I live on the “left coast” and was up early today (4/25) so I managed to listen to many of the arguments involved in the appeal of Trump’s claim he has “absolute immunity.” Now, as someone who has little to NO faith in this SCOTUS I was not surprised with what I heard based on my interpretation of the questions posed by the various judges. Here’s what will surprise me: If the judges simply decide the case in front of them. Basically, to me, the judges who claim to be “textualists” or “originalists” seemed to be looking for ways to expand the issue to areas which were NOT part of the case in front of them. I believe at least three justices (Alito, Kavanaugh, and Thomas) were looking for possible ways to DELAY the January 6th D.C. case to allow Trump to throw this out if he manages to somehow CHEAT his way back into the “White House.”

I mean, it’s been obvious for quite some time this court is on the side of our TWICE IMPEACHED so-called two time popular vote LOSING four times indicted (ex) president simply by their willingness to, at a minimum, help him stall this procedure. What also seemed obvious to me was several of the justices searching for ways to decide MORE than what is included in this indictment/appeal. There will be no “yes or no” decision by this court – just as they did in the Citizens United v FEC case they will go well beyond the issues of this appeal in order to appease their own political bent. Yes, I’m predicting this and I certainly hope I’m wrong, but they seemed to be searching for a way to strip Jack Smith of his ability to proceed with this case.

If they do what I fear I hope Mr. Smith then decides to prosecute the “unindicted co-conspirators” along with all the others involved in the conspiracy to overthrow our elected government on January 6th, 2021. That, of course, would include the wife of Clarence Thomas – who very possibly could be the deciding vote on this case in favor of the judges looking for an off ramp for Trump in his CLEARLY illegal attempt to pull off a coup d’etat. To me, there is NO WAY judge Thomas should have been sitting on the bench for this case. He should have been recused due to the actions of his wife.

I’m getting similar feelings I had during the Colorado case where Trump had been purged from their ballot based on Section three of the 14th Amendment which prevents anyone who took an oath to the constitution and participated in or gave support to anyone who participated in an INSURRECTION from holding ANY office in the federal government (or any state). The Colorado Supreme Court found that Trump participated in an INSURRECTION and was, therefore, ineligible to be on the Colorado ballot as a candidate for president. The SCOTUS, as myself and many others imagined they would, found a way to “stray” from their “textualist/originalist” bent because it didn’t fit their ideological view. They made a POLITICAL decision. They appear to be leaning to do the same in Trump’s January 6th indictment.

This Court is creating a serious image problem for themselves. We all saw on TV the INSURRECTION. We watched and listened to Trump urging his supporters to “go to the Capitol and fight like hell or you won’t have a country anymore.” Those of us who pay attention to all this have heard Trump PUBLICLY reiterate that “VP Pense did have the right to overthrow the election” (or words to that affect) when Congress decided to amend the statute defining the VP’s role in counting the Electoral College votes – a purely ceremonial role. It could not be more obvious that Trump was pressuring Pense to turn away legitimate Electoral College votes in order to count the so-called “alternate electors” from several of the “battleground” states.

At a bare minimum I believe the SCOTUS will send this case back to the District Court for a determination regarding “official acts v personal acts” – a decision which will be subject to appeal and then the appeal process starts all over again – which would mean the Supreme Court’s part in that would be decided sometime NEXT YEAR. I believe the court is going to expose itself as benefactors of Trump and they could care less about the “blow back” they will receive. I’m sure they believe all the negative publicity will blow over by the time their next term begins. And, who knows? It might.

I’ve written before about Lewis Powell’s “memo” to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce back in (I think – I could look it up but I’m too lazy) 1973. He was arguing that us “peons” – ie “working class Americans” had gained to much power and America’s corporations should “turn the tables” in favor or America’s “Oligarchs.” Soon after Powell was appointed to the SCOTUS by Richard Nixon and by 1980 “conservatives” had received the message and it was fully implemented by Ronald Reagan and his right wing/racist administration. Challenge #1: Destroy the union movement in America. See: The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) which Reagan, in essence, had destroyed when Air Traffic Controllers went on strike back in 1981. By my calculation, that was when unions took a “nosedive” and so did the wages of working class Americans.

One of the central tenets of the “conservative” movement has been preventing as many people as possible from voting – especially people who might vote for democrats. As time has evolved since Reagan became president the Court has tilted strongly to the right – in 2000 it actually chose GW Bush to be president when, by all accounts, the rightful “winner” was Al Gore. In fact, in that situation the Court acted with “all haste” – like, as I remember it, in a manner of days (not months/years) to “crown” GW Bush and Dick Cheney to reign on “we the people.” I’m sure republicans were more than pleased when Mr. Gore simply accepted the decision in order to prevent a rebellion.

That court decision led to the invasion of Iraq (and, very possibly 9/11 due to Bush’s willingness to ignore the warning signs), the 20 LONG years of incompetence in Afghanistan, and, of course, the financial meltdown of 2007 – 2008. When the Obama/Biden administration took office the “mess” they inherited was of historic proportions. However, Donald Trump left the “messiest” mess for the incoming Biden Administration I can remember in my lifetime. To me, the burgeoning of the national debt began under Reagan via the so-called “Trickle down” (I’ve always said “trickle up”) tax policy which has led to “tax cuts for the rich” in every republican administration since (except, I believe, George HW Bush).

When you look up articles about the budget deficit and the national debt it becomes clear what you’re reading is tilted one way or the other depending on who’s writing it. By my observation Clinton and Obama both left office with an annual deficit considerably less than the one they inherited and, it appears, so will President Biden, whenever it becomes time for him to finally (and actually) retire. What Biden inherited was catastrophic due to Trump’s selfish incompetence in managing a “once in a century” pandemic. (Although, it seems the possibility of future pandemics looms large)

My point is this: Decisions by the SCOTUS are of immense importance. The decision to crown Bush/Cheney, for example, not only let to a financial meltdown, it led to the loss of THOUSANDS of American lives via the ILLEGAL invasion of Iraq – where something like one half of the Iraqi population was displaced and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi’s died due to the Bush/Cheney invasion. This would NOT have happened had the Court simply allowed the recount of votes in Florida to be completed. I will go to my grave believing Al Gore was the rightful winner of the 2000 American presidential election.

And, since then the Court has continued its drift rightward to the point where what we witnessed during the arguments regarding Trump’s ABSURD claim of “absolute immunity” seemed to gain a sympathetic (and pathetic) audience with – by my count – at least four of the justices. When these justices – who claimed in their confirmation hearings that “hypothetical” situations are irrelevant when it comes to deciding issues regarding the constitution – began throwing around hypothetical possibilities of retribution by sitting presidents toward their predecessor I wanted to vomit. The discussion seemed to be focused on many imagined possibilities of mischief, but not on the actual appeal before the court.

As I’ve said, this should have been obvious when the court decided to take this appeal in the first place and then schedule the arguments for the LAST day of the term – something like 9 weeks later. This was the court participating in Trump’s strategy of “delay, delay, delay.” Will they make a decision based on the merits of the appeal? Well, I surely hope so – granting this appeal will render them as being insignificant going forward – they would be approving America as a dictatorship (and “we the people” would have one more election to stop this attack on our constitution). I don’t think there’s any way they can simply overrule the District Court’s determination this claim (absolute immunity for the president) is preposterous – “we don’t have a king” – and the DC Circuit court’s agreement with the District Court.

However, as stated above, my gut instincts tell me they’re going to throw it back to the District Court based on some creative imagination of what our constitution SHOULD say, which is all Trump needs to put this off until sometime in 2025 – unless he’s re-elected. Trust me, there are more right wing decisions which are anti-democratic coming from this court, likely at the end of June. I don’t follow everything they decide to take up, but their track record is horrible to someone like me, but, likely to someone who agrees with Lewis Powell, this court is “right on.” Yikes!!!

Final Thought: I have to add, the fundamental source of fascism would be when corporations and government are acting in “partnership.” The following is a quote attributed to Benito Mussolini: “Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power.”  There are questions as to whether or not he actually said that, but, as you can see – in today’s America the “oligarchs” (corporate “power brokers”) are pretty much aligned to Trump’s “slow moving coup.” And REALLY wealthy Americans, like Peter Thiel and Mark Zuckerberg are building fortresses in remote areas for when the “you know what hits the fan.”

I’m not arguing against corporations, I’m just pointing out when they get to the point where their self interest causes them to “partner” with government for the purpose of implementing policy which is detrimental to “we the people” then we are a de-facto fascist state. There’s a reason why “big business” is realigning itself with Trump despite his CLEAR intentions to, in essence “tear up the constitution.” The corporate interests are simply “creating shareholder value” the “commons” be damned. They seem to believe the promise to “cut taxes” is the true political “selling point.” The idea of democrats actually instituting a “wealth tax” is considered, by the corporatists, as “socialism.” Government investing in its people, to them, is “socialism.”

That all being said, the next several elections, well beyond my remaining lifetime, will be critical in turning back this right wing attempt to undermine our democratic republic. The “checks and balances” imbedded into our constitution are under severe threat by a right wing segment of our population which has railed against “progress” since, well, the beginning of this nation – especially since the “New Deal” of FDR. The Court has been “rigged” and, thus, it’s possible Trump will succeed in making sure our elections are “rigged.” And, of course, they’ll be “rigged” in his favor. Stay tuned.,,,,

Is SCOTUS in on the Coup and Trying to End American Democracy?

by thomhartmann

I was working on my own response to the SCOTUS apparently planning to, at a minimum, send Trump’s “absolute immunity” claim back to the District Court in order to add an additional YEAR of delay. As usual, Mr. Hartman says it much better!

---

---

Many Americans are confused by the spectacle they heard (we couldn’t “witness” it because Republicans on the Supreme Court won’t allow their proceedings to be televised) yesterday as an attorney for Donald Trump, at least three different times in different ways, argued that Trump was above the law and should be treated as such.

Even more baffling was the apparent agreement with that position by at least four of the six Republicans on the Court.

Every time the government’s attorney or the Democratic appointees on the Court tried to bring the discussion back to “calling balls and strikes in the case before us” (as Roberts said is all he’d ever do) the Republican appointees changed the subject, claiming they’re more concerned about “future presidents” than Trump. Right…

Associate Justice Sam Alito — who famously loves 16th century witch-burning judges and “unborn children” — went so far as to create a hypothetical in defense of Trump that turned reality on its head. Keep in mind, it is Trump, not Biden, who’s spent nearly four years trying to destabilize both our political and judicial systems.

Nonetheless, Alito asked:

“If an incumbent who loses a very close, hotly contested election knows that a real possibility after leaving office is not that the president is going to be able to go off into a peaceful retirement, but that the president may be criminally prosecuted by a bitter political opponent, will that not lead us into a cycle that destabilizes the functioning of our country as a democracy?”

Say what? Jack Smith is a greater threat to democracy than Donald Trump?

Throughout the entire two-plus hours, Republican justices (with the possible exceptions of Amy Coney Barrett and John Roberts) implicitly supported Trump’s attempted coup (that Justice Thomas’ wife was in the middle of).

Trump’s attorney argued — with the apparent agreement of four of the six Republican appointees — that if Trump were reelected he could assassinate people, stage a military coup, and sell America’s military secrets to Putin with no consequences whatsoever.

Which raises the vital question: why would they be so cavalier about Trump’s threat to our democracy? Is it just that Thomas and Alito want to retire and want their replacements selected by Trump instead of Biden?

The simple reality is that conservatives throughout modern history have viewed democracy with a jaundiced eye, and the Supreme Court’s Republican appointees are no exception. To their minds democracy is fine when it puts them and their patrons in power, but when it fails at that it’s an impediment to wealth and power that must be circumnavigated.

As one of history’s most famous conservatives, England’s Edmund Burke, noted in the late 18th century, when people engaged in “servile” occupations like hairdresser or candle-maker are allowed to participate in democracy by voting, the state suffers “oppression” and is “at war with nature”:

“The occupation of a hairdresser or of a working tallow-chandler cannot be a matter of honour to any person — to say nothing of a number of other more servile employments. Such descriptions of men ought not to suffer oppression from the state; but the state suffers oppression if such as they, either individually or collectively, are permitted to rule. In this you think you are combating prejudice, but you are at war with nature.”

