Nothing about what is happening now is like 1968, and folks need to stop evoking it. I discussed this in yesterday's post. And, Shaun, we don't come on here and dump our worries. Not how hopium works. We do here, and worry less.
💯right Simon. 1968 resonates with Americans personally because their civil rights were affected right there on American soil day to day. If any group were to take over the streets (peacefully) with merit, it would honestly be the women of this country in the wake of overturned Roe’s aftermath.
The Middle Eastern Conflict is one to keep an eye on but like you said, nothing has indicated any potential nationwide outbreak and the mainstream media has been irresponsible in enabling the narrative otherwise. The extreme elements of the protests are one—still happening in smaller numbers than perceived and on select campuses throughout the country. The cities of NY, Chicago, LA, etc are NOT overtaken by protesters.
I wish like you, more would understand (as it pertains to the election) while the conflict is affecting, it’s not personally resonant with the vast majority in spite any empathy they hopefully have towards both sides of this complex equation. We have to trust Biden, the DNC, and above all, our intelligence agencies are all over this, doing everything they can to prevent from any significant uptick.
Also, I’d like to add a point I think many are missing in the reality of timing. Most college school years end in May which means summer breaks are on the horizon. Do we really believe the vast majority of college students are going to forfeit their entire summers and just take to the streets protesting this war that while horrible, isn’t nearly as resonant as Vietnam being NO American troops have been sent over?!? Possible but I highly doubt it!
Ukraine is arguably an even more prevalent issue and quite possibly, the issue of our time as Putin’ intentions reek of a Hitler style takeover. Fortunately, more than not have looked to our history for guidance including in the dysfunctional congress and have gotten that crucial aid through in the nick of time. There’s always ample reason to worry cuz it’s human nature and the landscape is far from perfect right now.
If I may be so bold, I’ll piggy back off your motto of do more worry less and advise subscribers/followers here to consider the glass half full. Ukraine is stronger than we ever anticipated even when they had next to nothing for a counteroffensive. Their military and passion is twice as strong as Russia’ and imagine how far they’ll be able to push Putin back now with their most significant equipment yet (certainly being advised tactically by the Biden administration). Putin will now remain on the defense, further fracturing his cabinet, evoking plots around him from within. Needless to say, his days are numbered regardless how out of reach that may seem to many.
For both better and worse, the protests have Biden very much awake to the cause and while he’s towing the tightest of ropes, he vividly understands the intricacies much more than most people, certainly most young people give him credit for. Summer break will ensue, students will faction off from the rage enough not to exacerbate this to a national movement of chaos. The pressure is mounting on Netanyahu and he knows he’s being isolating and is isolating himself.
I am optimistic there will be a ceasefire and hostage exchange this summer and then by fall when students return, the temperature will likely have cooled some and more immediately affecting issues like that of women’s healthcare, preservation of democracy, and the economy (which I bullishly believe remain the top three issues for the vast majority all ages alike) can continue taking center stage. We have to remain cautiously optimistic and keep our heads in the work otherwise, we surrender our concerns to fascism and that’s how they win.
Trump gets worse while Biden gets better even amidst the fluctuating polls, the uncommitted, and the delayed accountability for Trump. We must accept the courts or the media were never going to help us! The ONLY way to break the fever is to beat Trump at the ballot box period.
With this election shaping to be about women above everything, including above immigration, the Middle East, crime, and the economy—-for that overarching reason alone—as you say—I rather be Biden and is in our position than Trump and them in theirs. Thanks again for all you do. Apologies for being too verbose. Let’s keep at it!
Exactly! As I've pointed out many times, both this news letter & Robert Hubbell's help keep me grounded and focused & help me not to be surprised at momentary outrages (like when the Roberts Court hinders accountability for Trump). Don't get me wrong, I'm happy the NY trial is proceeding - as it damn well should. However, whatever schadenfreude I feel when I hear about another bad day at trial for Trump- I remind myself that trials, convictions & public meltdowns alone will not "deliver" us from Trump. We must do it ourselves, and this I'm grateful for this community for helping myself and many others not to be dominated by the negativity & drama peddled by all of the for-profit media. Back to keeping calm & post-carding for me!
