If only you’d thrown in a picture of your dog…. We count on Joyce Vance for the chickens, Heather Cox Richardson for the pictures from Buddy and of course your Xeets and Giggles. But when offering calming words, and these were excellent ones, I encourage one of your dog as well.
Yes to dog photos! In addition to Jay and my much beloved and long adored Heather Cox Richardson, I have come to count on Robert Hubbell for optimistic realism as well as his occasional photos of the stars and night skies! Read his Today’s Edition for July 6, 2024 on Substack “Weekend Lessons from Astronomy” and all of his wonderful essays.
Y'all, I have a whole separate Instagram channel with JUST the dogs and cats. You don't have to follow or anything. But if you are feeling down, pop on over for some silliness. https://www.instagram.com/treecastlezoo
I've been profoundly depressed and have not turned the TV back on since the "debate." I'm following you, Simon Rosenberg (The Hopium Chronicles), Joyce Vance, and Heather Cox Richardson. I unsubscribed from Michael Moore, aka Debbie Downer.
Both my husband and I have been donating monthly (separately) to the Biden/Harris campaign for nearly a year and will continue doing so. A monthly donation via ActBlue with a credit card is so painless and every little bit counts. I hope everyone will do as we've done - money is the lifeblood of politics.
David... thats a great quote from Mark Twain. Thanks for that! I'm an over thinker too, and was born in Hannibal, MO so I am familiar with his brilliance. ✌️
I recently discovered Frank Schaeffer on Substack. He is a writer I’ve not heard of before, but he’s been posting these short videos that get to the heart of what we are experiencing at this moment in time. This one has a decidedly positive bent and it’s worth a listen.
Frank Schaeffer's book, Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back, is worth reading. He helped jump-start the anti-abortion movement with Jerry Falwell, which helped Reagan get elected.
I just did some research on Frank Schaeffer and discovered that he is a “reformed” evangelical Christian whose father was a famous theologian and preacher. He left all that behind and regrets deeply what evangelical Christianity has wrought in this country. He posted another video a couple of days ago that describes the “history” behind how we got to where we are today. It’s a fascinating and somewhat different take on this authoritarian trend we are facing. It’s about 12 minutes long and definitely worth watching:
Thank you for sharing this Janet! I have followed Frank for quite awhile and he is brilliant, sincere, and I absolutely agree with what he says in this video! We must do the work to get people educated and to the polls.
Side note:This is my favorite time of year on the western slope! I hope you’re enjoying that Colorado summer!
Thanks Lisa, it’s very green and lush here in Paonia and Hotchkiss because we’ve had quite a bit of rain, including some of those dramatic thunder and lightning storms. I can’t believe I managed to get this far in life without knowing about Frank Schaeffer. I subscribed to his newsletter, and I am reading/watching some of his previous posts. I am thrilled to have discovered him. He is certainly an important voice during these unprecedented times.
I wouldn’t say it’s positive. He’s a positive person and he is educating you as to what needs done. He is saying that we write our own future. Well, I’m pretty depressed about that because we have failed our ideals and the framers unequivocably and holy since 1980, at least. I could make a valid argument of such since November 63.
Just because he speaks English nice uplifting tones does not mean it’s a positive message. You should be scared shitless.
“No one ever went broke underestimating the stupidity of the American public.”
A friend of mine says “Don’t suffer twice.” Tearing ourselves apart about what might happen, just leaves less energy to deal with what really does. Easier said than done though
you really should go find campaign clips on YouTube, post debate. Nice strong voice. Nice enthusiasm.
I am mostly depressed in the ABC interview that his continuing point about his accomplishments is making this interview "not perfect." WTF? His doctors do not recommend a "full neurological exam" because they see no SYMPTOMS that warrant it, and that's a BAD thing?
On the ABC interview someone said he's going to have to go on showing his strengths to convince the American people. Of COURSE he will have to, and there's NO REASON to think he won't.
Anyone falling for the idea that "insider says he will take more naps" clearly didn't follow the trump trial. Trump was on trial for 34 felonies and he STILL fell asleep right while dealing with it. Jeesh.
He's being held to a higher standard than Trump, who can ramble about getting electrocuted by a battery while fighting off sharks, and other such blather. No one seems to be looking at the fact that Biden's been doing a GREAT job running the country, and continues to do so EVERY day.
Eisenhower had two heart attacks while in office. As far as I know, no one called for him to resign in favor of Nixon. Reagan had Alzheimer's and they managed to keep it under wraps for a few years. And people forget that there was talk among Trump's staff about invoking the 25th Amendment while he was still in office.
