A week ago, I started my post to you with some comments made by Kevin Roberts, the head of the Heritage Foundation and architect of Project 2025, when he learned Democrats were making plans to take on Project 2025.
With this as a threat the NY Time was full of nothing but President Biden should quit. If our thinking has become so shallow we can’t tell substance from air, hot air from merit… we will loose our democracy, if not this November to Project 25, some time soon. Democracy requires thinking, caring people. President Biden is being subjected to neither. The press should be reporting nothing but Project 25 threat. President Biden should stay the course, we need him desperately.
They need to fire the moles on the editorial board. I have read the Times for probably 70 years, from all over the world. I cancelled my subscription today. They used to be a great newspaper. They can be again.
I just wrote a very sad letter to Sam Sifton about losing access to the Cooking app and missing his newsletters, and I canceled the subscription. There's a baby in there somewhere, but that bathwater cannot remain in my house.
I’ve been toying with canceling since the Hillary coverage. My daughter urged me to, but still I dithered. So many other features! Etc. etc. but I pulled the trigger yesterday and told them why. They are enabling fascism.
Good for you. And for all the others cancelling. They (and many others) need to feel the hurt in their wallets. I cancelled the Times years ago. Wapo too. Used to have NPR on the radio everyday to and from work. They began to engage in so much both-siderism, they lost all value. Haven't listened to NPR in 10 years. So sad. There is a big difference between right and wrong, truth and fiction, good and evil. Those differences need to be called out plainly. Without equvocation.
I too stopped listening to NPR, but I held on till 2016. I’m almost 66, and my habits for the last 40+ years have been built around NPR, the NYT, and other outlets, all of which have in recent times disillusioned me. It’s a blow to the identity, in a way, but it is they who have devolved.
Dan, I find NPR problematic too because they do that "balancing act," which of course is no balance, but a statement that a lie is the same as the truth and we hope you'll figure out which is which. I still listen and I like a lot of the programs, just not the news coverage.
OK where do we go? Believe it or not, the Philadelphia Inquirer still has principles and, excuse the expression, "stones." That may be where I go. There is the Guardian (thoughts?) and I subscribe to Le Monde but......
We subscribe only to the crossword puzzles of the NYT because they are really good and keep our brains active. I know my mother always loved the NYT, but I'm glad I never got into newspaper reading.
Connie, I have been suspicious of them since Trump and the birther nonsense when they covered it as though there could possibly have been any truth to it. They have a bunch of folks who are supposed to be able to check for the truth but clearly they didn't care enough to do it and they let itgrow into an insane story that was completely irrelevant since Obama's mom was an American citizen and Hawaii had been a state for 2 years before Barack was born, and a territory long before that. The NYT should have shut the whole thing down on day 1 and called out anyone else who didn't; they didn't. Then there was the coverate of Trump since the "golden escalator." Their staff knew exactly what Trump was since he was a New Yorker, but they pumped Trump up as though he were some kine of demigod. It was embarrassing and just plain wrong! They covered Trump every day mentioning the stupid things Trump said, but just as though they were true. They called none of it a lie and all of it was lies. They covered Hillary Clinton with "Ben Gazi" and "emails" nearly every time they mentioned Trump. One had to dig deep to find out where she stood on the real, honest issues. Reagan, for example was never blamed for the Marine deraths in Lebanon in the 1980s the way Clinton was and we lost 241 or so with Reagan. It was and continues to be pathetic with its political coverage! I will no longer follow a link to the NYT because as far as I am concerned, they are no better than the Enquirer and do not deserve my attention. Most of the rest of our mainstream media is following the NYT down the rabbit hole into ridiculous support of a would-be tyrant! Disgusting!
I canceled but paid a $25.00 fee to access the games for a year! Although the recipes are enticing, an internet search will help you find good things to cook, too. I hope this helps you quit! "Illegitimati Non carborundum."
The internet is full of great cooks offering recipes and details for cooking. Who made the NYT the czar of cooking. Explore these other great sites. You might actually enjoy this ride through the culinary world. I do not miss this publication nor do I respect anyone associated with it anymore.
You are very right, Marie. Most of the recipes I use today are from food blogs. Every so often I explore and find a new one, though my subscription request didn't seem to take with the last one I found. For me, what's great, is that I've been able to find simple recipes that work with the diet I need to follow. I would definitely encourage people to check out food blogs. It's worth the effort.
I collect vintage and modern cookbooks in print, and believe me, the recipes are much better. You don't need to support a newspaper that engages in bad journalism.
Hello Marycat, I have enjoyed reading your comments over time and now to find out you’re a fellow vintage cookbook collector. They are so rewarding to read and to use. I adore a well put together casserole made with quality ingredients and some of those vintage appetizers and desserts.
Trump set up that pullout even though the military at the top told him it would be a disastrous, and he even agreed to releasing 5,000 Taliban fighters-- read terrorists. Trump told the military leaders-- the next guy can handle it. Trump set up the disaster and manned it with those 5,000 Taliban terrorists/fighters.
I did the same thing with the Washington Post. After 30 years of supporting that paper I could no longer continue paying for a paper that has been destroyed by Bezos and that idiot Lewis, he brought on from the UK.
It was hard to do for various reasons, but I cancelled the other day. I believe they are being reckless with the information they spew. The top half of the paper has been about Biden for a week. Meanwhile Kevin Roberts threatening violence was nowhere to be found and few people I talk to even know what Project 2025 is. That is a failure of the press. The Biden stuff is all conjecture, fluff. Meanwhile the fact that Trump is lying, calling for violence, consorting with radicals, and the SCOTUS is corrupt and invalid falls by the wayside.
I WAS a subscriber, but when they had an Editorial on "Time for Biden to Go" (whatever it was) I immediately unsubscribed. I hope more people do the same.
Me, too, from the NY Times and WaPo. They've been subsumed by wealthy Republicans. They're the ones we should fear, not immigrants seeking a better life.
Yes, I just cancelled my NYT subscription and let them know the reasons why: slanted, pro-wealthy right wing articles and op-ed, lack of reporting on Biden’s accomplishments for the past 3 1/2 years, lack of reporting on the horrible debate performance of Trump in this past debate & lastly, not sounding the alarm on Project 2025 by continual reporting on how it will obliterate our freedoms & choices that our Democracy affords us.
I canceled mine today. I was in a wait and see mode and these latest postings have left me furious and disgusted, and so I canceled today, and since I am paid up until December, I have left a message for them that I want to be removed from their lists. Let the MAGAs support them. Their journalists are not my responsibility. The ones who are not caving into the right-wing are going to have to figure their own ways to making a living responsibly. I am also looking at extracting myself from Amazon. In Germany I live without a car, so I have to look at how I can extricate myself from them. Have already been thinking about this. Certainly not throwing business their way if I have alternatives.
With regard to breaking free from Amazon: Cut the name and brand of the item you are thinking of buying. Paste it into the Google search engine. Hit search. You will get other places selling the item. Often for the same price or less.
Usually you will get the website of the manufacturer. I give myself bonus points for buying from them (if price within range of other sellers) because I've eliminated the middleman.
I cancelled my subscription yesterday. Told the girl answering the phone it was because of their failure to report on substance and she said she was so sorry.
I’m a reluctant democrat. But more Truely, I’m independent and although I have more in common with politically democratic principles, my belief is that they have moved to far to the left if in fact that is the correct word usage. Republicans have definitely moved to the far right. The center is being hollowed out. This is the Grand Mistake being played out today. The more one side moves to their chosen direction, the more the other side moves in the opposite. History mostly teaches that when this occurs, autocracy wins and often it’s the autocracy of the right not the left.
Useful to read. My own word of caution would be to beware false equivalencies. I’m an independent myself, but don’t see any equivalence to Project 2025 on the Democratic side, or an interest in autocracy by Democrats vs free and expanded voting and in general democratic principles. No group is perfect, but the Republicans seem to be primarily advocating white Christian fascism, and I can’t endorse that. Oh, and the lying … far far far far more of that on the right, to the point where I simply turn away. Good luck to you as you figure out what to do!
Actually, some research has proven that the right has moved very far to the right while the left really hasn't moved that far to the left. It isn't "center" whatever that means, but it hasn't moved far to the left. The Democratic Party allows dissent within its ranks, and allows its members to disagree. This diversity (which Republicans see as a flaw) is actually a strength. The Republican Part is the Borg, a hive mind where dissent is punished with exile. Which legislation that the Democratic Party passed is too far to the left for you? Biden is hardly a far left politician, he's very centered which is why some people in the party don't like his policies. When LBJ signed Civil Rights legislation into law many considered that as being radical and too far left. Where a policy or law sits on this scale is a matter of perspective, not an absolute. Marriage equality and abortion rights are other such issues that moved from the left to the center. Please stay aligned with the Democratic Party as we need diverse thinking and different opinions, otherwise you have a dictatorship (Project 2025).
In my observation the Dems are middle of the road and the Republicans are right-wing, fascists at this point. I know what the left is. I have a neighbor in the US who is Leftist, and my mom has friends in Germany who are Leftist. Left the Dems are not. My US leftist neighbor believes that the schools are too racist and she works with women in prisons as a lawyer. My mom's friend in Germany has a lot of ideas that mesh with the right like that Putin is not a bad guy and she is against supporting Ukraine, but she is not anti-immigrant. Caring about saving the environment so that our species and other can live in it, feeding, clothing, sheltering, providing health care and education to our population, and providing protections to the people from internal and external enemies should be mainstream concerns. Isn't that what Democrats stand for? Biden is not left he is a center politician. He knows that the center gets more things done because it alarms fewer people even if it angers those on the left and the right. Early on he was much more progressive, but over time he has learned to pick things where he can be effective. He does support a lot of progressive policies. It probably helps that he has grandchildren who let him know what their issues are. Unfortunately, many people in the USA have no idea what government does, how it works and what Biden has accomplished. They also don't understand the economic impact of climate change, so the Republicans can dupe them with ideas like the dems want to take away your cheap gas run car and gas cars are better. The fossil fuel industry has been indulged by our political structure for far too long for Biden to just get rid of it right away. Plenty of that money is flowing into the Trump coffers, mostly to be used to pay his enormous legal costs. Many do not understand the economic importance of immigrants, but for the most part we are a country that has celebrated immigrants and I don't think that spirit is gone. We just need to embrace it and remind people that we are a country of indigenous people and immigrants.
It occurs to me that with the distance the republicans have moved to the right, that movement may make the democrats' position look further to the left, although it is not, IMO. Personally, I like that the democrats are on the side of dealing with climate change, true freedom for all, and human rights. I agree with others that Biden is a centrist, not a radical leftist.
Yes. This is a fascist propagandist narrative from the Republicans. They misuse language as a tool to shape perception and as such have been controlling a lot of narratives that need to be deconstructed and destroyed. Immigrants are not a bad thing. We should be controlling our fossil fuel use and concerned about climate change. We should care about human beings and their well being. Will have more specifics as my Democrats Abroad group reads and discusses Project 2025.
The right-wing fascist spin machine was AWOL when immigrant farm workers did not show up. Fruit and vegetables were left to rott in the fields.
You would never see Orange Hitler...Melanoma....Ivana....Kimberly.....MTG.....etc ...GOP-nazii collaborator militas out in the hot sun picking produce.
Linda, I was reading about the EPA in Project 2025 and what I saw was that if the EPA policy was something they didn't like, they labelled it as political. I guess that anything they don't like that the other side does is political. I'm glad I can see through that kind of stuff. I definitely believe that we should care about human beings wherever they live, and whatever they look like, and as the daughter of an immigrant, I believe strongly in the good that immigrants bring to our country. I'll be interested to see what else your group comes up with as you read it.
I am an immigrant in Germany even though I have had German citizenship from birth, and my mom and husband are immigrants in the US, as are so many of my friends. I believe in the good they bring too, and let us hope I am bringing good wherever I live. I will be happy to discuss it. We have decided already that we will try to engage in conversation wherever we go. A natural activity for a former teacher.
(Homage to Donald Trump’s ‘Proud Boys’ and Others)
Fred Jackson was a proud rebel in The Great Northern Militia Alliance. He and his wife Ruth were often found hosting summer neighborhood barbecues. They easily found new supporters for the coming war to take back America. Fred stationed himself at the pit and handed out chicken legs drenched in homemade sauce to new, unsuspecting recruits -- kinda like a politician on election-day would do; promising a chicken in every pot. Talk of big government, guns and revolt would come later.
Fred and his cohorts believed themselves to be the direct Anglo-Saxon descendants of America's 18th century rabble-rousers who tossed bales of tea into Boston harbor after news of the British Stamp Act reached these shores. But tea-toddlers, they weren’t.
He was proud of his new-found abilities to recruit and had recently been promoted by the Alliance to the rank of sergeant of his own local militia. Wasting no time consolidating resources, Fred collected everything from boxes of canned food to crates of assault weapons. All were discreetly stored away in basements and underground bunkers in his local neighborhood.
Strategic plans were soon under way as this historic moment arrived, the moment to take back America. A secret, unnamed Northern Alliance militia representative from high up the chain of command visited one evening to give a short pep talk to the men and their wives in the basement of Jackson's home.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” the mysterious commander said, “the time has come to act. We must stop the tyranny and treasonous actions of our government. Today we take action. We will starve the beast into submission. We will bring the entire nation to a screeching halt by whatever means are necessary. And we will un-steal the election. You know who I’m talking about; the great populist himself, codenamed, “OrangeFatso.””
“Yep”… they screamed in unison, “Save our leader, OrangeFatso.”
He jabbered on like this awhile longer and then said something about how it was one's duty to avoid payment of taxes like they did in the Boston revolt.
A rebel in the audience was overheard mumbling that, “Maybe them damned liberals wouldn't be so bad if we could just shoot a few.” as he cleaned and oiled his weapon. After the rousing speech ended, the mysterious speaker made way out of Fred's hatchway as quickly as he had arrived and was driven off into the night before anyone could ask questions.
The next day, Fred called for another drill. The basement was a good place to train without attracting attention. His supportive wife listened from upstairs as she tapped her foot to the muffled sounds of her husband's marching orders.
During the drill, Fred's wife heard her husband cry,
"Oh no… not again. I told you not to march forward in the cellar."
"Ruthie honey," Fred yelled from the basement, "Billy bumped into the wall again and now has a nose bleed. Quick, get me an ice pack."
One thing that should be noted about the division of labor between the men folk and their women; it was written in the Northern Militia Alliance's “Code of Conduct” that men would do the fighting and the women would play supportive roles – just like in the olden days of the founders. Their women were as important as Betsy Ross – who is thought to have sewn the first flag – was to the cause of revolt.
The country of Fred's birth was no longer recognizable to him. Waves of foreigners had migrated across the unprotected southern frontier. His leader had often spoken of building a really high wall to keep out the hordes. The government, Fred believed, was overrun with big-spending liberals and nanny-state socialists. Fred even thought that his own past president of the United States was born in another country.
“He wasn’t born here. You know he owes his allegiance to the United Nations,” cried Fred.
Encrypted communiques were now being sent and received with increasing frequency throughout the “Alliance.” The days of waiting had drawn to a close.
And so it came to pass. The militia teams began assembling. They gathered along every mountain pass and byway. They took positions beside bridges and waterways. Fred's platoon prepared to assault its assigned mountain. This really was only a big hill but these rebels had a tendency to magnify everything around them including the importance of they’re mission. Their watches were synchronized.
Sergeant Jackson finally gave the order to charge.