Republicans are handling the student protestors very poorly, trying to weaponize this issue the way they have done with immigration. Yesterday Greg Abbott ordered a violent police force to attack journalists and students in Austin who were peacefully exercising their 1st amendment rights. This should be proof enough of how a MAGA government would treat the law and our rights under the constitution. Anyone who believes that the safety of Palestinians OR Jewish Americans will improve under a bunch of far right authoritarians is sadly mistaken.
Shaun, I work with Vietnam vets, and have some older friends who were also there. They were draftees, for one thing, and most were around 19; some were drafted when they were a bit older when college deferments ended. They were witnessing horrific things, getting fired at and enduring combat, and coming home to lukewarm receptions ( though the idea they were spat upon is way overblown ) and being dropped into civilian life without much chance to decompress. Almost every family in America knew someone affected by the war. Vets might come home ( families were larger then ) to find their own brothers and sisters protesting the war they just returned from.The only thing remotely comparable were our ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but those were fought by volunteers ( and many of them are scarred by their experiences too; but there was no systemic effort to draft young people to go over there, so most Americans could just ignore it ) and the situation in Gaza bears no resemblance to 1968. You would not have single digits registering concern among youth polls if it did. I understand worry and anxiety; I'm a hopeless worrier myself. Try to put it in perspective, and you will feel a lot better.
Fisher, you touched on the one of the key differences from 1968 to now. The draft. There is no draft and what boots we have on the ground in that region, have been there before 10/7 and are not directly involved in the Israel/ Gaza situation.
I am so happy to see you outline a plan for dealing with the Supreme Court, which I now feel has a majority dedicated to legislating from the bench and destroying our Constitution.
Yesterday, Lawrence O’Donnell interviewed Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, one of the most ardent critics of SCOTUS, and who has thoroughly documented how it has been *captured* and corrupted by monied right-wingers, led by Leonard Leo and the Federalist Society. This is really worth watching!
I have no idea why Substack thinks I have a Newsletter (no doubt an error on my part but I no not why). I am a supporter of several writers that cover several areas of interest and different styles of presentation of whatever the subject matter. I do comment also. This particular writer named the Newsletter appropriately - Hopium Chronicals. Hope is a need we all have and data with supporting facts certainly has given me hope.
There is nothing much more important than maintaining Democrats in control of the White House and the House while adding control of the Senate. We then need to abolish the filibuster, expand the Supreme Court and add DC as a state. Once those are accomplished, we can address voting Rights, gerrymandering, abortion, rights, and the climate crisis. Without expanding the Supreme Court, those legislative efforts could all be overturned by the corrupt court we now have.
Please share Floricua News,part of the Courier Newsroom network.
Inside Puerto Rico’s unique role in the US presidential race
Although residents of Puerto Rico can’t vote for president in November, they could potentially still influence Electoral College calculations. In the 2020 general election, both the Biden and Trump campaigns had outreach efforts in Puerto Rico with the hopes that voters there would in turn influence their friends and relatives on the US mainland.
Arthur, another point, if I may: Abolishing the filibuster risks majoritan abuse, and tyranny in the wrong hands. Perhaps Democrats should instead reform the filibuster, create narrow exceptions, require a talking filibuster, and put the onus on a minimum vote to maintain (rather than break) a filibuster?
Maybe. But without significant reform, even a weakened filibuster may well allow Republicans to frustrate all such critical reforms. And if they fail, voters will justifiably blame Democrats for not achieving what they ran on.
Indeed. We have already seen that how voters blame President Biden for not raising the national minimum wage – when in fact it was Senator Kyrsten Sinema who sabotaged this.
Simon; Can we donate anonymously through Hopium? I have supported Biden and others since 2020. Unfortunately my email became a “bitch dog in heat” and I was besieged with money donation requests often from the same source several times per day. A month or so back I cut them all off in a fit of desperation. At one point I had over 5,000 email backlog. My email became almost useless for normal purposes and missed more than a few important one as they got lost in the clutter. I would love to give my admittedly small donations through Hopium so I would not be exposed to the avalanche of donation requests. Any thoughts?
I hear you John. I get torrents of texts daily - designed to guilt me to give (which I proudly do on a monthly basis). I've just become resigned that is a baked-in side effect of donating & and just prepared to swipe/delete on a daily ( make that hourly) basis.
