Before his machinations resulted in Trump's 2016 election, Vladimir Putin had a vision of corrupting the US in a very specific way: dividing its populace against each other, overseen by a government incapable of doing its job--and thereby discrediting the idea of democracy itself.
The chaos you described is apotheosis of Putin's vision. Those GOP "Freedom Caucus" tools are *his* tools, whether they understand it or not. More to the point, whether they care or not.
Chaos in American politics and society only serves to weaken our alliances abroad, and diminish our standing in international affairs.
This leave a vacuum of leadership that others will gladly fill. Who are those others? Russia and China. What kind of world do you think that would yield?
Tom Emmer joined Congress in 2015. He voted to certify the 2020 election results. Let’s grant him that.
Jim Jordan’s 4th Congressional District was redrawn in the last redistricting. It’s still gerrymandered to keep it safely red but it’s no longer the absurd duck shaped thing from the previous decade.
Ds do no one any favors by saving the Rs from themselves. Sooner or later, they will have to get past their penchant for juvenile, irresponsible, self-serving behavior. That might as well happen now.
And of course…” "Lord of the Flies," a 1954 novel by William Golding, has been banned from schools over the years and has often been challenged. According to the American Library Association, it is the eighth-most frequently banned and challenged book in the nation.May 30, 2019”
"I will not lie, cheat, or steal nor tolerate among us those who do."
That is the military officer honor code that officer candidates repeat often during OCS or their time in the academies. The honor code is the main reason the Jan 6 coup flopped. DJT's reference during his Arlington Cemetery visit while POTUS expressing dismay why anybody would die for their country (draft dodging is so easy) speaks volumes about a lack of honor. And his lack of honor is his Achilles heel.
Trump just could not find enough liars, cheats, and thieves in DOD to help him steal back the White House. A draft dodger, he is clueless of how strong the honor code is among military leaders. A few scumbags like Admiral in name only Ronny Jackson and LTGEN Flynn are rare. They got their promotions through Congressional extortion (promote my guy or I will mess up your budget). I have personally seen this during my military career. All the service chiefs have had to deal with dud flag officers foisted on them by Congress. Most know how to get them to retire early before they can do much damage. Of course, their very existence confuses fascists who cannot see them as exceptions to the norm.
Trump's contempt for honor as something for suckers is how he "crimed" to his lofty position in society (like nearly all billionaires) do. I doubt that Trump will ever understand the handicap of being dishonorable. He knows what the bible is - a prop to con evangelicals - but he has no idea what is written in the New Testament he so often flashes at photo ops.
How many Boy scouts have forgotten, "On, My Honor, I will do my duty..?" How many Christians have shirked The Ten Commandments for this traitor? I love your experienced take on oaths-not-honored.
The GOP response to ANYTHING is blame. Prosecuting criminal acts--not just trump's--is a witch hunt. Democrats "caused" the vacuum in the House because more of them voted against Jordan than did Republicans. Gas prices nudge up--the Democrats refuse to control world supply. Crime happens solely because Democrats are "soft" on it--but see, "witch hunt."
Republican leaders have long shown their contempt for the "base" by spouting only the most simplistic views of anything--whatever it takes to get the yokels roused. They have polluted, therefore, their own ability to even recognize themselves that we live in a complex, multi-causal world, and that complex problems can't be solved with slogans. (The Dems have had their problems with ill-advised slogans like "defund the police" but at least under the slogan there is an recognition that "defund" is not actually what is meant at all. Not so with the spouting of Woke and CRT, which doesn't recognize itself that the spouters have no idea what they are talking about).
I am not as disgusted with MSM as many are ((I can't speak to TV news as I don't ever watch it.) I often find in MSM publications thoughtful analyses of many a complex issue. Yes, the harping on Biden's age is maddening, but when was the news profession ever immune to selling stories that sell ads? Stories like these in digital or dtb print generate enormous amounts of pushback in the comments section. That actual READERS of MSM know that accomplishments far outweigh age. How many trumpites read the NYT or WaPo? It isn't just Substack that notices Biden's accomplishments.
