"An escalate to de-escalate tactic." If there was every any doubt, we've officially entered 1984 territory. War is peace. Being tough is being kind. Recession is Prosperity (latest as of Sunday).
Rubio must have borrowed Nicolas Maduro's election officials to conduct his review of USAID programs. The results seem similarly prompt, undocumented, and almost certainly falsified.
Thank you, Bill and Andrew, for keeping a spotlight on Ukraine in Shots. Why would the U.S. president's deliberate efforts to depose foreign heads of state (Trudeau in Canada and Schultz in Germany, as well as Zelensky) not be considered an act of war? Trump certainly appears to be putting us on that path.
Amy Coney Barrett may be a hot minute away from being replaced by Lara Loomer. Unconstitutional you say? Who cares! The Constitution is woke as shit. She's not a lawyer you say? Even better. "Knowing stuff" just gets in the way of making America great again. That's why we're trashing the DOE and shaking down universities for billions of dollars.
Little Marco, another disgusting ReThugnican. May his role in politics be stripped away along with those JD Shillbilly Vance and every other complicit politician across this nation.
I believe it is time to think more creatively about ways to incentivize a few GOP members to vote against t***p.
I’m sorry, but if criticizing their patriotism, calling out their craven hypocrisy, or shaming their irrational behavior were going to work, we would have turned a few by now.
Our insults have been sticks, and figuratively beating the GOP congress members with these sticks has been wholly ineffective to drive them towards saving our Democracy.
So, what are the carrots we might offer to pull them towards in the pro-Democratic direction?
1st: guarantee the safety of their family members; full time professional protection from the armed mobs and brown-shirted thugs and their rabid fealty to FOTUS.
2nd: discover their hearts’ desire and offer it to them. Senator Joni Ernst— you want to be Secretary of Defense? Start voting against t***p’s lunacy, and you can head the pentagon in the next Democratic cabinet (“after all, Joni, you’re more likely to get the job with dem’s in charge than MAGA in charge). Senator Grassley, you want Grandson Pat to succeed you in the Senate - “ok, then start voting against t***p’s heinousness, and Pat can run unopposed for your Iowa senate seat.” Whatever it is— there’s gotta be a few senators and congressmen who want something badly enough to respond to the “carrots” placed before them. And do I want Joni Ernst in charge of the pentagon or Pat Grassley as my next Senator? Gag, Ack — no! But desperate times call for desperate, nauseating measures. I will accept these if it is price to pay for a few GOP to start to vote in ways that honor their oath to the Constitution.
3rd: this is the hard one— we have to honor them for their bravery of turning against t***p. We will have to refrain from, “yes, but, why didn’t you do it sooner?” Think how incentivizing it would be to these political types to be offered pure, 100% compliments! After years of MAGA mentality— suffering demented attacks from the rabid MAGA mob for any fleeting lack of utter fealty— just think how appealing it would be as a politician to enter the promised land of “we on the pro-democracy side promise only to honor you— never to mention your years’ of cowardly capitulation to t***p — if you just show bravery now”.
I don’t like any of this. But I’m sick of simply despairing about the GOP. New approaches must be considered if we are serious about defeating the rampaging oligarchy.
Not long ago, Trump apologists were crowing that we finally had a rock-solid "originalist" majority on the Supreme Court. The Constitution will be safe for a generation!
When SCOTUS invented new doctrines favorable to Trump that are not in the Constitution - and that arguably are in direct contradiction with the Constitution - all the MAGA champions of "originalism" applauded. And when ACB (perhaps feeling a twinge of guilt over one of those rulings) decides that some action by Trump violates the letter of the Constitution, all of MAGA-world is outraged. The ones who don't call her an outright traitor say that she must be succumbing to liberal flattery, just like previous Republican appointees who went soft.
The argument is obviously ridiculous to anyone who's paid attention to the menace that comes from MAGA-land or has noticed how the media and institutional landscape has shifted over the past few decades. Trump apologists - some under the guise of judicial analysis - simply accept Trump's own view that his judicial appointees should align with his agenda or personal interests.
The fall of Ukraine is critical to Trump's conquest of Canada. When Trump demands Canadian submission he'll point to it and say the Ukrainians couldn't stand against a great power. For the Europeans are weak and no substitute for American power. All the Ukrainians and Europeans did by resisting was to bring suffering on the Ukrainian people.
And when we come, we'll be coming with our friends the Russians. So make it easy on yourself.
As long as Ukraine stands they'll be protecting not only Europe from Putin, but Canada from Trump.
Trump evidently sees the world as divided into a few power blocks controlled by autocratic bullies who have a natural right to dominate and subjugate their smaller neighbors.
I've seen far-right "intellectuals" basically (if indirectly) endorse that worldview by speaking of "civilizations" that are protected by powerful rulers who don't worry about any "rules-based international order," which is mocked as a vehicle of a "secular liberal imperium" that dissolves "traditional cultures." Those people might claim to be defenders of "national sovereignty" - as Putin himself has done - but when push comes to shove, they apparently don't believe that all nations are equally deserving of sovereignty or that all traditional cultures are worthy of defending.
