268 Comments
User's avatar
E. Jean Carroll's avatar

How you can take such a complicated subject and turn each word INSIDE OUT so I can understand it, is a skill only possessed by the GREAT writers, Joyce!

Joyce Vance's avatar

I am no E. Jean Carroll, however.

Sharon C Storm's avatar

Both of you are heroes, imho!

E. Jean Carroll's avatar

Heeeeeee.

And I don't have a backyard palace full of glamour-puss chickens!!!

MARSHA SCOTT's avatar

E Jean, you are a she-to. THANKYOU and I wish you well!

Nancy's avatar

I agree! Your newsletter is one of the few I regularly share on my social media.

Pam Birkenfeld's avatar

I agree! And also I enjoy your book very much!

kathleen mary's avatar

How to rig midterms 101 based on Putin’s input/recommendation!!!

dee's avatar

Were they scheming?! OF COURSE- the lump of orange toxic waste wants/needs putin's approval - DISGUSTING and DECEIVING!!!

Can we get back to EPSTEIN......DENYING donOLD!!!!

Ruth Sheets's avatar

Dee, there should be a law that no president or any other high-level official can meet with a world leader or representative of another country without witnesses and an American translator if necessary for translation. No more sneaking around in secret to try to make "deals" with dictators. That should be a unanimous bi-partisan vote.

dee's avatar

Ruth - EXACTLY!!! How we continue to allow this CONVICTED FELON etc. to make world decisions is incomprehensible!!!

We WILL PREVAIL - there is nothing we cant do when we come together!! THANKS for being HERE!!!

MARSHA SCOTT's avatar

We will never know what was said in Helsinki! Yet, we all suffer from his”deals”

MARSHA SCOTT's avatar

Yes! Yes to all the trashy perversion of anyone who associated with Epstein or Maxwell .

L D's avatar

Does anyone but Maga believe “this horseshit”? Please excuse grandfatherly language, seems appropriate at this time😡🇺🇸

RRiveter's avatar

You took the words right out of my mouth, and I have absolutely no problem with calling it "horseshit" which is really pretty polite. I would have other words. I will say this again and again, as has Joyce: the STATES are the only governing entity in our country that controls voting, NOT the Executive branch, not the Feds. It is up to each state to design voting procedures and implement them. I'm not sure if Trump is crazy, demented, failed all of his civics classes, lying, as usual, to try to convince his Maga cohorts that of course, he is right, or whatever. That is one of the fucking reasons that in 2020, with constant beratement of Pence to refuse the vote, that the VP cannot do that. Why? Because the results of the STATES control voting, NOT Congress, VP, or anyone else who is part of the Federal government. The VP is simply a figurehead in accepting the states' results. All of this "horseshit" is again, a designed distraction vs the Epstein files, which contain, unredacted, this pedophile's name over and over again. He knows it, we know it, his family knows it, and of course, his prime capo, Bondi knows it. He is so goddamn desperate to keep the current weak Congress as it is, that I swear to God, he would start shooting Democrats to keep the Repub majority. The man simply needs to go away.

Joan Eisenstodt's avatar

To you and to you, Joyce and others: in DC, my chosen home of 47 years, we are “occupied”, first by our own National Guard (the only Guard the US Pres can call out, the same ones he was begged to send on 1/6/17 and didn’t, blaming the SNAFU on Pelosi not his goading and waiting.) We are also occupied by the already short staffed FBI, and now GOP MAGA-suck-up govs have sent theirs too: Ohio (my home state where Sherrod is running for Senate again 💙💙💙💙💙), WVa, SC, and maybe a few more.

Those govs have been here or worked here. I know small Ohio towns with more crime than my DC n’hood. They are sucking up. Why are you so sure they, with GOP majorities, will not change voting to please the False Golden Idol? He can do it here and we would be further disenfranchised. Will Dems help DC?

He will be the first occupant of the oval gift shop to come out with still “that color” of hair v grey after serving. Mine now white and thinning from stress and illness will not look as good! Just let the system hold.

Ruth Sheets's avatar

L D, of course no one else believes it, but we have never faced an insurrectionist in the white house before, so we are having a bit of trouble trying to figure out what to do first. Vought, Miller, Wiles, and the rest of the toddler pool as well as the Trumplicans in Congress are trying to hide their faces so people won't know who it is that is betraying them. The MAGAs are deliberately working hard to avoid the truth. They are in a bubble created by themselves because their racism, misogyny, xenophobia, homo/transphobia and the rest eat at them, and they need confirmation that their hatreds are valid and truly American. If they would listen to me, I can tell them to grow up and look around. The world is a big place with lots of different people, very few like themselves, though it seems like there are a lot because their bubble tells them so. They are so busy trying to fit in with the haters, they are missing the fact that they are hated by the white house toddler pool and the Toddler-in-Chief who tried to tell them so, but they laughed and thought it a joke. Really, it was a joke on them, the one truth Trump told during his entire campaign.

