There are years that stand apart, made famous by the epochal events that unfolded across them and remembered as hinges on which history’s greatest events swung.
Some good news: Georgia is experiencing a record turnout of early voters, with over 365,000 ballots cast since early voting opened on Tuesday. From what I understand, nearly 55 percent of that early vote is female. I think the pollsters will be wrong about the closeness of this election and this early turnout suggests that possibility. If anything saves this country, it will be a crushing female vote that buries the MAGA Misogynists.
Thank you for echoing my thoughts since the day that we switched from Biden to Harris. I believe that the cult of MAGA combined with the Elites of America agenda has severely underestimated the soul and the spirit of this voting block. Let's do this, and get to the other side of a ten-year-nightmare!
I no longer trust polls. I have gotten at least 100 texts from pollsters since the summer. So they have asked me 100 times about my single vote? This is crazy. I like to believe the female vote is a lot higher than 55 percent.
Kansas did what on the abortion ballot vote? 60-65%? or more?
Then, of course, abortion was legal but the Republican double supermajority took away the ability to have abortions in outlawing the tools etc. to do abortions. We in Kansas do not live in a Democracy due to the double supermajority scheme.
The stupid white ladies voted for tRUMP..... unfrortunately, there are many of them. They worry about whether their next Botox treatment and which restaurant they should order dinner from.
Thank you for sharing this good, hopeful news. So important to keep hope alive as we continue to work our butts off for Harris-Walz and BLUE down the ballot!
Showing up beats the polls!! A pollster who's called every election except Bush/Gore predicted Biden and now Harris based on non-opinion factors like economy, recent elections, and so on. But we have to show up. Tennessee is seeing long lines early too although it isn't a swing state. But if I lived there I would be ready to knock some heads together.
I think in these last few weeks, more and more people are becoming aware that Trump's cognitive abilities are in rapid decline. In the following quotes, Trump proves his inability to tell the truth, maintain a thought or speak coherently as he he tries to prove he is honest and coherent and not tongue-tied:
Trump Tells Fox: “I Am The Most Stable Human Being”
October 18, 2024 Trump Corruption, Trump Lies
Ainsley Earhardt:
Now they’re ramping up their rhetoric. And when she sat down with Bret there, she said, talking about you, “he’s unstable.” When she was speaking at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, she called you “unstable and unhinged.” And then in this new ad that they’ve rolled out, she’s saying “unhinged, more unstable and unchecked.” What is your response and what is your closing argument?
Donald Trump:
Well, first of all, the question is pretty rough question, because, you know, you’re giving this whole argument to this woman that I don’t think she knows where she is. She’s a low IQ person. She’s not smart. Everyone knows that. Didn’t even pass a law exam was a big thing. She never thought she was going to be able to pass it.
These people are misinformation people. They’ll say, “let’s go out” with this one. They’ve tried many different things. They tried. “He’s a dictator. He’s going to take over the whole world. He said this–.” Every week they try something else.
So far, it hasn’t worked. I guess that’s the attack they have for this week. It doesn’t seem to be working. I am the most stable human being. Remember they said a stable genius? I am the most stable human being.
Trump was supposed to be on CNBC this morning but canceled the interview due to a “scheduling conflict.” The Fox and CNBC studios are blocks away from each other.
Kamela did not pass the California Bar exam the first time, but many know it is one of the most brutal and difficult exams. She passed the second time. That shows she learned, has determination and intelligence and never gives up. Donny on the other hand has been called by his economic professor...'One of the dumbest damned students I ever had' 😂
And how did the Orange Fool think she became DA in Los Angeles (2003) and AG of California (2010) w/o a law degree? He is such a pathetic ass. If he weren't causing such a dangerous crisis in our country, I'd feel sorry for this pathetic little man. I guess none of us will ever be able to fathom what so many find attractive about this grubby slob. And how anyone sees him as charismatic is a mystery to me.
She at least passed them on her second attempt. Someone should remind DonOld that Jim Jordan didn’t do his bar exam, nor could he even complete the course load after his first year. And to add insult to injury, he’s the Chair of the House Committee on the Judiciary. Great pedigree to have to chair one of the most important House Committees.
I have been saying for a long time that if anyone steps up to save this great nation it will be American women. The time is now and the cause is existential. I have great hope.
As I like to point out, when the State of Alabama nearly sent a credibly-accused child predator to the Senate, something happened. The black female vote rose up and said NO.
Here is a link to the election. A lot to absorb, but Jones won by only 21,000 votes. But the support for him in the black community was important, and breaking it down further the data showed the black female vote was the prime force for carrying the day — upwards of 90 percent. A crystal clear No.
couldn't agree more.... not to mention Polls are a quick easy way to MAKE THE NEWS.... and without knowing exactly how questions are framed there's so much conflicting info and opinionizing.
