A majority of Republicans don't care about the lying. To them, a $787.5M settlement is all just part of the circus. They will vote for their ring leader and it won't matter to them if it's the real Trump or some other Trump.
On our side, Gen-Z and millennials will vote they way the voted in 2020, for gender inclusion and racial diversity. They're looking for empathy, respect and to be seen and heard.
Gen-Z & millennials voted for Biden in historic numbers. How did Biden respond ?
By appointing a record number of women and women of color.
The LGBTQ appointments in the Biden-Harris administration number 200 + to date.
If I were a Republican, I would be worried.
Sorry folks....we're told there are some that don't live in the Fox echo chamber.
P.S. One more reason why substack rocks ! let's me post multiple links.
It would be quite an endeavor to supercede the Republican party in their fantastical comingling of farce, distortion, grotesque burlesque and bravado borne of misguided entitlement, along with their nose-holding, legs up, fetalized evangelical copilots.
They are distinctly inept on all fronts, but simply intent on sowing any manner of discord, no matter how ludicrous, in order to justify imposition of despotic rule, relying on the rest of us simply staring mouth agape, stunned into acquiescence.
So, let's not let that happen.
The GAP- Grossly Absurd Party needs, in the style of Space X, to undergo a rapid disassembly.
Someone once said, if you want to know a party's values, look at their budget bills. I find it interesting that Republicans seem to care little about pissing off every group, now including veterans, just to appease their base. How is this even considered a winning strategy? I appreciate how President Biden is handling this, but if the Republicans succeed in defaulting, the press will blame President Biden and the Democrats, because, well, it's what they do.
They will not succeed if we, meaning all sensible people who understand what a default would mean, turn the mirror on McCarthy and his gang. Getting modern day "journalists" to do the same will require a howl of anger and contempt from the wronged public the likes of which this country has not seen in a long, long time, if ever.
Instead of talking about it, we ALL need to speak truth to power.
I wish that we, the Dems, would stop making this all about abortion rights. Sure that is a critical issue that activists Mullah (perfect term) and far right extremists are trying to strip basic rights in the name of power and control, but its also about LGBTQ+ rights, minority rights, voters rights, taxpayer rights to have equal treatment rather than the low and middle class funding lavish lifestyles for the wealthy and corporations who avoid taxes, the right to elect our leaders rather than having autocrats steal a dictatorship through propaganda and coup. But most importantly, it is the right of the people to not have politicians use the wealth and power of our government to attack us, as businesses or individuals. Remember what happened to the Dixie Chicks when they disagreed with President Warmonger? But now, every week, Rump or DeSatan say "Hold my beer!" to the point where the federal government canceling a music group for disagreeing seems trivial. Abortion rights is just one tiny little piece of that, and doesn't engage large segments of our voters.
I don't know how to politic, but it bugs me to see political commercials that only mention abortion. It seems very short sighted.
And while I'm ranting, I'd like to see Biden and all Dems in congress, and Dems across the board, start using the flag and patriotic imagery constantly to the point where these guys using our national flag as a symbol of fascism and the stripping of human rights, like a union jack or nazi flag, will stop because they don't want to be mistaken for a liberal snowflake
Sorry, Jay, not snapping at you, I just had to vent.
The Democrats are following the polling, which shows that abortion is the winningest issue among the winning issues. But it can become numbing to audiences.
It seems to me that that path ignores basic math. Elections are won by a few percent.
I understand working to motivate the women and younger voters who might otherwise not vote, but we have a growing crisis here that has even soured many conservatives on the extremists seizing control, and the whole Lord Trump thing. So abortion scores 70% in the poll, and the extremist takeover scores 68% (as an important issue), so abortion wins, let's put all of our eggs in that basket and ignore the large margins on other issues.
Which (abortion/single-issue) is really terrible as a sustainable strategy; it’s reactive and looking just at the next election. And that is how it looks from the bird’s eye. But here in NC, we have Anderson Clayton, a 26yo new Chair of the Democratic Party, who is getting people excited in rural areas and on college campuses. So, that feels on point and helpful.