Right? We criticize Biden for assuring that he gets the rest he needs while 45 took three days off EVERY week and went golfing (and coolly took payment from our tax dollars to fund such ventures at his own clubs!) and never made it down to the office before 11am!!! And then he sat in his dining room watching cable tv all afternoon, aka “quality time!” WTH?? 🤦♀️ Trump is absolutely bonkers, and people are worried about Biden, who is literally doing two full-time jobs at once…one is the most difficult job on the planet, and the other is hard-core campaigning!! I couldn’t hold his schedule!
Vote Blue up and down ballot! We can do this!! 💙💙💙💙💙
Another informed and positive, but not sugary, Substack newsletter is Robert Hubbell's Today's Edition. Robert is an attorney who explains legal stuff and advocates and participates in pro-democracy actions around the country others can join in with. He also reads an audio version. It's almost a daily newsletter.
My top four, as well. A blessing to have them. And ActBlue is my monthly modality of help as well, through Simon Rosenberg's site, plus a little bump before or after big events.
I'm unsubscribing from Michael Moore also. Sometimes he gets out over his skis. I read the substack newsletters you mentioned as well. I have a subscription to the NYTimes, but I don't waste time reading it because of their anti Biden bias. Project 2025 is a horror collection of ideas about 900 pages long, but all the Times has is, "But Biden's age!" It is not longer the paper of record. It's just another fish wrapper.
I could no longer read the NYT and after a decades-long sub pulled the plug last week. it was freeing! 🤸. Speaking of reading…most people are not going to read through the
almost 1000 page Project 2025 Manifesto. Two resources I’ve been using to share and educate.📣
I am now bringing this up in conversations w/ just about everybody to see if they’ve heard of it—the most recent was the door-to-door proselytizers just yesterday (long and interesting discussion & I always bid them adieu with the words “may the Force be with you”}—and I find that most folks have no idea, so I encourage them to look into it & that it is NOT a spoof or joke.
I just unsubscribed from Chris Cillizza's So What substack. He has fallen into the media rabbit hole, like the former CNN news guy that he used to be. He has written about Trump very few times since the debate, but, hoo boyz, he has pounded his subscribers with at least a dozen or more ageist columns featuring Biden's supposed (from Cillizza's own 'expert' observations, mind you) enfeeblement. Often two or more/day. I got sick of it this morning and cancelled.
"The New York Times has run 192 stories about Biden’s debate performance and only 6 about Project 2025, according to media watch groups, since Thursday night."
We need to find a way to do something about this. I'm gonna hammer away at them relentlessly on BlueSky every time they post there. No matter what they post, I'm gonna rip them.
I adored Bruni’s writing. He’s gone squishy so I can’t afford to read him. I won’t argue about Krugman. But it’s Bouie I most miss. I do get gifted some articles though.
Yes, it’s insane and it’s deliberately vindictive. The New York Times has gone off the rails, and I don’t think they will ever recover from this, and personally, I hope they don’t.
Thank you for posting that Amanpour-HCR interview. I watched it (from a Substack link like this one) last night. It is well worth watching—HCR is so cogent and insightful. I was hopeful that Biden would get a good, incisive interview like this with Stephanopolos tonight but it was all, “why won’t you resign? Will you resign? Can you pass the mini-mental status exam, man, woman, camera, tv, and identify a cartoon of a tiger?”
Thank you Jay, from one former attorney to another. I have been despondent since the debate and had been taking a news and SM break as a result, but I really needed to hear this today. You singlehandedly kept me sane in the run up to the 2016 election and I'm going to keep looking to you to help me do the same this year. We cannot let the bastards win.
I've already been where you are ... I stand with President Biden regardless of the doomsayers. But my husband is a doom scroller and unfortunately is highly reactive to the hype ... I have to clamp my teeth together and walk away or I'll lose it.
Instead of walking away from the doomscrollers (and I have many), I have extended some empathy their way. It is a common thing to be freaking out right now. It means people’s values are in the right place, even if they lack the tools to process it.
