I would like to see Biden use the powers SCOTUS just granted him for good - forgive ALL student debt, ban assault rifles and order their confiscation, add six seats to SCOTUS, etc. Let the MAGAs scream. Let the MAGAs sue. Let Judge Kaszcmarak or some other MAGA slag issue a nationwide injunction, Biden just ignores it. And he gets re-elected in a landslide.
(in a whisper) None of that which you listed are in the SCOTUS decision. The decision is all about being charged for criminal acts, not policy actions.
God comment, Peter. The Supreme Court, although Roberts denied it, tailor made that ruling to help Trump and (assuming a win in November) help the Republican agenda. But Biden now has a golden opportunity to turn the tables and use the ruling to do the things you mentioned. and more, even, really exceed normal presidential authority and (if this were a movie) delare the Republican party an illegal organisation - all the SCOTUS conservative justices enemies of the state and place them under arrest. Unfortunately he is unlikely to do any of the things you mention, he is just too good, but if heaven forbid, if Trump gets back in power he will do all of the reverse of what I said and much more - all in the name of official acts. Anybody who votes for Trump needs their head examined other than the criminal element all around him who would then be in the White House. They will be as happy as pigs in shit. As one politician said lately Republicans have no principals, Democrats have no spine.
References to killings outside of the very few places they belong cross all lines of civil discourse. Same is true with explicit or implicit references to jail/prison rape.
If Hippocrates's "I will abstain from all intentional wrong-doing and harm". can be truncated to "do no harm", (didn't make it better) then surely it's past time to insert "wish no harm" before do no harm. If a person can think it, then they stand a chance to do it.
Trump will be with us, roaming free and spouting lies and bullshit until the day a courageous Big Mac or burt sirloin steak steps up and does its duty by getting lodged in his windpipe.
Of course no normal person would do this, but King Donald, who knows? If you read the decision that is literally what it says, as Justice Sotomayor emphasizes.
Donald Trump is following the playbook of his hero, Adolph, talking to the German people in the 1920s, when those people were struggling and demoralized after their defeat in WWI - The Big War. Germany felt disrespected and put upon by their European neighbors, in light of restrictions placed on them by the victors in that war.
Donald NEEDS that perception of the country to carry his “I alone can remedy it” narratve {pure baloney, but he needs it for the narratve that he will supposedly rescue us from the “new deal” oppression. Do people even know that The New Deal is how Franklin Roosevelt actually rescued the U.S. from the Great Depression? Including Social Security? Egad. Trump is against it all…}
Donald TOTALLY see himself in the role of a Mussolini {he postures and juts his jaw out to look like Benito} and especially his political-strategy hero Hitler, rising from obscurity, overcoming legal hurdles and attacks, and eventually reigning as Der Führer!
This current SCOTUS “opinion” puts the icing on Donny’s cake. His modern-day hero, Valdimir P, must be dancing in the streets, too, anticipating Donny winning the election in November and joining the ranks of new Strong Men around the world.
We cannot let that become reality. We simply cannot.
It’s time for strategizing and planning and holding the barbarians off at the gate …
I’m very, very, VERY frustrated and distraught at the Left for letting the Right trample all over us, again, and again, and again.
I sent the following message to our two Vermont Senators, our lone Congressional Representative, and to the President. How can we wake the Democratic Party UP and get them to push BACK — rationally, legally, SKILLFULLY … ?
I’m worried and stumped — but we have to try. This is my note:
<<< SIR, the Republican Party seems entirely comfortable with — how shall I put this — making “unique” interpretations of governmental laws, rules, and Constitutional obligations … And they show no compunctions acting on those interpretations — from “corporations are people”; to “money is speech”; to Barack Obama can’t nominate a Supreme Court justice eleven months before his administration ends; to Donald Trump can have a Supreme Court Justice approved less than a week before his administration ends; to emoluments seem to be fictions, and Trump can take money from foreign governments renting space in Trump’s hotel while Trump is in office; to the idea that “obstructing official proceedings doesn’t count if you only impede the actions of a legislative body, but you don’t mess up any paperwork”; to Presidents suddenly have carte blanche to do ANYTHING they want under cover of “official business.” And so many more outrageous ideas acted on by the Republicans.
