I love this. Titus makes it clear why the corporate Dems and the corporate media are attacking Biden. Money. Flat out. It came out that CNN was in trouble as was all other cable news media until they started attacking Biden’s age, then click and viewership rose again, money came in. Biden is old, but until they were attacking him he was the best to win. Plus look at his schedule after the debate and before he got Covid, it was more than most people half his age could do. tRump was missing for 11 days and the press never mentioned that tRump held no events. One-sided coverage to destroy democracy for money, because in the US profit is king. Hugs. Scottie
Seriously what is there to add. This may be illegal and it sure is unethical. Once defaced, the bill is worth nothing. So you are paying nearly forty dollars for a crap memorial, that no matter what happens will decrease in value. Even if tRump manages to win, which I doubt, the fake cometary bills will be worthless because they will just keep putting out new stuff for the willing to buy. It is a sell to the gullible scam. If you have older tRump loving relatives please warn them off buying this stuff. They are not helping tRump, they are enriching a company that will not share your money with him. Hugs. Love Scottie
This was from a link from Ali. I have asked Ali to be an author on the blog, she could then post these links she feels are important. This should put to rest the idea of replacing Biden. Even progressives I follow and love can not see that their denigration and desire to replace Biden is hurting the democrats, helping to elect tRump. Look, it is too late to change horses in midstream. This is being pushed by the news media because they want more advertising money and more of a horse race. Hell one station I just heard a clip from suggested Hillary Clinton to replace Biden? Why would they claim or say that?. It is a wish and daydream. None of the major democratic players and big money donors want the same candidate. I love the VP, and yet big money and democratic leaders are suggesting other people. Hugs. Scottie
Tysons, Virginia. Wasting time waiting for my Uber and my late flight out after speaking at an event the night before. I was in the lobby of the fanciest hotel I’ve ever stayed in — The Watermark. I sat in the lobby workstation watching a breathtakingly beautiful young woman take professional photos for her new career and trying to hide my excitement each time she came out in a new outfit. The photographer showed her each pose and then the young woman would imitate her. Sometimes with a laptop or a book in her lap.
She is going to have a beautiful LinkedIn profile.
I was invited to speak at a summit just outside of DC, and just got back a week ago. The Women’s Summit is a large annual conference hosted in part by Network Nova. I have to tell you something: the message from rural America never fails to captivate an audience. Especially an audience filled with activists in a solidly Democratic city and region.
But I am not writing to tell you what I spoke about. I am writing to tell you what I heard when I listened to the voters and activists in the room.
What you’ll hear me say is not at all what the pundits are saying about Biden after the disastrous debate. It is the opposite of the narrative being furiously flung at us each day by everyone from MSNBC to CNN to the New York Times to the nightly news to opinion pieces across the country.
I speak to actual people…the pundits feed off each other. I work with grassroots organizers to spread Democratic messaging…the pundits write clickbait headlines and stoke fear.
The debate.
First of all, I did not watch but a few minutes of the debate live. I chose to watch it in clips and videos afterward. I was horrified. I felt like I was watching a trainwreck in slow motion. Biden performed terribly and Trump lied continuously.
Honestly, I wish Biden had never accepted the debate premise because it’s pointless to debate a liar. It just gives Trump the runway to lie even more, and without pushback from the moderators, the debate went nowhere.
The voters and activists I listened to in Virginia weren’t wondering if Biden should step aside and none of them were kidding themselves about what they witnessed during the debate. They are solidly behind the Biden administration. Solidly.
The summit in Virginia was diverse. Hundreds of women gathered and many were Black women. I like to hear the viewpoints of folks who are neither rural nor white — I am not in enough diverse rooms. I get a different POV and that’s important. What I heard was real and heartfelt. They are behind Biden.
I listened as several Black women spoke about their admiration for Gavin Newsom and Gretchen Whitmer, but how pundits holding them up as replacements for Joe Biden is condescending and irritating. Joe Biden has a Vice President. A Black woman — Kamala Harris. The women wondered aloud if there would be such a push to replace Biden on the ballot if his VP were not Black.
Same.
They wondered why journalists and politicos demand that Biden step down, but not Trump. They wondered why so many articles are being written about Biden’s age and fitness, but not the same about Trump. They wondered why Democratic strategists are making voters fearful instead of leading with a steady hand. They wondered why Biden is taking all the hits while a felon with a rape conviction, his opponent, is not even addressed.
Same.
