I will do a shift to support CA 50, phone bank, tonight. Encouraged by the protests. I managed to get healthy from my virus to attend in Orlando. It was a great experience. I'm hoping in turns into sustained activity.
Judging from the reaction, we got to Trump and the rest of the GOP. They are responding with more divisive rhetoric and of course the puerile AI video. I think the most likely result, from what I know about human nature, will be to energize the resistance.
I don't see the MAGAs out there. We are out on the streets. I only saw two MAGAs flip us off as they drove past. I guess they are relying on paid ICE agents. Good luck with that.
There were some MAGAs in Williamsburg, mostly driving by in obnoxious cars, but at least a few walking around. As far as I could tell, they were ignored or greeted cheerily with waves and smiles. They didn't seem too happy about that!
In deep red Central GA, we had a few folks (all young white men) in pickup trucks driving by with diesel spewing, racing engines with no/muted mufflers (trying to make up for-- well you know), windows wide open and double middle fingers blazing. We just waved and openly commented to one another that we're doing this to protect their right to do what they did just as much as our own right to protest, and that they, sadly, don't understand this. One lone guy quietly waving his Trump 2024 flag on the other side of the 5 lane highway.
Simon, thanks for the look at the polls. Wow, in some cases, Trump's handling of issues is into the teens!!
I called Congressman Raskin and Senators Alsobrooks and Van Hollen to urge them to start making criminal referrals. I also contacted Senator Schumer and Leader Jeffries to urge them to stand strong. I'm writing postcards to Virginia voters today.
"George Soros Declares Bankruptcy After Paying No Kings Protesters"
KATONAH, NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report)—George Soros has been forced to declare bankruptcy after paying over seven million people to attend the No Kings protests, the billionaire confirmed on Monday.
“When I agreed to pay everyone who showed up at these things, I had no idea so many people were going to accept my offer,” Soros admitted. “But a deal’s a deal.”
The legendary investor said that paying No Kings participants had required him to liquidate his most prized holdings, including his share in the orbital lasers operated by the Rothschild banking family.
Soros revealed that paying the five million Antifa members at the rallies cost him “a pretty penny,” adding, “They may be anarchists, but they don’t work for free.”
I cannot with the MSM, not that anyone can these last 10 years. Just out of curiosity, I was checking YouTube yesterday, and the both-sides stuff was off the charts bad. UGH.
Making the phone calls today as usual. Rumor has it the Dem "big kahunas" are headed to NJ these closing weeks. Stay tuned...and Keep Going!
Lots of big kahunas out with Mikie this past weekend: Big Gretch, Wes Moore & Jamie Raskin.
Ras Baraka also did a barn burner of a speech in Newark, per my husband.
Andy Kim brought the fire at No Kings in Maplewood.
Finally call tonight at 7pm with NJ Dems to discuss social media response to right wing assault. I’m not a big fan of Facebook but when I went on yesterday to see posts from the weekend, the anti-Mikie stuff was everywhere.
I am right there with you on MSM. However, there's this clip from yesterday's ABC This Week in which the interviewer (not Stephanopoulos) calls out and corrects Mike Johnson's reason for not swearing in Rep.-elect Grijalva. Finally some spine. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/EDyPDaw6JOY
the greg sargent discussion was well worth a listen; i was taking my morning walk and flipped on the podcast and there was simon.....so i was getting my fix early; after a weekend of dkos going hair on fire over sherill and indicating dems were losing momentum on the shutdown, i needed some sane talk. not sure what happened over there but when i need a dose of serious analysis it is here, heather cox richardson and rachel bitecofer. a good one someone referred me to is 'the rational league ", which had an excellent essay about authoritarians and how they try to demoralize the opposition; one way is to create false narratives like dems are in disarray, or saying on fox that ciatarelli has momentum when their own poll only showed movement of one point;
this morning the mall walkers were morose, with one retired superintendent asking, how is one point actual movement? see, if you take the time to look, much of the talk is bullshit. everyone is worried because of 2021; but that was backlash against pandemic lockdowns and it cost murphy some support. by rights, given nj history, the r's should be running away with it in nj and they are not; trump is too toxic. just go online and look at the crowds this weekend in nj; i think sherrill pulls this one out. we've got to stop acting like abused victims. you don't get what sherrill has attained in this world by being a coward or wimp. let's embrace it. and when someone whines that she is the establishment pick, tell em she won the primary in a crowded field of some good options; ciatarelli dominated in a field of shit candidates in his primary. my job lately is to bolster sherill and calm everyone down. as for abby in virginia, rick wilson thinks she's got this; he didn't have a lot to say about nj.
