MISLEADING AND MISLED: We heard the quiet part spoken out loud!

FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2022

Our need for a federal indictment: Last evening, late in The 11th Hour, a rising pundit, Juanita Tolliver, said the quiet part right out loud.

Presumably based upon her fees as a political strategist, Tolliver seems to live in the palace at Versailles. (We base that assessment on the standard backdrop one sees when she appears by remote.) 

Judged by prevailing norms, Tolliver may well be a highly capable political strategist. At any rate, her  statement on last evening's program struck us as highly instructive. 

Responding to a question from Stephanie Ruhle, she took the quiet part loud. This was the start of a longer statement:

TOLLIVER (6/16/22): Let's be real, Stephanie. The only people who can take care of Trump are the Republican voters who keep supporting him, and if they turn away, that's the key.

Sadly, I'm not sure if these Select Committee hearings will have any impact on Republican voters, especially Republican primary voters who are casting ballots across the country in the coming weeks and months. But I do think that what can get rid of Trump also is a DOJ prosecution.

Imagine if federal charged are finally brought against Trump. Imagine if he's finally held accountable, and has some sort of penalty for this type of behavior...

Imagine all the federal charges, the cable analyst said! 

That was just the start of Tolliver's lengthy statement.  At some point, we may force ourselves to transcribe the fuller exchange which followed.

 For today, we'll tell you this:

It seems to us that Tolliver's statement captures the basic political problem facing our flailing blue tribe. That problem would be this:

We're very, very concerned about the possibility that Donald J. Trump could get elected again. And we seem to feel that he can only be stopped if we can get him locked up.

As Tolliver continued, this point became more and more clear. Because MSNBC, for obvious reasons, is currently slow-walking transcript production, we won't be posting the text of her full statement today.

Tolliver offered no sense that our blue tribe can fashion a political solution to this political problem. We're left with one way out—federal indictment—and as she continued, Tolliver suggested that the January 6 committee is actively seeking that end.

How silly can it get when the brightest minds of our floundering tribe attempt to puzzle this out? By the 7 o'clock hour this morning, Jonathan Lemire was actually asking, on Morning Joe, if there is any chance that Trump could be indicted on an "attempted murder" charge, based on the statements he made when Mike Pence was facing peril.

Might Trump get charged with attempted murder? Yesterday afternoon, this idea entered the stream through this tweet by Harry Litman

"Not clear if you could convict him of attempted murder of the Vice President," Litman wrote, "but not clear you couldn't."  As of this morning, Lemire was asking, apparently in total seriousness, if some such thing might be possible.

With a justified sense of foreboding, our tribe is afraid that Donald J. Trump could get elected again. But we don't know how to address that possibility on a political basis. We don't know how to convince The Others not to vote for Trump. 

Yesterday's hearing brought our current perilous state into clearer focus. On a national basis, it seems to us that our perilous political situation is made up of four parts:

First: Almost surely, Donald J. Trump is a sociopath or something like that. (For better or worse, our mainstream press corps has agreed that this fairly obvious possibility must never be discussed.)

Second: We now possess a wide array of thoroughly ideological news / opinion orgs. Our news orgs are now almost completely segregated on the basis of viewpoint.

This includes cable news channels, talk radio shows and various sites on the web. As this segregation has hardened, the Internet has turned into the misinformation superhighway, a far cry from what had once been planned

Third: We the people are highly susceptible to tribalized misinformation. That seems to be true no matter how ludicrous that misinformation may be. 

Among such people in the red tribe, it started with the claim that Obama was born in Kenya, then moved on to the unfounded claim that the 2020 election had been stolen. 

Eventually, it moved on to embrace the idea that a vice president could simply decide, on his own, whether the certified results of an election had to be respected. 

Who could believe such a ludicrous thing? Millions of people can!

Fourth: This brings us to the fourth part of our political problem. The fourth part of our problem is Us. 

Our tribe has been a problem for years—but as is typically true within human tribes, we're largely unable to see this.

Those are the building blocks of the political peril we face. That said, it has occurred to us, in the past few days, that everything we ever needed to know about this state of affairs we learned as a college freshman!

We expect to explore that idea in our reports next week. For now, let the word go forth to the nations:

To some extent, we've met the enemy. And the enemy—in part—is Us!

