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A few days ago in a brilliant post that offered a sliver of hope given the rise of Hakeem Jeffries, I started to feel a small lift in spirit. Today’s brilliant but deeply depressing accounting of the Republican House/party has spiraled me back into the pits of despair. I think I need to turn off the tv, stop reading the “news” and move to Costa Rica for a couple of years!

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I have severely limited my exposure to the tv news as the sideshow entertainment it feels like. I didn't hold many reporters in high esteem in my 30s for their asinine questions, and things feel far worse a couple decades later. My choice is reading where I can skim through details I know and search for any new nuggets of truth. Substack has become the place I pay for the people who deliver what I need and want to know without the ridiculousness of reporters who wouldn't know a good question if it asked itself.

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That's exactly how I'm feeling. I am trying to limit looking at twitter - it's toxic and everything the Rs are doing is performative - ughhhh

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I have refused to sign in to Twitter ever since Ron DeSantis fanboy Elon Musk allowed professional Jew-hater Andrew Anglin back on to the site. I have missed some of my interactions, to be sure, but my blood pressure has certainly gone down!

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I understand you deeply. But keep your television on, read The Warning, find the right news, listen to the right voices. I will tell you that, through the anger that overcame me so suddenly yesterday, I remembered today the good news that always keep me alert and vigilant. I have this image overwhelming me from a few days ago, the one that opened one more brilliant segment of The Last Word, a photograph of the Insurrection, the American one that shocked so many on January 6 (irony intended). It melds all that was happening that day with all the images one carries from what was happening inside the Capitol, the congressmen and women in panic, with masks gasping for sanity and the air beyond their escape from the floor. It is an image of the tragedy outside, covered with tear gas after law enforcement launched a flash-grenade that illuminated a transparent American flag and the fragile Capitol. It was shot by Leah Mills for Reuters. What would follow in the segment I watched, was an account of photographic proportions that filled the words of the anchor with the drunkenness of body and mind there to be seen as a man transacted his seat to occupy the speakership of the House. And then came the educational moment. Look it up, from the teachings of Lawrence O'Donnell: Discharge Petition.

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Read last night and again this morning, thank you. I’d have better stated what I do noting selective reading, The Warning being top of list. (Axios DC has becomes useful in information and format.) Viewing too: PBS Newhour has generally been a good mix snd the new co-anchors have brought different energy. I appreciate the mix of in-depth and arts and culture.

My daily news habit began 70 some years ago when I watched the mentioned HUAC hearings, read the morning paper (there were then two a day)!with my dad over oatmeal and looked forward to the evening paper and periodicals. News was always a family priority.

I overstated on a day of overload info for work and life. Thank you for noticing.

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N.Zampierollo…. BRAVA !!!

Read the warning be selective in which news you watch and

Lawrence O’Donnell is an awesome amazing reporter and human being….once again YOUR

Writing uplifts my spirt! Marsha❤️

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I love Lawrence O'D...I also adore Nicolle Wallace and watch her - or have her show on in the background every day - her anger and disgust is our anger and disgust..

It's twitter which is the place where dialogue goes to die!

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Interestingly, Guy Kawasaki, a person and author whose values I admire made the point after leaving z Twitter that LinkedIn can be a place for news and discussion. I keep trying. Too often it’s new jobs/new job kudos/use of emojis and little in depth anything. Like conference receptions, which tho they are part of my professional life, I avoid because any conversation is brief, barely audible and shallow, I want more. Thus this community that builds on The Warning’s content and our observations is far more to my interests.

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I've joined Mastodon, recommended by Steve.

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"Funny" you say that about turning off the TV, stop reading news, and moving. I won't move; the others are back in play. It is terribly disheartening.

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But at least keep voting.

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Oh I’ve never missed one since my first in the Ohio Primary for Gene McCarthy. That was my proudest moment to date. Tho my local vote now counts, my Federal voting impact is meh, I will never stop til death stops me nor will I ever stop helping educate others and encouraging their voting. Thank you!

