In addition to expanding the Supreme court, we need limits. Clarence and Sam need to be immediately retired. We then need several past rulings to be overturned starting with: Citizens United, Carson v Makin, Roe - and reestablishing the Voting Rights Act that's been gutted over the last 10 years. The list is so very long of all the things in this country that need to be fixed, that have been eroding for the last 40 years since Reagan.
The Constitution has left the Supreme Court accountable to no one. Again, the founders must have assumed honorable men. Instead, they have become isolated, arrogant, and corrupt. “We the People “ have to hold them accountable. Otherwise, all of our honest efforts to win an election could be wiped away because this court wants to choose the winner. Absurd as that seems, just look at how they have systematically taken away rights and allowed Trump to avoid prosecution. Raise the alarm every way you can.
Write to Chief Justice Roberts and tell him that we don't trust the court to protect the election. By allowing justice Thomas to sit in on the Jan. 6 cases the court is showing that they are choosing their own candidate.
When the Senate Approval of any Justice required a Super Majority of the Senate, Presidents nominated Judges who were acceptable to both sides. The Simple Majority vote has intercoursed the process
What limits are you suggesting? Justice Thomas is 75, and he is the oldest. Terms of service limits might work, but will be harder to get done. Robert's idea of expanding the Court is the most reachable alternative right now and can be done without amending the Constitution.
Not a bad idea, but it would require amending the Constitution and that will take a while as well as substantial majorities in both Houses of Congress.
We also need to get rid of the Electoral College, that is not needed - presidential election should be based off popular vote. Other developed countries have amended their Constitution significantly more than the US has ever done in order to meet the needs of their people - the US is overdue on to constitutional changes.
Amendments require 2/3 of each House to vote in favor and 3/4 of the states to ratify. Even something as generally supported as the Equal Rights Amendment couldn't get past that barrier and there is arguably less support for eliminating the Electoral College or changing the status of the Justices. I agree with your assessment of the need, just don't see it happening in a reasonable amount of time. Expanding the Court is challenging too, but at least within the reasonable bounds of possibility.
Yep.....founders made it too hard. They trusted the guardrails would be honored but that's not the case. Also, this country is significantly larger than it was in 1776. That also was not accounted for in 1776. For the same reason larger States should have more than two senators. Wyoming should not have the same senatorial voice as say California.
I have some very specific views on judges in general. While many at the state level are elected, and even some states elect their Supreme Court judges, other states only appoint.
I'm not a fan of appointing anyone, I think all judges should be only elected, including SCOTUS. Look what's happening with federal judge shopping, we still have federal judges that were appointed during Reagan, these people are much too old and completely out of touch. People develop biases over time. All judges should have term limits and all should be elected..... It's the only way to truly protect democracy, to let the popular vote decide. And yes, I realize that this would be in big change and an initial Pita to set up, but in the long run it would better serve the people and ensure that conflict of interest and extremism were rooted out, voted out. And all judges should have guidelines that they must operate under: no money, gifts or trips.
Not just the Voting Rights Act but the entire landscape of civil rights progress in the past 50 to 60 years. If you have not read it, you will find this piece by Nikole Hannah-Jones, “Whitewash” the most telling story of how the extreme right has orchestrated the demise of civil rights legislation by using the very words of leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. It is a lengthy piece from the Times Sunday Magazine BUT very worth the read.
My list was not meant to be inclusive, but there are some big hitters that need to be overturned in order to start putting democracy back to the people. Yes, agreed voting rights issues go back much further than the last 10 years - I was simply pointing out some key cases in the last say 10 or 15 years that have caused massive changes to our democracy...... I think we need a brand new updated Voting Rights Act.
We wouldn't be going through this voucher School scam thing right now had the Carson v Makin not passed in 2022...... the separation of church and state is eroding, which is what many on the Supreme Court want.
You are right Julie. Anyway you look at it, isn't good. I have wondered over the years whether the Democratic Party and the rest of us where just plain naive because the Republicans and the Extreme Right have not been playing by the same rules. Now they are eagerly ready to blow up the entire system and remake it in the model of Viktor Urban and other strong men. What is amazing is that many people don't seem to recognize their ambition yet OR they are completely comfortable with it since their confidence in our system has been badly undermined by the right and media like FOX News.
But I thought the idea was to add members, hopefully Liberal justices or moderate Conservatives who respect precedent, in order to neutralize those two that you mentioned. It would be great also if Roberts would step down, but none of them show any inkling to do so. But if they were weakened, hopefully, better decisions that reflected a greater number of Americans would happen, including a reversal of those laws that have diminished the rights of Americans for years now.
THANK YOU for your remarks on Texas! I was born and raised in West Texas and it pains me greatly to hear my fellow liberals write off the state as a lost cause.
I often read the most smug and heartless comments on social media or in comments section on WaPo articles. After natural disasters like the big freeze and recent wildfires people were actually ridiculing Texans and stating that they got what they deserved. “They should just vote smarter.”
Republicans work hard to suppress the vote in TX. And yet their margins of victory have been shrinking in recent election cycles.
Most of the major cities (Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, El Paso) vote blue but the vast rural areas and smaller towns don’t— not unlike the national voting trends.
