Today, President Biden eulogized President Carter: “We have an obligation to give hate no safe harbor and to stand up to … the greatest sin of all — the abuse of power.”
"Jimmy Carter seems to have timed his death to send the country a much needed message."
He couldn't have timed it better for another reason. It could not have been just me listening to eulogy after eulogy praising President Carter's stellar character and not think of the spectacular contrast to that of the scumbag who will reoccupy the WH.
I will forever treasure meeting President Carter and our correspondence. He told me that he never felt any conflict between his scientific background and his faith. He had the kIndest face I've ever seen. I sent him my first book, not knowing if he would bother reading it. Not only did he read it but he sent me an incredibly thoughtful letter about how much he enjoyed it and went on to encourage my writing. I believe that he was the closest thing to Jesus on this earth. I brought it to his attention that they even shared the same initials....
Thank you so very.much for sharing such a.heartwarming encounter with President Jimmy Carter with us all.Am sure you could write a memoire.of the times this gentle man touched the lives of people all over the world. His acts of kindness to others are legion.
We are all so blessed his life ...shining with purpose and integrity...touched ours on the pathway of life.
Bill, today, I heard a report on NPR about the funeral service for President Carter. The surprise the reporter saw was that Mike Pence sat behind Trump. How is that a surprise. Mike would still go to hell for Trump and he knows it. So does every single thinking person out here. It seems to me the shock was that the Obamas had to perch near a slug who has only contempt for them, that is when he remembers it.
President Carter did not wait. He is rolling over in his casket. I'm sure given the chance Trumpsk would call President Carter a loser and a sucker.
Notice I make sure to include the Title of President for Resident Carter. I will NEVER do the same for Trumpsk. He disrespects the office. I will never respect him. He may squat in the Whitehouse for the next four years, but he is anything but Presidential.
Flags will remain half mast for the inauguration. I think that is some poetic justice right there. Thank you, President Carter! They should remain at 1/2 mast till Donnie is out. I think in two years, D's take the house and maybe the Senate. Could Donnie be impeached a third time then? I think its possible.
Somewhere I read that the orange sadist can command them to be raised as soon as he is prezzident. Didn't he refuse to allow flags to be flown at half-staff when George HW Bush died?
I named him the "orange sadist" starting with the repugnicant debates in 2016 when I realized, to my horror, that the guy is, indeed, a sadist. (I'm a psychiatrist, so I know the criteria for that diagnosis). And the orange sadist he shall always remain to me.
He's absolutely a sadist. I'm not a medical professional, but the obvious thrill he gets from violence, whether it's word or deed, is arousing for him. Bloodlust and inflicting pain are his erotic triggers.
Cheryl, Toddler-Trump is sadistic, but does not have the courage to do any of the violence he loves, himself. He likes to watch as he did on January 6th gloating inwardly that he set the whole attack, insurrection off. How anyone could have voted for him is totally beyond comprehension. I have heard that people want to be just like him, ordering harm done to others that they can watch and swoon over. He is a despicable human being, so are those who support him, that is until they prove otherwise, like standing up for our constitution and our American people. It will be interesting to see who shows up for the inauguration. I'm guessing lily white and not too well-off. The rich supporters will stay home except for Musk our incoming co-president. I am just sorry President and Dr. Biden have to sit through the Trump BS, deliberate lies, and maligning of the American people, the ones that the Bidens and their administration have worked so hard to raise up.
I'm not a psychiatrist but the demented orange thug is easy to analyze! Great Psych 101 topic of discussion! I knew some of the people that he screwed over when building his casinos. I never dreamed that voters would put him into office! An yes, he's a sadist!
He's screwed over every single human being in his orbit -- whether they were Polish workers, paid half of what U.S. workers were paid, uninsured, up on the girders creating his monstrosity (including refusing to pay for one Polish worker who fell almost to his death); whether they owned a multi-generational piano store, whom he refused to pay after taking two grand pianos for his failed casinos, causing them to declare bankruptcy; whether it was his own niece and nephew whom he got his demented father to cut out of his will, or the grandnephew whose bills he reneged on paying when his insurance wouldn't pay the remainder of his NICU bill. There is not one single person who has had an interaction with whom he didn't screw whether because they had nothing to offer him, or they refused to bow down to him. He is truly monstrous.
I wish psychiatrist's would speak up more about his brain. Not a criticism just that I find it interesting and telling. Also, I think we don't pay enough attention to how childhood trauma affects later life. The show Frontline always does a presidential election episode, and I thought it did a good job of showing Trump's life.
Are you familiar with Dr. Bandy X. Lee's work? She published a book prior to the orange sadist taking office, title "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump". 27 other psychiatrists and mental health experts wrote chapters in the book, breaking the American Psychiatry Association's rule that psychiatrists are not allowed to diagnose anyone whom they have not personally examined. (There was also a petition to sign, which hundreds of us signed.) She lost her job as a Professor of Psychiatry at the Medical School of Yale University as a result. The orange sadist has been diagnosed as having the worst psychiatric diagnosis possible: "Malignant Narcissist" -- someone so self-centered that they don't care if other people die as a result of their actions. Dr. Lee has a substack now. I recommend that you subscribe. (Did you see the recent move, "Trump"? If not, take a look at that, as well.)
kdsherpa, I suspect that if Mike Pence were offered a "good" job by Trump, he would take it, particularly if there were sufficient prestige involved. He might not if his wife nixes the idea, but I still think Pence is very loyal to Trump, maybe left his side because he knew things would go badly for him if he stayed on the ticket. Pence is not as sadistic and plain evil as Trump is, but he went along with nearly all the stuff Trump was involved with while president, the most horrific, separating kids from parents and putting them in cages, like animals. Now Trump even calls immigrants, kids and all, "animals" and "vermin." It would be great if Pence were to make a statement, perhaps just before the inauguration to let people know what Trump is really like, from the mouth of a "christian." He won't!
