People, a lot of people, showed up for Kamala! Her votes weren't counted ! Ask Musk.....Starlink Internet.... .give him immunity for testifying in front of Congress!@@
Now aRepublicans are Gerrymandering in Texas. Miami stopped upcoming November elections. .check it out..do your homework!!
This article assumes that elections reflect the will of the people. We have ample evidence that elections have been corrupted--by easily hackable voting equipment, by purged voter rolls, by gerrymandering, by financial corruption, and much more.
Actually, voting has proved exceptionally strong against hackers, both by mail and in person. Every year the system has been forced to upgrade their machines and procedures to keep votes and voters safe.
Personally, I request my ballot through Vote by Mail and once I'm done voting I drive to the nearest Early Voting drop-off box which happens to be inside a secure Precinct Office. Once, I sat by my mailbox to wait for our mailman rather than leave it in my mailbox. I want my vote to count!
Are we perhaps focusing too much on Trump, MAGA, and "Trump's coalition"? They didn't come out of nowhere. SCOTUS decided Citizens United (2010), unleashing corporate money in politics, before the McConnell/Trump appointees (Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett) reached the bench. Roberts and Alito were both appointed by Bush II/Cheney; their arrival woke Thomas (appointed by Bush I) from his very long nap. With a few brief respites, the country has been sliding rightward and downward since the beginning of the Reagan administration. Big Money doesn't have the votes, but it's done an excellent job of using racism, misogyny, and existential anxiety to keep white voters fired up while their pockets get picked.
Question: What/who do you mean by "establishment Republicans"? I'm 74 and I grew up in Massachusetts, so I have clear, adult memories of respectable, honorable, competent Republicans: Frank Sargent, Elliot Richardson, Ed Brooke (does everyone realize that the first African American elected to the U.S. Senate since Reconstruction was a Republican -- and a very good guy?), etc. What's considered an "establishment Republican" these days?
Super interesting. One objection. If you're paying attention, you know, KNOW, Kamala won. I don't know if it was a landslide but she won. Elon did bad things and rigged the election. Look at the charts of how voting went in real time in various critical places, with red 100% above the axis, and blue 100% below. That is exactly as likely as winning the lottery a thousand times in a row. Can't happen. Karmala won and I wish you, and all the other organizations, would stop pretending like she didn't.
The Republican party is dead. It's not coming back. And good riddance. It became the Lawless Republican well before McConnell, and has now become the American Fascist party. It can no longer be considered a valid part of the democratic process. It's been hopelessly corrupt since Reagan. It supports anarchy, has violated every aspect of the Constitution, has proven itself corrupt for the oligarchs, has created insurrection, created concentration camps, has cooked the Supreme Court, and created an economic redistribution that destroyed the middle class. It conducts espionage and treason. It doesn't have a platform and has itself been taken over by the trump crime family. It has made the federal government FAIL. It has cracked open the fatal flaws in the Constitution which can now be remedied with a new Constitutional Congress to include term limits, all money out of politics, automatic disclosure of income tax filings for all elected offices, end to gerrymandering, expand Supreme Court, Wash DC as 51st state, end to electoral college. An equitable tax structure so that Americans are not enslaved, and all states carry their own weight. Blue states should consider secession in order not to fun concentration camps. Possibly join Canada.
Rebecca, you're missing a key aspect of a Constitutional Convention. Each state gets the same votes. Wyoming has the same clout as California. And the delegates are appointed by the individual states legislatures. Republicans have wrapped this up with - their gerrymandering.
I like your wish list, but the opposite would get the votes.
Nice fantasy, but do you know what it takes to call a constitutional convention? And do you think economic power is going to vanish off the face of the earth just because it's not in the Constitution?
Forget about a Constitutional Convention. The primary legislation being passed from state to state regarding the Electoral College is the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC). This is an agreement among participating states to award all of their electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote, rather than the current winner-take-all system used by most states
I hope you are right. And looking ahead, anything you can do to undermine JD Vance would be welcome. He is another guy walking on shifty moral ground but he is a smooth talker. Misinformation rolls off his tongue so easily.
I’m enjoying being on your mailing list now, and receiving your columns. So I’ll start there.
Although I consider myself to be fairly politically aware, I’m getting old and I don’t remember everything. So maybe you have a lot more facts under your belt then I can keep under mine.