And Democrats sit around watching all this happening, clutching their pearls and crying, “Oh, what will we do? What will we do?”
If there NOTHING that comes to mind, especially now that the Supreme Court seems to have paved the way for …. mmmm, I don’t now … shenanigans, if DJT were to accidentally get “elected” again !
WHY do Republicans have a corner on getting away scott free with crap, and everyone else get’s held to account? Did they sign a contract to sell their souls to Satan, or something?
I’m truly at a loss to explain why THEY are so ready with their machinations, and Democrats are caught flat-footed over and over again.
WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO? I do NOT want Democrats to become as brazen and out-of-control as these Republicans have become. But I cannot cede the game to them, thinking they will always out-maneuver those of us in the Dem and Progressive camps.
I believe in this country as NOT a fascist country.
How are we going to respond to this threat, especially with this new ruling by a Supreme Court, who seem to think their word is the END of discussion — instead of an incentive to get creative and busy turning this awful situation around ….
I does certainly seem that way …. It’s disheartening in the extreme to know that fascists are still out there still APPEALING to regular folks. I can understand the oligarchs — they’re the ones who will gain both wealth and power. I just don’t understand the mass of people buying their bushwah. But we have to resist letting our country go this way.
Look at the timing. Everything accelerated during and after Covid. The babies of our nation didn’t take to wearing masks. They decided against science and the vaccines. When Trump saw how much power he had by the reaction to masks and vaccines the latest wave was hatched. A crippled economy, an angry frustrated nation —fear, friends and family dying. Then came January 6.
I would care even if our family did NOT have young people who will be on this planet even after I am gone … But I care especially much because we do.
I’ve said for a long time, though, that the size of the human population on this little planet probably drives … deep down … a lot of the problems we deal with, from overheating our atmosphere to overheating our politics. If we don’t address the REAL problems — how to BE on the planet together with so many of us — we won’t be able to solve the ancillary ones. But too many people don’t recognize the real … And not enough agree on how to “be” …
It just occurred to me, if this country were to truly go to Fascism for a while, would the American ex-pat population swell around the world?
And, would that be just another name for migrants and refugees…. ?
And Drumpf was the one responsible for all the deaths that ensued by ignoring the problem of the pandemic if not making light of it!! How do we let him get away with even THAT???
Just had time for the preview, but this is indeed powerful stuff! Being insidiously positive about America - insidious meaning judiciously using sharp facts (infrastructure, chips, jobs, minority small businesses, insulin), it’s Morning In America! Be pointed, blunt Trump rhetoric. Don’t just say he’s lying - say “No wonder Trump is lying about his lowering insulin prices - that’s a huge benefit to many Americans!” What little I watched of the debate, I found Trump’s constant “bla bla bla … destroying our county” drumbeat disgusting.
Go Lucian! By sharing his pride and vision for America, Biden can beat Trump like the America-hating snare drum he is!
I'm afraid "the most admired country" took a tremendous hit after Trump's appearance for four years in the White House. Trump hates everything and everybody and he probably hates his sad little base most of all except to grift them further and they seem more than willing to participate in that. If we can't get enough people to vote because they won't face the facts of what we are confronting now, then heaven help us. I'm worried about the Gen Zers. They are totally turned off, wrinkled nose and huffs of disgust turned off by Biden. They keep saying "old" and I'm constantly having to inject "so it Trump," for whom they wouldn't vote. Hard to make them understand if they sit this one out, what they will get with Trump means they won't get anything they want at all. This is as scary a time as I can remember in my now long life. Can we live here after four more years of Trump because it won't be Trump, it will be Project 2025 and Leonard Leo, and if that doesn't scare you to go vote, nothing will.
I'm hoping folks will see this SCOTUS ruling and what it means to a presidency of a guy like Drumpf, and it motivates everyone to vote for the decent man. Not voting is a vote for the dictator and that is not good for anyone.
I’d add a similar approach to family members we’ve been reluctant to cast off during the past 8 years. You know, just “avoid political discussions”. The truth is, Uncle Chuck’s attitude and vote causes harm to me, my family, and my grandchildren. I will die a saner man if I never see Uncle Chuck again, and if he croaks first, his descendants can let me know, or not, I really don’t care.
