Raining here. Raining raining raining for hours and hours and hours, the remnants of Beryl sweeping up the continent. Fine with me; I love a rainy day. Just watched two grackles livin’ it up in the birdbath on the one day you wouldn’t think they’d need it, but I’m not a grackle. You do you, grackles! Live your best life. I’m just glad it’s not 90 degrees and sunny.
It is 74 degrees, with one million percent humidity. I’m inside, and staying here.
A note on Trump and Project 2025. I’m not interested in writing a full newsletter article on this, but since I’m asked about it a lot, here are the key points:
1) Yes, Trump knows what Project 20205 is. No, he likely doesn’t care, because policy is a thing other people do while he steals money and ensures impunity for himself and his backers.
2) Trump is not an ideologue. He is a bulldozer used by two GOP-linked networks that often collaborate.
3) The first network is made of hard right-wing ideologues that have been gradually implementing a neo-fascist US since the Reagan era, chipping away at courts, regulations, rights, etc. This is the Project 2025 network.
4) The second network is transnational organized crime, the network in which Trump is most at home. Their goal is to collapse the US and strip it and sell it for parts, much like the oligarch wars that followed the collapse of the USSR. This network has been active for decades as well. Its dynamics and Trump’s role are laid out in my book HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT.
5) Both networks contain fanatics of varying faiths who deploy rhetoric with apocalyptic overtones. Some are true messianic believers. Others exploit religion for financial and political gain.
6) Broken or corrupt US institutions, especially the DOJ, have allowed these anti-American entities to grow and thrive.
7) Blackmail, threats, and bribery play a role in solidifying their power, but many officials are simply complicit, including in the Democratic Party.
8) The two networks may clash at some point, depending on whether their goal is American autocracy or collapse. Either way, Americans will get some form of mafia state kleptocracy, which is what we have already.
9) I’ve explained all this in detail in my books and free newsletter and interviews. It’s a complicated history.
What’s not complicated is that the big danger isn’t Trump, the man, but Trump and the criminal billionaire networks behind him. The latter need to be examined far more than the former.
– Sarah Kendzior
Read on Substack
Point 4 is the one that intrigues me, and isn’t something I’d considered. “Collapse the U.S. and strip it and sell it for parts” is, as she notes, precisely what happened in the Soviet Union, post-collapse. Whole industries were stolen by those with the daring to try it. Think what would be possible in a United States where Project 2025 has succeeded in driving the dismantling of large portions of the federal system. It’s not hard to see it. One thing living near a city many wrote off years ago taught me is just how much meat remains on the bones of a carcass. I just reserved “Hiding in Plain Sight” at the library.
Still raining.
Sherri said on July 10, 2024 at 1:56 pm
The recent SCOTUS decisions effectively dismantling the ability of agencies to regulate certainly is a big step along the path to stripping the US for parts.
I’m also constantly learning of yet another industry that private equity has come to dominate; the latest are veterinary services and jail health care. The former has resulted in a dramatic increase in costs for services, the latter in an increase in deaths in incarceration.
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Sherri said on July 10, 2024 at 2:10 pm
Reading all these oh so clever ideas about what the Dems should do remind me of a couple of conversations I had several years ago. I had two different friends, both male techies, from different coasts, both express interest to me in “fixing our politics.” One was busy reading all the works of the founders, the other was likewise trying to reason from first principles, as techies are wont to do.
I, a former techie who has not spent many years volunteering both in and out of the political sphere, suggested that they start getting involved locally, going to city council meetings, school board meetings, local political party meetings, working on a local campaign, so they could understand how politics really works on the ground, that politics is about how we work out conflicting values in community. Both of them looked at me like I was crazy. To the best of my knowledge, neither of them has done it.
You can not solve a problem if you don’t understand how the system works, and you can not understand how the system works if you abstract away all the people.
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Suzanne said on July 10, 2024 at 2:14 pm
I read Kendzior’s Hiding in Plain Sight when it came out and have followed her on social media for a number of years. She used to co-host a podcast called Gaslit Nation which is quite good. Most of what she has predicted has been proven true. She predicted Merrick Garland would slow walk legal action against Trump and his minions. Sec of State Blinkin’s step-father (Sam Pisar) was a good buddy & attorney for Gislane Maxwell’s father & later for Epstein. Blinken and Maxwell have known eachother for years. Make your own inferences. Her transnational crime network masquerading as government is spelled out plausibly in her book. I try not to get a conspiracy mind because I do not want to end up like the QAnon people, but…
We are in the deep weeds and easily may drown.
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Icarus said on July 10, 2024 at 2:39 pm
In the last thread, someone talked about getting out and voting. That certainly is the answer, especially with the downstream positions. But with Gerrymandering, voter suppression, and the Electoral College, the presidency will once again come down to the minority.
I want to believe that when the Founding Fathers wanted to balance the power of states, they assumed one state might have a population of 1 million and another might have only 800K. They never imagined an Idaho of almost 2M and a California of 40M. But yet it seems more of a feature than a bug.
I’d like to share a clip of a comment thread on Quora but I’m not sure that would be appropriate given the size.
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Scout said on July 10, 2024 at 2:40 pm
I posted this at the end of the previous thread right before this one went up.
A reminder that WE decide. The media only leads us by the nose if we let them.
