In Minnesota for a rally on Friday, Donald Trump claimed he won the state in 2020. He did not. He lost by 200,000 votes. It might seem like just one more lie among many. But it’s more than that, it’s Trump revealing his “campaign strategy” for 2024. When he loses in Minnesota, as he will, as every Republican candidate has
You wouldn’t leave your daughter alone with a man who’s a known sexual predator.
You wouldn’t invest your money with a man who has already gone bankrupt five time and has paid almost half a billion dollars in fines for fraudulent business practices.
You wouldn’t hire a man to work for you who is a known compulsive liar, and who threatens violence against anyone who questions his lies.
So, why would anyone vote for that man for president???
Can we all agree that Judge Cannon is velcroed to the orange turd- what a sad commentary on the state of our judicial system ( not to mention Alito )!!!!
Because most vote emotionally instead of intellectually and people will vote to open the trap door the stand on with a rope around their necks. Don’t look for anything logical in politics.
What boggles my mind is Trump is telling everyone he is planning on being a dictator, and yet that does not seem to bother anyone who plans on voting for him. Showing once again how historically ignorant people are. How can they not understand dictatorship. Who represents that today? The Ayatollah, Putin, Jung Un, Castro. My Chinese friends do not seem to be bothered so much by the authoritarian rule of China, but they can come and go and live here and visit their home country. If one can visit a dictatorship and leave perhaps it seems okay. However, can most Americans leave the USA? Also, since Trump is planning to deport huge numbers of people to where I don't know, it seems like that should also be a point of concern. Is deporting meaning what Hitler did to Jews, carting them off to camps to exterminate them. It seems to me that Trump is doing everything to line that up. So, students protesting on campuses are opening themselves up to be on lists of people to be deported. Authoritarians hate college students because they are likely to cause trouble as they stand up for causes. What does that mean? Will students be carted off? The current anger at Biden is fine because this is currently a democracy, but the same anger if expressed in a totalitarian regime usually means prison, or worse. Look at what happens to protesters in totalitarian regimes. Look at The White Rose in Germany, https://www.weisse-rose-stiftung.de/white-rose-resistance-group/
Where are they going to flee to when Trump takes over? All the other destinations are too far, and are no longer welcoming. This has been the welcoming haven for Cubans. Who else will be? Other Caribbean islands? We shall see.
DeToqueville was astonished at the level of awareness of political theory in the American colonists. In the 1930s grange meeting all across rural America had farmers debating fiscal policy. I think that was in What's the Matter With Kansas.
Today people of a certain age "learn" about the world from The Real Housewives and younger ones from "social media influencers" or sports stars. Yet another reason I shun corporate sports and keep blocking email from som Jenner or other.
We have to do better but it starts with the schools. And Texas is effing with those again.
You bring up good points in your questioning why we as I said use our emotions over our intellect. My next query is to ask what are we doing wrong. If we don’t self-criticize, then we miss answering the question of why. So what compels those to ignore reasoning. Now you will disagree with me because we all have a hardwired way of interpreting. The visual of thousands of migrants rushing the border is set in many minds including mine. I despise seeing our government unable to control these migrants.
We are a nation of laws. Yet Biden has all but allowed this to occur. (He could have issued an executive order even if it wasn’t effective. Just do something. He didn’t or hasn’t yet.) Then there are secondary issues like young males waking up one day to game the system to become a girl and play on female sports. Again, for me and my sensibilities, this threatens female sports. Males are biologically stronger than women even those who have taken the meds. I have always been pro feminist and will continue. Ask yourself if there are any trans males playing on men’s teams and the answer is zilts. Nada. Because a female will never be strong enough on balance, to compete. However even if you disagree on this issue, it’s a deal breaker to the majority of Americans. The voter will vote emotionall even if it’s voting for a monster.
It’s not enough to just rally around the flag, girls and boys. It’s necessary to stop being oblivious to issues that incongruent to the majority. (Billkatzauthor.com)
Not sure where you got your information, but there are a good many trans males participating in men's athletics. With a handful of exceptions, they have yet to distinguish themselves in high level competition in any meaningful way, but they do continue to compete every day.
The only thing any of us can say is...because they drank the Kool-Aid. Perhaps they choose to believe trump because educating themselves about his cases is too much trouble for them. Also, trump is telling them more of what they want to hear than fox news is. To me, getting your news from them is like choosing to drink water from the community horse trough, rather than the town well. You aren't worried about catching something nor how undignified it looks. It's kinda a self-respect issue. Like, do you believe you really deserve to know what happened, when, and why. trump followers apparently are easily led and would rather trust trump than trouble themselves to read what's really happened in Arizona, and in Michigan, in Georgia, the issues in the Mar A Lago docs case, etc. Some feel it's just too much trouble to educate themselves. They just believe because that's much easier for them to manage.
Yes but, there are only about 30 million of those non-thinkers, there are far more independents and undecideds. I sent oldandintheways ideas to my Congressman, Senator and President Biden - this message has to be part of the Democrats campaign. If you have a Democrat for Congress or Senate please send it on to them AND President Biden - we need to be more like the retrumplicans, repeat, repeat, repeat to get the message into the ears of those who do not hear.
Thank you, and our Democrat politicians need to include Oldandintheway's comments in the campaign. I don't expect them to have any impact on the magats, but there are a huge number of independents and undecided out there - they are the ones we need to reach.
WE don't control the media. Neither does the DNC. In order to repeat the message, WE need to be persistent. DNC REACH provides the means to broadcast the comments. https://democrats.org/reach/
WE can send it...every day as a press release to media outlets. To social media. WE can channel Taylor Swift, who has millions of followers on Instagram and X. Most Gen Z do not rely on MSM...use Tic Tok, Instagram, Facebook for their news.
Yes, Daniel. I'm aware we have zero control over the media, I have lost all belief in the DNC and DCCC after the 2022 election. Which is why is send email messages directly to my Congressman, Senator, and the President. I had the TV cable to my apartment disconnected a year ago in a fit of temper; but I haven't had it reconnected because I really don't miss it one bit.
