Democracy

We’ve Fallen Off the Sled


POST 1122

There is no end of pundits punditing wildly in an effort to explain how Democrats managed to embarrass themselves and allow the country to be imperiled by power mad, greedy haters and traitors. We used to wonder why so many people would vote against their own best interests, but how did we get to the point where half the country has voted against our nation’s best interests?

It takes very little effort to imagine what those of The Greatest Generation would say to those millions who want to tear down what those heroes risked their lives for and what several hundred thousand lost their lives protecting and defending. It wasn’t a flag or the lakes and the land. It wasn’t amber waves of grain or purple mountain majesties or pompous chest thumping by tyrants. It was sweet freedom and the ever young promise of democracy. So many blithely voted all that away, as though doing so would whisk away their personal malaise, but it won’t.

Surrendering rights and freedom always – always – creates misery and hopelessness. We like to speak of American exceptionalism, but if we have that, it’s from a bedrock foundation of hope, of endless possibilities, of the freedom to be free and the dream – The Dream! – of something better for ourselves and for our children. We can and will be exceptional, but only if we grant ourselves the ingredients for it.

But we’ve cut that short. We were having a fine, if imperfect time, but now we’ve fallen off the sled. We’re tumbling and cold. Hard snow is plugging our nostrils and blinding our eyes. We grunt with each body blow and only hope for air. We’re dizzy and disoriented and we don’t know where the sled is. The snow fog has obscured everything and we can’t tell up from down. We’ve got to find that sled and get back on it. Then we’ll fix what needs fixing. Everything of value, everything we hold dear depends on our doing that.

But the sled is nowhere to be seen. It’s turning dark and hope is dimming. The dawn will come, of course, but we will need to dig the snow from our faces if we’re to see the light and figure out what to do.

Find the sled before someone steals it from us and it’s gone forever.

Find the sled.

________________________________________________

See the post this Wednesday for How We Fell Off the Sled.

Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

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Thanks!

The Fine Print:

  1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
  2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
  3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
  4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
  5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.
  6. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.

Click me

JA


Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

What Will Happen – Part 1 of 2


POST 1120

Preface

This is Part 1 of 2 of what you can expect in the second Trump presidency. Some of what follows is snark or satire. Most is not.

Expect Part 2 on Wednesday.

Healthcare

Bobby Kennedy will be in charge of healthcare – your healthcare. He doesn’t like vaccines, so count on our not being prepared for the next pandemic and for there to be a massive number of preventable deaths. And count on ever increasing diagnoses of measles, polio, tetanus, smallpox and more in our little ones because, again, Kennedy doesn’t like vaccines.

Expect an ongoing idiocy from Kennedy of quack practices and assaults on science, health and sanity. Expect an undermining of the USDA, compromising the safety of the meat you eat including Trump’s Big Macs. Expect, too, an attack on the FDA, compromising the safety of our meds. The list of Kennedy’s undermining of our national health and safety will be very long and galactically stupid, as he does as Trump instructs, “whatever the hell he wants.”

The Economy

Genius nut job Elon Musk will be in charge of our economy. He has pledged to cut $2 trillion from our national budget. He can’t cut our military spending or other mandatory things, which leaves only “discretionary” spending. He will cut Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, the Departments of Education and Energy and more. All programs designed for the welfare of We The People will vanish. Better start figuring out how you’ll pay for your healthcare, your meds, how your kids will get educated and more.

We’ll have cheap gas and accelerating global warming to depress and imperil our children and grandchildren. The list of the carnage Musk will create is long and terrifying, as he does, “whatever the hell he wants.” Ah, but we’ll have a balanced budget. Why should anyone care about you?

Trump will re-up his previous tax reduction gift to rich people and will expand it. He will promise great benefits to working people and some to poor people. They will be, “greater than anyone has ever seen,” but nobody but the rich and big corporations will receive enough for any benefit to be identifiable.

All economic indicators, the Dow, S & P and the rest, will plunge in value following Trump cashing out his portfolios. Same for his rich buddies who will be given advance notice. Once securities have hit rock bottom the rich will buy them up just as rich guys did following the crash in 1929. Ordinary people will be economically devastated, as jobs disappear and whatever savings they had for retirement disappears. You already know that we’ve seen this movie before and we know how it ends.

Freedom

Expect encroachment on the freedoms of any who are not White and on all women. All forms of contraception will be outlawed except the so-called rhythm method favored by the Catholic Church, Evangelicals and Christian Nationalists (who aren’t really Christian in their beliefs and actions). This method excels at systematically producing many babies, a la the Dark Ages. All forms of post impregnation medical procedures will be outlawed, with prison sentences imposed for affected women and for medical professionals who dare to treat a woman having a miscarriage. Someone will keep a tally of women who die because of these prohibitions. The numbers will seem like they are from a horror film.

Blacks, Hispanics, Jews and Muslims will be encouraged through intimidation to stay in their place and not be uppity. Or they can leave this country. KKK white hood outfits with nooses attached to the belt and torches to carry, as well as Gestapo and SS uniforms will be popular Halloween costume choices.

Women will be expected to be subservient to all males. Their roles will be limited to sex object, household servant, involvement in teaching young children and low level business positions. In no circumstance will they be allowed to have a position of any power in this perfect patriarchal America. What would you think of bringing back witch trials?

Ear worm warning: Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA will play in all elevators and all music on hold. There will be no escape.

Guns

Gun deaths will continue to mount. The rate may well increase. There will be absolutely no direct or indirect curbs to reduce gun violence, as age restrictions for purchasing firearms and accessories and limitations on those with a violent history are eliminated. Trump may wallow in finger pointing about shootings in our large cities, which, of course happen, but they are at a much lower per capita rate than in rural states, AKA The Wild West. No matter. Trump will always tell us that cities run by Democrats are  the worst.

Miscellaneous Un-American Activities

It’s logistically insanely difficult to round up 11 million or more people and deport them. There may be Gestapo raids in various Hispanic neighborhoods ripping families apart. Expect rampant cruelty that is never prosecuted.

Look for prosecutions on fantasy charges against people Trump doesn’t like. The prosecutions won’t result in anything substantive, but they will impoverish the defendants, so Trump will be able to giggle with glee about how he crushed his detractors.

Expect thousands of civil servants, the people who make the trains run on time, to be fired and replaced by Trump suck-up know-nothings.

Look for conflicts of interest and outright grift and graft on an epic level. There will be no prosecutions.

The Trump administration will end when JD Vance invokes the 25th Amendment to replace him. Then things will get worse.

Expect that to happen just into Trump’s third year, which would allow Vance to stay for two more terms, assuming that there will still be elections and such an old fashioned concept as “terms.” If we no longer have elections, the timing won’t matter.

Dos and Don’ts
Do

Stay connected to others, especially those who believe in democracy. It’s critical to your sanity.

Grieve the loss. It’s real and it hurts.

Get up and get active. Nothing restores the spirit like taking action to make things better.