How the hell do I get a (relatively) sane friend - lifelong Republican - to REALLY read this? Steve lays it out very clearly. I’ll post it, and challenge the Republicans in my life to explain how they can support a monster like Trump. No one will respond - because supporting Trump is indefensible. I think they actually know that. The problem is - they like what fascists are offering.
But this one man - a big-hearted, kind man - has told me, “It’s my party. I don’t like their candidate, but it’s my party.” That’s either ridiculous - it isn’t the party he’s belonged to his whole life. It’s now the Trump/MAGA/Christofascist Party. So either he’s fooling himself believing he must stay loyal, or - he too - actually likes the Gilead America they’re offering, which infuriates me, and breaks my heart.
I wish he’d read this piece, and tell me what it is about it that he doesn’t believe. This is such a terrifying moment - as a nation, and to each of us who is actually grasping what may happen.
I too have friends who I thought were rational, logical businessmen. They have expressed their disbelief that as a former retired Wall Street CEO I can actively support Harris. Didn't I know she was a "commie, fascist, antifa, radical, left-winger" who is going to destroy the country? When I patiently and slowly went through every point - starting with the January 6th lovefest others known to sane people s an insurrection, it literally fell on deaf ears. WHen you ask them for substantiation of their generalizations, they answer with more uns7bstantiated claims. Asking for proof is an exercise in futiity because, as we know, there is none, ergo they cannot provide any. I have had one friend state clearly to me the following:
"I know he isn’t a good guy but I am most concerned about policies. We are in a very dangerous place exacerbated or caused by Biden/ Harris."
"I don’t like Trump. I know him personally, but the hyperbole is ridiculous."
I too have a "friend" who announced at lunch the other day, that he voted for Trump. "Not the man, his policies." I asked him, what policies-his answer, "the ones he had four years ago". I was disheartened, and all I could say was; well, you will have to live with the results, if he wins. He was silent. I can never again look at my "friend" in the same way! He would rather toss democracy in the trash, have his children, grand and great-grandchildren live in a dictatorship, than vote for a WOMAN-a BLACK/ASIAN WOMAN! It is as simple as that! The "orange fool" appeals to alpha-males, and the prejudices that have been engrained in our society, and in our religions!
My fear is what happens after November 5, when the results are finally in! I hate to say it, but whoever wins, there will be bloodshed! It will be ugly! And we all carry on as if nothing will change!
McConnell is a weak, old man, who like Trump, cares only about himself and his power! But, what of Senator Schumer? Where is he? Where was he, during all this mess? He should have reminded the people of "separation of church and state", but he didn't! He should have stood up for women's reproductive rights, with strength and power, but he didn't! To me he is just a weak, old man, who like McConnell and Trump, cares only about himself and his power! They are no different! If anything that has been proven over this decade of chaos and hate, is that women are much stronger than these pathetic old men! Look what Nancy Pelosi did on January 6th, while Schumer and McConnell looked on! Look how Kamala Harris is standing up to her opposition, and with humor too!
I once thought that if only these old farts would just die, maybe things will change! Then I look at the "younger generation" of MAGAs; Vance, MTG, Boebart, Gates, and I wonder if our country can ever recover fully from this nightmare that the Three Branches of Government allowed to happen over the decades!
Chuck Schumer has shown ALOT more passion & determination when it came to supporting Israel's genocide.....America's democracy not so much. Schumer is your prototypical elderly moderate old school Democrat....weak, browbeat by the right wing, and a loser
Thanks for sharing your all-too-common conversations. If the worst happens, and Trumpism prevails on election day, the same brain locked followers will someday flip the memory switch and deny, even to themselves, having ever supported Trump. That's how the compartmentalized, selective minds of authoritarian followers are wired.
"That's how the compartmentalized, selective minds of authoritarian followers are wired." Will our Democracy have to topple for these people to wake up? Sadly, Yes.
Well, I hope you're wrong, Lisa, and you hope you're wrong too. Mike Huddleston's reply is exactly correct, and I'm bothered more by those who are smart enough to know better than those that aren't. They're like children who stick fingers in their ear and sing when confronted by inconvenient truths. You can't reach those that won't listen.
Hi Michael, I'm not saying I think TFG will win this year. The only way, though, that millions of his voters might wake-up is for Democracy to topple. Go Harris!
I just read something Trump said on Fox and Friends this morning. If your friend uses Fox as his main (only?) source of news, you might offer this up as evidence that Fox is not a news source but a propaganda outlets for Trump and his campaign:
“I’m going to see Rupert Murdoch. That’s a big event. I don’t know he’s thrilled that I say it. And I’m going to tell him something very simple, because I can’t talk to anybody else about — don’t put on negative commercials for 21 days, don’t put them on, and don’t put on their horrible people that come and lie. I’m going to say, Rupert, please do it this way and then we’re going to have a victory, because I think everyone wants that.”
Trump's involvement with the National Inquirer affected the 2016 election. If Trump can control the media (Fox), along with Musk's help, and Russia's interference...he can win.
I have quit wasting my time with those people. I just do get out the vote work and post factual articles publicly else I am preaching to the choir or beating a dead horse. I understand your frustration.