The biggest takeaway from the folks outside DC is they are angry that the “same shit” that happened in 2016 is rearing its head again. Several stated they are tired of the line “The DNC chose Biden.” They reminded me that primary voters picked him…Black voters picked him. They are sick of repeating it.
These voters and activists did not waver when they repeated over and over again that they have no hesitation in voting for Biden in November.
From that group of over 600 suburban folks to a group of about 20 rural Dems…
You know I am rural and I often speak in rural spaces. Most of these spaces are older and White. When I listen to voters in these spaces, they have zero doubt about who their candidate is…even after the debate. Do they doubt that it was an awful showing? They do not. They watched it with their own eyes. Do they wish Biden performed better? Seemed younger? Spoke more clearly and concisely? Yes. Will they still vote for him? Also yes.
Not one rural person I’ve spoken with wants to remove Biden from the ballot in favor of another candidate. They believe in the administration and they are fearful of another Trump presidency. They think Biden can beat Trump.
This is what rural voters have told me: Biden has been good for ordinary people. He’s worked for public schools and the LGBTQ community and student loan forgiveness and infrastructure and rural broadband. They’ve seen highway projects funded. They remember that Biden curbed COVID deaths and consistently pushes for union jobs. They know he will not sign away reproductive rights.
Listen, I am not paid by the DNC and I don’t earn a dime from my state party. I am a Democrat because the party aligns with most of my views, but I am not a party first person…I am a country first person. I can see with my own eyes what the Republicans are about and I already know what a Trump presidency will bring. We all know what it will mean.
I will never forget the maxim: Democrats fall in love. Republicans fall in line. I know many of us are not in love, but can we come together to beat a certain autocrat? To overcome the fascism and Christian nationalism creeping in?
I was as scared as any of us after the debate. I had a feeling of doom bearing down on me. After talking to so many voters since, even after reading so many terribly divisive pieces, I feel more calm. The voters I’ve listened to are not doing what the pundits claim they are doing. They have said that replacing Biden on the ticket will almost certainly divide the party. They have faith in the Biden administration. They have faith in his VP.
I am tired of pundits creating a narrative that I don’t see in real life. I don’t know why they do it? For clout? For clicks?
I hate that each of us is exposed to the fear every single day. I hate that many in the media are driving a wedge between Democrats with this incessant message of doom and gloom and the need for a new nominee.
I have no crystal ball, but I do have neighbors and friends and I know organizers across the country. I hope we can make it through this with a nominee intact and a win in November. I hope we can listen to our neighbors and mute the pundit-class.
Our country can’t manage another Trump presidency.
The media is desperate to push Biden out so they can get more money. The papers that Stephanopoulos quoted are owned and run by well known tRump conservatives like Rupert Murdock. Stephanopoulos kept hammering Biden was too old, was not fit, was kidding himself how fit he was, stuff like that no matter what Biden answered. After Biden would list his accomplishments Stephanopoulos said yes but aren’t you frail, then when they talked about the future Stephanopoulos asked if Biden had it to finish the next few years, which Biden talked of what he did recently Stephanopoulos asked yes but what did it cost you physically and mentally. He just was desperate to break Biden, and Biden was getting sick of him hammering on the same thing and not acknowledging anything Biden said. I thought Biden did great during the interview, but I would have demanded to know who was paying Stephanopoulos to push the republican talking point. Even when Biden brought up tRump’s lies and actions, Stephanopoulos did not talk about it, only again turning to ask if Biden was not too old and mentally gone to do the job. Hugs. Scottie
I don’t care if Biden is in a wheelchair and shakes like an out of balance washing machine on spin cycle or a tea cup Chihuahua, I will vote for him. The people he puts in positions, in departments, the judges he appoints are far too important to not vote for him. No do not switch him out now, too late, plus the people saying to do it admit they don’t all want the same person to replace him. Regardless of how old Biden is, tRump is a hateful tyrant con man crook. Hugs. Scottie
Photo illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Photo: Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Former President Trump, if re-elected, plans to immediately test the boundaries of presidential and governing power, knowing the restraints of Congress and the courts are dramatically looser than during his first term, his advisers tell us.
Why it matters: It’s not just the Supreme Court ruling on Monday that presidents enjoy substantial legal immunity for actions in office. Trump would come to office with a Cabinet and staff pre-vetted for loyalty, and a fully compliant Republican coalition in Congress — devoid of critics in positions of real power.
That’s a big reason many Democrats worry President Biden is making one of the biggest gambles in U.S. history by staying in the race amid acute concerns about his age.