Jay, I do feel empathy. Fortunately, my husband is as committed to voting Blue as I am. I share all the good news and your posts with him everyday... and he slowly comes around. It's hard for him because he's older and more committed to mainstream media (thankfully not Fox News). He has to get there on his own tho, he doesn't like being "pushed"
Hah I just read “Doom Scroller” as “Doom Scholar”. Maybe my eyes are going bad because of age lol. But maybe Doom Scholar would be a good book or band name these days. Thanks for the mental health tip. I also follow Bandy Lee and Ruth Ben-Ghiat, who are great on evaluating psychological dangerousness and authoritarian historical precedents respectively. I wish the psychological approaches would be more well-known. For example Jerrold Post draws on psychoanalysis of leader follower relations in his book, which I review here:
I have distanced myself from corporate media altogether because I've become so disgusted with their handwringing and calls for Biden to step down. It's almost like they are trying to throw the election to Trump. People are obsessing over a 90-minute debate against a consummate liar and completely forgetting how much Biden has accomplished in the last 3-1/2 years and how much better off we are under his leadership. If I want facts and clear thinking, I'll stick with Heather Cox Richardson, Jay Kuo, Politics Girl, and Beau of the Fifth Column.
Susan, I think some of them ARE trying to do just that. For whatever motivations they have. But we shouldn’t focus on their motivations, just ignore them and fight on.
Check out that interview of heather Richardson done by CNN (amazingly) . She lays it out clearly, scary we but need to know it. Robert Hubble recommended it, another of my go- to’s.
I did watch HCR's interview on CNN. She is a national treasure and a hero, in my opinion. I will have to check out Robert Hubble, as others have mentioned him to me as well.
Thanks jay. I was cutting my lawn this afternoon. I do a lot of my thinking during that time. All I could think of was “what can I do to help? “. All I could think of was all the negativity on what seems like all the media about JRB, but then I realized all I was seeing were the negative stories. Then I thought of emailing those two house reps that came out asking Joe to drop out and saying , respectively of course, “what the fuck are you guys doing?” I just wanted to say was “ support your president, take a page out of the GOP playbook and stick with your guy”. I wanted to yell it in their faces. It may not make any difference but it would make me feel better anyway. But I know we just need to stay the course, ignore all those a-holes in the media who have ulterior motives and hang tough for Joe. Goodness has to win out in the end. The alternative is not an option.
Thank you, I have read Chop/carry, and read Hubbell . Once we’re done planning/helping with our daughter’s wedding I’ll be able to do more but thanks for the suggestions
Thank you, Jay. I can honestly say, "I'm Ridin' With Biden". Most of the SCOTUS has shown it's true bias toward Christo-Fascism, and I will not support that.
Well said, Jay, and thank you for the calming chat. You, Heather, Simon R. and Joyce are my go-tos, and I just now wrote MSNBC as much in a Dear John email to them after being unable to turn on Chris Hayes' show (whom I normally adore) without another hit piece or interview slagging Biden for not quitting. Substack and Threads for me, going forward, and you're right at the top of the list.
Thanks for this Jay. I cancelled my subscription to the NYT a few months ago, and this week refuse to turn on CNN. Even some of the Substack writers I read are piling on, and I’m limiting who I read at this point. Alternately furious and heartbroken at what has occurred this week, but I’m not giving up on Biden. I have never sent any communication to a president, but did send him an email last night saying I hope he runs, and I will support him. Because I now live in Canada, I can’t really write postcards, and they won’t even take my donation from a US credit card bc I don’t have a US billing address, but I can vote and will.
Plus that was only ONE nite! He has been non stop since the un-peaceful transfer of power in 2021, three years ago! Thank goodness Biden is still willing to do this thankless job! I will happily vote 4 Biden again! ✌️💙🤍❤️
I just heard that the once venerable NYT’s has stopped the ability to cancel online and subscribers must CALL to do so now. Hence, the Power of the People!
So glad I beat them to the punch and canceled online before being forced to try to have a conversation with their (apparently) trumpy sycophants !!
Great article, Jay. I’m forwarding it to all my friends and will subscribe now!
You are great. 😊 Thank you. I’ll try to quit screaming at my iPad as I scan the headlines, “What the f*** is wrong with you people?!??” Joe Biden is our best hope to beat the Felon. I’m 110% behind him. One bad (so-called) debate is merely a bump in the road, not the end of the road. It’s a long time in the political world until November.
No he’s not free no corporate donor class representative he’s going to win. No. Mark my words. If we do not install a legitimate representative of “we the people“ such as the few meeting 7H members of the Democratic Party in Congress who do not take corporate lobbyist poem Greece therefore arc beholden to the planet reaping treasury pillaging executive and major stakeholder class. OK, keep throwing candidate mean that’s what democratic Ferguson she was do….
Looking backwards at all of the candidates you should’ve defeated and you should’ve not nominated, you’ve learned nothing? Michael Dukakis? HRC? John Kerry ?