“CHARRRRRRGE!” he screamed.
The men began their long, wild, rickety-split charge to the top of the assigned hill. Fred held his assault rifle in the air with one hand, and with the other grabbed his pants before they slipped down below his protruding belly – an unfortunate victim of too many beer-drinking strategy sessions.
Well they whooped and hollered for so long that soon most of the militia troops were out of breath. By the time they reached the summit, the sergeant could be heard cussing' (at no one in particular.) He wondered if he had rushed up the wrong hill. His GPS repeated, “recalculating... recalculating...” His phone vibrated on his belt and he quickly grabbed it and listened intently.
His head turned slowly downward as he stared at his mud-caked boots. His heart was pounding. He was breathing fast.
“Yes sir, I see. But when are we...? Win the hearts and minds, first? But...OK, I’ll inform the men.”
The sergeant ordered roll call and sadly told his men that not only did they seize the wrong hill, but the unseen generals had decreed that this was only a drill. The real revolution was yet to come but now, without the element of surprise. Dejected, they began to hobble down the green hill.
Then suddenly, Sergeant Jackson received another message. This time, he could hardly contain himself. Something new had just happened and word was spreading like wildfire. His fingers quivered as he responded:
“I’ll tell the men right away.” The sergeant rallied the now exhausted rag-tag men around him and excitedly yelled,
“All hands to Burns, Oregon. The government is assaulting some ranchers. The Bunkerville boys from Nevada are leading the counter assault. I'll be driving out at first light if anyone needs a ride.”
Fred finally made it home in his Ford pick-up truck while still sweating from the long charge. His dear sweet Ruthie waited at the half-opened door as dusk settled in.
“Come in my hero. I made your favorite hot soup for you.”
Fred stumbled in and sat at their kitchen table and slurped down the refreshing food. He then went straight to bed without explaining anything to his worried wife about the disappointing details of the false deployment.
Fred dreamed about the new revolution soon to sweep the land of his birth – the land he hardly recognized any more. And he dreamed that his name would one day be enshrined 100 years from now, along the nearby interstate highway where he lived. The sign would read: “The Sergeant Fred Jackson Expressway: Named for a Patriot of The Second American Revolution Who Stood His Ground and Helped Take Back America.”
Then Fred farted and repositioned his head on the pillow as he slept like a baby all night long.
I’m sorry. Every writer is a self-promoter. If you don’t like self promoters, then don’t read anything. And be happy that you are in a blissful state of an uncluttered mind.
Please vote democrat so this will not be our last Independence Day with a FREE democratic nation. Trump said he will terminate parts of the Constitution, and has started telling his rally-goers that there no reason why he shouldn't be able to be elected four times like FDR did. So one of his first terminations will likely be the 22nd Amendment limiting the number of terms a person can be elected to. Then why not limit free speech and proclaim a state religion; there's no end to his termination list. Heh's already promised to sign an absolute abortion plan even to save women's lives. He's a very severely narcissitic man who is thrilled to run the lives of 340 million Americans. I can't bear the thought of my sons' being asked some day by their grandchildren what a democracy is and why don't we have one any more.
I am not a Social Democrat in Germany, although I could be. I am a Green Party member. I could not be Green in the USA because it has a two party system. Most Germans don't really understand this, and do not understand our elections because of this. I personally would like the Republican Party to consume itself and disappear to be replaced by the at least 2 different parties that is subsumes.
I agree that Biden should stay the course. I got a WaPo alert yesterday that he is considering stepping down due to pressure from donors and other Dems. That was not the message I got from the Biden campaign. I recommend that everyone write their elected Democratic representatives and ask them to fully support Biden in word and deed. I did this yesterday. I also have written Biden to tell him I am 100% behind him. Everything that is going on is fascist propaganda from the mainstream press. Their oligarchic ownership is showing in the protection of the obscenely wealthy from paying taxes as their primary reason for supporting Trump. We have allowed our media to be coopted. The left-wing press is against Biden too, so I can only refute their messages as well. My Democrats Abroad Group has a subgroup that is going through articles discussing Project 2025 as preparation for reading it in a book club this summer. We want to be informed advocates for our candidate and against Trump and the Republican party which has become to the USA what the Nazi party was to Germany. Biden is the best president in my lifetime. Please learn about the fascist propaganda techniques being employed right now, by the violent White Supremacists ready to overthrow our government along with other figures on this planet who want to take over and make a White Nationalist world. Read Prof. Kathleen Belew's book Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America. This White Nationalist takeover has been planned since after the Oklahoma City bombing. We have a party of terrorists trying to paint the normalness of the Democratic party as extremist. They are the extreme ones.
Linda, I appreciate many if not all of your comments. This one got me thinking. How many voters and voters-to-be who like Joe Biden and who are aware of his many accomplishments while in office, buy into the mainstream media rhetoric about his age being a deal-breaker and about the poor showing at the “debate”?
I think most of us that back Joe do NOT buy it at all and see it for what it is. Most of us stay mum until the election and on election day vote for Joe Biden.
Agreed! I’m sick of the ageism. I am floored with the reactivity. David Ignatius and his pompous attitude. What is that saying? Something about glass houses and rocks. SO SAD….
Agreed! I've quit BOTH the NY Times and, today, the Washington Post. Neither one of them seems to understand the gravity of some of their opinionists - or maybe they do. I'm sick of these panty-waste journalists stumbling over each other trying to figure out who the democrats should nominate. Clear and simple - it's Biden/Harris. It will be either Biden or Trump in November. Full stop! Obviously "we the people" will have to overcome not only Trump but the MSM in November. If the Climate Crisis isn't enough, or the Rogue Supreme isn't enough then, as Joyce is (and has been) pointing out, read Project 2025. I've downloaded it and I'm close to 100 pages in and, to say the least, it's ALARMING! I really recommend Rachel Maddow's "Prequel" as a must read. If you don't have the time for that watch NPR's "Nazi Town USA." You might have to donate $5 to them to get past their paywall, but it will get your attention and it reminds me of Project 2025. It's "ALL HANDS ON DECK!"
Alas even NPR keeps spewing about Democrats wanting Biden to step down.
I spend a huge amount of time driving and NPR is what I have listened to for many years. I turned it off in anger today. I'll be writing a letter to them tomorrow. Good grief! When our national public radio has turned from truth to sound bites you can't help feeling totally screwed.
I see that in the Associated Press and the Guardian too. Where is the line between the press reporting the news and creating the news. I think that that line has been erased.
WPR (the origin of public radio) has recently switched a significant number of stations to classical music from news. I cancelled my monthly contribution. I am not joining them on the deck of the Titanic.
The NYTimes and WaPo have been my core information resources for a long time. I agree with comments about the slide of both of them. As a digital and paper subscriber I’ve been amazed at the disparity of articles and particularly photos in favor of Trump. Color photos of Trump cover the first few paper pages, no matter what the subject is. If at all, Biden may get a black and white deeply buried many pages down. This has been noticeable all during Biden’s presidency.
I have also had The Guardian (which has a British and a US version) and Associated Press as well as Substacks and things like Carnegie Foundation News, World Nuclear News, Counterterrorism report, Foreign Affairs, Euro News and local news including my neighborhoods newsletters in both the US and in Germany where I also live. I read about both the US, Germany and the EU each day a since I live in both the US and Germany.
I have a wapo subscript... If i cancel it, what major newspapers ARE doing a good job? I would like to subscribe to something else that IS doing good work. TY
Courier Newsroom and Substack writers Robert Hubbell, Simon Rosenberg, Josh Marshall, Jessica Craven, Heather Cox Richardson. I cancelled NYT months ago. WaPo is next. The bias is sickening.
You can also download the podcasts for Prequel for free. Listened to it on a road trip last fall and it was chilling, and very much in line with what’s happening today
The Guardian (US) is my newer go-to news organization. It produces a weekly politics/government newsletter titled, The Stakes. It is highlighting the threats to American democracy and to democratic oriented countries around the world.
For investigative news, ProPublica shines. I subscribe to both - both are non-profit, reader donation-based organizations. The NYT and WaPo aren't in my sights anymore, and I am missing nothing of import. Cut the cord.
I canceled the NYT and later WaPo a while ago. Yesterday the Globe went after the above the fold article on why Biden should drop out. They all heard why. They are trying to make news rather than report it to sell papers or maybe Donnie pays them. I lived in the DC area when WaPo was doing the hatchet job on Jimmy Carter and I blame it for bringing in crazy lazy Raygun, who had Alzheimer’s. The “disastrous debate” wasn’t a debate, moderators failed to enforce rules and stand up to the stream of lies. You can’t trust a lying cheating bully who won’t show his taxes or his college grades. He has a trove of government secrets he has probably been selling to his dictator buddies. 💩🤡🎃
Lynn, I agree that the most urgent issue of the day is Project 2025 and that the press is obligated rigorously to ensure the truth about it is revealed through reporting its contents in a readily accessible format. Still, in my view, the enemy is not the NYTimes or other publications and news outlets that are calling on us to take stock of whether we think that staying the current course is the best way to defeat Trump. I believe it’s precisely because people care so much about Democrats beating Trump that they feel the need to raise these questions.
Thanks Barbara, Yes, I agree, by-in-large, both are still great newspapers. I also believe they have moles in their editorial staffs undermining them as well as democracy. Moles strike at strategic times. For the NY Times to turn off the debate and immediately send out emails that President Biden should step down is the work of moles, not reporters who ask "Why." Then, after that blunder to double down ala CFDT was the last straw. Columnist write what they want, the newspaper does not, nor should not, control them. Though it was shocking to see the Chicken Little hysteria, one after another on the opinion page.
Lynn, Admittedly, my principal concern, echoed across the media landscape, relates to Biden’s ability to think and speak extemporaneously for an extended period, a low bar, in my view, for the Presidency. I understand we can expect to see Biden over the next week or so in a range of unscripted situations, including interviews, a press conference, maybe a town hall, and so forth. I expect the point, rightly so, is for voters increasingly to view Biden’s meandering debate performance last Thursday as an outlier. Whatever happens, if it ends up that Joe Biden is the nominee out of the Convention, I would hope that everyone who cares about our democracy would do everything they could to help Biden defeat Trump.
It's not just the NYT, WaPo is the same, and now The Atlantic is bleating the same message that Biden must step aside. The Atlantic used to be a pretty moderate publication...it seems that all of media, apart from the few Substack heroes, are in for the trump/fascism win. We can reclaim our democracy - don't let up on the fight.
All the basics to how we got here have been written in the pages of Dark Money by Jane Mayer.
The clock is closing in on midnight. If you find the time to firm up your foundational knwolege, this is the place to go.........one online review..........
"This is the most important book I have read about our democracy being destroyed by extreme right wing billionaires. The Democrats should be making this a talking point every opportunity they have. This book should be required reading, with discussion in every 12th grade class whether a Public or Private School"
Thanks for the reminder, Will ! I just dusted off my copy and am again celebrating brave and true journalism. I am a retired journalist and have been pretty dang depressed.
Lynn, My husband wrote this letter that I distributed to people who we know around the country. Many felt the same way and were inspired to write their own letters. It's up to us.
Joseph Kahn, Executive Editor
The New York Times
620 Eighth Avenue
New York, NY 10019
Dear Mr. Kahn:
For some time now, the Times editorial and news slant has clearly been directed at undermining the re-election of President Biden. That has now intensified to the point where it isn't just news anymore. This is no longer “The News That’s Fit To Print.”
My family has been trusting The Times since the 1930s. I am now 88 years old and in full possession my faculties so I find your obsession with the President’s age to be insulting and distressing to the point that I have taken the paper off my home page.
President Biden has done more good for this country that any president in generations. President Biden is a statesman who has re-affirmed the respect for our country throughout the world; something Donald Trump is determined to destroy.
The re-election of Donald Trump will mean the end of a free press in this country and I’m sure the Times is at the top of his hit list.
Really, Joe did a bad job once, and it's a handy excuse to get rid of him because he's old. His explanation of why he was so out of it that night was quite plausible. If Biden drops out, this country is doomed.
I am disillusioned and disgusted by the NYT. It is helpful to hear I am not alone. I continue to wonder if they are secretly hoping for a Trump win, since that is the impact their reporting could have.
I really feel they want trump to win. Maybe they want to be in his good graces if he wins and not be censored since they will go along with his lies. Money is their god, the heck with the truth.
Lynn, that was so well said. I have no idea what has become of "The New York Times," a source of information I used to trust. Now, I can't trust it and it makes me sad. They have had a proud history, but it seems, they have been bought by the anti-democracy forces and undermining Biden is just one of their strategies. Disgusting!
The Heritage Foundation & The Federalist Society have been working for decades behind the scenes to change America into a “Christian Nation.” Project 2025 will be a reality if Trump is reelected. Trump & MAGA have succeeded in destroying democracy as we know it. They will kill it on Day 1. The Supreme Court has been bought and paid. Thomas & Alito are shopping cases to overturn what we thought was law. For ANYONE who thinks this is okay. It’s not. And we already know how the book was written and how the story ends because Hitler told us and showed us. It’s terrifying. It has literally shook me to my core. I feel paralyzed.
To Kimberly - and that is exactly what they want you to feel. But you do still have a choice at the voting box on November 5th 2024. The best we can do is deter this heavy propaganda machine and get to the polls in November or send in your ballet early if you can. Make no mistake. We only have one choice. Biden or the unthinkable. Make up your mind to stop tyranny in its tracks. We’ve done it before and we can do it again. Courage will get us over the finish line.
Oh, I will be voting like my life depends on it, because it does. But the fact that 46% of our country will never abandon Trump and the MAGA machine is a reality we have to face down. I can be terrified and paralyzed, but still motivated and willing to do the work to make sure our country survives. I’m not a quitter, but the wave of opposition is a category 5. And who would have thought SCOTUS would tip the scales.
Kimberly I write simply to note that the reported percentages don’t include the several millions of eligible but unregistered citizens. Fortunately, several organizations operate rigorous programs to get increasingly more eligible folks registered, among them FieldTeam6, whom I always can count on for lists we have a real shot at reaching.
I’m writing postcards to registered Dems who vote infrequently. Activate America supplies the names/ addresses and script. We’ve all got to put in the work to save democracy!
Cheryl, I appreciate you writing and agree that everyone who cares about our democracy has to do everything they can to help Democrats up and down the ballot win their races. Btw, I, too, write postcards for Activate America as part of their effort to mobilize voters to elect pro-choice candidates.
I took a quick look at Activate America’s website and I got the impression that you have to be a resident of a state to send postcards for that state. Am I correct?
"The Heritage Foundation & The Federalist Society have been working for decades behind the scenes to change America into a “Christian Nation.”"
I think this is misconceived ... the Heritage Foundation, the Federalist Society, and a hundred other right-wing bodies, have used "Christianity" (and millions of its gullible followers) to create a smokescreen - it's not about godliness in the slightest - it is about money and power and the freedom for corporations to gain more money and more power.
It is raw naked capitalism trying to give itself some moral respectability via the Church - but the Koch Brothers (and hundreds of others) wanting an unregulated pathway to make another billion - that is all that matters. And similarly, the Mad Right doesn't derive its anti-abortion stance from a "Christian" basis - but from a straight white patriarchal one.
How can someone who claims to be a Christian do and speak very UN-Christian things? My advice would be to tell these hypocrites that they have to pick one of these choices. My wish would be that they choose the right thing, but as long as these two organizations exist, I'm afraid it won't be possible, at least not in our lifetime.
