Dec 18, 2023·edited Dec 18, 2023Liked by Steve Schmidt
I agree we need to fight back against the attacks by Trump and his legion of doom. At the moment, there is no one to counter his affinity for brutal dictators. Biden needs to go on the offensive and show the people the difference between autocracy and democracy. Autocratic societies do not flourish and do not grow without invading other countries and plundering their wealth and it is never distributed to their citizens, it is monopolized by the dictatorsfor their own wealth. Democracies grow wealth by lifting up nations where all citizens have a chance at benefitting. However, if not supported by its citizens democracy will die because the people are the true benefactors and leaders.
Nikki Haley is not a solution. She is part of the problem with the Republican party because she will not answer truthfully and turn away from the autocratic right wing of her party. The Republican party is like gangrene, if the portion that is infected is not amputated it will destroy the whole party. Nikki is trying to ignore the problem and treat it as if she was in control instead of realizing the diseased right has infected a large portion of the party. The Republican party is too far gone to save. It needs to be torn down completely and rebuilt with a firm foundation that upholds the Constitution and the ideals of our Forefathers.
Seems to me a big part of the problem is that the MSM seems to always be talking about the MAGAots and precious little of the democrats message gets through. Peopel constantly hear about tRump and most outlets, like the Times or Post don't have Biden or dem features on top/front. It is like Hillary's emails, or Benghazi!!, and now the Biden crime family. The repubs yell and scream and so it is news. While the competent governing, that keeps the trains running and the peace(showing my age) gets no credit.
I am worried as hell. Maybe Biden needs to fire his campaign staff and hire some flamethrowers. Steve?
The Texas journalist Molly Ivins wrote that even in dark times it is important to find and laugh about the absurd. And there is an absurdity about Roseanne's speech that is dark-humor funny. She doesn't properly convey at the beginning that she is about to parade a few horribles, and so the crowd doesn't seem to know whether they are cheering for the words she is saying or against the words she is saying. When she squawks about some totalitarian dictator, the crowd isn't sure if they are for it or against it because she didn't make obvious when she started her rant whether she is for or against. It's extra confusing to the crowd because cult leaders like Bannon self-describe as Leninist, and Trump as a dictator, so it is understandable that the simpleton cult followers need to be told whether to cheer or jeer. Seems that there are just buzz words that the cult followers train themselves to react reflexively to, unthinkingly. When they marched into the event they weren't ready to puzzle over the word "caliphate" without any contextual indicators, all spewed by TV personality Roseanne Barr. It also reflects how readily the crowd will switch positions at the will of their cult leaders, as they wait for some sort of indication whether to react hatefully or worshippingly.
While every effort, not presently being made, by Democrats and Independents to let every American know about every negative fact about Trump and the Republicans, is ESSENTIAL, I am slightly encouraged to think that Trump may talk himself out of a job. As he vocalizes his evil intentions he is becoming more and more outrageous and that is a trend so it will continue and with every evil uptick I think a layer of support will fall away because people thought of him as someone who would shake up the system, hold all the faceless office holders to account, sort out the border, make things more efficient and because he was rich, (?), he knew how to improve the economy, not be talking about executing his generals cause they didn’t obey him. His record is dismal, he accomplished nothing of value. When he talks about poisoning the blood of America, who is he talking about, Blacks, Latinos, Muslims, Asians? So let’s make that clear to Blacks, Latinos, Asians and Muslims and get them to think about what their lives will be like when he is back in charge. Those are the people making up much of the immigrant wave. If he hates the people coming in then he hates the same people already here. What did he ever do for the middle class? Nothing, so let’s tell them. He gave us the Supreme Court that took away rights and is terrorizing women coast to coast. Let’s tell them if they don’t already know. He is celebrating people who think nothing of killing their citizens. Let’s tell everybody the kind of people he admires and the kind of “leader” he wants to be. Let’s fight the MAGAphone with a megaphone and every other tool like a well organized, coordinated and aggressive COMMUNICATIONS assault. Wipe his ugly face off the TV screen and replace him with the stories of the success of the past three years in spite of the Right. The American economy is in excellent shape and getting better. The Biden administration has done a superb job. Let’s tell America and defeat this repulsive scourge once and for all.
"Let’s fight the MAGAphone with a megaphone and every other tool like a well organized, coordinated and aggressive COMMUNICATIONS assault." We need to power up now!
I understand your frustration but this is my view. If someone says I am going to make you rich by showing you how. You likely say OK. but change that to - and its going to take ten hours a day three days a week. Some will say OK, others NO. Then try - and you are going to have leave your family and live in a dorm. More say thanks anyway. Finally - to do this we are going to have to incarcerate your neighbors. Very few will say yes. My point is Trump keeps ratcheting up what it is going to take to realize on his vision. The worse it gets the fewer people will stay on board, though they will be more "dedicated". But those numbers are votes so his close supporters will cheer and applaud but those further away will say, Gee, I don't know about THAT, which will morph for millions into NO THANKS! Boy, do I hope I am right.