At the CPAC convention this past February, a well-known rightwing influencer, Jack Posobiec, went off on a rant about how important it is for conservatives to band together to end democracy in America and, presumably, replace it with Christofascism just like in Russia and Hungary.

“Welcome to the end of democracy!” he declared. “We’re here to overthrow it completely. We didn’t get all the way there on January 6th, but we will endeavor to get rid of it and replace it with this right here,” he added as he held up a cross.

This, frankly, should not be surprising. It was 1951 when Russell Kirk, the godfather of the modern conservative movement, published his book The Conservative Mind: From Burke to Eliot in which he laid out the importance of “classes and orders” in society. (I detailed Kirk extensively in The Hidden History of American Oligarchy.)

The middle class was growing like a weed back then — this was before Reagan kneecapped the labor movement — and Kirk warned that if too many people got into the middle class and were no longer “the fearful poor” that there would be chaos in America.

He warned that too much middle class wealth would mean that women would no longer fear and respect their husbands, racial minorities would forget their “rightful place” in the social order, young people would defy their parents, and society would generally go to hell.

Kirk’s solution, dictated back in the late 1700s by Burke himself, was to gut the middle class and return to the “normal” social form of a small number of really rich people at the top, a tiny middle class of doctors, lawyers, and professionals who served the rich, and a massive class of the working poor.

This was the Victorian world Charles Dickens wrote about in almost all of his novels, and, when the 1960s happened and women, students, and minorities rose up in protest, became the world that Reaganomics was established to return us to.

“‘My little child!’ cried Bob [Cratchit in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol]. ‘My little child.’ He broke down all at once. ‘He couldn’t help it.’” … “‘It’s only once a year, sir,’ pleaded Bob.”

Re-impoverishing America’s working class families to avoid the dire consequences Burke and Kirk identified, Reagan declared war on unions, gave the rich massive tax cuts, gutted federal support for education (creating today’s student debt crisis), and started the GATT/NAFTA negotiations that led to over 50,000 factories and over 15 million good union jobs being shipped overseas.

Every Republican president since has doubled down on Reagan’s campaign to devastate both the American middle class and the democracy that once supported them: Bush and Trump added tens of trillions to our debt with their tax breaks for billionaires, all three Republican presidents since Reagan packed the courts with democracy-skeptical ideologues, and each has worked to enrich the wealthy while cutting aid and support to working class and poor Americans.

Gutting the middle class, eliminating the social safety net, and “restoring order” to society is still the conservative mantra, now heavily overlaid with racist tropes and rightwing Christian ideology.

So Posobiec’s proclamation that it’s time to replace democracy with strongman authoritarianism, and the endorsement of that worldview by Republicans on the Court with yesterday’s dog-and-pony show, is just another variation on Kirk’s and Burke’s distrust of what John Adams famously and angrily called “the rabble.”

This is not a new debate. 

Thomas Hobbes’ 1651 book Leviathan, often seen as a seminal origin document for the Enlightenment, argued that people should ultimately be able to govern themselves (thus establishing what Americans today call the “liberal” school of political science).

Leviathan also, however, articulated the foundation of the modern-day “conservative” worldview when Hobbes wrote that, lacking the iron fist of church and state, human societies and nations would invariably revert to their “natural” state:

“In such condition, … the life of man [is], solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

One-hundred-three years after Hobbes published those words, Jean Jacques Rousseau rebutted him and established the intellectual basis used by the Founders of our American republic, arguing that the “natural state” of humankind is not violent and hierarchical but, rather, compassionate, egalitarian, and democratic.

The Founders and Framers of the Constitution agreed with Rousseau, and explicitly wanted to limit potentially monarchical powers of the presidency. At the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention in September of 1787, James Madison, noting that the Virginia constitution gave “some executive immunities related to the criminal process” to that state’s governor, asked the assembled delegates to “consider what privileges ought to be allowed to the Executive.”

Not a single delegate rose to defend the position; instead, Charles Pinckney called for an adjournment for the day. During an 1800 debate in the US Senate, Pinckney explained to his colleagues that “it was the design of the Constitution, and . . . not only its spirit, but letter . . . that it never was intended to give Congress, or either branch, any but specified, and those very limited, privileges indeed.”

As Jack Smith noted in his written pleadings before the Supreme Court, “James Wilson told the Pennsylvania ratifying convention, the president was ‘far from being above the laws,’ and ‘not a single privilege [wa]s annexed to his character.’”

Tench Coxe, who I quoted extensively in The Hidden History of American Democracy, noted in a 1787 essay that it was the intention of the Founders that a president could be “proceeded against like any other man in the ordinary course of law.” And, indeed, when Vice President Aaron Burr fatally shot Alexander Hamilton in a duel, two different states brought murder indictments against him and not a single court objected or argued that the executive branch should have immunity from prosecution under criminal law.  

But don’t tell any of that to the Republicans on the Supreme Court.

From gutting both civil and voting rights, to kneecapping union rights, to helping George W. Bush steal the 2000 election that Al Gore won in Florida by more than 40,000 votes, the Court’s conservative majority has steadfastly held to the Burkean belief that too much democracy is a danger that can only be balanced by handing as much wealth and political power as possible to the morbidly rich.

Which is why expanding the Supreme Court and establishing a code of conduct for its members via a new Judiciary Act must become one of the first jobs of a second Biden administration.

The fear of that happening, in fact, may well be one of the reasons why Republicans on the Court went so far out of their way to help Trump return to the White House via the delays they’ve inflicted on Jack Smith’s efforts to hold him to justice.

Trump’s attempted coup is nowhere near done: both the Republican Party and the Republicans on the Supreme Court are working as hard as they can to complete it and replace American democracy with naked oligarchy.

To paraphrase Burke, when men and women who don’t trust democracy are given the power to regulate it to the benefit of themselves and their billionaire patrons, the nation itself suffers oppression and is at war with nature.

Pass it along.

I’m being FORCED to use a word I refused to allow in my sixth grade classroom but there’s an area in the state of Georgia where the people keep electing a representative who seems intent on passing Louie Gohmert as the STUPIDEST member of Congress. I’m writing, of course, about Marjorie Taylor Greene. OK, I got that off my chest – but, the problem is Ms. Greene seems capable of causing serious DAMAGE to America as state run TV in Russia is talking almost as if she’s a knowing “useful idiot” while they basically cheer her anti Ukraine BS.

I’ve been writing that if these republicans allow Ukraine to fall to the Russians because of blocking the desperately needed assistance which has been sitting at the foot of the Speaker’s desk for several months now they will have made Benedict Arnold look like a patriot. This is a bill which would get, likely, well north of 300 bipartisan votes in the House if Speaker Johnson would just bring it up for a vote. Of course, with all things GOP in the House, if the Speaker pisses anyone off they can call for a “motion to vacate.” And, without democratic support, Mr. Johnson would just be going the way of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. As everyone knows the GOP majority has the slimmest margin for error EVER. They’ve got ONE vote to spare. (Chuck Schumer has been dealing with the same margin in the Senate for the past four years.

If Ms. Greene calls for the removal of Johnson it will just be MORE chaos and, hopefully, the Ukraine aid will be passed before then. Of course, instead of simply allowing the House to vote on the bill the Senate sent over which would allow this aid to be on its way very quickly Speaker Johnson has proposed splitting up the aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, plus aid for the Palestinians in GAZA. Whatever they produce would then be subject to getting 60 votes in the Senate and, likely, then a conference to work out the differences. Meanwhile, Ukrainians are DYING unnecessarily and Russia is managing to make gains they couldn’t make if Ukraine has the U.S. aid.

I keep writing about how History is repeating itself with this version of the republican party and those republicans keep making me look as if I’m – well – smart. I mean when you consider what Hitler was doing to keep the U.S. from entering WW II, supporting American Nazi’s who were hell bent on overthrowing our democratic republic, and, in order to pull this off, spending HUGE sums of money to spread Nazi propaganda in all parts of America it mirrors Putin’s Russia (The Russians seem to be copycats). Hitler also had appeasers (up to actual supporters) in Congress and, you guessed it, these were all republicans. Some of them actually taking BRIBES from people with direct connections to the Nazi’s.

Trump’s tendencies which seem to clearly be fundamentally fascist are well documented. He’s even using Nazi “talking points” in some of his rallies and, sure enough, his crowds seem to cheer this. I recently pointed out how those who were pro-Nazi back in the years leading up to WW II had children in indoctrination camps and those children very likely are the grandparents of many of these right wing Americans who are pushing this “road to fascism” today on what could be (although I certainly hope it isn’t) the rest of us.

And, make no mistake, if Trump somehow manages to CHEAT his way back into the “White House” once again, it will be with the help of Vladimir Putin (just like in 2016) and he WON’T have a majority of Americans voting for him. One of the ways republicans CHEAT to “win” is to secretly support third party candidates in order to siphon votes from, in this case, Biden. There are some disturbing polls showing, for example, what RFK Jr.’s candidacy COULD do to the election.

I’ve been pointing out RFK Jr.’s main donor is also one of Trump’s main donor’s (Timothy Mellon) and one of RFK Jr.’s spokespersons, the other day, said their objective was to make sure Joe Biden doesn’t win the election in November. It grieves me to say that may be true. It bothers me mainly because my most enthusiastic support of a candidate was back in my first year of voting (you had to be 21 back then to vote – you only had to be 17 or 18 to go die in Vietnam) in 1968 when I was a supporter of RFK as he was running for president (as a democrat). I’m struggling to imagine why RFK’s son wants to topple our republic while his father gave his life trying to defend it.

Today, the ENTIRE Kennedy clan came out publicly in support of President Biden. However, the use of third party candidates to allow republicans to “win” election is nothing knew. I even remember John Anderson running as a “liberal republican” back in 1980 to pull votes from Jimmy Carter because, mainly, Americans were upset Iran was holding a bunch of Americans hostages. What the voters didn’t know was Ronald Reagan had made a secret deal with the Iranians so they would not release the hostages until he was sworn in as president. And, the Iranians agreed by actually releasing the hostages on that very day. Another republican president who CHEATED.

Of course, Reagan also was eye deep in the Iran/Contra “affair” along with his VP – the future president George HW Bush – who had been a part of the CIA off and on over the course of his career leading up to Reagan’s candidacy. However, “today’s” republican party is hardly noticeable compared to “back in the day.” Someone like, for example, Ms. Greene would NEVER have been put in front of a microphone at any point in time until Trump unleashed the energy of the pent up white nationalists in America in 2015. (You can check out the “strategy” of people like Don Black and David Duke of the KKK regarding their fealty toward Trump – who they believed would bring the white nationalist movement “into the mainstream.” (They weren’t all that wrong)

While I’m personally convinced the Russians have something on Trump – the “pee tape??” – it’s hard to figure out how all these other republicans have matriculated to Putin’s “position” on America’s foreign policy. Apparently Tucker Carlson is simply just a believer in fascism, but all these republicans who’ve been attempting to block the desperately needed assistance for Ukraine? They apparently are just fine with Putin marching right through Ukraine into Eastern Europe. Their understanding of history seems a bit lacking, from my perspective.

News Flash! : Last Friday Speaker Johnson FINALLY put the aid for Ukraine (and Israel, Taiwan, GAZA and more) up for a vote and, just as I had projected, it passed overwhelmingly with a bipartisan majority with MORE than 300 “yeahs.” Fortunately, it supposedly will only take the Senate one day to pass all of this and as soon as President Biden signs the bill the aide to Ukraine will be on its way. As the saying goes, “better late than never,” but the reality is there are MANY Ukrainians who have been KILLED because the House republicans were dithering on this vote.

I’m happy Speaker Johnson came to his senses and it will be interesting to see if Ms. Greene follows through on her threats to move to “vacate the chair.” It will be just as interesting to see if the democrats will swoop in and save Johnson from the same fate that befell Kevin McCarthy. I’m not even sure if Mr. Johnson wants democrats to save him because that will further drive him away the MAGAt’s in his party. Maybe what these republicans deserve is the spectacle of attempting to find another speaker with a one vote margin for error.

