In late January, just as Mike Johnson became Speaker of the House, we discussed the Republican plan to kill the compromise immigration bill that gave them much of what they’d been demanding.
Joyce The core problem is not Trump nor even Jackal Johnson, who was a nonentity and will be remembered as a pathetic sycophant. Trump is the cultist and Johnson is a struggling, drowning rat.
The true culprits are those Republican ‘leaders’ who know how vile Trump is and who jump on his bandwagon because it is a personal power trip. They are despicable and quick to jump on the despicable band wagon. And that includes members of the current Supreme Court.
These folks are going to ride the Trump bandwagon until it crashes. Then they will scramble for another illusionary power pole. I am appalled by how many of these Lindsay Graham-type hypocrites denigrated Trump in 2015-early 2016, and subsequently genuflected before him.
Ted Cruz—-shameless, as are the other principle-less folks who care more about themselves than about their country. I can’t predict when this tide will turn among a relatively fact-less electorate.
Personally I care about the soul of the United States of America. I believe, that, deep down, this is a basic feeling among many, many Americans. They have been subjected to a constant barrage of fear and negativism.
What they are missing is that the story of America has been hope and progress, with some stutter steps, over more than two centuries.
I am appalled by the fog that is engulfing much of America. Whether it is funding our government or providing life-saving aid to courageous Ukrainians, the response should be swift and positive.
At 90 I have never faced a presidential election where the soul of America is so clearly at stake. Trump has already declared what his authoritarian second term would do—his ‘justice’ and revenge and coddling up to his authoritarian buddies such as Putin and Orban.
This is not the America that I wish my grandchildren to inherit. The place to fight is America and the time is now!
Keith, well said! I also worry about my grandchildren and what life will be like for them when they're older. I never, ever thought things could get this bad.
If only Moscow Mitch had voted to impeach the thug called Trump, but he was too much of a hypocritical wimp.
We HAVE to fight like our lives, and our country, depend on it.
Agreed! Mitch McConnell is a traitor and should spend whatever is left of his miserable life in a prison cell. He knows what he’s done to our country and should suffer the consequences.
It's amazing to me that McConnell, et. al., could stand before Congress and tell the public their cowardly conduct will be fixed in the Courts, only to turn around and fight the Justice Department for actually finally doing it. The distain and hypocrisy they demonstrated to America should be highlighted at the beginning of every news article concerning Trump's current inditements. Why that is not done is again, just amazing.
Jim, I agree with you. It needs to be highlighted as often as possible, until those words are "etched" into the brains of ALL Trumpublicans, (Assuming, of course, that all of them actually have brains.)
Keith -- I really needed to read comments you posted ! My family members are all Democrats, but they just don't keep up with daily news and happenings and don't worry about this country's future like you and I do.
For instance, today I saw a short video of someone talking to Trump and asking how he felt about the IVF situation, and he said "I haven't decided what to do about that yet" and I wanted to cry. This pitiful man thinks it is up to him to decide whether people who want children should be able to use the IVF method to assure pregnancy ! This from a racist, a rapist, an abuser who said he liked to grab women by their p*******, who when his youngest child, Barron, was 11 months old, went on a golf outing and had sex with a porn star -- and then "paid her off" so Melania and the rest of the world wouldn't hear about it. Well, we did hear about it and why anyone would vote for this sick man for the presidency is completely beyond me. I admit it -- I am truly scared.
I think of those in the not-to-distant past who were scrutinized because they had affairs, shouted too loud, or were gifted a dog. It seems like the bar is so low now that anyone can run and even win.
Barbara Please feel free to pass on any of my reportage to whomever you think might benefit from this curmudgeon’s reflections. As a reversal of Goebbels IF YOU TELL THE TRUTH LONG ENOUGH MORE AND MORE PEOPLE WILL BELIEVE IT.
People don't keep up with the news, every little outrage. If enough people, voters, don't care about this country, don't know, don't have a compass morally, then we will get Trump and his co pilots. Ignorance and vulnerability, not caring, are what this threat thrives on. Although Trump is a phenomenon, a sui generis we have never seen the likes of prior, he's set in motion an oppositional destructive movement selling it as conservatism. We are going to have to deal with this threat to keep our democracy. It's very plain, blatant.. How much of an ostrich does one have to be not to know?
Yesterday on the radio someone said that 2 justices on that court I will not call supreme NEED trump in the white house so they can retire under a republican to keep the lock on the court. Alito and Thomas as despicable as they are continue to plot and plan further destruction of our democracy. They will succeed if we let them. IF they let the criminal trump off the hook we MUST TAKE TO THE STREETS in numbers "like no one has ever seen before".....sound like someone? As Joyce says, we are in this together.
Well said my friend. I was raised in a republican family and until recently have always identified as republican even when I vehemently disagreed with republican policy. However, now I will not even capitalize the name. It is not because of Trump because anyone can elect a bad president but rather as you say the manner in which the republican establishment has enabled his incredibly, self-serving, bad behavior. When Mitch McConnell voted against impeachment then came out and said Trump was guilty I had enough. How does any human being do such a thing. Thank you for your cogent statements of fact.
What really pisses me off is when the current crop of Republicans call themselves "the party of Lincoln." More like the party of Jefferson Davis if you ask me.
Completely agree. Weasels like Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz and Mike Johnson and Gym Jordan demean the entire thought that the US might be Reagan's shining city on the hill. They are as distant from "American Exceptionalism" as one can get. We're kidding ourselves if we think the rest of the world isn't watching and thinking the exact same thing.
I think about this all the time. What the rest of the world thinks. Ask a MAGGAT if he/she is concerned about the rest of the world and you will get an emphatic "NO!". Before the USA took the world by the reins after WW2, the world was hellbent towards apocalypse, IMHO. The free world knows this I believe. What must they think now that we are demonstrating that the shining light on a hill is being extinguished from within. By another Hitleresque character and a populace that cannot even see it.
Just like so many things he says - it is the direct opposite. That is not partisan opinion; that is the truth plain and simple. I heard just today that Trump claims Biden is trying to overthrow the government. I want to know why a person like myself, who at one time was not overly political (Trump fixed that in 2016), sort of centrist, not overly intelligent but with a pretty good BS meter, can listen to Trump and come away dead convinced he is a complete idiot and a huge danger to the country. I mean - a no-brainer. As obvious as the nose on my face. Like 2 + 2 = 4. And this fool is neck-and-neck with a good president, and could very well win come this November. It just boggles my mind.
"People hear what they want to hear" - one of those cliches that seems to be right on the mark, at least for close to a half of the American population.
Interestingly, during a recent trip to Europe, I again asked locals I had the pleasure to meet what their impressions of America were. (I was stationed in Vienna in the early 70's as a young Marine). I was happy/relieved to find the vast majority still had great respect for "Americans" but expressed concern over the actions of our government. Many were perplexed that our Congress did not seem to reflect the views of Americans they had met before. And, I don't mean to offend but, many of the Europeans I spoke with (7 countries) were pretty aware of what is happening in America. More so than some of my neighbors. Most also still look at America favorably. I think a good thing.
But they don't demean that thought at all: they're the logical culmination of it. The Reagan administration was, among other things, a reaction against the progress made by people of color since the mid-1960s, and against the post-WWII policies that sustained decades of growing and slowly expanding economic prosperity. Reagan's anti-labor "supply-side" economics thrilled the biggest corporations but were bad news for most others. They've led to ever increasing inequality of income and wealth. As to how that led directly to today's GOP, Dana Milbank's THE DESTRUCTIONISTS: The 25-Year Crack-up of the Republican Party is a good place to start.
P.S. "Reagan's shining city on the hill" was inspired by the 17th-century Puritan John Winthrop, a co-founder and leader of the Massachusetts Bay colony. The Puritans were a white, male-dominant, religiously intolerant lot, so the phrase does seem applicable to the current GOP.
Keith, I always read your posts and at 90, you have a handle on what has been happening to our imperfect union. (We strive for perfection).
