What a week this has been since President Joe Biden announced his patriotic decision to end his candidacy and endorse Kamala Harris. The surge of enthusiasm for the vice president has been breathtaking and inspiring. But then last night Trump made appallingly clear the stakes of this election. There was no parsing, no pretending to just be a dictator for a day: His goal is to end our democracy, to end elections and stay in power if he gets back in office. He was speaking at the Turning Point Action “Believers Summit” in West Palm Beach, Florida:
Christians, get out and vote. Just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years. You know what? It’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians…. Get out, you’ve got to get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again, we’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.
You can call these the words of a desperate man, a visibly sweaty convicted felon facing more charges, who knows he’s in trouble with the emergence of Harris. Soon his enablers will be claiming he didn’t really mean it, that he was just kidding or some other form of gaslighting to soften the reality of what Trump told that crowd. But let’s not kid ourselves about this anti-democrat who idolizes dictators. He explicitly said that if he’s voted in for four more years, “we’ll have it fixed so good” that “you won’t have to vote anymore.”
If you have felt the existential danger facing our republic during the last long weeks as the Democrats fought over the fate of President Biden, this should be another wake-up call of how stark the choice is in November. As much as we always believe we are voting for a particular candidate, this election really is a binary choice between ensuring the survival of democracy and ushering in its demise.
But here’s the thing: The last week’s turn of events has hit like a crack of lighting, a massive release of pent-up energy that is now focused on ensuring that Trump is defeated and Kamala Harris is the next President of the United States. The most telling data point is not that her campaign has already raised over $250 million or that Harris is now in a statistical tie in key battleground state polling. The most promising fact is that, since last Sunday, over 170,000 people from diverse communities have signed up with Team Harris to help get her elected.
This weekend alone, more than 2,300 events are planned in battleground states, mobilizing a wide coalition that is—as the campaign announcement describes—”leveraging the historic grassroots enthusiasm we’ve seen for our campaign.” That includes phone banks and canvass launches, “Kamala coffee hours” and “soul food potlucks,” Pride trivia nights and more national organizing calls with young people, women, LGBTQ+ and union members. There will also be watch parties this weekend for the candidate herself appearing on RuPaul’s Drag Race and public events involving her growing collection of high-profile surrogates, including potential VP picks. In addition, the campaign notes, “While Donald Trump still has little to no infrastructure in the battlegrounds, the Vice President inherits more than 250 coordinated battleground offices and 1,300 staff who have been building strong relationships and volunteer bases on the ground for months.”
Count me among those with rising confidence that this is no flash-in-the-pan moment, but rather the beginning of an increasingly energized force that recognizes there are just 100 days to elect Harris and defeat the grave danger that is Trump.
How does it look to you? Will the people save democracy in November? Does the existential scale of my question make sense to you? Do you agree that Trump means what he says? In turn, are you worried that the Trump/Vance attacks may begin to chip away at the enthusiasm as the campaign unfolds? Perhaps Trump’s sick promise to his Christian followers that “we’ll have it fixed so good” makes you doubt the outcome in November? And, lastly, do you see your own efforts making a difference?
As always, I look forward to reading your observations and for this community to hear from each other. Please do be respectful in your comments. Trolling will not be tolerated.
As a committed Christian who takes her faith seriously, I am endlessly appalled by those who call themselves Christian and follow a leader who is the antithesis of the greatest commandment recorded in the gospels (and echoed by many other faiths): Love God with all your heart and soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself." How can they blindly follow this man who preaches hatred and violence? How can they idolize someone who defines everyone not like him as "others" to be despised and even killed? I flinch at the phrase "his Christian followers." I am not empowered to judge, but lets just say that I am empowered to seriously question their right to claim that identity. If they read their New Testament, they should harken to the words from St. Paul: "I urge you to live in a manner of the call you have received with all humility and gentleness." (Perhaps these passages were not included in the bible Trump is peddling.)
"I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.
It is a first class human tragedy that people of the earth who claim to believe in the message of Jesus, whom they describe as the Prince of Peace, show little of that belief in actual practice."
As a sometimes Spanish teacher in a Catholic School (no more) the donors decided my occasional references to LBGTQ Latinas, a SCOTUS Justice similarly, migrants/aslylum kids & the major dissident poet under Franco who introduced me to my college minor, had no place in their children's world language/cultural education. Apalled, the Jesus and Mary statues in my classroom watched ominously as I reminded the admin to revisit the Pope's Synod on Synodality active through October 2024. What goes around eventually comes around - and often saves the day!
Thank you Elizabeth. It was eerie when I had to tell the teens we'd be 86-ing the bilingual paragraphs on some Latina heroines because, well, this Catholic School has given me some ( gulp) guidelines. ( Really? An Improvement Plan - I actually signed to see out the 1 year contract) The Pope's initiatives were counter to admins' positions epeatedly during that phase I endured and one article the Pope had written was about Catholic Schools exercising caution to not sacrifice good educations because of tuition priorities. I did paraphrase for the stbx employers repeatedly. Nice to chat!
The Bible is replete with examples and descriptions of Christ-like living and leadership. Jer Ch. 7, Ps 50, & Micah 2:1-3, just for a start. But the OT is almost entirely based on the oppression of people by corrupt leadership, & the NT describes The Way - the way to bring about the Kingdom of God here and now - eschewing greed & corruption; caring for “the stranger” - those from other lands, the poor, widows, orphans (as examples, not limited to). How could anyone pick up the Bible & not know this? How much effort is required to twist the wisdom of God into absolute evil?
I'm so sorry to hear this, Candace. I'm grateful that my son's Catholic high school is NOT like this. But I'm afraid many are. I'm grateful they taught him to think critically - and to read history sometimes from the side of the loser. Blessings to you - you sound lovely. -E.
If I may interest you in my new song about saving democracy - as Beschloss writes about here today - it reflects a similar sentiment as his piece. It's called: "This Country Tis of Thee" - relative to each of us actively continuing the great American experiment this November. Candace Asher's 2024 Save Democracy Song Youtube: “This Country “Tis of Thee”
Sadly, so true of many who get the publicity. Those who do not see a responsibility behind bearing the name. But not true of all. For every Trump there are 100 Dorothy Days laboring for justice and peace and love.
PS I was writing my democracy song during that time and they became privy to that and a teacher with political interests ( moi) was not the kind of teacher they wanted present.
I’m so glad to read this because I’ve been feeling the same way about the so called Christian’s who support Trump. Are they blind ? I’ve said many times he is the antithesis of Jesus and they really cannot be believers if they can’t see that. You can’t ignore his behavior and his ugly , hateful words . How do you excuse that ? I’m very disappointed in Turning Point and the evangelical community to the point that I have a visceral reaction to what I read about their support of him. I’ll say it here, Trump is evil. Wake up Christians, you are following the devil, the great deceiver.
When asked if he asks God for forgiveness, tRump said "No" he never has and believes its up to himself to try and do better. So if he never asks for God's forgiveness he is NOT a Christian.
He doesn’t ask for forgiveness. He doesn’t do anything wrong! He just throws blame. Oh please. I just can’t take it anymore. 🙏 please God make him stop.
Bipolar/narcissist/spin-doctor/pathological-liar on-a-dime. It's a strategy the unitiated fall for. The idea is to keep people confused. Most cannot penetrate the disorder. And it's been normalized. It's nasty. And once you "get it" - a whole lot of personal and world history makes more sense. There's a song in this thread that I wrote for this very reason - called THIS COUNTRY TIS OF THEE - to help people stop being conditioned/disempowered & unclear. Said differently:
“POWER comes not through ideas debated civilly in democratic processes, but to those who generate the most distrust for their own purposes.” Steven Brill
Yes! You get it. As the child of a malignant narcissist (and someone who loves this country), I have known since 2016 that this national trial by fire will not end until he is jailed or dead. His gullible followers actually believe his lies, are charmed by his self-serving attention, and even the never Trumpers mostly do not see the depth of the pathology. He is now much more prepared to install himself as King of America. Terrifying and comic at the same time.
there is no truth in him (to quote 1 John 2:4, which applies in this case!) He can never be trusted to tell the truth about anything. Sort of incredible to consider, that state of being.
They are Christian nationalists, not remotely Christian . I try to follow the teachings of Christ and I don’t see what they are preaching as Christian at all. It is a political movement and a very dangerous one indeed
👏 thank you - you have written so beautifully my thoughts about so called people who claim to be Christians as well as the ministers who TELL THEM TO VOTE FOR TRUMP. So much for those constitutional rights!
I’m beyond disappointed in so many friends and family members who claim to be Christian. They are not even doing any searching they are falling in line.
You mean you don't worship the Orange Antichrist? Good for you!
And I can't think of anybody who better fits the description of an antichrist than that sadonarcissist. Whoever reveres Trump is no sincere follower of Jesus Christ.
Trump, his wealthy conservative cronies, and his followers are NOT Christians…They are White Christian Nationalists. Theres a huge difference! I suggest watching Bad Faith which is a documentary which explains how White Christian Nationalism came about. 🌹💙
I think that is one area in which we have hope. Their worldview is so bizarre and off-putting that anyone believing as they do is already on the Trump train. I don’t believe there is anyone undecided when it comes to Trump. But, I know they are planning dirty tricks with the electors - in states with a split electorate he is trying to get MAGAs to ignore outcomes and declare him the winner. We can’t only focus on what it takes to fairly beat trump, but also on what kind of intimidation, cheating, etc. are going to come into play
When #45 says vote for him and you'll never have to vote again he's confirming he intends to become a dictator for life. There will be NO future elections!
This is serious and he means it. #Project2025 is the plan. It is a draconian vision and democracy has no place in it...We must take #45's statement seriously!
As I have always stated in my responses to your articles. I am an optimist, and I am more so today after the quick, impressive increase in interest, especially among younger voters, in Kamala Harris and her dropping the gloves to directly confront the monster in the room. This is only the beginning. The country has been waiting for a breath of fresh air. Sure, I am disappointed that Biden is not continuing. I think he could have won with the campaign really kicking in after the convention, but it is better with Kamala. Fresh, younger, to the point, straight at it, the IT being the rule of law and democracy. She will not hold back. It's not in her nature. She has the bull by the horns and I think the MAGAs are scared to death.
I have hope. We have in Kamala a candidate with a sharp mind and integrity and faith in all dimensions. We have someone who has survived the trench warfare of not only being an intelligent and accomplished woman in our society but a woman of color. She is not caught by surprise by the attacks. But Kamala still laughts. And Kamala doesn't need to engage in ad hominen attacks on her opponent. He and his enablers open their mouths and provide the material for her so called negative ads (her realisitic ads). His cult followers are not convertible. But there is a vast and under-polled citizenry who are listening. Woman of all ages. And, ah, the youth who have spent their childhoods doing live shooter drills, and people of color who go about their lives unseen by many who hold power in our society. I have strong hope that Kamala is persuading all of them to choose freedom.