Final Thought: I don’t know if it’s simply ironic or if it’s funny, that the man who could end up being the “star witness” in Trump’s Manhattan election interference case (ie “hush money case”) has the last name of PECKER! (No pun necessary) From my observation of the first couple days of Trump’s first trial is that our TWICE IMPEACHED so-called two time popular vote LOSING four times indicted (ex) president’s infidelity goes well beyond his “dalliance” with Stephanie Clifford (ie “Stormy Daniels”). Apparently the Trump Tower doorman was paid $30,000 for his “story” that Trump produced an “illegitimate” child with a former maid. Mr. PECKER said that he didn’t believe the “story” but the co-conspirators – Trump, Michael Cohen, and Mr. PECKER wanted to prevent it from becoming public right before the end of the 2016 campaign.

So, there were THREE different “stories” which were part of the “catch and Kill” scheme of Trump, Cohen, and PECKER. And, they all had to do with Trump being unfaithful to his wife – take note of that all you evangelical Christians who have decided to put your faith in Donald Trump – and, that would include Franklin Graham. Just sayin……. It’s that Trump’s base is largely made up of people who profess to be “believers” which really has motivated most of my rants on this site. Sadly, this right wing bent toward fascism is nothing new for a large section of the “Christian community” in America. I’ll be 77 this fall and the results of the upcoming elections – for the next 20 years (if we’re still having them) – won’t affect me like it will to those who comprise our younger generations.

America, in my view, needs to embrace the progressive movement in this nation sooner rather than later. America is the land of HUGE wealth, but, sadly, that wealth is becoming more and more concentrated at the top. America has become the land of “oligarchs” and President Biden wants to cause them to pay more in taxes so that investments can be made in our people, our infrastructure, and our future. The list of “needs” is too long for me to list here, but if somehow you’ve ended up on this site and you agree with what I’m saying make sure you VOTE – not only in November, but in every election going forward.

Keep in mind, there is presently a ROGUE SCOTUS and it will take YEARS to remedy that issue. ANY time a republican president gets into the “Oval Office” the threat to make matters worse will be there for at least the next four presidential elections. It has become apparent that if Trump somehow CHEATS his way back into the “White House” both Clarence Thomas and Sam Alito will step down so a couple more YOUNG right wing justices can be placed on the court – making EVERYTHING more difficult going forward. To me, just that issue alone is worth young people voting for President Biden, full stop. The reality is it will be either Biden of Trump winning the election. So, a “protest vote” for any third party candidate by a young progressive person will be like a vote for Trump! Yikes!!! Stay tuned……

What we’re all witnessing is a former president being tried in a setting which resembles the trial of a MOB boss. My instincts want me to write “Only in America” – but, I know that’s not true. There have been many CORRUPT “leaders” from other countries who have been prosecuted for their CORRUPTION. My first thought, in this regard, is Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. He’s prosecuting a “war” which, to me, appears to be full of “war crimes” in order to put off himself being forced to face up to his own CORRUPTION. So, it’s not “only in America” – but, it’s still the FIRST time in our nearly 250 year history when a president or former president has been held accountable for pure CORRUPTION. Yikes!!! Stay tuned……

I’m no fan of “Sleepy” Donald Trump as anyone who’s been on this site would be well aware. I’ve been pointing out about the DANGER he poses to this nation since the day he took office back in 2017. My biggest mistake was thinking republicans would tire of his schtick and root him out of office – as a means of self survival. Boy was I wrong. One by one they FLIP 180 degrees from their more sane moments and do whatever they can to kiss Trump’s Butt so he won’t fire off an unflattering “tweet/untruth” their way. (I have to say, I’ve always hoped to receive one of those, but I fully understand a peon like myself spends a lot of time writing with only a few members of the cyberworld [somehow] landing on these pages.)

Trump, as anyone without their heads in the sand knows, is spending his time these days in the first of the FOUR trials he may or may not have to face – depending on factors like “we the people” and our vote, the SCOTUS who seems to be doing whatever they can to help him stall off the inevitable, and the judges in the “Espionage case” and the Georgia RICO case. I do have to say, if these judges prove to be his path to avoiding accountability this nation will be brought to her knees. (For anyone objecting to referring to America in the “feminine” I refer you to “God Bless America” – “stand beside her and guide her”) Trump is busy proving to his followers that if you have MILLIONS you can buy yourself out of being held to account. Yes, we do have a “two tier” justice system – the “foot soldiers” of the INSURRECTION are in jail, the “architect” of the INSURRECTION is still free and possibly will totally avoid accountability.

That all being said, I found it interesting Trump, according to numerous witnesses who were in the courtroom, seemed to “nod off” on several occasions during today’s proceeding. Yes, he who refers to “Sleepy” Joe Biden had his head droop to his chest in court today as he seems to slobber all over himself – something I’m good at during my 76th year on this planet – and “jerk his head up” after a bit of prodding from his attorneys. So, is Trump going to continue referring to President Biden as “sleepy?” What’s the old saying? “Don’t throw rocks out of a glass house.” And calling him “Crooked Joe” is even more of a projection!

As always, there’s more. Trump, the expert at projection is constantly suggesting President Biden “can’t put a complete sentence together” when, in reality, it’s Trump who has difficulty putting anything resembling a sentence together on the frequent occasions where he strays from the teleprompter. From whales being killed by windmills, to mistaking Biden by referring to former president Obama, to mistakenly referring to Nikki Haley as Nancy Pelosi (regarding January 6th, 2021), to suggesting President Obama was going to cause the beginning of WW II. Yes, Joe Biden has been a “stutterer” since he was a child and it creates “gaffes” when he’s speaking, but, compared to Trump, well, Biden is like a skilled linguist.

These realities, to me, highlight why our “liberal media” is so inept – or, in many cases, committed to helping Trump regain the “White House” – the level of his CORRUPT conduct be damned. I recognize I’m part of the problem. I watch MSNBC (when I watch anything) and I seem to respond with more attention when the topic, these days, is Trump in the courthouse. I would like them to spend more time on “Biden on the campaign trail” as one person I know has said, but I always end up wanting to know if today’s the day my number one issue on my bucket list – seeing Trump in jail – might be able to be checked off.

For example, today Trump – once again – appears to have violated Judge Merchan’s gag order when he posted a “conspiracy theory” which was born on – surprise, surprise – Fox “news” about the jurors. He was STRICTLY forbidden from making any public comments, in any form, regarding jurors. He has been alleged to have violated the gag order four times now, including today’s post on his social platform. My understanding is any fines the judge imposes for “contempt” of the court are limited to $1000 which Trump can pay by snatching just a few small donor donations out of his MAGA “piggy bank.” In other words, no biggee!

However, should the judge decide to set a real limit which would cause Trump to stop violating the order, like “next time you do this be prepared to be held in custody.” They wouldn’t have to put him in Rikers – I’m sure they have a cell with it’s own “commode” in the Manhattan County Jail where Trump could spend (at least) a couple weeks for stepping over the CLEAR boundary set by Judge Merchan. When I was teaching (6th graders) I discovered early on when you have a student challenge your authority you need to deal with it RIGHT NOW – or the conduct will spiral out of control.

To me, Trump is already at the point where he’s in that “spiraling out of control” phase that BULLIES go through. He’s gotten away with his reprehensible behavior since he was a child. It took a jury award of OVER $83 MILLION to get Trump to (with maybe one exception) stop defaming E Jean Carroll. Should he choose to continue, her lawyers will simply take him to court again. It appears the jury awarded enough to shut him up, however. What will it take for Judge Merchan to “shut him up?” Despite all the pundits who say you can’t put him in jail because of his Secret Service detail, to that I say “hogwash.”

I totally believe the solution to Trumps repeated challenges to these judges with his violations of the gag orders is for a judge to put him in jail. And, of course, the most important people to be protected from his wrath are the witnesses and the jury. Trump had already stepped “over the line” at least a couple times before he posted the nonsense about the selection of the jury. The judge SHOULD give him the (non consequential) fine for starters and the NEXT time he does it – and there WILL be a next time – give him a week or two in the “slammer” to think about whether or not he wants more time there – where he can nod off to sleep and it won’t be a headline.

The post in question originated from a Fox “news” host – you know, the cable network that specializes in LYING. They’ve already paid out close to 800 MILLION dollars for defaming the company which made SOME of the voting machines used in the 2020 election – claiming they were the result of – AND I’M NOT KIDDING – Hugo Chavez of Venezuela who’s been dead for years. They’re also facing a 2+ BILLION defamation lawsuit from the company which makes software for voting machines that I believe will be getting close to court time toward the end of this year. Apparently, Fox hasn’t gotten the message – but, I would recommend Trump not “repost” their conspiracy theories while he’s facing these trials.

The reason Fox (I believe it was Jesse Waters who made the original post – he’s the guy who took over for the shamed Tucker Carlson of “I love Russia” fame) is making up stuff about the jury selection is because they KNOW Trump is guilty of the charges against him. His only hope is to somehow get a MAGA faithful on the jury – with Trump’s defense counsel doing exactly what Mr. Waters was claiming the prosecution was doing (along with the judge) – pure projection which would bring a smile to Joseph Goebbels face – In an attempt to pull off what is referred to as “Jury Nullification.” It will only take one juror who refuses to consider the evidence to spoil the prosecution’s case.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Trump is “innocent until proven guilty.” Everyone deserves that “right” – even those in the MAGA world who are busy stripping as many “rights” from “we the people” as they can. Maybe the jury will listen to the evidence and conclude they don’t believe the TWO TIME impeached four time indicted so-called popular vote LOSING ex president is guilty. Who knows? But if Trump continues to violate the gag order – designed to protect the average citizens who will be on the jury from the “wrath of MAGA” (and, we all know what that means) – I believe he needs a “time out” in a jail cell. A couple weeks of using that stainless steel toilet in the corner of his cell might just get his attention. As with ALL bullies – you have to make them STOP or they will just get worse. That’s how you do it will sixth graders and apparently, Trump has never had anyone give him a firm NO in his life. That, to me, is what it will take to get him to “shut his mouth.” (And, leave his fingers off his phone)

Final Thought: I’ve pointed out here I’m almost finished reading “Prequel” by Rachel Maddow which, to me, is almost a must read. It SHOULD be part of the High School Curriculum for emerging adults – just so they know how precious our republic is and how vulnerable it is from bad actors within. The parallels between what is happening with the MAGA faithful and their relationship with Vladimir Putin and his desire for world domination to the Nazi’s of 1930’s Germany and the American Nazi’s who were appeasers (or supporters) of Hitler is sobering. As has happened many times over with world HISTORY we are seeing an example of the republican party attempting to make HISTORY repeat itself. Just stop and consider how almost unbelievable it is to have someone like Marjorie Taylor Greene being the major influencer in ANY American political party having a chance for electoral success in this nation! Yikes!!!

I kind of hope the MAGA car signs will read “Trump/Greene 2024.” Wouldn’t that explain America’s dilemma in a “nutshell?” (Pun intended!)

I haven’t been writing much lately, but I still spend much of each day thinking about the potential devastation facing America. And, as I study the “moves” of Vladimir Putin and I continue reading about American history I hold out hope “we the people” in sufficient numbers will BLOCK the so-called “MAGA” movement by an overwhelming vote this coming November. However, I don’t have a sense of certainty in something that SHOUD be “certain.” I’m seeing the moves of Putin to seem perilously similar to the rise of Adolf Hitler back in the 1930’s plus those in the “MAGA” movement, and, of course, in particular, Trump mirroring those in the “America First” movement (actual American Nazi’s) back in the lead up to WW II. It’s all actually SHOCKING!

I’m presently reading “Prequel” by Rachel Maddow which, to put it mildly, is an eye opening book. If you haven’t read it, I heartily recommend it. I’m about two thirds through the book (I just read a chapter or so at bed time) and the detail of the Nazi movement during the thirties in the United States is sobering, to say the least. Thousands of men, women, and children were radicalized into a pro-Hitler movement that pretty much spanned the nation in “cells” with an oversized element in New York. The goal of these American Nazi’s was to topple our democratic republic and turn America into a Nazi dictatorship. For those who, in today’s world, believe it “can’t happen here” I would recommend they would read this book.