If one doesn't have a clue about civics, law, or how government works and thinks politics is something mysterious that only a few have power, then they leave it all to those who they think KNOW what is going on or perceive to be powerful. That is a problem. Secondly, if one does have a clue about civics, law, or how government works, but it is flawed by belief in bad candidates, problem number two.
Given that the majority of Americans couldn't pass the test to become a U.S. Citizen, we once again are faced with the fact that what is "exceptional" about this country is the exceptional moron ignorance and stupidity.
Or they are just unwilling to change the favorable opinion that they formed of him from watching him on television in a fantasy show for fifteen years.
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit
1. False prophet/god DJT by claiming to be a dictator on day one and (forever after) breaks the Lords first taaching to put him first
2. Allowing razor wire accross the Rio Grande, planning mass deportations,defiling the handicapped,................DJT makes mockery of the Lords second important teaching regarding "welcoming the stranger."
Because they have been lied to in the fashion represented in George Orwell’s 1984 novel, with gaslighting and with the aid of FOX News (Entertainment) echoing those lies and embellishing them to the millions of viewers glued to this Republican Propaganda communications arm.
As promised, I sent this message to my Congressman, Senator, and President Biden, asking Congressman, Dr, Ami Bera to pass the message on to his colleagues and the same to Senator Padilla
Why would masses of people give their children poison to drink and then drink it themselves? Why would anyone believe in such a concept as "alternative facts"? Indoctrination and brainwashing--"groupthink"; power and greed.
Please don't fall into the Ezra Klein trap. Yes, he is "thought provoking," no, he is wrong in his analysis most of the time and he is one of the loudest clarions in the "Biden isn't up to it" camp. He is the kind of doom sayer that the NY Times adores. He is constantly trashing the Democratic party while we perceive him to be "on our side." If Ezra, and the New York Times, spent as much time analyzing the MAGA party and its leader, then, then, I would say it is a fair analysis.
He just reminds me of those parishioners who smile at Rector and praise him to his face and then start trashing said sermon the minute they have a cup of coffee and a doughnut in their hand. Always the sincere advice as to how others, not him, can make things more equitable. Yeah, right.
Totally agree. He went on and on about President Biden being “too old”. And yes he does generally disparage the Democratic party. I don’t trust anything he says. Perhaps some think he’s smart, but I don’t. He’s not really too thoughtful or knowledgeable on the Gaza-Israel war either.
Carol-Ann, I wrote directly to Ezra Klein on May 7th and told him and his team exactly this and asked them to come forward with a full throated Podcast that presented the Trump criminal behavior and proposals since he lost. He, of course, has not done so.
Every time I read his stuff I think "interesting but he has the wrong angle on this" another reason I cancelled the NYT except for Cooking . (If you do that, and then change your mind and renew the news, you get it for fifty cents a week again for 6 months. More true to actual value)
I have one question: who is investigating Russian and Chinese interference with our elections? This IS A PROBLEM THAT IS REAL PROBLEM. Yes! I am screaming ...these issues are connected.
I live north of San Francisco. I constantly see upside down U.S. flag with blue line stickers on cars. Maybe some are buffoon wannabe men (it’s always men) but it’s too many to ignore. It’s difficult to trust police/sheriff when so many of these guys have such stickers and patches.
I also live north of San Francisco; about 700 miles or so north and east. I have also seen maga or trump signs and stickers. However, have you noticed, like I have, that there are not yet Biden stickers? And have you noticed that those trump/maga signs have been there for years?
There's something about the trump/maga people that cause them to have signs up always. I wonder why they feel the need to always display their allegiance? Are they afraid they will forget if they don't constantly have a sign?
I'm not worried because I am also noticing all the houses and cars that don't have any political stickers or signs.
I would happily put a Biden/Harris sticker on my car, except that I am afraid a MAGA crazy would damage my car… I am an old woman, a widow on a fixed income. I fear harm to myself, not just my car….
Susan, there is a lot you can do as a volunteer with turnup.us and be safe and anonymous. It’s a Harvard student group that Ira Lechner on this site is working with - so there is work and support that you can do in safety to get the Biden-Harris word out.
You are very wise to be safe and not to get the sticker.
Yes, that's another reason why I am not convinced that the maga/trump signs mean there's a lot of votes. In the privacy of my home (in Oregon we have been voting exclusively by mail for more than 20 years) or in the privacy of your voting booth, we don't need to worry about being accosted by those crazies.
I do have a Biden/Harris sticker on our truck, and yes, it was vandalized! It was only black spray paint, but it was all over the back of the truck and the car. However, instead of being frightening, it brought support from all my neighbors! Yes, there are crazies out there, but they are very much in the minority.
Just south of Denver it's the same thing. There's a spot of undeveloped land that a coffee cabin has leased, across from an elementary school on a busy road. It flys the dumb blue line flag and the other day it started flying a Drumpf flag. Disgusting. And people drink their coffee . Maybe I'll go through and ask for a cup of koolaid.
Wow! I wouldn't have thought that would be the case near SF. Thanks for the enlightenment and sorry you're seeing that. It certainly would be hard to trust someone who wants you to know about their personal disdain for normalcy (the US Constituition). I wonder if any of the opinion editors of the newspapers there have mentioned this issue in Op Eds?
Rural Republican portion of CA as well as semi-rural Central Valley but far, far, far outnumbered by the tens of millions of Democrats in the rest of Blue CA
Northern California, by which I mean north of Sacramento is very conservative (Redding=redneck). I would certainly not festoon my vehicle with democratic party stickers. I won't put a Grateful Dead sticker on my vehicles. I go so far as to take the license plate ring, which usually has the dealer on it, off my truck. I want to give no info about myself on my vehicles. Full stop.
Bob, I feel the same, no identifying means no target on us for what we fear are MAGA crazies emboldened by a system that allows the pardoning of convicted murderers based on MAGA affiliation/affliction. As an individual, we might be more bold, but then we must consider our family member’s safety as well. The. Constitution does not protect us these days from the Fear of the Supreme Court
More and more, Republicans are arguing that they don’t trust the voting procedures in districts outside their own, they don’t trust the electoral college electors chosen in states outside their own, they don’t trust Congressional representatives from districts outside their own, and they don’t trust media from areas outside their own.