MARSHA SCOTT's avatar

Hoseshit indeed but MAGA believes!

Leakie's avatar

Roy Cohn is grinning like a cat with a mouth full of briars at Trump's skill at deflecting attention from his own sins--Epstein, Epstein, Epstein and kissing Putin's ring and selling out Ukraine. Trump knows that if it's easy to vote, Republicans will lose. Thanks for the post!

RRiveter's avatar

Yep, Cohn's lackey and student. And Cohn was about as illegal and criminal as it got, until now.

Gina's avatar

Every day is more exhausting than the one before.

Joan Eisenstodt's avatar

Yes. And exacerbating other serious physical illnesses because it just seeps in with headlines. It’s who it took days to read and interact with compassionate, passionate people who observe, question and work to stop the flood.

Swbv's avatar

HaHaHa. Trump is a master of deflection. This week it's mail-in voting. Last week Putin. What it isn't is any more information on the Epstein Affair. Pam Bondi's been told to bury that scandal in the Mariana Trench. And, since she works for Trump, not our country, she will do as directed.

Patrick Joseph Maloney's avatar

Would she be able to find it on the map?

RRiveter's avatar

She is an illegal, unethical bitch, plain and simple, desperate to keep her Federal job, as she knows that if she returns to FL to attempt to practice, she will be disbarred, as she should be. She's an old broad, desperate for an audience. Cannot wait until she goes down in flames.

C C's avatar

She will certainly try...

patricia's avatar

yes but will the MAGAS ????

dee's avatar

Pam Bondi...what a DISGRACE!!

Anyone who tries to keep another family's dog is all i need to know that she is a DESPICABLE human...case closed!!!

Megan Rothery's avatar

Thank you for taking extra time today to share with us.

Use/share this spreadsheet (bit.ly/Goodtrouble) as a resource to call/email/write members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Reach out to those in your own state, and those in a committee that fits your topic. Call. Write. Email. Protest. Unrelentingly. We deserve better ❤️‍🩹🤍💙

Mary Gilbert's avatar

Thanks for posting this. I wrote earlier today to both of ‘my’ 🤮Republican Senators for Missouri using your spreadsheet. It’s tough being a blue dot in a red state so I appreciate your efforts putting together this user friendly document.

Megan Rothery's avatar

Thank you for speaking up!

David J. Sharp's avatar

Preposterous lies, of course. But it begs the question: Where does he get his misinformation? He was fed these sumptuous lies … but by whom? Miller? Vought? Too sophisticated for Trump.

David J. Sharp's avatar

Of course! The who’s your daddy daddy.

RRiveter's avatar

Very good point David. Trump is an ass, IQ of about 80 I would project. He's mouthing Putin's crap about mail-in votes, who I am sure, said it purposely, because he knew his asset would run with it.

David J. Sharp's avatar

That feels true. Trump is a very rich man with no self esteem—anyone who “strokes” him, gets his adoration. In return, all he asks is total loyalty and suspension of ethics.

Kim Horton's avatar

Trump is Putin’s puppet. He got money from Russian banks when the Germans quit fronting his businesses. Then he started money laundering for the Russians using empty real estate properties. Putin has all that on our Donny and both know it.

David J. Sharp's avatar

Indeed, laundering Russian mafiya money. With all the talk of deporting criminal immigrants, what about those ex-Soviet thugs and call girls who flooded this country? Crickets.

Mary's avatar

And probably more

Mary Gilbert's avatar

MSU-Making Stuff Up. That is tRump’s MO.

That’s what we ICU nurses used to say to each other on morning rounds with the interns & residents when the attending physician asked for lab results & the underling docs would look at us and then tell the attending those results were ‘pending’. We knew that meant we were to draw that blood & send immediately to the lab.

David J. Sharp's avatar

And Trump’s Origin Story changes daily—his life is the very definition of MSU.

Mary's avatar

All of the above including Putin. Putin is teaching him how to take over a country and he’s listening.

David J. Sharp's avatar

Or Putin is teaching him enough to be a placeholder or puppet ruler—Moscow West.

Mary's avatar

This too I think.

Priscilla Zink's avatar

I have wondered the same thing. In person - posts, interviews, unscripted speeches - he definitely does not come across as the sharpest tool in the shed!

David J. Sharp's avatar

Indeed! Off-teleprompter, the man can barely speak coherently, repeats things repeatedly, can’t stay on topic … and then comes up with complex schemes? I don’t think so.

User's avatar
Comment deleted
Aug 18, 2025
Comment deleted
David J. Sharp's avatar

Changing my tone here: Certainly the arrogance and venality from Putin … but the “details” in his screed are just too specific to America for Putin. Someone closer, I think.