I won't even get INTO the morass that is the survey industry--I started mistrusting them in 2016 and my regard has gone downhill ever since.
YES!!!! Everything the Republicans do has zero basis in governing or serving Americans , it has been for decades a power hungry monster willing to stomp on anyone that gets in it's way. And I don't give a flying fuck (pardon my swearing, it's just so maddening) that Republican Party Congress members were "afraid" of the monster and what it could do to their political careers, and I really don't care that now all of a sudden when the death threats are pointed at them, that now they get it. They all stood by and said nothing when the Republicans under Trump were dismantling Democracy and said nothing when good people just doing their job were threatened by Trump's MAGA and Jordan's KKKrew's threats.
This Toxic party has to go, and Corporate Media needs to stop normalizing their behavior. Doing the right thing after not doing the right thing for so long is nothing to brag about. We should all be doing what is right for the Common Good because it's right, not to protect our own asses.
You touch on something core to our current situation and that is the lens of political handicapping through which so many journalists, especially those around DC for a long time, seem to view and analyze every action. How will this play with the electorate may be what everyone around them is talking about, but not what Americans need to hear.
Yo-Yo Ma playing Bach's Cello Suites is a tonic for every ache in the soul. It is encouraging to know that great music interpreted by great masters demonstrates some of the highest peaks of human achievement when we live in such a time of willful ignorance, hate, and war. Thank you, Mary.
Before his machinations resulted in Trump's 2016 election, Vladimir Putin had a vision of corrupting the US in a very specific way: dividing its populace against each other, overseen by a government incapable of doing its job--and thereby discrediting the idea of democracy itself.
The chaos you described is apotheosis of Putin's vision. Those GOP "Freedom Caucus" tools are *his* tools, whether they understand it or not. More to the point, whether they care or not.
Chaos in American politics and society only serves to weaken our alliances abroad, and diminish our standing in international affairs.
This leave a vacuum of leadership that others will gladly fill. Who are those others? Russia and China. What kind of world do you think that would yield?
Well said.
Couple of minor corrections.
Tom Emmer joined Congress in 2015. He voted to certify the 2020 election results. Let’s grant him that.
Jim Jordan’s 4th Congressional District was redrawn in the last redistricting. It’s still gerrymandered to keep it safely red but it’s no longer the absurd duck shaped thing from the previous decade.
Ds do no one any favors by saving the Rs from themselves. Sooner or later, they will have to get past their penchant for juvenile, irresponsible, self-serving behavior. That might as well happen now.
But in the meantime, the entire world suffers. Country over party means we all need to fix this mess.
What a great and “right on” article.
Mary, thank you.
Thank you Mary! You are the WARRIOR!!!!
YES
And of course…” "Lord of the Flies," a 1954 novel by William Golding, has been banned from schools over the years and has often been challenged. According to the American Library Association, it is the eighth-most frequently banned and challenged book in the nation.May 30, 2019”
"I will not lie, cheat, or steal nor tolerate among us those who do."
That is the military officer honor code that officer candidates repeat often during OCS or their time in the academies. The honor code is the main reason the Jan 6 coup flopped. DJT's reference during his Arlington Cemetery visit while POTUS expressing dismay why anybody would die for their country (draft dodging is so easy) speaks volumes about a lack of honor. And his lack of honor is his Achilles heel.
Trump just could not find enough liars, cheats, and thieves in DOD to help him steal back the White House. A draft dodger, he is clueless of how strong the honor code is among military leaders. A few scumbags like Admiral in name only Ronny Jackson and LTGEN Flynn are rare. They got their promotions through Congressional extortion (promote my guy or I will mess up your budget). I have personally seen this during my military career. All the service chiefs have had to deal with dud flag officers foisted on them by Congress. Most know how to get them to retire early before they can do much damage. Of course, their very existence confuses fascists who cannot see them as exceptions to the norm.