Al Gore and Barack Obama are the only two correct choices in the last 50 years. I know that includes Jimmy and I love Jimmy, but Mo Udall the superior candidate
Thank you and that’s sound advice. I also recommend to please call your senators, esp if you live in VA, and reps and tell them to knock it off about Biden stepping down.
We are presented with an opportunity to repair a grave mistake we made in 2020. We need to seize it and exploit it. Joe, Kamala or any other corporate donor class tool will lose. Straight up. We must tap into the only demographic that matters to either party. Ignored because they’re body politic model simply does not reach them. That is the 40 to 80,000,000 registered non-voters. That’s how a black man became president of this racist shit hole. No corporate donor class DNC supportive candidate will motivate them to show up. None. Rightly so.
Pete Townshend was right. “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss”
How do you not understand when the executive and leader ship of a party that is beholden to planet and treasury raping corporate executives in major stakeholders, the candidate they’re trying to suppress in their own party is the person to vote for or not that hard. Focus
They can’t quit the click. We need a special 12 Step program. They have failed their nation, our nation, and all of us. Hope they enjoy their damn yachts.
If only you’d thrown in a picture of your dog…. We count on Joyce Vance for the chickens, Heather Cox Richardson for the pictures from Buddy and of course your Xeets and Giggles. But when offering calming words, and these were excellent ones, I encourage one of your dog as well.
Yes to dog photos! In addition to Jay and my much beloved and long adored Heather Cox Richardson, I have come to count on Robert Hubbell for optimistic realism as well as his occasional photos of the stars and night skies! Read his Today’s Edition for July 6, 2024 on Substack “Weekend Lessons from Astronomy” and all of his wonderful essays.
And let’s not forget cats and kittens! C&K videos are my go-to for calming down. THOSE beings DGAF about human politics!
I’m a cat person myself but so far as I know Jay doesn’t have any.
Jay has a cat too!
I stand corrected. Then we must have cat pictures as well when we are being talked off the ledge.
👏👏🤣
I think you’re right about that. I love both species but want cats to take over the world.
Yeah, phuk all those songbirds and ground nesting migratory species……
Charlie Sykes always has dog pics!
https://charliesykes.substack.com/
I have a lot of animosity towards that man for his years of beating the anti-abortion drums loud and proud. Just saying.
Same. Mona Charen as well.
Absolutely!
Same! Haven’t forgotten…
And didn’t he come out in support of asking Biden to step down?
Probably. All those Republican Never Trumpers seem to think that we give a shit what they think!
Don't forget Tofu! wooff!
Y'all, I have a whole separate Instagram channel with JUST the dogs and cats. You don't have to follow or anything. But if you are feeling down, pop on over for some silliness. https://www.instagram.com/treecastlezoo
Looking forward to seeing this! Thank you!
Yes, I thank you too!
I've been profoundly depressed and have not turned the TV back on since the "debate." I'm following you, Simon Rosenberg (The Hopium Chronicles), Joyce Vance, and Heather Cox Richardson. I unsubscribed from Michael Moore, aka Debbie Downer.
Both my husband and I have been donating monthly (separately) to the Biden/Harris campaign for nearly a year and will continue doing so. A monthly donation via ActBlue with a credit card is so painless and every little bit counts. I hope everyone will do as we've done - money is the lifeblood of politics.
Me too! I’ve had a lot of anxiety because of my tendency to overthink everything.
A quote from Mark Twain gives perspective:
“I’m an old man and I’ve seen great troubles, but most of it never happened.”
David... thats a great quote from Mark Twain. Thanks for that! I'm an over thinker too, and was born in Hannibal, MO so I am familiar with his brilliance. ✌️
I always appreciate getting a “like” from the great Susan Niemann!
LOL 😂😂
Give me a minute, I need to I overthink this….
My bumper sticker!
Good one!
I recently discovered Frank Schaeffer on Substack. He is a writer I’ve not heard of before, but he’s been posting these short videos that get to the heart of what we are experiencing at this moment in time. This one has a decidedly positive bent and it’s worth a listen.
https://open.substack.com/pub/frankschaeffer/p/our-future-has-not-been-written-do?r=2vk1c6&utm_medium=ios
Frank Schaeffer's book, Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back, is worth reading. He helped jump-start the anti-abortion movement with Jerry Falwell, which helped Reagan get elected.
