I respectfully disagree. Dr. El Sayed knows the safety of Israel is conditional on the well being of Palestinians. He knows the well being pf Palestinians is dependent on the well being of Israel. This was the stance of Abraham Joshua Heschel and of course, author and publisher Rabbi Michael Lerner. The decades long war is reprehensible. More of the same hated - will lead to more of the same hatred ... Maine Senator George Mitchel brokered the Irish Easter Peace Agreement between Protestants and Catholics, who were fighting since the 1850s. They've stopped fighting. THIS is possible, of course. But not with Netanyahu, Hezbollah and more of the same. More of the same - will lead to more of the same
Lately Ive read accounts about Troy Jackson fathering children with his second cousin. It's really his business but I wonder what's the real skinny on those accounts and will it bite the Maine part in the ass again?
Yes, in the Maine Wire and portrayed in an unseemly and lowlife way.
Leonard Leo is the billionaire and he purchased Edgecove, his estate in Northeast Harbor for over $3 million. He is buddies with Susan Collins and has been instrumental in getting the newest 3 rw activist SCOTUS justices. Right Wing rag is right.
there is nothing illegal about 2nd cousins marrying or having children. actually, some states allow it for first cousins incredibly....rudy giuliani married his second cousin and remained married for decades, though it was eventually anulled due to their being related, but by the church. there's no law against it as fas a i know. of course, fdr also married his cousin. but despite the last name they were distant. uncle teddy gave her away iirc....since 2nd cousins are not all that closely related, there are no restrictions culturally or legally. in a town of 500 people, well, there are bound to be some second cousins.....
Mainer here. I can comment on this. It is awful that this even has to be discussed. This is a right wing scare tactic in order to dehumanize and demonize Troy Jackson, Collins's challenger who Collins and her team fear can beat her. She is vulnerable and they know it.
The short answer is that marrying 2nd cousins is legal in 48 states. It is a non-issue legally and genetically. The way it is being marketed is "fathered children with cousin" to make it as unseemly as possible.
The longer answer is that Troy has been with his partner, Lana Pelletier, for decades. They have two sons. They apparently share a great great grandfather. Most people do not compare family trees going back that far or ever when dating. It is not uncommon in rural areas for people to be distantly related.
2nd cousins share about 3% of their DNA, which is no higher than strangers and their is no increased birth defect rate.
I don’t have any problem with all the attacks on Benjamin Netanyahu… But I’m really getting sick and tired of how fast and loose the people making those attacks are to just use the word Israel instead of being specific. I sure as hell don’t want the world equating everything Donald Trump does as “America“… So I would really appreciate it if the new left would learn that Israel and Netanyahu are two different things. This may not sound like a substantive complaint, but it certainly matters in the political aspect of all of this because there’s an awful lot of Jews in the United States who are members of the Democratic Party who are starting to feel like they’re not wanted anymore, and that bothers me greatly
I find it a bit surprising that Jewish Americans would modify their votes based on presumed antipathy towards Israel. I'm not sure how many people in the Hopium community realize how much African Americans and other minorities have had to swallow less than desirable policies from both parties that directly affect them in order to vote for the greater good.
I think part of the issue is generational. Bibi first became prime minister 30 years ago and his party has only been out of power 6 years of that time and Bibi has spent 19 of those 24 years as Prime Minister. For younger Americans he is as much Israel as Putin is Russia.
I think one of the biggest reasons you see people like Platner and Abdul doing well in the primary's is because we see that and know that it is likely that is how people see Americans. The reason we are so interested in a hard change of vector against the establishment is because they let Trump return.
I'm glad the endorsements are coming in. The more I learned about Stevens the less I was a fan. Abdul had legitimate questions about the money situation and she completely dodged them at every turn and I found it extremely off-putting.
Mind if we just move on to the general… Plenty of us had issues with him too, but we wanna win. And our questions were just as legitimate as anybody else’s.