I too have hope. I have been canvassing for months for Biden and our local candidates. I'm over the moon about Kamala. I really believe it's a movement and I feel it's based on love and connection. We need to be there for one another, and celebrate one another. That is my hope and dream
My concern is that the MAGA Party sees voting as a meaningless distraction. Their strategy is more about manipulating the counting of ballots and certification of electors with a plan they have been putting in place since the 2020 election loss. My concern is that these state level operatives will succeed in undermining the vote count in just enough states to throw the elector count to a MAGA-dominated House, regardless of a popular vote sweep by Harris. This strategy is not conspiracy theory. There are actually some states where MAGA 2020 election deniers control the office where the votes get counted and the electors get appointed. Do I think they will care about the actual vote count? No, they won't. That's what I worry about, not the electability of Kamala Harris. We should all be donating to the Democratic Redistricting Committe, which has taken on the challenge of outing these MAGA operatives in state and local election offices.
I have been concerned about this for quite some time. As I understand, the updates to the Electoral Count Act (which I admittedly have not read) say that the “official” results from each state must be accepted. But, in some states those results are determined by a right-wing group who may already “know” who they are going to declare the winner(s). I hope I’m wrong about this.
I agree. I think they tried last time, & did succeed in some Republican controlled states. It was enough to win virtually all tossup Senate & House seats, but not enough to overcome the millions of Americans who usually don't vote but were so inspired to come to the polls solely to vote Trump out of there.
The predicted tossup states of Iowa, Ohio, Florida & Texas, among other states whose electoral apparatus is controlled by Republicans, were a lot bigger wins for Trump (as well as for their Republican congressional candidates) than expected. Of around 10 predicted tossup Senate races & 25 predicted tossup House races, practically all went to the Republican candidate. The statistical probability of that happening by random is less than 1 in a trillion.
For example, we know that Lindsey Graham tried to pressure Georgia election officials to throw out votes in Black majority counties that are Democratic strongholds. We heard a recording of it even before we heard a recording of Trump pressuring Georgia election officials to "find" just enough votes to put Trump over the top (good thing Georgia officials record such phone conversations). Do you think Graham would bother interfering in Georgia's election without first taking care of his own supposed tossup election, which was up until then the most expensive Senate contest in history, a race Graham was so concerned about he was practically crying on Fox, begging the viewers to spend even more of their money to help him eke out a win? The final "official" vote totals had him winning comfortably. Hmmm... I wonder which counties whose votes he was able to convince/bribe officials to throw out.
And how is it that Kentucky's Mitch McConnell & Rand Paul always win by much larger margins than expected? Even the Mississippi Senate race was predicted to be close, but the Republican won it going away.
As much as Republicans tried to smear Dominion for voting machines ostensibly tallying votes incorrectly, it is the ES&S machines owned & operated by staunch MAGA Republicans that can be manipulated remotely & are overwhelmingly used in states where Trump & Republicans won by greater than expected margins, & have a questionable history.
Basically the same story for Rand Paul versus Charles Booker. CB was polling a little under 40% at the beginning of the election year. Probably his high point.
I don’t think this is helpful. We have serious issues to address in KY. This isn’t one of them.
That is what I am afraid of, trump does not “ campaign “ in such a way that shows that he is trying to Gain voters. It appears he does not even care about that, because they have a he plan all set
Up , that no matter if Kamala wins the Popular And the Electoral Vote, they will not accept that and they have prepared for that , prepared to just TAKE the election mo matter what’. I’m pray that democrats in power have prepared for that!!!! Are they doing something , not just sitting back and counting on enough Votes to win. Trump will Never accept a loss, nor any Maga’s running ng for other positions. What will they do when trump begins”. I won, they cheated, the Dems Stole the vote. What have Dems planned. Biden will still be president of the US with immunity for all of his acts. Is there anyone prepared to Arrest anyone perpetrating a Coup?????
I think the "fix" will take place at the state ballot counting and elector certification stage rather than another violent coup attempt. But I suppose there's the possibility of a coup as a last resort--as much as I hate to say it.
Agree! I have seen that the Magas are doing much in the states to make it possible to get through their “cheating”. I dread what we will face, so sad that the United States in a position like this.
I've heard this too in regard to telling people to go watch the polls in other places. "Don't worry about voting, I've got plenty of votes, but we have to watch the polling places so we can catch them if they're cheating ...blah, blah, blah"
Unfortunately, other states do not. Some like Georgia and South Carolina could make a big difference. I hope that's not the case. I hope Eric Holder has a whole strikeforce of lawyers to make sure the letter of the law prevails, and not unconstitutional gimicry, or trumpery (my new favorite noun).
Tyrump again stated he will end voting. We need to believe him.
Yes, I embody the joy and enthusiasm that Kamala Harris is our Democratic candidate.
WE THE PEOPLE must save ourselves from the demise of our Democracy and all that entails. Our future will drastically change if we allow TYrump to win.
WE THE PEOPLE !
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America!”
One can only hope and pray that this sudden burst of energy will be sustained and include people ""staying the course" from registering to vote to voting, donating, making phone calls, walking precincts, and more... "The race is not to the swift..."
Do I believe we will win in November and elect our first woman president? Yes, I do. But I wish we didn't have to do it alone. By that I mean the reaction and description of the MSM to last night's horrifying speech is awful. The NYT, WAPO, Politico and many others treated this as a normal campaign speech and if they mentioned Trump's threat, they did it gently in a paragraph way down in the story. When we need our "Fourth Estate" to tell it like it is and alert those not on social media of the dangers, they are appallingly absent.
I don’t have a vote here (I’m Canadian) but I’m cheering Harris and all the people mobilizing for her “God Speed! Make this happen! Make the win so big, there can be no question he lost!” I’d help if I could - Go Kamala! Go Girl!
German Christian Nationalists supported Herr Hitler in the 1930s.
How did that work out for them?
Then and there, as now and here, there were true Christians, led by men such as Martin Niemoller and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who as leaders of the Confessing Church (true to historic Lutheran doctrine) stood against the popular heresy of making Germany great again.
Now 80 years after D-Day all-too-many of the grandchildren of The Greatest Generation want to unleash upon these United States the same Facist Dictatorship that all-too-many of their grandfathers died to defeat.
I graduated from high school in 1976, our Bicentennial Year. In 2026, we will mark 250 years since the founding of our country. On July 4 1776, Benjamin Franklin was asked what kind of a country we had been given. "A Republic -- if you can keep it." Folks if we want to keep our Republic long enough to celebrate July 4 2026, we'd damned well better put all reservations aside and vote for Kamala Harris as POTUS.
Does the existential scale of my question make sense to you? Yes, it is THE question. Too many, even thinking people, are dazzled with shiny pennies... which are bound by nature to loose some of their shine over time, even without a corrosive dose of trumpery. Are we capable of maintaining the reflection without the shine? We will see.
I firmly believe that 100 days is a short enough time to sustain the enthusiasm, especially from women . We are angry about Dobbs, and about Vance’s comments about ‘childless cat ladies’. It will only get more intense as time passes so quickly until early voting begins in some states. Also, the numbers of young people (18-34) who have just registered to vote since Joe Biden stepped down is strong.
Also, VP Harris is easing fears about support for Netanyahu and his genocide in Gaza. That is a big deal to those who have seen Joe as an enabler of Netanyahu’s crimes.
You can sense the optimism spreading across the land. An optimism that is manifesting itself in the 2,300 events to which you refer, Steven: events scheduled in battleground states this weekend alone. And we're only just beginning. Joy and hope are contagious. They are as vital as the air that we breathe.
And what of the other, the dark side? The leader is now openly promising to end democracy. To build concentration camps and deport millions. To ally himself with dictators and turn our nation into a satellite state to Russia. And if public education isn't in trouble enough already, his agenda calls for the Department of Education to be shut down. His acolytes have already been banning books, for God's sake! Ignorance and fear are the cudgels they are trying to use to bludgeon us into subservience. Will we let them?
There is a pride in voting. I feel the guidance of my strong, gentle, giant 6'5" father standing beside me while voting and thinking of what he sacrificed for others. Democracy and America the Beautiful is the only way ahead!
Donald tRump is a pathological liar most of the time and when it’s convenient for him. But, I do believe, in this case, he means exactly what he is saying! He intends to rule our country right along side the ultra wealthy conservative White Christian Nationalists who will replace our democracy with Project 2025.
If this happens, our country, as we’ve known it, will be lost!
I am incredibly excited about Madam VP Kamala Harris running for President and all of incredible support she has gotten.
I believe the excitement behind Madam VPs campaign will not only continue, but, it will continue to grow! It’s not only excitement that drives the enormous support behind her, it’s fear! The people who have been paying attention to politics for the past 8 years have been watching as the January 6th coup has continued to get progressively worse! Jan 6th may have ended, but, the coup never stopped! Everyone in this country will have something to lose from another tRump Presidency (some more than others) including his own supporters and the cronies that kiss the ring! Americas eyes are starting to open, we just need to continue to wake them up!
We must win the election AND be prepared for whatever trump and his maga’s are setting up to stop that in whatever way they will. Hopefully they are preparing for that. I think that I will text some people about this. his. I have found that just because I se
I am pondering what I will do. Here is a way to BEND THE MSM MESSAGE: I quit following MSM when the click bait was endlessly that "Biden is too old." MSM is into "reporting the news" for the clicks and the income stream. So most tilt the way of money For the weeks leading up to forcing Biden to get ouf of the race, "Biden is too old; Biden is impaired" was "the" story. There was very little about Trump, even his conspicuous absence let alone his endless verbal malfunctions when he appeared. I did not then reward their journalistic malpractice with clicks. I joined America America at that time.
But RIGHT NOW the story is positive on Kamala and much more negative for Trump. Give THOSE stories your clicks. If you are all in for Harris you don't need to click on any negative stories about her. Feed the beast of MSM by rewarding the POSITIVE Kamala Harris stories and the NEGATIVE Trump stories. It's a simple strategy but it is real. Tell your fellow supporters.
The NYTimes is going to have to do a lot more than a few positive articles on VP Harris to redeem themselves. Their misogyny and well, asshole-ishness still shines through. I appreciate this idea, though. I'll keep watching and listening.
Thank you! Every little bit helps. I will try that. I am so very upset with the Media. There are a few journalists that I do highly trust, but even media like MSNBC are mot doing enough. They never showed Trump falling asleep at the RNC, neither do they stress all
If trumps obvious signs of cognitive decline, or even his horrible statements like “ bot One More Time…… which he has now repeated at least 4 or more times. I don’t watch trump much but I have heard it that much but nothing much from Media.
We must believe the orange turd when he says he will fix it so that his supporters will no longer have to vote when he wins. He wants to be a dictator, and the first thing dictators do is to prevent change. You only have to look at Russia and see how long Putin has survived to know that elections there are fake and fixed. Kamala can and will win if we all do our job of voting, and ensuring everyone we know votes too. No Democrat can stay home in November. It is imperative we all vote because if we do, Kamala wins. It is up to us now, there is no cavalry over the hill.
One of Donald's campaign promises in his Time Magazine interview. Arrest, imprison and deport 15 million to 20 million men, women and children. This is red meat for the MAGAs. But the legit Press is ignoring it, as though it's too insane to be real. Which it is.
