Huh. It's 9:30 pm and I'm just now listening to this, so I would've missed the election eave rending of...hankies, although I hope it has been posted someplace.
At any rat,e I'm a Bulwark Plus member and I didn't get a link to the festivities. Maybe it's my bad breath...the toenail fungus...
“You’re convinced that you make the right choice not because you have such great faith in your own insight or understanding. You’re convinced because you look around at your companions, and you see that they are the kind of people whom you want to be fighting alongside. Their presence gives you confidence that it is the right path, that it is the right side.”
No truer words were ever written. Thankful for The Bulwark community who have been companions fighting alongside in the good fight.
Particular thanks to Bill. And Carville. And Axelrod. Who were relentless in thinking about what could be. But above everyone, to Pelosi, who wrestled us a fighting chance.
It’s a trust fall. We just have to have faith in our fellow Americans. We have to trust that we will catch each other. Geronimo!
If Trump wins & puts RFK Jr. in charge of HHS et al, he will be responsible for more preventable deaths, mostly of children, than the 100s of thousands of excess deaths that Trump's quackery was responsible for during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In case you haven't seen it, but JD Vance just said at his rally that they will take out the trash in DC, and the "trash's" name is Kamala Harris. MSNBC just aired it; and Tim is on the show right now as well. The Vice President of the US is "trash" according to JD Vance!
This is the very definition of a cult. MAGA isn't a political movement with some sort of basic philosophic dogma that defines how it thinks. It's a cult that adores its leader and has no intention of actually thinking about what it stands for.
There is a video on Youtube by a former Moonie 50 years ago who has become an expert on cults. It describes how the cults function and how they control their adherents. It gives advice on how to make contact with them without setting off their defenses so that they can once again think rationally.
My fear is if Trump wins. Musk who will be given a roll in Trump's admin., and Vance will join forces and run the country. Trump is losing it and they will use him as the image of the party and then encourage him to play golf. They will then turn the USA into their own racist fiefdom.
That's a given. Trump will be the token, basking in the adulation of his fans, while Musk, Vance, Miller, RFK Jr, and others loot the country and break it into fiefdoms for the techno-billionaires.
Bill, I so wholeheartedly agree. However dark the situation gets — and might get —, every time I look around me, what I see is a group of incredible, upstanding Americans.
Once again, thank you all. I couldn’t be more proud to be in this fight with you guys.
I really appreciate what you had to say today. I haven't always seen eye to eye with you, but it's obvious that they were minor points in comparison with what we face now. I think you are very brave and honest to stand with the Democratic Party to stop Trump. It must take a lot of courage and honesty to leave a party you have strongly supported most of your life.
1) What comes after Trump? I don’t think anyone would disagree that there will not be another Trump, whose combination of narcissism and utter shamelessness no one can even approach. So the MAGA crowd will have to be content with a lower grade substitute. I certainly don’t even have a good guess, but I’m pretty sure it won’t be a woman. MAGA is too macho to stand for that (I’m not saying that a woman couldn’t win the GOP nomination. But MAGA would have to be a significantly weakened element of the GOP for that to happen). A few years ago, I predicted it might be Tucker Carlson, but he has really gone down the rabbit hole in the past year. And as much as Trump couldn’t be further from the “common man” in his life story, Carlson is even further away. No one looks at Carlson and thinks “what a manly man”. His MAGA opponents would just show old clips of Carlson in his bow tie and that would be that. And I can’t see Vance either. He isn’t nearly entertaining enough.
Regardless, I can’t see MAGA coalescing around a single person. I think it will splinter (unless Trump were to name his desired successor in his will).
I have to assume that “after Trump” means after he is dead because he would never endorse a successor or stay on the sidelines while a successor was picked. That would mean he wouldn’t be in the spotlight. And that can’t be allowed.
Another relevant question is how long MAGA will remain in control of the GOP. If Trump loses tomorrow, the hand of the few remaining “normie” Republicans will be strengthened if only by reminding folks of Trump’s electoral track record. But if Trump wins, all bets are off. The next GOP leader will have to be completely MAGA.
2) I try not to be dispirited or discouraged, but it’s hard not to be disillusioned. Regardless of the election’s outcome, almost half of the voting population in the United State will have voted for Trump, something that I simply can’t wrap my mind around. I could see possibly voting for Trump in 2016 since he had no track record and people could lie to themselves that he would suddenly start acting Presidential. But after the 2020 election and Trump’s reaction to it (even forgetting the other stuff that he did), it is beyond my ability to understand how anyone could vote for him this time. It just is.
There won't be another Trump, but there doesn't need to be if his minions in Congress and their enablers among the billionaires and in the government break democracy into pieces.
Reading today's piece, I am reminded of Jim Collins book, Good to Great. In it articulates the point, that more important than identifying your objective, it is to get the right people on the bus. Because if you have the right people on the bus, you can adjust to whatever confronts the group and you know that they will be able to rise to the occasion. Win or lose, the right people are coming together here and around the country and as James Carville said, I refuse to believe that we will not meet this challenge. And win or lose, tomorrows challenges will be different, but we will take a deep breath and we will pivot and turn our bus to towards that new challenge with clear eyes and deep conviction. Thank you to the Bulwark for building this bus.
I wonder when Kristol arrived at the divergence of the roads? When did he make the choice he looks back on now with satisfaction?
Huh. It's 9:30 pm and I'm just now listening to this, so I would've missed the election eave rending of...hankies, although I hope it has been posted someplace.
At any rat,e I'm a Bulwark Plus member and I didn't get a link to the festivities. Maybe it's my bad breath...the toenail fungus...