Sure I guess. I'm just a little confused because I genuinely am not generally inclined to dive in headfirst with the progressive wing for pragmatic reasons, not political ones, but in THIS case the choice was really obvious to me so I guess I just feel like I'm going crazy. I'm trying to understand it.
but he was ok with the republicans spending money to boost him...like piano man said, we have to move on to the general and defeat maga. stevens had a good track record and was well liked by her constituents. she was responsive and available. so she took campaign money. omg. and she was closer than any of el sayed's bogus polling showed. polling that shows him trailing rogers.....
I'm looking forward to seeing El-Sayed demonstrate some political savvy and talent and bring people together to solidify the nomination. I would think the head-to-head polling vs. Rogers starts to become more meaningful now.
I'll look at putting a few more $$$ to Jackson today. I'll self-report later on.
I like his fight, and I think this speech demonstrates a good first day effort "to bring people together" as you say Patrick.
I think he was gracious towards Haley, and towards Jewish people and is an able representative of the "new left" voice within the Democratic tent. Stronger together. He's not targeting Democrats, he's fighting oligarchy, corruption and Mike Rogers. I am hopeful that his leadership will be able and authentic.
Lets hang together and kick their ass.
Speaking of gracious, TY Simon for your comments on the Contrarian today. Well said, sir.
Last night Republican Congressman John McGuire (VA-05) called his Democratic opponent, former Congressman Tom Perriello, a communist-- which he is not.
In response I donated to Tom's campaign. I urge others to do the same.
Wow, I love hearing about this huge turnout! I'm so worried Islamaphobia will be used to scare low info voters, but maybe even in a less blue state like Michigan, the majority of people understand the bigotry behind the attacks.
Those are fantastic! I have a yard but it’s 1/3 mile from the road. However, I do get plenty of delivery drivers here, so could be a worthwhile purchase!
Heather Cox Richardson, who hates the term Democratic Socialists because she thinks it is an inaccurate description of what they stand for, maintains that DSA candidates’ platforms are to the right of the Eisenhower administration’s policies. That’s a really important distinction, and it’s from a respected historian who studies politics.
much as i admire her, i think she is wrong on this. there are other folks out there who have a better handle on the dsa. heather is a historian, and a damn fine one, but not a political scientist. in this case, that matters. and i do read her a lot and have her book.
Whose take on the DSA is more reliable than HCR’s? I’d like to read them. No sarcasm there, just curiosity. Also, as a citizen of the annoyingly right-wing and stupidly governed Florida, where Project 2025 was written to be implemented by our current arse of a right-wing governor DeSantis after he won the supposedly win the presidency, I’d give my eyeteeth to be governed/represented by a DSA member, and I’m a middle of the road Bob Graham Democrat (which is my preference but I’ll take what I can get.)
i like dr rachel bitecofer. but you can read more about the dsa in the atlantic and simon also posted a good article here on the dsa. frankly i see no reason any democratic candidate should be aligning themselves with this fringe group. we know 50% of the dsa identify as communists; we know they have a radical red star faction; these things cannot be dismissed. if candidates are running under their banner and don't know this stuff, what does that say about them? and if they do know about it, what does that say? so i am dismissive of any idea that either we or the dsa do not know what they really stand for; its out there now for all to see.
The "red star' faction is anti-democratic. Bernie, AOC, AES, The Squad, Candidate Hong for WI governor, and all the other DSA or DSA adjacents need to draw a sharp line and call them "Out !!" , because the red star faction is way over that line, and there is no room in the tent for them.
That would also demonstrate a muscular party. If you are not pro-democracy you are not welcome here.
simon has said that; they need to distance themselves from that faction. drop the whole socialist line, its a distraction. if what they want is european style social democracy, that is not socialism.
I liked an interview with El Sayed in which he said that he is srongly anti-monopoly, anti oligopoly and anti the political role of oligarchs. He wants to defend other businesses that have to compete, That distinguishes him from many American socialists. He is a social democrat , as in Europe, particularly because of his defense of health care for all. If the self-defined socialists continue with some crazy ideas like abolishing prisons instead of reforming the prison system, they will lose and Trump will benefit. I agree, however, that he has work to do on his perceived anti-semitism.
I am worried about El-Sayed’s methods, “illicit tactics,” as Rosenberg said. Not good. Not good. He’s not dumb, he’s doing this on purpose. Let’s be better than MAGA. We can’t let illicit tactics into the Democratic Party or our national politics will become the property of the most unscrupulous.
