He is corrupt. He is chaotic. He is demented. He is cowardly. He is careless and ineffectual. He is a lot of things. But he isn’t strong. Thanks for calling it out.
As for Kennedy, thanks for calling out this form of bullshit. Even if we care about food safety (and we should), what possible credentials does he have that qualify him to speak to this issue?
I also appreciate the encouragement to speak up and write. I am a prolific reader and I love to write, so post my own versions of meta analysis of the “data” daily. I do have many who tell me that my contributions are helpful and inspiring. I am not famous, so don’t have a wide audience (nor is this my goal), but I do believe that all our small attempts add up.
Yes. This is it. It’s chaos and incompetence. As the mayor of Boston put it, the number of deportations hasn’t ramped up, just the number of TV cameras.
“Axios’s Mike Allen goggled at Trump’s ‘winning streak.’” - when I read this in the Axios newsletter I almost punched a hole in the wall! And as far as I know, Charlie is the only one calling it out! Thank you, Charlie!!!
PS- As of this morning they are still at it. From Axios:
“Less than three weeks into office, his administration has already struck deals of varying substance with Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Panama, El Salvador, Guatemala and even Venezuela.”
Let's remember that the American people voted for Trump because they were sick of 25% inflation, high crime, no cash bail, trans athletes, two regional wars, woke pronouns , homelessness, the deep state, “the big guy” mafia, jobs shipped off shore, high taxes, business strangulation, fentanyl , a southern invasion, 60% of our kids with chronic disease, continued attack on love , family, marriage and religion, the worst schools and healthcare in the civilized world , deadly botched withdrawal from Afghanistan that open the door for Putin's invasion of Ukraine, two insurrectionist attempts to subvert a presidential election with the Russian collusion hoax and the Hunter Biden hoax, FBI offices at Twitter and Facebook, anti-doge support for waste fraud and abuse, and anti-American opposition to basic American constitutional principle of freedom and liberty from big socialist fascist government.
America used to be that way. You could give your kids $.15 and tell them to go ride the subways for the afternoon. What changed is the Democrats attacked love family marriage religion and law and order itself.
crony capitalism socialism fascism are when government and business are combined. Capitalism is when government and business are separate. Trump is seeking to reduce taxes and regulations on business to separate business from government. Hope you understand now?
Elon is a great hero to humanity who is free to assist the president execute his executive authority. No one on earth is better suited than Elon. He runs Twitter with 10% of the employees that he used to have and he builds rocket ships that cost 10% of what NASA would pay to have them built. He is a blessing to America. Naturally Democrats who get everything perfectly backwards are opposed to Elon Musk. Democrats have become the enemy of America. In this case they are the enemy of waste fraud and abuse.
Elon is a narcissistic clown with the emotional maturity of a 10 year old, probably why he gets along so well with Trump, they have a lot in common. Elon wants to increase his wealth and power by eliminating any regulations that would restrain him, while also eliminating the competition. Do all these massive conflicts of interest Elon is mixed up in now not concern you at all? You really think he's doing this out of some sort of patriotic duty to his adopted country? You are the one being incredibly naive here.
Elon is a narcissistic clown. He created the EV industry to save the planet, he took over Twitter to save free speech on the planet, he created a low altitude satellite system called Starlink to bring Internet service to everyone in the world, he is the founder of XAI which uses most powerful technology by a factor of 1 million ever invented by humanity, he is the founder of SpaceX which is built the biggest rockets in the world at 10% it cost that NASA would've paid to build them and he is about to rescue two astronauts in space that the Democrats left stranded there. For you to call him a clown points to the pure stupidity of Democrats who get everything exactly backwards. Marx thought he was going to save humanity and instead he got 100 million people killed.
Elon is a clown, have you followed his twitter posts? He says things I would be embarrassed to hear from my child. He's a great visionary, I'll give him that, but he's still a narcissistic clown. Elon had a lot of good qualities before his ego and vanity took over, and he saw a great opportunity in aligning with Trump in order to gain more power and influence through extralegal means, that's why he bribed (I mean contributed) to Trump's campaign. But he didn't take over twitter to save free speech, twitter is now anti-free speech, he constantly silences voices critical of his agenda while he retweets white supremacists and amplifies their voices. I guess it's good for the white supremacists but not so good for people who may disagree with them. That's fine, because X is a private company so he can do with it what he wants.
The problem with Elon is he got involved in the government. The guy is too rich and connected, and the US government too dependent on his companies, for him to sticking his hands in government like he is now. Too many conflicts of interest.
Stop ranting about Marx, I'm not a fan of Marx and there are zero liberals or Democrats that I know (or that you know I would gather) that like Marx or think communism was a great thing.
obviously if it was in violation of the constitution or existing laws you would tell us exactly where in the constitution the executive isn't supposed to be the executive and where there are laws preventing the executive from being the executive. If there were laws they never would've let him in the front door of USA ID.
The executive cannot break laws or violate the constitution, this is Civics 101, c'mon! The courts will push back on the shenanigans at USAID, but the legal process takes time. Congress is the only body that has the authority to reform, defund, or eliminate USAID.
democrats are socialist. Kamala Harris has a father who is a Marxist economist. She was an economics major. She supported the violent antifa revolution and she was the only United States senator to vote to the left of Bernie Harris. 76% of Democrats say they would vote for a socialist. The Democrat party is the enemy of American values.
Crime is not bad now. Let me know if people are going to bed with their doors open the way they did in the 1950s and whether you see little kids riding around on the subways alone the way they did in the 1950s.
How little do you mean by little kids, 5 years old? I don't think that happened in the 50s either. If you mean 10-13 year olds, I do see them riding on the subway alone. Bad things happened in the 50s too, conservatives have this weird idealization of the 1950s like it was the greatest time ever in American history, but we've had other great times.
Also, tax rates where much much higher in the 50s and the government was able to work more efficiently back then, maybe there is something to think about there.
America had a very low crime rate before Democrats took over in the 1950s. The Democrat attack on love marriage family religion and law and order caused the dissolution of the family and the concomitant huge increase in criminality. In the 1950s when America was great you could give your kids $.15 and tell them to go ride on the subways for fun. Today in modern Democrat America that would be considered child abuse. You are like the frog in the boiling water who doesn't realize what is happening around you. We need to make America great again. And you need to wake up and help rather than remain totally hoodwinked by the Democrats.
oh my Lord. You must not read the newspapers at all. You don't realize that the American family is dying very rapidly and we lead the world in broken homes. This is specifically because of Democrats. Their energy is on ulGBTQIA plus. They will spew 1 million on LGBTQIA plus for every word they say about the traditional family and it's incredible importance to our civilization. In the black community where Democrats have had their way and are totally dominant 76% of black children grow up in broken or never formed homes. Democrats are a total deadly disaster on this issue. Isn't that so interesting that you are perfectly unaware and naïve. The Democrats have worked their magic on you.
Specifically because of Democrats? No Republicans bear responsibility in any way for the breakdown in American families? Last I checked wealth & education are the primary motivators for a stable marriage, so what's your solution? Criminalize no-fault divorce again? Or maybe a better idea would be to implement policies that improve the welfare & education of our poorest fellow citizens.
no Republicans are pro family and Democrats being Marxist are anti-family. The family is a social construct designed to promote capitalism and exploit females
Yep, that's exactly what Democrats think, that the family is a social construct designed to promote capitalism and exploit females lololol. Why do Republican politicians cheat on their wives so much if they are pro family? Trump himself for one, and then look at Matt Gaetz, he's a real pro family type hahaha. Elon is another one, since he's the leader of DOGE, he's a fair target for criticism. How many children does he have by how many women?
The issue is not whether a Republicans and Democrats cheat on their wives. The issue is who supports traditional American culture which at heart is based around love family marriage religion. The two main family groups in America the family research council and focus on the family obviously support Republicans. Democrats are socialist Marxistdevoting all of their energy to promoting LGBTQIA issues.
Ugh, traditional American culture is the same as every culture in the world in that sense, big deal. Name me a politician anywhere who doesn't support love family marriage religion. You guys just keep demonizing the left in order to justify your support of a lawless thug as president, give it up. Otherwise you would have to admit that Trump and the current GOP have done more to destroy this country than any other movement in history since the Civil War.
sadly it is true that in the 1950s a mother could give her board children $.15 and tell them to go have some fun riding the subways for the afternoon. Today and Democrat america that would be considered a child abuse. Small town america suffers from rising crime too even when Republicanbut this is also because of the Democrat disaster. They have successfully attacked love marriage family religion as well as law and order all of which contribute to remarkably high crime rates that are difficult to control when using only one leg of the stool. Hope you understand now?
Also I will say it again, crime is NOT high right now, it is much lower than it was in the 80s and 90s which was the peak of the most recent high crime wave. This wave of dangerous criminality is entirely an invention of the right to scare conservatives into voting for Republicans. There was a minor spike during the pandemic for various reasons which has since gone down.