Fight to Make America Not Suck. Get a red, write and blue MANS hat. I don’t know where to find those. Go all entrepreneurial with that.

If there is an election in 2026, dig in with everything you have to elect anyone who will oppose Trump and will restore our democracy. We need control of at least one house of Congress to put a brake to the Trump Train of Destruction.
.
Don’t

Don’t surrender to despair.

Don’t wallow in grief.

Don’t drop out.

Don’t succumb to “All is lost.” The fight just got much more difficult, so we must step up our efforts for truth, justice and the American Way.

And most important,

Don’t let the bastards get you down!

.
Final Note

There is nothing in this post that you didn’t already know. That is how blatantly, screamingly, obviously awful this stuff is. We have a lot of work to do.

Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

Thanks!

The Fine Print:

  1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
  2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
  3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
  4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
  5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.
  6. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.

Click me

JA


Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Sociology Corner


POST 1118

Apply this logic to our democracy.

Think of this as both a geeky query into some weird behavior, as well as the very reason for voting and working to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. You know: like that loyalty oath to which every federal official swears.

_____________________________________

They Think That Violence Is a Sign of Strength
1. Domination

Some people hang on the words of Tucker Carlson. That in itself is worthy of a sociological study, because he is both cruel and delusional – or a liar.

He recently spoke of angry daddy (Trump) coming home to deliver discipline to a “bad little girl” via a “vigorous spanking.” So much there to unpack.

Why is Daddy angry and why is he the accumulator of rage and the dispenser of violence? What does that say about silent, powerless Mommy? And what is the message to that little girl about how she should regard men and the constraints on her entire life?

Why is she a “bad little girl?” I’m guessing that In Carlson’s view, that’s any strong woman who speaks up. Whatever she’s done has morphed her, changing her from an ordinary kid who may have misbehaved to the point where now she herself is something bad; an object of rejection; a reprehensible thing to be beaten into submission; something to be made acceptable to “Daddy.”

And it’s a little girl, not a little boy. Why is that? Could Tucker and his patriarchy loving followers perhaps have mommy issues?

Maybe they distrust and hate girls and women, seeing them only as play toys and as servants. Are they so insecure in their masculinity that the only way for them to feel powerful is to dominate females, perhaps with violent assaults?

Note that it isn’t just a punishment that Tucker names. It isn’t just a spanking. It is a “vigorous spanking.” Does Tucker get off on spanking women? Does his pleasure ramp up as the beating becomes more “vigorous?”

Dominance.

Hey Tucker: dominance and violence driven by your neuroses and self-loathing aren’t signs of strength. They’re sure signs of your weakness and fear.

2. Promises of Attacks and Cruelty

Trump is full of sick, unconstitutional threats, like: A. siccing our military on peaceful demonstrators and hoping to shoot them in the legs; B. promising to prosecute his political opponents, most notably Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi, then all Democrats, and; C. promising to herd undocumented people into concentration camps and deport them. Then he’d round up legal non-citizens, then naturalized citizens.  To be fair, he’ll only do this to Hispanics and anyone with dark skin who might have ancestry in a “shithole country.” He never promises to deport Europeans.

It’s fascinating to see Trump as he rails in full insecure panic mode. It is solely to assuage Trump’s bruised, pitiable ego.

Go all sociological on that.

3. Verbal Violence

From the Borowitz Report:

At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in 2023 .  .  .  [Don, Jr.] roasted Sen. John Fetterman, who was recovering from a series of health problems. “Pennsylvania managed to elect a vegetable .  .  . ”

Trump publicly ridiculed a disabled reporter. At these and all of his public events, the residents of Trump World rejoice in his cruelty. What’s that collective cruelty about?

Trump spent $80,000 for the entire back page of the New York Times demanding that the Central Park 5 be executed, this after DNA evidence had conclusively shown them to be innocent. HE WANTED TO KILL FIVE INNOCENT MEN!

His insanity is constant and goes back decades. So, roll up your sociological shirtsleeves and dig into that.

4. Physical Violence

There are the Proud Boys, the 3 Percenters, the Rambo pretender non-militias and the lone wolves. We know about the plot to kidnap and kill the Governor of Michigan. We know about the radicals’ monument to anti-Americanism, the January 6 insurrection. We know about all its felonious participants. We have perpetrators of that lawlessness still proudly proclaiming that they are the true patriotic ones (see the pic below) and Trump telling us it was a peaceful love fest. I’m guessing that slain Officer Brian Sicknick’s parents see that event differently.

And these violent ones are promising far worse this coming January 6.

The point is that we have a great many who demonstrate their passion and their power through their cruelty, violence and domination of others. They think their violence is a sign of strength. I say it’s a sign that they are weak and just don’t have what it takes to face challenges without threatening others with a gun.

Let’s call them what they are: psychopaths, just like Hitler’s Gestapo and SS.

5. Attitude

Consider this “poop monument” on the National Mall. Yes, it’s a real shrine. No, it isn’t real poop.

Click me for the crappy story.

This is from the plaque on the pedestal below the desk:

“This memorial honors the brave men and women who broke into the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021 to loot, urinate and defecate throughout those hallowed halls in order to overturn an election. President Trump celebrates these heroes of January 6th as ‘unbelievable patriots’ and ‘warriors.’ This monument stands as a testament to their daring sacrifice and lasting legacy.”

Go ahead: sociologize that pile of crap.

While you’re at it, give a head scratch to MAGA high level elected officials encouraging and celebrating lawlessness, vandalism and treason. Sociologize me that, too.

And Lest We Forget .  .  .

.  .  .  how menacingly bad Trump is, how dangerous he is for you and for our country, watch Robert Reich’s list of the 10 Worst Things About the Trump Presidency. Then imagine how destructive another Trump Presidency/Fuhrer-ship would be. The sociological question for all of this is:

Why would anyone want this?
.

Then imagine the cataclysm of JD Vance in the White House, which will happen if Trump wins the election.

Same question: Why would anyone want this?

Partial answers:

  1. Because some insanely rich people would benefit greatly from it.
  2. Because millions feel disrespected and abandoned by leaders and their flashing middle fingers at those leaders feels good to them.
Obeying In Advance – a Political Tragedy*

Many thanks to JN for passing along this pic. Click for a larger view.

Underneath its name in the Washington Post’s masthead stands its declaration “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” The implication is that this stalwart of democracy newspaper shines light where light is needed and stands firm for democracy.

That brave notion was speared in the heart when the Post refused to endorse for president, as they have in every election since 1976. They effectively are standing aside to let dark authoritarian Trump and the fascists take over and smash the First Amendment and our democracy. The light dims and darkness grows, as Jeff Bezos chickens out and obeys Fuhrer Trump even before being ordered to do so.

Here’s Ann Telneas’ editorial cartoon responding to the Post’s cowardice. Its title is “Democracy Dies in Darkness.”

Great kudos to Telneas for speaking truth to power.