I can see it now, the US invades Canada, NATO responds (recognizing the US as no longer being a member in good standing) with troops from the UK and France. The French and Indian War/War of 1812 Mashup! The question remains for trump, will it make for good TV ratings?
Thanks for this. If it weren't for your sense of humor, I'd probably be searching for that Jim Jones Kool-Aid rumored by QAnon followers to be hidden in Nancy Pelosi's fallout shelter.
We sometimes forget that humor and satire have historically worked. Consider Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal," which changed the way Ireland thought about and dealt with a serious problem. In this spirit, I hope you find the time to read my "Future Press Secretary Attacks Buyer’s Remorse Trump Voters: A Satiric Monologue" which I posted this morning. https://johnsonp.substack.com/p/a-public-service-address-from-a-senior
The Rubio/Musk feud is yet another example of Trump using meaningless drama to distract Americans from the stuff that matters. Economy destroying tariffs, the betrayal of Ukraine and the reaction of world leaders to that treason, USAID being gutted and the resultant likelihood of thousands of needless deaths.. all turned into back page stories, just as MAGA wants.
What annoys me most is that Joe Biden had the Russians on the run. They had to hire the North Koreans to continue the war, the Ukranians invaded the Motherland, and the Syrian dictator falls. Iran in hiding. Plus, where was the Russian economy going? They were selling their own gold stores. Now, Mr. Trump has given them a hand up. Sanctions are next - what do they have to sell us, what deals could possibly justify these actions? Aside from maybe a dazzling new Trump Tower located on the Arbat in Moscow. Wouldn't that be wonderful - great for the listening devices, etc. Wake up America.
Russia has already started fighting WWIII and they kicking our sorry ass, having gotten their stooge to both help them with their invasion and to begin dismantling the US military.
Remember the Trump joke about being able to shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose any support? That's exactly what happened last week. The scene of the crime was Ukraine rather than Fifth Avenue and the weapon was Vladimir Putin but the result is the same: Trump killed those innocent victims in Ukraine as surely as if he had pulled the trigger or dropped the bombs himself.
I am frankly getting tired of all the woulda, coulda, shoulda. Call for all the voters who are surely wallowing in the miasma of making the wrong decision to vote for Trump and Vance. Tell them to call on their representatives (red and blue) to vote to impeach this moronic man NOW!!! He is destroying our great country.
"An escalate to de-escalate tactic." If there was every any doubt, we've officially entered 1984 territory. War is peace. Being tough is being kind. Recession is Prosperity (latest as of Sunday).
Rubio must have borrowed Nicolas Maduro's election officials to conduct his review of USAID programs. The results seem similarly prompt, undocumented, and almost certainly falsified.
Thank you, Bill and Andrew, for keeping a spotlight on Ukraine in Shots. Why would the U.S. president's deliberate efforts to depose foreign heads of state (Trudeau in Canada and Schultz in Germany, as well as Zelensky) not be considered an act of war? Trump certainly appears to be putting us on that path.
Amy Coney Barrett may be a hot minute away from being replaced by Lara Loomer. Unconstitutional you say? Who cares! The Constitution is woke as shit. She's not a lawyer you say? Even better. "Knowing stuff" just gets in the way of making America great again. That's why we're trashing the DOE and shaking down universities for billions of dollars.
Morning Shots is as necessary as coffee.
Little Marco, another disgusting ReThugnican. May his role in politics be stripped away along with those JD Shillbilly Vance and every other complicit politician across this nation.
I believe it is time to think more creatively about ways to incentivize a few GOP members to vote against t***p.
I’m sorry, but if criticizing their patriotism, calling out their craven hypocrisy, or shaming their irrational behavior were going to work, we would have turned a few by now.
Our insults have been sticks, and figuratively beating the GOP congress members with these sticks has been wholly ineffective to drive them towards saving our Democracy.
So, what are the carrots we might offer to pull them towards in the pro-Democratic direction?
1st: guarantee the safety of their family members; full time professional protection from the armed mobs and brown-shirted thugs and their rabid fealty to FOTUS.
2nd: discover their hearts’ desire and offer it to them. Senator Joni Ernst— you want to be Secretary of Defense? Start voting against t***p’s lunacy, and you can head the pentagon in the next Democratic cabinet (“after all, Joni, you’re more likely to get the job with dem’s in charge than MAGA in charge). Senator Grassley, you want Grandson Pat to succeed you in the Senate - “ok, then start voting against t***p’s heinousness, and Pat can run unopposed for your Iowa senate seat.” Whatever it is— there’s gotta be a few senators and congressmen who want something badly enough to respond to the “carrots” placed before them. And do I want Joni Ernst in charge of the pentagon or Pat Grassley as my next Senator? Gag, Ack — no! But desperate times call for desperate, nauseating measures. I will accept these if it is price to pay for a few GOP to start to vote in ways that honor their oath to the Constitution.
