Tim Miller, Sarah Longwell & Jonathan V. Last: 'Here's What Needs to Happen'

Source:The Bulwark talking about guess what. 

"The Secret Pod makes an emergency appearance to work through last night's terrible performance by Biden and to urge the Democratic Party to do the responsible thing in this moment." 

From The Bulwark

As I wrote about this yesterday: 

"President Biden's task tonight, is to show that he's in full command, he's doing the job, he has a record to run on and this is what he wants to continue to do as President, if just given another term. While at the same time he's making the case that he's physically and mentally up for the job and doing the job, Donald Trump as the Biden Campaign has already said: "Is only in it for himself."

From The New Democrat

As my colleague Rik Schneider wrote about this earlier today: 

"Just to take on 1 point first. The New Democrat is not going to get into what the race would look like, if President Biden literally steps down and releases his delegates at the Democratic National Convention. I don't think that's going to happen. Whether it should or not, that's a different question. I'm just going to look at this as if the President decides to move forward, and what are the consequences of last night's debate and where the election goes from here. 

If there was anything good about last night's debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, is that Mr. Trump didn't add any new voters to his base. Even with all the baggage of the Biden presidency, mostly relating to the President's age, and inflation, the Trump-Biden race was essentially in a dead heat. At least in the popular vote. Which tells me, as well as a lot of other people, that whatever problems they have with President Joe Biden, they don't like Donald Trump. 

What people don't like about Donald Trump having to do with his self-obsession, his lying, his inability to stick to the same script, they got 100 minutes of that Donald Trump. The problem is that you didn't have a strong, sharp, opponent, for the most part, there to point about all of Donald Trump's lies and hold him accountable for that, with few exceptions." 

From The New Democrat

As my colleague Kire Schneider wrote about this earlier today: 

"If think Jonathan Martin had a great line here when he said: "Joe Biden might not be able to recover. But Trump could still lose it." Democrats, especially the Biden Campaign, need to always remember exactly who they're running against and the actual threat that Donald Trump and MAGA represents and the threat that they are to the country.

The Biden Campaign, assuming that President Biden doesn't step aside, has to go on the offense, after they hopefully successful pivot from the President's bad debate by simply owning his bad performance last night, is simply pound Donald Trump, like you need a knockout to win the fight, or at least the last 3-5 rounds of the fight. 

And while they are doing that, they'll be able to do that with a lot of negative commercials about Donald Trump, not just from the debate but going forward and perhaps even with what DJT's eventual vice presidential selection has said and written about him in the past." 

From The New Democrat

Just to go off what Sarah Longwell said: "I would be very disappointed after that, if Joe Biden decided just to continue to go on. It would be a very selfish proposition. And of course I'll back him and do everything that I can for him. But I think it's wrong. (Talking about Joe Biden continuing with his campaign) And I think there's a consensus that can be reached. And people can go out strong with a consensus candidate that they can back." 

If you are wondering why The New Democrat is going with the center-right, Republican, Never-Trumper reactions to this debate, I'll tell you anyway. We''re not Republicans at The New Democrat. But we are New Democrats and we are center-right, JFK/Henry Jackson/even Joe Biden even Democrats. We know what MSNBC and company is saying. You either have far-left Democrats up there saying that Joe Biden has to step down. Or Democrats trying to argue that the debate doesn't matter. I'm not interested in that. And to their credit, even left-wing, hippie, Rachel Maddow talking about what's the best move going forward, knowing that Joe Biden will most likely still be the Democrat for President. So it's not all MSNBC arguing that it's not a disaster for the President, or he should simply drop out.

And I don't think there's much point in talking about President Biden stepping down, until he actually does that, because it would be like debating what would happen if Donald Trump suddenly plead guilty to all the felonies that he's facing. There's not much point in talking about what it would be like if this happened, if there' very little, if any possibility of it happening.

If you want to defeat Donald Trump, you have to go with the best available candidate, who has their party's nomination for president, who has the best chance at defeating Donald Trump. And right now, for better or for worst, whatever you think of Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom, they're not going to be the Democratic nominee for president in 2024. So we as anti-Trump voters have to decide what's the best strategy for Joe Biden and company going forward. 

I still stand by what I said about the debate yesterday. The President didn't accomplish what he had to do . And we're now even hearing discussions about whether Joe Biden should drop out or not as a result. But going forward, if you don't want Donald Trump to ever be President of the United States again, you have to develop the best strategy that can be used to defeat Donald Trump, knowing that Joe Biden is the only person who can beat Trump.

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Tim Miller & Jonathan Martin: Unpacking Last Night's Debate

Source:The Bulwark talking about Joe Biden's post-debate options.

"Jonathan Martin discusses the strategy behind Biden's failed gamble and whether sitting Democrats would actually publicly push the president to leave the ticket. Sarah Longwell, JVL, and Martin join Tim Miller for the weekend pod." 

From The Bulwark 

As my colleague Rik Schneider said earlier today: 

"Just to take on 1 point first. The New Democrat is not going to get into what the race would look like, if President Biden literally steps down and releases his delegates at the Democratic National Convention. I don't think that's going to happen. Whether it should or not, that's a different question. I'm just going to look at this as if the President decides to move forward, and what are the consequences of last night's debate and where the election goes from here. 

If there was anything good about last night's debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, is that Mr. Trump didn't add any new voters to his base. Even with all the baggage of the Biden presidency, mostly relating to the President's age, and inflation, the Trump-Biden race was essentially in a dead heat. At least in the popular vote. Which tells me, as well as a lot of other people, that whatever problems they have with President Joe Biden, they don't like Donald Trump. 

What people don't like about Donald Trump having to do with his self-obsession, his lying, his inability to stick to the same script, they got 100 minutes of that Donald Trump. The problem is that you didn't have a strong, sharp, opponent, for the most part, there to point about all of Donald Trump's lies and hold him accountable for that, with few exceptions." 