In addition, as I was watching a YouTube video relating to the music I still continue to frustrate myself in learning I noticed a clip from PBS regarding “Nazi Town USA.” I clicked on the link (You can see it HERE) and, very similar to Ms.Maddow’s book this video was mind opening. I wrote a while back – after I had just started Maddow’s book -that I thought I had read a lot about American History at that time (1930’s) but, I was sorely mistaken. I knew Charles Lindbergh and Henry Ford were, in essence, Nazi traitors. But, the depth of the Nazi reach into America went so much further. In fact, the video of “Nazi Town USA” was mind boggling. This ALL should have been part of American history studies since the end of WW II.

Here’s one of the things I couldn’t help but “ponder” even though there’s nothing in Maddow’s book, at least to this point (or in the video) to confirm my suspicions, but I couldn’t help but think many who were being brainwashed into the Nazi movement were the children of the adults marching in lock step with swastika armbands, carrying Nazi flags, and saluting their leaders with the “heil” salute. This “infection” of America reached well into the halls of Congress and was virtually ignored by the FBI (under J Edgar Hoover) because Hoover was so “anti-communist.” I point this out because those children would be in their eighties today and THEIR children would be, potentially, many of the adults in America who make up Trump’s so-called “MAGA base.”

Keeping in mind, as MY mind can’t stop pondering the possibilities, that Trump is a second generation GERMAN immigrant to this nation. Their is documentation of Fred Trump, Donald’s father, participating in rallies of the KKK back in the 1920’s. The KKK and the American Nazi’s were, in essence, “cut from the same cloth.” I have a hard time believing back when ten’s of thousands of American Nazi’s filled Madison Square Garden for a Nazi rally that Fred Trump wasn’t there – either in person or in spirit. It was a rally populated by German immigrants who were simpathetic to Hitler. There were American flags and German flags bearing huge swastikas as a backdrop to the stage.

I point this out because when you consider what Vladimir Putin is doing in his attempt to create division in America and draw what amounts to, from my viewpoint, Nazi sympathizers into the “Russian fold.” As I read more about the time leading up to WW II I see “characters” on today’s American scene who remind me of the “appeasers” to Hitler back in “the day.” (And, of course, Putin seems to be following Hitler’s “playbook” almost to a “T”) Members of Congress like Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar of Arizona, Ted Cruz of Texas, Matt Gaetz of Florida, and on and on – members of Congress who some have termed as the “Russian Wing” of our national legislature seem willing to sacrifice Ukraine to Putin, as if that’s all he’s after.

For example, the new Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson has been refusing to bring a Senate passed bill which provides aid to Ukraine (along with aid to Israel, Taiwan, and the Palestinian people in GAZA) to the House floor for a vote. Ms. Greene has threatened to call her “motion to vacate” up for a vote if Mr. Johnson allows the House to pass the aid for Ukraine – which would pass with a HUGE bipartisan majority if only it would be brought to the “floor” for a vote. Instead, the House schedule calls for votes regarding, and I’m not kidding, various acts related to “we the people’s” appliances – like kitchen and laundry appliances. I kid you not! If Ukraine ultimately falls to Russia it will be largely the result of Speaker Johnson’s failure to act.

So far, since the beginning of this Congress the ONLY things passed have been bills to keep the government running – which required bipartisan majorities to pass each time a government shutdown was “looming.” Former speaker Kevin McCarthy was “axed” because of his willingness to work with democrats to avoid, in one case, a government default and in the other “kicking the can down the road” to prevent a “shutdown.” The right wing members of the House would gladly cause a government default on the national debt because, well, as I’m trying to point out they are not friendly to our form of government and they’re out to destroy it. Again, they remind me of the Nazi sympathizers infecting America leading up to WW II.

Putin, for example, is spreading right wing propaganda designed to undermine America’s “open society” – pitting Americans against each other with the one side thinking it would be OK to side with Russia in it’s attempted land grab in Ukraine. Our “liberal media” seems incapable of accurately reporting on what Putin is “up to” and thier focus on Trump’s legal issues, to me, is what is allowing this MAGA disaster to spread to the point where Trump actually has the possibility to “Make America like Russia.” This “Make (fill in the blank) Great Again) mantra is nothing new – in fact, Hitler’s Germany was saying “Make Germany Great Again.” (Nothing Trump does or says is “original”)

The most sobering part in all of this, as I spend a lot of time thinking about America’s present dilemma, is that Trump’s base will still be there, for example, if he’s convicted of a series of FELONIES causing enough republicans to refuse to vote for him allowing President Biden a second term. As I study the history of this nation the willingness of so many Americans to profess what amounts to right wing Nazi propaganda causes me to believe the “battle” for the soul of this nation, as President Biden puts it, will go on long after the results of the November 2024 election.

To me, the heart of the problem is that so many Americans have no idea what transpired in the country leading up to WW II and I have to believe they don’t even realize they’re potentially supporting a fascist movement in America simply by voting for Trump. I know some people vote that way (republican) because, well, their parents voted that way. But, there are others who SHOULD know better who have pledged to vote for Trump, regardless of whether or not he’s convicted of one of the 88 FELONIES he’s presently been charged with. The latest, and I have to say from my perspective one of the most disappointing example, is the governor of New Hampshire, Chris Sanunu. He said he will vote for Trump whether or not he’s convicted of a CRIME. Yikes!!! Another republican 180 degree “flip flop.”

Sanunu was a strong supporter of Trump’s final opponent – who’s still getting close to 20% of the republican primary votes even though she’s dropped out of the “race,” former South Caroina governor Nikki Haley. How Sanunu could go from supporting the “long shot” candidate who remained in the “race” to fealty to Trump is hard for me to understand. But, keep in mind, the republican party is the home of ALL the names I mentioned above as the “Russia wing” of Congress, plus people like (Moscow) Mitch McConnell and (whimpy) Lindsay Graham who clearly KNOW how BAD Trump is and the threat he poses to our republic yet they continue to “kiss the ring.” Honestly, it’s as embarrassing as it is disturbing to watch/listen to people like this because I know people all around the globe are listening/watching as well.

To our alliances this all must be both shocking and terrifying. For example, what if the U.S. dumped it’s connection to NATO for an alliance with Russia. To me, this would mean that what my father fought against in WW II will become a lost cause. In other words, I believe Trump represents a more serious danger to the experiment of American self rule than Hitler ever did. I have long understood that the threat to America continuing to evolve toward the ideals of our “living” constitution is real. Putin and Trump are using our openness against us. Their surrogates were/are FLOODING “Social Media” with propaganda which would make Joseph Goebbels proud.

Final Thought: Since I first started putting my thoughts to writing on this “blog” (I think a more accurate description would be “diary in cyberspace”) I’ve been pointing out what seems too obvious to me – LOSING “rights” is much easier than getting them back. In our society with a Congress designed to move slowly and protect the “rights” of the minority we’re seeing this “up close and personal.” Take for example the issue of “women’s health” – referred to by republicans as the “pro-life movement.” Well, I’ve come to believe it’s anything but “pro-life” over the years.

I say that as someone who thought he’d NEVER pay for an abortion until it dawned on me that I actually did back in the early 1970’s. My wife (at the time) was pregnant with what we thought would be our first child. After about 15 – 20 weeks she had a miscarriage and I rushed her to the hospital and the doctors performed what was, in essence, an abortion (This may have been shortly after the passage of Roe v Wade but, at the time, it was never a thought). Fast forward to today’s world post “Dobbs” (where the SCOTUS overturned Roe v Wade) “we the people” are seeing one horror story after another of women in similar circumstances being denied similar HEALTH CARE until they’ve reached the point where their lives are in danger. This is happening in roughly half of American states.

I believe it will be years before the rights of women to “control their own bodies” is restored – as one example of how difficult it is to regain a lost “right.” Well, picture if Trump somehow manages to CHEAT his way back into the “White House” (And, trust me, the CHEATING is well under way as I’m writing this) and is successful at even some of the “retribution” he’s promising. He’s openly said he wants to do away with our constitution – which would be scary should he pull it off – but, even if he’s “only” successful in “knee capping” the federal agencies he dislikes the most (FBI, DOJ, Intelligence Community) turning them into personal assets – just try to picture the long, and possibly impossible, road back from that disastrous outcome.

Picture the U.S., Russia, and China in some kind of “accord” to “control the world” and you might see where this could go. (That “accord” very likely could include Iran, North Korea, Hungary, and Turkey – for starters) And, with a republican party which has openly (if not in secret) and COWARDLY joined forces with Trump and I hope you can see the IMMENSE possibilities. There will likely be more and more (disgusting) Americans doing what Chris Sanunu did this past weekend and that’s putting their self interest in front of our countries’ self interest.

As I said earlier, the CHEATING is well under way. I end this by giving one example. If, for some reason, you’re planning to vote for JFK Jr. as a protest vote because you don’t like that President Biden is 81 years old you are, in essence, voting for Trump. Remember, one of Trump’s major donors is the largest donor to JFK Jr.’s campaign and one of JFK Jr.’s spokespersons just recently said “the quiet part out loud.” Their (The JFK Jr.’s campaign) goal is to defeat President Biden. If you’re a young voter remember, it will be either President Biden or Trump who will win the next election and you have the MOST to lose if somehow Trump regains the “White House.” The solution to what threatens us is VOTING and if you value this republic that means voting for President Biden even if you don’t care for him simply because he’s so old. (And OBTW JFK Jr. is 70)

The other day I watched one of the lowest American politicians I can think of, John Bolton, being interviewed on MSNBC and he reminded me of why he so turns me off. After pointing out all the DANGERS Trump represents to America should he somehow CHEAT his way back into the “White House” he said he would vote for “neither Biden nor Trump.” That is what boggles my mind about some of these republicans who CLEARLY understand the threat Trump poses. I’m sure Bolton, like most republicans, disagrees with Biden’s “Build Back Better” philosophy – despite the resounding economic successes since Biden took office – but, as I just said – if you’re going to vote for a third party candidate in 2024 you’re falling into Trump’s trap. That’s how Trump “won” in 2016 (Jill Stein) and that’s how he’s planning to “win” in 2024 (RFK Jr.).

White Rural Rage: The Secret Political Force Shaping America’s Future

by thomhartmann

---

---

Rural white voters have, in many cases, far more political power than suburban or urban voters, and they’re using that outsized power to push our nation toward disaster. While they’re only 20 percent of the country, for example, because of gerrymandering they control fully 42 percent of seats in the House of Representatives.

The authors of new book, White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy point out that rural whites are measurably more bigoted and xenophobic than suburban or urban voters, 13 points more likely to hate on queer people, 15 points more likely to support Trump’s Muslim ban.

They’re also far more likely to agree that setting democracy aside for a strongman like Trump or another Putin wannabee will “fix the mess and drain the swamp.” And fully 74% of the members of Congress who voted to overturn the 2020 election represented rural districts.

The majority of rural white voters disagree with the statement (or have no opinion) that “diversity makes America stronger.” And while only 22 percent of city dwellers believe Trump won the 2020 election and Biden and Democrats “stole” it, a mind-boggling 47 percent of rural whites are certain Biden is illegitimately occupying the White House.

The astonishing paradox, though, is how Republican politicians regularly crap on their own voters in rural America. Instead of offering help or solutions to rural problems, the GOP and conservative media instead feed them a steady diet of xenophobic and racist fear and hate.

And they eat it up! The racist buffoons among them are one and a half times more likely to be QAnon followers than people who live in cities or suburbs.

Democrats created — and Republicans opposed — virtually all the programs that are keeping rural America from sinking even farther into poverty and despair. Social Security, unemployment insurance, SS Disability, Medicare, Medicaid, over 60 farm subsidy programs that funnel billions in taxpayer dollars into rural communities, food stamps, the Women and Infant Children (WIC) program, anti-addiction programs, etc.

The only real accomplishment of the Trump presidency was passing a massive $2 trillion dollar tax cut for the morbidly rich that had virtually no effect on rural voters. Nonetheless, 71 percent of rural voters cast a ballot for Trump in 2020.

There are still 11 mostly rural states where hospitals are closing and people are dying younger than necessary because Republicans in those states have refused to expand Medicaid.

