stevenkesslar

It's one of the many things I love about you, Sis. You are always willing to look me in the eyes and be honest with me. Even when it hurts. You know how I loved and trusted the man. Such anguish!

Why does Donald Trump hate rural America? Why is he stabbing rural people and rural hospitals in the back? Gov. Andy Beshear: BBB Is An Attack On Rural America, "Single Worst Piece Of Legislation In My Lifetime" Does Donald Trump really think rural people are stupid? Why is he such a cruel snob and liar?

Okay, on this I will disagree. I think the most objective way to put it is this way: this is a test. Trump, in his own words, won because of prices and the border. Meaning people were pissed. So he made promises to these people. And some of them for sure were just fulfilled, for a few years at least. No tax on tips, for example. He also promised not to fuck with their health care. So if Thom Tillis is right, Trump actually just betrayed that promise. And people are going to be super pissed for being betrayed. In fact, they already are. Some article I just read in the Wall Street Journal by Molly Ball said this is the most unpopular piece of legislation in 35 years. So we'll see. I think you can say that the working class did vote against their own interests, and did worship billionaires like Musk. But "the working class" is a huge generalization. And if they did so, that was the effect of what they did, not the intention. I wouldn't say that, anyway. It makes me sound like a smug college-educated liberal looking down at them. I'd rather empathize with them because they were betrayed with lies and false promises. And will soon go hungry or lose their health care. I'd argue even young working class men who worshipped Musk did so more out of the aspirational sense that they would like to be rich like him. I have polls to prove this. It scared me that six months ago Musk seemed to be particularly popular with young men. Now he's not. Poor thing. What changed?

Oh my God! We have smart Blacks now! When did we get smart Blacks? Can you believe it? We have smart Black people now. WTF? It must be thanks to Donald Trump. We used to have dumb ignorant Blacks. But maybe Democrats pushed dumb ignorant Blacks so far off the plantation that a precious few got a chance to go to Trump U, and get smart. Maybe that's it! 🤔 Again, thank you. I am just laughing my ass off. I love black comedy, no pun intended. This would be awesome black comedy, if it weren't so ignorant or cruel. Or both. And, to be clear, this Black dude is not cruel. Or Gay. He's just ignorant. But anyone who thinks that we suddenly have "conservative Gays" because trannies just pushed us over the edge kind of needs to study LGBTQ history. Oh, that's right. Like Black history and Toni Morrison, maybe it's illegal now. Shouldn't we just burn those books instead? Of course, it's the opposite. Being part of a massive and global and successful liberation movement actually kind of shifted the whole LGBTQ thing to the left. There have always been conservative Gays, like our Treasury Secretary. Maybe you could stop barking for a minute and do a kindness and educate our ignorant Black Straight Tik Tok wannabe. But you won't. Because your video is like instantaneous proof of concept. I say you are ignorant and don't have a clue. And you post a video within a minute confirming you are ignorant and don't have a clue. That's assuming you are Gay, and get around. Because anyone who is Gay and gets around would know this is bullshit. We've had conservative Gays for a long time. Like you. Do you not even know what you are, poor thing? Is it really that bad?

You really seem to enjoy cruelty. Am I wrong? I can only go by your barking. Which I assume was not what you did with your Biden-respecting mother. Do you not revel in cruelty? Because you seem to. You also revel in the lies and the bullshit and the bragging. And maybe the trick here is that cruelty is the price somebody else pays. So we won't make a big deal out of it like Thom Tillis did. Why talk about how Trump is betraying his promises? We'll just try to sweep it under the rug with a Tik Tok video. Hopefully voters are stupid and won't notice. America is great! Patriotism rocks! Why are Democrats such losers! Maybe some Black dude saying Trump is a man of his word. Even though he just betrayed his promises to the working class people who will go hungry and be kicked off their health care. So I am all for patriotism and airplanes and the troops. Trump's big military rally was a pretty easy show to pull off, given the money he had to spend. Woo hoo! I'm happy for the people that enjoyed it. Moral and political leadership is a whole different matter. You, like Trump, have no interest in it. You could care less. Sorry, but in complete fairness to you, you may not even have a clue as to what it means. If you do, you don't demonstrate it when you bark and lie and bullshit here. You're more like a mad, barking, clueless dog. When I watched your video I immediately thought of this video. Granted, the planes and tricks in your Tik Tok are cooler. But what is portrayed in my YouTube video is way cooler. It depicts one of the great acts of moral and political leadership of the 20th century. And you and Trump could care less. Like I said, you probably don't even get it. I'll say a few things about why my video is way cooler than your moral rot. Nelson Mandela was a real person, who did lead and unify South Africa. He did use sports, which he loved, as a metaphor for unity and civility. Matt Damon may be some Hollywood lib to own. But he portrayed a real White South African who was a great leader in his own way. Who helped move a nation, in addition to winning a trophy. Everything in this video, down to the plane flying over the stadium, is absolutely true. It's not just that you are incapable of leadership like this. Most people, including me, are not. It's that you probably don't even understand it. You just bark. Why I particularly like this scene from this movie, as a movie, is this was the very best of Clint Eastwood. A Republican who got up on a stage and spoke out for Mitt Romney in 2012. Granted, IMHO he kind of flubbed that schtick. But the fact that Eastwood would do this scene in this movie also speaks to the very best of America. Republican or Democrat, we all recognize and aspire to these great leaders, and these great aspirations, and unity, and trying to be a nation that is good. E Pluribus Unum. That is not what Trump is. It is not what Trump is trying to be. It is moral rot. It is cruelty. It is tax cuts to big donors and special laws for special interests. You seem to revel in. I'm happy for you. Enjoy your planes. And your barking. It fits right into this picture that the South African we are all talking about now is not Nelson Mandela, but Elon Musk. It is not about the best of us. It is about the worst of us. It is not about moral leadership. It is about moral rot. And thanks to you and him, I really am laughing my ass off. Thank you. It is kind to say this is Pavlov's dog. Pavlov's dog was actually smarter, even if it was all conditioning. Musk and Trump are a fucking train wreck. And it really would just be a very good black comedy, if there were not so much cruelty being hatched by their inane antics. At least with Trump I can say he has some idea what he is doing. You don't. And Musk for sure doesn't. He is a cruel if brilliant asshole just spinning out of control. But have fun barking. And your planes are cool. God bless the troops!