Happy to report that my husband’s and my ballots on the Election Rigging Response Act, aka Prop 50, have been “received and counted.”
Happy to report that the Tuolumne County sheriff officially announced that the No Kings demonstration in Sonora, CA was “quiet” with no arrests.
Busy writing my “public comment” on the TC Board of Supervisor’s proposal to declare October 14 “National Day of Remembrance of Charlie Kirk.” I am convinced that only theatrics and a-logical performances make points with this crowd so I will couch my objections in a “counterproposal” that Oct 14 be declared “NDoR for Benoit Mandelbrot,” the Polish - American mathematician who discovered fractals…
Finally, I kicked in some more bucks for all the laudable efforts of the Hopium community.
Apropos of photos, Simon, I would recognize that tee shirt anywhere…. :)
I wondered. I was talking to some friends about Charlie Kirk and one friend reported that her most conservative friend was gobsmacked that her daughter didn't know who Charlie Kirk was. My friend said she thought to herself, "That's because your daughter is a closet Democrat!" And we discussed how much the algorithms create our realities. Charlie Kirk was a great example of this.
Well Elizabeth, I am old enough that I learned what an algorithm is in an introduction-to-the-computer class I took in my forties. But in my pre-internet youth, I would not have known about a hate monger because I didn’t listen to stupid stuff. Your acquaintance’s daughter probably just didn’t run with the anti-intellectual girls-should-get-married-at-seventeen crowd.
Calls are in to WI Rep elected members regarding our 4part agenda. Mailed more postcards for Sherrill and PA judge retention. I’ll be calling my Dem Senator later this afternoon. The protest I attended Saturday, in rather red WI, was peaceful, joyous, very well attended and well received by cars driving by. We had one MAGA man trying to stir up something but the organizers just calmly reminded us not to engage and kept him moving along.
I may be confused. Are we talking about the Democratic health care demands properly. In today's Letter to Americans, Heather Cox Richardson states that what will happen is that tax credits will be removed. We have often talked about people losing subsidies.
Are the Republicans in fact increasing taxes on millions of Americans to make their health care unaffordable?
"Trump is making American less prosperous, less healthy, less safe, and less free," is ingenious framing and should be the mantra of the whole party. Over and over again, every single day. I'm going to use it in my calls today.
What historical context is there for a disapproval rating in the 60s?
47 Doesn’t want congress back in session, seems to just be dissolving the legislature by choosing to do nothing. Taxation with out representation and shutting down the free speech of the congress as they speak for us. Doing what ever he wants with our tax dollars no oversight. Are there any Republicans who might join with Dems to get Johnson out and negotiate some deals including impeachment?? How do you impeach without a congress? I think they could just do this until some other force reacts and pushes a different action. Thoughts?? We seem at a standstill to me.
Great resource below from the Harvard Ash Center for Democratic Governance & Innovation - the Center hosts a project w Dr. Erica Chenoweth & others called the Nonviolent Action Lab. They have been studying crowd counting as part of their Crowd Counting Consortium/Civil Protest initiatives and occasionally share data and and analysis. Another view in addition to the great work being done by Tom Bonier & others.
Simon - after the election, please invite Sam Liccardo to an interview, you could ask him about the transformation of his public persona, as well as the perspective of a first-term backbencher. He represents an important constituency in Silicon Valley (not that all constituencies aren't important). Just a thought…….