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I wish I could afford to move to Namibia.

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Thank you. I am uncharacteristically speechless. I can be still and observe. But not without abject fear. WTF is wrong with our DOJ, and even a President who wont reach in and pull the insurrectionists OUT OF OUR CONGRESS? THEY ARE IN OUR CONGRESS! For GODS sake. For GODS sake. For OUR sake. Jesus.

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President cannot but DOJ can move to charge them. My thought is this has moved beyond charges including sedition.

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I understand the concept of “President Cannot“, BUT, thats what Obama thought when Russia was interferring, and he did NOTHING. Thats how we got here. WHY is it wrong for a President to protect his country? Because that makes it political? So be it. Its only political b/c the insurrection was mounted by a political party. So they are protected- thats BS. If Republicans can exist without being insurrectionist, and soon there may be none who aren’t (at this rate), then let them be. But IMO letting insurrectionist go free is a dereliction of duty of ANYBODY elected to protect our constitution.

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Marc Blackwell, I very much agree with you. I guess the oath of office that elected officials take is worth nothing because over 100 of the current congressional vermin violated their oath of office with their performance votes late on 1/6-1/7. They voted to overturn the election that did not privilege their candidate. They were on the same ballot, but THEIR election was legal??!!

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Right On!! Thanks.

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Spot on.

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I'm not sure if I can handle (at least) two years of this shit. GOP is a refuge for the traitorous, the fraudulent, the grifting, and the stupid, and the media is complicit by not pushing back and by presenting their garbage narrative without comment.

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Strong analysis. The current House majority sees this as performance theater. Their current actions on shut down the IRS or anti abortion are performance in that they will reach the Senate and die.

The Hunter Biden theater piece will be grotesque. I also believe it will show the depth of MAGA evil. I still hope there is a population that will see it and recoil against it

My only real concerns are debt ceiling and budgets. That is where their greatest impact can be felt.

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The GOP House is doing exactly what the majority of the American people don’t want. The House of MAGA demonstrates daily that they are out of touch with the mainstream and cannot be trusted to uphold the COTUS nor any standard of decency. They do not care about real legislation that could better the country. Their corruption & malevolence can only help the Democrats in 2024. As my fellow subscribers have said, it is important to take breaks from the spectacle in order to preserve your health & sanity. Costa Rica sounds good, but I am partial to Paris. You can’t throw a rock in that city without hitting a great chocolate shop! 😹.

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Paris. Yes, that's they place I chose in 2016. Holding on for now.

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A couple of things can help, not deter: 1. The DOJ must hold extremists and the higher ups in the Insurrection accountable, and not lightly, a strong message must be sent. The longer this goes, the more diluted the message becomes. 2. DEMS must counter every bill, with a proposed rejected Bill that they would have presented, to show the drastic difference between the two. One is destroying, the other is solving problems. Just complaining, won’t work, continually show the nation what they could/should have had. DEMS a must continue to build a vision of cooperative govt.

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Excellent suggestions and approach -thanks.

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Listen to this interview with Keir Giles, Russian expert, beginning at 40:30. https://youtu.be/EE0j87ElnMU Giles jibes with Garry Kasparov's view and years-long warnings. Most in the west do not understand the Russian mindset, but as this nightmare in the US House unfolds, the bad guys are revealing themselves more and more and the soft war we are in with Russia will become clearer. According to Keir Giles, "You may not be interested in Russia, but Russia is interested in you." Once one understands that Russia and its assets and useful idiots in the US Congress and media are attacking us and have been for some years, the spectacle we are seeing makes sense. The Russian disinformation/psy-op campaigns courtesy Mike Flynn, Tucker Carlson and others combined with Russian active measures are becoming more obvious. It appears that George Santos is a recent big tell. Russia's aim is to weaken the US and our allies. They've been doing this kind of thing in Eastern Europe for a long time and they've also been quite effective in the UK in recent years. Begin at 40:30 for this must-listen interview with Giles. You won't regret it: https://youtu.be/EE0j87ElnMU Giles has written two books, and I look forward to reading book to be released later this month: "Russia's War On Everybody: And What It Means For You."