McConnell and his ilk are what, after Nazi Germany was over and being analyzed, was called a "Mitläufer". Someone who "runs with", stays silent and compliant. He is the worst kind, because he was in an actual leadership position - he could have moved America towards a different outcome at any stage, during and after the last disastrous Trump "presidency".
But there is that other kind, your "silent majority", Steve, who quietly drift along with whatever happens without moving a finger or - most importantly - casting their vote. They are allowing the indecency, the violence, the hate to hold sway. This is not a time for silent running. Please, ordinary Americans, VOTE!
McConnell could have ended it all with the second impeachment about Jan 6. He refused and because of this, most (not all) of the rest of the Rs in the Senate went along. Fuck him.
“Let’s end it”, indeed. Often, I hear there’s more of us than them. Is this true? I hope so but as I travel around my small world, I am astounded by all the trump signs. I will never, ever, ever understand how so many can be supportive of a vile, evil, lying poor specimen of a man. Yet, many do, including my sister, a reasonably intelligent (or so I thought) individual who is so enamored by trump it makes my head spin. But, I am truly scared he will win. Then what? “Life will go on” is not what will happen. They will take over our country and our lives. I truly have been scared of this for far too long.
Steve, your denunciation of Mitch McConnell holds true for all those who know better, whose silence - or failure to audibly support Kamala Harris - amounts to capitulation and tacit support of Tr*mp. Bill Kristol wrote forcefully about that this morning. I’d add that retired military officers who accepted political appointments have shed the “apolitical military” stance. And they swore an oath to the Constitution, not political neutrality. And where’s W?
I just joined Steve Schmidt's substack yesterday because his content is sobering. I also want to get a few things off my chest, this is one of them.
Much is made of the punishments Trump will mete out to his detractors and opponents if he wins. What will happen to his loyal base and his legion of cynical bootlickers is a more interesting question. Here"s what I think based on verifiable historic precedent. Hyperbolic? Maybe a bit, but as Steve Schmidt and others often point out, Trump is running through the authoritarian play book from page one. What follows is my poor attempt to bookmark a page that will play out after the coup...or legitimate win, at this point, who knows? Here goes:
The Night of the Long Knives
“The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you can see.”
Winston Churchill
Most who live beneath red hats come over all giddy at the idea of a Trump for life regime, they think he is their advocate. If they read a high school history text book however, they would learn that the gratitude of kings is fickle and fleeting*. There is far more at stake than the end of elections if Trump wins again. Neither his opposition, or his most fanatical supporters will be safe from his paranoia.
History is full of examples of newly fledged dictators turning on their most ardent supporters. The night Hitler and his closest allies decapitated a fanatically loyal arm of the nazi party is a classic case.
The S.A., a.k.a. the Brown Shirts, a.k.a the Storm Troopers, were the predecessors to the S.S.. Properly known as Die Sturmabteilung, they played a key role in the party’s rise to power. Founded in 1921 after Hitler took control of the N.S.D.A.P., they were the party security force and goon squad. It was composed of lower to middle class men with huge, and largely justified grievances against the German ruing class dating back to the end of WW 1. A similar situation prevails in the USA today.
When Hitler became the democratically elected chancellor of Germany in 1933 under President Hindenburg, it was the S.A. that enforced democracy during the election.
Hitler never really trusted the S.A., and many of his underlings feared, and envied their power and influence. Those who wanted to see the S.A.’s wings clipped included the leadership of the Wehrmacht. The S.A.’s leadership had gotten way too big for their britches by the early 1930s. They were over reaching in their efforts to control as much of the party apparatus as they could, including the Wehrmacht. Long story short, Hitler ordered a purge of the S.A., and on June 30th 1934 it began. The rest is history, and a cautionary tale fit to freeze the blood of any authoritarian party hack or thug. Most of the leadership were summarily executed. Most of the rank and file were conscripted into the SS, where they could die a glorious death in service to the Reich.
MAGA red hats should read up on this period of Germany’s history. They will be irrelevant, and expendable once they have served their purpose, which is to bash heads on election day. The professionals will take over where they left off (shudder).
Trump won’t trust his storm troopers, he watched them turn on their friends and neighbors to help him seize power after all. Who wouldn’t they betray? They shouldn’t complain too loudly when the bread ration is cut…again. The walls are going to grow ears. Friends, and neighbors will be on the lookout for traitors, and the perks that come with ratting one out. The knock in the night, and ride in the black mariah will be next. Members of organizations like the proud bois are likely to find themselves conscripted into the army, probably as human mine detectors. Their leaders will be “under suspicion of being suspect”** and detained.
Republican Party apparatchiks should tread lightly once they have installed their guy. We all know he is abjectly stupid, ignorant, and senile to boot. He is like a rabid dog though, and he fears his allies in congress. He knows they are smarter than him, and that they are ambitious. I’ll bet they have plans to quietly retire him {nudge nudge wink wink) once he has served his purpose. But remember, Trump does not trust them, and never has. He probably has plans to set some examples on day one. He’ll have to keep some of them around to do the actual work though. The last task of the red hats may well be to round up those sycophants who don’t make the cut, and pack them off to the gulag.
