It’s not that Trump is the existential threat; it’s Trumpism that is the evil, demonic force. Trump has no ideology. He just craves love, obedience and loyalty. He is the epitome of a classless, and arrogant empty vessel.
Trump does not know how to govern, nor does he care to. He’s reckless, impulsive and clueless. It’s his corrupt and fanatical sycophants who we should fear.
McConnell, Miller, Bannon, The Federalist Society, Family Research Council, his “right-wing media ecosystem, and slew of constitutional lawyers, fanatical billionaires and think tanks that should be the focus of our vitriol and attention. Attack at the root, not the head.
Trump is nothing but a two-bit huckster that is more fiction than reality. And as the adage goes; “when the legend becomes fact, print to legend. And his right-wing media ecosystem is happy to oblige.
McConnell and the rest of the party are parasites plain and simple. To understand their pathology, I only needed to take one child psychology course in college to understand their feeble and obtuse minds.
McConnell will make a deal with the devil if it preserves his judicial accomplishments (he has).
Let’s face it; this country has been turning blue for decades, and the only way for the religious fanatics and tin-foil hat constituents to retain power, is by gaming the system good and hard. Mission accomplished!
McConnell has always known that the path to power isn’t the presidency, but the judicial branch which could easily rule by judicial fiat. And make no mistake, if Trump wins, our judiciary will be under the fascist and religious control for decades to come; regardless of which party is in power.
Abraham Lincoln used to fear that no one would remember that he ever lived. But Lincoln and Washington are remembered as great leaders of the revolutionary idea that all men are created equal with unalienable Rights, only sealing their fate after their triumphs at the battle fields. No matter how noble the intentions, failure was not and can never be an option when we are dealing with the life and death of democracy. Not here, not now, and not in Ukraine. Hope President Biden will deliver tonight and in November with this in mind
Give the guy a break! Biden cannot do everything well but he sure saved our country from Trump the last time around. Biden is 81. He is running this immense country, fighting wars and battles around the World, and he has a campaign to carry out. Maybe not a great speaker? But, the World is listening to what he says and watching how he acts!
Great post as always, Robert. A question though: how do you "attack at the root, not the head" when the head is the only thing we have a say in? The election is for the "head", and even one of the roots you mentioned, McConnell, isn't up for election again until 2026 and he likely won't run. Valid points all, but an election looming in 8 months brings into question how effective a strategy it would be to target anything but the head at this point. TFG is all those things you say, but it is through his role as POTUS that would provide the platform for the root to gain traction and be effective.
Hey Mike, thank you. My point was to attack his best and brightest. Trump is a repellent; nothing sticks and only makes him stronger.
However, we can attack Miller, who wanted to literally shoot undocumented people to send a message at the border. Bannon is a convicted criminal and cheap snake oil salesman.
The Heritage Foundation will be implementing their Project 2025 strategy, to reshape government and install religious fanatics and loyalists in every government institution.
The Federalist Society will be responsible for installing religious judges and regardless of what the party says, these positions are lifetime appointments, and given how quickly they eradicated Roe, they will do the same for IVF, contraceptives, abortion pills, and ALL ABORTIONS period, including a federal ban.
Talk about all the former campaign and administration advisors and cabinet members who resigned because of abuse of their powers in office, or were indicted, pled guilty, or convicted. And remind America of the chaos that ensued. Apparently, most Americans have short-term memory loss when it comes to all the shenanigans his administration pulled. Let’s make it front and center.
Something along these lines. We need to strike the fear of god into these people, and make them understand what’s truly at stake, including their civil liberties…:)
Thanks Robert. Although I agree with every single thing you've said about all of those people and organizations, I just don't see how this is effective. TFG winning is the only way they can implement any of the governing abominations - at least for now. Of course, whether he wins or loses, Heritage will certainly come up with a Project 2029, so to your point about the root.
Most people have already made up their minds for the election. For those somehow undecided, this is all background noise and will be until a week before the election. For the rest, maybe this means something or maybe it appears as an act of desperation. IOW, thoughts like, "Those people are not president or not running, why should I care" could prevail. Nothing we say will hit home and make them care or pay attention. In our attention span deprived culture, information overload, factual or otherwise, often falls unheard.
If we can't convince people, despite all the evidence, that TFG is a real threat to our country, do you really think they have the appetite to even contemplate the root? Whether the source of that threat is TFG (the head) or all of the others you mention (the root), would require time and consideration, and actual making people think about it. If our electorate has proven anything (74 million votes after the 4 year catastrophe anyone? ), it's that for many, thinking about it, I mean really thinking about it, is just not something they are willing to do. So this messaging would resonate with the people who already know this and will already fight to stop TFG and his army of the insane who want to implement these policies and destroy our country.
I agree, but there are a lot of independents and moderate republicans who haven’t made up their minds.
The cult has jumped into the proverbial abyss, and can’t be reach, but the youth, Muslim and even black and Hispanic vote that have been slowing moving away from Biden, can be reached with the right messaging.
I know it’s an uphill battle, but so far nothing works against Trump. It’s just an idea…:)
Absolutely fair and quite possibly correct. And I'm not trying to be disagreeable for its namesake because I feel we're mostly on the same page, but if Biden's/his admin's accomplishments, TFG's threat to democracy (his stated words and actions), TFG's debacle of a 4 year term (could be viewed as opinion), and 91 pending felony charges don't resonate with people who haven't made up their minds yet, all of which are undeniable facts except as parenthetically noted, asking them to critically think more about this and the behind the scenes machinations seems a bit futile to me. But, whatever it takes.
I’m not underestimating Trump; my point was that Trump is nothing more than an incompetent, charismatic cult leader. He has no governing skills or agenda to speak of.
It’s his supporters and enablers with an agenda. Without them, and the skill sets they bring to government, Trump would be rendered useless and unable to perform even the most mundane of tasks…:)
I used to feel that way but somehow- whether through blackmail, bribery, threat, coercion- who knows- he managed to get the majority of our House to “bend the knee”. I’ll never fully understand the cultishness, ignorance, cowardice and stupidity ( my thinking ) but it is an evil power, nonetheless.
Trumpism could never get the attention until Trump came along. Let's not mince words or try to debate angels (or devils) dancing on the head of a pin. And when you call him "classless", I kinda like classless. It's the arrogance of class that has caused the Democrat party to drift from ITS imperative, and that would be the working and the working poor of this nation. Trump and Trumpism got its foothold because the Democrats forgot their role, and they still have a hard time remembering the part it should be playing. Getting out into the hinterlands is something the Dems can't stand to do anymore, and relying on the urban areas may give them some numbers centered around people of color and of gender distinctions, but there still remains a great swath of America that is being left behind, losing their family legacies to issues of predatory health care and banking systems.
