NYT on Trump, Orban to Mar-a-Lago, and Fake Electors to Crown Trump
Thom Hartmann Commentary Some interesting reads . . .
Finally: The New York Times Editorial Board Calls for Republicans To Reject Trump.
Calling him “Dangerous in Word, Deed, and Action,” the Times editorial board laid out, in detail, how deranged Trump is and how deadly his second presidency would be to American democracy and to the American people ourselves.
Biden’s gaffes notwithstanding, he’s been one of the most effective and high-integrity presidents in my lifetime (and probably yours, as well). While I wrote an op-ed the day after that disastrous thing that CNN laughingly called a “debate” calling for Biden to step back for another candidate (presumably Harris), it’s clear that he’s not taking that advice, which may well be a good thing.
Voter surveys increasingly show that people would vote for Joe Biden against Trump even if Biden was incoherent and drooling; one CNN focus group respondent, a former Republican, said he’d vote for Biden over Trump “even if Biden was dead!” Meanwhile, the president turned in a great performance this week and reminded America why we supported him in 2020 (by 7 million votes!).
My position today is that I’ll do everything I can to help the candidate who comes out of the Democratic convention next month, no matter who . . . and I expect (but am not certain) that it’ll be Joe Biden. And he’s worked his ass off and certainly earned the position, even if he does forget names and loses his train of thought from time to time. There’s no doubt we’ll see more of both of those cringe-worthy reflections of his age, but I — and the Democratic base — don’t think they impair his ability to continue to be a great president (even if it does make him a weaker candidate). As I noted in response to a commenter to one of my Daily Takes this past week, I’m now all in no matter what.
Trump Snubs McConnell’s Warning, Rolls Out Red Carpet for Authoritarian.
Just a week after spending time with Russian President Putin, Hungarian strongman Viktor Orbán made a trip to Mar-a-Lago to meet with his “good friend” Donald Trump.
Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell reportedly argued against the meeting, saying,
“Republicans in Washington who fashion themselves both ‘national conservatives’ and China hawks should pay more attention to Mr. Orbán’s actions and ask themselves if they are consistent with America’s interests.”
Nonetheless, Trump took the meeting. My personal take on this is that Orbán is acting as a middle-man between Putin and Trump in their shared goal of flipping America and every other democracy in the world into oligarch-controlled autocratic states like Hungary and Russia. It’s another proof of how dangerous Trump is and how heavily involved Russia will be in this election (as they were so successfully in 2016).
Election Bombshell: RNC Uses Fake Electors to Crown Trump!
The Republican Parties of Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, and Wisconsin have sent fake electors associated with Trump’s criminal attempt to steal the 2020 election to this year’s RNC coronation. Many of these people have been criminally charged and needed to get court permission to leave the state to show up in Milwaukee in two days, again showing how the GOP is just fine with criminals in its midst.
Clarence goes to Russia
Is “American democracy” the same as the democrats’ “our democracy”?
Paddy:
I am a pretty lenient person when it comes to commenting on Angry Bear. I do have issues with what you say and tend to read it and leave it alone for the most part. One sentence quippy remarks will get you tossed and banned. You do not like what is being said and that is too bad. One sentence silly responses which have little basis will get you banned. Your choice.
I have wasted a lot of time writing these words to give you a warning. I think you are worth one warning. Heed it . . .
Thanks.
paddy:
Arne (who has been here a long time) answered you too. He does have a point. Expand your comment to a meaningful and polite conversation.
This could lead to an interesting discussion if you actually provided your own thoughts instead of Just Asking Questions.
I would bet most readers here know that American democracy is a republic. But do we expect our representatives to do a better job of solving issues than we can ourselves or do we just want them to vote for whatever propaganda we have swallowed? I think it is the representatives job to represent all US citizens – not just those who voted for them. Republicans have shown that stopping Democrats from solving anything is the goal even if the solution makes sense. Democrats have shown a willingness to compromise.
Although American democracy has changed in the 200 years since only (male) landholders could vote, I would argue that current Democrat’s view of democracy better matches the founders view than Republican’s view of democracy.
Thanks Arne.
I ask open questions.
btw
Aaron Burr was the first of the Founders to advocate for women’s rights, and he earned the hatred of Alexander Hamilton by finding a way for people who did not own property to vote: he sold them shares in property.
what you read in history, or learn at the opera ain’t necessarily so.
arne
i want to disagree with you without hurting your feelings.
i think it is unrealistic to expect the representatives…to represent all US citizens. we may have hoped…i don’t think the Framers were ever naive enough to expect representatives to consider “the whole country” ahead of even their own personal selfish interests. they did hope that balance of power would force representatives to compromise, and the need to get re-elected would limit the amount of damage any truly selfish representative would risk. that has worked more or less well over the centuries with the exception of the lead up to the Civil War. I think we are in another crisis at least equal to that. instead of a regional slaveholder ellite willing to destroy the country to achieve its own ends, we have a moneyed elite and the people they have fooled over a long time…by representing the non-elite moneyed interests, and now a whole country of very uneducated people, who we have always with us by appealing to their unhappiness with the way things have gone [largely due to the influence of the moneyed elite] and to their primitive [we are all primitive at bottom] instinct to lash out at the enemy their leader tells them is causing their pain…in this case “libs.”
i suspect paddy is one of those non-elite moneyed interests. though he does a good job of appearing very uneducated.
He tends to spout the Russian line.
JackD
thanks. i don’t follow who says what closely enough to pick up on that.
i do think anyone who thinks we should abandon Ukraine might be a russian troll
or someone who can’t remember the lead up to WW2.
i do notice that i find myself sounding like the pro vietnam war apologists when i say things to the “stop the war in Ukraine” people. i think i can tell the difference between the wars. the anti-war people not so much, i having been anti vietnam war.
I suppose I overstated my position. Clearly I would not expect candidates who run on opposing abortion to vote for pro-choice legislation even though most voters think abortion should be legal. I do think they should be satisfied with compromise.
On much legislation (e.g., global warming, the value of pi) Congress should become better educated on the subject than those they represent. I try not to let my opinion of the proper job description be degraded by my expectation of how voters actually evaluate performance.
Arne
it seems to me i remember a time when “opponents” co-operated, not so much compromised. they all knew the game. when they needed the votes to pass something important for the country, lawmakers in a safe seat would vote for something he was nominally against.
i think those days are past. and they are past because we have a critical mass of absolutely ruthless people who can get what they want without compromise…by blackmail.
and there is the problem of ….well, you call it what it is when leftists, ordinary people and their leftish representatives, won’t raise the payroll tax a dollar a week because they “want the rich to pay their fair share”