Come Heller high water …
- I wish Hillary Clinton would zip her lip or just go away. She often says the exact wrong thing at the worst possible moment. During her campaign it was calling Trump supporters “deplorables.” It wasn’t entirely inaccurate. Some of them are deplorable human beings. What else would you call white
supremacists, racists, homophobics and people like Steve Bannon? The line, from a put-down standpoint, was memorable but it also gave Trump a gift just six weeks before the election, and he used it – as he should have – to further energize his base. Way to go, Hills. Bright move.
Last week, she was at it again. She said, “You cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for. That’s why I believe if we are fortunate enough to win back the House and/or the Senate, that’s when civility can start again.” I heard it and groaned. She was referring to Republican Party tactics like stealing a Supreme Court spot, swift-boating John Kerry and the attacks on Dr. Ford and women in general during the Kavanaugh testimony. She wasn’t wrong. The Republican Party for decades now has played the game with brass knuckles while Democrats have strapped giant pillows to their fists. Democrats do, indeed, need to locate their spine and fight back using the same sort of scorched earth tactics. And there’s nothing wrong with saying that. In fact, there’s a lot of good to be had in saying that because I think many Democrats view their party and its tactics as too soft and bland. The party is badly in need of fire and fight.
But you can still fight back without being uncivil. Everyone likes to think they’re civil, whether they are or not. So by putting the onus on civility vs. aggressiveness, all she’s done is hand Republicans – just a few weeks from the election – what in football terms would be called “bulletin board fodder.”
Thanks, Hills.
- A new poll says college textbook prices have jumped so sharply in recent years that 41 percent of students skip meals to pay for them. That’s beyond outrageous. But stuff like this has been going on for a long time. Years ago I taught a few journalism classes at a community college. Back then the textbook company would move a chapter or add a few paragraphs and call it a new book, forcing students to buy it, as if journalism had changed in the preceding year. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the next big financial crisis will be students defaulting on college loans. Why are we allowing this? I can’t imagine how awful it would be to graduate owing the equivalent of a home mortgage.
- Scientists say a space elevator will soon be possible. Can you imagine? And you think it’s uncomfortable when no one speaks during a five-floor ride.
- A United Nations report this week says we have 12 years to do something about greenhouse gases before the start of extreme drought, food shortages and flooding. I’m glad they put a deadline on it of sorts. Maybe that will finally jar us into action. But the pessimist in me says, “But probably not.” Humans aren’t smart.
- The way things are going, the Great Lakes are going to be the new Florida. I’m not ready for alligators, swamps, pythons, and bugs the size of drones.
- “The older I get, the more I understand that so many people we know are fighting personal battles they rarely show. They persevere through life’s challenges and are greater heroes than those we cheer on in stadiums.” – “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough.
Image credit: Donkey Hotey
I agree, Hillary should just be silent.
The trump base detests her so much that anytime she is mentioned their resentment towards her and the democratic party boils over.
As I said before, Americans don’t vote for what we want or need, we vote for who we are. Democrat candidates must figure out what most Americans stand for and how they see themselves, then display that. Hillary sure didn’t get that and thus too many were not feeling it with her, despite her perfectly reasonable agenda. Trump won by displaying characteristics that resonated with enough voters, inspite of several more rational and experienced candidates lined up with him.
I don’t think the problem is Hillary and what she says. When she called a portion of Trump supporters deplorables she was right. She was right what she said about civility too. The problem is she has been so maligned over the years that even reasonable people are taken in by the smear to a certain extent and even when she is spot on it just doesn’t play well. It is too bad because she is a smart lady and she has been marginalized. That said, I do think that Democrats need to fight back like never before, and the high road isn’t always the best road. Republicans fight dirty and it may require some dirty fighting back to win.
Climate?.some .people won’t even heed tornado sirens.
Why do you have a Republican ad smearing a Democrat in the middle of your column?
Wasn’t aware that I did. The ads are placed there by Google. I’ll go look.
I not ready for alligators, etc. I am also not ready for palmetto bugs.