It's the D's who are trying to fight predatory healthcare and banking systems, not the R's. The R's routintely vote No on legislation that would help that swath of America, but then the R's in Congress try to take credit after the D's pass such bills. I don't understand R's continuing to vote for R's for political office. Just because the R's running for office showed up in the hinterlands? Only to have those R's return to Congress and turn around and vote against legislation that would help the people in the hinterlands (like ACA, lowering insulin to $35, infrastructure bill, child tax credit, etc that the R's in the House all voted No on). Personally, I'd forgive D's for not showing up in my hinterlands neighborhood as long as they showed up with their votes in Congress-- which is where showing up really counts and is precisely what the D's have been doing. Actions, aka votes, speak louder than the empty words the R politicians have been peddling. Showing up in person in the neighborhood shouldn't matter as much as their actual congressional voting record.
This morning I sent an e mail to one of the Senators of my state — Thomas Tillis. He and his family are one of the mainstays of the Republican Party of North Carolina. I view him as a decent man.
My question to him was: What is your opinion of the Republican Party of North Carolina nominating a Holocaust Denier and Anti-Semite to run for Governor of this state?
I will be interested to hear his reply and will share it here.
I think I will send Tillis a similar email. I will also send one to David Rouzer, who represents my NC 7th district in Congress. Rouzer is a seditionist, who voted against certifying the election.
Given how Tillis worked with the odious Phil Berger to damage public education in NC and hurt teachers (I am one.), I do not consider Tillis to be decent.
I also sent a note to the other Senator, Ted Budd. And I added to that note, which I have mentioned here, that my uncle fought in the 3rd US Army in World War 2, which liberated the Buchenwald Concentration Camp.
I wanted to know from Ted why my uncle’s memory of The Holocaust was faulty, given what Mark Robinson (who was not there) says.
I suppose decent should be qualified then. I don’t know the education issues that well in this state. I think I will also send a note to the other Senator here, too.
That's absolutely fair. But Steve's point is based on the fact that most people don't want Biden on the ticket, so they are happily voting against TFG, not happily for Biden. I respect everything Biden has accomplished in Congress, as VP, and as POTUS. I like who he is and what he represents. I'm not happy he's the D candidate and presumptive nominee because the concerns surrounding his age and thus ability to survive 4 more years in one of the hardest jobs on the planet. I'll still vote for him as I fear everything that TFG stands for, but if we lose in November, the primary reason will be concern for his age. Right, wrong, or otherwise. I just don't want him to RBG the Democratic party and would have preferred he do what he said and stick to one term.
I agree with you, Mike. However, since there seems to be no one else (whom we know anything about) [only 1 stepped up, but obviously not a threat]. We can, at the very least buy some time to prepare someone/or some. I was very impressed at tonights’ SOTU. I wish people would not mention his age at this point in the game, it is what it is. We have never been so close to losing Democracy, right up to the corrupted SC. I hope, whatever reason they vote Democratic, just absolutely NO tfg. It is our only chance. (That I have seen) it is the SC that is very bothersome. 🇺🇸
Good point, Mike. Thank you for giving me your take. I like to know other perspectives in this God awful mess djt and r’s have created. At least Joe got some well deserved positive statements today.
I do again agree with you on the SCOTUS BS. They just better not give t full immunity or I will F***ing lose it.🤣 funny how we look at things differently now as in your comment about packing the Court, of which we are stuck with, we don’t need more. When President Biden continues, it must be mandatory, in the House/Senate to get some rules to the SC and term limits. I still think Thomas should have to recuse himself and am furious that the other Justices have not spoken on this. Corruption ”Sucks”. Be well… certainly more to come…🇺🇸
Good morning, Ruth. Thanks for your reply. I agree and thought he looked and sounded really good in the SOTU. Hopefully that will convince some on the fence, and I believe it did. The age thing isn't going away, so we need to expect that and have ways of dealing with it. And I agree about SCOTUS as well, but the damage has been done and will last decades. I'm just not a fan of packing the court because if we do it, they will next time they win. IIRC, the Constitution doesn't not limit the number and I'd rather not watch it balloon to dozens of justices.
What I see is TFG descending rapidly into dementia and the MAGA party projecting onto Biden all that is unacceptable in themselves. Biden's age is an issue only for those who are easily swayed, ignorant of physiology, racist (consciously or subconsciously) or other negative issue. Biden may be physically slowing because of age (how many 80 y.o. do you know who still ride bikes.), but his brain is as sharp and wise as ever.
Thanks Barbara, and I mostly agree. Attacking people's reasoning behind concerns for Biden's age is not helpful. Too many people vote based on emotions, feelings, and/or perception. If they relied only on facts, they would look at Biden's accomplishments, recall the concerns of TFG's 4 years and the increasing and serious threat to democracy TFG represents and that would be enough. Sadly, neither appears to be enough. If they view him as too old, he's too old as far as they are concerned. I'm not saying that's right but trying to assess their reasoning is just a waste of time. Everyone ages differently, so a hard number doesn't matter. The Rs have nothing else of substance to pin on Biden, so they will beat the hell out of his age until November. Sorry, sad truth is that is reality and will resonate with some people. They will hammer the border and crime, but they will tap dance all over and around his age.
I support him yet wish he wasn't running again. You know, do what he said and be a one term bridge to the future? That doesn't make me any of those things you mentioned, just my preference in a candidate vying for one of the hardest jobs on the planet. I've seen how much he's aged in the last 4 years and that trend is not a good indicator of the next 4. I believe Harris can do the job if something were to unfortunately befall Biden, but I'm not the one who needs to be convinced that TFG should never be close to the WH again.
And of course TFG and MAGA does nothing but project. TFG is old and obviously rapidly declining, but the news doesn't cover that. The NYT had an article yesterday or day before with both of them pictured side by side. TFG looking vibrant and energetic, while the picture of Biden was with bloodshot eyes. That wasn't a mistake and that was the left leaning Times.
I think the only chance TFG has of winning is Biden's age, like I said above. RBG stayed too long and now we have Amy Coney Barrett for 20 - 30 years. My concern is Biden does the same thing, and for some voters, that concern, regardless of their reasoning (up to them, not you) could sway this election to TFG. That keeps me up at night and will continue to do so until the election...and beyond if TFG wins.
The pope is 87 and nobody talks about him being too old. Trump's dementia should be on the front page of every newspaper except for the fact they have lost any respect from the public.
The pope and any other 87 year old, 93 year old, 71 year old, etc. ad nauseam, has NOTHING to do with this. Please stop the completely unhelpful examples suggesting they are meaningful or relevant. They're not. They don't mean a damn thing because everyone ages differently...mentally and physically. No one here votes for the pope either and the job of the pope, last I heard, doesn't include the same level of responsibilities as POTUS. So, I'm happy for the pope, I guess. But he's also appointed for life, so once there, isn't subjected to the same level of scrutiny, nor should he be, as the two main candidates running for POTUS.
