Thanks for watching this shitshow and reporting to us on it. I have given up on the MSM, so I am completely dependent on my Substack sources such as yourself.
I could not watch last night because I witnessed the first one and told myself I was not deserving of that punishment. The one bright spot is the establishment donors freaking out right now.
I really appreciate Aaron's practice of watching hard to watch MAGA dominated talk shows, debates etc but on this occasion I rather think he wasted his time. That said the quote that Black Americans found Johnson's Great Society harder to survive than slavery will last a long time in my memory box of appalling utterances by elected politicians. What an absolute shocker!
I'm glad you took the brunt of this for us, since I couldn't and wouldn't do it to myself. Now that Elmo has permanently banned me from his platform, though, I cannot add my voice to those there. <3 Thanks, Aaron, for saving the sanity of so many!!
While I completely agree Trump has nothing to fear from any of these GOP candidates I'll put it down for the record that Trump won't be the nominee. That's what they're playing for--the also ran who steps up to replace rather than dislodge him. He's mentally deteriorating quickly and publicly, his legal peril is monumental and will start to come due before super Tuesday, his financial peril from New York may come due sooner and he's one Big Mac Attack away from a permanent retirement.
Even if you say, oh you can't count on that or we've all thought that before that doesn't mean it's not true and it's absolutely what a few of the candidates on that stage are counting on.
The thing that concerns me is if we focus too much on Trump (and he is absolutely a would be fascist dictator) we run the risk of missing the threat the rest of the party is. Trump is not the only fascist running for President. And the ones who aren't actual fascist are enablers or theocratic authoritarians. Those three categories capture most of the Republican voters. When Trump goes (and eventually we all do) we must be prepared for what comes next. The GOP is absolutely entirely made up of illiberals who want to see the Constitution either completely circumvented or outright replaced.
Keep your eyes on our Governor SnitchLine in VA. He's got money and contacts and money and a fleece vest. He's going to mount a last minute Hail Mary for the corrupt GOP.
I recommend reading articles that explain/support the culture wars strategy. Google the “Cathredal of the Military”. It’s 40 miles west of Moscow and built before 2020. Read through all the sections. You can see why the extreme right Catholic and evangelical leaders support Putin. What an investment in symbolic propaganda! 😳
You will understand why we are hearing so much focus about religious liberty. We’ve always have had it in America. Do religious leaders not realize it?
I would compare Trump speaking last night in friendly territory to religious liberty leaders that hide under the separation of church and state to deflect accountability of their extreme ideologies.
The separation of church and state is actually what makes the United States actually united. Imposing your religion on others is not the way to combat moral decline. That needs to be taught from from religious leaders. I have zero hope of that happening🙁.
A house in our neighborhood flies the Christian nationalist flag. The Republican self-righteousness is strong where I live.
I'm obviously a fool for even commenting on a yahoo news article but when I read about Scott saying LBJ's social programs did more harm to Black families than slavery, I had to make a fairly innocuous but shocked comment that elicited a few "well actually" replies. Which I guess were pretty mild, considering where I was. I should be pleased I didn't get any death threats.
Anyway, one person replied "when you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day." etc. Which not only infantilizes a huge group of people, it ignores the horror of slavery. I can't believe people were even hinting at that. I honestly can't think of anything worse than slavery other than genocide. What am I missing here?
People who make comments like that remind me of the two Nazis in a Mitchell and Webb sketch, where one Nazi worriedly says to the other, "Hans, are we the baddies?"
Nobody likes to think that they are the Baddie — or that their Great-Great-Grandparents who were slaveowners were. Or that they fought for the rights of a small group of rich White people to own a whole lot of Black people! So… they tell themselves it wasn't REALLY that way, because they're not the Baddies....
How I watch the debates is utilizing the closed caption control-so can read and not listen to their voices - really takes the edge off-every once in awhile will hear what’s being thrown out there then go back to my giddy hole bc
They are all Bobbleheads. The irony is that Trump's VP is in the crowd, the one he suggested deserved to be hanged for not doing his bidding. Can you imagine if he raised his children that way. Also, I have my suspicions about Ivana's death. It is not defenestration, but close enough. Given what has happened to anyone working closely with Trump, they should all be running for the hills. Being his VP is not closer to the presidency, it is more likely closer to HELL!
The fake union turncoats at Trump's dismal anti-labor event struck me as SOP for him. Ever see a Trump rally without a number black faces in the peanut gallery right behind him for the TV cameras? I try to rationalize that self-defeating behavior by surmising that they just need the money they were being paid as political rally props.
Back when I was a teen doing volunteer work in Chicago's ghettos people used to refer to Black people who advanced the interests of white racists as Oreos - Black on the outside but White on the inside. Tim Scott is an example of that metaphor, as is Justice Thomas. In the labor context the metaphor is scabs - workers who get paid to facilitate the unemployment or hardship of fellow workers.
Thanks for watching this shitshow and reporting to us on it. I have given up on the MSM, so I am completely dependent on my Substack sources such as yourself.
Same.
Ditto.