I’m with you, Ron, in my frustration about how much more this election is about and the fact that, yet again, abortion is used as a wedge issue to get out the vote. The alliance of oligarchs and autocrats who want America to be a plutocracy is the bigger issue, to me.
I like your idea, Ron. When we moved just under a year ago I was hesitant to fly Old Glory because I didn’t want our new neighbors to think we were MAGAt’s. Now that I’ve flown the Pride flag 🏳️🌈 a number of times, and the Earth flag 🌍 this week, I think I can safely fly our American flag 🇺🇸 on non-US-holidays without worrying!
A flag on a truck, especially coupled with the stars & bars, is not a symbol of this country's greatness, it is a symbol of an ignorant asshole. Pardon my language, but there is no better word.
We fly our flag on holidays in honor of my late father, and on my quiet street they know why, because most of our neighbors knew and loved His Crustiness. West Point class of '47, Vietnam vet, fighter pilot, NATO wing commander . . . a man who lived the West Point honor code: "You will not lie, cheat, or steal, nor tolerate those that do." [Lord, yes, he instilled that in his kids!] FWIW, and the neighbors know it because he told them why, he HATED Pompeo and all "the other firsties." (In WP parlance, the guy who graduated first in the class. Never a well-liked person by the greater Association of Graduates.)
So fly your flag, and remember it is a symbol, and that only. To Dad, it was a symbol of what happened on D-Day and the defeat of the Axis powers. That is a good enough reason for this liberal to fly it, in these days of neo-fascism.
Only have one flagpole! But I do have a schedule to change it frequently. I was going to fly the generic Sun flag when I take down the Earth Flag, but now I think I'll put up the ol' Red, White, and Blue. Then, just before Harvey Milk's bday, I'll put up the Pride flag again.
Good vent, BTW. Abortion is at front-and-center in the media at the moment. Gun issues are a close second and another mass shooting will rocket it into first place. I keep coming back (in my mind, at least) to the concept of taxation without representation. When politicians take a personal agenda forward, against the obvious will of the voters, that is NOT representation.
Abortion has the unique benefit that pretty much all Democrats, and even a few Republicans, are behind it, because it affects so many voters. Sad to say, there are anti-LGBTQ+ Democrats, such as Tulsi Gabbard (although she apologized for some of the worst of it) and the usual suspect, Joe Manchin.
Understood, but Trump didn't get in by picking a single subject that reached the most people. He sought out and bought the votes of various groups through promises and propaganda. He wooed the most unlikely support of the evangelicals by promising to give them power over the people like the dark ages. He appealed separately to white nationalists, wealthy corporations, and blue collar workers, especially those with horse and buggy trades like coal mining. He never used the same bait twice. Whoever was advising him understood math.
Last night we watched “All the President’s Men”. Even though I lived through that time, I had forgotten a lot of it. So I looked up the Watergate Scandal in Wikipedia. Omigosh. To borrow a quote: “Deja vu all over again!” Or more likely - the more things change, the more they stay the same! Check it out.
THIS made me laugh, we grew up in the same era, probably with different experiences. I will never forget the evening (we were at Incirlik AFB in Turkey where Dad was the wing commander) and that red phone in his office rang. It NEVER, EVER rang. It was a direct line to the WH, in case things blew up in the region. We were at the dinner table. We all looked at each other. Dad got up and picked up the phone. He put it on speaker (I don't know why -- now it seems odd he did so unless he already knew). "SIR, this is Staff Seargant XX. I am calling to inform you that Spiro Agnew has resigned!" (NCO's issuing news to officers are always loud and crisp.
Every single fork dropped at the table.
Later, in college, I was a classmate of Haldeman's son. Those events ruined that (then) boy's self-esteem.
It is always about the me, and never about the other.
It’s going to be a great day full of good surprises! I’m spending the day in San Fran w my son, thinking about hitting the zoo and lots of sight seeing.