DICTATORS EAT THEIR OWN.
I refer you to: Stalin’s purges of the Red Army, Stalin’s collectivization of agriculture, Hitler’s purge of the S.A., Mao’s cultural revolution and great leap forward, Pol Pot and the khmer rouge, the terror of the French revolution…and so on.
After November 5th: win or lose Trump throws his maganauts to the wolves.
-‐-------------------------------------
*I’m paraphrasing someone here, I’m not sure who. The Bible?
**Quote from Walt Kelly’s “Pogo” comic strip. From the compilation “We Have Met the Enemy and He is Us”
This election should be a much easier test than the man-person-woman-camera-tv test that orange genius claims he aced. For the choir following here, at least. Will that silent majority pass it and lead us to exhilaration rather than despair?
First order of business if we turn out the vote like we should is to abolish the electoral college once and for all. Send it to the dustbins of history. We’d never lose another election.
Agree with Ron. We can't simply abolish it as it requires a change to the Constitution. You need Congress and then the states to ratify. Neither will happen in our lifetimes.
a Stern read this morning ☕ Steve and I hear you Loud and Clear. McConnell referenced himself as Darth Vader during a press interview a few years back and I've never forgotten it. Your right, he IS worse than trump, because of his in actions and obstruction,is why we're here today. Thank You, Steve and I will reStack ASAP 🇺🇸💙🌊👍
Despite the clarity of Steve's message I run across people in the older age cohort who swear that Trump will not take their benefits and will not prevent their granddaughters from getting reproductive care. They also warn about being harmed by immigrants and are gunned up in case. I say good luck to them living in fear and hope that they actually know what to do in a suddenly hostile situation. It is truly Kafkaesque and terrifying. And these happen to mostly be veterans of Vietnam, as I live in Southeast VA.
Kamala has begun to be fierce, but must amplify her tenor significantly and attack Trump in no uncertain or equivocal terms. Call him deranged and demented. Tell people that he mirrors Hitler and give examples in both campaign ads and live. Show photos of Trump flags above swastika flags. on boats in FL.
My hope is that the turnout among women in particular and let us hope the younger people who are voting for the first time will tilt the scale to Kamala decisively, for to depend on changing minds of those who love Trump is folly. My further hope is that the polling does not capture a representative sample of likely voters. It has been wrong in the past, i.e. Hillary in 2016, and I believe is wrong now. Early turnout seems to underscore my gut.
Donnie is a con man. A parasite who sucks money out of the gullible using lies and trinkets. Snake oil. It's almost impossible for the mark to see the con game while it's happening. Tell your family to look for the tricks and stop sending him money. Donnie is nothing but a thief.
Fear is one of, if not the most, powerful emotions. Why do you think TFG has turned that fear meter up to the high end of red. That is not an accident.
I might suggest that many of these people are not college graduates or professional people. I also suggest that they are closely tied to their churches and pastors. They lack critical thinking skills and seem extremely ignorant. I live in Charlottesville and we are blue, through and through. UVA is the central institution here and people are highly educated and sophisticated.
I blame Merrick Garland more than anybody. We know that the Mitch McConnells of the world are bastards who will wreck the world for their tribe. Garland’s lack of balls will cost us our Democracy and will put the entire world at risk.
Alas, I am not the great prose writer as you are, and not nearly as polite ( a “fist to the face”), but I’d rather kick him in the cajones every day until November 6!
"The fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves". Through a combination of selfishness,evil, criminality, arrogance, laziness, and idiocy we are on the abyss. As unimaginable as that is, here we are. In the next 18 days, EVERYONE who is swayable must be hammered with the facts. Despite attempts by Trump and his MAGA henchmen to gaslight them, the truth IS undeniable, so those folks most here that truth, over and over. Kamala will be the main driver of that message, but we all have a role. Come on, America . Let's fix this!
Some good news: Georgia is experiencing a record turnout of early voters, with over 365,000 ballots cast since early voting opened on Tuesday. From what I understand, nearly 55 percent of that early vote is female. I think the pollsters will be wrong about the closeness of this election and this early turnout suggests that possibility. If anything saves this country, it will be a crushing female vote that buries the MAGA Misogynists.
Thank you for echoing my thoughts since the day that we switched from Biden to Harris. I believe that the cult of MAGA combined with the Elites of America agenda has severely underestimated the soul and the spirit of this voting block. Let's do this, and get to the other side of a ten-year-nightmare!
Amen.
hope the white ladies are voting for Kamala because they elected Trump last time.
I sure hope they are voting for Kamala.
According to national polls, about 55% of them should be.
I no longer trust polls. I have gotten at least 100 texts from pollsters since the summer. So they have asked me 100 times about my single vote? This is crazy. I like to believe the female vote is a lot higher than 55 percent.
