Simple! Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Lowest White Man” Quote
The quote often attributed to President Lyndon B. Johnson is:
“If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.
When I was in Catechism Class ( classes Catholic kids in public schools had to take, we had a nun/ sister or however we addressed them then. We were 7 years old , considered the age where you know right from wrong& so we’re getting ready for Our First Holy Communion. This nun was thinking of things we might confess:
NUN: you stole candy from candy store
CLASS: Noooo
NUN: You cheated on a test
CLASS Nooooo
NUN: you have a new baby brother or sister that you don’t like so you put pins in the Babies milk bottle
ME: YELLING, THAT IS PREMEDITATED MURDER
CLASS:: LAUGHING AT ME? I watched murder court cases on TV WITH MY MOM, don’t remember the name
NUN TO ME YOU GO SEE MOTHER SUPERIOR! I wanted to say about what but she wasn’t my worry. MY FEAR WAS CROSSING THE BIG STREET BETWEEN THE SCHOOL & office BUILDING & THE OFFICE BUILDING. Without the Crossing Guard, That took 10 minutes. I sat on the steps outside her office & said nothing, I was still out of breath from running across the street. She sensed my presence & asked why are you here. I told her from where I was sitting & I heard her muffle her giggle & said go back & be quiet for the rest of the class. She made no mention of helping me cross the street so I didn’t ask.i went back but the class was over & my friend already went home. I saw a dollar in the street & couldn’t decide if taking it was stealing so I walked on by. Then I decided it would not be stealing so I went back to get it but someone smarter than me had taken it. I never told my mom this story it was too embarrassing. But I think situations like these are what confuses kids who never had the chance to ask questions about what the nuns said back then.
Actually, Jesus (Joshua-ben-Joseph) was a Pisces! Think about it--if you know astrology--the description of a Capricorn does not fit the man we know as Jesus!
The early churchmen picked December 25 as "Christmas" because they wanted to draw attention away from the holiday that the pagans (early Ireland and UK) observed which was actually the Winter Solstice (c. 12/22 in the Julian Calendar).
Anyway, that's why you see the sign of the (Christian) fish on bumper stickers! And of course, not meaning to contradict my favorite musician's wording on his song--JC is a Capricorn in "popular" thinking. That will probably never change.
Jesus was not a Pisces. The bible says he was born "when shepherds watch their flocks by night." That's Summer time. Christmas was originally celebrated in August, which is much more likely. It was shifted to coincide with the Roman holiday of Saturnalia during a period when Christians were being persecuted by the Romans.
It's pretty obvious from the timing--the beginning of the 2,160 year astronomical "Age of Pisces" (when the Sun first appears in Pisces on the Eastern horizon at dawn on the Spring Equinox)--and from a lot of New Testament symbolism, that the millennarian movement which became Christianity was looking for an "Avatar" for this new Age.
Consider the "Virgin Mary" and the Pisces-Virgo axis--where the "Virgin" represents the Great Goddess / Mother.
Christian basilicas, churches and cathedrals are all oriented towards the East: towards the rising sun at the Spring Equinox.
European medieval cathedrals both embody astronomical proportions eg ratio of diameters of Earth & Moon in column clusters, and represent in stained glass windows (eg at Chartres cathedral) the elliptical path of the sun during the year, as a "Vesica Piscis"--the geometrical shape formed by two intersecting circles, each with its centre on the circumference of the other.
It's the same Vesica / Fish symbol left on the walls of Roman catacombs by early Christians, indicating the way to their secret underground meetings as a still persecuted religious sect.
The highly skilled European stonemasons who planned and executed these astonishing feats of structural engineering--the great cathedrals--were also the keepers of arcane secrets expressed everywhere in the buildings if you know what to look for.
Once Constantine adopted Christianity as the religion of the Roman empire, evangelists to countries with "pagan" religions typically tried to assimilate local religious festivals, and renamed them.
So in Britain, the Yule midwinter festival--celebrating rebirth of the Sun--became "Christ-Mass" celebrating rebirth of the Son/Sun (in Rome this festival had been the Saturnalia). And the spring festival of the goddess Eostre, associated with hares and eggs, became Easter.
But the Eastern Orthodox church, having split from the Western church based in Rome (due to various doctrinal disputes) retained 1st March to celebrate as the traditional birthday of Jesus: as the avatar for the 2,160 year Age of Pisces--as the "Fisher of men".
Well, you certainly have studied this issue and probably much more regarding "comparative religion." Thanks for taking the time to explain this era, of which we know only what is passed down to us over the centuries. Stuff gets distorted. But I really like what you said about the March 1st date according to the Eastern Orthodox version of Catholicism. I do think their date is more accurate.
From day one, I disputed Catholic instruction--in first grade even, when we were taught "God is Good" and then were told that pagan children would never enter heaven because they were not baptized. WHAT? A Good God would NEVER say that! Boyohboy could I go into great detail about what is wrong with most Christian teaching!!! I'll spare you and Paul!! (Have to add though, JC is still my fav!)
The Johnson quote, in two sentences, perfectly illustrates why power has been given to the GOP. Even though they are largely on the bottom rungs of society the faux white nationalist “Christians” are happy in their fantasy world as long as they can keep black, brown and other minorities on a perceived lower level and blame them for their own miserable condition they continue to vote against their own financial best interests. They take no issue with the open corruption of tRump and his minions while allowing increasing amounts of wealth flowing to a few oligarchs who gather in their gated enclaves and show open disdain for the whole of society. They quickly learned in tRump 2.0 they could have whatever they want with the occasional $1 million gift, gold bauble or fawning praise of dear leader.
If Johnson had included also women, religious minorities and LGBTQ in his quote, his diagnosis would have been completely correct. Too many white straight “Christian” males feel a need to compensate for their feelings of inadequacy by keeping others down.
Does this mean that the South won the Civil War? What kind of people would vote for their own destruction? The kind that can't get over giving rights to people of color. Incredible the power of hate.
Agree. Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and other high ranking Confederate leaders should have been tried for treason and executed or jailed. As it was, they were allowed to simply go on as if they hadn't waged war against their own country and been responsible for some 750,000 Americans.
You are indeed correct. At the very least, they should have banned any and all former officers from voting or to hold office, and they should have never removed federal troops in 1876. Ah, but they just loved ol' Marse Robert.
Agreed. And what should be done about the initiators and perpetrators of Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Iran and the others? I would certainly include Colin Powell and Condy Rice. Leaders need to be held accountable. Here is a fun study on that: https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/is-trump-like-napoleon
Lincoln believed a politically-divided America would not survive. This concept is as true, today as it was in 1861. That is why Putin has been so supportive of Trump.
Absolutely. Humans don't understand that turmoil is our nature. Peace will never be possible. Doesn't thousands of years of religion demonstrate that well enough
Another view i that they were punished mercilessly, not the former slave owning class but the poor whites and newly freed slaves who were devastated and left licking their wounds while the Republicans and the Confederate office class were heading west to make fortunes. Lincoln understood the importance of winning the peace.
this mentality is also why we do not have a national healthcare system like other countries if u read the historical record....whites did not want blacks to have healthcare
This is particularly distressing to me as a parent of a child whose already had 6 years of "active shooter" drills. When Uvalde happened, my son was in the same grade as those children were who died. I was breathless with worry for a long time after each school shooting. It's appalling these "religious" Christians want to carry so many weapons when Christ was a pacifist.
We absolutely need a national healthcare system for all. It's got to happen within the next 10 years while I am still working full time. I don't get such a significant portion of my salary, because so much of it goes to health insurance. It's around 10K a year for me and my son to have health insurance through my company, and my employers are paying a much higher amount than need be too. Rents have gone up sky high along with everything else.
The Civil War was just a battle. The South lost that. It does seem they have won the larger war. The republican party is just a newer version of the confederacy. Sadly the South did win. Lincoln just should have let them secede. The rest of us would have been better off with out them.
Look at AL, MS, AR and LA. These are all deep red states. They rank last in virtually every metric. Education, access to health care, life expectancy rates, infant mortality etc. Yet they won't even think of voting for a democrat. What has voting republican got them? Nothing. A lot of it is racism. It's also these Evangelical churches. That have told them they can't vote for democrats. Because they are "baby killers". God demands they vote for republicans.
But it would have been wrong to allow slavery to continue.
And on the, well, maybe not "plus side," but at least schadenfreude side, the south is going to suffer the most due to the climate change they are largely responsible for worsening. That Florida and Texas are among the fastest growing states proves how willfully ignorant and economically illiterate millions of Americans are. While all barrier islands are doomed and all coastlines will suffer, Florida and the Gulf Coast will lose the most, and have the most "fun" with new invasive species and tropical parasites and diseases. AL, LA, MS, FL, SC are all going to start to lose population within a decade tops. The long-term drying of the southwest means that Texas and the southwest will bake and also lose population because there's just no water and it's only getting worse.
I am with you especially about Florida. Their ocean temp down there gets to over 100 degrees on a regular basis and they aren't worried? Yes, they will have new invasive species and new diseases, etc. Let maga flock to those states then.
My brother's daughter and husband moved there a few years ago to be parents and live near the beach so my brother was rallying me to perhaps one day join them all in Florida to retire. They are loving living close to the beach but I think, ugh no way. I told him exactly why and he looked at me like I was nuts. I said, "if it being a republican state were not enough to put me off retiring there - than the swamp flies, huge alligators and new disease or mutants surfacing from climate change might kill me or make me suffer in my old age, so - no thanks."
I have long made that argument. The North won the military action, but then abandoned Reconstruction, allowing the South to rebuild their slave economy ... or as close as they could get... with convict labor, Black Codes, and Jim Crow. And then those economic values persevered, became core conservative values, and were exported far beyond the states of the former Confederacy. Reagan represented the national victory of the economics of the former slave states, and Clinton the abdication of the Democrats to that economic reality.
convict labor is enshrined in the Constitition and is still practiced
Convict labor in the United States is constitutionally permitted under the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery "except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted". This "punishment clause" allows forced labor in prisons for little or no pay, creating a multibillion-dollar industr
Pair that with for-profit prisons. The CEOs rake in fortunes that they turn around and use to support the politicians that award them no-bid contracts to buy and repurpose the warehouses. The more inmates they get, the more profit, so it behooves the local police to make arrests and local judges to find people guilty. Then a little town springs up around the prison with people who do the laundry, procure the uniforms, fix the so-called food, clean, and maintain the grounds. If and when those incarcerated get out, they generally can't vote unless they pay fees they have incurred and after that get the approval of the governor of the state. To eliminate this arrangement would mean loss of jobs. It's a win win for the politicians and the CEOs and perpetuates the system. Years ago I remember reading about Mexican prisons where the inmates made pinatas to sell in the markets. They each then built up a fund that they could use to get their lives back when they left prison. Sounded like a pretty humane way to run things.
Absolutely. And the aforementioned Black Codes were about supplying those slave systems with laborers, a role now performed since Nixon by the War on Drugs and since Reagan with mandatory minimum sentencing. It is informative that Angola, the infamous prison, is on the same land as Angola Plantation, and that convicts (70% Black) work the cotton (among other) fields, just as enslaved people did before the Civil War.
The Civil War effectively ended on April 9, 1865 when Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant. Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865. Lincoln's vice president, Andrew Johnson, was chosen not by Lincoln but by his political party in order to broaden the candidate's appeal. From the very beginning of reconstruction, Johnson, a southerner and NOT an abolitionist, favored a leniency towards former Confederate leaders.
Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was the president who officially ended Reconstruction in 1877. Following a contested election, Hayes ordered the withdrawal of remaining federal troops from the South, abandoning the protection of Black citizens' rights in South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana and allowing white "Redeemer" governments to regain control.
"What kind of people would vote for their own destruction?"
It's also worth asking "What kind of leader would encourage his own supporters to avoid masks and congregate in crowds during a dangerous pandemic? And why? (Maybe his ego trip that his followers will choose him against their own well being?)
Trump insisted on taking over the discussions of Covid, coming up with dangerous and idiotic suggestions like somehow exposing victims lungs to ultraviolet light and drinking chlorine bleach. Dr. Fauci tried to keep things real and wound up incurring Trump's wrath. Fauci became villianized by the right wing. It was Trump's ego trip, but most of his followers didn't believe they were gambling their health or lives. They thought he was right. There are still signs posted at Tractor Supply warning people not to eat Ivermectin.
Christian nationalists vote for their own destruction out of hate, fear of the truth and ignorant distrust.
Yes, MAGA is killing babies now because their parents are refusing to give them a standard shot at birth to prevent fatal bleeding caused by a deficiency of Vitamin K.
Republican Christian nationalists with the support of Trump and HHS Secretary RFK, Jr. have attacked science because science delivers truth which s a threat to their sick ideology and lying.
5 counties in VA closed all their public schools for a number of years. After Brown vs Board of education came down. If it's having public schools, or allowing black children to attend them. They choose not to have public schools. Think about that.
I was lucky that my school system in Appalachia accepted integration so from the time I started school in 1955 (!) my classes were always integrated. It was normal and no big deal to be friends. When I went to college in northeast most of my classmates had never had a black friend.
Now all four of my grandkids go to public schools in a large city in the Southeast. Their schools all about evenly divided 50% white kids and 50% minority kids (mostly Hispanic and black) so it’s close to the majority/minority SES that so many white people are freaked out about.
What strikes me everytime I go to a game, concert or other event at their schools is how the white parents — many who are MAGA— don’t seem to notice this and accept it as perfectly normal.
It's called FOX News. A 24/7 conservative propaganda network that 85% of Trump '24 voters relied on for some/most/all of their news. Remember that "They're eating the dogs and cats" quip during a Presidential debate? That's the level of truth you can expect from the biggest name in RW media.
And fyi, up until fairly recently, FOX has devoted almost zero coverage of the Epstein Files coverup.
My cousin was a police officer who believed that COVID was a hoax and "masks were for pussies."
He died of COVID in August of 2021 at the age of 47, leaving behind a wife and 3 children.
At his funeral, my immediate family members were the only ones wearing masks. All of his fellow police officers (in a "conservative" city) and even his family members were maskless.
The folly of ignorance is largely self-imposed, but that does not excuse the perpetrators of false narratives.
This is what I came to say. The problem with having a huge uninsured populace, permissive vaping rules, low vaccination rates, etc, is that it hurts everyone…eventually even the ones who think they have enough money and power to elude it. There are many things the rich and powerful cannot control like germs and changes wrought from our climate catastrophe. They certainly imagine they can, but, alas, they are also just regular humans like the rest of us. They also need the rest of us to keep the world turning, keep their money flowing. But if there is one thing they seem to be extraordinarily good at, it is short sidedness in the name of one more dollar right now.