The big picture: Trump promises an unabashedly imperial presidency — one that would turn the Justice Department against critics, deport millions of people in the U.S. illegally, slap 10% tariffs on thousands of products, and fire perhaps tens of thousands of government staff deemed insufficiently loyal.
He’d stretch the powers of the presidency in ways not seen in our lifetime. He says this consistently and clearly — so it’s not conjecture.
You might like this or loathe this. But it’s coming, fast and furious, if he’s elected.
Thanks to Monday’s Supreme Court ruling, Trump could pursue his plans without fear of punishment or restraint.
What to watch: To hear Trump and his allies tell it, this is how early 2025 would unfold if he wins:
1. A re-elected Trump would quickly set up vast camps and deport millions of people in the U.S. illegally. He could invoke the Insurrection Act and use troops to lock down the southern border.
3. He’d centralize power over the Justice Department, historically an independent check on presidential power. He plans to nominate a trusted loyalist for attorney general, and has threatened to target and even imprison critics. He could demand the federal cases against him cease immediately.
4. Many of the Jan. 6 convictscould be pardoned — a promise Trump has made at campaign rallies, where he hails them as patriots, not criminals. Investigations of the Bidens would begin.
5. Trump says he’d slap 10% tariffs on most imported goods, igniting a possible trade war and risking short-term inflation. He argues this would give him leverage to create better trade terms to benefit consumers.
6. Conversation would intensify about when Justices Clarence Thomas, 76, and Sam Alito, 74, would retire.
Lists of potential successors are already drawn up.
President Biden said last month that “the next president is likely to have two new Supreme Court nominees.”
If Trump were to win and the two oldest justices retired, five of the nine justices would have been handpicked by Trump.
Top Democrats privately predict Republican majorities in the House and Senate if Biden loses.
Most of Trump’s most prominent critics — Mitt Romney, Liz Cheney, et al. — will be gone. Even the few who remain, including Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), will be substantially less powerful.
Trump would be backed by an overwhelmingly Trump-friendly Senate and House — loaded with loyalists, top to bottom. Many were elected since his 2016 win, and many thanks to his endorsement.
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) in the spin room after the CNN debate in Atlanta. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
What they’re saying: Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), a top prospect as Trump’s VP, told us Trump would have more allies — and more loyal allies — in Congress this time.
“You have to ask yourself: How many true allies of the agenda existed in the United States Capitol in January 2017, and how many will exist in January of 2025?” Vance told us.
“You have a Republican Party that, in some ways, was divided against itself in January of 2017,” Vance added. “I think now it recognizes that Trump is effectively leader of the party. And you’ll see that in governing style and certainly in agenda,” with “much less infighting between Republicans, which will make us much more effective as a governing coalition.”
The freshman senator said that while Trump was “very much a newcomer to politics” when he ran the first time, he now “understands how to pull the levers of power much better, because he’s coming at this as a subject matter expert.”
The media would investigate, report, and illuminate all of it — but probably with less impact. A second Trump term would start with TV ratings in the tank, mainstream media shrinking, and public attention shattering into dozens of information ecosystems, many built around popular and often partisan celebrities.
So the ability to do more with fewer real restraints is real — and hard to change.
The bottom line: Think of Trump 2025 as a better prepared, much better organized, much more powerful version of Trump 2017 — minus Republican brakes and any mystery about immunity.
John Oliver discusses Donald Trump’s plans for a second term, why it could be much worse than his first term, and what Trump has in common with a hamster.
The power of the public needs to wake up and fight back. Yes the wealthy and businesses have made it ever harder to find any time to even read news much less take action. But unless we do the past will be our future. The wealthy bought the republican party and even some in the democratic party to support the oligarchy and return to the gilded age of robber barons and a government too small and powerless to stop them. Back then the US was basically run by wealthy corporations and business interests. The people, the public not only did not have a real voice, they simply did not matter. They were only livestock to make the companies more money and when they couldn’t do that anymore, they suffered and died. A life span for the worker was 47, the life span for the wealthy was into the late 70s. Is that what we want for the US? Please people rise up, vote for Biden, the wealthy are desperate and funding all the challenges to him. RFK, Jill Stein, Cornell West none of them can win. Period. The math doesn’t work, the system doesn’t allow it. There are only two candidates that can get the needed 270 electoral votes to win, to be president. These others are simply spoilers paid to tank Biden and help tRump. Don’t let them do it. Hugs. Scottie
Scottie's Playtime 