First of all who in the Democratic party attacks love, marriage, family and religion? If we just look at their actions Democrats are every bit as focused on love, marriage, family and religion as Republicans, and Republicans fail to uphold those values every bit as often as Democrats do. Stop painting with such a broad brush. Crime goes up and down in all regions of the country for all kinds of reasons, it simply isn't true that Democratic policies are entirely to blame for all these issues.
I could argue that Republican policies are to blame for all the crime, like their continual refusal to enforce any sort of gun control, or their gutting of the tax code and demonization of government, which has made it much more difficult for government to be effective, because part of effective government is controlling crime. Or their permanent incarceration of a large percentage of African American men for nonviolent crimes in the 80s which negatively affected African American communities, creating fewer legal opportunities for young African Americans to advance themselves.
Controlling crime is incredibly complex, in which both the carrot and the stick have roles to play. I agree, progressives tend to think only about carrots and their ideas on crime are naive and can be harmful, but on the other hand, they are a minority of the Democratic Party. Using only the stick, as Republicans like to do, is not effective either, as we found out in the 80s. And now in the age of Trump, we've learned over and over that tough on crime ONLY applies to enemies or opponents of Trump. It does not apply to anyone that is loyal to Trump or who Trump likes for whatever reason, and since Trump is the leader of a Republican Party that has devolved into a Trumpist cult, this structure applies to the Republican Party as a whole. The Democrats are the law and order party now.
there is nothing complex about controlling crime. It was perfectly controlled back in the 1950s when nobody locked their doors and kids in New York City in elementary school freely rode around on the subways. Bring back love family marriage religion and respect for law and order and crime will disappear and America will be great again.
What are you talking about? There was no crime in the 50s? I'd go back and read some newspapers from that time and see if there was no discussion about out of control crime back then, you'd probably be surprised.
We have love, family, marriage and religion in spades in this country, among both Republicans and Democrats, boy you really have a dark view of your fellow citizens.
You can't and won't be able to bring back respect for law and order when the leader of the country and his party which currently is in power have no respect whatsoever for law and order. The rule of law is just going to degenerate further.
democrats are against the traditional family love marriage religion. Those are the basic institutions of American culture that have to be brought down to prepare a new foundation for Marxism. This is called raising class consciousness or cultural Marxism
he is not eviscerating the FBI he is just improving it by getting rid of the insurrectionists who said they would not allow Trump to be elected and tried to stop it with the Russian collusion hoax in the Hunter Biden laptop hoax. Common sense says that he is right on track by improving the FBI
"Insurrectionists who said they would not allow Trump to be elected"? No such thing exists except in the fevered mind of right-wing conspiracy theorists. Trump was elected, twice, fair and square, and no one tried to overturn his elections. The only insurrections going on were the ones Trump and his cult followers attempted in 2020-2021. The Russian investigation was all about Russian attempts to influence the election in Trump's favor, and it was proven over and over again that yes, Russia was doing their best to help Trump. Trump publicly welcomed that assistance, even if he didn't actively collude with Russia. He certainly wasn't going to do anything to stop that Russian assistance. The who Hunter Biden laptop thing is a complete joke, like that was going to stop Trump from winning an election haha.
He is not improving the FBI by firing competent people. Whenever Trump commits an illegal act and law enforcement tries to hold him accountable for it, his cultists immediately scream that he is being politically persecuted by the deep state. So basically Trump can never commit an illegal act according to his loyalists, because any illegal action by him is a made up hoax by the liberal media and deep state who are out to get him.
Trump hates any organization that tried to hold him accountable for his actions, that's why he's going after the FBI. Not because of some deep state conspiracy against him.
no such thing exists???? you don't even read the newspapers. I feel like I am talking to a child
The full context of the text exchange between **Peter Strzok** and **Lisa Page** on **August 8, 2016**, provides clarity on why Strzok said, **"We'll stop it."** Here’s the relevant part of the conversation:
- **Lisa Page**: *"[Trump's] not ever going to become president, right? Right?!"*
- **Peter Strzok**: *"No. No he won’t. We’ll stop it."*
In this exchange, Page expressed concern about the possibility of Donald Trump becoming president, and Strzok responded with reassurance that Trump would not be elected, adding, **"We'll stop it."** This statement has been interpreted by critics as suggesting that Strzok, as an FBI official, were planning use his position to influence the election outcome.
on top of that there was the Russian collusion insurrectionist hoax and the Hunter Biden laptop hoax and the FBI offices at Facebook and Twitter.
Now do you see why we say the Democrats are the dumb party. Time after time you are very self assured and turned out to know nothing. It is not too late for you I hope
Lol, a couple text messages are evidence of a vast conspiracy within the FBI to prevent Trump from becoming president, nice try. What actions were actually taken that were intended to interfere in the election and prevent Trump from winning? Notifying the public of the investigation into Hillary's emails? Boy, that really hurt Trump badly, didn't it.
what actions ??tough guy at the top of the FBI said they would not let it happen. Then they established offices at Twitter and Facebook and they perpetrated the Russian collusion hoax and the Hunter Biden laptop hoax. This is the deep state at it's socialist fascist worst. Let's hope cash Patel is able to close it down and re-create it.
He was not at the top of the FBI, he was some dude having an affair and venting with his lover. They did not do those things you are saying, that is right wing propaganda.
Patel is a loony conspiracy theorist who wants to sic the FBI on innocent American citizens, he's a complete disaster. Dude can't even say that Biden won the 2020 election, what a moron.
nobody is talking about Trump personally. He is barely a republican and he is not really our subject. He pardoned people who we thought were political prisoners so it has nothing to do with our subject whatsoever.
Trump is the leader of the Republican party, the strongest leader they have ever had as in terms of how he dominates the party, and therefore his views, policies and beliefs are the views, policies and beliefs of the party 100%, this is so obvious it seems unnecessary to even mention it. You're speaking about a Republican Party that no longer exists if you're talking about tough on crime. Today, "tough on crime" in the GOP only applies to performative cracking down on dark skinned people, it has nothing to do with making streets safer or upholding the rule of law. The only policy that matters in the GOP is loyalty to Trump, everything else is window dressing.
actually tough on crime is a huge issue for Republicans that was instrumental in propelling them back into office. Don't you read the newspapers at all? Republicans oppose "defund the police" and "no cash bail" policies, along with other nearly insane Democratic criminal justice reforms, based on concerns about public safety and law enforcement effectiveness. Here's a more specific breakdown:
1. **Defund the Police**: Republicans argue that reducing police budgets undermines law enforcement's ability to combat crime, respond to emergencies, and maintain order. They believe it could lead to understaffed departments, slower response times, and increased crime rates.
2. **No Cash Bail**: Republicans contend that eliminating cash bail risks releasing potentially dangerous individuals back into communities without accountability, increasing recidivism and endangering public safety. They argue cash bail ensures defendants appear for court and protects victims.
3. **Other Democratic Policies**:
- **Decriminalization of Minor Offenses**: Republicans argue this could lead to increased disorder and embolden criminal behavior.
- **Prosecutorial Discretion (e.g., not prosecuting low-level crimes)**: Critics claim this undermines the rule of law and encourages lawlessness.
- **Reduced Sentencing for Nonviolent Crimes**: Republicans worry this could lead to repeat offenses and fail to deter crime.
- **Prison Reform (e.g., early release programs)**: Opponents argue this could release dangerous individuals prematurely.
Republicans advocate for supporting law enforcement, maintaining strict bail systems, and prioritizing public safety over reform measures they view as incredibly naïve. I hope you understand now?
As I said in another post, crime is not bad right now, you can keep saying it over and over again but it's not true.
Defund the police. Democrats in government are not for this policy, please listen to their actual statements and look at their actions and not read what people on X say.
Prosecutorial Discretion. I think discretion is important, you need to analyze what the likelihood is recidivism is. The problem with progressives is they don't believe in prosecutorial discretion and think that low level crimes should not be prosecuted at all. Democrats don't agree with this.
Reduced Sentencing. You could also argue that locking up nonviolent criminals for long periods of time just terms them into worse criminals. I think balance is necessary here.
Prison reform - Dangerous individuals shouldn't be released prematurely, I don't think anyone wants this.
You need a balance between liberal and conservative policies for a healthy society to exist, because both liberals and conservatives contribute positively to society in different ways. This is an argument that is always ongoing, the problem is when we swing too far in one direction or another. I agree with you for example that no cash bail was a bad idea and events have born this out, so it will go away because yes, Democrats listen to reason. Listen, most Democrats hate the progressive online left as much as you do. Progressives only seem to protest and get angry at Democrats for example, even though you would think Republican policies are much less aligned with them.
if there is a liberal policy that not totally destructive why don't you tell us what it is. Everything they touch is a disaster for America. we do not need a balance we need to get rid of the left wing. Defend the police no cash bail selective prosecution decriminalizing larceny. It is a total disaster. We're at not four Republicans holding them back america would simply disappear. Trump for all of his issues seems to understand that and is in the process of making America great again.