This decision by SCROTUS has jelled the 2024 election campaign into its most elemental opportunity - this election is now ONLY between democracy and autocracy. Everything else is merely detail, no matter how much or how deeply people may feel about those details. That's the whole ball game.....
Right! We no longer have the luxury of saying Biden is too old or arguing that Kamala is not popular or Newsom, Shapiro, etc can't win. It does not now matter who the Dem candidate is. We have to vote en masse for that person. Period. Any Dem will be superior to the alternative. And this also goes for down ballot candidates. Vote Blue no matter who.
What the decimated Supreme Court did to us yesterday is F*cking horrific - Is anyone going to organize a massive protest? I’m 70 and just finished chemo and it’s not an undertaking for me, but we desperately need some groups who care about democracy enough to get us off our butts. Black Lives Matter was a good example of what should be happening now. We need to respond en masse to these farcical, newly created rules fit for a King that are unconstitutional led by a far right runaway Supreme Court. If we start holding protests, I for one, will drag myself there repeatedly, if it’s the last thing I do.
It's crazy, but there doesn't seem to much of reaction, beyond outraged pundits, by most people to this horrible decision. People could understand and see the BLM injustice, this opinion, not so much. It's just conduct that MAGA has normalized and people have come to expect. The similarities to the Nazi takeover in Germany has so many similarities, people don't care until it's too late.
As long as somewhere between a third and half of the electorate believes the daily tsunami of lies that are pumped at them by the right-wing authoritarian propaganda machine of Fox “News” et al., I just don’t see how the Democrats can win.
Trump supporters, who, according to the most recent polls would give him well over 310 electoral votes in November, live in an alternate political reality from the rest of us.
Over 30% of Americans are not even aware that the president appoints Supreme Court justices.
Meanwhile, the allegedly liberal media — like the New York Times —bends over so far to be “fair“ that they sabotage the Democrats ability to win elections.
Agree 100% with you, So “Meanwhile, the allegedly liberal media — like the New York Times —bends over so far to be “fair“ that they sabotage the Democrats ability to win elections.”
It’s an old problem, but patriotic Americans who aren’t hyped up with fascist fear-mongered cortisol need to coordinate to write to the press and sponsors in a way to drown out the reliable right-wing reactionaries. Our local Indivisible group sends out talking points/topics people can work off of.
Many patriotic Americans firing off biting, high-ground criticism to editors about dangerous press appeasement makes a difference!
That was what some were saying in 2020 but we won even with all the BS about a stolen election. Focus groups have shown that some previous Trump voters don't want to vote for him. We can't give up. We have to try.
Except honestly, to this Canadian, Biden sounds like he's spouting off about American exceptionalism. You may have the strongest military and countries may fear that, but it doesn't equal respect. People outside America's borders have been watching your country disappear down the rabbit hole since Reagan. I grew up 26 miles north of Rochester (as the crow flies, across Lake Ontario) - dreaming of one day being an American and daily I recited the pledge of allegiance with Romper Room before going to my Canadian public school. That was the early 60s. I remember everyone crying and school being dismisised in Canada when JFK was shot. You used to be all those things. Back then. And you can be again, with a few big miracles. But you sure as sh-t aren't that now. Sorry. Didn't Joe watch Jeff Daniels on The Newsroom?
This USian hears that too. It's tired old rhetoric that applies mostly to middle-class-and-up white people. Next to that I place the mediocre performance of the Democratic Party -- I use that term to apply to the Democratic organizations at the national and state level, not to rank-and-file Democrats. They did precious little to fight back against Reaganomics and Reaganism, and under Bill Clinton (whom I've long thought of as "Republican Lite") they joined in demonizing people of color and women on welfare.
However, and it's a big HOWEVER, the Biden administration *has* done an admirable job against considerable odds in guiding us out of the mess that Trump, building on the decades of Reagan-related economics and politics that preceded him, left behind. When it comes right down to it, a second term for the Biden administration is our only way out. It alone will not save us, but it will let us continue to find a way out of the morass we're in now.
