BobDylan

I agree with Connie and Tumbleweed, these are not normal times and I really don't see any cooperation and compromise as possible or coming with MAGA. You simply can't do that with fascists or a cult, not until they have been deprogrammed or their cult has died out. The Nazis were not going to back down, they could only be defeated militarily, same with the South during the Civil War, after which they never really gave up their racist cause...

I agree, I will let the rubes be rubes and not waste time, energy or thought trying to change them. But I will also not deny that I do feel superior, smarter, and more informed than them. So call me a snob or elitist for saying and feeling that way about them and myself, but my next ? would be, as my former boss used to say, "Now, want to ask me if a give a 🍆>🐱 (what people think of me for that)?"..... And yes, I am referring to Maxwell, but also to the suburban white female voters who supported THE LYIN' KING, as well as the Repub women in congress who are also loyal THE LYIN' KING supporters..

I totally agree that many men are intimidated by women who are smarter or have more education than them. You see that all the time in the dating game and on the dating sites. And the strong father thing has long been a feature of why some people, both men and women, are attracted to fascists and authoritarian strongman leaders, like Hitler and now THE LYIN' KING. It was well-documented after the Nazi era that Germany was particularly vulnerable to his movement because of how all Germans, of both genders, were socialized to support or prefer strong father figures in their families and their society. I too am interested in your idea of our American neurosis, as well as why so many American women still supported and support THE LYIN' KING, despite his open misogyny and his history of abuse towards women. One theory I've heard is that those women are "Pick Me" types, who are attracted to those sorts of men in their personal lives, and also in the political realm, they want such men to pick them out for positions of power and privilege, etc.. I also agree that the women who supported THE LYIN' KING and who support his party, are almost entirely white. They sure seem to be traitors to their gender, in my mind, but then again, even in The Handmaid's Tale, there were still the Aunt Lydias, who sold out their gender and collaborated in the oppression of other women, just so they could have some greater privileges than the vast majority of women who weren't married to the male leaders of the fascist patriarchical group that ran things. It's nice to see fiction reflect reality so well, esp., when it's written long before the fiction becomes reality.. Right now, AOC would seem to be the leading female candidate for prez, but I have my doubts about her being able to win, and even about whether she would end up running for it. I also have my own personal doubts about whether she could be trusted to not end up being just another corporate sellout, same as Obama was, and that Biden also was, altho with Biden, everybody in the know and paying attention, already knew that he would be just another corporate Dem centrist, since that's what he'd always been in the Senate.. And don't even get me started on what a sellout and traitor to the working class, that Bill Clinton was...

I'm with you, always follow the money, as they say, when you're looking for people's motives and agenda in politics. Very few congress critters are in DC to actually serve the public and do some good, the rest are there merely for the power, the privilege, and most of all, the money... BTW, I love your username, as I too am very happily retired, wish I'd been able to even sooner..

The part about her congressional pension doesn't surprise me one bit.

I agree, resigning because of someone you oppose, might be better for your own life and welfare, but it does nothing to stop the 🧻hole you oppose. If anything, it gives them a win, and makes them look and feel stronger... To me, the congress critters who start finally opposing THE LYIN' KING before they resign, are not profiles in courage, rather they are cowards. I have more respect for a Liz Cheney, who stand and fight, all the way to being defeated at the polls, compared to those who virtue signal thru resigning, rather than staying on and fighting, down to the last election they face..

I disagree. I was glad when she said it out loud, tho in retrospect, it now looks like she said it in order to pressure for the release of the files, who knows? Either way, I was hoping she would go ahead and do it on the House floor, but now it seems likely that she will not do it before she leaves, and even if she did try it, Johnson would find some way to block her from doing it. Which is what I expected would happen, after she announced that she was going to do it, that Johnson would never allow it. So it may have just been an empty threat to pressure for the files release.. We'll probably never find out the real story behind her decision..

I was really surprised to hear this news, since I figured she was angling for a presidential run later on, with her recent stands against THE LYIN' KING. Now I don't know what she's thinking. So I'm curious what the other members think.. I'm assuming she thought she would lose the primary, against a THE LYIN' KING backed challenger.. I was really hoping she would read the whole client list from the Epstein survivors, on the floor of the US House, as she said she would do, before she leaves congress. But now I really doubt she will do it before she leaves. Which is a pity, because that is the one forum where it would be immune from any lawsuits for defamation, since congress is exempted from that during floor speeches..

They all need to and should, but I have zero confidence that it will ever happen, simply because they have too much money and power these days, esp. with the US govt., so they can always find ways to block and avoid any real accountability or punishment. And in their social circles, even being publicly shamed, such as full disclosure of the files, would still not make them pariahs, at least in their social circles. Only poverty would make one a pariah in those circles, sick as that sounds..

Agreed. Like I said, we will have a woman president eventually, assuming we keep having any sort of free and fair elections, which is still an if, in my mind. But even then, the first woman president will be a right wing, hawkish Republican candidate, simply because that will be the necessary pedigree to get most men, and even women, to feel safe and comfortable enough about voting for her. Because otherwise, both men and women voters are still too biased in thinking any Dem woman candidate is not tough or strong enough to handle the job.