I agree that TFG is showing more advanced mental decline than Biden, and that it should be covered. My point is that it will be used against Biden because they have little else of substance to go on. There is a ton of ammo to be used against the failure that is TFG, age and mental acuity might not even be in the top 5. Should it be? I don't own a media company.
Exactly. They have little else to go on but the mental midgets on the right use it all the time. Unquestionably Trump’s mental decline should be front and center because there are so many examples of a man who should never have access to our nuclear codes.
As I read your emails which almost led me to tears I could only see my teenage self and family first born sitting at the dining room table have reasonable political discussions and debates. My dad was a Democrat and my mom a Republican. Debates were vigorous but always respectful and all left the table content, hopeful, better for the discussion, and feeling glad to be part of this large, diverse family. Never, never could I have imagined the horrific divide we as Americans endure now.
“His sentences aren’t quite gibberish in the same way that they aren’t quite comprehensible. He is a fraud and a gangster, a rapist and a liar. He is a seditionist who betrayed his oath and desecrated the blood sacrifices of one million Americans who offered the last full measure of devotion to the Union and its ideas and ideals”.
My wish is this would be pretty much what Biden says tonight. Of course he won’t, but it all needs to be said.
I remembered an interview I saw of McConnell. I don’t remember when it was done, when asked if he would support Trump again, McConnell said of course he would. He would support the nominee for the Republican Party. Hitler, Putin, any lawless man or woman would have been endorsed by McConnell. He is an example of how Hitler came to power. He is an example of how Democracy dies.
My Republican Senator who is running for Governor made a statement within the last few days that you just have to learn to go along with it all. There is importance in that statement. I think he and others have found it easier to just go along, than to stand for anything. It is hard to stand.
The one thing I would say to my son and daughter as they were growing up is sometimes the hardest thing to do is the right thing. Apparently Republicans didn’t have a parent that told them this
The Republican Party in the county I live has a Lincoln Day Dinner every year. I know ironic isn’t it. This year their key note speaker is Speaker Johnson. I am debating paying the minimum $150.00 and going. There is a part of me that is trying to understand, who wants to observe them, like I observe the ducks and geese that come up from the river.
Tonight, my expectation is the Trump-drunk GOP will affirm everything you just said about them, Steve, by being disruptive, disrespectful, anarchistic, rude, crude, and contemptuously and gleefully destructive of yet another revered American institution: the State of the Union.
That is my expectation as well, unfortunately. In Ukraine, Zelensky was nearly assassinated by the Russians and we are flailing about like incompetent morons with some of the worst people imaginable in government — Putin’s toadies in the Republican Party. The state of this country and the world is as bad as I have ever known it.
Thank you again Steve. I know how painful that must've been to leave the Party you loved so much. When I left in '08 things were quite a bit different. Yes the economy was in tatters thanks to the financial meltdown and Americans were ready for "Hope and Change" so it was easier for me to jump on Obama's Bandwagon, switch Parties and get involved. As I did I began to see how much more the Democrats were truly the Party of the people. I began to relate to them more and more as I watched the GOP slide further and further to the Right. Then came Trump in 2016 and it's been an 8 year horror show ever since. Freedom vs. Fascism. That's our choice this year. Thanks for making that crystal clear every single day. Your words and wisdom keep me motivated and inspired. Thank you again for all your hard work. We appreciate you!! ❤️🇺🇸💙
The people who left Europe to come to America came to escape religious persecution and theocracy that ruled in Europe. We now have the same thing festering in the United States in the form of White Christian Nationalists , Evangelical Christians led by Bible thumping wack jobs like the current Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. These people will if we let them instill their religious beliefs in the form of strict interpertations of the Bible. This country was created by people who were Deists. In this country we have the freedom of religion and from religion. I pray that enough people turn out to vote to end the MAGA madness and send Donald Trump and his ilk to the trash heap of history. If we don't we will get what we deserve
Gore Vidal corrected the highly pimped conspiracy theory that the Puritans left Europe because they were being persecuted. The truth, he noted, was that the Puritans were zealously harassing Europeans with their fascist fundamentalist harranging until the Europeans put their foot down and shipped them out. The Puritans came to America, bringing their militaristic metaphysics with them. Under their sanctimonious front, America carried the myth because it was untouchable (religious). One of America's failures has always been giving all religions completely hands-off protections that carries through today. Because they hide under the cloak of pious disguise, they are above rational discernment or reproachment no matter how irrational, how fascist they are. I use the word fascist because their mincing and thorough top-down authorian uber-controlling qualifies the label. Their influence waned but never died, and was reborn with the current zeal we witness today, because MAGA coupled their fascism with their own. MAGA happily enjoined them and is gainfully recruiting power in so doing.
We react spin-headed asking how religion went so wrong, when it has been there all along, ever since Plymouth. By the way, when native Americans helped the Puritans by teaching them how to survive, the Puritans saw them ripe for conversion. When the natives refused to be endocrinated into this new "religion" the Puritans tortured them and burned them alive at the stake. What do you think they have in store for you?
I hope you're right, but not so sure about that. The Rs have had a viable opponent to consider in all of their primaries, Biden has not. Let's watch where those numbers go in any subsequent primaries. TFG's will almost certainly move closer to where Biden is currently sitting. Who knows, maybe Biden's will tick up slightly, but likely nowhere as much as TFG's numbers will jump.
Staying positive for me means relying on the sanity of the electorate. I made that mistake in 2016, only to watch 4 years of pure chaos result in 74 million votes going that way. That was much higher than any percentage of the MAGA base. That is and should be alarming.
I lived a microcosmic version of this ongoing Trumpian nightmare.
I had a narcissistic/sociopathic boss. This boss lied constantly, lacked empathy, craved attention, felt entitled, pitted people against each other, picked favorites, name-called, etc.
The toughest part of it was the people who had fallen under the spell of the dark wizard. People I had known for over a decade suddenly hated me. No conversation. They believed the lies they heard without question.
Long story short, I fought back by relentlessly calling out the truth via spoken and written word. I lost my job, but months later the "powers that be" finally caught on and fired this person.
One, just one, higher up person called me to offer his heartfelt apologies for the role he played in my character assassination and firing. I accepted his apology, but I could tell, he still didn't quite get it.
And indeed, it's profoundly disappointing now in the aftermath of this sick debacle that people still don't understand what happened, are not curious to discover the facts, and will not face the shame of their own behavior. Such is the debilitating power of narcissism. Such is the dark side of humanity.
Trump and his followers are trapped in an endless feedback loop of a sick distorted narrative. The rest of us are being violated on a daily basis. We are suffering from a continuous assault on our "everyday rationality."
There's no negotiating with the poison of narcissism. We must outnumber these people and vote Blue up and down ballot.
A few notable quotes this week: “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” No, that was not the ghost of Ronald Reagan. That was the unctuous NY Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, who thinks you're stupid. (The video clip is a gift to the DNC as a non-stop campaign commercial).
