Robert, first, I highly recommend you take a few days off. I will be so bold as to say your readers will understand and life will go on. I think you’ve earned a three- or four-day weekend. Second, Mr. Kagan lives in his head, and while some people have a full-time job of philosophizing, there are many others doing the hard work of getting the right people elected, even if it’s just sending small monthly donations to great Democratic candidates and writing postcards, etc. MAGA fanatics aside, I still have faith in the American people, and they’ve proved time and again over the past few years that democracy and personal freedoms mean a great deal to them. As for the Trump-related court decisions that came down today, I am eagerly awaiting a massive class action lawsuit by the officers who defended the Capitol building and our democracy. I hope that such a lawsuit, plus the fraud case out of New York, will completely bankrupt him and his wretched company. Justice is so overdue. Also, what Jim Carmichael said!! 😊
I wanted to post the same message: Robert, you’ve posted through pandemic, lockdown, vacations, personal emergencies, Covid and other illnesses. You’ve taken unwarranted flak. Take a week or 2 off at the end of the year. You deserve it.
We, your readers will miss you but we’ll be alright.
Robert, I concur with Janet. Take some time for yourself; this next year is going to be taxing as we pull together to protect our freedoms. And I'm guessing that you could use some help sorting the emails into categories. Maybe some of us can help...worth brainstorming solutions?
I also felt my fine neck hairs rise in a warning signal that this particular bulwark and comfort is showing signs of stress. Please take a few days: One to just lay around, walk in your editor's gardens, close the laptop, one to go do something frivolous and fun with your editor, one to play with and hug your grandkids. . . Refill those tanks!
I remember when the kids were small and every class and every club and every friend or family group proposed some holiday party or event, my own heartfelt reply to "what shall we do?" was often "the best gift would be if we did nothing at all" because sometimes the best gift is peace and time.
Agreed. While it's nice to have hand holding 6 or 7 days a week, it's not necessary. If you are getting tired or burnt out, I'd rather you paced yourself. I didn't feel I was sure whether you would feel better or worse if you didn't take a break, but please do if and when you need to.
Agree. Robert has to take in so much negative energy to sift through everything he reads and interprets to bring us a newsletter that has basis in reality and to help keep us all moving forward.
I know. I sometimes feel that I will not live long enough to see Trump actually broke and in prison. What’s more likely to hurt him is the fraud case brought by Leticia James. I say this only because there is a monitor in charge of that case who will force him to liquidate those properties and pay huge fines.
What’s more important is to break the spell MAGA has in the Republican Party and make Trump irrelevant which would be a prison of his own making and something he could not tolerate well.
Ari Melber, (whom I do not normally watch, but he was on after Nicolle Wallace yesterday) spent a good part of his show discussing how the Republicans in Congress cannot tolerate George Santos's lies, which is good. However, the running banner below the guests he had on said, " Republicans will not tolerate Santos's lies, but they will tolerate and approve of Trump's lies, corruption, dangerous plans for his next term, etc! I thank him for that!
I like your phrase "a prison of his own making!" That's the very least we should wish for!
Janet, you wrote Robert a good note. I could not have done better as I wondered if he hadn’t given too much attention to Kagan. Nicely done. Robert, your readers care about you. Enjoy that three- or four-day weekend. You deserve it.
Thank you, John. Kagan is an unwavering conservative who has always looked on the dark side of things. I believe he sees Democrats as airheaded, frazzled worriers who can’t get their act together, but he is wrong about that. We’ve been showing our commitment to democracy in every single election since Trump took office, including the midterms.
A random sampling of the comments section reveals a readership largely unimpressed with Mr. Kagan's perspective, for exactly the reasons Robert mentions. People already know the stakes, they know what needs to be done, and they're "fired up, ready to go!"
The reason some of us are "largely unimpressed" with Robert Kagan's op-ed is because we remember Robert Kagan when he was a "NeoCon" (Is that still a term?) & one of the chief architects of the Iraq War!
And yes, millions of us are " fired up, ready to go!"
“This short(-ish) newsletter is intended to provide a glide path into the weekend …”
I read your every word & I hope by “short” you were able to spend less time putting it together. It was agreeably long! 😊
“The fact that I am writing a brief newsletter doesn’t mean you need to read it.”
OF COURSE I NEED TO READ IT!
I am honoring your work. I appreciate the news you bring and the hopefulness of a brighter future. I appreciate the community you have created and the comments from your other readers.
“If it were up to me, I would try to take two full days off from the news.”
And yes - you should take 2 full days off.
Our forebears FOUGHT for a 2-day weekend. Rest up and rejuvenate. We know you’ll be back soon.
Despite your modesty about the newsletter and indications that readers might want to take the day off, I have to say that I am especially glad I read it today. There is an incredible amount of good stuff here. Thank you!! Jessica Cravens advice, the letter to the editor, the clips of Newsome, Biden's ad about healthcare, a link to send to people who know young voters in Santos's district (which I brought to the attention of a friend of mine who gets your newsletter and lives in that district), your great points about polling and about your differences with Kagan and more. I hope you and Jill have a good weekend and get much deserved rest!
