In the end, My Kevin wanted a bailout, not from his proverbial tiger, but from the woman he disdained, disrespected, lied to, broke his word to, threatened violence against, and stood silent when violence was done against her husband’s body and reputation. McCarthy is aggrieved and sullen, while Patrick McHenry, his bow-tied successor, is enraged and vengeful. Nothing is their fault. Nothing.
I need someone to explain to me, I really do, why every shallow, petty, childish and downright cruel thing the R’s do (see McHenry’s pathetic ouster of Pelosi while she was at a FUNERAL), is met with silence at best, or a “boys will be boys,” shrug of the shoulders, or finally, “hey politics is a tough business” wink.
I am talking about the freaking media we have now, and John Q Public too. When the D’s do ANYTHING much, much less cruel and hateful, they are excoriated non stop everywhere. Why, why, why?
Our country is seriously broken, and mainstream media has not met the crisis of this moment, and neither have our citizens. Keep shouting from the rooftops, Steve.
I could not agree more, Rick. In fact, the feckless Democrats have demurred time and time again. The genial status quo approach to governing has not worked for decades, going back to the time of Gingrich. For thirty or more years, I have railed against the Democratic Party for their utter incompetence in standing up to Republican malfeasance, and now outright corruption.
As far as the media goes, they have not just trafficked in false equivalencies, they have stacked the deck in favor of the wealthy and against the (Democratic) party of the people. As critical as I am of the Democrats, I'm more critical of the mainstream media. They have failed to focus on and amplify Democratic opposition, particularly from the progressive wing.
It is not the assault on democracy by the Republicans and the wealthy oligarchs that worries me the most; it is the weak and lackadaisical defense of democracy and our institutions by the Democrats and the MSM.
(First post on the Warning. I've been following Steve from the beginning and more than anyone, he gets it. We will see how it goes.)
Clearly, your comment touched me to the core. We all need to keep asking and get answers to why the mainstream media persists in this completely unbalanced and incorrect characterization of each party. Republicans are the party of the wealthy oligarchs; Democrats are the party of the people!!
I like Steve's open-eyed and brutally honest observations, and I'm glad to see he attracts the same in his substack community.
Your question of why don't the Dem's fight back. Look at Governor Newsom. He's going on FAUX and debating them in their house. I think that the Dem's consider it beneath them to verbally abuse the morons that constitute the GOP, but it is the only language them and their ignorant followers can understand.
Displaying a controlled demeanor in their minds makes you a wimp. So - time to take it up to 11 and grind their pathetic little asses into the ground.
And look how they want to expel and arrest Bowman for pulling a fire alarm. Granted, it was stupid and deserves censure, but very a childish prank, compared to the republican crimes and misdemeanors...:)
It's ludicrous! If Republicans want to bring up Bowman, Democrats should malign Republican support of Santos. When Republicans punch, punch back harder. Make them pay dearly for every hypocritical remark they make.
The Republican Party is a party of traitors who have forsworn their oath of office and allegiance to the Constitution to support an evil monster who is trying to destroy America. Democrats need to remind these filthy traitors, and every loyal patriotic American, of this FACT! Democrats need to drop the pretense that we are a functioning government. It is a war for the soul of America!!
Yes. I was thrilled to see the orchestrated performance (in a good way!!) of all the Democratic committee members on “impeachment hearing day” the other day. It was magnificent, and see how even the R’s were for once put back on their heels. Keep talking about Trump, wanting to EXECUTE Milley and all future insane statements from Trump and his minions. The latest stupidity, venality and lies, must be called out over and over again. I think it worked on the impeachment day at least!
Exactly! What ever happened with that situation except the indictments? I would shout that out through all the halls of Congress because the hypocrisy is evident but all I hears are whispers. Come on people, everyone needs a spine at this time!
You but. Sure, we understand decorum and comportment and courtesy that all formulate the basis for our daily interactions. But. That means a departure from our languid benefit-of-the-doubt goodwill carries a more potent venom, a more powerful detonation, a more piercing arrow.