Exactly. Spartanburg County, South Carolina (where I grew up) has a 90% measles vaccination rate, and still had 960 measles cases in this outbreak. It doesn't take many contrary deniers to make it a bad time for everyone.
RFK Jr. and a bunch of anti-science clowns are in charge. The anti-vaxxer movement stems from a British doctor who years ago had a paper published in a medical journal asserting vaccines were a cause of autism.
It was thoroughly debunked and the journal retracted the paper. Yet it has taken on a life of its own with no proof, so you just can't keep a juicy conspiracy theory down.
It boggles the mind that at a funeral of someone who died of Covid - the true believers refused to believe in Covid. The level of stupidity is stunning.
Merely required to NOT lie. To use actual journalistic standards--like multiple corroborative sources, timely retractions, etc. If telling the truth causes them to go bankrupt, then so be it.
The old "People are saying" FOX News byline merely meant that one of their creative staff had just invented the story.
It's a symbiotic relationship. *Usually* it's FOX News that comes up with the dis-information ("They're eating the cats and dogs"). And Trump repeats it.
But then often FOX'd back up Trump on nonsense; like "...600% or 700% cuts to your medicines, *do* make perfect sense if Big Pharma was first charging you 400% more." No, that's just wrong, and they'd get an F if they tried to push that in school. But the point is an attempt to provide some sort of cover for Desperate Donnie's stupidist lies.
For years FOX's answer to the exploding outrage over the Epstein coverup, was to simply ignore it. But then they started losing market share to Newsmax, that *was* covering it. Now FOX does cover it; but is always careful to pretend it's a Dem problem, and that the GOP are more pure than castrati choirboys.
When I first watched NewsMax many years ago my thought was they are preaching goverment overthrow. It wasn’t nuanced. I believe a society has the right and obligation to defend itself against mis/disinformation thru policies by its elected reps. I have been concerned for 20 years that this would be a huge problem eventually because of improvements in the technology of delivery combined with greater knowledge of how to manipulate people. And now here we are.There are smart solutions to this problem which can not be implemented in a politicized environment that trades in binary approaches.
We are supposed to believe people will just magically wake up and crave real journalism again, or if we have officially crossed into a reality where the fiction is just way too comfortable to give up
And they were stunned and horrified when Obama was elected (2x). The NY Times had a piece during his first term about a Southern woman who eventually switched from Republican to Dem. She recounted socializing with her friends group and hearing stuff like, "I am so sick of seeing that black face." Truly.
I am just trying to figure out if tribal identity has officially replaced common sense for good, or if we are just supposed to accept that treating politics like a toxic sports rivalry is the new normal
My answer: Voters just wouldn’t go for the progressive left Kamala Harris represented—and refused to distance herself from in the brief campaign following her annoinment. If she runs again, her purpose for Democratic pragmatists (like me) must be as a foil, someone a moderate candidate can use to draw a line between the moderate wing of the party and the far left. We Democrats helped set up rule by this madman by shielding Biden’s infirmities until it was very late, then refusing to go through any kind of democratic selection process for a nominee.
Beyond that, he was elected because America has a lot of stupid and a lot of ignorant. And because Ds continue to be knocked for decades of refusing to control of the border in a meaningful way.
There wasn't time for a full primary, and she WAS the Vice President, meaning she was elected nationwide previously. People say the V.P. candidate doesn't matter unless it does, e.g. Sarah Palin. And personally, I regarded Harris as moderate, not the "progressive left".
What got me was that people voted for Biden/HARRIS when Biden was an old man! Meaning they were prepared to have her as prez if he died in those 4 years, which he could have since that's the whole point of a v.p. And then suddenly she was so unacceptable?
I think she would have won a general primary. Nobody had better experience. But ah, she had those female parts and less-than-white skin.
“Ah “ indeed. Which is the point of the foolishness of Dems to take the path of least resistance in the face of the historical record of wins for black and for women President aspirants.
It’s the centrist, so called moderate, Democrats that have lost the elections for us. They are more comfortable with pandering to their donors and throwing us a few bones: subsidies and tax cuts, that do not really address the systemic problems facing Americans.
Ask yourself this: how is it that the Democrats cannot beat an obvious nut case like trump and his MAGA movement? Why do people think that the Democrats always bring ‘a knife to a gun fight’?
It’s because they are Republican-light. They are more interested in appeasing the wealthy donor class than EFFECTIVELY addressing the needs of the American People. The ACA is one example. Instead of making healthcare a right for every American, with a single payer system like in Europe, they settled for plowing money to insurance companies, and giving people a subsidy but still leaving people uninsured, unlike every industrialized nation in Europe.
You need to listen to what the progressive Senate candidates Graham Plattner and James Tallerico are saying. What is needed is the revival of the FDR’s New Deal experimentation that developed social programs, Social Security, WPA, TVA, etc…that pulled this country out of the Great Depression and won WW2.
It's the left that has helped elect republican after republican presidents. PEOPLE LIKE YOU. That always attack democrats and say what's the difference between the parties. You attack the ACA because it wasn't single-payer. 20 M Americans benefited from the ACA. I was one of them. Went 20 years without insurance before it. Now it's gone. I'm losing my health care. Because people like you with your all or nothing thinking. Do you even realize how major a achievement the ACA was man? The first improvement to our health care system since creation of Medicare. But it wasn't single-payer. So it wasn't worth anything to you. MILLIONS OF AMERICANS RELIED ON IT. The left helped kill it. Because they didn't get their single-payer. You selfish jerks. The left needs to take their share of the blame for Trump too. You refused to vote for Hillary for whatever reason. Giving us Trump. Then you did the same with Harris. Giving us Trump again. Your comment is an illustration of making the perfect the enemy of the good.
The ACA was a lifesaver for me too. We were self-employed and independently insured. My cardiologist asked me if I had any concerns after removing a 99% blockage in my coronary artery (widowmaker). It was right when Trump was trying his best to kill the ACA. My answer was, "How will I pay for healthcare?" Without the ACA my insurance premiums would be higher than our income and then it still wouldn't cover much of anything.
But! John McCain came through!!! Not a liberal gay black woman. Conservative John McCain saved my life with his courageous vote.
Identity politics and dogmatic verbal stances don't stand a chance against FOX and friends.
Probably the only good thing McCain did in his entire life. Voting to save the ACA. He was also dying from cancer. I'm thinking that had something to do with his vote. Knowing how important access to health care is for people. If he hadn't been sick. I wonder how he would have voted.
I am glad that Senator McCain voted to save the ACA too…but ask yourself this: why was it regarded as a ‘Profiles in Courage’ moment for him to vote to save the ACA so millions of Americans could afford a necessity like healthcare?
In a real representative democracy, this should be a no-brainer.
Our politicians should live in terror of incurring our wrath if they were to vote against our needs and rights.
The reason they don’t fear their voters is that most of them, with the exception of the Progressive wing of the Democratic Party, are bought and paid for by dark money and corporate PACs. They do the bidding of the wealthy corporate donor class.
A bit like the Canadian system started in the 1950's. During the 1960's, the Canadian system became single payer, and is still progressing today, with dental case for lower income people. But Canada's system is still not as good as the best European systems.
Exactly. It was meant to be a first step. It could have been built upon to build into a single-payer system. The left allowed it to be destroyed. By helping the republicans win elections. Now if democrats can ever regain power. We get to start at square one all over again. Thanks Lefties. Hope your liberal purity was worth it.
What you have now is the ACA in its original form: a massive sop to insurance companies that forced the public to choose between policies with premiums that were too expensive to afford, or those with deductibles so high that they were essentially useless. The subsidies that allowed you to afford it for the last few years were never part of the original package, and were always destined to end. Obama and the rest of the Democrats could have fought much harder for a public option, at the very least, if not single-payer. Instead, what we got was precisely the type of half-measure that impedes real change, and continually letting the Democrats off the hook for policies that don't help regular working Americans ensures that we will continue having to choose between the lesser of two evils instead of voting for a party that might actually give the majority of Americans a chance for a better quality of life. I'm tired of being chastised by middle-of-the-road centrists who are okay with business as usual. They are the real reason Democrats keep losing, because they won't hold the party's feet to the fire and insist on real progressive policies. Yes, I have voted for Hilary and Harris and other Dems because the alternative was so much worse, but I will continue to demand that the party will offer us something better, and I will support any primary challenges to the old guard whenever a more progressive option is available.
A half measure is better than nothing dude. I'll take better over worse. While you wait til the end of time, to get your damn perfection solutions. 20M million Americans that are losing their health care. Because of people like you. THANK YOU FOR YOUR LIBERAL PURITY.
Hi Robert and Alvin and Erasmus - aren’t we missing a point? Every « right » implies someone’s « responsibility » to honor (including pay for) that right. Until we convince more Republicans that paying more for universal health care (and education!)! is a responsibility they agree to and want to take on, they will side with and vote for candidates who spew old false theories like « trickle down economics » - which make them comfortable (feeling like good, reasonable people) refusing to pay! So let’s not fight about whether WE are progressive enough. (Yes, we have lost elections due to Dems’ circular firing squads!)! Let’s seek narratives and memes that make deluded low income Republican voters want to support and vote for progressive policies, and that SHAME rich Republican voters for rejecting their responsibility!
Data doesn’t support your argument in either of those cases. It is fine to be angry, but when your arguments are not based on the actual data, they fail to land.
I’m reading your comments, from progressives and liberals. Both have reasonable arguments. But we are in an existential crisis. We must stand together, not fight each other. The Democratic Party is the big tent party. Our goal must be to rid our country of the fascists running this regime. As Dr. Krugman just showed us with facts, charts and graphs; our lives depend on it.
Agree 100%. We need to stand together against trump. The GOP is beyond redemption and need to be banished from politics. But we also need to demand more of the Democrats.
They failed us in 2024; they all knew President Biden was not up to the task of taking on trump, they should have held him to his pledge to step down and held a primary. The Party leadership should face consequences for failure. The Party needs major reforms to regain the trust of their base and American people.
One thing to consider is one-payer public systems cost less, public and private, than the system in place in the US, and cover everyone at reasonable cost.
So even real fiscal conservatives should prefer a one-payer public system like Canada, much of Europe, and very soon, Mexico.
Lower income people pay less or nothing, according to their income, in provices that charge premiums. Some provinces charge health care fees only with the annual income tax.
The health care is run by the provinces (since that is in their constitutional justisdiction), according to common base rules, with federal subsidies.
First I am a Paul Krugman fan. Second I’m a retired medical educator and politically a left of center Democrat. Dr Krugman in this case maybe guilty of choosing selective data and an individual analysis that supports his position and or beliefs to make his point. If a 1000 studies are conducted on any medical issue , it is likely one can be cited to make your point. A meta analysis which combines all credible like studies may contradict Krugman’s charts or perhaps not, I don’t know.
RFK Jr uses this selective method to make his point regarding the link between vaccines and autism. With millions of children in 6 Western countries using multiple studies published in peer review journals, analyzed as a whole the vaccinated group and the unvaccinated group had the same incidence of autism, indicating no link. This meta analysis is likely reliable. Yet looking for an individual study that is an outlier is likely and some warrant further investigation . Krugman’s charts and cited references support his beliefs. We all inadvertently value individual data that support our beliefs. Studies are to find truth not to win an argument. One study is just one study. If repeatable and consistent the conclusions are considered valid.
Platner & Talarico are republican lite white. Talarico said he wouldn’t vote to convict Trump if Trump was impeached. Talarico took money from GOP super PACs. Talarico’s campaign team went out of their way to portray Rep Jasmine Crockett as a “loud, ghetto, low IQ DEI Black woman.” It worked. Platner doesn’t have to worry cuz Maine. If these men win, we’ll have 2 more Fetterman in the senate, or Manchin & Sinema +1. Did that work out well for you?
If a Democrat has to be Republican lite to win, what is the point?
The point is the difference between outright fascism and democracy. Manchin wouldn't act like a king. We could disagree with him on policy but Trump is against democracy and rule of law.
It's going to be the republican or democrat winning. No one else. Demanding perfect candidates that don't exist. Just helps republicans win. Which is what you must want to happen. There is no perfect choice in an election. There is the better choice (the democrat) or worst choice (the republican). All you people do. Election after election. Is help the worst choice win. Because you can't be an adult and pragmatic with your vote. Because you want some perfect candidate to vote for, one that doesn't exist. Just the fallible human beings that run for office. No candidate is going to represent you perfectly. They will always make some vote you don't like. It's if they vote the way you like the majority of the time. As frustrating as Manchin and Sinema were. They gave us the majority control of the senate. They voted with the party with the majority of the time. Same with Fetterman today. So if the choice is Talarico or the republican. YOU BET YOUR ASS I'LL TAKE TALARICO. Why wouldn't you? Please stop with this all or nothing thinking. Demanding perfect candidates to vote for that don't exist. How much damage does the left have to do to this country, before you people learn your lesson? YOU ARE HURTING THE REST OF US. STOP IT!
Exactly right, Alvin! The foot stomping because the Dem candidate didn’t 100% support EVERY single policy that you personally are passionate about so you “ couldn’t” vote for the Dem candidate helped get us to this breaking point for ALL of our futures! It has to STOP!
Simpler- establishment Democrats stopped listening to the people, including rural America, instead relying on the solid black vote turnout.
That has now changed. We have a new generation of strong leaders who listen to the people and their needs. They are winning races +20 points versus Harris.
Please those races are a result of Trump. They aren't voting for democrats. They are just voting against Trump now. It took Trump destroying the country. To wake people up. Polling people now. Harris would win in a landslide.
Harris had two negatives in the eyes of these misinformed racist voters.....female and black.....I know people who disliked trump but rather than vote for Harris stayed home
By the time the election was held Kamala no longer represented the progressive left. Useless DC consultants and the old guard of the party had moved her from joy and Walz from "they are weird" to palling around with Liz Cheney and other "centrist" figures. Had she stayed the course she may have had a better shot, and a much better shot if she had repudiated some of the worst of the Biden actions like support for genocide in Gaza. She could have recognized that in spite of empirical evidence to the contrary, people thought the economy sucked and inflation was too high. Imagine if she had done a Trump and blamed inflation on him, which would not have been wrong, and his disastrous handling of COVID.