Yes! Thank you Robert for writing and putting up with totally unwarranted flack for what you pen. I have to say, both yesterdays article (specifically your way of taking down the Kagan piece), and today's (with great share-posts), have lightened my day. Given me hope. Reminded me how amazing it is to be alive now, in this moment, with you all, and re-sparked my gratitude for this tribe you have created. I have every faith you and your managing editor will know how to pace your energies and spirit. I'd say some Monty Python is in order - laughter in the face of the absurd is a fabulous cure!
Tonight Chris Hayes made a big point about the four new polls that show Biden ahead, and gave a good talk about the fact that all that means is the winds are maybe blowing in our direction.
For those who want something racier than what "ever the gentleman" my good friend Robert talks about for the weekend, I will go into how Carl Hiassen is still running to catch up to reality in Floridumb. :-)
TC, Regarding Chris Hayes reporting the four new polls showing Biden ahead, though statistically a tie, I found it of note that Hayes amplified, that when polls favor Trump, they are broadly reported. In the alternative, not so much. Hayes also observed the same distinction in coverage regarding favorable economic data trends—the steady substantial drop in inflation rates and gas prices plus GDP figures recently revised significantly upward. In my view, Hayes’s critical observations afford added credibility to trends we here repeatedly cite as underreported and that merit far broader coverage. I just don’t know how to get that done.
@Pulmon, While, at present, admittedly, you’re right, we don’t have to accept this construction. It’s time leadership designate charismatic surrogates, who can show, without a script, from the heart, that, with Biden as a Chairman of the Board type figure, Democrats can go where the trouble is in this country, the trouble that Donald Trump is stoking, and show they can work on legitimate issues and grievances.
I agree with you Barbara Jo, the question is who and then how do we stop the NYT from running 15 Op-Eds a week suggesting that Biden Is Too Old and the surrogate run for President instead.
Alan, Thank you for writing. Folks that immediately come to mind include Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (Michigan), U.S. Senator Corey Booker (New Jersey), U.S. Rep, Jamie Raskin (Maryland), Gov. Gavin Newsom (California), U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (Ohio), U.S. Senator Bernie Sander (Vermont), U.S. Rep Debbie Dingell ( Michigan), U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (Georgia)….
As for the op-eds, if the leadership displayed were as decisive, as disciplined, as focused, and as spirited as this moment demands, and Biden could be branded as a Chairman of the Board type figurehead who, contrary to Trump who presents himself as “the savior,” shows us an alternate, admittedly arduous, path that seeks to deliver justice, unity, safety, reform, the crying need to bring the country together, such editorializing would be rendered irrelevant.
That's a good list. Imagine a Booker/Whitmer ticket or Whitmer/Booker :)
LBJ made his decision on March 31, 1968. Had RFK still been in the race, Nixon (and Kissinger) might never have killed so many innocents.
We spend endless hours preparing for a future that won't happen. To suggest that a Biden Trump match up is inevitable ignores the past.
Biden was not supposed to get the 2020 nomination based on polling. Trump was a joke candidate in 2016. Hillary was to win. A black first term Senator elected - twice??? George H W Bush had an 80% approval rating before being clobbered by Clinton. Jimmy who?? Dewey would beat Truman...Harry who?
That being said, I'm ridin' with Biden whatever he does. Predicting the future is idle speculation with a terrible track record of success. Expect the unexpected and don't be shocked is my mantra.
A great list Barbara Jo! Any combination would do, but I especially love Gretchen. She speaks with such confidence and gentle power. Maybe a Gretchen-Booker combo. Whatever, the Democrats have a great team. Let’s add House Democrats leader Hakeem Jeffries.
We need to amplify these underreported findings with campaigns to all the media outlets. Hayes is preaching to the choir we need the rest oaf q the congregation
Stephen, I agree, but at least now we have a credible messenger from the media industry who has given voice to negligence I would characterize as malpractice.
And the latest Florida man/woman/woman story that Carl Hiasson would have written (but that reality beat him to) is that the Florida GOP chairman and his wife (co-founder of Mom’s for Liberty) were involved in a three-way sexual relationship with another woman who has accused said GOP Chairman of rape. Can’t make this stuff up.
As if we needed another reminder of the absurdist hypocrisy of the right, here come the Zieglers. I guess we just didn't know what kind of liberty she meant when she formed her group. It
😂 Dean, I am no longer ever shocked by news like this. And no matter how many times we hear of these stories of absurd hypocrisy, nothing really changes with these right wing fools. As Rick Wilson said in his newsletter, it’s all projection all the time.
I just posted the following reply to Jessica Craven in the comment section of yesterday’s newsletter. I repost it here.