“You’re convinced that you make the right choice not because you have such great faith in your own insight or understanding. You’re convinced because you look around at your companions, and you see that they are the kind of people whom you want to be fighting alongside. Their presence gives you confidence that it is the right path, that it is the right side.”
No truer words were ever written. Thankful for The Bulwark community who have been companions fighting alongside in the good fight.
Particular thanks to Bill. And Carville. And Axelrod. Who were relentless in thinking about what could be. But above everyone, to Pelosi, who wrestled us a fighting chance.
It’s a trust fall. We just have to have faith in our fellow Americans. We have to trust that we will catch each other. Geronimo!
If Trump wins & puts RFK Jr. in charge of HHS et al, he will be responsible for more preventable deaths, mostly of children, than the 100s of thousands of excess deaths that Trump's quackery was responsible for during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bill, your sentimentality is syrupy sweet and delicious. And a balm for my soul.
Why am I not surprised? https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/11/4/2282557/-Musk-Admits-Million-Dollar-Lottery-Was-Complete-Fu-k-ng-Scam?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web
Apropos of nothing:
Musk's $1 million lottery is a fake:
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/11/04/2024-elections-live-coverage-updates-analysis/elon-musk-lottery-lawsuit-00187123 😦
https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/watch/-in-my-humble-view-lights-out-nicolle-wallace-reacts-to-jd-vance-calling-vp-harris-trash-223539781512 Also includes Tim.
Those are some lovely thoughts, Bill. It was a pleasure to read , and I appreciate the encouragement.
In case you haven't seen it, but JD Vance just said at his rally that they will take out the trash in DC, and the "trash's" name is Kamala Harris. MSNBC just aired it; and Tim is on the show right now as well. The Vice President of the US is "trash" according to JD Vance!
“The movement is mostly him.”
This is the very definition of a cult. MAGA isn't a political movement with some sort of basic philosophic dogma that defines how it thinks. It's a cult that adores its leader and has no intention of actually thinking about what it stands for.
There is a video on Youtube by a former Moonie 50 years ago who has become an expert on cults. It describes how the cults function and how they control their adherents. It gives advice on how to make contact with them without setting off their defenses so that they can once again think rationally.
https://youtu.be/uMlLTtL80pI?si=wjcPZ2D23zPkkeTY
My fear is if Trump wins. Musk who will be given a roll in Trump's admin., and Vance will join forces and run the country. Trump is losing it and they will use him as the image of the party and then encourage him to play golf. They will then turn the USA into their own racist fiefdom.
That's a given. Trump will be the token, basking in the adulation of his fans, while Musk, Vance, Miller, RFK Jr, and others loot the country and break it into fiefdoms for the techno-billionaires.
Absolutely.
Bill, I so wholeheartedly agree. However dark the situation gets — and might get —, every time I look around me, what I see is a group of incredible, upstanding Americans.
Once again, thank you all. I couldn’t be more proud to be in this fight with you guys.
I really appreciate what you had to say today. I haven't always seen eye to eye with you, but it's obvious that they were minor points in comparison with what we face now. I think you are very brave and honest to stand with the Democratic Party to stop Trump. It must take a lot of courage and honesty to leave a party you have strongly supported most of your life.
A few comments...
1) What comes after Trump? I don’t think anyone would disagree that there will not be another Trump, whose combination of narcissism and utter shamelessness no one can even approach. So the MAGA crowd will have to be content with a lower grade substitute. I certainly don’t even have a good guess, but I’m pretty sure it won’t be a woman. MAGA is too macho to stand for that (I’m not saying that a woman couldn’t win the GOP nomination. But MAGA would have to be a significantly weakened element of the GOP for that to happen). A few years ago, I predicted it might be Tucker Carlson, but he has really gone down the rabbit hole in the past year. And as much as Trump couldn’t be further from the “common man” in his life story, Carlson is even further away. No one looks at Carlson and thinks “what a manly man”. His MAGA opponents would just show old clips of Carlson in his bow tie and that would be that. And I can’t see Vance either. He isn’t nearly entertaining enough.
Regardless, I can’t see MAGA coalescing around a single person. I think it will splinter (unless Trump were to name his desired successor in his will).
I have to assume that “after Trump” means after he is dead because he would never endorse a successor or stay on the sidelines while a successor was picked. That would mean he wouldn’t be in the spotlight. And that can’t be allowed.
Another relevant question is how long MAGA will remain in control of the GOP. If Trump loses tomorrow, the hand of the few remaining “normie” Republicans will be strengthened if only by reminding folks of Trump’s electoral track record. But if Trump wins, all bets are off. The next GOP leader will have to be completely MAGA.
2) I try not to be dispirited or discouraged, but it’s hard not to be disillusioned. Regardless of the election’s outcome, almost half of the voting population in the United State will have voted for Trump, something that I simply can’t wrap my mind around. I could see possibly voting for Trump in 2016 since he had no track record and people could lie to themselves that he would suddenly start acting Presidential. But after the 2020 election and Trump’s reaction to it (even forgetting the other stuff that he did), it is beyond my ability to understand how anyone could vote for him this time. It just is.
There won't be another Trump, but there doesn't need to be if his minions in Congress and their enablers among the billionaires and in the government break democracy into pieces.
Reading today's piece, I am reminded of Jim Collins book, Good to Great. In it articulates the point, that more important than identifying your objective, it is to get the right people on the bus. Because if you have the right people on the bus, you can adjust to whatever confronts the group and you know that they will be able to rise to the occasion. Win or lose, the right people are coming together here and around the country and as James Carville said, I refuse to believe that we will not meet this challenge. And win or lose, tomorrows challenges will be different, but we will take a deep breath and we will pivot and turn our bus to towards that new challenge with clear eyes and deep conviction. Thank you to the Bulwark for building this bus.