I never feared our government would fail. I grew up visiting Washington D.C. often because my father’s parents lived there. In the mid 1960’s would would go for the Cherry Blossom Festival and my sisters and I would wander through the beauty of the Lincoln Memorial, go to the top of the Washington Monument and spend time either cousins and family.
It’s 60 years later and Russian operatives have infiltrated our government and are planning on taking our democracy away from us.
That’s been the case with Republicans since Reagan. We’ve been led around by the nose for 40 + years with this slow moving coup. They’ve stack courts with racists, misogynists, wicked men who use people’s own faiths against them. This is a nation with no national religion, but Christianity is the most common religion. Boy, have Republicans slathered Jesus’ name with hate and lies. Some/many Christians are beginning to take a closer look at what Republicans are pushing and Jesus is nowhere to be found.
I support giving Ukraine generous amounts of money and military equipment to not only stop this war and the made up B.S. Putin is pushing, but any person who believes we should not fear Vladimir Putin and that Fascist governments are swell are Repugnant Republicans bought and paid for by oligarchs looking for more power. We see you all as traitors since you wear your hate for your country, drive around in it, and participate in insurrections. The SCOTUS has 6 traitors seated on the bench right now actively destroying our Democracy. With rulings that clearly favor a convicted rapist and convicted swindler who is soon to start having his possessions sold at auction to pay back his victims of fraud. Yeah, that guy. They’re propping him up long enough to stay out of federal courts before November 2024. They are supporting a convicted criminal.
Maybe the most corrupt court in our country’s history is willing to sell their souls to Satan, but Americans are not. There’s much to be concerned about, but none of it is surprising.
Thanks for listening, Keith (my middle son’s name). Hope you have a good weekend.
You and Keith have expressed my beliefs beautifully. Keith has quite an interesting background and he absolutely knows what he’s talking about. This was Leonard Leo’s goal all along. It was to reshape the bench all in the name of Christianity, or so he thinks. They want to rule with an iron thumb, like Putin and like the kings of England. Leo and his friends are corrupt. We will prevail though. Thanks, Karen.
Karen Keith was the name of a long line of Scottish nobles. My mother was born in Glasgow. My parents chose Keith because it had a nice timbre and was not an easy basis for a nickname.
I recall a Texaco ad in the 1940s that related Keith to ‘full of wind.’ A charitable interpretation would relate this to being a distinguished orator or, perhaps, writer. Your son can chose whichever he prefers.
Your thoughts and points are well said. However, Joyce is asking us to attempt to engage by civil discourse and we owe her our attempt at what she asks, not arguments against it.
As I've said before, if we were serious about dealing with the immigration problem, we'd stop strangling the economies of so many darker-skinned countries, which provokes social chaos and floods of economic refugees.
I'm only 70 but share your feelings. I am originally from CT; grew up and went to school there. For some reason always thought most Americans shared my New England "Yankee" views. That changed literally 15 seconds (not exaggerating) after planting my feet on the yellow footprints at MCRD, Paris Island. I was knocked down by a group of recruits from MO and MS just for being a hated Yankee. And I thought my Drill Instructors were going to be my biggest challenge.
My point is that my travels around the country since then allowed me to better understand that where you are from is as important as who you are. After retiring from the Marine Corps in VA, I worked as a Master Plumber in a small firm, and was still astounded to find how few of my local collogues knew where CT was. To Joyce's point about conversations concerning the greater immigration issue, I have to begin by carefully determining what the persons know about the issue. I still meet a number of folks who have not travelled outside VA and rely on the "news" or social media for their knowledge of immigration issues. Few can differentiate between the greater concept of immigration in our history and the current media turmoil over the current border issues. It makes having a constructive dialog very difficult.
I always mention the power of social media on these comment threads and why we should understand how it affects society. I'm not denigrating social media, but simply pointing out that views and opinions from all over the country are now part of our daily experience. You might perhaps agree, as kids our local politics was simply that, local. I was not exposed to the small-town news in places like AZ or WA or wherever. A person's passionate views did not affect me back then, but today anyone from anywhere can promote any view with an audience of potential millions. Trump, for one, knows that and is using its power to sow discord for his personal advantage. Our kids today do need to be better educated, develop better critical thinking skills, than even in our time. How to do that is the real problem facing your grandkids.
President Biden this week, in yet another hand extended in the name of bipartisanship, asked Donald Trump to join with him in calling for passage of this compromise legislation.
Democrats were willing to work together and give Republicans most of what they said that they wanted on this issue. Joyce is right: we need to speak to people we know to help them understand who wants to solve problems and who wants to complain about them and intentionally avoid solutions!
Extending the hand of bipartisanship to Dónal Trump is a waste of valuable time. His type of dog in the manger politics leaves no room for shared glory and is of no interest to him. He must be defeated at the polls as a politician, as an ideology and as a person. No trace of his cancer must remain to stain the earth .
It is a waste of time in terms of expecting some positive response from Trump. No one on the Biden campaign, including the President himself, expected that. The reason to do it is that there are voters in the country who want it. They want to see Biden be the bigger man, do the thing that a good President would do, regardless of what Trump does or doesn't do in response. Democrats are accused of being dumb about perceptions and letting only Republicans perform for the camera. In this one case, Biden took the high road and also the politically smart one.
As I've said before, if we were serious about dealing with the immigration problem, we'd stop strangling the economies of so many darker-skinned countries, which provokes social chaos and floods of economic refugees.
I don't know the legal nuances of the border issue, but I do know this - if there are laws on the record for managing the border, enforce them. If they don't have the resources to enforce the laws, fund them. If the laws are not working or are unpopular, change them (responsibilities of the legislative branch). If someone is in office and they are only obstructing or using their power for their personal agenda, they are not earning their $176K salary and need to be replaced.
Yes to everything you say, VOTE RESPONSIBLY for every office, every time. Vote for only those that truly want the same things you want. I think people are just voting their party without paying any attention. When busy making a living, raising a family etc it's easy not to know much about the clown congress BUT we must remind them.
Bonnie everything you say is true BUT what Joyce talks about today is that the funding for the resources needed to control the border was derailed by Trump. Senators (check out Republican Senator Langford of Oklahoma who has suffered backlash as a result of supporting the legislation) spent months putting a deal together to change the law to make it more palatable to Republicans. As for replacing those who voted against the bill there are plenty of grassroot organizations that are trying to replace Republicans who are thwarting immigration reform. If you don’t subscribe to Robert Hubbell you need to and find ways to help in the effort.
Yes, many have chosen for their personal agenda to be whatever Trump tells them it will be. That they prefer pleasing him over solving a problem. To me that is disqualifying and an abuse of power.
I do not have any Republic friends/family left. They all said the current Republicans, in the house especially, cannot even govern themselves let alone the country. They are all Independents now.
I wish that was the case with me. Most of my Republican friends have doubled down on Trump. My friends were conservatives back in the day but are now populists. To be true though, we are now longer friends. I can’t be friends with someone who is so willing to throw away our democracy.
I have only one conservative friend. He was a liberal when we met decades ago in our 20s. We both live in a super-blue state so his vote doesn't matter. I am planning on staying with relatives in WI this summer and do some canvassing for Biden. I know how to be open to people and converse with them, truly being interested in what they think and why. I'll keep these points on the dif btw the Dems and the Rs on immigration in mind.
I so appreciate it when you encourage civil and civic engagement with people in our circles on topics that will impact the outcome in our elections. You are not only educating us on the ins and outs of the legal system, you are moving us to take action in support of our democracy. Voting is not enough this time. Getting others to vote is critical. Thank you for all that you do. We are, indeed, in this together.
I didn’t like Harris when Biden picked her. I thought she ran a horrible campaign and Biden’s is more forgiving than I after her attacks on him during the primary. It was a pragmatic choice. That being said she apparently does the quiet work behind the scenes. What specifically don’t you like about her? I think it is a question that needs discussion.