Your analysis is crap. Harris is far left? Please tell us the scary far left things she was running on. Name them please. I remember 25K tax credit for first home buyers. Oh man that was so scary. Thank God we didn't get that far left thing. Also tax credit for business owners. Oh man that's practically out of Karl Marx right there. No, the reason Harris lost, WAS BECAUSE AMERICANS DIDN'T WANT TO ELECT A BLACK WOMAN FOR PRESIDENT. No one who voted for Trump. Thought he was qualified for the job. They just knew he was a white man. Which is apparently the only thing millions of Americans care about in this country. Having white man and no one else as president.
This is nonsense. Biden said he wouldn’t run, going back on that word while also really being incapable of serving another 4 years anyway. Harris, or anyone else, was robbed of a proper chance of building a campaign. Harris was also 1) a woman 2) of color. I’m not convinced one or the other would have ruined her chances, but both together were much more to overcome against Trump’s pervasive hatred. Finally, Harris was not far, progressive left. Really never, but certainly not by the time she was debating Trump. To think she was is to be grossly misinformed.
He implied it. I expected him to be a one-term president and that was why I was so upset when he chose Harris as his running mate. She was a California, liberal establishment mixed race woman and didn't do well in the primary.
Sorry folks...FOX is too powerful. The propaganda is too strong.
Demographic polling demonstrated time and time again that women are at a distinct disadvantage in Presidential elections. This wasn't the time to roll the dice to see if that time was different. Look what Trump has done to this country and what he continues to do.
Really? I remember him saying it. Are you saying I have a false memory? No he did say he was going to be a one term president. He would be a transitional president. He did go back on his word, and helped give us Trump. If he had just allowed for a real primary. Anyone but Harris as the nominee. Would have easily won. Biden did go back on his word and screwed us.
Joe Biden never explicitly said or formally pledged that he would be a one-term president, but In March 2020, Biden referred to himself as a "bridge" to a new generation of leaders, stating, "Look, I view myself as a bridge, not as anything else," while appearing with younger Democratic leaders. This phrasing was widely interpreted as a signal that he would not seek re-election.
For the border, there was a reasonable bipartisan solution, but Trump fought against it, helped by a filibuster by a minority of Republicans that prevented it being enacted. The solution was essentially processing refugees and other immigration cases far before the border, making it easier to control the border.
Also Trump used exagerated language to totally misrepresent the problem. Essentially turning it into racism.
As for Biden's "infirmaties", Trump used mindless bluster to hide his infirmaties since he ran for president the first time.
Tell me about this “far left” you speak of. What are the extreme positions that Harris and other “far left” Democrats are promoting? Higher minimum wage? Broader health care coverage? (Can’t even talk about Medicare for All. The horror!) Returning to a progressive tax structure? Investing in infrastructure and clean energy? Treating everyone as equal and valuable members of society? Please be specific.
The purpose of a VP is to replace the POTUS when they can't serve. He stepped down and she stepped up. Complaining about what is understood as the norm is falling for the right wing grievance machine propaganda.
This is a stupid fucking argument. But yes, she was part of the 2020 primary and she didn’t perform very well in that primary. I know what the purpose of the VP is but Biden didn’t step down. If he had, she would have become president.
There is a grownup conversation to be had about immigration, but it will never happen as long as the far right have power. Immigration for the right is about racism and culture though, not what’s right for the country.
That’s exactly backward. People are sick to death of the status quo and centrism, which she represented. I certainly hope she doesn’t run again, but she likely would have won if she’s allowed a Palestinian-American to speak at the convention. And
White, male American population. The white women who voted for Trump couldn't stomach a woman of color as their president. And we'll lose again if she runs again. Stacy Abrams is a brilliant politician. And she saw the problem and backed out of national politics.
I'd add that there are plenty of right-wing women who wouldn't vote for a woman (see, e.g., Hillary Clinton). But yeah, being black definitely didn't help Harris with our bigoted friends on the right.
Well, I'm a liberal old crone, and I'd have voted for Hillary, but holding my nose. i have never seen in Hilary the thoughtfulness and political intelligence of Elizabeth Warren or Stacy Abrams.
It seems to me, a grand factor was the abstention of nornally democratic voters over Israeli excesses in Gaza. This was indicated by the abnormally high of protest votes in those Democrat primaries that had such a vote, as well as the widespread protests over Israeili excesses in Gaza.
(The Israeli excesses could easily been called widespread terrorism against residents of Gaza, similar to nazi terrorism againt jewish and other minorities in the 1930's and 1940's.)
If Harris had more stressed her support for 2 states in Palestine, it would probably helped more than any votes she would have lost by the "Israel is always right" block.
However, the Republican advantage due to the distortion of the electoral college (favouring smaller mostly rural states) could have still elected Trump, with a minority of votes.
Nope, Republicans won against Harris because Musk bought them. People were voting for Kamala. I’m not avoter and I hate voting. I actually went out and voted and it would’ve been different. If yeah if Trump really did win for real but he didn’t. you know it , I know it , the world knows it . fucking musk bought that motherfucker and installed his ass
You're absolutely right. But this is what we have to deal with. That's the way it is. To ignore the fact of the voters we have, imperils all of us, not just the idiots.
Independents voted on the economy because they had no idea that under Biden the US economy had the best recovery from the Covid slump and was, as the Economist put it, leaving other rich countries “in its dust”. A big reason for that was the misleading economic coverage by the mainstream media that implied inflation not as the international problem it was but as Biden’s fault and something he could have fixed. As economist Dean Baker put it:
“Yes, the Media Lied About the Pre-Election Economy”
I've noticed the difference in how the media covers inflation under Biden compared to Trump. Every time inflation crept up a percentage point under Biden. It was headline news. "Inflation is up again". First story on the national network telecasts. First story on the hour every hour on cable news. Now with Trump. It's barely covered. Certainly not giving the emphasis it was under Biden. Liberal media my ass.
If Biden misspoke. It would generate a week of coverage asking if he was mentally fit for the job. Trump's obvious dementia is completely ignored. It really is frustrating.
I used to feel that way. But red staters simply believe there was all that much death and destruction. Their thinking is: I didn't get vaccinated, I didn't die, therefore who needs vaccinations. And right-wing media turned the vaccine into a freedom issue, not a health issue.
It sounds crazy, but these people will go to war to preserve their freedom to make poor and sometimes fatal healthcare decisions.
and hegseth says flu vaccines are not required but fails to mention the myriad other vaccines required depending upon deployment - more fodder for the ill-informed antivaxers
One of the people in my area posted in the "Next Door" chat group that he wouldn't take any vaccine unless it was 100% effective. Talking about "herd immunity" doesn't go anywhere with people like that.
Not all of us will survive this ordeal. But enough of us will. New growth always follows even the worst wildfire, regardless of the magnitude of the devastation. That will happen here too and the new growth will reflect the dominant value system. What keeps me up at night is this: which wolf will we feed? https://www.nanticokeindians.org/about/the-tale-of-two-wolves/
“New growth always follows even the worst wildfire”
Coming from forest fire country, the question is whether the new growth will be desirable Doug fir/Spruce/Hemlock or will it be undesirable Himalaya blackberries and cheat grass?
On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron. H L Mencken
That was the problem, though. “The American people” did not see the death snd destruction, and/or did not equate trump’s actions/non-actions with the death and destruction. Too many are politically and economically illiterate, don’t read/only listen to Faux News. The other group that helped get trump elected are those who didn’t vote or voted third party in protest or from apathy. There is one thing we have to accomplish during these next 2 elections: get rid of trump, his entire administration and all Republicans. We might pull it off if there is a massive turnout, despite Republican gerrymandering and SCOTUS gutting voting rights. Will voting out all Republicans and giving Dems the majority solve our problems? Of course not but we can’t do anything unless we have the majority. What has been done to this country since Reagan and accelerated under trump will take more than one election cycle to fix and consistently voting in courageous people who understand the need to break the monopoly on our lives that the oligarchy/corporations/money in politics/ corruption currently has!
The simple answer to the question “how Trump got re-elected after the American people had seen how much death and destruction he caused the first time around” is they did not see him as causing the death and destruction. Fauci probably got more blame, but that’s just speculation.
This is where the focus needs to be. We can define and decry maga until we turn blue in the face, or we can spend our energies on getting non voters to recognize that apathy and non participation has a price tag that exceeds the inflation rate we are all paying for. That the costs of not voting includes the human and material costs of wars, epidemics, and of our democracy and our rights.
Civics classes need to come back into the classroom. I had a civics class in middle school that taught us about the government, how it runs, it's history, etc.
It was BORING for middle school but it was something. I believe they cut it out of the curriculum about the same time Reagan took office for the 2nd time. As if he didn't do enough damage the 1st term.
Education is everything, it really is.
Fox news needs taken down and exposed -then taken off the air for good. All they do all day long is peddle and spin right wing "conservative" views that can actually change depending on the presidents mood of that day. I really can see the word "republican" becoming despised, as they've destroyed their party past the point of no return.
Young people are finally waking up, they heard the words "selective service draft" uttered and now, you have their full and angry attention.
My grandkids go to public schools in NC. NC public schools follow the Common Core curriculum that has been adopted by 46 states. They learn civics every year as part of their social studies curriculum requirements instead of in just one class. I asked the second grader what she was learning about in social studies and she said they were studying the three branches of government and gave me a decent explanation of what each one does. In fourth grade they learn about our state government and its three branches. They take a required government course in high school.
Most of us older baby boomers had civics classes. It clearly didn’t make a difference because, to my horror, people in my age group are the most likely to be Trump worshipping MAGAts.
I am glad to hear that. I know it died in our public schools in Pa. I worry about my fellow Democrats in the Southern states a lot, people of my generation (Generation X) would come down there upon our college graduations (mid 90's+) and get experience teaching, but always came back home to teach, because of money. The south didn't pay their teachers nearly as well as the North.
Maga took over like a cancer as the republican party laid down and let it consume and take it over. Now it is more like confederate republicans these days. I think the young were really comfortable with thinking this type of craziness that took over our government could/would not happen here. I think they've woken up and that will help Dems a lot.
On more positive days, I see young people like Adam Mockler and have hope. If you haven't heard of him yet, look him up on facebook, Instagram, etc. He's priceless and precisely what Democrats need now and more of him. He's only 23 and he owned Scott Jennings this week.
The existing level of support for Trump indicates that one third of "Americans" are actually unreconstructed confederate traitors, and the sociopathic billionaire-owned corporate media are all in for a fascist oligarchy (which, come to think of it, pretty much describes the confederacy), so they lie daily to benefit Trump and maga Republicans. And I wouldn't rule out cheating on their part as well.
It doesn’t exist right now. The next president (probably and hopefully a Dem) will have to work hard to reestablish it—in a real way, not the fake way imagined by right-wingers.
Imagine the coverage by the US press if Trump was a shade darker, and running an African country into the ground. Imagine how Fox would cover the spectacle? It would be posited as a perfect example of how "those people" are incapable of governing themselves. Actually, I suspect that the Chinese press is putting out this exact message.
Agreed. Of all the hundred or so things Trump has done to damage the United States the health of its citizens is the most dangerous because it will be the hardest to correct. It will take a generation or more to reeducate people if it can be done at all.
That ship sailed eons ago. Bad diet was heavily promoted—not for nothing McDonalds and Starbucks are our number one exports. Ads to snack on adulterated foods, school lunches abysmal. We eat at every major event we attend. Sedentary daily lives. The stress of American work styles and anxious economics. Polluted air and water. The phony controversy about masks and vaccines is just more nonsense. Seriously, any one guess WHY a government would want to kill off its citizens like this? To what purpose other than a warped sense of survival of the fittest, eugenics? Less governmental money spent on caring for citizens; more for their coffers and ballrooms? The depravity is stunning if those are the reasons.
I’m not sure. The damage to our alliances internationally may be more difficult to restore. How long will it take before countries will trust the US, knowing that we elected a lunatic twice and coujd do so again.
I’m sure that you have a great deal of evidence to support your comment, I look forward to seeing your scientific fact based research and peer reviewed studies, that support your extremely articulate diatribe.
Do not neglect the other factor in Red states refusing to expand Medicaid and refusing to strengthen the social safety net: racism.
The MAGA base hates people of color and think they are being ripped off by them - even as the billionaires suck up even more of the national share of wealth.
They hate women too, so we can expect more deaths from ectopic pregnancies, back alley abortions, and closing of rural hospitals/lack of obstetric care.
Yes, I know, but I don't see how they can succeed. A lot of people get meds in the mail these days. How does anyone know what they are?
I'm not downplaying the threat of the Republicans, just considering the difference these days in positive terms. I lived in the "before" times. It's better now for young women - early pregnancy tests, medication, and organizations willing to help.
I am at a stage of wondering if recovery is even possible for our country from this epidemic and age of stupidity. As a retired MD who has always been dedicated to validated, verified evidence, I am completely disheartened at the rising level of unadultered quackery. Angry as I am, I suppose I could disdainfully call it "culling the herd" or "evolution at work" if more right wing fools die than than those who are thought capable. But those early deaths are mostly past reproduction age, so the genetic traits of stupidity still persist. By definition, of course, half of the population is of below average intelligence. But why does that half get to decide everything? Somehow stupidity has a great appeal to too many voters.
I'd note that the anti-vax brigade is going to be responsible for a whole lot of innocent children dying. If they were only hurting themselves, that would be fine - but they're not - they're hurting their own kids.
Sorry to say this, but Donald Trump lies like he breathes. He is also a self-centered malignant narcissist, who lacks the ability to empathize with anyone else. And of course he changed his mind at the last minute about the Iranian cease-fire, because he's disorganized, doesn't know what the heck he's doing, and makes it up as he goes along. And let us not forget the fact that five years ago on january 6th, Trump led an insurrection at the capitol, where many people died. There were people that, after attacking police, we're walking in the capitol building itself with confederate flags, shouting “Hang Mike Pence!” BecauseThe vice president wouldn't certify donald trump's lies about the election results. And the violence was so horrific that some people involved in defending the Capitol later committed suicide. Think about that. Then to make matters worse, trump pardons all the J6th rioters, many of which were members of right wing extremist groups like the "proud boys." Trump called them "true patriots" What a f****** joke. More presently, the fact that Pam Bondi's replacement immediately says, "let's just forget about the whole Epstein thing" shows how corrupt the entire system is. Trump has forced himself on countless women of ALL AGES throughout his life. Trump has also said, that if your famous and rich enough, "You can grab women by the p***y" He's also a pedophile, and has been mentioned in the Epstien files a record 38,000 times. Trump is a horrible human being, and he's incapable of empathy with any other human being, and only cares about himself. He's a spoiled brat, and has always used his daddy's connections to get out of the vietnam war, with his fake bone spurs b******t that he got his daddy's doctor to submit to the draft board. He and Epstein have raped countless girls aged only 11, 12, 13, and 14. Trump has cheated on every business deal he's ever made. He's cheated on every wife he's ever been married to. HE'S THE MOST IMMORAL AND WORST PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES! Now he's started a war in the mid-east, where thousands of innocent people have been killed, including many children. The sooner he gets impeached, and/or removed from office due to health or other reasons, the better off the U.S. AND the world will be. Trump said he would keep the united states out of foreign war. He said he would lower the cost of living. What he has done is bomb Iran despite no imminent threat from them. And as one of the effects of this war, the cost of living for gasoline food, Medical care, housing and many other things continue to cost more. Trump is a clear and present danger to the United States, and the entire world. He needs to resign. The Republicans that have influence on him need to section 25, convince him to resign, and whatever, just get him the hell out of there! Sincerely David Morris, who was born one day long ago in Fort Wayne Indiana.
