize.
Newt Gingrich is extremely intelligent and quick on his feet, with unwavering principles and loyalties. In any discussion he is way ahead of you; in any group he gravitates to the center of attention and dominates.
He is extremely dangerous because he is an old-line republican who perfected and introduced the long game to the party-- the results of which are happening now, and ongoing to completion If the party doesn't completely destroy itself first. Trump was a useful idiot at first; however, I believe that if Newt was in office at that time he would have ejected the donald in the first impeachment. Things would look vastly different now, and we democrats might still be trying to figure out what hit us!
So things worked out for the best for our democracy--but the battle continues, and Newt still advises the long-game from the sidelines.
Gingrich is a nasty piece of work -- a liar and hypocrite, and a burn-it-all-down, cut-your-throat, far-right ideologue. You could close one eye and maybe conclude that what he said, as reported in that Guardian article, was praise for Biden. But that would be to overlook Gingrich's entire career. You can be sure that anything he says or does has an ulterior purpose, which in the longer run is to hurt Democrats in any way possible, impede or undo anything Democrats seek to do or have done, and jam the gears of democratically functioning government.
IMO Newt is as evil as they come and the blame for the current state of our country and democrat lies squarely feet. He is a grotesque conniving snake who has taken great pleasure in destroying our democracy. Cue the Grinch song and change the name to Gingrich and that pretty much sums up the scum bag. (Apologies to the Grinch. )
FYI, this podcast about Newt by Steve Kornacki is fascinating. As it says in the show’s description, “To understand the partisanship and bitterness of American politics today, you have to consider what happened in 1994.” I can hear your groans from here (😜), but I feel like we all do better when we know better - I don’t *want* to understand TFG for example, or why people find him “charismatic” (🤮), but it’s still informative to dig a little deeper. I’d rather know the evil we’re up against in order to combat it most effectively. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-revolution-with-steve-kornacki/id1651010434
So true! You need to know what we are up against as nauseating as it may be. I clearly remember Newt from 1994 - I screamed at the TV and radio a lot. I'll try to work up the fortitude to listen to the podcast. Thanks for posting!
It’s worth it, as counterintuitive as I’m sure that sounds. Kornacki does an excellent job, and it’s fun to experience him in a completely different context.
Katherine, I just read and so relate to your personal statement - thanks for my morning smile and the link.
"Wilmington NC late bloomer who has just recently realized to her horror that not everyone cares about decency, truth, or democracy. Passionate about human rights and my dog Steve. #DifferentNotLess #HateWontWin"
You’ll burn right thru them. He just tweeted this week that there might be an unexpected 7th as Gingrich agreed to speak with him which he hadn’t done previously. Kornacki posted a pic of himself with Newt & plastic Callista (😳) and my GOD the blowback was palpable. He was just trying to post it in relation to his podcast but the optics were HORRIBLE. They look far too chummy and people LOST IT without knowing the context. Made me feel bad for Kornacki but not a smart move honestly. Newt is so slick he’ll use that pic against Kornacki I feel sure. These evil people need to rot IMHO.
Regarding Newt (or some other dastardly Republican) becoming House Speaker, it was described and attitubted in yesterday’s Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American posting yesterday as follows:
“Republican representative Ralph Norman (R-SC), who opposes electing McCarthy speaker, told right-wing media that those opposing McCarthy have a different candidate for the position. That candidate is not a House member, and Norman said: “‘It will be apparent in the coming weeks who that person will be. I will tell you, it will be interesting.’”
The thought of it is just another scary aspect of the world we live in. I recently read, for the first time, (much to my surprise) "1984." So often the pages were filled with chilling descriptions that seemed appropriate to our times; Orwell's description of the party's only goal being to hold power, the work of a ministry to rewrite every work and deed so that it aligned with what Big Brother was currently echoing over the telescreens, etc. We deserve better than the lies, misinformation, violence, and hateful rhetoric that serves no good for our democracy.
Unfortunately, that would be consistent with some recent speculation I saw to the effect that the new House Speaker would not even be a member of the House. ( Can that be done?)
Yes, the speaker can be a person outside the House. The Repubs could be getting ready to elect Santa Claus! No, seriously, they could be scheming to elect Trump or Gingrich or any other Republican has-been they can find. It won’t happen, though, because the speaker is elected by the entire House, and they’ll never get a majority for an outlier. They’ll have to elect an in-liar instead!
Dec 3, 2022·edited Dec 3, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
Thank you for this insight into Gingrich. It is enlightening to read about exceptional operators, even when they choose such a dark path. One might even admire his talents, were they not deployed for such odious ends.
I now remember that Gingrich was, I believe, an inspiration for emerging Euro neo-fascists like Berlusconi in the early ‘90s (source, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, _Strongmen_). The Gingrich effect offers some fascinating foreshadowing of today’s far right international interplay (e.g. the GOP flirting with Orban, and so many other unsavories).
I agree that without trump and MAGA we would still be drifting along thinking nothing is wrong in our country. trump brought the underside of America to light and made it possible to react
Isn't it an ugly revelation though? I am embarrassed to say that I am 60 years old and had NO idea we were still this hateful as a human race. I'll be the first to admit that I'm naive and no doubt guilty of white privilege, but I genuinely believed to my bones that we all cared about BASIC civility, honesty, and integrity. Obviously there'll always be bullies and hateful humans, but I thought we collectively shunned people like that, rather than embraced and celebrated them. It's been so incredibly demoralizing to see people I respect and admire align with those who not only lie without hesitation but who also genuinely believe that certain people are more deserving of respect than others. How can a society survive if it sees only SOME humans as worthy of dignity, or of being seen as "true" Americans (🙄). The arrogance of this worldview is nauseating, especially since we are ALL immigrants, unless we happen to be Native Americans. I'm on my soapbox now, but how did civility and decency become political? If you're a human, shouldn't you care about human decency? This isn't hard. If you EXPECT decency and respect, shouldn't you realize that others expect and deserve it too? There's plenty of BOTH to go around, and giving it to others doesn't leave less for YOU. Ugh. I need more coffee.
Newt is the nastiest of the nasty politicians after Atwater pronounced lies, spin, and propaganda as worthy machinations for success. He is smart but has no scruples or integrity, despite his Catholic blather. Trust him at your peril…
Just Janice, If someone had to catch me, I'm glad it was you. The original sentence was what I intended. The edit was a mistake. At the time frame I was talking about, I never assessed him as being evil--just seriously "bent," or full-bore crazy.
I was wrong. Newt is an evil reptile who has badly damaged our country.
Soooo, the unintentional double negative is actually correct! As my dad would say, "sheesh!"
I agree in regard to Gingrich. I'd go further to say he borders only so slightly on the evil side of the aisle. We have to recognize that he, in 1994, started the approach to obstructing everything the Democrats put forward. In so doing, he earned a place in my list among the top leaders upending the concept of shared governance within a two party system. He has to be recognized as having contributed to the obstructionist practices of the current Republican Party.
Gus, you are correct. I lived in Fulton county from '93-'03 and moved back this year. I've witnesses Newt's manipulative intelligence. He was a convincing danger then and even with age, has not changed his stripes.
Exactly. Thank you. He was commenting on a strategic basis. He was warning his troops. After all, he has been the shadow general in this whole movement to fascism.
Any comments he has would be intending to hurt Biden’s electability. For example he may be congratulating Biden on hurting union workers. This misstep by Biden and his advisers is going to hurt the Democratic Party with working class voters. Gingrich would be happy with that outcome
Lauren, it might-- but I feel certain more legislation covering paid sick leave, etc. is already in the works. President Biden is solidly pro-labor who did the best he could, given the exigent choice he was facing.
It will depend of course on the solidarity of the next House majority, but that is a clown show right now.
I think Mayor Pete and the Department of Transportation need to do a total review of the Railroad industry. In the name of safety work hours and rest periods must be mandated as in the aviation and trucking industry. Train crews must be increased. Three mile long trains are a hazard in themselves.
It is time for fat cat companies and rich stockholders to stop crushing workers and risking the lives of the public.
that may be what Gingrich is doing. but if Biden had allowed a rail strike, Gingrich would be congratulating Biden on hurting hundreds of millions of Americans with higher inflation and goods shortages during the holiday season.
