Like so much wind and rain, hurricane-strength squalls of bad news have battered the leaky old boat SS Trump all year. He’s been indicted four times, on 91 separate felony charges - that’s compared with zero counts for all of his presidential predecessors. Trump likes to claim that anything he does is the most spectacular, the best, the biggest, even when it’s not (which is usually the case), but here - when it comes to accumulating criminal charges - he’s the undisputed champ.
I always recur to a Doonesbury in which a doctor explains that she can't understand why people who could avoid COVID by masking and getting vaccinated still get it. Then you see a doctor looking at someone hooked up to a bunch of machines and saying, "Ed, what are you doing here?" And from the side the guy says, "Owning the libs." They'd rather die.
So I think of a bright friend of mine who was for Bernie until Hillary got the nomination, for him or Senator Professor Warren until Biden got it, and now is for Bobby, Jr., because COVID was just a big plot by Anthony Fauci. It's sad. But it speaks to what is wrong with this country--the willingness of people to believe the mass media's political coverage, if you could call it that, which gives RFK Jr. as much air time as Biden and Rand Paul as much airtime as Dr. Fauci.
I've said it before, but watching CNN is like watching dead people who don't quite know they're dead. it's gonna be really hard to recover from the Year of Licht, especially when Zaslav has exactly the same agenda he had a year ago. talk about flyweights with money...
the horrible thing is, Fern, that the ones who tend to be interested in him (I hear a lot of "but he's a DEMOCRAT...") tend not to be exposed to the places where they'd see the negative commentary. then, of course, there are his Hollywood buddies...
Couple weeks ago we bicycled over to one of our (then) favorite beach bars. Faux was on one of the televisions.I couldn’t help it !👀They kept replaying a clip that included Biden’s literal trip and fall,DeSantis throwing a baseball, and RFK JR doing repeated push-ups. Mission accomplished as Biden appeared old .RFK JR appeared youthful ,although far from “presidential”.. It was comical….yet not.
I'm in a deep red state (Idaho) but I will sign up to phone bank in swing states once again . . . and anything else I can do to stave off the capo di tutti capi of catastrophes.
WHAT ABOUT MORE EXCITMENT FOR THE DEMOCRATS? Without, perhaps, replacing Biden, what about the party bringing its strongest players and potential candidates to the fore.? What about them selling Bidenomics?
Biden needs his speaking in public sharpened -- talking less in public, because his unavoidable stubbles as a result of stuttering - much shorter, sharper and to the point.
Bring on the stars from politics, entertainment, sports, health and economics.
I can't remember the last time I saw a presidential ad here during a presidential race. if those scumbags know one thing it's where NOT to spend their money.
Thank you, Tayama. I'm not seeing him in NY, so just California or a few more selected markets were chosen, depending on costs and which markets seem the most important for Biden's campaign at this time.
Where are the delete, report and edit buttons? Biden doesn't need to appear less, but his statements in public need to be shorter, sharp and with that 'person to person' feel.
Thanks for a logical and thought provoking post, Tom. From my perspective in southern Wisconsin, the young people, who turned out en mass last April to elect Janet Protasiewicz to the state Supreme Court are politically aware and energized by the on-going mesaginistic activity of the state's MAGAts.
Well, this is depressing, isn't it..... The Democrats have always had trouble with their messaging, and the less said about the incompetent MSM, the better. Those people will be 50% responsible for getting the Mango Mussolini back into the White House, and then they will be toast. The 40-year campaign to cut civics education has been successful and the results will not be pretty. My hope is that as usual, polls this early have almost no bearing on the truth and we may do better than this indicates. Herev is where the Dems and the country repents in leisure for the destruction of Howard Dean's plan to build Democratic state organizations to support candidates at all levels - don't we wish we had done something like that, planning for the long game instead of taking that money and using it elsewhere for the immediate win.. We'll see who ends up with all the marbles in 2024.....