Here's the transcript:
Time: Yes, yes. And we'll come to that, certainly. You have vowed to launch the largest deportation operation in American history. Your advisors say that includes—
Trump: Because we have no choice. I don't believe this is sustainable for a country, what's happening to us, with probably 15 million and maybe as many as 20 million by the time Biden's out. Twenty million people, many of them from jails, many of them from prisons, many of them from mental institutions. I mean, you see what's going on in Venezuela and other countries. They're becoming a lot safer.
Time: Well, let's just talk—so you have said you're gonna do this massive deportation operation. I want to know specifically how you plan to do that.
Trump: So if you look back into the 1950s, Dwight Eisenhower, he's not known for that, you know, you don't think of him that way. Because you see, Ike, but Dwight Eisenhower was very big on illegal immigration not coming into our country. And he did a massive deportation of people. He was doing it for a long time. He got very proficient at it. He was bringing them just to the other side of the border. And they would be back in the country within a matter of days. And then he started bringing them 3,000 miles away—
Time: What’s your plan, sir?
Trump: We will be using local law enforcement. And we will absolutely start with the criminals that are coming in. And they're coming in in numbers that we've never seen before. And we do have a new category of crime. It's called migrant crime. It's, ugh, you see it all the time. You see it in New York City where they're having fistfights with police. And far worse than that. You see it all the time. And you're seeing it in all of the cities, especially the Democratic-run cities, which is a lot of the big ones, but you're seeing it in Chicago, you're seeing it in New York and L.A. and getting worse than in other places.
Time: Does that include using the U.S. military?
Trump: It would. When we talk military, generally speaking, I talk National Guard. I've used the National Guard in Minneapolis. And if I didn't use it, I don't think you'd have Minneapolis standing right now, because it was really bad. But I think in terms of the National Guard. But if I thought things were getting out of control, I would have no problem using the military, per se. We have to have safety in our country. We have to have law and order in our country. And whichever gets us there, but I think the National Guard will do the job. You know, had Nancy Pelosi used the National Guard. You know, I offered them whatever they wanted, but I often—
Time: You would use the military inland as well as at the border?
Trump: I don't think I'd have to do that. I think the National Guard would be able to do that. If they weren't able to, then I’d use the military. You know, we have a different situation. We have millions of people now that we didn't have two years ago.
Time: Sir, the Posse Comitatus Act says that you can't deploy the U.S. military against civilians. Would you override that?
Trump: Well, these aren’t civilians. These are people that aren't legally in our country. This is an invasion of our country. An invasion like probably no country has ever seen before. They're coming in by the millions. I believe we have 15 million now. And I think you'll have 20 million by the time this ends. And that's bigger than almost every state.
Time: So you can see yourself using the military to address this?
Trump: I can see myself using the National Guard and, if necessary, I'd have to go a step further. We have to do whatever we have to do to stop the problem we have. Again, we have a major force that’s forming in our country, when you see that over the last three weeks, 29,000 people came in from China, and they're all fighting age, and they're mostly males. Yeah, you have to do what you have to do to stop crime and to stop what's taking place at the border.
Time: Would that include building new migrant detention camps?
Trump: We wouldn't have to do very much of that. Because we'll be bringing them out of the country. We're not leaving them in the country. We're bringing them out. It’s been done before.
Time: Will you build new ones?
Trump: And it was done by Obama in a form of jails, you know, prisons. And I got blamed for that for four months. And then people realized that was done by him, not by me.
Time: So are you ruling out that you would build new migrant detention camps?
Trump: No, I would not rule out anything. But there wouldn't be that much of a need for them, because of the fact that we're going to be moving them out. We're going to bring them back from where they came.
Time: I ask because your close aide and adviser Stephen Miller said that part of what it would take to carry out this deportation operation would include new migrant detention camps.
Trump: It’s possible that we’ll do it to an extent but we shouldn't have to do very much of it, because we're going to be moving them out as soon as we get to it. And we'll be obviously starting with the criminal element. And we're going to be using local police because local police know them by name, by first name, second name, and third name. I mean, they know them very well.
Time: How are you going to get state and local police departments to participate in this? Under what authority is the President able to do that?
Trump: Well, there's a possibility that some won't want to participate, and they won't partake in the riches, you know. We have to do this. This is not a sustainable problem for our country.
Time: Does that mean you would create funding incentives from the federal government for state and local police departments?
Trump: It could very well be. I want to give police immunity from prosecution because the liberal groups or the progressive groups, depending on what they want to be called, somewhat liberal, somewhat progressive, but they are—they’re very strong on the fact that they want to leave everybody in, I guess, I don't know. You know, sanctuary cities are failing all over the place. And I really believe that there's a pent-up demand to end sanctuary cities by people that were in favor of sanctuary cities, because it's just not working out for the country.
I know thinking about and replaying things in my mind won’t change anything, but, HOW did it come to this? I mean, I know the answer, but, this is the kind of thing a democracy is supposed to protect us from and now we’re on our last line of defense! When we get past this, there’s going to have to be some serious douching of douche bags in our government! 😡
Government derives it legitimacy from the people. We are said to be a government of, for, and by the people. I trust that the people will thwart the ambitions of Trump and his minions, the thugs and miscreants of MAGA.
Vote! Vote! Vote! This is not politics as usual. There is no neutral position in this election, and there will be no middle ground until those working to end democracy and freedom of choice are pushed back into the margins.
I don't live in the US, and it sometimes annoys me that global citizens need to care so much about what's happening in US politics. But we really do. In the US, you don't really need to care much about Scottish politics, and I'm a little jealous of that. And it annoys me even more that I know more about the overall situation (and it's global impact) in the US political and legal systems than many US voters do. Anyway... I read this, and Joyce Vance and Heather Cox Richardson, and I'm at least hopeful now that Trump and his cult are being challenged by this uprising that you describe. Your political system utterly infuriates me... In the UK we recently had an election where the transfer of power took 36 hours after the polls had closed, and the outgoing leader phoned the new leader to offer his congrats and support. There were no legal challenges. I'm not saying we have it absolutely right, but I would encourage US folks to take a quick look at how other democratic styles of government work in other countries, even if just out of curiosity.
Thank you. Only American travelers that pay attention notice that the world is watching. We need to live up to the responsibility that has been given us and vote Trump right into prison, where he belongs.
That’s the way it’s supposed to be here too. That’s how it’s always been. Til 2020.
A strongman takeover usually happens when there is some kind of crisis - like the situation in 1930’s Germany. But here there is no crisis. It’s all manufactured. These MAGA people are telling lies to make people think we’re living in some kind of dystopian hellscape. And we need a dictator to fix it. But of course that’s not the reality. People have issues of course. We can always do better. But overall, things are good.
People from other countries living under monarchies in the 18th century were astounded when they saw our peaceful transfer of power after our elections. I think we’ve come to take it for granted. We take voting for granted. How many people say” I don’t like the candidates, I’m not voting”. While there are people around the world who would give their lives for the privilege of voting - for the opportunity to have a say in their future.
It truly infuriates a lot of us, too. We really need to get money out of the equation. And a campaign that lasts 2 years is ludicrous! Many of us are also advocating to get rid of the Electoral College - another way to dilute our votes.
necessary, but until we get rid of dark $$$$$ money out of our politics, nothing can change. When!!!!! We get a democratic
President, and replace the criminal, MAGA republicans in the Senate and House there is nothing much that can happen as we are seeing. We must get the criminals out and a large enough number in Senate and House . Then WE must stay on hen to pass laws immediately. Thankfully, President Biden is now working to DO something about the Supreme Court. We must get rid of some of them, at least three are there because of McConnel , acting unconstitutionally and illegally. We must add at least 4 more Justices, make sure they have Ethics Rules with ways to enforce them. We need, immediate, laws to regulate Who can run for president. It is absolutely stupid and hat a Coup n I Ted felon can run….. then he was allowed way too much leniency just because he was a “ candidate”. He should have been forced to be tried d for the other charges,
s , NOT Excused . This entire thing with allowing this criminal , who attempted to overthrow an election in order to remain in power illegally and unconditionally , who stole top secret military nuclear documents, lying, moving them , obstructing DOJ from retrieving them, selling them to our enemies with whom he is way too involved( more going on with Russia and trump than we are told) is beyond stupid. The rest of the world sees this, only Americans, his base and those in Congress, all funded by Billionaires $$$, are the only ones adoring
I understand there is widespread annoyance by those who live outside the US for many reasons beginning with how inward looking the US is in general. I’m aware the UK has a faster transition. It was widely reported here. I’ve seen discussions that ours is too slow by Americans too. Personally I don’t believe our processes are the core problem. Some (human) guardrails failed regarding the former president. The system was challenged but it prevailed.
You have an entirely different election system. I believe it is more centralized and it is much smaller. Our system is decentralized. Cumbersome, I suppose. But more difficult for adversaries (“foreign and domestic”) to corrupt. Every change comes with a tradeoff.
A shorter transition period requires changing either the inauguration date which is in the Constitution or Election Day set by Congress in 1845. Either way it would have a cascading effect on all 50 states which run their own elections, their counties & the precincts within those counties and verification processes.
Then there are the federal laws regarding transition for the outgoing & incoming presidents. Those would have to be completely revamped because transition teams use the time to make transitions as seamless as possible. Except the former administration. The Biden team had to work around them on several issues (including creating a supply chain for vaccine distribution).
Removing the right of redress to the courts for political candidates is a questionable goal. I believe it, like changing Inauguration Day, would require a constitutional amendment.
We had a president who voices and shows his disrespect. We can’t legislate that. We can make sure he doesn’t get back in the White House. Meanwhile, you can be glad you don’t live in one of the states where his influence & the influence of his mini-me’s is felt everyday.
I have not seen such an out pouring of energy and enthusiasm since the Obama campaign in 2008. We have a solid candidate with the right ideas about the issues we care about. The choice could not be clearer and the American people will choose progess, diveristy, equality and unity over chaos, division, darkness and hate. YES WE KAM!!!
Sprinkled throughout his ramblings in every election cycle are consistent indications of what matters to him and what he will do if elected again.
• In 2016 at a rally in Nevada: “I don't care how sick you are. I don't care if you just came back from the doctor and he gave you the worst possible prognosis, meaning it's over. Doesn't matter. Hang out till November 8. Get out and vote.“ (Followed by “I say kiddingly but I mean it.”)
• December 2022, while denying his election loss. We remember what came next: “A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”
• June, 2024 in the Nevada desert heat: "I don't want anybody going on me. We need every voter. I don't care about you. I just want your vote. I don't care."
•• Later, at the NV rally talking about voting again: “It would be suicide before Biden, right?"
• “dictator on day one”
• Pressed by Hannity: “dictator for one day”
• Asked about it in a TIME interview: “A lot of people like it.”
• And now: “You won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians…. In four years, you don’t have to vote again, we’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.”
DJT, his acolytes and his mouthpieces are ready to turn our country into their despotic dream while Hungarian Rhapsody plays in the background. That should fuel more than enough energy to carry Kamala Harris all the way to the WH.
We are definitely in the"sugar high" phase of Kamala's candidacy, but make no mistake - things have changed. There is true engagement and excitement about this turn of events. (Registrations, money!)