Jarrod I’m retired and have limited funds so I can’t, won’t operate as you do. Please see Marie Drew’s response to my post. I think her solution makes eminent good sense to this messy situation!
That makes sense ! I wasn't trying to minimize "the mess". I agree 100% on how irritating it is. Her solution is a good idea! Honestly I wish I could figure out which donation triggered the text torrent I keep getting. Probably Act Blue...
I use a separate free aol email address for donations and go directly to sites to donate vs clicking from inside emails in my ‘clean’ feed. The AOL account is great because with a single click I can sort by sender and batch delete any I don’t want to read.
I also use the "Unsubscribe" option for both emails and text liberally. At least with Apple products their an Unsubscribe link next to the senders email address.
President Biden has thus far seemed to indicate a reluctance to expand the Supreme Court. Given their blatant partisanship and corruption, do you see POTUS shifting on this at all? Any effort to clean up Washington will have to be done with bold action, it seems to me. Hopefully we expand our majority in the senate and retake the house, and have fearless leadership in each unafraid to take meaningful action against corrupt judges who consider themselves untouchable.
Brilliant idea to add a focus on a reform agenda. It's timely and proactive. Your ideas to address corruption and life expectancy encompass so many things we're all concerned about - the right to vote, justice for all, guns, climate change, women's health... Thank you SImon for synthesizing all this and for being the Hopium for so many of us!
Couldn't agree more on this conclusion: "MAGA Justices allowed a serious conversation about undoing what was perhaps the central goal of the Founders - preventing a President from becoming a King."
Americans know, no matter how much Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Thomas may want to pretend otherwise: someone who criminally-conspired to overthrow our government, has no business in that government—let alone leading it.
The billionaire-bought MAGA Justices want to shield Tr*mp from facing criminal trial for the 2020 election insurrection and attack on our freedoms. A shameless Thomas, whose wife plotted in and supported that attack, won't even recuse!
At minimum, SCOTUS must be forced to rule by May 20th to allow enough time for the trial before November 5—because every American deserves to know the January 6 trial verdict from a jury of our peers, before we each cast our own verdict, when we vote in 2024's election.
Another encouraging signal: Allan Lichtman, who has accurately predicted nine of the last ten presidential elections*, states that “A lot would have to go wrong for Biden to lose." That’s a strong statement – and yet another reason for optimism!
* Actually 10 out of 10, if we accept Lichtman’s assertion that SCOTUS stole the 2020 election from Al Gore. (Interestingly, William Rehnquist was Chief Justice at the time – and his successor was one of his law clerks, John Roberts.
Agreed. Just please don’t position it as draining the swamp. Rather frame it as setting new standards to bring our institutions fully into the 21st century in order to better serve us in the future.
Definitely need a reform agenda. Our government home has been hollowed out by years of haters’ destructive behaviors. If Heritage has a Project 2025, we need to have a democracy renovation, starting with court reform. Let’s have white papers on how to rebuild our democracy for the multi-racial country we will become - not just patching holes but instituting laws to enforce our norms. MAGA Republicans need not apply.
I don't think the average voter has been paying enough attention to know what project 2025 is about! I highly recommend watching (and sharing!) these two episodes of PoliticsGirl:
Is This the End of America?: A Conversation with Journalist Ahmed Baba
And while I am recommending stuff, I will also point you to Tuesday's issue of "Chop Wood, Carry Water" where Jessica Craven talks about a webinar from Sister District on Ballot Roll Off. I was fortunate enough to attend this eye-opening meeting, but Jessica links to the slide deck that was presented and a brief Tiktok video that she created. This, like the PoliticsGirl episodes is well worth reviewing/watching - ans sharing!
Thomas Jefferson’s words don’t support originalism among the Supreme Court’s justices. Indeed, the co-author of our Constitution says originalism is BS, it seems to me.
Thanks Simon. Let's all channel our worry and anxiety about SCOTUS into action so we win in November. Don't obey in advance. SCOTUS may try to anoint Trump king but that doesn't make him one.