With so many unregistered people and disengaged voters, there is great potential to flip Texas. Many grassroots organizations are doing the hard work to build political power in disenfranchised communities and among the younger voters. Why not send them a donation and skip the snide remarks? Besides those remarks only edify the stereotype of Dems being haughty and elitist!
If we want to build our base of Democratic voters and “get to 55%” as Simon Rosenberg urges, we all need to call out our liberal friends when they engage in that hurtful and polarizing rhetoric, and start calling in new voters by showing them how with Democrats, things get better.
Repubs thought the Women's Rights energy would fade as Roe v Wade became more distant. Very bad call. Just to add to the tsunami, arriving on Broadway is "Suffs", a fabulous musical about Suffragist history, powerfully calling for women (and everyone) to vote now and make a difference. They will fill all the 1000 seats every day for a long time (Hillary Clinton is one of the producers).
In her letter today, Heather Cox Richardson evoked the Logan Act, which guards against US citizens carrying out their own foreign policy. Trump has been doing this for years but has ramped it up in the last year to the flashing red light danger zone, with thwarting aid to Ukraine and sending his own "envoy" around the world to meet with authoritarian regimes. (And by the way, about those secret documents he kept....) Is this another avenue for legal action against this out of control "candidate"?
I just came here to ask if Robert had seen her newsletter today . Just makes me sick that tfg has his cronies flying all over the world trying to undermine our National Security . Can't wait until he is gone for good !
Yes; I have. Given the near total overlap of our readers (as in 95% of my readers also read HCR), I try not to track her stories too closely. But i see that people are upset by her report on the shadow foreign policy being run by Trump associates.
Well, not only flying around the world but blatantly hosting Viktor Orban at Mar-a-Lago as well as regularly inviting him to speak at the C-PAC conference whether held in the states or in Hungary.
Let’s be clear Trump and the entire Republican Party has embraced the abandonment of constitutional law - remember the conclusion of the 2020 Republican Convention on the lawn of the White House? So much for the Hatch Act.
Robert pointed out that the Chief Justice of the Texas Northern District made clear they would not follow the Judicial Conference guidelines with the blessing of Mitch McConnell “they are voluntary.”
We have only to look in many directions- the state level, governor and trifecta legislative bodies, Judge Aileen Cannon, the Trump defense team, SCOTUS, The Federalist Society, the racial hate speech of everyday citizens- to see that Republicans and their hard core base are not and have not been waiting for 2024. They set a course long ago to do as much upending (read that as “damage”) to our democracy, constitutional law, and confidence in governmental agencies.
There is one person who could change this situation. Merrick” backbone of a chocolate eclair” Garland. I hope that some influential Dems bring this to the presidents attention, and if no action taken, they recommend Garland not be reappointed to the position in a new term.
One would hope,NC. But the way Trump has succeeded in delaying trials is very upsetting. However, as Robert says, we must win at the Ballot Box, which is looking more and more promising!
So-called "pro-life" advocates have deliberately tried to confuse people about when "life" begins, vs when they claim personhood begins. The statement that "life begins at conception” is patently false. Life begins long before that. In fact, the egg that eventually developed into you was alive and well in your mother’s ovary months before she was born!
Now, personhood is a matter of "belief". Although conception was a crucial point in your long journey toward personhood, I challenge anyone who claims to "believe" that a fertilized human egg is the moral equivalent of a baby (ie, a "person") to consider this: You are a mother of a newborn baby, and you are in the maternity ward. Your baby is in the newborn nursery down the corridor to the left. Down the corridor to the right is the IVF clinic where you have two frozen embryos. A fire breaks out, and you have time to save your newborn baby or your two frozen embryos. Which will you choose? Now ask yourself this: How many frozen embryos would you have to save to justify abandoning your newborn baby, as the “moral” choice?
Many “believers” have been, and continue to be, bamboozled by their religious leaders about this moral question. But the simple act of considering the above ethical “dilemma” reveals the truth: When asked to ACT on their supposed “belief,” no sane person ACTUALLY believes that a fertilized human egg is the moral equivalent of a baby (ie. a person).
Thanks. My hope is that this simple thought exercise will help people to clarify in their own minds the ethical/moral choices we make. Many have been manipulated by religious extremists. But if one merely examines how they would BEHAVE when their moral compass is put to the test. That will hopefully clarify the issue in their mind. Once most people understand that virtually nobody actually believes that personhood is achieved at conception, then we can begin discussing when society believes personhood does begin... viability... or something else. So this exercise is only the beginning of a bigger discussion, hopefully informed by a true moral compass without manipulation by religious extremists.
Thank you for posting this. I have copied the doctor’s statement regarding the moral dilemma ( not) and shared it. We need to get people to understand the consequences of their beliefs.
Thank you for passing it on. My hope is that this simple thought exercise will help people to clarify in their own minds the ethical/moral choices we make. Many have been manipulated by religious extremists. But if one merely examines how they would BEHAVE when their moral compass is put to the test. That will hopefully clarify the issue in their mind. Once most people understand that virtually nobody actually believes that personhood is achieved at conception, then we can begin discussing when society believes personhood does begin... viability... or something else. So this exercise is only the beginning of a bigger discussion, hopefully informed by a true moral compass without manipulation by religious extremists.