Teri Gelini's avatar

Someone else probably wrote it for him. Too many big words and in much to much order. People write like they talk and he would NEVER be able to speak the way it is written!

David J. Sharp's avatar

No, I don’t think so—like so many truly ignorant people, the bug words and “concepts” are begging to be taken seriously. Like how the gangsters talk in “Guys and Dolls”. (Sorry, this is a rephrasing of my comment above.)

Maureen Dorsey's avatar

Apparently trump hates all the military folks who rely upon mailed in ballots while serving overseas.

lin•'s avatar

Not just military. But State Department employees and all other American government workers serving overseas.

Maureen Dorsey's avatar

Well, we know he hates 'government' workers but the military are some of his loyal base.....

RRiveter's avatar

And the elderly, and the infirm, etc etc. He makes me so sick.

Dorian's avatar

Yet another reason to hate the bastard, not that I was looking for one, but he's on my last nerve this week. Post-stroke, my husband is in a wheelchair. Having to sit in his chair in a line for a long time would be extremely painful for him. But he would do it! Voter suppression is the point. Cruelty is the bonus for those fascists.

Laura Gordon's avatar

And he must hate the eight states – California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Washington - that vote exclusively by mail. In those states, you can still take the ballot they mailed you and go to an in-person voting place, but I don't know why you would want to. I fill my Oregon ballot out at home at my own pace and drop it in the drop box at City Hall some time before 8 PM on election day.

Dorian's avatar

I love my California ballot. And my governor.

Nancy Schimmel's avatar

I'm in California, but I'm self-employed and have the time, and I often walk my ballot in because I like the ritual and seeing the local folks.

Laura Gordon's avatar

I like to walk to the City Hall drop box, but the voting office is at the County seat-15 miles away. When we lived in the County seat, my husband used to volunteer at the registrar's office opening the ballot envelopes with the older volunteers who used to staff the polls when we had them.

Mary Jane Rheaume's avatar

I do the same in my state of washington. receive ballot in mail. mark in black ink all democratic for who I want. mail it and that’s it. Done!💙

SUSAN Wulfestieg's avatar

Ditto for me in Washington.

Linda Wallers's avatar

I'm shocked, Joyce! You missed the biggest lie of all - mail-in voting is conducted using PAPER BALLOTS, the very things Trump likes.

It's Come To This's avatar

Trump's followers are such idiots, none of them will point out that obvious bit of inconsistency to him.

I live in currently occupied Washington DC. We have now conducted elections entirely by mail since the pandemic, as have several other states. Instances of fraud through mail can be counted in all of these places on the fingers of one hand. In other words --- practically non-existent.

Linda Wallers's avatar

I lived in the DC area for nearly 29 years, leaving in 2014 - just in time, by my thoughts. I sympathize. I can't imagine what it is like to have troops patrolling the beautiful Mall, but I remember landing in Rome, on a vacay, and seeing armed patrols in the 1990s - a bit disconcerting. I keep going back to my favorite cartoon characters' comments and apply them to Trump, "What a Maroon!", as Bugs Bunny would say.

Sandy S's avatar

That's right! Mail-in ballots are paper ballots and can be recounted if necessary! He lives in his head and is so clueless about the states and the people he wants to rule over. All he cares about is counting his votes! As in "Find those 11, 780 votes!" - Like a spoiled toddler really.

lin•'s avatar

HaHa! Perfect! ThankYou!

kathleen mary's avatar

Guaranteed there is a rig midterms plan C, D, E…hope D’s are 10 steps ahead. At least we have Governor Newsom taking the lead! - just where is everyone else. We the People are STILL waiting for specific direction from Congressional D’s! Lost for words. Thank you for everything Joyce & hope you loved Maine just as we love you. 🤍🦞

Joyce Vance's avatar

SO much love for Maine!

Linda's avatar

It’s amazing the crap he comes up with! Thank goodness we have you Joyce!

Elizabeth Fenlon's avatar

Bravo, Professor, for your factual and truthful clarification of all the guy’s lies. He is a veritable firehose of lies and nonsense. I read what he wrote, but yes, you warned me, it sickened me. I hope he gets nowhere with this latest plan. I wonder what happened in today’s meeting with European leaders to make him go all unhinged again.

Wendy Buxton's avatar

If Trump really believes that mail in voting permits fraud, why doesn’t he just let mail in voting continue, so that he can fraudulently manipulate the results? His diabolical motives are so obvious! He knows that mail in voting is safe and accurate. We must urge each state to enforce it’s constitutional right over its own voting rules.

Marina Oshana's avatar

And, lord, how I wish we could just stuff our ears and turn away from this bloviating, malevolent, demented man.

Richard's avatar

Thank you for this necessary post. Democracy should never be taken for granted. A new generation is learning this now.

Susan Brown's avatar

Join your local League of Women Voters. They are fighting to protect our voting rights