___________
Jessica, Regrettably, Republicans, historically, have become quite adept at conflating the terms “freedom” and “deregulation,” thereby convincing a large swath of the country that regulations aimed at moderating excesses that block even a modicum of distributive, or perhaps redistributive, justice are an affront to individual freedom. Accordingly, I have pressed for replacing the term “regulations” with “protections” thus, associating freedoms with protections, a connection that I believe clarifies the meaning of freedom in each of your examples.
I love your sentiment but have found that Repubs have learned how to weaponize every word in the dictionary. Even “freedom of choice” works for Repubs when it’s choosing to vaccinate, but used as a weapon when it refers to women’s bodies (or LBGTQ bedroom choices)
Protections is the same. They already think the government protects us too much, that we’re the “nanny state”…
@HulitC, While your point, indeed, is valid, I, nonetheless, would submit, though denotatively “regulations” and “protections” are fundamentally synonymous, connotatively they illicit different emotive responses that I believe can suit a meaningful purpose.
In the hands of skilled marketers, which Republicans sadly are, words can be twisted. The same set of facts can be stated as “regulations on business” and “consumer protections.
Dean, We, too, have facts, and I believe we have a better shot at not allowing Republican deceptions and distortions to go unanswered if we’re methodical about choosing emotionally charged vs. emotively neutral terms.
Stephen, While your example has merit, I was thinking more along the lines of Republican deceptions and distortions related, for example, to the state of the economy, in other words, matters that could decide the election.
Not just prosecute Stephen. MAGA-World is completely convinced that the Bidens are some sort of Irish-American version of the Corleones and the term "Biden Crime Family" is part of their vocabulary.
They are further convinced he is a "Communist" who is "the worst president in history" who has predided over "the destruction of American democracy" while also "persecuting" the "January 6th Patriots" and turning them into "political prisoners."
Barbara Jo, when writing postcards for the August Ohio vote the word “freedom” was front and center in the message. As you know, it won big. Your words are fine too. BUT ultimately it’s whatever it takes to get those voters to the ballot box. Thanks.
John, For what it’s worth, I, too, wrote postcards and quite intentionally connected “freedom” with “protections” mainly to amplify the stakes of a “No” vote in August and a “Yes” vote in November.
I too have some questions about whether the word "freedom" resonates the same for all Americans. The 2022 Pulitzer Prize winning book "Freedom's Dominion" by Jefferson Cowie, is about how "freedom" has long been used by racists to resist federal civil rights laws. Racists/conservatives' use of the term is not something new.
Interesting! I was in a Barnes and Noble bookstore last weekend and saw a book with a title/subtitle speaking of the “stakes” in 2024. A quick glance at the book to see the author was from Hillsdale College told me his idea of the stakes was not at all mine. As someone wrote, we are up to the task of understanding what we read and see.
Stephen, If I read you correctly, like me, you believe that implicit in the freedoms Democrats seek to protect is our having a voice in the decision-making that guides and regulates our lives.
Stephen, To clarify, I would note that my justification for connecting freedom with protections is to amplify that in granting individual rights we also want to honor the communal interests of civil society.
Sometimes in an evening, I think of the fact that you are writing your newsletter. Thank you for your persistence, voice, resilience, good humor and smarts. And thanks to your Managing Editor!
I have an idea. Can we have a leftist movement to start flying American flags on Flag Day (June 14) and leave them up through the election? I want to take the flag away from MAGA but we'd have to do it all together!
Great minds, Annamarie....I could always tell when Rush Limbaugh, etc. told their listeners "fly the flag" for whatever point, because the flags woukd be flying for a day at certain neighbors' homes. I told my husband we needed to reclaim the flag and fly it every day, which we have for the past few years. Confuses the hell out of certain neighbors 😆
Agreed! I had the same idea couple of years ago and bought some flags from Amazon and distributed to my friends. I’m tired of republicans claiming the mantle of patriots as though the rest of us aren’t.
I love that idea! I took a flag and put a red heart right in the middle of the stripes and it makes me feel really happy. My volunteers see it when they come pick up canvass packets.
I read Kagan's editorial and thought he made some good points. Except that I do not believe a slide into dictatorship is inevitable. Which side is he playing for, anyway??
As I said yesterday, and Robert pointed out in his thoughts about Kagan’s piece, it wasn't that his facts on the nuts and bolts of the situation were wrong but that there were no corresponding facts to support his conclusion. As Robert pointed out, Kagan concluded, without evidence, that the American people are content to be sheep led to slaughter. Nowhere is that conclusion supported.
Dean, While I won’t submit to Kagan’s unsubstantiated conclusion, I would maintain that not enough attention is being paid to the vastly different challenge of trying to preserve (and feasibly strengthen) an admittedly compromised democratic republic vs. trying to recover any semblance of our system were its institutions and norms consolidated and held subject to the rule of a tyrant.
I stand with Robert. Kagan's premise is rational...and, defeatest. The failure would be to relinquish your right to visualize the future. This is not to ignore the present. Quite the contrary. The present informs the future but does not dictate its outcome. George Bernard Shaw speaks to this: "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." I choose to create continuously the power within myself to be of use and value. I would never succumb to the prophecy of inevitability. If we capitulate with such thinking, we will then be part of the very undesirable outcome we are fighting to resist and defeat.