Florida. I'm going to repeat what I said yesterday elsewhere.
I live in Baghdad By the Sea, a/k/a Miami, Miami Dade county. Please pass this on. I've tried to connect to the DNC, but no one returns calls. Robert, maybe you can help.
In 2022 the legislature made it a crime for partisans to register people -- later reversed in part by a court. Approximately 900,000 unregistered women were identified -- but we couldn't execute. Republicans in Florida outnumber Democrats by about a million.
Abortion and marijuana ballot initiatives should excite two of our demographics, women and Gen Zers.
We have an incumbent county mayor who is a Democrat and an estimated pool of 100,000 unregistered women who potentially can ensure her re-election. We've had voter preclusion, and Republicans have been able to cut registered voters from the rolls, plus the state legislature made the rules much more difficult.
As of March, registration is:
Democrats: 512,853
Republicans 439,256
No Party 464,066
Despite our Democratic majority, we are represented in the House by 3 MAGATS.
Here's how. From Miami Herald: In 2016, Hillary Clinton won Miami-Dade County over Trump by about 30 percentage points, despite losing Florida. Democrats didn’t expect 2020 nominee Joe Biden to do quite that well in Florida’s largest county. But they couldn’t have imagined Trump would cut into that margin by more than 20 points, as he did in a disastrous result for Biden and Florida Democrats.
Biden led Trump in Miami-Dade by about seven percentage points … Biden’s lackluster performance in Miami-Dade opened the door for Trump to win Florida, a state he needed to win.
We are "flippable!" Here's my pitch.
To protect American democracy, reach out to millions of unregistered likely Democrats using a dedicated database using every outreach method possible (phone and text, postcard, email and targeted ad, and in-person too), where new Democratic voters will make the most impact – in the most flippable states and districts.
Hi, Dan. Can you (or someone at FT6) re-write the above into a 2 paragraph ptich for my newsletter. Someone at FT6 has the template and can do so. or write me at rhubbell@outlook.com and I can help get something in shape for the newsletter. thanks for all you do!
Important work. Thank you, Dan, you and a number of others on Today's Edition offer essential advice (direction) on What needs to be done and How to do it. That tactical advice is very important. "Get out the Vote" is an age-old rallying cry. But is it only effective if we all get instruction in how. Outrage and even passion for the cause won't get it done and even willingness to work won't make a difference if our misdirected energies are simply spitting in the wind of more money and better direction. I appreciate your and others directions -- "Now move your left foot, then move your right foot." Pretty soon we will be marching to purposeful
Tonight once again Robert Hubbell astutely points out the valid reasons for growing optimism about the November election and those in years beyond. Simply put, Trump and his MAGA acolytes have promoted grossly excessive positions on many subjects with abortion chief among them. The GOP has made a pact with the devil, and it is about to learn the consequences of such a massive error. We need to remember that the only election Trump and his satraps have ever won was back in 2016–and that by a tiny margin thanks to the anti-democratic workings of the Electoral College. Our side has its work cut out for it, but all signs augur well, thanks in part to the splendid record the Biden administration has built. We must remain vigilant but optimistic.
Sadly,nothing much has changed with respect to our basic human instincts. The history of the world is dotted with conflict, revolution, war, and hatred. Our stark reality is that these behaviors have become "normalized" because they ARE normal. And despite the fact that many of us want to subscribe to John Lennon's wish, " Give peace a chance" , man's reptilian feral instincts too often rise to the top. The result has always been that even the peace seekers eventually must enter into the conflict..to defend their definition of freedom. In the past, these conflicts advanced without the blessing or curse we have today, namely social media. Ideas, true and false, circulate world wide in a matter of nanoseconds. The battle for the mind is today's warfare. That battle is taking place and is aided by social media platforms. Brainwashing is also nothing new. The Manchurian Candidate is not fiction. Hitler's Third Reich is not fiction. And today's MAGA movement is not fiction. We can see and feel that truth may be losing the battle on social media. So when we have the opportunity to confront those spewing falsehoods on mass media, we want, and should insist, that interviewers behave as cross examiners rather than softball pitchers. We need to PUT OUR COLLECTIVE FOOT DOWN...not with a barely noticeable tap but with a booming THUD!!
Robert..you are part of that thud and I am proud to add my foot to that sound. It is time.
"In a rational media environment, Trump's unprecedented assault on the judiciary would be disqualifying." R.H. This is not a rational media environment, and I've long ago lost faith with NPR's reporting as well as the NYTimes, two of the so-called "liberal" media outlets.
Dear Redbird, do not lose hope! Write postcards, canvass homes, make phone calls. Many of us have given up on mainstream media. But we have then gotten busy as activists as a result. It helps tremendously, as does reading this newsletter. Good luck!
Welcome to Texas, Robert! Let’s hope the weather cooperates for the eclipse next week!
And thank you for your hopeful words about Texas’s future. As I knock on doors, what I’m hearing as issues that are bringing out new voters are 1) recovering healthcare rights, 2) funding public schools, and 3) reversing increasingly lax gun laws. There are frankly plenty of fairly conservative people who see that Texas has gone off the rails.