Simon: Your Big, Bold Clean Up Washington idea is hugely optimistic and so very needed. It’s easy to be against something; thrilling to be for something. Let me know how I can help.
It was Clarence Thomas from what I heard who talked the supreme court in taking the immunity case for trump. After all His wife was an insurrectionist. The only thing it does is delay federal trials. It doesn't delay state trials. Fani Willis will be reelected in the May 21 primary in George by a wide margin and will win DA again. Right now her only competitor is only getting 9% of the vote. Minorities there are angry with Trump, the Judge in the Georgia case and Georgia Republicans. that case could still be on track. And now you have the Arizona Case and the Michigan case. The attorney generals in these states decided to move forward with their cases because of the slowness of the federal cases.
It is positive that the insurrection is being kept front and center by Trump’s trial(s) and all the other cases you mention. I do wish newspapers and online media would put a running tally on their front page:
– Number of insurrectionists arrested and charged
– Others charged with crimes to help Trump steal the election (false electors, etc)
I'm worried about violence at the Chicago DNC.. 1968 again?
Nothing about what is happening now is like 1968, and folks need to stop evoking it. I discussed this in yesterday's post. And, Shaun, we don't come on here and dump our worries. Not how hopium works. We do here, and worry less.
So true Simon. Keep your head down, consider the facts NOT necessarily the Enquirer news - I always called those publications the scandal sheets.
💯right Simon. 1968 resonates with Americans personally because their civil rights were affected right there on American soil day to day. If any group were to take over the streets (peacefully) with merit, it would honestly be the women of this country in the wake of overturned Roe’s aftermath.
The Middle Eastern Conflict is one to keep an eye on but like you said, nothing has indicated any potential nationwide outbreak and the mainstream media has been irresponsible in enabling the narrative otherwise. The extreme elements of the protests are one—still happening in smaller numbers than perceived and on select campuses throughout the country. The cities of NY, Chicago, LA, etc are NOT overtaken by protesters.
I wish like you, more would understand (as it pertains to the election) while the conflict is affecting, it’s not personally resonant with the vast majority in spite any empathy they hopefully have towards both sides of this complex equation. We have to trust Biden, the DNC, and above all, our intelligence agencies are all over this, doing everything they can to prevent from any significant uptick.
Also, I’d like to add a point I think many are missing in the reality of timing. Most college school years end in May which means summer breaks are on the horizon. Do we really believe the vast majority of college students are going to forfeit their entire summers and just take to the streets protesting this war that while horrible, isn’t nearly as resonant as Vietnam being NO American troops have been sent over?!? Possible but I highly doubt it!
Ukraine is arguably an even more prevalent issue and quite possibly, the issue of our time as Putin’ intentions reek of a Hitler style takeover. Fortunately, more than not have looked to our history for guidance including in the dysfunctional congress and have gotten that crucial aid through in the nick of time. There’s always ample reason to worry cuz it’s human nature and the landscape is far from perfect right now.
If I may be so bold, I’ll piggy back off your motto of do more worry less and advise subscribers/followers here to consider the glass half full. Ukraine is stronger than we ever anticipated even when they had next to nothing for a counteroffensive. Their military and passion is twice as strong as Russia’ and imagine how far they’ll be able to push Putin back now with their most significant equipment yet (certainly being advised tactically by the Biden administration). Putin will now remain on the defense, further fracturing his cabinet, evoking plots around him from within. Needless to say, his days are numbered regardless how out of reach that may seem to many.
For both better and worse, the protests have Biden very much awake to the cause and while he’s towing the tightest of ropes, he vividly understands the intricacies much more than most people, certainly most young people give him credit for. Summer break will ensue, students will faction off from the rage enough not to exacerbate this to a national movement of chaos. The pressure is mounting on Netanyahu and he knows he’s being isolating and is isolating himself.
I am optimistic there will be a ceasefire and hostage exchange this summer and then by fall when students return, the temperature will likely have cooled some and more immediately affecting issues like that of women’s healthcare, preservation of democracy, and the economy (which I bullishly believe remain the top three issues for the vast majority all ages alike) can continue taking center stage. We have to remain cautiously optimistic and keep our heads in the work otherwise, we surrender our concerns to fascism and that’s how they win.