Not to be outdone, the Los Angeles Times chickened out in the same way. So have a bunch of large company CEOs. Cowards all, obeying in advance.

On The Media

From Mother Jones, November 1:

Even this morning, alongside coverage of Trump’s violent remarks [about putting Liz Cheney before a firing squad], the New York Times ran an opinion piece headlined “Can we please mute the president for a few more days [responding to his “garbage” gaffe]?”

Trump’s menacing language—a constant for almost a decade—rarely draws the notice that Garbage-gate has received. To call this imbalance typical both-sidesism fails to adequately convey the failures of the media in 2024.

Quote For the Vote
  • . . .  . .“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”
  • – Abolitionist Wendell Philips. Often attributed to Thomas Jefferson,
  • who certainly believed that, as did others of his era.
Must Watch

John McCain’s gracious and patriotic concession speech of 2008. Would that we could look forward to something similar this week.

Lend a Hand

HERE

Click me – and read Note #5 below

______________________________________________

* Read On Tyranny by Prof. Timothy Snyder for a full understanding of the consequences of obeying in advance.

There’s also a graphic version available.

Many thanks to MG for this quotation from Scotty Reston.

It’s not the vibes and it’s not the polls: IT’S THE VOTES!
Are you registered to vote? Check it out on any of these websites:
.

NOTE: Many states allow same day voter registration and voting!

https://www.vote.org/am-i-registerilled-to-vote/

https://www.usa.gov/confirm-voter-registration

https://www.rockthevote.org/how-to-vote/am-i-registered-to-vote/

“Friends do not let friends vote for con artists.”
  • – Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), 2016


  • Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

    And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore, even if that makes them a few bucks more expensive. That will help to keep your town or neighborhood vibrant.
    6. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.

    Click me

    JA


Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Five


POST 1116

Did you already vote? Great! And you’re not done protecting our rights, our freedoms and our democracy.

You know quite well that MAGA and the acquiescent, cowardly Republicans stand for hatred, cruelty, violence and un-American values and norms. They cannot make themselves bigger so they use every hateful method to make everyone else smaller and poorer in every way. Here’s the most recent evidence of their crimes against America and Americans.

The Trump Nazi Bund rally at Madison Square Garden last Sunday was a goose stepping jamboree, a festival of hatred and cruelty. From Heather Cox Richardson:

The hateful performances of the early participants set the tone for the rally. Early on, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who goes by Kill Tony, delivered a steamingly racist set. He said, for example: “There’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico.” He went on: “And these Latinos, they love making babies too. Just know that. They do. They do. There’s no pulling out. They don’t do that. They come inside. Just like they did to our country.” Hinchcliffe also talked about Black people carving watermelons instead of pumpkins.*

You may recall that Trump made himself the anti-hero for the people of Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria by throwing rolls of paper towels to people devastated by that storm. You may also recall that Puerto Rico is one of the Trump-named “shithole countries.” Actually, Puerto Ricans are Americans, but people like Trump, Vance and that swamp creature comedian don’t like to acknowledge that.

That kind of thing is why you voted against the MAGA creeps.

As my friend, futurist David Houle recalled, in the 60s the establishment types hated protesters, anti-war types – anything that wasn’t locked down establishment. They wore their certainty of their being the true Americans on their sleeves and also wore it on their pick up trucks and cars with signs reading, “America: Love it or Leave it.”

Writes Houle,

The “conservative candidate,”  Donald Trump, has been trashing America.  He most recently called America a “garbage can of a country.”  I don’t think that any presidential candidate in U.S. history has ever spoken so negatively about this wonderful democracy.

What?!  If you, Mr. Trump, do not love America or want America to once again become a “shining city on a hill;”

If [you] Donald Trump [don’t] like America, [you] can leave it! Love it or leave it, Donald.

Remember that Trump has been painting America in dystopian terms since 2017.

It’s time we recognized that Trump does not love America and he doesn’t care a bit about the disaster he will leave behind him. He wants to change nearly everything about America and all for the worse for our rights, our freedom and our democracy. So, per my friend David’s observation, it’s time for Trump to leave.

AND NONE OF THAT IS THE POINT!!

.

As I explained in this post, the point is that Trump is just the marionette, the puppet designed to distract us from what the Heritage Foundation fascists are doing. What they really want is to put Vance in the White House so he can be their tool boy to destroy our democracy. Their plan is to get Trump into the White House and then invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him and put Vance at the Resolute Desk to enact all of the democracy destroying carnage of Project 2025!

Trump is doing everything he can to keep his loyal followers juiced up, mindlessly angry, full of certainty and hatred. He’s doing nothing to attract additional supporters. That’s a perfect recipe for losing the election so he can attack his popular and Electoral College losses by inciting violence.

I don’t have a magic formula, a witch’s cauldron of potion to cure the extremists. What I’m sure of is that Trump must not be allowed anywhere near 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and that starts with his overwhelming loss at the polls. The good guy legal eagles will have to figure out how to stop his valueless lawsuits. Our law enforcement people will have to figure out how to deal with the violence and the phony electors. All of that is above my pay grade. But crushing MAGA in this election is right on our level.

So, you voted. Did you think Trump and MAGA extremists would go away because you voted in this free and fair election? Nope.

This win for our rights, our freedom and our democracy needs to be an overwhelming victory for Harris-Walz and a crushing defeat for Heritage Foundation fascism. That’s why you aren’t done taking action.

Look at the countdown clock below. Five days is all we have to create the tidal wave victory for the America we believe in.

Just five days to stiff arm fascism.

Five days to protect the future for our children and grandchildren.

Just five days to block politicians from OB/GYN exam rooms.

Just five days to ensure we have leaders who will take steps to stem the hemorrhaging from our gun violence.

Just five days to restore decency to our government and our nation.

We have just five days to banish the haters from our politics.

We have just five days to encourage people to vote, using our door knocking, postcards, phone calls and more.
.

“Hard work is good work.” There are lots of options for you,

Many of which are listed here

There are Post Cards to Swing States – Holland & Muskegon MI

You can knock on Doors in Wisconsin

Rockin’ Zoom Phone Bank – Indivisible Illinois

Or this

Or this

And of course there is this potpourri of opportunities to make a difference.

This stuff is easy to find and easy to do, so find something. The key: TAKE ACTION TODAY!

Tell people to vote like their life depends on it.

Because it does.

___________________________________________

* In case you are a Trump apologist or Trump explainer/whisperer, consider this.

Eleven years ago a US Navy submarine surfaced right into a Japanese fishing boat. The fishing boat sank and nine people were killed. The submarine captain with an otherwise fine record, was officially disciplined and had to resign from the Navy. Here’s why.

The leader is responsible for everything – that’s everything – that happens on his/her boat, whether it’s during the captain’s watch or not. It’s the captain’s job to make certain that all involved are properly trained, that they know their jobs and that they execute them properly. No excuses.