"...writings on the Court should turn the national temperature down, not up." Justice Amy Coney Barrett evidently citing the Thermostat clause of the Constitution. She sounds like Boo Boo Bear sticking her head out of the honey pot for the first time since year 2000.
We're up against a tidal wave of power driven propaganda that's coming from all directions, and we can no longer count on the corrupted Judicial branch to bail us out. Yet, it seems like the most effective pro-democracy voices are coming from unlikely sources. (I never thought I would ever agree with Liz Cheney or Bill Cristal on much of anything, but this is a new world).
On the other hand, I watched a few minutes of Ruben Gallego on MSNBC last night. I'll assume he has the best of intentions and is a good man, but he's emblematic of bumbling fumbling Democratic party messaging. The guy can't talk his way out of a paper bag. He needs a crash course in public speaking stat, or Arizona will be sending kookie Kari Lake to the U.S. Senate.
I propose the DNC generally or the Biden campaign specifically replace their communication apparatus with guys like Steve and the Lincoln Project team who know how to speak bluntly, plainly, and without a lot of equivocating or high minded horsesh**.
Excellent summation and stated so perfectly. Mitch McConnell is a coward and his treachery is unmatched. Trump could not have done the damage he did without McConnell’s presence and efforts, not to mention his maligned associates.
I also changed my party affiliation, shortly after you did. The Republican Party morphed into something unrecognizable and demonstrably different than anything I had ever imagined.
The press, social media - whatever means there is available, had better get on board in a full-throated way, warn those who have not paid attention and get this right!
Just start calling the GOP MAGA party Nazi's - because that is why they are.
IF elected into office the democracy is dead and they will initiate trump's revenge campaign which includes deportation to 'camp's. Sound familiar? the question is - are the people being interned going to be deported or 'eliminated'?
Next the US will march into Mexico under the guise of attacking the Cartel's. Germany marching into Poland anyone?
Sure sounds like history reporting itself - doesn't it?
It seems like usually missing from the alarms raised about the dangers of Trump and his loathsome populist cult is that the majority of the country on the whole rejects and consistently rejects him and the GOP in general. Dems have won the popular vote seven out of the last eight presidential elections. Special elections where abortion rights are on the ballot show that the majority is aligned with liberals. Rural church ladies and Moms for Threesomes are generally regarded as punch lines. As the GOP changed from its lunatic fringe being a small marginalized minority into it becoming the lunatic base it did so in a regional manner, concentrated in the red states but with blue urban enclaves, or mostly rural low population states having outsized influence in the Senate. Such power as the minority idiots do have is due to our electoral system and the gerrymandering and voter suppression efforts of the GOP. The Dems problem is that the way our system works we are fighting with one hand tied behind our back. I hate it, but I don't know how to change it.
Trump is profoundly mentally ill. It is the fact that his cult don’t care if he leads them straight into hell without the slightest criticism is really the problem. For people to accept a person as vile, repugnant , clueless, cruel, immature, and simply self delusional is a people problem. Telling over 30,000 lies while in office would normally be disqualifying by the healthy society. Being a rapist, fraudulent businessman, fraudulent charity and university, 6 bankruptcy in any healthy society would result in a national rejection.
The fact that it hasn’t by a large segment of the population is really the cancer. The fact that 40% or more reject facts, reality, civility, and even compromise is a reflection of our failures. Failure to educate, failure of the family and church to instill manners, tolerance and better social values has caused this nation to implode morally, mentally and emotionally.
Trump is out for Trump. For him it’s money, power, and to stay out of prison.
The RINO applies to Trump and his group.
The meek won’t inherit the earth but will simply clean it up after it is destroyed if they remain complacent. This includes the DNC and Biden Administration. It includes the media who echoes Trumps meanest and lies rather than cover Biden because Trumps dementia is more entertaining.
A debate of Trump should be mandatory.
If Biden is not up to it, he shouldn’t be president. If you fear Biden would be failure then you really have to rethink and replace your candidate. Trump is mentally a moron. You simply tell him to his face to shut up, you are lying, you are low IQ, and unfit for president to his face on national TV is required.
If Trump is elected then we as a people haven’t earned our democracy.
Eric: I hear your frustration and pain and I share it. The cancer is the large numbers of Trump cultists and I agree with your pointing at root causes. Ignorance is a big one. Hatred spewing from “churches” is another. The haters hijacked the concept of Christian decades ago; the Moral Majority and Focus on the Family were early instigators. They subverted the word Christian to mean far right, backwards looking, misogynistic ranting.
Now Republican has been hijacked and subverted by MAGA.
I don’t think I can watch Biden deliver a tepid, speech while the goons and morons taunt him, instigate his stutter and generally grind him down the way schoolyard bullies do. My dream is the same as many of those of commented: for Biden to be forthright: and the threat, define the danger, identify the degenerate and demented mind and be bold. Won’t happen.
His handlers have not yet realized what is required to confront the loonies. We need an infusion of Liz Cheney or Elizabeth Warren,not Mr Nice Guy Adam Schiff
Trump's imaginary friends will probably go down in history as the most influencial to his presidency. Remember, he alone can fix it. Besides, the only friends he actually has are paid for their servitude. If you don't count the hangers on that are drawn to his flame like mosquitos, then the number of friends is limited to the Donald, is himself.
I moved back to the US from London in late 1998. In November 1999 the Elian Gonzalez story broke and I was astonished by the behavior of Americans. Unbelievably coarse, mean and appallingly disrespectful to the then Attorney General Janet Reno. In April 1999 the Columbine massacre in Colorado happened. I was (impossible to believe now) SURE we would get gun legislation!#$%@* It was at this time I regretted moving back to the US. Then we had a severe recession in 2007 and I watched the Republicans shuffle and dodge a full recovery and realized they no longer were working for the good of the people here. I viewed them as dangerous, what was going on with them? We know now. They are fascists, insurrectionists, traitors, those were the early days of their transition. From the time I came back to the US I have long worried about what is going to happen here. I feared everything could get worse but couldn't imagine exactly what that was, I know now and still if Trump is reelected American life will be awful. Today, I have chosen not to own anything here except the contents of my apartment, always looking to emigrating out. Never could imagine fascists running the country but here we are and I just want to leave.
It’s not that Trump is the existential threat; it’s Trumpism that is the evil, demonic force. Trump has no ideology. He just craves love, obedience and loyalty. He is the epitome of a classless, and arrogant empty vessel.
Trump does not know how to govern, nor does he care to. He’s reckless, impulsive and clueless. It’s his corrupt and fanatical sycophants who we should fear.
McConnell, Miller, Bannon, The Federalist Society, Family Research Council, his “right-wing media ecosystem, and slew of constitutional lawyers, fanatical billionaires and think tanks that should be the focus of our vitriol and attention. Attack at the root, not the head.