Susan Collins is playing her "Switcheroo, I'm a moderate too" game yesterday, dramatically proclaiming her "no" vote for Todd Blanche. Those of us watching this knows this is what she does when the senate does not need her vote. No moderate votes with Trump 96% of the time and confirms anti abortion judges and unqualified unfit cabinet members. The senate likely has enough votes for Blance even without Murkowski, Collins and McConnell. Collins should really be concerned because new audio came out with Blanche reassuring a group of religious leaders that when he is AG he will ensure abortion is banned in all 50 states. Mainers are already furious about Kavanaugh.
Thanks to everyone who has donated. I wanted to remind folks that your money is going to help three major races in Maine; helping Troy Jackson counter the dirty smears from Susan Collins's and her over 100 billionaires, including Musk, the 2nd district congressional race where state auditor, Matthew Dunlap, D, is facing former governor Paul LePage, a Trumpian bully and bigot of mammoth proportions, and the gubernatorial 3 way race with Hannah Pingree, bigot Bobby Charles and newly minted Independent and well known republican operative Rick Bennett.
I highlighted our congressional seat a few days ago. It has not gotten much attention but we Mainers need the Democrat Matthew Dunlap to win, because sending his opponent, former governor Paul LePage will be a horror show for Maine and the country.
Today, I'll just quickly highlight our important gubernatorial race between Democrat Hannah Pingree, Republican Bobby Charles and Independent Rick Bennett.
Hannah is an excellent candidate and is leading in polling by a substantial 15 points. Her mother is our congresswoman, Chellie Pingree, D, in ME CD-2 and has represented Maine faithfully. Here's Hannah's website.
Bobby Charles, the republican is a truly repugnant person. He is a Trump loving, right wing extremist bigot and has vowed to "deport all illegals and get rid of Sharia law". Here is all you need to know about him.
This is a three way race with Rick Bennett, a republican who became an independent last year. Maine suffered two losses in prior elections to a third party spoiler. Given that Rick likely would be governing right of center and is taking pac money from a right wing dark money group does not give any of us on the left confidence in him.
Here is the MDP's take on Bennett's history as a republican operative. He is a likable guy, but only polling at 8%. Still a spoiler is a spoiler and we got seriously harmed in 2008 with Paul LePage winning with a mere 38%.
El Sayed's position on Israel is reprehensible and very upsetting.
I respectfully disagree. Dr. El Sayed knows the safety of Israel is conditional on the well being of Palestinians. He knows the well being pf Palestinians is dependent on the well being of Israel. This was the stance of Abraham Joshua Heschel and of course, author and publisher Rabbi Michael Lerner. The decades long war is reprehensible. More of the same hated - will lead to more of the same hatred ... Maine Senator George Mitchel brokered the Irish Easter Peace Agreement between Protestants and Catholics, who were fighting since the 1850s. They've stopped fighting. THIS is possible, of course. But not with Netanyahu, Hezbollah and more of the same. More of the same - will lead to more of the same
Lately Ive read accounts about Troy Jackson fathering children with his second cousin. It's really his business but I wonder what's the real skinny on those accounts and will it bite the Maine part in the ass again?
What is the source of this claim? Where did yo read this?
it was in the maine wire, which is a right wing rag run by leonard leo, who was gifted a mansion in maine by a billionaire.
Thx for the update, Fisher! I appreciate the insight on Leonard Leo. Do you happen to know who gifted him this estate??
Yes, in the Maine Wire and portrayed in an unseemly and lowlife way.
Leonard Leo is the billionaire and he purchased Edgecove, his estate in Northeast Harbor for over $3 million. He is buddies with Susan Collins and has been instrumental in getting the newest 3 rw activist SCOTUS justices. Right Wing rag is right.
there is nothing illegal about 2nd cousins marrying or having children. actually, some states allow it for first cousins incredibly....rudy giuliani married his second cousin and remained married for decades, though it was eventually anulled due to their being related, but by the church. there's no law against it as fas a i know. of course, fdr also married his cousin. but despite the last name they were distant. uncle teddy gave her away iirc....since 2nd cousins are not all that closely related, there are no restrictions culturally or legally. in a town of 500 people, well, there are bound to be some second cousins.....