That would not be untypical. That's the history of America, to me. I don't think there is any specific social justice gene that Black people get that White people don't. But based on the specific history of the US, it is no surprise that many of our shared buzzwords and moral understandings and icons come from some movement against slavery or for civil rights. MLK. The arc of the moral universe is long. I have a dream. "Woke" fits right into the pattern. So let me give anyone reading this a trigger warning. I am about to be savage to woke college students. Because I was once one myself. Even though it was not called "woke" at the time. And let me propose this as an appropriate 2025 definition of woke. In 2025, a "woke" person is one who votes for Black Republican Byron Donalds, a Trump ally, to replace DeSantis. Poll shows Byron Donalds starts with 6-point lead over David Jolly in 2026 Governor’s race So why is it "woke" to vote for Donalds? I'll answer that from the perspective of a Black Democrat who I saw ask Donalds a question on Mark Halperin's Two Way channel. The guy, who identified himself as a Black Democrat, basically said how will the Republican Party help Black people like me? Donalds talked about lower energy costs due to drill, baby, drill. He talked about more affordable housing due to cutting regulations and NIMBY zoning in Florida. Everything he said had NOTHING specifically to do with Black people. He did not even mention assistance to historically black colleges. Which would be a no brainer standard answer most White Republicans would give. His point was clear: lower gas prices and more affordable housing helps us all, regardless of the color of our skin. Which is of course true. So one definition of "woke" today could be that if you want cheap gas and affordable rent and are Black, vote for some Black Republican leader who is aware of working class challenges. So this is one of the interesting things about today's GOP. I credit Kevin McCarthy more than any other single person, although former Black RNC head Michael Steele would be #2 on my list, for actually integrating the modern Republican Party. One way I think of it is that Jim Clyburn is a Democratic leader because when he was a kid Strom Thurmond left the Democratic Party because we Democrats were too welcoming to Blacks. Now Tim Scott is the Black US Senator from the same state. And a Republican. And I basically buy what Scott says explains it: "a change in the Southern heart". I can see that in the Southern Republican wing of my own family. Meanwhile, some Black activist said that when America elected Donald Trump in 2016, we did not realize we were voting for a restoration of 1980's New York racism. I think that is true as well. in a big diverse nation, many contradictory things can be true at once. So under Trump and Hegseth, who are way behind the curve, you have these almost comical and constant stupid fucking things to remove the name of Jackie Robinson from something or go out of their way to make it seem like Black people and especially DEI are just not welcome in our White Party. My own opinion, until proven wrong, is that a lot of the movement by Blacks and Latinos to the GOP, especially in the last four years, was all about inflation and prices and rent. And part of a global "throw the bums out" reaction. In our case, the bum was named Joe Biden. So when the Republicans fuck with Medicaid and go out of their way to trash efforts to help Blacks, even when they are put forward by Black Republicans like Tim Scott, I think they are just driving Blacks away. We'll see. But for sure running a Black guy like Byron Donalds for Governor does the exact opposite. It says, "We welcome Blacks to thrive and lead in our party." So now let us throw in the clueless and mostly White "woke" college students. Who I am quite sure all have their hearts in the right place. The best single example to me is "Latinx", which thankfully never got off the ground and never will. I choose that in part because it is a great example of the kind of thing that would likely come out of academia. Some poll done showed something like 95 % of Spanish speaking Americans do not like the idea. And without doing anything that actually impacts the price of gas or rent or giving you a child tax credit or no tax on tips, it makes some weird cultural statement about something. Thankfully, it is not as toxic as "defund the police" politically. But this is how Democrats are going to win the Latino vote? Give me a fucking break. I am quite sure this is how Ruy Teixeira feels. He articulates all these arguments way better than I do. When Republicans ran everything from 2000 to 2008 or so, and fucked it up good with the Iraq War and subprime lending and losing about 6 million factory jobs so capitalists could get rich building factories in China, Teixeira and his democratic socialist pal John Judis delivered a road map to how you actually can have a Democratic majority. As I said in an earlier post, to me it seemed like a fucking joke. And then it happened under Obama. Fast forward. Teixeira gradually grew to feel utter contempt for mostly White college educated woke people who push these agendas that are just deeply unpopular with working class voters. And while some of it is almost comical, like "LatinX", some of it is very complex. Like "woke" people tend to be associated with purist "climate change" ideas. But most working class people like the idea of cheap fossil fuels. Ruben Gallego has a great line right now, because he wants to be a Latino Democratic POTUS. He says every Latino man wants a big ass truck and cheap gas to fill it with. La verdad! And people who work in the industry hate the woke bullshit. Did I mention Democrats lost Pennsylvania in the last election? Do we want to win the Presidency? Do we want 51 or 60 US Senate seats? So now I am going to sound cruel. Especially for Trump, it is open season on these people. He is going after Harvard, and all these liberal educational institutions. And DEI, and all these groups that were the ones that advanced arguments like "defund the police" and America is this horrible racist place. I hope he scares the living shit out of all of them. Because maybe that will help Democrats. They pushed some of this shit too far and too hard. And while I know their intentions were good, it contributed to this idea that Democrats are out of touch. And it is one of the easiest things in the world to lampoon on Tik Tok. And now we have a massive backlash, led by Donald Trump, who I actually do believe embodies 1980's NYC racism. So what the fuck did they get by being so "woke"? We all learn from our failures. Hopefully the "woke" folks will. And they will moderate and instead try to figure out, like Teixeira and Judis did, how we can end this cruelty and trickle down "America is for the rich" bullshit by building a left-of-center majority? That, again is what AMLO did in Mexico. Pan comido!