Meanwhile, Kimberly, I'm feeling exactly like you are, even to the point of feeling paralyzed.
Dear Diane, I am back from a surrealist trip to California to😭 see my grandchildren. As I have mentioned before, my daughter and her hubby are both Christian Nationalists with the large jug of Trump's Special Cool-Aid in the fridge. We had agreed to not speak politics before I went out, and if one can do that, it all went well. However, the depth of brain washing was something I have never experienced myself before, and my tongue is half bitten off. I managed to be respectful of being a guest in their home, and because of the kids (who are on a steady diet of Cool-Aid) it was a nice time, but I did not feel "home". My daughter is no longer family (😭), and makes it quite clear how much she disrespects my values (I guess she let it rip because it is her home). My Family up to this generation have all been ANTIFA and ready to pick up arms to defend against Nazi's, Bolsheviks, Catholic Popes, etc and now NAXI's. Unfortunately in these times I am too old and frail. All I can do is recruit and VOTE.
I faced the same tongue biting a month ago when we traveled to a family reunion for my mother’s 83rd birthday. I knew my mother and brother are deep into MAGA. It was still a shock to hear the things they say as if everyone must surely agree. Longest week of my life! The only consolation is they live in very Blue Oregon. I don’t ever plan to visit again. We exchange cordial text messages about flowers and recipes. That’s all there is left of our relationship. Grateful for my husband, son and 4 wonderful grandkids. Hang in there. Having family on earth two is very sad.
Last week, I was at a 90th birthday for my mother-in-law attended by her MAGA spawn and Husband. My husband and I are the only blues in the group. It was a rule that no one was to mention politics …. Or it would be Teresa Guidice moment for me with a table flip. I now only do what needs to be done to assist with the in laws healthcare. However, that is dwindling to a trickle- soon to be nonexistent. Cannot believe how quickly we got here… I’ve always told my kids that life is all about choices. And, these people have made their choices….
Linda, I am sorry for your pain. We must be feeling what so many felt in the 1850's for their family members in the far South. Recruit and Vote, before we have to Shoot and choke! (did I just say that?)
I also have this same scenario. It is depressing. But, we at least in my presence, agree not to talk politics EVER. They know how I stand, and still get their digs in, as I sit quietly. Trump has done a real number on our people and Country…and now he is immune from any accountability. Nice. Grrrrrr
me too. A siblings reunion...I asked my sisters to leave politics out of our conversations, and one nite they all shouted over each other to make their MAGA points and ridicule Biden and curse the Democrats. I finally said I needed to go to bed since I had nothing to contribute to the conversation. Yes, they talk like everyone in the world agrees with them...never thought I would see that day!
What trump did was allow people who always felt this way to say it out loud without any repercussions. This strain has always been here - That hero Charles Lindbergh and America First. trump's father was a full blown Nazi, his grandfather who was draft dodger from Germany and a cheat and a swindler in this country. In fact, he got back in because he married an American, so true to the family mission, he was a trailing spouse. But I digress.....the point, the strain nurtured and cosseted by the Minute Men and the John Birch Society. They started by taking over school boards.....that was 50 years ago. Here we are today. The fruition of 50+ years of working to overthrown an equitable and fair form of government.
Linda, if you do come back to Oregon, swing through Eugene. I’ll buy you a beverage (coffee, tea, beer, and wine all are excellent here). You’ll need a cleansing after that.
Sorry to hear that. It has permanently divided my family as well. Even if Biden wins, I can never think the same of them again. Why be a traitor to the best governing document yet devised?
"Why be a traitor to the best governing document yet devised?"
While I sympathise with you regarding your family divisions over politics, I can't agree with the "best governing document yet devised" part - it has so many flaws, and so many anti-democratic features, that it's in some ways a good model of how NOT to write a Constitution - or certainly not basing one on a presumption that men and women of goodwill will always be in positions of power.
Sorry to be critical of an American sacred document, but it is a source of great problems as well as good. To my mind the three LEAST democratic bodies - the Presidency, the Senate, and the Supreme Court - have far too much power over the true people's house.
Did I say that somewhere, Ian? I tend to agree with you. The Christian Nationalists have a brilliant remedy for the document thing. I heard 50 times at least during my visit that the document pasted together by 65 Bishops in 325 AD (I believe at Nicaea, Iznik today) is the "direct infallible word of God interpreted by those guys, notice no women, of course". Picking and choosing documents while Constantine hollered in pain "Age cum eo, hic morior, ad disputationem agnostici". something like "hey get on with it, I'm dying here. Get to the agnostics discussion). I don't believe I ever said the constitution is Holy, my friend. Maybe you know my daughter?
It is not a sacred document, in fact a rebellion against the "divine right of kings". It is far from perfect. Yet in a world that had only known absolute authority of rulers, it was surely the first relatively narrow set of laws to limit what the government could do to citizens. This is not a democracy, but a Republic where even the citizens are not supposed to be able to craft laws/elect officials that give the government more power than originally intended.
There is no provision for universal suffrage in the constitution, only people who owned property, paid taxes or served in the military were eligible to vote. If only net taxpayers who did not work for the government could vote this November, Biden would win in a landslide. Seems obvious to me the model of the movie Idiocracy has come to fruition. Just like in the 19th century people idolized Jesse James and in the 20th famous gangsters, tRump is chic!
So many common folks just don't care that like the intelligence agencies and the military, he is pulling an end run around the constitution.
"The only security of all lies in a free press!" -T. Jefferson
The first amendment is over if the Cheeto Jesus starts targeting journalists.
Thank you for your story, Bruce. It is needed to show the depth of this nightmare. What you describe is a depiction of civil war reality. As Joyce says, we are in this together. At least half the nation is with you. But it will be a long fight. Look how long it took to get this bad. Just like the first civil war. Keven Roberts believes he's a revolutionary. No, he's an insurrectionist, a sick psychopathic moron, just like the secessionists of 1860. And he will lose.
Bruce, I am so sorry you had to go through this nightmare. I don't make light of this situation, but at least you saw your grandkids. It must have been extremely hard to be in the same house. (I keep telling people that every family has issues, some more than others, and those people who say theirs is wonderful are, quite frankly, in denial, or too stupid to see what's going on.)
The only way I can describe your experience would be like walking on eggshells the entire time and cringing at the thought of someone accidentally saying something about politics.
You should be commended for restraint, even though you're now missing part of your tongue. At least you were respectful, which is good. I doubt that I would have survived. At the risk of sounding tacky, did they try to convince you to drink that special cool-aid?
The sad thing is that considering the big divide courtesy of Trump and his minions, there are probably a LOT of families experiencing the same thing.
There's too much at stake if we don't recruit and vote. I'd volunteer to help at the polls, but since I'm also old, I'd be afraid to be in the building any longer than necessary. When I voted a few weeks ago, I found myself looking around for anyone who made the hair stand up on the back of my neck.
Maybe once your grandkids grow up and are able to vote, they'll know the right person to vote for. Good luck.
Not directly, Diana. That stopped years ago during and after more active disagreements. It is kind of tragic though to be blackmailed through your grand children. I "behave" because of them! I have this need to stay in their lives.
They are using “Christianity” as a shield and a weapon. Just as Trump has used our judicial system. Joyce has done a terrific job of avoiding what many in her media circle have done, and that’s bought into the propaganda machine that’s working overtime to either indoctrinate us or confuse us to the point where we no longer know what or who to believe. I am ever so grateful for her, this forum and for those who engage in it. I am smarter for it. Which is also why I am terrified.
"They are using “Christianity” as a shield and a weapon."
I certainly hope they are ... it would be really scary if they actually believe they are doing the Lord's Work. Thank God for atheists is all I can say ...
That’s a classic, “Thank God for atheists!" “Christian nationalists” do not practice Christianity and they are not doing the Lord’s work. They are doing, instead, what Kimberly says: “using “Christianity” as a shield and a weapon." More churches should call them out, as the ELCA (Lutheran) has; the ELCA had publicly condemned “Christian nationalism.”
It takes courage to remember the emperor has no clothes, to see the elephant in the room, to tweeze out the offending splinter at its root. Your points—taken alongside Heritage Foundation head Kevin Roberts' threat "bloodless if the left allows it to be”—remind me that bullies feed nakedly on fear, help me see that I-we-you-they are dealing essentially with a "wife-beater" mentality on steroids, spurs me to persist in dialogue toward rooting out what's really making me-us-you-them suffer.
As Simon Rosenberg has advised, “Do more, worry less. “ Volunteer for Biden-Harris, work for Democrats running for the House and Senate, and as Joyce has recommended, talk to family and friends. We can win this election! l
Please try to concentrate your political contributions on Senate races that are truly “competitive”: AZ, NV, TX, FL, MO, MT, WI, MI, PA, TN and particularly focus on the very important “sleeper” Senate race to elect Independent Dan Osborn in Nebraska! There is no D running there which is very wise plus Osborn is 100% Pro-Choice vs a 12 yr R incumbent who is a rubber stamp and has 35% approval AND abortion is on the ballot plus legal weed! Nebraska women are mobilizing; this is a very winnable race with an excellent Indy candidate who can save our majority in the Senate! Please go to https://secure.ActBlue.com/donate/million4osborn
Dianne, I judge people who proclaim themselves to be "Christian" by how much or how little they remind me of the life of Jesus, and what he taught. These self-styled "Christians" do NOT remind me of Jesus. They are more like the hypocrites and the Pharisees, who want to be seen by their fellow citizens as righteous. They don't appear to be righteous.
Having grown up in the Bible Belt, Christianity is a hoax...especially for the Bible thumpers. I find those that do good every day via their deeds are doing the Christian thing...not this sort of fake 'blessed' BS this guy and those of his ilk are touting.
Christianity has been bastardized through the millennia by the power-hungry, assuring us that a passive, Jesus-like obedience to “his father’s will” was the ticket to heaven, all the while creating more wealth and power for themselves while the sheep paid for it all. When I realized this truth, I abandoned christianity for a more universal spirituality. These despots say the soothing words of having the key to a heavenly afterlife while wielding their deadly weapons if the sheep don’t comply. It’s as evil as it comes.
Thank you! Perfectly said! All of these men are the misfit boys that now have a podium. Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller and now this Project 25 loser-so many more that follow. Absolutely frightening. They have been given the limelight. So disappointed in the media that I once depended upon for true facts. Don’t know where to turn. Just so thankful for Joyce. …
It is incomprehensible at the very least. What are we to do? How do they get away with being free to do this? How do we stop it, it sounds like even when President Biden wins because we are all going to vote for him, it won’t matter ????? They are determined to WTH???
If Democrats win the presidency, the House and the Senate in the November election, it will definitely matter. It won't fix everything the power hungry White Christian Nationalist cockroaches have done over several decades, but it will allow us (among other things) to appoint and approve more good judges who follow the rule of law, to create more good laws for the American people, to continue to help Ukraine win the war Putin started in their country and to keep NATO together to protect the world order.
It's easy to be demoralized and feel paralyzed, but that's just what dictators want to do to the people in their country. That alone is enough to make me angry at this bullying tactic by power hungry, immoral, misguided, narcissists trying to take control of this country for their own purposes.
It's a good idea to get away from the media for awhile. It helps to do something you enjoy and spend time with friendly people.
And remember, the white Christian nationalists don't have a monopoly on determination. That's just another statement they made to try and bully and demoralize people who don't agree with their behavior and goals.
We can't fix this overnight. But we can overcome this creeping plague if we stick together and never give up. We got rid of Hitler and his twisted view of life, we can do this too if we all pull together and never give up...and if Democrats keep winning elections!!!
To Kimberly: I am also feeling paralyzed with the events taking place right now! Just looking at the photo of Kevin Roberts, head of Heritage Foundation, gives me shivers. He looks like what he is and what he says: crazed white supremacist, racist and fascist - a blood line descendant of Hitler.
As for the SCOTUS, our slide from the political, judicial and federal norms begun in 2010 - with the "Citizen United" decision by Chief Justice Roberts, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, late Antonin Scalia and Antony Kennedy (who resigned in 2017 under suspicious circumstances) facilitated the start of the whole sale corruption of our political process.
A handful of huge corporations and billionaires took advantage and flooded all established norms with their money and influence under the guise of "the corporations are people"! Trump and MAGA were just a natural progression and welcome vehicle to push our democracy into a free fall we are now watching in disbelief.
Don't be paralyzed. Write postcards to voters with Field Team 6, Moms Rising, Blue Wave, or Postcards to Swing States. Moms Rising and Blue Wave postcards are pre-addressed.
Don't forget "Postcards to Voters." I wrote postcards (along with many, many other volunteers from various states around the country) to support Senator Warnock and Senator Ossoff when they both first ran for office at the same time and it was such a great feeling when they both won!
Chilling. "My way or the highway." So much for democracy and compromise. We need to call for Trump to withdraw; there is more reason to remove him than Biden.
Yes this is the worst part for me. NYT calling for Biden's exit and blindly ignoring what the psychopath said. No fact checking or push back of any kind by NYT. Just attacks on the most effective and American POTUS our country has ever seen. It's priviledged eastern rich white politics in the faces of the rest of us.
That’s why I joined many and cancelled my subscription to the New York Times. When I learned the Philadelphia Inquirer had posted a column FOR THE GOOD OF AMERICA, TRUMP SHOULD DROP OUT, I decided they deserve my business!
Oh my God, thank you for that Philadelphia Inquirer column heading. You made my day! So glad to hear that in these bleak days, a newspaper has the gall to say the right thing!
I myself got a subscription to The Philadelphia Inquirer for just that reason. I also live across the bridge in south Jersey so there are plenty articles I’m interested in besides the politics. It’s just a 15 minute drive, except in rush hour traffic. I also depended on medical information and current studies being done through the University of Pennsylvania. So much is done in Philadelphia and the Inquirer covers a good deal of its discoveries.
I’ve been upset with the NYT since President Biden was elected. They’ve continued to present him in a very negative light. And now the “hallowed editorial board” expects him to step down. Just be cause they say so. They’ve got a nerve. They should study up on procedures for setting up a new nominee. There actually are none. It’s an excruciating situation we find ourselves in.
As I understand it, the NYT has a hair their collective ass because Biden has, so far, refused to sit down for a one on one exclusive interview with their edit board.
I mean, shades of Glenn Close’s character from Fatal Attraction. “I will not be ignored.” And if you do ignore me, unfavorable editorial coverage until proper respect is paid.
And can you imagine the many ways in which they would "edit" such an interview, so make Biden look even worse? It may have gained President Biden the enmity of the owner of the NYT, but I think the President has correctly chosen to snub them. It hasn't escaped my notice that the NYT is chasing money and they would LOVE to see the Dems in "disarray"--think of all the breathless news copy that could create!?
Excellent point! Journalists are in danger if they say bad things about tffg. He has already called out msnbc by name as a target. He has taken a page out of putin’s playbook. Expect journalists to be jailed if there is another trump administration.
It doesn't matter who the Republican nominee is. Even if 34 (formerly known as 45) gets replaced, Project 2025 is set up for "the next conservative President".
I agree. I believe his "gang" have gotten to every single media source, whether online, on TV or radio. It's hard to fathom such a thing, but that's the only explanation that makes sense.
What's that slogan from The Washington Post? Oh, that's right. It says: "Democracy Dies in Darkness"
I agree. If they don't hurry up and do SOMETHING, all of them may find themselves shutting down if/when Project 2025 takes over. Trump only likes the First Amendment when it's convenient for him, which means HE will determine which news will or won't be allowed to be broadcast. I do know for certain that he will always allow Faux News to stay on. Censorship would be the operative word.