I think different messages are effective with different people. I talk with several voters here who are turned off completely by national politics right now--yes, sick of Trump, but sick of both parties and find simplistic messages gimick-y and say that they hear them from both sides. I'm running into previously uninvolved voters who are seeing firsthand what no school funding is doing because their neighborhood public school is closing.
Thanks, Cathy Murphree. Your reasoned three points help us remember that, while some voters will never leave Trump, many Republican voters were never Trumpists to begin with. We hear every day how support for Biden is "soft" and support for Trump is "solid." That assumption needs to be challenged every chance we get, by addressing our fellow citizens with respect.
Rick Scott is being challenged by Debbie Mucarsel Powell, a terrific candidate. I’ve contributed to her campaign and will do more. I suggest you do the same.
And I note, again, that the battle is not really about abortion. It is much bigger than that. It is about civil rights for everyone. Everyone. If a woman does not have dominion over her own body, what rights are safe? None. None at all. Spread the word.
With respect to your Concluding Remarks, it is the media and consultant class that have established "battleground contests" as the only ones worthy of attention and financial support. The idea behind Every State Blue is that every race, at every level is worth contesting and that used to drive the Democratic Party's approach to. In addition to Allred, some polls show Lucas Kunce in Missouri (which had a Dem Senator less than 6 years ago) having a chance to relieve Josh Hawley of his position. If more resources were directed to these two and others in similar positions, we might all be pleasantly surprised on the morning of Nov. 6.
Floridians will need assistance accessing reproductive health care once the 6-week ban is in effect on May 1.Republicans are touting the ban as “good for Florida” with exemptions included for rape and incest. Those “exemptions” are only until 15 weeks, and victims must provide “documentation” 😡
Floridians For Reproductive Freedom has info for accessing care. Also available in Spanish.
We are a nation of laws. Let’s start acting like it. No private citizen has the right or authority to run the government. It is so obvious and blatant. Time for the Attorney General to put on his big boy pants and enforce the law.
I'm hoping Biden will replace Merrick Garland in his second term. While I appreciate Biden's staying out of the Justice Department's business, the country has suffered under Garland's leadership, if you can call it that.
I love that the Biden campaign has decided Florida is in play. The ballot measure will indeed drive turnout. The challenge is that Florida is already a high-turnout state. The 2020 turnout among registered voters was 77%, and the percentage of VEP (voter-eligible population) was 70%, one of the highest in the nation, so the focus will have to be on young people, particularly those who have reached voting age in the last four years. Certainly, the ballot initiatives should help.
In Texas as in Florida (and the rest of the country), it’s all about TURNOUT, TURNOUT, TURNOUT! Enough with the gerrymandering and vocal minority rule, the majority needs to vote and persuade non-voters to give a sh*t! In the 2022 midterms, Texas Gov Abbott, Lt Gov Patrick and AG Paxton (each of whom are an absolute disgrace) all won re-election with 25% of registered voters support, Beto received 20% and 55% of registered voters chose to not vote. At least Florida allows statewide citizen-led ballot measures which will dramatically enhance voter turnout. Texas refuses to enable statewide initiatives by its residents — in the last legislative session, a resolution (SJR 25) to enable them sat in committee without a hearing because Texas Republicans fear the majority of their constituents. Voters must turnout in November and Colin Allred is key to improving Democratic turnout in Texas!
In addition to expanding the Supreme court, we need limits. Clarence and Sam need to be immediately retired. We then need several past rulings to be overturned starting with: Citizens United, Carson v Makin, Roe - and reestablishing the Voting Rights Act that's been gutted over the last 10 years. The list is so very long of all the things in this country that need to be fixed, that have been eroding for the last 40 years since Reagan.
The Constitution has left the Supreme Court accountable to no one. Again, the founders must have assumed honorable men. Instead, they have become isolated, arrogant, and corrupt. “We the People “ have to hold them accountable. Otherwise, all of our honest efforts to win an election could be wiped away because this court wants to choose the winner. Absurd as that seems, just look at how they have systematically taken away rights and allowed Trump to avoid prosecution. Raise the alarm every way you can.
So true, "Old" but Not in the Way!
Write to Chief Justice Roberts and tell him that we don't trust the court to protect the election. By allowing justice Thomas to sit in on the Jan. 6 cases the court is showing that they are choosing their own candidate.
When the Senate Approval of any Justice required a Super Majority of the Senate, Presidents nominated Judges who were acceptable to both sides. The Simple Majority vote has intercoursed the process
What limits are you suggesting? Justice Thomas is 75, and he is the oldest. Terms of service limits might work, but will be harder to get done. Robert's idea of expanding the Court is the most reachable alternative right now and can be done without amending the Constitution.
If the Democrats control Congress
When
That's been the big question for a while, but I agree with Jon and Jim that it's more a matter of when now than if.
When they/we do!
Term limits
Not a bad idea, but it would require amending the Constitution and that will take a while as well as substantial majorities in both Houses of Congress.