Trump gets worse while Biden gets better even amidst the fluctuating polls, the uncommitted, and the delayed accountability for Trump. We must accept the courts or the media were never going to help us! The ONLY way to break the fever is to beat Trump at the ballot box period.
With this election shaping to be about women above everything, including above immigration, the Middle East, crime, and the economy—-for that overarching reason alone—as you say—I rather be Biden and is in our position than Trump and them in theirs. Thanks again for all you do. Apologies for being too verbose. Let’s keep at it!
Exactly! As I've pointed out many times, both this news letter & Robert Hubbell's help keep me grounded and focused & help me not to be surprised at momentary outrages (like when the Roberts Court hinders accountability for Trump). Don't get me wrong, I'm happy the NY trial is proceeding - as it damn well should. However, whatever schadenfreude I feel when I hear about another bad day at trial for Trump- I remind myself that trials, convictions & public meltdowns alone will not "deliver" us from Trump. We must do it ourselves, and this I'm grateful for this community for helping myself and many others not to be dominated by the negativity & drama peddled by all of the for-profit media. Back to keeping calm & post-carding for me!
Republicans are handling the student protestors very poorly, trying to weaponize this issue the way they have done with immigration. Yesterday Greg Abbott ordered a violent police force to attack journalists and students in Austin who were peacefully exercising their 1st amendment rights. This should be proof enough of how a MAGA government would treat the law and our rights under the constitution. Anyone who believes that the safety of Palestinians OR Jewish Americans will improve under a bunch of far right authoritarians is sadly mistaken.
Shaun, I work with Vietnam vets, and have some older friends who were also there. They were draftees, for one thing, and most were around 19; some were drafted when they were a bit older when college deferments ended. They were witnessing horrific things, getting fired at and enduring combat, and coming home to lukewarm receptions ( though the idea they were spat upon is way overblown ) and being dropped into civilian life without much chance to decompress. Almost every family in America knew someone affected by the war. Vets might come home ( families were larger then ) to find their own brothers and sisters protesting the war they just returned from.The only thing remotely comparable were our ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but those were fought by volunteers ( and many of them are scarred by their experiences too; but there was no systemic effort to draft young people to go over there, so most Americans could just ignore it ) and the situation in Gaza bears no resemblance to 1968. You would not have single digits registering concern among youth polls if it did. I understand worry and anxiety; I'm a hopeless worrier myself. Try to put it in perspective, and you will feel a lot better.
Fisher, you touched on the one of the key differences from 1968 to now. The draft. There is no draft and what boots we have on the ground in that region, have been there before 10/7 and are not directly involved in the Israel/ Gaza situation.
Additionally, the latest Harvard Youth Poll had Gaza at the 15 out of 16 times on their list of concerns. https://iop.harvard.edu/youth-poll/47th-edition-spring-2024?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
I recently saw another voter poll (don't have the cite) that had Gaza polling in the single digits.
I am so happy to see you outline a plan for dealing with the Supreme Court, which I now feel has a majority dedicated to legislating from the bench and destroying our Constitution.
Yesterday, Lawrence O’Donnell interviewed Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, one of the most ardent critics of SCOTUS, and who has thoroughly documented how it has been *captured* and corrupted by monied right-wingers, led by Leonard Leo and the Federalist Society. This is really worth watching!
https://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/-high-priest-of-policy-sen-whitehouse-slams-pompous-gorsuch-on-trump-immunity-209743429644
.
Edit: Ashley, I immediately moved my comment under your excellent, succinct post. :)
It meant everything to read that the SCOTUS problem needs to be addressed
I have no idea why Substack thinks I have a Newsletter (no doubt an error on my part but I no not why). I am a supporter of several writers that cover several areas of interest and different styles of presentation of whatever the subject matter. I do comment also. This particular writer named the Newsletter appropriately - Hopium Chronicals. Hope is a need we all have and data with supporting facts certainly has given me hope.
Apparently when you sign up for any newsletter they give you an account of your own to publish on. I have one also.
There is nothing much more important than maintaining Democrats in control of the White House and the House while adding control of the Senate. We then need to abolish the filibuster, expand the Supreme Court and add DC as a state. Once those are accomplished, we can address voting Rights, gerrymandering, abortion, rights, and the climate crisis. Without expanding the Supreme Court, those legislative efforts could all be overturned by the corrupt court we now have.