Trump is nothing but a two-bit huckster that is more fiction than reality. And as the adage goes; “when the legend becomes fact, print to legend. And his right-wing media ecosystem is happy to oblige.
McConnell and the rest of the party are parasites plain and simple. To understand their pathology, I only needed to take one child psychology course in college to understand their feeble and obtuse minds.
McConnell will make a deal with the devil if it preserves his judicial accomplishments (he has).
Let’s face it; this country has been turning blue for decades, and the only way for the religious fanatics and tin-foil hat constituents to retain power, is by gaming the system good and hard. Mission accomplished!
McConnell has always known that the path to power isn’t the presidency, but the judicial branch which could easily rule by judicial fiat. And make no mistake, if Trump wins, our judiciary will be under the fascist and religious control for decades to come; regardless of which party is in power.
Let that sink in!…:)
Abraham Lincoln used to fear that no one would remember that he ever lived. But Lincoln and Washington are remembered as great leaders of the revolutionary idea that all men are created equal with unalienable Rights, only sealing their fate after their triumphs at the battle fields. No matter how noble the intentions, failure was not and can never be an option when we are dealing with the life and death of democracy. Not here, not now, and not in Ukraine. Hope President Biden will deliver tonight and in November with this in mind
Hoping but ready to be sorely disappointed. He has never been a good speaker
Give the guy a break! Biden cannot do everything well but he sure saved our country from Trump the last time around. Biden is 81. He is running this immense country, fighting wars and battles around the World, and he has a campaign to carry out. Maybe not a great speaker? But, the World is listening to what he says and watching how he acts!
You said it very well Robert. Thank you.
Great post as always, Robert. A question though: how do you "attack at the root, not the head" when the head is the only thing we have a say in? The election is for the "head", and even one of the roots you mentioned, McConnell, isn't up for election again until 2026 and he likely won't run. Valid points all, but an election looming in 8 months brings into question how effective a strategy it would be to target anything but the head at this point. TFG is all those things you say, but it is through his role as POTUS that would provide the platform for the root to gain traction and be effective.
Hey Mike, thank you. My point was to attack his best and brightest. Trump is a repellent; nothing sticks and only makes him stronger.
However, we can attack Miller, who wanted to literally shoot undocumented people to send a message at the border. Bannon is a convicted criminal and cheap snake oil salesman.
The Heritage Foundation will be implementing their Project 2025 strategy, to reshape government and install religious fanatics and loyalists in every government institution.
The Federalist Society will be responsible for installing religious judges and regardless of what the party says, these positions are lifetime appointments, and given how quickly they eradicated Roe, they will do the same for IVF, contraceptives, abortion pills, and ALL ABORTIONS period, including a federal ban.
Talk about all the former campaign and administration advisors and cabinet members who resigned because of abuse of their powers in office, or were indicted, pled guilty, or convicted. And remind America of the chaos that ensued. Apparently, most Americans have short-term memory loss when it comes to all the shenanigans his administration pulled. Let’s make it front and center.
Something along these lines. We need to strike the fear of god into these people, and make them understand what’s truly at stake, including their civil liberties…:)
Thanks Robert. Although I agree with every single thing you've said about all of those people and organizations, I just don't see how this is effective. TFG winning is the only way they can implement any of the governing abominations - at least for now. Of course, whether he wins or loses, Heritage will certainly come up with a Project 2029, so to your point about the root.
Most people have already made up their minds for the election. For those somehow undecided, this is all background noise and will be until a week before the election. For the rest, maybe this means something or maybe it appears as an act of desperation. IOW, thoughts like, "Those people are not president or not running, why should I care" could prevail. Nothing we say will hit home and make them care or pay attention. In our attention span deprived culture, information overload, factual or otherwise, often falls unheard.
If we can't convince people, despite all the evidence, that TFG is a real threat to our country, do you really think they have the appetite to even contemplate the root? Whether the source of that threat is TFG (the head) or all of the others you mention (the root), would require time and consideration, and actual making people think about it. If our electorate has proven anything (74 million votes after the 4 year catastrophe anyone? ), it's that for many, thinking about it, I mean really thinking about it, is just not something they are willing to do. So this messaging would resonate with the people who already know this and will already fight to stop TFG and his army of the insane who want to implement these policies and destroy our country.
I agree, but there are a lot of independents and moderate republicans who haven’t made up their minds.
The cult has jumped into the proverbial abyss, and can’t be reach, but the youth, Muslim and even black and Hispanic vote that have been slowing moving away from Biden, can be reached with the right messaging.
I know it’s an uphill battle, but so far nothing works against Trump. It’s just an idea…:)
Absolutely fair and quite possibly correct. And I'm not trying to be disagreeable for its namesake because I feel we're mostly on the same page, but if Biden's/his admin's accomplishments, TFG's threat to democracy (his stated words and actions), TFG's debacle of a 4 year term (could be viewed as opinion), and 91 pending felony charges don't resonate with people who haven't made up their minds yet, all of which are undeniable facts except as parenthetically noted, asking them to critically think more about this and the behind the scenes machinations seems a bit futile to me. But, whatever it takes.
Agreed. But you underestimate Trump. That is a mistake, I think.
I’m not underestimating Trump; my point was that Trump is nothing more than an incompetent, charismatic cult leader. He has no governing skills or agenda to speak of.
It’s his supporters and enablers with an agenda. Without them, and the skill sets they bring to government, Trump would be rendered useless and unable to perform even the most mundane of tasks…:)
I used to feel that way but somehow- whether through blackmail, bribery, threat, coercion- who knows- he managed to get the majority of our House to “bend the knee”. I’ll never fully understand the cultishness, ignorance, cowardice and stupidity ( my thinking ) but it is an evil power, nonetheless.
Exactly…:)
Trumpism could never get the attention until Trump came along. Let's not mince words or try to debate angels (or devils) dancing on the head of a pin. And when you call him "classless", I kinda like classless. It's the arrogance of class that has caused the Democrat party to drift from ITS imperative, and that would be the working and the working poor of this nation. Trump and Trumpism got its foothold because the Democrats forgot their role, and they still have a hard time remembering the part it should be playing. Getting out into the hinterlands is something the Dems can't stand to do anymore, and relying on the urban areas may give them some numbers centered around people of color and of gender distinctions, but there still remains a great swath of America that is being left behind, losing their family legacies to issues of predatory health care and banking systems.
It's the D's who are trying to fight predatory healthcare and banking systems, not the R's. The R's routintely vote No on legislation that would help that swath of America, but then the R's in Congress try to take credit after the D's pass such bills. I don't understand R's continuing to vote for R's for political office. Just because the R's running for office showed up in the hinterlands? Only to have those R's return to Congress and turn around and vote against legislation that would help the people in the hinterlands (like ACA, lowering insulin to $35, infrastructure bill, child tax credit, etc that the R's in the House all voted No on). Personally, I'd forgive D's for not showing up in my hinterlands neighborhood as long as they showed up with their votes in Congress-- which is where showing up really counts and is precisely what the D's have been doing. Actions, aka votes, speak louder than the empty words the R politicians have been peddling. Showing up in person in the neighborhood shouldn't matter as much as their actual congressional voting record.