Attended NO KINGS 2 rally in downtown St Louis Saturday. We had thunderstorms and steady rain, sometimes heavy, and tens of thousands still came out! Joyful event, I dressed up as froggie. Lots of fellow unicorns, frogs and dinosaurs!
I have been collecting signatures in the St Louis/St Charles area for a petition for a referendum on our ballot to overturn the latest gerrymandered Missouri map. Lots of support from all voters of all political views.
As part of the "One Million Rising" call to action of Signs of Solidarity, I have been out in my community distributing and organizing others as well to distribute IMMIGRANT FAMILIES ARE WELCOME HERE signs for small local businesses to place in their storefront windows. In a fairly reddish area, had about 50% of the establishments say "yes."
I began volunteering with charity that supports immigrant families in the area. I am tutoring Hispanic elementary children in reading English. Very enjoyable.
Continuing to call my MAGA senators and representative. So frustrating - their newsletters are full of lies - but I am going to keep bugging them!
Link didn't work for me..
Shoot, I didnt think about the group being private. I will post a photo instead. Thanks for the heads up.
I will do a shift to support CA 50, phone bank, tonight. Encouraged by the protests. I managed to get healthy from my virus to attend in Orlando. It was a great experience. I'm hoping in turns into sustained activity.
Judging from the reaction, we got to Trump and the rest of the GOP. They are responding with more divisive rhetoric and of course the puerile AI video. I think the most likely result, from what I know about human nature, will be to energize the resistance.
I don't see the MAGAs out there. We are out on the streets. I only saw two MAGAs flip us off as they drove past. I guess they are relying on paid ICE agents. Good luck with that.
There was an estimated 15-20,000 folks at the downtown San Jose protest. Not a single sign of any MAGA. anywhere.
I thought I saw one counter protester, a car with colored flags flying from the windows... but it turned out the flags were for the Forty Niners, lol
Anytime one has flags supporting the SF 49ers, you're good!
There were some MAGAs in Williamsburg, mostly driving by in obnoxious cars, but at least a few walking around. As far as I could tell, they were ignored or greeted cheerily with waves and smiles. They didn't seem too happy about that!
First amendment, baby! Peaceful assembly and diversity of opinion in a robust democracy. That's great news, Elizabeth.
In deep red Central GA, we had a few folks (all young white men) in pickup trucks driving by with diesel spewing, racing engines with no/muted mufflers (trying to make up for-- well you know), windows wide open and double middle fingers blazing. We just waved and openly commented to one another that we're doing this to protect their right to do what they did just as much as our own right to protest, and that they, sadly, don't understand this. One lone guy quietly waving his Trump 2024 flag on the other side of the 5 lane highway.
Thank you from an Atlantan with deep roots in middle and south Georgia. Were you in Macon or elsewhere?
Simon, thanks for the look at the polls. Wow, in some cases, Trump's handling of issues is into the teens!!
I called Congressman Raskin and Senators Alsobrooks and Van Hollen to urge them to start making criminal referrals. I also contacted Senator Schumer and Leader Jeffries to urge them to stand strong. I'm writing postcards to Virginia voters today.
Priceless satire from Andy Borowitz!
"George Soros Declares Bankruptcy After Paying No Kings Protesters"
KATONAH, NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report)—George Soros has been forced to declare bankruptcy after paying over seven million people to attend the No Kings protests, the billionaire confirmed on Monday.
“When I agreed to pay everyone who showed up at these things, I had no idea so many people were going to accept my offer,” Soros admitted. “But a deal’s a deal.”
The legendary investor said that paying No Kings participants had required him to liquidate his most prized holdings, including his share in the orbital lasers operated by the Rothschild banking family.
Soros revealed that paying the five million Antifa members at the rallies cost him “a pretty penny,” adding, “They may be anarchists, but they don’t work for free.”
https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/george-soros-declares-bankruptcy
I cannot with the MSM, not that anyone can these last 10 years. Just out of curiosity, I was checking YouTube yesterday, and the both-sides stuff was off the charts bad. UGH.
