Well said, Mike. I am proud to subscribe to this. I am 94 and served for 24 years as an elected official of local government. It was a great experience and the best possible education in politics and government.
This is definitely on my "next to subscribe" list although I'm over what I can afford right now — such hard choices given the number of outstanding independent news and commentary outlets. Cancelling mainstream media has helped. (I never subscribed to the NY Times — still holding Jayson Blair and Judith Miller against them, and their fabrication of the "her emails" issue, which dominated the 2016 presidential campaign, sealed the deal.)
His "strong approvals" are down to 17%, "strong disapprovals" at 49%. He is widely despised. I can't count the number of people I've seen in the last day commenting on tributes to Dolly Parton that they wished a different 80-year-old had died, no names needed.
Not likely that Natalie will do that. She only shows him what he wants to see and tells him what he likes to hear. She's living in her own delusional fantasy world that is completely supported by non-stop fiction with the help of MSM.
This is exactly what I've been thinking. This is an opportunity to make this a moral country instead of a criminal enterprise run by greedy bastards. There is so much honest morality on display in Minnesota, in the folks creating signs on bridges, in all the people standing up for their immigrant neighbors, in the Attorneys General banding together to fight for us. I'm feeling real enthusiasm for the democratic experiment.
We have some great attorneys general although here in Ohio we don't. Back home though, we have Kwame Raoul, whom I just had to mention because I love to repeat his name. I used to drive by his office in Hyde Park when he was my sister's state senator just to take photos of his name on the window. Kwame Raoul! What a great name! And son of educated Haitian immigrants who bring so much good to this country. Luckily, the Haitian immigrant family my friends sponsored were able to get into Canada last year. They were so happy and settled here in the U.S. until January 20, 2025.
I should add that Ansley, the Haitian immigrant, was a college professor in Haiti and extremely educated. When my friends met him, after he fled when he got beaten up by gangs, he spoke no English. By the time I met him two or three years later, he spoke better English than Melania Trump! Such a nice man, who now, sadly but understandably, lives in Montreal with his family whom my friends were also able to bring up from Haiti. Everyone here in Ohio loved him.
Mike, I love the way you say it like it is. You are fair and point out nonsense, stupidity, etc. no matter who comes up with it. I think you are right about power going to people's heads - a real failure of character and a symptom of this country's affluenza. And you are right, as painful as this episode is, we must learn from it, appreciate what this country can be, and work hard to restore it.
I think you’ve diagnosed the problem. A bad case of affluenza often combined with white privilege leads to passivity and a false sense of security. But really, no one is safe with this monster in charge.
Thanks Mike. If I don't get my way, then I will take my ball and go home. That is what I hear. Besides Occam's Razor, I would add that the Peter Principle (people promoted until they reach the level at which they are no longer competent) .is in full sway in this regime. The really good litigators in the DOJ are leaving (have left) in droves and unfortunately, any good ones who remain must keep their heads down until trump is out. Vote Early and Vote Blue. It has to be too big to rig.
Oh Mike, you are exactly right! We have to win in 26 and 28, but we have serious messes we have to fix in the process. Campaign finance rules are deeply broken, and from what I’ve read, the thing scotus relied on to decide that corporations have first amendment rights is not even a valid decision, it was a head note written by a gop freak who placed it on a case that didn’t find corps have constitutional rights at all. Not at all. I’m sure Roberts knows this- or should. They have managed to eff our country up and hand it lock, stock and barrel to the unscrupulous oligarchs. We can’t be mild, centrist, kowtowing Dems. That won’t fix the many broken parts of our democracy. You are absolutely right. Can you send your essay to every dem congressperson and senator? They should know what we want.
Roberts is educated in the law, but he is also a partisan, twisting things to arrive at where he wants to arrive.
Also most of our Democratic congresspeople and senators are very in touch and well aware of what we want. My congresswoman holds town hall meetings and in-district events constantly. Every year she holds an event called "Legacy" honoring her successors. It's a fancy dress party with a lavish buffet, music, speeches and lots of line dancing! And it's totally free — just sign up. You can go up and talk to her anytime. My friends in the districts on either side of me are envious — they only know what their congressmen (R) look like from photos, and one of them is embroiled in a major abuse scandal that will probably flip the district blue.