Way too many people who served in tRump's administration fell short at a critical time in our history. Now it's too little, too late. We already know who and what tRump is.
“There is nothing more that can be said,” Kelly concluded. “God help us.” Respectfully disagree-there is much to be said. We speak truth to power, and call this mass of want-to-be dictators and failed legislators out. We speak of how The Former Speaker's (TFS) desire for power over all other rational thought drove him out of the office he so coveted for years. His grievance parade on the way out are dust on the scales. It is to be ignored, but indicative of the pettiness inherent in TFS. If there wasn't a country to lead this would be a diversionary side show, but we have a country to lead and a world looking to the USA to be the standard-bearer. We have to resolve this now. Don't lose sight of the goal over the pettiness.
John Kelly's words are good to hear now, and might have been better to hear earlier. No matter, we have them now. We know their accuracy based on the Truth Social postings over the last 24 hours.
If they were not accurate, the posts would be less vitriolic. DJT's negativity supports Kelly's accuracy.
Since a Deus Ex Machina is not in the offing, it is up to us to fight and win against the MAGA cult and the House clown school bus (too many for a car...sorry). Off to work. Much happening in the VA and Ohio races.
It is long past time, for every Democrat and loyal patriotic American, to take off the gloves and land some knock-down blows, again and again against the neo-nazi trumplicons. The complacency in the majority of Americans defies the imagination. This comes from a society that has largely not experienced true hardship and is ignorant to what life is like in an oppressive authoritarian regime that lives in servitude to wealthy oligarchs. For those who think it is bad now, just wait until a monster like tRump becomes dictator.
All of this. And p.s. I don’t know if Walt Whitman could have ever imagined the shitshow we’ve been watching since newt Gingrich decided to defecate on all the ideals that Lincoln embodied. Not the bunch of Ayn Randian frat boys who decided they were ‘master builders’ out of some dystopian nightmare.
Thank you Steve. No one trusts Kevin McCarthy- no Democrats, no Republicans. If Republicans trusted him, he would still be Speaker. No doubt about it, House Republicans are a global embarrassment. McHenry pushing Nancy Pelosi out of her office while the former Speaker accompanied the body of Senator Feinstein on its final return trip to California tells you everything you need to know about the morality and character of House Republicans. They are disgusting.
“A person who is not truthful regarding his position on the protection of unborn life, on women, on minorities, on evangelical Christians, on Jews, on working men and women,” Kelly continued. “A person that has no idea what America stands for and has no idea what America is all about.”---John Kelly
I agree wholeheartedly with Kelly’s analysis, except for one portion of his statement. Trump knows exactly what America stands for today.
The fact you have veterans and active servicemen and women, police officers and politicians supporting Trump, tells you everything you need to know.
The fact we have members of Congress supporting an authoritarian sociopathic kleptocrat in the Kremlin, who has thousands of nuclear weapons pointed at every major US city and military installation, over our democratic ally, tells you everything you need to know.
The fact that billionaires like Musk can singlehandedly decide the fate of the Russo/Ukrainian war, tells us everything we need to know.
The fact that we had an insurrection, and one party had congressmen, women and senators who were part of the coup, tells us everything we need to know.
The fact we have an entire right-wing ecosystem and a party determined to destroy the federal government, and install white Christian nationalists to the helm of every institution and agency; including installing an authoritarian kleptocrat as president, tells us everything we need to know.
So when Kelly says, Trump doesn’t understand what America stands for, he has it wrong. Trump and his minions know exactly what they want this country to stand for, and are determined to get it for as long as it takes.
It’s the rest of us that believe we know what this country stands for, or at least stood for, are the ignorant ones, because this country is suffering from a death by a thousand cuts. And while democrats have been winning most of the battles, we are slowly losing the war!
It is too bad Biden and every member of his administration, every Democratic politician, and every loyal patriotic American hasn't said as much every day over the past 20 months. I had a bad feeling when Biden made his remarks in his inaugural speech. This is a fight for the survival of democracy and our republic, the United States of America. How that is not apparent to the aforementioned after January 6, 2021, is inexplicable!