“My district (or town or state) plays fair,” they seem to say, “but yours doesn’t.”
Not sure how we can choose national leaders if Red states won’t trust other states’ voters and voting processes. We are not a confederation of states, not since 1787. We are one nation, indivisible.
In four years as president, Trump’s Justice Department found no evidence of systematic fraud in voting in 2016. And in the four years since he was president, Trump’s lawyers have produced no evidence of that kind of fraud in 2020, despite filing cases in 70 courts.
But the bipartisan senate hearing looking at whether there was Russian interference in 2016 found absolute evidence that Russia interfered for Trump and they said it was very likely that Russia interfered for Trump in 2020.
I honestly don't know how you find the time to put all this together for us! I hope you know how greatly you are appreciated (I guess Giuliani had his smile wiped off his face. )
Speaking of the Big Lie and elections, I believe there should be a federal law making it a felony to harass, threaten, intimidate (and any other appropriate legal term) any election worker or volunteer. Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman were relentlessly attacked by Trump himself and suffered horrendously as a result.
But apparently many other election workers across the country are choosing to quit or not volunteer because of the viciousness of locals who believe the Big Lie.
Being able to hold elections is an essential part of our democracy. Anyone who interferes should pay the price and that includes the thugs making threatening calls to everyone from volunteer poll workers to elected officials.
1. AZ AG Kris Mayes confirms that Rudy was timely served with AZ 'Fake Elector' indictment shortly after posting a 5/17/24 photo gleefully taunting Kris Mayes. "You cannot find me". Another Co-conspirator will bite the dust. Mayes is @AZAGMayes.
2. On 5/17/24 Newsweek reported 21 unauthorized money transfers by the "Debtor" [ Rudy]. That's the 'thing' about Bankruptcy Court which has the power to void all unauthorized transfers, investigate properties & post 9/11 accounts located in foreign countries & get the stash from the safe on yachts.
I really don’t want to see the Democrats play the same game as Trump’s lies, to me that would be like a playground game of who said- she said. I would much rather see the media and press print and state the facts of Trump’s and the Republican party’s ramblings and behavior which is very childish and irresponsible to the common good of the country!!
Agree! The MSM MUST report the details so that middle America is exposed to the truth. Today I read a story in the NYT that interviewed 12 women who have voted for TFG, asking them if they will vote for him again. Their responses are chilling. The good that President Biden is doing is completely unknown to many of them. That, along with the horror of project 25 and the lies that TFG is vomiting every time he gets in front of a microphone need to be showcased by the Dems as the scourge they are.
That said, I send many dollars to the DNC, forheavenssakes what are they doing with my money???
Dianne and friends: thank you and please go to www.TurnUp.US where brilliant Harvard students explain how they are in the process of registering hundreds of thousands of senior high school and Community College students and turning them out to vote to protect reproductive rights, gun safety and fight climate change in 78 truly competitive Congressional Districts and 14 Senate elections! Please contribute generously as it is tax deductible because they are nonpartisan! This group is truly effective in more than 1,500 schools! Thank you; saving our democracy is truly worthwhile, isn’t it?
Indeed, I have joined. This is where my money is going, and I’m waiting for them to give me the name of a group in my area where I can congregate with them I think is the word they used. These are very brave young people meeting one on one and in groups with, the community college students. Thank you Ira for all you are doing.
I am so sick of the NYTimes and the march to rid the country of "democracy." Having decreed that it is a political slogan and not a way of life, the MAGA party is being allowed to trash it at will. As for the 12 women? We'll never know how many were really interviewed and as chilling as the "results" were, take a good look at where they live and what they do. It's the New York Times, in the same time frame, they ran a huge article about those 2020 voters who are now voting for Trump for a myriad of reasons based on ignorance and stupidity. Two big articles slamming Biden, two. And what about the people who are shying away from the "orange turd"? Guess that would put the future of democracy in the cross hairs and we all know that democracy is not an ideal, but a political slogan.
I think it's time for a mass unsubscribe. What other mass actions should we be taking and bringing along like-minded, democracy- focused friends and family? Also supporting turnup, the DNC, local candidates, and senate candidates in the tightest races. None of it feels remotely enough.
We can trust MSM to be motivated by profit. There’s also challenge here that speaking to Twitler’s lies repeats them, and gullible, tuned out voters can then have that idea rattle in their heads and the loudest voice may rule their decision to vote for little big mouth. Also, election denialism is now a loyalty oath to strutting combover boy. And there’s the threat factor too if elected officials call a turd a turd.
Activists defending democracy are posting and reposting on social media that elections are secure. Those messages are crafted so they don’t repeat false MAGA claims. See Demcast’s site for some of these that you can post too.
Now, though, we must rely on electronic communications platforms owned by billionaires who don’t want to be regulated. So that’s no sure thing. Door knocking works, especially if you adopt 10 infrequent Democratic voting households in your neighborhood, which is being sponsored by the Neigbhor2Neighbor project.
From Joyce’s Five Questions with Authoritarianism Expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat
“This is the framework for Project 2025, a coalition of 100 organizations, united under the leadership of the far-right Heritage Foundation with the goal of “institutionalizing Trumpism.””
They are getting zealots in positions from school districts on up. Search for and listen to the podcast Southlake and then the podcast Grapevine.
Red state governors are already sending their Guard troops to Texas to participate in operation Lone Star. The Brookings Institution had a panel about this last week.
Quality exchange at 1:08:25- Lauren Voss, GW Law Prof and reservist: Gen Lengyel’s answer at 1:10:25 was excellent! Lafayette square company commander hypothetical; then Gen Lengyel’s conclusion: we need to rely on leaders who will do the right thing. Can we count on that?
Operation Lone Star disputes are making their way thru courts. The problem going forward is that these zealots do not care what the courts rule. The law of armed conflict that guides our military will be ignored.
What happens when Red State governors send their Army and Air Force Guard units to support Trump?
This is a lot for a Sunday night. This half full cup persona I’ve had is getting harder to keep. If MSM would just put out the whole truth, it would be a start. I don’t think there is a way that people on their own will have an impact. That being said, make sure you are registered to vote. VOTE BLUE UP and DOWN the ballot. We can’t let this liar, crook ,rapist, egomaniac take our Democracy away.