I think that Mike Pence is as passive a person as anyone who has EVER been in politics has been. However, I don't see him as sadistic or evil. I think that any connection with the orange sadist and Pence was irretrievably and irredeemably severed after the sadist called for Pence's death. I agree whole-heartedly with you: if Pence would speak out and say the truth before, or on, 1/20, that would be a miracle, and the balm our suffering nation needs right now. Don't think it'll ever happen. I do recall that Pence did NOT endorse the orange sadist for President. (Didn't Karen turn her back on the orange sadist when he "shook hands" with Mike? I thought Mike grimaced when the orange sadist touched him. Apparently this was the first time they've seen each other since the January 6th nightmare.) The person who annoyed me most was Dubya. HE refused to shake the orange sadist's hand. Fine. But he ALSO REFUSED to endorse Harris for President. Shameful.
I agree that there was a double standard for Kamala Harris vs Trump. Although there is also for Pres Biden vs Trump. If Biden has a gaffe he's senile. If Trump spews lies, it's just Trump being Trump!
Sorry I honestly hate it when anyone makes a categorical statement like that. The "MSM" includes the New York Times which strongly supported Harris and actively reported accurately on Trump as did many other newspapers. Yes some MSM failed us but not all. It is really unfair AND IMHO dangerous to make categorical statements like that.
MSM is one of the few places where we might find honest AND widely available news sources (unlike Substack which reaches a few million people at most).
Are they all good and honest? No, sadly, but many are. To lump them all together disparagingly is a real disservice.
I read Kara Swisher is putting together a proposal for Bezos to sell her the WaPo! What things she could do for the country if she was running the Post!
Are you talking about an alternate-reality New York Times? I dumped them after 2016, their trashing of Hillary Clinton was so awful. Their endorsement of Harris-Walz was lukewarm at best considering that the other ticket was totally unqualified. And Maggie Haberman is a grade-A toady.
I totally don't get that. Why on earth couldn't she fly back to D.C. for 36 or 48 hours, and then return to HI?? We know that she, like Barack, had the greatest respect for Carter. Just seems weird to me.
So I was thinking, should I write a satire on Trump being eulogized one day? It would be nasty, disgusting and hopefully , funny. Anyone have an answer.
Bill, with a minor adjustment, I think Shakespeare has already written it, putting into the mouth of one of his most famous villains - the thane MacBeth.
‘Trump’s' but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage. And then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
(My apologies to Shakespeare who no doubt would have done a marvelous job with a tragic-comedy about Trumpism)
Watching him sit there, working his mouth like a coke head, I had to wonder if he was thinking the same thing. He sure was social! Looked like Melania was pissed because the wind messed up her hair and she couldn’t show cleavage. Weird.
I don't always agree with Bill (and he knows it) but he is not just an attention seeker AND Joyce's Substack is a place for discourse for varying views. If it's not, then it serves no useful purpose. If all you can get is one side-ism then a column is useless, IMHO.
People need to stop being afraid of conversations which have differing opinions. That is one of the hallmarks of our country.
It's known as "free speech".
There are limits of course, hateful speech or advocating violence should not be tolerated. But Bill doesn't do that, and while I don't always agree with him, I will always defend his right to make comments that may be annoying but at least make you think.
Jon, I, like you, find differing points of view stimulating and interesting, as long as they are backed up with thought, not just regurgitating what someone is trying to get out as a talking point or some other propaganda. I don't find that much in this thread or the others I visit. If I don't agree with someone and what they have said is interesting, I will counter. If what they write is off the wall, I will tell them so and explain why. That is what conversation is about, sharing ideas and explanations.
Thank you. I wish there were more people like us, willing to debate cogently with rational arguments even if we don't agree. Trying to silence rational dissent belongs in Russia and China, not here.
If it troubles you, don’t read it. I’m a writer among other hats. And I’m a paid subscriber. And I have a perfect right to not only express my opinions, but promote what I write. You obviously are not a writer and so so disparage others trying to be read. You don’t get it. But if it makes you feel good to disparage me, please continue.
In addition, my better musical side is all I can do to further the cause to bring Trump down and yet, you still criticize me. My Lord, what can I do to appease you? Oh you already said it. Which is for me to keep my big mouth shut. No can do. I was once upon a time, kicked out of a Catholic grade school for yapping all the time. Nobody is going to stop me now.
Rocking in the new world.
Rocking in Manhattan on Centre Street across from State Supreme Court on January 18 10-3.
Please point out the upside to Bill Katz's post that put words in Barack and Michelle Obama's mouth that they would (most likely) never say. That's the post I was responding to. The rest of the time the guy is easy to ignore.
Those of us who write are, you guessed it, “ attention seekers.” Maybe you might be better off not reading anything. As I stated below, I write not for only the good feeling I get by my discourse, but I write to hopefully have others read it and create discourse. We writers promote and if this so turns you off, either don’t read it or continue disparaging me. It’s cool. All in a days work.
Kathi, you are so right that Toddler-Trump's enablers are far worse than he is because they know exactly what he is, yet lied, cheated, gaslit, and lied some more to get him back in power. That really is a definition of evil!
