When Ronald Reagan accepted the Republican Party nomination in Dallas in 1984, he declared that “we are the party of new ideas, we are the party of the future whose philosophy is vigorous and dynamic. And they are the party of the tried and not-true.”
The battle for which side represents the “party of ideas” has raged for generations. After the progressive policies of the New Deal, perhaps the political pendulum swung forcefully towards the GOP. (A certain dynamism accompanies the “ideas party,” as Reagan won young voters by 19 points.)
In addition to politicians, Californians get to vote directly on legislation. Propositions, as they are known, appear on official Golden State ballots every election.
I called a friend of mine in California last year, right before the election. “So, what are your opinions on these propositions this year?” I asked.
My friend doesn’t follow politics like I do. “I’m not sure,” he responded. After a second, he added, “but that Uber one, I’m against that. They want their workers to be employees…or contractors…I forget. But whatever they want, I’m doing the opposite.”
Proposition 22 sought to classify gig workers —…
Anyone catch the most recent Sarah Huckabee Sanders campaign ad? The former White House press secretary turned Arkansas gubernatorial hopeful released a new campaign hit, and it’s a doozy.
I’ll save you a few minutes. Here are some of the highlights:
— She says, “the radical left’s solution is to impose government control and censorship from the top down.”
— Casts herself as the “last line of defense” against…Joe Biden? I think.
— A Hannity chyron of DEMOCRATS EMBRACE VENEZUELAN-STYLE SOCIALISM in all caps floods the screen.
— She promises to not be “politically correct,” while then declaring that she…
What is the GOP doing?
I respect them. Not their policies, which favor the rich or the angry (or the angry rich), or their politicians, who proved spineless during the Trump era, but I do respect their game. The establishment. The old boys club.
The party that blocked President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, claiming it was too close to an election, only to usher in President Trump’s nominee after voting in the next election had already begun. You hate it, but you respect it. It is a brazen pursuit of power, a minority hellbent on ruling.
Normally, Republicans pick their…
We must remember what these past four years were like, even as Trump’s reign of terror slowly dissipates. The GOP will move on from Trump. In fact, the process is already underway.
Soon, Republicans will pretend the Trump years never happened. The establishment squeezed Trump for tax cuts and right-wing judges. In the lame duck period, and having used him for their agenda, they discarded him and forged ahead.
They are counting on us to forget. They are betting on it. Tax cuts for the wealthiest among us, kicking millions of Americans off healthcare — everything. …
President Biden got to work quickly on Wednesday, signing 17 executive orders/memoranda just hours after being sworn-in.
Let’s rank these bad boys.
(In no particular order:)
Mandating mask wearing and social distancing at all federal buildings, while encouraging Americans to participate in a “100 day masking challenge.”
Rejoining the World Health Organization, which Trump left amid a global pandemic. Dr. Fauci will address the WHO tomorrow.
Creating the Covid-19 Response Coordinator position, which will coordinate the government’s actions in response to the pandemic. The newly created position will help install logistics in overseeing vaccine distribution.
The most important day one…
Inside the twilight of influence.
Given the last five years, it is difficult to imagine an other-than-Trump epicenter for political intrigue, power, and influence. But it is entirely possible that, with the Trump train careening off the tracks, a brave new world of Trump-less news awaits us.
The signs are everywhere. Reeling from a failed insurrection and a second impeachment, Trump’s approval rating has plummeted to levels never before seen — now just 29%, according to Pew. A full 76% of Americans rate Trump’s post election behavior as poor, and about seven in ten Americans do not want Trump to…
“For months, our cities burned, police stations burned, our businesses were shattered. And they said nothing, or they cheered for it, and they fundraised for it, and they allowed it to happen in the greatest country in the world,” Congressman Matt Gaetz, the Republican from Florida, said during the second impeachment of President Trump.
“Well, some have cited the metaphor that the president ‘lit the flame.’ Well, they lit the actual flames, actual fires,” he added.
First of all, the notion that Biden did not speak out against violence this past summer is categorically false. …
The losses continue to pile up.
On Wednesday, Trump became the first president to be impeached multiple times. The charge was incitement of insurrection. Ten Republicans joined the entire Democratic voting bloc, sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate for a trial.
The ten Republicans who voted to impeach Trump are noteworthy. During the first impeachment, not a single Republican voted against Trump. (Justin Amash, a former Republican turned Independent, did vote against Trump).
Additionally, there were some Democratic defections. Not this time, however.
Here are the ten Republicans who voted against Trump, and their districts voting results in…
Imagine Trump’s anti democratic efforts being successful, and act accordingly.
We are all guilty.
Not of a crime, no. Of something else. Guilty of permitting an injustice in broad daylight. Blameworthy of allowing history’s dumbest and slowest-moving coup to drip downhill uninhibited.
We have given the president a pass because we know, at the end of the day, his efforts to steal the election will be futile. But the fact that Trump won’t be successful shouldn’t mean his actions are any less deplorable, reprehensible, and frankly, illegal.
What is the current state of the defense of American democracy from the…