Even for TM, this is pretty weird
开云体育? ??But Gore’s transition from dark money to dark arts was, in part, the story of the Trump era: As the party grew increasingly unmoored from democratic processes and ethical norms, and ensconced in its own paranoia, it was not enough to rely on the familiar tools of political advocacy. The opposition had to be exposed and defeated by any means necessary. Donors—some wealthy, many not—?tens of millions of dollars into??and??, and such schemes took on increasing prominence in conservative circles. No place was safe from these impulses—not even America’s least-populated and least-competitive state. For a long time, politicians in deep-red Wyoming had been happy to keep their distance from Washington’s daily dramas. But recently the state GOP has come to mirror the party’s national crack-up—a tense and volatile climate of censure, threats, and purges, where the dominant Trump faction is on the warpath against anyone perceived as stepping out of line. It’s become the kind of place where Dick Cheney’s own daughter could find herself run out of the party. Gore’s efforts to target those RINOs have left lingering aftershocks. For years, she had shown how much influence one committed, wealthy individual could have on a state’s civic institutions; now she was demonstrating just how much damage someone red-pilled by Trump could do to a state’s political culture. There is something both tragic and familiar about a think-tank founder turning to the guy from Blackwater to help save the democratic process. This was the underlying delusion of the Trump era: that people with the most power in American life acted as if they had the least, and that the absence of evidence was taken as proof that something was being covered up. Trump’s movement was full of people whose worst fears drove them to empty their wallets for lost causes—from the Publix heir who??hundreds of thousands of dollars on the January 6 rally, to the supporters of the??GoFundMe border wall, to the people still desperately??so he can spend it at his private club. There was never a better time in conservative politics to be a hustler, and never an easier time to be a mark. |
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Wow, what a story. ?Uber-wealth does do the weirdest thing to families in more cases than not. ?The "power" it bestows spawns superiority complexes and seems to induce strange forms of dangerous eccentricities in the "easily influenced." ?The Koch's have also done everything they can to bring down our democracy. ?
We're in trouble. ?The Anti-Democracy, Anti-Choice, Pro-Violence party, with?a?maniacal, malignant, narcissistic, diabolical, criminal, murdering sociopath playing King,?and its embedded disinformation wing?egging on the cortisol-soaked brains of the deluded, has captured Congress and the Supreme Court, and is at war. ?They are basically the equivalent of religious fanatics. We're the Ukraine to their Russia and we don't have reinforcements coming. ?The Democrats have got to throw caution to the wind and go for broke. ?Biden and the DOJ must abandon institutional protocol and start combatting the crazy with everything they've got. ?We, the people, have to stop rolling over and playing dead. They have a coordinated playbook they've been building for decades and we're losing ground every day. ?We've got to win Congress in the mid-terms or it's going to get much, much, worse. ? ?? ?
Did the Natural Party want to eliminate the Electoral College in favor of decision by popular vote? ?Susan ended up trading TM for Catholicism, but seems to have misconstrued Jesus's message. ??And TM could entice a lot of generosity. The Maharishi encouraged wealthy benefactors, dubbed “the om percent” by one ex-member, to devote more resources to various TM programs. When meditators started their own political movement, the Natural Law Party, and began nominating candidates for federal office, Gore made a large donation. The party’s platform envisioned a strike force of “Yogic Flyers” who would solve systemic problems through meditation—and?. -- Em |
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Indeed we are, but not just from the GOP, even the crazed wing of it.
But that’s just it, Biden still thinks he’s in Congress and keeps insisting nothing gets done unless the GOP signs on, and everyone who isn’t comatose knows that isn’t happening, all they have to do is run out the clock. ?I don’t get it, it’s like he’s still in the 50s or something. And now here we are with the corrupt SCOTUS putting us back in the 50s! ?Only now it’s the 1850s. Does anyone really give a sh*t how something gets passed or which party votes for it? ?He and Schumer are protecting the filibuster over the rights of half the population! ?Manchin and Sinema could easily be brought around, just like the GOP does with their members. ?Pelosi supports an anti-choice congressman over a progressive. It’s ?like they’re all in on it and just looking for excuses.