I could not watch last night because I witnessed the first one and told myself I was not deserving of that punishment. The one bright spot is the establishment donors freaking out right now.
I really appreciate Aaron's practice of watching hard to watch MAGA dominated talk shows, debates etc but on this occasion I rather think he wasted his time. That said the quote that Black Americans found Johnson's Great Society harder to survive than slavery will last a long time in my memory box of appalling utterances by elected politicians. What an absolute shocker!
Thank you for taking the punishment of watching these clowns so we don't have to.
I'm glad you took the brunt of this for us, since I couldn't and wouldn't do it to myself. Now that Elmo has permanently banned me from his platform, though, I cannot add my voice to those there. <3 Thanks, Aaron, for saving the sanity of so many!!
While I completely agree Trump has nothing to fear from any of these GOP candidates I'll put it down for the record that Trump won't be the nominee. That's what they're playing for--the also ran who steps up to replace rather than dislodge him. He's mentally deteriorating quickly and publicly, his legal peril is monumental and will start to come due before super Tuesday, his financial peril from New York may come due sooner and he's one Big Mac Attack away from a permanent retirement.
Even if you say, oh you can't count on that or we've all thought that before that doesn't mean it's not true and it's absolutely what a few of the candidates on that stage are counting on.
I can't say I agree with you, but it's an interesting take! I'm ready to give you credit if it turns out to be true.
The thing that concerns me is if we focus too much on Trump (and he is absolutely a would be fascist dictator) we run the risk of missing the threat the rest of the party is. Trump is not the only fascist running for President. And the ones who aren't actual fascist are enablers or theocratic authoritarians. Those three categories capture most of the Republican voters. When Trump goes (and eventually we all do) we must be prepared for what comes next. The GOP is absolutely entirely made up of illiberals who want to see the Constitution either completely circumvented or outright replaced.
It’s a wish. But what happened to amendment 14 section 3?
Keep your eyes on our Governor SnitchLine in VA. He's got money and contacts and money and a fleece vest. He's going to mount a last minute Hail Mary for the corrupt GOP.
Well, you know what they say about only the good die young? That means Trump will outlive Methuselah.
Thanks Aaron!
I recommend reading articles that explain/support the culture wars strategy. Google the “Cathredal of the Military”. It’s 40 miles west of Moscow and built before 2020. Read through all the sections. You can see why the extreme right Catholic and evangelical leaders support Putin. What an investment in symbolic propaganda! 😳
You will understand why we are hearing so much focus about religious liberty. We’ve always have had it in America. Do religious leaders not realize it?
I would compare Trump speaking last night in friendly territory to religious liberty leaders that hide under the separation of church and state to deflect accountability of their extreme ideologies.
The separation of church and state is actually what makes the United States actually united. Imposing your religion on others is not the way to combat moral decline. That needs to be taught from from religious leaders. I have zero hope of that happening🙁.
A house in our neighborhood flies the Christian nationalist flag. The Republican self-righteousness is strong where I live.
I'm obviously a fool for even commenting on a yahoo news article but when I read about Scott saying LBJ's social programs did more harm to Black families than slavery, I had to make a fairly innocuous but shocked comment that elicited a few "well actually" replies. Which I guess were pretty mild, considering where I was. I should be pleased I didn't get any death threats.
Anyway, one person replied "when you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day." etc. Which not only infantilizes a huge group of people, it ignores the horror of slavery. I can't believe people were even hinting at that. I honestly can't think of anything worse than slavery other than genocide. What am I missing here?
People who make comments like that remind me of the two Nazis in a Mitchell and Webb sketch, where one Nazi worriedly says to the other, "Hans, are we the baddies?"
Nobody likes to think that they are the Baddie — or that their Great-Great-Grandparents who were slaveowners were. Or that they fought for the rights of a small group of rich White people to own a whole lot of Black people! So… they tell themselves it wasn't REALLY that way, because they're not the Baddies....
How I watch the debates is utilizing the closed caption control-so can read and not listen to their voices - really takes the edge off-every once in awhile will hear what’s being thrown out there then go back to my giddy hole bc
They are all Bobbleheads. The irony is that Trump's VP is in the crowd, the one he suggested deserved to be hanged for not doing his bidding. Can you imagine if he raised his children that way. Also, I have my suspicions about Ivana's death. It is not defenestration, but close enough. Given what has happened to anyone working closely with Trump, they should all be running for the hills. Being his VP is not closer to the presidency, it is more likely closer to HELL!
The fake union turncoats at Trump's dismal anti-labor event struck me as SOP for him. Ever see a Trump rally without a number black faces in the peanut gallery right behind him for the TV cameras? I try to rationalize that self-defeating behavior by surmising that they just need the money they were being paid as political rally props.
Back when I was a teen doing volunteer work in Chicago's ghettos people used to refer to Black people who advanced the interests of white racists as Oreos - Black on the outside but White on the inside. Tim Scott is an example of that metaphor, as is Justice Thomas. In the labor context the metaphor is scabs - workers who get paid to facilitate the unemployment or hardship of fellow workers.