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You've hit the nail on the head. And it is horrifying.

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And let's not forget the hugely important issue of initiating a dress code...for women in The House. How this helps Americans is beyond me. Observing is becoming increasingly difficult as all I want to do is cover my eyes, delete twitter, stop reading the news and wait till 2024 so we can vote these vile people out.

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Is this not just in Missouri? Is it the US House too?

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The Rs are hosting a spectacle for 2 years that is the equivalent of Rome's coliseum days, and we get to pipe it right into our homes for comfortable viewing. That is how I see the upcoming attempt to dismantle the President's son. I am beyond furious with a large portion of this country ignorantly living in a fact-free world because they belly up to the bar of outrage that Fox Propaganda feeds into their IVs on a nightly basis. I hope I live long enough for the US to regain its reputation as a (mostly) sane group with fringe nutters and not the other way around.

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Jan 12, 2023·edited Jan 12, 2023

I was particularly appalled by the MAGA House passage of the grotesquely named "Born Alive Act." Steve Scalise had the gall to look at a camera and state with great solemnity that babies are being born at full term and then killed, and that "the left" calls that an abortion. If this were happening anywhere - which it unequivocally is not - it would not be called an abortion. It would already be prosecuted as murder in every state and territory of the US.

This bill would not save a single infant. What it would do is force doctors to attempt every life-saving means available to them on every infant with a fatal birth defect, so long as that infant was able to take a breath or had a heartbeat at the moment of birth, thus prolonging the doomed infant's agony and further traumatizing parents during what is undoubtedly the worst moment of their lives. (For just one example, look up "anencephaly" if you don't know what it is.) And this is only one scenario - I'm sure there are endless repercussions I'm not thinking of.

Thank God for the Senate and President Biden, who stand as a bulwark against the tidal wave of crazy...at least for the moment.

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In the 2022 election in Montana, this exact "Born Alive Act" was on our ballot. While it didn't pass, it was 53% to 47%, a far closer margin that I would have thought. People really believe babies are being left lying around to die. MT has mostly gone full Christo-Nationalist, and it's galling.

I did not realize how easy it is to fool giant chunks of people most of the time by making outrageous claims over and over as truth. I thought that was something we read more about than lived. I am wondering if technology evolves to only make it look like humans do, because I don't see a lot of evidence that we do other than measured in microscopic steps.

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To you, @Wendy, and to @Andrea - you are following this more closely than I am and that I, a former NARAL staffer and PPFA worker, am horrified that I didn't hear this. That is what comes from turning the news out.

Through it all, infanticide, and child abuse and murder are not addressed by those who want to lie about abortion. That starving, unhoused children are not considered abused and thus not part of the equation is beyond me. That 11 January was #WearBlueDay - https://www.afacwa.org/wear_blue_on_january_11th_to_bring_awareness_to_human_trafficking - and trafficking of children isn't on the minds of the sanctimonious.

Here, I can read more because of the civility of Steve's writing and the community.

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Who cares about child abuse. They have more important fish to fry.

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This 'bill' is so ridiculous that I don't even know where to start. Do they really not know what a fetus at 12 wks looks like (a Q-tip size of cells) - this is as insane as them saying that Dems believe in abortion up until birth...which is, um...birth! Also I believe there may already be a bill from 2002 similar to this? And just how many 'babies' are there that fall into this category? It doesn't exist. This is all performative. As George Carlin said - they care about you up until you're born - then you're on your own.

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(Actually, it is the size of a plum -- 2" long, though weighing only 0.5 oz. BTW, I am completely pro-choice.)