Sal On Jun 26, 2022, at 11:02 AM, Emily Mae via groups.io <emily.mae50@...> wrote:
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On Sun, Jun 26, 2022 at 10:31 AM, Sal Sunshine wrote:
I think he's coming around.... Biden has changed his stance on the filibuster...at least, in part.? He was calling for a carve out for voting rights.? He's been too slow to change course though, imo. He knows he's been burned, he ain't the fool he's accused of being and there are lots of signs he's changing his long-held beliefs.? I will admit that I don't have a lot of patience for the constant criticism of him by Democrats, etc. all over the media.? What the Republicans do is show a united front.? Right now, we need to do the same.? Stop with the bashing and go out there and talk about what he *has* done!? Hold him up!!? He's the only guy that could have beat tRump and thank God he ran.? Do we forget this quickly what the alternative was?? ? ? I don't think Manchin and Sinema can easily be brought around, not at all.? How?? The White House and the Senate leadership have tried and tried hard.? Manchin has been Manchin forever.? And remember he voted with tRump at least 50% of the time.? He knows the line he walks and he's a political animal.? Sinema is drunk on her own power and where she thinks it will come from in the future...she's switched sides, imo.? She won't eliminate the filibuster and she "didn't vote" on the January 6th commission, the two most important things to our democracy.? We'll just have to get a bigger majority.? Pelosi is also a political animal.? She's trying to keep the House; she counts votes and doesn't think she needs him for that.? The progressives aren't going to win in Texas, yet.? The Hispanic vote is going Republican, according to the pollsters.? Unless Beto pulls off a miracle, which I truly hope.??Except he'd have that crazy legislature to deal with, but I like that he's loud.?? More men need to get in the fight on the ground for women's rights.? These are dark days.? I almost wish the Supreme Court would follow Thomas's agenda and continue to gut freedoms.? We've got to get motivated and stay motivated.? And stop eating our own, even if we don't agree with everything they stand for or are doing or not doing.? The alternative is hell.? ?? ?
-- Em |
开云体育? ??“Biden is the only one who have beaten Trump”. Yeah we keep hearing that over ?and over as if he really were some kind of evil genius instead of a bumbling half-senile old fool who got lucky the ?first time due to Russia and got close ?to a half-milllion killed needlessly by the second time. ? I personally think a grilled cheese sandwich could have beaten him at that point but that’s just me.? How do you bring the two fake Democrats around? ?Buy them off the same way the corporations have, or play hardball. Supposedly Manchin’s daughter is in some ?trouble related to the epi-pen thing. Use things like that, stop bringing a knife to a gun fight. ?It isn’t working, it’s ?like one side has a squirt gun while the ?other has an AR-15. ? Biden isn’t changing fast enough, on anything. ? His entire agenda gets blown up and he gives a few speeches. ?How much does it take to eliminate a useless procedural rule like the filibuster? ?No other democracy has anything like it that I’m aware of. And the GOP will within five minutes once they get the chance. ?It’s ?insane he seems so ambivalent about using the power we all busted our assses for him to get. When the GOP is in charge they force their agenda on us. When the Dems are in charge the GOP still does that! ?It makes the Dem lawmakers look useless and weak and makes the rest of us furious. ?Reciting poetry? ?Singing God Bless America? ?Oh please. ?Wake me up when they stop rearranging the effing deck chairs. ?Of course by then it’s unlikely to matter. ?Yes we are in deep trouble but I at least would rather lose our democracy fighting for it. I’m sure the SC will follow Thomas’ agenda toot sweet. ?The crueler and the more chaos that ensues the better. Sal On Jun 26, 2022, at 5:11 PM, Emily Mae via groups.io <emily.mae50@...> wrote:
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On Sun, Jun 26, 2022 at 07:15 PM, Sal Sunshine wrote:
I personally think a grilled cheese sandwich could have beaten him at that point but that’s just me.?Well, maybe a grilled cheese..... Over half of Biden's supporters were under 50 yrs, which is interesting. ?Everyone's second favorite Grandpa (after Bernie). ? Still, I have a lot of respect for him and don't think he's doing that bad in his first two years, given what he inherited and what he's been faced with. ?NATO and Europe are surely grateful we rid ourselves of the orange turd.? I agree with you that he could do more and should do more, but I also believe we have to stay united and should support him. ?Look up his accomplishments? ?He's done quite a bit and little of it gets discussed loudly or long enough. ? ?? If we keep the House and win the Senate, perhaps the politicians will give up their milk toast. ?? Hmmm...guess on tomorrow's witness or topic? ?The pressure is mounting. ?I have a guess. ? -- Em |
开云体育It’s supposed to be Cassidy Hutchinson, whoever she is.I was hoping for Ivanka or Melania. Sal On Jun 27, 2022, at 9:44 PM, Emily Mae via groups.io <emily.mae50@...> wrote:
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开云体育This is what Im talking about, the Democrats didn’t have to approve the amendment and there’s things Biden could do besides throwing up his hands when preventable tragedies like this occurs.?Instead he runs ?to meet with MBS and other psychos because America’s oil addiction is what REALLY matters. Organizing to undo Biden’s deadly indifference and Abbott’s active assaults is the only way forward. Sal On Jun 27, 2022, at 9:44 PM, Emily Mae via groups.io <emily.mae50@...> wrote:
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On Tue, Jun 28, 2022 at 05:32 AM, Sal Sunshine wrote:
It’s supposed to be Cassidy Hutchinson, whoever she is.My hope was an honest testimony from Pasquale Cipollone.? My guess was someone from the White House - I'd never heard from Cassidy Hutchinson either.? Regardless of whether she got all the details right, this young idealistic woman showed all the guilty and cowardly ones up.? Incredible.? ? ? -- Em |
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Yes, this is horrific.??