We're loathed by tens of millions of voters. They can't wait to vote against us, but our favorite pundits and strategists seem to have no idea why that is.

The rest of us get very angry every time someone asks!

As Tolliver noted, these red tribe voters aren't watching the current congressional hearings. Our strategists seem to think that our only hope is to get Trump locked up.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but our tribe isn't super-impressive. We're part of our nation's political problem, and that problem is very real.

How does Einstein's explanation fit in? It's one of our most frequently asked questions!

Back in 1915, Albert Einstein wrote a book for general readers which sometimes didn't make sense. His explanation of "the relativity of simultaneity" made no apparent sense, but our tribe's most respected academics and journalists have been repeating that explanation for more than a hundred years!

No one seems to have noticed the fact that the explanation doesn't seem to make sense. When our discernment is so limited on the highest academic and publishing levels, why should anyone expect Tolliver or Lawrence or Rachel or Joe to see through the political glass less darkly?

For ourselves, we don't see an obvious way out of our current mess. On various sides of various aisles, misinformation is big business now—and we the people are highly susceptible to the pleasures it affords.

Just as it ever was, this leaves us splitting ourselves into warring tribes. And at present, our nation's creaking electoral systems favor the red state alignments.

Watching last evening's 11th Hour, we thought we heard the quiet part being stated out loud. We don't know how to speak to The Others, and they can't wait to prevail.

That said, by the end of our freshman year, we had learned all about this! The story starts with the horrible kid who was disrespecting the cafeteria lady, but then it moves on from there.

"Man [sic] is the rational animal," a famous logician is said to have said. We still seem to think that his statement's correct—but only about Us, of course!

Just as an aside: In summary, these are our nation's big problems:

Sociopathy; partisan "news orgs;" imperfect discernment; Us.

We'll guess that Trump is a sociopath, as Mary Trump basically said. Over the course of the past six years, two people tried to insert this topic into the public discourse. 

Our cable channels turned Mary Trump into a standard political pundit. On the academic front, Dr. Bandy X. Lee got fired by Yale, and has never been heard from again!


72 comments:

  1. Here is the important part of what Tolliver said, not the bolded part that Somerby emphasizes:

    "Imagine if he's finally held accountable, and has some sort of penalty for this type of behavior..."

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  2. "We're very, very concerned about the possibility that Donald J. Trump could get elected again. And we seem to feel that he can only be stopped if we can get him locked up."

    Of course sane people are very concerned about Trump's reelection. He is a danger to our democracy and to the country. He proved that during his last term.

    As a liberal Democrat, I do not care how he is stopped, but he must be stopped. I personally would like to see him prosecuted, convicted, and spend the rest of his life in jail. His crimes are that serious. I believe in the rule of law and do not want this to become a dictatorship under Trump or anyone else.

    Somerby should feel similarly, but he apparently does not. Today he is attacking yet another female liberal and he is pretending she said something that leftists are trying to hide. No. None of us is hiding how we feel about Trump and what should happen to him, as the result of his illegal actions and crimes against our nation and the people. Trump must no be permitted to take office again.

    Somerby tells us today which side he is on. It should not be a surprise to anyone who has been reading this blog regularly.

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    Replies
    1. Straw man argument. The left hiding how they feel about Trump being indicted is not the issue. The issue is Democratic Leadership does not have a political answer to Trump. How scary is that? Why is that? Why are blacks and Hispanics leaving the Democratic Party? Why isn't the Democratic Party on TV talking about the precarious situation so many people are in right now?

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    2. It's Not Just Hispanics. The Democrats Are Losing the Black Vote

      https://www.newsweek.com/its-not-just-hispanics-democrats-are-losing-black-vote-opinion-1702581

      It seems Democrats can't meaningfully address class issues. Neither can Republicans.

      Both sides can't.

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    3. "And as the Democratic Party started to cater more and more to white coastal elites, it revealed a deep tension between the needs of a mostly moderate Black community anxious for a fair shot at achieving the American Dream and a party catering to a college-educated professional class that doesn't think much of America."

      "Ironically, it has been the party's populists that have changed the trajectory. As today's Republicans focus more on class and culture, it is beginning to attract voters of all races who share their views on those issues."