Why didn't Trump make America great again already, he was president for four years? Unemployment was horrible when he left office, the economy was in the tank, millions more per capita died of Covid than in other first world countries, and he illegally tried to overturn an election, wow that was really great! I can't wait for the delights in store during Trump 2.0.
If you want to get rid of the left wing but not the right wing then that's a problem, because you are throwing our society out of balance which will lead to bad results. The far left is bad and should be shunned from polite society, and I think we've done a good job of that. Now we need to shun the far right and not encourage and enable them like the Trumpist GOP is doing.
Hmm, the liberals ended Jim Crow, I think that is a net positive, don't you? They also ended slavery, back when the Republican party was the liberal party in the 19th century. They also enacted reforms that blew up the crony capitalism in the late 19th century, that was a good thing (although they were called progressives back then, but they certainly weren't conservatives). More recently, they enacted reforms post-Nixon that attempted to reduce the power of the presidency, although unfortunately that failed. They decriminalized homosexuality, I think that's a good thing. They got Obamacare passed, I think that ended up being a good thing, it's certainly a popular thing. They've pushed police reform so that criminals on the police force actually get prosecuted when they commit crimes, that's a good thing. They push for legislation addressing climate change instead of ignoring it, that's a good thing. They want to tax wealthy Americans more to prevent the Brazilification of our society, I think that's a good thing. They want to push legislation encouraging Americans to eat healthier, I think that's a good thing (although eating healthy is trendy in the GOP now that RFK Jr is a GOP star, we'll see how long that lasts haha). They want to limit guns on our streets, that's a good thing. I know you're going to say gun control doesn't work, but New York City feels very safe without every 2nd person owning a gun. I'd feel much less safe in a rural town knowing every household had a gun, especially since statistically people are more likely to be accidentally killed by their own family's weapons then they are by an armed intruder.
See, you don't understand what a free, liberal society is. Liberals contribute to society by being open to new experiences and ways of thinking and doing things. This is good because society evolves over time and you need creativity and innovation to keep up with a changing world. Conservatives contribute to society by preserving good things that need to kept, by providing stability and predictability. These are valuable as well, and we need to keep them. Unfortunately the GOP, which is a reactionary revolutionary party under Trump, does not want to preserve good things that need to be kept, they are actively undermining these things, and instead of providing stability and predictability they are giving us the exact opposite. This is why the GOP is no longer a conservative party. Taking a sledgehammer to the constitution is not a conservative position.
Trump is not the strongest leader they have ever had. Jefferson and Madison created the party in 1792 to stand for freedom and liberty from government. You would have to say that Jefferson is the strongest leader they have ever had because he created the ideas that have remained behind the party for 200 years. Trump is the most imperfect leader both in terms of character and personality, and in terms of political ideas. But he still has a general republican orientation. He said America will never be socialist and indeed he wants to cut taxes and regulations to make government less powerful. This is certainly something that Jefferson and Madison would've approved of. he is pro family pro religion anticrime much like Jefferson and Madison. he has a strong commitment to the idea that bureaucratic monopolistic socialistic government is wasteful , and accordingly he and Elon are going about the business of making government more efficient. Hopefully you understand now?
Jefferson was never a member of the Republican party, he was in the Democratic-Republican party which evolved into the Democratic Party. The Republican Party didn't exist before the 1850s, Lincoln was the first Republican president.
By strong, I meant Trump is the most dominant leader the Republican Party has ever had, his word is basically law in the party right now.
America has never been a socialist country and likely never will, at least not in the near future, American society is too individualist for that. Democrats are not socialists, they're about as pro-business as Republicans are.
Don't try to make sense of Trump's policies, they are mostly meaningless. Trump's most important policy is accruing power and wealth through corruption, and staying out of legal trouble. He doesn't care about family, he doesn't care about religion, he is pro crime if it advantages him personally, he doesn't care AT ALL about rule of law or the constitution, he doesn't even understand how the constitution works. He doesn't care about bureaucratic waste, as long as that waste benefits him he's all for it. This is why he wants to reduce taxes and increase spending, because reducing taxes is popular and benefits his uber wealthy cronies (and himself), and he wants to keep spending on things like using the military to deport immigrants or fight protesters, or having shiny military parades with big tanks and jet planes. He wants to cut regulations for the same reason, to further enrich himself and his uber rich cronies, it has absolutely nothing to do with improving government efficiency or benefiting the country as a whole.
Elon’s actions, besides being illegal and unconstitutional, are doing nothing to improve efficiency, in fact they are making efficiency worse by making it incredibly difficult for all these agencies he is attacking to do their jobs, by making their jobs insecure and taking away their funding.
there is nothing illegal and unconstitutional about eliminating waste fraud and abuse from government. Democrats apparently are in favor of waste fraud and abuse because they have been in charge so much. They can't admit their monopolistic bureaucratic socialist government is filled with waste fraud and abuse because they created it and don't want to admit how badly they have screwed up. The government is $35 trillion in debt and spending $10 trillion a year and you think it's illegal for the executive to try to get a grip on the executive functioning government??Trump's function is to spend money wisely not to waste it on LGBTQIA initiatives in Honduras.
"there is nothing illegal and unconstitutional about eliminating waste fraud and abuse from government."
Yes there is, when a president does it unilaterally in violation of the constitution and existing law. We have separation of powers, all the things Trump is trying to do are supposed to be done by Congress through legislation, which is supposed to be in charge of funding the government, which is why the courts are ruling against Trump now. If Republicans care so much about eliminating waste, fraud and abuse, why don't doesn't the GOP in congress do something about it? The GOP does control both branches of congress after all, what are they waiting for?
Elon is the ultimate unelected swamp creature you guys supposedly hate. He doesn't even have a government job. he's the head of a non-governmental advisory body which has no legal authority to do anything! And yet he's giving 20-something tech bros from X access to American's private financial and social security details. These are blatantly illegal actions.
Democrats at least try to pay for their government expenditures through taxation. The debt increased more than ever under Trump 1.0, and he's trying to make it even worse this time. Republicans talk about reducing debt but then all they do when they are in power is spend like drunken sailors AND reduce taxes at the same time so that we spiral even further into debt. The Democrats are the only fiscally responsible party right now.
Nothing meaningless about Trump's policies at all. As I said they are basic Republican policies in the Jeffersonian tradition. You are letting yourself be distracted by his personality and character flaws.
His personality and character flaws are the reason why he is a lawless threat to our democracy and constitution. The policies, as bad as they are, are almost irrelevant. The only thing that matters is he is doing his best to destroy our constitutional republic.
Jefferson was the most dominant leader. He created the ideas that america still lives under. Trump is merely copying the ideas and trying to copy the basic culture that we had throughout most of American history until Democrat Marxist types came along trying to destroy it. The Democrats are trying to raise class consciousness so the ground will be fertile for the conversion to Marxism. There are several books about this around if you would like to begin your education.
Dude, it's weird you have such a love for Jefferson, most conservatives hate the guy. He was pro revolutionary France and though a little revolutionary bloodletting from time to time was good for democracy. If anything he was the closest politician to what would have been considered marxist at the time, if you consider Robispierre a proto-Marxist. Then again the modern GOP is a reactionary revolutionary party so maybe you're also on board with revolution? Most real constitutional conservatives support the Democrats now.
Jefferson founded the Republican Party in 1792 along with Madison. They founded the party to stand for freedom and liberty from government which is exactly what the modern Republican Party stands for. If you have a primary source indicating that the party was called democrat Republican in the 18th century I will pay you $10,000. obviously left wingers who control history don't want you to know that their party has no connection to the founding whatsoever. Its connection is more to Marxism than any ideas that motivated or energized the American founding.
"Historians use the term "Democratic-Republican" to describe these new organizations, but that name was rarely used at the time. They usually called themselves "Democratic", "Republican", "True Republican", "Constitutional", "United Freeman", "Patriotic", "Political", "Franklin", or "Madisonian""
Technically, yes it was called the Republican Party initially, I'll give you that, but this is not the party that Trump is a member of, there is no connection whatsoever, they are two independent parties, the one Jefferson was a member of is now the Democratic Party. The current Republican Party was founded in 1854.
The modern Republican Party stands for grift and loyalty to Donald Trump, as well as trying to overturn elections that they lose (elections that they win are ok apparently). They stand for freedom and liberty from government for themselves and their cronies, and the denial of freedom and liberty to their opponents.
Calling Democrats marxist is about as useful (and even less accurate) than calling Republicans fascists. At least Republicans aspire to be fascists nowadays, although they usually fail. No Democrats want to be marxists.
The subject was whether democrats or Republicans are harder on crime. Democrats obviously are “soft on crime” because of extreme positions like the “defund the police” movement. A number of Democrats, especially on the progressive side, have called for reallocating funds from police departments to social programs like education and mental health services. this shows a willingness to weaken law enforcement, potentially endangering communities and emboldening criminals. Additionally, many Democrats support reducing prison sentences for nonviolent offenders and decriminalizing certain offenses, which we believe sends the message that crime is not taken seriously enough.