A Republican from my State offered the amendment.? From a link referenced in the article: House appropriators voted to extend a Trump-era border policy, adding a six-month extension of Title 42 to the Department of Homeland Security Budget. The amendment, sponsored by Rep.?(R-Wash.), was passed by voice vote, leaving unclear which Democrats voted in support of the effort. Biden didn't immediately rescind the Trump policy, it's true.? The pandemic was the first priority.? Trump gutted the immigration "infrastructure."? Check this out:? The SC is now going to rule and I'm guessing, it will rule contrary to the public good.? From a linked article: The?administration continued the policy during the first year of its administration but moved in April to rescind the policy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) determined the pandemic conditions that Trump used to justify his emergency order were no longer necessary as the U.S. learns to live with COVID-19. A federal judge blocked the Biden administration from lifting Title 42, which the administration has appealed. Biden is not indifferent.?? From the article, here's Abbot's approach:?? In March of last year, Governor Abbott launched Operation Lone Star, a $4 billion political operation that deployed law enforcement and national guard members from all over the state (and a few other states) to flood border communities and arrest migrants with misdemeanor trespassing charges to then be sent to state prisons for up to a year.??through Operation Lone Star since its inception. This is Abbott’s attempt to create his own immigration enforcement and deterrence program. Biden is not indifferent to women's rights.? What he has said is "vote, vote, vote."? This is the long game.? Of course there are things we can do and lawsuits are filed in the states, but ultimately, without a more progressive majority in Congress, we're nationally hamstrung, yes?? Why can't we win in the mid-term elections?? Are we gerrymandered out of fair elections?? Are we apathetic?? In the meantime, according to his comments at the NATO summit, he's looking at what can be done with executive orders.?? He said in his comments from the NATO summit today, that the trip to Saudi Arabia is not, in fact, for the purpose of meeting with the murdering MBS, etc.? There is a broader agenda.? People always think the President has control over the price of gas.? It's complicated.? Just like inflation...complicated.? They're working on it.? Americans appear as uninformed and short-sighted.? ? -- Em |
开云体育So we’re supposed to rely simply on voting forever despite the fact that voting rights are being gutted all over the place, including direct threats at polling places? ?How does that work, exactly? Sounds overly simplistic and unrealistic at this point, when our votes are mattering less and less.?How come not having a majority is not getting in the way of the GOP pursuing its deadly and destructive agenda, and rarely does? ?The bombs they planted openly and purposefully during the last administration are now exploding all around us, and what do they do? ?Biden acts like he never could have foreseen any of this, Pelosi supports an anti-choice candidate over a progressive one, Schumer calls a recess the day after Uvalde, the optics are horrendous, tone-deaf. It’s time to stop blaming the voters for the gross dereliction of “leadership” at the top levels. ?People see little reason to vote when change for the better is either nonexistent or so incremental it barely matters. ?Why you’re not seeing this is beyond me. Sal? On Jun 30, 2022, at 9:18 AM, Emily Mae via <emily.mae50@...> wrote:
Biden is not indifferent to women's rights.? What he has said is "vote, vote, vote."? This is the long game.? Of course there are things we can do and lawsuits are filed in the states, but ultimately, without a more progressive majority in Congress, we're nationally hamstrung, yes?? Why can't we win in the mid-term elections?? Are we gerrymandered out of fair elections?? Are we apathetic?? In the meantime, according to his comments at the NATO summit, he's looking at what can be done with executive orders.?? He said in his comments from the NATO summit today, that the trip to Saudi Arabia is not, in fact, for the purpose of meeting with the murdering MBS, etc.? There is a broader agenda.? People always think the President has control over the price of gas.? It's complicated.? Just like inflation...complicated.? They're working on it.? Americans appear as uninformed and short-sighted.? ? |
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On Thu, Jun 30, 2022 at 11:02 AM, Sal Sunshine wrote:
So we’re supposed to rely simply on voting forever despite the fact that voting rights are being gutted all over the place, including direct threats at polling places? ?How does that work, exactly? Sounds overly simplistic and unrealistic at this point, when our votes are mattering less and less.?What is the alternative to voting?? But yes, we've lost the SC thanks to McConnell and there go'eth our voting rights.? And if the election deniers and conspiracy theorists are voted in (by the deluded) there go'eth the possibility for honest elections in the red and swing states, at least.? I don't have the answer to how to combat mass psychosis, but not voting isn't the answer.? ? ?