“Led by David Lazer, university distinguished professor of political science and computer science at Northeastern, the report indicates that the debate had little if any impact on people’s voting preference. Lazer hopes the report helps illustrate the dangers of making a mountain out of a molehill when it comes to the media interpreting data.”
https://news.northeastern.edu/2024/07/09/biden-debate-performance-voter-preferences/
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Deborah said on July 10, 2024 at 2:51 pm
I listened to Gaslit Nation for a few years and then it kind of fell off my radar. Her cohost was Ukrainian and the sister of the cohost made a movie about the Holdomor (spelling?) when Ukrainian citizens were starved out by Stalin (I think it was Stalin?). I should look that up.
I loved Kedzior’s term “transnational crime syndicate”, it’s aptly descriptive.
She lives (or lived) in St. Louis where I lived for a couple of decades before moving to Chicago in 2003, and had some connection to Washington University there which is an excellent institution and my husband taught architecture there for a while.
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Kristen said on July 10, 2024 at 3:39 pm
Her book The View from Flyover Country is also excellent. I listened to the audio version over several long walks and found myself saying “Yup! You got it!” many, many times.
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Jakash said on July 10, 2024 at 4:31 pm
This is off-topic given today’s post and commentary, but I was wondering what the folks at nn.c thought about the current situation and have been catching up. I’m kinda surprised at the seeming consensus that Joe’s the guy and Let’s Go! Personally, I have no idea what the best course from this point would be, but the opinion I find myself most in agreement with is the title of Nancy’s post from last week, #doomed.
I respect almost all y’all’s opinions, so I’d like to be encouraged to read that staying the course with the incumbent is the correct course of action. But I remember arguing with Sherri before the *last* election about her less than enthusiastic support of Biden, and how many of us, including myself early on, wished there were a better viable option *then*. That we’re in this situation now is almost exquisitely depressing. If only he could have made it another half a year before this apparent decline became so evident.
I’m just not optimistic that attempting to reelect Biden is going to work. One doesn’t have to be *against* him to feel that he’s lost quite a bit off his fastball in 4 years, and how could he not have? The presidency is brutal for almost everybody but a certain orange guy who simply rants and raves and phoned it in. It seems to me that everybody around Biden made a calculation at least 8 months or a year ago that he was in okay shape and there was no clear choice to replace him effectively, so we’d have to back him for a second term and hope for the best.
That was a risky proposition, given that aging is a one-way street. The ensuing months have not gone well for him in that regard, which is just an objective fact. Uh, people have noticed, and those who aren’t as committed to the cause as we are are very concerned. Rightfully so, in my opinion. I wish he would have come to a different conclusion himself, but not many voluntarily hand over the car keys when the time comes.
I don’t know why I’m posting this, since it’s against the grain and I have nothing positive to suggest. I guess I’m just floundering because I’m not at all convinced that staying the course is going to work in this instance and crossing our fingers and hoping that Joe is gonna be fine seems like wishful thinking. And I’m sorry about that, but figured maybe it was worth saying. Maybe not.
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Jeff Borden said on July 10, 2024 at 4:46 pm
Reading these items I was reminded of the famous monologue delivered by Ned Beatty to Peter Finch in “Network.”
“You’re an old man who thinks in terms of nations and people. There are no nations. There are no peoples. There is only one holistic system of systems, one vast interwoven, interacting multivariate, multinational dominion of dollars.”
Paddy Chayefsky nailec this shit 50 years ago.
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Deborah said on July 10, 2024 at 5:02 pm
Personally Jackash, I think we should be going forward with Biden and we have to win, absolutely, and I personally think it’s possible. There are so may problems with changing now it just doesn’t make sense, at all. It’s wishful thinking that anyone else could win at this point. I seriously believe this. Was Biden my first choice in 20 20, no but I came to think he was the right person for the job when he won. He has been a great president. Do I wish he had made noises earlier that he wouldn’t try again, yes I did think that. I wish he and his administration would have promoted Harris earlier to be his successor but that didn’t happen for whatever reason. We are where we are and a Trump presidency is not only wrong it is also extremely dangerous, we have no choice. I feel it can be done, like France did, Biden can win. It will take some people swallowing their pride and doing whatever we can to defeat Trump, I think it can be done, I really do. Will those egotistical people do the right thing, I hope so. This is down to the wire and the pundits need to reign it in for the good of the country, not for the good of their employers. I have a lot of optimism which is rare for me. I have a lot of doubts about polls, they have been so wrong in the recent past, I don’t know if they know how to conduct fair and accurate polls anymore.
The campaign staffs and pundits all around just seem out for themselves to make money, with smoke and mirrors, not accurate facts. There’s a lot of money to be made during elections and that is a tragedy for our democracy.
I wish I knew what was up with the NYT, so many people I revere and think highly of just seem wrong to me, like I felt about the Iraq war.
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Sherri said on July 10, 2024 at 5:06 pm
It’s not that I think sticking with Biden is a great choice, it’s that I think changing at this late date is even worse, and any of the ideas that involve replacing Biden with anybody but Harris are especially bad, given the realities of campaign finance law and the message it would send to Black women, the heart of the base.
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Jeff Borden said on July 10, 2024 at 5:33 pm
I’m with Deborah and Sherri. It’s too late to make a change. Push the old man across the finish line by pounding the QOP on abortion and all the other unpopular issues it embraces. Pound the fact the other guy is a rapist and has been convicted on 34 felonies. Blast his idiotic economic plans. It can be done…not easily…but it can be done.