Republicans in Congress fought against legislation to expand rural broadband access. They constantly try to cut or gut rural health and nutrition programs, and fought against expanding Obamacare in a way that would help rural people.

Most of the Red State Republican politicians in America know their seats will never be in danger, so they take millions from special interest groups to write loopholes into the tax code, vote for larger fossil fuel subsidies, and vote against efforts to lower prescription drug prices or do anything about global warming.

They get rich while the people who put them into office struggle to get by. Ted Cruz escapes to Cancun with the $600,000+ in cash he just got for his podcast, laughing at Texas voters all the way. JD Vance, a multimillionaire Wall Street guy, lives in an elite townhouse and travels by first class while people in Ohio watch Republican politicians gut their public schools and try to outlaw abortion and birth control.

Republican members of Congress representing rural states went all the way to the Supreme Court to successfully block President Biden’s first attempt at reducing student debt while rural students carry 60% more student debt than urban students by age 25.

One of the most chilling quotes from the book is about how rural voters are willing to both abandon democracy and embrace a violent rightwing coup:

“[R]ural Americans are more likely to believe that ‘it may be necessary at some point soon for citizens to take up arms against the government.’ Indeed, more than one out of four rural residents agree that Trump should be returned to office by force if necessary.”

White rural voters are more likely than any other demographic group — Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans — to be willing to overturn our democracy, and the people who represent them are in the majority of legislators who voted to overturn the 2020 election the day after the January 6th attack on our capitol.

If, say, Black people held that view, rightwing media would be trumpeting it every day from coast to coast. But because it’s rural white people, the so-called “heartland Americans,” it gets largely ignored by American media.

After all, most mainstream outlets treat rural people as if they’re an exotic species who must be listened to: going to rural diners to interview people is so common it’s become a cliché. In the past month I’ve seen dozens of such interviews played on MSNBC and CNN, but not once have I seen those same reporters go into a city and ask why people are voting for Biden.

The Biden administration has done more for rural America than any president since Lyndon Johnson rolled out Medicare, Medicaid, and food stamps. Biden’s American Rescue Plan provided specific tax breaks and credits targeted at rural poverty, subsidized mortgage payments, and provided rent assistance to tens of thousands of rural residents:

— Rural Americans are nine times more likely to lack access to affordable child care, so Biden’s program allocated $39 billion for subsidies for child care providers, with the money disproportionately going to rural communities. There was also $350 billion specifically allocated for small towns in rural areas to help them run basic government functions and upgrade their infrastructure. He even put up $198 million in funding for rural colleges and universities.

— Biden and Democrats delivered a 15% increase in SNAP (food stamp) benefits that have a huge impact in rural areas, reaching “2.9 million people in rural areas, including 800,000 children, reducing rural poverty by 11 percent and rural child poverty by 20 percent.” Biden’s USDA, over Republican objections, also put a billion dollars into rural food banks.

— Biden and Democrats “invested a historic $3 billion in the Department of Commerce’s (DOC) Economic Development Administration (EDA) to build local [rural] economies that are resilient to future economic shocks, including a $300 million Coal Communities Commitment.”

— Biden and Democrats — over GOP objections — expanded hunting and fishing opportunities on 2.1 million acres of public lands, the largest such expansion in U.S. history, and provided $1.5 billion in annual funding for wildlife and habitat conservation efforts. Another $2 billion went “for funding communities in the Rural Partners Network to spur job creation and build infrastructure.”

— They put $5 billion in “investments to help rural areas update infrastructure, boost high-speed internet access, and aid agricultural producers and small businesses in implementing climate-focused practices” and “$1.7 billion in funding to assist farmers, ranchers and foresters in adopting techniques to adapt to the changing climate, such as cover crops, nutrient management, and carbon storage.”

And that’s just the beginning: for a full list of the ways the Biden administration, over the objection of Republicans in Congress, has helped rural people click here.

Not one single Republican in either the House or the Senate voted for any of the things listed above: in fact, almost all voted against these helps to rural America.

Instead of concerning themselves with the well-being of rural people, they’re trying to block clean air standards that prevent rural communities from being poisoned, block clean water standards in rivers that supply water to rural communities, cut taxes on billionaires, and increase subsidies to the fossil fuel and banking industries.

All while taking huge campaign contributions, private jet rides, taxpayer funded junkets overseas, and the promise of million-dollar-a-year jobs when they leave Congress if only they vote the right way.

Because Republican politicians are more interested in feathering their own nests than helping out the people they were elected to represent, rural Red states are massively subsidized by urban Blue states just to keep their heads above water. As the Associated Press recently reported:

“Mississippi received $2.13 for every tax dollar the state sent to Washington in 2015, according to the Rockefeller study. West Virginia received $2.07, Kentucky got $1.90 and South Carolina got $1.71.

“Meanwhile, New Jersey received 74 cents in federal spending for every tax dollar the state sent to Washington. New York received 81 cents, Connecticut received 82 cents and Massachusetts received 83 cents.”

It’s undeniably true (and documented with each hotlink below) that Republican-controlled “Red” states, almost across the board, have higher rates of:

— Spousal abuse
— Obesity
— Smoking
— Teen pregnancy
— Sexually transmitted diseases
— Abortion (at least before Dobbs; now it would be “forced births”)
— Bankruptcies and poverty
— Homicide and suicide
— Infant mortality
— Maternal mortality
— Forcible rape
— Robbery and aggravated assault
— Dropouts from high school
— Divorce
— Contaminated air and water
— Opiate addiction and deaths
— Unskilled workers
— Parasitic infections
— Income and wealth inequality
— Covid deaths and unvaccinated people
— Federal subsidies to states (“Red State Welfare”)
— People on welfare
— Child poverty
— Homelessness
— Spousal murder
— Unemployment
— Deaths from auto accidents
— People living on disability
— Gun deaths

So, why do Red state voters tolerate being conned and ripped off by their own elected representatives? Are they just stupid?

One theory is that “they hate the same people we hate.” And, indeed, for a significant and measurable cohort of rural white voters, racial fear and hatred is a primary motivating factor in their embrace of the GOP, although that’s only, according to this new book, about 20% of rural people.

Others vote Republican because the party has been so effective at branding itself with county fairs, NASCAR, country music, and the overall rural lifestyle including a faux paean to rugged individuality and independence.

Having over 1500 radio stations daily broadcasting a rightwing Republican message to literally every nook and cranny of rural America is another large factor. As is the dominance of Australian billionaire Lachlan Murdoch’s Fox “News.”

Will rural voters ever wake up to how badly they’re being screwed now and have been screwed by Republicans ever since Reagan started the whole neoliberal austerity and free trade movement that shipped over 60,000 factories and 20 million jobs overseas?

Or is the GOP’s cynical manipulation of religion, gender, and race enough to keep them voting to hurt themselves and further enrich Republican fat-cats?

So far, all indications seem like that’s the case and will stay that way for at least the next election cycle.

While the media struggles with trying to “understand” the rural white voter every election cycle, instead they should be running stories on how the very real problems and crises of rural America are daily made worse by Republicans in Congress and at the helm of their Red States.

How to break through?

Democrats need to get smart and start using the “negative partisanship” strategies Rachel Bitecofer recommends in her new book Hit ‘Em Where It Hurts: How to Save Democracy by Beating Republicans at Their Own Game. They can do this by pointing out, with ad buys and media appearances, just how bad Red state Republicans politicians have been for rural people and their communities.

And they need to do it soon. As the authors of White Rural Rage point out:

“By 2040, 70% of Americans will reside in the 15 most populous states and choose 30 of the 100 US senators. Concentrated in smaller and more rural states, the remaining 30% of the population will elect 70 senators. No matter how distorted these population ratios become, each state is guaranteed its two senators — past, present, and forever.”

Our mainstream media have made it clear, for over 40 years, that they won’t expose the damage Republicans are doing to rural areas because their TV programs will fail if Republican politicians boycott them.

So, the job falls to us and the Democrats. Can we do it? I believe so; we just need to get started.

Pass it along…

Today, as I’m writing this is Good Friday, the day Christians commemorate as the day Jesus was hung from a cross. I, as usual, went to the Good Friday service at the church I attend on a regular basis. It was a powerful service and I spent a good amount of the time in deep thought regarding my history of attempting to point out what a disgusting person Donald Trump is and questioning why so many Christians make up his so-called base. I have to look inward at my own beliefs as I seem to be so obsessed with wanting to make sure Trump, in the words of Liz Cheney, never gets close to the “Oval Office” ever again.

My previous post was motivated by my disgust as I watched Trump being Trump – which is always dishonest, and this part of his schtick was him – on a (un)Truth Social video hawking bibles. It was the “God Bless The U.S.A.” Bible – “The only Bible recommended by Trump.” He said, “I have many Bibles in my home” – undoubtedly another in his LONG line of LIES he spews to his minions. I find myself unable to “love my neighbor” if that means it could be Trump. To me, based on my searches (which I gave some examples of in my previous post), Trump is no Christian. But, then I thought, what if?????

I mean, Trump, himself, has clearly said he NEVER admits to doing anything wrong. He calls EVERY phone call which has either got him IMPEACHED or INDICTED (Georgia) “a perfect phone call.” When he was asked if he felt any responsibility to all the people DYING from COVID 19 due to his ineptitude, he responded “no, I don’t.” He’s facing FOUR indictments with (now) 88 FELONY charges and, in each case – contrary to what is public evidence already – he says, “I did nothing wrong.” He’s denied he ever knew E. Jean Carroll, despite EVIDENCE to the contrary, and couldn’t stop DEFAMING her until a unanimous jury decided he owed Ms. Carroll OVER $83 MILLION in a judgement. He was found to have sexually assaulted her aside from the defamation. To me, not the actions of a Christian. But, what if????

As he was hawking the Bibles on his (un)Truth Social website he made all kinds of claims about his belief in “God.” Of course, the claims rang TOTALLY hollow to me – leading to my previous posts. But, let’s just, for example, take a look at the Ten Commandments to get a more complete picture of what I’m getting at in this posting. And, keep in mind, there’s no one who’s capable of living up to the “law” as it was written in the time of Moses. That’s exactly why Jesus appeared and ultimately was crucified on the cross for all of us SINNERS who just can’t manage to live perfect lives. But, there’s one thing those of us who are Christians have done which I’m confident is near impossible for Trump. However, what if?????

How about the first Commandment, “Thou shall have no other Gods before me.” I can’t help but think of that one when Trump suggests he’s the modern example of Jesus – because, in effect, he’s suggesting (apparently) due to ALL the CRIMINAL indictments that he’s being “crucified.” I always think he can’t make me more disgusted, and then, well, he does – every time. Violating that commandment would make it difficult for me to believe Trump is actually a “Christian” by itself. But, what if????

Remembering the Sabath day to keep it “holy” does not mean that’s the day for playing golf. (full disclosure – I’m not so good on this one myself, but I digress) As I pointed out in my previous post, when I did a bit of searching, I could find no example of Trump even getting near a “house of worship” on the Sabath. I know many Christians who don’t go to church, but they’ve all done one thing I can’t picture Trump doing. But, what if????

Thou shall NOT commit adultery. I’m listing the commandments I can easily remember here – and, this one is easy to point out Trump has a huge problem with. For heaven’ s sake (pun intended) the FIRST of Trump’s FOUR criminal trials has to do with at least TWO instances of Trump committing adultery – one with a Playboy model and the other with a “porn star.” These alleged adulterous affairs happened while his present wife was either pregnant with Trump’s final son or shortly after his birth. Plus, his failed marriages were the result of alduterous relationships – at least in part.

I’m not squeaky clean (based on my early years) in regard to my relationships with women but, there’s a huge difference between me and Trump. (And, I point out my own issues, which seem minute to me in comparison to Trump, but I believe God doesn’t differentiate) It says in the Bible “don’t look at the spec in the other person’s eye until you take care of the log in your own.” But, I just can’t help myself. Once again, I say, what if????