We also need to get rid of the Electoral College, that is not needed - presidential election should be based off popular vote. Other developed countries have amended their Constitution significantly more than the US has ever done in order to meet the needs of their people - the US is overdue on to constitutional changes.
Amendments require 2/3 of each House to vote in favor and 3/4 of the states to ratify. Even something as generally supported as the Equal Rights Amendment couldn't get past that barrier and there is arguably less support for eliminating the Electoral College or changing the status of the Justices. I agree with your assessment of the need, just don't see it happening in a reasonable amount of time. Expanding the Court is challenging too, but at least within the reasonable bounds of possibility.
Yep.....founders made it too hard. They trusted the guardrails would be honored but that's not the case. Also, this country is significantly larger than it was in 1776. That also was not accounted for in 1776. For the same reason larger States should have more than two senators. Wyoming should not have the same senatorial voice as say California.
I have some very specific views on judges in general. While many at the state level are elected, and even some states elect their Supreme Court judges, other states only appoint.
I'm not a fan of appointing anyone, I think all judges should be only elected, including SCOTUS. Look what's happening with federal judge shopping, we still have federal judges that were appointed during Reagan, these people are much too old and completely out of touch. People develop biases over time. All judges should have term limits and all should be elected..... It's the only way to truly protect democracy, to let the popular vote decide. And yes, I realize that this would be in big change and an initial Pita to set up, but in the long run it would better serve the people and ensure that conflict of interest and extremism were rooted out, voted out. And all judges should have guidelines that they must operate under: no money, gifts or trips.
Amen!
Not just the Voting Rights Act but the entire landscape of civil rights progress in the past 50 to 60 years. If you have not read it, you will find this piece by Nikole Hannah-Jones, “Whitewash” the most telling story of how the extreme right has orchestrated the demise of civil rights legislation by using the very words of leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. It is a lengthy piece from the Times Sunday Magazine BUT very worth the read.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/13/magazine/civil-rights-affirmative-action-colorblind.html?unlocked_article_code=1.gk0.PKS6.nVeNfig9WmLx&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&ugrp=u&sgrp=c-cb
My list was not meant to be inclusive, but there are some big hitters that need to be overturned in order to start putting democracy back to the people. Yes, agreed voting rights issues go back much further than the last 10 years - I was simply pointing out some key cases in the last say 10 or 15 years that have caused massive changes to our democracy...... I think we need a brand new updated Voting Rights Act.
We wouldn't be going through this voucher School scam thing right now had the Carson v Makin not passed in 2022...... the separation of church and state is eroding, which is what many on the Supreme Court want.
You are right Julie. Anyway you look at it, isn't good. I have wondered over the years whether the Democratic Party and the rest of us where just plain naive because the Republicans and the Extreme Right have not been playing by the same rules. Now they are eagerly ready to blow up the entire system and remake it in the model of Viktor Urban and other strong men. What is amazing is that many people don't seem to recognize their ambition yet OR they are completely comfortable with it since their confidence in our system has been badly undermined by the right and media like FOX News.
But I thought the idea was to add members, hopefully Liberal justices or moderate Conservatives who respect precedent, in order to neutralize those two that you mentioned. It would be great also if Roberts would step down, but none of them show any inkling to do so. But if they were weakened, hopefully, better decisions that reflected a greater number of Americans would happen, including a reversal of those laws that have diminished the rights of Americans for years now.
Thomas needs to be impeached and indicted!
THANK YOU for your remarks on Texas! I was born and raised in West Texas and it pains me greatly to hear my fellow liberals write off the state as a lost cause.
I often read the most smug and heartless comments on social media or in comments section on WaPo articles. After natural disasters like the big freeze and recent wildfires people were actually ridiculing Texans and stating that they got what they deserved. “They should just vote smarter.”
Republicans work hard to suppress the vote in TX. And yet their margins of victory have been shrinking in recent election cycles.
Most of the major cities (Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, El Paso) vote blue but the vast rural areas and smaller towns don’t— not unlike the national voting trends.
With so many unregistered people and disengaged voters, there is great potential to flip Texas. Many grassroots organizations are doing the hard work to build political power in disenfranchised communities and among the younger voters. Why not send them a donation and skip the snide remarks? Besides those remarks only edify the stereotype of Dems being haughty and elitist!
If we want to build our base of Democratic voters and “get to 55%” as Simon Rosenberg urges, we all need to call out our liberal friends when they engage in that hurtful and polarizing rhetoric, and start calling in new voters by showing them how with Democrats, things get better.
Shout out to Blue Horizons Texas challenging unchallenged red seats and to League of Women Voters working hard to register new voters!
https://www.bluehorizontexas.org/
https://www.lwvtexas.org/#gsc.tab=0
Will share tonight!
Thank you for this 'report' on how things stand in TX. Very encouraging!
Thank you , good reminder….very important to see beyond the supposed hopelessness.
We hear you!
Repubs thought the Women's Rights energy would fade as Roe v Wade became more distant. Very bad call. Just to add to the tsunami, arriving on Broadway is "Suffs", a fabulous musical about Suffragist history, powerfully calling for women (and everyone) to vote now and make a difference. They will fill all the 1000 seats every day for a long time (Hillary Clinton is one of the producers).