Russell, I've thought so, too, for quite a while. Others must not get it. Anyway, if people think that communication sucks now, they better hope that Trump loses. While I can't predict the future, I am concerned with Trump's determination to take away so many rights that we take for granted today.
Do we need to wait for them to act before we move to restrain them? Is their 2025 plan legal in any way? Is there a legal way to prevent the execution of their plan? Must we allow them to make a big mess before we move to stop them?
If somebody tells me he intends to show up at my house next weekend to beat me up, maybe end my happy life, hurt my family, wreck my home -- is there any legal way I can prevent him from carrying out his threats? His right to speak freely surely has some constraints. Specific threats of violence should not be allowed under a First Amendment "get out of jail free and do whatever you want" protection.
SCROTUS just handed King Joe the tools to save our democracy. If he is unwilling, he needs to resign and let Queen Kamala do it!
Get those barges Ginni Thomas texted Mark Meadows about floating off Gitmo. Arrest and send Ginni and her husband to her barges. Transfer Bannon & Navarro to the barges. Arrest all the insurrectionists and ship them to the barges. And then watch the RShits run to the courts to overturn Trump v US.
Think like a R: Put the 5 R SROTUS males on the barges near Gitmo. SCOTUS will no longer be SCROTUS. SCROTUS slit their own throats and they don't even realize it; either King Joe takes them out or they will be taken out by King Don when they displease him.
For now, the pen is still mightier than the sword. If the MAGA adherents have some sort of uprising, having guns will be the only way to protect your family. This conversation started with the idea that "it will be bloodless, if the left allows it". Not hard to discern their intentions. BTW, that profile photo is me in 1970 (age 3), holding an AR-15, sent home from Vietnam in pieces.
David your answer(s) plural are in my Comment below. See, the Dept of Justice (DOJ) has outlined very specifically the 4 categories of threats & exactly when those threats are actionable both criminally & civily.
A Victim or intended victims do NOT have to wait for the act itself. As the DOJ has specified even causing "fear" real fear, is enough to trigger a crime.
I went on & explained even just "fear" has a "corporeal" element mean physiological threats may cause "bodily injury" and thus, trigger the Perp's and or Corp's and or Institutions 3rd Party Liability insurance.
That means the intended Victim, actual Victim, genuinely scared stiff Victim gets money,
dollars, cash, $, for damages and possibly punitive damages if the Perp's conduct is "despicable" a term of law in California but, check your jurisdiction but, the DOJ outline is a very is a instructive way to start.
David, threats are not protected speech. In your personal scenario, reporting and then preparing are your lawful options. In the scenario we are confronted with in Project 2025 it is up to us to resist in all ways.
Are you able to share at what point does this portion of 18 USC 2331 relating to Domestic Terrorism become enforceable? Because it certainly seems applicable;
B)appear to be intended—
(i)to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
(ii)to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion or (continued in link)
SCROTUS just handed King Joe the tools to save our democracy. If he is unwilling, he needs to resign and let Queen Kamala do it! It should be obvious now that we are at war with these Christo-fascists. They plan to steal the election and are openly saying that if we resist there will be blood.
Perhaps you hadnt read Joyce and Heather Cox Richardson. SCOTUS gave Joe nothing, they made it so they would approve what would be official business of a president. So no Joe has not been given license to be king
I respectfully disagree. Yesterday I posted this and asked Joyce some questions:
The Rule of Law
I am not an attorney. My understanding is that Trump v United States is now case law from SCOTUS; it is THE LAW.
My question for Joyce is this: Can President Biden embrace this decision and in so doing be following the rule of law?
The oath the military takes includes this phrase: “I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic…”
Since the ruling states, “Such an immunity is required to safeguard the independence and effective functioning of the Executive Branch, and to enable the President to carry out his constitutional duties without undue caution.”, it appears to me that it is President Biden’s DUTY to use his core constitutional powers to protect our democracy from insurrectionists, Christo-fascists, and the Trump crime family of felons.
Can President Biden direct the DOJ to transfer Bannon and Navarro to Gitmo?
Can President Biden have Clarence and Ginni Thomas arrested and shipped to Gitmo to await trial?
Can President Biden have Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Ron Johnson, Josh Hawley, etc, etc, etc, arrested and shipped to Gitmo to await trial?
If he were to do any of these, I imagine the Rs would be running to courts for injunctions and argue against this ruling.
DOJ needs to address what is in their toolbox as well, gloves off, I feel they erred on the side of caution with regard to J6 in not charging anyone with the Statues and Monument Act (that wasn't one of tfg many Executive Orders) and collecting small fines leaving taxpayers to cover the damages. The planners and permit pullers should have been sued for those damages, there would have been no leniency had positions been reversed, as evidenced by what they are spewing today about holding tribunals for persons with no crimes committed.
I'm no expert on the United States Code, or that particular citation. I started with your link and got carried away after reading the information from Cornell and other reliable sources. Then I spent several hours searching for some kind of explanation as to why we never really saw this coming years/decades ago. I didn't realize that the possibility of Domestic Terrorism was a topic discussed as far back as the Reagan Era. Bush's name came up several times, too, but since I accidentally deleted some of my notes, I don't remember which George they meant.
Unfortunately, the minute I started reading about the Heritage Foundation, I had to stop because my anger turned into a blood-pressure headache.
Somehow, I stumbled upon the word "kakistocracy," which I'd never heard of. Wikipedia calls it "a government run by the worst, least qualified, or most unscrupulous citizens." While Trump was busy being doing nothing noteworthy back in 2018, former CIA Director John Brennan tweeted to him: "Your kakistocracy is collapsing after its lamentable journey. As the greatest Nation history has known, we have the opportunity to emerge from this nightmare stronger & more committed to ensuring a better life for all Americans, including those you have so tragically deceived.” I won't repeat Trump's response.
My theory is that after reading what Brennan wrote, Trump went "full speed ahead" to gather up more "unscrupulous citizens" and members of his posse (MAGAs) to work some more on Project 2025. Over the past seven years, they managed to put the finishing touches on that document and then work out the logistics for putting that in motion the minute he returns to the White House.
Shire, I was surprised at the different ways the term Domestic Terrorism was described and discussed. The challenge was finding any examples of that happening before 9/11.
Thanks for sending the link and taking time to endure my rambling.
I was looking through a book I have on conspiracies and found this great quote from Albert Einstein. He says: "A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth."
Come to think of it, his only real responsibilities seem to be breaking as many laws as possible. Of course, he does not ACCEPT any of those responsibilities. He'd rather lie or blame someone for what he's done.
Maybe he IS only there to be their useful idiot. Like a big clown.
this far right theocratic movement is not only happening here in the US. Joyce, bring on an expert to discuss how it's playing out in Canada's current election (Poliviere, Steven Harper), and in Europe. There is a reason Steve Bannon bought a home in Italy, he wanted to be near the center of this vast movement. And while you're at it, would love to see more sunlight exposing Erik Prince's newest mercenary project - the army for Project 25. If you're not already scared, get ready.
Thank you for taking the time to dig into it, I think John Brennan nailed it and obviously struck a nerve, kakistocracy is exactly what '17-'20 was topped with a Coup attempt in '21. I wasn't on Twitter until previous owners banned tfg, then I got an education in the Republican "long game" which started in the '70's with ending of Fairness Doctrine and granting Rupert Murdoch citizenship to create the FOX disinformation station and culminated with the corrupted SCOTUS rulings we saw in June '24, I left when it became Xitter. Bump stocks and lawless Presidents were never in the Constitution, General welfare and Domestic tranquility are, that bench needs to be disbanded.
I am reading this just a few minutes before midnight on the eve of Independence Day. I cannot recognize or conceive of this dystopian future that tRump, his cronies of the far Right and the Project 2025 have outlined for America should he be re-elected. I don’t think my father, my uncles, my grandfather nor my husband and all three children could recognize from their years of military service. It’s not a call to dump Biden but work with Democrats and the others to finish the specter of tRump forever
President Biden should have Kevin Roberts taken into custody. Biden can probably do that using existing law. But two days ago, the Supreme Court clearly gave the President immunity if he were to take official action to arrest a citizen who poses a clear and present danger to our country.
Yes it is evident the white christian nationalists are expecting Biden to not do what the psychopath would do thereby demonstrating their hypocrisy and lack of any true christian merit of which they all profess to be exemplars.
Wasn’t their decision that “official acts” are by definition immune?
And the justices would probably think twice about changing their ruling to play Game of Thrones with a President who controls the FBI and could have each of them arrested within minutes and prosecuted in a military tribunal as a clear and present danger to the U.S. - which they already are!
That's how I am looking at it as well. Project 2025 is a threat against the Constitution. Surely we must defend the Constitution against the lunatics behind this 2025 plan.
Do we need to wait for them to begin messing up our society before we move to stop them? Can we stop them with law enforcement?
I don't want to be in another war.
Is anybody offering a credible solution to this threat?
Right now it’s voting these throwbacks out. Pick any race that’s close in a state that’s important in the calculations of the electoral college and contribute what you can even if it’s a few dollars to the democrat in the race.
They’ve been strategic in how they approach government control. Let’s also be.
Unfortunately, Our President who now has not only the clear, legal authority, but duty to step in with anything in his arsenal, probably will not. This is clearly a huge internal threat to our nation...and he has 'Carte Blanche' to protect it now...Will he?
Have you not paid attention? Joe doesnt have that power. The way SCOTUS framed it, they would approve or disapprove what could be considered part of the office of presidential business, its a free pass only for trump
The president has ways of enforcing his decisions. The Supreme Court, though it talks big, has no divisions dedicated to forcing their benign opinions on the populace. /s
That's the current interpretation...lets wait and see - I'm not convinced it ONLY applies to Trump. I think it says something different, but that may be my own wishful thinking.
Kevin Roberts needs to end his days in a windowless 8x10 cell on the third sub basement level of the Florence Supermax, along with all the other traitors and terrorists.
The unmitigated gall of this "creature" (who I will not address as a man) is beyond belief. We will face this terrorist and all who are cut from the same cloth, and we will--we must--stop them. We must reinstall President Biden and Vice President Harris and then we must proceed to drive these creatures out of their hiding places, forever.
Please be active. Read the links Joyce included in this post. You're all smarter than average or you wouldn't be reading these posts. So Compose letters to the editor of local papers. Keep them cogent & under 200 words. Send emails to local TV station news editors (their names & addresses should be on their staff page) call the station if necessary.
Maybe call the Whitehouse, too.
It would seem the media believes Biden is too nice a guy to get down in the dirt with these traitors.
But being pushed into the corner like he is now I hope he's banging on Merrick's door. He needs to find a way to stop this cabal. We can't JUST VOTE. That's not enough in my book. But then I'm a child of the 60s & 70s who was on the front lines of the Vietnam War protests. We must act & we must act NOW!!!
Standard mo for domestic terrorists, whether passing draconian reproductive health laws or huffing and puffing and threatening to blow our house in. The goal is uncertainty and fear. You can be sure "tough guys" Roberts and Bannon will be no where near the front lines. Like their Dear Leader, they're bullies and cowards. If we give into the fearmongering, they've won. Let's not let them win.
With this as a threat the NY Time was full of nothing but President Biden should quit. If our thinking has become so shallow we can’t tell substance from air, hot air from merit… we will loose our democracy, if not this November to Project 25, some time soon. Democracy requires thinking, caring people. President Biden is being subjected to neither. The press should be reporting nothing but Project 25 threat. President Biden should stay the course, we need him desperately.
The NYT needs to fail and close.
They need to fire the moles on the editorial board. I have read the Times for probably 70 years, from all over the world. I cancelled my subscription today. They used to be a great newspaper. They can be again.
I just wrote a very sad letter to Sam Sifton about losing access to the Cooking app and missing his newsletters, and I canceled the subscription. There's a baby in there somewhere, but that bathwater cannot remain in my house.
I’ve been toying with canceling since the Hillary coverage. My daughter urged me to, but still I dithered. So many other features! Etc. etc. but I pulled the trigger yesterday and told them why. They are enabling fascism.
Good for you. And for all the others cancelling. They (and many others) need to feel the hurt in their wallets. I cancelled the Times years ago. Wapo too. Used to have NPR on the radio everyday to and from work. They began to engage in so much both-siderism, they lost all value. Haven't listened to NPR in 10 years. So sad. There is a big difference between right and wrong, truth and fiction, good and evil. Those differences need to be called out plainly. Without equvocation.
I too stopped listening to NPR, but I held on till 2016. I’m almost 66, and my habits for the last 40+ years have been built around NPR, the NYT, and other outlets, all of which have in recent times disillusioned me. It’s a blow to the identity, in a way, but it is they who have devolved.
Dan, I find NPR problematic too because they do that "balancing act," which of course is no balance, but a statement that a lie is the same as the truth and we hope you'll figure out which is which. I still listen and I like a lot of the programs, just not the news coverage.
OK where do we go? Believe it or not, the Philadelphia Inquirer still has principles and, excuse the expression, "stones." That may be where I go. There is the Guardian (thoughts?) and I subscribe to Le Monde but......
We subscribe only to the crossword puzzles of the NYT because they are really good and keep our brains active. I know my mother always loved the NYT, but I'm glad I never got into newspaper reading.
Exactly!
Where do you get your news now?
I just cancelled mine. I needed this 'push'.
Connie, I have been suspicious of them since Trump and the birther nonsense when they covered it as though there could possibly have been any truth to it. They have a bunch of folks who are supposed to be able to check for the truth but clearly they didn't care enough to do it and they let itgrow into an insane story that was completely irrelevant since Obama's mom was an American citizen and Hawaii had been a state for 2 years before Barack was born, and a territory long before that. The NYT should have shut the whole thing down on day 1 and called out anyone else who didn't; they didn't. Then there was the coverate of Trump since the "golden escalator." Their staff knew exactly what Trump was since he was a New Yorker, but they pumped Trump up as though he were some kine of demigod. It was embarrassing and just plain wrong! They covered Trump every day mentioning the stupid things Trump said, but just as though they were true. They called none of it a lie and all of it was lies. They covered Hillary Clinton with "Ben Gazi" and "emails" nearly every time they mentioned Trump. One had to dig deep to find out where she stood on the real, honest issues. Reagan, for example was never blamed for the Marine deraths in Lebanon in the 1980s the way Clinton was and we lost 241 or so with Reagan. It was and continues to be pathetic with its political coverage! I will no longer follow a link to the NYT because as far as I am concerned, they are no better than the Enquirer and do not deserve my attention. Most of the rest of our mainstream media is following the NYT down the rabbit hole into ridiculous support of a would-be tyrant! Disgusting!
I canceled but paid a $25.00 fee to access the games for a year! Although the recipes are enticing, an internet search will help you find good things to cook, too. I hope this helps you quit! "Illegitimati Non carborundum."
You can subscribe to just cooking.
But all the recipes are available from someone else.
The internet is full of great cooks offering recipes and details for cooking. Who made the NYT the czar of cooking. Explore these other great sites. You might actually enjoy this ride through the culinary world. I do not miss this publication nor do I respect anyone associated with it anymore.
You are very right, Marie. Most of the recipes I use today are from food blogs. Every so often I explore and find a new one, though my subscription request didn't seem to take with the last one I found. For me, what's great, is that I've been able to find simple recipes that work with the diet I need to follow. I would definitely encourage people to check out food blogs. It's worth the effort.