There is, of course, also obesity which is a famously American problem, particularly amongst the less well off. Obesity has obvious links to cheap fast and pre prepared foods and even the high sugar levels in some US bread. Additionally, there are multitudinous food additives in the United States which have not been rigorously tested: the US allows over 10,000 food additives as compared to the 400 allowed in Europe.
For many, the American way of life is quite literally sickening.
There are foods in this country. I’d say about 75% of them that I am unable to eat so my grocery bill is very very very high because I buy imported stuff from Europe that I know doesn’t have garbage in it. I am unable to eat food here because of what they put in it when I eat food that they make in Europe, I can eat it all day. I don’t have any fucking problem.
I agree with all you say, but would add that lack of simple daily exercise is also a big contributor to American obesity.
Anyone who has lived in other countries is acutely aware of how much walking (or biking) citizens typically do every day, just going shopping, walking to and from metro stations and bus stops, walking kids home from school, or popping into their local bakery, pharmacy, or street market.
In America, lives are much more sedentary, and revolve around making the world more comfortable for automobiles, rather than pedestrians. The results are convenient and comfortable (for those who can afford automobiles), but not healthy.
If only our lobbyists hadn’t conned the legislature to emphasize building for cars instead of building infrastructure that can support true public transport
I dream of what it could be like. Oh countries in the EU that even have public transport outside of the central business district so that people can live in walkable areas and not deal with two hour commutes in costly automobiles for lack of options
Yes!! Connecticut has changed its rules on taxing social security. As I told my dumbass maga brother, who plans to retire in Florida: I like it here, it’s worth the cost, and I seriously doubt that you’ll save anything by moving there.
That’s why I’m never leaving Massachusetts. You get what you pay for. The GOP is a death cult filled with eugenicists who want to get rid of the ones they don’t like, which is most of us. I don’t know how they live with themselves and look their children in the eye.
Ditto California. Of course, I have the advantage that our climate - weather as well as political - is much better than Florida's. No awful humidity, bugs or alligators. And not having to deal with insane MAGAts is a real advantage.
Professor Krugman: i am always mystified by the open embrace of techbros-oligarchs by MAGA since the techbros rely on science and technology to steal money from the working class. how can MAGA not be aware of this? how can MAGA turn their backs on the very disciplines that allow the obscenely rich to become even more obscenely rich?
as far as vapes go, i am afraid of them because my allergies and asthma will kill me if i come close to someone who is actively vaping -- as i discovered when i was in a crowd of people when a man next to me started vaping (unknown to me) and i almost choked to death. fortunately, his girlfriend figured out what was happening to me and why and told him to stop.
cause they hate liberals worse than anything ele ..liberals dont respect them and they will teach us. even if it lands them in prison..we disrespected them
But you see it won’t land them in prison and that’s why they do it. I really do believe that even these idiots if they had a real fear and a real possibility of going to prison for any of this stuff, it wouldn’t be happening.
We struggle in understanding disordered personality styles like in the Tech-Bro’s & CEO’s of science companies. By understanding statistics of which professions people with psychopathy tend to choose for themselves, we can begin to understand that our flawed thinking is in applying the rules & norms of how people without psychopathy behave to people with psychopathy. Psychopathy has one major prime motivation for behavior and that’s dominance…it’s NOT science first or tech first or even rules/norms/laws first. Psychopathy is dominance first, self first and these individuals will align themselves with whomever assists them in dominance first prime directive. In psychopathy, there’s no allegiance to any principles including those foundational to the sciences, technologies or any field of study. People with psychopathy lack a conscience so violating the concepts of science is so incredibly easy for them for they have ZERO guard rails to their behavior in business & personal life. So, simply put, to understand the Tech-Bro’s or Oligarchs, one needs to learn the 20 traits of psychopathy and the only motivation to psychopathic behavior is dominance of anyone & anything. If they are also sadists, enjoying harming others through dominance is also prime motivation. When we normal people think of greed in another person, we must rule out psychopathy as the cause of their greed (dominance of resources).
PS: Another important detail to understand about psychopathy is that it is a low or no abstract thinking personality style…thus no or limited grasp of concepts but excellent grasp of concrete thinking (person, place, things, memorization without understanding concepts).
And, not crazy but psychopathic. I like to make the important distinction because sane people like those with psychopathy choose their behavior knowing it’s wrong. Psychopaths overwhelmingly are sane typically.
Schizophrenia can sometimes co-occur with psychopathy but it is not typical…that’s my suspicion for the Reiner case, but I am waiting for the results of expert examination for competency and sanity.
Sanity is an important distinction for sentencing: incarceration vs mental institutions. No one wants Trump & etc getting hospitalization with eligibility for possible discharge from hospitalization for war crimes and crimes against humanity sentencing… to recidivate (re-offend). I certainly don’t want that. The term “crazy” means reversible or manageable with treatment and that’s not appropriate for Trump & his gang.
Absolutely, Trump has primary psychopathy, sadism & paranoia with some early to mid dementia (frontotemporal). Vance has secondary psychopathy, high borderline traits, and sadism.
We just returned from the Netherlands. Wow! what an amazing country. We heard a lecture from an expert on the EU and she discussed the core values of the EU. People there were fit, biking everywhere-a driver’s license we were told costs 4000 euros. That decreases the cars, increases the need for excellent mass transit. The people we met were educated, mostly trilingual ( Dutch, English, German) and life expectancy was in the 80’s. We saw no homeless people. We also saw few hospitals/clinics. The USA feels like we are a spinning top, no direction, no understanding of history, no recognition that others might have a good idea. The differences are staggering.
It’s always been that way that’s why when some of us should go to Europe that’s the first place we’d go to and we’d be crying when we had to leave and this is way back in the fucking 70s and 80s
It's not feasible. You'd wind up with the northeast, the western coast, and one or two blue islands in the north central. The red States are well-grouped and the hatred would remain or intensify. It wouldn't be long before they would invade us one by one. That scenario is why the right wing is working on Alberta to secede from the rest of Canada.
Understandable. I also hate that a lot of tax dollars are being abused by grifters and fascists. But there are millions trapped in those states with no way out and the only thing keeping their lives from getting worse are people in other states standing up for their freedom and dignity. Cutting them all loose hurts the helpless and gives more power to the neo-confederates; what maga actually is.
I play the Bette Midler version of this to cheer myself on
Not only do you 1) go on vacation and 2) still provide us with a wide range of salient social commentary, but you 3) STILL have the bandwidth to present spot-on topical CODA music. I am in awe, Paul.
My older sister and her husband are wonderful, wealthy (inherited a tankerful of Exxon stock), college-educated people - I love them deeply. However, they are also incurious, shallow-thinking, ill-informed, xenophobic, anti-immigrant, anti-vax, pro-corporate, (R)eagan "christian" conservatives who simply assume that America and Republicans are The Very Best in every. single. category. It's as if, decades ago, they put their minds in teeny, tiny boxes that they locked and put in the back of their closets, never so be seen again.
They personify your observation of "the role of willful ignorance driven by ideology. The modern U.S. right is, to a large extent, an alliance between oligarchs and white Christian nationalists — and the latter are deeply hostile to Enlightenment values, modern science very much included."
I can only talk with them for about 10 minutes before the smoke starts to come out of my ears. Grrrrrrrrr…!
"Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives."
- John Stuart Mill
"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness." - John Kenneth Galbraith
The anti-medicine, anti-science campaign gains from the myth that they're scrappy upstarts fighting Big Pharma for no reason other than a commitment to truth, not because of any financial gain.
In threads talking about the effectiveness of vaccines, there are inevitably anti-vaxxers who come in screaming, "You just want to give all our money to big Pharma to poison us!!!!" Oy.
Professor Krugman does a great job identifying how MAGA denies scientific evidence and aligns itself with polluters and poisoners. But we should also see that that willful scientific ignorance counteracts the part of health care system that is almost always unsung: public health.
Public health successes are generally invisible. No one notices the pandemics prevented. Illnesses averted are not routinely counted. Human suffering avoided may extend lifespan but Americans tend to do nothing until they arrive in the ER.
Moreover, the only Trump success to come out of the COVID disaster was the rapid development and deployment of vaccines. But Trump did not understand the science. He only saw the billions that poured into pharmaceutical companies as a success. That is his one-dimensional view of the world. He’s now captured by snake-oil influencers.
But, you say, COVID was a public health disaster. Yes, it was. And it was predictable and predicted. It was the result of hollowing out the public health sector beginning in the 1980s that made even traditional approaches like contact tracing impossible in the early stages of the outbreak—methods that would have substantially slowed its spread.
I will never understand how Trump got re-elected after the American people had seen how much death and destruction he caused the first time around.
Simple! Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Lowest White Man” Quote
The quote often attributed to President Lyndon B. Johnson is:
“If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.
Kris Kristofferson, 1973
"Jesus Was A Capricorn"
Jesus was a Capricorn
He ate organic food
He believed in love and peace
And never wore no shoes
Long hair, beard and sandles
And a funky bunch of friends
Reckon we'd just nail him up
If he came down again
[Chorus:]
'Cause everybody's gotta have somebody to look down on
Prove they can be better than at any time they choose
Someone doin' somethin' dirty decent folks can frown on
If you can't find nobody else, then help yourself to me
Eggheads fussin' rednecks cussin'
Hippies for their hair
Others laugh at straights who laugh at
Freaks who laugh at squares
Some folks hate the Whites
Who hate the Blacks who hate the Klan
Most of us hate anything that
We don't understand
[Chorus]
When I was in Catechism Class ( classes Catholic kids in public schools had to take, we had a nun/ sister or however we addressed them then. We were 7 years old , considered the age where you know right from wrong& so we’re getting ready for Our First Holy Communion. This nun was thinking of things we might confess:
NUN: you stole candy from candy store
CLASS: Noooo
NUN: You cheated on a test
CLASS Nooooo
NUN: you have a new baby brother or sister that you don’t like so you put pins in the Babies milk bottle
ME: YELLING, THAT IS PREMEDITATED MURDER
CLASS:: LAUGHING AT ME? I watched murder court cases on TV WITH MY MOM, don’t remember the name
NUN TO ME YOU GO SEE MOTHER SUPERIOR! I wanted to say about what but she wasn’t my worry. MY FEAR WAS CROSSING THE BIG STREET BETWEEN THE SCHOOL & office BUILDING & THE OFFICE BUILDING. Without the Crossing Guard, That took 10 minutes. I sat on the steps outside her office & said nothing, I was still out of breath from running across the street. She sensed my presence & asked why are you here. I told her from where I was sitting & I heard her muffle her giggle & said go back & be quiet for the rest of the class. She made no mention of helping me cross the street so I didn’t ask.i went back but the class was over & my friend already went home. I saw a dollar in the street & couldn’t decide if taking it was stealing so I walked on by. Then I decided it would not be stealing so I went back to get it but someone smarter than me had taken it. I never told my mom this story it was too embarrassing. But I think situations like these are what confuses kids who never had the chance to ask questions about what the nuns said back then.
Actually, Jesus (Joshua-ben-Joseph) was a Pisces! Think about it--if you know astrology--the description of a Capricorn does not fit the man we know as Jesus!
The early churchmen picked December 25 as "Christmas" because they wanted to draw attention away from the holiday that the pagans (early Ireland and UK) observed which was actually the Winter Solstice (c. 12/22 in the Julian Calendar).
Anyway, that's why you see the sign of the (Christian) fish on bumper stickers! And of course, not meaning to contradict my favorite musician's wording on his song--JC is a Capricorn in "popular" thinking. That will probably never change.
A Pisces? He was probably working for scale ...but it sounds fishy to me
Jesus was not a Pisces. The bible says he was born "when shepherds watch their flocks by night." That's Summer time. Christmas was originally celebrated in August, which is much more likely. It was shifted to coincide with the Roman holiday of Saturnalia during a period when Christians were being persecuted by the Romans.
It's pretty obvious from the timing--the beginning of the 2,160 year astronomical "Age of Pisces" (when the Sun first appears in Pisces on the Eastern horizon at dawn on the Spring Equinox)--and from a lot of New Testament symbolism, that the millennarian movement which became Christianity was looking for an "Avatar" for this new Age.
Consider the "Virgin Mary" and the Pisces-Virgo axis--where the "Virgin" represents the Great Goddess / Mother.
Christian basilicas, churches and cathedrals are all oriented towards the East: towards the rising sun at the Spring Equinox.
European medieval cathedrals both embody astronomical proportions eg ratio of diameters of Earth & Moon in column clusters, and represent in stained glass windows (eg at Chartres cathedral) the elliptical path of the sun during the year, as a "Vesica Piscis"--the geometrical shape formed by two intersecting circles, each with its centre on the circumference of the other.
It's the same Vesica / Fish symbol left on the walls of Roman catacombs by early Christians, indicating the way to their secret underground meetings as a still persecuted religious sect.
The highly skilled European stonemasons who planned and executed these astonishing feats of structural engineering--the great cathedrals--were also the keepers of arcane secrets expressed everywhere in the buildings if you know what to look for.
Once Constantine adopted Christianity as the religion of the Roman empire, evangelists to countries with "pagan" religions typically tried to assimilate local religious festivals, and renamed them.
So in Britain, the Yule midwinter festival--celebrating rebirth of the Sun--became "Christ-Mass" celebrating rebirth of the Son/Sun (in Rome this festival had been the Saturnalia). And the spring festival of the goddess Eostre, associated with hares and eggs, became Easter.