Of all the infuriating things about Trump and the MAGA cult - and they are legion - perhaps the thing that infuriates me most is how they have hijacked the term "patriot" to mean "only those who worship Trump." Everyone else - including actual patriots like Gen. Mark Milley, John McCain, and even Gold Star families like the Khans - are "traitors."
I desperately want to reclaim the word "patriot" and what it really means to be "patriotic" from those who would literally set the Constitution on fire if their vile orange god asked them to.
The high-jacking of terms is a main feature of GOP discourse, and they know what they are doing. They've all read 1984 and Politics and the English Language and completely understand the power of NewSpeak.
Well, finally Kelly decides to say something. Did the danger of Trump finally outweigh the benefits? For someone who prides himself on being a Marine, Kelly has show very little courage or foresight. Well, welcome to the the fight Gen. Kelly. Better late than never.
Can we take a moment to marvel at the irony of what just happened? MAGA extremists remove Speaker McCarthy for securing Democratic votes to keep the government open by securing Democratic votes for said removal.
Watching what is happening to the GOP, Trump and his many supporters in the house and senate. Is like watching Hitler hiding in a bunker trying to destroy all evidence of his actions. Trying desperately to hang on, by killing as many of the imprisoned Jews, Slaves, Poles and others as quickly as possible.
The GOP party is done, they know it. Trump is done he knows it. “Let’s burn it all down before the get to us, exactly what Hitler did.
The question is can the United States survive until this nightmare is over? What will happen when Trump and his MAGA cancer is gone? We will come together again, can we come together again? Can we as a society forgive one another for the acrimony that exist today? The divisions are deep, how do we shut down the minority of religious zealots, political ideologist and conservative billionaires to heal our country?
It is only possible to recover out health and sanity
1) by means of attrition-- and accepting the fact that MAGA is permane tly unteachble, crazy and unchangeable, and be patient while the MAGA die off in 30-40 years, but
2) at the and time to eliminate false news reporting of Fox and right wing media...AND
3) at the same time to Pass finding for an FDR type of New Deal of federal program of nationwide dissemination of the facts of Science, and of the NEW education of the youth--with scientific facts, done through the theater and films, as well as public forums......
This is the only future for is to adapt ..all else is hopeless, and these three things must happen simultaneously.
Steve Schmidt and his The Warning nor all his followers are not enough, I am sorry to say.
Trump has always shown total disdain for the military. He called the Joint Chiefs of Staff babies and railed about how they didn’t know what they were doing. Seriously. This from Bone Spurs. Regardless, a lot of the military support him. Why?
The menace is certainly coming... I clearly sense it. Holding my breath... My Kevin and the Gavel Guy remind me of the dweebs that went crying to the 4th grade teacher when they got picked last in kickball. I sense that too.
The problem is that the only "news" chanels they follow don't cover this stuff or put an entirely different spin on it. And if you have someone who has been on a slow slide from what was more "news" presented, to today's "news" lie spin, they've been caught up by a propaganda machine. That's how you build a cult.
Steve, you ask, "Can we sense it?" There is a story today in Charlottesville's The Daily Progress. City Council meetings on Zoom are being bombed by racists. It's on the front page. It definitely feels as though the temperature is deliberating being ratcheted up here.
It’s important to note that the house of representatives is a reflection of the American electorate. Congress is a reflection of a public shaped by years of lies, deception, and the public spectacle of a president who hated his country. The House is a festering cancerous tumor that if gone untreated will kill its 250 year old host.
I need someone to explain to me, I really do, why every shallow, petty, childish and downright cruel thing the R’s do (see McHenry’s pathetic ouster of Pelosi while she was at a FUNERAL), is met with silence at best, or a “boys will be boys,” shrug of the shoulders, or finally, “hey politics is a tough business” wink.
I am talking about the freaking media we have now, and John Q Public too. When the D’s do ANYTHING much, much less cruel and hateful, they are excoriated non stop everywhere. Why, why, why?