And statehood for Puerto Rico – should the people of Puerto Rico so decide.
Yes. It is not in my list because it is contingent on local control. Puerto Rico is now pretty equally divided in three ways.
Good point – and hence my caveat.
Please share Floricua News,part of the Courier Newsroom network.
Inside Puerto Rico’s unique role in the US presidential race
Although residents of Puerto Rico can’t vote for president in November, they could potentially still influence Electoral College calculations. In the 2020 general election, both the Biden and Trump campaigns had outreach efforts in Puerto Rico with the hopes that voters there would in turn influence their friends and relatives on the US mainland.
https://floricuanews.com/2024/04/24/inside-puerto-ricos-unique-role-in-the-us-presidential-race/
🌴🌴🌴
Thank you! I was not aware of this news source.
Arthur, another point, if I may: Abolishing the filibuster risks majoritan abuse, and tyranny in the wrong hands. Perhaps Democrats should instead reform the filibuster, create narrow exceptions, require a talking filibuster, and put the onus on a minimum vote to maintain (rather than break) a filibuster?
Maybe. But without significant reform, even a weakened filibuster may well allow Republicans to frustrate all such critical reforms. And if they fail, voters will justifiably blame Democrats for not achieving what they ran on.
Indeed. We have already seen that how voters blame President Biden for not raising the national minimum wage – when in fact it was Senator Kyrsten Sinema who sabotaged this.
Simon; Can we donate anonymously through Hopium? I have supported Biden and others since 2020. Unfortunately my email became a “bitch dog in heat” and I was besieged with money donation requests often from the same source several times per day. A month or so back I cut them all off in a fit of desperation. At one point I had over 5,000 email backlog. My email became almost useless for normal purposes and missed more than a few important one as they got lost in the clutter. I would love to give my admittedly small donations through Hopium so I would not be exposed to the avalanche of donation requests. Any thoughts?
I hear you John. I get torrents of texts daily - designed to guilt me to give (which I proudly do on a monthly basis). I've just become resigned that is a baked-in side effect of donating & and just prepared to swipe/delete on a daily ( make that hourly) basis.
Jarrod I’m retired and have limited funds so I can’t, won’t operate as you do. Please see Marie Drew’s response to my post. I think her solution makes eminent good sense to this messy situation!
That makes sense ! I wasn't trying to minimize "the mess". I agree 100% on how irritating it is. Her solution is a good idea! Honestly I wish I could figure out which donation triggered the text torrent I keep getting. Probably Act Blue...
I use a separate free aol email address for donations and go directly to sites to donate vs clicking from inside emails in my ‘clean’ feed. The AOL account is great because with a single click I can sort by sender and batch delete any I don’t want to read.
Thanks ever so much for this advice! I knew there had to be a “better way”!
I also use the "Unsubscribe" option for both emails and text liberally. At least with Apple products their an Unsubscribe link next to the senders email address.
Email systems screen junk mail. Some are good email systems. Some are crap. AOL has done a good job for me.
President Biden has thus far seemed to indicate a reluctance to expand the Supreme Court. Given their blatant partisanship and corruption, do you see POTUS shifting on this at all? Any effort to clean up Washington will have to be done with bold action, it seems to me. Hopefully we expand our majority in the senate and retake the house, and have fearless leadership in each unafraid to take meaningful action against corrupt judges who consider themselves untouchable.
Brilliant idea to add a focus on a reform agenda. It's timely and proactive. Your ideas to address corruption and life expectancy encompass so many things we're all concerned about - the right to vote, justice for all, guns, climate change, women's health... Thank you SImon for synthesizing all this and for being the Hopium for so many of us!
Couldn't agree more on this conclusion: "MAGA Justices allowed a serious conversation about undoing what was perhaps the central goal of the Founders - preventing a President from becoming a King."
Americans know, no matter how much Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Thomas may want to pretend otherwise: someone who criminally-conspired to overthrow our government, has no business in that government—let alone leading it.
The billionaire-bought MAGA Justices want to shield Tr*mp from facing criminal trial for the 2020 election insurrection and attack on our freedoms. A shameless Thomas, whose wife plotted in and supported that attack, won't even recuse!