But the Eastern Orthodox church, having split from the Western church based in Rome (due to various doctrinal disputes) retained 1st March to celebrate as the traditional birthday of Jesus: as the avatar for the 2,160 year Age of Pisces--as the "Fisher of men".
Well, you certainly have studied this issue and probably much more regarding "comparative religion." Thanks for taking the time to explain this era, of which we know only what is passed down to us over the centuries. Stuff gets distorted. But I really like what you said about the March 1st date according to the Eastern Orthodox version of Catholicism. I do think their date is more accurate.
From day one, I disputed Catholic instruction--in first grade even, when we were taught "God is Good" and then were told that pagan children would never enter heaven because they were not baptized. WHAT? A Good God would NEVER say that! Boyohboy could I go into great detail about what is wrong with most Christian teaching!!! I'll spare you and Paul!! (Have to add though, JC is still my fav!)
The Eastern Orthodox church celebrates Christmas on or around January 7.
Maybe this is a perverse homage from Trump to Lennon’s Strawberry Fields Forever.
“The grass grows incredibly high!”
i have been thinking the exact same thing but did not know how to express. we have been controlled by this for a long time.
The Johnson quote, in two sentences, perfectly illustrates why power has been given to the GOP. Even though they are largely on the bottom rungs of society the faux white nationalist “Christians” are happy in their fantasy world as long as they can keep black, brown and other minorities on a perceived lower level and blame them for their own miserable condition they continue to vote against their own financial best interests. They take no issue with the open corruption of tRump and his minions while allowing increasing amounts of wealth flowing to a few oligarchs who gather in their gated enclaves and show open disdain for the whole of society. They quickly learned in tRump 2.0 they could have whatever they want with the occasional $1 million gift, gold bauble or fawning praise of dear leader.
If Johnson had included also women, religious minorities and LGBTQ in his quote, his diagnosis would have been completely correct. Too many white straight “Christian” males feel a need to compensate for their feelings of inadequacy by keeping others down.
Yep - LBJ said this to a very young Bill Moyers - and he couldn't have been more right.
🎯🎯🎯🎯
https://x.com/EandPCartoons/status/1583182514952159232/photo/1
Does this mean that the South won the Civil War? What kind of people would vote for their own destruction? The kind that can't get over giving rights to people of color. Incredible the power of hate.
A Black historian, when asked why we were in the mess we're in said, "We didn't punish the South enough."
Agree. Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and other high ranking Confederate leaders should have been tried for treason and executed or jailed. As it was, they were allowed to simply go on as if they hadn't waged war against their own country and been responsible for some 750,000 Americans.
You are indeed correct. At the very least, they should have banned any and all former officers from voting or to hold office, and they should have never removed federal troops in 1876. Ah, but they just loved ol' Marse Robert.
Agreed. And what should be done about the initiators and perpetrators of Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Iran and the others? I would certainly include Colin Powell and Condy Rice. Leaders need to be held accountable. Here is a fun study on that: https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/is-trump-like-napoleon
May we do better than our forebears on today's accountability front, for it is certainly needed.
Fot some 750,000 American deaths....
Should Lincoln have let the the Confederacy secede without a civil war? I've thought so for most of my life.
Lincoln believed a politically-divided America would not survive. This concept is as true, today as it was in 1861. That is why Putin has been so supportive of Trump.
I often think about that.
Absolutely. Humans don't understand that turmoil is our nature. Peace will never be possible. Doesn't thousands of years of religion demonstrate that well enough
Another view i that they were punished mercilessly, not the former slave owning class but the poor whites and newly freed slaves who were devastated and left licking their wounds while the Republicans and the Confederate office class were heading west to make fortunes. Lincoln understood the importance of winning the peace.
Lets do it right this time around. Just let them take their states and leave the union. Paul's health stats alone show will win.
this mentality is also why we do not have a national healthcare system like other countries if u read the historical record....whites did not want blacks to have healthcare
Right, no national healthcare system – and we can absolutely thank the Republicans for that as well.
And we mustn’t forget guns. The firearm homicide rate in the U.S. is roughly 22 times higher than in the European Union.
And now this is actually Trump’s most recent tweet this morning (I’m not making this up):
“Top DOJ official predicts Supreme Court will declare AR-15 rifles legal everywhere in America”
Kill them all!
This is particularly distressing to me as a parent of a child whose already had 6 years of "active shooter" drills. When Uvalde happened, my son was in the same grade as those children were who died. I was breathless with worry for a long time after each school shooting. It's appalling these "religious" Christians want to carry so many weapons when Christ was a pacifist.
We absolutely need a national healthcare system for all. It's got to happen within the next 10 years while I am still working full time. I don't get such a significant portion of my salary, because so much of it goes to health insurance. It's around 10K a year for me and my son to have health insurance through my company, and my employers are paying a much higher amount than need be too. Rents have gone up sky high along with everything else.
The Civil War was just a battle. The South lost that. It does seem they have won the larger war. The republican party is just a newer version of the confederacy. Sadly the South did win. Lincoln just should have let them secede. The rest of us would have been better off with out them.
Agreed, they would have become a failed pariah state in secession.
Look at AL, MS, AR and LA. These are all deep red states. They rank last in virtually every metric. Education, access to health care, life expectancy rates, infant mortality etc. Yet they won't even think of voting for a democrat. What has voting republican got them? Nothing. A lot of it is racism. It's also these Evangelical churches. That have told them they can't vote for democrats. Because they are "baby killers". God demands they vote for republicans.
But it would have been wrong to allow slavery to continue.
And on the, well, maybe not "plus side," but at least schadenfreude side, the south is going to suffer the most due to the climate change they are largely responsible for worsening. That Florida and Texas are among the fastest growing states proves how willfully ignorant and economically illiterate millions of Americans are. While all barrier islands are doomed and all coastlines will suffer, Florida and the Gulf Coast will lose the most, and have the most "fun" with new invasive species and tropical parasites and diseases. AL, LA, MS, FL, SC are all going to start to lose population within a decade tops. The long-term drying of the southwest means that Texas and the southwest will bake and also lose population because there's just no water and it's only getting worse.
I am with you especially about Florida. Their ocean temp down there gets to over 100 degrees on a regular basis and they aren't worried? Yes, they will have new invasive species and new diseases, etc. Let maga flock to those states then.
My brother's daughter and husband moved there a few years ago to be parents and live near the beach so my brother was rallying me to perhaps one day join them all in Florida to retire. They are loving living close to the beach but I think, ugh no way. I told him exactly why and he looked at me like I was nuts. I said, "if it being a republican state were not enough to put me off retiring there - than the swamp flies, huge alligators and new disease or mutants surfacing from climate change might kill me or make me suffer in my old age, so - no thanks."
I have long made that argument. The North won the military action, but then abandoned Reconstruction, allowing the South to rebuild their slave economy ... or as close as they could get... with convict labor, Black Codes, and Jim Crow. And then those economic values persevered, became core conservative values, and were exported far beyond the states of the former Confederacy. Reagan represented the national victory of the economics of the former slave states, and Clinton the abdication of the Democrats to that economic reality.
convict labor is enshrined in the Constitition and is still practiced
Convict labor in the United States is constitutionally permitted under the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery "except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted". This "punishment clause" allows forced labor in prisons for little or no pay, creating a multibillion-dollar industr
Pair that with for-profit prisons. The CEOs rake in fortunes that they turn around and use to support the politicians that award them no-bid contracts to buy and repurpose the warehouses. The more inmates they get, the more profit, so it behooves the local police to make arrests and local judges to find people guilty. Then a little town springs up around the prison with people who do the laundry, procure the uniforms, fix the so-called food, clean, and maintain the grounds. If and when those incarcerated get out, they generally can't vote unless they pay fees they have incurred and after that get the approval of the governor of the state. To eliminate this arrangement would mean loss of jobs. It's a win win for the politicians and the CEOs and perpetuates the system. Years ago I remember reading about Mexican prisons where the inmates made pinatas to sell in the markets. They each then built up a fund that they could use to get their lives back when they left prison. Sounded like a pretty humane way to run things.
Absolutely. And the aforementioned Black Codes were about supplying those slave systems with laborers, a role now performed since Nixon by the War on Drugs and since Reagan with mandatory minimum sentencing. It is informative that Angola, the infamous prison, is on the same land as Angola Plantation, and that convicts (70% Black) work the cotton (among other) fields, just as enslaved people did before the Civil War.
Lincoln picked the wrong vice president.
The Civil War effectively ended on April 9, 1865 when Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant. Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865. Lincoln's vice president, Andrew Johnson, was chosen not by Lincoln but by his political party in order to broaden the candidate's appeal. From the very beginning of reconstruction, Johnson, a southerner and NOT an abolitionist, favored a leniency towards former Confederate leaders.
Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was the president who officially ended Reconstruction in 1877. Following a contested election, Hayes ordered the withdrawal of remaining federal troops from the South, abandoning the protection of Black citizens' rights in South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana and allowing white "Redeemer" governments to regain control.
"What kind of people would vote for their own destruction?"
It's also worth asking "What kind of leader would encourage his own supporters to avoid masks and congregate in crowds during a dangerous pandemic? And why? (Maybe his ego trip that his followers will choose him against their own well being?)
Trump insisted on taking over the discussions of Covid, coming up with dangerous and idiotic suggestions like somehow exposing victims lungs to ultraviolet light and drinking chlorine bleach. Dr. Fauci tried to keep things real and wound up incurring Trump's wrath. Fauci became villianized by the right wing. It was Trump's ego trip, but most of his followers didn't believe they were gambling their health or lives. They thought he was right. There are still signs posted at Tractor Supply warning people not to eat Ivermectin.
AnnC
Christian nationalists vote for their own destruction out of hate, fear of the truth and ignorant distrust.
Yes, MAGA is killing babies now because their parents are refusing to give them a standard shot at birth to prevent fatal bleeding caused by a deficiency of Vitamin K.
https://www.propublica.org/article/more-parents-decline-vitamin-k-shot-newborns
Republican Christian nationalists with the support of Trump and HHS Secretary RFK, Jr. have attacked science because science delivers truth which s a threat to their sick ideology and lying.
What a sick stupid America.
Yes, as a Civil War buff, I can tell you that the South did indeed rise again; in the unlikely person of a New York con-man.
The same people who closed their community pools rather than share them with Blacks.
5 counties in VA closed all their public schools for a number of years. After Brown vs Board of education came down. If it's having public schools, or allowing black children to attend them. They choose not to have public schools. Think about that.
I was lucky that my school system in Appalachia accepted integration so from the time I started school in 1955 (!) my classes were always integrated. It was normal and no big deal to be friends. When I went to college in northeast most of my classmates had never had a black friend.
Now all four of my grandkids go to public schools in a large city in the Southeast. Their schools all about evenly divided 50% white kids and 50% minority kids (mostly Hispanic and black) so it’s close to the majority/minority SES that so many white people are freaked out about.
What strikes me everytime I go to a game, concert or other event at their schools is how the white parents — many who are MAGA— don’t seem to notice this and accept it as perfectly normal.
the noted historian Heather Cox Richardson (who has done videos with Paul Krugman) made her name with her book "How the South won the civil war" - about all the retrenchments and racist policies instituted since then. https://books.google.ca/books/about/How_the_South_Won_the_Civil_War.html?id=XSXTDwAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y
Which reminds me of public swimming pools which were filled with cement, rather than be required to desegregate.
See “How the South Won the Civil War” - book by Heather Cox Richardson
As I recall , the so called rugged individualism of
the western “ cowboy “
and his rejection of government spending is debunked by HCR in her book - freeways being a simple example .
Yep.
Read professor Heather Cox Richardson's "How the south won the civil war."
I’m not so sure it ever ended.
It spread out West as well - in the form of the rugged individualist
who didn’t want any government interference .
Does "the South really won ring any bells?
I recall a book by that title ...let me think
Just one example of the feeling. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YWGuwtsskU
Red Hot and Blue, Baby!!! Ain't it grand--those plantation owners and their politicians have reached from their graves to ride again?
It's called FOX News. A 24/7 conservative propaganda network that 85% of Trump '24 voters relied on for some/most/all of their news. Remember that "They're eating the dogs and cats" quip during a Presidential debate? That's the level of truth you can expect from the biggest name in RW media.
And fyi, up until fairly recently, FOX has devoted almost zero coverage of the Epstein Files coverup.
I will NEVER forgive or forget.
My cousin was a police officer who believed that COVID was a hoax and "masks were for pussies."
He died of COVID in August of 2021 at the age of 47, leaving behind a wife and 3 children.
At his funeral, my immediate family members were the only ones wearing masks. All of his fellow police officers (in a "conservative" city) and even his family members were maskless.
The folly of ignorance is largely self-imposed, but that does not excuse the perpetrators of false narratives.
May they reap what they sow.
The problem is all the rest of us who have to reap what they sow.
This is what I came to say. The problem with having a huge uninsured populace, permissive vaping rules, low vaccination rates, etc, is that it hurts everyone…eventually even the ones who think they have enough money and power to elude it. There are many things the rich and powerful cannot control like germs and changes wrought from our climate catastrophe. They certainly imagine they can, but, alas, they are also just regular humans like the rest of us. They also need the rest of us to keep the world turning, keep their money flowing. But if there is one thing they seem to be extraordinarily good at, it is short sidedness in the name of one more dollar right now.
Exactly. Spartanburg County, South Carolina (where I grew up) has a 90% measles vaccination rate, and still had 960 measles cases in this outbreak. It doesn't take many contrary deniers to make it a bad time for everyone.
MAHA: Make America Hospitalized Again!👍
RFK Jr. and a bunch of anti-science clowns are in charge. The anti-vaxxer movement stems from a British doctor who years ago had a paper published in a medical journal asserting vaccines were a cause of autism.
It was thoroughly debunked and the journal retracted the paper. Yet it has taken on a life of its own with no proof, so you just can't keep a juicy conspiracy theory down.
bingo
Could not have said it better (wink)
It boggles the mind that at a funeral of someone who died of Covid - the true believers refused to believe in Covid. The level of stupidity is stunning.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation
While their votes force the rest of us to live with the consequences of their terrible decisions
I take some comfort knowing that the gene pool is at least a little improved.
Fortunately for his widow and children, they'll receive $3500/month from social security until the youngest is out of high school ...
Agree. If we ever are to recover our country, Fox News, as well as Newsmax, OAN, right-wing talk radio, etc., must be taken off the air.