Had we kept Dean and never let that motherfucking traitor Emmanuel in the White House, we wouldn't have lost the 2010 and would have controlled redistricting. This is why I will never vote again for a candidate whose resume is half a term in a state legislature and 1/3 of a term in the Senate, for President. I love Obama, but he was so naive....
I've got a particular bone to pick with the NYT, the paper I grew up with which could do no wrong. for example, after all those horrifying focus group reports in the Opinion section, the other day I discovered that the creator of all those monstrosities is a "Republican pollster."
it's a teeny bit heartening that Maggie Haberman seems to have lost her luster for now.
but in general, the paper wants to stoke up the extent to which the 2024 election is going to be more "exciting."
in my particular case, I'd also like them to be more careful about the third parties it pays to deliver the actual PAPER. online for me doesn't work as well the old-fashioned hard copy thing, but these new delivery guys leave out sections, skip days, don't deliver to the door, hate the rain...
Yes, the NY Times is about the worst of the MSM..... I still subscribe, but most days I don't even open up the paper in my email - I should; they have many interesting news stories not about our politics, especially on the climate. But editorially, the Grey Lady sucks..... As for Ms. Maggie, she is one of he worst offenders in getting newsworthy scoops that could affect how people vote, but sitting on them for the next book.....
About the MSM. As Carla Childress points out in her comment, they are all corporate behemoths. Fox & the WSJ - Murdoch, ABC News - Disney, WaPo - Jeff Bezos. The smaller, independent newspapers are disappearing in many markets. What we have theses days, in large part, is infotainment. Good News doesn't sell; gloom and doom does. It's expensive to produce (especially on TV), so, unless you're in the propaganda market (Fox, OAN, Newsmax), then the hopes of finding good incisive "slicing and dicing" of the news is slim to none. However, there is always PBS, although, they get lazy sometimes, as well.
"At present, for Trump supporters to call him out as the moral threat he is would be to call out themselves, something that is too painful for too many people."
Ain't that the truth. It's hard to walk away from a cult.
While all my gnashing of teeth, donating, writing, etc have done “not enough,” I am waiting for the day when chump will be revealed to ALL for the cretin he is, and the cult will look in their mirror and see what fools they have been. What is the thing that will expose him since the party and the propaganda are in lock step. I’m still waiting but it always happens with cults. The leader is unmasked, the cult nuts are exposed. They either accept that or many die. I hope we stop short of WW2. It took Ike, not only to win the war (well, not alone), but he was the one to assure that the German people knew the truth about their leaders and the sheep. Our 40+ years of 90 decibel propaganda will have to be countered. Better get on it, MSM…
I listened to this podcast this morning. Sorry, it’s long ... https://www.youtube.com/live/QHYbLHg0nDA?si=PamX-VCgjeMJ7XEf... and it has ads... sorry, again. It may include information you already know, but came to the same conclusion, basically. Msm is corporate media. Even left leaning media ... corporate anything is all about the benjamins. Who or what is going to be interesting enough to watch? Trump has a stranglehold on that piece. Even if you hate him (and I do) it’s true. One thing they noted in this podcast was Republicans have gone full on, off the deep end authoritarian which has made Democrats seem conservative. An interesting twist in the story. I still cannot believe Trump could be re-elected. I do wish there were more enthusiasm for Biden... and fear it will keep young people from voting. On Ferns short list I think Governor Whitmer might generate some excitement... but idk ... I’m just a blue dot in a red state.