I wish I did NOT agree with this, but I do. We have it in us to respect the values we SAY we hold — government of, by, and for the people of this country, and fostering respect for the people of other countries {not exploiting them only for what they can offer our corporations; but actually respecting them}. We CAN forge that country … we have to want to … and we have to try NOW, because the Project 2025 gang wants to put such dreams far, far away for aa long, long time …
Hang trump on his own words has been recommended as a strategy from the start. We seem to need to be reminded again and again, so thanks. I wish Joe could come up with some new words. Hearing "Joey …" I know I'm about to hear something I've heard a hundred times that Joey's father told him, and I want never again to hear of an empty seat at the table. I doubt I'm the only one.
I never want to hear Joe Biden say "malarkey" again. It's a weak and archaic word. It makes him sound ancient. Joe cannot effectively dismiss or deflect Trump's lies using that word. It's like taking a badminton racquet to a battlefield.
Absolutely right. The Dems are still playing by the archaic old gentleman’s rules, made obsolete by the GOP, which has gleefully and quickly adapted to the realpolitik of today.
Lucian. I nearly always read each post to your Substack column; I have great respect for your opinions, your writing, your life choices, your conduct, even your wisdom! You may be right, that this black/white, good/evil version of voting choice this time around can propel Biden to political victory. I'm not so sure. I do not love my country. I love my wife; I love our son; I love my friends and neighbors. I love townspeople with whom I have worked diligently in local government for our common good, even when we know that our politics on some issues are irreconcilable. Sure, that is exemplary of the founding spirit of this country, a core principle enacted among people who know each other & value civility. But the wider the circle, the more this love that I know attenuates. At national scale, it is gone. How can I love the country that, say, invaded & occupied Afghanistan for twenty years? That's only a recent example. I can recognize the fact, work against such disgraceful national conduct, but I cannot love my country. My vote against Trump will not be based on love of country, nor will it be an affirmation of the politics of a man who has failed to use his power to thwart war crimes. If love of country becomes a winning political strategy for Democratic success this time around, I will be greatly relieved--and bothered by what I know as a suspect, even dangerous, motivation. Many MAGA also believe in their own love of country, and no absurd, fear-mongering rhetoric will dissuade them.
I've always factored in all that stuff in love of country. The thing is, it's ours, for better or worse. If we don't love it and help it, the country will go to pieces, as it has already at least partially done under Trump, and would be damaged further if he wins. It's all or nothing this time.
Not to mention slavery, racial segregation/inequality the internment of Japanese Americans ,the invasion of Vietnam. There’s a lot not to love. At my local Trump supporting veteran’s organization I do mouth the Pledge of Allegiance but my heart is not in it.
Lest we forget, W and Cheney and the neocons invasion of Iraq. And the stealing of the election of Al Gore. And while we're at it, the electoral college is certainly doing the opposite of what the framers thought they were doing!!
All JB has to do is this. " I am the President of the USA. I won a free and fair electio by xxxx votes. I swore an oath of office, qote the oath I have stood by this oath
D T swore the same oath. He broke it. Detail times and ways.
I would like to see Biden use the powers SCOTUS just granted him for good - forgive ALL student debt, ban assault rifles and order their confiscation, add six seats to SCOTUS, etc. Let the MAGAs scream. Let the MAGAs sue. Let Judge Kaszcmarak or some other MAGA slag issue a nationwide injunction, Biden just ignores it. And he gets re-elected in a landslide.
Love it. Wish that would happen.
I tried to hit “Like” but the button’s dead. What’s going on?
100%
call the White House and tell President Biden to get pissed and act!!
The Number is 202-456-1111, and take calls from 11A to 3P, Tues. thru Thurs..
Everyone should call...I am.
(in a whisper) None of that which you listed are in the SCOTUS decision. The decision is all about being charged for criminal acts, not policy actions.
God comment, Peter. The Supreme Court, although Roberts denied it, tailor made that ruling to help Trump and (assuming a win in November) help the Republican agenda. But Biden now has a golden opportunity to turn the tables and use the ruling to do the things you mentioned. and more, even, really exceed normal presidential authority and (if this were a movie) delare the Republican party an illegal organisation - all the SCOTUS conservative justices enemies of the state and place them under arrest. Unfortunately he is unlikely to do any of the things you mention, he is just too good, but if heaven forbid, if Trump gets back in power he will do all of the reverse of what I said and much more - all in the name of official acts. Anybody who votes for Trump needs their head examined other than the criminal element all around him who would then be in the White House. They will be as happy as pigs in shit. As one politician said lately Republicans have no principals, Democrats have no spine.