      This is why the Democratic party as we know it is about to crumble.

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    4. Why should a political party have a political solution to a coup? A coup is a show of force, not an act within a political context. Is Somerby suggesting Democrats should organize their own militia?

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    5. Democrats do not need 100% of Hispanics or black voters to win. We need the majority of people who can tell a con when they hear one. No number of Hispanic voters can compensate for Trump’s dishonesty. He is a crook and he is going to jail.

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    6. 4:11 another misreading on your part. The Democrats do not have a political solution to Trump winning in 2024. Not the coup.

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    7. If I were Democrats, I would focus on class issues.

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    8. Of course Democrats have a political solution to Trump winning in 2024. Their solution is to get out the Democratic vote and defeat him, as occurred in 2020. It will be easier in 2024 since Trump will be prosecuted and more voters will have seen these hearings.

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    9. Dems are not losing a significant amount of Black nor Latin voters, this notion, such as offered in that opinion piece, has been debunked already to the point that it is on you to spend 5 min on Google; to fall for such an obvious misleading right wing talking point also indicates a total misunderstanding of modern electoral politics, which is not about persuasion but about motivating your voters to actually vote (or suppressing your opposition).

      Not sure the humor is intentional but I appreciate the laugh offered by the notion that Dems and Repubs are the same but that only Dems are in trouble. Good one!

      Trump and the Republican Party belong to a movement based on oppression and wealth accumulation through oppression. Dems offer solutions to oppression, as well as a general progress towards a better society. So Somerby is completely wrong in his analysis. If Trump/Repubs win it is because they are better at motivating their voters, mostly for reasons inherent to their psychology, and they are better at suppressing opposition voters; all of this is achieved through corrupt means.

      Dems have issues, but not the ones Somerby suggests. Dems do need to focus more on class and race, need to continue to purge establishment neoliberals like Pelosi and Manchin, need to spend money on state and local races, need to do better organizing at a grassroots level.

      What we do not need to do is capitulate on right wing corruption and phony right wing grievance; anybody suggesting this strategy, like Somerby is, is either a moron or corrupt themselves.

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    10. Not sure the humor is intentional but I appreciate the laugh offered by the notion that Dems and Repubs are the same but that only Dems are in trouble. Good one!

      Yes that was me, not to be confused with the other person you were responding to and it was meant to be sarcastic to point to the conflicting double talk they spew.

      These people are here for one purpose and that is to suppress the Dem vote by whatever means. Convince people that there is no difference between the two parties, while at the same time trying to demoralize us by claiming we're losing Hispanic and black voters. No, it doesn't have to make sense.

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    11. The Democrats have plenty to worry about. From the looks of things, the Democrats’ hold on Hispanic voters appears to be rapidly eroding. In the 2020 Democratic primaries, Bernie Sanders won Latinos over with a platform of Medicare for all and higher wages, lunch-bucket issues that resonate with Hispanics. You don't need to be a fortune teller: signs point to GOP landslide this year.

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    12. I don't get why Democrats are so upset about massively losing voters.

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    13. Once you get Hispanics to realize that you don't care about class issues and only pay them lip service, getting them to leave the party is child's play.

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    14. All these comments about losng voters are coming from right wing trolls. More lies.

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    15. True, but is it Mao, Somerby, or both?

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    16. Relax. If Hispanics were really leaving the Democratic Party, Republicans wouldn't be working overtime to suppress their votes.

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    17. "In a nationwide survey from December 2021, 40 percent of Hispanic voters said they found the term bothersome or offensive, and only 2 percent said they refer to themselves as Latinx."

      Liberals being in touch with an understanding Hispanics is one reason why

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    18. Hispanics are so excited to leave the Democratic Party.

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    19. The white liberals who run the Democratic party are happy to change your language and the way you refer to yourself and not address your economic issues. What ethnic group wouldn't get excited about that?

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    20. I have a good idea. Let's completely ignore the economic anxiety of the working class and instead focus on the rights of the transgendered. What could possibly go wrong?

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    21. "...and instead focus on the rights of the transgendered"

      But what about the pedos? Marginalized liberal identity whose rights are routinely violated by right-wing pedophobe fascists. How many more must suffer?