Along these lines Trump was caught on Tape BRAGGING about being a sexual predator and, his BRAGGING was followed by something like 25 women coming forward claiming Trump sexually abused them. Of course, Trump denied everything and accused every one of these women of LYING. This was during his first run for the “White House” and, in the one case where he was taken to court over his denials he was found by, as I said earlier, a unanimous jury to not only have defamed Ms. Carroll but to have, in the words of the judge, to have “raped her.” (What about all the others?) That makes it hard for me to believe Trump is a “Christian.” But, as I’ve been saying, what if????

How about this commandment: “Thou Shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” In every day language that means DON’T LIE. Well, during Trump’s four years as our TWICE IMPEACHED so-called two time popular vote LOSING four times indicted (ex) president he was credibly found to have committed over 30,000 LIES! Whenever I can stomach listening to him in a public venue it doesn’t take long before his constant LYING makes me a bit sick to my stomach as I have to wonder why Christians would allow someone to LIE to their faces and still support him. Obviously, the pathological LYING makes it difficult for me to consider him a “Christian.” But, what if????

There’s another commandment which states “Thou shall not covet…..” (actually, there’s – I believe – maybe three commandments regarding “don’t be covetous.” (Don’t covet you “neighbor’s” wife, his house, or – in essence – your neighbor’s “stuff.”) As I watch/listen to Trump basically idolizing, for example, Vladimir Putin as he commit’s murder and war crimes I have a hard time bringing myself to believe Trump to be a Christian. (Actually, well before his “White House” years I heard him on the radio being covetous about his own daughter! Eewwwe! But, you’re correct, what if????

The final commandment I’ll include in this rant says, “Don’t steal.” Of course, one of Trump’s CRIMINAL trials (well, now that I think of it, you could say two of them) is the result of him STEALING sensitive government documents, then LYING about it to federal authorities, and even LYING to his own attorneys in an attempt to hide some of the documents from the FBI. (And, I actually believe he succeeded in that with documents we may never know where they ended up) The other thing I thought of was his impending trial regarding January 6th, 2021 is due to him attempting to STEAL the 2020 election. Neither of these examples would be the work of someone considering themselves a “Christian.” But, what if???

People who do “stuff” like Trump, or support people who do “stuff” like Trump, meaning MAGA minions, don’t seem to me to be actual “Christians.” It is, based on my small amount of research, a really bad “witness” in regard to how others view “Christians.” (This reminds me of a story I heard about Nick Saban, the longtime football coach at the University of Alabama when he chided some of his players for actively “taking a knee for God” during their games’ warmups during the day and then, that night, going out drinking and chasing women)

In fact, my own mother was unable to consider Christianity because she was convinced she would have to become a republican. She passed away long before Trump was on the political scene, but I know many other people who are turned off to Christianity based on their viewing the actions of those of us who proclaim to be Christians. I can’t tell you how many people I know from my own church (I’m in the old person category) who say “my son/daughter/children is/are not “walking with the Lord.”

I try to tell them there’s a good reason why – but, the conversation never goes much further because they don’t want to hear what they know I’m going to say. But, the fact I consider Trump the epitome of a pagan (and many of these church members are part of his cult), there is one aspect of Christianity that I’ve learned from speakers who are devout Christians which they express frustrations with. It’s as if they don’t want to believe some of the realities of the “Teachings of Jesus.”

I’ll give a quick example: I once listened to a speaker who was the head of a large Christian organization who’s father-in-law was constantly criticizing both him and his wife – this person’s daughter – for their devout Christian beliefs. This went on for years. Then, about three days before this man died he changed his tune, asked for forgiveness, and expressed repentance for his life of sin. In the eyes of Jesus, just like the criminal on the cross next to him who did the same, AND the eyes of Christians, this man was “saved” – a couple days prior to his death. According to his son-in-law, at the time, it didn’t seem “fair.” It seemed as if he got away with creating a lot of grief for the family of the speaker while ultimately “going to heaven.” Well, what if????

Of course, I’m referencing Trump here, every time I say “what if????” While I don’t believe it’s happened and I don’t believe it’s going to happen – and, I SHOULD be praying for it to happen – I can’t bring myself to believe Trump has repented nor will he. But, based on my reading of the Bible – I’ve read it through twice along with parts of it many times (my wife says I SHOULD read it more regularly) if Trump were to somehow bring himself to repent, ask for forgiveness, and commit to living according to the teachings of Jesus, he WOULD be forgiven and destined for heaven. Instead of hawking Bibles, he would need to be reading one. I don’t see that happening and I’m not sure how I’d react if it did. (I would have to see the change in conduct before I could believe it had happened – and, sadly, I don’t think I would be able to forgive him)

If Trump actually committed his life to Jesus would I consider that a cause for celebration? I honestly can’t say I would be able to respond that way, but it actually would be a cause for celebration. We would see it in his behavior. However, I wouldn’t be one to excuse his previous behavior, should he actually become a “believer” but, if his future behavior indicated he had actually admitted to his life of SIN and started living a life progressively getting closer to Jesus’ teachings that would be, in my view, an actual MIRACLE we could all see. But, I have to say once more, I don’t believe that will happen. In my view, Trump is incapable of publicly admitting he’s ever done ANYTHING wrong.

I say, regarding his present campaign to get back behind the resolute desk in the “Oval Office,” God help us. And, this Easter weekend my prayer is that those sucked into Trump’s CULT would come to their senses and realize they’re following what amounts to – in Ten Commandments “lingo” – a “graven image.” The dichotomy for me is, I know I’m not supposed to “judge” but, when it comes to Trump I can’t seem to help myself. And, it seems almost impossible for me to stop wishing to see him behind bars. The reality, for me – as it says in the Bible and I said earlier – “stop worrying about the spec in the other person’s eye until you take care of the log in your own.” I’m going to work on my own conduct, but, I thought it would be worthwhile to think about “what if” Trump actually fully accepted Christ? Stay tuned………..

I have to add: Trump’s followers who claim to be all about Christ while they’re packing an AR-15 and making threats to FBI officials, Judges, and members of Congress with whom they disagree come across as totally disingenuous tp me. “Chrsitians” ???

Final Thought: What motivated this post and MY previous one (I put one of Thom Hartman’s in between the two) was watching Trump hawking a Bible on his Social Media platform – during “Holy week.” So, it has taken me a few days to post this (Easter was last Sunday) and, as always seems to be the case, the “stuff” just keeps happening. And, this time, the news today regards the Israeli’s using “precision munitions” to take out three vehicles of aid workers in GAZA from “World Central Kitchen” (I just sent money to them last week) killing SEVEN aid workers. This debacle just keeps getting worse and worse and it’s high tide President Biden make a public stand against Bibi Netanyahu – a WAR CRIMINAL similar to Vladimir Putin.

As I was taking in the info regarding this attack on these aid workers I saw the statistics where the number of AID workers killed in GAZA is nearing 200 with something like 175 coming from the United Nations. I started writing before Israel had actually physically entered GAZA that Netanyahu would keep this “war” going indefinitely because he knows the day after it ends he will be out of office and forced to face his OWN corruption charges. Netanyahu will NEVER be a supporter of President Biden and Biden seems to be a bit slow to figure this out. (And, I’m a strong Biden supporter) Well, he’d BETTER figure it out and act decisively sooner rather than later as the slaughter of Palestinians MUST stop.

Not only do “we the people” have a responsibility to help make the slaughter STOP, but we will then be required to help rebuild GAZA which the Israeli’s have turned into a pile of shattered concrete. To me, this is a moral IMPERATIVE and Biden is helping to re-elect Trump by giving a policy of mixed messages while civilians are DYING by the THOUSANDS – mostly women and children. And, here’s something I believe with all my heart. Israel will NOT “extinguish” HAMAS – there are likely to be MORE members of HAMAS when the “smoke clears” than when this all started.

One more Thing: Now, Israel has attacked the Iranian Embassy in Syria – killing a few Iranian leaders – with more precision weapons coming from the U.S. Here’s the thing, while I “get” why the Israeli’s want to go after Iran, Embassies are universally considered “off limits.” It will be interesting to see if the only support Israel gets from this action continues to be from the U.S. Here we go! Stay tuned………..

How Franklin D. Roosevelt Called Out the Big Lie

Here the fascists are again, this time calling themselves MAGA. And they’re using the classic fascist tactic of the Big Lie, just like Hitler and Mussolini did…

THOM HARTMANN

APR 01, 2024

Share

Share

Donald Trump has made good use of the propaganda technique known as the Big Lie, but he didn’t invent or popularize it. While the strategy has been around as long as humanity’s had psychopaths trying to seize power over others, the Big Lie was really brought into pop consciousness in the 1930s.

I was going through my old audio library yesterday afternoon and found this short clip from President Franklin D. Roosevelt talking specifically about the Big Lie.

FDR, of course, was the man who saved America from the Republican Great Depression (what they used to call it), created Social Security, the right to unionize, the minimum wage, unemployment insurance, and fought and won against the Nazis in World War II even as he was so disabled by polio that he hadn’t walked in decades.

As you’ll hear, it was as if FDR could see Trump using the Big Lie today. Which makes perfect sense, because FDR fought with his own Nazis and fascists in America in the 1930s and 1940s. They even tried to assassinate or kidnap him, but were stopped by a brave Marine general, Smedley Butler.

Roosevelt knew them, knew who and what they were, and in this clip is also warning us — knowing his words would be recorded for posterity (as every president knows and keeps in mind at most times) — that they would never go away. That America would always face corruption by the morbidly rich and their factotums, embracing fascist rhetoric, the Big Lie, and even the destruction of the American government to keep their taxes low and their political power and profits high.

In fact, America has almost always been under attack by fascists; the Confederacy became, in 1859, a full-blown fascist state with meaningless “elections” and a handful of super-rich families controlling virtually every aspect of life. It was a police state that wanted to end democracy in the North, and it took the death of over 600,000 Americans in a vicious Civil War to finally stop them.

After that, the failure of Reconstruction in the 1870s, and the 20th century’s renewed rise of the Klan when President Wilson invited them into the White House and screened Birth of a Nation (the Klan recruiting film), there were other, more recent eruptions of fascism in this country. In the 1950s, Joe McCarthy and Roy Cohn took their shot at creating a fascist America, but the real and most dangerous fascist movement didn’t emerge until Donald Trump took over the GOP in 2015.

Much as Hitler, Mussolini, Putin, Pinochet, etc. did, Trump has mobilized a violent and well-armed grassroots movement, cowed mainstream politicians and the media, and is working to impose minority rule on the majority of Americans.

He’s even running a campaign now that’s supposedly all about attacking the judge in his criminal election interference (porn star payoff) case, but is really designed to deliver a vivid and unmistakable message to potential witnesses and jurors:

“See what I can do? I can even send my Brownshirts against a federal judge and his daughter with complete impunity. Imagine the kind of damage I can do to you and members of your family if you testify against me or, as a juror, hold me guilty for the crimes I’m accused of.”

To punctuate his threat, America is periodically reminded of Roy Den Hollander, the Trump follower who wrote to Trump complaining that, because of Democrats, he can’t “wear my red ‘Make America Great Again’ hat in the streets of NYC.” Hollander volunteered to help out with Trump’s 2016 campaign, writing that he’d been doing phone banking from Trump Tower.

Four years later, in the summer of 2020, federal Judge Esther Salas was assigned the trial of Jeffrey Epstein and Deutsche Bank, a case that could have turned up dirt on Trump, who had extensive connections to both. A few days after Judge Salas accepted the case, Hollander wrote that she was a “lazy and incompetent Latina judge appointed by Obama.”

A day later, Hollander went to the front door of the home of Judge Salas. When her son, 20-year-old Daniel Anderl, answered the door, the Trump devotee shot Anderl in the chest, killing him.

As Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg wrote in his request to the court to clarify the gag order against Trump:

“[P]otential trial witnesses and prospective jurors who are not currently the subject of defendant’s invective will likely fear having themselves and their family members be subject to similar attacks. This fear is not hypothetical: in the course of preparing for trial, multiple potential witnesses have already expressed grave concerns to the People about their own safety and that of their family members should they appear as witnesses against defendant.”

Every judge sitting on a Trump case knows all about Salas and Hollander. Trump wants to make sure they do, and repeats his threats as often as he can. It’s a warning to anybody who may think of holding Trump or his friends to account, one that gets far too little press coverage.