Exactly Fisher. It is a disgusting type of classist attack.
Mainer here. I can comment on this. It is awful that this even has to be discussed. This is a right wing scare tactic in order to dehumanize and demonize Troy Jackson, Collins's challenger who Collins and her team fear can beat her. She is vulnerable and they know it.
The short answer is that marrying 2nd cousins is legal in 48 states. It is a non-issue legally and genetically. The way it is being marketed is "fathered children with cousin" to make it as unseemly as possible.
The longer answer is that Troy has been with his partner, Lana Pelletier, for decades. They have two sons. They apparently share a great great grandfather. Most people do not compare family trees going back that far or ever when dating. It is not uncommon in rural areas for people to be distantly related.
2nd cousins share about 3% of their DNA, which is no higher than strangers and their is no increased birth defect rate.
https://www.thetech.org/ask-a-geneticist/articles/2019/can-you-marry-cousin/
thx for that
I don’t have any problem with all the attacks on Benjamin Netanyahu… But I’m really getting sick and tired of how fast and loose the people making those attacks are to just use the word Israel instead of being specific. I sure as hell don’t want the world equating everything Donald Trump does as “America“… So I would really appreciate it if the new left would learn that Israel and Netanyahu are two different things. This may not sound like a substantive complaint, but it certainly matters in the political aspect of all of this because there’s an awful lot of Jews in the United States who are members of the Democratic Party who are starting to feel like they’re not wanted anymore, and that bothers me greatly
I find it a bit surprising that Jewish Americans would modify their votes based on presumed antipathy towards Israel. I'm not sure how many people in the Hopium community realize how much African Americans and other minorities have had to swallow less than desirable policies from both parties that directly affect them in order to vote for the greater good.
Agree. People need to get up to speed on the sitch in Israel prior to the war, when folks were out in the streets demanding ouster of Netanyahu.
I think part of the issue is generational. Bibi first became prime minister 30 years ago and his party has only been out of power 6 years of that time and Bibi has spent 19 of those 24 years as Prime Minister. For younger Americans he is as much Israel as Putin is Russia.
I think one of the biggest reasons you see people like Platner and Abdul doing well in the primary's is because we see that and know that it is likely that is how people see Americans. The reason we are so interested in a hard change of vector against the establishment is because they let Trump return.
I'm glad the endorsements are coming in. The more I learned about Stevens the less I was a fan. Abdul had legitimate questions about the money situation and she completely dodged them at every turn and I found it extremely off-putting.
Mind if we just move on to the general… Plenty of us had issues with him too, but we wanna win. And our questions were just as legitimate as anybody else’s.
Hey Steve, hope you are good.
Here is something I just saw. This is good here NC1 and 11 are our 2 best shots….. now Ager may have it!
https://youtu.be/pObxMcsdTdQ?is=8xe9TeoK3oCnOaKI
Bridget!! 😁😁😁😁
Seeing your name and avatar just made my day 😎🎹🇺🇸
Here here!!
Sure I guess. I'm just a little confused because I genuinely am not generally inclined to dive in headfirst with the progressive wing for pragmatic reasons, not political ones, but in THIS case the choice was really obvious to me so I guess I just feel like I'm going crazy. I'm trying to understand it.
but he was ok with the republicans spending money to boost him...like piano man said, we have to move on to the general and defeat maga. stevens had a good track record and was well liked by her constituents. she was responsive and available. so she took campaign money. omg. and she was closer than any of el sayed's bogus polling showed. polling that shows him trailing rogers.....
Don’t have lots to spare, but I just gave what I could afford to support Troy Jackson
I'm looking forward to seeing El-Sayed demonstrate some political savvy and talent and bring people together to solidify the nomination. I would think the head-to-head polling vs. Rogers starts to become more meaningful now.
I'll look at putting a few more $$$ to Jackson today. I'll self-report later on.
Here is Abdul El-Sayed's speech this morning after AP declared him the winner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CoZtVmJVZ8
I like his fight, and I think this speech demonstrates a good first day effort "to bring people together" as you say Patrick.