Thank you Joe Biden, for your service and statesmanship. You made the right decision to help save our democracy. History will truly remember you.
Pardon my skepticism…But…tRump’s, LCF comments such as , “we don’t need your Votes” and/or, “You don’t have to worry about voting again!” May well mean that he doesn’t plan on allowing Americans the ability to be ABLE to vote again. He tried it once already, and now that he has been elevated above the Laws we all live by. I’m willing to bet, “a Dollar to a Doughnut” he plans to do again! I’ll further wager…he and his Repugnant sycophants have learned a bit from his initial attempt and failure! Not to repeat his mistakes!!
Yes. More and more folks are paying attention and realizing that Whiny Donald is just a bully and a loser. It takes some time and courage, but bullies can be dealt with once confronted.
We should all be very concerned about him fixing everything so good… I do not trust SCOTUS or any of the republikkkans during this election. With all the voter suppression and whatever else they are screaming I truly hope there are plans to cut their obstruction and illegal scams off at the knees.
As so often, you ask the stark and critical question. The answer is: we can and we must, but whether we will or not is entirely up to American voters. No one else is coming to the rescue. November is “now or never” time.
I am a recent retiree who stepped up to serve help the county party in the voter protection space. My first time doing any of this but at 66, I feel renewed energy from the great team I’m on!
If the news media doesn’t report of this recent speech and its implications and continue to emphasize it they are continuing to do a disservice (as they have been) to the voters. This speech was the epitome of Christofascism.
Yes, he does. It’s part of his schtick about his election being inevitable unless it’s ‘stolen’. When I’ve seen those comments he also talked about watching the polls & other voters. Like this …
Thank you! Given that many if not most of his supporters would jump off a cliff if he told them to, I hope they take these remarks literally and stay home on Nov 5 thinking he's already got enough votes to win.
I certainly believe morale has improved significantly since the crisis of the last month-plus has ended. My morale, and that of my progressive and moderate friends, has definitely improved dramatically. How far it takes us remains an open question. But folks are clearly fired up and ready to go.
I spent a lot of my career in front of judges, attempting to persuade them that my client's position was legally and/or factually stronger than my adversary's. Back then, I concentrated on making my strongest and most credible case and then trusting the tribunal to make the right decision.
That's where we are now. I'm cautiously optimistic, as I was about the hush-money trial in NYC before the jury rendered its entirely justified decision.
Fingers crossed, postcards and letters to write to GOTV...
I totally feel a shift in thinking and perception of this moment. Let’s face it, this time last week I was in total despair, not knowing if we were going to survive through November, let alone past it. Now I have great hope and optimism that we will annihilate trump in Roevember! And all the haters will have to slink back under the rocks from which they came! And We The People can breathe a sigh of relief, while President Harris continues the hard work she and President Biden started, repairing the damage the orange turd did…and moving the country forward! 100%KAMALA! Aaaahhhh
We are going to see a win by Kamala Harris. It will be a win like no other in the history of America and will prevent any plans the opposition may have already in place to steal the election.
Trump’s lies have run their course. Trump has run his course.
The work of many millions of Harris voters will continue. Not one drop of effort we put forth is wasted. It all counts. It all multiplies.
We were always going to win. But strategic Joe and Kamala have made it a blue wave that captures the Senate and House by margins that will end maga and, unless they change, the Republican party.
Do my efforts matter? For a number of years now, I have practiced "letting go" of the results of my efforts. It helps calm anxiety I might feel and keeps me moving forward, not dwelling on the past. I strive to do good; to think, say, and do what is right; then keep moving. For this election cycle, I am focused on GOTV activities through our local Democratic Club that encourage people to VOTE the ENTIRE BALLOT (sorry for the caps, but local, county, and state office holders have as much, or more, impact on our daily lives.) I'm also volunteering as a Poll Observer for the primary and general elections. I was supportive of President Biden, yet ecstatic to have a candidate younger than 65 in VP Harris.🙆🏼♀️
Yes, I understand the stakes. Yes, I believe Trump is an existential threat to our democracy. Yes, I believe Kamala Harris has sparked a new level of enthusiasm, and I enthusiastically support her campaign! And yes, we’re going to keep our democracy in November!
I’m sorry that the election has become all about money. I get bullying texts all day long trying to make me donate to progressive candidates. I’ve donated all that I can afford and they won’t leave me alone. It’s almost enough to make me not vote.
I agree that it's a fine line between being swept up in the excitement of a candidate who can beat Trump and feeling besieged by demands. Keep your eye on the ball - voting and helping is something we can all do - and keep sending STOP to those texts if you don't want to receive them!
yet another thing that needs fixing. We got this from SCOTUS decision on Citizens Unitied. So the only way to eventually fix it is to vote. I also put in my widow's mite and now I am done with the mode. (Unsubscribe to some of the emails if they plague you too much. I understand the feeling)
It can seem overwhelming. I was also getting emails. I unsubscribed and texted stop to greatly reduce them.
Sadly, because of the way our political ‘system’ operates, support is often calculated in dollars. When she began running the Dems were no longer ahead in fundraising & were about $50M behind trump. Being able to say her campaign received 60% of the early dollars from donors who had not donated this year showed her ability to broaden engagement. I guess we could say it was a necessary evil for them to get the tremendou$ grassroots donations & convince big donors to get off the fence.
Retired deep in a red state, I’ve given money, written postcards, offered advice to candidates relating to my days as a political organizer, and yet, my fear is that Democrats will begin to act like the Republicans leaving Milwaukee. Keep reminding each other, it sin’t over till its over. Stay strong, my friends.
Limberger Cheesus - the false idol - this is all he has ever been.
When a Christian, proverbially treading water in the deep ocean, chains themself to an anvil, painted the colors of a life-saving ring, it is by choice, personal choice.
There is no misguided inspiration from the divine.
There is merely human frailty, hubris, and fear . . .
The People, and I believe more specifically, rational, decisive, compassionate WOMEN will save democracy in November.
The existential threat is there, and has been there since TFG and his, behind-the-curtain fascist machine endeavored to usurp the will of the People in a free and fair, legitimate election of 2020.
Trump means what he says, but will leave the execution of those threats in the willful hands of that authoritarian machine. He is primarily interested in stopping the possibility of his accountability for his criminality by ransacking the DOJ, and the notoriety of the title. He's never cared about the actual work of governing.
I don't believe that tRUMP and the YaleBilly can chip away enough at the genuine enthusiasm of young people, which has been ignited, and fanned to white-hot, by a Harris campaign.
The torch is likely not being "handed" to the next generation, but "thrown" as a well executed 25 yd. pass up-field.
I expect that if Trump gets a hold of power again, we will lose our beautiful democracy in a matter of weeks. That’s what Trump, Vance, the Supreme Court, the Heritage Foundation and Project 2025 are all about. That’s their plan.
But - we now have Kamala! What a gift Biden has given us. The energy is real. She is giving focus and life to this campaign. We need to concentrate all that energy into getting this job done. I think the magic is her laughter and joy. All of a sudden, we can feel joy and delight and hope. And that is the best kind of contagion. Who wants the hellscape Trump is touting when they can choose positivity and joy?
And btw - they keep saying voting is 100 days off. But it’s less than 60 days- early voting starts Sep 20 in some states.
There would have been more than 100 days of Harris campaigning if Biden had not stubbornly hung on to the title. It took weeks to convince him to do the patriotic thing in the end.
So far, her campaign has repeated the positive things done, the medicine, infrastructure,allies reaffirmation, pandemic relief,etc. But I never hear anyone talking about democracy, the court, the climate crisis-seems it is just hot, gay people. Nope ! They seem to be carrying on their normal lives-showing pictures of pets, relating recipes to unlistening others, school starting soon, going out on their boat(this is Florida, and many like to tell you this only to let you know they have a boat. Big deal ! ) and so on.Two things bother them and they let you know it. Food prices, gas prices. Tell them the US is better off economically than other countries, goes in one ear and out the other. Lines of cars getting gas at Costco disrupt traffic trying to move on.
Yes, Harris needs to hit back at all the demented, made up words that fly from trump's mouth. His fans think they will Save America as he spouts. From what? Him, she should answer and hit back on his fascist absurdities. But she MUST confront food and gas, devise realistic plans, call out greedy companies, give examples of items that go up in price every week (there are many), speak of policies that have helped, items that have decreased in price. Explain OPEC.
I think she should also advocate for improving the state of public education. Stand up for teachers. Remember a time when if you were berated by your teacher and your parents found out, they yelled at you , too? Few parents are in a position to set classroom subject agendas. How many could tell you who Jefferson Davis was, the Mason-Dixon line, a square root, person on a hundred dollar bill, origin of the Star Spangled Banner, location of the Black Sea? I spoke with a fellow the other day who didn't even know who Jerry Lewis was. Another lives in Polk County and had no idea who James K Polk was.
Hopefully, adding Obama's team will help move the campaign in directions that mean a win. trump hates to be made fun of, so, there are ways to do that that are not childish like his. That would really make him go off the deep end often , and not just be weird but crazy.
I think she can win. She had better. Can you imagine having Stephen Miller back ?
This morning's NYT and Washington Post both ran stories on p.1 about that rally that focused on the new bad names he had come up with for Harris. Neither mentioned "you'll never have to vote again". Finally, at about 10 this morning, the NYT included a notice about it in a roundup piece, with the threat in the headline. I still don't see it in WaPo. Maybe they took extra time to verify that he really said it. But so far, they don't seem to think it's all that noteworthy.
I grew up in the Bible Belt. You don't have to convince me of the disingenuousness of many who call themselves Christians and the willingness of many frightened followers to allow others to spout a few out of context lines of gospel and do their thinking for them.
I believe we can win, perhaps by quite a lot, only if we ignore the polls, whether they look bad or good, ignore the rantings of Kevin Roberts and others who imply that they have everything locked up with or without a Trump electoral victory, and put in the hard work and a few dollars to get Vice President Harris and every othe Democrat on the ballot over the finish line. That's the key.
As a committed Christian who takes her faith seriously, I am endlessly appalled by those who call themselves Christian and follow a leader who is the antithesis of the greatest commandment recorded in the gospels (and echoed by many other faiths): Love God with all your heart and soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself." How can they blindly follow this man who preaches hatred and violence? How can they idolize someone who defines everyone not like him as "others" to be despised and even killed? I flinch at the phrase "his Christian followers." I am not empowered to judge, but lets just say that I am empowered to seriously question their right to claim that identity. If they read their New Testament, they should harken to the words from St. Paul: "I urge you to live in a manner of the call you have received with all humility and gentleness." (Perhaps these passages were not included in the bible Trump is peddling.)
"I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.
It is a first class human tragedy that people of the earth who claim to believe in the message of Jesus, whom they describe as the Prince of Peace, show little of that belief in actual practice."
-- Mahatma Gandhi
As a sometimes Spanish teacher in a Catholic School (no more) the donors decided my occasional references to LBGTQ Latinas, a SCOTUS Justice similarly, migrants/aslylum kids & the major dissident poet under Franco who introduced me to my college minor, had no place in their children's world language/cultural education. Apalled, the Jesus and Mary statues in my classroom watched ominously as I reminded the admin to revisit the Pope's Synod on Synodality active through October 2024. What goes around eventually comes around - and often saves the day!