Our country is seriously broken, and mainstream media has not met the crisis of this moment, and neither have our citizens. Keep shouting from the rooftops, Steve.
I could not agree more, Rick. In fact, the feckless Democrats have demurred time and time again. The genial status quo approach to governing has not worked for decades, going back to the time of Gingrich. For thirty or more years, I have railed against the Democratic Party for their utter incompetence in standing up to Republican malfeasance, and now outright corruption.
As far as the media goes, they have not just trafficked in false equivalencies, they have stacked the deck in favor of the wealthy and against the (Democratic) party of the people. As critical as I am of the Democrats, I'm more critical of the mainstream media. They have failed to focus on and amplify Democratic opposition, particularly from the progressive wing.
It is not the assault on democracy by the Republicans and the wealthy oligarchs that worries me the most; it is the weak and lackadaisical defense of democracy and our institutions by the Democrats and the MSM.
(First post on the Warning. I've been following Steve from the beginning and more than anyone, he gets it. We will see how it goes.)
Welcome to The Warning community! Thrilled to have you here to contribute.
Steve
Chips, Thanks for your reply and your expansion of my musings. Agree with everything you said.
Clearly, your comment touched me to the core. We all need to keep asking and get answers to why the mainstream media persists in this completely unbalanced and incorrect characterization of each party. Republicans are the party of the wealthy oligarchs; Democrats are the party of the people!!
I like Steve's open-eyed and brutally honest observations, and I'm glad to see he attracts the same in his substack community.
Your question of why don't the Dem's fight back. Look at Governor Newsom. He's going on FAUX and debating them in their house. I think that the Dem's consider it beneath them to verbally abuse the morons that constitute the GOP, but it is the only language them and their ignorant followers can understand.
Displaying a controlled demeanor in their minds makes you a wimp. So - time to take it up to 11 and grind their pathetic little asses into the ground.
Why should Democrats dive for the bottom, too? Republicans are what we are voting against.
And look how they want to expel and arrest Bowman for pulling a fire alarm. Granted, it was stupid and deserves censure, but very a childish prank, compared to the republican crimes and misdemeanors...:)
It's ludicrous! If Republicans want to bring up Bowman, Democrats should malign Republican support of Santos. When Republicans punch, punch back harder. Make them pay dearly for every hypocritical remark they make.
The Republican Party is a party of traitors who have forsworn their oath of office and allegiance to the Constitution to support an evil monster who is trying to destroy America. Democrats need to remind these filthy traitors, and every loyal patriotic American, of this FACT! Democrats need to drop the pretense that we are a functioning government. It is a war for the soul of America!!
Yes. I was thrilled to see the orchestrated performance (in a good way!!) of all the Democratic committee members on “impeachment hearing day” the other day. It was magnificent, and see how even the R’s were for once put back on their heels. Keep talking about Trump, wanting to EXECUTE Milley and all future insane statements from Trump and his minions. The latest stupidity, venality and lies, must be called out over and over again. I think it worked on the impeachment day at least!
Exactly! What ever happened with that situation except the indictments? I would shout that out through all the halls of Congress because the hypocrisy is evident but all I hears are whispers. Come on people, everyone needs a spine at this time!
You but. Sure, we understand decorum and comportment and courtesy that all formulate the basis for our daily interactions. But. That means a departure from our languid benefit-of-the-doubt goodwill carries a more potent venom, a more powerful detonation, a more piercing arrow.
It's time Game faces and places. Let's roll.
John Kelly's chilling words are terrifyingly accurate, but should have been uttered, repeated and shouted from the rooftops years ago.
Way too many people who served in tRump's administration fell short at a critical time in our history. Now it's too little, too late. We already know who and what tRump is.
I know. I felt that in my heart, and it brought tears to my eyes.
Yes, agreed.