Making the phone calls today as usual. Rumor has it the Dem "big kahunas" are headed to NJ these closing weeks. Stay tuned...and Keep Going!
Lots of big kahunas out with Mikie this past weekend: Big Gretch, Wes Moore & Jamie Raskin.
Ras Baraka also did a barn burner of a speech in Newark, per my husband.
Andy Kim brought the fire at No Kings in Maplewood.
Finally call tonight at 7pm with NJ Dems to discuss social media response to right wing assault. I’m not a big fan of Facebook but when I went on yesterday to see posts from the weekend, the anti-Mikie stuff was everywhere.
Head down and throwing my anxiety into action!!!
I am right there with you on MSM. However, there's this clip from yesterday's ABC This Week in which the interviewer (not Stephanopoulos) calls out and corrects Mike Johnson's reason for not swearing in Rep.-elect Grijalva. Finally some spine. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/EDyPDaw6JOY
the greg sargent discussion was well worth a listen; i was taking my morning walk and flipped on the podcast and there was simon.....so i was getting my fix early; after a weekend of dkos going hair on fire over sherill and indicating dems were losing momentum on the shutdown, i needed some sane talk. not sure what happened over there but when i need a dose of serious analysis it is here, heather cox richardson and rachel bitecofer. a good one someone referred me to is 'the rational league ", which had an excellent essay about authoritarians and how they try to demoralize the opposition; one way is to create false narratives like dems are in disarray, or saying on fox that ciatarelli has momentum when their own poll only showed movement of one point;
this morning the mall walkers were morose, with one retired superintendent asking, how is one point actual movement? see, if you take the time to look, much of the talk is bullshit. everyone is worried because of 2021; but that was backlash against pandemic lockdowns and it cost murphy some support. by rights, given nj history, the r's should be running away with it in nj and they are not; trump is too toxic. just go online and look at the crowds this weekend in nj; i think sherrill pulls this one out. we've got to stop acting like abused victims. you don't get what sherrill has attained in this world by being a coward or wimp. let's embrace it. and when someone whines that she is the establishment pick, tell em she won the primary in a crowded field of some good options; ciatarelli dominated in a field of shit candidates in his primary. my job lately is to bolster sherill and calm everyone down. as for abby in virginia, rick wilson thinks she's got this; he didn't have a lot to say about nj.
YES! I'm with you 100%! And pls see my post below - Harvard & Dr. Chenoweth also have some sane rational analysis.
Happy to report that my husband’s and my ballots on the Election Rigging Response Act, aka Prop 50, have been “received and counted.”
Happy to report that the Tuolumne County sheriff officially announced that the No Kings demonstration in Sonora, CA was “quiet” with no arrests.
Busy writing my “public comment” on the TC Board of Supervisor’s proposal to declare October 14 “National Day of Remembrance of Charlie Kirk.” I am convinced that only theatrics and a-logical performances make points with this crowd so I will couch my objections in a “counterproposal” that Oct 14 be declared “NDoR for Benoit Mandelbrot,” the Polish - American mathematician who discovered fractals…
Finally, I kicked in some more bucks for all the laudable efforts of the Hopium community.
Apropos of photos, Simon, I would recognize that tee shirt anywhere…. :)
What's the significance of Oct. 14 and Charlie Kirk? He was killed on Sept. 10.
I have no clue why he picked that day unless he was hoping to clash with Indigenous People Recognition Day.
I have no clue why he picked that day unless he was hoping to clash with Indigenous People Recognition Day.
I wondered. I was talking to some friends about Charlie Kirk and one friend reported that her most conservative friend was gobsmacked that her daughter didn't know who Charlie Kirk was. My friend said she thought to herself, "That's because your daughter is a closet Democrat!" And we discussed how much the algorithms create our realities. Charlie Kirk was a great example of this.
Well Elizabeth, I am old enough that I learned what an algorithm is in an introduction-to-the-computer class I took in my forties. But in my pre-internet youth, I would not have known about a hate monger because I didn’t listen to stupid stuff. Your acquaintance’s daughter probably just didn’t run with the anti-intellectual girls-should-get-married-at-seventeen crowd.