How much more proof do they want, all the videos and injuries and death prove how he in FACT is an insurrectionist. It’s our fake news channels that don’t tell the TRUE STORY. I’m so sick of the dumpster!
I guess Barack drew the short straw, based on the photo. They should have seated Trump in the children’s section. I wonder if he realizes just how despised he is.
I believe the exes were seated in order of their service terms. Clinton served before Bush who served before Obama who served before the T*rd who served before Biden. I’m glad to see Mr. Biden sitting in the front row.
As for Obama chatting with Trump…reminds me of the time when I worked in the diplomatic sphere where I heard…..”diplomacy is the art of telling someone to go to hell so that they look forward to the trip.” Trump is so stupid that if a diplomatic tree trunk hit him in the head he’d talk about his gold toilets.
I wept through the hour discussions on MSNBC prior to Jimmy Carter's funeral, and throughout the entire funeral. I didn't expect that. Afterwards, I realized that I was mourning the death of Goodness and Democracy in my country -- and the start of evil and fascism.
Deb, I too, hope the whole challenge is laughed out of court, but alas, Little Johnny Roberts has no moral compass whatsoever, just what I understand is the look of a judge. He will most likely stand with his Donnie on behalf of the scummy other 5 in the anti-American gang on the SC. Who knows what they will rule, but it is likely it will be for Toddler-Trump. Shameful, but rich white men and white wannabees who are rich men too have no shame.
So they argue that the American people should not be fully informed of the evidence that the former President disrupted the transfer of power because simply releasing the report will, checks notes, disrupt the transfer of power.
Jimmy Carter named the greatest threat to America many years ago, inequality of wealth. He was a prophet. The timing of his death was his last gift to America. God Bless Jimmy and may he rest in peace and look over all of us.
I’ve always thought that the worst sin a human being can commit is the abuse of power over another living creature. Shame on Trump and all his supporters and enablers.
and in any actual democracy, or with any actual national government who honored the Rule of Law, or the Constitution, or just simple common sense, another trump presidency would also be an impossibility, a nonstarter, even if he had not been arrested on Jan. 7th and been institutionalized somewhere other than the White House.
I think the biggest problem with any democracy is its dependence on the people, the masses of citizenry who must be informed and active in its function and maintenance -- and there will always be bad people, weak people, uninterested people, distracted people, etc.. Public education was to help the citizenry meet the requirements needed to do their part in a democracy. And the press, the free press was to help the citizenry to have the information they needed to bring more than emotion and preferences to their decisions and actions. It happens everywhere. And it happens often with the malicious help of outside forces, in this case Russia and China and their ilk -- anti-democratic governments along with unfettered capitalist individuals and corporations. The battle has been going on for ages: money & might vs. morality. We have a job to do so let's gear up!
Well said! Among the issues is the removal of Civics classes from high schools and jr highs. Dumbing down public education, intentionally. But the biggest single issue may be the inequality of wealth distribution, where a very few have been allowed to amass most all of a nation's wealth and resources. It happens in every tyranny but it happened HERE before the tyranny took hold in earnest and helped create it apparently. And all the warning signs were shot down, shot up, ignored; all the anti-democratic forces like abuse of the electoral college to elect the very one it was supposed to prohibit. Now, first, we have to just survive what's coming.
You say that is the problem with democracy? The fact that people may have differing opinions?
But ma'am, that is EXACTLY what a democracy is and depends on. When differing opinions are suppressed, you no longer have a democracy.
If the differing opinions are ones you don't like, than it is incumbent on YOU (and your supporters) to help make sure that your opinions are voiced and heard.
The biggest problem with a democracy is that people are too lazy to work at it. They are willing to capitulate to the loudest opinions because it is easy. Nothing about democracy is easy, but silencing opinions you dislike doesn't help.
I did not say that the problem with democracy is that people have differing opinions but that they are not active or informed in the democracy. Many do not even watch or read about politics, many only watch or read one channel, many do not understand civics or what a democracy is. Some are too lazy, some are uneducated as to their role in a democracy, some are bullied out of the process, some are deliberately misinformed.
Yes, the majority of the people need to be engaged and active for democracy to function properly. and therein lies a big problem in USA... too many are not engaged properly
There was a terrific article in the Atlantic about that. Here's an excerpt and the link for a gift article:
"…This new game encouraged dishonesty and mob dynamics: Users were guided not just by their true preferences but by their past experiences of reward and punishment, and their prediction of how others would react to each new action. One of the engineers at Twitter who had worked on the “Retweet” button later revealed that he regretted his contribution because it had made Twitter a nastier place. As he watched Twitter mobs forming through the use of the new tool, he thought to himself, “We might have just handed a 4-year-old a loaded weapon.”
As a social psychologist who studies emotion, morality, and politics, I saw this happening too. The newly tweaked platforms were almost perfectly designed to bring out our most moralistic and least reflective selves. The volume of outrage was shocking.
It was just this kind of twitchy and explosive spread of anger that James Madison had tried to protect us from as he was drafting the U.S. Constitution. The Framers of the Constitution were excellent social psychologists. They knew that democracy had an Achilles’ heel because it depended on the collective judgment of the people, and democratic communities are subject to “the turbulency and weakness of unruly passions.” The key to designing a sustainable republic, therefore, was to build in mechanisms to slow things down, cool passions, require compromise, and give leaders some insulation from the mania of the moment while still holding them accountable to the people periodically, on Election Day.
From the October 2018 issue: America is living James Madison’s nightmare
The tech companies that enhanced virality from 2009 to 2012 brought us deep into Madison’s nightmare. Many authors quote his comments in “Federalist No. 10” on the innate human proclivity toward “faction,” by which he meant our tendency to divide ourselves into teams or parties that are so inflamed with “mutual animosity” that they are “much more disposed to vex and oppress each other than to cooperate for their common good.”