I’m betting after a weekend of reflection and going over things Cohen will knock it out of the park. One day at a time. Wouldn’t want to be with anybody else other than this group. Thanks Joyce.
Absolutely SO right it has to be officially said that his strategy is to lie on 2020 so he can again lie on 2024, his strategy had to be debunked right now and for the coming months.
It had to be trumpeted and reposted by the international press, he has to see that globally people are aware of what he plans to do
They've got this election all planned. I've read (might've been that Hillsdale "Project 2025" plan) that they won't worry about the election results. All they need to accomplish is creating enough doubt and confusion about the results of the November election so they can then egg people on to demand the US House of Reps must decide the election because it's too close to call. It would be decided by whatever the newly elected House majority is. The House reconvenes Jan 3rd, 2025, after the election. I haven't done any deep reading about what our chances are of taking the House back, but we're aware of Republicans quitting and splintering (from maga vs the repubs who came to get something done for their constituents). We've also got the addition of the new predominantly African American district in Louisiana going for us. Too close to call right now but our win in the House would get rid of the threat to the integrity of the election that Mike Johnson will no doubt try to carry off.
Hillsdale jerks somehow got my address and sends me their newsletters! The rhetoric is horrendous. They want you to call them. I don’t want them to have my number or anything else. Will write them a cease and desist letter.
I agree, and I think that fringe of sane republicans will not wane.
Also, probably some will defect bu5 would be afraid to say so until they vote.
It’s just that talking officially about what they plan to do will deflect a lot, and perhaps teaches some truth to some. And the more this is talked abroad the better.
Interesting situation for Bannon. With a four month sentence (without an early release) he would be in prison when his NY trial for money laundering, conspiracy and scheming to defraud in connection with $15 million in donations a "We Build the Wall" fundraising campaign is now scheduled to begin in September. He was charged in an almost identical federal investigation before being pardoned by Trump hours before the then-pretend-president left office in January 2021. To add a nice ironic touch, the presiding judge is scheduled to be Justice Merchan who is heading the Trump records falsification/election interference trial soon to be in closing arguments.
Ps Dale, Bannon will be in the same situation many brown, and Black people are in as they roost in a jail cell preparing for a trial (very often without expensive attorneys sometimes their cases are extremely questionable so far as evidence for charges brought against them). Bannon should not get the luxury of extra time because he used up his time when he could’ve been preparing for the border fraud case by roosting in his luxury office in Washington DC, spewing forth propaganda six days a week in his war room podcast. I know you don’t have sympathy for him. So I’m not sure why you would think he will be in jail while his other trial is starting. My calendar shows he will go to jail in DC on May 23, and then will be out five days before his New York trial starts. That’s plenty of time for him to get to New York. Why would he need to be out any sooner? He has known this event has been coming for a year.
This person worked with Russian computer scientist to put an API on Facebook to drag off 75 million accounts that were taken without permission by the owners and then given to Trump for his sole data source during 2016. The same data was used in 2020 and most likely will be used in 2024 because it consists of Republicans FB account holders. How can this not be called Russian interference and collusion: and what are we to think of Steve Bannon except that he will work with Russia to elect Trump? I am hoping that Jack Smith and Alex Whiting are looking very carefully at this traitor.
Thanks Joyce, what a comprehensive letter and as always so clearly written, always unbelievably informative.
Democrats are bringing water squirt guns to a fight the GOP is bringing bazookas. Every media, every democrat must be shouting out the lies. The NYT has let the country down as well as other media outlets that don’t take strong and vigorous rebuttals to the spewing lies of Donald Trump. The time is now. Thank you Joyce!
You wouldn’t leave your daughter alone with a man who’s a known sexual predator.
You wouldn’t invest your money with a man who has already gone bankrupt five time and has paid almost half a billion dollars in fines for fraudulent business practices.
You wouldn’t hire a man to work for you who is a known compulsive liar, and who threatens violence against anyone who questions his lies.
So, why would anyone vote for that man for president???
Or give him the power to appoint judges and issue pardons?
Or hand him the nuclear codes?
Can we all agree that Judge Cannon is velcroed to the orange turd- what a sad commentary on the state of our judicial system ( not to mention Alito )!!!!
Because most vote emotionally instead of intellectually and people will vote to open the trap door the stand on with a rope around their necks. Don’t look for anything logical in politics.
It’s a group think thing. Willful ignorance. If you question, or bring up the truth, you get shunned.
What boggles my mind is Trump is telling everyone he is planning on being a dictator, and yet that does not seem to bother anyone who plans on voting for him. Showing once again how historically ignorant people are. How can they not understand dictatorship. Who represents that today? The Ayatollah, Putin, Jung Un, Castro. My Chinese friends do not seem to be bothered so much by the authoritarian rule of China, but they can come and go and live here and visit their home country. If one can visit a dictatorship and leave perhaps it seems okay. However, can most Americans leave the USA? Also, since Trump is planning to deport huge numbers of people to where I don't know, it seems like that should also be a point of concern. Is deporting meaning what Hitler did to Jews, carting them off to camps to exterminate them. It seems to me that Trump is doing everything to line that up. So, students protesting on campuses are opening themselves up to be on lists of people to be deported. Authoritarians hate college students because they are likely to cause trouble as they stand up for causes. What does that mean? Will students be carted off? The current anger at Biden is fine because this is currently a democracy, but the same anger if expressed in a totalitarian regime usually means prison, or worse. Look at what happens to protesters in totalitarian regimes. Look at The White Rose in Germany, https://www.weisse-rose-stiftung.de/white-rose-resistance-group/
Look at Tiananmen Square in China, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48445934
I cannot understand how Cubans who fled dictatorship can support Trump. He does not represent freedom, he represents what they left behind.
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/07/11/americas/cuba-protest-anniversary-intl-latam/index.html
Where are they going to flee to when Trump takes over? All the other destinations are too far, and are no longer welcoming. This has been the welcoming haven for Cubans. Who else will be? Other Caribbean islands? We shall see.