From The New Democrat

If think Jonathan Martin had a great line here when he said: "Joe Biden might not be able to recover. But Trump could still lose it." Democrats, especially the Biden Campaign, need to always remember exactly who they're running against and the actual threat that Donald Trump and MAGA represents and the threat that they are to the country.

The Biden Campaign, assuming that President Biden doesn't step aside, has to go on the offense, after they hopefully successful pivot from the President's bad debate by simply owning his bad performance last night, is simply pound Donald Trump, like you need a knockout to win the fight, or at least the last 3-5 rounds of the fight. 

And while they are doing that, they'll be able to do that with a lot of negative commercials about Donald Trump, not just from the debate but going forward and perhaps even with what DJT's eventual vice presidential selection has said and written about him in the past.

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Jonathan V. Last: The Trump-Biden Debate

Source:The Bulwark give their post-debate analysis.

"Come watch the first 2024 presidential debate with The Bulwark and stay after for our analysis." 

From The Bulwark

Just to take on 1 point first. The New Democrat is not going to get into what the race would look like, if President Biden literally steps down and releases his delegates at the Democratic National Convention. I don't think that's going to happen. Whether it should or not, that's a different question. I'm just going to look at this as if the President decides to move forward, and what are the consequences of last night's debate and where the election goes from here. 

If there was anything good about last night's debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, is that Mr. Trump didn't add any new voters to his base. Even with all the baggage of the Biden presidency, mostly relating to the President's age, and inflation, the Trump-Biden race was essentially in a dead heat. At least in the popular vote. Which tells me, as well as a lot of other people, that whatever problems they have with President Joe Biden, they don't like Donald Trump. 

What people don't like about Donald Trump having to do with his self-obsession, his lying, his inability to stick to the same script, they got 100 minutes of that Donald Trump. The problem is that you didn't have a strong, sharp, opponent, for the most part, there to point about all of Donald Trump's lies and hold him accountable for that, with few exceptions. 

President Biden did call Mr. Trump a liar and a whiner, multiple times, Trump said that they shouldn't be childish on stage, the President called him a child right after that in response. The President said Trump has the morals of an ally cat. But what too many voters from the Biden Campaign's perspective saw last night, was an 81 year old man, who struggles to get his words and thoughts out of his mouth.

I think what we may see from the debate last night, is two politicians who had bad nights at least as far as being able to communicate to new voters. 

In President Biden's case, he has now his own voters worried about whether he can still win at this point. But maybe the popular vote polling stays about the same, because you still have 1-5 Republicans who still don't want to vote for Donald Trump again. And Independents saying they're not ready to vote for the President yet, but they still don't like Donald Trump either. 

So maybe Donald Trump remains the favorite to win in November, or the election leans in his direction, but he hasn't added any new voters beyond his base and Republicans holding their noses and deciding to vote for him again anyway. But I think this could be the best case scenario for Joe Biden. 

The other scenario is, Independents are now saying that they don't like Donald Trump. But they don't think Joe Biden is up for the job physically or mentally. And therefor they're going to vote for Trump and perhaps hope that our governmental institutions are strong enough to hold him accountable and prevent a Donald Trump dictatorship[. Or as at least one person on this Bulwark show: "Maybe American voters now want a dictator." 

I think going forward, the next few days, the weekend and even next week are very important for Joe Biden. He and Vice President Kamala Harris have to be out there and out in public a lot over the next 7-10 days. 

A longtime Republican strategist Cheri Jacobus on Threads said today that President Biden needs to be doing a series of network town halls right now out there, taking questions, speaking to the voters to try to convince these voters that he's still up for the job and can still do a good job. That along with getting Vice President Harris out a lot more, doing a lot more TV, more campaign rallies, perhaps even town halls on her own, I think is the best post-debate advice that anyone can give this campaign. 

As well as what Michael Steele said on MSNBC last night: "The President needs to own his debate performance and not try to deny it, or act like it was better than what everyone else saw."

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John King: 'What to Watch For in the Biden-Trump Debate'

Source:CNN with a little analysis about the debate.

"With less than five months until the election, the stakes are high as President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump make their pitch to voters on key issues such as immigration and the economy." 

From CNN

This is what I said about this debate on Tuesday: 

"Anderson Cooper had a panel last week on CNN talking this upcoming debate as well. And Democratic political analyst Paul Begala had the perfect point here when he said Joe Biden should say: "I'm in it for you. Donald Trump is in it for himself." 

And what I believe that means is Donald Trump is simply running for President again, to stay out of prison. He doesn't get his immunity from the U.S. Supreme Court, he loses the presidential election, he'll become the political and legal version of the goldfish out of water, right in front of hungry kitty cat. He'll be completely exposed and there won't be anything that anyone can do about that to bail him out, until he's convicted again, at least once, probably in 2025." 

From The New Democrat

To John King's point first about which presidential election this feels like: he said it feels like 1992. In 1992, then Governor Bill Clinton, even though the country was just recovering from a recession, dealing with a high budget deficit, high unemployment, high interest rates, high inflation, even with real 2% economic growth, but Governor Clinton needed Ross Perot's 20% of the popular vote to defeat incumbent President George H.W. Bush, whose approval rating at the time was also in the high 30s, low 40s. This is a two-man race in 2024. Robert F. Kennedy JR. can't even get into the debates right now. It's just a matter if he will be able to get enough votes to hurt either of the major candidates or not. 

This feels more like 2012 for me. In 2012, 8% unemployment, the economy growing at around 1%, at least in the 1st two quarters, President Barack Obama's approval rating in the mid 40s. But, we had a Tea Party led House of Representatives and Senate Republican within position of winning back the Senate, and the Republican Party nominating someone who was basically stuck in between a Tea Party populist and a center-right, establishment Republican, leaving too many voters for Mitt Romney wondering who is this guy. 