Merely required to NOT lie. To use actual journalistic standards--like multiple corroborative sources, timely retractions, etc. If telling the truth causes them to go bankrupt, then so be it.
The old "People are saying" FOX News byline merely meant that one of their creative staff had just invented the story.
Yes, trump would say it and they repeated it!
It's a symbiotic relationship. *Usually* it's FOX News that comes up with the dis-information ("They're eating the cats and dogs"). And Trump repeats it.
But then often FOX'd back up Trump on nonsense; like "...600% or 700% cuts to your medicines, *do* make perfect sense if Big Pharma was first charging you 400% more." No, that's just wrong, and they'd get an F if they tried to push that in school. But the point is an attempt to provide some sort of cover for Desperate Donnie's stupidist lies.
For years FOX's answer to the exploding outrage over the Epstein coverup, was to simply ignore it. But then they started losing market share to Newsmax, that *was* covering it. Now FOX does cover it; but is always careful to pretend it's a Dem problem, and that the GOP are more pure than castrati choirboys.
So, they are still the conspiracy theorists they always been.
When I first watched NewsMax many years ago my thought was they are preaching goverment overthrow. It wasn’t nuanced. I believe a society has the right and obligation to defend itself against mis/disinformation thru policies by its elected reps. I have been concerned for 20 years that this would be a huge problem eventually because of improvements in the technology of delivery combined with greater knowledge of how to manipulate people. And now here we are.There are smart solutions to this problem which can not be implemented in a politicized environment that trades in binary approaches.
We are supposed to believe people will just magically wake up and crave real journalism again, or if we have officially crossed into a reality where the fiction is just way too comfortable to give up
Because most of those voters would rather elect an insurrectionist than a Democrat.
And they were stunned and horrified when Obama was elected (2x). The NY Times had a piece during his first term about a Southern woman who eventually switched from Republican to Dem. She recounted socializing with her friends group and hearing stuff like, "I am so sick of seeing that black face." Truly.
I'm surprised to hear that they referred to him as "black", instead of something nastier.
Not surprised. That comment/quote exemplifies the opposite of what a truly free society is about.
I am just trying to figure out if tribal identity has officially replaced common sense for good, or if we are just supposed to accept that treating politics like a toxic sports rivalry is the new normal
My answer: Voters just wouldn’t go for the progressive left Kamala Harris represented—and refused to distance herself from in the brief campaign following her annoinment. If she runs again, her purpose for Democratic pragmatists (like me) must be as a foil, someone a moderate candidate can use to draw a line between the moderate wing of the party and the far left. We Democrats helped set up rule by this madman by shielding Biden’s infirmities until it was very late, then refusing to go through any kind of democratic selection process for a nominee.
Beyond that, he was elected because America has a lot of stupid and a lot of ignorant. And because Ds continue to be knocked for decades of refusing to control of the border in a meaningful way.
But that’a just my opinion and I’m often wrong.
There wasn't time for a full primary, and she WAS the Vice President, meaning she was elected nationwide previously. People say the V.P. candidate doesn't matter unless it does, e.g. Sarah Palin. And personally, I regarded Harris as moderate, not the "progressive left".
This
What got me was that people voted for Biden/HARRIS when Biden was an old man! Meaning they were prepared to have her as prez if he died in those 4 years, which he could have since that's the whole point of a v.p. And then suddenly she was so unacceptable?
I think she would have won a general primary. Nobody had better experience. But ah, she had those female parts and less-than-white skin.
“Ah “ indeed. Which is the point of the foolishness of Dems to take the path of least resistance in the face of the historical record of wins for black and for women President aspirants.
It’s the centrist, so called moderate, Democrats that have lost the elections for us. They are more comfortable with pandering to their donors and throwing us a few bones: subsidies and tax cuts, that do not really address the systemic problems facing Americans.
Ask yourself this: how is it that the Democrats cannot beat an obvious nut case like trump and his MAGA movement? Why do people think that the Democrats always bring ‘a knife to a gun fight’?
It’s because they are Republican-light. They are more interested in appeasing the wealthy donor class than EFFECTIVELY addressing the needs of the American People. The ACA is one example. Instead of making healthcare a right for every American, with a single payer system like in Europe, they settled for plowing money to insurance companies, and giving people a subsidy but still leaving people uninsured, unlike every industrialized nation in Europe.
You need to listen to what the progressive Senate candidates Graham Plattner and James Tallerico are saying. What is needed is the revival of the FDR’s New Deal experimentation that developed social programs, Social Security, WPA, TVA, etc…that pulled this country out of the Great Depression and won WW2.
It's the left that has helped elect republican after republican presidents. PEOPLE LIKE YOU. That always attack democrats and say what's the difference between the parties. You attack the ACA because it wasn't single-payer. 20 M Americans benefited from the ACA. I was one of them. Went 20 years without insurance before it. Now it's gone. I'm losing my health care. Because people like you with your all or nothing thinking. Do you even realize how major a achievement the ACA was man? The first improvement to our health care system since creation of Medicare. But it wasn't single-payer. So it wasn't worth anything to you. MILLIONS OF AMERICANS RELIED ON IT. The left helped kill it. Because they didn't get their single-payer. You selfish jerks. The left needs to take their share of the blame for Trump too. You refused to vote for Hillary for whatever reason. Giving us Trump. Then you did the same with Harris. Giving us Trump again. Your comment is an illustration of making the perfect the enemy of the good.
The ACA was a lifesaver for me too. We were self-employed and independently insured. My cardiologist asked me if I had any concerns after removing a 99% blockage in my coronary artery (widowmaker). It was right when Trump was trying his best to kill the ACA. My answer was, "How will I pay for healthcare?" Without the ACA my insurance premiums would be higher than our income and then it still wouldn't cover much of anything.
But! John McCain came through!!! Not a liberal gay black woman. Conservative John McCain saved my life with his courageous vote.
Identity politics and dogmatic verbal stances don't stand a chance against FOX and friends.
Probably the only good thing McCain did in his entire life. Voting to save the ACA. He was also dying from cancer. I'm thinking that had something to do with his vote. Knowing how important access to health care is for people. If he hadn't been sick. I wonder how he would have voted.
I am glad that Senator McCain voted to save the ACA too…but ask yourself this: why was it regarded as a ‘Profiles in Courage’ moment for him to vote to save the ACA so millions of Americans could afford a necessity like healthcare?
In a real representative democracy, this should be a no-brainer.
Our politicians should live in terror of incurring our wrath if they were to vote against our needs and rights.
The reason they don’t fear their voters is that most of them, with the exception of the Progressive wing of the Democratic Party, are bought and paid for by dark money and corporate PACs. They do the bidding of the wealthy corporate donor class.
The ACA was the first step.
A bit like the Canadian system started in the 1950's. During the 1960's, the Canadian system became single payer, and is still progressing today, with dental case for lower income people. But Canada's system is still not as good as the best European systems.
Exactly. It was meant to be a first step. It could have been built upon to build into a single-payer system. The left allowed it to be destroyed. By helping the republicans win elections. Now if democrats can ever regain power. We get to start at square one all over again. Thanks Lefties. Hope your liberal purity was worth it.
What you have now is the ACA in its original form: a massive sop to insurance companies that forced the public to choose between policies with premiums that were too expensive to afford, or those with deductibles so high that they were essentially useless. The subsidies that allowed you to afford it for the last few years were never part of the original package, and were always destined to end. Obama and the rest of the Democrats could have fought much harder for a public option, at the very least, if not single-payer. Instead, what we got was precisely the type of half-measure that impedes real change, and continually letting the Democrats off the hook for policies that don't help regular working Americans ensures that we will continue having to choose between the lesser of two evils instead of voting for a party that might actually give the majority of Americans a chance for a better quality of life. I'm tired of being chastised by middle-of-the-road centrists who are okay with business as usual. They are the real reason Democrats keep losing, because they won't hold the party's feet to the fire and insist on real progressive policies. Yes, I have voted for Hilary and Harris and other Dems because the alternative was so much worse, but I will continue to demand that the party will offer us something better, and I will support any primary challenges to the old guard whenever a more progressive option is available.
A half measure is better than nothing dude. I'll take better over worse. While you wait til the end of time, to get your damn perfection solutions. 20M million Americans that are losing their health care. Because of people like you. THANK YOU FOR YOUR LIBERAL PURITY.
Hi Robert and Alvin and Erasmus - aren’t we missing a point? Every « right » implies someone’s « responsibility » to honor (including pay for) that right. Until we convince more Republicans that paying more for universal health care (and education!)! is a responsibility they agree to and want to take on, they will side with and vote for candidates who spew old false theories like « trickle down economics » - which make them comfortable (feeling like good, reasonable people) refusing to pay! So let’s not fight about whether WE are progressive enough. (Yes, we have lost elections due to Dems’ circular firing squads!)! Let’s seek narratives and memes that make deluded low income Republican voters want to support and vote for progressive policies, and that SHAME rich Republican voters for rejecting their responsibility!
Stop blaming Democrats for Republican crimes. "The left" had NOTHING to do with what happened with the ACA.
Trump voters, and the 90 million Americans who DIDN'T vote gave us Trump, and racist Republican voters gave us his enablers.
Data doesn’t support your argument in either of those cases. It is fine to be angry, but when your arguments are not based on the actual data, they fail to land.
I’m reading your comments, from progressives and liberals. Both have reasonable arguments. But we are in an existential crisis. We must stand together, not fight each other. The Democratic Party is the big tent party. Our goal must be to rid our country of the fascists running this regime. As Dr. Krugman just showed us with facts, charts and graphs; our lives depend on it.
Agree 100%. We need to stand together against trump. The GOP is beyond redemption and need to be banished from politics. But we also need to demand more of the Democrats.
They failed us in 2024; they all knew President Biden was not up to the task of taking on trump, they should have held him to his pledge to step down and held a primary. The Party leadership should face consequences for failure. The Party needs major reforms to regain the trust of their base and American people.
One thing to consider is one-payer public systems cost less, public and private, than the system in place in the US, and cover everyone at reasonable cost.
So even real fiscal conservatives should prefer a one-payer public system like Canada, much of Europe, and very soon, Mexico.
Lower income people pay less or nothing, according to their income, in provices that charge premiums. Some provinces charge health care fees only with the annual income tax.
The health care is run by the provinces (since that is in their constitutional justisdiction), according to common base rules, with federal subsidies.
First I am a Paul Krugman fan. Second I’m a retired medical educator and politically a left of center Democrat. Dr Krugman in this case maybe guilty of choosing selective data and an individual analysis that supports his position and or beliefs to make his point. If a 1000 studies are conducted on any medical issue , it is likely one can be cited to make your point. A meta analysis which combines all credible like studies may contradict Krugman’s charts or perhaps not, I don’t know.
RFK Jr uses this selective method to make his point regarding the link between vaccines and autism. With millions of children in 6 Western countries using multiple studies published in peer review journals, analyzed as a whole the vaccinated group and the unvaccinated group had the same incidence of autism, indicating no link. This meta analysis is likely reliable. Yet looking for an individual study that is an outlier is likely and some warrant further investigation . Krugman’s charts and cited references support his beliefs. We all inadvertently value individual data that support our beliefs. Studies are to find truth not to win an argument. One study is just one study. If repeatable and consistent the conclusions are considered valid.
In the Canadian political spectrum, "moderate" Democrats would be considered centre-right.
It would be similar from the European point of view as well.
Platner & Talarico are republican lite white. Talarico said he wouldn’t vote to convict Trump if Trump was impeached. Talarico took money from GOP super PACs. Talarico’s campaign team went out of their way to portray Rep Jasmine Crockett as a “loud, ghetto, low IQ DEI Black woman.” It worked. Platner doesn’t have to worry cuz Maine. If these men win, we’ll have 2 more Fetterman in the senate, or Manchin & Sinema +1. Did that work out well for you?
If a Democrat has to be Republican lite to win, what is the point?
The point is the difference between outright fascism and democracy. Manchin wouldn't act like a king. We could disagree with him on policy but Trump is against democracy and rule of law.
It's going to be the republican or democrat winning. No one else. Demanding perfect candidates that don't exist. Just helps republicans win. Which is what you must want to happen. There is no perfect choice in an election. There is the better choice (the democrat) or worst choice (the republican). All you people do. Election after election. Is help the worst choice win. Because you can't be an adult and pragmatic with your vote. Because you want some perfect candidate to vote for, one that doesn't exist. Just the fallible human beings that run for office. No candidate is going to represent you perfectly. They will always make some vote you don't like. It's if they vote the way you like the majority of the time. As frustrating as Manchin and Sinema were. They gave us the majority control of the senate. They voted with the party with the majority of the time. Same with Fetterman today. So if the choice is Talarico or the republican. YOU BET YOUR ASS I'LL TAKE TALARICO. Why wouldn't you? Please stop with this all or nothing thinking. Demanding perfect candidates to vote for that don't exist. How much damage does the left have to do to this country, before you people learn your lesson? YOU ARE HURTING THE REST OF US. STOP IT!
Exactly right, Alvin! The foot stomping because the Dem candidate didn’t 100% support EVERY single policy that you personally are passionate about so you “ couldn’t” vote for the Dem candidate helped get us to this breaking point for ALL of our futures! It has to STOP!
Simpler- establishment Democrats stopped listening to the people, including rural America, instead relying on the solid black vote turnout.
That has now changed. We have a new generation of strong leaders who listen to the people and their needs. They are winning races +20 points versus Harris.
Please those races are a result of Trump. They aren't voting for democrats. They are just voting against Trump now. It took Trump destroying the country. To wake people up. Polling people now. Harris would win in a landslide.
And maybe just maybe the elections we “honest”. Bwahaaaa. Mmmmm. Yeah. 🙄🙄🙄
Harris had two negatives in the eyes of these misinformed racist voters.....female and black.....I know people who disliked trump but rather than vote for Harris stayed home
One of the Times' columnists said he intended to write in his mother. He couldn't stomach Trump, but he would never vote for a Democrat.
Became*
By the time the election was held Kamala no longer represented the progressive left. Useless DC consultants and the old guard of the party had moved her from joy and Walz from "they are weird" to palling around with Liz Cheney and other "centrist" figures. Had she stayed the course she may have had a better shot, and a much better shot if she had repudiated some of the worst of the Biden actions like support for genocide in Gaza. She could have recognized that in spite of empirical evidence to the contrary, people thought the economy sucked and inflation was too high. Imagine if she had done a Trump and blamed inflation on him, which would not have been wrong, and his disastrous handling of COVID.