Whitmer's my governor and has a lot to recommend her, but the question is when. I'm sticking with my strategy of having Biden continue to be the candidate, taking all the incoming flack and smears from the right until a propitious moment when he steps aside and hands the Dem baton to someone younger. Sadly, I don't think Kamala Harris is electable, but someone with military creds would be. Someone like Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland or Sen. Gary Peters of MI, Mark Kelly, Jason Crow, Ted Lieu, someone who can remind us that four or five other mothers' sons had to go in the place of the Heel Spurs Hothead as he said no to his country each time. Such a person could tout Bidenomics and promise to follow through on all the good Dem legislation and be on alert for the various international problems that will continue to be upon us. Harris could remain VP and be given a longer timeframe in which to demonstrate her governing skills. The contrast between a person with medals on his chest and one with a booking number would be persuasive, even to some previous Trump voters who think he's such a he-man. My roster appears sexist, but dealing with whomever the GOP nominates will require testosterone. Joe and Jill can then get in that Corvette and enjoy the ice cream parlor circuit and the lack of pressure most people of their age are happy to relinquish.
“…he’s the undisputed champ.” Just a small edit: chump. The Federalists and Heritage folk are in an uproar, especially as DeSantis keeps stepping on his…
I always recur to a Doonesbury in which a doctor explains that she can't understand why people who could avoid COVID by masking and getting vaccinated still get it. Then you see a doctor looking at someone hooked up to a bunch of machines and saying, "Ed, what are you doing here?" And from the side the guy says, "Owning the libs." They'd rather die.
So I think of a bright friend of mine who was for Bernie until Hillary got the nomination, for him or Senator Professor Warren until Biden got it, and now is for Bobby, Jr., because COVID was just a big plot by Anthony Fauci. It's sad. But it speaks to what is wrong with this country--the willingness of people to believe the mass media's political coverage, if you could call it that, which gives RFK Jr. as much air time as Biden and Rand Paul as much airtime as Dr. Fauci.
And CNN. isn't helping.
The fact that so many republicans think of CNN as liberal is a sign of their stupidity.
Jim Acosta is the last man standing.
I used to claim CNN employed 5 1/2 journalists. I clearly overshot.
I've said it before, but watching CNN is like watching dead people who don't quite know they're dead. it's gonna be really hard to recover from the Year of Licht, especially when Zaslav has exactly the same agenda he had a year ago. talk about flyweights with money...
Zaz is so far above his Peter Principle point of incompetence.
I thought he was on the way out...
yup.
yup.
Mass media is not selling Robert Kennedy Jr. Your friend is infected with something else.
Oh, I don't question that something else has infected them. Just that RFK, Jr., has gotten extra attention that most such slanderers wouldn't get.
That may be because they are not RFK Jr. He's got a name! I see a lot of negative commentary about him.
He deserves all of it and more.
the horrible thing is, Fern, that the ones who tend to be interested in him (I hear a lot of "but he's a DEMOCRAT...") tend not to be exposed to the places where they'd see the negative commentary. then, of course, there are his Hollywood buddies...
unfortunately, that NAME is a very big deal.
He is a spoiler, probably funded by plenty of Repub money. Every drain on Biden is a win for chump
Couple weeks ago we bicycled over to one of our (then) favorite beach bars. Faux was on one of the televisions.I couldn’t help it !👀They kept replaying a clip that included Biden’s literal trip and fall,DeSantis throwing a baseball, and RFK JR doing repeated push-ups. Mission accomplished as Biden appeared old .RFK JR appeared youthful ,although far from “presidential”.. It was comical….yet not.
Politically, he is going nowhere.. I hope that he finds healing or it finds him.
One has to wonder what his dad will say to him when Jr crosses over.
I'm in a deep red state (Idaho) but I will sign up to phone bank in swing states once again . . . and anything else I can do to stave off the capo di tutti capi of catastrophes.
Jared Polis, Governor of Colorado
Gavin Newsom, Governor of California
Gretchen Whitmer, Governor of Michigan
Josh Shapiro, Governor of Pennsylvania
J.B. Pritzker, Governor of Illinois
WHAT ABOUT MORE EXCITMENT FOR THE DEMOCRATS? Without, perhaps, replacing Biden, what about the party bringing its strongest players and potential candidates to the fore.? What about them selling Bidenomics?