Could I share what you wrote with my Facebook news feed people?
This morning I sent an e mail to one of the Senators of my state — Thomas Tillis. He and his family are one of the mainstays of the Republican Party of North Carolina. I view him as a decent man.
My question to him was: What is your opinion of the Republican Party of North Carolina nominating a Holocaust Denier and Anti-Semite to run for Governor of this state?
I will be interested to hear his reply and will share it here.
I think I will send Tillis a similar email. I will also send one to David Rouzer, who represents my NC 7th district in Congress. Rouzer is a seditionist, who voted against certifying the election.
Given how Tillis worked with the odious Phil Berger to damage public education in NC and hurt teachers (I am one.), I do not consider Tillis to be decent.
I also sent a note to the other Senator, Ted Budd. And I added to that note, which I have mentioned here, that my uncle fought in the 3rd US Army in World War 2, which liberated the Buchenwald Concentration Camp.
I wanted to know from Ted why my uncle’s memory of The Holocaust was faulty, given what Mark Robinson (who was not there) says.
I suppose decent should be qualified then. I don’t know the education issues that well in this state. I think I will also send a note to the other Senator here, too.
For some of us, this is not an unhappy choice. I will happily vote for Biden .
That's absolutely fair. But Steve's point is based on the fact that most people don't want Biden on the ticket, so they are happily voting against TFG, not happily for Biden. I respect everything Biden has accomplished in Congress, as VP, and as POTUS. I like who he is and what he represents. I'm not happy he's the D candidate and presumptive nominee because the concerns surrounding his age and thus ability to survive 4 more years in one of the hardest jobs on the planet. I'll still vote for him as I fear everything that TFG stands for, but if we lose in November, the primary reason will be concern for his age. Right, wrong, or otherwise. I just don't want him to RBG the Democratic party and would have preferred he do what he said and stick to one term.
I agree with you, Mike. However, since there seems to be no one else (whom we know anything about) [only 1 stepped up, but obviously not a threat]. We can, at the very least buy some time to prepare someone/or some. I was very impressed at tonights’ SOTU. I wish people would not mention his age at this point in the game, it is what it is. We have never been so close to losing Democracy, right up to the corrupted SC. I hope, whatever reason they vote Democratic, just absolutely NO tfg. It is our only chance. (That I have seen) it is the SC that is very bothersome. 🇺🇸
Good point, Mike. Thank you for giving me your take. I like to know other perspectives in this God awful mess djt and r’s have created. At least Joe got some well deserved positive statements today.
I do again agree with you on the SCOTUS BS. They just better not give t full immunity or I will F***ing lose it.🤣 funny how we look at things differently now as in your comment about packing the Court, of which we are stuck with, we don’t need more. When President Biden continues, it must be mandatory, in the House/Senate to get some rules to the SC and term limits. I still think Thomas should have to recuse himself and am furious that the other Justices have not spoken on this. Corruption ”Sucks”. Be well… certainly more to come…🇺🇸
Good morning, Ruth. Thanks for your reply. I agree and thought he looked and sounded really good in the SOTU. Hopefully that will convince some on the fence, and I believe it did. The age thing isn't going away, so we need to expect that and have ways of dealing with it. And I agree about SCOTUS as well, but the damage has been done and will last decades. I'm just not a fan of packing the court because if we do it, they will next time they win. IIRC, the Constitution doesn't not limit the number and I'd rather not watch it balloon to dozens of justices.
What I see is TFG descending rapidly into dementia and the MAGA party projecting onto Biden all that is unacceptable in themselves. Biden's age is an issue only for those who are easily swayed, ignorant of physiology, racist (consciously or subconsciously) or other negative issue. Biden may be physically slowing because of age (how many 80 y.o. do you know who still ride bikes.), but his brain is as sharp and wise as ever.
Thanks Barbara, and I mostly agree. Attacking people's reasoning behind concerns for Biden's age is not helpful. Too many people vote based on emotions, feelings, and/or perception. If they relied only on facts, they would look at Biden's accomplishments, recall the concerns of TFG's 4 years and the increasing and serious threat to democracy TFG represents and that would be enough. Sadly, neither appears to be enough. If they view him as too old, he's too old as far as they are concerned. I'm not saying that's right but trying to assess their reasoning is just a waste of time. Everyone ages differently, so a hard number doesn't matter. The Rs have nothing else of substance to pin on Biden, so they will beat the hell out of his age until November. Sorry, sad truth is that is reality and will resonate with some people. They will hammer the border and crime, but they will tap dance all over and around his age.
I support him yet wish he wasn't running again. You know, do what he said and be a one term bridge to the future? That doesn't make me any of those things you mentioned, just my preference in a candidate vying for one of the hardest jobs on the planet. I've seen how much he's aged in the last 4 years and that trend is not a good indicator of the next 4. I believe Harris can do the job if something were to unfortunately befall Biden, but I'm not the one who needs to be convinced that TFG should never be close to the WH again.
And of course TFG and MAGA does nothing but project. TFG is old and obviously rapidly declining, but the news doesn't cover that. The NYT had an article yesterday or day before with both of them pictured side by side. TFG looking vibrant and energetic, while the picture of Biden was with bloodshot eyes. That wasn't a mistake and that was the left leaning Times.
I think the only chance TFG has of winning is Biden's age, like I said above. RBG stayed too long and now we have Amy Coney Barrett for 20 - 30 years. My concern is Biden does the same thing, and for some voters, that concern, regardless of their reasoning (up to them, not you) could sway this election to TFG. That keeps me up at night and will continue to do so until the election...and beyond if TFG wins.
The Times no longer leans left. I canceled my subscription last week.
The pope is 87 and nobody talks about him being too old. Trump's dementia should be on the front page of every newspaper except for the fact they have lost any respect from the public.
The pope and any other 87 year old, 93 year old, 71 year old, etc. ad nauseam, has NOTHING to do with this. Please stop the completely unhelpful examples suggesting they are meaningful or relevant. They're not. They don't mean a damn thing because everyone ages differently...mentally and physically. No one here votes for the pope either and the job of the pope, last I heard, doesn't include the same level of responsibilities as POTUS. So, I'm happy for the pope, I guess. But he's also appointed for life, so once there, isn't subjected to the same level of scrutiny, nor should he be, as the two main candidates running for POTUS.
I agree that TFG is showing more advanced mental decline than Biden, and that it should be covered. My point is that it will be used against Biden because they have little else of substance to go on. There is a ton of ammo to be used against the failure that is TFG, age and mental acuity might not even be in the top 5. Should it be? I don't own a media company.