DeToqueville was astonished at the level of awareness of political theory in the American colonists. In the 1930s grange meeting all across rural America had farmers debating fiscal policy. I think that was in What's the Matter With Kansas.
Today people of a certain age "learn" about the world from The Real Housewives and younger ones from "social media influencers" or sports stars. Yet another reason I shun corporate sports and keep blocking email from som Jenner or other.
We have to do better but it starts with the schools. And Texas is effing with those again.
You bring up good points in your questioning why we as I said use our emotions over our intellect. My next query is to ask what are we doing wrong. If we don’t self-criticize, then we miss answering the question of why. So what compels those to ignore reasoning. Now you will disagree with me because we all have a hardwired way of interpreting. The visual of thousands of migrants rushing the border is set in many minds including mine. I despise seeing our government unable to control these migrants.
We are a nation of laws. Yet Biden has all but allowed this to occur. (He could have issued an executive order even if it wasn’t effective. Just do something. He didn’t or hasn’t yet.) Then there are secondary issues like young males waking up one day to game the system to become a girl and play on female sports. Again, for me and my sensibilities, this threatens female sports. Males are biologically stronger than women even those who have taken the meds. I have always been pro feminist and will continue. Ask yourself if there are any trans males playing on men’s teams and the answer is zilts. Nada. Because a female will never be strong enough on balance, to compete. However even if you disagree on this issue, it’s a deal breaker to the majority of Americans. The voter will vote emotionall even if it’s voting for a monster.
It’s not enough to just rally around the flag, girls and boys. It’s necessary to stop being oblivious to issues that incongruent to the majority. (Billkatzauthor.com)
Not sure where you got your information, but there are a good many trans males participating in men's athletics. With a handful of exceptions, they have yet to distinguish themselves in high level competition in any meaningful way, but they do continue to compete every day.
It's also mob mentality.
It is a cult. And there is no easy or viable way to deprogram the MAGAts.
The only thing any of us can say is...because they drank the Kool-Aid. Perhaps they choose to believe trump because educating themselves about his cases is too much trouble for them. Also, trump is telling them more of what they want to hear than fox news is. To me, getting your news from them is like choosing to drink water from the community horse trough, rather than the town well. You aren't worried about catching something nor how undignified it looks. It's kinda a self-respect issue. Like, do you believe you really deserve to know what happened, when, and why. trump followers apparently are easily led and would rather trust trump than trouble themselves to read what's really happened in Arizona, and in Michigan, in Georgia, the issues in the Mar A Lago docs case, etc. Some feel it's just too much trouble to educate themselves. They just believe because that's much easier for them to manage.
Yes but, there are only about 30 million of those non-thinkers, there are far more independents and undecideds. I sent oldandintheways ideas to my Congressman, Senator and President Biden - this message has to be part of the Democrats campaign. If you have a Democrat for Congress or Senate please send it on to them AND President Biden - we need to be more like the retrumplicans, repeat, repeat, repeat to get the message into the ears of those who do not hear.
I totally agree with you that we need to find several winning antidotes to what trump is spewing.
Thank you, and our Democrat politicians need to include Oldandintheway's comments in the campaign. I don't expect them to have any impact on the magats, but there are a huge number of independents and undecided out there - they are the ones we need to reach.
WE don't control the media. Neither does the DNC. In order to repeat the message, WE need to be persistent. DNC REACH provides the means to broadcast the comments. https://democrats.org/reach/
WE can send it...every day as a press release to media outlets. To social media. WE can channel Taylor Swift, who has millions of followers on Instagram and X. Most Gen Z do not rely on MSM...use Tic Tok, Instagram, Facebook for their news.
Yes, Daniel. I'm aware we have zero control over the media, I have lost all belief in the DNC and DCCC after the 2022 election. Which is why is send email messages directly to my Congressman, Senator, and the President. I had the TV cable to my apartment disconnected a year ago in a fit of temper; but I haven't had it reconnected because I really don't miss it one bit.
Democratic politicians
If one doesn't have a clue about civics, law, or how government works and thinks politics is something mysterious that only a few have power, then they leave it all to those who they think KNOW what is going on or perceive to be powerful. That is a problem. Secondly, if one does have a clue about civics, law, or how government works, but it is flawed by belief in bad candidates, problem number two.
Given that the majority of Americans couldn't pass the test to become a U.S. Citizen, we once again are faced with the fact that what is "exceptional" about this country is the exceptional moron ignorance and stupidity.
A big "AMEN" to that! All part of the R game to kill education so they have an ignorant, pliable population to easily bamboozle. Why not? It works.
Don’t make me come after you for stealing my thoughts again.
They're all "open source" here. :-)
Exactly. There are people like this in our country, like the approx. 37% that drink the trump Kool-Aid.
Or they are just unwilling to change the favorable opinion that they formed of him from watching him on television in a fantasy show for fifteen years.
The horse trough isn't that bad. The dog bowl is. Just sayin
You already posted pretty much exactly what I was going to say! Thank you!
Matthew 7:15-20
You Will Know Them by Their Fruits
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit
The Trump Bible is full of greed and racism. Almost everything Jesus was against.
1. False prophet/god DJT by claiming to be a dictator on day one and (forever after) breaks the Lords first taaching to put him first
2. Allowing razor wire accross the Rio Grande, planning mass deportations,defiling the handicapped,................DJT makes mockery of the Lords second important teaching regarding "welcoming the stranger."
Because they have been lied to in the fashion represented in George Orwell’s 1984 novel, with gaslighting and with the aid of FOX News (Entertainment) echoing those lies and embellishing them to the millions of viewers glued to this Republican Propaganda communications arm.
EXACTLY!!
As promised, I sent this message to my Congressman, Senator, and President Biden, asking Congressman, Dr, Ami Bera to pass the message on to his colleagues and the same to Senator Padilla
Why would masses of people give their children poison to drink and then drink it themselves? Why would anyone believe in such a concept as "alternative facts"? Indoctrination and brainwashing--"groupthink"; power and greed.
You are trying to apply rational thinking to irrational behavior.
This is beautiful and brilliant. It's easy to get.
Maybe because most USians either (1) don't know what the president does, and/or (2) don't believe it has anything to do with them?