Trump's contempt for honor as something for suckers is how he "crimed" to his lofty position in society (like nearly all billionaires) do. I doubt that Trump will ever understand the handicap of being dishonorable. He knows what the bible is - a prop to con evangelicals - but he has no idea what is written in the New Testament he so often flashes at photo ops.
How many Boy scouts have forgotten, "On, My Honor, I will do my duty..?" How many Christians have shirked The Ten Commandments for this traitor? I love your experienced take on oaths-not-honored.
The GOP response to ANYTHING is blame. Prosecuting criminal acts--not just trump's--is a witch hunt. Democrats "caused" the vacuum in the House because more of them voted against Jordan than did Republicans. Gas prices nudge up--the Democrats refuse to control world supply. Crime happens solely because Democrats are "soft" on it--but see, "witch hunt."
Republican leaders have long shown their contempt for the "base" by spouting only the most simplistic views of anything--whatever it takes to get the yokels roused. They have polluted, therefore, their own ability to even recognize themselves that we live in a complex, multi-causal world, and that complex problems can't be solved with slogans. (The Dems have had their problems with ill-advised slogans like "defund the police" but at least under the slogan there is an recognition that "defund" is not actually what is meant at all. Not so with the spouting of Woke and CRT, which doesn't recognize itself that the spouters have no idea what they are talking about).
I am not as disgusted with MSM as many are ((I can't speak to TV news as I don't ever watch it.) I often find in MSM publications thoughtful analyses of many a complex issue. Yes, the harping on Biden's age is maddening, but when was the news profession ever immune to selling stories that sell ads? Stories like these in digital or dtb print generate enormous amounts of pushback in the comments section. That actual READERS of MSM know that accomplishments far outweigh age. How many trumpites read the NYT or WaPo? It isn't just Substack that notices Biden's accomplishments.
I won't even get INTO the morass that is the survey industry--I started mistrusting them in 2016 and my regard has gone downhill ever since.
The clarity of your commentaries are, always, so sharp and clear. Jordan has been pinned, by his past. McCarthy has been exposed, as a phony bologna.
Can’t help thinking of “A Face in the Crowd” and the ultimate demise of Lonesome Rhodes.
YES!!!! Everything the Republicans do has zero basis in governing or serving Americans , it has been for decades a power hungry monster willing to stomp on anyone that gets in it's way. And I don't give a flying fuck (pardon my swearing, it's just so maddening) that Republican Party Congress members were "afraid" of the monster and what it could do to their political careers, and I really don't care that now all of a sudden when the death threats are pointed at them, that now they get it. They all stood by and said nothing when the Republicans under Trump were dismantling Democracy and said nothing when good people just doing their job were threatened by Trump's MAGA and Jordan's KKKrew's threats.
This Toxic party has to go, and Corporate Media needs to stop normalizing their behavior. Doing the right thing after not doing the right thing for so long is nothing to brag about. We should all be doing what is right for the Common Good because it's right, not to protect our own asses.
"Government is terrible and doesn't work. Elect me, and I will prove it to you!"
Exactly the GOP's thought!
GOP don’t do gubmint. Never did, never will.
You touch on something core to our current situation and that is the lens of political handicapping through which so many journalists, especially those around DC for a long time, seem to view and analyze every action. How will this play with the electorate may be what everyone around them is talking about, but not what Americans need to hear.
Yo-Yo Ma playing Bach's Cello Suites is a tonic for every ache in the soul. It is encouraging to know that great music interpreted by great masters demonstrates some of the highest peaks of human achievement when we live in such a time of willful ignorance, hate, and war. Thank you, Mary.
I know that I'd be totally happy to have full access to Mary's music collection! She has wonderful and varied taste, doesn't she?
Wasn’t that wonderful? 🎶🎶🎶