But that essay continues on to a less quoted yet equally important insight, about democracy’s vulnerability to triviality. Madison notes that people are so prone to factionalism that “where no substantial occasion presents itself, the most frivolous and fanciful distinctions have been sufficient to kindle their unfriendly passions and excite their most violent conflicts.”…"
Donald, had you not done the criminal acts you were convicted of by a citizen jury, none of this 11th hour legal action would be necessary. Any consequent “disruption“ of your incoming presidency is all on you.
President Carter's funeral included multiple eulogies that emphasized President Carter's lifelong effort to live up to the teaching of the prophetsand Jesus of Nazareth.These messages were indeed powerful, and because President Carter did his best to live up to to the teachings that are also present in many other world religions, he remains a wonderful example of how human beings should try to live their lives.
The double standard this man imposes on the rest of us is so obvious that I cannot believe anyone took him seriously as a candidate or trusts him further than they can throw him.
I think his followers are so poorly educated they don’t read. They don’t talk in depth w their coworkers or families, to work out their questions and concerns.
And those who are educated followers have completely different motives for their choice to be anywhere in his sphere of influence. It’s a deep look when we check our own actions, commitments, and follow through in our important relationships.
The #DirtyOldMan and his minions gave absolutely no shame. It is appalling. Let this captured court for once make him face some consequence for his crimes. However minimal that consequence will be.
You're making me wish I had watched rather than listening on NPR (no, not really... I have a low threshold for the sight of the tangerine turd). The eulogy by Jason Carter was just perfect, on the radio.
What a horrendous slap in the face this is to use "the peaceful transfer of power" as this POS's argument. I have no other words. I feel like throwing up.
At this juncture, there is virtually nothing dear leader does or says that is surprising or shocking. 4 more years of his blithering may amuse the corporate media - but it tires and embarrasses the rest of us.
RIP Jimmy Carter. I hope SCOTUS just ignores this motion until it is moot. DJT is a piece of work, but his voters and enablers in Congress are worse.
"Jimmy Carter seems to have timed his death to send the country a much needed message."
He couldn't have timed it better for another reason. It could not have been just me listening to eulogy after eulogy praising President Carter's stellar character and not think of the spectacular contrast to that of the scumbag who will reoccupy the WH.
I will forever treasure meeting President Carter and our correspondence. He told me that he never felt any conflict between his scientific background and his faith. He had the kIndest face I've ever seen. I sent him my first book, not knowing if he would bother reading it. Not only did he read it but he sent me an incredibly thoughtful letter about how much he enjoyed it and went on to encourage my writing. I believe that he was the closest thing to Jesus on this earth. I brought it to his attention that they even shared the same initials....
Thank you so very.much for sharing such a.heartwarming encounter with President Jimmy Carter with us all.Am sure you could write a memoire.of the times this gentle man touched the lives of people all over the world. His acts of kindness to others are legion.
We are all so blessed his life ...shining with purpose and integrity...touched ours on the pathway of life.
It wasn’t just you.
So Barak whispers to his wife, “What’s that smell,Michelle opps I forgot who is sitting next to me.”
Michelle: “Ya baby it sure does stink up the church.”
Bill, today, I heard a report on NPR about the funeral service for President Carter. The surprise the reporter saw was that Mike Pence sat behind Trump. How is that a surprise. Mike would still go to hell for Trump and he knows it. So does every single thinking person out here. It seems to me the shock was that the Obamas had to perch near a slug who has only contempt for them, that is when he remembers it.
Karen pence refused to shake Trump’s hand. Never thought I’d say it but, “Thank you, Karen, for doing the right thing!”
The hand that would have pulled the executioner's lever to hang her husband. Pretty freaking unbelievable.
Only in Amurrikkka...
President Carter did not wait. He is rolling over in his casket. I'm sure given the chance Trumpsk would call President Carter a loser and a sucker.
Notice I make sure to include the Title of President for Resident Carter. I will NEVER do the same for Trumpsk. He disrespects the office. I will never respect him. He may squat in the Whitehouse for the next four years, but he is anything but Presidential.
Flags will remain half mast for the inauguration. I think that is some poetic justice right there. Thank you, President Carter! They should remain at 1/2 mast till Donnie is out. I think in two years, D's take the house and maybe the Senate. Could Donnie be impeached a third time then? I think its possible.
half- staff, unless it's a ship.
Yes! Poetic Justice. I hope the media have a field day contrasting the two.
Somewhere I read that the orange sadist can command them to be raised as soon as he is prezzident. Didn't he refuse to allow flags to be flown at half-staff when George HW Bush died?
I named him the "orange sadist" starting with the repugnicant debates in 2016 when I realized, to my horror, that the guy is, indeed, a sadist. (I'm a psychiatrist, so I know the criteria for that diagnosis). And the orange sadist he shall always remain to me.
He's absolutely a sadist. I'm not a medical professional, but the obvious thrill he gets from violence, whether it's word or deed, is arousing for him. Bloodlust and inflicting pain are his erotic triggers.