Thank you Elizabeth. It was eerie when I had to tell the teens we'd be 86-ing the bilingual paragraphs on some Latina heroines because, well, this Catholic School has given me some ( gulp) guidelines. ( Really? An Improvement Plan - I actually signed to see out the 1 year contract) The Pope's initiatives were counter to admins' positions epeatedly during that phase I endured and one article the Pope had written was about Catholic Schools exercising caution to not sacrifice good educations because of tuition priorities. I did paraphrase for the stbx employers repeatedly. Nice to chat!
The Bible is replete with examples and descriptions of Christ-like living and leadership. Jer Ch. 7, Ps 50, & Micah 2:1-3, just for a start. But the OT is almost entirely based on the oppression of people by corrupt leadership, & the NT describes The Way - the way to bring about the Kingdom of God here and now - eschewing greed & corruption; caring for “the stranger” - those from other lands, the poor, widows, orphans (as examples, not limited to). How could anyone pick up the Bible & not know this? How much effort is required to twist the wisdom of God into absolute evil?
I'm so sorry to hear this, Candace. I'm grateful that my son's Catholic high school is NOT like this. But I'm afraid many are. I'm grateful they taught him to think critically - and to read history sometimes from the side of the loser. Blessings to you - you sound lovely. -E.
If I may interest you in my new song about saving democracy - as Beschloss writes about here today - it reflects a similar sentiment as his piece. It's called: "This Country Tis of Thee" - relative to each of us actively continuing the great American experiment this November. Candace Asher's 2024 Save Democracy Song Youtube: “This Country “Tis of Thee”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g97Pu_QKEVo
Very much appreciated!!
THANK YOU much!!!!
well done
Thank you Elizabeth!!!
Sadly, so true of many who get the publicity. Those who do not see a responsibility behind bearing the name. But not true of all. For every Trump there are 100 Dorothy Days laboring for justice and peace and love.
Dorothy Day! Love and am inspired by her!
Exactly! I only learned about Dorothy Day a few years ago and she is someone who is a great role model. I wish I knew more Christians like you.
And it was ornery in that there were Dorothy Day types( if you will) present but they got
trampled into silence.
PS I was writing my democracy song during that time and they became privy to that and a teacher with political interests ( moi) was not the kind of teacher they wanted present.
keep the (true) faith
Yes yes yes! I left the gig thinking: not my Jesus...xoxo
I’m so glad to read this because I’ve been feeling the same way about the so called Christian’s who support Trump. Are they blind ? I’ve said many times he is the antithesis of Jesus and they really cannot be believers if they can’t see that. You can’t ignore his behavior and his ugly , hateful words . How do you excuse that ? I’m very disappointed in Turning Point and the evangelical community to the point that I have a visceral reaction to what I read about their support of him. I’ll say it here, Trump is evil. Wake up Christians, you are following the devil, the great deceiver.
I call him the Orange Antichrist because no one fits the description of an antichrist more closely than Trump.
When asked if he asks God for forgiveness, tRump said "No" he never has and believes its up to himself to try and do better. So if he never asks for God's forgiveness he is NOT a Christian.
He doesn’t ask for forgiveness. He doesn’t do anything wrong! He just throws blame. Oh please. I just can’t take it anymore. 🙏 please God make him stop.
They support him because he gives them what they want.
NYT story quoted him: “I am a Christian.” But listen to what he actually said: “I am not a Christian.” What do you make of it?
I also heard Trump say he was not a Christian.
I also thought I heard him say he was NOT a Christian, although I wasn't positive. I saw it transcribed as "I am [unintelligible] a Christian".
I watched at least 15 different clips of that speech and to me he clearly said “I am not Christian.”
Bipolar/narcissist/spin-doctor/pathological-liar on-a-dime. It's a strategy the unitiated fall for. The idea is to keep people confused. Most cannot penetrate the disorder. And it's been normalized. It's nasty. And once you "get it" - a whole lot of personal and world history makes more sense. There's a song in this thread that I wrote for this very reason - called THIS COUNTRY TIS OF THEE - to help people stop being conditioned/disempowered & unclear. Said differently:
“POWER comes not through ideas debated civilly in democratic processes, but to those who generate the most distrust for their own purposes.” Steven Brill
Yes! You get it. As the child of a malignant narcissist (and someone who loves this country), I have known since 2016 that this national trial by fire will not end until he is jailed or dead. His gullible followers actually believe his lies, are charmed by his self-serving attention, and even the never Trumpers mostly do not see the depth of the pathology. He is now much more prepared to install himself as King of America. Terrifying and comic at the same time.
It’s obvious he’s not! Behavior and words give it away.
there is no truth in him (to quote 1 John 2:4, which applies in this case!) He can never be trusted to tell the truth about anything. Sort of incredible to consider, that state of being.
Did that happen today??! Did he say that today?!
You can judge on the evidence of your eyes and ears. I urge you to trust them.
They are Christian nationalists, not remotely Christian . I try to follow the teachings of Christ and I don’t see what they are preaching as Christian at all. It is a political movement and a very dangerous one indeed
👏 thank you - you have written so beautifully my thoughts about so called people who claim to be Christians as well as the ministers who TELL THEM TO VOTE FOR TRUMP. So much for those constitutional rights!
I’m beyond disappointed in so many friends and family members who claim to be Christian. They are not even doing any searching they are falling in line.
Perfect reply - thank you!
You mean you don't worship the Orange Antichrist? Good for you!
And I can't think of anybody who better fits the description of an antichrist than that sadonarcissist. Whoever reveres Trump is no sincere follower of Jesus Christ.
It is impossible to follow both Trump and Jesus - the worldviews are wholly inconsistent
Trump, his wealthy conservative cronies, and his followers are NOT Christians…They are White Christian Nationalists. Theres a huge difference! I suggest watching Bad Faith which is a documentary which explains how White Christian Nationalism came about. 🌹💙
Lots of great books and documentaries out there on Christian nationalism/theocracy. Amazon prime and Kindle have great selections
💯💯💯💯
Nonetheless the NYT misquoted him in a way that would look better to his audience which otherwise does not seem to grow over the past 7 and 1/2 years?
I think that is one area in which we have hope. Their worldview is so bizarre and off-putting that anyone believing as they do is already on the Trump train. I don’t believe there is anyone undecided when it comes to Trump. But, I know they are planning dirty tricks with the electors - in states with a split electorate he is trying to get MAGAs to ignore outcomes and declare him the winner. We can’t only focus on what it takes to fairly beat trump, but also on what kind of intimidation, cheating, etc. are going to come into play
Amen, sister.
When #45 says vote for him and you'll never have to vote again he's confirming he intends to become a dictator for life. There will be NO future elections!
This is serious and he means it. #Project2025 is the plan. It is a draconian vision and democracy has no place in it...We must take #45's statement seriously!
As I have always stated in my responses to your articles. I am an optimist, and I am more so today after the quick, impressive increase in interest, especially among younger voters, in Kamala Harris and her dropping the gloves to directly confront the monster in the room. This is only the beginning. The country has been waiting for a breath of fresh air. Sure, I am disappointed that Biden is not continuing. I think he could have won with the campaign really kicking in after the convention, but it is better with Kamala. Fresh, younger, to the point, straight at it, the IT being the rule of law and democracy. She will not hold back. It's not in her nature. She has the bull by the horns and I think the MAGAs are scared to death.
I am not an optimist by nature, but I agree with everything you say here!
I have hope. We have in Kamala a candidate with a sharp mind and integrity and faith in all dimensions. We have someone who has survived the trench warfare of not only being an intelligent and accomplished woman in our society but a woman of color. She is not caught by surprise by the attacks. But Kamala still laughts. And Kamala doesn't need to engage in ad hominen attacks on her opponent. He and his enablers open their mouths and provide the material for her so called negative ads (her realisitic ads). His cult followers are not convertible. But there is a vast and under-polled citizenry who are listening. Woman of all ages. And, ah, the youth who have spent their childhoods doing live shooter drills, and people of color who go about their lives unseen by many who hold power in our society. I have strong hope that Kamala is persuading all of them to choose freedom.
I too have hope. I have been canvassing for months for Biden and our local candidates. I'm over the moon about Kamala. I really believe it's a movement and I feel it's based on love and connection. We need to be there for one another, and celebrate one another. That is my hope and dream
Thank you for your work on the campaign. I am also now hopeful but it will take work so thanks!
My concern is that the MAGA Party sees voting as a meaningless distraction. Their strategy is more about manipulating the counting of ballots and certification of electors with a plan they have been putting in place since the 2020 election loss. My concern is that these state level operatives will succeed in undermining the vote count in just enough states to throw the elector count to a MAGA-dominated House, regardless of a popular vote sweep by Harris. This strategy is not conspiracy theory. There are actually some states where MAGA 2020 election deniers control the office where the votes get counted and the electors get appointed. Do I think they will care about the actual vote count? No, they won't. That's what I worry about, not the electability of Kamala Harris. We should all be donating to the Democratic Redistricting Committe, which has taken on the challenge of outing these MAGA operatives in state and local election offices.
I have been concerned about this for quite some time. As I understand, the updates to the Electoral Count Act (which I admittedly have not read) say that the “official” results from each state must be accepted. But, in some states those results are determined by a right-wing group who may already “know” who they are going to declare the winner(s). I hope I’m wrong about this.
I agree. I think they tried last time, & did succeed in some Republican controlled states. It was enough to win virtually all tossup Senate & House seats, but not enough to overcome the millions of Americans who usually don't vote but were so inspired to come to the polls solely to vote Trump out of there.
The predicted tossup states of Iowa, Ohio, Florida & Texas, among other states whose electoral apparatus is controlled by Republicans, were a lot bigger wins for Trump (as well as for their Republican congressional candidates) than expected. Of around 10 predicted tossup Senate races & 25 predicted tossup House races, practically all went to the Republican candidate. The statistical probability of that happening by random is less than 1 in a trillion.
For example, we know that Lindsey Graham tried to pressure Georgia election officials to throw out votes in Black majority counties that are Democratic strongholds. We heard a recording of it even before we heard a recording of Trump pressuring Georgia election officials to "find" just enough votes to put Trump over the top (good thing Georgia officials record such phone conversations). Do you think Graham would bother interfering in Georgia's election without first taking care of his own supposed tossup election, which was up until then the most expensive Senate contest in history, a race Graham was so concerned about he was practically crying on Fox, begging the viewers to spend even more of their money to help him eke out a win? The final "official" vote totals had him winning comfortably. Hmmm... I wonder which counties whose votes he was able to convince/bribe officials to throw out.
And how is it that Kentucky's Mitch McConnell & Rand Paul always win by much larger margins than expected? Even the Mississippi Senate race was predicted to be close, but the Republican won it going away.
As much as Republicans tried to smear Dominion for voting machines ostensibly tallying votes incorrectly, it is the ES&S machines owned & operated by staunch MAGA Republicans that can be manipulated remotely & are overwhelmingly used in states where Trump & Republicans won by greater than expected margins, & have a questionable history.