You left out an important word: cruel. This new "victory" about making women and children (and working class men) sicker, hungrier, poorer, and in some cases deader is just cruel. So of course they have to bark up a storm to convince themselves that they are not really celebrating cruelty. But I have watched enough of these videos to know the MO. It is usually somebody real, who is just some everyday guy or girl flapping their lips on Tik Tok. And they just say all this stuff that might as well be "the moon is made of cheese." I feel sorry for Cher. I mean, what if she had to win her Oscar for "Cheesestruck?" 😨 Since I called out one of the few videos that actually was factual, because our barking dog simply posted a CNN report, I'll mention the one I watched today. It was some woman ranting about how useless Democrats are. And in the process she ranted, "Trump's trying to make us strong. Trump's trying to pull us out of debt." Are you fucking kidding me? We're about to add a massive amount to our debt bomb, making it likelier to blow up. There is no question about this. Even timid and weak ass kissing Republicans who will lose their seats in 2026 know it, but can't say it. Except for a few like Tillis who voted against it. All so they can reward their billionaire donors with tax cuts that are more than most people make in a year, and throw millions off their heath care. Woo fucking hoo! Clinton got a surplus. Obama cut W's annual deficits he was left with by more than half. In both cases, but especially Clinton, there was a lot of bipartisan work put into that. As a deficit hawk, I will agree Biden was not so great. But Trump is far worse when it comes to leading us to bankruptcy. What a shocker! They are cruel. And they really do believe their smug, hateful bullshit. America First. Everyone else second. I am deserving. You are not.

By the way, Sis, I have some good news. On top of the fact that some guy with an 11" cock is on his way right now to give you some much needed relief. Obama was even smarter than Trump. Obamacare passed in March 2010. It was not implemented until January 2014. So they would have time to work out the kinks. And people would get to know how great it was. No negative impact by the 2010 midterms. Except Republicans gained 64 House seats and 6 Senate seats in 2010. What did Obama call it? A shellacking? Of course, I'd argue most of that was The Great Recession. But we know Obamacare hurt Democrats, as well. Until people found they liked it, or at least needed it. And now it hurts Republicans. But for years it was the gift that kept giving to Republicans. After the less than perfect roll out in 2014, that led to another round of Democratic heads on the platter in the 2014 midterms. The fear of something, especially something as obviously cruel and as unfair as this, where we fuck undeserving women and kids to help the deserving rich, will perhaps be as bad or worse for Republicans as the ax actually falling. At the very least, no one could argue that Obamacare taxed the working class to help the rich. It does the opposite, of course. So this may be one where the coverup is worse than the crime. I think it is just fine, even smart, to have some regular looking nobody talk up how great this is on Tik Tok. As if this "government efficiency" happened because God fearing working class people just demanded it. But a GOP House member in a town hall - if they have the courage to show up - explaining that you don't deserve health care because Elon Musk needs tax cuts more? Good luck, fellas. They will of course try to cover it up by saying this is about empowering ICE to deport immigrant grannies who abuse Medicaid and rape their grandchildren, or some shit like that. Good luck, fellas. At least members of Congress have good health care, right? Apart from the content, another similarity is that Democrats seemed to do better when Obama was on the ballot in 2008 and 2012, just like Republicans have done better with Trump on the ballot. So if we just do a narrow and simplistic compare and contrast, like Obamacare this could hurt Republicans in 2026, before implementation, and again in 2030, after implementation. Assuming it is not reversed after Democrats win in 2028 in part by saying let's tax Elon Musk more to restore your health care. Sorry Elon. But women and children are more deserving than you. In fact, Republicans are even more fucked. Because as bad as 2010 an 2014 were for Democrats, at least in 2012 we had Obama on the ballot. In 2028 Republicans won't even have Trump. Just JD, JD, MAGA Lady.

Oh, honey. We all do! 😋

Now don't forget guys. Especially today. It's the 4th of the July. Our mascot is working it hard. And loyal and true and cruel to Trump's cause. Especially with all the cruelty in this new bill, he has some serious barking to do. And yeah, I also have a problem with that cruel thing. Kicking over 10 million off Medicaid. Making poor kinds hungry. Trump playing TACO Time while his 24 hour peace deal turns into Putin lobbing bombs into Kyiv. It's not really a pretty picture. But he is just a dog. And he is just reacting to training and conditioning. Including from me. I've now figured that if I do "x" I can get the pup to do "y". So it's kind of amusing. I think he deserves his treat. Otherwise it fucks with his brain. Be generous and kind, like our mothers taught us.