      Delete
  3. Easiest way to keep Trump from the 2024 Republican Presidential nomination is for Trump to openly support reparations for slavery.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yup.
      Don’t believe the lie that there is nothing Trump can say or do that will lose him support of Republican voters.

      Delete
    2. Our own David in Cal did his part to sink Trump’s re-election campaign by lying about blacks having it better under Trump.

      Delete
  4. "We're loathed by tens of millions of voters. They can't wait to vote against us, but our favorite pundits and strategists seem to have no idea why that is."

    This is a lie. Our favorite pundits and strategists understand that Republican rank and file have been taught to loathe liberals via the constant vilification of Democrats by Fox News, Republican politicians, and other outlets. There is no mystery about this.

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  5. "We're very, very concerned about the possibility that Donald J. Trump could get elected again. And we seem to feel that he can only be stopped if we can get him locked up."

    Yeah, exactly. Ever heard the term "banana republic", dear Bob?

    That's the way your scummy liberal tribe operates these days.

    Not quite a "liberal junta" yet, but it's getting there. We'll see...

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  6. Here is Trump's plan. This is why Trump needs to be prosecuted.

    "1. President Trump engaged in a massive effort to spread false and fraudulent information to the American public claiming the 2020 election was stolen from him.
    2. President Trump corruptly planned to replace the acting attorney general, so that the Department of Justice would support his fake election claims.
    3. President Trump corruptly pressured Vice President Pence to refuse to count certified electoral votes in violation of the U.S. Constitution and the law.
    4. President Trump corruptly pressured state election officials, and state legislators, to change election results.
    5. President Trump’s legal team and other Trump associates instructed Republicans in multiple states to create false electoral slates and transmit those slates to Congress and the National Archives.
    6. President Trump summoned and assembled a violent mob in Washington and directed them to march on the U.S. Capitol.
    7. As the violence was underway, President Trump ignored multiple pleas for assistance and failed to take immediate action to stop the violence and instruct his supporters to leave the Capitol."

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  7. "We'll guess that Trump is a sociopath, as Mary Trump basically said. Over the course of the past six years, two people tried to insert this topic into the public discourse. "

    Over the past six years, many people (including the majority of Democrats and liberals in public life) have discussed this topic. We have done it by focusing on Trump's behavior, exhibited in many different contexts, not by labeling him, which is only a form of name-calling. It is Trump's behavior that has gotten him into the trouble identified in these hearings. That behavior is unacceptable and the reason why, if it comes to that, he may be prosecuted and jailed. His behavior is a threat to our democracy, to the rule of law, to the well-being of our country and its people. His behavior resulted in hundreds of thousands of unnecessary covid deaths. It has resulted in theft of public assets and individual contributions. It has resulted in the incompetent administration of our nation's activities during Trump's term, with suffering by those affected, and now it is resulting in this deepened divide between those who hope to benefit by Trump's grift and those who oppose him. Somerby wants to blame liberals for the division, but we didn't start it, didn't deepen it, and cannot close it by our own efforts. Trump and his Republican conspirators are the problem and they need to be removed and punished so that this does not happen again.

    Today Somerby is defending Trump and the Republicans. That is where he stands. There should never be any question, going forward, about Somerby's political position. He should be ashamed of what he writes here, but it is his right to share his opinions. But Trump does not have the right to commit the crimes he has committed and I hope he is prosecuted to the fullest extent for them.

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  8. It is hard for me to understand how any citizen of this country can watch the hearings, be told what Trump has done (and hear his own words), hear what the Republicans did on his behalf, and not be deeply angered by what has occurred. Our biggest problem is getting the rest of the nation to watch the hearings.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Imagine a mob coming for Kamala Harris, and Biden, upon hearing that they want to hang her, responds by saying maybe they should.

      Yet Trump is a right wing hero. Right wingers are very dark people, with very dark and wounded hearts.

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    2. You don't understand, as David in Cal has repeatedly pointed out, Trump wanted the mob to "peacefully" hang Pence.

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  9. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that the entire reason for the January 6th insurrection was because black peoples votes counted in the 2020 Presidential election.

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  10. "Among such people in the red tribe, it started with the claim that Obama was born in Kenya,"

    No, it started long before that. There has always been political misinformation. It is the duty and responsibility of individual voters to seek out reliable information to decide their votes.