Steve, it's frustrating to observe the Trump campaign creativity (I sense the presence of Steve Bannon) and not wish for equal muscle and vigor and passion on the Democrat side. That very song, for example, could describe followers of Trump. They are laying a snake on the hearth of America, without realizing it. I recommend Martha Stout's book, The Sociopath Next Door. In supporting a delusional sociopath, are his followers victims of a mass psychosis? And where have we heard that before?
I am very very afraid. It’s surreal and dystopian that any of this is happening. It’s as if the entirety of the US has amnesia. This ghoul killed 500K with COVID. Why doesn’t anyone remember the interview where he said THEY’RE DYING! IT IS WHAT IT IS? What the actual fuck? He called the press the enemy of the people and his crassness and misogyny were on display daily. He also didn’t really DO anything except give a tremendous TAX CUT to his cronies. Except for cage up children, some of whom are still disappeared into the system. He has made fools of Congress and he is currently making fools of the courts. He cut a record with his fellow insurrectionists, after he tried to overthrow the government. He’s a grifter and is again selling another round of NFTs, and threatening to sell the chopped up remains of his MUGSHOT suit, and his supporters are again emptying their bank accounts. I know he is the king of FUCKYOUISM, but it’s surreal that the American public does not get that electing this ghoul again is saying FUCK YOU to our children and grandchildren et al for generations.
Thanks to Steve and to all of you. What the hell are Democrats doing? These are the very highest stakes, yet we don’t see Democrats out front with consistent messages that would resonate with the American people. I still can’t figure out what they are waiting for. Someone needs to light a fire under Biden and the rest of them.
For the past few years, I’ve seen comments by average people on social media turn increasingly fascist. It’s now considered “fact” that the USA is not and never was a Democracy. This is really significant. Because It defangs our argument that our Democracy is in danger
Glad Biden is finally getting steamed about his enablers. They are pussies and haven't a clue how to street fight. The campaign should go up on the air/stream/billboards, whatever, every time Trump has a rally. This shit has got to stop!
Biden MUST put out a border/immigration plan, very publicly, that will show a strength adequate to appease the MAGA horde, while also keeping the majority of the democrats on board. It won't be easy, but it may be the one way he can turn the political tide.
If Biden wins I fear Some voters who will have put him in will smile with the smuggest satisfaction, believing the Democratic party a proven, intact, viable political organization. They will assume nothing needs to be done, no changes need be made. The strutting of winners. This nonblinking nincompoopery will furthur weaken the already corrupt, decadent organized hustle that the Dem Party has become. If Biden wins, it will be because he runs against Trump. Were there a more noble Republican to run, Biden would lose. From day one, a thorough housecleaning must be done. Have to start with the encrusted barnacles on the keel--Pelosi, Schummer, Clinton's, any more of the multimillionaires trying to out-age each other, dragging down the ship. Remember how Ginsberg cost us the Supreme Court, the totally incoherent fossil from Calif thoroughly embarrassing all Dems, etc etc There are some doubtlessly good established Dems, but they all seem to have the weakness gene. Biden's AG, were he to turn sideways, would vanish. When Jan 6 happened, it was left to a disaffected Repub, Liz Cheney, to put power to the response to the most obvious fascistic move made by the highly organized MAGA (the parade of MAGA fools dominating the media, howling, jumping up and down like a troop of incited primates are a clever distraction while the hard Right slithers below, surreptitiously moves people and policies into positions of power. And of course if Trump wins, nothing can or will matter. There will be no relief from their onslaught. Trump each day makes more trucculent promises of retribution, but fascism itself, once in place, will move like Gestapo to eliminate all opposition, even the smallest voice. If Trump loses, the fascist power already in place will reappear, and it will take a newly organized, fully strengthened, younger Democratic Party to cope.
It’s obvious by this point that MAGA is on a crusade to kill any chance of America becoming “less white” and will stop at nothing. I hope we fight them with no chance of failure to imagination as to what they are capable of. I guess if things get too out of hand, civil unrest will be squashed by Martial Law if necessary. Joe Biden needs to up his game now.
I agree we need to fight back against the attacks by Trump and his legion of doom. At the moment, there is no one to counter his affinity for brutal dictators. Biden needs to go on the offensive and show the people the difference between autocracy and democracy. Autocratic societies do not flourish and do not grow without invading other countries and plundering their wealth and it is never distributed to their citizens, it is monopolized by the dictatorsfor their own wealth. Democracies grow wealth by lifting up nations where all citizens have a chance at benefitting. However, if not supported by its citizens democracy will die because the people are the true benefactors and leaders.