Let's add "seditionist traitor" to the list of adjectives describing Trump. In truth, he should be legally barred from running right now due to his clear violation of the 14th Amendment. His multi-pronged attempted coup only failed from lack of execution, not from lack of trying. The DOJ has been way too slow to the table to help us, as a nation, avoid Trump Farce III.
Pick an organization that helps young voters register and vote — there are many. As Cleta Mitchell noted in her talk with GOP donors last weekend, more young people voting is fatal to the GOP. Red states are crafting hurdles left and right, and these organizations are on the crucial front line. They need our help.
In 2016, I voted for trump because he promised to "Drain The Swamp." Three months later I realized that he lied to the American people. While he did remove people from the government, he back-filled those positions with cronies and ass-kissers. In retrospect, he has made this country weak, sick and stupid. Jay, your cavalcade of This Week Ahead hits me like a nightmare circus parade. That some of these people still hold office is absolutely shocking to me.
While I could be cautiously optimistic, the last two years of "whack-a-mole" have made me wonder if I have somehow stumbled into a dystopian "Bizarro World" (Superman reference) from which I can not egress.
As Jay says, keep your fingers crossed. I would add VOTE!! when the time comes and get your friends and family to do the same!
Thank you for ending with upbeat words of wisdom! You always make me feel hopeful!
A majority of Republicans don't care about the lying. To them, a $787.5M settlement is all just part of the circus. They will vote for their ring leader and it won't matter to them if it's the real Trump or some other Trump.
On our side, Gen-Z and millennials will vote they way the voted in 2020, for gender inclusion and racial diversity. They're looking for empathy, respect and to be seen and heard.
Gen-Z & millennials voted for Biden in historic numbers. How did Biden respond ?
By appointing a record number of women and women of color.
The LGBTQ appointments in the Biden-Harris administration number 200 + to date.
If I were a Republican, I would be worried.
Sorry folks....we're told there are some that don't live in the Fox echo chamber.
P.S. One more reason why substack rocks ! let's me post multiple links.
Link 1
https://www.deloittedigital.com/us/en/blog-list/2023/gen-z-research-report.html?id=us:2ps:3gl:hxgz23:awa:cons:041123:gen%20z%20goals:b:c:aud-663935757307:kwd-1660129488130&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxPLhwJLA_gIVWQFMCh3xWgMTEAAYASAAEgJvYPD_BwE
Link 2
https://victoryinstitute.org/programs/presidential-appointments-initiative/lgbtq-appointments-in-the-biden-harris-administration/
Substack does rock! The lack of ads, allowing the writers to make a little money off of their work, and the interlinking are all great.
It would be quite an endeavor to supercede the Republican party in their fantastical comingling of farce, distortion, grotesque burlesque and bravado borne of misguided entitlement, along with their nose-holding, legs up, fetalized evangelical copilots.
They are distinctly inept on all fronts, but simply intent on sowing any manner of discord, no matter how ludicrous, in order to justify imposition of despotic rule, relying on the rest of us simply staring mouth agape, stunned into acquiescence.
So, let's not let that happen.
The GAP- Grossly Absurd Party needs, in the style of Space X, to undergo a rapid disassembly.
Let’s hope your first two paragraphs are the match that sets off the disassembly.
Hadn't heard GAP before - very good! I use GQP - Grotesque QAnon Party a lot.
Apt!
You paint a true picture.
Someone once said, if you want to know a party's values, look at their budget bills. I find it interesting that Republicans seem to care little about pissing off every group, now including veterans, just to appease their base. How is this even considered a winning strategy? I appreciate how President Biden is handling this, but if the Republicans succeed in defaulting, the press will blame President Biden and the Democrats, because, well, it's what they do.
They will not succeed if we, meaning all sensible people who understand what a default would mean, turn the mirror on McCarthy and his gang. Getting modern day "journalists" to do the same will require a howl of anger and contempt from the wronged public the likes of which this country has not seen in a long, long time, if ever.
Instead of talking about it, we ALL need to speak truth to power.
Yup, always follow the money.