    There are studies suggesting that the current problems are the result of (1) Fox News, which is the propaganda arm of the Republican party and deliberately spreads misinformation; (2) the repeal of the Fairness Act, which required equal time for rebuttal when political statements are made on TV stations; (3) the demise of print media, including local and city newspapers, and with it the structure of free reporting of elections and public events; (4) the rise of an uncontrolled internet that has spread misinformation and disinformation, including from foreign sources such as Russia, permitted extremists groups to ally and recruit members and organize activities inimicable to our democracy.

    The electoral college, which distorts the influence of so-called red states has prevented majority rule in our democracy and now prevents reform, enabling rule by a party that does not represent the majority will of the voters.

    Going back in history, the influence of racism has created and perpetuated the red tribe and now resulted in a crisis over the participation of racial and ethnic minorities in our government. The red tribe is devoted to rolling back racial progress, subjugating women, and eliminating immigration, in order to ensure white supremacist rule. It views destroying democracy as inherent to that endeavor, essential to achieving their goals. THIS is the biggest current problem, in my opinion.

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    Replies
    1. 5) Mainstream media like CNN and MSNBC's dumbification of political coverage

      You don't agree with this and it's fine. But it's the whole point of this blog and it is the premise to much of the commentary that follows. So basically you will almost never agree with anything Bob says, and that's understood.

      But for many others, the way mainstream media (besides Fox and the right wing outlets you only focus on) has RUINED our national discourse is obvious and on full display every day.

      Delete
    2. NEVER trust a corporation.

      Delete
    3. 12:34,
      Can you point me to any instance where Bob chided the media for not calling the Republican Party “fascists”?

      Delete
    4. Yes, this comment at 12:54 nicely represents the problem I am pointing out. Not only is it off topic for my comments, it is dumb, partisan, and the opposite of thought-provoking. It is like a black hole that devours thoughts. It is a discussion killer. And that is how peoples minds have been trained to think by our circus of a media.

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    5. 12:54 is a typo, meant 12:52

      Delete
    6. "It is like a black hole that devours thoughts."

      Well, that's the whole purpose of it. It's a psyop. You may want to learn to ignore them. It's not difficult.

      Delete
    7. 1:29:
      1. You don’t need the media to tell you that the Republican Party exhibits authoritarian, fascistic tendencies. It is an observable fact.
      2. The “mainstream” media is at best “bothsiderist” in their attempts to equate the two parties. They rarely tell the truth about how far the GOP has devolved into an authoritarian party.
      3. Media, being corporations, would tend to support Republicans at the corporate level. Why? Simple. Republicans want to lower corporate taxes, Democrats generally want to raise them.
      4. Somerby is not at this point in his life trying to hide his contempt for liberals and his bending over backwards to defend conservatives. Many here think that Jan 6 was an unacceptable monstrosity, and there are plenty of signs that it may be just the beginning of Republican attempts to limit or curtail democracy. Again, you don’t need the media to tell you this. It is an observable fact.

      But it’s nice that you think the Somerby-critical commenters here are all brainwashed by the media but you, of course, are not.

      Delete
    8. 1:29,
      Pick a lane.
      Do you want the media to tell the truth, or don’t you?

      Delete
    9. 2:16,
      Telling the truth about the Republican Party is partisan.
      You need to treat the fascists like Regular Joes, or you’ll hurt 1:29’s fee-fees.

      Delete
    10. And here we have more illustration of the problem I am talking about. They take a simple comment about the media ruining our national discourse, and it has somehow now become about Republicans. It’s a knee-jerk reaction instilled by the way the media processes and frames information. We have gone down rabbit holes that have nothing at all to do with my simple observation. A lack of focus and critical thinking is expected in the climate that the media has created.

      What this does is showcase even further how the media have not only destroyed constructive, reasonable debate about the issues of the day; but infected the very way people think.

      We have the further misstatement that all Somerby-critical commenters are brainwashed when what I wrote was clearly just talking about one comment in particular.

      Are these all problems symptomatic or caused by the media? No of course not, but there is limited time in the day to discuss all these things.