But I tend to think that you are an optimist about the collapse of MAGAtry, Trumpism, and the Republican Party. You can argue that when someone like self proclaimed Nazi Nick is publicly damning Trump, it signifies serious problems within their movement. But I tend to look at things as a social psychologist, and all I think it means is that they will transfer their allegiance to someone else, someone equally bad. The problem is that they are not all that attached to reality, to facts, logic, or experience, and certainly not compassion. Trump has broadcast who he is for something like 20 years, and to anyone paying attention, a lot longer than that.
35 years ago, I knew the name Donald Trump, and I had seen pictures of him in the media. I knew that he was a rich guy, I knew that he was multiply married, but I wouldn’t have recognized him on the street. Certainly not on fifth Avenue. One day, my partner was watching TV but I was in another room. A voice came on the television. My immediate reaction to that voice was “there’s something wrong with that man. He’s a wrong ‘un.” as they say in England. You’ll never guess who it was.
That impression was confirmed when we went to Trump Tower around 1992. There is this beautiful golden glass and mirrored atrium. If you walk to the edge of the atrium, looking down into the basement where you might expect to find a very classy restaurant, what there was was a cafeteria. The utensils were black plastic as were the plates and trays. But still, it was a cafeteria amidst all of that wealth. It confirmed everything I thought about him even though I knew so little about him. Mpney, but no class.
But that there’s something wrong with Donald Trump has been obvious to anyone paying the slightest bit of attention since at least 2015, when he rode down the golden escalator. And yet, they voted for him in three elections. They voted for him despite all of the obvious lies, despite the stupidity, despite the malice, despite the narcissism, despite the bullying.
This is what I wrote in my lengthy essay on the insurrection.
“ My conclusion? Looking at what people do, rather than what they say they are doing, provides much better information about who they really are. His base just wants a con man, a sociopath, a criminal, a manipulator, and unfortunately, a strong man to guide them and embody their aspirations. That's all there is to it, and nothing more. But how anyone could look at a venal, corrupt, dishonest, bullying, weak, lying narcissist like Trump, a self-confessed sexual abuser, and see strength, is beyond me.
But therein lies the answer as to how we got to this point. Not to put too fine a point on it, but nearly half the this nation is ethically crippled, reality challenged, intellectually deranged, educationally debased, empathetically destitute, morally lazy at best and morally bankrupt at worst. No nation has ever survived this, nor can it, unless the other half stays vigilant and active.
Why are they this way? I think the answer is found in ONE word: DESPITE.
In his most Catholic books, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson writes about DESPITE for three very long, excellent novels. It is the essence of evil. Loosely defined: “I’m better than you, and so whatever I do, you simply don’t matter. I will make sure that you know it.” So, another word for it is CONTEMPT. It has a lot more meanings than just that, but that is what LBJ was talking about when he said: “I’ll tell you what’s at the bottom of it. If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”
That pretty much sums up my opinion on this. But I can say this much: the problem is not Trump, the problem is the mentalities— there is more than one of these, depending on the socioeconomic class, the ideology, and the religion of the holder of that mentality —that thinks that Trump is a good idea. And even if they dump Trump, they will find someone else just like him to embody all of their aspirations.
I would respectfully disagree with the idea that the cracks in Trump's coalition are going to be permanent. The MAGA people are "true believers" and despite the Hollywood tapes, the 34 indictments, the scheming and grifting, they stick by him and believe his consistent blaming of others. They honestly think that the Democrats are communists, that democracy is the rule of the mob, and he has been brought by God to save this country. That kind of belief system can withstand a lot, including Epstein. What is shocking and demoralizing is that the Republican's have gone along with this nonsense. Only when they believe that enough is enough, will things change.
Taco s only job is to help the country. From climate changing to helping voters and those on Medicare and Medicare. He’s suppose to improve her lives. But he’s done the exact opposite! Why he’s even enriched himself in 180 days by a few billion. He’s become a demented , senile,e old man in front of our eyes. We must remove him. ASAP.
Mike, if you want to make a tangible and painful kick to MAGA, make a report about President Trump wanting to negotiate peace with the Head of the neo-Nazi state of Russia and "make a deal" with Putin. This conclusion is based on the 5 proven and indisputable signs of fascism and published three times in 2014 in Ukraine, and also voiced in a number of interviews in Kyiv. But somehow even Democrats avoid to talk about it. I'll claim from my Senators Blumenthal and Murphy for a testimony in Senate regarding this issue. This is a biggest problem and threat for the U.S.A. No time to wait.
> Even with Trump in the White House and Republicans controlling both the House and Senate, MAGA influencers now feel more emboldened than ever to speak out against their own leaders.