Let's hear it for musicals! A very American art form.
Here’s a link for CBS Sunday Morning report on “Suggs.” https://www.cbsnews.com/video/hillary-clinton-malala-yousafzai-talk-suffs-on-broadway/?ftag=CNI-11-10aaa3i
Thanks! Planning to see it.
I hope it arrives in a theater near me - Los Angeles!
It is not a movie.
No, I meant a theater that presents plays!
Thanks for this tip, Bob. Sounds like "Suffs" will be a big hit!
Here's an interesting piece on "Suffs" from last Sunday's CBS Sunday Morning Show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8UAUxQnLAY
Thanks, CC. Looking forward to watching this.
Wow! Hillary Clinton! (You go girl!)
In her letter today, Heather Cox Richardson evoked the Logan Act, which guards against US citizens carrying out their own foreign policy. Trump has been doing this for years but has ramped it up in the last year to the flashing red light danger zone, with thwarting aid to Ukraine and sending his own "envoy" around the world to meet with authoritarian regimes. (And by the way, about those secret documents he kept....) Is this another avenue for legal action against this out of control "candidate"?
It sure does seem that he has violated the Logan Act, doesn't it?
I just came here to ask if Robert had seen her newsletter today . Just makes me sick that tfg has his cronies flying all over the world trying to undermine our National Security . Can't wait until he is gone for good !
Yes; I have. Given the near total overlap of our readers (as in 95% of my readers also read HCR), I try not to track her stories too closely. But i see that people are upset by her report on the shadow foreign policy being run by Trump associates.
Well, not only flying around the world but blatantly hosting Viktor Orban at Mar-a-Lago as well as regularly inviting him to speak at the C-PAC conference whether held in the states or in Hungary.
Let’s be clear Trump and the entire Republican Party has embraced the abandonment of constitutional law - remember the conclusion of the 2020 Republican Convention on the lawn of the White House? So much for the Hatch Act.
Robert pointed out that the Chief Justice of the Texas Northern District made clear they would not follow the Judicial Conference guidelines with the blessing of Mitch McConnell “they are voluntary.”
We have only to look in many directions- the state level, governor and trifecta legislative bodies, Judge Aileen Cannon, the Trump defense team, SCOTUS, The Federalist Society, the racial hate speech of everyday citizens- to see that Republicans and their hard core base are not and have not been waiting for 2024. They set a course long ago to do as much upending (read that as “damage”) to our democracy, constitutional law, and confidence in governmental agencies.
I was thinking the same thing NC........
There is one person who could change this situation. Merrick” backbone of a chocolate eclair” Garland. I hope that some influential Dems bring this to the presidents attention, and if no action taken, they recommend Garland not be reappointed to the position in a new term.
So many unlucky twists have contributed to our current mess, like who knew Merrick Garland would be so inadequate?
One would hope,NC. But the way Trump has succeeded in delaying trials is very upsetting. However, as Robert says, we must win at the Ballot Box, which is looking more and more promising!
So-called "pro-life" advocates have deliberately tried to confuse people about when "life" begins, vs when they claim personhood begins. The statement that "life begins at conception” is patently false. Life begins long before that. In fact, the egg that eventually developed into you was alive and well in your mother’s ovary months before she was born!
Now, personhood is a matter of "belief". Although conception was a crucial point in your long journey toward personhood, I challenge anyone who claims to "believe" that a fertilized human egg is the moral equivalent of a baby (ie, a "person") to consider this: You are a mother of a newborn baby, and you are in the maternity ward. Your baby is in the newborn nursery down the corridor to the left. Down the corridor to the right is the IVF clinic where you have two frozen embryos. A fire breaks out, and you have time to save your newborn baby or your two frozen embryos. Which will you choose? Now ask yourself this: How many frozen embryos would you have to save to justify abandoning your newborn baby, as the “moral” choice?
Many “believers” have been, and continue to be, bamboozled by their religious leaders about this moral question. But the simple act of considering the above ethical “dilemma” reveals the truth: When asked to ACT on their supposed “belief,” no sane person ACTUALLY believes that a fertilized human egg is the moral equivalent of a baby (ie. a person).
Justin StormoGipson, MD
Excellent discussion of a challenging subject. Thanks.
Thanks. My hope is that this simple thought exercise will help people to clarify in their own minds the ethical/moral choices we make. Many have been manipulated by religious extremists. But if one merely examines how they would BEHAVE when their moral compass is put to the test. That will hopefully clarify the issue in their mind. Once most people understand that virtually nobody actually believes that personhood is achieved at conception, then we can begin discussing when society believes personhood does begin... viability... or something else. So this exercise is only the beginning of a bigger discussion, hopefully informed by a true moral compass without manipulation by religious extremists.
Thank you for posting this. I have copied the doctor’s statement regarding the moral dilemma ( not) and shared it. We need to get people to understand the consequences of their beliefs.
Thank you for passing it on. My hope is that this simple thought exercise will help people to clarify in their own minds the ethical/moral choices we make. Many have been manipulated by religious extremists. But if one merely examines how they would BEHAVE when their moral compass is put to the test. That will hopefully clarify the issue in their mind. Once most people understand that virtually nobody actually believes that personhood is achieved at conception, then we can begin discussing when society believes personhood does begin... viability... or something else. So this exercise is only the beginning of a bigger discussion, hopefully informed by a true moral compass without manipulation by religious extremists.