Exactly. They have little else to go on but the mental midgets on the right use it all the time. Unquestionably Trump’s mental decline should be front and center because there are so many examples of a man who should never have access to our nuclear codes.
Right On! Thanks.
As I read your emails which almost led me to tears I could only see my teenage self and family first born sitting at the dining room table have reasonable political discussions and debates. My dad was a Democrat and my mom a Republican. Debates were vigorous but always respectful and all left the table content, hopeful, better for the discussion, and feeling glad to be part of this large, diverse family. Never, never could I have imagined the horrific divide we as Americans endure now.
“His sentences aren’t quite gibberish in the same way that they aren’t quite comprehensible. He is a fraud and a gangster, a rapist and a liar. He is a seditionist who betrayed his oath and desecrated the blood sacrifices of one million Americans who offered the last full measure of devotion to the Union and its ideas and ideals”.
My wish is this would be pretty much what Biden says tonight. Of course he won’t, but it all needs to be said.
I remembered an interview I saw of McConnell. I don’t remember when it was done, when asked if he would support Trump again, McConnell said of course he would. He would support the nominee for the Republican Party. Hitler, Putin, any lawless man or woman would have been endorsed by McConnell. He is an example of how Hitler came to power. He is an example of how Democracy dies.
My Republican Senator who is running for Governor made a statement within the last few days that you just have to learn to go along with it all. There is importance in that statement. I think he and others have found it easier to just go along, than to stand for anything. It is hard to stand.
The one thing I would say to my son and daughter as they were growing up is sometimes the hardest thing to do is the right thing. Apparently Republicans didn’t have a parent that told them this
The Republican Party in the county I live has a Lincoln Day Dinner every year. I know ironic isn’t it. This year their key note speaker is Speaker Johnson. I am debating paying the minimum $150.00 and going. There is a part of me that is trying to understand, who wants to observe them, like I observe the ducks and geese that come up from the river.
Thank you for this, Steve. Really good.
Please do not support them by attending. Protest! Speaker Johnson is a disgrace the worst among them at the time and in no way honors Lincoln.
Kathy that is the one thing holding me back. The money going to them.
What I don’t understand about McConnell and other Republicans is why they are so afraid of Trump?
Is it really fear or opportunity?
Tonight, my expectation is the Trump-drunk GOP will affirm everything you just said about them, Steve, by being disruptive, disrespectful, anarchistic, rude, crude, and contemptuously and gleefully destructive of yet another revered American institution: the State of the Union.
That is my expectation as well, unfortunately. In Ukraine, Zelensky was nearly assassinated by the Russians and we are flailing about like incompetent morons with some of the worst people imaginable in government — Putin’s toadies in the Republican Party. The state of this country and the world is as bad as I have ever known it.
Yes….75 years & counting, I can never remember feeling this scared for our country & the world.
I Agree with you.
So true, John. I am glad that Mrs Zelenskyy refused to sit and be used as a prop, by the way
Thank you again Steve. I know how painful that must've been to leave the Party you loved so much. When I left in '08 things were quite a bit different. Yes the economy was in tatters thanks to the financial meltdown and Americans were ready for "Hope and Change" so it was easier for me to jump on Obama's Bandwagon, switch Parties and get involved. As I did I began to see how much more the Democrats were truly the Party of the people. I began to relate to them more and more as I watched the GOP slide further and further to the Right. Then came Trump in 2016 and it's been an 8 year horror show ever since. Freedom vs. Fascism. That's our choice this year. Thanks for making that crystal clear every single day. Your words and wisdom keep me motivated and inspired. Thank you again for all your hard work. We appreciate you!! ❤️🇺🇸💙
The people who left Europe to come to America came to escape religious persecution and theocracy that ruled in Europe. We now have the same thing festering in the United States in the form of White Christian Nationalists , Evangelical Christians led by Bible thumping wack jobs like the current Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. These people will if we let them instill their religious beliefs in the form of strict interpertations of the Bible. This country was created by people who were Deists. In this country we have the freedom of religion and from religion. I pray that enough people turn out to vote to end the MAGA madness and send Donald Trump and his ilk to the trash heap of history. If we don't we will get what we deserve
Gore Vidal corrected the highly pimped conspiracy theory that the Puritans left Europe because they were being persecuted. The truth, he noted, was that the Puritans were zealously harassing Europeans with their fascist fundamentalist harranging until the Europeans put their foot down and shipped them out. The Puritans came to America, bringing their militaristic metaphysics with them. Under their sanctimonious front, America carried the myth because it was untouchable (religious). One of America's failures has always been giving all religions completely hands-off protections that carries through today. Because they hide under the cloak of pious disguise, they are above rational discernment or reproachment no matter how irrational, how fascist they are. I use the word fascist because their mincing and thorough top-down authorian uber-controlling qualifies the label. Their influence waned but never died, and was reborn with the current zeal we witness today, because MAGA coupled their fascism with their own. MAGA happily enjoined them and is gainfully recruiting power in so doing.
We react spin-headed asking how religion went so wrong, when it has been there all along, ever since Plymouth. By the way, when native Americans helped the Puritans by teaching them how to survive, the Puritans saw them ripe for conversion. When the natives refused to be endocrinated into this new "religion" the Puritans tortured them and burned them alive at the stake. What do you think they have in store for you?
I hope you're right, but not so sure about that. The Rs have had a viable opponent to consider in all of their primaries, Biden has not. Let's watch where those numbers go in any subsequent primaries. TFG's will almost certainly move closer to where Biden is currently sitting. Who knows, maybe Biden's will tick up slightly, but likely nowhere as much as TFG's numbers will jump.
Staying positive for me means relying on the sanity of the electorate. I made that mistake in 2016, only to watch 4 years of pure chaos result in 74 million votes going that way. That was much higher than any percentage of the MAGA base. That is and should be alarming.
I lived a microcosmic version of this ongoing Trumpian nightmare.
I had a narcissistic/sociopathic boss. This boss lied constantly, lacked empathy, craved attention, felt entitled, pitted people against each other, picked favorites, name-called, etc.
The toughest part of it was the people who had fallen under the spell of the dark wizard. People I had known for over a decade suddenly hated me. No conversation. They believed the lies they heard without question.
Long story short, I fought back by relentlessly calling out the truth via spoken and written word. I lost my job, but months later the "powers that be" finally caught on and fired this person.
One, just one, higher up person called me to offer his heartfelt apologies for the role he played in my character assassination and firing. I accepted his apology, but I could tell, he still didn't quite get it.
And indeed, it's profoundly disappointing now in the aftermath of this sick debacle that people still don't understand what happened, are not curious to discover the facts, and will not face the shame of their own behavior. Such is the debilitating power of narcissism. Such is the dark side of humanity.