Assuming by "even" you mean "despite"... I think the implication here is backwards.
Having control of both houses of Congress, as well as the executive and judicial branch, is exactly why they feel comfortable speaking out. When there is a close balance of power btw Democrats and Republicans, that's when I'd expect each party to be the most unified... they are focused on defeating a common enemy and therefore more willing to overlook minor differences of opinion among their ranks.
It's cases like this, where one party has unilateral power... where I'd expect there to be more dissent within the ruling party. (Unless of course, it's literally a dictatorship, and any dissent is crushed with violence--we're not there yet, despite being clearly headed in that direction.)
Democrats should try to bring back Hillary Clinton! They stand outside the Burning building that is America and proudly say. We aren’t the Arsonists who did this. And we will be grateful and elect them?? But then, 2 party system, what else can we do. I get why people leave the Country, really do.
I hope you're right about the slow moving train wreck of Trump/MAGA/GOP. However, after reviewing this blog and a podcast you had with Cory Nathan, I raise some distressing observations (hate to be such a downer). It was mentioned in the podcast that some followers will find the Epstein revalations/affiliations too eggregious delving into pedophilia. I'm getting to the point that "there may be no bottom to the bottom" when it comes to evil and outrageousness. I hope I'm wrong but I'm sensing a crumbling society on par with roman emperors the likes of Caligula & Nero and there were no brakes put onto that decent into hell. My other equally alarming preminition is that fantastical mistakes by Trump/MAGA/GOP/DOGE etc. will trigger a world wide depression that will make the 1929 crash pale in comparision. Historically, when times get tough society turns to fascism (double down on toughness, law & order, etc.). As a boomer doomer, I hope I'm wrong. The optimist in me still exists and maybe the afore mentioned crap will force the turning of the corner to a more just, democratic (small d), progressive, solidarity self-sufficiency, mutual aid type society which we must devote every ounce of our energy to achieving.
People, a lot of people, showed up for Kamala! Her votes weren't counted ! Ask Musk.....Starlink Internet.... .give him immunity for testifying in front of Congress!@@
Now aRepublicans are Gerrymandering in Texas. Miami stopped upcoming November elections. .check it out..do your homework!!
Totally!!!’ You will never ever convince me Kamala list!!!! He’s a cheating dirt bag
This article assumes that elections reflect the will of the people. We have ample evidence that elections have been corrupted--by easily hackable voting equipment, by purged voter rolls, by gerrymandering, by financial corruption, and much more.
Actually, voting has proved exceptionally strong against hackers, both by mail and in person. Every year the system has been forced to upgrade their machines and procedures to keep votes and voters safe.
Personally, I request my ballot through Vote by Mail and once I'm done voting I drive to the nearest Early Voting drop-off box which happens to be inside a secure Precinct Office. Once, I sat by my mailbox to wait for our mailman rather than leave it in my mailbox. I want my vote to count!
Be very patient with the slow learning MAGA, just wait we’re watching the extreme lawlessness & corruption coming to a slow descent…
Hopefully so
Are we perhaps focusing too much on Trump, MAGA, and "Trump's coalition"? They didn't come out of nowhere. SCOTUS decided Citizens United (2010), unleashing corporate money in politics, before the McConnell/Trump appointees (Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett) reached the bench. Roberts and Alito were both appointed by Bush II/Cheney; their arrival woke Thomas (appointed by Bush I) from his very long nap. With a few brief respites, the country has been sliding rightward and downward since the beginning of the Reagan administration. Big Money doesn't have the votes, but it's done an excellent job of using racism, misogyny, and existential anxiety to keep white voters fired up while their pockets get picked.
Question: What/who do you mean by "establishment Republicans"? I'm 74 and I grew up in Massachusetts, so I have clear, adult memories of respectable, honorable, competent Republicans: Frank Sargent, Elliot Richardson, Ed Brooke (does everyone realize that the first African American elected to the U.S. Senate since Reconstruction was a Republican -- and a very good guy?), etc. What's considered an "establishment Republican" these days?