"You won't let me name a world renowned arts institution, that I had no involvement in building whatsoever, after me...fine I'll demolish it‼️"😡🤬👱🏾♂️👶🏼
You have put into words the way I have felt about trump since he was first elected. First of all, he has a world view most of us cannot imagine because it is so self-centered, under-educated, and lacking any moral compass. trump claims to love America. He does not love the country we actually are at our best; he wants to bend us to his white, faux-Christian, warrior, despot led dream. He doesn't understand how many things work, like government, health care, education, climate, negotiating, finances of non-billionaires. This does not stop him from trying to run this country like a shoddy family real estate company. And since when things go wrong he walks away or blames someone else, because he is never wrong and knows more about everything than anybody else..
How we got to this place as a country is disappointing and daunting. It took complicity and denial and weakness and inattention on the part of many,. This article and other sources hold out hope that if enough of us say no we can correct course. And these sources show us how to say NO often and loudly. Thank you.
In the end there is one reason why this dictator gets away with this corruption. That is the John Roberts court. They have the power to reign in this maniac! Instead they enable it. Daily, they watch Trump's petty, childish, egocentric temper destroy significant protections to our country. The Trump appointees took an oath to defend the Constitution, but they decided to rewrite it instead. It is literally OBSCENE!
I'm sure someone understands why SCOTUS and elected officials, even in some cases the clergy who used to espouse the teachings in the Bible, have turned their backs on their oaths and become spreaders of hate, judgement, exclusion and violence. I sure don't. When I look at the people - men and women - who are deliberately destroying the Constitution, the lives of We the people, setting us against one another and vilifying the people we used to welcome to our country, even making the planet unlivable, I can't help but wonder: Is it really about money? Power? If they wind up with power and wealth but the people of the world are starving, drowning, choking on the air filled with pollution and smoke, and tearing one another apart, exactly what will be left? When did oaths, laws, morals and belief systems become meaningless except as steps on a ladder to get.....where?
You are right on target with your thoughts. I couldn’t agree more. It is very discouraging that the highest court in the land cannot be counted on to uphold and defend the Constitution (to which I thought the Unjustices swore an oath to.)
If Democrats really want to change things, they’ll abandon their support for a genocidal foreign state. You can’t compartmentalize a genocide and pretend your support for it, whether explicit or through silent acquiescence, doesn’t taint everything else. It defines you, no matter how much you want to ignore that fact. Normalization of evil in order to achieve a better life for the relatively comfortable is still evil. You’d rather sacrifice a whole people than fight to redeem a corrupted party. Just to gain some measure of personal comfort. That’s why a lot of us were not “proud” to support Kamala Harris.
Genocide is genocide. When you say you were not proud to support Kamala Harris, I take it that you did , with some reluctance. So did I, and I am glad I did, because compared to the genocide Trump and Doge collaborated on, they are far more genocidal!! Biden was more compassionate about the Palestinians in Gaza. He tried to save lives. It was Bibi, a nasty bit of homicidal brutality, that caused the failure of humanitarian aid. Had Harris won, we would not be in this fight for our own democracy. Holding back your vote will make for more brutality and genocide! Job 1, get rid of the fascists! If you did not vote for Harris, you voted for Trump. That is the practical result. Trump bots use this argument to split our vote. Do not fall for it.
We know what's wrong with Trump...he's a sociopathic criminal. What I can't understand is why Congress AND the Supreme Court are willing to let him destroy our country and its people. They are supposed to represent us and our democracy, not this self-absorbed monster. I have taken students to the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian Museums, many monuments. NONE of those belong to him, and he doesn't value them or what they represent at all! My sixth graders did, though! They were better citizens than he will ever be!
Well said, Mike. I am proud to subscribe to this. I am 94 and served for 24 years as an elected official of local government. It was a great experience and the best possible education in politics and government.
This is definitely on my "next to subscribe" list although I'm over what I can afford right now — such hard choices given the number of outstanding independent news and commentary outlets. Cancelling mainstream media has helped. (I never subscribed to the NY Times — still holding Jayson Blair and Judith Miller against them, and their fabrication of the "her emails" issue, which dominated the 2016 presidential campaign, sealed the deal.)