The success of the Big Lie about the stolen election has been so substantial for Republicans that, like Trump, they are now falling into the routine of telling other, smaller lies. The most recent was the lie that Joe Biden chose Easter to be the day to honor trans people when, in fact, March 31 has been the date for that for years.

Thus, here the fascists are again, still relying on monstrous lies, this time calling themselves MAGA instead of the Confederacy, Klan, or the America First Committee. And they’re using the classic fascist tactic of the Big Lie, just like Hitler and Mussolini did. Trump’s even succeeded in getting most elected Republicans to repeat his Big Lie on demand, an amazing accomplishment since they all know it’s just a lie.

Here’s FDR’s take on it all, as he shared in 1944 with a group of UAW auto workers, complete with his suggestion about how to confront Big Lies:

Unfortunately, Mr. Hartman’s recording of FDR did not copy. Please go here if you want to listen to it.

Hopefully, President Biden will begin talking like this soon…

Thank you for reading The Hartmann Report. This post is public so feel free to share it.

I’ve pointed out here MANY times I’m a Christian (a believer in Jesus Christ) and many times I’ve pointed out how it’s been difficult for me to watch the so-called “evangelical Christian” community as the base for the most disgusting “politician” I’ve witnessed in the MANY years I’ve been following politics – and, of course, I’m talking about Donald Trump. (I’ve been following politics since the days of Dwight Eisenhower v Adlai Stevenson back in the 1950’s – listening to my Mom and Dad arguing over the two people nominated to the presidency TWICE in those days) Well, today, Trump took his pathological LYING to a place I didn’t even expect from him.

I turned on the TV this morning as I was planning to check Yahoo Finance, the page I’ve been frequenting since the 1990’s – despite the fact I’m not much of a stock investor. There was Trump hawking the “God Bless America Bible.” I’m not kidding. And, I actually forced myself to listen to his pitch. It was beyond disgusting. First of all, he’s holding a bible in his hands as he continues his PATHOLOGICAL lying to – apparently- those he’s bee grifting for money over the past 8 years. But, that’s not all.

It was the nature of the LYING which really got to me. Now, I’m going on my feeble memory – about the best I can do these days is “Person, man, woman, camera, TV” but I’ll do the best I can as I try to share the jaw dropping response I had to Trump LYING about God. And, keep in mind, I’ve done a bit of “Google” research in an attempt – over the past eight years – to find how often Trump goes to church. Well, the answer is almost NEVER. Plus, there are reports he belittles the “Christians” who have ventured into the “White House” (while his reign continued) or Mar-a-Lago to place hands on him and pray – You can read about it HERE.

Today Trump actually said he has “many bibles” in his house – “It’s my favorite book.” Well, if you’ve been paying attention you know that Trump doesn’t read and, if there are “many bibles” at Mar-a-Lago (I seriously doubt this – unless he’s got copies of the one he’s hawking) it would be Gideion Bibles in the various rooms – because it’s kind of like a hotel. I can virtually guarantee you if there are ANY bibles in Trump’s actual residence it’s because Melania has decided to read one. Trump can’t name a “favorite verse” and the thinks 2nd Corinthians is “Two Corinthians.”

The second most DISGUSTING thing Trump has done with a bible in his hands was when he stood in front of the church across from the “White House” holding a bible upside down for a photo shoot. The man has NO shame when it comes to what he’ll do in order to “get what he wants.” If success requires LYING to a bunch of “Christians” then he’s willing to do it. And, sadly, the “Christians” are willfully STUPID (sorry – as I’ve said before, I can’t think of a better term) as they somehow “marry” their “Christian” beliefs with a man who comes across as an organized crime boss. To me, there’s no plausible excuse for this.

Trump has threatened the foundation of our government – via the coup d’etat attempt on January 6th, 2021 and the “slow moving coup” that has transpired over the following 3 plus years. It shouldn’t take someone “educated” to understand when a presidential candidate is threatening to end our constitution (the initial coup was live on TV) – which has governed this nation for nearly 250 years (granted it’s got it’s faults, but until we got Trump’s right wing Supreme Court, the document was clearly a “living document” which has evolved “forward” over time), he’s threatening to undermine one department of our government after another, he’s threatening to “defund our police” (IE, the FBI and Justice Department), he’s threatening (for about the fiftieth time) to throw out the Affordable Care Act, he’s threatening to pull the U.S. out of NATO and he’s been lobbying his “sheep” in the House to block additional aid to Ukraine. He idolizes Vladimir Putin – a murderous thug.

It is Trump who brags about being responsible for the overturning of Roe v Wade – although, now that he fully understands the backlash to that ruling he’s trying to figure a way to make “both sides” happy. I can guarantee you, he will be unable to make the women in America who believe they should have control over their own bodies happy. Does he really believe proposing a 15 week abortion ban will make women in America happy? They will continue to vote AGAINST him and the republicans who support him in record numbers. Does this mean he can’t possibly win? No, because, one thing we can be guaranteed is he will CHEAT. (And, his republican sycophants will cheat as well)

Another thing I’ve pointed out on this site many times is how republicans have ways of “winning” the “White House” despite LOSING the “popular vote” – meaning with MORE people voting for the democratic opponent than, well, voting for the “winner.” Our TWICE IMPEACHED two time popular vote LOSING four times indicted Civil Trial LOSING, alleged sexual abusing (ex) president is a prime example of that. He “lost” to Hillary Clinton by THREE MILLION votes and to Joe Biden by SEVEN MILLION votes. George W Bush lost to Al Gore by about 500 THOUSAND votes and needed the Supreme Court to install him and Dick Cheney into the “White House.”

The “trick” is always third party candidates. In 2000 Ralph Nader led to GW Bush, and, ultimately, the invasion of Iraq (possibly even 9/11 as Bush/Cheney IGNORED the warning signs). Jill Stein led to the first term of Trump (of course, along with the Russians, the Saudi’s, the Emerati’s, the Egyptions, and, of course, Bibi Netanyahu (via a couple Israeli intelligence operatives – working in concert with Cambridge Analytica). Now, we’ve got RFK Jr. bound and determined to help Trump gain a second term. And Trump’s major donors are also, get this, RFK’s major donors. Surprise, surprise. This really grieves me for sentimental reasons.

The first year I voted was in 1968 (you had to be 21 back then) and the candidate who got me really involved in the election was Robert F Kenedy – RFK’s father who very well may be “turning in his grave.” I was devastated when RFK Senior was murdered! His son has his sights set on the young Americans who Biden will be depending on if he is to win again this November. Talk about your “fool’s errand.” I hope America’s young voters have a clear enough view of recent American history to remember how we got to this place with the Supreme Court, the environment, the gun violence, the assault on health care, Climate denialism, attacks on voting rights, attacks on public education, and much more. Kennedy should be looked upon as the pariah he really has become.

As much as I was supporting his father back in 1968, you could say I’m much more focused in wanting RFK Jr.’s campaign to fizzle. Our republic may depend on it. There is NO chance for him to do anything but become the most egregious “spoiler” in this nation’s 250 year history. He has chosen a “former” democratic supporter from the Silicon Valley who was once married to one of the founders of Google (and has plenty of money to fund their campaign along with social media knowledge) as his “running mate” and, to me, they are the most significant “hurdle” which could “derail” Biden’s campaign. (She gave RFK Jr. $4 MILLION to help fund his Super Bowl ad – along with $7 MILLION from Timothy Mellon a prominent financial supporter of Trump)

I’ve been saying for a couple years now – since Biden convinced me he understands what legislation is required to move this nation “forward” – it’s America’s young people who SHOULD be supporting the OLDEST president in our history because he’s the one who – despite a Congress which has been virtually 50/50 – has managed to get historic legislation passed over his first few years in office – legislation no other president in recent American history has managed to get passed. The list of reasons young Americans SHOULD be supporting Biden is a long one. I’m just not convinced they fully understand what he’s accomplished. (Apparently they get their “news” on Tiktok)

I’ve become convinced there’s not much room to “convince” the MAGA faithful they’re being LIED to (today, another example of Trump with a bible in his hand – more on that later) over and over again – classic Nazi propaganda strategy and they willingly go along with it. I know people (I go to church almost every weekend and, when I don’t, I watch it on the computer) who actually refer to Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson as “Sean” and “Tucker” as if they are their long lost buddies. These are people who actually DO read the bible. You can’t talk to them about politics – I’ve tried. (Not even trying to convince them of my beliefs just wanting to understand theirs) They get angry and defensive – at least the ones I’ve tried to talk to. Stuff they say to me I’ve been unable to find in the bible.

That said, I believe young Americans can be reached – at least I hope they can. I’m also, as are they, upset about the “war” on GAZA and the suffering of the Palestinians. I wish President Biden could simply tell Bibi Netanyahu to stop and he would listen. But, that’s totally naive. Netanyahu and Trump are like a couple bullies at school who align with each other for “strategic” reasons. They’re BOTH under indictment and BOTH attempting to solve their legal issues via political power. I’ve been saying this since before Israel entered GAZA – “Netanyahu will keep this war going indefinitely because his survival depends on it.

I believe the Israeli’s will remove Netanyahu from his perch at the head of their country soon after this invasion ends. And, Netanyahu is, while most people have their attention elsewhere, further “cementing” his strategy to BLOCK any attempt at the so-called “two state solution” by encouraging MORE (illegal) settlements on the “West Bank” and arming the settlers there which encourages more violence against Palestinians. I hope the people of Israel understand what Netanyahu is doing to their image around the world with people who are Israeli supporters (like myself). This can’t be the reason why America’s young people allow Trump to return to the “Oval Office” and I hope the Biden administration is able to put “conditions” on any more aid to Israel. The U.S. can’t abide the further slaughter of Palestinians! Stay tuned……

Final Thought: In case you don’t know how to use Google (or you’re just tired from reading all of this – congrats, by the way, you read more than Trump) you can click HERE and HERE to get a couple quick views of what a great “Christian” Trump really is. As someone who golfs – but, not on Sundays – I thought the second article was very interesting. (Most of my close acquaintances – ie golfing buddies – ridicule my Christian beliefs because of “Christians” like Trump. I tell them, “I believe in Jesus, NOT Trump” – so far that hasn’t seemed like much of a witness)

I have to add: For those who study the history of the previous 100, or so, years in America – the parallels between Trump’s MAGA movement and that of the Third Reich in 1930’s Germany is, well, sobering. Read the biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer if you want an interesting read which clearly memorializes the dangers of right wing movements like that of Hitler’s Nazi’s. The book I’m reading right now, “Prequel” by Rachel Maddow, really brings the 1930’s Nazi movement in America into a bright light. History “swept under the rug.”

For those who believe “It can’t happen here” – I would respectfully disagree. That would be true if our voting public was not so susceptible to a Con artist like Trump. But, the reality is there is a significant portion of America’s public who’ve “inherited” the racist, bigoted views of their parents and grand parents – who participated in the Jim Crow era of American history – and who are genuinely susceptible to Trump’s schtick. It’s almost as if America’s Southern states are hell bent on reliving the so-called “lost cause.” Yikes!

Today, while watching the “liberal” (?) MSNBC I saw/heard a plethora of LIES coming from Donald Trump AND his right wing minions on segments from Fox “news” and “Newsmax” regarding all the “crime” (including “MURDER, rape, and other violent crimes”) committed by “illegal immigrants.” This has been going on since Trump came down the escalator back in 2015. And, to this day, I keep watching TV hosts/pundits acting puzzled by all the LYING. Not once, yet, have I heard one host/pundit point out the reason they keep doing it and the reason it keeps working which is because this scheme comes straight out of Mein Kampf by none other than Hitler himself – and it does work. As the saying goes, the ONLY way to stop it is with “sunlight.”

What’s it going to take for these TV anchors who are speaking to MILLIONS of Americans each day to actually tell “we the people” what’s happening. The INSURRECTION is continuing and, as we’ve witnessed in the previous couple of weeks, the accomplices are deeply embedded in the republican party as it exists today. Of course, it’s Trump in the spotlight, but, the depth of the depravity, when you look at defending our constitution comes from the “puppet masters” who are funding Trump and his sycophants. I’ve been following Charles Koch for YEARS (Read: “Sons of Witchita”) and he’s been funneling MILLIONS (likely BILLIONS) from his fortune to build his vision of a right wing “libertarian” society since the days back in the 80’s when his brother was the VP candidate on the libertarian “ticket.”