Super interesting. One objection. If you're paying attention, you know, KNOW, Kamala won. I don't know if it was a landslide but she won. Elon did bad things and rigged the election. Look at the charts of how voting went in real time in various critical places, with red 100% above the axis, and blue 100% below. That is exactly as likely as winning the lottery a thousand times in a row. Can't happen. Karmala won and I wish you, and all the other organizations, would stop pretending like she didn't.
https://open.substack.com/pub/deanblundell/p/trump-just-gutted-americas-anti-trafficking?r=5dg5ys&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
bread crumb trail the size of boulders
The Republican party is dead. It's not coming back. And good riddance. It became the Lawless Republican well before McConnell, and has now become the American Fascist party. It can no longer be considered a valid part of the democratic process. It's been hopelessly corrupt since Reagan. It supports anarchy, has violated every aspect of the Constitution, has proven itself corrupt for the oligarchs, has created insurrection, created concentration camps, has cooked the Supreme Court, and created an economic redistribution that destroyed the middle class. It conducts espionage and treason. It doesn't have a platform and has itself been taken over by the trump crime family. It has made the federal government FAIL. It has cracked open the fatal flaws in the Constitution which can now be remedied with a new Constitutional Congress to include term limits, all money out of politics, automatic disclosure of income tax filings for all elected offices, end to gerrymandering, expand Supreme Court, Wash DC as 51st state, end to electoral college. An equitable tax structure so that Americans are not enslaved, and all states carry their own weight. Blue states should consider secession in order not to fun concentration camps. Possibly join Canada.
Rebecca, you're missing a key aspect of a Constitutional Convention. Each state gets the same votes. Wyoming has the same clout as California. And the delegates are appointed by the individual states legislatures. Republicans have wrapped this up with - their gerrymandering.
I like your wish list, but the opposite would get the votes.
Nice fantasy, but do you know what it takes to call a constitutional convention? And do you think economic power is going to vanish off the face of the earth just because it's not in the Constitution?
Forget about a Constitutional Convention. The primary legislation being passed from state to state regarding the Electoral College is the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC). This is an agreement among participating states to award all of their electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote, rather than the current winner-take-all system used by most states
I mean this in the kindest way possible but I hope this helps them that they come out of the cult.
1/3 of the country is hypnotized by him I don’t understand the fascination
I hope you are right. And looking ahead, anything you can do to undermine JD Vance would be welcome. He is another guy walking on shifty moral ground but he is a smooth talker. Misinformation rolls off his tongue so easily.
I’m enjoying being on your mailing list now, and receiving your columns. So I’ll start there.
Although I consider myself to be fairly politically aware, I’m getting old and I don’t remember everything. So maybe you have a lot more facts under your belt then I can keep under mine.
But I tend to think that you are an optimist about the collapse of MAGAtry, Trumpism, and the Republican Party. You can argue that when someone like self proclaimed Nazi Nick is publicly damning Trump, it signifies serious problems within their movement. But I tend to look at things as a social psychologist, and all I think it means is that they will transfer their allegiance to someone else, someone equally bad. The problem is that they are not all that attached to reality, to facts, logic, or experience, and certainly not compassion. Trump has broadcast who he is for something like 20 years, and to anyone paying attention, a lot longer than that.
35 years ago, I knew the name Donald Trump, and I had seen pictures of him in the media. I knew that he was a rich guy, I knew that he was multiply married, but I wouldn’t have recognized him on the street. Certainly not on fifth Avenue. One day, my partner was watching TV but I was in another room. A voice came on the television. My immediate reaction to that voice was “there’s something wrong with that man. He’s a wrong ‘un.” as they say in England. You’ll never guess who it was.
That impression was confirmed when we went to Trump Tower around 1992. There is this beautiful golden glass and mirrored atrium. If you walk to the edge of the atrium, looking down into the basement where you might expect to find a very classy restaurant, what there was was a cafeteria. The utensils were black plastic as were the plates and trays. But still, it was a cafeteria amidst all of that wealth. It confirmed everything I thought about him even though I knew so little about him. Mpney, but no class.
But that there’s something wrong with Donald Trump has been obvious to anyone paying the slightest bit of attention since at least 2015, when he rode down the golden escalator. And yet, they voted for him in three elections. They voted for him despite all of the obvious lies, despite the stupidity, despite the malice, despite the narcissism, despite the bullying.
This is what I wrote in my lengthy essay on the insurrection.
“ My conclusion? Looking at what people do, rather than what they say they are doing, provides much better information about who they really are. His base just wants a con man, a sociopath, a criminal, a manipulator, and unfortunately, a strong man to guide them and embody their aspirations. That's all there is to it, and nothing more. But how anyone could look at a venal, corrupt, dishonest, bullying, weak, lying narcissist like Trump, a self-confessed sexual abuser, and see strength, is beyond me.