      I would like the media to report responsibly and intelligently about the issues of the day. I would like them to cover the issues that are important, such as corruption in government, corporations not being held accountable, campaign reform, etc. instead of the mostly asinine stuff that passes as news currently.

      Delete
    11. And here is where I step out because the next comments may very well become vulgar and/or more off-topic, and I have low expectations that anything productive will come out of this. But who knows I might skim read later and see if there are any intelligent replies.

      Delete
    12. It’s not about Republicans. It’s about the media that treats the Republican Party like it isn’t fascists.
      Looking forward to the moment you realize we agree about the corporate-owned media.

      Delete
    13. 2:33,
      So you want the media, who make bundles of $$$ on political ads to cover campaign reform?
      I’m not sure you know how capitalism works.

      Delete
    14. This guy comes around and makes his dumb brain dead defense of Somerby all the time. Btw did you notice Somerby changed his motto some time ago?

      New Media viewership dwarfs corporate media viewership. Take a look at Millennials, more than half support socialism, and it is trending upwards.

      Fox News' harm also dwarfs the harm done by less obvious corporate media outlets like CNN etc.

      Somerby burrows his way through mostly opinion and commentary pieces and nitpicks over trivial matters in such a way as to cater to right wing talking points and agendas.

      Dems, politicians and rank and file, may have some issues wrong. Maybe White people should always have more money than Black people, maybe quality of healthcare should be based on level of income, etc., but Somerby's main complaint is that we trigger right wing sensitivities too harshly. Brother, please.

      Delete
    15. Tolliver is not part of any press corps.

      Delete
  11. Why do millions hate us and can’t wait
    to vote again for Trump? Well, obviously
    some of the right wing haters are degenerate
    Mentalities like the above Mao.
    The Dems relentless pandering to
    some groups at the expense of
    others doesn’t help. But the way
    the game is generally run ( the
    Republicans are doing something
    Wretched, what are the Democrats
    Going to do about it!!) is the most
    logical answer. They have to be
    Responsible for there own foul ups
    or corruptions, as well as the Rights..
    As the rich get richer.
    Anyway, Bob is so morally confused
    and corrupted he simply has nothing
    to say of value on the hearings.
    The only interesting bit has been how
    he has completely framed the
    situation to serve Trump and still
    expects to be taken seriously.
    Whatever. Figures have started to
    emerge that look like potential fall
    guys. That was really the story
    of Watergate ( not Republican
    “Heroes”) and it may play out
    that way again. Trump may signal
    he won’t run again as an unofficial
    deal to be left alone. Or, he could
    run again and win the popular vote
    losers Trifecta.

    ReplyDelete
  12. People who violate the law should be held accountable. Trump being charged and convicted of a crime will not solve all of our political problems, but it's a start.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Trump is no more a criminal than any other Reagan Republican.

    ReplyDelete

  14. "Among such people in the red tribe, it started with the claim that Obama was born in Kenya,"

    Well, yes, because Demigod Barry's own literary agent wrote "born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii" in a promotional booklet in 1991.

    And if this makes you feel so shocked and upset, dear Bob, then you should've found that out long time ago and stopped being a low-IQ liberal...

    "then moved on to the unfounded claim that the 2020 election had been stolen"

    If you indeed believe that it's 'unfounded', that's merely your opinion, dear Bob.

    Stating your own opinion (that conspicuously coincides with your tribal talking point) as if it's the ultimate truth, that, dear Bob, is beneath you. That's something liberal assholes do, the people you love to criticize so much.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mao,
      Thanks for letting us know the Establishment elites take on TDH.

      Delete
    2. If the Establishment elites are paying Mao to write this shit, who are we to argue with it?

      Delete
    3. Mao, I checked out that claim about Obama's book agent a while ago (one of your talking points) - and it appears true that this one statement by the agent exists. The question is - is it true that Obama was bornin Kenya - or could the statement by the agent be mistaken. As far as I remember, this tidbit was not what birthers were basing their claims on. What about the contemporary Hawaiian newspaper birth announcement? Is that a fabrication, perhaps by these former "intelligence" agents? and the same with his birth certificate? Was Obama like some Manchurian Candidate plant? Seems farfetched. As for the 2020 election, you haven't provided any evidence that it was rigged. You sound unhinged here ("liberal assholes!"), maybe take another break like you did after Trump lost, or at least a valium.