Glad you asked. MY response is not one of intellectual capacity. We vote for candidates for so many reasons certainly one being wise, thoughtful, kind and humble. Harris in my opinion, doesn’t look presidential. I would have preferred Stacy Abrams over Harris in a heartbeat. I can’t visualize her being president and not because she is a woman. I can see a Hillary Clinton who I felt was too hawkish for me but presidential. And because of Biden’s age, she is more likely than not to fill in. I don’t think she sells well. President Adam Schiff fantastic. President Sherrod Brown — the best he once considered running in 2015. Should have and we would never have had a Trump administration.
So we have admittedly, a frail, elderly man and his VP that just doesn’t add up verses the worst monster destructive in all things who will attempt to derail democracy itself. And so often, many don’t analyze the least damaging. They will vote Willy nilly and say, hey, he’ll stir things up. Nations are filled with dumb voters. We don’t have much in the pipeline. Please not CA governor Newsom. A homegrown fool. I really wish Senator Brown had run. I sent some kind of message to him when he was considering a run that I would be a volunteer.
With Harris, we would have a democracy and America would have a chance to repair itself. That you have to say, “It’s not because she is a woman” doesn’t convince me that it isn’t. She would have people around her to guide her. Get over it!
What I should have said and this is more important. She doesn’t sell. With her on the ticket, my sense is that she is a drag. This is what I really should have said. In my opinion, she isn’t inspirational.
I have long seen similarities in Hillary and Kamala, and in people's reactions to them both. So I find your view interesting. But I don't really understand it. And I am confident that Kamala would not destroy the country if she had to step in.
I don’t disagree with you. What I say about her is, she just doesn’t seem to sell well. Again, I keep returning to wise leadership along with a personality that you want to support. Kamala just doesn’t do this for me.
So hard to approach trumpers, former ‘friends’ who have told me they hated me because of what the Dems were doing, destroying the country. My whole neighborhood is filled with trumpers, none of whom would ever engage in civil discourse. Tat said, I’ll be open to any crack, opening, in their minds.
Remember before November of 2016 the top office holders in Missouri were Democrats. I worked on Jason Kander’s campaign to unseat Roy Blunt that election cycle. That race was very close even with Blunt as the incumbent Of course the state legislature had turned pretty red by then but it wasn’t always that way. And Claire McCaskill was our senator rather than Hawley. In my adult life there has been a constant tussle between Democrats and Republicans in Mo. Trump changed all of that. I believe there has to be a way to change it.
And we could all use a lot of Leonard Cohen in our lives!
Oh we could ALL use a lot of JASON KANDER in our lives!! Yes, Missouri had its share of democratic leaders, but that all changed. I love Claire as well!! The five-minute post Jason made after the KC Superbowl parade shooting made me realize how different our lives would have been had he become POTUS. And that was his goal.
Marlene -- Claire is a treasure who I cannot get enough of. I appreciate that MSNBC uses her to comment often and have wondered if she prefers "appearances" rather than having a show of her own. I. too, wish she was still in Congress.
With so many, there is little that can be said or done. But it doesn’t take a majority of Republicans to make a dramatic difference in this election. Every civil conversation will turn into 1/20th of a vote (or whatever it turns out to be). If I have 40 civil conversation, maybe I get two more votes! Plus, I’ve been decent to 40 fellow Americans in the process.
According to the pundits, it's the Independents and the educated suburban Republicans in the swing states who are persuadable. Focus your efforts on them. Contact your state Dem party to find out who they are and how to reach them.
A good book is The Persuaders by Anand Giriharadas, to help think through how to talk to certain people.
So many people jump on slogan bandwagons without thinking carefully. Therefore, It often doesn’t take much — just a little civil dialogue, asking someone to imagine walking in someone else’s shoes, for example, speaking and listening respectfully, to change a perspective and opinion.
Dianne -- You surely have my empathy. i read a lot and have back-grounded myself to the point where Trump and MAGAs scare the bejeepers out of me. That's why I am so thankful for Joyce Vance and Mary Trump for these oppoportunities to learn more and to feel "at home" with spilling my guts when I need to.
Do you live in a swing state? If so, the Independents and educated suburban Republicans are worth talking to. Unlike MAGA die-hards, they're persuadable. That's what makes them swing voters. Contact your state Dem party for who they are and how to reach them.
I will be working the polls tomorrow through Monday, when not helping people cast their ballots I can’t say a word beyond “Thank you for voting, would you like a sticker?”
These are good ideas, but I must submit that when I look around I see the markers:
SCOTUS-
Sided with Dobbs.
Overturned Roe.
Delaying the J6 trial.
And other things that I am not thinking of.
CONGRESS
A Christian Nationalist Speaker of the House
With other fellow travelers in that body..
ALABAMA SC
Deciding a fetus is a child.
TEXAS
The mifepristone decision.
All of the Anti immigrant laws
The abortion laws
FLORIDA
Book banning
Don’t Say Gay laws
Cannon in the tank for Trump, with her obvious bias
And other things that I am not thinking of.
PICK A STATE
Anti voting bills
Anti LGBTQ bills
Anti abortion bills and laws
Anti you name it bills
Book banning
The rise in Antisemitism
The rise in violence aimed at people of color
Political violence
And a bipartisan solution to the border that Republicans got nearly all that they wanted. Only to deliberately kill it because Trump said to. To give him something to run on and not give Biden a perceived win..Party over country..
When I look at these things I see them as pieces, symptoms really, under an overall umbrella of Fascist Christian Nationalism. This is what Trump is a Fascist.
I feel we are to the point where we’re past the time when a “friendly sit down for a coffee and let me tell you something” is enough.. It is a tactic on a front..Some people are approachable for a chat..But it is only a piece of the whole that must be deployed to crush this evil. And make no mistake, it is an evil. Just take a look at these.
I’d love to watch the bad faith documentary, as well as Rob Reiner‘s new documentary along the same lines but I can’t find either one of them being screened in something other than an exclusive large urban venue. Why bother making great documentaries if so few people can access them?
I saw your remark but was unable to rely until now..You make a solid point..However, from my 22 yrs in the film/tv industry on the production side, I have gleaned a bit from other areas of the industry..It is a difficult and expensive endeavor getting an independent film made, and then securing distribution.. Let alone one with content such as this ..It is my belief that they strategized to get it to these largely populated metropolitan areas where it would be best received to get the word of mouth train on track..I imagine they are working on a way to get it streaming across the country, as a place for the word of mouth to land..As with everything in this day and age money is the driver..I hope this makes sense for you..
My experience in talking with pro trump people about this issue is they parrot back the Fox talking point that the bill was a lousy bill and it gave too much money to Ukraine and that’s why Johnson wouldn’t bring it up for a vote. Of course they couldn’t say why it was lousy, only that it was. This reminds me of something someone posted that went like this: “Arguing with a trump supporter is like playing chess with a pigeon...no matter how good you are at chess, the pigeon is just going to knock over the pieces, crap on the board, and strut around like it's victorious”.
Credit to Mark Whitney
I’ll keep trying! Maybe we can get through to some!
Off topic what would they think if they knew Orban is going to be Tfg guest this weekend .in all probability to give trump money he needs. Looks like he is selling our democracy for $500,000.
Good morning! One thing (the only thing) I can say about Putin is that his Machiavellian intentions are worrisome but chillingly successful. It was good to see the bravery of thousands of Russians who attended the funeral of Navalny. May they prevail.
Yes. Indeed, may they prevail. And may we also. Did you know that when Jack Smith was at the Hague prior to being named special counsel, who was in investigating Hashim Thacci, former president of Kosovo, for among other things, harvesting and selling body parts/organs of his enemies. Trump had invited him to the White House, to discuss among other things the Balkans. The Balkans are the remaining land from Russia to the east minor Asia as he was getting on the plane, Jack Smith had him arrested, he’s been in jail ever since and prosecuted for his War crimes. Trump knew exactly who Jack Smith was when he began his very early run for the 2024 presidency. Steve Bannon, who was heavily involved with Cambridge Analytica (using 75 million Facebook accounts without any American knowing it to elect, Trump was his baby) was rewarded by Trump with a position of a senior advisor in the White House with no clearance. Security advisor had a complete fit as he sat in top-secret plus meetings. He had a falling out with Trump and ended up going to work with Orban. Then he had a falling in with Trump and was pardoned for DOJ indictment for his role in fraud with ‘we build the wall.’ Trump pardoned him but since some of the money was from New York, investors, New York now has brought charges against Bannon and he’s going to trial in May 2024. Sidenote: thank God for New York, in all of these cases because they have carried the day.