I think he was gracious towards Haley, and towards Jewish people and is an able representative of the "new left" voice within the Democratic tent. Stronger together. He's not targeting Democrats, he's fighting oligarchy, corruption and Mike Rogers. I am hopeful that his leadership will be able and authentic.
Lets hang together and kick their ass.
Speaking of gracious, TY Simon for your comments on the Contrarian today. Well said, sir.
Last night Republican Congressman John McGuire (VA-05) called his Democratic opponent, former Congressman Tom Perriello, a communist-- which he is not.
In response I donated to Tom's campaign. I urge others to do the same.
https://www.tomperriello.com/
he is a great guy! glad to see him back seeking ofc.
I didn’t vote for Abdul, but I took note of the following he attracted from younger folks. The Dem party grows by expanding its reach.
Trump stands at 37-38 approval in Michigan. That’s a loser.
Abdul simply needs not to say anything inflammatory. Ok to denounce war criminal Netanyahu but embrace the good people of Israel.
He will focus on issues that will engage a majority of Michiganders.
About 550,000 more Michiganders voted in the Dem primary than on the GOP side.
That’s a pretty good measure of enthusiasm and engagement
that is the whole ballgame right there! fantastic news! yeah michiganders!
But Rogers was unapposed, right? I'm not sure I would read that much into it. It's going to be a dogfight.
But GOPers spent tens of millions for a brutal gubernatorial primary. That’s where their action was…
I don’t have data yet… but I know Dems had a ton of young voters compared to GOPers
Wow, I love hearing about this huge turnout! I'm so worried Islamaphobia will be used to scare low info voters, but maybe even in a less blue state like Michigan, the majority of people understand the bigotry behind the attacks.
he could denounce hasan piker.....that would be a good start.
Love April’s takes and appreciate a beautiful woman of color bringing out the best and being a nice complement to Simon. Good job y’all
I'm going to have to wait until payday Friday morning, but I'm hoping to squeeze out $50 to Troy Jackson before I clock in for work.
BTW, I saw this this morning -- and, well, the appropriate word is "squee!" If I had a yard, I'd be ordering these: https://grassrootsconnector.substack.com/p/signs-for-troubled-times
Those are fantastic! I have a yard but it’s 1/3 mile from the road. However, I do get plenty of delivery drivers here, so could be a worthwhile purchase!
grt! dems fighting back!! with truth!!
LOVE! Sharing with friends and campaigns.
Heather Cox Richardson, who hates the term Democratic Socialists because she thinks it is an inaccurate description of what they stand for, maintains that DSA candidates’ platforms are to the right of the Eisenhower administration’s policies. That’s a really important distinction, and it’s from a respected historian who studies politics.
For the candidates it may be true. But the national DSA from what I can tell is certifiably nuts.
I agree with her that DSA is terrible branding.
much as i admire her, i think she is wrong on this. there are other folks out there who have a better handle on the dsa. heather is a historian, and a damn fine one, but not a political scientist. in this case, that matters. and i do read her a lot and have her book.
Whose take on the DSA is more reliable than HCR’s? I’d like to read them. No sarcasm there, just curiosity. Also, as a citizen of the annoyingly right-wing and stupidly governed Florida, where Project 2025 was written to be implemented by our current arse of a right-wing governor DeSantis after he won the supposedly win the presidency, I’d give my eyeteeth to be governed/represented by a DSA member, and I’m a middle of the road Bob Graham Democrat (which is my preference but I’ll take what I can get.)
i like dr rachel bitecofer. but you can read more about the dsa in the atlantic and simon also posted a good article here on the dsa. frankly i see no reason any democratic candidate should be aligning themselves with this fringe group. we know 50% of the dsa identify as communists; we know they have a radical red star faction; these things cannot be dismissed. if candidates are running under their banner and don't know this stuff, what does that say about them? and if they do know about it, what does that say? so i am dismissive of any idea that either we or the dsa do not know what they really stand for; its out there now for all to see.
The "red star' faction is anti-democratic. Bernie, AOC, AES, The Squad, Candidate Hong for WI governor, and all the other DSA or DSA adjacents need to draw a sharp line and call them "Out !!" , because the red star faction is way over that line, and there is no room in the tent for them.