Republicans, in contrast, are often seen as “tough on crime” because they advocate for stronger law enforcement, harsher sentencing, and policies like “three strikes” laws, which prioritize public safety and stricter punishments for criminals.
We need more funding of education and mental health services, and many police and crime experts would agree that the police are being asked to do too much, being tasked as mental health professionals instead of allowing them to focus on fighting crime. If you reduce the responsibilities of police and reallocate the funding for the responsibilities that you are taking away from them, then it's not really defunding them. Even though I don't agree with them, I believe that's what most progressives mean by "defund the police".
I think three strike laws are bad because they take away prosecutorial discretion, but yes that is an example of being tough on crime. I think the belief that Republicans are tougher on crime is out of date though. Both parties have changed quite a bit in the last 10-20 years. Just like the belief that Republicans are the pro-business party and the party that is better for economic policy. I believe this is no longer true, and in fact the Democratic party is better for business and the economy overall. Certainly the economy typically does better under Democratic presidents in the 21st century.
The belief that Republicans are tough on crime is out of date when they just won an election on it because they do not want to defend the police they do not want no cash bail, they do not want great prosecutorial discretion , they do not want to decriminalized theft under $1000., and they do not want as a matter of principle to hold society responsible for an individual's crimes . You are in the category of naïve goofball.
oh my God you are tiring and hopelessly naïve. You say we need more funding for education when we already spend more than anyone in the world and get horrible results. We need to get the Democrats out of education and turn the schools into charter schools so parents will select the schools and be responsible for the results. Right now the schools are in democrat union hands and the idea is making things easy for teachers and students regardless of the results. Teachers who get bad results should be instantly fired. Democrats are 100% opposed to quality in our education system.
Democrats are always soft on crime. It is truly amazing that you don't realize that. you lose election after election always pretending that the obvious truth isn't the truth. The Democrats feel sorry for criminals and believe it is society that creates crime. Republicans want to hold an individual responsible for his own actions. do you know who supports no cash bail and defunding police. there was recently a case where they wouldn't send a murderer back from Arizona to New York because the people in Arizona knew Alvin Bragg would probably let the murderer out. Keep dreaming though because the more you dream the more you will lose elections. And don't send your kid on a New York City subway for an afternoon's play because you'll be arrested for child abuse.
Nice projection there, everything you accuse Dems of is true of today's GOP. "Republicans want to hold an individual responsible for his own actions" LOL, what rock have you been living under the last 10 years? Republicans under Trump NEVER hold individuals responsible for their actions when it's a Republican or a conservative that did something wrong, instead it's always someone else's fault, the lying media, the deep state, woke cancel culture, the Democrats, etc etc. Trump has pardoned more violent criminals already in two weeks than any other president in their full term, talk about soft on crime! Now he's eviscerating the FBI, making our country more unsafe, that's a real tough on crime position, firing everyone who tries to hold criminals accountable hahaha.
Do Republicans in red states give their kids money to ride the bus around town when they're bored? Do they leave their houses unlocked when they go out? Do they leave their cars unlocked when they're parked at Walmart? Since there must be absolutely zero crime in Republican controlled towns I would be shocked.... shocked if someone had a lock or alarm system in their home! Why are small town conservatives so obsessed with owning guns to protect themselves if their conservative strongholds are so safe because they're run by responsible Republicans? IDK, I've lived in NYC for 25 years and never felt the need to own a gun or been threatened by criminals, but I'm just a dumb woke urban elite, what do I know?
Oh, and I see kids riding the subway alone all the time and no one tried to arrest their parents for child abuse. That kind of thing happens in suburbs, kids playing alone in the park or walking down the street alone get in trouble because of concerned neighbors. Kids in the big city actually have much more freedom because they don't have to beg their parents to take them places, they can just take a bus or subway to where they need to go, if it’s too far to walk to.
In the 1950s, the New York City subway was considered relatively safe, with low crime rates and high ridership. People, including children, rode the subway without fear of crime. Policing was visible, and social norms emphasized order in public spaces.
Today, subway crime rates have increased, especially in recent years, with assaults, robberies, and harassment becoming more common. Women and many adults report feeling unsafe due to harassment, mental illness, and random violence. The perception of insufficient security and reduced police presence has led many people to avoid the subway. welcome to Democrat america.
While the 1950s saw the subway as a reliable, safe mode of transport, today’s higher crime rates and safety concerns make many New Yorkers, particularly parents, hesitant to ride, especially at night or in less busy areas. This shift reflects the growing challenges of urban safety over time.
when America was great in the 1950s you could give a bored child $.15 and tell him to ride the subways in nyc all afternoon for fun. Today in Democratic America that would be considered child abuse because of the high crime. Even adult women are now often afraid to go out at night in New York City.
It's all relative, crime in NY was much worse in the 80s & 90s. Crime has risen since the pandemic, but New York City is still much safer than almost any big city in the country. Right wingers are just obsessed with New York because it's supposedly full of smug "coastal elites" and "woke marxists". They ignore all the crime that goes on in small towns in red states because that doesn't fit their narrative that Democrats and their policies are responsible for any criminal action that occurs anywhere in America.
As of December 2024, the U.S. inflation rate was 2.9%.  This marks a decrease from the 8.0% inflation rate in December 2022.  The inflation rate for 2023 was 4.12%.  Therefore, the cumulative inflation increase during the Biden administration, from January 2021 to December 2024, is approximately 15.02%.
Every one of these Senators who is up for reelection fears being primaries by DonnieFelon's chosen financed bt SpaceNazi (if he is still in The Felon's good graces)...so they will vote for his choices.
Super article except for one quibble: the team that supposedly supported a two-state solution in Israel/Palestine has exactly zero credibility on this issue. Democrats are every bit as beholden to AIPAC and Israel as Republicans are. We have refused for decades to go a damn thing to further a two -state solution.
"Julie Roginsky, In the Banter, writes about the cost of those 'protest votes' and raises a provocative question about those activists: Where, she writes, are the campus protests?”
They are where the other protests are, by everyone else, including us: waiting for someone else to take charge and make it happen.
It's really pretty simple stuff. This early on, nobody knows quite what to do and how to do it in the face of something they've never seen before. The logical reaction is to pause, look, listen, digest, and figure out how to move forward into the uncertainty. Put another way: a crazy person standing around throwing rocks is still somebody throwing rocks. No matter how bad his aim is, nobody is going to run out there to try to stop him until they figure out how to dodge the rocks, and better still if someone else figures out a way to do it first and takes control of the situation.
We are in uncharted waters. Give common folk time to get their bearings and figure out how to react. The much better target for our ire now is the political leadership that has utterly failed to exercise its constitutional power and keep the most basic guardrails in place. It was their job. They summed up their courage and made a calculated decision not to get involved. In my book there is no higher form of cowardice, perhaps even treason. Their failure to act dwarfs college students not protesting (yet) as much as the Eiffel Tower looms over a street vendor with a food cart.
The people in Dearborn were fed a pack of lies. Remember when Trump campaigned there? Standing on stage with him was his daughter Tiffany's father-in-law, Massad Boulos, originally from Lebanon, who did a lot of campaigning for Trump in Michigan along with Bisharra Bahbah, of Arabs for Trump, and Richard Grennell. Trump saw a vulnerability and took advantage of people desparate for a peaceful resolution just to get their votes. Now Trump and Netanyahu are going to wipe out Gaza once they displace the remaining Palestinians who live there. I don't thin DJT's America First supporters are going to go along with his scheme; Dearborn's residents might find some common ground with them.
As a retired cath lab nurse and public health nurse I’m disgusted by the inevitability of the appointment of a man that has NO medical background except that of a skeptic. I have a better sense of saving the environment that RFK, jr does of public health and health and disease research. It’s just bullshit. I’m so mad!!!!!
Why should we believe any of the so called concessions Cassidy is touting for caving on bobby's confirmation? He betrayed his Hippocratic Oath as well as his Constitutional Oath when he caved. Nothing that comes out of the trumpican party is truthful. Look at the lies from Bondi and the trump 1.0 supreme court nominees. As Charlie said it's BS.
Not only is he 'a clown'...he's a gangster. Intimidating his political minions into submission does not change either fact. It only makes them accomplices.
It's the duty of America to give the rest of the World something to talk about and be entertained by, and it's the dharma of The Donald to give Charlie Sykes and Keith Olbermann (and others in their position) plenty of grist to keep going. The great maw of the news cycle is unrelenting. I was both delighted and baffled by the posting about Chuck Schumer, late of Prospect Park West:
He is corrupt. He is chaotic. He is demented. He is cowardly. He is careless and ineffectual. He is a lot of things. But he isn’t strong. Thanks for calling it out.
As for Kennedy, thanks for calling out this form of bullshit. Even if we care about food safety (and we should), what possible credentials does he have that qualify him to speak to this issue?
I also appreciate the encouragement to speak up and write. I am a prolific reader and I love to write, so post my own versions of meta analysis of the “data” daily. I do have many who tell me that my contributions are helpful and inspiring. I am not famous, so don’t have a wide audience (nor is this my goal), but I do believe that all our small attempts add up.