Orban stolen every glimmer of hope from the people of Hungary. He is ruthless. Trump said during his presidency: “I get along well with dictators.”
He wants to be a dictator. If he is elected, and just as joyce has said: “Pay attention to what he says because he means it.”
His game plan is to be president for life which is dictator for life in his terminology. We have to work as hard as we can and I’m spending the weekend calling people regarding the border issue as joyce has requested we do. Tough duty but important.
Sorry if some of this is repetitive as I’ve written it before on this website, but I guess it bears repeating, if just one person is aware of the depth of Trump’s reaching out to nefarious dictators. The sooner he’s in jail, the better: take hope from George Conway’s interviews because he is certain he is going to jail.
ps: Steve Bannon learned all about psychological warfare during his stent with the US military. He used it to put Trump in power with Cambridge Analytica. Now he uses it six days a week in his War Room podcast. This is how he indoctrinates MAGA Republicans. But the good news for us is he is coming to trial in May and he’s been denied any extension and he may be in jail before November. Trump may have the Jack Smith, Judge, Chutkan trial during the election, which would be terrible for him. But: E. Jean Carroll has disseminated Trump. She has ruined his reputation, she has ruined his bank account, she will make him broke. He doesn’t have enough money to pay, and the dollars are adding up every day with interest. She has ruined him, and he won’t be elected. he is ruined and he knows it. To Trump everything is his bank account and his image. It’s gone. Our work is cut out for us because we have to reelect Biden but we also have to elect a blue bicameral Congress. Hope this wasn’t repetitive and boring to you, but we have more danger from Trump than people realize. Bannon spent a lot of time with Orban in Hungary. Have simply been so busy that I haven’t paid any attention to what Trump is doing and I appreciate so very much that you let me know about. Orban’s visit. It is not good. Please get back to me with anything you find out.
I recently attended a webinar from the Women’s March with Anat Shenker-
Ossorio called “Freedom Over Fascism.” (It’s available on YouTube. ) She has a communications firm and she gave some excellent guidance of ways to speak with undecideds. (Save your breath with the cultists.) She talks about what’s most effective and pointed out that if it was just facts we wouldn’t be having this conversation. There are ways to frame conversations to make them personal, starting from values you may share. I highly recommend it. It can help equip us for those civil discussions.
Not too far off subject, but food for thought tonight, in yesterday's. Feb. 29, Atlantic :
"Anton Hofreiter, a member of the German Parliament, told me in Munich that he fears Europe could someday be competing against three autocracies: “Russia, China, and the United States.” When he said that, it was my turn to shake my head, not because I didn’t believe him, but because it was so hard to hear."
Hi Ransom, I'm an American living in Europe. Everyone I know here is just shaking their heads in bewilderment. Many of them remember the Americans from WWII with great fondness. They keep asking me what the hell has happened. Meanwhile, I work with other expat Americans to get overseas Americans registered to vote.
Remember Jen, all of that did not "happen", it was a serious plan. General Electric Theater was hosted by Ronald Reagan for a reason. GE is the biggest defense contractor, reliant upon worldwide hostilities for maximum profits. Reagan's calming voice made his future political right wing career palatable to millions and this history is the path that got us to the latest face of the oligarchy, the t-Rump.
The elimination of the Fairness Doctrine back in the 80s opened the door to rightwing propaganda. Rush Limbaugh and his ilk stepped in and proceeded to erode the very of our democratic republic. I admire that you’re registering ex pats!! We all must pitch in with hands on efforts.
Cindy. if you miss my comment to Jen, here is the gist :
"General Electric Theater was hosted by Ronald Reagan for a reason. GE is the biggest defense contractor, reliant upon worldwide hostilities for maximum profits. Reagan's calming voice made his future political right wing career palatable to millions and this history is the path that got us to the latest face of the oligarchy, the t-Rump."
The end of the fairness doctrine allowed Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch to set up Fox News and the propaganda machine has worked pefectly ever since. The greatest damage to our country happened in the Reagan administration. Tax cuts for the wealthy and trickledown economics were the foundation of the program.
I'm an American living in the States and everyone I know is also shaking their heads in bewilderment. How did we get here? How did so many Americans go so horribly terribly stupidly wrong? Of course the only important question is How do we stop them?
Perhaps we should inquire as to why immigration is such a problem. I grew up in the Central Valley of California where I don’t recall seeing a Caucasian picking strawberries…backtracking work for less than minimum wage. Mainly these immigrants are good people and smart enough to want to be a part of America.
When I discuss immigration I talk about my own background, my wonder as I looked across the farmland watching Mexicans hunched over in 100 degree weather, trying to make a living while the rich and lazy white kids complained about a year in an air conditioned Burger King knowing they’d be off to college soon.
I love "I don't do math in public". Perhaps not helpful to the conversation, but human, and made me grin as I read along and said "same". Your (writing) voice keeps me engaged and I learn so much from you. Thank you for all the work across so many platforms. I listen to Sisters in Law religiously now, and tell all my people. You rock!
I related to that, as well! It instantly brought back memories of having to do math at the chalkboard in elementary school back in the '50s and '60s - SO embarrassing!! LOL!
Lisa & Mary -- I was so happy when I found out there is such a thing as "math anxiety". I don't go anywhere any more because of poor health, but going into a bank for any reason was always a challenge.
I didn't even balance my checkbook for the first 40 yrs of having a checking account because of the anxiety! Then it would take me 1/2 a bottle of wine to do it. I never could figure out why I was bouncing checks! LOL! Thankfully online banking came along and it pretty much gets done for me now. Whew!
Joyce The core problem is not Trump nor even Jackal Johnson, who was a nonentity and will be remembered as a pathetic sycophant. Trump is the cultist and Johnson is a struggling, drowning rat.
The true culprits are those Republican ‘leaders’ who know how vile Trump is and who jump on his bandwagon because it is a personal power trip. They are despicable and quick to jump on the despicable band wagon. And that includes members of the current Supreme Court.
These folks are going to ride the Trump bandwagon until it crashes. Then they will scramble for another illusionary power pole. I am appalled by how many of these Lindsay Graham-type hypocrites denigrated Trump in 2015-early 2016, and subsequently genuflected before him.
Ted Cruz—-shameless, as are the other principle-less folks who care more about themselves than about their country. I can’t predict when this tide will turn among a relatively fact-less electorate.
Personally I care about the soul of the United States of America. I believe, that, deep down, this is a basic feeling among many, many Americans. They have been subjected to a constant barrage of fear and negativism.
What they are missing is that the story of America has been hope and progress, with some stutter steps, over more than two centuries.
I am appalled by the fog that is engulfing much of America. Whether it is funding our government or providing life-saving aid to courageous Ukrainians, the response should be swift and positive.
At 90 I have never faced a presidential election where the soul of America is so clearly at stake. Trump has already declared what his authoritarian second term would do—his ‘justice’ and revenge and coddling up to his authoritarian buddies such as Putin and Orban.
This is not the America that I wish my grandchildren to inherit. The place to fight is America and the time is now!
Keith, well said! I also worry about my grandchildren and what life will be like for them when they're older. I never, ever thought things could get this bad.
If only Moscow Mitch had voted to impeach the thug called Trump, but he was too much of a hypocritical wimp.
We HAVE to fight like our lives, and our country, depend on it.
Agreed! Mitch McConnell is a traitor and should spend whatever is left of his miserable life in a prison cell. He knows what he’s done to our country and should suffer the consequences.
I agree. Like all of Trump's minions, Mitch doesn't care.