Kansas did what on the abortion ballot vote? 60-65%? or more?
Then, of course, abortion was legal but the Republican double supermajority took away the ability to have abortions in outlawing the tools etc. to do abortions. We in Kansas do not live in a Democracy due to the double supermajority scheme.
What if you went to vote for a president and ended up getting a used car salesman?
The stupid white ladies voted for tRUMP..... unfrortunately, there are many of them. They worry about whether their next Botox treatment and which restaurant they should order dinner from.
Thank you for sharing this good, hopeful news. So important to keep hope alive as we continue to work our butts off for Harris-Walz and BLUE down the ballot!
Showing up beats the polls!! A pollster who's called every election except Bush/Gore predicted Biden and now Harris based on non-opinion factors like economy, recent elections, and so on. But we have to show up. Tennessee is seeing long lines early too although it isn't a swing state. But if I lived there I would be ready to knock some heads together.
Yes. Come on ladies, save America.
Don't worry, Max. We got this.
I think in these last few weeks, more and more people are becoming aware that Trump's cognitive abilities are in rapid decline. In the following quotes, Trump proves his inability to tell the truth, maintain a thought or speak coherently as he he tries to prove he is honest and coherent and not tongue-tied:
Trump Tells Fox: “I Am The Most Stable Human Being”
October 18, 2024 Trump Corruption, Trump Lies
Ainsley Earhardt:
Now they’re ramping up their rhetoric. And when she sat down with Bret there, she said, talking about you, “he’s unstable.” When she was speaking at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, she called you “unstable and unhinged.” And then in this new ad that they’ve rolled out, she’s saying “unhinged, more unstable and unchecked.” What is your response and what is your closing argument?
Donald Trump:
Well, first of all, the question is pretty rough question, because, you know, you’re giving this whole argument to this woman that I don’t think she knows where she is. She’s a low IQ person. She’s not smart. Everyone knows that. Didn’t even pass a law exam was a big thing. She never thought she was going to be able to pass it.
These people are misinformation people. They’ll say, “let’s go out” with this one. They’ve tried many different things. They tried. “He’s a dictator. He’s going to take over the whole world. He said this–.” Every week they try something else.
So far, it hasn’t worked. I guess that’s the attack they have for this week. It doesn’t seem to be working. I am the most stable human being. Remember they said a stable genius? I am the most stable human being.
Trump was supposed to be on CNBC this morning but canceled the interview due to a “scheduling conflict.” The Fox and CNBC studios are blocks away from each other.
https://www.joemygod.com/2024/10/trump-tells-fox-i-am-the-most-stable-human-being/
Kamela did not pass the California Bar exam the first time, but many know it is one of the most brutal and difficult exams. She passed the second time. That shows she learned, has determination and intelligence and never gives up. Donny on the other hand has been called by his economic professor...'One of the dumbest damned students I ever had' 😂
And how did the Orange Fool think she became DA in Los Angeles (2003) and AG of California (2010) w/o a law degree? He is such a pathetic ass. If he weren't causing such a dangerous crisis in our country, I'd feel sorry for this pathetic little man. I guess none of us will ever be able to fathom what so many find attractive about this grubby slob. And how anyone sees him as charismatic is a mystery to me.
She at least passed them on her second attempt. Someone should remind DonOld that Jim Jordan didn’t do his bar exam, nor could he even complete the course load after his first year. And to add insult to injury, he’s the Chair of the House Committee on the Judiciary. Great pedigree to have to chair one of the most important House Committees.
I have been saying for a long time that if anyone steps up to save this great nation it will be American women. The time is now and the cause is existential. I have great hope.
As I like to point out, when the State of Alabama nearly sent a credibly-accused child predator to the Senate, something happened. The black female vote rose up and said NO.
Tell me more.
Here is a link to the election. A lot to absorb, but Jones won by only 21,000 votes. But the support for him in the black community was important, and breaking it down further the data showed the black female vote was the prime force for carrying the day — upwards of 90 percent. A crystal clear No.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_United_States_Senate_special_election_in_Alabama
couldn't agree more.... not to mention Polls are a quick easy way to MAKE THE NEWS.... and without knowing exactly how questions are framed there's so much conflicting info and opinionizing.
How the hell do I get a (relatively) sane friend - lifelong Republican - to REALLY read this? Steve lays it out very clearly. I’ll post it, and challenge the Republicans in my life to explain how they can support a monster like Trump. No one will respond - because supporting Trump is indefensible. I think they actually know that. The problem is - they like what fascists are offering.
But this one man - a big-hearted, kind man - has told me, “It’s my party. I don’t like their candidate, but it’s my party.” That’s either ridiculous - it isn’t the party he’s belonged to his whole life. It’s now the Trump/MAGA/Christofascist Party. So either he’s fooling himself believing he must stay loyal, or - he too - actually likes the Gilead America they’re offering, which infuriates me, and breaks my heart.