Because Imaginary Friend told you so. If Mencken was right about the intelligence of the American electorate that is enough. We shall see.
Old, cuz MAGA
#NailedIt. I love how concise and clear this is. Couldn’t say it any better…
Exactly!!
Please don't fall into the Ezra Klein trap. Yes, he is "thought provoking," no, he is wrong in his analysis most of the time and he is one of the loudest clarions in the "Biden isn't up to it" camp. He is the kind of doom sayer that the NY Times adores. He is constantly trashing the Democratic party while we perceive him to be "on our side." If Ezra, and the New York Times, spent as much time analyzing the MAGA party and its leader, then, then, I would say it is a fair analysis.
He just reminds me of those parishioners who smile at Rector and praise him to his face and then start trashing said sermon the minute they have a cup of coffee and a doughnut in their hand. Always the sincere advice as to how others, not him, can make things more equitable. Yeah, right.
But he is thought provoking, but not worthy.
Totally agree. He went on and on about President Biden being “too old”. And yes he does generally disparage the Democratic party. I don’t trust anything he says. Perhaps some think he’s smart, but I don’t. He’s not really too thoughtful or knowledgeable on the Gaza-Israel war either.
Carol-Ann, I wrote directly to Ezra Klein on May 7th and told him and his team exactly this and asked them to come forward with a full throated Podcast that presented the Trump criminal behavior and proposals since he lost. He, of course, has not done so.
editorial@nytimes.com
I for one am disappointed in Klein. I thought he was worth listening to until he had to publish crap to get attention.
The NYT in general seems to be supporting Trump.... Maggie Habberman!
And Sulzberger still has his shorts in a bunch because Biden won't accede to his demands for a sit-down.
OHJB doesn't negotiate with terrorists, Sulzberger. What is this? Give me my interview or I'll continue to have my columnists call you old and feeble?
In fact, is.
Every time I read his stuff I think "interesting but he has the wrong angle on this" another reason I cancelled the NYT except for Cooking . (If you do that, and then change your mind and renew the news, you get it for fifty cents a week again for 6 months. More true to actual value)
I have one question: who is investigating Russian and Chinese interference with our elections? This IS A PROBLEM THAT IS REAL PROBLEM. Yes! I am screaming ...these issues are connected.
I live north of San Francisco. I constantly see upside down U.S. flag with blue line stickers on cars. Maybe some are buffoon wannabe men (it’s always men) but it’s too many to ignore. It’s difficult to trust police/sheriff when so many of these guys have such stickers and patches.
I also live north of San Francisco; about 700 miles or so north and east. I have also seen maga or trump signs and stickers. However, have you noticed, like I have, that there are not yet Biden stickers? And have you noticed that those trump/maga signs have been there for years?
There's something about the trump/maga people that cause them to have signs up always. I wonder why they feel the need to always display their allegiance? Are they afraid they will forget if they don't constantly have a sign?
I'm not worried because I am also noticing all the houses and cars that don't have any political stickers or signs.
Those could be the Biden homes you're wondering about.
I would happily put a Biden/Harris sticker on my car, except that I am afraid a MAGA crazy would damage my car… I am an old woman, a widow on a fixed income. I fear harm to myself, not just my car….
Susan, there is a lot you can do as a volunteer with turnup.us and be safe and anonymous. It’s a Harvard student group that Ira Lechner on this site is working with - so there is work and support that you can do in safety to get the Biden-Harris word out.
You are very wise to be safe and not to get the sticker.
💙
Yes, that's another reason why I am not convinced that the maga/trump signs mean there's a lot of votes. In the privacy of my home (in Oregon we have been voting exclusively by mail for more than 20 years) or in the privacy of your voting booth, we don't need to worry about being accosted by those crazies.
I do have a Biden/Harris sticker on our truck, and yes, it was vandalized! It was only black spray paint, but it was all over the back of the truck and the car. However, instead of being frightening, it brought support from all my neighbors! Yes, there are crazies out there, but they are very much in the minority.
Exactly.
Agreed 💯 and isnt funny that these people who uphold the law worship someone who breaks the law
Just south of Denver it's the same thing. There's a spot of undeveloped land that a coffee cabin has leased, across from an elementary school on a busy road. It flys the dumb blue line flag and the other day it started flying a Drumpf flag. Disgusting. And people drink their coffee . Maybe I'll go through and ask for a cup of koolaid.
Wow! I wouldn't have thought that would be the case near SF. Thanks for the enlightenment and sorry you're seeing that. It certainly would be hard to trust someone who wants you to know about their personal disdain for normalcy (the US Constituition). I wonder if any of the opinion editors of the newspapers there have mentioned this issue in Op Eds?
NORTH of San Francisco.
Rural Republican portion of CA as well as semi-rural Central Valley but far, far, far outnumbered by the tens of millions of Democrats in the rest of Blue CA
True!
Yes, good ole McCarthy territory!
Northern California, by which I mean north of Sacramento is very conservative (Redding=redneck). I would certainly not festoon my vehicle with democratic party stickers. I won't put a Grateful Dead sticker on my vehicles. I go so far as to take the license plate ring, which usually has the dealer on it, off my truck. I want to give no info about myself on my vehicles. Full stop.
Bob, I feel the same, no identifying means no target on us for what we fear are MAGA crazies emboldened by a system that allows the pardoning of convicted murderers based on MAGA affiliation/affliction. As an individual, we might be more bold, but then we must consider our family member’s safety as well. The. Constitution does not protect us these days from the Fear of the Supreme Court
Agreed
Same in Northeast Ohio. Why offer an invitation? I'll just wait, and "offer" condolences mid-November!
Tina - I don’t see those in SF.
Thanks for this, Joyce - I am an election judge in Minnesota, and TRUMP DON'T SCARE ME.
Deb thank you for upholding the law!
💙
Thank you Deb Jensen
More and more, Republicans are arguing that they don’t trust the voting procedures in districts outside their own, they don’t trust the electoral college electors chosen in states outside their own, they don’t trust Congressional representatives from districts outside their own, and they don’t trust media from areas outside their own.