Florida. I'm going to repeat what I said yesterday elsewhere.
I live in Baghdad By the Sea, a/k/a Miami, Miami Dade county. Please pass this on. I've tried to connect to the DNC, but no one returns calls. Robert, maybe you can help.
In 2022 the legislature made it a crime for partisans to register people -- later reversed in part by a court. Approximately 900,000 unregistered women were identified -- but we couldn't execute. Republicans in Florida outnumber Democrats by about a million.
Abortion and marijuana ballot initiatives should excite two of our demographics, women and Gen Zers.
We have an incumbent county mayor who is a Democrat and an estimated pool of 100,000 unregistered women who potentially can ensure her re-election. We've had voter preclusion, and Republicans have been able to cut registered voters from the rolls, plus the state legislature made the rules much more difficult.
As of March, registration is:
Democrats: 512,853
Republicans 439,256
No Party 464,066
Despite our Democratic majority, we are represented in the House by 3 MAGATS.
If our mayor Daniella Levine Cava sweeps, she can carry all the other races and maybe the rest of the state. https://www.miamidade.gov/global/government/biographies/mayor.page
Here's how. From Miami Herald: In 2016, Hillary Clinton won Miami-Dade County over Trump by about 30 percentage points, despite losing Florida. Democrats didn’t expect 2020 nominee Joe Biden to do quite that well in Florida’s largest county. But they couldn’t have imagined Trump would cut into that margin by more than 20 points, as he did in a disastrous result for Biden and Florida Democrats.
Biden led Trump in Miami-Dade by about seven percentage points … Biden’s lackluster performance in Miami-Dade opened the door for Trump to win Florida, a state he needed to win.
We are "flippable!" Here's my pitch.
To protect American democracy, reach out to millions of unregistered likely Democrats using a dedicated database using every outreach method possible (phone and text, postcard, email and targeted ad, and in-person too), where new Democratic voters will make the most impact – in the most flippable states and districts.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/actions
Dan Solomon
apaalj@ gmail.com
703 4897438
BTW, I also want to speak to someone at DNC about flipping approximately 200,000 Amish votes.
Hi, Dan. Can you (or someone at FT6) re-write the above into a 2 paragraph ptich for my newsletter. Someone at FT6 has the template and can do so. or write me at rhubbell@outlook.com and I can help get something in shape for the newsletter. thanks for all you do!
Important work. Thank you, Dan, you and a number of others on Today's Edition offer essential advice (direction) on What needs to be done and How to do it. That tactical advice is very important. "Get out the Vote" is an age-old rallying cry. But is it only effective if we all get instruction in how. Outrage and even passion for the cause won't get it done and even willingness to work won't make a difference if our misdirected energies are simply spitting in the wind of more money and better direction. I appreciate your and others directions -- "Now move your left foot, then move your right foot." Pretty soon we will be marching to purposeful
progress.
I will do so, Dan. Love Field Team Six!
Tonight once again Robert Hubbell astutely points out the valid reasons for growing optimism about the November election and those in years beyond. Simply put, Trump and his MAGA acolytes have promoted grossly excessive positions on many subjects with abortion chief among them. The GOP has made a pact with the devil, and it is about to learn the consequences of such a massive error. We need to remember that the only election Trump and his satraps have ever won was back in 2016–and that by a tiny margin thanks to the anti-democratic workings of the Electoral College. Our side has its work cut out for it, but all signs augur well, thanks in part to the splendid record the Biden administration has built. We must remain vigilant but optimistic.
It ain’t over till the fat guy again claims the election was stolen again
Nmusings on Mark Robinson and Treblinka.
Sadly,nothing much has changed with respect to our basic human instincts. The history of the world is dotted with conflict, revolution, war, and hatred. Our stark reality is that these behaviors have become "normalized" because they ARE normal. And despite the fact that many of us want to subscribe to John Lennon's wish, " Give peace a chance" , man's reptilian feral instincts too often rise to the top. The result has always been that even the peace seekers eventually must enter into the conflict..to defend their definition of freedom. In the past, these conflicts advanced without the blessing or curse we have today, namely social media. Ideas, true and false, circulate world wide in a matter of nanoseconds. The battle for the mind is today's warfare. That battle is taking place and is aided by social media platforms. Brainwashing is also nothing new. The Manchurian Candidate is not fiction. Hitler's Third Reich is not fiction. And today's MAGA movement is not fiction. We can see and feel that truth may be losing the battle on social media. So when we have the opportunity to confront those spewing falsehoods on mass media, we want, and should insist, that interviewers behave as cross examiners rather than softball pitchers. We need to PUT OUR COLLECTIVE FOOT DOWN...not with a barely noticeable tap but with a booming THUD!!
Robert..you are part of that thud and I am proud to add my foot to that sound. It is time.
"In a rational media environment, Trump's unprecedented assault on the judiciary would be disqualifying." R.H. This is not a rational media environment, and I've long ago lost faith with NPR's reporting as well as the NYTimes, two of the so-called "liberal" media outlets.