Ted Cruz if Texas is in a tight race! I , for one just do not believe that he is just sitting by , wait him and preparing a
Concession speech along side a Bictory speech.
Spell check messed me up for sure!
1st of all, ES&S is not the dominant system used in KY. It is only used in some of the smaller counties.
2nd, hand counts are used to conduct randomly selected precinct audits in the verification process or if there appear to be discrepancies.
3rd, there is no indication of such fraud.
https://elect.ky.gov/Documents/Voting%20Equipment%20by%20County.pdf
Mitch McConnell was projected to beat Amy McGrath by a wide margin and he did. Polling like that would suppress not improve the turnout for her.
https://www.newsweek.com/what-polls-say-about-mitch-mcconnell-vs-amy-mcgrath-less-24-hours-election-1544133
Basically the same story for Rand Paul versus Charles Booker. CB was polling a little under 40% at the beginning of the election year. Probably his high point.
I don’t think this is helpful. We have serious issues to address in KY. This isn’t one of them.
That would explain why Trump has been saying, "We don't need your votes." In other words, "Don't bother voting--we've already got it fixed."
That is what I am afraid of, trump does not “ campaign “ in such a way that shows that he is trying to Gain voters. It appears he does not even care about that, because they have a he plan all set
Up , that no matter if Kamala wins the Popular And the Electoral Vote, they will not accept that and they have prepared for that , prepared to just TAKE the election mo matter what’. I’m pray that democrats in power have prepared for that!!!! Are they doing something , not just sitting back and counting on enough Votes to win. Trump will Never accept a loss, nor any Maga’s running ng for other positions. What will they do when trump begins”. I won, they cheated, the Dems Stole the vote. What have Dems planned. Biden will still be president of the US with immunity for all of his acts. Is there anyone prepared to Arrest anyone perpetrating a Coup?????
I think the "fix" will take place at the state ballot counting and elector certification stage rather than another violent coup attempt. But I suppose there's the possibility of a coup as a last resort--as much as I hate to say it.
Agree! I have seen that the Magas are doing much in the states to make it possible to get through their “cheating”. I dread what we will face, so sad that the United States in a position like this.
That was my take on it. This is not the first time he has said this, but it finds such a low priority in the “news” that people aren’t aware of it.
I've heard this too in regard to telling people to go watch the polls in other places. "Don't worry about voting, I've got plenty of votes, but we have to watch the polling places so we can catch them if they're cheating ...blah, blah, blah"
This, exactly.
Quite a few critical states have Democratic governors. (Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona). I think they could prevent state level cheating)
Unfortunately, other states do not. Some like Georgia and South Carolina could make a big difference. I hope that's not the case. I hope Eric Holder has a whole strikeforce of lawyers to make sure the letter of the law prevails, and not unconstitutional gimicry, or trumpery (my new favorite noun).
I agree Jim! See my earlier comments (under Bob W)
Donald Trump has stated he’d be a dictator on “day one only”
Trump has now said that he’ll fix everything so good that Christians won’t have to vote again in four years if he wins.
Several in his former Admin wrote Project 2025.
He "jokes" multiple times about being a dictator. He praises dictators. He quotes dictators.
It's kind of a trend.
Call me a lib but this should concern you!
America already spent four years (‘16-‘20) in the dumbest possible timeline and we're not going back!
This November presents two options:
Prosecutor or Criminal.
And you can choose only one.
On a t-shirt here 👇 🤣
http://libtees-2.creator-spring.com/listing/porc2
Not a “joke”!!
What we are seeing in the Harris campaign is hope for the future. We are rallying around her positive message. Positive wins over negative every time.
Tyrump again stated he will end voting. We need to believe him.
Yes, I embody the joy and enthusiasm that Kamala Harris is our Democratic candidate.
WE THE PEOPLE must save ourselves from the demise of our Democracy and all that entails. Our future will drastically change if we allow TYrump to win.
WE THE PEOPLE !
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America!”
Fight lies, donate, volunteer
One can only hope and pray that this sudden burst of energy will be sustained and include people ""staying the course" from registering to vote to voting, donating, making phone calls, walking precincts, and more... "The race is not to the swift..."
Hi Steven,
We now have a fighting chance. Thank you, Mr. President.
Do I believe we will win in November and elect our first woman president? Yes, I do. But I wish we didn't have to do it alone. By that I mean the reaction and description of the MSM to last night's horrifying speech is awful. The NYT, WAPO, Politico and many others treated this as a normal campaign speech and if they mentioned Trump's threat, they did it gently in a paragraph way down in the story. When we need our "Fourth Estate" to tell it like it is and alert those not on social media of the dangers, they are appallingly absent.
His comment about not having to vote in 4 years is appalling and should be front and center on all news media.
And it hasn't been. NYT & WaPo didn't mention it at all this morning. NYT now has a short bit about it. That's appalling, too.
it is appalling.
I don’t have a vote here (I’m Canadian) but I’m cheering Harris and all the people mobilizing for her “God Speed! Make this happen! Make the win so big, there can be no question he lost!” I’d help if I could - Go Kamala! Go Girl!
German Christian Nationalists supported Herr Hitler in the 1930s.
How did that work out for them?
Then and there, as now and here, there were true Christians, led by men such as Martin Niemoller and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who as leaders of the Confessing Church (true to historic Lutheran doctrine) stood against the popular heresy of making Germany great again.
Now 80 years after D-Day all-too-many of the grandchildren of The Greatest Generation want to unleash upon these United States the same Facist Dictatorship that all-too-many of their grandfathers died to defeat.
I graduated from high school in 1976, our Bicentennial Year. In 2026, we will mark 250 years since the founding of our country. On July 4 1776, Benjamin Franklin was asked what kind of a country we had been given. "A Republic -- if you can keep it." Folks if we want to keep our Republic long enough to celebrate July 4 2026, we'd damned well better put all reservations aside and vote for Kamala Harris as POTUS.
Does the existential scale of my question make sense to you? Yes, it is THE question. Too many, even thinking people, are dazzled with shiny pennies... which are bound by nature to loose some of their shine over time, even without a corrosive dose of trumpery. Are we capable of maintaining the reflection without the shine? We will see.
I firmly believe that 100 days is a short enough time to sustain the enthusiasm, especially from women . We are angry about Dobbs, and about Vance’s comments about ‘childless cat ladies’. It will only get more intense as time passes so quickly until early voting begins in some states. Also, the numbers of young people (18-34) who have just registered to vote since Joe Biden stepped down is strong.
Also, VP Harris is easing fears about support for Netanyahu and his genocide in Gaza. That is a big deal to those who have seen Joe as an enabler of Netanyahu’s crimes.
You can sense the optimism spreading across the land. An optimism that is manifesting itself in the 2,300 events to which you refer, Steven: events scheduled in battleground states this weekend alone. And we're only just beginning. Joy and hope are contagious. They are as vital as the air that we breathe.
And what of the other, the dark side? The leader is now openly promising to end democracy. To build concentration camps and deport millions. To ally himself with dictators and turn our nation into a satellite state to Russia. And if public education isn't in trouble enough already, his agenda calls for the Department of Education to be shut down. His acolytes have already been banning books, for God's sake! Ignorance and fear are the cudgels they are trying to use to bludgeon us into subservience. Will we let them?
There is a pride in voting. I feel the guidance of my strong, gentle, giant 6'5" father standing beside me while voting and thinking of what he sacrificed for others. Democracy and America the Beautiful is the only way ahead!
Donald tRump is a pathological liar most of the time and when it’s convenient for him. But, I do believe, in this case, he means exactly what he is saying! He intends to rule our country right along side the ultra wealthy conservative White Christian Nationalists who will replace our democracy with Project 2025.
If this happens, our country, as we’ve known it, will be lost!
I am incredibly excited about Madam VP Kamala Harris running for President and all of incredible support she has gotten.
I believe the excitement behind Madam VPs campaign will not only continue, but, it will continue to grow! It’s not only excitement that drives the enormous support behind her, it’s fear! The people who have been paying attention to politics for the past 8 years have been watching as the January 6th coup has continued to get progressively worse! Jan 6th may have ended, but, the coup never stopped! Everyone in this country will have something to lose from another tRump Presidency (some more than others) including his own supporters and the cronies that kiss the ring! Americas eyes are starting to open, we just need to continue to wake them up!
WE WILL NOT GO BACK! WE MUST WIN! 🗳️💙🇺🇸
We must win the election AND be prepared for whatever trump and his maga’s are setting up to stop that in whatever way they will. Hopefully they are preparing for that. I think that I will text some people about this. his. I have found that just because I se
just because I see something that is not to be postponed d etc? , does not guarantee that those in power are active g on it!
I am pondering what I will do. Here is a way to BEND THE MSM MESSAGE: I quit following MSM when the click bait was endlessly that "Biden is too old." MSM is into "reporting the news" for the clicks and the income stream. So most tilt the way of money For the weeks leading up to forcing Biden to get ouf of the race, "Biden is too old; Biden is impaired" was "the" story. There was very little about Trump, even his conspicuous absence let alone his endless verbal malfunctions when he appeared. I did not then reward their journalistic malpractice with clicks. I joined America America at that time.
But RIGHT NOW the story is positive on Kamala and much more negative for Trump. Give THOSE stories your clicks. If you are all in for Harris you don't need to click on any negative stories about her. Feed the beast of MSM by rewarding the POSITIVE Kamala Harris stories and the NEGATIVE Trump stories. It's a simple strategy but it is real. Tell your fellow supporters.
This is an excellent example, although you can't tell that from the headline. She sounds like exactly the kind of person who will (and already does) represent us well on the global stage. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/27/world/europe/kamala-harris-foreign-policy.html?unlocked_article_code=1.-U0.4uQR.vwtaietqt4cM&smid=url-share
The NYTimes is going to have to do a lot more than a few positive articles on VP Harris to redeem themselves. Their misogyny and well, asshole-ishness still shines through. I appreciate this idea, though. I'll keep watching and listening.
I feel the same way! Although I think there is something to the strategy.
Thank you! Every little bit helps. I will try that. I am so very upset with the Media. There are a few journalists that I do highly trust, but even media like MSNBC are mot doing enough. They never showed Trump falling asleep at the RNC, neither do they stress all
If trumps obvious signs of cognitive decline, or even his horrible statements like “ bot One More Time…… which he has now repeated at least 4 or more times. I don’t watch trump much but I have heard it that much but nothing much from Media.
What does "bot One More Time" mean?
👍👍
We must believe the orange turd when he says he will fix it so that his supporters will no longer have to vote when he wins. He wants to be a dictator, and the first thing dictators do is to prevent change. You only have to look at Russia and see how long Putin has survived to know that elections there are fake and fixed. Kamala can and will win if we all do our job of voting, and ensuring everyone we know votes too. No Democrat can stay home in November. It is imperative we all vote because if we do, Kamala wins. It is up to us now, there is no cavalry over the hill.
One of Donald's campaign promises in his Time Magazine interview. Arrest, imprison and deport 15 million to 20 million men, women and children. This is red meat for the MAGAs. But the legit Press is ignoring it, as though it's too insane to be real. Which it is.