How come not having a majority is not getting in the way of the GOP pursuing its deadly and destructive agenda, and rarely does? ?The bombs they planted openly and purposefully during the last administration are now exploding all around us, and what do they do? ?Biden acts like he never could have foreseen any of this, Pelosi supports an anti-choice candidate over a progressive one, Schumer calls a recess the day after Uvalde, the optics are horrendous, tone-deaf.
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It’s time to stop blaming the voters for the gross dereliction of “leadership” at the top levels. ?People see little reason to vote when change for the better is either nonexistent or so incremental it barely matters. ?Why you’re not seeing this is beyond me.
I'm not blaming the voters.? The reality is we do not have the Senate--with the filibuster intact, and with our 2 DINO's, the GOP has the true majority.?? I'm fully in favor of Biden doing whatever he can...now...right now...on all kinds of fronts.? I am in favor of anything that helps the working people, on principle.? Student loan debt relief would help a lot, for example.? He needs to get much, much, louder, I agree with you there.? But, I don't think that constantly cutting him down 2 years into a presidency that literally saved us from what would have been the end of any version of democracy is good politics.
What is the DNC doing? Here's an article on what Bernie suggests.? Put the sure to fail bills to a vote, on principle.? I agree and have for a long time on this idea, but still, it relies on the idea that voting matters.? ? ?
? -- Em |
开云体育?Supposedly the Dems haven’t pushed to codify Roe all these years because it was a good way to get voters to the polls. ?That sure worked out well didn’t it. And what’s Biden’s answer? ?He’s still hung up on some 80s idea of fake bipartisanship with ?a party/cult that has no platform except to see ?him fail. ?Now he’s supposedly going to nominate an anti-choice judge in Kentucky ??♀? Again letting the GOP set the agenda, or what’s left of it. ?Total failure to grasp reality imo. ? And I would guess Biden the devout Catholic isn’t even really all that upset, which would pretty much explain his lack of any plan despite knowing for months. So we don’t have the numbers to overcome the filibuster, and we also don’t have the numbers to get rid of it. ?And even if we are able to add two more, or five more, who’s to say they wouldn’t turn out to be turncoats too. And we wonder why people don’t bother to vote. Sal On Jun 30, 2022, at 9:14 PM, Emily Mae via groups.io <emily.mae50@...> wrote:
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On Thu, Jun 30, 2022 at 11:16 PM, Sal Sunshine wrote:
Supposedly the Dems haven’t pushed to codify Roe all these years because it was a good way to get voters to the polls. ?That sure worked out well didn’t it. ?
I bet he changes his mind, if that was really what his plan was.? Both he and Schumer seemed to want to try and play nicey-nice with McConnell at various times.? Because McConnell is in charge of the Senate.? But, one can't negotiate with a snake and that's all McConnell has ever proven himself to be.? A long-living snake.?? ?
And I would guess Biden the devout Catholic isn’t even really all that upset, which would pretty much explain his lack of any plan despite knowing for months.
He's stated many, many, times publicly that he is pro-choice.? So many times that he's been denied Communion and attacked by the oh, so Holy Catholic patriarchy.? ?? ?
So we don’t have the numbers to overcome the filibuster, and we also don’t have the numbers to get rid of it. ?And even if we are able to add two more, or five more, who’s to say they wouldn’t turn out to be turncoats too.
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And we wonder why people don’t bother to vote.