It's amazing to me that McConnell, et. al., could stand before Congress and tell the public their cowardly conduct will be fixed in the Courts, only to turn around and fight the Justice Department for actually finally doing it. The distain and hypocrisy they demonstrated to America should be highlighted at the beginning of every news article concerning Trump's current inditements. Why that is not done is again, just amazing.
Jim, I agree with you. It needs to be highlighted as often as possible, until those words are "etched" into the brains of ALL Trumpublicans, (Assuming, of course, that all of them actually have brains.)
Keith -- I really needed to read comments you posted ! My family members are all Democrats, but they just don't keep up with daily news and happenings and don't worry about this country's future like you and I do.
For instance, today I saw a short video of someone talking to Trump and asking how he felt about the IVF situation, and he said "I haven't decided what to do about that yet" and I wanted to cry. This pitiful man thinks it is up to him to decide whether people who want children should be able to use the IVF method to assure pregnancy ! This from a racist, a rapist, an abuser who said he liked to grab women by their p*******, who when his youngest child, Barron, was 11 months old, went on a golf outing and had sex with a porn star -- and then "paid her off" so Melania and the rest of the world wouldn't hear about it. Well, we did hear about it and why anyone would vote for this sick man for the presidency is completely beyond me. I admit it -- I am truly scared.
I think of those in the not-to-distant past who were scrutinized because they had affairs, shouted too loud, or were gifted a dog. It seems like the bar is so low now that anyone can run and even win.
In a nutshell
You have Democrats in your family! Great! They can all be persuaded to vote for President Biden! They can make a difference!
Barbara Please feel free to pass on any of my reportage to whomever you think might benefit from this curmudgeon’s reflections. As a reversal of Goebbels IF YOU TELL THE TRUTH LONG ENOUGH MORE AND MORE PEOPLE WILL BELIEVE IT.
People don't keep up with the news, every little outrage. If enough people, voters, don't care about this country, don't know, don't have a compass morally, then we will get Trump and his co pilots. Ignorance and vulnerability, not caring, are what this threat thrives on. Although Trump is a phenomenon, a sui generis we have never seen the likes of prior, he's set in motion an oppositional destructive movement selling it as conservatism. We are going to have to deal with this threat to keep our democracy. It's very plain, blatant.. How much of an ostrich does one have to be not to know?
Yesterday on the radio someone said that 2 justices on that court I will not call supreme NEED trump in the white house so they can retire under a republican to keep the lock on the court. Alito and Thomas as despicable as they are continue to plot and plan further destruction of our democracy. They will succeed if we let them. IF they let the criminal trump off the hook we MUST TAKE TO THE STREETS in numbers "like no one has ever seen before".....sound like someone? As Joyce says, we are in this together.
Well said my friend. I was raised in a republican family and until recently have always identified as republican even when I vehemently disagreed with republican policy. However, now I will not even capitalize the name. It is not because of Trump because anyone can elect a bad president but rather as you say the manner in which the republican establishment has enabled his incredibly, self-serving, bad behavior. When Mitch McConnell voted against impeachment then came out and said Trump was guilty I had enough. How does any human being do such a thing. Thank you for your cogent statements of fact.
What really pisses me off is when the current crop of Republicans call themselves "the party of Lincoln." More like the party of Jefferson Davis if you ask me.
Or the party of John Wilkes Booth.
The fog you speak of is Trump chaos.
Completely agree. Weasels like Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz and Mike Johnson and Gym Jordan demean the entire thought that the US might be Reagan's shining city on the hill. They are as distant from "American Exceptionalism" as one can get. We're kidding ourselves if we think the rest of the world isn't watching and thinking the exact same thing.
I think about this all the time. What the rest of the world thinks. Ask a MAGGAT if he/she is concerned about the rest of the world and you will get an emphatic "NO!". Before the USA took the world by the reins after WW2, the world was hellbent towards apocalypse, IMHO. The free world knows this I believe. What must they think now that we are demonstrating that the shining light on a hill is being extinguished from within. By another Hitleresque character and a populace that cannot even see it.
And yet a Trump mantra used to be that "the world is laughing at us" and that only he could stop it.
Just like so many things he says - it is the direct opposite. That is not partisan opinion; that is the truth plain and simple. I heard just today that Trump claims Biden is trying to overthrow the government. I want to know why a person like myself, who at one time was not overly political (Trump fixed that in 2016), sort of centrist, not overly intelligent but with a pretty good BS meter, can listen to Trump and come away dead convinced he is a complete idiot and a huge danger to the country. I mean - a no-brainer. As obvious as the nose on my face. Like 2 + 2 = 4. And this fool is neck-and-neck with a good president, and could very well win come this November. It just boggles my mind.
"People hear what they want to hear" - one of those cliches that seems to be right on the mark, at least for close to a half of the American population.
100%
Interestingly, during a recent trip to Europe, I again asked locals I had the pleasure to meet what their impressions of America were. (I was stationed in Vienna in the early 70's as a young Marine). I was happy/relieved to find the vast majority still had great respect for "Americans" but expressed concern over the actions of our government. Many were perplexed that our Congress did not seem to reflect the views of Americans they had met before. And, I don't mean to offend but, many of the Europeans I spoke with (7 countries) were pretty aware of what is happening in America. More so than some of my neighbors. Most also still look at America favorably. I think a good thing.
But they don't demean that thought at all: they're the logical culmination of it. The Reagan administration was, among other things, a reaction against the progress made by people of color since the mid-1960s, and against the post-WWII policies that sustained decades of growing and slowly expanding economic prosperity. Reagan's anti-labor "supply-side" economics thrilled the biggest corporations but were bad news for most others. They've led to ever increasing inequality of income and wealth. As to how that led directly to today's GOP, Dana Milbank's THE DESTRUCTIONISTS: The 25-Year Crack-up of the Republican Party is a good place to start.
P.S. "Reagan's shining city on the hill" was inspired by the 17th-century Puritan John Winthrop, a co-founder and leader of the Massachusetts Bay colony. The Puritans were a white, male-dominant, religiously intolerant lot, so the phrase does seem applicable to the current GOP.
We’ll said!
Excellent Keith! And you are a testament people over 80 being brilliant and articulate!
Keith, I always read your posts and at 90, you have a handle on what has been happening to our imperfect union. (We strive for perfection).
I never feared our government would fail. I grew up visiting Washington D.C. often because my father’s parents lived there. In the mid 1960’s would would go for the Cherry Blossom Festival and my sisters and I would wander through the beauty of the Lincoln Memorial, go to the top of the Washington Monument and spend time either cousins and family.
It’s 60 years later and Russian operatives have infiltrated our government and are planning on taking our democracy away from us.
That’s been the case with Republicans since Reagan. We’ve been led around by the nose for 40 + years with this slow moving coup. They’ve stack courts with racists, misogynists, wicked men who use people’s own faiths against them. This is a nation with no national religion, but Christianity is the most common religion. Boy, have Republicans slathered Jesus’ name with hate and lies. Some/many Christians are beginning to take a closer look at what Republicans are pushing and Jesus is nowhere to be found.
I support giving Ukraine generous amounts of money and military equipment to not only stop this war and the made up B.S. Putin is pushing, but any person who believes we should not fear Vladimir Putin and that Fascist governments are swell are Repugnant Republicans bought and paid for by oligarchs looking for more power. We see you all as traitors since you wear your hate for your country, drive around in it, and participate in insurrections. The SCOTUS has 6 traitors seated on the bench right now actively destroying our Democracy. With rulings that clearly favor a convicted rapist and convicted swindler who is soon to start having his possessions sold at auction to pay back his victims of fraud. Yeah, that guy. They’re propping him up long enough to stay out of federal courts before November 2024. They are supporting a convicted criminal.
Maybe the most corrupt court in our country’s history is willing to sell their souls to Satan, but Americans are not. There’s much to be concerned about, but none of it is surprising.
Thanks for listening, Keith (my middle son’s name). Hope you have a good weekend.
You and Keith have expressed my beliefs beautifully. Keith has quite an interesting background and he absolutely knows what he’s talking about. This was Leonard Leo’s goal all along. It was to reshape the bench all in the name of Christianity, or so he thinks. They want to rule with an iron thumb, like Putin and like the kings of England. Leo and his friends are corrupt. We will prevail though. Thanks, Karen.