I collect vintage and modern cookbooks in print, and believe me, the recipes are much better. You don't need to support a newspaper that engages in bad journalism.
Hello Marycat, I have enjoyed reading your comments over time and now to find out you’re a fellow vintage cookbook collector. They are so rewarding to read and to use. I adore a well put together casserole made with quality ingredients and some of those vintage appetizers and desserts.
Well put. Apparently, the baby grew up to be a right-wing enabler, and left behind some mighty dirty bathwater to pollute the national discourse.
Canceled my New York Times subscription today. Lately they’ve been consistently editorializing, “This is bad for Biden because…”.
Next… Buhbye Wapo!
Both papers formerly had good columnists.
Now they suck-up to the people to whom the big tax cuts were given.
Mine is cancelled for good. And I told them exactly why.
Fellow the $$$
Exactly!!!
I canceled mine back when they led the media hatchet job against Biden when he pulled us out of Afghanistan.
Trump set up that pullout even though the military at the top told him it would be a disastrous, and he even agreed to releasing 5,000 Taliban fighters-- read terrorists. Trump told the military leaders-- the next guy can handle it. Trump set up the disaster and manned it with those 5,000 Taliban terrorists/fighters.
I cancelled, as well.
I did the same thing with the Washington Post. After 30 years of supporting that paper I could no longer continue paying for a paper that has been destroyed by Bezos and that idiot Lewis, he brought on from the UK.
It was hard to do for various reasons, but I cancelled the other day. I believe they are being reckless with the information they spew. The top half of the paper has been about Biden for a week. Meanwhile Kevin Roberts threatening violence was nowhere to be found and few people I talk to even know what Project 2025 is. That is a failure of the press. The Biden stuff is all conjecture, fluff. Meanwhile the fact that Trump is lying, calling for violence, consorting with radicals, and the SCOTUS is corrupt and invalid falls by the wayside.
I cancelled, too. That paper is a disgrace.
I WAS a subscriber, but when they had an Editorial on "Time for Biden to Go" (whatever it was) I immediately unsubscribed. I hope more people do the same.
Me, too, from the NY Times and WaPo. They've been subsumed by wealthy Republicans. They're the ones we should fear, not immigrants seeking a better life.
Yes, I just cancelled my NYT subscription and let them know the reasons why: slanted, pro-wealthy right wing articles and op-ed, lack of reporting on Biden’s accomplishments for the past 3 1/2 years, lack of reporting on the horrible debate performance of Trump in this past debate & lastly, not sounding the alarm on Project 2025 by continual reporting on how it will obliterate our freedoms & choices that our Democracy affords us.
Subscribe to MeidasTouch on YOUTUBE...help them reach 3 million democracy lovers. Tune into Stephanie Miller in the mornings when you can.
There is not a second to waste in regards to the New York Times and other sellouts to MAGA dictatorial hatespeech.
They should be ashamed for failing to stand behind our President.
I did too.
Yep, I have canceled, and told them why.😤🤐
WaPo too.
When WaPo hired Will Lewis, who was enmeshed in the tabloid hacking scandal in the UK, I canceled my sub.
I canceled mine today. I was in a wait and see mode and these latest postings have left me furious and disgusted, and so I canceled today, and since I am paid up until December, I have left a message for them that I want to be removed from their lists. Let the MAGAs support them. Their journalists are not my responsibility. The ones who are not caving into the right-wing are going to have to figure their own ways to making a living responsibly. I am also looking at extracting myself from Amazon. In Germany I live without a car, so I have to look at how I can extricate myself from them. Have already been thinking about this. Certainly not throwing business their way if I have alternatives.
I also finalluy cut them loose today.
Sounds as if you prefer to inbreed. I prefer to read all including Fox New online. It gives me a broadened understanding of other positions.
With regard to breaking free from Amazon: Cut the name and brand of the item you are thinking of buying. Paste it into the Google search engine. Hit search. You will get other places selling the item. Often for the same price or less.
Usually you will get the website of the manufacturer. I give myself bonus points for buying from them (if price within range of other sellers) because I've eliminated the middleman.
Good luck!
What did Amazon do?
You can request remaining balance return from WaPo.
Thank you. Will do!
I cancelled my subscription yesterday. Told the girl answering the phone it was because of their failure to report on substance and she said she was so sorry.
I’m a reluctant democrat. But more Truely, I’m independent and although I have more in common with politically democratic principles, my belief is that they have moved to far to the left if in fact that is the correct word usage. Republicans have definitely moved to the far right. The center is being hollowed out. This is the Grand Mistake being played out today. The more one side moves to their chosen direction, the more the other side moves in the opposite. History mostly teaches that when this occurs, autocracy wins and often it’s the autocracy of the right not the left.
Just a word of caution from the middle.
Useful to read. My own word of caution would be to beware false equivalencies. I’m an independent myself, but don’t see any equivalence to Project 2025 on the Democratic side, or an interest in autocracy by Democrats vs free and expanded voting and in general democratic principles. No group is perfect, but the Republicans seem to be primarily advocating white Christian fascism, and I can’t endorse that. Oh, and the lying … far far far far more of that on the right, to the point where I simply turn away. Good luck to you as you figure out what to do!
Actually, some research has proven that the right has moved very far to the right while the left really hasn't moved that far to the left. It isn't "center" whatever that means, but it hasn't moved far to the left. The Democratic Party allows dissent within its ranks, and allows its members to disagree. This diversity (which Republicans see as a flaw) is actually a strength. The Republican Part is the Borg, a hive mind where dissent is punished with exile. Which legislation that the Democratic Party passed is too far to the left for you? Biden is hardly a far left politician, he's very centered which is why some people in the party don't like his policies. When LBJ signed Civil Rights legislation into law many considered that as being radical and too far left. Where a policy or law sits on this scale is a matter of perspective, not an absolute. Marriage equality and abortion rights are other such issues that moved from the left to the center. Please stay aligned with the Democratic Party as we need diverse thinking and different opinions, otherwise you have a dictatorship (Project 2025).
In my observation the Dems are middle of the road and the Republicans are right-wing, fascists at this point. I know what the left is. I have a neighbor in the US who is Leftist, and my mom has friends in Germany who are Leftist. Left the Dems are not. My US leftist neighbor believes that the schools are too racist and she works with women in prisons as a lawyer. My mom's friend in Germany has a lot of ideas that mesh with the right like that Putin is not a bad guy and she is against supporting Ukraine, but she is not anti-immigrant. Caring about saving the environment so that our species and other can live in it, feeding, clothing, sheltering, providing health care and education to our population, and providing protections to the people from internal and external enemies should be mainstream concerns. Isn't that what Democrats stand for? Biden is not left he is a center politician. He knows that the center gets more things done because it alarms fewer people even if it angers those on the left and the right. Early on he was much more progressive, but over time he has learned to pick things where he can be effective. He does support a lot of progressive policies. It probably helps that he has grandchildren who let him know what their issues are. Unfortunately, many people in the USA have no idea what government does, how it works and what Biden has accomplished. They also don't understand the economic impact of climate change, so the Republicans can dupe them with ideas like the dems want to take away your cheap gas run car and gas cars are better. The fossil fuel industry has been indulged by our political structure for far too long for Biden to just get rid of it right away. Plenty of that money is flowing into the Trump coffers, mostly to be used to pay his enormous legal costs. Many do not understand the economic importance of immigrants, but for the most part we are a country that has celebrated immigrants and I don't think that spirit is gone. We just need to embrace it and remind people that we are a country of indigenous people and immigrants.
It occurs to me that with the distance the republicans have moved to the right, that movement may make the democrats' position look further to the left, although it is not, IMO. Personally, I like that the democrats are on the side of dealing with climate change, true freedom for all, and human rights. I agree with others that Biden is a centrist, not a radical leftist.
Yes. This is a fascist propagandist narrative from the Republicans. They misuse language as a tool to shape perception and as such have been controlling a lot of narratives that need to be deconstructed and destroyed. Immigrants are not a bad thing. We should be controlling our fossil fuel use and concerned about climate change. We should care about human beings and their well being. Will have more specifics as my Democrats Abroad group reads and discusses Project 2025.
The right-wing fascist spin machine was AWOL when immigrant farm workers did not show up. Fruit and vegetables were left to rott in the fields.
You would never see Orange Hitler...Melanoma....Ivana....Kimberly.....MTG.....etc ...GOP-nazii collaborator militas out in the hot sun picking produce.
Linda, I was reading about the EPA in Project 2025 and what I saw was that if the EPA policy was something they didn't like, they labelled it as political. I guess that anything they don't like that the other side does is political. I'm glad I can see through that kind of stuff. I definitely believe that we should care about human beings wherever they live, and whatever they look like, and as the daughter of an immigrant, I believe strongly in the good that immigrants bring to our country. I'll be interested to see what else your group comes up with as you read it.
I am an immigrant in Germany even though I have had German citizenship from birth, and my mom and husband are immigrants in the US, as are so many of my friends. I believe in the good they bring too, and let us hope I am bringing good wherever I live. I will be happy to discuss it. We have decided already that we will try to engage in conversation wherever we go. A natural activity for a former teacher.
(From 'Donald's Vanity Tantrums")
Fred Jackson and the Second American Revolution
(Homage to Donald Trump’s ‘Proud Boys’ and Others)
Fred Jackson was a proud rebel in The Great Northern Militia Alliance. He and his wife Ruth were often found hosting summer neighborhood barbecues. They easily found new supporters for the coming war to take back America. Fred stationed himself at the pit and handed out chicken legs drenched in homemade sauce to new, unsuspecting recruits -- kinda like a politician on election-day would do; promising a chicken in every pot. Talk of big government, guns and revolt would come later.
Fred and his cohorts believed themselves to be the direct Anglo-Saxon descendants of America's 18th century rabble-rousers who tossed bales of tea into Boston harbor after news of the British Stamp Act reached these shores. But tea-toddlers, they weren’t.
He was proud of his new-found abilities to recruit and had recently been promoted by the Alliance to the rank of sergeant of his own local militia. Wasting no time consolidating resources, Fred collected everything from boxes of canned food to crates of assault weapons. All were discreetly stored away in basements and underground bunkers in his local neighborhood.
Strategic plans were soon under way as this historic moment arrived, the moment to take back America. A secret, unnamed Northern Alliance militia representative from high up the chain of command visited one evening to give a short pep talk to the men and their wives in the basement of Jackson's home.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” the mysterious commander said, “the time has come to act. We must stop the tyranny and treasonous actions of our government. Today we take action. We will starve the beast into submission. We will bring the entire nation to a screeching halt by whatever means are necessary. And we will un-steal the election. You know who I’m talking about; the great populist himself, codenamed, “OrangeFatso.””
“Yep”… they screamed in unison, “Save our leader, OrangeFatso.”
He jabbered on like this awhile longer and then said something about how it was one's duty to avoid payment of taxes like they did in the Boston revolt.
A rebel in the audience was overheard mumbling that, “Maybe them damned liberals wouldn't be so bad if we could just shoot a few.” as he cleaned and oiled his weapon. After the rousing speech ended, the mysterious speaker made way out of Fred's hatchway as quickly as he had arrived and was driven off into the night before anyone could ask questions.
The next day, Fred called for another drill. The basement was a good place to train without attracting attention. His supportive wife listened from upstairs as she tapped her foot to the muffled sounds of her husband's marching orders.
"Left...right...left...right...left...right...left...right."
During the drill, Fred's wife heard her husband cry,
"Oh no… not again. I told you not to march forward in the cellar."
"Ruthie honey," Fred yelled from the basement, "Billy bumped into the wall again and now has a nose bleed. Quick, get me an ice pack."
One thing that should be noted about the division of labor between the men folk and their women; it was written in the Northern Militia Alliance's “Code of Conduct” that men would do the fighting and the women would play supportive roles – just like in the olden days of the founders. Their women were as important as Betsy Ross – who is thought to have sewn the first flag – was to the cause of revolt.
The country of Fred's birth was no longer recognizable to him. Waves of foreigners had migrated across the unprotected southern frontier. His leader had often spoken of building a really high wall to keep out the hordes. The government, Fred believed, was overrun with big-spending liberals and nanny-state socialists. Fred even thought that his own past president of the United States was born in another country.
“He wasn’t born here. You know he owes his allegiance to the United Nations,” cried Fred.
Encrypted communiques were now being sent and received with increasing frequency throughout the “Alliance.” The days of waiting had drawn to a close.
And so it came to pass. The militia teams began assembling. They gathered along every mountain pass and byway. They took positions beside bridges and waterways. Fred's platoon prepared to assault its assigned mountain. This really was only a big hill but these rebels had a tendency to magnify everything around them including the importance of they’re mission. Their watches were synchronized.
Sergeant Jackson finally gave the order to charge.
“CHARRRRRRGE!” he screamed.
The men began their long, wild, rickety-split charge to the top of the assigned hill. Fred held his assault rifle in the air with one hand, and with the other grabbed his pants before they slipped down below his protruding belly – an unfortunate victim of too many beer-drinking strategy sessions.
Well they whooped and hollered for so long that soon most of the militia troops were out of breath. By the time they reached the summit, the sergeant could be heard cussing' (at no one in particular.) He wondered if he had rushed up the wrong hill. His GPS repeated, “recalculating... recalculating...” His phone vibrated on his belt and he quickly grabbed it and listened intently.
His head turned slowly downward as he stared at his mud-caked boots. His heart was pounding. He was breathing fast.
“Yes sir, I see. But when are we...? Win the hearts and minds, first? But...OK, I’ll inform the men.”
The sergeant ordered roll call and sadly told his men that not only did they seize the wrong hill, but the unseen generals had decreed that this was only a drill. The real revolution was yet to come but now, without the element of surprise. Dejected, they began to hobble down the green hill.
Then suddenly, Sergeant Jackson received another message. This time, he could hardly contain himself. Something new had just happened and word was spreading like wildfire. His fingers quivered as he responded:
“I’ll tell the men right away.” The sergeant rallied the now exhausted rag-tag men around him and excitedly yelled,
“All hands to Burns, Oregon. The government is assaulting some ranchers. The Bunkerville boys from Nevada are leading the counter assault. I'll be driving out at first light if anyone needs a ride.”
Fred finally made it home in his Ford pick-up truck while still sweating from the long charge. His dear sweet Ruthie waited at the half-opened door as dusk settled in.
“Come in my hero. I made your favorite hot soup for you.”
Fred stumbled in and sat at their kitchen table and slurped down the refreshing food. He then went straight to bed without explaining anything to his worried wife about the disappointing details of the false deployment.
Fred dreamed about the new revolution soon to sweep the land of his birth – the land he hardly recognized any more. And he dreamed that his name would one day be enshrined 100 years from now, along the nearby interstate highway where he lived. The sign would read: “The Sergeant Fred Jackson Expressway: Named for a Patriot of The Second American Revolution Who Stood His Ground and Helped Take Back America.”
Then Fred farted and repositioned his head on the pillow as he slept like a baby all night long.
Ugh. Another self promoter.
I’m sorry. Every writer is a self-promoter. If you don’t like self promoters, then don’t read anything. And be happy that you are in a blissful state of an uncluttered mind.
I hope you don't get any scratches from that fence you're sitting on . . .
Who said I sit on a fence. Well, you did, of course.