And so it is in the Trump campaign. Trump is responsible for the hiring, training and execution of his election team. Someone on his election campaign invited that crude “comedian” to speak, so Trump is responsible for his crude, cruel words. Trump can dance all he wants, but Trump is responsible for that hurtful meanness. He can try to distance himself from that, he can apologize – no matter. He’s accountable.

It’s not the vibes and it’s not the polls: it’s the votes. 
Are you registered to vote? Check it out on any of these websites:
.

https://www.vote.org/am-i-registerilled-to-vote/

https://www.usa.gov/confirm-voter-registration

https://www.rockthevote.org/how-to-vote/am-i-registered-to-vote/

“Friends do not let friends vote for con artists.”
  • – Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), 2016


  • Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

    And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore, even if that makes them a few bucks more expensive. That will help to keep them your town or neighborhood vibrant.
    6. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.

    Click me

    JA


Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

A-Changin’


POST 1115

On the Sunday before last the New York Times published letters from readers that were composed in lyrical form rather than in prose. One was to the tune of the 60s Bob Dylan song, The Times They Are A-Changin’. Here’s it’s opening:

Come liars, deniers who call it a hoax

And convince us these fires are nothin’ but jokes

When the air that you’re breathing’s like three packs of smokes

Even Fox might admit they were fakin’

Better get a good gas mask if ya don’t wanna choke

‘Cause the climate is a-changin’

Having been there in the 60s and been a finalist in Lyndon Johnson’s contest to win an all expense paid trip to Vietnam, I was sensitive to Dylan’s words in his song. That tide of change led to the 1968 anti-war demonstrations in Grant Park that turned into a battle that the Kerner Commission labeled a “police riot.” I remember Hizzoner the Mayor, Richard J. Daley, defending the police, saying, “The police are not here to create disorder. They are here to preserve disorder.” He certainly was a man of insightful and inspiring words.

What comes to me now is that the 60s demand for change was about our attempts to move away from repressive government hiding behind the label “conservative.” It seemed designed solely to prevent any change that might affect the power of those in charge, regardless of the desires of We The People. Meanwhile, people were getting killed.

Good thing there is no global warming leading to this flooding in New Mexico. Oh wait – there is.

Here we are today with new power grabbers stripping power from us using their chicanery, demanding that their minority be in charge of the rest of us. They’re fighting any change with their unlawful, unconstitutional schemes to diminish our power.

They’re denying climate warming, for example, even as people throughout our southeast are suffering, some dying, from yet another “storm of the century” and there are lakes, oddly enough, flooding parts of the Sahara Desert and New Mexico. Hence, the creative use of Dylan’s form and the updated meaning above.

These pretenders are trying to claw their way into absolute power using lies, propaganda and promises – threats, really – of unconstitutional cruelty. They are fighting change for the better solely to snatch away yet more power for themselves at the expense of We The People. Meanwhile, people are getting killed. It’s an eerily familiar story.

The times are a-changing because we have made a lethal mess and change is an existential imperative. Ask your children and grandchildren how they’re feeling about their future, about the dire threat of global warming and the threats coming from citizen mob incitement and violent people with guns. Ask them how they’re feeling about people, especially politicians, who deny reality.

Today’s young are the ones who have had to do active shooter drills in schools. They’re the ones dealing with our insurmountable housing reality and the crazy cost to marry and have children, about all the impossible challenges that have put them in despair. Essentially, they are asking,

“What American dream?”
.

So, they and we want the times to be a-changin’. We don’t want the chaos, the instability and the threats of being dominated by people who want to “terminate” our Constitution. We don’t want our rights to be stolen from us and we don’t want liars to treat us like we’re stupid.

In short, the battle is the same now as it was in the 60s, as we fight the lies and repression that could get us killed. It turns out, much to the surprise of some, that people don’t like their rights and freedom trampled. People don’t like the frauds and the cruelties, like ripping babies from the arms of their mothers; like lying to victims of hurricanes so that they don’t get the aid they need and deserve; like letting pregnant women die from lack of ordinary care that would save their lives; and like encouraging Americans to attack other Americans. People don’t like their hopes and dreams to be crushed by those who care only to amass yet more power.

Change is coming because We The People won’t long tolerate repression. The cruel ones will continue to be cruel because that’s all they have. The minority will continue to manipulate the system solely for their own benefit for as long as they can. But we will reject them because they represent an America that only the haters want. We’ll banish them to the obscurity they deserve.

Our job, to paraphrase Ghandi, is to “Be the change we want to see in America.”

Not with a riot in Grant Park, but with a riot of votes before and on November 5. Then the times, they truly will be a-changin’.

Come hopers and voters who know that they stand

For something much greater than that hateful man.

When hatred and lies are all that they sell

We see what they’re doing and we’re here to tell

They better get packing or they’ll sink down to hell

‘Cus their time it is now ending.

Name Calling Accuracy

O’ those rascally generals, those former Trump Cabinet heads and Republican spine finders! They are calling Trump and Vance dangerous fascists. O’ the degrading truth of it all!

You need to go to school on this and Professor Timothy Snyder has advanced to the podium. Watch his short instructional videos in order.

 

 

.
.
Lest We Forget the Odious Felons

These are some of the crooks who want to end our democracy and rule over you with a cruel fist. Don’t let them!

Pass this along to any who are undecided or apathetic. As awful as these felons are, they’re pussycats compared to the fascist, evil, goose stepping morons whom Trump will put in power over us if he wins.
.

Tell people to

vote like their life depends on it.

Because it does!

Best Required Reading

From Steve Schmidt, October 24, “America has had many long nights in its history.” You need to know this story – read his post. Meanwhile,

There is no heaven on earth, but there is America.

It is time to believe and imagine again in America. Isn’t it? America was invented by believers, not cynics. The presence of cynics amongst the believers doesn’t diminish the believers. It simply tests the character of the undecided. There are great choices ahead. There always are. While we wait, perhaps it is worth taking stock and remembering, if but for a moment, how it feels to be a member of the luckiest group of people on earth. Americans. This is a place where anything still remains possible. Two hundred years ago at a moment of division a friend [Lafayette] visited and reminded a young nation of its unlimited future. America is a young nation with old politicians. That problem can be fixed. It should be. It’s time to start building tomorrow again in this country.

Reality Reset Quote of the Week

From Sheila Markin:

Immigrants are not the danger that Trump claims they are. Democrats are not the danger Trump says they are. Climate change is a real threat. The pandemic was a real threat. Because Trump is disconnected from reality, Trump himself is the threat from within.

Insanity Corner

In what is already one of the most expensive Senate races in American history, the Ted Cruze “Citizens United funded Super PACs” are “.  .  .  blanketing the airwaves with $34 MILLION in attack ads against Colin [Allred] (from a 10-27-24 Allred fund raiser email).

This is just some of the insanity unleashed by the John Roberts Supreme Court extremists, who contorted themselves and the Constitution to give super wealthy individuals and corporations super influence over our elections. Plus they gave inanimate, non-human, non-sentient corporations all the rights that you have.

Insane.