“There is nothing more that can be said,” Kelly concluded. “God help us.” Respectfully disagree-there is much to be said. We speak truth to power, and call this mass of want-to-be dictators and failed legislators out. We speak of how The Former Speaker's (TFS) desire for power over all other rational thought drove him out of the office he so coveted for years. His grievance parade on the way out are dust on the scales. It is to be ignored, but indicative of the pettiness inherent in TFS. If there wasn't a country to lead this would be a diversionary side show, but we have a country to lead and a world looking to the USA to be the standard-bearer. We have to resolve this now. Don't lose sight of the goal over the pettiness.
John Kelly's words are good to hear now, and might have been better to hear earlier. No matter, we have them now. We know their accuracy based on the Truth Social postings over the last 24 hours.
If they were not accurate, the posts would be less vitriolic. DJT's negativity supports Kelly's accuracy.
Since a Deus Ex Machina is not in the offing, it is up to us to fight and win against the MAGA cult and the House clown school bus (too many for a car...sorry). Off to work. Much happening in the VA and Ohio races.
It is long past time, for every Democrat and loyal patriotic American, to take off the gloves and land some knock-down blows, again and again against the neo-nazi trumplicons. The complacency in the majority of Americans defies the imagination. This comes from a society that has largely not experienced true hardship and is ignorant to what life is like in an oppressive authoritarian regime that lives in servitude to wealthy oligarchs. For those who think it is bad now, just wait until a monster like tRump becomes dictator.
All of this. And p.s. I don’t know if Walt Whitman could have ever imagined the shitshow we’ve been watching since newt Gingrich decided to defecate on all the ideals that Lincoln embodied. Not the bunch of Ayn Randian frat boys who decided they were ‘master builders’ out of some dystopian nightmare.
Thank you Steve. No one trusts Kevin McCarthy- no Democrats, no Republicans. If Republicans trusted him, he would still be Speaker. No doubt about it, House Republicans are a global embarrassment. McHenry pushing Nancy Pelosi out of her office while the former Speaker accompanied the body of Senator Feinstein on its final return trip to California tells you everything you need to know about the morality and character of House Republicans. They are disgusting.
One quibble. The credulous political media does (trust,him.)
“A person who is not truthful regarding his position on the protection of unborn life, on women, on minorities, on evangelical Christians, on Jews, on working men and women,” Kelly continued. “A person that has no idea what America stands for and has no idea what America is all about.”---John Kelly
I agree wholeheartedly with Kelly’s analysis, except for one portion of his statement. Trump knows exactly what America stands for today.
The fact you have veterans and active servicemen and women, police officers and politicians supporting Trump, tells you everything you need to know.
The fact we have members of Congress supporting an authoritarian sociopathic kleptocrat in the Kremlin, who has thousands of nuclear weapons pointed at every major US city and military installation, over our democratic ally, tells you everything you need to know.
The fact that billionaires like Musk can singlehandedly decide the fate of the Russo/Ukrainian war, tells us everything we need to know.
The fact that we had an insurrection, and one party had congressmen, women and senators who were part of the coup, tells us everything we need to know.
The fact we have an entire right-wing ecosystem and a party determined to destroy the federal government, and install white Christian nationalists to the helm of every institution and agency; including installing an authoritarian kleptocrat as president, tells us everything we need to know.
So when Kelly says, Trump doesn’t understand what America stands for, he has it wrong. Trump and his minions know exactly what they want this country to stand for, and are determined to get it for as long as it takes.
It’s the rest of us that believe we know what this country stands for, or at least stood for, are the ignorant ones, because this country is suffering from a death by a thousand cuts. And while democrats have been winning most of the battles, we are slowly losing the war!
Just some thoughts...:)
It is too bad Biden and every member of his administration, every Democratic politician, and every loyal patriotic American hasn't said as much every day over the past 20 months. I had a bad feeling when Biden made his remarks in his inaugural speech. This is a fight for the survival of democracy and our republic, the United States of America. How that is not apparent to the aforementioned after January 6, 2021, is inexplicable!