Trump and his followers are trapped in an endless feedback loop of a sick distorted narrative. The rest of us are being violated on a daily basis. We are suffering from a continuous assault on our "everyday rationality."
There's no negotiating with the poison of narcissism. We must outnumber these people and vote Blue up and down ballot.
A few notable quotes this week: “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” No, that was not the ghost of Ronald Reagan. That was the unctuous NY Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, who thinks you're stupid. (The video clip is a gift to the DNC as a non-stop campaign commercial).
"...writings on the Court should turn the national temperature down, not up." Justice Amy Coney Barrett evidently citing the Thermostat clause of the Constitution. She sounds like Boo Boo Bear sticking her head out of the honey pot for the first time since year 2000.
We're up against a tidal wave of power driven propaganda that's coming from all directions, and we can no longer count on the corrupted Judicial branch to bail us out. Yet, it seems like the most effective pro-democracy voices are coming from unlikely sources. (I never thought I would ever agree with Liz Cheney or Bill Cristal on much of anything, but this is a new world).
On the other hand, I watched a few minutes of Ruben Gallego on MSNBC last night. I'll assume he has the best of intentions and is a good man, but he's emblematic of bumbling fumbling Democratic party messaging. The guy can't talk his way out of a paper bag. He needs a crash course in public speaking stat, or Arizona will be sending kookie Kari Lake to the U.S. Senate.
I propose the DNC generally or the Biden campaign specifically replace their communication apparatus with guys like Steve and the Lincoln Project team who know how to speak bluntly, plainly, and without a lot of equivocating or high minded horsesh**.
Bumbling, fumbling Democratic Party messaging. It is a group afflicted til and they are too obtuse to realize how lethally bad their comms strategy is
Excellent summation and stated so perfectly. Mitch McConnell is a coward and his treachery is unmatched. Trump could not have done the damage he did without McConnell’s presence and efforts, not to mention his maligned associates.
I also changed my party affiliation, shortly after you did. The Republican Party morphed into something unrecognizable and demonstrably different than anything I had ever imagined.
The press, social media - whatever means there is available, had better get on board in a full-throated way, warn those who have not paid attention and get this right!
Just start calling the GOP MAGA party Nazi's - because that is why they are.
IF elected into office the democracy is dead and they will initiate trump's revenge campaign which includes deportation to 'camp's. Sound familiar? the question is - are the people being interned going to be deported or 'eliminated'?
Next the US will march into Mexico under the guise of attacking the Cartel's. Germany marching into Poland anyone?
Sure sounds like history reporting itself - doesn't it?
Sure does!!
It seems like usually missing from the alarms raised about the dangers of Trump and his loathsome populist cult is that the majority of the country on the whole rejects and consistently rejects him and the GOP in general. Dems have won the popular vote seven out of the last eight presidential elections. Special elections where abortion rights are on the ballot show that the majority is aligned with liberals. Rural church ladies and Moms for Threesomes are generally regarded as punch lines. As the GOP changed from its lunatic fringe being a small marginalized minority into it becoming the lunatic base it did so in a regional manner, concentrated in the red states but with blue urban enclaves, or mostly rural low population states having outsized influence in the Senate. Such power as the minority idiots do have is due to our electoral system and the gerrymandering and voter suppression efforts of the GOP. The Dems problem is that the way our system works we are fighting with one hand tied behind our back. I hate it, but I don't know how to change it.
Trump is profoundly mentally ill. It is the fact that his cult don’t care if he leads them straight into hell without the slightest criticism is really the problem. For people to accept a person as vile, repugnant , clueless, cruel, immature, and simply self delusional is a people problem. Telling over 30,000 lies while in office would normally be disqualifying by the healthy society. Being a rapist, fraudulent businessman, fraudulent charity and university, 6 bankruptcy in any healthy society would result in a national rejection.
The fact that it hasn’t by a large segment of the population is really the cancer. The fact that 40% or more reject facts, reality, civility, and even compromise is a reflection of our failures. Failure to educate, failure of the family and church to instill manners, tolerance and better social values has caused this nation to implode morally, mentally and emotionally.
Trump is out for Trump. For him it’s money, power, and to stay out of prison.
The RINO applies to Trump and his group.
The meek won’t inherit the earth but will simply clean it up after it is destroyed if they remain complacent. This includes the DNC and Biden Administration. It includes the media who echoes Trumps meanest and lies rather than cover Biden because Trumps dementia is more entertaining.
A debate of Trump should be mandatory.
If Biden is not up to it, he shouldn’t be president. If you fear Biden would be failure then you really have to rethink and replace your candidate. Trump is mentally a moron. You simply tell him to his face to shut up, you are lying, you are low IQ, and unfit for president to his face on national TV is required.
If Trump is elected then we as a people haven’t earned our democracy.
Eric: I hear your frustration and pain and I share it. The cancer is the large numbers of Trump cultists and I agree with your pointing at root causes. Ignorance is a big one. Hatred spewing from “churches” is another. The haters hijacked the concept of Christian decades ago; the Moral Majority and Focus on the Family were early instigators. They subverted the word Christian to mean far right, backwards looking, misogynistic ranting.
Now Republican has been hijacked and subverted by MAGA.
I don’t think I can watch Biden deliver a tepid, speech while the goons and morons taunt him, instigate his stutter and generally grind him down the way schoolyard bullies do. My dream is the same as many of those of commented: for Biden to be forthright: and the threat, define the danger, identify the degenerate and demented mind and be bold. Won’t happen.
His handlers have not yet realized what is required to confront the loonies. We need an infusion of Liz Cheney or Elizabeth Warren,not Mr Nice Guy Adam Schiff
Trump's imaginary friends will probably go down in history as the most influencial to his presidency. Remember, he alone can fix it. Besides, the only friends he actually has are paid for their servitude. If you don't count the hangers on that are drawn to his flame like mosquitos, then the number of friends is limited to the Donald, is himself.
I moved back to the US from London in late 1998. In November 1999 the Elian Gonzalez story broke and I was astonished by the behavior of Americans. Unbelievably coarse, mean and appallingly disrespectful to the then Attorney General Janet Reno. In April 1999 the Columbine massacre in Colorado happened. I was (impossible to believe now) SURE we would get gun legislation!#$%@* It was at this time I regretted moving back to the US. Then we had a severe recession in 2007 and I watched the Republicans shuffle and dodge a full recovery and realized they no longer were working for the good of the people here. I viewed them as dangerous, what was going on with them? We know now. They are fascists, insurrectionists, traitors, those were the early days of their transition. From the time I came back to the US I have long worried about what is going to happen here. I feared everything could get worse but couldn't imagine exactly what that was, I know now and still if Trump is reelected American life will be awful. Today, I have chosen not to own anything here except the contents of my apartment, always looking to emigrating out. Never could imagine fascists running the country but here we are and I just want to leave.