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    4. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    5. "The question is - is it true that Obama was bornin Kenya - or could the statement by the agent be mistaken."

      Well, it that concerns you, dear dembot, search for the answer, by all means. As for us, we couldn't care less.

      Demigod Barry's own literary agent wrote "born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii" in a promotional booklet in 1991.

      Therefore dear Bob's accusations of "tribalized misinformation" are without merits, in this case. And that's all there it to it.

      Delete
    6. Yes. I noticed 8 years of Republicans not being worked up about Obama being born overseas.
      LOL.

      Delete
    7. "As for the 2020 election, you haven't provided any evidence that it was rigged."

      We've seen plenty of evidence. Who Hath Ears to Hear, Let Him Hear, as the bible says.

      And of course those who don't want to hear, won't. Which is fine. However, the liberal tribe predictably getting triggered acting deranged is extremely suggestive...

      Delete
    8. Why don’t you present some of your evidence here in the guestbook? We could use a few laughs. But no links please. We accept the fact that
      you are not the only obnoxious creep
      in the Country.

      Delete
    9. I asked for a straight answer and didn't get one. What a surprise. Last thing to expect from such an obsessive wingnut.

      Delete
    10. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

      Delete
    11. AC/MA -- why are you wasting time arguing with a troll?

      Delete
    12. Ac/ma is a troll, for example he actually misrepresents the issue of the booklet.

      Delete
  15. "Presumably based upon her fees as a political strategist, Tolliver seems to live in the palace at Versailles. (We base that assessment on the standard backdrop one sees when she appears by remote.) "

    This isn't cute or funny. Somerby reveals his bias in such statements. It doesn't cost anything to put up any sort of Zoom background on your screen during a video interview. All such backgrounds indicate is that the person shown does not wish to have complete strangers seeing their homes (or wherever they may be during the interview). We have no idea where Tolliver was being interviewed from, and it need not have been her home at all.

    Somerby knows that. This is his way of taking an unearned swipe at someone he dislikes, without being honest enough to state his dislike plainly. This is one reason why I find Somerby a distasteful person.

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  16. “Dr. Bandy X. Lee got fired by Yale, and has never been heard from again!”

    The exclamation point is a dead giveaway that Somerby knows he’s being stupid.

    She got fired for tweeting about Alan Dershowitz. (https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/12/the-yale-professor-fired-for-tweeting-about-alan-dershowitz.html)

    She is in favor of prosecuting Trump. She tweeted this recently:

    “We fear “criminalizing a past president” might make us look like a backward dictatorship, not realizing that “exonerating a criminal” does the same. Democracies hold criminals accountable and exonerate innocents, without regard to how it might look.”

    She has a website. https://bandylee.com/

    She has contributed to the “Refuse Fascism” podcast. She has appeared with the anti-Trump Lincoln Project.

    She has a new book out: “Profile of a Nation: Trump’s Mind, America’s Soul”

    You have to choose not to listen or ignore the internet in order to pretend that she’s never been heard from again. Why would Somerby even want to hear from her again? She doesn’t agree with Somerby’s views on what to do about Trump.

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  17. Somerby is today accusing the Democrats of trying to take Trump out of the 2024 election by putting him in jail over the crimes uncovered by the 1/6 committee. He is speculating that the real motive of the hearings is not justice or accountability but partisan political expediency. He offers no evidence in support of this claim.

    Somerby is ignoring that it is Republicans who are testifying against Trump, Republicans providing the evidence of his crimes. Trump's own attorney's, campaign manager, VP and staff are testifying against him. Somerby is also ignoring that the 1/6 hearing is about an insurrection, an attempted coup, treason and failure to adhere to his oath by the president himself. Those are very serious accusations and the crimes are against our democracy and the American people. Somerby instead pretends that this is red tribe/blue tribe political maneuvering. Somerby is very wrong about that -- wrong about how Democrats feel about what is happening, and wrong about how many Republicans are coming to feel about Trump and his actions. Trump may not have a shot in hell of gaining the nomination, after the people hear fully what he did. Reelection will be the least of his problems.

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  18. Reminds me of how Republicans accused Osama bin Laden of terrorism, keeping him from being elected President in 2004.

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