I wish that we, the Dems, would stop making this all about abortion rights. Sure that is a critical issue that activists Mullah (perfect term) and far right extremists are trying to strip basic rights in the name of power and control, but its also about LGBTQ+ rights, minority rights, voters rights, taxpayer rights to have equal treatment rather than the low and middle class funding lavish lifestyles for the wealthy and corporations who avoid taxes, the right to elect our leaders rather than having autocrats steal a dictatorship through propaganda and coup. But most importantly, it is the right of the people to not have politicians use the wealth and power of our government to attack us, as businesses or individuals. Remember what happened to the Dixie Chicks when they disagreed with President Warmonger? But now, every week, Rump or DeSatan say "Hold my beer!" to the point where the federal government canceling a music group for disagreeing seems trivial. Abortion rights is just one tiny little piece of that, and doesn't engage large segments of our voters.
I don't know how to politic, but it bugs me to see political commercials that only mention abortion. It seems very short sighted.
And while I'm ranting, I'd like to see Biden and all Dems in congress, and Dems across the board, start using the flag and patriotic imagery constantly to the point where these guys using our national flag as a symbol of fascism and the stripping of human rights, like a union jack or nazi flag, will stop because they don't want to be mistaken for a liberal snowflake
Sorry, Jay, not snapping at you, I just had to vent.
The Democrats are following the polling, which shows that abortion is the winningest issue among the winning issues. But it can become numbing to audiences.
It seems to me that that path ignores basic math. Elections are won by a few percent.
I understand working to motivate the women and younger voters who might otherwise not vote, but we have a growing crisis here that has even soured many conservatives on the extremists seizing control, and the whole Lord Trump thing. So abortion scores 70% in the poll, and the extremist takeover scores 68% (as an important issue), so abortion wins, let's put all of our eggs in that basket and ignore the large margins on other issues.
Which (abortion/single-issue) is really terrible as a sustainable strategy; it’s reactive and looking just at the next election. And that is how it looks from the bird’s eye. But here in NC, we have Anderson Clayton, a 26yo new Chair of the Democratic Party, who is getting people excited in rural areas and on college campuses. So, that feels on point and helpful.
I’m with you, Ron, in my frustration about how much more this election is about and the fact that, yet again, abortion is used as a wedge issue to get out the vote. The alliance of oligarchs and autocrats who want America to be a plutocracy is the bigger issue, to me.
Totally agree with you about the American flag!!! It has been stolen from 80% of us by the MAGA's. We need to take it back!
I like your idea, Ron. When we moved just under a year ago I was hesitant to fly Old Glory because I didn’t want our new neighbors to think we were MAGAt’s. Now that I’ve flown the Pride flag 🏳️🌈 a number of times, and the Earth flag 🌍 this week, I think I can safely fly our American flag 🇺🇸 on non-US-holidays without worrying!
I’m with you on the flag because it’s exactly how I feel when I see a flag in a truck or someone’s yard. “Trumper” etc. It’s sad to feel that way.
A flag on a truck, especially coupled with the stars & bars, is not a symbol of this country's greatness, it is a symbol of an ignorant asshole. Pardon my language, but there is no better word.
Especially when accompanied by a "Don't Tread on Me" or "Go Brandon" bumper sticker....
We fly our flag on holidays in honor of my late father, and on my quiet street they know why, because most of our neighbors knew and loved His Crustiness. West Point class of '47, Vietnam vet, fighter pilot, NATO wing commander . . . a man who lived the West Point honor code: "You will not lie, cheat, or steal, nor tolerate those that do." [Lord, yes, he instilled that in his kids!] FWIW, and the neighbors know it because he told them why, he HATED Pompeo and all "the other firsties." (In WP parlance, the guy who graduated first in the class. Never a well-liked person by the greater Association of Graduates.)
So fly your flag, and remember it is a symbol, and that only. To Dad, it was a symbol of what happened on D-Day and the defeat of the Axis powers. That is a good enough reason for this liberal to fly it, in these days of neo-fascism.