Your analysis is crap. Harris is far left? Please tell us the scary far left things she was running on. Name them please. I remember 25K tax credit for first home buyers. Oh man that was so scary. Thank God we didn't get that far left thing. Also tax credit for business owners. Oh man that's practically out of Karl Marx right there. No, the reason Harris lost, WAS BECAUSE AMERICANS DIDN'T WANT TO ELECT A BLACK WOMAN FOR PRESIDENT. No one who voted for Trump. Thought he was qualified for the job. They just knew he was a white man. Which is apparently the only thing millions of Americans care about in this country. Having white man and no one else as president.
Don’t forget that musk also bought him she was winning. Kamala was winning on her own right and that’s why musk showed up.
This is nonsense. Biden said he wouldn’t run, going back on that word while also really being incapable of serving another 4 years anyway. Harris, or anyone else, was robbed of a proper chance of building a campaign. Harris was also 1) a woman 2) of color. I’m not convinced one or the other would have ruined her chances, but both together were much more to overcome against Trump’s pervasive hatred. Finally, Harris was not far, progressive left. Really never, but certainly not by the time she was debating Trump. To think she was is to be grossly misinformed.
Biden did not in fact ever say he would be a one-term president.
He implied it. I expected him to be a one-term president and that was why I was so upset when he chose Harris as his running mate. She was a California, liberal establishment mixed race woman and didn't do well in the primary.
Sorry folks...FOX is too powerful. The propaganda is too strong.
Demographic polling demonstrated time and time again that women are at a distinct disadvantage in Presidential elections. This wasn't the time to roll the dice to see if that time was different. Look what Trump has done to this country and what he continues to do.
Really? I remember him saying it. Are you saying I have a false memory? No he did say he was going to be a one term president. He would be a transitional president. He did go back on his word, and helped give us Trump. If he had just allowed for a real primary. Anyone but Harris as the nominee. Would have easily won. Biden did go back on his word and screwed us.
Joe Biden never explicitly said or formally pledged that he would be a one-term president, but In March 2020, Biden referred to himself as a "bridge" to a new generation of leaders, stating, "Look, I view myself as a bridge, not as anything else," while appearing with younger Democratic leaders. This phrasing was widely interpreted as a signal that he would not seek re-election.
He sure did imply it. If he had done that. We wouldn't have Trump as president today.
Link, please, or you are lying.
Correct. I misspoke. He didn’t say it but certainly implied it and most definitely should have known better than to try it.
Far left?! Harris?! You’re nuts. You are the fucking problem.
You're wrong if you think Kamala Harris was a progressive or far-left. She's a moderate Dem - period.
For the border, there was a reasonable bipartisan solution, but Trump fought against it, helped by a filibuster by a minority of Republicans that prevented it being enacted. The solution was essentially processing refugees and other immigration cases far before the border, making it easier to control the border.
Also Trump used exagerated language to totally misrepresent the problem. Essentially turning it into racism.
As for Biden's "infirmaties", Trump used mindless bluster to hide his infirmaties since he ran for president the first time.
Tell me about this “far left” you speak of. What are the extreme positions that Harris and other “far left” Democrats are promoting? Higher minimum wage? Broader health care coverage? (Can’t even talk about Medicare for All. The horror!) Returning to a progressive tax structure? Investing in infrastructure and clean energy? Treating everyone as equal and valuable members of society? Please be specific.
There was no primary.
She was part of the primary.
The purpose of a VP is to replace the POTUS when they can't serve. He stepped down and she stepped up. Complaining about what is understood as the norm is falling for the right wing grievance machine propaganda.
This is a stupid fucking argument. But yes, she was part of the 2020 primary and she didn’t perform very well in that primary. I know what the purpose of the VP is but Biden didn’t step down. If he had, she would have become president.
He withdrew from the campaign. So his running mate took over.
Why is that hard to understand? The fake right wing grievances against Democrats is so tiring.
Ooookay. Either way, catastrophic result.
There is a grownup conversation to be had about immigration, but it will never happen as long as the far right have power. Immigration for the right is about racism and culture though, not what’s right for the country.
There’s no question that the right is obsessed with immigration. Many are white nationalists.
That’s exactly backward. People are sick to death of the status quo and centrism, which she represented. I certainly hope she doesn’t run again, but she likely would have won if she’s allowed a Palestinian-American to speak at the convention. And
White, male American population. The white women who voted for Trump couldn't stomach a woman of color as their president. And we'll lose again if she runs again. Stacy Abrams is a brilliant politician. And she saw the problem and backed out of national politics.
I'd add that there are plenty of right-wing women who wouldn't vote for a woman (see, e.g., Hillary Clinton). But yeah, being black definitely didn't help Harris with our bigoted friends on the right.
Well, I'm a liberal old crone, and I'd have voted for Hillary, but holding my nose. i have never seen in Hilary the thoughtfulness and political intelligence of Elizabeth Warren or Stacy Abrams.
It seems to me, a grand factor was the abstention of nornally democratic voters over Israeli excesses in Gaza. This was indicated by the abnormally high of protest votes in those Democrat primaries that had such a vote, as well as the widespread protests over Israeili excesses in Gaza.
(The Israeli excesses could easily been called widespread terrorism against residents of Gaza, similar to nazi terrorism againt jewish and other minorities in the 1930's and 1940's.)
If Harris had more stressed her support for 2 states in Palestine, it would probably helped more than any votes she would have lost by the "Israel is always right" block.
However, the Republican advantage due to the distortion of the electoral college (favouring smaller mostly rural states) could have still elected Trump, with a minority of votes.
Nope, Republicans won against Harris because Musk bought them. People were voting for Kamala. I’m not avoter and I hate voting. I actually went out and voted and it would’ve been different. If yeah if Trump really did win for real but he didn’t. you know it , I know it , the world knows it . fucking musk bought that motherfucker and installed his ass
They did not want to elect a black woman.
Sadly, too true.
Stupid, ill informed voters who are gullible followers and easily swayed. Made their election choices based on feelings not facts.
You're absolutely right. But this is what we have to deal with. That's the way it is. To ignore the fact of the voters we have, imperils all of us, not just the idiots.
Independents voted on the economy because they had no idea that under Biden the US economy had the best recovery from the Covid slump and was, as the Economist put it, leaving other rich countries “in its dust”. A big reason for that was the misleading economic coverage by the mainstream media that implied inflation not as the international problem it was but as Biden’s fault and something he could have fixed. As economist Dean Baker put it:
“Yes, the Media Lied About the Pre-Election Economy”
https://cepr.net/publications/media-lied-about-pre-election-economy/
I've noticed the difference in how the media covers inflation under Biden compared to Trump. Every time inflation crept up a percentage point under Biden. It was headline news. "Inflation is up again". First story on the national network telecasts. First story on the hour every hour on cable news. Now with Trump. It's barely covered. Certainly not giving the emphasis it was under Biden. Liberal media my ass.
and less about trump's dementia and epstein files
If Biden misspoke. It would generate a week of coverage asking if he was mentally fit for the job. Trump's obvious dementia is completely ignored. It really is frustrating.
I used to feel that way. But red staters simply believe there was all that much death and destruction. Their thinking is: I didn't get vaccinated, I didn't die, therefore who needs vaccinations. And right-wing media turned the vaccine into a freedom issue, not a health issue.
It sounds crazy, but these people will go to war to preserve their freedom to make poor and sometimes fatal healthcare decisions.
and hegseth says flu vaccines are not required but fails to mention the myriad other vaccines required depending upon deployment - more fodder for the ill-informed antivaxers
One of the people in my area posted in the "Next Door" chat group that he wouldn't take any vaccine unless it was 100% effective. Talking about "herd immunity" doesn't go anywhere with people like that.
Not all of us will survive this ordeal. But enough of us will. New growth always follows even the worst wildfire, regardless of the magnitude of the devastation. That will happen here too and the new growth will reflect the dominant value system. What keeps me up at night is this: which wolf will we feed? https://www.nanticokeindians.org/about/the-tale-of-two-wolves/
“New growth always follows even the worst wildfire”
Coming from forest fire country, the question is whether the new growth will be desirable Doug fir/Spruce/Hemlock or will it be undesirable Himalaya blackberries and cheat grass?
Oooo. I know those.
I remember an SNL skit in which a cast member imitating Chris Mathews says "The people have spoken and they are morons!" That skit had it right.
On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron. H L Mencken
That was the problem, though. “The American people” did not see the death snd destruction, and/or did not equate trump’s actions/non-actions with the death and destruction. Too many are politically and economically illiterate, don’t read/only listen to Faux News. The other group that helped get trump elected are those who didn’t vote or voted third party in protest or from apathy. There is one thing we have to accomplish during these next 2 elections: get rid of trump, his entire administration and all Republicans. We might pull it off if there is a massive turnout, despite Republican gerrymandering and SCOTUS gutting voting rights. Will voting out all Republicans and giving Dems the majority solve our problems? Of course not but we can’t do anything unless we have the majority. What has been done to this country since Reagan and accelerated under trump will take more than one election cycle to fix and consistently voting in courageous people who understand the need to break the monopoly on our lives that the oligarchy/corporations/money in politics/ corruption currently has!
The simple answer to the question “how Trump got re-elected after the American people had seen how much death and destruction he caused the first time around” is they did not see him as causing the death and destruction. Fauci probably got more blame, but that’s just speculation.
the Fauci scapegoating and it's honestly wild to watch
When only ~25% of eligible voters cast a ballot...
This is where the focus needs to be. We can define and decry maga until we turn blue in the face, or we can spend our energies on getting non voters to recognize that apathy and non participation has a price tag that exceeds the inflation rate we are all paying for. That the costs of not voting includes the human and material costs of wars, epidemics, and of our democracy and our rights.
Civics classes need to come back into the classroom. I had a civics class in middle school that taught us about the government, how it runs, it's history, etc.
It was BORING for middle school but it was something. I believe they cut it out of the curriculum about the same time Reagan took office for the 2nd time. As if he didn't do enough damage the 1st term.
Education is everything, it really is.
Fox news needs taken down and exposed -then taken off the air for good. All they do all day long is peddle and spin right wing "conservative" views that can actually change depending on the presidents mood of that day. I really can see the word "republican" becoming despised, as they've destroyed their party past the point of no return.
Young people are finally waking up, they heard the words "selective service draft" uttered and now, you have their full and angry attention.
My grandkids go to public schools in NC. NC public schools follow the Common Core curriculum that has been adopted by 46 states. They learn civics every year as part of their social studies curriculum requirements instead of in just one class. I asked the second grader what she was learning about in social studies and she said they were studying the three branches of government and gave me a decent explanation of what each one does. In fourth grade they learn about our state government and its three branches. They take a required government course in high school.
Most of us older baby boomers had civics classes. It clearly didn’t make a difference because, to my horror, people in my age group are the most likely to be Trump worshipping MAGAts.
I am glad to hear that. I know it died in our public schools in Pa. I worry about my fellow Democrats in the Southern states a lot, people of my generation (Generation X) would come down there upon our college graduations (mid 90's+) and get experience teaching, but always came back home to teach, because of money. The south didn't pay their teachers nearly as well as the North.
Maga took over like a cancer as the republican party laid down and let it consume and take it over. Now it is more like confederate republicans these days. I think the young were really comfortable with thinking this type of craziness that took over our government could/would not happen here. I think they've woken up and that will help Dems a lot.
On more positive days, I see young people like Adam Mockler and have hope. If you haven't heard of him yet, look him up on facebook, Instagram, etc. He's priceless and precisely what Democrats need now and more of him. He's only 23 and he owned Scott Jennings this week.
A woman of any color will never win a national election unless/until we abolish the electoral college.
He called on stage the kkk, for the racist magas it's a nice reason.
The existing level of support for Trump indicates that one third of "Americans" are actually unreconstructed confederate traitors, and the sociopathic billionaire-owned corporate media are all in for a fascist oligarchy (which, come to think of it, pretty much describes the confederacy), so they lie daily to benefit Trump and maga Republicans. And I wouldn't rule out cheating on their part as well.
American exceptionalism seems to be a bad thing.
I’m afraid these days “American Exceptionalism” means exceptionally stupid.
Always. It’s the core myth of a glorious past in service of a glorious mission.
It doesn’t exist right now. The next president (probably and hopefully a Dem) will have to work hard to reestablish it—in a real way, not the fake way imagined by right-wingers.
It never was a thing, it was just an illusion of hubris.
And exceptionally selfish and shortsighted.
Imagine the coverage by the US press if Trump was a shade darker, and running an African country into the ground. Imagine how Fox would cover the spectacle? It would be posited as a perfect example of how "those people" are incapable of governing themselves. Actually, I suspect that the Chinese press is putting out this exact message.
I haven't actually checked. It would be too depressing.
Agreed. Of all the hundred or so things Trump has done to damage the United States the health of its citizens is the most dangerous because it will be the hardest to correct. It will take a generation or more to reeducate people if it can be done at all.
That ship sailed eons ago. Bad diet was heavily promoted—not for nothing McDonalds and Starbucks are our number one exports. Ads to snack on adulterated foods, school lunches abysmal. We eat at every major event we attend. Sedentary daily lives. The stress of American work styles and anxious economics. Polluted air and water. The phony controversy about masks and vaccines is just more nonsense. Seriously, any one guess WHY a government would want to kill off its citizens like this? To what purpose other than a warped sense of survival of the fittest, eugenics? Less governmental money spent on caring for citizens; more for their coffers and ballrooms? The depravity is stunning if those are the reasons.
I’m not sure. The damage to our alliances internationally may be more difficult to restore. How long will it take before countries will trust the US, knowing that we elected a lunatic twice and coujd do so again.
I don't see how any other country can ever trust the US again. I mean, they'd be crazy to do so.
I still think his anti-climate actions will have greater repercussions, but the two will synergize in horrific ways.
Aah. Oh, it’s irony.
I’m sure that you have a great deal of evidence to support your comment, I look forward to seeing your scientific fact based research and peer reviewed studies, that support your extremely articulate diatribe.
/s << means “end of sarcastic comment”. Ahem.
It exists in abundance. You can find it if you look. And where is the scientific evidence for anti-vax? Oh that’s right. There isn’t any.
Notice the /s? Sarcasm.
Thank you for sharing.
Do not neglect the other factor in Red states refusing to expand Medicaid and refusing to strengthen the social safety net: racism.
The MAGA base hates people of color and think they are being ripped off by them - even as the billionaires suck up even more of the national share of wealth.
They hate women too, so we can expect more deaths from ectopic pregnancies, back alley abortions, and closing of rural hospitals/lack of obstetric care.