I'm bad at math. Let me see if I get it. Trump's bill is essential, and will lead to a Golden Era for America. First, it reduces government spending by throwing over 10 million working class and low-income people, many of whom are women and children and many of whom voted for Trump, off their health care plans. Second, this money is then reallocated to programs that are essential for America's future. Like giving a $300,000 a year tax break to the very richest Americans. Which is three times what the average American makes in a year. You can't have a Golden Era without tax breaks for rich Trump donors. Third, this is all cruel bullshit. But we will try to persuade you of the exact opposite. Am I pretty close to understanding? Asking for a friend on Tik Tok.

Good for you, Sis. I am proud of you, as always. If we define "woke" as "aware and concerned", I am with you. If the idea is that we are aware and concerned that Trump just won a victory that means throwing over 10 million people off health care and making women and children sicker, poorer, hungrier, or dead ................. all because they are unworthy and Elon Musk needs the tax cuts more ............ than I am definitely with you. When I use "woke" I mean it the way Ruy Teixeira does. Which is very different. I have posted many of his articles and praised Teixeira a lot. This guy is the liberal who, along with John Judis, wrote The Emerging Democratic Majority. While W. and the Iraq War were at their height of popularity. Everyone thought they were crazy. Judis used to write for In These Times. I've always viewed him as a democratic socialist. So these are not closet right wingers. They are left wingers who have an analysis I agree with about how college educated woke Democrats helped fuck up their Emerging Democratic Majority. In a sentence, focus on the working class. Focus on economic issues that help the working class. Don't get caught in culture war traps. Ruy Teixeira Asks Whether America Has Reached “Peak Woke” Note that was October 2022. If there is one phrase that sums up what is problematic with "woke" it is this: DEFUND THE POLICE. Few if any Democrats who wanted to actually win an election embraced that phrase. Biden ran from it. Which is partly why he won the 2020 primary. He said we need to FUND the police, but be thoughtful and fair about how we do it. I think we now know the answer to the question Teixeira asked in October 2022. We had not reached peak woke. Had we done so, 2024 was a close call. And it might have turned out differently. I think several small changes could have made a difference. Were Biden 20 years younger and fit to actually run again, I think running as the incumbent he might have won. Again, not the Biden of 2024. The Biden of twenty years ago, younger and sharper. Immigration was part of the woke thing. Both Trump and Chris LaCivita have said Trump won the 2024 election for two reasons: prices, and the border. We'll never know. But had Biden been Deporter In Chief, like Obama was, maybe that would have changed the outcome. It didn't help that Harris was easy to label as The Failed Border Czarina. For most of his second term, so far, Trump has had net approval on his border policies. They actually just turned net negative. So even on that people are beginning to feel they have had enough. But there is no question that "woke" immigration policies hurt Democrats in multiple elections. In talking with people about where Harris went wrong, most people feel like me. Given the circumstances and the time she had, she was awesome. Things would have been worse if Biden stayed in the race. Then they talk about The View and the "what would you do different?" question. My own 20/20 hindsight suggestion is she should have said, "You know, frankly, some of that woke bullshit just went too far for me." She might have talked about Latino rapists. She might have talked about how as a prosecutor she always was wary of Defund The Police. Her actual answer, "I'd change nothing," more or less, made a lot of people groan. If she had simply used the words "woke bullshit" I think for a lot of people it would have been a huge sigh of relief. In part because she was also Vice President Word Salad. And there is nothing word salad about "woke bullshit". I'll be curious to see how that plays out for Mandani. To me, immigration and ICE is one area where he sounds "woke" in a way that could blow up in his face. I hope not.