I fully agree with the fourth option in the poll, and that's because most Americans are uncomfortable with a female president, feeling distrustful that a woman would be "tough" or "strong enough" to lead the country. So, in order for them to feel safe about choosing the first woman as president, it will be a woman from the Repub Party who is right wing and militarily hawkish, which Hillary Clinton tried to do, in building her image before running for prez, but she failed, partly because she was a Dem.. But I do agree that we will eventually have a woman president, too bad that the first one will inevitably be a right winger..

I sure as hell hope you're right about this. Even if more rats start leaving the sinking ship, I still will never trust them, support them or vote for them. They have already proven how cowardly, selfish, and immoral they are, just by having supported him so long..

Responsibility not only comes with fame, but also with wealth, or at least it used to....

Hope you're right about her seeing THE LYIN' KING as a sinking ship. Time will tell. I do think more Repubs in congress will start seeing THE LYIN' KING and loyalty to him as a liability towards them getting re-elected...

Personally, I was waiting and hoping for Zelensky to charge across the room and clock him when he and Vance were doing their ambush of him during his first WH visit, but he showed amazing restraint, only because he cared more about helping his country, than about giving THE LYIN' KING the beating he's needed and deserved his whole 🍆>🐱ing life! I would have cheered if Zelensky had done it, because he's the only person who could get away with it without being gunned down by the Secret Service..

Just watched the Stewart episode. Priceless slam on the Repub hypocrisy..

Me thinks MTG may be planning to run for prez next time, and so she's trying to position herself for a post THE LYIN' KING era, but I also used to think Liz Cheney was planning to do something similar, a few years ago. I was wrong then, and may well be wrong now, about MTG..

I agree, that's what THE LYIN' KING wants, and the main reason he ran this time was to stay out of prison. But if he becomes too much of a liability to the Repubs, I'm hoping they make him an offer he can't refuse, as far as resignation or the 25th Amendment removal... I also think that THE LYIN' KING's dementia, which the corporate media has been minimizing and ignoring for a long time, is finally becoming so obvious and increasingly worse, that it may also be beginning to finally turn off some people about him...

I figured this was coming, once THE LYIN' KING couldn't stop the vote for releasing the files, he would find some technicality or ploy to keep them hidden, even after a vote in favor of releasing them. And this way, he can delay the release indefinitely, while the so-called investigation is ongoing... He needs to be forced to resign, or the 25th amendment used on him by Vance, etc.., because his party will never vote to impeach him... I'm sure if either of those happen, Vance will make a deal to pardon him, same as Ford did for Nixon...

Well said, capitalism is anything but a fair and victimless system. In fact, it has millions of victims, who usually end up blaming themselves, rather than the system, for their suffering..

Yes, macphysto, I've encountered many admitted non voters over the years, and their answers always boil down to saying voting doesn't really matter, because it either doesn't change anything or that the major parties are too much the same, for it to make any difference. I still vote, even if every general election vote for statewide or federal elections always turns out to be a vote for the lesser evil, or even a vote that won't matter, since I live in a red state, where voting blue is itself a wasted vote most of the time in statewide or fed elections. But I always vote in the primaries, because that is where my vote usually matters the most and where I can actually vote for my hopes, and for someone I actually support, rather than just a lesser evil..

Just what I expected, the Repubs coming up with a bull💩 technicality to further hold back the Epstein files..

It's esp., been true since the early 1970s, when the SC began ruling that campaign money was protected speech, and therefore couldn't be limited or regulated. This was long before their Citizen's United decision, which was more of a final nail in the coffin. It's really interesting to me, that the corporate media will occasionally mention how high our rate of non voting is in elections, compared to other developed democracies. But at the same time, the corporate media never does any studies, research, or analysis of why that is, esp. when it comes to asking registered voters why they don't vote. My take is that those voters see no real diff between the two major parties, esp. on economic issues and policy, and that's why they don't bother voting, esp. in fed elections. But the corporate media doesn't want to admit that, much less let those voters ever know about any third party or independent candidates, that offer a real option for voting outside the duopoly, and someone who isn't bought, because those parties and candidates don't have the money to buy ads in the corporate media, so the corporate media protects their big money clients, the major parties. And so it goes, on and on...

I'm with Lindy and macphysto, in really missing George Carlin. He was my hero and was also my generation's Lenny Bruce, when Carlin got older and his commentary got edgier and angrier.. I love the T-shirt with him and the quote, " Never underestimate the power of stupidity in large groups of people"...

JNL- The last line of your comment sounds like my upcoming Thanksgiving trip to Oklahoma to see my two sisters. Driving several hours there from my home in Iowa, thru southwestern Missouri, eastern Kansas, and then the northeastern part of Oklahoma. Done it before, and it's a cultural wasteland, as far as radio, nothing but country music stations, Christian radio, and right wing talk radio. As before, I will bring a bunch of CDs to play and also just enjoy the silence for some of the ride by myself....