I just did some research on Frank Schaeffer and discovered that he is a “reformed” evangelical Christian whose father was a famous theologian and preacher. He left all that behind and regrets deeply what evangelical Christianity has wrought in this country. He posted another video a couple of days ago that describes the “history” behind how we got to where we are today. It’s a fascinating and somewhat different take on this authoritarian trend we are facing. It’s about 12 minutes long and definitely worth watching:
https://open.substack.com/pub/frankschaeffer/p/the-god-reigns-supreme-court?r=2vk1c6&utm_medium=ios
Thanks I'll look at it......good to hear that some of these folks can change their minds for the better.
Thank you for sharing this Janet! I have followed Frank for quite awhile and he is brilliant, sincere, and I absolutely agree with what he says in this video! We must do the work to get people educated and to the polls.
Side note:This is my favorite time of year on the western slope! I hope you’re enjoying that Colorado summer!
Thanks Lisa, it’s very green and lush here in Paonia and Hotchkiss because we’ve had quite a bit of rain, including some of those dramatic thunder and lightning storms. I can’t believe I managed to get this far in life without knowing about Frank Schaeffer. I subscribed to his newsletter, and I am reading/watching some of his previous posts. I am thrilled to have discovered him. He is certainly an important voice during these unprecedented times.
I wouldn’t say it’s positive. He’s a positive person and he is educating you as to what needs done. He is saying that we write our own future. Well, I’m pretty depressed about that because we have failed our ideals and the framers unequivocably and holy since 1980, at least. I could make a valid argument of such since November 63.
Just because he speaks English nice uplifting tones does not mean it’s a positive message. You should be scared shitless.
“No one ever went broke underestimating the stupidity of the American public.”
PT Barnum
I feel that too.. One thing I've learned in a long life is that most of the awful things that you fear never happen.
A friend of mine says “Don’t suffer twice.” Tearing ourselves apart about what might happen, just leaves less energy to deal with what really does. Easier said than done though
My mom said “a coward dies many times before his death. The valiant never taste of death but once”. (Shakespeare??)
We don’t have to “deal” with anything, if we could manage to pull our collective heads out of our collective asses.
It’s our movie. Get the fuck out of this seat and do you want to production.
Sow the seeds of apathy, ELSEWHERE
Love that, and, as an old person myself, so true!!
you really should go find campaign clips on YouTube, post debate. Nice strong voice. Nice enthusiasm.
I am mostly depressed in the ABC interview that his continuing point about his accomplishments is making this interview "not perfect." WTF? His doctors do not recommend a "full neurological exam" because they see no SYMPTOMS that warrant it, and that's a BAD thing?
On the ABC interview someone said he's going to have to go on showing his strengths to convince the American people. Of COURSE he will have to, and there's NO REASON to think he won't.
Anyone falling for the idea that "insider says he will take more naps" clearly didn't follow the trump trial. Trump was on trial for 34 felonies and he STILL fell asleep right while dealing with it. Jeesh.
He's being held to a higher standard than Trump, who can ramble about getting electrocuted by a battery while fighting off sharks, and other such blather. No one seems to be looking at the fact that Biden's been doing a GREAT job running the country, and continues to do so EVERY day.
Eisenhower had two heart attacks while in office. As far as I know, no one called for him to resign in favor of Nixon. Reagan had Alzheimer's and they managed to keep it under wraps for a few years. And people forget that there was talk among Trump's staff about invoking the 25th Amendment while he was still in office.
It’s maddening that this wonderful president doesn’t get the credit he deserves.
Wow, thanks for these facts, Kathleen.....and Yeah...Biden's been a really good President esp. in the light of all the c**p from the Repugs....
Where’s the call for Trump’s neurological test?
Buried in the same inexplicable hole that discussing his lies is.
Right? We criticize Biden for assuring that he gets the rest he needs while 45 took three days off EVERY week and went golfing (and coolly took payment from our tax dollars to fund such ventures at his own clubs!) and never made it down to the office before 11am!!! And then he sat in his dining room watching cable tv all afternoon, aka “quality time!” WTH?? 🤦♀️ Trump is absolutely bonkers, and people are worried about Biden, who is literally doing two full-time jobs at once…one is the most difficult job on the planet, and the other is hard-core campaigning!! I couldn’t hold his schedule!
Vote Blue up and down ballot! We can do this!! 💙💙💙💙💙
Right On, Peggy!
Another informed and positive, but not sugary, Substack newsletter is Robert Hubbell's Today's Edition. Robert is an attorney who explains legal stuff and advocates and participates in pro-democracy actions around the country others can join in with. He also reads an audio version. It's almost a daily newsletter.
My top four, as well. A blessing to have them. And ActBlue is my monthly modality of help as well, through Simon Rosenberg's site, plus a little bump before or after big events.