I agree emphatically. This one is a bit painful for me. I said that I joke with friends that I am the problem, because I am a liberal Democrat. But my real point is that, for the most part, I've never been a big fan of what is now easy and popular to label as woke bullshit. Right now I am a huge fan of Ruy Teixeira, who is absolutely and relentlessly ripping the shit out of college-educated woke Democrats for fucking up his Emerging Democratic Majority. I don't fully agree with him on every point. That said, right now I wish Democrats would do 100 % of what Teixeira says. Don't even think about it. Don't debate. Just do it. I make a big distinction between family and friends. This is one where my Trump-supporting nephew and I can vibe easily and genuinely. Years ago he would teasingly joke about how it's fun to pick on White men, like him. But he is high up in a company that took DEI seriously, and still does. I have a Gay Pride button he gave me that I cherish. And he is at heart a Romney-type guy who wants to meet in the middle and get along. So now he can say, with a slight air of smugness, that maybe my company went a bit too far with this DEI stuff. But I'm glad we did. And he means it. He knows of course that the pendulum has swung hard one way right now, but it will swing back. And I validate it by saying, sincerely, that some of the woke bullshit just went way too far. I partly blame myself for losing Republican friends over this. I was the one that broke the ties, not them. Most of those people were clients I was close to who were moderate Republicans. So it was always kind of a business relationship and kind of a friendship and easier to put an expiration date on. But in several cases for something like 20 years we could easily talk and joke about our political differences. For me it was actually more interesting than debating liberals who agreed with me. And I do think that all reflects the way politics used to work in America. I will spend a few paragraphs on an anecdote that I think reflects the emotional complexity of this. In 2012 I was in Puerto Vallarta with a moderate Republican client on election night. I mistakenly mentioned that Obama had just won a few states. He got pissed at me and walked out of the condo. Later he apologized and said he is perfectly fine with losing. But he doesn't want the play by play while it happened. fair enough. Fast forward to 2016. I told him if we go to PV we can NOT talk about the election. So we are sitting in a restaurant and I say, "Trump is going to win." We go back to the condo, turn on the TV, and talk about what this means all week long. For me it was interesting. Right after I got home I talked to a liberal friend who was in trauma who said, "Oh my God. That must have been horrible." And I said, no, it was kind of interesting. So my point is I think in some ways I was a better sport than the moderate Republican was. From 2016 to 2018, I was proud of the fact that I was just going to overlook those things. During that week in PV in 2016 there was a line I will never forget. "I want two, and three if that bitch dies." This Republican was for some reason very interested in SCOTUS and law. So I knew what he meant. Two SCOTUS seats, and three if that bitch RBG dies. Which, of course, she did. So my point is where I went over the edge and bailed ship on these Republican friends is 2018 during the Kavanaugh shit show. I'm not sure why. But that was for sure one huge culture war moment that was very divisive. Charlie Cook at the time said Trump is a "color intensifier". And that SCOTUS fight was a textbook example of it. He makes red states redder, and blue states bluer. In some ways it is like this inexorable force tearing at the fabric of the body politic, and tearing us apart. Which, of course, is not entirely coincidental. Putin has to be absolutely thrilled. Let democracy destroy itself. That is his long game. One other anecdote, involving two of these Republicans. In Fall 2016, before Trump won and while everyone thought he would lose, I had dinner with two of these Republican friends. We all lamented the fact that someone like John Kasich was NOT the Republican nominee. The unspoken context was these two moderate Republicans were saying with someone like Kasich, unlike Trump, they could probably beat Hillary. What I was saying is I admire Republicans like Kasich. And if he beat Hillary I could live with it. It's a democracy. Kasich is very much a principled conservative who loves to meet in the middle. So my point is I blame this first and foremost on Trump. As Cook's "color intensifier" comment implies, Trump is a master at divide and conquer. I view him as symptom, not cause. He was there at just the right moment in American politics. He has won barely, twice, by fanning culture war and playing divide and conquer. It does come with consequences. A Republican like Kasich can and does brag that in the 1990's he was one of those deal makers that helped get us to a budget surplus, driven of course by Bill Clinton. Trump will instead drive us closer to bankruptcy, while he inflicts pain on working class women and children who will lose their health care. Kasich barely won his first Ohio Guv race. He was re-elected in a 2-1 landslide. Because a lot of Democrats like me respect him, or at least can tolerate him. Trump can't do that. It is always divide and conquer. It is always narrow wins. And just like in 2018 and 2020 my college-educated guess is there will be deeper and deeper disgust. And he will get his ass kicked. Did it have to be this way? Who knows. That is an interesting question historians will fight over for a long time. But I blame this on Trump, first and foremost. In fairness, Biden deserves some blame, too. Temperamentally, he is is the Democratic version of John Kasich. Meet in the middle. He did not really govern that way. This is where I would argue AMLO was just a better leader. He is more left wing than Biden. But he focused like a laser on the economy, stupid. And instead of falling into woke traps like Biden did - immigration especially - AMLO like Trump championed culturally centrist or even conservative views. A lot of college-educated liberals in Mexico despised AMLO. So I'm not proud of my own decision to cut ties with Republicans. But at the end of the day I don't blame myself. They embraced Trump, not me. It is on them. And they are clearly proud of it. Good for them. Happy 4th of July. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Actually, you just made my point. AMLO was the Mayor of Mexico City. Obviously the biggest city in Mexico. That gave him a big lab to experiment in. It also gave him legitimacy when he said I want to take the show to Broadway now. Many of the things that have worked on the Big Stage were things he tried in Mexico City: old age pensions, social programs. Mamdani wants free child care and city-run grocery stores. Sounds crazy! Sounds socialist! Is it crazy? Ask AMLO. AMLO left Mamdani a very specific playbook on how to pull this off as a Mayor. Mamdani is a smart and eloquent guy. I hope he reads the playbook. I can see why his schtick on affordability worked - especially if the alternatives were Cuomo and Adams. Speaking of New York, it is questionable who likes Rudy Ghouliani more, Trump or AMLO. Back in the day, Rudy was America's Mayor, and he was tough on crime. People loved it. AMLO hired Rudy to help him develop a zero tolerance for crime policy in DF. People loved it. Point being that AMLO grew up in a poor part of Mexico and has always been intuitively good, better than Trump even, at understanding and playing to the centrist sensibilities of the working class. Take notes, Democrats. These days I joke with some friends and family members that I am the fucking problem. If you need to understand what is wrong with Democrats, blame me. I am a liberal Democrat. I am college-educated. But I would not describe myself as a woke liberal Democrat. My biggest mentor, my college professor Paul Wellstone, wrote the textbook on how to overturn a Republican lock on the Senate (in Minnesota) by being VERY attentive to the sensibilities of the working class. It was intuitive for him. Tim Walz, who represented the purple district I went to college in and also went to Camp Wellstone, could write the same textbook. Although, in my view, Harris/Walz 2024 was a bit too woke. Where the fuck were the White men, other than Walz's own son in that wonderful tear jerking moment? Did we REALLY need that commercial on toxic White males? Who, by the way, said FUCK YOU I'm voting for Trump. They should have had moderate Democrats who were White football players and were trained by Coach Walz everywhere, singing the fucking national anthem. I think that would have helped. So as I just indicated, I am not a woke Democrat. As far as I am concerned, it is open season on woke Democrats. Which is a problem. Because Mamdani also kind of sounds like a woke Democrat to me. So we'll see. But his challenge is to figure out how to focus on working class affordability, while he actually manages a city well if he wins (my advice: make deals with billionaires to promote affordable housing, like AMLO did), and IF he can avoid falling into the woke bullshit traps that have badly hurt Democrats. It's on us, Sis. I have always been proud of you. I think we can do it! 😀