Yesterday I read somewhere in some newsletter or article that a House group opposing McCarthy’s speakership is planning to support someone “outside the House” as Speaker, someone who come as a huge (and presumably pleasant—to them anyway) surprise. I thought it strange or impossible at the time but could it be Newt?
There was no turnaround. It was a fact based statement to get Republicans refocused on the policy and platform issues they have ignored. He basically said stop the ridiculous rhetoric and threats and get back to the Republican platform s and polices.
If they even considered returning to the former Republican platform and policies, that would be virtually impossible. Their next “savior” that they’re eyeing is Ron DeSantis, a pure-tee autocrat! He has no respect for the rule of law. Only for his position as “ruler of the law.” Most of the policies he has passed have been unconstitutional. He is a cruel bully, perhaps worse than Trump in that regard, and he blatantly passes law to discriminate against blacks, women, gays and trans, and public school teachers and librarians. He loves big government, as long as HE is at the top of the big government wielding his power. He doesn’t even care about the sacred cow of the former Republican Party - private business. DeSantis believes he can mandate what they are allowed to say and what their businesses are allowed to establish as their causes. All in the name of the “free state of Florida.” Who is free besides DeSantis and his voters? Does he really believe that women are free there? Does he believe that blacks are free? How about gays and trans? How about the authors of the books he has banned? Individual freedom is a thing of the past under DeSantis, and he actually believes he can take this show on the road all over the country. When did Americans applaud such a power-hungry, mean-spirited, braggadocio until Trump? Disavowing him because he’s losing votes for your Party is not an act of courage. It’s an act of shame that it took so long, and that the only reason your’e not still kissing up to him is because he’s lost votes for you. And, Ron DeSantis is Trump 2.0.. Can’t wait for the new Republican Party to tell DeSantis he can’t act the way he does anymore…………….They are a disgraced group of people, who sadly have garnered far too man supporters in this country. It’s disheartening to fathom what that means to us as Americans. Republicans missed their chance when they could have impeached Trump and stopped the madness before it metastasized.
One piece that struck me this week was Robert’s mentioning the awful reporting from Rolling Stone on DeSantis’ silence on all the antisemitic talk from GOP influencers. It is quite disheartening to see people in media outlets treat callous bigotry and hatred with such kid gloves. A big example of this is that white supremacists love being called white nationalists as most of the media call them, because it is a euphemism for white supremacy. Same thing with calling the January 6th attackers “rioters” because that implies it was a spontaneous misdeed on that day instead of a planned terrorist attack. If people who mean such harm to others in our society get such easy treatment then it’s no wonder we’re fighting off fascism every election cycle.
Dec 3, 2022·edited Dec 3, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
Terrific points. The US public / media sphere has a tortuous time sufficiently and accurately reporting / critiquing dangerous tendencies. American culture can sugar coat, deny, dumb down; it has been monetized and weaponized against honest critique. This contrasts markedly with some of our Euro allies’ spheres — Germany, France, a generally literate UK (though that could change), and more. It will not pass here, but Germany and France have codified forms of hate speech law.
I am editing to add: we are fortunate to now have a seeming groundswell of strong investigative reporting, and niche outlets like these substacks, etc. But it requires major, sustained media narratives to push against the dangers of normalizing antisemitism, white supremacy, and the like. These must be countered forcefully, vocally en masse to have an effect. Renewed public education initiatives would also help to rebuild.
Very good insight. A lot of work still needs to be done to call out this stuff for what it is, but I’m sad to say that it appears hate has a home in the hearts of many and will continue to do so for a long time. A democracy depends on constant vigilance and the actions of good men and women to protect it from the likes that want to overthrow it. I’m proud of this community and what it does to protect our democracy and “the hated” that need protection.
Sad and true. Constant vigilance, indeed. And the role of education cannot go underestimated. It may not be hyperbole to suggest the advances in awareness and civil rights post-WWII coincided with massive infusions into public and higher education in the US, Britain and Europe. That dismantling, deliberately over recent decades, likely exacerbates these tensions.
Agree with your second paragraph. The problem is that things like substacks and podcasts appeal to politically engaged audiences, often those willing to pay for their information. It's related to the education split in our politics. The question is, how do we get these messages out to the rest of the public? I heard a very interesting discussion with Tara McGowan on the Lincoln Project podcast about her project to create local media platforms aimed at less-engaged voters in swing states https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-medias-abandoned-moral-code-with-tara-mcgowan/id1551582052?i=1000588045617
Fair point. I just know they like being called nationalists instead of supremacists. But yes, it’s soft-pedaling hate until you call it what it is—hate.
Accountability is starting to happen and while it may have taken longer than we all wanted or expected it is here and working. Putting aside Trump and his multiple criminal investigations there is the J6th hearings, convictions and the forthcoming report; the Alex Jones conviction, the Stewart Rhodes Oath Keeper conviction, the ordering of Pat Cipollone testimony and various subpoenas for John Eastman, Lindsey Graham and Sidney Powell to testify under oath. Several indictments are expected over the next few months and some of those indicted may go to jail. As each of these criminal convictions occurs it makes it much harder to ignore or dismiss the criminal actions of the Republican Party and their enablers. People are just tired and worn out from all of this drama and the mid terms sent a message that people want to move on. The Biden Administration has done a very aimpressive job and a majority of people know this from first their first hand experience resulting in the Republican attempts to sabotage the Democrats being less effective and creditable.
But I am among those who worry that the clock will run out before justice is served. At this glacial pace, I won't live to see January 6th justice. I hope the slow speed is a sign of creating unassailable air tight cases. Hoping....
Dec 3, 2022·edited Dec 3, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
Thank you for that link--it WAS a good article. It was somewhat amusing to read Newtie's arrogant version of "humble pie", but it tasted pretty good just the same. As usual, Gingrich's opinion is riddled with obvious hypocrisy and willful ignorance but given his history, it was still a fairly astonishing admission. We can hope that the rest of the party ignores it and keeps on doing what it is doing.
On a different topic, I would recommend reading It Can't Happen Here, a novel by Sinclair Lewis, written in 1935. Eerily apt to the present. (It describes the rise of a US dictator similar to how Adolf Hitler gained power.)
Love the babysitting: or as I recently did for my 15 and 18 year old grand-kid driving. My favorite activities were cooking ( I live in a retirement community) so making a yummy winter stew is a treat for me... and taking my grandson out for a fish meal : his family don't eat fish and he loves fish. Sometimes I have cooked Bronzini or halibut, a real treat . Enjoy.
Let us not buy the popular myth that wages are behind today's inflation. Fed Chairman Powell most recently said that rising wages have NOT been the primary driver of the current run up in prices but he "expected that they would be". Would be...
IMO, the Fed left interest rates too low for much too long. Gifting the big banks relatively free money to profit from. Savers have been punished and pushed into equity investments they don't understand and/or don't have the risk capacity for.
Driving them up now will do nothing to solve the true causes of today's inflation: supply chain disruption (here comes a lot more of that soon), the war ON Ukraine (grain is priced by world supplies), and of course the one most news outlets continue to ignore - the big one. Corporate profiteering. Near monopolies are raising price NOT because of wage issues, but under the cover of "inflation publicity" they simply can get away with it.
There are CEOs on record in quarterly earnings reports who BOAST of this. But the media keeps flapping their jaws about the impact of wages and the Fed is trying hard but may need to try harder, blah, blah, blah. It is BS.
Americans are getting fleeced. Please read Robert Reich who can explain it much better than I can. Chairman Powell is in a la la land. He thinks if he follows the Volcker approach and takes a sledge hammer to the economy, it will solve the pricing problem. But he needs to get out of his economic silo and do the uncool thing: call out the corporate greed for what it is. What kind of society watches its people suffer greatly while major companies record some of the highest profits in history? Companies are rewarding their shareholders with resources that belong to the public. It is theft. It is as simple as that.
And there is more. On a recent thread over at LFAA, a certain personality said that "Biden had put a knife into the fossil fuel industry" and that was causing inflation. Yikes. Talk about buying BS propaganda. This administration has done nothing to restrict the major oil and gas producers from expanding production. The companies themselves have restrained expanding supply - for the specific purpose of keeping prices high! Where is the publicity around that? Instead the TV mouthpieces keep repeating the false charges that a President (any President) is causing prices at the pump to go up. It bogles the minds of those of us who read and want to see the full truth on display.