Friedrich Nietzsche: "It is impossible to suffer without making someone pay for it; every complaint already contains revenge". Kagan's seemingly judicious arguments sound like surrender. As long as I am breathing I will not complain and I will not surrender. Trump is not a cartoon; Trump is a buffoon whose desire for revenge is directly proportional to his frustration, anger, sense of entitlement, never ending complaints and self-loathing. People must be made to understand that his "policy" is revenge. He may have the intellect of a protozoa, but his victimization is calculated to play into the hands of large populations who find complaining easier and more emotionally satisfying. Inevitability is a toxin to be avoided.
I think Kagan shows that he has little respect for Democrats. I have often thought over the years that he thinks of us as frazzled, airheaded liberals who don’t know how to get our act together. You would think the past few elections would have opened his eyes to how a motivated party and voting public can affect outcomes.
Janet, I came away thinking the same thing. It’s the same old trope that Democrats can't message their way out of a paper bag, but that has not been the case since the dawn of the MAGA era. Democrats have been laser focused in defending our democracy.
I fully agree! Mr. Kagan, as I said, lives in his head; he’s not in the trenches like Jessica Craven, for example, and Simon Rosenberg, both of whom have a bird’s eye view of what’s actually happening in this country. Michael Moore is another person who motivates through optimism. I haven’t read the article yet, but since Robert gave us a gift link, I might look at it later today. I’m commenting on an article that I haven’t read, but I can get the gist of it based on everyone else’s comments and Robert’s assessment.
Thank you, Robert. On your “short day,” you may have written your best piece of the week. You tied together many of the themes of what I consider to be a fraught week with a sense of optimism and hope. That's a rare gift.
It is always best to have a plan "B". Pitch in this case. Robert, your points are much better crafted and thought out than the ones from those we might characterize as, I think I heard this in an old Ry Cooder tune, "you ain't nothin but an educated fool." Kagan perhaps fits?
Yesterday, I unloaded on Charlie Sykes of the Bulwark for another one of his “you’re not afraid enough” pieces. Basically he’s saying stop doing whatever you’re doing and worry with me. I pointed out for the umpreenth time that what HE and his friends COULD be doing and isn’t yet, is form an ACTUAL Republicans for Biden organization that others of his anti-Trump GOP mindset could coalesce around.
Hey, Steve. I respect the guys at the Bulwark immensely, but you have hit the nail on the head with the "you're not afraid enough" criticism of the Bulwark.
In their view, I am a lightweight because I urge people to be optimistic and hopeful. They believe that scaring the **** out of people is the best way. I think they are wrong. They think I am wrong.
But as I wrote about Kagan, I don't think they are spending time with grassroots volunteers. Instead, much of their reaction comes from focus groups of Republican voters (run by Sarah Longwell). Listening to that every week could be enough to drive you mad. They should spend more time talking to Democratic voters.
Staying relevant is everything in the business arena of Charlie Skyes, Robert Kagan and long list of similar opinionators. Not regurgitating meaningless polls, Pres. Biden “too old,” youths won’t vote, =no clicks=no podcast listeners=no invites from MSNBC CNN=no juicy $$$$$.
Regarding polls, Chris Hays on MSNBC reported on a new and positive presidential poll for Biden. He also commented that we would probably not hear or read about it in the media.
I was pleasantly surprised to hear him echo Robert and Simon.
Robert, first, I highly recommend you take a few days off. I will be so bold as to say your readers will understand and life will go on. I think you’ve earned a three- or four-day weekend. Second, Mr. Kagan lives in his head, and while some people have a full-time job of philosophizing, there are many others doing the hard work of getting the right people elected, even if it’s just sending small monthly donations to great Democratic candidates and writing postcards, etc. MAGA fanatics aside, I still have faith in the American people, and they’ve proved time and again over the past few years that democracy and personal freedoms mean a great deal to them. As for the Trump-related court decisions that came down today, I am eagerly awaiting a massive class action lawsuit by the officers who defended the Capitol building and our democracy. I hope that such a lawsuit, plus the fraud case out of New York, will completely bankrupt him and his wretched company. Justice is so overdue. Also, what Jim Carmichael said!! 😊
I wanted to post the same message: Robert, you’ve posted through pandemic, lockdown, vacations, personal emergencies, Covid and other illnesses. You’ve taken unwarranted flak. Take a week or 2 off at the end of the year. You deserve it.
We, your readers will miss you but we’ll be alright.
Agreed. You will also be setting a good example for all of us. It’s a relay, not a sprint. Your grandchildren will love you for this 😊
Robert, I concur with Janet. Take some time for yourself; this next year is going to be taxing as we pull together to protect our freedoms. And I'm guessing that you could use some help sorting the emails into categories. Maybe some of us can help...worth brainstorming solutions?