I think 2024 is different from 1992 and 2012 , at least in this sense. The country knows what it's like to have Joe Biden as President of the United States. They also know what it's like to have Donald Trump as President of the United States. And to go back to what John King said on Anderson Cooper 360 last night, where he said this election is about whether you want to keep the same car, or buy a new one, as Keisha Lance-Bottoms, who was on the same show with John King last night said: "Donald Trump is not a new car. He's a used car." Americans already know what it's like to have Donald Trump as President. 

As Phill Mattingly was essentially saying on this show, American voters like Joe Biden, at least when they see him and to get to hear him speak. And as Republican political strategist Sarah Longwell, whose one of the founding members of The Bulwark Podcast said on CNN a couple weeks ago, American voters outside of MAGA do not like Donald Trump personally or as President. He was always in the upper 30s, to mid 40s in approval, only got 45% of the voter total between 2016 and 2020. 

President Biden's task tonight, is to show that he's in full command, he's doing the job, he has a record to run on and this is what he wants to continue to do as President, if just given another term. While at the same time he's making the case that he's physically and mentally up for the job and doing the job, Donald Trump as the Biden Campaign has already said: "Is only in it for himself."

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Eddie Muller & Paula Zahn: The Barbara Graham Story

Source:Classic Couple look at the Barbara Graham story that was featured on Turner Classic Movies last year.

"On Monday night, January 9, 2023, TCM programming focuses on True Crime. TCM host Eddie Muller will be joined by journalist and newscaster Paula Zahn for the special prime-time programming.

Paula Zahn brings to the discussion her work on On the Case With Paula Zahn an American documentary and news program broadcast on Investigation Discovery since October 18, 2009. The program, now in its 25th season, explores in-depth stories of crime mysteries and interviews with involved individuals, closest to the cases and includes expert analysis. Find where to watch On the Case With Paula Zahn here. Eddie Muller brings to the discussion his expertise as an author, move historian, film restorer, film festival programmer and founder of the Film Noir Foundation, which is dedicated to preserving America’s film noir heritage." 

From Classic Couple

"Henry Graham was addicted to illegal drugs and known as a hardened but low-level criminal. Through him, Barbara met his friends Jack Santo and Emmett "The Weasel" Perkins, both with criminal records. She started an affair with Perkins, who told her about a 64-year-old widow, Mabel Monohan,[7] who was alleged to keep a large amount of cash and jewelry in her home in Burbank, California.

Monohan was a retired vaudeville performer who had previously worked the Keith-Albee circuit. Her ex-son-in-law was 74-year-old Luther B. Scherer (1879–1957), a multi-millionaire who was well known through his ownership of various gambling clubs in locations such as Palm Springs and casinos in Las Vegas. It is speculated that he had deep ties to various crime syndicates. Monahan's daughter Iris had divorced Scherer two years prior and received the Burbank residence in the divorce settlement. Iris shortly thereafter married a different man and moved to New York, leaving her mother, Mabel Monohan, to reside in their former home. Monohan and Scherer had remained close friends after the divorce and their continued friendship piqued public interest, gossip, and rumors that would later prove deadly.[8] One rumor that was widely circulated amongst criminals and in local bars was that Scherer, due to his deep trust of Monohan, had left $100,000 ($1,044,292 value in 2022) cash stashed in a safe within the residence." 

From Wikipedia

I saw I Want To Live with Hollywood Goddess Susan Hayward, playing Barbara Graham, who definitely was a compulsive liar and career criminal.This was part of TCM's month long series about true crime films, with this film being one of them. And their Film Noir expert Eddie Muller hosted this series and had true crime journalist Paula Zahn as one of his guest on this series to talk about this movie. 

To give you an example of how weak the case against Barbara Graham was: imagine if Donald J. Trump was only convicted based on the testimony of Michael Cohen. For me, Donald Trump is a career criminal an conman, who until recently, was never caught committing any felonies. But Cohen alone, especially with his track record as a liar himself, wouldn't have been enough to get a credible conviction of Trump. 

Barbara Graham was basically convicted on the testimony of one of her co-defendants, William Upshaw, who was also a convicted felon. And that's the point that Paula Zahn was making here. And not just the weak case against Graham for 1st degree murder, but they gave her the death penalty based on a weak case. 

California for the last 30 years, maybe longer, has gotten the reputation has being a very hippie, left-wing state. A place where all the social radicals and left-wing political radicals can feel at home and as part of the mainstream. The official nickname of California is the People's Republic of California. 

But in the 1950s, California, except of perhaps San Francisco and the broader San Francisco area, fit in very well with 1950s, Leave it to Beaver, Father Knows Best, Phyllis Schlafly's and Pat Buchanan's culturally collectivist America, where every "real American" was supposed to be the same and believe in the same things. Not that difficult to get 1st degree murder convictions back then. 

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Jack Hunter: Conservatism & Libertarianism

Source:Young Americans For Liberty featuring conservative blogger Jack Hunter.

"JACK HUNTER: CONSERVATISM WITHOUT LIBERTARIANISM?" 

From Young Americans For Liberty 

"Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology, which seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values.[1][2][3] The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilisation in which it appears.[4] In Western culture, depending on the particular nation, conservatives seek to promote and preserve a range of institutions, such as the nuclear family, organised religion, the military, the nation-state, property rights, rule of law, aristocracy, and monarchy.[5] Conservatives tend to favour institutions and practices that enhance social order and historical continuity." 

From Wikipedia

"Libertarianism (from French: libertaire, itself from the Latin: libertas, lit. 'freedom') is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value.[1][2][3][4] Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, emphasizing equality before the law and civil rights to freedom of association, freedom of speech, freedom of thought and freedom of choice.[4][5] Libertarians are often skeptical of or opposed to authority, state power, warfare, militarism and nationalism, but some libertarians diverge on the scope of their opposition to existing economic and political systems. Various schools of libertarian thought offer a range of views regarding the legitimate functions of state and private power. Different categorizations have been used to distinguish various forms of Libertarianism.[6][7] Scholars distinguish libertarian views on the nature of property and capital, usually along left–right or socialist–capitalist lines.[8] Libertarians of various schools were influenced by liberal ideas." 