I’m all for publicizing corporate depredations, but it won’t change *behavior* unless penalties are involved. Instituting an excess profits tax could directly address price gouging … but what are the odds of getting it through this Congress in less than a month?
There’s no reason to raise it in the next Congress, except to make noise — and if the noise doesn’t produce reforms, it might simply heighten the sense of frustration and powerlessness.
Such a just action as reclaiming what I consider stolen funds is not likely anytime soon. But as long as I can talk or type I will be campaigning for it. I only hope to live long enough to see Americans awake from the hypnotic worship of big businesses that bleed them and squeeze them dry. There is a sensible type society that celebrates innovative free enterprise but regulates it so it doesn't become a shadow government sending OUR national treasure to a few annointed con men.
In partial defense of Fed Chairman Powell: the only tools at the Fed’s disposal are interest rates and some technical changes to banking. It’s not their fault if they *amount to* a sledgehammer.
The other big tool theoretically at the federal government’s disposal, fiscal policy (tax rates, appropriations, to tinker with the size of the federal deficit), was abandoned decades ago. And it would be impossible to revive with the current, fractured Congresses.
Very well said Bill. Making that same argument with my few remaining “conservative” friends sends them scurrying to their holes, just to return another day spouting the same nonsense.
I would like to have a conversation about a serious threat to Democracy that receives little or no attention. Yet it underlines some of the most important issues of our time: the growing anti-science mindset, Covid denialism, conspiracy theories like the Stolen Election and social media control. At the root is the shockingly low level of reading comprehension in the US. The average American has a literacy level of less than the sixth grade. That's right! This means an inability to understand anything but the most black and white facts and an appeal to authority figures for guidance (preachers, cult leaders or the husband in many households where women let the menfolk digest the news and tell them what to think). Complex issues involving conflicting claims on the truth and critical thinking are the hardest for millions to deal with. This is greatly exaggerated by the dominance of social media and info overload. Insignificant information is being aggressively promulgated to the detriment of our society. We cannot ignore this insidious peril.
A bit off topic, but, if you know someone on a fixed income or otherwise struggling with groceries you could offer to take them as a guest to your membership club. Although you may be the only one allowed to make the actual purchase, you can ask the cashier to subtotal between yours and your guests items; figure it out later.
A single person household may only need to do this a few times a year, purchasing to stock up on non-perishables. It could make a big difference for them.
"A federal judge imposed monetary penalties (“sanctions”) against Kari Lake’s lawyers—including Alan Dershowitz—for making “false, misleading, and unsupported factual assertions.....” It's about time! The whole bunch of 'em!
Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, among others, says inflation is largely being caused not by wage growth but by excess profits due to price gouging enabled by monopoly power. Since this country almost completely stopped enforcing antitrust laws in the 1980s, much of our free market has devolved into a set of oligopolies, and corporate profits are at an 80-year high.
Yes, agree. But I think Reich is saying that corporations are exacerbating inflation by raising prices faster than inflation. If monopoly power alone were enough, we wouldn’t have had ten years of low inflation followed by high inflation after the pandemic caused labor shortages.
He is not the only economist saying that corporate greed is fueling inflation. I am still upset by the apparent lack of pressure on railroad executives to give a human right, paid sick leave, to workers as they haul in record profits.
I am afraid that Biden’s stance on this one will come back to hurt the Democratic Party.
Maybe not? If Biden enacts and Executive Order adding 7 days of paid sick leave? Jessica Craven's Chop Wood Carry Water yesterday (see: https://chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions.substack.com/p/chop-wood-carry-water-122-0e1?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email) suggested this action to help leverage Biden to do this:
Extra Credit ✅
Send this to President Biden, either through his contact form if you want to edit it, or using Resistbot if you don’t (quick send: text SIGN PGHBUB to 50409.) [H/T]
While I understand the need to avert a rail strike, I’m extremely disappointed that the U.S. Senate passed legislation, brokered by you, that forces freight rail employees to remain on the job or be fired while voting down a companion bill that would have finally given them seven days of compensated sick leave.
I am writing you to now ask that you remedy this outrageous situation by signing an executive order guaranteeing at least seven days of paid days off for illness to railroad and other workers. This is within your power; Obama did something like it in in 2015, signing an EO requiring all federal contractors to guarantee seven paid sick days to their workers. Unfortunately he specifically exempted the rail industry from it, even though they are federal contractors. It’s your turn to fix this.
Please, unless you want to lose your self-designated “most pro-labor President ever” status, issue an Executive Order immediately stating that all federal contractors governed by the Railway Labor Act must extend 7 paid sick days, as federal contractors under the FSLA and other laws must. Thanks.
Just did it. Executive order needed.
Did it yesterday! Thanks, Jessica Craven!
She IS a wonder and makes it so easy to take action!
done and passed on....thanks so much!
Done
You may not understand how tightly scheduled railways are.
I do understand the tight scheduling. But that's no excuse for whittling down the workforce and not granting the workforce paid sick days. No excuse except for corporate profits at the expense of safety - worker safety, passenger safety, consumer safety.
Too tightly scheduled to accommodate paid sick days?
Done!
Done & thanks.
Done! Thanks
Also done.
Done!
Done.
Done!
Done.
done
Suzanne -- I share your sentiment. Shaun
Here here, Reaganites love monopoly power. Have for over 40 years.
No doubt there is corporate greed but the only way to combat it is from push back from the consumers who buy the products. We live in a free market society and the markets ( consumers) determine the price and profits and until consumers act the gouging continues.
I respectfully disagree. We can't stop buying food or gas for the car. But the government can start enforcing some anti trust laws. Allowing mega mergers is simply asking for inflation caused by profiteering. And...here's the big and easy one for legislators who care more for their constituents than their big dollar donors: WINDFALL PROFITS TAXES!
Also some of the enforcement problem is that our legislators who are the ones who make laws, receive money from the corporations. There needs to be some way to control this. Unfortunately it's the legislators who must control it.
Right, teachers in some states are charged a windfall profit tax that cuts their earned social security benefits from prior or later private employment if they have a state pension.
There are still antitrust laws, even if their enforcement is only a fading memory. The comment here about Krogers takes on greater significance now in the context of Krogers's plan to absorb Albertsons-Safeway. There isn’t much room for consumer activism when food retail is monopolized.
I believe there is a class action lawsuit against some of the large turkey producers like Cargill for colluding to fix prices.
There has been a lot of consolidation in the retail food industry but there are bargains at places like Costco when compared to everyday supermarkets.
The people that need a break on groceries the most probably can’t afford memberships, and might not be able to buy and store items sold in bulk.
Especially single seniors.
I'm one too. I hear you!
I actually wondered what repercussions this merger might have.
Our local Krogers has gone totally to not using cashiers. It’s self service. All lanes are open but we scan our own groceries. Don’t really have a viable option to shop as the other grocery store always has a lot of bare shelves.
You might want to consider using Kroger's pickup feature, which is free if you buy a minimum of $35. You order online, set a pickup date and time, and then you go to the pickup area and have the shopper deliver your groceries into the trunk of your car or your back seat or wherever you want them to.
Two pluses: You don't have to listen to the "background" music, and you don't have to be exposed to maskless shoppers.
A minus: There may be items in the store that are not available for pickup.,
Another minus: You can't choose your own produce, and I find a lot of store shoppers aren't nearly as picky as I am.
Mostly true, Stephi. But I’ve been doing it since March 2020, and the staff knows my persnickety preferences and tries to accommodate them.
I don't buy produce or fresh meat for the very same reason. I am glad that one of my 2 supermarkets does have the pick up option.
I live in NorCal, am 73, and on a fixed income.
I drive south to the Los Angeles area often for family issues.
I am still paying nearly $5 a gallon for gas. I know I pay high taxes in CA ( and I am happy to do that for my state) but gas companies are making phenomenal profits.
I did buy a hybrid but others are unable to afford a car to accommodate their travel needs.
Dershowitz has certainly done a stellar job over the past 30 years of self-trashing his reputation.
He joins the long and ever increasing list of folks who have destroyed their careers and/or legacies in the service of trump and his surrogates (Giuliani, Barr, Judge Cannon, Flynn... I could go on and on). And then there are those who lost their careers standing up to him (Cheney, Bowers, etc). It seems the MAGA train wreck continues... I just hope that I get to see the end of it in my lifetime.