Best Action Today

Read this.

It’s not the vibes and it’s not the polls: it’s the votes. 
Are you registered to vote? Check it out on any of these websites:
.

https://www.vote.org/am-i-registerilled-to-vote/

https://www.usa.gov/confirm-voter-registration

https://www.rockthevote.org/how-to-vote/am-i-registered-to-vote/

“Friends do not let friends vote for con artists.”
  • – Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), 2016


  • Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

    And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore, even if that makes them a few bucks more expensive. That will help to keep them your town or neighborhood vibrant.
    6. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.

    Click me

    JA


Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Endorsements


POST 1110

From a rally for Tammy Baldwin

Jax Pix

Here are some of my pics.

President

Kamala Harris (queue the forehead slaps), because we want our President to be a person who has neither dementia nor a mania to be der fuhrer. We want her to be focused on We The People.

Senate

Arizona – Reuben Gallego – Good, solid, proven congressman. Plus, he isn’t election denier, pants-on-fire Kari Lake.

California – Adam Schiff – Super smart January 6 Committee member and impeachment prosecutor. His Republican opponent, Steve Garvey, was a terrific baseball player. He should have stuck to that, because if elected he would be another Trump mini-me suck up, MAGA extremist. Plus, he sounded like a doofus in their debate.

Florida – Debbie Mucarsel-Powell – She’s good and she has going for her that she isn’t spineless, elitist, arrogant, dangerous Rick Scott, co-sponsor of a national abortion ban bill and too chicken to face Mucarsel-Powell in a debate.

Maryland – Angela Alsobrooks – Her opponent, Larry Hogan, isn’t awful like most Republicans. But he’s unacceptable because he’s a Republican, which means he would be an obstruction to anything Harris will want to do for We The People.

Michigan – Elissa Slotkin – She’s a seriously smart, solid woman, proven in Congress. She’s a former Central Intelligence Agency analyst (think: Jack Ryan) and Department of Defense official. Unlike Trump, she has a security clearance.

Missouri – Lucas Kunze – Vote for Kunze because he isn’t Josh Hawley. That alone should be enough to vote for him. He isn’t reprehensible –  Hawley is – and he never fist pumped insurrectionists.

Montana – Jon Tester – One of the best. Super solid and sensible guy. We need him and many others to be voices for We The People and to restore sanity in Congress.

Ohio – Sherrod Brown – Super guy. Hard working, sensible and loyal as the sunrise.

Nevada – Jacky Rosen – She’s been tested and has the cred to attract bipartisan support for important legislation. Plus, her opponent, carpetbagger Sam Brown from Texas, is just another MAGA doomer and blamer without a single constructive idea or the spine to stand up to the extremists.

Pennsylvania – Bob Casey – Sensible, non-histrionic patriot. Calm voice of reason. You remember reason, right?

Texas – Colin Allred – First, you should vote even for a potted plant over Ted Cruz, who is the worst, most hated senator not named Josh Hawley. Second, Allred is first rate – smart and loyal. Plus he’ll have the brightest smile and the best teeth in the Senate.

Wisconsin – Tammy Baldwin – She’s really smart, capable and tested. She won’t be stopped when it’s hard to do what needs to be done. Wisconsinites deserve her.

West Virginia – Glenn Elliott – Because the Republican candidate will sell out those poor people – yet again.

Issues Resources

Check with March For Our Lives for recommendations of candidates who will promote gun safety.

Check with any women’s rights organization for who to vote for if you care about girls, women, your sister, your mom, your daughter, the people on your street or the people on any street, and the rights of all of us.

Check for party affiliation, because Republicans will suck up to Trump and the insane radicals, keeping your children at mortal risk just for just going to school. They will curtail the rights of everyone. Vote for Democrats. Not because only Democrats have good ideas, but because they are a legitimate party with actual, thoughtful policies and a clear view to making the lives of We The People (that’s you and me) better. They’re beholden only to us and to the Constitution, not to a cult subservient to a demonic dictator wannabe. Plus, they believe in democracy and the rule of law, unlike the Republicans who want to “terminate the Constitution.”

We’ll deal with House races and some state races in another post.

Same Old Mendacity

You already know that if Trump’s mouth is moving that he’s either eating a Big Mac or lying. No news there. And you already know that idiot boy genius Elon Musk is just as lie-ful. But did you know that in his country of origin, South Africa, that his name in Afrikaans means “idiot boy genius”?

To be clear, I am not Musk’s interpreter so I cannot make sense for you of any of the idiot things he says. I don’t know if he actually believes the idiocy that Democrats are recruiting undocumented people to vote or if he believes that Democrats can control the weather. Okay, that was loony MTG who said that. See my post this coming Wednesday.

Musk promotes the Trumpy lie that we have a massive voter fraud problem. How might he have adopted that idiot notion?

In the 2016 election there were only 30 cases of claimed voter fraud nationally that were referred for prosecution, or just 0.00001 percent of all votes cast. They didn’t all result in guilty verdicts, so the actual incidence of voter fraud was actually lower. O’ those pesky facts. They point menacingly at Republican lies about elections.

Musk is prone to saying lots of idiotic things. I really don’t care about that. I do care that he has a huge platform to spread them and that he “re-posted [a deepfake of Vice President Kamala Harris] that racked up a staggering 1.2 billion views.”

So, he isn’t just an idiot boy genius. He is a very dangerous idiot boy genius whom I would be ignoring were he not in a position to influence so many uninformed or low propensity voters with his lies.

Respect yourself: Don’t buy a Tesla.

From The “Ya Gotta Read This” Department

My pal Ed Gurowitz offers his insights periodically and you must read this post. He reports on attending a Tim Walz rally in Reno NV and manages to deliver both the content and the feel of what he experienced. His description vividly captures the stark differences in the versions of our future that we’re being offered by the two very different presidential candidates.

This is a Don’t Miss piece. Indeed, it’s something valuable to pass along to those you know who are otherwise likely to skip this election. And tell them to read the t-shirt to the right.

Vote to keep this delusional out of the Oval Office.

It’s not the vibes and it’s not the polls: it’s the votes. 
Are you registered to vote? Check it out on any of these websites:

https://www.vote.org/am-i-registerilled-to-vote/

https://www.usa.gov/confirm-voter-registration

https://www.rockthevote.org/how-to-vote/am-i-registered-to-vote/

“Friends do not let friends vote for con artists.”
  • – Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), 2016


  • Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

    And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore, even if that makes them a few bucks more expensive. That will help to keep them your town or neighborhood vibrant.
    6. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.

    Click me

    JA


Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

A Bucketful of Weird


POST 1109

Heart Wrenching Quote of the Week

Misty is a teacher in Charlotte, NC. She was interviewed on CNN. She spoke of teachers going to the houses of students to make sure they were okay, as they were living in rubble. One of the teachers is missing and they are surrounded by the disaster and the suffering that is everywhere, trying to help the kids have something that feels normal. Misty said that’s critical for the kids, because,

“Normal just washed away  .  .  . “

Their ordinary lives just washed away. Food and drinkable water washed away. Their homes washed away. Their hopes, dreams, security and perhaps friends and family washed away. The death toll stands at 232. No one knows how many are missing and there is no way to calculate the devastation.