Nikki Haley is not a solution. She is part of the problem with the Republican party because she will not answer truthfully and turn away from the autocratic right wing of her party. The Republican party is like gangrene, if the portion that is infected is not amputated it will destroy the whole party. Nikki is trying to ignore the problem and treat it as if she was in control instead of realizing the diseased right has infected a large portion of the party. The Republican party is too far gone to save. It needs to be torn down completely and rebuilt with a firm foundation that upholds the Constitution and the ideals of our Forefathers.
Absolutely. Biden has the bully pulpit and needs to rouse the good American people. That might even help is numbers.
Seems to me a big part of the problem is that the MSM seems to always be talking about the MAGAots and precious little of the democrats message gets through. Peopel constantly hear about tRump and most outlets, like the Times or Post don't have Biden or dem features on top/front. It is like Hillary's emails, or Benghazi!!, and now the Biden crime family. The repubs yell and scream and so it is news. While the competent governing, that keeps the trains running and the peace(showing my age) gets no credit.
I am worried as hell. Maybe Biden needs to fire his campaign staff and hire some flamethrowers. Steve?
Trump’s a fucking idiot. Haley is morally bankrupt supporting him as far as I’m concerned.
More projection... trump is the snske.
Trump is the snake. It's self-revealing that he plays that song at his rallies. Listen up, Republicans, you took him in!
The Texas journalist Molly Ivins wrote that even in dark times it is important to find and laugh about the absurd. And there is an absurdity about Roseanne's speech that is dark-humor funny. She doesn't properly convey at the beginning that she is about to parade a few horribles, and so the crowd doesn't seem to know whether they are cheering for the words she is saying or against the words she is saying. When she squawks about some totalitarian dictator, the crowd isn't sure if they are for it or against it because she didn't make obvious when she started her rant whether she is for or against. It's extra confusing to the crowd because cult leaders like Bannon self-describe as Leninist, and Trump as a dictator, so it is understandable that the simpleton cult followers need to be told whether to cheer or jeer. Seems that there are just buzz words that the cult followers train themselves to react reflexively to, unthinkingly. When they marched into the event they weren't ready to puzzle over the word "caliphate" without any contextual indicators, all spewed by TV personality Roseanne Barr. It also reflects how readily the crowd will switch positions at the will of their cult leaders, as they wait for some sort of indication whether to react hatefully or worshippingly.
The party of Death, the GOP. Led by Death itself, Trump. Like everything else he's telling us who he is.. The snake. The woman, America.
While every effort, not presently being made, by Democrats and Independents to let every American know about every negative fact about Trump and the Republicans, is ESSENTIAL, I am slightly encouraged to think that Trump may talk himself out of a job. As he vocalizes his evil intentions he is becoming more and more outrageous and that is a trend so it will continue and with every evil uptick I think a layer of support will fall away because people thought of him as someone who would shake up the system, hold all the faceless office holders to account, sort out the border, make things more efficient and because he was rich, (?), he knew how to improve the economy, not be talking about executing his generals cause they didn’t obey him. His record is dismal, he accomplished nothing of value. When he talks about poisoning the blood of America, who is he talking about, Blacks, Latinos, Muslims, Asians? So let’s make that clear to Blacks, Latinos, Asians and Muslims and get them to think about what their lives will be like when he is back in charge. Those are the people making up much of the immigrant wave. If he hates the people coming in then he hates the same people already here. What did he ever do for the middle class? Nothing, so let’s tell them. He gave us the Supreme Court that took away rights and is terrorizing women coast to coast. Let’s tell them if they don’t already know. He is celebrating people who think nothing of killing their citizens. Let’s tell everybody the kind of people he admires and the kind of “leader” he wants to be. Let’s fight the MAGAphone with a megaphone and every other tool like a well organized, coordinated and aggressive COMMUNICATIONS assault. Wipe his ugly face off the TV screen and replace him with the stories of the success of the past three years in spite of the Right. The American economy is in excellent shape and getting better. The Biden administration has done a superb job. Let’s tell America and defeat this repulsive scourge once and for all.
many support his racist rhetoric
Inspiring, Bob! You bring much needed perspective here. "Let's tell them...." We can do this!
"Let’s fight the MAGAphone with a megaphone and every other tool like a well organized, coordinated and aggressive COMMUNICATIONS assault." We need to power up now!