I must wonder about the Palestinians who attacked Biden and rejected Harris. Why are they silent now? Are they afraid, or just embarrassed?
Yes. This is it. It’s chaos and incompetence. As the mayor of Boston put it, the number of deportations hasn’t ramped up, just the number of TV cameras.
And, in all probability, cassidy will be primaried and the deal is moot.
Just another in a line of “useful idiots.”
Reason 1,462,899 that I LOVE CHARLIE SYKES!
“Axios’s Mike Allen goggled at Trump’s ‘winning streak.’” - when I read this in the Axios newsletter I almost punched a hole in the wall! And as far as I know, Charlie is the only one calling it out! Thank you, Charlie!!!
PS- As of this morning they are still at it. From Axios:
“Less than three weeks into office, his administration has already struck deals of varying substance with Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Panama, El Salvador, Guatemala and even Venezuela.”
Let's remember that the American people voted for Trump because they were sick of 25% inflation, high crime, no cash bail, trans athletes, two regional wars, woke pronouns , homelessness, the deep state, “the big guy” mafia, jobs shipped off shore, high taxes, business strangulation, fentanyl , a southern invasion, 60% of our kids with chronic disease, continued attack on love , family, marriage and religion, the worst schools and healthcare in the civilized world , deadly botched withdrawal from Afghanistan that open the door for Putin's invasion of Ukraine, two insurrectionist attempts to subvert a presidential election with the Russian collusion hoax and the Hunter Biden hoax, FBI offices at Twitter and Facebook, anti-doge support for waste fraud and abuse, and anti-American opposition to basic American constitutional principle of freedom and liberty from big socialist fascist government.
America used to be that way. You could give your kids $.15 and tell them to go ride the subways for the afternoon. What changed is the Democrats attacked love family marriage religion and law and order itself.
Trump policy from the day he came down the escalator was to close the border.
crony capitalism socialism fascism are when government and business are combined. Capitalism is when government and business are separate. Trump is seeking to reduce taxes and regulations on business to separate business from government. Hope you understand now?
Elon is a great hero to humanity who is free to assist the president execute his executive authority. No one on earth is better suited than Elon. He runs Twitter with 10% of the employees that he used to have and he builds rocket ships that cost 10% of what NASA would pay to have them built. He is a blessing to America. Naturally Democrats who get everything perfectly backwards are opposed to Elon Musk. Democrats have become the enemy of America. In this case they are the enemy of waste fraud and abuse.
Elon is a narcissistic clown with the emotional maturity of a 10 year old, probably why he gets along so well with Trump, they have a lot in common. Elon wants to increase his wealth and power by eliminating any regulations that would restrain him, while also eliminating the competition. Do all these massive conflicts of interest Elon is mixed up in now not concern you at all? You really think he's doing this out of some sort of patriotic duty to his adopted country? You are the one being incredibly naive here.
Elon is a narcissistic clown. He created the EV industry to save the planet, he took over Twitter to save free speech on the planet, he created a low altitude satellite system called Starlink to bring Internet service to everyone in the world, he is the founder of XAI which uses most powerful technology by a factor of 1 million ever invented by humanity, he is the founder of SpaceX which is built the biggest rockets in the world at 10% it cost that NASA would've paid to build them and he is about to rescue two astronauts in space that the Democrats left stranded there. For you to call him a clown points to the pure stupidity of Democrats who get everything exactly backwards. Marx thought he was going to save humanity and instead he got 100 million people killed.
Elon is a clown, have you followed his twitter posts? He says things I would be embarrassed to hear from my child. He's a great visionary, I'll give him that, but he's still a narcissistic clown. Elon had a lot of good qualities before his ego and vanity took over, and he saw a great opportunity in aligning with Trump in order to gain more power and influence through extralegal means, that's why he bribed (I mean contributed) to Trump's campaign. But he didn't take over twitter to save free speech, twitter is now anti-free speech, he constantly silences voices critical of his agenda while he retweets white supremacists and amplifies their voices. I guess it's good for the white supremacists but not so good for people who may disagree with them. That's fine, because X is a private company so he can do with it what he wants.
The problem with Elon is he got involved in the government. The guy is too rich and connected, and the US government too dependent on his companies, for him to sticking his hands in government like he is now. Too many conflicts of interest.
Stop ranting about Marx, I'm not a fan of Marx and there are zero liberals or Democrats that I know (or that you know I would gather) that like Marx or think communism was a great thing.
obviously if it was in violation of the constitution or existing laws you would tell us exactly where in the constitution the executive isn't supposed to be the executive and where there are laws preventing the executive from being the executive. If there were laws they never would've let him in the front door of USA ID.
The executive cannot break laws or violate the constitution, this is Civics 101, c'mon! The courts will push back on the shenanigans at USAID, but the legal process takes time. Congress is the only body that has the authority to reform, defund, or eliminate USAID.
democrats are socialist. Kamala Harris has a father who is a Marxist economist. She was an economics major. She supported the violent antifa revolution and she was the only United States senator to vote to the left of Bernie Harris. 76% of Democrats say they would vote for a socialist. The Democrat party is the enemy of American values.
Crime is not bad now. Let me know if people are going to bed with their doors open the way they did in the 1950s and whether you see little kids riding around on the subways alone the way they did in the 1950s.
How little do you mean by little kids, 5 years old? I don't think that happened in the 50s either. If you mean 10-13 year olds, I do see them riding on the subway alone. Bad things happened in the 50s too, conservatives have this weird idealization of the 1950s like it was the greatest time ever in American history, but we've had other great times.
Also, tax rates where much much higher in the 50s and the government was able to work more efficiently back then, maybe there is something to think about there.
Look at crime statistics over the past 50 years and tell me again that crime is really bad now.
America had a very low crime rate before Democrats took over in the 1950s. The Democrat attack on love marriage family religion and law and order caused the dissolution of the family and the concomitant huge increase in criminality. In the 1950s when America was great you could give your kids $.15 and tell them to go ride on the subways for fun. Today in modern Democrat America that would be considered child abuse. You are like the frog in the boiling water who doesn't realize what is happening around you. We need to make America great again. And you need to wake up and help rather than remain totally hoodwinked by the Democrats.
oh my Lord. You must not read the newspapers at all. You don't realize that the American family is dying very rapidly and we lead the world in broken homes. This is specifically because of Democrats. Their energy is on ulGBTQIA plus. They will spew 1 million on LGBTQIA plus for every word they say about the traditional family and it's incredible importance to our civilization. In the black community where Democrats have had their way and are totally dominant 76% of black children grow up in broken or never formed homes. Democrats are a total deadly disaster on this issue. Isn't that so interesting that you are perfectly unaware and naïve. The Democrats have worked their magic on you.
Specifically because of Democrats? No Republicans bear responsibility in any way for the breakdown in American families? Last I checked wealth & education are the primary motivators for a stable marriage, so what's your solution? Criminalize no-fault divorce again? Or maybe a better idea would be to implement policies that improve the welfare & education of our poorest fellow citizens.
no Republicans are pro family and Democrats being Marxist are anti-family. The family is a social construct designed to promote capitalism and exploit females
Yep, that's exactly what Democrats think, that the family is a social construct designed to promote capitalism and exploit females lololol. Why do Republican politicians cheat on their wives so much if they are pro family? Trump himself for one, and then look at Matt Gaetz, he's a real pro family type hahaha. Elon is another one, since he's the leader of DOGE, he's a fair target for criticism. How many children does he have by how many women?
The issue is not whether a Republicans and Democrats cheat on their wives. The issue is who supports traditional American culture which at heart is based around love family marriage religion. The two main family groups in America the family research council and focus on the family obviously support Republicans. Democrats are socialist Marxistdevoting all of their energy to promoting LGBTQIA issues.
Ugh, traditional American culture is the same as every culture in the world in that sense, big deal. Name me a politician anywhere who doesn't support love family marriage religion. You guys just keep demonizing the left in order to justify your support of a lawless thug as president, give it up. Otherwise you would have to admit that Trump and the current GOP have done more to destroy this country than any other movement in history since the Civil War.
sadly it is true that in the 1950s a mother could give her board children $.15 and tell them to go have some fun riding the subways for the afternoon. Today and Democrat america that would be considered a child abuse. Small town america suffers from rising crime too even when Republicanbut this is also because of the Democrat disaster. They have successfully attacked love marriage family religion as well as law and order all of which contribute to remarkably high crime rates that are difficult to control when using only one leg of the stool. Hope you understand now?
Also I will say it again, crime is NOT high right now, it is much lower than it was in the 80s and 90s which was the peak of the most recent high crime wave. This wave of dangerous criminality is entirely an invention of the right to scare conservatives into voting for Republicans. There was a minor spike during the pandemic for various reasons which has since gone down.
First of all who in the Democratic party attacks love, marriage, family and religion? If we just look at their actions Democrats are every bit as focused on love, marriage, family and religion as Republicans, and Republicans fail to uphold those values every bit as often as Democrats do. Stop painting with such a broad brush. Crime goes up and down in all regions of the country for all kinds of reasons, it simply isn't true that Democratic policies are entirely to blame for all these issues.