Here's the transcript:
Time: Yes, yes. And we'll come to that, certainly. You have vowed to launch the largest deportation operation in American history. Your advisors say that includes—
Trump: Because we have no choice. I don't believe this is sustainable for a country, what's happening to us, with probably 15 million and maybe as many as 20 million by the time Biden's out. Twenty million people, many of them from jails, many of them from prisons, many of them from mental institutions. I mean, you see what's going on in Venezuela and other countries. They're becoming a lot safer.
Time: Well, let's just talk—so you have said you're gonna do this massive deportation operation. I want to know specifically how you plan to do that.
Trump: So if you look back into the 1950s, Dwight Eisenhower, he's not known for that, you know, you don't think of him that way. Because you see, Ike, but Dwight Eisenhower was very big on illegal immigration not coming into our country. And he did a massive deportation of people. He was doing it for a long time. He got very proficient at it. He was bringing them just to the other side of the border. And they would be back in the country within a matter of days. And then he started bringing them 3,000 miles away—
Time: What’s your plan, sir?
Trump: We will be using local law enforcement. And we will absolutely start with the criminals that are coming in. And they're coming in in numbers that we've never seen before. And we do have a new category of crime. It's called migrant crime. It's, ugh, you see it all the time. You see it in New York City where they're having fistfights with police. And far worse than that. You see it all the time. And you're seeing it in all of the cities, especially the Democratic-run cities, which is a lot of the big ones, but you're seeing it in Chicago, you're seeing it in New York and L.A. and getting worse than in other places.
Time: Does that include using the U.S. military?
Trump: It would. When we talk military, generally speaking, I talk National Guard. I've used the National Guard in Minneapolis. And if I didn't use it, I don't think you'd have Minneapolis standing right now, because it was really bad. But I think in terms of the National Guard. But if I thought things were getting out of control, I would have no problem using the military, per se. We have to have safety in our country. We have to have law and order in our country. And whichever gets us there, but I think the National Guard will do the job. You know, had Nancy Pelosi used the National Guard. You know, I offered them whatever they wanted, but I often—
Time: You would use the military inland as well as at the border?
Trump: I don't think I'd have to do that. I think the National Guard would be able to do that. If they weren't able to, then I’d use the military. You know, we have a different situation. We have millions of people now that we didn't have two years ago.
Time: Sir, the Posse Comitatus Act says that you can't deploy the U.S. military against civilians. Would you override that?
Trump: Well, these aren’t civilians. These are people that aren't legally in our country. This is an invasion of our country. An invasion like probably no country has ever seen before. They're coming in by the millions. I believe we have 15 million now. And I think you'll have 20 million by the time this ends. And that's bigger than almost every state.
Time: So you can see yourself using the military to address this?
Trump: I can see myself using the National Guard and, if necessary, I'd have to go a step further. We have to do whatever we have to do to stop the problem we have. Again, we have a major force that’s forming in our country, when you see that over the last three weeks, 29,000 people came in from China, and they're all fighting age, and they're mostly males. Yeah, you have to do what you have to do to stop crime and to stop what's taking place at the border.
Time: Would that include building new migrant detention camps?
Trump: We wouldn't have to do very much of that. Because we'll be bringing them out of the country. We're not leaving them in the country. We're bringing them out. It’s been done before.
Time: Will you build new ones?
Trump: And it was done by Obama in a form of jails, you know, prisons. And I got blamed for that for four months. And then people realized that was done by him, not by me.
Time: So are you ruling out that you would build new migrant detention camps?
Trump: No, I would not rule out anything. But there wouldn't be that much of a need for them, because of the fact that we're going to be moving them out. We're going to bring them back from where they came.
Time: I ask because your close aide and adviser Stephen Miller said that part of what it would take to carry out this deportation operation would include new migrant detention camps.
Trump: It’s possible that we’ll do it to an extent but we shouldn't have to do very much of it, because we're going to be moving them out as soon as we get to it. And we'll be obviously starting with the criminal element. And we're going to be using local police because local police know them by name, by first name, second name, and third name. I mean, they know them very well.
Time: How are you going to get state and local police departments to participate in this? Under what authority is the President able to do that?
Trump: Well, there's a possibility that some won't want to participate, and they won't partake in the riches, you know. We have to do this. This is not a sustainable problem for our country.
Time: Does that mean you would create funding incentives from the federal government for state and local police departments?
Trump: It could very well be. I want to give police immunity from prosecution because the liberal groups or the progressive groups, depending on what they want to be called, somewhat liberal, somewhat progressive, but they are—they’re very strong on the fact that they want to leave everybody in, I guess, I don't know. You know, sanctuary cities are failing all over the place. And I really believe that there's a pent-up demand to end sanctuary cities by people that were in favor of sanctuary cities, because it's just not working out for the country.
Thank you for sharing this!
The man is out of his damn mind!
I know thinking about and replaying things in my mind won’t change anything, but, HOW did it come to this? I mean, I know the answer, but, this is the kind of thing a democracy is supposed to protect us from and now we’re on our last line of defense! When we get past this, there’s going to have to be some serious douching of douche bags in our government! 😡
Thank you for reprinting this interview. Trump is evil and mentally ill.
Government derives it legitimacy from the people. We are said to be a government of, for, and by the people. I trust that the people will thwart the ambitions of Trump and his minions, the thugs and miscreants of MAGA.
Vote! Vote! Vote! This is not politics as usual. There is no neutral position in this election, and there will be no middle ground until those working to end democracy and freedom of choice are pushed back into the margins.
I don't live in the US, and it sometimes annoys me that global citizens need to care so much about what's happening in US politics. But we really do. In the US, you don't really need to care much about Scottish politics, and I'm a little jealous of that. And it annoys me even more that I know more about the overall situation (and it's global impact) in the US political and legal systems than many US voters do. Anyway... I read this, and Joyce Vance and Heather Cox Richardson, and I'm at least hopeful now that Trump and his cult are being challenged by this uprising that you describe. Your political system utterly infuriates me... In the UK we recently had an election where the transfer of power took 36 hours after the polls had closed, and the outgoing leader phoned the new leader to offer his congrats and support. There were no legal challenges. I'm not saying we have it absolutely right, but I would encourage US folks to take a quick look at how other democratic styles of government work in other countries, even if just out of curiosity.
Thank you. Only American travelers that pay attention notice that the world is watching. We need to live up to the responsibility that has been given us and vote Trump right into prison, where he belongs.
That’s the way it’s supposed to be here too. That’s how it’s always been. Til 2020.
A strongman takeover usually happens when there is some kind of crisis - like the situation in 1930’s Germany. But here there is no crisis. It’s all manufactured. These MAGA people are telling lies to make people think we’re living in some kind of dystopian hellscape. And we need a dictator to fix it. But of course that’s not the reality. People have issues of course. We can always do better. But overall, things are good.
People from other countries living under monarchies in the 18th century were astounded when they saw our peaceful transfer of power after our elections. I think we’ve come to take it for granted. We take voting for granted. How many people say” I don’t like the candidates, I’m not voting”. While there are people around the world who would give their lives for the privilege of voting - for the opportunity to have a say in their future.
It truly infuriates a lot of us, too. We really need to get money out of the equation. And a campaign that lasts 2 years is ludicrous! Many of us are also advocating to get rid of the Electoral College - another way to dilute our votes.
Those are all
necessary, but until we get rid of dark $$$$$ money out of our politics, nothing can change. When!!!!! We get a democratic
President, and replace the criminal, MAGA republicans in the Senate and House there is nothing much that can happen as we are seeing. We must get the criminals out and a large enough number in Senate and House . Then WE must stay on hen to pass laws immediately. Thankfully, President Biden is now working to DO something about the Supreme Court. We must get rid of some of them, at least three are there because of McConnel , acting unconstitutionally and illegally. We must add at least 4 more Justices, make sure they have Ethics Rules with ways to enforce them. We need, immediate, laws to regulate Who can run for president. It is absolutely stupid and hat a Coup n I Ted felon can run….. then he was allowed way too much leniency just because he was a “ candidate”. He should have been forced to be tried d for the other charges,
s , NOT Excused . This entire thing with allowing this criminal , who attempted to overthrow an election in order to remain in power illegally and unconditionally , who stole top secret military nuclear documents, lying, moving them , obstructing DOJ from retrieving them, selling them to our enemies with whom he is way too involved( more going on with Russia and trump than we are told) is beyond stupid. The rest of the world sees this, only Americans, his base and those in Congress, all funded by Billionaires $$$, are the only ones adoring
Traitor Trump.
I understand there is widespread annoyance by those who live outside the US for many reasons beginning with how inward looking the US is in general. I’m aware the UK has a faster transition. It was widely reported here. I’ve seen discussions that ours is too slow by Americans too. Personally I don’t believe our processes are the core problem. Some (human) guardrails failed regarding the former president. The system was challenged but it prevailed.
You have an entirely different election system. I believe it is more centralized and it is much smaller. Our system is decentralized. Cumbersome, I suppose. But more difficult for adversaries (“foreign and domestic”) to corrupt. Every change comes with a tradeoff.
A shorter transition period requires changing either the inauguration date which is in the Constitution or Election Day set by Congress in 1845. Either way it would have a cascading effect on all 50 states which run their own elections, their counties & the precincts within those counties and verification processes.
Then there are the federal laws regarding transition for the outgoing & incoming presidents. Those would have to be completely revamped because transition teams use the time to make transitions as seamless as possible. Except the former administration. The Biden team had to work around them on several issues (including creating a supply chain for vaccine distribution).
Removing the right of redress to the courts for political candidates is a questionable goal. I believe it, like changing Inauguration Day, would require a constitutional amendment.
We had a president who voices and shows his disrespect. We can’t legislate that. We can make sure he doesn’t get back in the White House. Meanwhile, you can be glad you don’t live in one of the states where his influence & the influence of his mini-me’s is felt everyday.
Oh, how I wish. Thank you.
I have not seen such an out pouring of energy and enthusiasm since the Obama campaign in 2008. We have a solid candidate with the right ideas about the issues we care about. The choice could not be clearer and the American people will choose progess, diveristy, equality and unity over chaos, division, darkness and hate. YES WE KAM!!!
Sprinkled throughout his ramblings in every election cycle are consistent indications of what matters to him and what he will do if elected again.
• In 2016 at a rally in Nevada: “I don't care how sick you are. I don't care if you just came back from the doctor and he gave you the worst possible prognosis, meaning it's over. Doesn't matter. Hang out till November 8. Get out and vote.“ (Followed by “I say kiddingly but I mean it.”)
• December 2022, while denying his election loss. We remember what came next: “A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”
• June, 2024 in the Nevada desert heat: "I don't want anybody going on me. We need every voter. I don't care about you. I just want your vote. I don't care."
•• Later, at the NV rally talking about voting again: “It would be suicide before Biden, right?"
• “dictator on day one”
• Pressed by Hannity: “dictator for one day”
• Asked about it in a TIME interview: “A lot of people like it.”
• And now: “You won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians…. In four years, you don’t have to vote again, we’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.”
DJT, his acolytes and his mouthpieces are ready to turn our country into their despotic dream while Hungarian Rhapsody plays in the background. That should fuel more than enough energy to carry Kamala Harris all the way to the WH.