I'm not so sure we have seen the end of Cheney's career, or Kinzinger's, and certainly not Raffensburgers. Out of the ashes of the GOP will necessarily rise some kind of center-right party. I won't be part of it, but I will welcome it with leaders of integrity like them.
Raffensberger is questionable regarding his career. Yes, he fought back against Trump but he speaks with forked-tongue because said he would vote for him if he ran for Prez again. What kinda bs is that?
Oh yes. I'm not saying he's a good guy. I'm saying his career survived refusing to go along with the Big Lie.
Boy, has he ever! I am enjoying the fact that he now will be the one raked over the coals.
Nobody could have done it better….
What happened to that guy? Why does he have such a penchant for selecting the most despicable clients possible? Certainly there is good money defending good people. Or at least mix it up a bit. I think he is either a masochist or just a jerk. Thoughts?
Good people don’t often need lawyers.
Actually, they often need them....they just can't afford them
so they have to eat the injustices.
Are you talking about the grocers? Please tell me that you are not.
Just talking about good people needing lawyers....that's all.
He’s a liar, Bill. Don’t forget he was tied to Epstein and his grooming of young women. POS! (Piece of 💩)
A pile of poop for sure. I wouldn't let him near my dog or for that matter, my goldfish.
I wouldn't let him near the dung beetles, which recycle the poop. (I've found dung beetles in dog poop in my yard.) I wouldn't let him near my dog, or near the goldfish in my brother's fish pond.
we need those dung beetles
We certainly do. And if you can dig up a copy of the June 1997 issue of Smithsonian, you can read my article on them.
It's simple. Dersh is a bad person. It may be partly a bid for publicity. Kanye's also getting a lot of publicity these days.
Nothing more important or meaningful than "Grandparent duty!" Enjoy every moment, including the skinned knees, and don't make the same mistake we made: going to the donut shop for breakfast! Thanks for all your time and wisdom.
Ugh! There goes grandpa’s plan for breakfast!
I spend Fridays with my baby grands. Yesterday the 2 yr old said You can’t tell me no ... she knows me so well 🥴
She's got your number!!
They all do!
Get some protein into them first, then have the donuts for a snack.
avoid donuts. They are pure junk food. Simple carbs with sugar on top.
This baker respectfully disagrees. Any food can be a simple joy to share.
I've never really liked donuts. The last time I ate one was probably around 2005. I've probably had fewer than 10 since the millennium, and fewer than 150 in my life--which began early in the Eisenhower Administration.
Anyone who is over 40, and has cholesterol or blood sugar that's the least bit high should consider them poison--especially if such people are inactive.
If their blood sugar and cholesterol levels are low, share the donuts if it gives both of you joy.
As Democrats keep the government functioning despite the clown show in the GOP, they must also find a way to use this moment to change the popular narrative that really came to prominence with Reagan. I'm referring to a story about hard-working Americans who deserve to keep their hard-won earnings, rather than contribute to a government that just stands between them and their desire for law and order and good Christian values. They are able to push this myth in the face of rising inequality and the obvious corruption of their leaders and heroes because of the right wing media machine, which Democrats and Independents must find a way to counter.
It seems to me that without that media bubble, normal and decent Americans would see through the economic hogwash as we witness the destructive consequences of concentrating wealth in the hands of Elon, Kanye, and Trump. Oh, and the Murdochs, Kochs, Sacklers, Mercers, Peter Thiel, and so on, in contrast to the increasing struggles of ordinary people.
The promotion of violence, through hateful rhetoric, and enabled by refusing to enact sensible gun laws would be a political problem without the constant drumbeat of fear that Tucker's audience and others are hearing. I just don't think we could be at this level of open misogyny, anti-semitism, and racism if we weren't so isolated both in our media consumption and in our physical sorting into communities of the like-minded.
I don't know how Democrats change the narrative, but at this point of complete and public moral collapse on the part of the Republicans, we have to find a way. Some people working on this: Simon Rosenberg at NDN has a presentation entitled "With Democrats, Things Get Better" that lays out an economic counter-argument to the GOP lies. https://www.ndn.org/WithDemocrats. The Lincoln Project is starting something they call Resolute Square and (I think) bringing together a variety of people working in this area, like their never-Trump Republican core, plus Joe Trippi, Molly Jong-Fast and Tara McGowan (I am not sure--you seem to have to join to get very much information---maybe someone else knows more), and there's the Crooked Media group as well as lots of good podcasts. The Bulwark is a great place to find common ground with people well to the right of me, at least, but who reject the current GOP. Supporting the growing independent local news outlets is critical. I am familiar with the Missouri Independent, the MinnPost, and The Minnesota Reformer, but there must be many others. I'm sure there are other efforts out there, but so far a liberal response to the Reagan myth seems to be scattered, underfunded, and unable to gain traction. In the next two years, again WHILE GOVERNING (one of the secrets of the GOP is they don't do that, so they have fewer balls in the air), we must help people see through the wall of Republican lies that so far is much bigger an stronger and harder to overcome than anything Trump did on the southern border.
One thing I have to keep reminding my progressive friends is that in the more rural areas of this country, meaning the Rocky Mtn states, midwest, parts of the south, and rural parts of just about every state, there are extremely few media choices and practically no internet access.
I remember years ago when Sinclair Broadcasting went around most of those areas buying up the radio and TV stations. The result for the media for all these Americans (and thus voters) is Fox programming, church programs, country music, sports and the farm report. Other conservatives bought the small newspapers and shut them down so there is only one paper in the area. NY Times?? WSJ?? even Robert Hubbell? Not available.
One of the main reasons every Republican legislator was against the infrastructure bill was because a large part of it was to bring the internet to rural America. If you live in rural America you have to travel to larger cities to get alternate information, not something many of them have the time and money to do.
And then there is the longstanding Republican move to get on and control local schools boards, and then work they way up the educational ladder. I remember that from the Reagan years. And for a decade or more rich conservatives like the Koch brothers, have made major, huge, donations to colleges and universities. And not just the religious based ones. This allows them to control the viewpoints promoted at the school, and even to be on the Board of Chancellors of the school. I believe it is David Koch who has a building named after him at MIT, my daughter’s alma mater. I almost had a heart attack when I saw his name during a visit there several years back.
End result, deprive them of any information, dumb down their critical thinking skills, keep their area less well developed, don’t give them access to anything and it becomes very easy to tell them how to vote, as they have no other recourse than to believe the only story in town. Especially if you get the Sunday preacher to repeat the same thing every week.
So while it is laudable for all these Democrats and progressives to create these great talking programs, they will never reach far beyond “the choir”. It has taken Republicans 30+ years to accomplish this mind takeover of most of America. It is going to take us near the same amount of time to just to bring in the infrastructure, and then we will have the monumental task of trying to get all these people to trust and believe what we are “preaching.”
Don’t get me wrong. I am not against our doing just that. I just think we progressives need to understand exactly what we are up against, how infiltrated the right wing agenda is into every aspect of many American’s lives, and minds. It will take our thinking far outside the box and creating something totally new to start making inroads. Doing the same ole, same ole, in a slightly better version and expecting different results is not going to work.
One thing I see making a difference is one-on-one conversations over time, building relationships with the voters. This is why I heavily support Movement Voter Project. They fund hundreds of small groups in every state, building ongoing relationships, year round, with the voters in their areas, helping them solve everyday problems they have and then, at election time, bringing them new and more correct information about voting in their elections. Yes, they begin in the cities, but then they expand to the rural areas. There is a group in Wisconsin with several staff who focus solely on the farmers in up state, going farm to farm. It may take a few years, but they are already making a difference.
Finally, to read an example of how this method really made a difference, read this article from The Nation: How We Beat an Anti-Aborion Amendment in Deep-Red Kentucky. https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/kentucky-anti-abortion-amendment/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Cathleen - thank you so much for that perspective. As a born and bred East Coaster, and city dweller, the idea of minimal internet, and only one local newspaper is not a scenario that was part of my mind-set. Very helpful!!! and provides a whole lot of options that I hadn't considered.
Elenor, out here in the hinterlands, if you aren't in a pretty big city it is likely that you don't have a local newspaper at all, or possibly a weekly.
So interesting. I hadn't considered the anti-information aspect of opposing rural broadband. Of course, it's as likely that most people will use it to check in on The Daily Wire and such.