I could argue that Republican policies are to blame for all the crime, like their continual refusal to enforce any sort of gun control, or their gutting of the tax code and demonization of government, which has made it much more difficult for government to be effective, because part of effective government is controlling crime. Or their permanent incarceration of a large percentage of African American men for nonviolent crimes in the 80s which negatively affected African American communities, creating fewer legal opportunities for young African Americans to advance themselves.
Controlling crime is incredibly complex, in which both the carrot and the stick have roles to play. I agree, progressives tend to think only about carrots and their ideas on crime are naive and can be harmful, but on the other hand, they are a minority of the Democratic Party. Using only the stick, as Republicans like to do, is not effective either, as we found out in the 80s. And now in the age of Trump, we've learned over and over that tough on crime ONLY applies to enemies or opponents of Trump. It does not apply to anyone that is loyal to Trump or who Trump likes for whatever reason, and since Trump is the leader of a Republican Party that has devolved into a Trumpist cult, this structure applies to the Republican Party as a whole. The Democrats are the law and order party now.
there is nothing complex about controlling crime. It was perfectly controlled back in the 1950s when nobody locked their doors and kids in New York City in elementary school freely rode around on the subways. Bring back love family marriage religion and respect for law and order and crime will disappear and America will be great again.
What are you talking about? There was no crime in the 50s? I'd go back and read some newspapers from that time and see if there was no discussion about out of control crime back then, you'd probably be surprised.
We have love, family, marriage and religion in spades in this country, among both Republicans and Democrats, boy you really have a dark view of your fellow citizens.
You can't and won't be able to bring back respect for law and order when the leader of the country and his party which currently is in power have no respect whatsoever for law and order. The rule of law is just going to degenerate further.
democrats are against the traditional family love marriage religion. Those are the basic institutions of American culture that have to be brought down to prepare a new foundation for Marxism. This is called raising class consciousness or cultural Marxism
he is not eviscerating the FBI he is just improving it by getting rid of the insurrectionists who said they would not allow Trump to be elected and tried to stop it with the Russian collusion hoax in the Hunter Biden laptop hoax. Common sense says that he is right on track by improving the FBI
"Insurrectionists who said they would not allow Trump to be elected"? No such thing exists except in the fevered mind of right-wing conspiracy theorists. Trump was elected, twice, fair and square, and no one tried to overturn his elections. The only insurrections going on were the ones Trump and his cult followers attempted in 2020-2021. The Russian investigation was all about Russian attempts to influence the election in Trump's favor, and it was proven over and over again that yes, Russia was doing their best to help Trump. Trump publicly welcomed that assistance, even if he didn't actively collude with Russia. He certainly wasn't going to do anything to stop that Russian assistance. The who Hunter Biden laptop thing is a complete joke, like that was going to stop Trump from winning an election haha.
He is not improving the FBI by firing competent people. Whenever Trump commits an illegal act and law enforcement tries to hold him accountable for it, his cultists immediately scream that he is being politically persecuted by the deep state. So basically Trump can never commit an illegal act according to his loyalists, because any illegal action by him is a made up hoax by the liberal media and deep state who are out to get him.
Trump hates any organization that tried to hold him accountable for his actions, that's why he's going after the FBI. Not because of some deep state conspiracy against him.
no such thing exists???? you don't even read the newspapers. I feel like I am talking to a child
The full context of the text exchange between **Peter Strzok** and **Lisa Page** on **August 8, 2016**, provides clarity on why Strzok said, **"We'll stop it."** Here’s the relevant part of the conversation:
- **Lisa Page**: *"[Trump's] not ever going to become president, right? Right?!"*
- **Peter Strzok**: *"No. No he won’t. We’ll stop it."*
In this exchange, Page expressed concern about the possibility of Donald Trump becoming president, and Strzok responded with reassurance that Trump would not be elected, adding, **"We'll stop it."** This statement has been interpreted by critics as suggesting that Strzok, as an FBI official, were planning use his position to influence the election outcome.
on top of that there was the Russian collusion insurrectionist hoax and the Hunter Biden laptop hoax and the FBI offices at Facebook and Twitter.
Now do you see why we say the Democrats are the dumb party. Time after time you are very self assured and turned out to know nothing. It is not too late for you I hope
Lol, a couple text messages are evidence of a vast conspiracy within the FBI to prevent Trump from becoming president, nice try. What actions were actually taken that were intended to interfere in the election and prevent Trump from winning? Notifying the public of the investigation into Hillary's emails? Boy, that really hurt Trump badly, didn't it.
what actions ??tough guy at the top of the FBI said they would not let it happen. Then they established offices at Twitter and Facebook and they perpetrated the Russian collusion hoax and the Hunter Biden laptop hoax. This is the deep state at it's socialist fascist worst. Let's hope cash Patel is able to close it down and re-create it.
He was not at the top of the FBI, he was some dude having an affair and venting with his lover. They did not do those things you are saying, that is right wing propaganda.
Patel is a loony conspiracy theorist who wants to sic the FBI on innocent American citizens, he's a complete disaster. Dude can't even say that Biden won the 2020 election, what a moron.
nobody is talking about Trump personally. He is barely a republican and he is not really our subject. He pardoned people who we thought were political prisoners so it has nothing to do with our subject whatsoever.
Trump is the leader of the Republican party, the strongest leader they have ever had as in terms of how he dominates the party, and therefore his views, policies and beliefs are the views, policies and beliefs of the party 100%, this is so obvious it seems unnecessary to even mention it. You're speaking about a Republican Party that no longer exists if you're talking about tough on crime. Today, "tough on crime" in the GOP only applies to performative cracking down on dark skinned people, it has nothing to do with making streets safer or upholding the rule of law. The only policy that matters in the GOP is loyalty to Trump, everything else is window dressing.
actually tough on crime is a huge issue for Republicans that was instrumental in propelling them back into office. Don't you read the newspapers at all? Republicans oppose "defund the police" and "no cash bail" policies, along with other nearly insane Democratic criminal justice reforms, based on concerns about public safety and law enforcement effectiveness. Here's a more specific breakdown:
1. **Defund the Police**: Republicans argue that reducing police budgets undermines law enforcement's ability to combat crime, respond to emergencies, and maintain order. They believe it could lead to understaffed departments, slower response times, and increased crime rates.
2. **No Cash Bail**: Republicans contend that eliminating cash bail risks releasing potentially dangerous individuals back into communities without accountability, increasing recidivism and endangering public safety. They argue cash bail ensures defendants appear for court and protects victims.
3. **Other Democratic Policies**:
- **Decriminalization of Minor Offenses**: Republicans argue this could lead to increased disorder and embolden criminal behavior.
- **Prosecutorial Discretion (e.g., not prosecuting low-level crimes)**: Critics claim this undermines the rule of law and encourages lawlessness.
- **Reduced Sentencing for Nonviolent Crimes**: Republicans worry this could lead to repeat offenses and fail to deter crime.
- **Prison Reform (e.g., early release programs)**: Opponents argue this could release dangerous individuals prematurely.
Republicans advocate for supporting law enforcement, maintaining strict bail systems, and prioritizing public safety over reform measures they view as incredibly naïve. I hope you understand now?
As I said in another post, crime is not bad right now, you can keep saying it over and over again but it's not true.
Defund the police. Democrats in government are not for this policy, please listen to their actual statements and look at their actions and not read what people on X say.
Prosecutorial Discretion. I think discretion is important, you need to analyze what the likelihood is recidivism is. The problem with progressives is they don't believe in prosecutorial discretion and think that low level crimes should not be prosecuted at all. Democrats don't agree with this.
Reduced Sentencing. You could also argue that locking up nonviolent criminals for long periods of time just terms them into worse criminals. I think balance is necessary here.
Prison reform - Dangerous individuals shouldn't be released prematurely, I don't think anyone wants this.
You need a balance between liberal and conservative policies for a healthy society to exist, because both liberals and conservatives contribute positively to society in different ways. This is an argument that is always ongoing, the problem is when we swing too far in one direction or another. I agree with you for example that no cash bail was a bad idea and events have born this out, so it will go away because yes, Democrats listen to reason. Listen, most Democrats hate the progressive online left as much as you do. Progressives only seem to protest and get angry at Democrats for example, even though you would think Republican policies are much less aligned with them.
if there is a liberal policy that not totally destructive why don't you tell us what it is. Everything they touch is a disaster for America. we do not need a balance we need to get rid of the left wing. Defend the police no cash bail selective prosecution decriminalizing larceny. It is a total disaster. We're at not four Republicans holding them back america would simply disappear. Trump for all of his issues seems to understand that and is in the process of making America great again.
Why didn't Trump make America great again already, he was president for four years? Unemployment was horrible when he left office, the economy was in the tank, millions more per capita died of Covid than in other first world countries, and he illegally tried to overturn an election, wow that was really great! I can't wait for the delights in store during Trump 2.0.