I wish he’d read this piece, and tell me what it is about it that he doesn’t believe. This is such a terrifying moment - as a nation, and to each of us who is actually grasping what may happen.
I too have friends who I thought were rational, logical businessmen. They have expressed their disbelief that as a former retired Wall Street CEO I can actively support Harris. Didn't I know she was a "commie, fascist, antifa, radical, left-winger" who is going to destroy the country? When I patiently and slowly went through every point - starting with the January 6th lovefest others known to sane people s an insurrection, it literally fell on deaf ears. WHen you ask them for substantiation of their generalizations, they answer with more uns7bstantiated claims. Asking for proof is an exercise in futiity because, as we know, there is none, ergo they cannot provide any. I have had one friend state clearly to me the following:
"I know he isn’t a good guy but I am most concerned about policies. We are in a very dangerous place exacerbated or caused by Biden/ Harris."
"I don’t like Trump. I know him personally, but the hyperbole is ridiculous."
When asked for specifics - crickets.
I too have a "friend" who announced at lunch the other day, that he voted for Trump. "Not the man, his policies." I asked him, what policies-his answer, "the ones he had four years ago". I was disheartened, and all I could say was; well, you will have to live with the results, if he wins. He was silent. I can never again look at my "friend" in the same way! He would rather toss democracy in the trash, have his children, grand and great-grandchildren live in a dictatorship, than vote for a WOMAN-a BLACK/ASIAN WOMAN! It is as simple as that! The "orange fool" appeals to alpha-males, and the prejudices that have been engrained in our society, and in our religions!
My fear is what happens after November 5, when the results are finally in! I hate to say it, but whoever wins, there will be bloodshed! It will be ugly! And we all carry on as if nothing will change!
McConnell is a weak, old man, who like Trump, cares only about himself and his power! But, what of Senator Schumer? Where is he? Where was he, during all this mess? He should have reminded the people of "separation of church and state", but he didn't! He should have stood up for women's reproductive rights, with strength and power, but he didn't! To me he is just a weak, old man, who like McConnell and Trump, cares only about himself and his power! They are no different! If anything that has been proven over this decade of chaos and hate, is that women are much stronger than these pathetic old men! Look what Nancy Pelosi did on January 6th, while Schumer and McConnell looked on! Look how Kamala Harris is standing up to her opposition, and with humor too!
I once thought that if only these old farts would just die, maybe things will change! Then I look at the "younger generation" of MAGAs; Vance, MTG, Boebart, Gates, and I wonder if our country can ever recover fully from this nightmare that the Three Branches of Government allowed to happen over the decades!
One can only hope!
Chuck Schumer has shown ALOT more passion & determination when it came to supporting Israel's genocide.....America's democracy not so much. Schumer is your prototypical elderly moderate old school Democrat....weak, browbeat by the right wing, and a loser
Thanks for sharing your all-too-common conversations. If the worst happens, and Trumpism prevails on election day, the same brain locked followers will someday flip the memory switch and deny, even to themselves, having ever supported Trump. That's how the compartmentalized, selective minds of authoritarian followers are wired.
Tom Tomorrow nails it again:
https://prospect.org/power/2024-10-15-this-modern-world/
"That's how the compartmentalized, selective minds of authoritarian followers are wired." Will our Democracy have to topple for these people to wake up? Sadly, Yes.
Well, I hope you're wrong, Lisa, and you hope you're wrong too. Mike Huddleston's reply is exactly correct, and I'm bothered more by those who are smart enough to know better than those that aren't. They're like children who stick fingers in their ear and sing when confronted by inconvenient truths. You can't reach those that won't listen.
With all my heart I hope not.
Hi Michael, I'm not saying I think TFG will win this year. The only way, though, that millions of his voters might wake-up is for Democracy to topple. Go Harris!
The cognitive dissonance gap has been closed through irrational thought and belief of lies.
And Tom Tomorrow is great - look at my profile image!
I just read something Trump said on Fox and Friends this morning. If your friend uses Fox as his main (only?) source of news, you might offer this up as evidence that Fox is not a news source but a propaganda outlets for Trump and his campaign:
“I’m going to see Rupert Murdoch. That’s a big event. I don’t know he’s thrilled that I say it. And I’m going to tell him something very simple, because I can’t talk to anybody else about — don’t put on negative commercials for 21 days, don’t put them on, and don’t put on their horrible people that come and lie. I’m going to say, Rupert, please do it this way and then we’re going to have a victory, because I think everyone wants that.”
Trump's involvement with the National Inquirer affected the 2016 election. If Trump can control the media (Fox), along with Musk's help, and Russia's interference...he can win.
You are so right, Lisa. Thank you for reminding me about the NI’s impact on the 2016 election.
I have quit wasting my time with those people. I just do get out the vote work and post factual articles publicly else I am preaching to the choir or beating a dead horse. I understand your frustration.
https://www.newsweek.com/full-list-republicans-endorsing-kamala-harris-trump-1960937
I was wondering the same thing!