From Wikipedia

I'll get into what Jack Hunter said as well. But if you look at the Wikipedia definition of conservatism, that basically looks like the opposite of MAGA. Show me I'm wrong, if you disagree with that. 

Think about it, MAGA and the broader, right-wing national movement, is always talking about blowing up the system and taking down the establishment. Not that different in language from what the New Left Socialists and Communists were talking about in the late 1960s and early 70s. The difference being that the New Left was talking about taking down "The Man" and replacing it with some type of socialist state. 

Whereas MAGA, would take down the U.S. Government (if their militants had their way) and replace it with some type of nationalistic state, where "The Man" or the men would be back in charge, ruling over everyone else.

If you look at conservatism in it's classical sense, you look at the Calvin Coolidge's, the Robert Taft's, the Barry Goldwater's, conservatism is very similar to what Jack Hunter is talking about. Government, especially the national government, should be very limited in what it does and only do what the states, localities, and the people can't do for themselves, or do well enough for themselves. So that's national security, foreign policy, trade, regulating interstate commerce, and interstate law enforcement. With everything else, including education, social welfare, marriage, gambling, entertainment, reproductive rights, being left up to the states or the people themselves. So in that sense I agree with Jack Hunter.

But conservatism in its original form, is about conserving. I mean that's what it means to be a Conservative, you are someone who believes in conserving. Conserving a certain form of government, like our liberal democratic republic, a certain way of life, like our western liberal democratic values, conserving religious freedom, and all of our individual rights. 

And then you look at libertarianism, again in it's classical form, not the Anarcho-Libertarians, or the so-called Libertarian Populists like the Alex Jones's and others, classical Libertarians put the rights of the individual and individual freedom, over everything else, including public safety. Which is why Libertarians believe that all narcotics should be legal, that even drunk driving should be legal. No speed limits, no age requirements when someone should be allowed to smoke and drink alcohol, that sort of thing. 

So I agree with Jack Hunter that Conservatives and Libertarians are very similar when it comes to individual rights, limited government, that government closest to home is the best government, that sort of thing. But Conservatives put limits on individuals when it comes to public health and safety. 

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Harry Litman: 'Judge Merchan Makes HUGE Decision Before Sentencing Donald Trump'

Source:Talking Feds With Harry Litman talking about Judge Juan Merchan's partial lifting of Convicted Felon Don's gag order.

"Judge Merchan partially lifted a gag order on Trump yesterday while still maintaining some crucial provisions. Harry explains why this is significant." 

From Talking Feds With Harry Litman

This might sound sick, so bare with me: but I don't mean to sound the death row inmate whose trying to convince his guard that he's actually innocent and shouldn't be executed tomorrow night, but I'm actually not a lawyer. I'm just going off the information from what I've read and seen from people who are not just real lawyers, but accomplished lawyers as well. 

I just don't want people to take my observations here as legal observations here. They're at best like observations from legal affairs correspondents who don't have law degrees. But even there I'm relying on those folks information and observations as well. 

I think the lifting of gag order could be a problem for Donald J. Trump. Why do I say that? Anyone whose watched any police documentaries, or followed any high profile case, knows the phrase: "Anything that you can say can and will be held against you in a court of law." 

If Convicted Felon Don uses this order to put anyone whose involved in this case, life, or physical safety in jeopardy, either directly or indirectly, like trying to get someone else to do that for him, or reposting what one of his militants said about someone whose directly involved in this case, those words could come back in directly hurting Donald Trump here. And Judge Juan Merchan could use DJT's own words against him when rendering his sentence here. 

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Farron Cousins: 'Donald Trump Claims He Was TORTURED In Georgia Prison'

Source:Farron Balanced talking about Defendant Don's time in the Fulton County, Georgia Jail.

"In a campaign email to his supporters this week, Donald Trump claimed that he was "tortured" in a Georgia prison. The only problem with this claim is that it is completely untrue, as Trump only spent enough time in Fulton County jail to get a mugshot and have his fingerprints taken - a process that he said was pleasant at the time. He even said at the time that some of the jail workers were crying as they processed him. Farron Cousins explains what actually happened." 

From Farron Balanced

Just on a personal note first: if you are going to read back what someone else said live on air, as if you are speaking for the person, you might want to actually sound like the person that you are trying to impersonate. 

Even though Donald Trump represents a lot of Americans who have claimed to have seen flying mushrooms and spaceships from other planets, who claimed to have lost their fast food jobs to illegal immigrants, Donald J. Trump is actually from Queens, New York and has lived in Manhattan for most of his life. He's not some redneck from rural Georgia, or wherever Farron Cousins is from. 

As far as Donald J. Trump claiming to have been tortured at the Atlanta Fulton County Jail: if you've never been in jail before, you might feel like that's torture. I remember when he was indicted last summer in Atlanta and had to report to that jail to be officially arrested and arraigned, the former Mayor of Atlanta Keisha Lance Bottoms, was on MSNBC talking about the smell of that place. And saying that it smells like stale food, dirty laundry, body odor, etc. Maybe there's an ounce of truth in what DJT is saying here. But an ounce is about all the credit that I'm willing to give him at this point. 

DJT was at this jail for 30 minutes maybe. All they did was arrest him an arraign him. It's not like he was even given a jailhouse baloney sandwich and cup of coffee to wash down the sandwich, let alone a cell. He wasn't interrogated by the Atlanta detectives or anything like that. He wasn't even given a tour of the facility. He was just there to get his photo taken and be fingerprinted.

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Kurt Bardella & Joe Walsh: The Squad & MAGA

Source:Kurt Bardella talking about The Squad's bad night.

"What Everyone Is Getting Wrong About Jamaal Bowman's Loss in NY-16" 

From Kurt Bardella

"Both parties have extremes. And both parties have members who go too far. But there's a big, big, big difference in what "going too far" means in the Democratic Party and what it means in the Republican Party." 