If you want to get rid of the left wing but not the right wing then that's a problem, because you are throwing our society out of balance which will lead to bad results. The far left is bad and should be shunned from polite society, and I think we've done a good job of that. Now we need to shun the far right and not encourage and enable them like the Trumpist GOP is doing.
Hmm, the liberals ended Jim Crow, I think that is a net positive, don't you? They also ended slavery, back when the Republican party was the liberal party in the 19th century. They also enacted reforms that blew up the crony capitalism in the late 19th century, that was a good thing (although they were called progressives back then, but they certainly weren't conservatives). More recently, they enacted reforms post-Nixon that attempted to reduce the power of the presidency, although unfortunately that failed. They decriminalized homosexuality, I think that's a good thing. They got Obamacare passed, I think that ended up being a good thing, it's certainly a popular thing. They've pushed police reform so that criminals on the police force actually get prosecuted when they commit crimes, that's a good thing. They push for legislation addressing climate change instead of ignoring it, that's a good thing. They want to tax wealthy Americans more to prevent the Brazilification of our society, I think that's a good thing. They want to push legislation encouraging Americans to eat healthier, I think that's a good thing (although eating healthy is trendy in the GOP now that RFK Jr is a GOP star, we'll see how long that lasts haha). They want to limit guns on our streets, that's a good thing. I know you're going to say gun control doesn't work, but New York City feels very safe without every 2nd person owning a gun. I'd feel much less safe in a rural town knowing every household had a gun, especially since statistically people are more likely to be accidentally killed by their own family's weapons then they are by an armed intruder.
See, you don't understand what a free, liberal society is. Liberals contribute to society by being open to new experiences and ways of thinking and doing things. This is good because society evolves over time and you need creativity and innovation to keep up with a changing world. Conservatives contribute to society by preserving good things that need to kept, by providing stability and predictability. These are valuable as well, and we need to keep them. Unfortunately the GOP, which is a reactionary revolutionary party under Trump, does not want to preserve good things that need to be kept, they are actively undermining these things, and instead of providing stability and predictability they are giving us the exact opposite. This is why the GOP is no longer a conservative party. Taking a sledgehammer to the constitution is not a conservative position.
how stupid is it for Democrats to say that when it is no longer illegal to steal anything valued at less than $1000 crime was not going to skyrocket?
Did Democrats ever say that? I don't think so. You are confusing progressive loud mouths on social media with Democrats.
Trump is not the strongest leader they have ever had. Jefferson and Madison created the party in 1792 to stand for freedom and liberty from government. You would have to say that Jefferson is the strongest leader they have ever had because he created the ideas that have remained behind the party for 200 years. Trump is the most imperfect leader both in terms of character and personality, and in terms of political ideas. But he still has a general republican orientation. He said America will never be socialist and indeed he wants to cut taxes and regulations to make government less powerful. This is certainly something that Jefferson and Madison would've approved of. he is pro family pro religion anticrime much like Jefferson and Madison. he has a strong commitment to the idea that bureaucratic monopolistic socialistic government is wasteful , and accordingly he and Elon are going about the business of making government more efficient. Hopefully you understand now?
Jefferson was never a member of the Republican party, he was in the Democratic-Republican party which evolved into the Democratic Party. The Republican Party didn't exist before the 1850s, Lincoln was the first Republican president.
By strong, I meant Trump is the most dominant leader the Republican Party has ever had, his word is basically law in the party right now.
America has never been a socialist country and likely never will, at least not in the near future, American society is too individualist for that. Democrats are not socialists, they're about as pro-business as Republicans are.
Don't try to make sense of Trump's policies, they are mostly meaningless. Trump's most important policy is accruing power and wealth through corruption, and staying out of legal trouble. He doesn't care about family, he doesn't care about religion, he is pro crime if it advantages him personally, he doesn't care AT ALL about rule of law or the constitution, he doesn't even understand how the constitution works. He doesn't care about bureaucratic waste, as long as that waste benefits him he's all for it. This is why he wants to reduce taxes and increase spending, because reducing taxes is popular and benefits his uber wealthy cronies (and himself), and he wants to keep spending on things like using the military to deport immigrants or fight protesters, or having shiny military parades with big tanks and jet planes. He wants to cut regulations for the same reason, to further enrich himself and his uber rich cronies, it has absolutely nothing to do with improving government efficiency or benefiting the country as a whole.
Elon’s actions, besides being illegal and unconstitutional, are doing nothing to improve efficiency, in fact they are making efficiency worse by making it incredibly difficult for all these agencies he is attacking to do their jobs, by making their jobs insecure and taking away their funding.
there is nothing illegal and unconstitutional about eliminating waste fraud and abuse from government. Democrats apparently are in favor of waste fraud and abuse because they have been in charge so much. They can't admit their monopolistic bureaucratic socialist government is filled with waste fraud and abuse because they created it and don't want to admit how badly they have screwed up. The government is $35 trillion in debt and spending $10 trillion a year and you think it's illegal for the executive to try to get a grip on the executive functioning government??Trump's function is to spend money wisely not to waste it on LGBTQIA initiatives in Honduras.
"there is nothing illegal and unconstitutional about eliminating waste fraud and abuse from government."
Yes there is, when a president does it unilaterally in violation of the constitution and existing law. We have separation of powers, all the things Trump is trying to do are supposed to be done by Congress through legislation, which is supposed to be in charge of funding the government, which is why the courts are ruling against Trump now. If Republicans care so much about eliminating waste, fraud and abuse, why don't doesn't the GOP in congress do something about it? The GOP does control both branches of congress after all, what are they waiting for?
Elon is the ultimate unelected swamp creature you guys supposedly hate. He doesn't even have a government job. he's the head of a non-governmental advisory body which has no legal authority to do anything! And yet he's giving 20-something tech bros from X access to American's private financial and social security details. These are blatantly illegal actions.
Democrats at least try to pay for their government expenditures through taxation. The debt increased more than ever under Trump 1.0, and he's trying to make it even worse this time. Republicans talk about reducing debt but then all they do when they are in power is spend like drunken sailors AND reduce taxes at the same time so that we spiral even further into debt. The Democrats are the only fiscally responsible party right now.
Nothing meaningless about Trump's policies at all. As I said they are basic Republican policies in the Jeffersonian tradition. You are letting yourself be distracted by his personality and character flaws.
His personality and character flaws are the reason why he is a lawless threat to our democracy and constitution. The policies, as bad as they are, are almost irrelevant. The only thing that matters is he is doing his best to destroy our constitutional republic.
Jefferson was the most dominant leader. He created the ideas that america still lives under. Trump is merely copying the ideas and trying to copy the basic culture that we had throughout most of American history until Democrat Marxist types came along trying to destroy it. The Democrats are trying to raise class consciousness so the ground will be fertile for the conversion to Marxism. There are several books about this around if you would like to begin your education.
Dude, it's weird you have such a love for Jefferson, most conservatives hate the guy. He was pro revolutionary France and though a little revolutionary bloodletting from time to time was good for democracy. If anything he was the closest politician to what would have been considered marxist at the time, if you consider Robispierre a proto-Marxist. Then again the modern GOP is a reactionary revolutionary party so maybe you're also on board with revolution? Most real constitutional conservatives support the Democrats now.
Jefferson founded the Republican Party in 1792 along with Madison. They founded the party to stand for freedom and liberty from government which is exactly what the modern Republican Party stands for. If you have a primary source indicating that the party was called democrat Republican in the 18th century I will pay you $10,000. obviously left wingers who control history don't want you to know that their party has no connection to the founding whatsoever. Its connection is more to Marxism than any ideas that motivated or energized the American founding.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic-Republican_Party
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_(United_States)
"Historians use the term "Democratic-Republican" to describe these new organizations, but that name was rarely used at the time. They usually called themselves "Democratic", "Republican", "True Republican", "Constitutional", "United Freeman", "Patriotic", "Political", "Franklin", or "Madisonian""
Technically, yes it was called the Republican Party initially, I'll give you that, but this is not the party that Trump is a member of, there is no connection whatsoever, they are two independent parties, the one Jefferson was a member of is now the Democratic Party. The current Republican Party was founded in 1854.
The modern Republican Party stands for grift and loyalty to Donald Trump, as well as trying to overturn elections that they lose (elections that they win are ok apparently). They stand for freedom and liberty from government for themselves and their cronies, and the denial of freedom and liberty to their opponents.
Calling Democrats marxist is about as useful (and even less accurate) than calling Republicans fascists. At least Republicans aspire to be fascists nowadays, although they usually fail. No Democrats want to be marxists.
The subject was whether democrats or Republicans are harder on crime. Democrats obviously are “soft on crime” because of extreme positions like the “defund the police” movement. A number of Democrats, especially on the progressive side, have called for reallocating funds from police departments to social programs like education and mental health services. this shows a willingness to weaken law enforcement, potentially endangering communities and emboldening criminals. Additionally, many Democrats support reducing prison sentences for nonviolent offenders and decriminalizing certain offenses, which we believe sends the message that crime is not taken seriously enough.