Brilliant!!
I agree...time for Joe to attack full throttle! Ad a women's health care Executive Order to the Must Do list!
Knock it off. Everyone knows what "bump off" means, and it doesn't belong in these comments.
How about if he has a stroke?
If Only Covid had taken him...
I know. Almost did - and then it didn't!
Am grateful.
References to killings outside of the very few places they belong cross all lines of civil discourse. Same is true with explicit or implicit references to jail/prison rape.
If Hippocrates's "I will abstain from all intentional wrong-doing and harm". can be truncated to "do no harm", (didn't make it better) then surely it's past time to insert "wish no harm" before do no harm. If a person can think it, then they stand a chance to do it.
Amen, bro! Alito and his Nazi colleagues just opened the door for all kinds of shit to rain down on them.
Joe would never do that, he's a good person. But you can be sure if Trump seizes power, he will order more than a few killings.
But Trump is not a good person. My point was that I think he could bump him off, per this SCOTUS ruling.
Trump will be with us, roaming free and spouting lies and bullshit until the day a courageous Big Mac or burt sirloin steak steps up and does its duty by getting lodged in his windpipe.
I would prefer violence, myself.
Kinda agree.
Seriously.
There comes a time when the majority has to take matters into its own hands.
Of course no normal person would do this, but King Donald, who knows? If you read the decision that is literally what it says, as Justice Sotomayor emphasizes.
Just read the full article. Spot on. Time to lift the gloom and focus on our strengths rather than navel gazing about our failures.
Donald Trump is following the playbook of his hero, Adolph, talking to the German people in the 1920s, when those people were struggling and demoralized after their defeat in WWI - The Big War. Germany felt disrespected and put upon by their European neighbors, in light of restrictions placed on them by the victors in that war.
Donald NEEDS that perception of the country to carry his “I alone can remedy it” narratve {pure baloney, but he needs it for the narratve that he will supposedly rescue us from the “new deal” oppression. Do people even know that The New Deal is how Franklin Roosevelt actually rescued the U.S. from the Great Depression? Including Social Security? Egad. Trump is against it all…}
Donald TOTALLY see himself in the role of a Mussolini {he postures and juts his jaw out to look like Benito} and especially his political-strategy hero Hitler, rising from obscurity, overcoming legal hurdles and attacks, and eventually reigning as Der Führer!
This current SCOTUS “opinion” puts the icing on Donny’s cake. His modern-day hero, Valdimir P, must be dancing in the streets, too, anticipating Donny winning the election in November and joining the ranks of new Strong Men around the world.
We cannot let that become reality. We simply cannot.
It’s time for strategizing and planning and holding the barbarians off at the gate …
I’m very, very, VERY frustrated and distraught at the Left for letting the Right trample all over us, again, and again, and again.
I sent the following message to our two Vermont Senators, our lone Congressional Representative, and to the President. How can we wake the Democratic Party UP and get them to push BACK — rationally, legally, SKILLFULLY … ?
I’m worried and stumped — but we have to try. This is my note:
<<< SIR, the Republican Party seems entirely comfortable with — how shall I put this — making “unique” interpretations of governmental laws, rules, and Constitutional obligations … And they show no compunctions acting on those interpretations — from “corporations are people”; to “money is speech”; to Barack Obama can’t nominate a Supreme Court justice eleven months before his administration ends; to Donald Trump can have a Supreme Court Justice approved less than a week before his administration ends; to emoluments seem to be fictions, and Trump can take money from foreign governments renting space in Trump’s hotel while Trump is in office; to the idea that “obstructing official proceedings doesn’t count if you only impede the actions of a legislative body, but you don’t mess up any paperwork”; to Presidents suddenly have carte blanche to do ANYTHING they want under cover of “official business.” And so many more outrageous ideas acted on by the Republicans.
And Democrats sit around watching all this happening, clutching their pearls and crying, “Oh, what will we do? What will we do?”
If there NOTHING that comes to mind, especially now that the Supreme Court seems to have paved the way for …. mmmm, I don’t now … shenanigans, if DJT were to accidentally get “elected” again !
WHY do Republicans have a corner on getting away scott free with crap, and everyone else get’s held to account? Did they sign a contract to sell their souls to Satan, or something?