Of all the infuriating things about Trump and the MAGA cult - and they are legion - perhaps the thing that infuriates me most is how they have hijacked the term "patriot" to mean "only those who worship Trump." Everyone else - including actual patriots like Gen. Mark Milley, John McCain, and even Gold Star families like the Khans - are "traitors."
I desperately want to reclaim the word "patriot" and what it really means to be "patriotic" from those who would literally set the Constitution on fire if their vile orange god asked them to.
God help us indeed.
The high-jacking of terms is a main feature of GOP discourse, and they know what they are doing. They've all read 1984 and Politics and the English Language and completely understand the power of NewSpeak.
Well, finally Kelly decides to say something. Did the danger of Trump finally outweigh the benefits? For someone who prides himself on being a Marine, Kelly has show very little courage or foresight. Well, welcome to the the fight Gen. Kelly. Better late than never.
Can we take a moment to marvel at the irony of what just happened? MAGA extremists remove Speaker McCarthy for securing Democratic votes to keep the government open by securing Democratic votes for said removal.
Watching what is happening to the GOP, Trump and his many supporters in the house and senate. Is like watching Hitler hiding in a bunker trying to destroy all evidence of his actions. Trying desperately to hang on, by killing as many of the imprisoned Jews, Slaves, Poles and others as quickly as possible.
The GOP party is done, they know it. Trump is done he knows it. “Let’s burn it all down before the get to us, exactly what Hitler did.
The question is can the United States survive until this nightmare is over? What will happen when Trump and his MAGA cancer is gone? We will come together again, can we come together again? Can we as a society forgive one another for the acrimony that exist today? The divisions are deep, how do we shut down the minority of religious zealots, political ideologist and conservative billionaires to heal our country?
They are not done because the Democrats AND THE MSM refuse to put the nails in the coffin.
It is only possible to recover out health and sanity
1) by means of attrition-- and accepting the fact that MAGA is permane tly unteachble, crazy and unchangeable, and be patient while the MAGA die off in 30-40 years, but
2) at the and time to eliminate false news reporting of Fox and right wing media...AND
3) at the same time to Pass finding for an FDR type of New Deal of federal program of nationwide dissemination of the facts of Science, and of the NEW education of the youth--with scientific facts, done through the theater and films, as well as public forums......
This is the only future for is to adapt ..all else is hopeless, and these three things must happen simultaneously.
Steve Schmidt and his The Warning nor all his followers are not enough, I am sorry to say.
I agree with you. I do believe that social media can be used to reach the moderate, independent, young and those who have given up.
Trump has always shown total disdain for the military. He called the Joint Chiefs of Staff babies and railed about how they didn’t know what they were doing. Seriously. This from Bone Spurs. Regardless, a lot of the military support him. Why?
The menace is certainly coming... I clearly sense it. Holding my breath... My Kevin and the Gavel Guy remind me of the dweebs that went crying to the 4th grade teacher when they got picked last in kickball. I sense that too.
Maybe the latest Congressional shit show will finally resonate with Republican voters. MAGA, no. Middle America, hope so. God help us, indeed.
The problem is that the only "news" chanels they follow don't cover this stuff or put an entirely different spin on it. And if you have someone who has been on a slow slide from what was more "news" presented, to today's "news" lie spin, they've been caught up by a propaganda machine. That's how you build a cult.
Warren Zevon, “I was in the house when the house burned down”
https://youtu.be/9uH1okbICrw?si=0Qe-F20_MRB3f4KI
If character had mass, that of the entire GOP would be obscured by the shadow of a sub-atomic particle.
Steve, you ask, "Can we sense it?" There is a story today in Charlottesville's The Daily Progress. City Council meetings on Zoom are being bombed by racists. It's on the front page. It definitely feels as though the temperature is deliberating being ratcheted up here.
It’s important to note that the house of representatives is a reflection of the American electorate. Congress is a reflection of a public shaped by years of lies, deception, and the public spectacle of a president who hated his country. The House is a festering cancerous tumor that if gone untreated will kill its 250 year old host.
The House is also a reflection of gerrymandering.