McConnell and his ilk are what, after Nazi Germany was over and being analyzed, was called a "Mitläufer". Someone who "runs with", stays silent and compliant. He is the worst kind, because he was in an actual leadership position - he could have moved America towards a different outcome at any stage, during and after the last disastrous Trump "presidency".
But there is that other kind, your "silent majority", Steve, who quietly drift along with whatever happens without moving a finger or - most importantly - casting their vote. They are allowing the indecency, the violence, the hate to hold sway. This is not a time for silent running. Please, ordinary Americans, VOTE!
McConnell could have ended it all with the second impeachment about Jan 6. He refused and because of this, most (not all) of the rest of the Rs in the Senate went along. Fuck him.
“Let’s end it”, indeed. Often, I hear there’s more of us than them. Is this true? I hope so but as I travel around my small world, I am astounded by all the trump signs. I will never, ever, ever understand how so many can be supportive of a vile, evil, lying poor specimen of a man. Yet, many do, including my sister, a reasonably intelligent (or so I thought) individual who is so enamored by trump it makes my head spin. But, I am truly scared he will win. Then what? “Life will go on” is not what will happen. They will take over our country and our lives. I truly have been scared of this for far too long.
Steve, your denunciation of Mitch McConnell holds true for all those who know better, whose silence - or failure to audibly support Kamala Harris - amounts to capitulation and tacit support of Tr*mp. Bill Kristol wrote forcefully about that this morning. I’d add that retired military officers who accepted political appointments have shed the “apolitical military” stance. And they swore an oath to the Constitution, not political neutrality. And where’s W?
"And where’s W?"
Probably hiding out with Mitt Romney.
I just joined Steve Schmidt's substack yesterday because his content is sobering. I also want to get a few things off my chest, this is one of them.
Much is made of the punishments Trump will mete out to his detractors and opponents if he wins. What will happen to his loyal base and his legion of cynical bootlickers is a more interesting question. Here"s what I think based on verifiable historic precedent. Hyperbolic? Maybe a bit, but as Steve Schmidt and others often point out, Trump is running through the authoritarian play book from page one. What follows is my poor attempt to bookmark a page that will play out after the coup...or legitimate win, at this point, who knows? Here goes:
The Night of the Long Knives
“The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you can see.”
Winston Churchill
Most who live beneath red hats come over all giddy at the idea of a Trump for life regime, they think he is their advocate. If they read a high school history text book however, they would learn that the gratitude of kings is fickle and fleeting*. There is far more at stake than the end of elections if Trump wins again. Neither his opposition, or his most fanatical supporters will be safe from his paranoia.
History is full of examples of newly fledged dictators turning on their most ardent supporters. The night Hitler and his closest allies decapitated a fanatically loyal arm of the nazi party is a classic case.
The S.A., a.k.a. the Brown Shirts, a.k.a the Storm Troopers, were the predecessors to the S.S.. Properly known as Die Sturmabteilung, they played a key role in the party’s rise to power. Founded in 1921 after Hitler took control of the N.S.D.A.P., they were the party security force and goon squad. It was composed of lower to middle class men with huge, and largely justified grievances against the German ruing class dating back to the end of WW 1. A similar situation prevails in the USA today.
When Hitler became the democratically elected chancellor of Germany in 1933 under President Hindenburg, it was the S.A. that enforced democracy during the election.
Hitler never really trusted the S.A., and many of his underlings feared, and envied their power and influence. Those who wanted to see the S.A.’s wings clipped included the leadership of the Wehrmacht. The S.A.’s leadership had gotten way too big for their britches by the early 1930s. They were over reaching in their efforts to control as much of the party apparatus as they could, including the Wehrmacht. Long story short, Hitler ordered a purge of the S.A., and on June 30th 1934 it began. The rest is history, and a cautionary tale fit to freeze the blood of any authoritarian party hack or thug. Most of the leadership were summarily executed. Most of the rank and file were conscripted into the SS, where they could die a glorious death in service to the Reich.
MAGA red hats should read up on this period of Germany’s history. They will be irrelevant, and expendable once they have served their purpose, which is to bash heads on election day. The professionals will take over where they left off (shudder).
Trump won’t trust his storm troopers, he watched them turn on their friends and neighbors to help him seize power after all. Who wouldn’t they betray? They shouldn’t complain too loudly when the bread ration is cut…again. The walls are going to grow ears. Friends, and neighbors will be on the lookout for traitors, and the perks that come with ratting one out. The knock in the night, and ride in the black mariah will be next. Members of organizations like the proud bois are likely to find themselves conscripted into the army, probably as human mine detectors. Their leaders will be “under suspicion of being suspect”** and detained.