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alex said on July 10, 2024 at 5:45 pm
Just a hunch, but I think Project 2025 is a silent but deadly fart that’s only just now starting to stink up the room and when it does it’s going to drive all but the most diehard MAGAts away from Trump.
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Mark P said on July 10, 2024 at 6:01 pm
JFC, what’s the worst that could happen if Biden wins? Ok, pick the absolute worst you can imagine. How does that compare with what can happen if Trump wins? The only real path for us now is to get Biden elected, no matter what, and that does not involve undermining him. We can deal later with what happens after he gets elected. At least if Biden wins, there will be a later.
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Jeff Borden said on July 10, 2024 at 6:03 pm
What Mark P. said!
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Sherri said on July 10, 2024 at 6:39 pm
The other problem with changing candidates at this late date is the opportunity for GOP ratfuckery it unleashes. Remember the Brooks Brothers riot in Florida in 2000? Now imagine the flood of lawsuits that will be unleashed across the country, especially in the wacko 5th Circuit, should the Dems try to change candidates. And then remember that three members of Bush’s legal team in that election now sit on SCOTUS.
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Jakash said on July 10, 2024 at 6:42 pm
Thanks for the replies. I wish I could share your optimism, Deborah.
Yes, Sherri, it’s quite significant to me that somebody as involved politically and cogent as you are has come to that conclusion. Not enough to make me feel any better about it, though! 😉
Nothing in my comment referred to being worried about what would happen if he wins. I’m very concerned about what will take place between now and the election. If he’s the one on the ballot, I certainly intend to vote for him, no question. I’m just afraid that many, particularly young people, will not be joining us in doing so.
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Sherri said on July 10, 2024 at 6:49 pm
The thing that worries me the most is that Dem leadership, particularly Dem senators, end up pushing Biden out, decide that 24 is a losing proposition anyway, and put a patsy in to take the L and look towards 28. Because I’m not convinced that they really see the gravity of the situation with regards to democracy. I think they think the institutions will hold, it won’t be that bad, we survived Trump once, etc.
If the nominee ends up being a governor from a swing state like Shapiro of Pennsylvania or a red state like Breshear of Kentucky, it’s because Dem leadership doesn’t want to give anybody like Harris or Newsom or Whitmer an advantage for 28. They’ll politics as usual themselves right into fascism.
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Mark P said on July 10, 2024 at 7:03 pm
The right has told us what they plan if Trump wins. They intend to destroy the government regulatory institutions, completely politicize the civil service, and ultimately destroy Medicare and Social Security. Among other things.
I think some people who want Biden to withdraw are counting on people voting against Trump, no matter who the Democratic nominee is. And I want a unicorn for Christmas.
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Mark P said on July 10, 2024 at 7:07 pm
And now fucking George Clooney asking Biden to withdraw. Easy for him to say. If Trump wins, Clooney can just move to his estate at Lake Como in Italy. It’s very pretty over there, and he doesn’t need Medicare or Social Security.
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Sherri said on July 10, 2024 at 7:25 pm
Of course, the Fascists already literally lead the government in Italy…
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Mark P said on July 10, 2024 at 8:30 pm
At least at Lake Como he probably wouldn’t have to worry about Trump’s new Gazpacho.
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Jim said on July 11, 2024 at 5:35 am
Point 4 means that Syphilis will give America to Putin – best #buddies# .
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Dexter Friend said on July 11, 2024 at 7:59 am
If these goddam pearl clutchers want Joe out and Harris atop the ticket, and are so sure Joe will die shortly, then vote Joe Biden in and Harris will be your President, because at an open convention there would be hungry wolves working to be the flag bearer themselves. The women I watch on MSNBC profess support for Harris in this scenario, but could enough women be mobilized to beat Trump? They say yes. HRC’s campaign took a lot of heat for a bad campaign; what kind of campaign would Kamala run? Would she offer a blank check to genocidal Netanyahu? Is she formulating an agenda/policy right now behind a wall?
The best choice made must be the choice that beats the senile rapist who is goddam crazy.
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Suzanne said on July 11, 2024 at 8:02 am
Sarah Kendzior’s latest newsletter post
https://sarahkendzior.substack.com/p/last-chance-usa
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diane said on July 11, 2024 at 9:28 am
Why does the Democratic party always form a circular firing squad instead of circling the wagons? I really don’t think Americans are going to be as smart as the English and French.
Biden, who admittedly was my last choice back when the democrats had two stages full of primary candidates, has done a great job. He has appointed a very good Cabinet and staff.
For f**k’s sake, the choice is not between a criminal and just another old guy. It is between authoritarianism and criminality in government (and selling off the country in pieces) and competency in government.
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diane said on July 11, 2024 at 9:46 am
cont. (I was editing and somehow lost the end of my prior post).
There needs to be a two pronged approach, not just that Biden is not Trump (that thinking has gotten us to this idea that we can just switch to somebody else who is not Trump at this stage of the game) but also that Biden is competent, he has achievements, has a competent staff that get things done. Why campaign solely in fear of the other guy when there are actually very positive things to tout about your guy as well?
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alex said on July 11, 2024 at 10:46 am
Why campaign solely in fear of the other guy when there are actually very positive things to tout about your guy as well?