I’m truly at a loss to explain why THEY are so ready with their machinations, and Democrats are caught flat-footed over and over again.
WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO? I do NOT want Democrats to become as brazen and out-of-control as these Republicans have become. But I cannot cede the game to them, thinking they will always out-maneuver those of us in the Dem and Progressive camps.
I believe in this country as NOT a fascist country.
How are we going to respond to this threat, especially with this new ruling by a Supreme Court, who seem to think their word is the END of discussion — instead of an incentive to get creative and busy turning this awful situation around ….
So….now what!!!? >>>
They planned it like a chess game in slow motion where they knew the ending in advance and could therefore know what moves to make and when.
Two words - Mitch McConnell !! We have to get as devious as the turtle!
I prefer the word “savvy” though
savvy is good, too.
I’ve always imagined the pro democracy men and women in the FBI and other groups have not been sitting idle in the face of this attempted takeover.
I does certainly seem that way …. It’s disheartening in the extreme to know that fascists are still out there still APPEALING to regular folks. I can understand the oligarchs — they’re the ones who will gain both wealth and power. I just don’t understand the mass of people buying their bushwah. But we have to resist letting our country go this way.
Look at the timing. Everything accelerated during and after Covid. The babies of our nation didn’t take to wearing masks. They decided against science and the vaccines. When Trump saw how much power he had by the reaction to masks and vaccines the latest wave was hatched. A crippled economy, an angry frustrated nation —fear, friends and family dying. Then came January 6.
I would care even if our family did NOT have young people who will be on this planet even after I am gone … But I care especially much because we do.
I’ve said for a long time, though, that the size of the human population on this little planet probably drives … deep down … a lot of the problems we deal with, from overheating our atmosphere to overheating our politics. If we don’t address the REAL problems — how to BE on the planet together with so many of us — we won’t be able to solve the ancillary ones. But too many people don’t recognize the real … And not enough agree on how to “be” …
It just occurred to me, if this country were to truly go to Fascism for a while, would the American ex-pat population swell around the world?
And, would that be just another name for migrants and refugees…. ?
And Drumpf was the one responsible for all the deaths that ensued by ignoring the problem of the pandemic if not making light of it!! How do we let him get away with even THAT???
Only trouble was. …Liz Cheney.
This was supposed to refer to my comment just above. Liz put a wrench in Donald and Co.’s best laid plans.
Re Mussolini....I envision him strung up like Mussolini, absurd hairdo waving 18 inches below his head in the wind!
Just had time for the preview, but this is indeed powerful stuff! Being insidiously positive about America - insidious meaning judiciously using sharp facts (infrastructure, chips, jobs, minority small businesses, insulin), it’s Morning In America! Be pointed, blunt Trump rhetoric. Don’t just say he’s lying - say “No wonder Trump is lying about his lowering insulin prices - that’s a huge benefit to many Americans!” What little I watched of the debate, I found Trump’s constant “bla bla bla … destroying our county” drumbeat disgusting.
Go Lucian! By sharing his pride and vision for America, Biden can beat Trump like the America-hating snare drum he is!
I'm afraid "the most admired country" took a tremendous hit after Trump's appearance for four years in the White House. Trump hates everything and everybody and he probably hates his sad little base most of all except to grift them further and they seem more than willing to participate in that. If we can't get enough people to vote because they won't face the facts of what we are confronting now, then heaven help us. I'm worried about the Gen Zers. They are totally turned off, wrinkled nose and huffs of disgust turned off by Biden. They keep saying "old" and I'm constantly having to inject "so it Trump," for whom they wouldn't vote. Hard to make them understand if they sit this one out, what they will get with Trump means they won't get anything they want at all. This is as scary a time as I can remember in my now long life. Can we live here after four more years of Trump because it won't be Trump, it will be Project 2025 and Leonard Leo, and if that doesn't scare you to go vote, nothing will.
I'm hoping folks will see this SCOTUS ruling and what it means to a presidency of a guy like Drumpf, and it motivates everyone to vote for the decent man. Not voting is a vote for the dictator and that is not good for anyone.
Wives should tell their husbands that if they vote for DJT then they will be sleeping on the couch from now on. That strategy worked for Lysistrata.