“My district (or town or state) plays fair,” they seem to say, “but yours doesn’t.”
Not sure how we can choose national leaders if Red states won’t trust other states’ voters and voting processes. We are not a confederation of states, not since 1787. We are one nation, indivisible.
In four years as president, Trump’s Justice Department found no evidence of systematic fraud in voting in 2016. And in the four years since he was president, Trump’s lawyers have produced no evidence of that kind of fraud in 2020, despite filing cases in 70 courts.
Beliefs aren’t facts, Mr. Trump. Facts are facts.
But the bipartisan senate hearing looking at whether there was Russian interference in 2016 found absolute evidence that Russia interfered for Trump and they said it was very likely that Russia interfered for Trump in 2020.
Strange how only tRump is the victim of “voter fraud” yet the election went just fine for the repubs and Qs who won.
I honestly don't know how you find the time to put all this together for us! I hope you know how greatly you are appreciated (I guess Giuliani had his smile wiped off his face. )
Speaking of the Big Lie and elections, I believe there should be a federal law making it a felony to harass, threaten, intimidate (and any other appropriate legal term) any election worker or volunteer. Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman were relentlessly attacked by Trump himself and suffered horrendously as a result.
But apparently many other election workers across the country are choosing to quit or not volunteer because of the viciousness of locals who believe the Big Lie.
Being able to hold elections is an essential part of our democracy. Anyone who interferes should pay the price and that includes the thugs making threatening calls to everyone from volunteer poll workers to elected officials.
When are Ruby and Shaye going to receive any payment from the case Giuliani lost??
Well, Rudy conveniently declared bankruptcy, right?
Primary & Excess insurance policies are 'Assets' in Bankruptcy Court IF there are any 'limits' left.
Thanks
That bastard has money offshore. Finding it is the problem.
Marlene, I got your Rudy G Update:
1. AZ AG Kris Mayes confirms that Rudy was timely served with AZ 'Fake Elector' indictment shortly after posting a 5/17/24 photo gleefully taunting Kris Mayes. "You cannot find me". Another Co-conspirator will bite the dust. Mayes is @AZAGMayes.
2. On 5/17/24 Newsweek reported 21 unauthorized money transfers by the "Debtor" [ Rudy]. That's the 'thing' about Bankruptcy Court which has the power to void all unauthorized transfers, investigate properties & post 9/11 accounts located in foreign countries & get the stash from the safe on yachts.
Just keeps getting uglier.
Bryan, his ass is grass now! Yay’
Beyond disturbing on so many levels. Thank you again, Joyce , for keeping such important issues upfront and clear for me.
I really don’t want to see the Democrats play the same game as Trump’s lies, to me that would be like a playground game of who said- she said. I would much rather see the media and press print and state the facts of Trump’s and the Republican party’s ramblings and behavior which is very childish and irresponsible to the common good of the country!!
Agree! The MSM MUST report the details so that middle America is exposed to the truth. Today I read a story in the NYT that interviewed 12 women who have voted for TFG, asking them if they will vote for him again. Their responses are chilling. The good that President Biden is doing is completely unknown to many of them. That, along with the horror of project 25 and the lies that TFG is vomiting every time he gets in front of a microphone need to be showcased by the Dems as the scourge they are.
That said, I send many dollars to the DNC, forheavenssakes what are they doing with my money???
Dianne and friends: thank you and please go to www.TurnUp.US where brilliant Harvard students explain how they are in the process of registering hundreds of thousands of senior high school and Community College students and turning them out to vote to protect reproductive rights, gun safety and fight climate change in 78 truly competitive Congressional Districts and 14 Senate elections! Please contribute generously as it is tax deductible because they are nonpartisan! This group is truly effective in more than 1,500 schools! Thank you; saving our democracy is truly worthwhile, isn’t it?
Ira, I did join turnup.US, sent a donation and will send more. I’m waiting to hear from them on connecting with a group in my area.
Indeed, I have joined. This is where my money is going, and I’m waiting for them to give me the name of a group in my area where I can congregate with them I think is the word they used. These are very brave young people meeting one on one and in groups with, the community college students. Thank you Ira for all you are doing.
Valere: send me an email as to where you live and I’ll let you the schoooscwecare working in iralechner@yahoo.com
Check out vorterizer.org. https://voterizer.org/
I am so sick of the NYTimes and the march to rid the country of "democracy." Having decreed that it is a political slogan and not a way of life, the MAGA party is being allowed to trash it at will. As for the 12 women? We'll never know how many were really interviewed and as chilling as the "results" were, take a good look at where they live and what they do. It's the New York Times, in the same time frame, they ran a huge article about those 2020 voters who are now voting for Trump for a myriad of reasons based on ignorance and stupidity. Two big articles slamming Biden, two. And what about the people who are shying away from the "orange turd"? Guess that would put the future of democracy in the cross hairs and we all know that democracy is not an ideal, but a political slogan.
I cancelled my subscription months ago. It's too expensive on my fixed income. UNSUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE!!!
I think it's time for a mass unsubscribe. What other mass actions should we be taking and bringing along like-minded, democracy- focused friends and family? Also supporting turnup, the DNC, local candidates, and senate candidates in the tightest races. None of it feels remotely enough.
I may have to unsubscribe too. This after over 50 years myself plus the 20 some years reading it day as a child. Sigh…
How many of these same stories is the NYT going to print? What is their point?
We can trust MSM to be motivated by profit. There’s also challenge here that speaking to Twitler’s lies repeats them, and gullible, tuned out voters can then have that idea rattle in their heads and the loudest voice may rule their decision to vote for little big mouth. Also, election denialism is now a loyalty oath to strutting combover boy. And there’s the threat factor too if elected officials call a turd a turd.