The Minnesota Reformer is an example of an online publication that would be more available to people in rural parts of the state with improved broadband, and here's an interesting piece from a Democrat who ran for the state Senate against the odds that illustrates your point about the massive, long-term work that will need to be done, but also that there are people out there in rural areas who aren't represented by their current GOP electeds, and are hungry to connect with like-minded people. https://minnesotareformer.com/2022/12/01/a-democrat-on-what-its-like-running-in-ruby-red-rural-minnesota/. If you click on the author, she has done a whole series on the experience of being a Democrat and trying to talk to her neighbors over the past few years.
Cathleen, I very much agree with you. We must put feet on the ground and work diligently to communicate with and listen to folks from rural areas - all areas really. Your example of Kentucky is just one. I think Jessica Craven's work and that of such groups as Activate America (https://www.activateamerica.vote/what-we-do) will be important in the coming years/elections because we much extent our efforts to all corners of the country. In Colorado the effort of Adam Firsch to beat Lauren Boebert was astonishing with only a 600 vote difference. And the independent The Colorado Sun has played an important role throughout our state. We need more folks like them to expand the conversation and voter outreach. https://coloradosun.com/2022/11/30/lauren-boebert-adam-frisch-recount-colorado-begins/
Can’t ❤️ this but your telling of what the Repubs did/do in the rural areas makes perfect sense. They are squeezing the inhabitants brains and filling them up with plenty of untruths. That’s why they will always stay in the dark. People need help.
And they are keeping people as poor as possible as another means of control. In the article I mentioned from The Nation, they talk about Kentucky being a Republican stronghold for over 30 years. The writer states that Kentucky is 87% white with one of the highest poverty rates in America. And that in Appalachian areas of the country the corporate extraction, union busting and political neglect have left the people with diminished economic opportunities. Pretty hard to think beyond Maslov’s hierachy of needs to just survive and take time to consider who to vote for. Easier to just check every box with an “R” as they have been told to do for decades.
Ellen, you are so right about changing the narrative. I am reading (again) “Strongmen” by Ruth Ben-Ghiat. She talks about how strongmen throughout the ages have controlled their narratives by propaganda and the control of the media whether it was radio, newsreels at the movies or TV. Resolute Square is attempting to get into this fight and take on Fox, Brietbart etc. Their website and content is available to all and there are also various subscription levels for added content. I decided to join at the “supporting member” level which makes me help to contribute to the effort. The Lincoln Project folks have bankrolled this endeavor with their own money so I am hoping for great things from them. Check them out at https://resolutesquare.com/
Fantastic -- thank you! This has been my concern too and Ellen has captured this problem so completely.
Fragmentation in media consumption, with our silos and echo chambers, is a big problem -- how do we build media/messaging coalitions, get louder and come together in a bigger way?
I recently saw the Obama Foundation doing a lot of work to educate and develop young people to become the new Democracy Defenders. Maybe with some good funding (e.g., Melinda French (Gates), McKennzie Bezos & others) a strong media component could be developed.
I'm now a monthly donor to the Obama Foundation.
Thanks for the information, Annette.
My simple mind found this interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caCkMX6YdYU&ab_channel=AfterSkool It helped me understand why so many people seem to be idiots.
See this thread about how the Way to Win Action Fund created a narrative, a winning one I believe, for the 2022 election.
https://twitter.com/WayToWinAF/status/1593376819918475264?s=20&t=AKP3Pm8ANIgVhCUTIH7gZ
I followed Way To Win, Research Collaborative etc. in the last few months. I believe their strategy was excellent and will continue to make a difference into the next series of elections.
This is very encouraging. I saw that final ad and thought it was terrific. It's tough to see how Dems compete with the GOP "sugar daddy" and corporate funding model, with gazillionaires willing to invest big dollars over decades. How can we get our activated supporters to make these kinds of investments as well as sending money to candidates?
Ellen, if you're in mn theres also radio station AM 950 but it too is one of the scattered, underfunded outlets and interested in being community in MN with others, I'm parr of a giv
Good to know
I left out the whole "crime" narrative, which mainly functions by activating racial anxiety. Dems have a good story to tell about guns and crime, a larger meaning to public safety, and ending the crime-inducing school-to-prison pipeline. It's not an easy thing to change minds, but the RW media machine has shown how it can be done with enough repetition.
Since you mention the border, I want to say that I think we (Democrats) have a de facto open borders policy that is like shooting ourselves in the feet. It's also bad policy for workers, and bad policy for the environment.
Re workers: There's a new book that anyone interested in immigration should read. Back of the Hiring Line: A 200-Year History of Immigration Surges, Employer Bias, and Depression of Black Wealth. It's scholarly, going through the relevant academic economic literature, statements of Black leaders beginning with Frederick Douglass (whose sons were downwardly mobile because of mass immigration), Black periodicals, and gov't commissions on immigration reform (296 footnotes). It also reads well because the author spent several decades as an environmental journalist.
Two nuggets: Black workers predominated in meat packing in 1980, earning good middle class wages, having organized their way up since the '20s. By the former decade's end, immigrant workers predominated in meat packing, under atrocious conditions, earning barely over minimum wage.
The author interviewed Black former poultry workers, who'd lost their jobs to immigrants. They told him they couldn't go back to their old jobs as they'd have to live in their cars, or live several families to a house, because the new wages were so low. A lesson from this: there really are no jobs American workers won't do. The problem is immigrant workers are often easily exploitable, and earn wages no American worker should have to work for. (In parts of the Central Valley, immigrant workers earn as little as $2-$3/hour picking crops.)
The other problems with mass immigration are environmental. Over the last 30 years, our population grew by the equivalent of four NY States--half of that from immigration. Over the next 40, the Census Bureau projects growth by nearly four NY States--90% due to immigration.
Yet, according to Abrahm Lustgarten in the NYT Mag, over the next 2-3 decades, millions of ***Americans*** are going to become climate refugees, fleeing the West and Southwest, and probably the South as well. If you want to read something frightening, here it is: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/09/15/magazine/climate-crisis-migration-america.html.
We don't need to be adding 10s of millions of immigrants when 10s of millions of Americans are going to become climate refugees.
And I'm not even going into the toll the immigration-driven population boom will take on ecosystem services--clean water, clean air, pollination, disease prevention, and many more--stuff I learned about at Berkeley in '75, along with global warming, from the man who became Pres. O's Science Advisor. Suffice it to say that Lyme and other tick-borne diseases that originated in the US occurred because the population explosion disrupted ecosystems, as HIV and COVID likely did in Africa and Asia, and deforestation and extinction--the results of population growth--will likely result in more emergent diseases
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02341-1/.
Not quite sure how we got to immigration here. It seems that whoever occupies the WH owns the immigration issue. But, in fact, Congress has long since surrendered their responsibility leaving President to grapple with the issue while Senators and Representatives collect votes doing nothing about it. Here are some points shared in previous posts.
1. The last Immigration Reform legislation was in 1986 under Ronald Reagan. 2. When George W. Bush introduced a legislative proposal during this first year in office it was quickly sabotaged by his own party, led by hardcore anti-immigration members of congress and pressure groups. 3. The heiress of the Mellon Foundation has been sited as a major contributor to the endless Immigration controversy with an significant impact to this day. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/14/us/anti-immigration-cordelia-scaife-may.html
4. Along with Tucker Carlson and a raft of other agitators we Americans show how insane and insecure we can be as the strongest global economy. Excerpt: "Mrs. May’s story helps explain the ascendance of once-fringe views in the debate over immigration in America, including exaggerated claims of criminality, disease or dependency on public benefits among migrants. Though their methods radically diverged, Mrs. May and the killer in the recent mass shooting in El Paso applied the same language, both warning of an immigrant “invasion,” an idea also promoted by Mr. Trump." As found in the article link above.
First of all, you should know that I'm a left wing Democrat, from a family of left wing Democrats. One of my maternal great uncles was a union lawyer who ran the Colorado Democratic party for most of the first half of the last century, and gave the speech recommending an end to prohibition at the '32 Democratic convention. My father spent his first two years after graduating college trying to unionize a shop where he had gotten a job while the depression was still going on. (His efforts failed because there was too much turnover.) My reasons for opposing mass immigration are Democratic reasons.
There's a book I highly recommend: Back of the Hiring Line: A 200-Year History of Immigration Surges, Employer Bias and Depression of Black Wealth. The book is scholarly--covers the relevant academic economic literature (296 footnotes) yet highly readable, as the author had spent 3 decades as an ENVIRONMENTAL (emphasis deliberate) journalist.