Cheryl, Toddler-Trump is sadistic, but does not have the courage to do any of the violence he loves, himself. He likes to watch as he did on January 6th gloating inwardly that he set the whole attack, insurrection off. How anyone could have voted for him is totally beyond comprehension. I have heard that people want to be just like him, ordering harm done to others that they can watch and swoon over. He is a despicable human being, so are those who support him, that is until they prove otherwise, like standing up for our constitution and our American people. It will be interesting to see who shows up for the inauguration. I'm guessing lily white and not too well-off. The rich supporters will stay home except for Musk our incoming co-president. I am just sorry President and Dr. Biden have to sit through the Trump BS, deliberate lies, and maligning of the American people, the ones that the Bidens and their administration have worked so hard to raise up.
I'm not a psychiatrist but the demented orange thug is easy to analyze! Great Psych 101 topic of discussion! I knew some of the people that he screwed over when building his casinos. I never dreamed that voters would put him into office! An yes, he's a sadist!
He's screwed over every single human being in his orbit -- whether they were Polish workers, paid half of what U.S. workers were paid, uninsured, up on the girders creating his monstrosity (including refusing to pay for one Polish worker who fell almost to his death); whether they owned a multi-generational piano store, whom he refused to pay after taking two grand pianos for his failed casinos, causing them to declare bankruptcy; whether it was his own niece and nephew whom he got his demented father to cut out of his will, or the grandnephew whose bills he reneged on paying when his insurance wouldn't pay the remainder of his NICU bill. There is not one single person who has had an interaction with whom he didn't screw whether because they had nothing to offer him, or they refused to bow down to him. He is truly monstrous.
Malignant narcissist is his diagnosis (one of many). Someone so selfish that he doesn't care if people die doing what he wants done.
I wish psychiatrist's would speak up more about his brain. Not a criticism just that I find it interesting and telling. Also, I think we don't pay enough attention to how childhood trauma affects later life. The show Frontline always does a presidential election episode, and I thought it did a good job of showing Trump's life.
Are you familiar with Dr. Bandy X. Lee's work? She published a book prior to the orange sadist taking office, title "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump". 27 other psychiatrists and mental health experts wrote chapters in the book, breaking the American Psychiatry Association's rule that psychiatrists are not allowed to diagnose anyone whom they have not personally examined. (There was also a petition to sign, which hundreds of us signed.) She lost her job as a Professor of Psychiatry at the Medical School of Yale University as a result. The orange sadist has been diagnosed as having the worst psychiatric diagnosis possible: "Malignant Narcissist" -- someone so self-centered that they don't care if other people die as a result of their actions. Dr. Lee has a substack now. I recommend that you subscribe. (Did you see the recent move, "Trump"? If not, take a look at that, as well.)
"Mike would still go to hell for Trump" He would??? Not sure where you're getting that from!
kdsherpa, I suspect that if Mike Pence were offered a "good" job by Trump, he would take it, particularly if there were sufficient prestige involved. He might not if his wife nixes the idea, but I still think Pence is very loyal to Trump, maybe left his side because he knew things would go badly for him if he stayed on the ticket. Pence is not as sadistic and plain evil as Trump is, but he went along with nearly all the stuff Trump was involved with while president, the most horrific, separating kids from parents and putting them in cages, like animals. Now Trump even calls immigrants, kids and all, "animals" and "vermin." It would be great if Pence were to make a statement, perhaps just before the inauguration to let people know what Trump is really like, from the mouth of a "christian." He won't!
I think that Mike Pence is as passive a person as anyone who has EVER been in politics has been. However, I don't see him as sadistic or evil. I think that any connection with the orange sadist and Pence was irretrievably and irredeemably severed after the sadist called for Pence's death. I agree whole-heartedly with you: if Pence would speak out and say the truth before, or on, 1/20, that would be a miracle, and the balm our suffering nation needs right now. Don't think it'll ever happen. I do recall that Pence did NOT endorse the orange sadist for President. (Didn't Karen turn her back on the orange sadist when he "shook hands" with Mike? I thought Mike grimaced when the orange sadist touched him. Apparently this was the first time they've seen each other since the January 6th nightmare.) The person who annoyed me most was Dubya. HE refused to shake the orange sadist's hand. Fine. But he ALSO REFUSED to endorse Harris for President. Shameful.
Bill I did not see Michelle sitting next to Obama in any photos
She wasn’t there as she was with family in Hawaii. I see lots of news articles trying to dis her for that.
Sharon, they have been trying to do that for years. MSM hates strong black women as evidenced by how they treated Kamala. Disgusting and disgraceful
I agree that there was a double standard for Kamala Harris vs Trump. Although there is also for Pres Biden vs Trump. If Biden has a gaffe he's senile. If Trump spews lies, it's just Trump being Trump!
Sorry I honestly hate it when anyone makes a categorical statement like that. The "MSM" includes the New York Times which strongly supported Harris and actively reported accurately on Trump as did many other newspapers. Yes some MSM failed us but not all. It is really unfair AND IMHO dangerous to make categorical statements like that.
MSM is one of the few places where we might find honest AND widely available news sources (unlike Substack which reaches a few million people at most).
Are they all good and honest? No, sadly, but many are. To lump them all together disparagingly is a real disservice.
The NYT failed us more than most of the MSM, always sanewashing everything Trump did.
I read Kara Swisher is putting together a proposal for Bezos to sell her the WaPo! What things she could do for the country if she was running the Post!
Are you talking about an alternate-reality New York Times? I dumped them after 2016, their trashing of Hillary Clinton was so awful. Their endorsement of Harris-Walz was lukewarm at best considering that the other ticket was totally unqualified. And Maggie Haberman is a grade-A toady.
Nope. Still a subscriber but their reporting seems wrapped in eiderdown, until you get to the right wing opinion pieces.
Thank you for your perfectly worded statement of fact, Ms Miller!
Truer words were never spoken.