Activists defending democracy are posting and reposting on social media that elections are secure. Those messages are crafted so they don’t repeat false MAGA claims. See Demcast’s site for some of these that you can post too.
https://share.demcastusa.com/campaign/C9D19725-791A-4843-B038-15ABB446E727/ready_made_post/facebook?mmdr=1de5a38b-c218-4137-ae55-30853563bee2
Now, though, we must rely on electronic communications platforms owned by billionaires who don’t want to be regulated. So that’s no sure thing. Door knocking works, especially if you adopt 10 infrequent Democratic voting households in your neighborhood, which is being sponsored by the Neigbhor2Neighbor project.
https://www.majorityovermaga.org/neighbor2neighbor
Some election officials also have good info on how elections work on their government websites.
https://youtu.be/j4MfcT4iWHc
Add Voterizer. https://voterizer.org/
From Joyce’s Five Questions with Authoritarianism Expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat
“This is the framework for Project 2025, a coalition of 100 organizations, united under the leadership of the far-right Heritage Foundation with the goal of “institutionalizing Trumpism.””
They are getting zealots in positions from school districts on up. Search for and listen to the podcast Southlake and then the podcast Grapevine.
Red state governors are already sending their Guard troops to Texas to participate in operation Lone Star. The Brookings Institution had a panel about this last week.
https://www.brookings.edu/events/domestic-deployment-of-the-national-guard/
Here’s the YouTube of the panel:
https://www.youtube.com/live/01Ai12DqJiI?si=LhT3L5RCQ1MfofUc
Quality exchange at 1:08:25- Lauren Voss, GW Law Prof and reservist: Gen Lengyel’s answer at 1:10:25 was excellent! Lafayette square company commander hypothetical; then Gen Lengyel’s conclusion: we need to rely on leaders who will do the right thing. Can we count on that?
Operation Lone Star disputes are making their way thru courts. The problem going forward is that these zealots do not care what the courts rule. The law of armed conflict that guides our military will be ignored.
What happens when Red State governors send their Army and Air Force Guard units to support Trump?
Professor Timothy Snyder gives us a preview:
https://snyder.substack.com/p/the-bloodbath-candidate?utm_campaign=post&triedRedirect=true
No one thought 1/6 would unfold the way it did. We won’t be fooled again!
As Joyce advises: It's time to Roe, Roe, Roe the Vote!
Thank you for this:))
This is a lot for a Sunday night. This half full cup persona I’ve had is getting harder to keep. If MSM would just put out the whole truth, it would be a start. I don’t think there is a way that people on their own will have an impact. That being said, make sure you are registered to vote. VOTE BLUE UP and DOWN the ballot. We can’t let this liar, crook ,rapist, egomaniac take our Democracy away.
I’m betting after a weekend of reflection and going over things Cohen will knock it out of the park. One day at a time. Wouldn’t want to be with anybody else other than this group. Thanks Joyce.
Absolutely SO right it has to be officially said that his strategy is to lie on 2020 so he can again lie on 2024, his strategy had to be debunked right now and for the coming months.
It had to be trumpeted and reposted by the international press, he has to see that globally people are aware of what he plans to do
They've got this election all planned. I've read (might've been that Hillsdale "Project 2025" plan) that they won't worry about the election results. All they need to accomplish is creating enough doubt and confusion about the results of the November election so they can then egg people on to demand the US House of Reps must decide the election because it's too close to call. It would be decided by whatever the newly elected House majority is. The House reconvenes Jan 3rd, 2025, after the election. I haven't done any deep reading about what our chances are of taking the House back, but we're aware of Republicans quitting and splintering (from maga vs the repubs who came to get something done for their constituents). We've also got the addition of the new predominantly African American district in Louisiana going for us. Too close to call right now but our win in the House would get rid of the threat to the integrity of the election that Mike Johnson will no doubt try to carry off.
Hillsdale jerks somehow got my address and sends me their newsletters! The rhetoric is horrendous. They want you to call them. I don’t want them to have my number or anything else. Will write them a cease and desist letter.
I agree, and I think that fringe of sane republicans will not wane.
Also, probably some will defect bu5 would be afraid to say so until they vote.
It’s just that talking officially about what they plan to do will deflect a lot, and perhaps teaches some truth to some. And the more this is talked abroad the better.
Interesting situation for Bannon. With a four month sentence (without an early release) he would be in prison when his NY trial for money laundering, conspiracy and scheming to defraud in connection with $15 million in donations a "We Build the Wall" fundraising campaign is now scheduled to begin in September. He was charged in an almost identical federal investigation before being pardoned by Trump hours before the then-pretend-president left office in January 2021. To add a nice ironic touch, the presiding judge is scheduled to be Justice Merchan who is heading the Trump records falsification/election interference trial soon to be in closing arguments.
Ps Dale, Bannon will be in the same situation many brown, and Black people are in as they roost in a jail cell preparing for a trial (very often without expensive attorneys sometimes their cases are extremely questionable so far as evidence for charges brought against them). Bannon should not get the luxury of extra time because he used up his time when he could’ve been preparing for the border fraud case by roosting in his luxury office in Washington DC, spewing forth propaganda six days a week in his war room podcast. I know you don’t have sympathy for him. So I’m not sure why you would think he will be in jail while his other trial is starting. My calendar shows he will go to jail in DC on May 23, and then will be out five days before his New York trial starts. That’s plenty of time for him to get to New York. Why would he need to be out any sooner? He has known this event has been coming for a year.
This person worked with Russian computer scientist to put an API on Facebook to drag off 75 million accounts that were taken without permission by the owners and then given to Trump for his sole data source during 2016. The same data was used in 2020 and most likely will be used in 2024 because it consists of Republicans FB account holders. How can this not be called Russian interference and collusion: and what are we to think of Steve Bannon except that he will work with Russia to elect Trump? I am hoping that Jack Smith and Alex Whiting are looking very carefully at this traitor.
Exactly. His New York trial was scheduled for May but set aside to September 28. He will be out in time for it.
Thanks Joyce, what a comprehensive letter and as always so clearly written, always unbelievably informative.
Democrats are bringing water squirt guns to a fight the GOP is bringing bazookas. Every media, every democrat must be shouting out the lies. The NYT has let the country down as well as other media outlets that don’t take strong and vigorous rebuttals to the spewing lies of Donald Trump. The time is now. Thank you Joyce!
Beware of lying racists. Here’s how they incited a White Riot in 1898. When white supremacists destroyed Wilmington NC, a thriving mixed-race city. https://forgottenfiles.substack.com/p/how-to-incite-a-white-riot-1898