I understand your frustration but this is my view. If someone says I am going to make you rich by showing you how. You likely say OK. but change that to - and its going to take ten hours a day three days a week. Some will say OK, others NO. Then try - and you are going to have leave your family and live in a dorm. More say thanks anyway. Finally - to do this we are going to have to incarcerate your neighbors. Very few will say yes. My point is Trump keeps ratcheting up what it is going to take to realize on his vision. The worse it gets the fewer people will stay on board, though they will be more "dedicated". But those numbers are votes so his close supporters will cheer and applaud but those further away will say, Gee, I don't know about THAT, which will morph for millions into NO THANKS! Boy, do I hope I am right.
Pope Francis just approved same sex marriage? I guess there is such a thing as miracle after all! Merry Christmas!
Steve, it's frustrating to observe the Trump campaign creativity (I sense the presence of Steve Bannon) and not wish for equal muscle and vigor and passion on the Democrat side. That very song, for example, could describe followers of Trump. They are laying a snake on the hearth of America, without realizing it. I recommend Martha Stout's book, The Sociopath Next Door. In supporting a delusional sociopath, are his followers victims of a mass psychosis? And where have we heard that before?
I am very very afraid. It’s surreal and dystopian that any of this is happening. It’s as if the entirety of the US has amnesia. This ghoul killed 500K with COVID. Why doesn’t anyone remember the interview where he said THEY’RE DYING! IT IS WHAT IT IS? What the actual fuck? He called the press the enemy of the people and his crassness and misogyny were on display daily. He also didn’t really DO anything except give a tremendous TAX CUT to his cronies. Except for cage up children, some of whom are still disappeared into the system. He has made fools of Congress and he is currently making fools of the courts. He cut a record with his fellow insurrectionists, after he tried to overthrow the government. He’s a grifter and is again selling another round of NFTs, and threatening to sell the chopped up remains of his MUGSHOT suit, and his supporters are again emptying their bank accounts. I know he is the king of FUCKYOUISM, but it’s surreal that the American public does not get that electing this ghoul again is saying FUCK YOU to our children and grandchildren et al for generations.
Without proper education in civics, history, and critical thinking skills, we're doomed.
You’re exactly right.
Thanks to Steve and to all of you. What the hell are Democrats doing? These are the very highest stakes, yet we don’t see Democrats out front with consistent messages that would resonate with the American people. I still can’t figure out what they are waiting for. Someone needs to light a fire under Biden and the rest of them.
For the past few years, I’ve seen comments by average people on social media turn increasingly fascist. It’s now considered “fact” that the USA is not and never was a Democracy. This is really significant. Because It defangs our argument that our Democracy is in danger
Glad Biden is finally getting steamed about his enablers. They are pussies and haven't a clue how to street fight. The campaign should go up on the air/stream/billboards, whatever, every time Trump has a rally. This shit has got to stop!
Biden MUST put out a border/immigration plan, very publicly, that will show a strength adequate to appease the MAGA horde, while also keeping the majority of the democrats on board. It won't be easy, but it may be the one way he can turn the political tide.
If Biden wins I fear Some voters who will have put him in will smile with the smuggest satisfaction, believing the Democratic party a proven, intact, viable political organization. They will assume nothing needs to be done, no changes need be made. The strutting of winners. This nonblinking nincompoopery will furthur weaken the already corrupt, decadent organized hustle that the Dem Party has become. If Biden wins, it will be because he runs against Trump. Were there a more noble Republican to run, Biden would lose. From day one, a thorough housecleaning must be done. Have to start with the encrusted barnacles on the keel--Pelosi, Schummer, Clinton's, any more of the multimillionaires trying to out-age each other, dragging down the ship. Remember how Ginsberg cost us the Supreme Court, the totally incoherent fossil from Calif thoroughly embarrassing all Dems, etc etc There are some doubtlessly good established Dems, but they all seem to have the weakness gene. Biden's AG, were he to turn sideways, would vanish. When Jan 6 happened, it was left to a disaffected Repub, Liz Cheney, to put power to the response to the most obvious fascistic move made by the highly organized MAGA (the parade of MAGA fools dominating the media, howling, jumping up and down like a troop of incited primates are a clever distraction while the hard Right slithers below, surreptitiously moves people and policies into positions of power. And of course if Trump wins, nothing can or will matter. There will be no relief from their onslaught. Trump each day makes more trucculent promises of retribution, but fascism itself, once in place, will move like Gestapo to eliminate all opposition, even the smallest voice. If Trump loses, the fascist power already in place will reappear, and it will take a newly organized, fully strengthened, younger Democratic Party to cope.
It’s obvious by this point that MAGA is on a crusade to kill any chance of America becoming “less white” and will stop at nothing. I hope we fight them with no chance of failure to imagination as to what they are capable of. I guess if things get too out of hand, civil unrest will be squashed by Martial Law if necessary. Joe Biden needs to up his game now.