We won't see "back alley abortions" as long as there's access to abortion medication.
And there are organizations to provide them no matter what our laws, such as Aid Access.
https://aidaccess.org/en/
Except there is a growing effort to stop mail delivery of abortifacients....
Yes, I know, but I don't see how they can succeed. A lot of people get meds in the mail these days. How does anyone know what they are?
I'm not downplaying the threat of the Republicans, just considering the difference these days in positive terms. I lived in the "before" times. It's better now for young women - early pregnancy tests, medication, and organizations willing to help.
Yes it amazes me: poor whites deny themselves Healthcare just so Black's don't get it. The price of hatred
I am at a stage of wondering if recovery is even possible for our country from this epidemic and age of stupidity. As a retired MD who has always been dedicated to validated, verified evidence, I am completely disheartened at the rising level of unadultered quackery. Angry as I am, I suppose I could disdainfully call it "culling the herd" or "evolution at work" if more right wing fools die than than those who are thought capable. But those early deaths are mostly past reproduction age, so the genetic traits of stupidity still persist. By definition, of course, half of the population is of below average intelligence. But why does that half get to decide everything? Somehow stupidity has a great appeal to too many voters.
I'd note that the anti-vax brigade is going to be responsible for a whole lot of innocent children dying. If they were only hurting themselves, that would be fine - but they're not - they're hurting their own kids.
Something like 1/3 of the ads I see in You Tube are for quack remedies, and not just for people. "Here's what peanut butter does to dogs."
👍 yeah. I see what you mean I really do.
Sorry to say this, but Donald Trump lies like he breathes. He is also a self-centered malignant narcissist, who lacks the ability to empathize with anyone else. And of course he changed his mind at the last minute about the Iranian cease-fire, because he's disorganized, doesn't know what the heck he's doing, and makes it up as he goes along. And let us not forget the fact that five years ago on january 6th, Trump led an insurrection at the capitol, where many people died. There were people that, after attacking police, we're walking in the capitol building itself with confederate flags, shouting “Hang Mike Pence!” BecauseThe vice president wouldn't certify donald trump's lies about the election results. And the violence was so horrific that some people involved in defending the Capitol later committed suicide. Think about that. Then to make matters worse, trump pardons all the J6th rioters, many of which were members of right wing extremist groups like the "proud boys." Trump called them "true patriots" What a f****** joke. More presently, the fact that Pam Bondi's replacement immediately says, "let's just forget about the whole Epstein thing" shows how corrupt the entire system is. Trump has forced himself on countless women of ALL AGES throughout his life. Trump has also said, that if your famous and rich enough, "You can grab women by the p***y" He's also a pedophile, and has been mentioned in the Epstien files a record 38,000 times. Trump is a horrible human being, and he's incapable of empathy with any other human being, and only cares about himself. He's a spoiled brat, and has always used his daddy's connections to get out of the vietnam war, with his fake bone spurs b******t that he got his daddy's doctor to submit to the draft board. He and Epstein have raped countless girls aged only 11, 12, 13, and 14. Trump has cheated on every business deal he's ever made. He's cheated on every wife he's ever been married to. HE'S THE MOST IMMORAL AND WORST PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES! Now he's started a war in the mid-east, where thousands of innocent people have been killed, including many children. The sooner he gets impeached, and/or removed from office due to health or other reasons, the better off the U.S. AND the world will be. Trump said he would keep the united states out of foreign war. He said he would lower the cost of living. What he has done is bomb Iran despite no imminent threat from them. And as one of the effects of this war, the cost of living for gasoline food, Medical care, housing and many other things continue to cost more. Trump is a clear and present danger to the United States, and the entire world. He needs to resign. The Republicans that have influence on him need to section 25, convince him to resign, and whatever, just get him the hell out of there! Sincerely David Morris, who was born one day long ago in Fort Wayne Indiana.
There is, of course, also obesity which is a famously American problem, particularly amongst the less well off. Obesity has obvious links to cheap fast and pre prepared foods and even the high sugar levels in some US bread. Additionally, there are multitudinous food additives in the United States which have not been rigorously tested: the US allows over 10,000 food additives as compared to the 400 allowed in Europe.
For many, the American way of life is quite literally sickening.
There are foods in this country. I’d say about 75% of them that I am unable to eat so my grocery bill is very very very high because I buy imported stuff from Europe that I know doesn’t have garbage in it. I am unable to eat food here because of what they put in it when I eat food that they make in Europe, I can eat it all day. I don’t have any fucking problem.
The old "Food Pyramid" was a good example of how bribery can overwhelm good science. The new one seems to be recommending Trump's diet.
I agree with all you say, but would add that lack of simple daily exercise is also a big contributor to American obesity.
Anyone who has lived in other countries is acutely aware of how much walking (or biking) citizens typically do every day, just going shopping, walking to and from metro stations and bus stops, walking kids home from school, or popping into their local bakery, pharmacy, or street market.
In America, lives are much more sedentary, and revolve around making the world more comfortable for automobiles, rather than pedestrians. The results are convenient and comfortable (for those who can afford automobiles), but not healthy.
Well said signed by an old guy in another country who walks and bikes everywhere
If only our lobbyists hadn’t conned the legislature to emphasize building for cars instead of building infrastructure that can support true public transport
I dream of what it could be like. Oh countries in the EU that even have public transport outside of the central business district so that people can live in walkable areas and not deal with two hour commutes in costly automobiles for lack of options
I'd die if I lived in a place that didn't have safe footpaths and cycle lanes
New Zealand? Cool. 😎
Yes Sarah. And thank you
Approaching retirement I had thought about living in one of the warmer “low cost” states, but it seems there is a higher price to be paid.
Yes!! Connecticut has changed its rules on taxing social security. As I told my dumbass maga brother, who plans to retire in Florida: I like it here, it’s worth the cost, and I seriously doubt that you’ll save anything by moving there.
That’s why I’m never leaving Massachusetts. You get what you pay for. The GOP is a death cult filled with eugenicists who want to get rid of the ones they don’t like, which is most of us. I don’t know how they live with themselves and look their children in the eye.
Massachusetts is my hometown state!! Not leaving New England anytime soon.
Same way I feel about Oregon. Taxes may be higher than in a red state, but so is the overall standard of living.
Ditto California. Of course, I have the advantage that our climate - weather as well as political - is much better than Florida's. No awful humidity, bugs or alligators. And not having to deal with insane MAGAts is a real advantage.
They probably don’t have any children because they killed them all
Ha! I’m the rare new englander who actually likes our northern climate… saw my first hummingbird of the season yesterday
Lol, the hummingbirds have been busy for weeks. And we've already watched a pair of doves raise their first brood....
I have a pair of eastern bluebirds! Turkeys too
We beat you by a couple days!
I saw my first butterfly last week
Oooooo. How lovely. 😊
Professor Krugman: i am always mystified by the open embrace of techbros-oligarchs by MAGA since the techbros rely on science and technology to steal money from the working class. how can MAGA not be aware of this? how can MAGA turn their backs on the very disciplines that allow the obscenely rich to become even more obscenely rich?
as far as vapes go, i am afraid of them because my allergies and asthma will kill me if i come close to someone who is actively vaping -- as i discovered when i was in a crowd of people when a man next to me started vaping (unknown to me) and i almost choked to death. fortunately, his girlfriend figured out what was happening to me and why and told him to stop.
Quite simply, science and technology are not the same. Those big tech guys can well afford to develop their own tech for their own purposes.
cause they hate liberals worse than anything ele ..liberals dont respect them and they will teach us. even if it lands them in prison..we disrespected them
But you see it won’t land them in prison and that’s why they do it. I really do believe that even these idiots if they had a real fear and a real possibility of going to prison for any of this stuff, it wouldn’t be happening.
We struggle in understanding disordered personality styles like in the Tech-Bro’s & CEO’s of science companies. By understanding statistics of which professions people with psychopathy tend to choose for themselves, we can begin to understand that our flawed thinking is in applying the rules & norms of how people without psychopathy behave to people with psychopathy. Psychopathy has one major prime motivation for behavior and that’s dominance…it’s NOT science first or tech first or even rules/norms/laws first. Psychopathy is dominance first, self first and these individuals will align themselves with whomever assists them in dominance first prime directive. In psychopathy, there’s no allegiance to any principles including those foundational to the sciences, technologies or any field of study. People with psychopathy lack a conscience so violating the concepts of science is so incredibly easy for them for they have ZERO guard rails to their behavior in business & personal life. So, simply put, to understand the Tech-Bro’s or Oligarchs, one needs to learn the 20 traits of psychopathy and the only motivation to psychopathic behavior is dominance of anyone & anything. If they are also sadists, enjoying harming others through dominance is also prime motivation. When we normal people think of greed in another person, we must rule out psychopathy as the cause of their greed (dominance of resources).
PS: Another important detail to understand about psychopathy is that it is a low or no abstract thinking personality style…thus no or limited grasp of concepts but excellent grasp of concrete thinking (person, place, things, memorization without understanding concepts).
In other words, crazy people fucking suck
Yes, sucks big time!!
And, not crazy but psychopathic. I like to make the important distinction because sane people like those with psychopathy choose their behavior knowing it’s wrong. Psychopaths overwhelmingly are sane typically.
Schizophrenia can sometimes co-occur with psychopathy but it is not typical…that’s my suspicion for the Reiner case, but I am waiting for the results of expert examination for competency and sanity.
Sanity is an important distinction for sentencing: incarceration vs mental institutions. No one wants Trump & etc getting hospitalization with eligibility for possible discharge from hospitalization for war crimes and crimes against humanity sentencing… to recidivate (re-offend). I certainly don’t want that. The term “crazy” means reversible or manageable with treatment and that’s not appropriate for Trump & his gang.
Re psychopathy, see also, Trump.
Absolutely, Trump has primary psychopathy, sadism & paranoia with some early to mid dementia (frontotemporal). Vance has secondary psychopathy, high borderline traits, and sadism.
Google “Psychopathy Cluster Analysis” and click on images to see the Venn diagram. I can’t share images here…sorry.
We just returned from the Netherlands. Wow! what an amazing country. We heard a lecture from an expert on the EU and she discussed the core values of the EU. People there were fit, biking everywhere-a driver’s license we were told costs 4000 euros. That decreases the cars, increases the need for excellent mass transit. The people we met were educated, mostly trilingual ( Dutch, English, German) and life expectancy was in the 80’s. We saw no homeless people. We also saw few hospitals/clinics. The USA feels like we are a spinning top, no direction, no understanding of history, no recognition that others might have a good idea. The differences are staggering.
It’s always been that way that’s why when some of us should go to Europe that’s the first place we’d go to and we’d be crying when we had to leave and this is way back in the fucking 70s and 80s
It is long past time for a blue state secession and leave these people to wallow in their hate and ignorance.
My fantasy!!
It's not feasible. You'd wind up with the northeast, the western coast, and one or two blue islands in the north central. The red States are well-grouped and the hatred would remain or intensify. It wouldn't be long before they would invade us one by one. That scenario is why the right wing is working on Alberta to secede from the rest of Canada.
Divine and conquer is their game plan.
Destruction of the union is the ultimate desire of our enemies. Don’t fall for it. Overcome it.
MAGA is the enemy within
Resist, don’t literally give ground!
I’m holding my ground here in my blue state… absolutely. Also tired of my taxes going to support fascist red states.
Understandable. I also hate that a lot of tax dollars are being abused by grifters and fascists. But there are millions trapped in those states with no way out and the only thing keeping their lives from getting worse are people in other states standing up for their freedom and dignity. Cutting them all loose hurts the helpless and gives more power to the neo-confederates; what maga actually is.
I play the Bette Midler version of this to cheer myself on
https://youtu.be/uBj57ivPsxQ?si=PaAZrrpP2BSIrQuJ
It’s a tough call, but I’m ready for the ‘divorce’ from evangelical red states
Wow
It is amazing that MAGA cannot understand a simple fact. Having no health insurance does not mean you won't get sick
Not only do you 1) go on vacation and 2) still provide us with a wide range of salient social commentary, but you 3) STILL have the bandwidth to present spot-on topical CODA music. I am in awe, Paul.
My older sister and her husband are wonderful, wealthy (inherited a tankerful of Exxon stock), college-educated people - I love them deeply. However, they are also incurious, shallow-thinking, ill-informed, xenophobic, anti-immigrant, anti-vax, pro-corporate, (R)eagan "christian" conservatives who simply assume that America and Republicans are The Very Best in every. single. category. It's as if, decades ago, they put their minds in teeny, tiny boxes that they locked and put in the back of their closets, never so be seen again.
They personify your observation of "the role of willful ignorance driven by ideology. The modern U.S. right is, to a large extent, an alliance between oligarchs and white Christian nationalists — and the latter are deeply hostile to Enlightenment values, modern science very much included."
I can only talk with them for about 10 minutes before the smoke starts to come out of my ears. Grrrrrrrrr…!
"Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives."
- John Stuart Mill
"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness." - John Kenneth Galbraith
Good quotes.
Many thanks!!
If only the greedy and the Christian Nationalists were the sole sufferers of the consequences of their actions..
And all this can (will) lead to a collapse of the health care system…except for the rich…
The anti-medicine, anti-science campaign gains from the myth that they're scrappy upstarts fighting Big Pharma for no reason other than a commitment to truth, not because of any financial gain.
In threads talking about the effectiveness of vaccines, there are inevitably anti-vaxxers who come in screaming, "You just want to give all our money to big Pharma to poison us!!!!" Oy.
And they are mostly trolls, who are just idiots.
Professor Krugman does a great job identifying how MAGA denies scientific evidence and aligns itself with polluters and poisoners. But we should also see that that willful scientific ignorance counteracts the part of health care system that is almost always unsung: public health.
Public health successes are generally invisible. No one notices the pandemics prevented. Illnesses averted are not routinely counted. Human suffering avoided may extend lifespan but Americans tend to do nothing until they arrive in the ER.
Moreover, the only Trump success to come out of the COVID disaster was the rapid development and deployment of vaccines. But Trump did not understand the science. He only saw the billions that poured into pharmaceutical companies as a success. That is his one-dimensional view of the world. He’s now captured by snake-oil influencers.
But, you say, COVID was a public health disaster. Yes, it was. And it was predictable and predicted. It was the result of hollowing out the public health sector beginning in the 1980s that made even traditional approaches like contact tracing impossible in the early stages of the outbreak—methods that would have substantially slowed its spread.
Welcome to the return of the Middle Ages.