It’s not just the “Koch brothers” (David Koch has died so it’s just Charles now), but also a bevy of American Oligarchs who feel their right to unlimited fortunes at the expense of our tax system and the rights of “we the people” continues to, well, amaze me. I honestly NEVER thought this nation would devolve to this level, but as I Iisten to the Trump supporters, for example, saying they’re fine with Russia annexing Ukraine or saying they believe what Trump, or Tuckre Carlson, or Fox “news,” or “Newsmax,” or ???? (in the right wing “blogosphere”) is telling them is the truth just boggles my mind. I taught my sixth graders to be smarter than that.

18 MILLION migrants “coming from places with languages no one knows” flowing into America because of Joe Biden is so ludicrous it bothers me so many people take it “hook, line, and sinker.” Do they understand President Biden actually agreed to immigration legislation fashioned by one of the MOST conservative members of the Senate with “Moscow” Mitch participating in the negotiations – legislation which DIDN’T include key “progressive” objectives (ie Dreamers, etc.) and Trump torpedoed it because he wanted to have the “issue” for November and “red meat” for his cult followers? Of course not. That would require a bit of critical thinking.

I’ve repeatedly of late referred to these MAGA faithful as “willfully STUPID” and I really do wish I could come up with a better term, but they are the result of the misinformation campaign launched by Vladimir Putin (and others) along with our right wing media and Trump’s willingness to embrace all of it because – at present – Trump’s focus is staying out of jail due to his serial CRIMINAL conduct FINALLY catching up with him. Apparently, his minions don’t care. Where they go on the internet makes me shudder.

The rest of the world is watching as this incredible scene plays out where MILLIONS of so-called “conservative Christians” are backing someone who, if he hasn’t violated all of the “Ten Commandments” (they all want in our schools) it’s fewer than the ones he has violated – with impunity. Here’s the easy ones for me, Don’t LIE, Don’t CHEAT, Don’t commit ADULTERY, Don’t “covet” (covers several things Trumps seems to covet), and I’ll leave it at that. Personally, it was Jesus who convinced me to believe in Christianity and the best I can say is these (from my view, of course) “conservative Christians” have made a “deal with the devil.” (I won’t repeat Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew, but, go ahead, look it up) (OK, I know I’m not supposed to “judge” and I struggle with that one and “loving my neighbor” when my “neighbor” makes my skin crawl – I’m trying to work on it)

I’m not suggesting America is a “Christian nation,” because nothing could be further from the truth. America was designed to be a secular nation right from the start. It was clearly the wish of our “founders” that there would be “separation of Church and State.” Freedom of Religion is what this nation was founded on – the other way to look at that is “freedom from Religion” if that’s your choice. Sadly, there’s a group of “Christian nationalists” who think they can force their beliefs on “we the people.” To me, this is the opposite of the Christianity I believe in – where “we the people” actually have “free will” to determine our own beliefs on our own. And, it doesn’t take much imagination to understand their view is, well, un-American. (Is it any wonder the number of Americans who are turned off to Christianity continues to rise because of this?)

I’ve predicted this several other times on this site, but when Trump loses in November (how many LOSSES would that make?) and the indictments he’s facing become more real to him, I expect him to fire up his plane and head for somewhere which doesn’t have an extradiction treaty with the U.S. (The first thought which comes to mind is, of course, Russia – maybe in the same building as Edward Snowden.) I did read today that it would be New York law he be remanded into custody – as a “flight risk” should he be found guilty of the election interference case there – sometimes referred to as the “hush money” case. (He’s accused of paying more than just “Stormy Daniels” hush money)

Here’s my number one hope at this point in time (although, it does make me a bit sad Trump’s coup d’etat trial isn’t starting today) and that is, somehow, the House of Representatives manages to overcome the OBSTRUCTION of “Moscow Mike” (is it fair to give that moniker to two republicans?) and PASS the legislation giving military AID to Ukraine. The bill also includes aid to Israel which I hope can be extended with conditions requiring the Israeli’s to agree to a CEASE FIRE allowing humanitarian aid into GAZA for the Palestinians who are facing FAMINE – with children facing long lasting/permanent damage from their lack of food and water. It’s time for President Biden to internalize Bibi Netanyahu could give a s@#t what he thinks. Netanyahu is going to be working for Trump’s return to the “White House” period – full stop! Just like in 2016 and 2020. (Allowing Putin to take Ukraine will put Mike Johnson in the history books next to Neville Chamberlain.)

America has one foot in the “pool” of autocracy already. Our corporations have too much power – many have “lost their way” (they really do/should have responsibility to the “commons” – after all, that’s where they get their “charter”) For example, just recently Elon Musk was “stripped” of his $56 BILLION dollar “payday” by a Delaware Court (where Tesla is “chartered”) because, well, the judge agreed with a shareholder finding $56 BILLION as a bit excessive. America’s oligarchs like Musk can’t seem to have enough money. (President Biden favors taxing BILLIONAIRES “fairly” prompting Musk – and others – to meet with Trump, presumably seeking even MORE tax breaks should “we the people” be STUPID enough vote Trump back into the Oval Office once again.)

We criticize Russia for all their “oligarchs” while America is littered with them – something like 4000 BILLIONAIRES – and, they funnel BILLIONS into politics (thanks to the SCOTUS) via the Citizens United decision of 2010 which is the epitome (or was) of legislating from the bench. I say “was” because the Roberts Court – full of judges who, in their confirmation hearings railed against “legislating from the bench” – have turned it into common practice. They claim to be “textualists” and/or “originalists” EXCEPT in cases where that doesn’t meet their pre-ordained beliefs or those of the BILLIONAIRES who are responsible for their place on the court. (Or, in the case of Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, their “sugar daddies” paying for their “summer vacations.”)

It’s no wonder so many Americans are turned off by the realities of our political system – and, I include the SCOTUS in that – especially younger Americans. Here’s the reality, if there’s going to be a CHANGE it will be up to these younger Americans to VOTE in record numbers to make it happen. And, the cruel IRONY in all this is if they want to VOTE for a candidate who stands for what SHOULD be important to them, they’ll have to VOTE for the oldest candidate for president in our history. Additionally, they’ll VOTE for democrats up and down the ticket even if they don’t particularly feel compelled to do so – because they’ll be voting AGAINST republicans. Biden needs a Congress with MORE democrats – both in the Senate AND in the House to be able to accomplish “stuff” that’s in the interest of these young Americans.

As I usually do, I’m going to “tick off” (off the top of my memory deficient head) a few of the reasons Biden SHOULD appeal to these young Americans. The first one, to me, would be the CLIMATE crisis. Trump and republicans believe that is a “hoax.” (kind of like all of Trump’s criminal conduct) The major Hurricanes, the earthquakes, the flooding, the tornadoes, the wildfires – all of which keep getting more severe – don’t register with republicans. One of Trumps’ first actions – as “Day 1 dictator” – according to his claims, will be to eliminate the clean energy incentives in the “Inflation Reduction Act.” I need to get my next electric car before next November – just in case.

If you’re a woman I find it hard to believe you’ll vote for a republican – where (mostly) republican MEN are threatening FURTHER attacks on women’s health care. A national abortion ban, a ban on birth control, a ban on IVF (In vitro fertilization) and who knows what else. I’ve always said, “if you don’t believe in abortion, don’t have one.” (I paid for an “abortion” about 50 years ago because my wife was having a miscarriage – devastating at the time – but it allowed her to have two healthy daughters later on. In Texas she would have had to go into Sepsis to get medical healthcare today – and, very possibly at the cost of future pregnancies – assuming she survived)

I taught Middle School for 25 years and never had an occasion to experience a shooting in my school – although our students were constantly trained what to do if there was an “intruder alert” in the school. There were a few instances where we were “locked down” because of issues in the neighborhood, but never a shooting in the school. That said, today’s children are fully aware of the dangers of gun violence and many of them suffer from anxiety preventing them from even go to school – wondering if “today will be the day.” I say all this because Joe Biden is lobbying Congress for an assault weapons ban (He was involved in passing one years ago which was allowed to expire by GW Bush) and I have to believe a large majority of young people would agree with him on that PLUS other sensible “gun safety” laws. It’s true, you can’t put “toothpaste back in the tube” but you have to start somewhere.

President Biden is attempting to “forgive” BILLIONS in student loan debt, but republicans are doing everything they can to block his efforts. A good example of the republican hypocrisy would be Marjorie Taylor Greene objecting to ANY forgiveness of student loan debt while she ACCEPTED a couple hundred thousand dollars in PPP loans during the pandemic – loans which were not required to be paid back. The amounts President Biden wants to “forgive” in student loan debt is between $10,000 and $20,000 depending on the student’s circumstances. The Biden administration wants to make “higher education” more affordable and fully support K-12 education. In addition, they understand the importance of “early education.” It’s painfully clear a large segment of our electorate is uneducated.

I believe I wrote enough above (or hope I did) to convince ANY young person who reads this to understand the importance of the Supreme Court. If – God help us – Trump would somehow find a way to CHEAT his way back into the “White House” he will replace Thomas and Alito on the Court with younger more radical Justices who will have lifetime appointments. That would be a national disaster more devastating than the one we’re presently experiencing. Just picture, for example, Aileen Cannon as a Supreme Court justice. Yikes!!! Hillary Clinton “lost” (with 3 MILLION more votes than Trump) back in 2016 because of “progressives” who either didn’t vote or who voted for a third party candidate. (The same “trick” republicans used to get GW Bush elected back in 2000) Trump financiers are also financing the candidacy of RFK Jr. and, once again, Jill Stein. Please don’t fall for it. A vote for either of them is like a vote for Trump. This election is President Biden or Trump. That’s it – full stop!

Final Thought: I grew up in the 1950’s and 1960’s and clearly remember the attempts to desegregate schools in America. (The schools I went to had NO persons of color until I was in eighth grade and I remember only one African American student at that school and my High School was “lilly white.” I say this because I remember the fight by African Americans – led by MLK – for the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act back in the 1960’s. The Voting Rights Act was approved when I was a senior in High School (1965). I remember seeing “Bloody Sunday” on the CBS news and not really understanding why it was happening – just that it was “shocking.” And, I wasn’t attuned to politics enough to understand the fight for Voting Rights. (It never dawned on me there were people who were denied the right to vote – back then the voting age was 21)

I was never around a “person of color” until I began playing basketball in college. I was embarrassed at my first reaction to having “Black” teammates. I’m thankful to say over the years I’ve had MANY African American friends – one of whom I consider the BEST friend I ever had (he’s now in heaven). I say all this because, to me, the issues of CIVIL RIGHTS and VOTING RIGHTS are paramount reasons why “we the people” SHOULD be voting against republicans. They clearly believe in “white supremacy” – beliefs which make my skin crawl thinking they could succeed unless young people VOTE against them in massive numbers. For heaven’s sake, the republican nominee for governor in North Carolina is a Holocaust denier AND believes women shouldn’t have the right to vote! I’m not kidding!

Obviously, the corruption goes way beyond Trump – I almost believe his sycophants are worse – but, it’s CRITICAL Trump gets to face juries of his peers in the four INDICTMENTS he’s facing with the 91 FELONY “counts.” It’s looking like he will have to LOSE in November to have that “opportunity.” Just imagine the message we would be sending to the rest of the world if “we the people” fall for his schtick once again. The world will become unrecognizable. Republicans fear him. It appears to me Merrick Garland fears him. He uses our “open society” against us as he’s consolidating POWER. (Just as Putin uses it against us as he spreads mis/disinformation – i.e. “active measures”)

If you’re reading this far, make sure you’re registered to VOTE (remember republicans are purging voters in every state – especially “swing states”) and talk to your friends and family. If Americans want to keep their republic it will require them to participate in the VOTING process – Benjamin Franklin famously said, we “have a republic, if we can keep it.” America’s young people have the POWER to change this country for the better! I’m praying they choose to do so! Stay tuned……