The people wading through the muck and rubble are our family, neighbors and community even if at a distance. When disaster hits, we roll up our shirtsleeves and lend a hand. We come together for one another.

And our help, already critically needed, is going to become far more desperately needed, as Hurricane Milton slams across Florida.

CNN put together this list of organizations providing relief. Just click the link and pick one to help our people, because we step up for our community. It’s just what we do, so it would be weird not to.

Weird Black Nazi Wish List

North Carolina Republican candidate for governor and self-labeled Black Nazi, Mark Robinson, has said many offensive things. Among them,

“Slavery is not bad. Some people need to be slaves. I wish they would bring it back. I would certainly buy a few.”

Maybe I’ll buy some slaves, too. Robinson will be my first purchase. The first thing I’ll do as his master is to end all of his freedom and work him to exhaustion every day. Just wondering if he would still think “slavery is not bad.”

Weird.

The Weird Candidate

From an article in The Atlantic Daily on October 2 entitled “Beyond Handshakes,” focused on the Vice Presidential debate:

.  .  .  Vance slyly executed a strategy to make himself, and Trumpism, appear “normal.” He eschewed talk of “childless cat ladies” and ran from his own lies about Haitian immigrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. That such a sentence needs to be written tells you all you need to know about the ugly tenor of this race.

Actually, it tells you all you need to know about the ugly dishonesty and cruelty of Republican politicians.

Weird.

Springfield Geese

Turns out that Trump and Vance are sort of right – someone did kill geese in Springfield, OH. But it wasn’t one of the legally resident Haitians.

Springfield idiot and non-Haitian, Brian Comer, was having fine sport killing golf course pond geese on September 10. Got busted for it. There are no reports of him killing neighbors’ dogs or cats and eating them or whether he’s a Trump supporter – you do the guessing on that. Regardless, he’s seriously weird.

FEMA Funds Never Fed Our Undocumented

Following Hurricane Helene, Donald Trump blasted out damning crapnews that FEMA is running out of money for relief because they’re funneling millions to undocumented immigrants. Trump SS officer Steven Miller and idiot genius Elon Musk are helping to spread that lie. The details of this Trump-stupid FEMA accusation are too long to include here, so read Heather Cox Richardson’s explainer.

Worse, at a time when tens of thousands of Americans are desperate and counting on the heroic rescue teams working hard to save them, feed them, to bring them to safety and to give them hope, Trump is crushing their hopes and their belief in their country. Trump is weird and he’s cruel beyond words. But, you knew that.

BTW – When he was president he did exactly what he’s falsely accusing Biden of doing. He diverted FEMA money from relief for victims of Hurricane Maria to use it to punish “others.” While those devastated by the hurricane were Americans, he didn’t care because, hey, they’re just Puerto Ricans. To refresh your memory, this is the paper towel tossing incident. See this capture of his reprehensible and weird nature.

“That Was a Damning Non-Answer”

Walz: Did [Trump] lose the 2020 election?

Vance: Tim, I’m focused on the future. Did Kamala Harris censor Americans in the wake of the 2020 Covid situation? (As though that fantasy was in the future – and the answer is no.)

Walz: That was a damning non-answer.

Vance’s slimy-squirmy avoidance of Walz’s question lit up the debate and Walz nailed him on it. Good for all of us.

Actually, Walz let pass nearly all of Vance’s non-answers (about 22 of them) and his lies (uncountable), much to the frustration of fact-based viewers. No clue why Walz did that.

Trump’s nearly successful efforts to thwart the will of the people of the United States in 2021 and Vance’s support for that felony is ugly. But We The People believe our eyes and ears and we know what happened. The Vance-Dance wasn’t just damning. It was criminally damning.

And weird.

Reality Roundup

You already know that some of us have a flimsy relationship with truth, facts, science and other parts of reality. Lies, misdirection, fantasies, fatuous rumors and conspiracies have achieved great popularity with many of our less sharp-eyed fellow citizens. Their opinions, based on nothing more than personal bias and cartoon-ish flights of insanity, have supplanted facts in their minds. That’s an impressive achievement and actually quite a problem.

A fine essay was offered in the New York Times a couple of weeks ago – Facts Matter, and They Don’t Care How You Feel, by Francis S. Collins, former director of the National Institutes of Health. His piece is a clearheaded approach to telling us that reality is what it is and that our confirmation bias, bad attitudes and our need to find a boogeyman behind every tree don’t change reality.

So no, the Earth is not flat. The 1969 moon landing did happen. So did the Holocaust. There were no sex trafficked young girls in the basement of that pizza shop in DC (actually, there is no basement in that building). There are no Jewish space lasers and vaccines don’t kill, neuter or blind people. They saved hundreds of thousands of lives just in America, despite Trump’s efforts to get Americans to instead inject bleach, Lysol and little ultraviolet lights and to take a drug approved solely to treat malaria. We know all this because there is massive evidence that declares the realities, even as conspiracy wingnuts and wacko political candidates display their very serious mental limitations by rejecting reality and imperiling all of us.

Weird.

Just get this:

Shifting back to reality will take powerful, consistently muscular, banner-waving, truth telling, lie smashing, propaganda pummeling communication and a personal touch. Anything less than that will cause us to descend into a freedom killing wasteland. There are only 26 days left and this will take all of us. It’s time to step up. Now.
.

Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Somewhere beyond the barricade is there a world you long to see?
Do you hear the people sing?
Say, do you hear the distant drums?
It is the future that they bring when tomorrow comes!

– Les Miserables R Us

It’s not the vibes and it’s not the polls: it’s the votes. 
Are you registered to vote? Check it out on any of these websites:

https://www.vote.org/am-i-registerilled-to-vote/

https://www.usa.gov/confirm-voter-registration

https://www.rockthevote.org/how-to-vote/am-i-registered-to-vote/

“Friends do not let friends vote for con artists.“
  • – Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), 2016


  • Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

    And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore, even if that makes them a few bucks more expensive. That will help to keep them your town or neighborhood vibrant.
    6. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.

    Click me

    JA


Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Freedom Of Speech


POST 1105

From the First Amendment:

“Congress shall make no law  .  .  .  abridging freedom of speech  .  .  .”

To be clear, that has nothing to do with whether the owners of social media sites or newspapers can keep us from speaking on their platforms. They can. That has everything to do with whether the government can muzzle us, keeping us from speaking truth to power. It can’t.

So, Trump can bray his idiocies and judgements, like claiming that Biden is the worst president in history. The government can do nothing to stop that. But he is still subject to the laws regarding defamation, a concept that even his massively expensive losses to E. Jean Carroll don’t seem to have gotten through to him. Just think about all the people he’s defamed and who could file actions against him, like his lies about Haitians eating dogs, cats and geese and his various claims about sexual improprieties, like those aimed at Kamala Harris and other successful women. Those are abhorrent, but it would be far worse if he or any of us were prohibited from speaking truth to power.