Karen Keith was the name of a long line of Scottish nobles. My mother was born in Glasgow. My parents chose Keith because it had a nice timbre and was not an easy basis for a nickname.
I recall a Texaco ad in the 1940s that related Keith to ‘full of wind.’ A charitable interpretation would relate this to being a distinguished orator or, perhaps, writer. Your son can chose whichever he prefers.
Amen. So well said.
Thank you Keith Wheelock
Your thoughts and points are well said. However, Joyce is asking us to attempt to engage by civil discourse and we owe her our attempt at what she asks, not arguments against it.
As I've said before, if we were serious about dealing with the immigration problem, we'd stop strangling the economies of so many darker-skinned countries, which provokes social chaos and floods of economic refugees.
I'm only 70 but share your feelings. I am originally from CT; grew up and went to school there. For some reason always thought most Americans shared my New England "Yankee" views. That changed literally 15 seconds (not exaggerating) after planting my feet on the yellow footprints at MCRD, Paris Island. I was knocked down by a group of recruits from MO and MS just for being a hated Yankee. And I thought my Drill Instructors were going to be my biggest challenge.
My point is that my travels around the country since then allowed me to better understand that where you are from is as important as who you are. After retiring from the Marine Corps in VA, I worked as a Master Plumber in a small firm, and was still astounded to find how few of my local collogues knew where CT was. To Joyce's point about conversations concerning the greater immigration issue, I have to begin by carefully determining what the persons know about the issue. I still meet a number of folks who have not travelled outside VA and rely on the "news" or social media for their knowledge of immigration issues. Few can differentiate between the greater concept of immigration in our history and the current media turmoil over the current border issues. It makes having a constructive dialog very difficult.
I always mention the power of social media on these comment threads and why we should understand how it affects society. I'm not denigrating social media, but simply pointing out that views and opinions from all over the country are now part of our daily experience. You might perhaps agree, as kids our local politics was simply that, local. I was not exposed to the small-town news in places like AZ or WA or wherever. A person's passionate views did not affect me back then, but today anyone from anywhere can promote any view with an audience of potential millions. Trump, for one, knows that and is using its power to sow discord for his personal advantage. Our kids today do need to be better educated, develop better critical thinking skills, than even in our time. How to do that is the real problem facing your grandkids.
President Biden this week, in yet another hand extended in the name of bipartisanship, asked Donald Trump to join with him in calling for passage of this compromise legislation.
Democrats were willing to work together and give Republicans most of what they said that they wanted on this issue. Joyce is right: we need to speak to people we know to help them understand who wants to solve problems and who wants to complain about them and intentionally avoid solutions!
Extending the hand of bipartisanship to Dónal Trump is a waste of valuable time. His type of dog in the manger politics leaves no room for shared glory and is of no interest to him. He must be defeated at the polls as a politician, as an ideology and as a person. No trace of his cancer must remain to stain the earth .
It is a waste of time in terms of expecting some positive response from Trump. No one on the Biden campaign, including the President himself, expected that. The reason to do it is that there are voters in the country who want it. They want to see Biden be the bigger man, do the thing that a good President would do, regardless of what Trump does or doesn't do in response. Democrats are accused of being dumb about perceptions and letting only Republicans perform for the camera. In this one case, Biden took the high road and also the politically smart one.
I agree with a lot of what you say.
It seems that we sometimes sell our cloth too cheaply
As I've said before, if we were serious about dealing with the immigration problem, we'd stop strangling the economies of so many darker-skinned countries, which provokes social chaos and floods of economic refugees.
I don't know the legal nuances of the border issue, but I do know this - if there are laws on the record for managing the border, enforce them. If they don't have the resources to enforce the laws, fund them. If the laws are not working or are unpopular, change them (responsibilities of the legislative branch). If someone is in office and they are only obstructing or using their power for their personal agenda, they are not earning their $176K salary and need to be replaced.
Yes to everything you say, VOTE RESPONSIBLY for every office, every time. Vote for only those that truly want the same things you want. I think people are just voting their party without paying any attention. When busy making a living, raising a family etc it's easy not to know much about the clown congress BUT we must remind them.
Bonnie everything you say is true BUT what Joyce talks about today is that the funding for the resources needed to control the border was derailed by Trump. Senators (check out Republican Senator Langford of Oklahoma who has suffered backlash as a result of supporting the legislation) spent months putting a deal together to change the law to make it more palatable to Republicans. As for replacing those who voted against the bill there are plenty of grassroot organizations that are trying to replace Republicans who are thwarting immigration reform. If you don’t subscribe to Robert Hubbell you need to and find ways to help in the effort.
Yes, many have chosen for their personal agenda to be whatever Trump tells them it will be. That they prefer pleasing him over solving a problem. To me that is disqualifying and an abuse of power.
Well said!
I do not have any Republic friends/family left. They all said the current Republicans, in the house especially, cannot even govern themselves let alone the country. They are all Independents now.
Even if they are independent, we need to ensure their votes are for Biden.
Important observation & thank you Carol. The cohort of "independents" has soared.
Steven Ratner charted the increase this morning on "Morning Joe" but, hosted by Mika.
I wish that was the case with me. Most of my Republican friends have doubled down on Trump. My friends were conservatives back in the day but are now populists. To be true though, we are now longer friends. I can’t be friends with someone who is so willing to throw away our democracy.
I have only one conservative friend. He was a liberal when we met decades ago in our 20s. We both live in a super-blue state so his vote doesn't matter. I am planning on staying with relatives in WI this summer and do some canvassing for Biden. I know how to be open to people and converse with them, truly being interested in what they think and why. I'll keep these points on the dif btw the Dems and the Rs on immigration in mind.
I like your name of that renegade group formerly know as republicans. Ha ha
I so appreciate it when you encourage civil and civic engagement with people in our circles on topics that will impact the outcome in our elections. You are not only educating us on the ins and outs of the legal system, you are moving us to take action in support of our democracy. Voting is not enough this time. Getting others to vote is critical. Thank you for all that you do. We are, indeed, in this together.
🙏💙🙏
Civil and civic engagement is how we are going to win the White House in 24.
Agree!
Hear, hear Andy!!
Speaker Johnson needs to be removed asap. We need to elect a majority House and it won’t came fast enough. It’s so frustrating.
Johnson may be a worm, but Gym Jordan is a viper. I'd rather not get him out of the Chaos caucus.
For the same reason I want Trump to be nominated. Except that Noe Biden couldn’t have picked a worst VP. What got into his head anyone’s guess.
I didn’t like Harris when Biden picked her. I thought she ran a horrible campaign and Biden’s is more forgiving than I after her attacks on him during the primary. It was a pragmatic choice. That being said she apparently does the quiet work behind the scenes. What specifically don’t you like about her? I think it is a question that needs discussion.
Glad you asked. MY response is not one of intellectual capacity. We vote for candidates for so many reasons certainly one being wise, thoughtful, kind and humble. Harris in my opinion, doesn’t look presidential. I would have preferred Stacy Abrams over Harris in a heartbeat. I can’t visualize her being president and not because she is a woman. I can see a Hillary Clinton who I felt was too hawkish for me but presidential. And because of Biden’s age, she is more likely than not to fill in. I don’t think she sells well. President Adam Schiff fantastic. President Sherrod Brown — the best he once considered running in 2015. Should have and we would never have had a Trump administration.
So we have admittedly, a frail, elderly man and his VP that just doesn’t add up verses the worst monster destructive in all things who will attempt to derail democracy itself. And so often, many don’t analyze the least damaging. They will vote Willy nilly and say, hey, he’ll stir things up. Nations are filled with dumb voters. We don’t have much in the pipeline. Please not CA governor Newsom. A homegrown fool. I really wish Senator Brown had run. I sent some kind of message to him when he was considering a run that I would be a volunteer.
With Harris, we would have a democracy and America would have a chance to repair itself. That you have to say, “It’s not because she is a woman” doesn’t convince me that it isn’t. She would have people around her to guide her. Get over it!