How about fly all of your flags together? Unity!
Only have one flagpole! But I do have a schedule to change it frequently. I was going to fly the generic Sun flag when I take down the Earth Flag, but now I think I'll put up the ol' Red, White, and Blue. Then, just before Harvey Milk's bday, I'll put up the Pride flag again.
Good vent, BTW. Abortion is at front-and-center in the media at the moment. Gun issues are a close second and another mass shooting will rocket it into first place. I keep coming back (in my mind, at least) to the concept of taxation without representation. When politicians take a personal agenda forward, against the obvious will of the voters, that is NOT representation.
Abortion has the unique benefit that pretty much all Democrats, and even a few Republicans, are behind it, because it affects so many voters. Sad to say, there are anti-LGBTQ+ Democrats, such as Tulsi Gabbard (although she apologized for some of the worst of it) and the usual suspect, Joe Manchin.
Understood, but Trump didn't get in by picking a single subject that reached the most people. He sought out and bought the votes of various groups through promises and propaganda. He wooed the most unlikely support of the evangelicals by promising to give them power over the people like the dark ages. He appealed separately to white nationalists, wealthy corporations, and blue collar workers, especially those with horse and buggy trades like coal mining. He never used the same bait twice. Whoever was advising him understood math.
You’ve just given me reasons to have a great Sunday!
Did you see that one of the Carolinas passed a bill to make an investigation about the plausibility of bringing Disney there. Pretty funny and clever!
North Carolina!
Last night we watched “All the President’s Men”. Even though I lived through that time, I had forgotten a lot of it. So I looked up the Watergate Scandal in Wikipedia. Omigosh. To borrow a quote: “Deja vu all over again!” Or more likely - the more things change, the more they stay the same! Check it out.
THIS made me laugh, we grew up in the same era, probably with different experiences. I will never forget the evening (we were at Incirlik AFB in Turkey where Dad was the wing commander) and that red phone in his office rang. It NEVER, EVER rang. It was a direct line to the WH, in case things blew up in the region. We were at the dinner table. We all looked at each other. Dad got up and picked up the phone. He put it on speaker (I don't know why -- now it seems odd he did so unless he already knew). "SIR, this is Staff Seargant XX. I am calling to inform you that Spiro Agnew has resigned!" (NCO's issuing news to officers are always loud and crisp.
Every single fork dropped at the table.
Later, in college, I was a classmate of Haldeman's son. Those events ruined that (then) boy's self-esteem.
It is always about the me, and never about the other.
You’re last paragraph was good advice. It strengthens me when I read realistic arguments on why and how we are going to prevail.
Thanks for making things more clear, and shining a light in the darkness
It’s going to be a great day full of good surprises! I’m spending the day in San Fran w my son, thinking about hitting the zoo and lots of sight seeing.
Positive way to end this week, especially with the last paragraph! Enjoy the return-of-spring day!
Let's add "seditionist traitor" to the list of adjectives describing Trump. In truth, he should be legally barred from running right now due to his clear violation of the 14th Amendment. His multi-pronged attempted coup only failed from lack of execution, not from lack of trying. The DOJ has been way too slow to the table to help us, as a nation, avoid Trump Farce III.
Pick an organization that helps young voters register and vote — there are many. As Cleta Mitchell noted in her talk with GOP donors last weekend, more young people voting is fatal to the GOP. Red states are crafting hurdles left and right, and these organizations are on the crucial front line. They need our help.
In 2016, I voted for trump because he promised to "Drain The Swamp." Three months later I realized that he lied to the American people. While he did remove people from the government, he back-filled those positions with cronies and ass-kissers. In retrospect, he has made this country weak, sick and stupid. Jay, your cavalcade of This Week Ahead hits me like a nightmare circus parade. That some of these people still hold office is absolutely shocking to me.
While I could be cautiously optimistic, the last two years of "whack-a-mole" have made me wonder if I have somehow stumbled into a dystopian "Bizarro World" (Superman reference) from which I can not egress.
This is one of the tamer summaries, too.