From Professor Timothy Snyder’s post of September 19, following his meeting with Volodymyr Zelens’kyi:

The notion of “free speech” has become very inflated, used all too often just to mean the right to offend someone or cause disruption by knowingly telling lies, often from a place of power and wealth.The reason why we care about freedom of speech, though, is that we want to protect the dignity of the individual and protect the individual from the powers that be.  Freedom of speech is protected so that we can speak our truths to power, not so that power can force its lies on us.  It must be a right, in other words, because truth is risky.

  • – Prof. Timothy Snyder
  • Satire of the Week

Link through to Andy Borowitz’s explainer,

Trump Says He Will Be Too Senile to Debate in Late October
.

You will instantly understand everything and you’ll thank your lucky stars for the free speech that gives Borowitz the right to speak his satire about a would-be dictator.

Many thanks to JN for directing me to Borowitz’s piece.

Melania

In 2018 First Lady Melania Trump visited a detention center for children who had been ripped from their parents’ arms by Melania’s husband. She wore a trench coat on which had been written in bold white paint, “I Really Don’t Care. Do U?”

She was about to see infants and children crying in cages and she wore that coat with that message. Most of us were stunned seeing that, but now Melania claims the message was aimed at Ivanka. Right. Sure. Truth be told, I really don’t care about her claim. Do U?

This is the same Melania who, unlike most first ladies for a long time, championed nothing for we common folk. When we did see her it was clear that the only thing that was important to her was to be seen as glamorous.

She is the same Melania who couldn’t be bothered to attend the ceremonies on 9/11. Instead her husband was accompanied at Ground Zero by his new hate monger, 9/11 denier and current bimbo, Laura Loomer. I use that term “bimbo” because it’s his word for Stephanie Ruhle and so many other women. Melania was nowhere to be seen at the ceremonies. I guess she’s right: she really doesn’t care.

So, tell me why we should care about her new book, other than wondering if parts were plagiarized from Michelle Obama, like she did in her speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention. She’s promoting the book now and has the same right of free speech as the rest of us. I won’t be buying a copy, though, because, hey, I don’t care about Melania. Do U?

Quote of the Week

From Jimmy Kimmel:

“Sorry to break your cold little heart, Donald, but I endorsed Kamala Harris for president.”

I like Jimmy Kimmel and heartily approve his endorsement, but he got one thing wrong. Trump doesn’t have a heart.

Okay, that’s just a little fun, but there is a serious issue embedded in all of this. It’s about how we will exercise our freedom of speech, how we will make our voices heard. We must make them heard because, as Professor Snyder cautions us, “truth is risky” and we have to take that risk if we are to keep our freedom of speech.

One of the risks is that if we were to fail to exercise our freedom of speech by telling the truth, we could lose our right of freedom of speech entirely. Some strongman would come along and snuff it out, like a candle going dark – or a democracy going dark.

Look at the countdown timer below and you’ll see that we don’t have much time left to do what we can do, what must be done.

You can write letters to the editor, if you still have a newspaper.

You can post your comments – your speech – to these Disambiguations.

You can connect with a voter call operation – find one at www.JoinTheUnion.us

You can meet some nice people while canvasing for Democratic candidates in swing states.

You can write postcards to voters in swing states.

You can post a yard sign in front of your house.

You can attend rallies and cheer for what you know is right.

You can talk to your neighbor Bubba and ask why he plans to vote for Trump, when Trump would rather see his daughter die than get the help she needs for her rape-caused pregnancy. Okay, maybe that’s too in-his-face.

You can kick in a few bucks to help a Democrat win election in a swing state.

You can vote – and bring some neighbors with you to the polls – see below in RED.

All of these are exercising your freedom of speech, specifically to protect and defend our democracy so that your children and grandchildren will have that same sweet wine. And U care deeply about that.

While you’re deciding which actions you’ll take, watch this post from Steve Schmidt.

Voting and getting out the vote reduce the risk of unwanted presidencies!

.
It’s not the vibes and it’s not the polls: it’s the votes. 
Are you registered to vote? Check it out on any of these websites:
.

https://www.vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote/

https://www.usa.gov/confirm-voter-registration

https://www.rockthevote.org/how-to-vote/am-i-registered-to-vote/

“Friends do not let friends vote forcon artists.”
  • – Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), 2016


  • Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

    And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore, even if that makes them a few bucks more expensive. That will help to keep them your town or neighborhood vibrant.
    6. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.

    Click me

    JA


Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Eventually, Trump Will Go Away – But


POST 1102

Congratulations To The Crazies

Donald Trump said at the presidential debate,

“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in [Haitian immigrants], they’re eating the cats, they’re eating, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”

Rolling Stone reported on Thursday,

“’City of Springfield received a bomb threat that has prompted an immediate response from local and regional law enforcement,’ the city wrote on its Facebook page. “

Authorities found no bomb. What they did find was a verbal trigger from Trump and Vance, both jolting a shot from Trump’s extremist supporters.

Consider this bomb threat following Trump’s vile statement, in the context of what follows.

There Is Far Worse Than Trump To Fear

Trump will go away, either by death at the polls, imprisonment or death from Big Macs and fries. But what will not go away are the millions who follow him, some of whom worship him, many of whom respond as reliably as Pavlov’s dog, only violently.

Trump has little power that is his own. His power comes from the consent of his MAGA hordes and he wields it with stunning cruelty, capriciousness, selfishness, ignorance and a lot of other words you yourself can append to this sentence.

Traditional legislators who caved to Trump didn’t do it because of his power. They caved because of the power of the voters, who gave Trump their consent and he primaried those who wouldn’t bow down to him. The power lies with the 30 million who follow Trump.

Trump will go away. He will find a new calling as a full time criminal defendant and then change professions and relocate from Mar-a-Lago to a prison cell. But those angry, aggrieved, temper tantrum MAGAs will not go away. Someone will take Trump’s place to prey upon their willingness to be manipulated.

So, the question is not how to get past Trump. We’ll do that on November 5. It’s how to deal with 25% of the 30 million angry MAGAs who think their threats of assault and their violence are good and appropriate acts of patriotism. They are people who want to tear it all down, like a kid who lost a game of Monopoly and is throwing tokens, money, Chance cards and the game board.

For nine years the focus has been on keeping power from Trump. Books have been written, podcasts have been podded, political blabbers have blabbed, but I have not heard much about how to deal with the angry people who still will be here after Trump is gone.

They get cattle prodded regularly by right wing hate mongers, know nothings and liars, so the fire of their anger gets replenished constantly. They wave the flag and believe that they are true patriots – maybe the true patriots, which means that they believe that you aren’t. They will not go gently into a Trump-less night.