Please vote democrat so this will not be our last Independence Day with a FREE democratic nation. Trump said he will terminate parts of the Constitution, and has started telling his rally-goers that there no reason why he shouldn't be able to be elected four times like FDR did. So one of his first terminations will likely be the 22nd Amendment limiting the number of terms a person can be elected to. Then why not limit free speech and proclaim a state religion; there's no end to his termination list. Heh's already promised to sign an absolute abortion plan even to save women's lives. He's a very severely narcissitic man who is thrilled to run the lives of 340 million Americans. I can't bear the thought of my sons' being asked some day by their grandchildren what a democracy is and why don't we have one any more.
I am not a Social Democrat in Germany, although I could be. I am a Green Party member. I could not be Green in the USA because it has a two party system. Most Germans don't really understand this, and do not understand our elections because of this. I personally would like the Republican Party to consume itself and disappear to be replaced by the at least 2 different parties that is subsumes.
You been reading Ruth Ben-Giat?
Yes...yes..yes....my copy of Stongman is filled with underlined passages and the pages are curled up from constanly going back for refreshers........
That, alongside Dark Money by Jane Mayer keep me grounded with historical facts
As journalists, they've already failed; the economic collapse will follow in due course.
Yes, I totally agree. It is too old a rag for me.
I dropped my subscription months ago, the 'writing' was on the wall and I've told them as much.
I agree that Biden should stay the course. I got a WaPo alert yesterday that he is considering stepping down due to pressure from donors and other Dems. That was not the message I got from the Biden campaign. I recommend that everyone write their elected Democratic representatives and ask them to fully support Biden in word and deed. I did this yesterday. I also have written Biden to tell him I am 100% behind him. Everything that is going on is fascist propaganda from the mainstream press. Their oligarchic ownership is showing in the protection of the obscenely wealthy from paying taxes as their primary reason for supporting Trump. We have allowed our media to be coopted. The left-wing press is against Biden too, so I can only refute their messages as well. My Democrats Abroad Group has a subgroup that is going through articles discussing Project 2025 as preparation for reading it in a book club this summer. We want to be informed advocates for our candidate and against Trump and the Republican party which has become to the USA what the Nazi party was to Germany. Biden is the best president in my lifetime. Please learn about the fascist propaganda techniques being employed right now, by the violent White Supremacists ready to overthrow our government along with other figures on this planet who want to take over and make a White Nationalist world. Read Prof. Kathleen Belew's book Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America. This White Nationalist takeover has been planned since after the Oklahoma City bombing. We have a party of terrorists trying to paint the normalness of the Democratic party as extremist. They are the extreme ones.
Linda, I appreciate many if not all of your comments. This one got me thinking. How many voters and voters-to-be who like Joe Biden and who are aware of his many accomplishments while in office, buy into the mainstream media rhetoric about his age being a deal-breaker and about the poor showing at the “debate”?
I think most of us that back Joe do NOT buy it at all and see it for what it is. Most of us stay mum until the election and on election day vote for Joe Biden.
I cancelled my NYTimes subscription. Completely ridiculous. WaPo is next in my sights...
Agreed! I’m sick of the ageism. I am floored with the reactivity. David Ignatius and his pompous attitude. What is that saying? Something about glass houses and rocks. SO SAD….
Ignatius is 74! Time for him to retire.
I don't read Ignatius, but he appears fairly often on Morning Joe. Yep, pompous!
Agreed! I've quit BOTH the NY Times and, today, the Washington Post. Neither one of them seems to understand the gravity of some of their opinionists - or maybe they do. I'm sick of these panty-waste journalists stumbling over each other trying to figure out who the democrats should nominate. Clear and simple - it's Biden/Harris. It will be either Biden or Trump in November. Full stop! Obviously "we the people" will have to overcome not only Trump but the MSM in November. If the Climate Crisis isn't enough, or the Rogue Supreme isn't enough then, as Joyce is (and has been) pointing out, read Project 2025. I've downloaded it and I'm close to 100 pages in and, to say the least, it's ALARMING! I really recommend Rachel Maddow's "Prequel" as a must read. If you don't have the time for that watch NPR's "Nazi Town USA." You might have to donate $5 to them to get past their paywall, but it will get your attention and it reminds me of Project 2025. It's "ALL HANDS ON DECK!"
Alas even NPR keeps spewing about Democrats wanting Biden to step down.
I spend a huge amount of time driving and NPR is what I have listened to for many years. I turned it off in anger today. I'll be writing a letter to them tomorrow. Good grief! When our national public radio has turned from truth to sound bites you can't help feeling totally screwed.
Same! Yesterday, every hour on the hour, NPR headlined with the debate and concerns about Biden. So maddening, off it went 😡
I see that in the Associated Press and the Guardian too. Where is the line between the press reporting the news and creating the news. I think that that line has been erased.
Here's public radio you can trust
KKJZ (best jazz) www.jazzandblues.org
KUSC - classical - https.kusc.org
Here's the correct link to KUSC:
https://www.kusc.org/
Are those stations available nationally? The names sound like Los Angeles to me.
On the net they are available nationally
Thank you, TC.
Yes, they are available nationally. Just click on the links (I corrected the second one.)
Or, “Democracy Now”
is the he best !! Always the truth. And great archives. Check them out.
Thank you, Mim!
WPR (the origin of public radio) has recently switched a significant number of stations to classical music from news. I cancelled my monthly contribution. I am not joining them on the deck of the Titanic.
The NYTimes and WaPo have been my core information resources for a long time. I agree with comments about the slide of both of them. As a digital and paper subscriber I’ve been amazed at the disparity of articles and particularly photos in favor of Trump. Color photos of Trump cover the first few paper pages, no matter what the subject is. If at all, Biden may get a black and white deeply buried many pages down. This has been noticeable all during Biden’s presidency.
I have also had The Guardian (which has a British and a US version) and Associated Press as well as Substacks and things like Carnegie Foundation News, World Nuclear News, Counterterrorism report, Foreign Affairs, Euro News and local news including my neighborhoods newsletters in both the US and in Germany where I also live. I read about both the US, Germany and the EU each day a since I live in both the US and Germany.
I have a wapo subscript... If i cancel it, what major newspapers ARE doing a good job? I would like to subscribe to something else that IS doing good work. TY
Philadelphia Inquirer
TY
Right now, none of them. Lemmings over the cliff.
Subscribe to Talking Points Memo
Courier Newsroom and Substack writers Robert Hubbell, Simon Rosenberg, Josh Marshall, Jessica Craven, Heather Cox Richardson. I cancelled NYT months ago. WaPo is next. The bias is sickening.
Yes to your recommendations.
I agree with your opinion.
TY Rochelle
Reuters. The Guardian. Bill Moyers. There are many alternatives.
TY Ted 🙏
The Guardian is pretty good although I've seen some articles there that shouldn't have been.
Democracy Now is !!
Guardian UK - US addition is!!
TY Elaine
Any opinions on the Cleveland Plain Dealer? There has to be something worth reading out there! I cancelled NYT long ago and still have WAPO - for now.
I still like The Guardian which is independent even though they have picked up the Biden stepping down story, but it seems to have a different flavor.
You can also download the podcasts for Prequel for free. Listened to it on a road trip last fall and it was chilling, and very much in line with what’s happening today
After 25+ years as a subscriber, I cancelled yesterday, and I made my reasons known. We all should do it!
The Guardian (US) is my newer go-to news organization. It produces a weekly politics/government newsletter titled, The Stakes. It is highlighting the threats to American democracy and to democratic oriented countries around the world.
For investigative news, ProPublica shines. I subscribe to both - both are non-profit, reader donation-based organizations. The NYT and WaPo aren't in my sights anymore, and I am missing nothing of import. Cut the cord.
Here's the link to sign up for the Guardian Wednesday weekly newsletter, The Stakes: https://www.theguardian.com/global/2024/feb/02/sign-up-for-the-stakes-newsletter
After all these years, I canceled subscription…..
I canceled the NYT and later WaPo a while ago. Yesterday the Globe went after the above the fold article on why Biden should drop out. They all heard why. They are trying to make news rather than report it to sell papers or maybe Donnie pays them. I lived in the DC area when WaPo was doing the hatchet job on Jimmy Carter and I blame it for bringing in crazy lazy Raygun, who had Alzheimer’s. The “disastrous debate” wasn’t a debate, moderators failed to enforce rules and stand up to the stream of lies. You can’t trust a lying cheating bully who won’t show his taxes or his college grades. He has a trove of government secrets he has probably been selling to his dictator buddies. 💩🤡🎃
Lynn, I agree that the most urgent issue of the day is Project 2025 and that the press is obligated rigorously to ensure the truth about it is revealed through reporting its contents in a readily accessible format. Still, in my view, the enemy is not the NYTimes or other publications and news outlets that are calling on us to take stock of whether we think that staying the current course is the best way to defeat Trump. I believe it’s precisely because people care so much about Democrats beating Trump that they feel the need to raise these questions.
Thanks Barbara, Yes, I agree, by-in-large, both are still great newspapers. I also believe they have moles in their editorial staffs undermining them as well as democracy. Moles strike at strategic times. For the NY Times to turn off the debate and immediately send out emails that President Biden should step down is the work of moles, not reporters who ask "Why." Then, after that blunder to double down ala CFDT was the last straw. Columnist write what they want, the newspaper does not, nor should not, control them. Though it was shocking to see the Chicken Little hysteria, one after another on the opinion page.
Lynn, Admittedly, my principal concern, echoed across the media landscape, relates to Biden’s ability to think and speak extemporaneously for an extended period, a low bar, in my view, for the Presidency. I understand we can expect to see Biden over the next week or so in a range of unscripted situations, including interviews, a press conference, maybe a town hall, and so forth. I expect the point, rightly so, is for voters increasingly to view Biden’s meandering debate performance last Thursday as an outlier. Whatever happens, if it ends up that Joe Biden is the nominee out of the Convention, I would hope that everyone who cares about our democracy would do everything they could to help Biden defeat Trump.
Yes.
It's not just the NYT, WaPo is the same, and now The Atlantic is bleating the same message that Biden must step aside. The Atlantic used to be a pretty moderate publication...it seems that all of media, apart from the few Substack heroes, are in for the trump/fascism win. We can reclaim our democracy - don't let up on the fight.
All the basics to how we got here have been written in the pages of Dark Money by Jane Mayer.
The clock is closing in on midnight. If you find the time to firm up your foundational knwolege, this is the place to go.........one online review..........
"This is the most important book I have read about our democracy being destroyed by extreme right wing billionaires. The Democrats should be making this a talking point every opportunity they have. This book should be required reading, with discussion in every 12th grade class whether a Public or Private School"
Thanks for the reminder, Will ! I just dusted off my copy and am again celebrating brave and true journalism. I am a retired journalist and have been pretty dang depressed.
Lynn, My husband wrote this letter that I distributed to people who we know around the country. Many felt the same way and were inspired to write their own letters. It's up to us.
Joseph Kahn, Executive Editor
The New York Times
620 Eighth Avenue
New York, NY 10019
Dear Mr. Kahn:
For some time now, the Times editorial and news slant has clearly been directed at undermining the re-election of President Biden. That has now intensified to the point where it isn't just news anymore. This is no longer “The News That’s Fit To Print.”
My family has been trusting The Times since the 1930s. I am now 88 years old and in full possession my faculties so I find your obsession with the President’s age to be insulting and distressing to the point that I have taken the paper off my home page.
President Biden has done more good for this country that any president in generations. President Biden is a statesman who has re-affirmed the respect for our country throughout the world; something Donald Trump is determined to destroy.
The re-election of Donald Trump will mean the end of a free press in this country and I’m sure the Times is at the top of his hit list.
With Respect,
Richard E. Van Deusen
Wonderful letter. I just hope it touches the decent core of Mr Kahn, if it still remains.
And he wrote a letter.
That old fashioned method that still is the most effective. Thank you, Mr. Van Deusen.
Long life and much happiness.
The press? You mean the, “her emails” press? Yeah, right.
Really, Joe did a bad job once, and it's a handy excuse to get rid of him because he's old. His explanation of why he was so out of it that night was quite plausible. If Biden drops out, this country is doomed.
I am disillusioned and disgusted by the NYT. It is helpful to hear I am not alone. I continue to wonder if they are secretly hoping for a Trump win, since that is the impact their reporting could have.
I really feel they want trump to win. Maybe they want to be in his good graces if he wins and not be censored since they will go along with his lies. Money is their god, the heck with the truth.
Lynn, that was so well said. I have no idea what has become of "The New York Times," a source of information I used to trust. Now, I can't trust it and it makes me sad. They have had a proud history, but it seems, they have been bought by the anti-democracy forces and undermining Biden is just one of their strategies. Disgusting!
The Heritage Foundation & The Federalist Society have been working for decades behind the scenes to change America into a “Christian Nation.” Project 2025 will be a reality if Trump is reelected. Trump & MAGA have succeeded in destroying democracy as we know it. They will kill it on Day 1. The Supreme Court has been bought and paid. Thomas & Alito are shopping cases to overturn what we thought was law. For ANYONE who thinks this is okay. It’s not. And we already know how the book was written and how the story ends because Hitler told us and showed us. It’s terrifying. It has literally shook me to my core. I feel paralyzed.
To Kimberly - and that is exactly what they want you to feel. But you do still have a choice at the voting box on November 5th 2024. The best we can do is deter this heavy propaganda machine and get to the polls in November or send in your ballet early if you can. Make no mistake. We only have one choice. Biden or the unthinkable. Make up your mind to stop tyranny in its tracks. We’ve done it before and we can do it again. Courage will get us over the finish line.
Oh, I will be voting like my life depends on it, because it does. But the fact that 46% of our country will never abandon Trump and the MAGA machine is a reality we have to face down. I can be terrified and paralyzed, but still motivated and willing to do the work to make sure our country survives. I’m not a quitter, but the wave of opposition is a category 5. And who would have thought SCOTUS would tip the scales.
Kimberly I write simply to note that the reported percentages don’t include the several millions of eligible but unregistered citizens. Fortunately, several organizations operate rigorous programs to get increasingly more eligible folks registered, among them FieldTeam6, whom I always can count on for lists we have a real shot at reaching.
I’m writing postcards to registered Dems who vote infrequently. Activate America supplies the names/ addresses and script. We’ve all got to put in the work to save democracy!
Cheryl, I appreciate you writing and agree that everyone who cares about our democracy has to do everything they can to help Democrats up and down the ballot win their races. Btw, I, too, write postcards for Activate America as part of their effort to mobilize voters to elect pro-choice candidates.
I took a quick look at Activate America’s website and I got the impression that you have to be a resident of a state to send postcards for that state. Am I correct?
"The Heritage Foundation & The Federalist Society have been working for decades behind the scenes to change America into a “Christian Nation.”"
I think this is misconceived ... the Heritage Foundation, the Federalist Society, and a hundred other right-wing bodies, have used "Christianity" (and millions of its gullible followers) to create a smokescreen - it's not about godliness in the slightest - it is about money and power and the freedom for corporations to gain more money and more power.
It is raw naked capitalism trying to give itself some moral respectability via the Church - but the Koch Brothers (and hundreds of others) wanting an unregulated pathway to make another billion - that is all that matters. And similarly, the Mad Right doesn't derive its anti-abortion stance from a "Christian" basis - but from a straight white patriarchal one.
IanWilliams,
Agreed...spot on!
This has clarity. Thank you.
How can someone who claims to be a Christian do and speak very UN-Christian things? My advice would be to tell these hypocrites that they have to pick one of these choices. My wish would be that they choose the right thing, but as long as these two organizations exist, I'm afraid it won't be possible, at least not in our lifetime.