Republicans, in contrast, are often seen as “tough on crime” because they advocate for stronger law enforcement, harsher sentencing, and policies like “three strikes” laws, which prioritize public safety and stricter punishments for criminals.
We need more funding of education and mental health services, and many police and crime experts would agree that the police are being asked to do too much, being tasked as mental health professionals instead of allowing them to focus on fighting crime. If you reduce the responsibilities of police and reallocate the funding for the responsibilities that you are taking away from them, then it's not really defunding them. Even though I don't agree with them, I believe that's what most progressives mean by "defund the police".
I think three strike laws are bad because they take away prosecutorial discretion, but yes that is an example of being tough on crime. I think the belief that Republicans are tougher on crime is out of date though. Both parties have changed quite a bit in the last 10-20 years. Just like the belief that Republicans are the pro-business party and the party that is better for economic policy. I believe this is no longer true, and in fact the Democratic party is better for business and the economy overall. Certainly the economy typically does better under Democratic presidents in the 21st century.
The belief that Republicans are tough on crime is out of date when they just won an election on it because they do not want to defend the police they do not want no cash bail, they do not want great prosecutorial discretion , they do not want to decriminalized theft under $1000., and they do not want as a matter of principle to hold society responsible for an individual's crimes . You are in the category of naïve goofball.
oh my God you are tiring and hopelessly naïve. You say we need more funding for education when we already spend more than anyone in the world and get horrible results. We need to get the Democrats out of education and turn the schools into charter schools so parents will select the schools and be responsible for the results. Right now the schools are in democrat union hands and the idea is making things easy for teachers and students regardless of the results. Teachers who get bad results should be instantly fired. Democrats are 100% opposed to quality in our education system.
Democrats are always soft on crime. It is truly amazing that you don't realize that. you lose election after election always pretending that the obvious truth isn't the truth. The Democrats feel sorry for criminals and believe it is society that creates crime. Republicans want to hold an individual responsible for his own actions. do you know who supports no cash bail and defunding police. there was recently a case where they wouldn't send a murderer back from Arizona to New York because the people in Arizona knew Alvin Bragg would probably let the murderer out. Keep dreaming though because the more you dream the more you will lose elections. And don't send your kid on a New York City subway for an afternoon's play because you'll be arrested for child abuse.
Nice projection there, everything you accuse Dems of is true of today's GOP. "Republicans want to hold an individual responsible for his own actions" LOL, what rock have you been living under the last 10 years? Republicans under Trump NEVER hold individuals responsible for their actions when it's a Republican or a conservative that did something wrong, instead it's always someone else's fault, the lying media, the deep state, woke cancel culture, the Democrats, etc etc. Trump has pardoned more violent criminals already in two weeks than any other president in their full term, talk about soft on crime! Now he's eviscerating the FBI, making our country more unsafe, that's a real tough on crime position, firing everyone who tries to hold criminals accountable hahaha.
Do Republicans in red states give their kids money to ride the bus around town when they're bored? Do they leave their houses unlocked when they go out? Do they leave their cars unlocked when they're parked at Walmart? Since there must be absolutely zero crime in Republican controlled towns I would be shocked.... shocked if someone had a lock or alarm system in their home! Why are small town conservatives so obsessed with owning guns to protect themselves if their conservative strongholds are so safe because they're run by responsible Republicans? IDK, I've lived in NYC for 25 years and never felt the need to own a gun or been threatened by criminals, but I'm just a dumb woke urban elite, what do I know?
Oh, and I see kids riding the subway alone all the time and no one tried to arrest their parents for child abuse. That kind of thing happens in suburbs, kids playing alone in the park or walking down the street alone get in trouble because of concerned neighbors. Kids in the big city actually have much more freedom because they don't have to beg their parents to take them places, they can just take a bus or subway to where they need to go, if it’s too far to walk to.
In the 1950s, the New York City subway was considered relatively safe, with low crime rates and high ridership. People, including children, rode the subway without fear of crime. Policing was visible, and social norms emphasized order in public spaces.
Today, subway crime rates have increased, especially in recent years, with assaults, robberies, and harassment becoming more common. Women and many adults report feeling unsafe due to harassment, mental illness, and random violence. The perception of insufficient security and reduced police presence has led many people to avoid the subway. welcome to Democrat america.
While the 1950s saw the subway as a reliable, safe mode of transport, today’s higher crime rates and safety concerns make many New Yorkers, particularly parents, hesitant to ride, especially at night or in less busy areas. This shift reflects the growing challenges of urban safety over time.
25% inflation? High crime? Not a single thing you said has a shred of truth to it.
when America was great in the 1950s you could give a bored child $.15 and tell him to ride the subways in nyc all afternoon for fun. Today in Democratic America that would be considered child abuse because of the high crime. Even adult women are now often afraid to go out at night in New York City.
It's all relative, crime in NY was much worse in the 80s & 90s. Crime has risen since the pandemic, but New York City is still much safer than almost any big city in the country. Right wingers are just obsessed with New York because it's supposedly full of smug "coastal elites" and "woke marxists". They ignore all the crime that goes on in small towns in red states because that doesn't fit their narrative that Democrats and their policies are responsible for any criminal action that occurs anywhere in America.
As of December 2024, the U.S. inflation rate was 2.9%.  This marks a decrease from the 8.0% inflation rate in December 2022.  The inflation rate for 2023 was 4.12%.  Therefore, the cumulative inflation increase during the Biden administration, from January 2021 to December 2024, is approximately 15.02%.
Every one of these Senators who is up for reelection fears being primaries by DonnieFelon's chosen financed bt SpaceNazi (if he is still in The Felon's good graces)...so they will vote for his choices.
If only there were more Charlies and fewer Bret Stephens.
to misquote Arthur Miller: "For them that quail to bring men out of ignorance, God damns their kind especially, for they know this to be fraud."
Super article except for one quibble: the team that supposedly supported a two-state solution in Israel/Palestine has exactly zero credibility on this issue. Democrats are every bit as beholden to AIPAC and Israel as Republicans are. We have refused for decades to go a damn thing to further a two -state solution.
"Julie Roginsky, In the Banter, writes about the cost of those 'protest votes' and raises a provocative question about those activists: Where, she writes, are the campus protests?”
They are where the other protests are, by everyone else, including us: waiting for someone else to take charge and make it happen.
It's really pretty simple stuff. This early on, nobody knows quite what to do and how to do it in the face of something they've never seen before. The logical reaction is to pause, look, listen, digest, and figure out how to move forward into the uncertainty. Put another way: a crazy person standing around throwing rocks is still somebody throwing rocks. No matter how bad his aim is, nobody is going to run out there to try to stop him until they figure out how to dodge the rocks, and better still if someone else figures out a way to do it first and takes control of the situation.
We are in uncharted waters. Give common folk time to get their bearings and figure out how to react. The much better target for our ire now is the political leadership that has utterly failed to exercise its constitutional power and keep the most basic guardrails in place. It was their job. They summed up their courage and made a calculated decision not to get involved. In my book there is no higher form of cowardice, perhaps even treason. Their failure to act dwarfs college students not protesting (yet) as much as the Eiffel Tower looms over a street vendor with a food cart.
The people in Dearborn were fed a pack of lies. Remember when Trump campaigned there? Standing on stage with him was his daughter Tiffany's father-in-law, Massad Boulos, originally from Lebanon, who did a lot of campaigning for Trump in Michigan along with Bisharra Bahbah, of Arabs for Trump, and Richard Grennell. Trump saw a vulnerability and took advantage of people desparate for a peaceful resolution just to get their votes. Now Trump and Netanyahu are going to wipe out Gaza once they displace the remaining Palestinians who live there. I don't thin DJT's America First supporters are going to go along with his scheme; Dearborn's residents might find some common ground with them.
As a retired cath lab nurse and public health nurse I’m disgusted by the inevitability of the appointment of a man that has NO medical background except that of a skeptic. I have a better sense of saving the environment that RFK, jr does of public health and health and disease research. It’s just bullshit. I’m so mad!!!!!
Why should we believe any of the so called concessions Cassidy is touting for caving on bobby's confirmation? He betrayed his Hippocratic Oath as well as his Constitutional Oath when he caved. Nothing that comes out of the trumpican party is truthful. Look at the lies from Bondi and the trump 1.0 supreme court nominees. As Charlie said it's BS.
Not only is he 'a clown'...he's a gangster. Intimidating his political minions into submission does not change either fact. It only makes them accomplices.
It's the duty of America to give the rest of the World something to talk about and be entertained by, and it's the dharma of The Donald to give Charlie Sykes and Keith Olbermann (and others in their position) plenty of grist to keep going. The great maw of the news cycle is unrelenting. I was both delighted and baffled by the posting about Chuck Schumer, late of Prospect Park West:
https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F340600b9-ad83-4bf1-9d04-946f9a835746_560x680.png
Yes, that list is piled high and deep with bull shit.