We are definitely in the"sugar high" phase of Kamala's candidacy, but make no mistake - things have changed. There is true engagement and excitement about this turn of events. (Registrations, money!)
Thank you Joe Biden, for your service and statesmanship. You made the right decision to help save our democracy. History will truly remember you.
Pardon my skepticism…But…tRump’s, LCF comments such as , “we don’t need your Votes” and/or, “You don’t have to worry about voting again!” May well mean that he doesn’t plan on allowing Americans the ability to be ABLE to vote again. He tried it once already, and now that he has been elevated above the Laws we all live by. I’m willing to bet, “a Dollar to a Doughnut” he plans to do again! I’ll further wager…he and his Repugnant sycophants have learned a bit from his initial attempt and failure! Not to repeat his mistakes!!
Gop are liars and cheaters and always play dirty. God save us.
Yes. More and more folks are paying attention and realizing that Whiny Donald is just a bully and a loser. It takes some time and courage, but bullies can be dealt with once confronted.
We should all be very concerned about him fixing everything so good… I do not trust SCOTUS or any of the republikkkans during this election. With all the voter suppression and whatever else they are screaming I truly hope there are plans to cut their obstruction and illegal scams off at the knees.
As so often, you ask the stark and critical question. The answer is: we can and we must, but whether we will or not is entirely up to American voters. No one else is coming to the rescue. November is “now or never” time.
I am a recent retiree who stepped up to serve help the county party in the voter protection space. My first time doing any of this but at 66, I feel renewed energy from the great team I’m on!
If the news media doesn’t report of this recent speech and its implications and continue to emphasize it they are continuing to do a disservice (as they have been) to the voters. This speech was the epitome of Christofascism.
Doesn't he also say, "I don't need your votes. We've got all the votes we need." What is that about?!
Yes, he does. It’s part of his schtick about his election being inevitable unless it’s ‘stolen’. When I’ve seen those comments he also talked about watching the polls & other voters. Like this …
https://newrepublic.com/post/184269/trump-urging-supporters-not-vote-election
Thank you! Given that many if not most of his supporters would jump off a cliff if he told them to, I hope they take these remarks literally and stay home on Nov 5 thinking he's already got enough votes to win.
I certainly believe morale has improved significantly since the crisis of the last month-plus has ended. My morale, and that of my progressive and moderate friends, has definitely improved dramatically. How far it takes us remains an open question. But folks are clearly fired up and ready to go.
I spent a lot of my career in front of judges, attempting to persuade them that my client's position was legally and/or factually stronger than my adversary's. Back then, I concentrated on making my strongest and most credible case and then trusting the tribunal to make the right decision.
That's where we are now. I'm cautiously optimistic, as I was about the hush-money trial in NYC before the jury rendered its entirely justified decision.
Fingers crossed, postcards and letters to write to GOTV...
I totally feel a shift in thinking and perception of this moment. Let’s face it, this time last week I was in total despair, not knowing if we were going to survive through November, let alone past it. Now I have great hope and optimism that we will annihilate trump in Roevember! And all the haters will have to slink back under the rocks from which they came! And We The People can breathe a sigh of relief, while President Harris continues the hard work she and President Biden started, repairing the damage the orange turd did…and moving the country forward! 100%KAMALA! Aaaahhhh
We are going to see a win by Kamala Harris. It will be a win like no other in the history of America and will prevent any plans the opposition may have already in place to steal the election.
Trump’s lies have run their course. Trump has run his course.
The work of many millions of Harris voters will continue. Not one drop of effort we put forth is wasted. It all counts. It all multiplies.
We were always going to win. But strategic Joe and Kamala have made it a blue wave that captures the Senate and House by margins that will end maga and, unless they change, the Republican party.
Do my efforts matter? For a number of years now, I have practiced "letting go" of the results of my efforts. It helps calm anxiety I might feel and keeps me moving forward, not dwelling on the past. I strive to do good; to think, say, and do what is right; then keep moving. For this election cycle, I am focused on GOTV activities through our local Democratic Club that encourage people to VOTE the ENTIRE BALLOT (sorry for the caps, but local, county, and state office holders have as much, or more, impact on our daily lives.) I'm also volunteering as a Poll Observer for the primary and general elections. I was supportive of President Biden, yet ecstatic to have a candidate younger than 65 in VP Harris.🙆🏼♀️
Yes, I understand the stakes. Yes, I believe Trump is an existential threat to our democracy. Yes, I believe Kamala Harris has sparked a new level of enthusiasm, and I enthusiastically support her campaign! And yes, we’re going to keep our democracy in November!
MSM better cover this
See the comment I just entered regarding this phenomenon.
I’m sorry that the election has become all about money. I get bullying texts all day long trying to make me donate to progressive candidates. I’ve donated all that I can afford and they won’t leave me alone. It’s almost enough to make me not vote.
I agree that it's a fine line between being swept up in the excitement of a candidate who can beat Trump and feeling besieged by demands. Keep your eye on the ball - voting and helping is something we can all do - and keep sending STOP to those texts if you don't want to receive them!
yet another thing that needs fixing. We got this from SCOTUS decision on Citizens Unitied. So the only way to eventually fix it is to vote. I also put in my widow's mite and now I am done with the mode. (Unsubscribe to some of the emails if they plague you too much. I understand the feeling)
I understand the text overwhelm. You can always reply STOP and you will be removed from their list.
It can seem overwhelming. I was also getting emails. I unsubscribed and texted stop to greatly reduce them.
Sadly, because of the way our political ‘system’ operates, support is often calculated in dollars. When she began running the Dems were no longer ahead in fundraising & were about $50M behind trump. Being able to say her campaign received 60% of the early dollars from donors who had not donated this year showed her ability to broaden engagement. I guess we could say it was a necessary evil for them to get the tremendou$ grassroots donations & convince big donors to get off the fence.
You can opt out. Scroll down.
Retired deep in a red state, I’ve given money, written postcards, offered advice to candidates relating to my days as a political organizer, and yet, my fear is that Democrats will begin to act like the Republicans leaving Milwaukee. Keep reminding each other, it sin’t over till its over. Stay strong, my friends.
It's more like 8 years since he has refused to leave us I peace. Only a resounding thrashing can put him in his place (which I hope is soon prison).
Limberger Cheesus - the false idol - this is all he has ever been.
When a Christian, proverbially treading water in the deep ocean, chains themself to an anvil, painted the colors of a life-saving ring, it is by choice, personal choice.
There is no misguided inspiration from the divine.
There is merely human frailty, hubris, and fear . . .
The People, and I believe more specifically, rational, decisive, compassionate WOMEN will save democracy in November.
The existential threat is there, and has been there since TFG and his, behind-the-curtain fascist machine endeavored to usurp the will of the People in a free and fair, legitimate election of 2020.
Trump means what he says, but will leave the execution of those threats in the willful hands of that authoritarian machine. He is primarily interested in stopping the possibility of his accountability for his criminality by ransacking the DOJ, and the notoriety of the title. He's never cared about the actual work of governing.
I don't believe that tRUMP and the YaleBilly can chip away enough at the genuine enthusiasm of young people, which has been ignited, and fanned to white-hot, by a Harris campaign.
The torch is likely not being "handed" to the next generation, but "thrown" as a well executed 25 yd. pass up-field.
I for one, am happy to see it.
I expect that if Trump gets a hold of power again, we will lose our beautiful democracy in a matter of weeks. That’s what Trump, Vance, the Supreme Court, the Heritage Foundation and Project 2025 are all about. That’s their plan.
But - we now have Kamala! What a gift Biden has given us. The energy is real. She is giving focus and life to this campaign. We need to concentrate all that energy into getting this job done. I think the magic is her laughter and joy. All of a sudden, we can feel joy and delight and hope. And that is the best kind of contagion. Who wants the hellscape Trump is touting when they can choose positivity and joy?
And btw - they keep saying voting is 100 days off. But it’s less than 60 days- early voting starts Sep 20 in some states.
There would have been more than 100 days of Harris campaigning if Biden had not stubbornly hung on to the title. It took weeks to convince him to do the patriotic thing in the end.
So far, her campaign has repeated the positive things done, the medicine, infrastructure,allies reaffirmation, pandemic relief,etc. But I never hear anyone talking about democracy, the court, the climate crisis-seems it is just hot, gay people. Nope ! They seem to be carrying on their normal lives-showing pictures of pets, relating recipes to unlistening others, school starting soon, going out on their boat(this is Florida, and many like to tell you this only to let you know they have a boat. Big deal ! ) and so on.Two things bother them and they let you know it. Food prices, gas prices. Tell them the US is better off economically than other countries, goes in one ear and out the other. Lines of cars getting gas at Costco disrupt traffic trying to move on.
Yes, Harris needs to hit back at all the demented, made up words that fly from trump's mouth. His fans think they will Save America as he spouts. From what? Him, she should answer and hit back on his fascist absurdities. But she MUST confront food and gas, devise realistic plans, call out greedy companies, give examples of items that go up in price every week (there are many), speak of policies that have helped, items that have decreased in price. Explain OPEC.
I think she should also advocate for improving the state of public education. Stand up for teachers. Remember a time when if you were berated by your teacher and your parents found out, they yelled at you , too? Few parents are in a position to set classroom subject agendas. How many could tell you who Jefferson Davis was, the Mason-Dixon line, a square root, person on a hundred dollar bill, origin of the Star Spangled Banner, location of the Black Sea? I spoke with a fellow the other day who didn't even know who Jerry Lewis was. Another lives in Polk County and had no idea who James K Polk was.
Hopefully, adding Obama's team will help move the campaign in directions that mean a win. trump hates to be made fun of, so, there are ways to do that that are not childish like his. That would really make him go off the deep end often , and not just be weird but crazy.
I think she can win. She had better. Can you imagine having Stephen Miller back ?
We will save Democracy. We have to. There's no other option.
This morning's NYT and Washington Post both ran stories on p.1 about that rally that focused on the new bad names he had come up with for Harris. Neither mentioned "you'll never have to vote again". Finally, at about 10 this morning, the NYT included a notice about it in a roundup piece, with the threat in the headline. I still don't see it in WaPo. Maybe they took extra time to verify that he really said it. But so far, they don't seem to think it's all that noteworthy.
Awful, simply awful. My journalism professors would roll over in their graves if they had lived to see this day. I dissent.
Why the MSM thinks they’d be safe in a dictatorship is a mystery to me.
He has frequently repeated that he will close down the MSM and imprison the journalists.
I grew up in the Bible Belt. You don't have to convince me of the disingenuousness of many who call themselves Christians and the willingness of many frightened followers to allow others to spout a few out of context lines of gospel and do their thinking for them.
I believe we can win, perhaps by quite a lot, only if we ignore the polls, whether they look bad or good, ignore the rantings of Kevin Roberts and others who imply that they have everything locked up with or without a Trump electoral victory, and put in the hard work and a few dollars to get Vice President Harris and every othe Democrat on the ballot over the finish line. That's the key.
Let us not forget TFG is being aided and abetted by a bought and corrupted SCOTUS who takes their orders from the Fascist Federalist Society.
We must win, we must reform the court.