Meanwhile, Kimberly, I'm feeling exactly like you are, even to the point of feeling paralyzed.
Dear Diane, I am back from a surrealist trip to California to😭 see my grandchildren. As I have mentioned before, my daughter and her hubby are both Christian Nationalists with the large jug of Trump's Special Cool-Aid in the fridge. We had agreed to not speak politics before I went out, and if one can do that, it all went well. However, the depth of brain washing was something I have never experienced myself before, and my tongue is half bitten off. I managed to be respectful of being a guest in their home, and because of the kids (who are on a steady diet of Cool-Aid) it was a nice time, but I did not feel "home". My daughter is no longer family (😭), and makes it quite clear how much she disrespects my values (I guess she let it rip because it is her home). My Family up to this generation have all been ANTIFA and ready to pick up arms to defend against Nazi's, Bolsheviks, Catholic Popes, etc and now NAXI's. Unfortunately in these times I am too old and frail. All I can do is recruit and VOTE.
I faced the same tongue biting a month ago when we traveled to a family reunion for my mother’s 83rd birthday. I knew my mother and brother are deep into MAGA. It was still a shock to hear the things they say as if everyone must surely agree. Longest week of my life! The only consolation is they live in very Blue Oregon. I don’t ever plan to visit again. We exchange cordial text messages about flowers and recipes. That’s all there is left of our relationship. Grateful for my husband, son and 4 wonderful grandkids. Hang in there. Having family on earth two is very sad.
Last week, I was at a 90th birthday for my mother-in-law attended by her MAGA spawn and Husband. My husband and I are the only blues in the group. It was a rule that no one was to mention politics …. Or it would be Teresa Guidice moment for me with a table flip. I now only do what needs to be done to assist with the in laws healthcare. However, that is dwindling to a trickle- soon to be nonexistent. Cannot believe how quickly we got here… I’ve always told my kids that life is all about choices. And, these people have made their choices….
And THEY are the ones who will have to live with those choices.
AGREED!!! Just beyond words…..
Love the "maga spawn". Who will be singing another tune when trump cancels medicare and soc secu and spawn parents are now living w/them.
Linda, I am sorry for your pain. We must be feeling what so many felt in the 1850's for their family members in the far South. Recruit and Vote, before we have to Shoot and choke! (did I just say that?)
It’s very sad. But also motivates me to fight for democracy. My grandchildren deserve nothing less.
I agree. My grandkids are the ones that worry about the most. Their world might be so different than ours was for us when we were their age.
Amen!
I also have this same scenario. It is depressing. But, we at least in my presence, agree not to talk politics EVER. They know how I stand, and still get their digs in, as I sit quietly. Trump has done a real number on our people and Country…and now he is immune from any accountability. Nice. Grrrrrr
me too. A siblings reunion...I asked my sisters to leave politics out of our conversations, and one nite they all shouted over each other to make their MAGA points and ridicule Biden and curse the Democrats. I finally said I needed to go to bed since I had nothing to contribute to the conversation. Yes, they talk like everyone in the world agrees with them...never thought I would see that day!
How's your tongue, Ruth?
What trump did was allow people who always felt this way to say it out loud without any repercussions. This strain has always been here - That hero Charles Lindbergh and America First. trump's father was a full blown Nazi, his grandfather who was draft dodger from Germany and a cheat and a swindler in this country. In fact, he got back in because he married an American, so true to the family mission, he was a trailing spouse. But I digress.....the point, the strain nurtured and cosseted by the Minute Men and the John Birch Society. They started by taking over school boards.....that was 50 years ago. Here we are today. The fruition of 50+ years of working to overthrown an equitable and fair form of government.
Linda, if you do come back to Oregon, swing through Eugene. I’ll buy you a beverage (coffee, tea, beer, and wine all are excellent here). You’ll need a cleansing after that.
Sorry to hear that. It has permanently divided my family as well. Even if Biden wins, I can never think the same of them again. Why be a traitor to the best governing document yet devised?
"Why be a traitor to the best governing document yet devised?"
While I sympathise with you regarding your family divisions over politics, I can't agree with the "best governing document yet devised" part - it has so many flaws, and so many anti-democratic features, that it's in some ways a good model of how NOT to write a Constitution - or certainly not basing one on a presumption that men and women of goodwill will always be in positions of power.
Sorry to be critical of an American sacred document, but it is a source of great problems as well as good. To my mind the three LEAST democratic bodies - the Presidency, the Senate, and the Supreme Court - have far too much power over the true people's house.
Did I say that somewhere, Ian? I tend to agree with you. The Christian Nationalists have a brilliant remedy for the document thing. I heard 50 times at least during my visit that the document pasted together by 65 Bishops in 325 AD (I believe at Nicaea, Iznik today) is the "direct infallible word of God interpreted by those guys, notice no women, of course". Picking and choosing documents while Constantine hollered in pain "Age cum eo, hic morior, ad disputationem agnostici". something like "hey get on with it, I'm dying here. Get to the agnostics discussion). I don't believe I ever said the constitution is Holy, my friend. Maybe you know my daughter?
It is not a sacred document, in fact a rebellion against the "divine right of kings". It is far from perfect. Yet in a world that had only known absolute authority of rulers, it was surely the first relatively narrow set of laws to limit what the government could do to citizens. This is not a democracy, but a Republic where even the citizens are not supposed to be able to craft laws/elect officials that give the government more power than originally intended.
There is no provision for universal suffrage in the constitution, only people who owned property, paid taxes or served in the military were eligible to vote. If only net taxpayers who did not work for the government could vote this November, Biden would win in a landslide. Seems obvious to me the model of the movie Idiocracy has come to fruition. Just like in the 19th century people idolized Jesse James and in the 20th famous gangsters, tRump is chic!
So many common folks just don't care that like the intelligence agencies and the military, he is pulling an end run around the constitution.
"The only security of all lies in a free press!" -T. Jefferson
The first amendment is over if the Cheeto Jesus starts targeting journalists.
You 'see' me, Don, in my shame, frustration and sadness. I am sorry for your situation. I don't even think they THINK any more.
Thank you for your story, Bruce. It is needed to show the depth of this nightmare. What you describe is a depiction of civil war reality. As Joyce says, we are in this together. At least half the nation is with you. But it will be a long fight. Look how long it took to get this bad. Just like the first civil war. Keven Roberts believes he's a revolutionary. No, he's an insurrectionist, a sick psychopathic moron, just like the secessionists of 1860. And he will lose.
Bruce, I am so sorry you had to go through this nightmare. I don't make light of this situation, but at least you saw your grandkids. It must have been extremely hard to be in the same house. (I keep telling people that every family has issues, some more than others, and those people who say theirs is wonderful are, quite frankly, in denial, or too stupid to see what's going on.)
The only way I can describe your experience would be like walking on eggshells the entire time and cringing at the thought of someone accidentally saying something about politics.
You should be commended for restraint, even though you're now missing part of your tongue. At least you were respectful, which is good. I doubt that I would have survived. At the risk of sounding tacky, did they try to convince you to drink that special cool-aid?
The sad thing is that considering the big divide courtesy of Trump and his minions, there are probably a LOT of families experiencing the same thing.
There's too much at stake if we don't recruit and vote. I'd volunteer to help at the polls, but since I'm also old, I'd be afraid to be in the building any longer than necessary. When I voted a few weeks ago, I found myself looking around for anyone who made the hair stand up on the back of my neck.
Maybe once your grandkids grow up and are able to vote, they'll know the right person to vote for. Good luck.
Not directly, Diana. That stopped years ago during and after more active disagreements. It is kind of tragic though to be blackmailed through your grand children. I "behave" because of them! I have this need to stay in their lives.
😢😢😢
They are using “Christianity” as a shield and a weapon. Just as Trump has used our judicial system. Joyce has done a terrific job of avoiding what many in her media circle have done, and that’s bought into the propaganda machine that’s working overtime to either indoctrinate us or confuse us to the point where we no longer know what or who to believe. I am ever so grateful for her, this forum and for those who engage in it. I am smarter for it. Which is also why I am terrified.
"They are using “Christianity” as a shield and a weapon."
I certainly hope they are ... it would be really scary if they actually believe they are doing the Lord's Work. Thank God for atheists is all I can say ...
That’s a classic, “Thank God for atheists!" “Christian nationalists” do not practice Christianity and they are not doing the Lord’s work. They are doing, instead, what Kimberly says: “using “Christianity” as a shield and a weapon." More churches should call them out, as the ELCA (Lutheran) has; the ELCA had publicly condemned “Christian nationalism.”
It takes courage to remember the emperor has no clothes, to see the elephant in the room, to tweeze out the offending splinter at its root. Your points—taken alongside Heritage Foundation head Kevin Roberts' threat "bloodless if the left allows it to be”—remind me that bullies feed nakedly on fear, help me see that I-we-you-they are dealing essentially with a "wife-beater" mentality on steroids, spurs me to persist in dialogue toward rooting out what's really making me-us-you-them suffer.
As Simon Rosenberg has advised, “Do more, worry less. “ Volunteer for Biden-Harris, work for Democrats running for the House and Senate, and as Joyce has recommended, talk to family and friends. We can win this election! l
Please try to concentrate your political contributions on Senate races that are truly “competitive”: AZ, NV, TX, FL, MO, MT, WI, MI, PA, TN and particularly focus on the very important “sleeper” Senate race to elect Independent Dan Osborn in Nebraska! There is no D running there which is very wise plus Osborn is 100% Pro-Choice vs a 12 yr R incumbent who is a rubber stamp and has 35% approval AND abortion is on the ballot plus legal weed! Nebraska women are mobilizing; this is a very winnable race with an excellent Indy candidate who can save our majority in the Senate! Please go to https://secure.ActBlue.com/donate/million4osborn
Also ND. Katrina Christiansen. https://www.katrinaforussenate.com/
Dianne, I judge people who proclaim themselves to be "Christian" by how much or how little they remind me of the life of Jesus, and what he taught. These self-styled "Christians" do NOT remind me of Jesus. They are more like the hypocrites and the Pharisees, who want to be seen by their fellow citizens as righteous. They don't appear to be righteous.
Having grown up in the Bible Belt, Christianity is a hoax...especially for the Bible thumpers. I find those that do good every day via their deeds are doing the Christian thing...not this sort of fake 'blessed' BS this guy and those of his ilk are touting.
Christianity has been bastardized through the millennia by the power-hungry, assuring us that a passive, Jesus-like obedience to “his father’s will” was the ticket to heaven, all the while creating more wealth and power for themselves while the sheep paid for it all. When I realized this truth, I abandoned christianity for a more universal spirituality. These despots say the soothing words of having the key to a heavenly afterlife while wielding their deadly weapons if the sheep don’t comply. It’s as evil as it comes.
Thank you! Perfectly said! All of these men are the misfit boys that now have a podium. Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller and now this Project 25 loser-so many more that follow. Absolutely frightening. They have been given the limelight. So disappointed in the media that I once depended upon for true facts. Don’t know where to turn. Just so thankful for Joyce. …
Their "Christianity" is merely a means to an end, which is all about control and money. "God" is nowhere in sight.
It is incomprehensible at the very least. What are we to do? How do they get away with being free to do this? How do we stop it, it sounds like even when President Biden wins because we are all going to vote for him, it won’t matter ????? They are determined to WTH???
If Democrats win the presidency, the House and the Senate in the November election, it will definitely matter. It won't fix everything the power hungry White Christian Nationalist cockroaches have done over several decades, but it will allow us (among other things) to appoint and approve more good judges who follow the rule of law, to create more good laws for the American people, to continue to help Ukraine win the war Putin started in their country and to keep NATO together to protect the world order.
It's easy to be demoralized and feel paralyzed, but that's just what dictators want to do to the people in their country. That alone is enough to make me angry at this bullying tactic by power hungry, immoral, misguided, narcissists trying to take control of this country for their own purposes.
It's a good idea to get away from the media for awhile. It helps to do something you enjoy and spend time with friendly people.
And remember, the white Christian nationalists don't have a monopoly on determination. That's just another statement they made to try and bully and demoralize people who don't agree with their behavior and goals.
We can't fix this overnight. But we can overcome this creeping plague if we stick together and never give up. We got rid of Hitler and his twisted view of life, we can do this too if we all pull together and never give up...and if Democrats keep winning elections!!!
Take care, Ruth. And be good to yourself.
To Kimberly: I am also feeling paralyzed with the events taking place right now! Just looking at the photo of Kevin Roberts, head of Heritage Foundation, gives me shivers. He looks like what he is and what he says: crazed white supremacist, racist and fascist - a blood line descendant of Hitler.
As for the SCOTUS, our slide from the political, judicial and federal norms begun in 2010 - with the "Citizen United" decision by Chief Justice Roberts, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, late Antonin Scalia and Antony Kennedy (who resigned in 2017 under suspicious circumstances) facilitated the start of the whole sale corruption of our political process.
A handful of huge corporations and billionaires took advantage and flooded all established norms with their money and influence under the guise of "the corporations are people"! Trump and MAGA were just a natural progression and welcome vehicle to push our democracy into a free fall we are now watching in disbelief.
Don't be paralyzed. Write postcards to voters with Field Team 6, Moms Rising, Blue Wave, or Postcards to Swing States. Moms Rising and Blue Wave postcards are pre-addressed.
Don't forget "Postcards to Voters." I wrote postcards (along with many, many other volunteers from various states around the country) to support Senator Warnock and Senator Ossoff when they both first ran for office at the same time and it was such a great feeling when they both won!
https://postcardstovoters.org/
I hadn't heard of that one. Thanks for the tip!
You're welcome! : )
Chilling. "My way or the highway." So much for democracy and compromise. We need to call for Trump to withdraw; there is more reason to remove him than Biden.
Yes this is the worst part for me. NYT calling for Biden's exit and blindly ignoring what the psychopath said. No fact checking or push back of any kind by NYT. Just attacks on the most effective and American POTUS our country has ever seen. It's priviledged eastern rich white politics in the faces of the rest of us.
That’s why I joined many and cancelled my subscription to the New York Times. When I learned the Philadelphia Inquirer had posted a column FOR THE GOOD OF AMERICA, TRUMP SHOULD DROP OUT, I decided they deserve my business!
Oh my God, thank you for that Philadelphia Inquirer column heading. You made my day! So glad to hear that in these bleak days, a newspaper has the gall to say the right thing!
Laurence ODonnell said Philadelphia Inquirer last night. I will cancel NYT and subscribe to them.
I myself got a subscription to The Philadelphia Inquirer for just that reason. I also live across the bridge in south Jersey so there are plenty articles I’m interested in besides the politics. It’s just a 15 minute drive, except in rush hour traffic. I also depended on medical information and current studies being done through the University of Pennsylvania. So much is done in Philadelphia and the Inquirer covers a good deal of its discoveries.
I’ve been upset with the NYT since President Biden was elected. They’ve continued to present him in a very negative light. And now the “hallowed editorial board” expects him to step down. Just be cause they say so. They’ve got a nerve. They should study up on procedures for setting up a new nominee. There actually are none. It’s an excruciating situation we find ourselves in.
As I understand it, the NYT has a hair their collective ass because Biden has, so far, refused to sit down for a one on one exclusive interview with their edit board.
I mean, shades of Glenn Close’s character from Fatal Attraction. “I will not be ignored.” And if you do ignore me, unfavorable editorial coverage until proper respect is paid.