I’ve watched this administration touting its accomplishments for the last four years. The MSM largely ignores it or creates false balance by giving the right’s counterfactual propaganda equal time. The same thing happened during Obama’s presidency. Good news doesn’t generate clicks and manufactured controversy does. And the zone is so flooded with bullshit that nothing has meaning anymore.
My doctor told me to stop reading and watching news. I need to quit being so medically noncompliant.
As for the campaign, it’ll sort itself out one way or another, but I’m not going to let this drama terrorize me any longer.
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Deborah said on July 11, 2024 at 10:50 am
As Molly Jong Fast said on Threads:
“Is it just me or are all the people screaming about what democrats must do all white men?”
“White men haven’t entered the chat, they own it and always have”
“You know who’s going to be the least affected by a second Trump term? White men.”
Are those guys all in the same bubble? Because I don’t get it. I know how one can be caught up in a bubble of their own thinking, because they only listen to each other.
As I said before the NYT got on their high horse about the Iraq war, I think her name was Judith Miller a former journalist there, reported all kinds of gobbeldy gook about how we should definitely go into Iraq, she and her cohorts were so wrong about everything as we all now know. I understand it’s not just the NYT, other white men are platforming what the democrats should do about Biden. I say to them, get out of your bubble, you’re wrong. Period.
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susan said on July 11, 2024 at 10:59 am
“Who exactly is trying to push Biden out? A lesson in where political power really lies in America”
Robert Reich knows….
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Heather said on July 11, 2024 at 11:59 am
100 percent, Susan. Plus Joe is pro-union. Corporations don’t like that.
I agree the smart choice is to stay with Biden. Even if he is out of it (which, I’m sorry, does no one remember this country re-elected Reagan?), he surrounds himself with smart and capable people. You’re not just electing a man—you’re electing an administration.
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Scout said on July 11, 2024 at 12:10 pm
Like probably everyone else here, I live with an almost constant level of anxiety simmering in my subconscious. How can we not be when we know the evil and corruption we’re up against? But Sherri and Deborah are right. It is too late to change horses and I believe all the people bemoaning the choice made to run Joe again will do the right thing in November. Does anyone honestly think trump has gained any NEW support?
Maybe this will help ease some anxiety. People are clapping back at the party elites and the media. https://www.newsweek.com/americans-arent-abandoning-joe-biden-debate-john-fetterman-chris-coons-1923205
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Icarus said on July 11, 2024 at 1:21 pm
I made this comment on Eric Zorn’s substack:
At this point, Biden feels like kicking a field goal into the wind, while putting someone else in is a Hail Mary into the End Zone with receivers with uncertain hands.
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Sherri said on July 11, 2024 at 1:36 pm
The IRS announced it collected $1 billion in past due back taxes from wealthy households. Wonder if Punch Sulzberger was on that list?
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Deborah said on July 11, 2024 at 2:41 pm
OK, if that’s the way it is, if the big donors really do control what happens in politics like Susan’s link says, then if they convince Biden to step down, they better be ready to put a shitload of money into the new campaign and they better have damn good statistics to make and prove their point.
I’ve read it has to be Harris if not Biden so she can use the money already collected for the Biden Harris campaign. If the money power folks decide they want someone else they’re going to have to make up for all of that which can’t be used and then some, lots more. And if the new candidate doesn’t win they are going to be completely responsible in my eyes and the eyes of millions of others, but what do they care.
Honestly this big money situation is soooo depressing. The media makes so much money on campaign advertising. The bunch of oligarchs stink to high heaven. I spend at least half of my day being so pissed off that it has come to this to keep our democracy, if that’s what we even have anymore.
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Sherri said on July 11, 2024 at 3:58 pm
The NYTimes, of all places, makes the comprehensive case against Trump (gift link): https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/07/11/opinion/editorials/donald-trump-2024-unfit.html?unlocked_article_code=1.6U0.-_BO.5aJ2IiUyplAN&smid=url-share
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Jerrie in Mid-MD said on July 11, 2024 at 4:08 pm
I’m not sure how to forward a substack article but when it comes to the NYT editorial, I’m with Lucian Truscott: “New York Times editorial on Trump is weak, lame, pathetic, and belated.”
https://luciantruscott.substack.com/p/new-york-times-editorial-on-trump
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alex said on July 11, 2024 at 4:36 pm
Thanks Jerrie. My New York Times subscription will be the first to go, even though I like playing Wordle. I quit before, in 2016, when “the paper of record” downplayed Trump’s liabilities while hammering away relentlessly on Clinton’s.
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David C said on July 11, 2024 at 4:49 pm
Sherri @ 34. Punch is dead. Dash is the nickname of the latest Sulzberger nepobaby failson.
I joined the Mystic Order of Metformin this morning. My glucose was 297. Last year it was 92. Yikes. The doctor said it’s about 50-50 coming on slowly and all of the sudden. It’s going to be rough on a carb hound like me.
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Sherri said on July 11, 2024 at 5:26 pm
So hard to keep all these nepobaby failsons with stupid nicknames straight. Wasn’t Dash Queen Victoria’s favorite dog?
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Colleen said on July 11, 2024 at 5:28 pm
“You’re not just electing a man—you’re electing an administration.”
Exactly. FDR didn’t make the plans for D-day, the generals and other muckity mucks did, and then advised him. Yes, the ultimate responsibility was his, but the plans were by others with more expertise.
I don’t think people understand what the president does. It’s an administrative job, not a “do everything myself” job.