Biden needs his speaking in public sharpened -- talking less in public, because his unavoidable stubbles as a result of stuttering - much shorter, sharper and to the point.
Bring on the stars from politics, entertainment, sports, health and economics.
TURN ON THE LIGHTS AND RAISE THE CURTAIN!
They are
More often then because I'm not seeing them.
My guess is that Biden's campaign has selected markets to hit, and NY is not one of them.
I can't remember the last time I saw a presidential ad here during a presidential race. if those scumbags know one thing it's where NOT to spend their money.
Newsome has been spreading the good news about Biden.
Thank you, Tayama. I'm not seeing him in NY, so just California or a few more selected markets were chosen, depending on costs and which markets seem the most important for Biden's campaign at this time.
Yes, I think you’re right. He’s been reaching out to Californians now only maybe…
I guess it’s up to us to change the conversations in our country. We got this!
Where are the delete, report and edit buttons? Biden doesn't need to appear less, but his statements in public need to be shorter, sharp and with that 'person to person' feel.
Look under your post for the three little dots - you get a boxs that says "edit post" click that
The three dots, TC, are to share with Reddit, LinkedIn, etc., not the functions that I mentioned.
I don't know what happened to the edit function then - that's where it was. there aren't any three dots - sometimes it comes and goes here.
The edit function appears when you click the three dots only when you’re trying to edit your own post.
Mim, wish that what you report was true for me. Clearly, Substack has not worked this out this pain in the butt!
Thanks for a logical and thought provoking post, Tom. From my perspective in southern Wisconsin, the young people, who turned out en mass last April to elect Janet Protasiewicz to the state Supreme Court are politically aware and energized by the on-going mesaginistic activity of the state's MAGAts.
Well, this is depressing, isn't it..... The Democrats have always had trouble with their messaging, and the less said about the incompetent MSM, the better. Those people will be 50% responsible for getting the Mango Mussolini back into the White House, and then they will be toast. The 40-year campaign to cut civics education has been successful and the results will not be pretty. My hope is that as usual, polls this early have almost no bearing on the truth and we may do better than this indicates. Herev is where the Dems and the country repents in leisure for the destruction of Howard Dean's plan to build Democratic state organizations to support candidates at all levels - don't we wish we had done something like that, planning for the long game instead of taking that money and using it elsewhere for the immediate win.. We'll see who ends up with all the marbles in 2024.....
Had we kept Dean and never let that motherfucking traitor Emmanuel in the White House, we wouldn't have lost the 2010 and would have controlled redistricting. This is why I will never vote again for a candidate whose resume is half a term in a state legislature and 1/3 of a term in the Senate, for President. I love Obama, but he was so naive....
Yes. He was naive.
I've got a particular bone to pick with the NYT, the paper I grew up with which could do no wrong. for example, after all those horrifying focus group reports in the Opinion section, the other day I discovered that the creator of all those monstrosities is a "Republican pollster."
it's a teeny bit heartening that Maggie Haberman seems to have lost her luster for now.
but in general, the paper wants to stoke up the extent to which the 2024 election is going to be more "exciting."
in my particular case, I'd also like them to be more careful about the third parties it pays to deliver the actual PAPER. online for me doesn't work as well the old-fashioned hard copy thing, but these new delivery guys leave out sections, skip days, don't deliver to the door, hate the rain...
Yes, the NY Times is about the worst of the MSM..... I still subscribe, but most days I don't even open up the paper in my email - I should; they have many interesting news stories not about our politics, especially on the climate. But editorially, the Grey Lady sucks..... As for Ms. Maggie, she is one of he worst offenders in getting newsworthy scoops that could affect how people vote, but sitting on them for the next book.....