At minimum, SCOTUS must be forced to rule by May 20th to allow enough time for the trial before November 5—because every American deserves to know the January 6 trial verdict from a jury of our peers, before we each cast our own verdict, when we vote in 2024's election.
#JusticeCantWait
Another encouraging signal: Allan Lichtman, who has accurately predicted nine of the last ten presidential elections*, states that “A lot would have to go wrong for Biden to lose." That’s a strong statement – and yet another reason for optimism!
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/26/allan-lichtman-prediction-presidential-election
Rather than polls, Professor Lichtman bases his predictions on what he calls "The 13 Keys to the White House".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Keys_to_the_White_House
.
* Actually 10 out of 10, if we accept Lichtman’s assertion that SCOTUS stole the 2020 election from Al Gore. (Interestingly, William Rehnquist was Chief Justice at the time – and his successor was one of his law clerks, John Roberts.
Agreed. Just please don’t position it as draining the swamp. Rather frame it as setting new standards to bring our institutions fully into the 21st century in order to better serve us in the future.
attacking corruption is a very powerful part of what's driving public opinion on this. Has to be center to it all.
Definitely need a reform agenda. Our government home has been hollowed out by years of haters’ destructive behaviors. If Heritage has a Project 2025, we need to have a democracy renovation, starting with court reform. Let’s have white papers on how to rebuild our democracy for the multi-racial country we will become - not just patching holes but instituting laws to enforce our norms. MAGA Republicans need not apply.
I don't think the average voter has been paying enough attention to know what project 2025 is about! I highly recommend watching (and sharing!) these two episodes of PoliticsGirl:
Is This the End of America?: A Conversation with Journalist Ahmed Baba
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPgeg_Jij8c&t=15s
Trump’s America: AGENDA 47 A conversation with Ahmed Baba
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW-NjxL5oUw&t=3s
And while I am recommending stuff, I will also point you to Tuesday's issue of "Chop Wood, Carry Water" where Jessica Craven talks about a webinar from Sister District on Ballot Roll Off. I was fortunate enough to attend this eye-opening meeting, but Jessica links to the slide deck that was presented and a brief Tiktok video that she created. This, like the PoliticsGirl episodes is well worth reviewing/watching - ans sharing!
https://open.substack.com/pub/chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions/p/chop-wood-carry-water-423?r=1aiy5t&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web.
Thomas Jefferson’s words don’t support originalism among the Supreme Court’s justices. Indeed, the co-author of our Constitution says originalism is BS, it seems to me.
yep
Looks to me like he said it before originalism originally originated. Lol.
I have that copyrighted already. Ha ha. No, anything of mine that helps you is yours to use
I heartily support your textualist interpretation of Thomas Jefferson! /s
Originalism is a bunch of malarkey.
I prefer the phrase worry about everything; panic about nothing.
Thanks Simon. Let's all channel our worry and anxiety about SCOTUS into action so we win in November. Don't obey in advance. SCOTUS may try to anoint Trump king but that doesn't make him one.
Simon: Your Big, Bold Clean Up Washington idea is hugely optimistic and so very needed. It’s easy to be against something; thrilling to be for something. Let me know how I can help.
It was Clarence Thomas from what I heard who talked the supreme court in taking the immunity case for trump. After all His wife was an insurrectionist. The only thing it does is delay federal trials. It doesn't delay state trials. Fani Willis will be reelected in the May 21 primary in George by a wide margin and will win DA again. Right now her only competitor is only getting 9% of the vote. Minorities there are angry with Trump, the Judge in the Georgia case and Georgia Republicans. that case could still be on track. And now you have the Arizona Case and the Michigan case. The attorney generals in these states decided to move forward with their cases because of the slowness of the federal cases.
It is positive that the insurrection is being kept front and center by Trump’s trial(s) and all the other cases you mention. I do wish newspapers and online media would put a running tally on their front page:
– Number of insurrectionists arrested and charged
– Others charged with crimes to help Trump steal the election (false electors, etc)
– How many have pleaded guilty
– How many have been convicted after trial
– Total number of years the sentences add up to