Republican Party apparatchiks should tread lightly once they have installed their guy. We all know he is abjectly stupid, ignorant, and senile to boot. He is like a rabid dog though, and he fears his allies in congress. He knows they are smarter than him, and that they are ambitious. I’ll bet they have plans to quietly retire him {nudge nudge wink wink) once he has served his purpose. But remember, Trump does not trust them, and never has. He probably has plans to set some examples on day one. He’ll have to keep some of them around to do the actual work though. The last task of the red hats may well be to round up those sycophants who don’t make the cut, and pack them off to the gulag.
DICTATORS EAT THEIR OWN.
I refer you to: Stalin’s purges of the Red Army, Stalin’s collectivization of agriculture, Hitler’s purge of the S.A., Mao’s cultural revolution and great leap forward, Pol Pot and the khmer rouge, the terror of the French revolution…and so on.
After November 5th: win or lose Trump throws his maganauts to the wolves.
-‐-------------------------------------
*I’m paraphrasing someone here, I’m not sure who. The Bible?
**Quote from Walt Kelly’s “Pogo” comic strip. From the compilation “We Have Met the Enemy and He is Us”
This election should be a much easier test than the man-person-woman-camera-tv test that orange genius claims he aced. For the choir following here, at least. Will that silent majority pass it and lead us to exhilaration rather than despair?
First order of business if we turn out the vote like we should is to abolish the electoral college once and for all. Send it to the dustbins of history. We’d never lose another election.
I agree about the EC, but eliminating it is a pipe dream, unfortunately.
Agree with Ron. We can't simply abolish it as it requires a change to the Constitution. You need Congress and then the states to ratify. Neither will happen in our lifetimes.
a Stern read this morning ☕ Steve and I hear you Loud and Clear. McConnell referenced himself as Darth Vader during a press interview a few years back and I've never forgotten it. Your right, he IS worse than trump, because of his in actions and obstruction,is why we're here today. Thank You, Steve and I will reStack ASAP 🇺🇸💙🌊👍
Great post Steve! I agree with you 100%. So glad to hear your voice again!
“We should all be enraged over it, and equally ashamed that any American would say what he is saying.”
Sorry, Steve, but the people that should be ashamed are the half of Americans that intend to vote for him, not “we.”
Despite the clarity of Steve's message I run across people in the older age cohort who swear that Trump will not take their benefits and will not prevent their granddaughters from getting reproductive care. They also warn about being harmed by immigrants and are gunned up in case. I say good luck to them living in fear and hope that they actually know what to do in a suddenly hostile situation. It is truly Kafkaesque and terrifying. And these happen to mostly be veterans of Vietnam, as I live in Southeast VA.
Kamala has begun to be fierce, but must amplify her tenor significantly and attack Trump in no uncertain or equivocal terms. Call him deranged and demented. Tell people that he mirrors Hitler and give examples in both campaign ads and live. Show photos of Trump flags above swastika flags. on boats in FL.
My hope is that the turnout among women in particular and let us hope the younger people who are voting for the first time will tilt the scale to Kamala decisively, for to depend on changing minds of those who love Trump is folly. My further hope is that the polling does not capture a representative sample of likely voters. It has been wrong in the past, i.e. Hillary in 2016, and I believe is wrong now. Early turnout seems to underscore my gut.
Donnie is a con man. A parasite who sucks money out of the gullible using lies and trinkets. Snake oil. It's almost impossible for the mark to see the con game while it's happening. Tell your family to look for the tricks and stop sending him money. Donnie is nothing but a thief.
Fear is one of, if not the most, powerful emotions. Why do you think TFG has turned that fear meter up to the high end of red. That is not an accident.
Yes. It is the Hitler playbook exactly. Trump's reptilian instincts are very much at play.
I might suggest that many of these people are not college graduates or professional people. I also suggest that they are closely tied to their churches and pastors. They lack critical thinking skills and seem extremely ignorant. I live in Charlottesville and we are blue, through and through. UVA is the central institution here and people are highly educated and sophisticated.
I blame Merrick Garland more than anybody. We know that the Mitch McConnells of the world are bastards who will wreck the world for their tribe. Garland’s lack of balls will cost us our Democracy and will put the entire world at risk.
Sorry to have to break it to so many of you but NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE STUPIDITY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.
We are living in the age of gross ignorance and wholesale stupidity the likes of which has, perhaps, never been equaled in modern history.
As a result of this self- evident fact,
we stand on the precipice of the end of our democratic- republic and the birth of a form of fascist authoritarianism.
And the authors of our demise are the American electorate.
I agree with you about McConnell and everyone like him.
Alas, I am not the great prose writer as you are, and not nearly as polite ( a “fist to the face”), but I’d rather kick him in the cajones every day until November 6!
"The fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves". Through a combination of selfishness,evil, criminality, arrogance, laziness, and idiocy we are on the abyss. As unimaginable as that is, here we are. In the next 18 days, EVERYONE who is swayable must be hammered with the facts. Despite attempts by Trump and his MAGA henchmen to gaslight them, the truth IS undeniable, so those folks most here that truth, over and over. Kamala will be the main driver of that message, but we all have a role. Come on, America . Let's fix this!