The radicals’ obsession with controlling women’s bodies, their plan to impose a 13th century patriarchal tyranny upon us and the sometimes entertaining but most often infuriating weirdness of Trump and Vance are huge turnoffs for millions of non-extremist righty Americans. Perhaps good sense is slowly bleeding into our political reality.

Keep in mind that Project 2025 extreme tyranny isn’t repulsive to the MAGA far right. With or without the White House or Congress, they will still want to impose that domination on all of us. Even after Trump is just a horrid chapter in the history books we will be left with that long term challenge. It is a citizen-made fire stoked by long held resentments over both real and imagined wrongs and insults, disrespect and broken promises. That has to be dealt with in an effective manner or the consequences may be terrible.

Meanwhile, the first step is to do what is necessary on November 5, because

Trump Must Never Get His Hands On Any Power Greater Than The Flush Handle Of A Prison Toilet.
.

Eventually, Trump will go away, either by death at the polls, imprisonment or death from Big Macs and fries – but.

We’ll still have big work to do, because while the dogs and cats in Springfield, OH are safe, we are not.

From the “What Trump Hath Wrought” Department

1. From STAT:

ONE BIG NUMBER
1,104

This is the number of U.S. counties in which there is not a single birthing facility or obstetric clinician, according to the annual March of Dimes report on maternity care deserts, released yesterday.

Think: Anti-women, crazed politicians. Votes to criminalize doctors, nurses, hospital executives and drive them away, leaving vast maternity care deserts.

They claim to be pro-life, but that’s a lie. They’re for capital punishment and weapons of war in the hands of anyone. They’re against programs to benefit our vets and IVF, against programs to help poor children and pregnant women at risk of disease and death, and they’re for programs that limit and warp children’s education.

2. Here’s reproductive life to come, if Mississippi, Louisiana and Idaho are our models – from the Lincoln Project:

Click me

3. And just in case you still think there isn’t grave risk:

Click me

Sane-Washing

It’s what our print and electronic media do when they treat Trump’s bumbling rambles and nonsensical idiocies seriously or when they attempt to translate the babble.

Read David Corn’s explainer. Sane-washing is a journalistic lunacy, like whataboutism and both-sidesism. It is a voluntary surrender to insanity, an effort to translate gibberish into something meaningful. It’s like man-splaining misogyny or explaining racism by contorting the words of Jesus.

Helpful Quotes For Our Undecideds

An idiocy metaphor.

To put [undecideds] in perspective, I think​ of being​ on an airplane.​ The flight attendant comes​ down the aisle​ with her food cart and, eventually,​ parks​ it beside my seat.​ “Can I inter​est you in the chick​en?​” she asks.​ “Or would​ you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broke​n glass​ in it?”

To be undecided in this elect​ion is to pause​ for a moment and then ask how the chick​en is cooked. [emphasis mine]

― David Sedaris, author, humorist

Speaking to traditional Republicans who refused to stand up to Trump:

I have a simple message to all those Republicans I helped elect. When your careers are studied, this is what you will be remembered for. You failed a test as Americans. Shame.

― Stuart Stevens,  political consultant and former Republican

Actions

With early voting now underway, join Focus for Democracy’s next event as they reveal the most effective programs to reach swing state voters. Connect this Sunday, 9/22, and find out how directing your support to these programs can have an outsized impact on  the election.

  • Sunday, September 22nd

5:00pm PT / 8:00pm ET

Registration link: https://bit.ly/F4D22Sep
It’s not the vibes, it’s not the polls: it’s the votes. 
Are you registered to vote? Check it out here:
.

https://www.vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote/

https://www.usa.gov/confirm-voter-registration

https://www.rockthevote.org/how-to-vote/am-i-registered-to-vote/

“Friends do not let friends vote for con artists.”
  • – Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), 2016


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    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore, even if that makes them a few bucks more expensive. That will help to keep them your town or neighborhood vibrant.
    6. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.

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    JA


Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Here’s The Thing


POST 1098

Tyranny and Freedom

We are continually faced with self-serving declarations from over-lord wannabees about some thug patriotism and manipulative, fantabulous claims of victimhood designed to move us to support their un-freedom hell. (Insert here your personal nightmare image here.) Saying this less delicately, there’s a lot of crap being spewed by people hoping to enrich themselves in various ways, none of which are good for you. What’s a thinking American to do?

I gave advice on that very thing as recently as March 20 of this year, writing,

See Note #5 below

Prof. Timothy Snyder teaches history at Yale and is the author of On Tyranny and other books. If you have not read this brilliant, pamphlet-sized book (rather like The American Crisis by Thomas Paine), do so immediately.

As far back as February 7, 2021, less than a month after the Trump storm troopers killed cops and vandalized the Capitol Building in search of politicians to murder, I wrote about this in a slightly different way:

This is how democracies die. A cult leader exhorts fanatics, the thugs terrorize all opposition and incrementally people surrender to death threats and violence. And that’s advanced when 199 of our legislators give a standing ovation to the conspiracy nut case spewing fascist hatred. Yes, fascism can happen here in America.

I’ve exhorted readers to see what Vice President Wallace had to say about fascism in America. If you believe in democracy and have not yet read his essay, please read it now.

These violent, angry thugs won’t simply melt away if Trump disappears or if this current insurrection fails – and no, it isn’t over yet. You can expect acts of terrorism, including mass shootings and bombings and perhaps political assassinations over the coming years, as highly armed, angry, hateful, bigoted, self-righteous thugs continue their war against America.

See Note #5 below

We face an existential crisis – as in: threatening our existence. Stopping the political and street thugs isn’t a sprint. This is a marathon which will wax and wane but will never be ended because there will always be people who want to dominate others, who want to steal from others.

Which is why it’s time to return to Timothy Snyder. His new book is On Freedom. It will be released on September 17, so obviously I have not read it yet. Nevertheless, I’m recommending it to you because I believe in, I support and I demand freedom for all of us. Professor Snyder is a fine teacher and I have complete confidence he has valuable marching orders for all of us who believe in freedom. That belief started with the Founders. Lack of freedom, after all, was the trigger that started this whole thing.

Here’s a link to a transcript of Bill Maher’s interview of Professor Snyder on March 2, 2017, shortly after Trump took office. And here’s a link to talks Professor Snyder is doing on his upcoming book tour. He’s a most informative presenter, notably easy to listen to and learn from. Go and listen.

For clarity about the threats we face and will continue to face, find out How It Works.

“It’s time to end the MAGA era. It reaches peak stupid every five minutes .  .  .”

– Steve Schmidt

Are you registered to vote? Check it out here:
.

https://www.vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote/

https://www.usa.gov/confirm-voter-registration

https://www.rockthevote.org/how-to-vote/am-i-registered-to-vote/

“Friends do not let friends vote for con artists.”
  • – Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), 2016


  • Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

    And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore, even if that makes them a few bucks more expensive. That will help to keep them your town or neighborhood vibrant.
    6. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.

    Click me

    JA


Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

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