Source:White Flag With Joe Walsh talking about MAGA & The Squad.

From White Flag With Joe Walsh

I disagree a little bit with Joe Walsh on one point. Just look at Utah where John Curtis a Mitt Romney backed, center-right, Republican, defeated the Donald Trump backed MAGA candidate. And might just be 1 exception to a much larger rule. But I take his broader point. 

I think the real difference between the so-called Squad in the Democratic Party and MAGA in the Republican Party, is the Squad really represents the Green Party, the Democratic Socialists of America, perhaps even Communist USA wing of the Democratic Party. But that's at most maybe 10-15% of the entire Democratic Party right now. Out of 213 House Democrats, the Squad only has 9 members.

The mainstream left-wing of the Democratic Party, is mostly represented by the so-called Congressional Progressive Caucus, who are Democratic Socialists ideologically, mostly representing heavily, left-wing, Democratic seats in the House of Representatives. Who ideologically aren't that much different from the Squad, if they had the power to anything that they wanted. But who are more likely to vote with Hakeem Jeffries and the House Democratic Leadership, support the Democratic President, when they need the CPC's votes on major legislation. And the CPC has around 80 seats, maybe more in the House alone, maybe a few in the Senate as well. 

But then you go over to the fringe of the far-right, not just in the Republican Party, but in America as well and MAGA is 35-40% of the Republican Party. And we're talking about people who not only oppose free trade and immigration, at least non-Northern European immigration, but multiculturalism as a whole, who thinks the rule of law doesn't apply to them, elections don't matter when they lose, cops are criminals when they arrest their members, etc. I mean MAGA is what you see at Neo-Nazi rallies, perhaps even Ku Klux Klan rallies. At least the militant win of this far-right movement. 

The other difference between MAGA and the Squad: you run a far-left, whacked-out, politician or candidate, in a mainstream Democratic district, which is what Representative Jamaal Bowman's district is, half of it, or more, is white-collar Westchester, New York, which also has a large Jewish population, you are not going to lose the general election, because you'll get primaried and lose the primary to a mainstream Democrat instead. Unlike with the MAGA members in the House who routinely win their primaries and get reelected in the fall. 

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Anderson Cooper 360: 'Maggie Haberman Predicts How Donald Trump Will Act Towards Joe Biden in Debate'

Source:CNN political analyst & New York Times national political correspondent Maggie Haberman.

"New York Times senior political correspondent Maggie Haberman discusses Trump’s potential behavior toward Biden during the 2024 CNN Presidential Debate." 

From CNN

Anderson Cooper had a panel last week on CNN talking this upcoming debate as well. And Democratic political analyst Paul Begala had the perfect point here when he said Joe Biden should say: "I'm in it for you. Donald Trump is in it for himself." 

And what I believe that means is Donald Trump is simply running for President again, to stay out of prison. He doesn't get his immunity from the U.S. Supreme Court, he loses the presidential election, he'll become the political and legal version of the goldfish out of water, right in front of hungry kitty cat. He'll be completely exposed and there won't be anything that anyone can do about that to bail him out, until he's convicted again, at least once, probably in 2025. 

While President Biden is making this point, he can also say: "This is the situation when I became President of the United States...This is what I've done about it... And this is where we are now..." 

President Biden inherited a freakin pandemic and recession, that wrecked the supply chain in the economy and the U.S. Government, starting first with then President Trump and that Congress, and then with President Biden in the next Congress in 2021-2022, and today where the inflation is now at 3%. But that's a 3rd of where it was just 2 years ago. And wages, incomes, job growth, economic growth, the budget deficit has come down by more than a trillion dollars from where it was in 2021. Housing and savings are worth a lot more than they were 3 years ago as well. 

And to Shermichael Singleton's point: I'm sure that's exactly how every center-right, establishment, Republican in America, wants Donald Trump and Joe Biden to debate each other. Except for of course the center-right, establishment Republicans, who'll be voting for President Biden in November. 

But Donald Trump doesn't want to talk about the issues and policy simply because he doesn't understand them and is not interested in them. And quite frankly, neither are most of the voters who'll be watching this debate. 

I think with President Biden, you'll hear him talk about what a 2nd term will look like for him. But he also has to talk about what Donald Trump's 2nd term would look like (God help us, if that happens) and that he's only running for President again because as the Biden Campaign has already said: "He's only in it for himself. Not you." He accomplishes these 2 things, his vision and contrasting Donald Trump, he wins this debate going away. 

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Crime Time Stories: 'Casino: The REAL Sam 'Ace' Rothstein/Frank 'Lefty' Rosenthal'

Source:Crime Time Stories talking about the Frank Lefty Rosenthal Story. Actor Robert De Niro played him in Martin Scorsese's Casino, from 1995.

"Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal was a professional sports bettor who was the mob's man in Vegas and ran their casino operations alongside his friend Tony "The Ant" Spilotro. The 1995 Martin Scorsese film Casino is based on his career in Las Vegas." 

From Crime Times Stories 

You know it's a slow news day when I'm blogging about anything to do with true crime, including organized crime. Not that I don't enjoy blogging about these issues, because I'm fascinated by them as a true crime enthusiast, but it's a small part of this blog. That's all. 

If you are familiar with Martin Scorsese's Casino from 1995, you know about the Frank Lefty Rosenthal story fairly well. This is about the Chicago gambling/organized crime faction of the modern Las Vegas that you see today, perhaps minus the organized crime. 

In the 1970s you had a group of Chicago Italian mobsters, as well as gamblers of multiple ethnic backgrounds, deciding to go to Las Vegas, after essentially being kicked out of other major cities like Chicago, Miami, etc, because these gamblers were either mobsters themselves, like Anthony Spilotro, as well as professional gamblers like Frank Rosenthal, who had organized crime connections. 