3rd: this is the hard one— we have to honor them for their bravery of turning against t***p. We will have to refrain from, “yes, but, why didn’t you do it sooner?” Think how incentivizing it would be to these political types to be offered pure, 100% compliments! After years of MAGA mentality— suffering demented attacks from the rabid MAGA mob for any fleeting lack of utter fealty— just think how appealing it would be as a politician to enter the promised land of “we on the pro-democracy side promise only to honor you— never to mention your years’ of cowardly capitulation to t***p — if you just show bravery now”.
I don’t like any of this. But I’m sick of simply despairing about the GOP. New approaches must be considered if we are serious about defeating the rampaging oligarchy.
Not long ago, Trump apologists were crowing that we finally had a rock-solid "originalist" majority on the Supreme Court. The Constitution will be safe for a generation!
When SCOTUS invented new doctrines favorable to Trump that are not in the Constitution - and that arguably are in direct contradiction with the Constitution - all the MAGA champions of "originalism" applauded. And when ACB (perhaps feeling a twinge of guilt over one of those rulings) decides that some action by Trump violates the letter of the Constitution, all of MAGA-world is outraged. The ones who don't call her an outright traitor say that she must be succumbing to liberal flattery, just like previous Republican appointees who went soft.
The argument is obviously ridiculous to anyone who's paid attention to the menace that comes from MAGA-land or has noticed how the media and institutional landscape has shifted over the past few decades. Trump apologists - some under the guise of judicial analysis - simply accept Trump's own view that his judicial appointees should align with his agenda or personal interests.
The fall of Ukraine is critical to Trump's conquest of Canada. When Trump demands Canadian submission he'll point to it and say the Ukrainians couldn't stand against a great power. For the Europeans are weak and no substitute for American power. All the Ukrainians and Europeans did by resisting was to bring suffering on the Ukrainian people.
And when we come, we'll be coming with our friends the Russians. So make it easy on yourself.
As long as Ukraine stands they'll be protecting not only Europe from Putin, but Canada from Trump.
Trump evidently sees the world as divided into a few power blocks controlled by autocratic bullies who have a natural right to dominate and subjugate their smaller neighbors.
I've seen far-right "intellectuals" basically (if indirectly) endorse that worldview by speaking of "civilizations" that are protected by powerful rulers who don't worry about any "rules-based international order," which is mocked as a vehicle of a "secular liberal imperium" that dissolves "traditional cultures." Those people might claim to be defenders of "national sovereignty" - as Putin himself has done - but when push comes to shove, they apparently don't believe that all nations are equally deserving of sovereignty or that all traditional cultures are worthy of defending.
I can see it now, the US invades Canada, NATO responds (recognizing the US as no longer being a member in good standing) with troops from the UK and France. The French and Indian War/War of 1812 Mashup! The question remains for trump, will it make for good TV ratings?
Thanks for this. If it weren't for your sense of humor, I'd probably be searching for that Jim Jones Kool-Aid rumored by QAnon followers to be hidden in Nancy Pelosi's fallout shelter.
We sometimes forget that humor and satire have historically worked. Consider Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal," which changed the way Ireland thought about and dealt with a serious problem. In this spirit, I hope you find the time to read my "Future Press Secretary Attacks Buyer’s Remorse Trump Voters: A Satiric Monologue" which I posted this morning. https://johnsonp.substack.com/p/a-public-service-address-from-a-senior
SNL cold open on musk/Rubio is must watch
"DID YOU GET THAT, CITIZEN?" got a nice chuckle out of me!
The Rubio/Musk feud is yet another example of Trump using meaningless drama to distract Americans from the stuff that matters. Economy destroying tariffs, the betrayal of Ukraine and the reaction of world leaders to that treason, USAID being gutted and the resultant likelihood of thousands of needless deaths.. all turned into back page stories, just as MAGA wants.
What annoys me most is that Joe Biden had the Russians on the run. They had to hire the North Koreans to continue the war, the Ukranians invaded the Motherland, and the Syrian dictator falls. Iran in hiding. Plus, where was the Russian economy going? They were selling their own gold stores. Now, Mr. Trump has given them a hand up. Sanctions are next - what do they have to sell us, what deals could possibly justify these actions? Aside from maybe a dazzling new Trump Tower located on the Arbat in Moscow. Wouldn't that be wonderful - great for the listening devices, etc. Wake up America.
Russia has already started fighting WWIII and they kicking our sorry ass, having gotten their stooge to both help them with their invasion and to begin dismantling the US military.
Remember the Trump joke about being able to shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose any support? That's exactly what happened last week. The scene of the crime was Ukraine rather than Fifth Avenue and the weapon was Vladimir Putin but the result is the same: Trump killed those innocent victims in Ukraine as surely as if he had pulled the trigger or dropped the bombs himself.
I am frankly getting tired of all the woulda, coulda, shoulda. Call for all the voters who are surely wallowing in the miasma of making the wrong decision to vote for Trump and Vance. Tell them to call on their representatives (red and blue) to vote to impeach this moronic man NOW!!! He is destroying our great country.