Dear Redbird, do not lose hope! Write postcards, canvass homes, make phone calls. Many of us have given up on mainstream media. But we have then gotten busy as activists as a result. It helps tremendously, as does reading this newsletter. Good luck!
Thanks for your encouragement, Kathleen. I am on board with writing postcards and knocking doors. I even have my own postcard design!
Welcome to Texas, Robert! Let’s hope the weather cooperates for the eclipse next week!
And thank you for your hopeful words about Texas’s future. As I knock on doors, what I’m hearing as issues that are bringing out new voters are 1) recovering healthcare rights, 2) funding public schools, and 3) reversing increasingly lax gun laws. There are frankly plenty of fairly conservative people who see that Texas has gone off the rails.
Most effective: Trump hates dogs. Trump stole from kids with cancer.
I think different messages are effective with different people. I talk with several voters here who are turned off completely by national politics right now--yes, sick of Trump, but sick of both parties and find simplistic messages gimick-y and say that they hear them from both sides. I'm running into previously uninvolved voters who are seeing firsthand what no school funding is doing because their neighborhood public school is closing.
You're right. One on one is easy.
1. Not everyone has a personal stake (or understands that they do).
2. Most have some right or benefit or both at stake. In Tejas, women trend 70% D. https://playbook.galvanizeaction.org/
3. But most MAGATS are visceral. That's why Trump hates dogs and Trump stole from kids with cancer works.
Thanks, Cathy Murphree. Your reasoned three points help us remember that, while some voters will never leave Trump, many Republican voters were never Trumpists to begin with. We hear every day how support for Biden is "soft" and support for Trump is "solid." That assumption needs to be challenged every chance we get, by addressing our fellow citizens with respect.
Rick Scott is being challenged by Debbie Mucarsel Powell, a terrific candidate. I’ve contributed to her campaign and will do more. I suggest you do the same.
And I note, again, that the battle is not really about abortion. It is much bigger than that. It is about civil rights for everyone. Everyone. If a woman does not have dominion over her own body, what rights are safe? None. None at all. Spread the word.
Agree; that is why I try to use the phrase "reproductive liberty" instead of abortion. Liberty is a concept rooted in the Bill of Rights.
I think, as I've suggested, that it's even wider than that, but OK.
I pray Colin Allred beats Ted Cruz. Few Senators, but not none, have sunk as low and turned 180 degrees as thoroughly as Lyin' Ted Cruz. Go Colin! https://time.com/6853319/colin-allred-congressman-nfl-player-ted-cruz-senate-texas-border/
With respect to your Concluding Remarks, it is the media and consultant class that have established "battleground contests" as the only ones worthy of attention and financial support. The idea behind Every State Blue is that every race, at every level is worth contesting and that used to drive the Democratic Party's approach to. In addition to Allred, some polls show Lucas Kunce in Missouri (which had a Dem Senator less than 6 years ago) having a chance to relieve Josh Hawley of his position. If more resources were directed to these two and others in similar positions, we might all be pleasantly surprised on the morning of Nov. 6.
My apologies to Michele and Jessica for the early morning error. The correct name is Every State Blue and my post is now accurate.
Floridians will need assistance accessing reproductive health care once the 6-week ban is in effect on May 1.Republicans are touting the ban as “good for Florida” with exemptions included for rape and incest. Those “exemptions” are only until 15 weeks, and victims must provide “documentation” 😡
Floridians For Reproductive Freedom has info for accessing care. Also available in Spanish.
📣 https://floridareprofreedom.org/abortionislegalinflorida/
We are a nation of laws. Let’s start acting like it. No private citizen has the right or authority to run the government. It is so obvious and blatant. Time for the Attorney General to put on his big boy pants and enforce the law.
I'm hoping Biden will replace Merrick Garland in his second term. While I appreciate Biden's staying out of the Justice Department's business, the country has suffered under Garland's leadership, if you can call it that.
I love that the Biden campaign has decided Florida is in play. The ballot measure will indeed drive turnout. The challenge is that Florida is already a high-turnout state. The 2020 turnout among registered voters was 77%, and the percentage of VEP (voter-eligible population) was 70%, one of the highest in the nation, so the focus will have to be on young people, particularly those who have reached voting age in the last four years. Certainly, the ballot initiatives should help.
In Texas as in Florida (and the rest of the country), it’s all about TURNOUT, TURNOUT, TURNOUT! Enough with the gerrymandering and vocal minority rule, the majority needs to vote and persuade non-voters to give a sh*t! In the 2022 midterms, Texas Gov Abbott, Lt Gov Patrick and AG Paxton (each of whom are an absolute disgrace) all won re-election with 25% of registered voters support, Beto received 20% and 55% of registered voters chose to not vote. At least Florida allows statewide citizen-led ballot measures which will dramatically enhance voter turnout. Texas refuses to enable statewide initiatives by its residents — in the last legislative session, a resolution (SJR 25) to enable them sat in committee without a hearing because Texas Republicans fear the majority of their constituents. Voters must turnout in November and Colin Allred is key to improving Democratic turnout in Texas!