And whatever you think of organized gambling and organized crime in general, the fact is Las Vegas is not the entertainment mecca that it is today, has been since the 1970s, at least, without the Ben Siegels's, Jimmy Hoffa's, Frank Rosenthal's, as well as all the other legitimate businesspeople and entertainers that it's had over the years. 

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Tim Miller: Governor Jared Polis On The State of Colorado Politics & Donald Trump

Source:The Bulwark talking about the State of Colorado. (No pun intended, this time)

"Gov. Jared Polis says Biden should focus on what he'll do for the American people in his campaign, rather than getting caught up in the crazy of Trump. Plus, guns, weed, the value of talking across party lines, and how Colorado is trying to avoid California's housing and growth problems. Tim Miller was live with Polis on Friday." 

From The Bulwark

Just to go on the record here and to lay out that that I'm pretty biased when it comes to Governor Jared Polis: he's one of my favorite politicians and Democrats in the country right now. His politics is very similar with mine and I think that might be because he's from Colorado and I'm from Maryland. Two states that don't want government interfering with how people live, short of hurting innocent people with what they're doing. 

But Maryland and Colorado are also two states that both believe in progress and believe that government has a limited, but a real role in helping to create that progress, so the most people as possible, have the ability to live in freedom in America. 

And because Jared Polis is a real, center-right, Liberal Democrat, (meaning someone who believes in liberal democracy. Not that Communists are cool and socialism is for everyone everywhere.) he probably doesn't have much of a future in the Democratic Party, at least as a presidential candidate. Unless he first becomes the Vice President and serves under a popular Democratic President. 

Because the Socialist-Left in and outside of the Democratic Party, is now a major faction of that party, it might be too strong and it could bring Governor Polis down, if he were to run for President on his own, because he does believe in both personal and economic freedom, he's pro-business, supports gun rights, along with sensible gun regulations, fiscal responsibility, etc. Not big government can do everything for everyone, if we only just gave it most of our money. Or try to borrow our way to prosperity for all. 

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Boris Sanchez & Brianna Keilar: Van Jones On The Anti-Jewish Protests in Los Angeles

Source:CNN political analyst Van Jones.

"CNN political commentator Van Jones joins Boris Sanchez and Brianna Keilar to discuss recent protests in Los Angeles." 

From CNN

This is somewhat ironic, because Joe Walsh on Threads today was complaining about the lack of coverage from the mainstream media of these anti-Semetic protests in Los Angeles today: 

"It is Jew-hatred. It’s not anti-Zionism. It’s not anti-Israel. It’s antisemitism. It’s Jew-hatred. And it’s on the rise here in America & around the world. And it must be defeated. And all us non-Jews must stand with our Jewish brothers & sisters arm and arm to defeat it." 

From Joe Walsh

And I get the fact that if there were  Neo-Nazis who were physically going after Arabs, in an Arab-American community, that most of the mainstream media would be all over that. But Jews are also an ethnic minority in America and at least CNN thought enough about that, to bring 1 of their left-wing Democratic analysts, Van Jones, to criticize these left-wing, anti-Semetic protestors, against these Jewish-Americans in Los Angeles. -

I completely agree with Van Jones here. 20-30 years ago, he would've been 1 of those young, hipster, left-wing, political revolutionaries, whose trying to take down "The Man". (I'm having some fun with this) But he's in his mid-50s now and I guess what comes with age, comes experience and wisdom. 

I don't agree with everything that the State of Israel is doing in Gaza right now either. Yes, they need to take down Hamas and at least get them out of the Gazan Government. But they have to let the everyday Palestinians there flee from the violence and get to a safe territory, while they're taking down Hamas. 

As Van Jones said: "You protest the policy. Not the people." Jewish-Americans have the same right to life and right to exist as every other ethnic group in America. And therefor have the same right to life and right to exist as everyone else. 

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Ben Meiselas: 'Donald Trump Spokesperson KICKED OFF CNN on LIVE TV for ANTICS'

Source:Meidas Touch talking about the lack of exchange between CNN anchor Kasie Hunt & MAGA spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.

"MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on CNN host Kasie Hunt ending her interview with Donald  Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt who refused to answer the questions on the debate and spent the interview attacking the moderators." 

From the Meidas Touch

I guess I have just a couple points here about this interview and then I'll get into the upcoming debate between Convicted Felon Don and President Joe Biden. 

I guess my point about this exchange (I guess) between CNN anchor Kasie Hunt and MAGA spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, is really 1 of my criticisms about CNN. I mean bringing anyone over from the MAGA movement to talk about anything serious and give to give serious political thoughts and facts about anything, is like trying to start your car after the engine has already been removed. And then sitting there half an hour later, not even bothering to open the hood yet, perhaps just trying to kick your tires, freaking out about why the car won't start. Maybe you break your foot from kicking your tires, before you bother to look under your hood. Perhaps CNN simply has too much air time and doesn't know what to do with it. 

And again my 2nd point here is about Kasie Hunt. I guess you could give her credit for the way she handled Karoline Leavitt. Who was simply just there to attack the CNN anchors, or at least Jake Tapper, who'll be one of the moderators at the debate. And try to plant an excuse for why Donald Trump will lose Thursday night, if he loses at all, that it will be CNN that was there to help Joe Biden. 

But it's safe to assume that Kasie Hunt is not just the anchor of her program. That she also has a lot of say in who exactly goes on her show to talk to her, like a managing editor. And she had on Karoline Leavitt on her program. And you see the early moments of this segment and it's clear why she wanted Leavitt on there and what she was expecting could happen instead. 

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Larry Hogan: U.S. Representative Larry Hogan SR. Watergate Committee Statement

Source:Larry Hogan showing his father U.S. Representative Larry Hogan SR. (Republican, Maryland) statement to the House Judiciary Committee, arguing in favor of the impeachment of President Richard M. Nixon (Republican, California)

"Congressman Larry Hogan, Sr. of Maryland's 5th Congressional District was the first and only Republican to vote for all three articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon following the Watergate Scandal." 