I’d add a similar approach to family members we’ve been reluctant to cast off during the past 8 years. You know, just “avoid political discussions”. The truth is, Uncle Chuck’s attitude and vote causes harm to me, my family, and my grandchildren. I will die a saner man if I never see Uncle Chuck again, and if he croaks first, his descendants can let me know, or not, I really don’t care.
Believing in Drumpf is much more than just politics, isn't it. It's a character flaw.
A death wish for all...
And that is why the Rs hate women....we have that power over them!
This decision by SCROTUS has jelled the 2024 election campaign into its most elemental opportunity - this election is now ONLY between democracy and autocracy. Everything else is merely detail, no matter how much or how deeply people may feel about those details. That's the whole ball game.....
Right! We no longer have the luxury of saying Biden is too old or arguing that Kamala is not popular or Newsom, Shapiro, etc can't win. It does not now matter who the Dem candidate is. We have to vote en masse for that person. Period. Any Dem will be superior to the alternative. And this also goes for down ballot candidates. Vote Blue no matter who.
It is, if we can get people to know that. It IS!
Brilliant. We must continue to fight. The only other option is pretty fucking bleak.
What the decimated Supreme Court did to us yesterday is F*cking horrific - Is anyone going to organize a massive protest? I’m 70 and just finished chemo and it’s not an undertaking for me, but we desperately need some groups who care about democracy enough to get us off our butts. Black Lives Matter was a good example of what should be happening now. We need to respond en masse to these farcical, newly created rules fit for a King that are unconstitutional led by a far right runaway Supreme Court. If we start holding protests, I for one, will drag myself there repeatedly, if it’s the last thing I do.
It's crazy, but there doesn't seem to much of reaction, beyond outraged pundits, by most people to this horrible decision. People could understand and see the BLM injustice, this opinion, not so much. It's just conduct that MAGA has normalized and people have come to expect. The similarities to the Nazi takeover in Germany has so many similarities, people don't care until it's too late.
They enabled Adolph, and then … all hell … !
People care NOW!
I’m in!
I'm on the bus!
Fuck bleak!
As long as somewhere between a third and half of the electorate believes the daily tsunami of lies that are pumped at them by the right-wing authoritarian propaganda machine of Fox “News” et al., I just don’t see how the Democrats can win.
Trump supporters, who, according to the most recent polls would give him well over 310 electoral votes in November, live in an alternate political reality from the rest of us.
Over 30% of Americans are not even aware that the president appoints Supreme Court justices.
Meanwhile, the allegedly liberal media — like the New York Times —bends over so far to be “fair“ that they sabotage the Democrats ability to win elections.
It is a bleak bleak time…
Agree 100% with you, So “Meanwhile, the allegedly liberal media — like the New York Times —bends over so far to be “fair“ that they sabotage the Democrats ability to win elections.”
It’s an old problem, but patriotic Americans who aren’t hyped up with fascist fear-mongered cortisol need to coordinate to write to the press and sponsors in a way to drown out the reliable right-wing reactionaries. Our local Indivisible group sends out talking points/topics people can work off of.
Many patriotic Americans firing off biting, high-ground criticism to editors about dangerous press appeasement makes a difference!
That was what some were saying in 2020 but we won even with all the BS about a stolen election. Focus groups have shown that some previous Trump voters don't want to vote for him. We can't give up. We have to try.
Except honestly, to this Canadian, Biden sounds like he's spouting off about American exceptionalism. You may have the strongest military and countries may fear that, but it doesn't equal respect. People outside America's borders have been watching your country disappear down the rabbit hole since Reagan. I grew up 26 miles north of Rochester (as the crow flies, across Lake Ontario) - dreaming of one day being an American and daily I recited the pledge of allegiance with Romper Room before going to my Canadian public school. That was the early 60s. I remember everyone crying and school being dismisised in Canada when JFK was shot. You used to be all those things. Back then. And you can be again, with a few big miracles. But you sure as sh-t aren't that now. Sorry. Didn't Joe watch Jeff Daniels on The Newsroom?
This USian hears that too. It's tired old rhetoric that applies mostly to middle-class-and-up white people. Next to that I place the mediocre performance of the Democratic Party -- I use that term to apply to the Democratic organizations at the national and state level, not to rank-and-file Democrats. They did precious little to fight back against Reaganomics and Reaganism, and under Bill Clinton (whom I've long thought of as "Republican Lite") they joined in demonizing people of color and women on welfare.