That would also demonstrate a muscular party. If you are not pro-democracy you are not welcome here.
simon has said that; they need to distance themselves from that faction. drop the whole socialist line, its a distraction. if what they want is european style social democracy, that is not socialism.
I liked an interview with El Sayed in which he said that he is srongly anti-monopoly, anti oligopoly and anti the political role of oligarchs. He wants to defend other businesses that have to compete, That distinguishes him from many American socialists. He is a social democrat , as in Europe, particularly because of his defense of health care for all. If the self-defined socialists continue with some crazy ideas like abolishing prisons instead of reforming the prison system, they will lose and Trump will benefit. I agree, however, that he has work to do on his perceived anti-semitism.
Great points. I haven't been following El-Sayed closely so I have much to learn.
Please post a link if you have it. I'm interested in hearing more directly from the new candidate - thanks!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CoZtVmJVZ8
This is his speech this morning after AP called the race
I am worried about El-Sayed’s methods, “illicit tactics,” as Rosenberg said. Not good. Not good. He’s not dumb, he’s doing this on purpose. Let’s be better than MAGA. We can’t let illicit tactics into the Democratic Party or our national politics will become the property of the most unscrupulous.
'We can’t let illicit tactics into the Democratic Party'
Well we are a bit late for that by 120 years or so!!
Mainer on the Ground.
Susan Collins is playing her "Switcheroo, I'm a moderate too" game yesterday, dramatically proclaiming her "no" vote for Todd Blanche. Those of us watching this knows this is what she does when the senate does not need her vote. No moderate votes with Trump 96% of the time and confirms anti abortion judges and unqualified unfit cabinet members. The senate likely has enough votes for Blance even without Murkowski, Collins and McConnell. Collins should really be concerned because new audio came out with Blanche reassuring a group of religious leaders that when he is AG he will ensure abortion is banned in all 50 states. Mainers are already furious about Kavanaugh.
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/6008603-blanche-plans-abortion-rollback/
Thanks to everyone who has donated. I wanted to remind folks that your money is going to help three major races in Maine; helping Troy Jackson counter the dirty smears from Susan Collins's and her over 100 billionaires, including Musk, the 2nd district congressional race where state auditor, Matthew Dunlap, D, is facing former governor Paul LePage, a Trumpian bully and bigot of mammoth proportions, and the gubernatorial 3 way race with Hannah Pingree, bigot Bobby Charles and newly minted Independent and well known republican operative Rick Bennett.
I highlighted our congressional seat a few days ago. It has not gotten much attention but we Mainers need the Democrat Matthew Dunlap to win, because sending his opponent, former governor Paul LePage will be a horror show for Maine and the country.
https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/no-to-todd-blanche-no-to-the-harms/comment/307377957
Today, I'll just quickly highlight our important gubernatorial race between Democrat Hannah Pingree, Republican Bobby Charles and Independent Rick Bennett.
Hannah is an excellent candidate and is leading in polling by a substantial 15 points. Her mother is our congresswoman, Chellie Pingree, D, in ME CD-2 and has represented Maine faithfully. Here's Hannah's website.
https://hannahforgovernor.com/meet-hannah-pingree/
Bobby Charles, the republican is a truly repugnant person. He is a Trump loving, right wing extremist bigot and has vowed to "deport all illegals and get rid of Sharia law". Here is all you need to know about him.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbTMt8oD59z/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
This is a three way race with Rick Bennett, a republican who became an independent last year. Maine suffered two losses in prior elections to a third party spoiler. Given that Rick likely would be governing right of center and is taking pac money from a right wing dark money group does not give any of us on the left confidence in him.
Here is the MDP's take on Bennett's history as a republican operative. He is a likable guy, but only polling at 8%. Still a spoiler is a spoiler and we got seriously harmed in 2008 with Paul LePage winning with a mere 38%.
https://mainedems.org/new-mdp-launches-website-on-rick-bennetts-republican-record/
https://mainedems.org/new-mdp-launches-website-on-rick-bennetts-republican-record/
All three of these races are critical to the health of our state and the country.