Two nuggets out of many: in 1980, Black workers predominated in the meat packing industry. They earned good middle class wages, having organized towards that end since the 1920s. But during the 1980s, immigration surged. (This was also when the Reagan amnesty happened.) By that decade's end, immigrants predominated in meat packing, earning barely over minimum wage, and laboring under atrocious conditions. This was deliberate on the part of the meat packing companies. The oversupply of cheap labor, coupled with the ease of exploiting immigrants, made it easy for companies to reduce wages to sh!t.
The author also interviewed Black poultry workers who'd been fired. Among other things, he asked them if they'd want their old jobs back. The problem, he was told, was that the companies were now paying such low wages that they (the fired workers) would have to either live in their cars, or live many to a house, on such wages. This gives the lie to the notion there are jobs Americans won't do. The problem is pay no American should have to accept.
Mass immigration also creates environmental problems, and quality of life problems. Our population grew by 83 million from 1990-2020. That's 4 NY State equivalents--a huge number of people. Two of those NYs were immigrants.
I hope that hearing this enables you to understand why a lot of Americans view immigration as an invasion. I don't know what you do, but if immigrants were taking so many jobs in your profession that your colleagues were losing their jobs to them, and the pay was dropping, I suspect you'd feel like an invasion was going on.
There's also an environmental argument. That sort of growth leads to a lot of building of new roads, new housing developments, businesses, etc. All that results in a lot of new global warming emissions. Not just from more people driving, and more houses being heated, etc. Virgin land contains massive amounts of carbon, most of which gets released to the atmosphere when such land is developed. Development for four NY State populations is huge.
Additionally, virgin land supplies "ecosystem services," which all of us require. There are many ecosystem services, including clean water, clean air, pollination, support for wildlife, lumber, and disease prevention. Diseases emerge when ecosystems are destroyed by development. Lyme, other tick-borne diseases, HIV, and COVID are among the diseases that have emerged due to disruption of ecosystems. The relevant scholars predict that there are going to be more emerging diseases if we don't stop causing deforestation and extinctions.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02341-1
(By the way, I learned about global warming, and ecosystem services in 1975 in a class at UC Berkeley taught by John Holdren, who later became Pres O's Science Advisor.)
David, Thank you for sharing your insights. I hope that someday our country will again have a functional two party system to is prepared to address your/our concerns on this and many other essential threats to our country and the globe.
A lot to agree with here. Start with "It seems to me that without that media bubble, normal Americans...." The group listed has to be headed by Musk these days. See my later post re: Musk and the rapid rise of hateful posts to Twitter. Your concluding observation about needing to help people see through the wall of Republican/Reagan mythology is long overdue. I, like you, have not been able to figure out why "the response has been so scattered, underfunded and unable to gain traction." We must deepen and broaden efforts to address lies, misinformation, hate speech, and violent rhetoric. Thank you.
Thanks, John. The link to the article from the Nation that Cathleen D. provided above is really terrific and hopeful.
Good news indeed! On another note I’m baffled by the likes of Newt Gingrich’s comments praising Pres. Biden. Such a turnaround and of course I’m suspicious. Any thoughts?
Hi, Juanita. As a Georgian I feel obligated to warn you and everyone here that Newt is a devious planner and a master tactician. I know him from his days at Kennesaw State. We lived in Cobb County then, and my daughter was a student there.
I wouldn't say that Newt is an evil man like tfg, Steven Miller, Cruz, or the rest of them. Or a weasel like Jim Jordan, Nunes or McCarthy. These people are easy to recognize.
Newt Gingrich is extremely intelligent and quick on his feet, with unwavering principles and loyalties. In any discussion he is way ahead of you; in any group he gravitates to the center of attention and dominates.
He is extremely dangerous because he is an old-line republican who perfected and introduced the long game to the party-- the results of which are happening now, and ongoing to completion If the party doesn't completely destroy itself first. Trump was a useful idiot at first; however, I believe that if Newt was in office at that time he would have ejected the donald in the first impeachment. Things would look vastly different now, and we democrats might still be trying to figure out what hit us!
So things worked out for the best for our democracy--but the battle continues, and Newt still advises the long-game from the sidelines.
Gingrich is a nasty piece of work -- a liar and hypocrite, and a burn-it-all-down, cut-your-throat, far-right ideologue. You could close one eye and maybe conclude that what he said, as reported in that Guardian article, was praise for Biden. But that would be to overlook Gingrich's entire career. You can be sure that anything he says or does has an ulterior purpose, which in the longer run is to hurt Democrats in any way possible, impede or undo anything Democrats seek to do or have done, and jam the gears of democratically functioning government.
Well so do we have a strategy for newt ?
Absolutely correct. (Not able to give a like.) This serves as my BIG LIKE.
IMO Newt is as evil as they come and the blame for the current state of our country and democrat lies squarely feet. He is a grotesque conniving snake who has taken great pleasure in destroying our democracy. Cue the Grinch song and change the name to Gingrich and that pretty much sums up the scum bag. (Apologies to the Grinch. )
Watched his destruction for decades, slick and slimmy
FYI, this podcast about Newt by Steve Kornacki is fascinating. As it says in the show’s description, “To understand the partisanship and bitterness of American politics today, you have to consider what happened in 1994.” I can hear your groans from here (😜), but I feel like we all do better when we know better - I don’t *want* to understand TFG for example, or why people find him “charismatic” (🤮), but it’s still informative to dig a little deeper. I’d rather know the evil we’re up against in order to combat it most effectively. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-revolution-with-steve-kornacki/id1651010434
So true! You need to know what we are up against as nauseating as it may be. I clearly remember Newt from 1994 - I screamed at the TV and radio a lot. I'll try to work up the fortitude to listen to the podcast. Thanks for posting!
It’s worth it, as counterintuitive as I’m sure that sounds. Kornacki does an excellent job, and it’s fun to experience him in a completely different context.
Katherine, I just read and so relate to your personal statement - thanks for my morning smile and the link.
"Wilmington NC late bloomer who has just recently realized to her horror that not everyone cares about decency, truth, or democracy. Passionate about human rights and my dog Steve. #DifferentNotLess #HateWontWin"
😘
OMG.... I just went to the podcast site. It's 6 episodes!!
You’ll burn right thru them. He just tweeted this week that there might be an unexpected 7th as Gingrich agreed to speak with him which he hadn’t done previously. Kornacki posted a pic of himself with Newt & plastic Callista (😳) and my GOD the blowback was palpable. He was just trying to post it in relation to his podcast but the optics were HORRIBLE. They look far too chummy and people LOST IT without knowing the context. Made me feel bad for Kornacki but not a smart move honestly. Newt is so slick he’ll use that pic against Kornacki I feel sure. These evil people need to rot IMHO.
Setting himself up for house speaker position???
Regarding Newt (or some other dastardly Republican) becoming House Speaker, it was described and attitubted in yesterday’s Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American posting yesterday as follows:
“Republican representative Ralph Norman (R-SC), who opposes electing McCarthy speaker, told right-wing media that those opposing McCarthy have a different candidate for the position. That candidate is not a House member, and Norman said: “‘It will be apparent in the coming weeks who that person will be. I will tell you, it will be interesting.’”
Yes, yesterday's Heather discussion is what triggered my thought when I read about Newt in Hubbell's forum today
The thought of it is just another scary aspect of the world we live in. I recently read, for the first time, (much to my surprise) "1984." So often the pages were filled with chilling descriptions that seemed appropriate to our times; Orwell's description of the party's only goal being to hold power, the work of a ministry to rewrite every work and deed so that it aligned with what Big Brother was currently echoing over the telescreens, etc. We deserve better than the lies, misinformation, violence, and hateful rhetoric that serves no good for our democracy.
Oh dear. Hadn’t thought if that option…
Scary thought
Get ready. I think it is a real possibility.
Unfortunately, that would be consistent with some recent speculation I saw to the effect that the new House Speaker would not even be a member of the House. ( Can that be done?)
Yes, the speaker can be a person outside the House. The Repubs could be getting ready to elect Santa Claus! No, seriously, they could be scheming to elect Trump or Gingrich or any other Republican has-been they can find. It won’t happen, though, because the speaker is elected by the entire House, and they’ll never get a majority for an outlier. They’ll have to elect an in-liar instead!