Again, I completely agree with you. In part because it is the 4th of July, I'll muddy the waters. I do think we can still be proud of being a democracy. We are for sure a democracy under stress. As are many democracies right now. But if you buy the concept of checks and balances and blah blah blah, that was always baked into the cake. For me, it is also helpful that Trump won a plurality in 2024. He did not win a majority. He got 49.8 % of the vote. So, right out of the gate, this is not some mandate, like what Reagan clearly got in 1980 and 1984. This is America deeply divided. The one place I do disagree with you a little is on tactics, maybe. It is not like Democrats did not speak up about the dangers of Trump. Part of the righteous indignation of good God fearing MAGA folk is this. You told us we were Nazis. You told us we were racists. You told us we were fascists. You told us we only care about rich people and their tax cuts. You told us we are horrible people. Well fuck you. You are the assholes. So go fuck yourselves while we love our country as it SHOULD be. Okay. Well then. Again, we have seen this movie before. It is almost a repeat, really. You can even track it in Trump's disapproval ratings and how they gradually and incrementally grow. So especially in the sequel, I think it is going to have to involve letting people absorb all the shit "they" voted for. Again, as you say, "they" is maybe 30 % of actual Americans. But in 2024 he did get more votes than Harris. And Pew says if everyone voted, Trump would have actually won by a slightly bigger margin. Who knows. But it is a democracy. And Trump won. So we can all sit with the consequences for four years, while the world laughs at us or feels sorry for us, and see how we feel. I think we can make an educated guess how the movie ends. But then again, that just makes us those awful college-educated elitists. So who knows? Where is our AMLO? Who is our AMLO? To me, that is the most important question. AMLO is some dude who, like Trump, will not stop and just keeps fucking fighting endlessly. It took AMLO several elections to win power. But once he did he had a clear mission and a plan to help the Mexican working class. And it won't last forever. But he now has a political coalition that is - for now - unstoppable. Mostly because it produces results for the working class. So they want more of it. That is what Democrats need most now. Where is our AMLO? Where is our Claudia?

Russia hits Ukraine with massive aerial attack after new Trump-Putin call Moscow will not retreat from its war goals, a Kremlin aide said after the presidential discussion. Facts are facts. Peace is breaking out everywhere. If you live in Gaza, you can go get food or sit in an internet cafe and be bombed or murdered by a Genocide Jew. Peace! If you live in Iran, we will gently bomb you and your leaders will declare we won't attack America but we will keep enriching uranium. Mission accomplished! Now, some of you peace haters may say Trump promised to end the Ukraine War in 24 hours, and he didn't do that. But that is only because he is a genius. He is seeking agreement with Putin to identify the root causes of this conflict, which caused Putin to invade in the first place. What's the problem with that? Peace is everywhere! Thanks to President Donald Trump. Please give this man a Nobel Peace Prize.

I completely agree with everything you said. But I'll muddy the waters. It's the 4th of July, and a good time to think about what makes us Americans. Or unites or divides us. On an emotional and family level, the hardest thing for me right now is that I have a niece and a nephew who I love and spend time with. And they are both Gen Xers who, like much of their generation, are the political backbone of Trump and his worldview. I just spent time in a red state with one of these people and his extended family at a really fun family event. Which included some really conservative discussions about how Jon Ossoff is an asshole and even Brian Kemp, who I see as a relatively effective and pragmatic Republican Governor, is a country boy asshole because he doesn't suck up to Trump. It gave me a good taste of MAGA. Not that I needed it. And, again, Rule #1 for me is this is family and I love family. So I have now read several articles, all from conservatives, about this new Gallup poll that shows Republicans are prouder of America than ever. And in one way or another every one of these right-of-center articles argues that this is because Republicans are good people who care about principles. And Democrats are bad people who care about politics. The one that is furthest out there is mostly about how Republicans go to church, and fear God, and don't abort their babies. Which has exactly nothing to do with patriotism, or the questions Gallup asked about patriotism. But the argument is this is why Republicans are good, and Democrats are bad. Also, every one of these right-of-center articles doesn't even mention the fact that patriotism among Independents has dropped like a rock in the last 25 years. You can see above the big drops in patriotism among Independents occurred when W (the Iraq War) and Trump have been President. I am curious about that. If it were only partisan Democrats like me, I would say maybe it's fair to say this has something to do with Democrats or politics. But for whatever reason, which I am actually curious about, Independents are less proud of America. Especially when Trump is President. One wonders why. Isn't MAGA curious? (LOL. Of course not.) For me, especially now that America kinda sorta barely chose Trump twice, it actually helps for me to think of these people as family members I love. Because some of them are. And, to go to the extreme, are these people Nazis? No. Are they rounding up Jews and Gays and Communists and putting them in concentrations camps? No. They are rounding up "illegals", and are happy and proud Trump is doing it. And they fear God, and they go to church, and they don't abort their babies. And they do feel that they are the better Americans, who have good God fearing principles. It is what it is. In a way I can say I am happy for my niece and nephew. And if they love America for what THEY want it to be, well good for them. Meanwhile, what that poll says loud and clear is that most of America - Independents and Democrats - are building a reaction against this. This is not the America we want. So we'll see. It is a new civil war, I believe. But at least we are (mostly) not killing each other.