Calls are in to WI Rep elected members regarding our 4part agenda. Mailed more postcards for Sherrill and PA judge retention. I’ll be calling my Dem Senator later this afternoon. The protest I attended Saturday, in rather red WI, was peaceful, joyous, very well attended and well received by cars driving by. We had one MAGA man trying to stir up something but the organizers just calmly reminded us not to engage and kept him moving along.
I may be confused. Are we talking about the Democratic health care demands properly. In today's Letter to Americans, Heather Cox Richardson states that what will happen is that tax credits will be removed. We have often talked about people losing subsidies.
Are the Republicans in fact increasing taxes on millions of Americans to make their health care unaffordable?
"Trump is making American less prosperous, less healthy, less safe, and less free," is ingenious framing and should be the mantra of the whole party. Over and over again, every single day. I'm going to use it in my calls today.
What historical context is there for a disapproval rating in the 60s?
Nixon was at 66% disapproval when he resigned (24% approval). https://historyinpieces.com/research/nixon-approval-ratings
47 Doesn’t want congress back in session, seems to just be dissolving the legislature by choosing to do nothing. Taxation with out representation and shutting down the free speech of the congress as they speak for us. Doing what ever he wants with our tax dollars no oversight. Are there any Republicans who might join with Dems to get Johnson out and negotiate some deals including impeachment?? How do you impeach without a congress? I think they could just do this until some other force reacts and pushes a different action. Thoughts?? We seem at a standstill to me.
Right, if Johnson just doesn’t bother to bring the House back into session, maybe we should all just not bother to pay our taxes….
I canvassed yesterday for Prop 50. Phone in for the what's next call tomorrow
https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.mobilize.us/join/45829904/1:c4887fbf95ba2fd6d62b6975b8ca9880e7ec5a8f672c5f4868943c4e40aa2e69/&sa=D&source=calendar&usd=2&usg=AOvVaw34Q5HpcxmBCbGkeDJUSINe
Great resource below from the Harvard Ash Center for Democratic Governance & Innovation - the Center hosts a project w Dr. Erica Chenoweth & others called the Nonviolent Action Lab. They have been studying crowd counting as part of their Crowd Counting Consortium/Civil Protest initiatives and occasionally share data and and analysis. Another view in addition to the great work being done by Tom Bonier & others.
https://ash.harvard.edu/resources/the-resistance-reaches-into-trump-country/
Thanks for sharing this resource--which is very hope-inspiring in a data-centric, needy way.
Simon - after the election, please invite Sam Liccardo to an interview, you could ask him about the transformation of his public persona, as well as the perspective of a first-term backbencher. He represents an important constituency in Silicon Valley (not that all constituencies aren't important). Just a thought…….
I saw him at a townhall last Spring, and I was impressed. I think he'd be a great interview too.
Self-Reporting
Attended NO KINGS 2 rally in downtown St Louis Saturday. We had thunderstorms and steady rain, sometimes heavy, and tens of thousands still came out! Joyful event, I dressed up as froggie. Lots of fellow unicorns, frogs and dinosaurs!
I have been collecting signatures in the St Louis/St Charles area for a petition for a referendum on our ballot to overturn the latest gerrymandered Missouri map. Lots of support from all voters of all political views.
As part of the "One Million Rising" call to action of Signs of Solidarity, I have been out in my community distributing and organizing others as well to distribute IMMIGRANT FAMILIES ARE WELCOME HERE signs for small local businesses to place in their storefront windows. In a fairly reddish area, had about 50% of the establishments say "yes."
I began volunteering with charity that supports immigrant families in the area. I am tutoring Hispanic elementary children in reading English. Very enjoyable.
Continuing to call my MAGA senators and representative. So frustrating - their newsletters are full of lies - but I am going to keep bugging them!
A small group in Sant Fe just mailed out 500 postcards in support of prop 50...and had a great, fun time on Saturday at our Capitol....