"...they’ll never get a majority for an outlier. They’ll have to elect an in-liar instead!"
Clap, clap, clap.
Boy, would he love that, power-hungry arse who was ditched for cause.
Thank you for this insight into Gingrich. It is enlightening to read about exceptional operators, even when they choose such a dark path. One might even admire his talents, were they not deployed for such odious ends.
I now remember that Gingrich was, I believe, an inspiration for emerging Euro neo-fascists like Berlusconi in the early ‘90s (source, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, _Strongmen_). The Gingrich effect offers some fascinating foreshadowing of today’s far right international interplay (e.g. the GOP flirting with Orban, and so many other unsavories).
I agree that without trump and MAGA we would still be drifting along thinking nothing is wrong in our country. trump brought the underside of America to light and made it possible to react
Isn't it an ugly revelation though? I am embarrassed to say that I am 60 years old and had NO idea we were still this hateful as a human race. I'll be the first to admit that I'm naive and no doubt guilty of white privilege, but I genuinely believed to my bones that we all cared about BASIC civility, honesty, and integrity. Obviously there'll always be bullies and hateful humans, but I thought we collectively shunned people like that, rather than embraced and celebrated them. It's been so incredibly demoralizing to see people I respect and admire align with those who not only lie without hesitation but who also genuinely believe that certain people are more deserving of respect than others. How can a society survive if it sees only SOME humans as worthy of dignity, or of being seen as "true" Americans (🙄). The arrogance of this worldview is nauseating, especially since we are ALL immigrants, unless we happen to be Native Americans. I'm on my soapbox now, but how did civility and decency become political? If you're a human, shouldn't you care about human decency? This isn't hard. If you EXPECT decency and respect, shouldn't you realize that others expect and deserve it too? There's plenty of BOTH to go around, and giving it to others doesn't leave less for YOU. Ugh. I need more coffee.
Newt is the nastiest of the nasty politicians after Atwater pronounced lies, spin, and propaganda as worthy machinations for success. He is smart but has no scruples or integrity, despite his Catholic blather. Trust him at your peril…
Correction: Newt is NOT an evil man, like....
So a double negative?
"I wouldn't say that Newt is NOT an evil man, like tfg, . . ."
Or your existing sentence actually was accurate as written?🤔
Just Janice, If someone had to catch me, I'm glad it was you. The original sentence was what I intended. The edit was a mistake. At the time frame I was talking about, I never assessed him as being evil--just seriously "bent," or full-bore crazy.
I was wrong. Newt is an evil reptile who has badly damaged our country.
Soooo, the unintentional double negative is actually correct! As my dad would say, "sheesh!"
Thanks!
😄👍
I agree in regard to Gingrich. I'd go further to say he borders only so slightly on the evil side of the aisle. We have to recognize that he, in 1994, started the approach to obstructing everything the Democrats put forward. In so doing, he earned a place in my list among the top leaders upending the concept of shared governance within a two party system. He has to be recognized as having contributed to the obstructionist practices of the current Republican Party.
I would say more than contributing- I would say he laid down the tracks and wrote the playbook.
John, I credit him with the whole playbook running beneath the Contract with America. Still running today.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/11/newt-gingrich-says-youre-welcome/570832/
Gus, you are correct. I lived in Fulton county from '93-'03 and moved back this year. I've witnesses Newt's manipulative intelligence. He was a convincing danger then and even with age, has not changed his stripes.
I moved from NY to GA in 1994, only to hear Newt Gingrich haranguing about his Contract with America. I questioned my decision to come here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract_with_America
Thank you, Gus. I guess I’m just surprised the trumpists didn’t come out full force and turn on him for his comment about Biden. Something’s up.
He wasn't intending to praise Biden: he was warning the Republicans that they were in an echo chamber and unaware of the successes.
Exactly. Thank you. He was commenting on a strategic basis. He was warning his troops. After all, he has been the shadow general in this whole movement to fascism.
Any comments he has would be intending to hurt Biden’s electability. For example he may be congratulating Biden on hurting union workers. This misstep by Biden and his advisers is going to hurt the Democratic Party with working class voters. Gingrich would be happy with that outcome
Why is it Biden’s fault when republicans blocked the sick leave? Joe acted as president, not a union guy. Damn, can’t the MSM ever get it right….
Lauren, it might-- but I feel certain more legislation covering paid sick leave, etc. is already in the works. President Biden is solidly pro-labor who did the best he could, given the exigent choice he was facing.
It will depend of course on the solidarity of the next House majority, but that is a clown show right now.
I think Mayor Pete and the Department of Transportation need to do a total review of the Railroad industry. In the name of safety work hours and rest periods must be mandated as in the aviation and trucking industry. Train crews must be increased. Three mile long trains are a hazard in themselves.
It is time for fat cat companies and rich stockholders to stop crushing workers and risking the lives of the public.
that may be what Gingrich is doing. but if Biden had allowed a rail strike, Gingrich would be congratulating Biden on hurting hundreds of millions of Americans with higher inflation and goods shortages during the holiday season.
You're assuming union solidarity, which hasn't existed in any meaningful way in 50 years (one of the reasons why things are the way they are).
Correct. Here’s a fact about the railroad unions that’s gotten lost: the majority of unions accepted the negotiated contract.
Newt always has an evil motive
Yesterday I read somewhere in some newsletter or article that a House group opposing McCarthy’s speakership is planning to support someone “outside the House” as Speaker, someone who come as a huge (and presumably pleasant—to them anyway) surprise. I thought it strange or impossible at the time but could it be Newt?
There was no turnaround. It was a fact based statement to get Republicans refocused on the policy and platform issues they have ignored. He basically said stop the ridiculous rhetoric and threats and get back to the Republican platform s and polices.
If they even considered returning to the former Republican platform and policies, that would be virtually impossible. Their next “savior” that they’re eyeing is Ron DeSantis, a pure-tee autocrat! He has no respect for the rule of law. Only for his position as “ruler of the law.” Most of the policies he has passed have been unconstitutional. He is a cruel bully, perhaps worse than Trump in that regard, and he blatantly passes law to discriminate against blacks, women, gays and trans, and public school teachers and librarians. He loves big government, as long as HE is at the top of the big government wielding his power. He doesn’t even care about the sacred cow of the former Republican Party - private business. DeSantis believes he can mandate what they are allowed to say and what their businesses are allowed to establish as their causes. All in the name of the “free state of Florida.” Who is free besides DeSantis and his voters? Does he really believe that women are free there? Does he believe that blacks are free? How about gays and trans? How about the authors of the books he has banned? Individual freedom is a thing of the past under DeSantis, and he actually believes he can take this show on the road all over the country. When did Americans applaud such a power-hungry, mean-spirited, braggadocio until Trump? Disavowing him because he’s losing votes for your Party is not an act of courage. It’s an act of shame that it took so long, and that the only reason your’e not still kissing up to him is because he’s lost votes for you. And, Ron DeSantis is Trump 2.0.. Can’t wait for the new Republican Party to tell DeSantis he can’t act the way he does anymore…………….They are a disgraced group of people, who sadly have garnered far too man supporters in this country. It’s disheartening to fathom what that means to us as Americans. Republicans missed their chance when they could have impeached Trump and stopped the madness before it metastasized.
One piece that struck me this week was Robert’s mentioning the awful reporting from Rolling Stone on DeSantis’ silence on all the antisemitic talk from GOP influencers. It is quite disheartening to see people in media outlets treat callous bigotry and hatred with such kid gloves. A big example of this is that white supremacists love being called white nationalists as most of the media call them, because it is a euphemism for white supremacy. Same thing with calling the January 6th attackers “rioters” because that implies it was a spontaneous misdeed on that day instead of a planned terrorist attack. If people who mean such harm to others in our society get such easy treatment then it’s no wonder we’re fighting off fascism every election cycle.
Terrific points. The US public / media sphere has a tortuous time sufficiently and accurately reporting / critiquing dangerous tendencies. American culture can sugar coat, deny, dumb down; it has been monetized and weaponized against honest critique. This contrasts markedly with some of our Euro allies’ spheres — Germany, France, a generally literate UK (though that could change), and more. It will not pass here, but Germany and France have codified forms of hate speech law.