What I should have said and this is more important. She doesn’t sell. With her on the ticket, my sense is that she is a drag. This is what I really should have said. In my opinion, she isn’t inspirational.
So, define “presidential” for me please.
It’s my opinion. Disagree as you wish.
I have long seen similarities in Hillary and Kamala, and in people's reactions to them both. So I find your view interesting. But I don't really understand it. And I am confident that Kamala would not destroy the country if she had to step in.
I don’t disagree with you. What I say about her is, she just doesn’t seem to sell well. Again, I keep returning to wise leadership along with a personality that you want to support. Kamala just doesn’t do this for me.
So hard to approach trumpers, former ‘friends’ who have told me they hated me because of what the Dems were doing, destroying the country. My whole neighborhood is filled with trumpers, none of whom would ever engage in civil discourse. Tat said, I’ll be open to any crack, opening, in their minds.
"There's a crack in everything" sang Leonard Cohen, "that's how the light gets in".
I’m not sure Leonard ever lived in Missouri.
Bless your heart! Or Texas, Alabama
Or Tennessee...
Remember before November of 2016 the top office holders in Missouri were Democrats. I worked on Jason Kander’s campaign to unseat Roy Blunt that election cycle. That race was very close even with Blunt as the incumbent Of course the state legislature had turned pretty red by then but it wasn’t always that way. And Claire McCaskill was our senator rather than Hawley. In my adult life there has been a constant tussle between Democrats and Republicans in Mo. Trump changed all of that. I believe there has to be a way to change it.
And we could all use a lot of Leonard Cohen in our lives!
Oh we could ALL use a lot of JASON KANDER in our lives!! Yes, Missouri had its share of democratic leaders, but that all changed. I love Claire as well!! The five-minute post Jason made after the KC Superbowl parade shooting made me realize how different our lives would have been had he become POTUS. And that was his goal.
Claire McCaskill was born & became a Senator In Missouri.
My Grandmother on my Mom's side was from MO then homesteaded in Montana before "going to California".
Regardless, political orientations have changed dramatically since 2016 in this Country.
Wish Claire was still in office. She was so effective! Not like the awful guy who took her place.
Claire is a gem! Love her feisty commentary. Always wonder what she has in her kitchen's covered cake dish when she is on MSNBC.
me too
Love her! She calls it like she sees it. Thank you Claire!
Marlene -- Claire is a treasure who I cannot get enough of. I appreciate that MSNBC uses her to comment often and have wondered if she prefers "appearances" rather than having a show of her own. I. too, wish she was still in Congress.
With so many, there is little that can be said or done. But it doesn’t take a majority of Republicans to make a dramatic difference in this election. Every civil conversation will turn into 1/20th of a vote (or whatever it turns out to be). If I have 40 civil conversation, maybe I get two more votes! Plus, I’ve been decent to 40 fellow Americans in the process.
According to the pundits, it's the Independents and the educated suburban Republicans in the swing states who are persuadable. Focus your efforts on them. Contact your state Dem party to find out who they are and how to reach them.
A good book is The Persuaders by Anand Giriharadas, to help think through how to talk to certain people.
So many people jump on slogan bandwagons without thinking carefully. Therefore, It often doesn’t take much — just a little civil dialogue, asking someone to imagine walking in someone else’s shoes, for example, speaking and listening respectfully, to change a perspective and opinion.
Thank you Ruthie that's what one does when you are talking to a Jury -- must be real.
FYI, I recently came across "deep canvassing" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_canvassing#:~:text=Deep%20canvassing%20is%20a%20structured,intention%20of%20shifting%20participant's%20beliefs.). I'm planning on doing this for the Biden campaign in WI this summer (I live in CA).
That’s great, SandyG!
I'm reading "Hit 'Em Where It Hurts" by a Democratic strategist. Fairly easy read and useful.
Thanks suzc! I like the title. I’ll check it out.
Dianne -- You surely have my empathy. i read a lot and have back-grounded myself to the point where Trump and MAGAs scare the bejeepers out of me. That's why I am so thankful for Joyce Vance and Mary Trump for these oppoportunities to learn more and to feel "at home" with spilling my guts when I need to.
Do you live in a swing state? If so, the Independents and educated suburban Republicans are worth talking to. Unlike MAGA die-hards, they're persuadable. That's what makes them swing voters. Contact your state Dem party for who they are and how to reach them.
I live in FloriDUH, the state that elected ron desatan, twice. I will never understand. And prick scott, marco rubio, please.
Going to take deep breaths and bring brownies tomorrow to my Republican friend…
Go Monica! You are on fire!!
I will be working the polls tomorrow through Monday, when not helping people cast their ballots I can’t say a word beyond “Thank you for voting, would you like a sticker?”
These are good ideas, but I must submit that when I look around I see the markers:
SCOTUS-
Sided with Dobbs.
Overturned Roe.
Delaying the J6 trial.
And other things that I am not thinking of.
CONGRESS
A Christian Nationalist Speaker of the House
With other fellow travelers in that body..
ALABAMA SC
Deciding a fetus is a child.
TEXAS
The mifepristone decision.
All of the Anti immigrant laws
The abortion laws
FLORIDA
Book banning
Don’t Say Gay laws
Cannon in the tank for Trump, with her obvious bias
And other things that I am not thinking of.
PICK A STATE
Anti voting bills
Anti LGBTQ bills
Anti abortion bills and laws
Anti you name it bills
Book banning
The rise in Antisemitism
The rise in violence aimed at people of color
Political violence
And a bipartisan solution to the border that Republicans got nearly all that they wanted. Only to deliberately kill it because Trump said to. To give him something to run on and not give Biden a perceived win..Party over country..
When I look at these things I see them as pieces, symptoms really, under an overall umbrella of Fascist Christian Nationalism. This is what Trump is a Fascist.
I feel we are to the point where we’re past the time when a “friendly sit down for a coffee and let me tell you something” is enough.. It is a tactic on a front..Some people are approachable for a chat..But it is only a piece of the whole that must be deployed to crush this evil. And make no mistake, it is an evil. Just take a look at these.
https://www.badfaithdocumentary.com
https://washingtonspectator.org/nelson-cnp/
https://www.badfaithdocumentary.com/screenings
These people have nothing to do with Christianity or Jesus..
They are part of a dark and gathering storm of evil.
I’d love to watch the bad faith documentary, as well as Rob Reiner‘s new documentary along the same lines but I can’t find either one of them being screened in something other than an exclusive large urban venue. Why bother making great documentaries if so few people can access them?
Hello William,
I saw your remark but was unable to rely until now..You make a solid point..However, from my 22 yrs in the film/tv industry on the production side, I have gleaned a bit from other areas of the industry..It is a difficult and expensive endeavor getting an independent film made, and then securing distribution.. Let alone one with content such as this ..It is my belief that they strategized to get it to these largely populated metropolitan areas where it would be best received to get the word of mouth train on track..I imagine they are working on a way to get it streaming across the country, as a place for the word of mouth to land..As with everything in this day and age money is the driver..I hope this makes sense for you..
Cheers,
Sam
Thank you very much for your insights Sam. I appreciate it and cheers to you as well.
Bill
My experience in talking with pro trump people about this issue is they parrot back the Fox talking point that the bill was a lousy bill and it gave too much money to Ukraine and that’s why Johnson wouldn’t bring it up for a vote. Of course they couldn’t say why it was lousy, only that it was. This reminds me of something someone posted that went like this: “Arguing with a trump supporter is like playing chess with a pigeon...no matter how good you are at chess, the pigeon is just going to knock over the pieces, crap on the board, and strut around like it's victorious”.
Credit to Mark Whitney
I’ll keep trying! Maybe we can get through to some!
Off topic what would they think if they knew Orban is going to be Tfg guest this weekend .in all probability to give trump money he needs. Looks like he is selling our democracy for $500,000.
Chances are a few documents are lying around M-a-L of interest to Orban, et al. Or maybe Mar-a-Lago is for sale to the highest bidder.