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Jeff Borden said on July 11, 2024 at 5:57 pm
There’s quite a scary story in The Atlantic focusing on two reptilian QOP operatives who are directing the tRump campaign. They’re predicting tRump will win in a landslide with 300+ electoral votes. And, of course, they are chortling over facing Biden, who one of the smug assholes describes as “a gift.” Do these two creeps know something we don’t? Or, is it typical political bullshit?
I’m still waiting for the campaign ads that illustrate tRump’s criminal background including rape, his botching of the Covid-19 epidemic and the hundreds of thousands of deaths it caused, his exit from the Iran agreement which now has the pariah nation closer than ever to producing the materials needed for a nuke, his boasting of overturning Roe v. Wade, his theft of highly classified documents, his teenage boy crush on murderous thugs like Putin, Kim and Xi. Oh, and he’s all over the newly released Jeffrey Epstein documents. tRump is a target rich environment. It’s time to beat him like a government mule.
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David C said on July 11, 2024 at 6:02 pm
It is Sherri, it is. That’s some heavy duty trivia and right your are. Dash was her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Cute dogs. She could have done much worse picking a favorite.
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Deborah said on July 11, 2024 at 7:06 pm
OK, this is scary, if you haven’t already seen this movie about the origins of Christian Nationalists. I got this link on Instagram, I follow Julia Louis-Dreyfus, she posted it, I have a Amazon Prime membership so maybe you have to have that to watch this for free, but there may be other ways to watch it https://www.amazon.com/God-Country-Bishop-William-Barber/dp/B0CVNJFPVC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1ZGRHRJ27NZ6H&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.SBQxhhvkPAnI_fVPchJ9cBqZMCnDgbrKSN00n1n7hcSRGwWR9ng_HYJqbn8FnXoHas0ZQZehptlJd_anHqafbBPO8b5OpCNLak8UF1p8BoJ-_HvCiJQ0sLx_LGFBfeIlEGT9Rg0FkBXEjOl_SLy3IOH7kkTchFOIPm0P1NMfkIpvOP8BpNco9bApyYVGiJk7vOR9b3zIOfOW_9lQkUMOQSvvZaYiAj5Blxtog-jv8vI.3pih10O-FYQNEFRVuAW6N7OwssbTzmVFyZU7iBqdPHA&dib_tag=se&keywords=god+%26+country+documentary&qid=1711132298&sprefix=god+%26+%2Caps%2C239&sr=8-1
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Deborah said on July 11, 2024 at 7:30 pm
I thought this was a good suggestion. If you don’t have a platform online to promote Democracy, create one, I got this from someone owillis1977 that someone I follow reposted on Threads:
“Ive said it for years but it would be really helpful for liberals to just blog again. we can hope for billionaires to create liberal news, but in the meanwhile just launch a free blog and point to stories and ideas and videos you think more people need to see. you dont need to be super witty or creative (i know ive done it for nearly 25 years now).
just assume that nobody has ever seen the thing you care about and share it. set up a free blog on blogger, tumblr, whatever the kids are doing now.”
You folks who write well should do it, I might even try it. Create a platform to get the message out, even if it only reaches 2 people. Every bit helps.
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Ann said on July 11, 2024 at 10:16 pm
I’m sitting this one out. I’d like Biden to step aside in favor of Harris but we’re in for a hard fight either way. My goal is to just keep shoving money at the places that swear they can move voters in the swing states and knock on some doors in support of local candidates just so I don’t hate myself by thinking I could have done more.
Unfortunately, the people who swear they can move voters in swing states have tested whether anti-Trump messages work, e.g. tiktoks of him saying outrageous or contradictory things, and the answer is not at all. It also backfires to attack the Supreme Court because then people move into the “don’t trust government” camp. Issues like IVF can move some white women. It’s not going to be easy at all.
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Sherri said on July 11, 2024 at 10:33 pm
Speaking of Christian Nationalism, Religion Dispatches has coverage of the National
SocialistsConservatives Convention, which isn’t a fringe movement anymore, drawing multiple Senators (Hawley, Vance, Johnson, Lee, DeMint), Al Mohler from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Project 2025, Claremont Institute, Hillsdale, and… outright white supremacists.Coverage here: https://religiondispatches.org/section/christian-nationalism/
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Dexter Friend said on July 12, 2024 at 3:02 am
I only watch CNN when MSNBC is on repeat mode, so I didn’t see the name of the guest that said every Biden voter knows they are actually voting for a Harris presidency because “they all know Biden will die before 2028…”.
Oh yeah, asshole? These Democrats who want Joe to quit NOW are traitors to the nation, not compassionate lovers of humanity and/or watcher-overs of elder abuse. Fuck them!
They are only emboldening Trump, which is a disaster-in-waiting.
What woman of good conscious could vote for an admitted pussy-grabbing rapist who would imprison women for getting health care?
This is not, at this moment, Harris’s time however. If she wants to be President, she must wait. If Joe does die, it’s in her lap instantly, if not, she can run in 2028. Right now, I believe Biden beats Trump on 11-5-24. Brilliant people like Axelrod say no, Trump beats Biden. Trump, a multiple felon, a rapist, a thief of top secret information, ally of Putin and Un, yeah, that shithead, they want that fucker back in at 1600 Penna Ave.? Time to rally for Biden. Because we are in grave danger here and now.