I also felt my fine neck hairs rise in a warning signal that this particular bulwark and comfort is showing signs of stress. Please take a few days: One to just lay around, walk in your editor's gardens, close the laptop, one to go do something frivolous and fun with your editor, one to play with and hug your grandkids. . . Refill those tanks!
Yes, all of us should do this, but Robert especially. We can live through a few days without a newsletter. Even a week off would be just fine.
I remember when the kids were small and every class and every club and every friend or family group proposed some holiday party or event, my own heartfelt reply to "what shall we do?" was often "the best gift would be if we did nothing at all" because sometimes the best gift is peace and time.
Agreed. While it's nice to have hand holding 6 or 7 days a week, it's not necessary. If you are getting tired or burnt out, I'd rather you paced yourself. I didn't feel I was sure whether you would feel better or worse if you didn't take a break, but please do if and when you need to.
Agree. Robert has to take in so much negative energy to sift through everything he reads and interprets to bring us a newsletter that has basis in reality and to help keep us all moving forward.
I worry about that sometimes. No wonder so many good people are burnt out!
But if convicted will he pay up? No so sure. He will appeal it to death to avoid paying
I know. I sometimes feel that I will not live long enough to see Trump actually broke and in prison. What’s more likely to hurt him is the fraud case brought by Leticia James. I say this only because there is a monitor in charge of that case who will force him to liquidate those properties and pay huge fines.
What’s more important is to break the spell MAGA has in the Republican Party and make Trump irrelevant which would be a prison of his own making and something he could not tolerate well.
Ari Melber, (whom I do not normally watch, but he was on after Nicolle Wallace yesterday) spent a good part of his show discussing how the Republicans in Congress cannot tolerate George Santos's lies, which is good. However, the running banner below the guests he had on said, " Republicans will not tolerate Santos's lies, but they will tolerate and approve of Trump's lies, corruption, dangerous plans for his next term, etc! I thank him for that!
I like your phrase "a prison of his own making!" That's the very least we should wish for!
Janet, you wrote Robert a good note. I could not have done better as I wondered if he hadn’t given too much attention to Kagan. Nicely done. Robert, your readers care about you. Enjoy that three- or four-day weekend. You deserve it.
Thank you, John. Kagan is an unwavering conservative who has always looked on the dark side of things. I believe he sees Democrats as airheaded, frazzled worriers who can’t get their act together, but he is wrong about that. We’ve been showing our commitment to democracy in every single election since Trump took office, including the midterms.
I think Mr. Kagan is just another Republican engaging in projection.
There are currently about 16k comments on the Kagan article. The most-liked one (by far: 1936 likes) is a simple recitation of things anyone can do to protect democracy (run for something, register voters, etc.) along with links to resources (www.runforoffice.org , https://www.aauw.org/resource/organize-a-voter-registration-drive )
A random sampling of the comments section reveals a readership largely unimpressed with Mr. Kagan's perspective, for exactly the reasons Robert mentions. People already know the stakes, they know what needs to be done, and they're "fired up, ready to go!"
.
The reason some of us are "largely unimpressed" with Robert Kagan's op-ed is because we remember Robert Kagan when he was a "NeoCon" (Is that still a term?) & one of the chief architects of the Iraq War!
And yes, millions of us are " fired up, ready to go!"
We love you, Robert!
Robert, you write:
“This short(-ish) newsletter is intended to provide a glide path into the weekend …”
I read your every word & I hope by “short” you were able to spend less time putting it together. It was agreeably long! 😊
“The fact that I am writing a brief newsletter doesn’t mean you need to read it.”
OF COURSE I NEED TO READ IT!
I am honoring your work. I appreciate the news you bring and the hopefulness of a brighter future. I appreciate the community you have created and the comments from your other readers.
“If it were up to me, I would try to take two full days off from the news.”
And yes - you should take 2 full days off.
Our forebears FOUGHT for a 2-day weekend. Rest up and rejuvenate. We know you’ll be back soon.
Despite your modesty about the newsletter and indications that readers might want to take the day off, I have to say that I am especially glad I read it today. There is an incredible amount of good stuff here. Thank you!! Jessica Cravens advice, the letter to the editor, the clips of Newsome, Biden's ad about healthcare, a link to send to people who know young voters in Santos's district (which I brought to the attention of a friend of mine who gets your newsletter and lives in that district), your great points about polling and about your differences with Kagan and more. I hope you and Jill have a good weekend and get much deserved rest!
Yes! Thank you Robert for writing and putting up with totally unwarranted flack for what you pen. I have to say, both yesterdays article (specifically your way of taking down the Kagan piece), and today's (with great share-posts), have lightened my day. Given me hope. Reminded me how amazing it is to be alive now, in this moment, with you all, and re-sparked my gratitude for this tribe you have created. I have every faith you and your managing editor will know how to pace your energies and spirit. I'd say some Monty Python is in order - laughter in the face of the absurd is a fabulous cure!
Always look on the bright side of life!
Well said!
Tonight Chris Hayes made a big point about the four new polls that show Biden ahead, and gave a good talk about the fact that all that means is the winds are maybe blowing in our direction.