Trump is absolutely the worst president in the history of this country. He's throwing a fit when everyone hates him.
He thinks that slapping his name on everything makes him seem popular.
Natalie Harp should show him the real news about his low approval ratings. They are delusional
His "strong approvals" are down to 17%, "strong disapprovals" at 49%. He is widely despised. I can't count the number of people I've seen in the last day commenting on tributes to Dolly Parton that they wished a different 80-year-old had died, no names needed.
So true
Thank you for saying what we're all thinking.
Not likely that Natalie will do that. She only shows him what he wants to see and tells him what he likes to hear. She's living in her own delusional fantasy world that is completely supported by non-stop fiction with the help of MSM.
The air head does not know real news.
More than even usual, brilliant. Thank you for being a voice of hope and reason and encouragement in these heartbreaking times.
Let's go is right.
This is exactly what I've been thinking. This is an opportunity to make this a moral country instead of a criminal enterprise run by greedy bastards. There is so much honest morality on display in Minnesota, in the folks creating signs on bridges, in all the people standing up for their immigrant neighbors, in the Attorneys General banding together to fight for us. I'm feeling real enthusiasm for the democratic experiment.
We have some great attorneys general although here in Ohio we don't. Back home though, we have Kwame Raoul, whom I just had to mention because I love to repeat his name. I used to drive by his office in Hyde Park when he was my sister's state senator just to take photos of his name on the window. Kwame Raoul! What a great name! And son of educated Haitian immigrants who bring so much good to this country. Luckily, the Haitian immigrant family my friends sponsored were able to get into Canada last year. They were so happy and settled here in the U.S. until January 20, 2025.
I should add that Ansley, the Haitian immigrant, was a college professor in Haiti and extremely educated. When my friends met him, after he fled when he got beaten up by gangs, he spoke no English. By the time I met him two or three years later, he spoke better English than Melania Trump! Such a nice man, who now, sadly but understandably, lives in Montreal with his family whom my friends were also able to bring up from Haiti. Everyone here in Ohio loved him.
We had that opportunity in 2016 and 2024 as well.
Mike, I love the way you say it like it is. You are fair and point out nonsense, stupidity, etc. no matter who comes up with it. I think you are right about power going to people's heads - a real failure of character and a symptom of this country's affluenza. And you are right, as painful as this episode is, we must learn from it, appreciate what this country can be, and work hard to restore it.
I think you’ve diagnosed the problem. A bad case of affluenza often combined with white privilege leads to passivity and a false sense of security. But really, no one is safe with this monster in charge.
Thanks Mike. If I don't get my way, then I will take my ball and go home. That is what I hear. Besides Occam's Razor, I would add that the Peter Principle (people promoted until they reach the level at which they are no longer competent) .is in full sway in this regime. The really good litigators in the DOJ are leaving (have left) in droves and unfortunately, any good ones who remain must keep their heads down until trump is out. Vote Early and Vote Blue. It has to be too big to rig.
I think this is leagues beyond the Peter Principle. Trump has always been operating way above his level of competence.
Most assuredly
Oh Mike, you are exactly right! We have to win in 26 and 28, but we have serious messes we have to fix in the process. Campaign finance rules are deeply broken, and from what I’ve read, the thing scotus relied on to decide that corporations have first amendment rights is not even a valid decision, it was a head note written by a gop freak who placed it on a case that didn’t find corps have constitutional rights at all. Not at all. I’m sure Roberts knows this- or should. They have managed to eff our country up and hand it lock, stock and barrel to the unscrupulous oligarchs. We can’t be mild, centrist, kowtowing Dems. That won’t fix the many broken parts of our democracy. You are absolutely right. Can you send your essay to every dem congressperson and senator? They should know what we want.
Roberts is educated in the law, but he is also a partisan, twisting things to arrive at where he wants to arrive.
Also most of our Democratic congresspeople and senators are very in touch and well aware of what we want. My congresswoman holds town hall meetings and in-district events constantly. Every year she holds an event called "Legacy" honoring her successors. It's a fancy dress party with a lavish buffet, music, speeches and lots of line dancing! And it's totally free — just sign up. You can go up and talk to her anytime. My friends in the districts on either side of me are envious — they only know what their congressmen (R) look like from photos, and one of them is embroiled in a major abuse scandal that will probably flip the district blue.