Yeah, it’s 3:04 AM here; I woke up to pee the dog outside then this whole political scenario began working on me. I made porridge with maple syrup to calm myself down but sleep won’t come again for a few minutes. I gave the dog fresh water, some deluxe food, and a treat and she is sleeping now. I am worried. I am not advocating “someone has to DIE here !!!” , like Mark Richardson of North Carolina, the wannabe governor, said a couple days ago.
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Dexter Friend said on July 12, 2024 at 3:17 am
Oh…not all is bad for me, the new roof is tight and paid for, the cars run, and what a surprise: after my consultation with my kidney specialist in Ann Arbor, I have been taken off the check-up rotation because of stable continuous lab results that indicate I only have minimal loss of efficiency and miniscule protein production. I’ll be 75 quicker than you can say Jack Robinson, by cracky, and life is good, oh so good.
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Jeff Gill said on July 12, 2024 at 9:46 am
Huzzah for healthy kidneys; glad to hear it, Dexter.
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Deborah said on July 12, 2024 at 11:02 am
I didn’t watch the press conference, but here we go again. I don’t think many of the general public watched it either, but now we can’t avoid the pundits expounding on how Biden wasn’t good enough, over and over and over, so we can’t possibly get away from it without completely pulling the plug, which I’m going to be doing today for my sanity.
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Heather said on July 12, 2024 at 11:47 am
Sounds like Biden did OK in the presser except for calling Harris “Vice President Trump” and I think another gaffe–I can’t rememver if the Putin/Zelinsky mixup was in that or another event. But anyway, Biden’s been making gaffes over the course of his entire career. Are they happening more often? Yes, because he’s old. But mixing up names isn’t unusual! My uncle famously congratulated our cousin’s new bride with “Congratulations, Ruth!” Ruth was my cousin’s first wife’s name.
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Jeff Borden said on July 12, 2024 at 12:24 pm
Biden mixed up names, but so does the Orange King. He misidentified Nancy Pelosi as Nikki Haley and has frequently said he ran against Obama. Biden has been a gaffe machine his entire political career, but it’s always been pretty harmless stuff. He was masterful on how NATO works. Several world leaders criticized the American media obsession with Biden, arguing they’ve found him focused and hard-working.
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Mark P said on July 12, 2024 at 12:25 pm
My brother’s name was Henry. For about the first 15 years of my life my mother called me Hen-mark. And she wasn’t old.
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alex said on July 12, 2024 at 1:12 pm
Vacaying in Canada next week. If we didn’t already have tickets to see a bunch of George Bernard Shaw plays, I’d be going house hunting instead.
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Dexter Friend said on July 12, 2024 at 1:18 pm
I bet your mother was saintly, Hen-Mark. My grandparents used to laugh when they yelled at us for goofing around with kid-violence, “Call the roll!”, they said when they finally got around to zeroing in on the kid they were going after to stand in the corner for 5 minutes. That’s just a human thing.
I watched the presser figurately chewing all my fingernails, like Colbert mocked people like me last night. When President Biden said “Trump” meaning Harris, I choked on my Diet Dr. Pepper.
More good news: my meds came , finally, saving me a Friday traffic trip to the Toledo VA, as I was out of pills. Yep, I gassed the truck, showered, shaved, dog-walked Pogo, made a bacon, egg and tomato sandwich, left the house, and Mister Mailman handed me my package of meds. So…now I am heading out to a produce stand for some fresh-picked vegetables, buyer’s surprise…what have they today?
Ever’buddy have a calm weekend.
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Deborah said on July 12, 2024 at 1:53 pm
My sister’s name is Rosalind, Roz for short. My whole childhood I was Roz-deb and she was Deb-roz. It’s so normal. I only had one kid so I didn’t get it mixed up that way but I would occasionally call her my husband’s name, ok rarely but it did happen.
Now that I’m old, names are more of a struggle for me and I’m told that’s perfectly normal and doesn’t mean I have dementia.
All my life I’ve had some condition that takes me a while to come out with the correct word. It’s in my head but it won’t come out of my mouth. Unlike a stutterer I don’t verbalize the beginning of the word I just wait for it to come out. Which makes my speaking halting. Sometimes people try to finish my sentence for me when that happens and that’s irritating because they often say the wrong word which complicates things. Anyway I feel for Biden, it has nothing to do with intellect or competence.
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Sherri said on July 12, 2024 at 2:54 pm
My grandmother used to go through the list of grandkids when addressing us by name, when she was no older than I am now. My mother used to routinely call me by her sister’s name, and she was in her 40’s at the time. Not having a sister and only having one kid, I never had any problem with calling my kid by her name, but people who knew me primarily as her mother would routinely call me by her name.
Memory is a funny thing, and we only have a limited understanding of how it works. Which is true of the brain in general, regardless of what AI researchers might tell you.
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Julie Robinson said on July 12, 2024 at 3:25 pm
News diets work pretty well, I’m finding. Better than my real diet, which was blown to hell with premium ice cream last night and a birthday lunch for an 87 yo old. I prescribe both, along with lots of laughter, as the best sanity saver.
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Sherri said on July 12, 2024 at 4:11 pm
Two actors recently used their positions of privilege to influence the political landscape. George Clooney placed an op-ed in the NYTimes calling on Biden to withdraw from the race. Taraji Henson, hosting the BET awards, made several comments about Project 2025 during the show, urging people to look it up. In the week following the show, Google Trends showed the interest score for Project 2025 rise from the high teens into the 90s, and People Magazine is now covering Project 2025.