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It drives me crazy as well that the GOP are only interested in these Fetuses until they are born! Then they wash their hands of any responsibility towards this child’s welfare!

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A very pessimistic take on what is and what will be............and one that I share. The next two years, to speak bluntly, are going to be an absolute sh-t show.

(Pardon my use of profanity)

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We do not have to invade the United States, we will destroy you from within.

Nikita Khrushchev

I remembered this quote while reading this, Steve. I have stepped back this week. Haven’t decided if I am mad, disgusted or overwhelmed by it all. Probably all three. Right now there is a big part of me that says just detach, hang out here in the woods, on the river and let them destroy themselves. Sure that will change, but for now I do not see that responding to the MAGA rage, lies, etc. will make any difference. My hope is they will destroy themselves and the American people will wake up, stop generational voting and vote them out. I admit I have less hope of the DOJ doing anything. I believe our Constitution and laws are clear, but I just do not have much faith in the DOJ. I get building a case, but this has been allowed to go on far to long. The damage is almost permanent, thank God for the Senate. But, minds and hearts are damaged. Not sure how you fix that. So I guess count me in the observing stage.

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Lordy do I ever loathe these deplorables.

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There have been plenty of sound remarks made here replying to Steve’s latest offering..More that one elude to having to wait, accept and live through the next two years..Some speak of leaving the country..But this is not business as useful, these are desperate times..our Democracy is being undermined while it and its populous is being pushed back into a corner in a fight or flight life and death set of circumstances..

This idea that we must wait until 2024 to take action at a ballot box that is becoming more elusive day in and day out, even with the extraordinary good work of Marc Elias is blind optimism..

There is a movement in this country that declared war on The United States on January 6th 2021..It has moved into the House of Representatives like a malignant cancer.. It is not being responded to accordingly..

Observe. Orient. Decide. Act. Is as good a strategy as I can see..but it is going to have to be happening swiftly..An all hands on deck application of it is required. These people must be crushed, removed from their seats in government up and down the ballot..

These people are a clear and present danger to the of the United States..A clear succinct message must be sent in a manner to which can not be misinterpreted..They need to be shaken up, rattled to their core and drive into submission..

Drastic desperate measures are necessary if this cancer is to be cut out and destroyed..

We just require the will..

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All hands on deck! Swift action is required. The seditionists have control of the House, unquestionably. No guarantees as to what will happen in 2024 after a couple years of Faux news and Christian Nationalist propaganda. Watching the GOP antics on tv does seem to be a waste of time. We've Observed what is going on. We must now Orient, Decide, and Act on a plan.

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The flip side of what the insurrectionists wanted to do. Democrats are always the "peaceniks". We don't own guns. We don't like violence. But what are we going to do when the guns are turned on us? Melodramatic, hopefully. Still, I've wondered...

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It's ok to step away for a while, Irma. I have to do the same. For me, a day or two is enough to clear my emotional overload. We care so much about the future of our country and our families. All we want is the restoration of balance in our government. Please remember that you are not alone in your thoughts.

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Thank you so much, Irma. I hope you enjoy your break. I've been considering one, too. I accidentally deleted several of my emails, ones that I really wanted to read, and yours was among them. If you still have access to it, would you please resend it? I'd appreciate it very much!

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Actually, you wrote me via email, and I accidentally deleted all of them, including yours.

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My sincere apologies for never responding to your very interesting email. I hope that you have a restful and peaceful "break". Best wishes, Kathy

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Steve, that Hannity piece is hilarious. Very few people, including me would notice the room was occupied by only white folks and almost totally men. Diversity. Hannity. You can fool me once......

Stefanik won't survive her next election I hope, she is a real danger to the US. No principals but either does most if not all the Republican Party. 2024 will see some significant changes for the better.

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Almost as soon as I posted the above, I realized the other emotion swirling around me is fear.

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Yes. Rage + fear. The two are heads and tails of the same coin.

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