I am editing to add: we are fortunate to now have a seeming groundswell of strong investigative reporting, and niche outlets like these substacks, etc. But it requires major, sustained media narratives to push against the dangers of normalizing antisemitism, white supremacy, and the like. These must be countered forcefully, vocally en masse to have an effect. Renewed public education initiatives would also help to rebuild.
Very good insight. A lot of work still needs to be done to call out this stuff for what it is, but I’m sad to say that it appears hate has a home in the hearts of many and will continue to do so for a long time. A democracy depends on constant vigilance and the actions of good men and women to protect it from the likes that want to overthrow it. I’m proud of this community and what it does to protect our democracy and “the hated” that need protection.
Sad and true. Constant vigilance, indeed. And the role of education cannot go underestimated. It may not be hyperbole to suggest the advances in awareness and civil rights post-WWII coincided with massive infusions into public and higher education in the US, Britain and Europe. That dismantling, deliberately over recent decades, likely exacerbates these tensions.
Agree with your second paragraph. The problem is that things like substacks and podcasts appeal to politically engaged audiences, often those willing to pay for their information. It's related to the education split in our politics. The question is, how do we get these messages out to the rest of the public? I heard a very interesting discussion with Tara McGowan on the Lincoln Project podcast about her project to create local media platforms aimed at less-engaged voters in swing states https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-medias-abandoned-moral-code-with-tara-mcgowan/id1551582052?i=1000588045617
White nationalism and supremacy are both euphemisms for bigotry and racism.
Fair point. I just know they like being called nationalists instead of supremacists. But yes, it’s soft-pedaling hate until you call it what it is—hate.
Accountability is starting to happen and while it may have taken longer than we all wanted or expected it is here and working. Putting aside Trump and his multiple criminal investigations there is the J6th hearings, convictions and the forthcoming report; the Alex Jones conviction, the Stewart Rhodes Oath Keeper conviction, the ordering of Pat Cipollone testimony and various subpoenas for John Eastman, Lindsey Graham and Sidney Powell to testify under oath. Several indictments are expected over the next few months and some of those indicted may go to jail. As each of these criminal convictions occurs it makes it much harder to ignore or dismiss the criminal actions of the Republican Party and their enablers. People are just tired and worn out from all of this drama and the mid terms sent a message that people want to move on. The Biden Administration has done a very aimpressive job and a majority of people know this from first their first hand experience resulting in the Republican attempts to sabotage the Democrats being less effective and creditable.
Agreed. Good perspective.
But I am among those who worry that the clock will run out before justice is served. At this glacial pace, I won't live to see January 6th justice. I hope the slow speed is a sign of creating unassailable air tight cases. Hoping....
Have fun with the children! (Aaaah)
Good article in the Guardian about N. Gingrich's review of the Biden White House I thought I'd pass along...https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/dec/03/newt-gingrich-republicans-joe-biden-winning
Thank you for that link--it WAS a good article. It was somewhat amusing to read Newtie's arrogant version of "humble pie", but it tasted pretty good just the same. As usual, Gingrich's opinion is riddled with obvious hypocrisy and willful ignorance but given his history, it was still a fairly astonishing admission. We can hope that the rest of the party ignores it and keeps on doing what it is doing.
brilliant
On a different topic, I would recommend reading It Can't Happen Here, a novel by Sinclair Lewis, written in 1935. Eerily apt to the present. (It describes the rise of a US dictator similar to how Adolf Hitler gained power.)
V. R. a concerned northern neighbour. (Canadian)
Love the babysitting: or as I recently did for my 15 and 18 year old grand-kid driving. My favorite activities were cooking ( I live in a retirement community) so making a yummy winter stew is a treat for me... and taking my grandson out for a fish meal : his family don't eat fish and he loves fish. Sometimes I have cooked Bronzini or halibut, a real treat . Enjoy.
Let us not buy the popular myth that wages are behind today's inflation. Fed Chairman Powell most recently said that rising wages have NOT been the primary driver of the current run up in prices but he "expected that they would be". Would be...
IMO, the Fed left interest rates too low for much too long. Gifting the big banks relatively free money to profit from. Savers have been punished and pushed into equity investments they don't understand and/or don't have the risk capacity for.
Driving them up now will do nothing to solve the true causes of today's inflation: supply chain disruption (here comes a lot more of that soon), the war ON Ukraine (grain is priced by world supplies), and of course the one most news outlets continue to ignore - the big one. Corporate profiteering. Near monopolies are raising price NOT because of wage issues, but under the cover of "inflation publicity" they simply can get away with it.
There are CEOs on record in quarterly earnings reports who BOAST of this. But the media keeps flapping their jaws about the impact of wages and the Fed is trying hard but may need to try harder, blah, blah, blah. It is BS.
Americans are getting fleeced. Please read Robert Reich who can explain it much better than I can. Chairman Powell is in a la la land. He thinks if he follows the Volcker approach and takes a sledge hammer to the economy, it will solve the pricing problem. But he needs to get out of his economic silo and do the uncool thing: call out the corporate greed for what it is. What kind of society watches its people suffer greatly while major companies record some of the highest profits in history? Companies are rewarding their shareholders with resources that belong to the public. It is theft. It is as simple as that.
And there is more. On a recent thread over at LFAA, a certain personality said that "Biden had put a knife into the fossil fuel industry" and that was causing inflation. Yikes. Talk about buying BS propaganda. This administration has done nothing to restrict the major oil and gas producers from expanding production. The companies themselves have restrained expanding supply - for the specific purpose of keeping prices high! Where is the publicity around that? Instead the TV mouthpieces keep repeating the false charges that a President (any President) is causing prices at the pump to go up. It bogles the minds of those of us who read and want to see the full truth on display.
Bill Alstrom –
I’m all for publicizing corporate depredations, but it won’t change *behavior* unless penalties are involved. Instituting an excess profits tax could directly address price gouging … but what are the odds of getting it through this Congress in less than a month?
There’s no reason to raise it in the next Congress, except to make noise — and if the noise doesn’t produce reforms, it might simply heighten the sense of frustration and powerlessness.
Such a just action as reclaiming what I consider stolen funds is not likely anytime soon. But as long as I can talk or type I will be campaigning for it. I only hope to live long enough to see Americans awake from the hypnotic worship of big businesses that bleed them and squeeze them dry. There is a sensible type society that celebrates innovative free enterprise but regulates it so it doesn't become a shadow government sending OUR national treasure to a few annointed con men.
In partial defense of Fed Chairman Powell: the only tools at the Fed’s disposal are interest rates and some technical changes to banking. It’s not their fault if they *amount to* a sledgehammer.
The other big tool theoretically at the federal government’s disposal, fiscal policy (tax rates, appropriations, to tinker with the size of the federal deficit), was abandoned decades ago. And it would be impossible to revive with the current, fractured Congresses.
Just because you have a sledgehammer you don't have to use it... ; )
Very well said Bill. Making that same argument with my few remaining “conservative” friends sends them scurrying to their holes, just to return another day spouting the same nonsense.
I see lots of laughs and hugs for the Hubbells this weekend...what fun!
Have fun with the grandkids and thanks for everything you do .
I would like to have a conversation about a serious threat to Democracy that receives little or no attention. Yet it underlines some of the most important issues of our time: the growing anti-science mindset, Covid denialism, conspiracy theories like the Stolen Election and social media control. At the root is the shockingly low level of reading comprehension in the US. The average American has a literacy level of less than the sixth grade. That's right! This means an inability to understand anything but the most black and white facts and an appeal to authority figures for guidance (preachers, cult leaders or the husband in many households where women let the menfolk digest the news and tell them what to think). Complex issues involving conflicting claims on the truth and critical thinking are the hardest for millions to deal with. This is greatly exaggerated by the dominance of social media and info overload. Insignificant information is being aggressively promulgated to the detriment of our society. We cannot ignore this insidious peril.
A bit off topic, but, if you know someone on a fixed income or otherwise struggling with groceries you could offer to take them as a guest to your membership club. Although you may be the only one allowed to make the actual purchase, you can ask the cashier to subtotal between yours and your guests items; figure it out later.
A single person household may only need to do this a few times a year, purchasing to stock up on non-perishables. It could make a big difference for them.
"A federal judge imposed monetary penalties (“sanctions”) against Kari Lake’s lawyers—including Alan Dershowitz—for making “false, misleading, and unsupported factual assertions.....” It's about time! The whole bunch of 'em!