From Larry Hogan

The fact that Representative Larry Hogan lost reelection in 1974 in a year when House Republicans lost over 30 seats, should give you an idea that Representative Hogan actually believed in what he was doing here. Because it didn't help him politically. 

And you could argue that Representative Hogan was going to lose anyway, because he represented a very Democratic district, where President Richard Nixon wasn't very popular. You would have to think that voting for the impeachment of President Nixon, who even during the impeachment debate, was still very popular in the Republican Party, couldn't have helped Representative Hogan, because doing that cost him Republican votes in his own district.

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Boris Sanchez: 'Steve Bannon Makes Longshot Request to Supreme Court to Avoid Prison'

Source:CNN talking about convicted felon & soon to be prison inmate Steve Bannon.

"Steve Bannon, a conservative podcast host and former strategist for Donald Trump, asked the Supreme Court to pause his prison sentence while he appeals his conviction for contempt of Congress. Bannon’s former attorney David Schoen weighs in." 

From CNN

"Who can use executive privilege?

Executive privilege must be invoked by the President but can be used to cover the President, Vice President, and other members of the executive branch. Members of the executive branch can include advisors to the President, cabinet members, and perhaps executive agencies.

What are the limitations of executive privilege?

The right to use executive privilege is not absolute. The privilege is qualified and once it is claimed there is a presumption of privilege. Congress or the party in court seeking the documents must show that the material is essential to justice in the case." 

From Constitution Find Law

As my colleague Rik Schneider wrote about this 2 weeks ago: 

"So Steve Bannon's defense here is basically: "President Donald Trump claimed executive privilege on the conversations that I had with him about Jan. 6. That's why I din't comply with the House subpoena to speak in front of their Jan. 6 committee." 

The big problem that he has here (and I'm not a lawyer) and you can see why he keeps losing his appeals, is that Steve Bannon in January, 2021, didn't work for The White House or any part of the Trump Administration. Donald Trump fired him in the summer of 2017. 

Mr. Bannon was just a private citizen during the entire presidential election season of 2020 and the transition period from November, 2020 when Joe Biden was elected President of the United States, defeating President Trump, till the day that President Trump's term expired and Joe Biden becomes President Joe Biden. And the Jan. 6 insurrection attempt happened 2 weeks before Mr. Biden is sworn in as the 46th President of the United States, succeeding President Trump." 

From The New Democrat

I think perhaps the other major, character flaw that Donald Trump has, other than being a dictatorial narcissist who believes that he's above the law, is that he had a bad habit of talking about illegal acts and perhaps committing illegal acts, or having people commit illegal acts for him, with people who didn't actually work for him. Meaning people who don't have executive privilege. And that's probably because most of the people he hired as President of the United States, weren't willing to go to prison for him. I guess Peter Navarro is the exception to that.

Once again, I'm not a lawyer, but if you look at the Steve Bannon case here, that's why he keeps losing. He was subpoenaed by the U.S. House of Representatives to testify in front of the January 6 Committee and refused to even show up. As former Trump White House advisor Sarah Matthews told CNN a couple weeks ago, had he just shown up and plead the 5th to everything that they asked him, he's not looking at prison right now. 

His case has 2 weaknesses: 

He was a private citizen when the conversations that he had with President Trump happened, that the House was interested in. 

And executive privilege doesn't apply to criminal acts. The House wasn't interested in what Mr. Bannon was telling the President about economic policy or anything else relating to government policy. But their discussions relating to their attempts to overthrow the 2020 presidential election. He has no privilege here. 

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Jesse Dollemore: 'Republicans Send Out Their MOST IMMORAL to Defend 10 Commandments in Classrooms!!!'

Source:Jesse Dollemore talking about MAGA and the 10 Commandments. They really should actually learn about the TTC (as Donald J. Trump calls them) before they preach about them. Just to make sure (if for no other reason) that they actually believe what they're saying. Because 1 of the 10 Commandants is:"Thou shall not bear false witness against your neighbor"

"Jesse talks about the hilarious hypocrisy of sending Donald Trump and Lauren Boebert, of all people, to defend the law in Louisiana, which requires that the King James version of the Ten Commandments be placed in clear view of all students in every public school across the state."

From Jesse Dollemore

1. You shall have no other gods before Me.

2. You shall not make idols.

3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.

4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

5. Honor your father and your mother.

6. You shall not murder.

7. You shall not commit adultery.

8. You shall not steal.

9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

10. You shall not covet.

From Life Hope & Truth

As my colleague Rik Schneider said on Threads today: 

"Name 1 of the 10 Commandants that Real Donald Trump actually believes in. You have the rest of his life to come up with 1." 

From Rik Schneider

As a lot of the opposition to MAGA has pointed out going back to 2017, including a lot of people on the center-right in America, like this blog, but The Bulwark, and a lot of of center-right commentators, Donald Trump's MAGA movement is a political cult. 

MAGA is not a political faction, or a religious movement, or even a theocratic political movement, this is a political cult. They get up everyday (when when they're hungover, which I'm sure is not a rare occurrence) dreaming up new lies, new trash, that they can dump on their own movement and he country, just to advance their cult. And sell it like they're testifying under oath, or to Jesus Christ himself.

And MAGA sends out the Lauren Boebert's of the world to talk about and promote genuine, Christian values, that they don't believe in. 

Lauren Boebert's son is about to become a convicted felon because apparently he broke the 8th Commandment by becoming a thief. I guess his parents didn't teach them that Commandment. 

Their cult leader breaks most of the 10 Commandments everyday. 

Steve Bannon is headed to prison in 3 weeks because he's in contempt of Congress, because he refused to even sit down with the House January 6 Committee in 2022. 