You are welcome, Lynn. And NYT leads the pack
She probably couldn’t stand the to be in the same area w Trump. Good for her
(We all know how he smells. I was wondering how Obama was handling that!)
I totally don't get that. Why on earth couldn't she fly back to D.C. for 36 or 48 hours, and then return to HI?? We know that she, like Barack, had the greatest respect for Carter. Just seems weird to me.
I’m not going to make judgements when we don’t know her personal circumstances. As you said, she had the utmost respect for him.
I know I saw the mistake but the message is more important than her being there. Ha ha…
So I was thinking, should I write a satire on Trump being eulogized one day? It would be nasty, disgusting and hopefully , funny. Anyone have an answer.
Bill, with a minor adjustment, I think Shakespeare has already written it, putting into the mouth of one of his most famous villains - the thane MacBeth.
‘Trump’s' but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage. And then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
(My apologies to Shakespeare who no doubt would have done a marvelous job with a tragic-comedy about Trumpism)
"Trump is but a passing shadow and full of sound and fury, signifying nothing"
Very well said, very apropos. But I think it is "full" of sound and fury…
Excellent
I’ll need to study other eulogies and pull from them.
I wrote him today wondering if anyone of actual worth would eulogize him. Probably not.
Watching him sit there, working his mouth like a coke head, I had to wonder if he was thinking the same thing. He sure was social! Looked like Melania was pissed because the wind messed up her hair and she couldn’t show cleavage. Weird.
I didn't go as far as you, but I did wonder who would be there. Obviously the two sons. Can't think of anyone else.
I didn't see Michelle, either. Was there a reason why, or did she just refuse to sit next to that scumbag?
She was in Hawaii!
You might consider posting stuff like this in your own Substack instead of other people's. And "Barack" has a "c" in it.
Yes, Bill K. seems to be an attention seeker. It's rather tiresome...
I don't always agree with Bill (and he knows it) but he is not just an attention seeker AND Joyce's Substack is a place for discourse for varying views. If it's not, then it serves no useful purpose. If all you can get is one side-ism then a column is useless, IMHO.
People need to stop being afraid of conversations which have differing opinions. That is one of the hallmarks of our country.
It's known as "free speech".
There are limits of course, hateful speech or advocating violence should not be tolerated. But Bill doesn't do that, and while I don't always agree with him, I will always defend his right to make comments that may be annoying but at least make you think.
Jon, I, like you, find differing points of view stimulating and interesting, as long as they are backed up with thought, not just regurgitating what someone is trying to get out as a talking point or some other propaganda. I don't find that much in this thread or the others I visit. If I don't agree with someone and what they have said is interesting, I will counter. If what they write is off the wall, I will tell them so and explain why. That is what conversation is about, sharing ideas and explanations.
Thank you. I wish there were more people like us, willing to debate cogently with rational arguments even if we don't agree. Trying to silence rational dissent belongs in Russia and China, not here.
😂 No, the relentless attempts at self promotion are tiresome, as he’s been at it way before you decided to become an active commenter on Substack.
If it troubles you, don’t read it. I’m a writer among other hats. And I’m a paid subscriber. And I have a perfect right to not only express my opinions, but promote what I write. You obviously are not a writer and so so disparage others trying to be read. You don’t get it. But if it makes you feel good to disparage me, please continue.
In addition, my better musical side is all I can do to further the cause to bring Trump down and yet, you still criticize me. My Lord, what can I do to appease you? Oh you already said it. Which is for me to keep my big mouth shut. No can do. I was once upon a time, kicked out of a Catholic grade school for yapping all the time. Nobody is going to stop me now.
Rocking in the new world.
Rocking in Manhattan on Centre Street across from State Supreme Court on January 18 10-3.
Rockin’ in the New World.
Please point out the upside to Bill Katz's post that put words in Barack and Michelle Obama's mouth that they would (most likely) never say. That's the post I was responding to. The rest of the time the guy is easy to ignore.
Those of us who write are, you guessed it, “ attention seekers.” Maybe you might be better off not reading anything. As I stated below, I write not for only the good feeling I get by my discourse, but I write to hopefully have others read it and create discourse. We writers promote and if this so turns you off, either don’t read it or continue disparaging me. It’s cool. All in a days work.
Whatever. Once again, you've proven my point…
You make me feel good knowing I have proven your point.
thanks for saying that susanna
That might be kind of funny, except for the fact she wasn't there.
She saw the advance seating chart and made an appointment for a root canal instead. God bless Barack for carrying the load. Massive orange load. 🙏🏽
I believe you think you're using humor to make a point, but Michelle Obama wasn't there. She was in Hawaii at some other event.
No I was just clumsy I even misspelled Obama’s first name.
Where is Michelle?
Actually Michelle was not at the funeral, but could have happened.
Kathi, you are so right that Toddler-Trump's enablers are far worse than he is because they know exactly what he is, yet lied, cheated, gaslit, and lied some more to get him back in power. That really is a definition of evil!
They're ALL equally repugnant.
SCOTUS is part of Trump's rot.
It just denied the application.
How much more proof do they want, all the videos and injuries and death prove how he in FACT is an insurrectionist. It’s our fake news channels that don’t tell the TRUE STORY. I’m so sick of the dumpster!
"Golly," as Gomer Pyle would say, "I have just slipped beneath the event horizon of a black hole!" 😉😊🙄🤔😳🫣
I guess Barack drew the short straw, based on the photo. They should have seated Trump in the children’s section. I wonder if he realizes just how despised he is.