I'm unsubscribing from Michael Moore also. Sometimes he gets out over his skis. I read the substack newsletters you mentioned as well. I have a subscription to the NYTimes, but I don't waste time reading it because of their anti Biden bias. Project 2025 is a horror collection of ideas about 900 pages long, but all the Times has is, "But Biden's age!" It is not longer the paper of record. It's just another fish wrapper.
I could no longer read the NYT and after a decades-long sub pulled the plug last week. it was freeing! 🤸. Speaking of reading…most people are not going to read through the
almost 1000 page Project 2025 Manifesto. Two resources I’ve been using to share and educate.📣
From the Biden campaign
https://joebiden.com/project2025/
Andra Watkins is a NYT best-selling author who “escaped” Christian
Nationalism decades ago. She has read and dissected P2025.She often
uses shareable quotes and page # .
https://open.substack.com/pub/project2025istheocracy/p/p2025-promise-3-defend-our-nations?r=fqsxl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
I just ordered my ASK ME ABOUT PROJECT 2025 button.10$ with shipping.
https://www.zazzle.com/s/personalized+
Action really does help alleviate the anxiety here in MAGA-ville, Fl !
May I also suggest the site Stop The Coup 2025: https://www.stopthecoup2025.org/
I am now bringing this up in conversations w/ just about everybody to see if they’ve heard of it—the most recent was the door-to-door proselytizers just yesterday (long and interesting discussion & I always bid them adieu with the words “may the Force be with you”}—and I find that most folks have no idea, so I encourage them to look into it & that it is NOT a spoof or joke.
Good for you! My kids and grandkids all live in Florida. I pray for them daily.
I just unsubscribed from Chris Cillizza's So What substack. He has fallen into the media rabbit hole, like the former CNN news guy that he used to be. He has written about Trump very few times since the debate, but, hoo boyz, he has pounded his subscribers with at least a dozen or more ageist columns featuring Biden's supposed (from Cillizza's own 'expert' observations, mind you) enfeeblement. Often two or more/day. I got sick of it this morning and cancelled.
I unsubscribed from Chris Cilizza too. He doesn't know squat.
A very expensive fish wrapper. We unsubscribed and feel much better. More time to read excellent Substack posts like Status Kuo!
Me, too, Kathleen!
I am unsubscribing from Michael Moore too for the same reason!
Thank you so much for doing your part maintaining the status quo of planet and a treasury raping corporate donor class tools running the country.
ffs
Thanks for the excellent pep talk.
This is insane:
"The New York Times has run 192 stories about Biden’s debate performance and only 6 about Project 2025, according to media watch groups, since Thursday night."
We need to find a way to do something about this. I'm gonna hammer away at them relentlessly on BlueSky every time they post there. No matter what they post, I'm gonna rip them.
If only the NYT had run 192 stories celebrating all Biden’s accomplishments.
I don’t miss anything about the Times except Jamelle Bouie.
Frank Bruni and Paul Krugman are pretty good.
And Wapo’s Jennifer Rubin!
She said yesterday, that if Biden was in a coma, she’d still vote for him…that’s a big statement!
I adored Bruni’s writing. He’s gone squishy so I can’t afford to read him. I won’t argue about Krugman. But it’s Bouie I most miss. I do get gifted some articles though.
Bouie is fantastic. His knowledge of history is unsurpassed in the media business.
You want history squared with current politics? Try Heather Cox Richardson. She's amazingly intelligent and on point.
And just now I saw the headline of Bruni’s latest piece. Looks more like what I was used to reading of his. Can’t read it as I’ve unsubscribed.
Maybe I’m just fed up with the lot of them.
Always delighted when a fellow traveler (in this case, you) sees brilliance where I see brilliance. ✨ Thank you.
Friend link:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/04/opinion/donald-trump-immunity.html?unlocked_article_code=1.5E0.pe-j.FpNYdrCeg1Lg&smid=url-share
And yeah, it's more the Bruni of old.
Bouie is also on TikTok and a delight to enjoy with that medium.
Thank you so much, Anna B. I didn’t know that! 🥳
Jamelle Bouie *is* a solid citizen, for sure.
I’d miss Philip Galanes, but now his advice is shared on the Facebook group, Social Queues—Non-Times Affiliated, so I can read it there.
Yes, it’s insane and it’s deliberately vindictive. The New York Times has gone off the rails, and I don’t think they will ever recover from this, and personally, I hope they don’t.
I’m very disappointed in them.
Drop your subscription…
I did!
Great idea, I’ll join you, I’m also on BlueSky.