About the MSM. As Carla Childress points out in her comment, they are all corporate behemoths. Fox & the WSJ - Murdoch, ABC News - Disney, WaPo - Jeff Bezos. The smaller, independent newspapers are disappearing in many markets. What we have theses days, in large part, is infotainment. Good News doesn't sell; gloom and doom does. It's expensive to produce (especially on TV), so, unless you're in the propaganda market (Fox, OAN, Newsmax), then the hopes of finding good incisive "slicing and dicing" of the news is slim to none. However, there is always PBS, although, they get lazy sometimes, as well.
I call our paper "the neighborhood advertiser formerly known as the LA Times." I remember when its arrival was something I looked forward to.
I always keep this in mind whenever I hear of a "poll" from one of these organizations.
The "ploos" have been massively wrong on many occasions.
*polls*....😆
"At present, for Trump supporters to call him out as the moral threat he is would be to call out themselves, something that is too painful for too many people."
Ain't that the truth. It's hard to walk away from a cult.
Deprogramming desperately needed, but Ike is gone
While all my gnashing of teeth, donating, writing, etc have done “not enough,” I am waiting for the day when chump will be revealed to ALL for the cretin he is, and the cult will look in their mirror and see what fools they have been. What is the thing that will expose him since the party and the propaganda are in lock step. I’m still waiting but it always happens with cults. The leader is unmasked, the cult nuts are exposed. They either accept that or many die. I hope we stop short of WW2. It took Ike, not only to win the war (well, not alone), but he was the one to assure that the German people knew the truth about their leaders and the sheep. Our 40+ years of 90 decibel propaganda will have to be countered. Better get on it, MSM…
I listened to this podcast this morning. Sorry, it’s long ... https://www.youtube.com/live/QHYbLHg0nDA?si=PamX-VCgjeMJ7XEf... and it has ads... sorry, again. It may include information you already know, but came to the same conclusion, basically. Msm is corporate media. Even left leaning media ... corporate anything is all about the benjamins. Who or what is going to be interesting enough to watch? Trump has a stranglehold on that piece. Even if you hate him (and I do) it’s true. One thing they noted in this podcast was Republicans have gone full on, off the deep end authoritarian which has made Democrats seem conservative. An interesting twist in the story. I still cannot believe Trump could be re-elected. I do wish there were more enthusiasm for Biden... and fear it will keep young people from voting. On Ferns short list I think Governor Whitmer might generate some excitement... but idk ... I’m just a blue dot in a red state.
after that relatively brief New Yorker profile a month or so back, I have very, very high hopes for Gov. Whitmer.
this is quite aside from the fact that I have a serious crush on her.
Whitmer's my governor and has a lot to recommend her, but the question is when. I'm sticking with my strategy of having Biden continue to be the candidate, taking all the incoming flack and smears from the right until a propitious moment when he steps aside and hands the Dem baton to someone younger. Sadly, I don't think Kamala Harris is electable, but someone with military creds would be. Someone like Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland or Sen. Gary Peters of MI, Mark Kelly, Jason Crow, Ted Lieu, someone who can remind us that four or five other mothers' sons had to go in the place of the Heel Spurs Hothead as he said no to his country each time. Such a person could tout Bidenomics and promise to follow through on all the good Dem legislation and be on alert for the various international problems that will continue to be upon us. Harris could remain VP and be given a longer timeframe in which to demonstrate her governing skills. The contrast between a person with medals on his chest and one with a booking number would be persuasive, even to some previous Trump voters who think he's such a he-man. My roster appears sexist, but dealing with whomever the GOP nominates will require testosterone. Joe and Jill can then get in that Corvette and enjoy the ice cream parlor circuit and the lack of pressure most people of their age are happy to relinquish.
I wasn't talking about Whitmer in 2024...I meant something more like 2028.
That would give her time to get some foreign affairs experience, something we're going to need more of going forward.
“…he’s the undisputed champ.” Just a small edit: chump. The Federalists and Heritage folk are in an uproar, especially as DeSantis keeps stepping on his…
Hi to the kitties.
Excellent explanation TC.