For those who want something racier than what "ever the gentleman" my good friend Robert talks about for the weekend, I will go into how Carl Hiassen is still running to catch up to reality in Floridumb. :-)
TC, Regarding Chris Hayes reporting the four new polls showing Biden ahead, though statistically a tie, I found it of note that Hayes amplified, that when polls favor Trump, they are broadly reported. In the alternative, not so much. Hayes also observed the same distinction in coverage regarding favorable economic data trends—the steady substantial drop in inflation rates and gas prices plus GDP figures recently revised significantly upward. In my view, Hayes’s critical observations afford added credibility to trends we here repeatedly cite as underreported and that merit far broader coverage. I just don’t know how to get that done.
When Trump is ahead, it is “Man bites dog.”. When it is Biden, it is “Dog bites man.”. Only the first one is “news.” QED
@Pulmon, While, at present, admittedly, you’re right, we don’t have to accept this construction. It’s time leadership designate charismatic surrogates, who can show, without a script, from the heart, that, with Biden as a Chairman of the Board type figure, Democrats can go where the trouble is in this country, the trouble that Donald Trump is stoking, and show they can work on legitimate issues and grievances.
I agree with you Barbara Jo, the question is who and then how do we stop the NYT from running 15 Op-Eds a week suggesting that Biden Is Too Old and the surrogate run for President instead.
Alan, Thank you for writing. Folks that immediately come to mind include Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (Michigan), U.S. Senator Corey Booker (New Jersey), U.S. Rep, Jamie Raskin (Maryland), Gov. Gavin Newsom (California), U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (Ohio), U.S. Senator Bernie Sander (Vermont), U.S. Rep Debbie Dingell ( Michigan), U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (Georgia)….
As for the op-eds, if the leadership displayed were as decisive, as disciplined, as focused, and as spirited as this moment demands, and Biden could be branded as a Chairman of the Board type figurehead who, contrary to Trump who presents himself as “the savior,” shows us an alternate, admittedly arduous, path that seeks to deliver justice, unity, safety, reform, the crying need to bring the country together, such editorializing would be rendered irrelevant.
Barbara,
That's a good list. Imagine a Booker/Whitmer ticket or Whitmer/Booker :)
LBJ made his decision on March 31, 1968. Had RFK still been in the race, Nixon (and Kissinger) might never have killed so many innocents.
We spend endless hours preparing for a future that won't happen. To suggest that a Biden Trump match up is inevitable ignores the past.
Biden was not supposed to get the 2020 nomination based on polling. Trump was a joke candidate in 2016. Hillary was to win. A black first term Senator elected - twice??? George H W Bush had an 80% approval rating before being clobbered by Clinton. Jimmy who?? Dewey would beat Truman...Harry who?
That being said, I'm ridin' with Biden whatever he does. Predicting the future is idle speculation with a terrible track record of success. Expect the unexpected and don't be shocked is my mantra.
A great list Barbara Jo! Any combination would do, but I especially love Gretchen. She speaks with such confidence and gentle power. Maybe a Gretchen-Booker combo. Whatever, the Democrats have a great team. Let’s add House Democrats leader Hakeem Jeffries.
We need to amplify these underreported findings with campaigns to all the media outlets. Hayes is preaching to the choir we need the rest oaf q the congregation
Stephen, I agree, but at least now we have a credible messenger from the media industry who has given voice to negligence I would characterize as malpractice.
And the latest Florida man/woman/woman story that Carl Hiasson would have written (but that reality beat him to) is that the Florida GOP chairman and his wife (co-founder of Mom’s for Liberty) were involved in a three-way sexual relationship with another woman who has accused said GOP Chairman of rape. Can’t make this stuff up.
Some people have too much time on their hands. Pass the postcards, PLEASE.
Did you see Rick Wilson’s newsletter yet about the moms for liberty ménage à trois?
As if we needed another reminder of the absurdist hypocrisy of the right, here come the Zieglers. I guess we just didn't know what kind of liberty she meant when she formed her group. It
Former Nixon spokesperson Ronald Ziegler is mad at the FL Zieglers for ruining the family name.
😂 Dean, I am no longer ever shocked by news like this. And no matter how many times we hear of these stories of absurd hypocrisy, nothing really changes with these right wing fools. As Rick Wilson said in his newsletter, it’s all projection all the time.
Yes.
Do you mean: Yes. That’s another fine mess!
I missed this one.
Hi Susan, Here is the newsletter from Rick Wilson about this Florida scandal:
https://open.substack.com/pub/therickwilson/p/floridas-gop-sex-scandal-gets-ugly?r=2vk1c6&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
I'll be waiting, Tom.
I just posted the following reply to Jessica Craven in the comment section of yesterday’s newsletter. I repost it here.
___________
Jessica, Regrettably, Republicans, historically, have become quite adept at conflating the terms “freedom” and “deregulation,” thereby convincing a large swath of the country that regulations aimed at moderating excesses that block even a modicum of distributive, or perhaps redistributive, justice are an affront to individual freedom. Accordingly, I have pressed for replacing the term “regulations” with “protections” thus, associating freedoms with protections, a connection that I believe clarifies the meaning of freedom in each of your examples.