The minority extremist anti-democracy party is orchestrating a soft coup by running and winning local elections.? We've got to do that and we are, but we still aren't getting in the ring with these yahoos, imo.? I just pray we haven't reached the tipping point with rogue legislators and gerrymandering and corrupt elections officials and no ballot boxes and a 5-justice SC cheering section, where your vote really won't matter.?? I am optimistic that Biden is going to start throwing down.? He needs to throw caution to the wind and the Dems need to support him.? Now would be good.? Of course, remember what ultimately happened when Obama, the ultimate idealist, finally started trying to combat McConnell by Executive Order.?? ?
? -- Em |
开云体育On Jul 1, 2022, at 9:50 PM, Emily Mae via groups.io <emily.mae50@...> wrote:
Nope, done. Biden apparently gets 2 TEMPORARY prosecutors in return for a LIFETIME appointment to the federal bench. ? Ever wonder ?why the Dems allow themselves to be outmaneuvered, again and again? ?They’re either in on it or so painfully naive to the point of being dense. In either case it’s unconscionable at this late date, and after this many betrayals. The governor of Kentucky, a Democrat, ?has even called Biden out on this one. ?
I don’t think anyone really really gives a hoot why our rights are evaporating or what Biden’s or anyone else’s personal beliefs are if they do little or nothing to prevent it.
It doesn’t matter now! ?This country was hanging by a thread when an unelected group of 5-6 fanatics decided to slash that thread. ?5-6 people. ?And nobody has even tried to hold McConnel responsible for his unconstitutional grab of that SC seat.
Throwing down, lol? ?After decades of caving and doing nothing ?and broken promises to their voters? ?After being for more than a generation little more than the GOP-lite? ?Now that he’s practically 80 he’s going to turn over a new leaf, and get the two Senate dems who show their contempt for him and their voters on a daily basis to suddenly fall in line? ?I think in sime ways he and Schumer don’t really mind having those two take the fall for tanking the entire agenda. So dream on. |
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On Sat, Jul 2, 2022 at 06:45 AM, Sal Sunshine wrote:
Nope, not done.? I hope he's done slipping back into being "a creature of the Senate of olden days."? And, like so many, I'm not sure he expected Roe to be overturned.? A real mis-judgment.? His Executive Order and the speech he made was good.?? Yep, pushback was a good thing.? We've got to fight.?? How would anybody do that?? It wasn't illegal and they had the majority.? The Senate, under McConnell has been playing hardball for a long time now.? He's a man with no convictions.? He's been a plague on our democracy for the longest--a clear and present danger.? And Kentucky will never vote him out.?? You know another thing that's super scary?? The case the SC recently agreed to take involves the "states independent legislature theory."? And Republican state legislatures are radicalizing quickly, thanks to the deluded masses voting in candidates aligned with ultra-right wing ideology and the tRump cult.? ? Keep the faith and the faith will keep you!??
? -- Em |
开云体育?They’re clearly shopping for cases that will allow them to impose their theocratic idea of “government” on the rest of us, basically using the trappings of democracy to disable democracy. ? Pretty soon we won’t even have the appearance of voting, elections etc. “Gradually, then suddenly.” “Pluralism and competing alternatives are essential for a functioning democracy, but differences of opinion in the US have hardened into political sectarianism and institutional gridlock,” they wrote, explaining why the U.S. score for government functionality had hit a new low point.? The narrowly divided Congress “has further crippled the legislative process, particularly as Democrats contend with widening divisions between their moderate and hard-line members. Obstruction will worsen ahead of the November 2022 mid-term elections — which could flip the majorities in both houses of Congress — as neither party will want to appear to be ceding ground to the other,” they wrote. ?The hits just keep on coming. For the fifth consecutive year, the United States was rated a "flawed democracy" by the Economist Intelligence Unit, reflecting a year of political division and mistrust. American democracy has trended downward since the EIU, part of the The Economist publishing group, started its global index in 2006. In the latest report, covering 2020, the United States received its lowest score yet (7.92 out of 10), ranking 25th out of 167 countries analyzed. Much of the blame was assigned to former President Donald Trump and his followers. America's democratic integrity took serious hits from the contentious 2020 election, which was plagued by disinformation and attempts to undermine the results, led by former President Donald Trump. The country's response to the pandemic and instances of police violence against protestors advocating for racial justice also negatively impacted its score, per the report. As a result, the U.S. scored an 83 out of 100, its lowest score to date and an 11-point drop since 2010. "Only a serious and sustained reform effort can repair the damage done during the Trump era to the perception and reality of basic rights and freedoms in the United States," the report concluded. Sal On Jul 8, 2022, at 1:56 PM, Emily Mae via groups.io <emily.mae50@...> wrote:
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Sal Sunshine
Emily Mae