Grow up, NYT.
And can you imagine the many ways in which they would "edit" such an interview, so make Biden look even worse? It may have gained President Biden the enmity of the owner of the NYT, but I think the President has correctly chosen to snub them. It hasn't escaped my notice that the NYT is chasing money and they would LOVE to see the Dems in "disarray"--think of all the breathless news copy that could create!?
The fun part of unsubscribing is where they ask why. I rather imagine they have recently seen the same reason checked. Disappointed with content.
I think the press is scared sh!tless. Listen to Proj25: we're cummin' for The Press. Think they're kidding? Reread Joyce's post.
NYT, etc, fearing for their very LIVES, feels they must bow down to MAGA or die. Literally.
They're doing everything they can to ensure the Democrats lose, so as not to upset the beast.
If you were the press, what would YOU do?
Dissent and fight for our democracy.
They are fooling themselves to think they will be his favored news source forever and ever amen. He’s loyal to nobody but himself.
Excellent point! Journalists are in danger if they say bad things about tffg. He has already called out msnbc by name as a target. He has taken a page out of putin’s playbook. Expect journalists to be jailed if there is another trump administration.
It doesn't matter who the Republican nominee is. Even if 34 (formerly known as 45) gets replaced, Project 2025 is set up for "the next conservative President".
I cannot understand why the media is not reporting/addressing the 2025 project. The contents of the document are frightening.
I agree. I believe his "gang" have gotten to every single media source, whether online, on TV or radio. It's hard to fathom such a thing, but that's the only explanation that makes sense.
What's that slogan from The Washington Post? Oh, that's right. It says: "Democracy Dies in Darkness"
Wow ! I guess it must in THEIR darkness !! What a horrible slogan to put out into the world ! They obviously don’t think words are important.
This needs to be printed with headlines is every paper and should be on the local news EVERYWHERE.
I agree. If they don't hurry up and do SOMETHING, all of them may find themselves shutting down if/when Project 2025 takes over. Trump only likes the First Amendment when it's convenient for him, which means HE will determine which news will or won't be allowed to be broadcast. I do know for certain that he will always allow Faux News to stay on. Censorship would be the operative word.
Powerful. Clear and powerful.
Russell, I've thought so, too, for quite a while. Others must not get it. Anyway, if people think that communication sucks now, they better hope that Trump loses. While I can't predict the future, I am concerned with Trump's determination to take away so many rights that we take for granted today.
Do we need to wait for them to act before we move to restrain them? Is their 2025 plan legal in any way? Is there a legal way to prevent the execution of their plan? Must we allow them to make a big mess before we move to stop them?
If somebody tells me he intends to show up at my house next weekend to beat me up, maybe end my happy life, hurt my family, wreck my home -- is there any legal way I can prevent him from carrying out his threats? His right to speak freely surely has some constraints. Specific threats of violence should not be allowed under a First Amendment "get out of jail free and do whatever you want" protection.
What am I missing?
SCROTUS just handed King Joe the tools to save our democracy. If he is unwilling, he needs to resign and let Queen Kamala do it!
Get those barges Ginni Thomas texted Mark Meadows about floating off Gitmo. Arrest and send Ginni and her husband to her barges. Transfer Bannon & Navarro to the barges. Arrest all the insurrectionists and ship them to the barges. And then watch the RShits run to the courts to overturn Trump v US.
POTUS now has the power to shut down MAGA now.
SCOTUS only handed King Joe a pass 1) if he commits a Crime, and 2) if SCOTUS ultimately calls said crime an "official" act of the Presidency.
Fat chance.
Think like a R: Put the 5 R SROTUS males on the barges near Gitmo. SCOTUS will no longer be SCROTUS. SCROTUS slit their own throats and they don't even realize it; either King Joe takes them out or they will be taken out by King Don when they displease him.
Water, food, and ammo.
Let’s not promote violence. Work to get out the vote!! Work for Peace instead. There’s already been enough violence to last our lifetimes.
Taking the MAGA folks at their word is not promoting violence. They have been threatening violence for years now, it can't hurt to be prepared.
I took the word ammo for guns.
For now, the pen is still mightier than the sword. If the MAGA adherents have some sort of uprising, having guns will be the only way to protect your family. This conversation started with the idea that "it will be bloodless, if the left allows it". Not hard to discern their intentions. BTW, that profile photo is me in 1970 (age 3), holding an AR-15, sent home from Vietnam in pieces.
David your answer(s) plural are in my Comment below. See, the Dept of Justice (DOJ) has outlined very specifically the 4 categories of threats & exactly when those threats are actionable both criminally & civily.
A Victim or intended victims do NOT have to wait for the act itself. As the DOJ has specified even causing "fear" real fear, is enough to trigger a crime.
I went on & explained even just "fear" has a "corporeal" element mean physiological threats may cause "bodily injury" and thus, trigger the Perp's and or Corp's and or Institutions 3rd Party Liability insurance.
That means the intended Victim, actual Victim, genuinely scared stiff Victim gets money,
dollars, cash, $, for damages and possibly punitive damages if the Perp's conduct is "despicable" a term of law in California but, check your jurisdiction but, the DOJ outline is a very is a instructive way to start.
Peace.
David, threats are not protected speech. In your personal scenario, reporting and then preparing are your lawful options. In the scenario we are confronted with in Project 2025 it is up to us to resist in all ways.
Are you able to share at what point does this portion of 18 USC 2331 relating to Domestic Terrorism become enforceable? Because it certainly seems applicable;
B)appear to be intended—
(i)to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
(ii)to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion or (continued in link)
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2331
SCROTUS just handed King Joe the tools to save our democracy. If he is unwilling, he needs to resign and let Queen Kamala do it! It should be obvious now that we are at war with these Christo-fascists. They plan to steal the election and are openly saying that if we resist there will be blood.
Perhaps you hadnt read Joyce and Heather Cox Richardson. SCOTUS gave Joe nothing, they made it so they would approve what would be official business of a president. So no Joe has not been given license to be king
I respectfully disagree. Yesterday I posted this and asked Joyce some questions:
The Rule of Law
I am not an attorney. My understanding is that Trump v United States is now case law from SCOTUS; it is THE LAW.
My question for Joyce is this: Can President Biden embrace this decision and in so doing be following the rule of law?
The oath the military takes includes this phrase: “I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic…”
Since the ruling states, “Such an immunity is required to safeguard the independence and effective functioning of the Executive Branch, and to enable the President to carry out his constitutional duties without undue caution.”, it appears to me that it is President Biden’s DUTY to use his core constitutional powers to protect our democracy from insurrectionists, Christo-fascists, and the Trump crime family of felons.
Can President Biden direct the DOJ to transfer Bannon and Navarro to Gitmo?
Can President Biden have Clarence and Ginni Thomas arrested and shipped to Gitmo to await trial?
Can President Biden have Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Ron Johnson, Josh Hawley, etc, etc, etc, arrested and shipped to Gitmo to await trial?
If he were to do any of these, I imagine the Rs would be running to courts for injunctions and argue against this ruling.
Remember, arresting people and sending them to barges off Gitmo was the subject of a Ginni text to Mark Meadows: https://www.businessinsider.com/ginni-thomas-thought-biden-crime-family-would-be-sent-to-barges-off-gitmo-2022-3
If these Christo-fascists steal the election this will probably be a fraction of what happens.
I believe that is exactly what they are saying. Threats and all.
DOJ needs to address what is in their toolbox as well, gloves off, I feel they erred on the side of caution with regard to J6 in not charging anyone with the Statues and Monument Act (that wasn't one of tfg many Executive Orders) and collecting small fines leaving taxpayers to cover the damages. The planners and permit pullers should have been sued for those damages, there would have been no leniency had positions been reversed, as evidenced by what they are spewing today about holding tribunals for persons with no crimes committed.
I'm no expert on the United States Code, or that particular citation. I started with your link and got carried away after reading the information from Cornell and other reliable sources. Then I spent several hours searching for some kind of explanation as to why we never really saw this coming years/decades ago. I didn't realize that the possibility of Domestic Terrorism was a topic discussed as far back as the Reagan Era. Bush's name came up several times, too, but since I accidentally deleted some of my notes, I don't remember which George they meant.
Unfortunately, the minute I started reading about the Heritage Foundation, I had to stop because my anger turned into a blood-pressure headache.
Somehow, I stumbled upon the word "kakistocracy," which I'd never heard of. Wikipedia calls it "a government run by the worst, least qualified, or most unscrupulous citizens." While Trump was busy being doing nothing noteworthy back in 2018, former CIA Director John Brennan tweeted to him: "Your kakistocracy is collapsing after its lamentable journey. As the greatest Nation history has known, we have the opportunity to emerge from this nightmare stronger & more committed to ensuring a better life for all Americans, including those you have so tragically deceived.” I won't repeat Trump's response.
My theory is that after reading what Brennan wrote, Trump went "full speed ahead" to gather up more "unscrupulous citizens" and members of his posse (MAGAs) to work some more on Project 2025. Over the past seven years, they managed to put the finishing touches on that document and then work out the logistics for putting that in motion the minute he returns to the White House.
Shire, I was surprised at the different ways the term Domestic Terrorism was described and discussed. The challenge was finding any examples of that happening before 9/11.
Thanks for sending the link and taking time to endure my rambling.
I was looking through a book I have on conspiracies and found this great quote from Albert Einstein. He says: "A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth."
I don't think tfg has any real responsibility for Project 2025. He is their useful idiot.
Come to think of it, his only real responsibilities seem to be breaking as many laws as possible. Of course, he does not ACCEPT any of those responsibilities. He'd rather lie or blame someone for what he's done.
Maybe he IS only there to be their useful idiot. Like a big clown.
this far right theocratic movement is not only happening here in the US. Joyce, bring on an expert to discuss how it's playing out in Canada's current election (Poliviere, Steven Harper), and in Europe. There is a reason Steve Bannon bought a home in Italy, he wanted to be near the center of this vast movement. And while you're at it, would love to see more sunlight exposing Erik Prince's newest mercenary project - the army for Project 25. If you're not already scared, get ready.
Thank you for taking the time to dig into it, I think John Brennan nailed it and obviously struck a nerve, kakistocracy is exactly what '17-'20 was topped with a Coup attempt in '21. I wasn't on Twitter until previous owners banned tfg, then I got an education in the Republican "long game" which started in the '70's with ending of Fairness Doctrine and granting Rupert Murdoch citizenship to create the FOX disinformation station and culminated with the corrupted SCOTUS rulings we saw in June '24, I left when it became Xitter. Bump stocks and lawless Presidents were never in the Constitution, General welfare and Domestic tranquility are, that bench needs to be disbanded.
Ahhh, the rabbit holes of research. Thanks for doing that.
I am reading this just a few minutes before midnight on the eve of Independence Day. I cannot recognize or conceive of this dystopian future that tRump, his cronies of the far Right and the Project 2025 have outlined for America should he be re-elected. I don’t think my father, my uncles, my grandfather nor my husband and all three children could recognize from their years of military service. It’s not a call to dump Biden but work with Democrats and the others to finish the specter of tRump forever
President Biden should have Kevin Roberts taken into custody. Biden can probably do that using existing law. But two days ago, the Supreme Court clearly gave the President immunity if he were to take official action to arrest a citizen who poses a clear and present danger to our country.
Yes it is evident the white christian nationalists are expecting Biden to not do what the psychopath would do thereby demonstrating their hypocrisy and lack of any true christian merit of which they all profess to be exemplars.
Yes, flimflammers depend upon their marks to react in predictable ways
But SCOTUS claims the ultimate word in deciding what is part of the immunity. It only protects trump not joe
Wasn’t their decision that “official acts” are by definition immune?
And the justices would probably think twice about changing their ruling to play Game of Thrones with a President who controls the FBI and could have each of them arrested within minutes and prosecuted in a military tribunal as a clear and present danger to the U.S. - which they already are!
Not if Biden bites the bullet and gets rid of them....which they deserve.
THIS is a THREAT
That's how I am looking at it as well. Project 2025 is a threat against the Constitution. Surely we must defend the Constitution against the lunatics behind this 2025 plan.
Do we need to wait for them to begin messing up our society before we move to stop them? Can we stop them with law enforcement?
I don't want to be in another war.
Is anybody offering a credible solution to this threat?
Right now it’s voting these throwbacks out. Pick any race that’s close in a state that’s important in the calculations of the electoral college and contribute what you can even if it’s a few dollars to the democrat in the race.
They’ve been strategic in how they approach government control. Let’s also be.
Unfortunately, Our President who now has not only the clear, legal authority, but duty to step in with anything in his arsenal, probably will not. This is clearly a huge internal threat to our nation...and he has 'Carte Blanche' to protect it now...Will he?
Have you not paid attention? Joe doesnt have that power. The way SCOTUS framed it, they would approve or disapprove what could be considered part of the office of presidential business, its a free pass only for trump
The president has ways of enforcing his decisions. The Supreme Court, though it talks big, has no divisions dedicated to forcing their benign opinions on the populace. /s
I would love to see the SCOTUS in a twit, instead of us...wouldn't that b nice for a change?
That's the current interpretation...lets wait and see - I'm not convinced it ONLY applies to Trump. I think it says something different, but that may be my own wishful thinking.
The 6 scotuses need to be removed. Period. I mean it. This is bullshit. They are bullshit.
Law enforcement? You know that law enforcement basically sides with MAGA right?
There are some cops who were attacked on Jan 6 at the Capitol who would disagree.
Not all of us.
Kevin Roberts needs to end his days in a windowless 8x10 cell on the third sub basement level of the Florence Supermax, along with all the other traitors and terrorists.
Is he Steven Miller’s twin brother?
I had the same thought.
brothers from other mothers
What good is it for all of us to vote, as we WILL, but they won’t except it anyway?? They must be stopped NOW…
Remember...
on Thursday, the 4th of July, are are celebrating the American decision not to be ruled by a king.
Frightening. Trump and project 2025 must be stopped.
The unmitigated gall of this "creature" (who I will not address as a man) is beyond belief. We will face this terrorist and all who are cut from the same cloth, and we will--we must--stop them. We must reinstall President Biden and Vice President Harris and then we must proceed to drive these creatures out of their hiding places, forever.
If Trump is elected, we can expect to be living in a hellscape nightmare created by the far-right-wing nutjobs. I don't know about anyone else, but
I'm STILL RIDIN' WITH BIDEN!
🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲
Please be active. Read the links Joyce included in this post. You're all smarter than average or you wouldn't be reading these posts. So Compose letters to the editor of local papers. Keep them cogent & under 200 words. Send emails to local TV station news editors (their names & addresses should be on their staff page) call the station if necessary.
Maybe call the Whitehouse, too.
It would seem the media believes Biden is too nice a guy to get down in the dirt with these traitors.
But being pushed into the corner like he is now I hope he's banging on Merrick's door. He needs to find a way to stop this cabal. We can't JUST VOTE. That's not enough in my book. But then I'm a child of the 60s & 70s who was on the front lines of the Vietnam War protests. We must act & we must act NOW!!!
Standard mo for domestic terrorists, whether passing draconian reproductive health laws or huffing and puffing and threatening to blow our house in. The goal is uncertainty and fear. You can be sure "tough guys" Roberts and Bannon will be no where near the front lines. Like their Dear Leader, they're bullies and cowards. If we give into the fearmongering, they've won. Let's not let them win.
Dale, your words always ring true for me with comfort. In a weird way for sure but there you are. Thanks.😆