In addition to HCR and Joyce Vance, David Pepper is a good read on Substack. So is Timothy Snyder.
OTOH, some things get missed, and I very much recommend this interview of HCR. She lays it out. https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/03/tv/video/amanpour-heather-cox-richardson
Also, Mary Trump.
Great interview with HCR.
that was a fantastic interview with HCR.
Thank you for sharing that interview!
Thank you for posting that Amanpour-HCR interview. I watched it (from a Substack link like this one) last night. It is well worth watching—HCR is so cogent and insightful. I was hopeful that Biden would get a good, incisive interview like this with Stephanopolos tonight but it was all, “why won’t you resign? Will you resign? Can you pass the mini-mental status exam, man, woman, camera, tv, and identify a cartoon of a tiger?”
I loved this interview as she made it clear the danger that lies ahead
Teri Kanefield is invaluable in her deep dives on the mechanics of what is going on legally. And she has a sharp wit.
We need to be talking about how to stop the Supreme Court from stealing the election as they did for george w.
Thank you Jay, from one former attorney to another. I have been despondent since the debate and had been taking a news and SM break as a result, but I really needed to hear this today. You singlehandedly kept me sane in the run up to the 2016 election and I'm going to keep looking to you to help me do the same this year. We cannot let the bastards win.
I've already been where you are ... I stand with President Biden regardless of the doomsayers. But my husband is a doom scroller and unfortunately is highly reactive to the hype ... I have to clamp my teeth together and walk away or I'll lose it.
Instead of walking away from the doomscrollers (and I have many), I have extended some empathy their way. It is a common thing to be freaking out right now. It means people’s values are in the right place, even if they lack the tools to process it.
Jay, I do feel empathy. Fortunately, my husband is as committed to voting Blue as I am. I share all the good news and your posts with him everyday... and he slowly comes around. It's hard for him because he's older and more committed to mainstream media (thankfully not Fox News). He has to get there on his own tho, he doesn't like being "pushed"
Hah I just read “Doom Scroller” as “Doom Scholar”. Maybe my eyes are going bad because of age lol. But maybe Doom Scholar would be a good book or band name these days. Thanks for the mental health tip. I also follow Bandy Lee and Ruth Ben-Ghiat, who are great on evaluating psychological dangerousness and authoritarian historical precedents respectively. I wish the psychological approaches would be more well-known. For example Jerrold Post draws on psychoanalysis of leader follower relations in his book, which I review here:
MOSF 19.5: Dangerous Charisma: Unpacking Trump’s Leadership and His Followers’ Mentality https://eastwindezine.com/mosf-19-5-dangerous-charisma-unpacking-trumps-leadership-and-his-followers-mentality/
Thanks Jay! I needed that.
My husband is the same. I’m with Biden all the way.
I have distanced myself from corporate media altogether because I've become so disgusted with their handwringing and calls for Biden to step down. It's almost like they are trying to throw the election to Trump. People are obsessing over a 90-minute debate against a consummate liar and completely forgetting how much Biden has accomplished in the last 3-1/2 years and how much better off we are under his leadership. If I want facts and clear thinking, I'll stick with Heather Cox Richardson, Jay Kuo, Politics Girl, and Beau of the Fifth Column.
Susan, I think some of them ARE trying to do just that. For whatever motivations they have. But we shouldn’t focus on their motivations, just ignore them and fight on.
Check out that interview of heather Richardson done by CNN (amazingly) . She lays it out clearly, scary we but need to know it. Robert Hubble recommended it, another of my go- to’s.
I did watch HCR's interview on CNN. She is a national treasure and a hero, in my opinion. I will have to check out Robert Hubble, as others have mentioned him to me as well.
Thanks jay. I was cutting my lawn this afternoon. I do a lot of my thinking during that time. All I could think of was “what can I do to help? “. All I could think of was all the negativity on what seems like all the media about JRB, but then I realized all I was seeing were the negative stories. Then I thought of emailing those two house reps that came out asking Joe to drop out and saying , respectively of course, “what the fuck are you guys doing?” I just wanted to say was “ support your president, take a page out of the GOP playbook and stick with your guy”. I wanted to yell it in their faces. It may not make any difference but it would make me feel better anyway. But I know we just need to stay the course, ignore all those a-holes in the media who have ulterior motives and hang tough for Joe. Goodness has to win out in the end. The alternative is not an option.