I love your sentiment but have found that Repubs have learned how to weaponize every word in the dictionary. Even “freedom of choice” works for Repubs when it’s choosing to vaccinate, but used as a weapon when it refers to women’s bodies (or LBGTQ bedroom choices)
Protections is the same. They already think the government protects us too much, that we’re the “nanny state”…
I AM willing to try anything though!!
@HulitC, While your point, indeed, is valid, I, nonetheless, would submit, though denotatively “regulations” and “protections” are fundamentally synonymous, connotatively they illicit different emotive responses that I believe can suit a meaningful purpose.
In the hands of skilled marketers, which Republicans sadly are, words can be twisted. The same set of facts can be stated as “regulations on business” and “consumer protections.
Dean, We, too, have facts, and I believe we have a better shot at not allowing Republican deceptions and distortions to go unanswered if we’re methodical about choosing emotionally charged vs. emotively neutral terms.
The attempt to prosecute the Biden family with no evidence is a perfect example
Stephen, While your example has merit, I was thinking more along the lines of Republican deceptions and distortions related, for example, to the state of the economy, in other words, matters that could decide the election.
Not just prosecute Stephen. MAGA-World is completely convinced that the Bidens are some sort of Irish-American version of the Corleones and the term "Biden Crime Family" is part of their vocabulary.
They are further convinced he is a "Communist" who is "the worst president in history" who has predided over "the destruction of American democracy" while also "persecuting" the "January 6th Patriots" and turning them into "political prisoners."
Barbara Jo, when writing postcards for the August Ohio vote the word “freedom” was front and center in the message. As you know, it won big. Your words are fine too. BUT ultimately it’s whatever it takes to get those voters to the ballot box. Thanks.
John, For what it’s worth, I, too, wrote postcards and quite intentionally connected “freedom” with “protections” mainly to amplify the stakes of a “No” vote in August and a “Yes” vote in November.
Agree
They have weaponized words to their defintion, and they have co-opted symbols, like the flag.
I too have some questions about whether the word "freedom" resonates the same for all Americans. The 2022 Pulitzer Prize winning book "Freedom's Dominion" by Jefferson Cowie, is about how "freedom" has long been used by racists to resist federal civil rights laws. Racists/conservatives' use of the term is not something new.
Marla, Thank you for your critical example that further problematizes the term “freedom” absent one clarifying the intended context.
Interesting! I was in a Barnes and Noble bookstore last weekend and saw a book with a title/subtitle speaking of the “stakes” in 2024. A quick glance at the book to see the author was from Hillsdale College told me his idea of the stakes was not at all mine. As someone wrote, we are up to the task of understanding what we read and see.
Excellent point and protections is something everyone relates to. Protect our and your freedoms. Don’t squander it.
Stephen, If I read you correctly, like me, you believe that implicit in the freedoms Democrats seek to protect is our having a voice in the decision-making that guides and regulates our lives.
I would add the words like protects our lives and freedoms.
Stephen, To clarify, I would note that my justification for connecting freedom with protections is to amplify that in granting individual rights we also want to honor the communal interests of civil society.
I agree except do we really have a totally civil society? Maybe in some places
Stephen, Consider my response aspirational.☺️
That’s a good one🙏
I have also said we should use protections instead of regulations.
Sometimes in an evening, I think of the fact that you are writing your newsletter. Thank you for your persistence, voice, resilience, good humor and smarts. And thanks to your Managing Editor!
I have an idea. Can we have a leftist movement to start flying American flags on Flag Day (June 14) and leave them up through the election? I want to take the flag away from MAGA but we'd have to do it all together!
Great minds, Annamarie....I could always tell when Rush Limbaugh, etc. told their listeners "fly the flag" for whatever point, because the flags woukd be flying for a day at certain neighbors' homes. I told my husband we needed to reclaim the flag and fly it every day, which we have for the past few years. Confuses the hell out of certain neighbors 😆
Love the confusion 🇺🇸
May he rest in peace!!
Agreed! I had the same idea couple of years ago and bought some flags from Amazon and distributed to my friends. I’m tired of republicans claiming the mantle of patriots as though the rest of us aren’t.
I love that idea! I took a flag and put a red heart right in the middle of the stripes and it makes me feel really happy. My volunteers see it when they come pick up canvass packets.
Let’s do it!!!
Yes, Robert, the future is us. Even us old folks (I’m an older folk than you or your Managing Editor.)
That was an excellent letter to the editor that you wrote. Thank you for doing that. I think it really matters.
Awwww
Great letter to the editor, Jon. Short, respectful, good points clearly made.
I read Kagan's editorial and thought he made some good points. Except that I do not believe a slide into dictatorship is inevitable. Which side is he playing for, anyway??
That is a VERY good question. If his plan is to demotivate people, he has figured out the way.