I believe the exes were seated in order of their service terms. Clinton served before Bush who served before Obama who served before the T*rd who served before Biden. I’m glad to see Mr. Biden sitting in the front row.
Ha Ha Ha Ha Just heard Supreme Court says Trump can be sentenced; Convicted Felon loser.
FOR REAL?!!!!!
YES. Finally some sort of justice. We need to laugh him out of office.
HALLELUJAH!!!!
Maybe Jimmy is in Heaven pulling a few strings from the rest of us. Divine timing, indeed!!!
(It will be interesting to see which countries refuse to admit him because he's a convicted felon!)
Disturbing that it was 5 to 4; should have been 9 to 0.
Never was going to be a zero with Alito and Thomas on the court.
I couldn't agree more.
It is our duty to mock him daily
I in my mind am jumping up and down for joy. I just wish it meant he would go to directly to jail!
I watched the entire service. I was stunned to see Obama chatting it up with Trump. All smiles! If only we could know what they said to each other.
As for Obama chatting with Trump…reminds me of the time when I worked in the diplomatic sphere where I heard…..”diplomacy is the art of telling someone to go to hell so that they look forward to the trip.” Trump is so stupid that if a diplomatic tree trunk hit him in the head he’d talk about his gold toilets.
LOL!
I did too, and sniffled and shed tears through the last third. I think I mourned the loss of who we were as much or more than the man.
I wept through the hour discussions on MSNBC prior to Jimmy Carter's funeral, and throughout the entire funeral. I didn't expect that. Afterwards, I realized that I was mourning the death of Goodness and Democracy in my country -- and the start of evil and fascism.
It’s depressing, but then I realize how many people are fighting to keep that from happening.
You can bet that whatever Obama said to Trump, it was over his head, but Trump is beyond desperate for any attention.
I kept wondering. Trying to read lips
Ugh
LOL!!!
Not likely.
Irony is dead, indeed. I hope the judge laughs it out of court. He's suddenly worried about his reputation? This rapist, this felon? Pu-leeease.
Trump must have been scrumming in his seat during the funeral! Such accolades that he will never hear!
He’ll never hear from a president who is still alive, but I’m sure the accolades will come from the likes of Roger Stone, Bannon, Mike Flynn, etc.
But no one will watch.
....and what a legacy to leave this world...without a tear being shed.
He is so self-absorbed, I'm pretty sure he was favorably comparing hiself to President Carter. In his mind, no one is better than he.
Deb, I too, hope the whole challenge is laughed out of court, but alas, Little Johnny Roberts has no moral compass whatsoever, just what I understand is the look of a judge. He will most likely stand with his Donnie on behalf of the scummy other 5 in the anti-American gang on the SC. Who knows what they will rule, but it is likely it will be for Toddler-Trump. Shameful, but rich white men and white wannabees who are rich men too have no shame.
I goes through Sotomayor,
Good
Yes, but if she denies it I believe it still goes to a vote on whether to take it up.
So they argue that the American people should not be fully informed of the evidence that the former President disrupted the transfer of power because simply releasing the report will, checks notes, disrupt the transfer of power.
Ironic, right?!?
And maybe this too.
I want this on a bumper sticker. 👏
A little long, don’t you think? 😉
Could be a rear ender by those squinting to read. Like me. 😂
Jimmy Carter named the greatest threat to America many years ago, inequality of wealth. He was a prophet. The timing of his death was his last gift to America. God Bless Jimmy and may he rest in peace and look over all of us.
I agree with everything you say except the "god" part.
I’ve always thought that the worst sin a human being can commit is the abuse of power over another living creature. Shame on Trump and all his supporters and enablers.
Another trump presidency is such a travesty
and in any actual democracy, or with any actual national government who honored the Rule of Law, or the Constitution, or just simple common sense, another trump presidency would also be an impossibility, a nonstarter, even if he had not been arrested on Jan. 7th and been institutionalized somewhere other than the White House.
I think the biggest problem with any democracy is its dependence on the people, the masses of citizenry who must be informed and active in its function and maintenance -- and there will always be bad people, weak people, uninterested people, distracted people, etc.. Public education was to help the citizenry meet the requirements needed to do their part in a democracy. And the press, the free press was to help the citizenry to have the information they needed to bring more than emotion and preferences to their decisions and actions. It happens everywhere. And it happens often with the malicious help of outside forces, in this case Russia and China and their ilk -- anti-democratic governments along with unfettered capitalist individuals and corporations. The battle has been going on for ages: money & might vs. morality. We have a job to do so let's gear up!
Well said! Among the issues is the removal of Civics classes from high schools and jr highs. Dumbing down public education, intentionally. But the biggest single issue may be the inequality of wealth distribution, where a very few have been allowed to amass most all of a nation's wealth and resources. It happens in every tyranny but it happened HERE before the tyranny took hold in earnest and helped create it apparently. And all the warning signs were shot down, shot up, ignored; all the anti-democratic forces like abuse of the electoral college to elect the very one it was supposed to prohibit. Now, first, we have to just survive what's coming.
You say that is the problem with democracy? The fact that people may have differing opinions?
But ma'am, that is EXACTLY what a democracy is and depends on. When differing opinions are suppressed, you no longer have a democracy.
If the differing opinions are ones you don't like, than it is incumbent on YOU (and your supporters) to help make sure that your opinions are voiced and heard.
The biggest problem with a democracy is that people are too lazy to work at it. They are willing to capitulate to the loudest opinions because it is easy. Nothing about democracy is easy, but silencing opinions you dislike doesn't help.