Everything you wrote is spot on, but the best was something you did not write: the quote you chose at the end. “… so many people we know are fighting personal battles they rarely show. They persevere …”
Gentle, brave people everywhere have to fight. And real people believe it would be unAmerican to complain. Fight on, my friends!
Maxine Waters speaking to Democrats supporters tells them to chase Trump administration officials out of restaurants and other public places.
Cary Booker tells Democrats to get in the faces of the Republican congress members and shout them down and otherwise harass them.
Eric Holder twisted the words of Michelle Obama from “when they go low, we go high” to when they go low we kick them.
Obama said that if someone brings a knife to a fight we will bring a gun.
It was a democrat that shot at a bunch of Republican congress members when they were practicing for a baseball game between the Republicans and the Democrats. In his pockets was a list of other Republican congress members that he was planning on shooting.
Andrew parrots the lines of Democrats that the Republicans are violent. All his points are from the democrats/socialist/communists party lines.
I challenge Andrew and the other democratic posters here to cite a specific nationally know Republican that has called for violence and other forms of not so nice behavior towards democrats/liberals/socialists/communists.
From listening to President Trump speeches I have never heard him saying to use violence against the Democrats. As far as I know, no member of his cabinet has said such a thing.
If Andrew and the rest of his followers can show me an instance of such a talk/speech please cite the date, time,
and place of such an event.
A bunch? How many got shot? So if the reps don’t win the mid terms there will be violence according to your king. Trumps words. Why do you make this shit up? Don’t ignore me like you usually do. Tell the truth. You ramble like some babbling idiot. That’s what he said to his so called evangelical followers. Prove me me wrong asshole. You love such an asshole you call your president. You have no respect for woman. How can you defend such a pig. We are the laughing stock of the world you idiot. So he is the one inciting violence right? You won’t give me a sain response.
JimasS……..speaking of babbling idiots, you want a ‘SAIN’ response?
😂😂😂😂😂
In the words of Joe Scarborough, our modern day Aristotle, many people are fighting personal battles they rarely show. In your case, perhaps it would be best to fight that inSAINity anonymously. If nothing else, you’ll have Mika Brzezinski’s soy boy snowflake in your corner.
Blah blah blah. Another asshole that needs to disappear.
JimasS, such bitterness, such bile, so powerless. Try to keep it ‘SAIN’ little guy.
That’s rich. The angry little incel nazi is calling someone else bitter and bile. Projection much?
Ah yes, foppish Freddie, the sexist, misogynist and bigoted one to the rescue. A BROmance made in socialist heaven. Too bad you don’t support women with the same zeal you lavish on JimasS. But hey, hypocrisy is par for the course LIBville. Oh foppish one, in this case, who is the knight in shining armor, and who is the damsel in distress?
Like I said before brad, people make mistakes like when your mother didn’t abort you. Love your little juvenile take on names too. Something children do. Just a troll in mommy and daddy’s basement.
Careful JimasS, your petulance borders on inSAINity. Not a good look skippy.
Brad,
Do you mean like how you came to jimiii’s rescue last week? Or when you came to Ernie’s rescue last month?
What a shining women hating Nazi in armor you are.
More lies from the fopster. You and JimasS have actually shared dialogue here, sought validation from each other in your own little echo chamber. I’ve never typed the names Jimlll or Ernie, have never interacted in dialogue with either, have never cited an opinion from them. Weak sauce on that ‘rescue’ canard. That’s my best effort at being polite while calling you a liar.
No foppish one, last week wasn’t a ‘rescue’ mission, it was re-con to expose another instance of your blatant deceit. You said Trump admitted to sexual assault on video, but he clearly stated it was consensual. Do the words “ they let you” ring a bell? Those words ARE in the video.You knew all of that, but it didn’t fit neatly into your little fairy tale. Hence, it’s now among the latest additions to an ample supply of freddie’s feeble fabrications. Consider this a public service announcement for the entire site.
Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus.
So Brad if you rape a woman or man,as long as you say they let me, it’s ok right? Your way of thinking? Try to leave out the insults and little female names when you answer.