Oh, and in your eloquent address you left out Genocide Israel, Sis. Although there are so many reasons to lament on the list. I was listening to an interview with John Mearsheimer yesterday that sounded a lot like your tone. Trump can basically do whatever he wants on Iran and Israel, Mearsheimer argued. Because Trump has no sense of constraints. And people won't care unless Americans start to die. Which is why, as you note, they will care about the Medicaid and safety net cuts. People will lose health care, get sick, go hungry, and die. As the barking dog notes above, this is all so that America can achieve goals essential to the survival of our nation. Like more tax cuts for Elon Musk, and Trump's loyal ultrarich donors. Back to Israel, Mearsheimer argued that Trump thinks he is the genius in control. But Genocide Jews like Bibi The Bitcher will go to Washington and slather praise on Trump and tell him how grateful Genocide Israel is. And Bibi The Bitcher will probably succeed in luring and leading our narcissistic POTUS - who by the way deserves a Peace Prize for bringing peace to Ukraine, within 24 hours no less - into a new forever war in Iran. And yeah, hunger in America sucks. But stop whining. In Genocide Israel they starve women and kids in Gaza, force them to go to public stations to get food, and then murder them there. At least we don't have that in America yet. Will Trump get a Peace Prize for arming and supporting Genocide Jews like Bibi The Butcher? And maybe for starting a new forever war in Iran?

Good evening. This is an important public service announcement. If you are one of the over 10 million Americans who will soon lose affordable health care thanks to Donald Trump, here's what you need to know. First, you are a worthless piece of shit. And you don't deserve the health care you have, you lazy working class loser. Second, someone more worthy than you deserves health care. You are a working class or low-income loser. And, no. We have power now. We could give a flying fuck if you voted for Trump. Third, we also have to pay for Elon Musk's tax cuts. How the fuck else were we supposed to do that, loser? You are undeserving. Can you fucking grasp that, loser? Be glad we don't deport you. Or send you to jail for waste, fraud, and abuse. Or whatever the fuck your problem is. Three reasons why Republicans cut Medicaid And there ya have it. They swallowed deeply and fully and obediently the raw and cruel shit streaming out of Trump's ass and mouth. Just like our obedient MAGA puppy would. And what they will now regurgitate is that we love mothers and children. Even though they are about to make lots of mothers and children sick, poor, hungry, and in some cases dead. Thanks, fellas! Even if you buy their argument, as quoted above, the message to low-income and working class Americans who Trump promised to lower prices for is crystal clear. I promised to lower your prices. And your price for one of the very most important things, health care, is about to go way up. If you can afford it at all. And the reason why is simple. You don't need it the most. You don't deserve it. Not as much as Elon Musk or my loyal donors, at least. These cruel pieces of shit who betrayed their constituents, just like this article says and like Thom Tillis said in anger and frustration, can now enjoy all the cruelty and bullshit that Trump successfully shoved down their throats. If any of you Republican assholes find yourself choking on all Trump's raw sewage you swallowed and about to spew to defend your cruel and betraying and worthless asses, I hope you have a good hospital to go to. I'm sure with your Congressional health care, at least you'll be able to afford it.

Great idea. Or, they'd make a charming couple in a Viagra commercial. 🤢

This is mostly repeating one of my greatest hits I have posted elsewhere. As far as Mexico goes, I now think there is a KISS principle involved here. Are we too stupid and arrogant and gringo to learn from them? As I said in a recent post Pew just found that 90 % of Mexicans give Trump's America a vote of no confidence. America's image is declining in most of the world. But Mexico is the off the charts leader of that. So I think it destroys this theory that there is maybe something about Latinos or Mexican Americans or whatever that draws them to Trump. The ones who live in Mexico simply think he is an asshole. And my interpretation of this fact is they have a wildly popular political model and a wildly popular leader that is all based around one question. To oversimplify: how do we help the Mexican working class? So if Democrats can learn from that, it is a model that arguably could work here. I would love the irony of that. Deport Mexicans, import their political model, kick Trump's ass, and help the US working class. Works for me. Meanwhile, the one thing I hope we can count on Trump for is to not start another Iraq War, like Bush did. At first it seemed like Trump could at least do that much. After he decided to bomb Iran, now we have to worry whether he will fuck that up , too. Just what America needs after abandoning Ukraine. Another forever war, but one Trump can call his own. As you said. Clearly, the damage is done. Putin must be thrilled.

And I just fact checked myself, and learned a point I made above is incorrect. Which I think confirms my main point. Until recently on RCP Trump did have net approval for his immigration policies. For months, that is what people like best about what he is doing. But now even that has turned negative, at 47 % approve/50 % disapprove. His handling of inflation is particularly unpopular. 39 % approve, 59 % disapprove. Again, I think it confirms my main point. With facts like these to explain, it may well be why Trump prefers lies.