And these are the folks that they have going out there on TV and on their podcasts preaching about the need for morality in America. It's like hearing a pro-life speech from a serial murderer who is about to be executed: "I found Jesus on Death Row" 

And not to take another shot at Louisiana, but they put themselves in the national MAGA spotlight with this. I mean a state that ranks 47th in education, feels the need to post the 10 Commandments in all of their schools. I mean a lot of their own students probably can't even read the 10 Commandments. So what could they possibly learn from them? 

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Tim Miller & Adam Kinzinger: 'Yes, Donald Trump is Dumb & Erratic As Hell'

Source:The Bulwark talking about Donald J. Trump's political cult.

"Felon 45 didn't even really like being president and no one is taking his ludicrous tariff plan seriously, but Republicans can't stop tripping over each other to show him their fealty. Plus, Putin's desperate trip to North Korea, Netanyahu shows his ingratitude to Biden, the national debt keeps growing, and Trump's fond memories for his glory days on The Apprentice." 

From The Bulwark

Donald Trump talking about dead people voting in 2021. You'll understand why I'm sharing this later in this post: 

"With CNN and other media outlets including Fox News having called the election for former Vice President Joe Biden, President Donald Trump and his allies continue to argue the results were somehow fraudulent.

On Wednesday, the Trump campaign claimed that the identities of four deceased people were used to vote in Georgia.

The campaign tweeted out the names of the four deceased former residents of Georgia, claiming that a ballot was cast in each one's name in the 2020 election. The campaign also put out a news release that day with the same allegations, which were repeated later that evening on Fox News by host Tucker Carlson." 

From CNN 

From what my colleague Fred Schneider wrote about this story yesterday: 

"But even with what I just said, you don't have to take Ramin Seodeh's word or anyone else word about Donald Trump's mental decline. Just look at and of his recent interviews, where you have his professional bootlickers (to be kind) like Sean Hannity or Dr. Phil McGraw, try to prop him up, so he doesn't sound crazy and out of the mainstream. 

Or, just look at any of DJT's recent campaign rallies where maybe half of his speeches because he's speaking off the cuff, are gibberish. Or, like in Las Vegas 2 weeks ago where he gets caught actually being honest and literally tells his melting audience in the 110 degree heat, that he doesn't care about them. He just wants their vote. 

But if you are still making up your mind about who to vote for in November, or not even voting at all for President, you need to see these stories and reports. We don't want, can't afford, a mentally incompetent, crazy man, as President of the United States. The job is just too powerful and serious for someone like that." 

From The New Democrat

I think Adam Kinziner had the perfect point here about Donald Trump. They were talking about Ramin Seodeh's interview of Donald Trump and Mr. Trump telling Ramin Seodeh that he was more happy as an entertainer and not happy doing the job as President of the United States. 

And that Adam Kinzinger would've been very happy with Trump just as an entertainer, regardless of what he was doing and even threw in a Top Gun reference. And said his film could've been something like: "The Revenge of Goose", or something like that, with Donald Trump playing Goose. (For you Top Gun fans and I'm 1) And Kinzinger said he could do things like this because at least Trump wouldn't be able to hurt the country anymore. He would just be an entertainer, but not someone with any governmental power. 

Adam Kinzinger's point about Donald Trump, is almost my point. If this guy was just some reality TV slimeball, (to put it lightly) like a lot of those characters that so-called reality TV fans see almost every night, he would be no more dangerous than the reality TV characters that you those fans see every night. Or the wannabe reality TV and pop culture celebrities that people see on social media everyday. 

Donald Trump has only been a threat to the country, when he was President of the United States and getting close to getting back in The White House today. But only if Democrats don't do their patriotic duty and simply vote for President Biden, simply to save the country.

The the dead people thing: Donald Trump apparently told Ramin Seodeh that Joan Rivers voted for him in 2016. She died in the summer of 2014. So if you think about it, the only dead person whose only voted in America, is Joan Rivers. (RIP) I'm not making fun of her. But she voted for him, according to Donald Trump. 

I'm just trying to give you an idea of how out of this world Donald Trump is. That he doesn't live in the real world mentally. He lives in reality TV world, which we know is not even reality TV, let alone the real world.

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The Source With Kaitlan Collins: 'Author Says He Has Cognitive Questions About Donald Trump After Interviewing Him Six Times'

Source:CNN talking to author Ramin Setoodeh about Donald J. Trump.

"CNN's Kaitlan Collins speaks with “The Apprentice in Wonderland” author Ramin Setoodeh about his half dozen interviews with former President Donald Trump since 2021." 

From CNN

"RAMIN SETOODEH, an award-winning journalist, is the New York bureau chief for Variety. He was formerly a senior writer at Newsweek and has also written for The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and U.S. News & World Report, among other publications. Ladies Who Punch is his first book. He lives in New York City." 

From Google Books

In case anyone is wondering why I put up a little of Ramin Steodeh's background here, I'm going to tell you anyway. It's just in case anyone who reads this (especially a MAGA person) thinks this guy is some left-wing hack from some left-wing, political rag, like Salon, The Nation, AlterNet, etc. Or some plant with the Biden Campaign out there just to try to hurt Donald Trump. Ramin Setodeh obviously has a mainstream journalistic background. 

But even with what I just said, you don't have to take Ramin Seodeh's word or anyone else word about Donald Trump's mental decline. Just look at and of his recent interviews, where you have his professional bootlickers (to be kind) like Sean Hannity or Dr. Phil McGraw, try to prop him up, so he doesn't sound crazy and out of the mainstream. 

Or, just look at any of DJT's recent campaign rallies where maybe half of his speeches because he's speaking off the cuff, are gibberish. Or, like in Las Vegas 2 weeks ago where he gets caught actually being honest and literally tells his melting audience in the 110 degree heat, that he doesn't care about them. He just wants their vote. 

But if you are still making up your mind about who to vote for in November, or not even voting at all for President, you need to see these stories and reports. We don't want, can't afford, a mentally incompetent, crazy man, as President of the United States. The job is just too powerful and serious for someone like that. 

You can also see this post on WordPress.