As I said yesterday, and Robert pointed out in his thoughts about Kagan’s piece, it wasn't that his facts on the nuts and bolts of the situation were wrong but that there were no corresponding facts to support his conclusion. As Robert pointed out, Kagan concluded, without evidence, that the American people are content to be sheep led to slaughter. Nowhere is that conclusion supported.
Dean, While I won’t submit to Kagan’s unsubstantiated conclusion, I would maintain that not enough attention is being paid to the vastly different challenge of trying to preserve (and feasibly strengthen) an admittedly compromised democratic republic vs. trying to recover any semblance of our system were its institutions and norms consolidated and held subject to the rule of a tyrant.
I stand with Robert. Kagan's premise is rational...and, defeatest. The failure would be to relinquish your right to visualize the future. This is not to ignore the present. Quite the contrary. The present informs the future but does not dictate its outcome. George Bernard Shaw speaks to this: "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." I choose to create continuously the power within myself to be of use and value. I would never succumb to the prophecy of inevitability. If we capitulate with such thinking, we will then be part of the very undesirable outcome we are fighting to resist and defeat.
Friedrich Nietzsche: "It is impossible to suffer without making someone pay for it; every complaint already contains revenge". Kagan's seemingly judicious arguments sound like surrender. As long as I am breathing I will not complain and I will not surrender. Trump is not a cartoon; Trump is a buffoon whose desire for revenge is directly proportional to his frustration, anger, sense of entitlement, never ending complaints and self-loathing. People must be made to understand that his "policy" is revenge. He may have the intellect of a protozoa, but his victimization is calculated to play into the hands of large populations who find complaining easier and more emotionally satisfying. Inevitability is a toxin to be avoided.
Like: "The present informs the future but does not dictate its outcome."
Amen. Neo-CON Kagan wants us to lay down thinking there are facts about the future. There aren’t. And I expect most of us won’t surrender to fascists.
I think Kagan shows that he has little respect for Democrats. I have often thought over the years that he thinks of us as frazzled, airheaded liberals who don’t know how to get our act together. You would think the past few elections would have opened his eyes to how a motivated party and voting public can affect outcomes.
Janet, I came away thinking the same thing. It’s the same old trope that Democrats can't message their way out of a paper bag, but that has not been the case since the dawn of the MAGA era. Democrats have been laser focused in defending our democracy.
I fully agree! Mr. Kagan, as I said, lives in his head; he’s not in the trenches like Jessica Craven, for example, and Simon Rosenberg, both of whom have a bird’s eye view of what’s actually happening in this country. Michael Moore is another person who motivates through optimism. I haven’t read the article yet, but since Robert gave us a gift link, I might look at it later today. I’m commenting on an article that I haven’t read, but I can get the gist of it based on everyone else’s comments and Robert’s assessment.
Thank you, Robert. On your “short day,” you may have written your best piece of the week. You tied together many of the themes of what I consider to be a fraught week with a sense of optimism and hope. That's a rare gift.
It is always best to have a plan "B". Pitch in this case. Robert, your points are much better crafted and thought out than the ones from those we might characterize as, I think I heard this in an old Ry Cooder tune, "you ain't nothin but an educated fool." Kagan perhaps fits?
Yesterday, I unloaded on Charlie Sykes of the Bulwark for another one of his “you’re not afraid enough” pieces. Basically he’s saying stop doing whatever you’re doing and worry with me. I pointed out for the umpreenth time that what HE and his friends COULD be doing and isn’t yet, is form an ACTUAL Republicans for Biden organization that others of his anti-Trump GOP mindset could coalesce around.
Hey, Steve. I respect the guys at the Bulwark immensely, but you have hit the nail on the head with the "you're not afraid enough" criticism of the Bulwark.
In their view, I am a lightweight because I urge people to be optimistic and hopeful. They believe that scaring the **** out of people is the best way. I think they are wrong. They think I am wrong.
But as I wrote about Kagan, I don't think they are spending time with grassroots volunteers. Instead, much of their reaction comes from focus groups of Republican voters (run by Sarah Longwell). Listening to that every week could be enough to drive you mad. They should spend more time talking to Democratic voters.
I can’t help but wonder if they’re afraid of burning their bridges to the Republican Party, a bad career move for some of them if Biden should fail.
Staying relevant is everything in the business arena of Charlie Skyes, Robert Kagan and long list of similar opinionators. Not regurgitating meaningless polls, Pres. Biden “too old,” youths won’t vote, =no clicks=no podcast listeners=no invites from MSNBC CNN=no juicy $$$$$.
They already have, but I think they are clinging to false premises and hopes. I don't doubt they are on "lists" somewhere.
Good for you. I read Bulwark and get little exasperated at times.
Regarding polls, Chris Hays on MSNBC reported on a new and positive presidential poll for Biden. He also commented that we would probably not hear or read about it in the media.
I was pleasantly surprised to hear him echo Robert and Simon.
He's a smart dude and is more and more showcasing the "you probably didn't hear/read about...."