"You won't let me name a world renowned arts institution, that I had no involvement in building whatsoever, after me...fine I'll demolish it‼️"😡🤬👱🏾♂️👶🏼
You have put into words the way I have felt about trump since he was first elected. First of all, he has a world view most of us cannot imagine because it is so self-centered, under-educated, and lacking any moral compass. trump claims to love America. He does not love the country we actually are at our best; he wants to bend us to his white, faux-Christian, warrior, despot led dream. He doesn't understand how many things work, like government, health care, education, climate, negotiating, finances of non-billionaires. This does not stop him from trying to run this country like a shoddy family real estate company. And since when things go wrong he walks away or blames someone else, because he is never wrong and knows more about everything than anybody else..
How we got to this place as a country is disappointing and daunting. It took complicity and denial and weakness and inattention on the part of many,. This article and other sources hold out hope that if enough of us say no we can correct course. And these sources show us how to say NO often and loudly. Thank you.
Petulant yes. But mostly a big bully baby.
In the end there is one reason why this dictator gets away with this corruption. That is the John Roberts court. They have the power to reign in this maniac! Instead they enable it. Daily, they watch Trump's petty, childish, egocentric temper destroy significant protections to our country. The Trump appointees took an oath to defend the Constitution, but they decided to rewrite it instead. It is literally OBSCENE!
I'm sure someone understands why SCOTUS and elected officials, even in some cases the clergy who used to espouse the teachings in the Bible, have turned their backs on their oaths and become spreaders of hate, judgement, exclusion and violence. I sure don't. When I look at the people - men and women - who are deliberately destroying the Constitution, the lives of We the people, setting us against one another and vilifying the people we used to welcome to our country, even making the planet unlivable, I can't help but wonder: Is it really about money? Power? If they wind up with power and wealth but the people of the world are starving, drowning, choking on the air filled with pollution and smoke, and tearing one another apart, exactly what will be left? When did oaths, laws, morals and belief systems become meaningless except as steps on a ladder to get.....where?
You are right on target with your thoughts. I couldn’t agree more. It is very discouraging that the highest court in the land cannot be counted on to uphold and defend the Constitution (to which I thought the Unjustices swore an oath to.)
Well said, Mike. Mount up!
We ride at dawn!!!
The Executive Branch of the US Government is no doubt our number 1 enemy! How can a person trust any one or group that lie with every word spoken.
If Democrats really want to change things, they’ll abandon their support for a genocidal foreign state. You can’t compartmentalize a genocide and pretend your support for it, whether explicit or through silent acquiescence, doesn’t taint everything else. It defines you, no matter how much you want to ignore that fact. Normalization of evil in order to achieve a better life for the relatively comfortable is still evil. You’d rather sacrifice a whole people than fight to redeem a corrupted party. Just to gain some measure of personal comfort. That’s why a lot of us were not “proud” to support Kamala Harris.
Genocide is genocide. When you say you were not proud to support Kamala Harris, I take it that you did , with some reluctance. So did I, and I am glad I did, because compared to the genocide Trump and Doge collaborated on, they are far more genocidal!! Biden was more compassionate about the Palestinians in Gaza. He tried to save lives. It was Bibi, a nasty bit of homicidal brutality, that caused the failure of humanitarian aid. Had Harris won, we would not be in this fight for our own democracy. Holding back your vote will make for more brutality and genocide! Job 1, get rid of the fascists! If you did not vote for Harris, you voted for Trump. That is the practical result. Trump bots use this argument to split our vote. Do not fall for it.
Right on target, Mike as usual. Thanks for keeping our focus on what matters. The future of our country is at stake.
We know what's wrong with Trump...he's a sociopathic criminal. What I can't understand is why Congress AND the Supreme Court are willing to let him destroy our country and its people. They are supposed to represent us and our democracy, not this self-absorbed monster. I have taken students to the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian Museums, many monuments. NONE of those belong to him, and he doesn't value them or what they represent at all! My sixth graders did, though! They were better citizens than he will ever be!
To Mike...I'm glad you liked this. You're doing a great job!