Who did a better job of fighting for democracy?
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tajalli said on July 12, 2024 at 5:50 pm
George Clooney is a a has-been looking for clicks. And Taylor Swift is sooo silent these days.
Where are all the pundits regarding TFG’s sentencing delay until September.
Oh look! A Squirrel!
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Deborah said on July 12, 2024 at 8:32 pm
Not that anyone has been following this but today a judge in Santa Fe dismissed the case of voluntary manslaughter against Alec Baldwin for the death of a woman during production of a movie being shot near here. Baldwin shot the gun which was supposed to not have live rounds in it, but somehow it did. A young woman in charge of props was convicted and is serving 18 months in prison for it. Baldwin is free because prosecutors fucked up processes with material evidence and transparency.
Have you all noticed how much more I’m cursing lately? I can’t seem to help myself, it just flows out of me.
I leave for Chicago tomorrow and of course I’m going through my usual anxiety about getting chores done and everything packed and ready. I’m only going to be there for a week, so it’s not like it’s all so critical.
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brian stouder said on July 12, 2024 at 9:34 pm
Deborah, as my mother-in-law used to say (usually after a burp) ‘Better out than in’
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Mark P said on July 12, 2024 at 10:06 pm
Deborah, I never used to swear online, but we are facing so much fucking shit and so many fucking assholes that I can’t help myself. I just wish there were stronger words to use. I think I have a subconscious feeling that strong language can break through to some of these people. But I know it won’t work.
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Dexter Friend said on July 13, 2024 at 2:48 am
Deborah, you could never be tracked down by cops, the way you are so often going east then west and again and again. The woman in prison/jail in the Rust movie disaster should be out as soon as the court docket has an open slot. As the orange fuck says, there’s no case.
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Jakash said on July 13, 2024 at 12:44 pm
Deborah, since I haven’t been checking in here regularly, I don’t know if you’ve mentioned what’s prompting a trip back to the city during the high heat and humidity season which you hate. (It’s 87° with a dew point of 70° at the moment — yuck!)
Anyway, I hope you’ll get a chance to see the “Georgia O’Keeffe: ‘My New Yorks'” exhibition at the Art Institute, if you haven’t seen it. We went a couple days ago and really enjoyed it. It actually doesn’t include all that many works, but is in the big special exhibit space, which I appreciated, as folks were more spread out while viewing it than sometimes and it allowed for some interesting placements. (Plus, it wasn’t that crowded, anyway, which was nice, though it was Thursday.)
Also, in a room nearby, it seemed to me they had a few paintings of hers up from their collection that I haven’t seen before. I might be wrong about that…
Here’s a 6-minute video they have playing in one of the rooms:
https://www.artic.edu/videos/175/georgia-o-keeffe-my-new-yorks-exhibition-stories?
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Deborah said on July 13, 2024 at 1:00 pm
This turned out to be the worst week I could possibly have to go to Chicago, I’m going there for 2 meetings for a project I’m working on. We’ve been meeting via zoom mostly but we have to visit some design showrooms there so I had no choice.
I will definitely check out the Georgia OKeeffe exhibit, I’be read a lot of good things about it.
I’m on the shuttle now on my way to the airport in Albuquerque, it’s a 60 mile trip.
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alex said on July 13, 2024 at 6:08 pm
Rented a Malibu for my trip to Canada and I notice the carpeting has come untucked on both sides of the interior and it’s spilling out gray fuzz. After all of the glowing press given to the new Buick Envista, I was considering buying from GM again but now I remember why I stopped and why I’ll probably remain a Honda loyalist forever. Shit like this should never happen in the whole life of a car, much less a new one.
I rented from Avis because I had good experiences with them the last few times, but today’s shitshow could make me reconsider that too. I had requested a full-size sedan so that my passengers would have decent leg room. I get there and get the paperwork signed and they hand me a key fob and direct me to a Nissan Sentra. I get in and start driving it and it occurs to me that I prepaid about a hundred bucks extra for a bigger car and this wasn’t cutting it. So I go back in and they apologize and upgrade me to a Silverado. I get into the Silverado and realize there’s no place for our luggage. So I go back in and say I really hate to be a pain, but… . So they tell me they’ll get me a Malibu if I can wait 10 minutes.
A kid brought me the Malibu soaking wet from a fresh wash but the interior was covered in food smears. It looks like somebody spilled a Coke on the driver’s door panel and wiped their hands on the upholstery after eating a Krispy Kreme. And the screen on the dash looked like somebody had Wendy’s hamburger grease all over their hands. At this point I wasn’t going to quibble though. I also notice now that the body is kind of scratched up and there’s a star in the windshield. I think I should probably document that today so as to avoid any bullshit when I bring it back.
First World problems, I know.
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alex said on July 13, 2024 at 6:51 pm
Congrats to whomever shot that bastard but fuck him for missing Tubby’s forehead
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tajalli said on July 13, 2024 at 7:49 pm
There were a lot of shots taken. Start at about 8:30 min.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RgEu4Lzcts
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Heather said on July 13, 2024 at 8:26 pm
Don’t worry. I’m sure Trump and Republicans will respond to this incident by urging their supporters not to jump to conclusions and reminding them that violence isn’t the answer.
HAHAHAHAHAHAH oh boy we are in for a bloodbath of violent rhetoric and probably more violence. I was going to go to a rock show outside here in Chicago and I’m wondering if I should now.