I did not say that the problem with democracy is that people have differing opinions but that they are not active or informed in the democracy. Many do not even watch or read about politics, many only watch or read one channel, many do not understand civics or what a democracy is. Some are too lazy, some are uneducated as to their role in a democracy, some are bullied out of the process, some are deliberately misinformed.
Yes, the majority of the people need to be engaged and active for democracy to function properly. and therein lies a big problem in USA... too many are not engaged properly
There was a terrific article in the Atlantic about that. Here's an excerpt and the link for a gift article:
"…This new game encouraged dishonesty and mob dynamics: Users were guided not just by their true preferences but by their past experiences of reward and punishment, and their prediction of how others would react to each new action. One of the engineers at Twitter who had worked on the “Retweet” button later revealed that he regretted his contribution because it had made Twitter a nastier place. As he watched Twitter mobs forming through the use of the new tool, he thought to himself, “We might have just handed a 4-year-old a loaded weapon.”
As a social psychologist who studies emotion, morality, and politics, I saw this happening too. The newly tweaked platforms were almost perfectly designed to bring out our most moralistic and least reflective selves. The volume of outrage was shocking.
It was just this kind of twitchy and explosive spread of anger that James Madison had tried to protect us from as he was drafting the U.S. Constitution. The Framers of the Constitution were excellent social psychologists. They knew that democracy had an Achilles’ heel because it depended on the collective judgment of the people, and democratic communities are subject to “the turbulency and weakness of unruly passions.” The key to designing a sustainable republic, therefore, was to build in mechanisms to slow things down, cool passions, require compromise, and give leaders some insulation from the mania of the moment while still holding them accountable to the people periodically, on Election Day.
From the October 2018 issue: America is living James Madison’s nightmare
The tech companies that enhanced virality from 2009 to 2012 brought us deep into Madison’s nightmare. Many authors quote his comments in “Federalist No. 10” on the innate human proclivity toward “faction,” by which he meant our tendency to divide ourselves into teams or parties that are so inflamed with “mutual animosity” that they are “much more disposed to vex and oppress each other than to cooperate for their common good.”
But that essay continues on to a less quoted yet equally important insight, about democracy’s vulnerability to triviality. Madison notes that people are so prone to factionalism that “where no substantial occasion presents itself, the most frivolous and fanciful distinctions have been sufficient to kindle their unfriendly passions and excite their most violent conflicts.”…"
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/05/social-media-democracy-trust-babel/629369/?gift=iKTojo7PUaos9F__lmA-cTA9MNYLZ-XunU6J-u-BxEI&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
Unfortunately, it is much more consequential than that
RESIST!
Makes my blood boil
Donald, had you not done the criminal acts you were convicted of by a citizen jury, none of this 11th hour legal action would be necessary. Any consequent “disruption“ of your incoming presidency is all on you.
President Carter's funeral included multiple eulogies that emphasized President Carter's lifelong effort to live up to the teaching of the prophetsand Jesus of Nazareth.These messages were indeed powerful, and because President Carter did his best to live up to to the teachings that are also present in many other world religions, he remains a wonderful example of how human beings should try to live their lives.
Beautifully stated, Ms Adamson. Eloquent!
Do hope Mr Rosen read your thoughtful words.
The double standard this man imposes on the rest of us is so obvious that I cannot believe anyone took him seriously as a candidate or trusts him further than they can throw him.
I think his followers are so poorly educated they don’t read. They don’t talk in depth w their coworkers or families, to work out their questions and concerns.
And those who are educated followers have completely different motives for their choice to be anywhere in his sphere of influence. It’s a deep look when we check our own actions, commitments, and follow through in our important relationships.
The #DirtyOldMan and his minions gave absolutely no shame. It is appalling. Let this captured court for once make him face some consequence for his crimes. However minimal that consequence will be.
Yes, Joyce.
To the 11th Circuit Trump appealed
To tell Jack Smith he can’t share the whole deal.
Words offered in that latest legal claim
Epitomize his lawyers’ lack of shame.
They argue that their client has a right
To block release of Smith’s report outright
’Cause publication now would violate
Trump’s “orderly transition” to head the State.
If presidents-elect had such a right,
Smith’s report of why he tried to indict
Would reveal its most serious violation
In the entire history of the nation!
Its publication at the eleventh hour,
Right before Trump takes presidential power,
Would one last time call to the country’s mind
That those who voted for Trump had been blind
Or didn’t care at all about that right.
For when he’d urged his followers to fight,
With clear intent he sent them on a mission
To stop cold such an “orderly transition.”
When I read what Trump’s lawyers dared to say,
The irony just took my breath away!
From Denialad: donbialostosky.substack.com
Loved the way Biden looked at the Orangscum while giving the eulogy. With the other eulogies, you'd thing that bucket of slop would have caught fire.
You're making me wish I had watched rather than listening on NPR (no, not really... I have a low threshold for the sight of the tangerine turd). The eulogy by Jason Carter was just perfect, on the radio.
I was very impressed by Jason Carter. He spoke with great love and respect. Simply and eloquently.
I thought the same of the grandson that heads The Carter Institute (?) The phone on the wall grandson. Brilliant.
Loved t he story of President Carter in his workshop, making cradles for his great-grandchildren.
I did too, TC! He glared at him, ever so deftly.
What a horrendous slap in the face this is to use "the peaceful transfer of power" as this POS's argument. I have no other words. I feel like throwing up.
At this juncture, there is virtually nothing dear leader does or says that is surprising or shocking. 4 more years of his blithering may amuse the corporate media - but it tires and embarrasses the rest of us.
And creates dangerous chaos.