You sound awfully defensive there, Brad. I must had touched a nerve. Who would had thought you Nazis are so sensitive.
You listened to his speeches and never heard him incite his followers to violence? KC 3/12/16 – as a protester was escorted from rally he air punched and said “I’ll beat the crap out of you”. St Louis – “Sorry there are no longer consequences to protesting”, “No one wants to hurt each other anymore”. 3/11/16 – Praised his supporters violence against protesters as “Appropriate” “That’s what we need more of”, “We’ve become weak”. Las Vegas – “In the old days they’d be carried out of here on a stretcher”. 2/1/16 Cedar Rapids – “If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them”. AND let us not forget 8/9/16 when he suggested that the 2nd Amendment people take action against Clinton if she was elected. If you are going to include attempted asassinations, don’t forget that our home grown terrorists and mass shooters are quite often far-right ultra-conservative. Oh, and what about the GOP candidate who just threatened to stomp all over someone’s face with golf cleats?
jimiii rants like Kanye West….and Trump.
Here is what I believe will happen:
Early next year, Mr. Mueller will prove Trump enlisted Russians to help him get elected, and took Russian money. Then, it will take us about a year to impeach and convict Trump, and get him out.
After that, Mr. Pense will serve as president for about a year. Then, Pense will run for re-election. He will lose.
Then, we will be able to make corrections in the economy, and government, and society. It will be easy, because Trump has been so utterly awful and wrong. The corrections will be obvious. And, the whole world will breathe a sigh of relief. Then, we will have a couple golden years, at least.
I hope you are right.
Which brings up interesting legal questions: if the election of DT is declared illegal, does that void Pence and all other appointments?
Extremely interesting question, Mama! Andrew, or Fred, or somebody, please do some research on this point. Inquiring minds want to know.
Voters cast their votes legally and the electoral college choose the Trump presidency legally. Officials can be impeached, but the protocol will not change for this reason. Pence would succeed Trump in the event that Trump is impeached, even if it is found that the Russians helped him.
The electoral college can vote for anyone, regardless of who won the election or how they won. As you will recall, there was much pressure on them to vote for Kasich, or anyone else, after Trump won the election, and they could had legally honored those requests.
The vice president and all others in the executive branch below the president are not there to be the president’s friends or even to carry on his agenda. They are there to step into the necessary roles to keep the executive branch functioning if the president is no longer able to fill that role.
So any collusion would have been AFTER he was on the ballot, and even if that was illegal, his administration choices WERE legal, and it was up to the voters to know what their choices were based on lies. Another question: what responsibility does the RNC have in any of this? I think it is definitely time to have campaign reform. Candidates should only be allowed to campaign for 6 months, only spend a certain amount of money for certain positions, no Super PACS, only talk about their plans with NO attacking opponents. If there were no more false advertising and personal attacks, maybe we could attract better candidates.
I think all of that would be very nice. The first step to making it a reality is voting people in who are willing to make those changes. The first change I would like to see is extending the voting period from one Tuesday in November to a whole week, so that those who are struggling have more opportunities to vote without taking time off work.
The RNC has little responsibility in this. Right leaning voters made it clear that they wanted Trump, so the RNC nominated him. The voters didn’t care to have someone experienced or qualified at the helm. They just knew that Trump reflected their world views by blaming an other for all their problems, and that was good enough for them.
Hope & pray you are correct, Matthew !
There is a current New Yorker article, by respected Dexter Filkins, about communications between the Trump campaign and a Russian bank. The article is inconclusive, but interesting and portentous.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/10/15/was-there-a-connection-between-a-russian-bank-and-the-trump-campaign
Pronunciation please! Saudi Arabia constantly is in the news. What is the correct pronunciation of SAUDI? I have heard three different pronunciations recently:
Does SAUDI rhyme with BAWDY?
Does SAUDI rhyme with CLOUDY?
Or, is it a two-syllable word, Sah-OOdy, along the lines of MA MOODY?