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Deborah said on July 13, 2024 at 9:02 pm
I just arrived back in Chicago hopped in a cab, looked at my phone and holy cow! I never in a million years thought Trump would be targeted. I always worried about Obama. Political violence has no place anywhere. Guns have got to be curtailed.
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Mark P said on July 13, 2024 at 9:06 pm
I’m sure the MAGAts will claim that god protected Trump and he is therefore the anointed one. I imagine Trump will start selling belt buckles with “Gott mit uns” on them.
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Icarus said on July 13, 2024 at 9:21 pm
** This is what happens when you let people buy bullets from vending machines
** I guess we can finally stop talking about how old Biden sounds
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David C said on July 14, 2024 at 6:38 am
I usually rent from Enterprise because they’re the only one here in town anymore. But when I want exactly what I ordered, I rent from one of the rental agencies at the airport in Appleton. Since their bread and butter is business customers who don’t want to be messed with they give you what you want. Of course, at the cost of paying the airport fee on top of the rental fee.
They’re saying the shooter was a 20 year old registered Republican. So will the Rs fall back on their washed up mental health excuse (maybe true this time) or find out that the kid’s, cousin’s, brother-in-law is gay so that makes him a Democrat.
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ROGirl said on July 14, 2024 at 6:58 am
Some flying glass struck him, not a bullet.
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Suzanne said on July 14, 2024 at 7:20 am
I feel like a conspiracy adherent, but watching the film clip of the “shooting” over and over (because it was shown over and over), it does seem off. The Secret Service (or whoever they were) jumped into action quickly but I didn’t see any guns drawn. When they hustled him offstage, his head was exposed, very exposed, which seemed odd to me. Even if they knew the shooter was down, how did they know there wasn’t another one? And the crowd behind him didn’t duck and cover for long at all.
Maybe it was just Trump being stubborn and refusing to duck down but it all seemed a bit too much like WWE kayfabe.
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Mark P said on July 14, 2024 at 9:49 am
The shooter was identified as 20 years old, a registered Republican, and having contributed $15 to a “progressive” candidate. To register in Pennsylvania you have to be 18 by the day of the next primary or election, which I think means he must have registered in 2023. His campaign contribution was supposed to be around the time Biden took office, which means he registered as a Republican later than his campaign contribution. So the Republicans are going to have to claim him.
I’m guessing the act was not political. I suspect he really did have mental problems (but I repeat myself) and he did it to gain notoriety.
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alex said on July 14, 2024 at 9:53 am
Such serendipitous timing. It’s two years to the day since
he offed Ivanathey found his first wife dead at the foot of a staircase the day before depositions in one of his criminal trials. She now lies conveniently buried on one of his golf courses.The MSM are calling for magnanimity for the man who poisoned the well. Fuck them. And fuck the shooter for missing.
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Deborah said on July 14, 2024 at 3:39 pm
I wouldn’t be sorry if the shooter hadn’t missed except for the fact that it was political violence and that has to stop. It’s a huge affront to Democracy, not caring what the majority thinks or waiting for an election to sort things out. On the other hand I was all for the plot to off Hitler by concerned Germans like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was alas executed by Hitler for his involvement in the plot. Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran theologian and he became a rallying cry for Luther’s “sin boldly” admonition by students at my Lutheran college.
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FDChief said on July 14, 2024 at 5:36 pm
These can both be true:
1) Since Caesar political violence is fatal to republics. Even killing dangerous criminal opponents quickly means that force replaces democracy and bullets drive out ballots.
2) But…if you begin by labeling your opponents traitors, animals, and scum, when you enlist thugs and freikorps like Threepers or Proud Boys you lose the luxury of being offended and self-righteous when someone takes a shot at your guy. You sewed the wind.
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Mark P said on July 14, 2024 at 6:36 pm
Based on information that has come out so far, I’m guessing that the shooting was not politically motivated. The shooter seems to fit the profile for most of our crop of young mass killers. He was bullied at school, a loner. He ate lunch alone and was apparently mocked for it. He wore hunting or military camo. He was rejected for the school shooting club because of poor marksmanship (That explains something.) There were reports that explosives or materials to make explosives were found in his car and his home. If I had to guess right now why he did it, I would say it was for notoriety, as I said earlier, and to show his bullies what he could do.
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David C said on July 14, 2024 at 6:37 pm
The more I hear, the more I think the shooter’s motive was suicide by cop. He sounds like a sad, bullied kid who wanted to go out after doing something big that everyone would remember. If Biden had spoken in his area, he probably would have taken a pot shot at him. Nothing ideological, a mixed-up kid with access to a powerful rifle.
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Dave Kobiela said on July 14, 2024 at 7:08 pm
Thank God Trump’s shooter did not have a “SCOTUS APPROVED” bump-stock on his rifle. Dozens could have been killed.
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Deborah said on July 14, 2024 at 8:27 pm
I read somewhere online that when Trump was escorted off of the stage by the secret service, his shoes had come off. I’ve never been in that kind of a situation or seen one but that seems a little odd to me. It probably means nothing but still it happened. Lifts?
I agree with the assessment that the shooter was a sad, mixed up kid who was bullied and looking for some kind of “fame”. Still, why do people like that have access to lethal weapons? Or anyone really?
Has Trump made any kind of statement about the ones who were injured or about the guy who was killed? If he has I haven’t heard about it.
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