Wow. I have to say I am impressed. I watch these videos occasionally. I think in part so I can know that I am not just categorically rejecting something because of who posted it. Or because it praises Trump. Or because it is Fox News. At least in my eyes it is just an objective fact that most of the time watching these videos makes me a little more stupid. And often they feed me misinformarion that I immediately cross-check to learn that - Yup. It's just bullshit. So this was impressive. Over three minutes of actual facts, from a CNN reporter no less. There is obviously a case to be made for Trump. And a lot of his supporters use the same line. We know he's an asshole, but we like his policies. So it makes me wonder why his supporters don't actually do this more often. Just focus on facts. Perhaps it is because many of Trump's supporters are like Trump himself. The man really does seem to prefer lies and bullshit. But I think the main reason is voters are not stupid. And the problem for Trump actually is the facts. Like right now the polls make it clear people tend to approve of most of what he is doing on immigration. And meanwhile his Big Beautiful Bill is very unpopular. Especially the toxic parts about what they will do with Medicaid. So the facts are the problem.

I thought this was a well written and sad lament for Thom Tillis. And a politics of "meet in the middle" deals and compromise that used to be the way that politics worked much of the time. It explains better than my parody why Independent-minded people, like the author, may feel like this is not America at its best. Thom Tillis and the Painful Truth About Swing State Politics Even the most competitive and evenly balanced states are infected by the same contagion as the hardened one-party states.

I have been wondering why the mindless barking dog is suddenly barking incessantly again. By the way, here's a treat, pup. Good doggy. Good pup. In fairness, the fact that a mindless dog is mindless is more than enough reason to explain the barking. But that's unfair. Our special pup has also proven again and again that he is a smart impulsive dog. He responds well to Pavlovian prompts. As well as a cruel doggy who likes it when people experience pain. So I wondered if perhaps there is some cause to this. What would excite him and his love of being a smart and cruel and obedient pup? I thought the answer might be obvious: the Big Beautiful Bill. There is certainly a lot of activity that would make an obedient MAGA pup bark. And it is literally joyous. And it keeps getting better. Elon Musk will get his massive tax cuts. That's worth a chorus of barking alone. Better yet, it almost certainly comes at the cost of millions of Americans, many of whom voted for Trump, losing their affordable health care. What could be better? Or course, this is being said by moderate Republicans. Who knows if those traitors can be trusted? The best part is Republican Senator Thom Tillis. I mean, the man is a traitor and a worthless piece of shit. He opposed Trump and lost. So now he is going to quit. The fucking loser. Our dog loves cruelty. So this is no doubt worth a lot of very loud barking. Even better, Tillis is quitting because he says Trump and Republicans are betraying their promise to millions of Americans who entrusted them with power. And this will badly hurt the health care of working class people. I'm not even a dog. And I would bark in joy at that! Tillis says over 600,000 people will be kicked off their health care plan in North Carolina alone. Think of how awesome this is. Is it too much to hope that tens of millions of working class Americans will lose health care? Think of the tax benefits to Elon Musk. Not to mention Donald Trump. Even though it is unpatriotic to think Trump would do anything for himself! The only thing that could make this better is if Trump could find a way to deport Tillis to South Sudan. Is that possible? Come to think of it, Trump was publicly floating the idea of assassinating the leaders of Iran. Would it really be a problem for Trump to gently float the idea of assassinating Tillis? He is a traitor, after all. So all of this more than explains why a good and loyal and true and obedient and cruel MAGA puppy like @Barknaway would be barking up a storm. Good puppy! Here's another treat. Go bite Thom Tillis! But come to find out there may be an even better explanation for this loud endless barking: patriotism, and cruelty. All wrapped into a beautiful puppy treat! American Pride Slips to New Low Pride among Democrats tumbles, while independents also hit new low, more than offsetting increase among Republicans Now, I have to admit. I am not an expert in dog psychology. Let alone the unique brand of loyal cruel Trump-like MAGA dogs @Barkaway aspires to be the very best of. But even the dumbest dog could understand this. It is awesome. Doesn't get better. A loyal dog conditioned to obey Trump will immediately know that he is good and loyal and patriotic. In fact, he is more patriotic than ever. Woof! Now, it is true that maybe a lot of Democrats and Independents are less proud to be American than ever. You can see on the chart that Trump's first and second Presidencies are precisely when pride among Independents fell hard. And maybe in their mind they are like Thom Tillis. Maybe they think this is not what America should stand for. Maybe they think this is a betrayal of the trust and health care of millions of good working class Americans. Maybe they think it wasn't the goal of The Founders to promote oligarchy and tax cuts for Elon Musk and Trump's other ultrarich donors. In other words, what I am really trying to say is these Independents and Democrats are losers. And traitors. They really should be deported to South Sudan or somewhere. Is it legal to do that? Can we find a way to make it legal to deport them? At the very least, these people should be surveilled by DOGE or Palantir or whoever is putting together all this private information and dossiers on every US citizen. Can't we at least take their Medicaid or SNAP away? This all has to be like fentanyl for a loyal and true and good and cruel MAGA dog. He knows he is being patriotic. And he knows most people who are not MAGA are stupid, and deserve to suffer. And will, thank God. America is awesome. Thank you Donald Trump. How could America ever be better? This is OUR GOLDEN AGE.