But therein lies the answer as to how we got to this point. Not to put too fine a point on it, but nearly half the this nation is ethically crippled, reality challenged, intellectually deranged, educationally debased, empathetically destitute, morally lazy at best and morally bankrupt at worst. No nation has ever survived this, nor can it, unless the other half stays vigilant and active.
Why are they this way? I think the answer is found in ONE word: DESPITE.
In his most Catholic books, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson writes about DESPITE for three very long, excellent novels. It is the essence of evil. Loosely defined: “I’m better than you, and so whatever I do, you simply don’t matter. I will make sure that you know it.” So, another word for it is CONTEMPT. It has a lot more meanings than just that, but that is what LBJ was talking about when he said: “I’ll tell you what’s at the bottom of it. If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”
That pretty much sums up my opinion on this. But I can say this much: the problem is not Trump, the problem is the mentalities— there is more than one of these, depending on the socioeconomic class, the ideology, and the religion of the holder of that mentality —that thinks that Trump is a good idea. And even if they dump Trump, they will find someone else just like him to embody all of their aspirations.
True that!
I would respectfully disagree with the idea that the cracks in Trump's coalition are going to be permanent. The MAGA people are "true believers" and despite the Hollywood tapes, the 34 indictments, the scheming and grifting, they stick by him and believe his consistent blaming of others. They honestly think that the Democrats are communists, that democracy is the rule of the mob, and he has been brought by God to save this country. That kind of belief system can withstand a lot, including Epstein. What is shocking and demoralizing is that the Republican's have gone along with this nonsense. Only when they believe that enough is enough, will things change.
Taco s only job is to help the country. From climate changing to helping voters and those on Medicare and Medicare. He’s suppose to improve her lives. But he’s done the exact opposite! Why he’s even enriched himself in 180 days by a few billion. He’s become a demented , senile,e old man in front of our eyes. We must remove him. ASAP.
Mike, if you want to make a tangible and painful kick to MAGA, make a report about President Trump wanting to negotiate peace with the Head of the neo-Nazi state of Russia and "make a deal" with Putin. This conclusion is based on the 5 proven and indisputable signs of fascism and published three times in 2014 in Ukraine, and also voiced in a number of interviews in Kyiv. But somehow even Democrats avoid to talk about it. I'll claim from my Senators Blumenthal and Murphy for a testimony in Senate regarding this issue. This is a biggest problem and threat for the U.S.A. No time to wait.
I object to the word "Even" in this sentence:
> Even with Trump in the White House and Republicans controlling both the House and Senate, MAGA influencers now feel more emboldened than ever to speak out against their own leaders.
Assuming by "even" you mean "despite"... I think the implication here is backwards.
Having control of both houses of Congress, as well as the executive and judicial branch, is exactly why they feel comfortable speaking out. When there is a close balance of power btw Democrats and Republicans, that's when I'd expect each party to be the most unified... they are focused on defeating a common enemy and therefore more willing to overlook minor differences of opinion among their ranks.
It's cases like this, where one party has unilateral power... where I'd expect there to be more dissent within the ruling party. (Unless of course, it's literally a dictatorship, and any dissent is crushed with violence--we're not there yet, despite being clearly headed in that direction.)
Democrats should try to bring back Hillary Clinton! They stand outside the Burning building that is America and proudly say. We aren’t the Arsonists who did this. And we will be grateful and elect them?? But then, 2 party system, what else can we do. I get why people leave the Country, really do.
I hope you're right about the slow moving train wreck of Trump/MAGA/GOP. However, after reviewing this blog and a podcast you had with Cory Nathan, I raise some distressing observations (hate to be such a downer). It was mentioned in the podcast that some followers will find the Epstein revalations/affiliations too eggregious delving into pedophilia. I'm getting to the point that "there may be no bottom to the bottom" when it comes to evil and outrageousness. I hope I'm wrong but I'm sensing a crumbling society on par with roman emperors the likes of Caligula & Nero and there were no brakes put onto that decent into hell. My other equally alarming preminition is that fantastical mistakes by Trump/MAGA/GOP/DOGE etc. will trigger a world wide depression that will make the 1929 crash pale in comparision. Historically, when times get tough society turns to fascism (double down on toughness, law & order, etc.). As a boomer doomer, I hope I'm wrong. The optimist in me still exists and maybe the afore mentioned crap will force the turning of the corner to a more just, democratic (small d), progressive, solidarity self-sufficiency, mutual aid type society which we must devote every ounce of our energy to achieving.