Spot on Hope. Orban is a friend of (or on speaking terms with) Putin.
Good morning! One thing (the only thing) I can say about Putin is that his Machiavellian intentions are worrisome but chillingly successful. It was good to see the bravery of thousands of Russians who attended the funeral of Navalny. May they prevail.
Yes. Indeed, may they prevail. And may we also. Did you know that when Jack Smith was at the Hague prior to being named special counsel, who was in investigating Hashim Thacci, former president of Kosovo, for among other things, harvesting and selling body parts/organs of his enemies. Trump had invited him to the White House, to discuss among other things the Balkans. The Balkans are the remaining land from Russia to the east minor Asia as he was getting on the plane, Jack Smith had him arrested, he’s been in jail ever since and prosecuted for his War crimes. Trump knew exactly who Jack Smith was when he began his very early run for the 2024 presidency. Steve Bannon, who was heavily involved with Cambridge Analytica (using 75 million Facebook accounts without any American knowing it to elect, Trump was his baby) was rewarded by Trump with a position of a senior advisor in the White House with no clearance. Security advisor had a complete fit as he sat in top-secret plus meetings. He had a falling out with Trump and ended up going to work with Orban. Then he had a falling in with Trump and was pardoned for DOJ indictment for his role in fraud with ‘we build the wall.’ Trump pardoned him but since some of the money was from New York, investors, New York now has brought charges against Bannon and he’s going to trial in May 2024. Sidenote: thank God for New York, in all of these cases because they have carried the day.
Orban stolen every glimmer of hope from the people of Hungary. He is ruthless. Trump said during his presidency: “I get along well with dictators.”
He wants to be a dictator. If he is elected, and just as joyce has said: “Pay attention to what he says because he means it.”
His game plan is to be president for life which is dictator for life in his terminology. We have to work as hard as we can and I’m spending the weekend calling people regarding the border issue as joyce has requested we do. Tough duty but important.
Sorry if some of this is repetitive as I’ve written it before on this website, but I guess it bears repeating, if just one person is aware of the depth of Trump’s reaching out to nefarious dictators. The sooner he’s in jail, the better: take hope from George Conway’s interviews because he is certain he is going to jail.
ps: Steve Bannon learned all about psychological warfare during his stent with the US military. He used it to put Trump in power with Cambridge Analytica. Now he uses it six days a week in his War Room podcast. This is how he indoctrinates MAGA Republicans. But the good news for us is he is coming to trial in May and he’s been denied any extension and he may be in jail before November. Trump may have the Jack Smith, Judge, Chutkan trial during the election, which would be terrible for him. But: E. Jean Carroll has disseminated Trump. She has ruined his reputation, she has ruined his bank account, she will make him broke. He doesn’t have enough money to pay, and the dollars are adding up every day with interest. She has ruined him, and he won’t be elected. he is ruined and he knows it. To Trump everything is his bank account and his image. It’s gone. Our work is cut out for us because we have to reelect Biden but we also have to elect a blue bicameral Congress. Hope this wasn’t repetitive and boring to you, but we have more danger from Trump than people realize. Bannon spent a lot of time with Orban in Hungary. Have simply been so busy that I haven’t paid any attention to what Trump is doing and I appreciate so very much that you let me know about. Orban’s visit. It is not good. Please get back to me with anything you find out.
Five hundred million and Orban doesn't have it. But Prince Bonesaw does
Orban?? Thacci is in jail so he has to turn to Orban?
OMG!
I recently attended a webinar from the Women’s March with Anat Shenker-
Ossorio called “Freedom Over Fascism.” (It’s available on YouTube. ) She has a communications firm and she gave some excellent guidance of ways to speak with undecideds. (Save your breath with the cultists.) She talks about what’s most effective and pointed out that if it was just facts we wouldn’t be having this conversation. There are ways to frame conversations to make them personal, starting from values you may share. I highly recommend it. It can help equip us for those civil discussions.
Republicans don’t understand what bipartisanship is. They are all under trump’s thumb. It’s hard to believe they say this craziness out loud.
I’m sure he’s sold our democracy for less
Not too far off subject, but food for thought tonight, in yesterday's. Feb. 29, Atlantic :
"Anton Hofreiter, a member of the German Parliament, told me in Munich that he fears Europe could someday be competing against three autocracies: “Russia, China, and the United States.” When he said that, it was my turn to shake my head, not because I didn’t believe him, but because it was so hard to hear."
Anne Applebaum is a staff writer at The Atlantic.
Hi Ransom, I'm an American living in Europe. Everyone I know here is just shaking their heads in bewilderment. Many of them remember the Americans from WWII with great fondness. They keep asking me what the hell has happened. Meanwhile, I work with other expat Americans to get overseas Americans registered to vote.
Rush Limbaugh and newt Gingrich happened. Vast and increasing income inequality happened. We're the worst.
I am so ashamed that this happened in my lifetime.
Not your fault. But we can help fix it.
I hope you’re right. We Gen Xers were really blindsided.
Remember Jen, all of that did not "happen", it was a serious plan. General Electric Theater was hosted by Ronald Reagan for a reason. GE is the biggest defense contractor, reliant upon worldwide hostilities for maximum profits. Reagan's calming voice made his future political right wing career palatable to millions and this history is the path that got us to the latest face of the oligarchy, the t-Rump.
The elimination of the Fairness Doctrine back in the 80s opened the door to rightwing propaganda. Rush Limbaugh and his ilk stepped in and proceeded to erode the very of our democratic republic. I admire that you’re registering ex pats!! We all must pitch in with hands on efforts.
Cindy. if you miss my comment to Jen, here is the gist :
"General Electric Theater was hosted by Ronald Reagan for a reason. GE is the biggest defense contractor, reliant upon worldwide hostilities for maximum profits. Reagan's calming voice made his future political right wing career palatable to millions and this history is the path that got us to the latest face of the oligarchy, the t-Rump."
The end of the fairness doctrine allowed Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch to set up Fox News and the propaganda machine has worked pefectly ever since. The greatest damage to our country happened in the Reagan administration. Tax cuts for the wealthy and trickledown economics were the foundation of the program.
I'm an American living in the States and everyone I know is also shaking their heads in bewilderment. How did we get here? How did so many Americans go so horribly terribly stupidly wrong? Of course the only important question is How do we stop them?
Keep up the good work Rebecca. We all have to do whatever we can.
UGH
You should read the whole article. Feb. 29. Yesterday.
"Why Is Trump Trying to Make Ukraine Lose?
The former president isn’t in office—but is still dictating U.S. policy."
By Anne Applebaum
I tried earlier today but there’s a paywall.
I subscribe. New Yorker and The Atlantic were my Mom's favorites.
Perhaps we should inquire as to why immigration is such a problem. I grew up in the Central Valley of California where I don’t recall seeing a Caucasian picking strawberries…backtracking work for less than minimum wage. Mainly these immigrants are good people and smart enough to want to be a part of America.
When I discuss immigration I talk about my own background, my wonder as I looked across the farmland watching Mexicans hunched over in 100 degree weather, trying to make a living while the rich and lazy white kids complained about a year in an air conditioned Burger King knowing they’d be off to college soon.
I love "I don't do math in public". Perhaps not helpful to the conversation, but human, and made me grin as I read along and said "same". Your (writing) voice keeps me engaged and I learn so much from you. Thank you for all the work across so many platforms. I listen to Sisters in Law religiously now, and tell all my people. You rock!
I related to that, as well! It instantly brought back memories of having to do math at the chalkboard in elementary school back in the '50s and '60s - SO embarrassing!! LOL!
Lisa & Mary -- I was so happy when I found out there is such a thing as "math anxiety". I don't go anywhere any more because of poor health, but going into a bank for any reason was always a challenge.
I didn't even balance my checkbook for the first 40 yrs of having a checking account because of the anxiety! Then it would take me 1/2 a bottle of wine to do it. I never could figure out why I was bouncing checks! LOL! Thankfully online banking came along and it pretty much gets done for me now. Whew!