Agreed! Luckily the majority isn't insane! 4 mo' Joe!! ✌️💙🤍❤️
I like the way you think!
for “what can I do to help?“:
substack Chop Wood, Carry Water (by Jessica Craven) is always FULL of suggestions! (except she's recovering from covid right now)
And Today's Edition (by Robert Hubbell often has lots of suggestions (after his daily new digests)
And online comment sections to those also include lots more suggestions.
Thank you, I have read Chop/carry, and read Hubbell . Once we’re done planning/helping with our daughter’s wedding I’ll be able to do more but thanks for the suggestions
Thank you, Jay. I can honestly say, "I'm Ridin' With Biden". Most of the SCOTUS has shown it's true bias toward Christo-Fascism, and I will not support that.
Well said, Jay, and thank you for the calming chat. You, Heather, Simon R. and Joyce are my go-tos, and I just now wrote MSNBC as much in a Dear John email to them after being unable to turn on Chris Hayes' show (whom I normally adore) without another hit piece or interview slagging Biden for not quitting. Substack and Threads for me, going forward, and you're right at the top of the list.
Thanks for this Jay. I cancelled my subscription to the NYT a few months ago, and this week refuse to turn on CNN. Even some of the Substack writers I read are piling on, and I’m limiting who I read at this point. Alternately furious and heartbroken at what has occurred this week, but I’m not giving up on Biden. I have never sent any communication to a president, but did send him an email last night saying I hope he runs, and I will support him. Because I now live in Canada, I can’t really write postcards, and they won’t even take my donation from a US credit card bc I don’t have a US billing address, but I can vote and will.
Plus that was only ONE nite! He has been non stop since the un-peaceful transfer of power in 2021, three years ago! Thank goodness Biden is still willing to do this thankless job! I will happily vote 4 Biden again! ✌️💙🤍❤️
I just heard that the once venerable NYT’s has stopped the ability to cancel online and subscribers must CALL to do so now. Hence, the Power of the People!
So glad I beat them to the punch and canceled online before being forced to try to have a conversation with their (apparently) trumpy sycophants !!
Great article, Jay. I’m forwarding it to all my friends and will subscribe now!
You are great. 😊 Thank you. I’ll try to quit screaming at my iPad as I scan the headlines, “What the f*** is wrong with you people?!??” Joe Biden is our best hope to beat the Felon. I’m 110% behind him. One bad (so-called) debate is merely a bump in the road, not the end of the road. It’s a long time in the political world until November.
No he’s not free no corporate donor class representative he’s going to win. No. Mark my words. If we do not install a legitimate representative of “we the people“ such as the few meeting 7H members of the Democratic Party in Congress who do not take corporate lobbyist poem Greece therefore arc beholden to the planet reaping treasury pillaging executive and major stakeholder class. OK, keep throwing candidate mean that’s what democratic Ferguson she was do….
Looking backwards at all of the candidates you should’ve defeated and you should’ve not nominated, you’ve learned nothing? Michael Dukakis? HRC? John Kerry ?
Al Gore and Barack Obama are the only two correct choices in the last 50 years. I know that includes Jimmy and I love Jimmy, but Mo Udall the superior candidate
Thank you and that’s sound advice. I also recommend to please call your senators, esp if you live in VA, and reps and tell them to knock it off about Biden stepping down.
I'm standing with my senator, John Fetterman! So glad to be up here in PA.
We are presented with an opportunity to repair a grave mistake we made in 2020. We need to seize it and exploit it. Joe, Kamala or any other corporate donor class tool will lose. Straight up. We must tap into the only demographic that matters to either party. Ignored because they’re body politic model simply does not reach them. That is the 40 to 80,000,000 registered non-voters. That’s how a black man became president of this racist shit hole. No corporate donor class DNC supportive candidate will motivate them to show up. None. Rightly so.
Pete Townshend was right. “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss”
How do you not understand when the executive and leader ship of a party that is beholden to planet and treasury raping corporate executives in major stakeholders, the candidate they’re trying to suppress in their own party is the person to vote for or not that hard. Focus
EXACTLY Jay. Joyce and Heather are voices of reality. There are other good ones too. A long list, actually.
Don’t forget Jeff Tiedrich, his humor helps me through every day.
Thank you Jay. I watched the interview, and I’m disgusted with the pundits there. Joe is the better candidate by a margin of millions!
Including Nancy Pelosi. NYT. What’s up with them? And cable news. Market share. CNN is in the toilet.
They can’t quit the click. We need a special 12 Step program. They have failed their nation, our nation, and all of us. Hope they enjoy their damn yachts.
“Quit the click”! It’s a great slogan.
Excellent advice, Jay, thank you!