However, and it's a big HOWEVER, the Biden administration *has* done an admirable job against considerable odds in guiding us out of the mess that Trump, building on the decades of Reagan-related economics and politics that preceded him, left behind. When it comes right down to it, a second term for the Biden administration is our only way out. It alone will not save us, but it will let us continue to find a way out of the morass we're in now.
YES, and we MUST remember that we cannot just get him elected and sit back and relax, The struggle will be LONG, but it’s worth it.
I wish I did NOT agree with this, but I do. We have it in us to respect the values we SAY we hold — government of, by, and for the people of this country, and fostering respect for the people of other countries {not exploiting them only for what they can offer our corporations; but actually respecting them}. We CAN forge that country … we have to want to … and we have to try NOW, because the Project 2025 gang wants to put such dreams far, far away for aa long, long time …
Hang trump on his own words has been recommended as a strategy from the start. We seem to need to be reminded again and again, so thanks. I wish Joe could come up with some new words. Hearing "Joey …" I know I'm about to hear something I've heard a hundred times that Joey's father told him, and I want never again to hear of an empty seat at the table. I doubt I'm the only one.
I never want to hear Joe Biden say "malarkey" again. It's a weak and archaic word. It makes him sound ancient. Joe cannot effectively dismiss or deflect Trump's lies using that word. It's like taking a badminton racquet to a battlefield.
Absolutely right. The Dems are still playing by the archaic old gentleman’s rules, made obsolete by the GOP, which has gleefully and quickly adapted to the realpolitik of today.
Hear hear.
Lighten up! ItsIrish for BULLSHIT!
How much more effectivre if he'd articulate the American BULLSHIT!
It's too polite for these purposes. One of my teachers in elementary school used that word. She was a sweetie pie.
Yes...it's enough already with that!
Exactly so, Lucien.
Who better than Thomas Jefferson’s descendant to say this.
Why does the GOP despise women so?
Lucian. I nearly always read each post to your Substack column; I have great respect for your opinions, your writing, your life choices, your conduct, even your wisdom! You may be right, that this black/white, good/evil version of voting choice this time around can propel Biden to political victory. I'm not so sure. I do not love my country. I love my wife; I love our son; I love my friends and neighbors. I love townspeople with whom I have worked diligently in local government for our common good, even when we know that our politics on some issues are irreconcilable. Sure, that is exemplary of the founding spirit of this country, a core principle enacted among people who know each other & value civility. But the wider the circle, the more this love that I know attenuates. At national scale, it is gone. How can I love the country that, say, invaded & occupied Afghanistan for twenty years? That's only a recent example. I can recognize the fact, work against such disgraceful national conduct, but I cannot love my country. My vote against Trump will not be based on love of country, nor will it be an affirmation of the politics of a man who has failed to use his power to thwart war crimes. If love of country becomes a winning political strategy for Democratic success this time around, I will be greatly relieved--and bothered by what I know as a suspect, even dangerous, motivation. Many MAGA also believe in their own love of country, and no absurd, fear-mongering rhetoric will dissuade them.
I've always factored in all that stuff in love of country. The thing is, it's ours, for better or worse. If we don't love it and help it, the country will go to pieces, as it has already at least partially done under Trump, and would be damaged further if he wins. It's all or nothing this time.
Not to mention slavery, racial segregation/inequality the internment of Japanese Americans ,the invasion of Vietnam. There’s a lot not to love. At my local Trump supporting veteran’s organization I do mouth the Pledge of Allegiance but my heart is not in it.
Lest we forget, W and Cheney and the neocons invasion of Iraq. And the stealing of the election of Al Gore. And while we're at it, the electoral college is certainly doing the opposite of what the framers thought they were doing!!
Joe can beat drumpf with the THREE C’S… CONTRAST CONTRAST CONTRAST!
All JB has to do is this. " I am the President of the USA. I won a free and fair electio by xxxx votes. I swore an oath of office, qote the oath I have stood by this oath
D T swore the same oath. He broke it. Detail times and ways.
Who should be your President?"
Maybe with tad more spice, and this is an excellent 12-18!second irresistible sound-bite!