Rural Whites: Somehow The USA Must Defang Them

"Rural America is hurting. Trump is justifying attitudes that some scholars try to underplay. Can rural rage be pulled away from reactionary movements offered by the far right or will rural white rage consume America?"

Click on the link below for an evidence-based look at the problem, its cause, and how to resolve it:

Why America's Rural Whites Are Angry

Do NOT Underestimate The First Criminal Trial Of The Bastard

Click on the link below for one of the best-detailed analyses you will find regarding this first of many trials of the bastard:

The real DOJ corruption scandal at the heart of Trump's criminal trial in New York

Immigration: A Look At How Trump & Biden Handled It

"We’re excited to share the first conversation in our WITHpod 2024: The Stakes series. For the first time since 1892, we have an election in which both candidates have presidential records, which provides a unique opportunity to cut through messaging and rhetoric and culture war flotsam and actually take a hard look at what each man has actually done as president. On The Stakes, WITHPod will choose specific areas of policy -- immigration, taxes, climate -- and talk to an expert about the two candidates' records on the topic. We’re starting with one of the highest salience and most complex policy areas: immigration. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council, joins to unpack immigration policies under Trump vs. Biden, border enforcement, the state of the asylum system and more."

I have posted previously about the fact that Immigration is not only good for the USA, but is needed (link). The above series of podcasts begins with the issue that polls show is the number one topic for Republicans. Click on the link below for the stated podcast:

The Stakes of Immigration

Religious Nationalism: A Pandemic Within The USA Going Unnoticed

"Author and journalist Katherine Stewart joins us today to discuss her reporting on religious nationalism, as well as the organization and structure behind these efforts, and what we can do in the face of it all.

"Be sure to check out the recent film God and Country which is based on her 2020 book, The Power Worshippers!"

Click on the link below for a podcast that interviewed a true expert on the matter:

God and Country with Katherine Stewart

A Historical Look At Revolutions

"Fareed Zakaria is the host of CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS and a foreign affairs columnist at the Washington Post. He joins Preet to discuss his new book Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present, and how this current moment of global political fracture mirrors societal upheavals of the past."

Click on the link below for a podcast putting today's global turmoil in perspective:

Revolutions, from 1600 to Trump

Roger Ailes: The Bastard Behind It All

"Roger Ailes did more to degrade the tone of public life in America than anyone since Joseph McCarthy."

Click on the link below for a biography of the main influencer of forming the present Republican Party:

A short biography of a bully

The Republican Party: A Puppet On Many Strings

"Republicans have been trending toward Putin fandom for more than a decade but with each passing year the stakes get higher, the propaganda gets more brazen, and what they're willing to support gets more grotesque."

Click on the link below to get the full picture of what is controlling the US Republican Party presently:

The Party of Putin and the Propaganda Leading the GOP to Trump and the US to Russian-Style Autocracy

The Conservative Idea Of Education

It is bad enough that the culture generally accepts childhood religious indoctrination, but this is WAY beyond the pale:

CREEPY Republican Selling Trump Propaganda To Kids

Donald J Trump: The Dullest Knive In The Drawer (BUT - - -)

"But hold on. I ask myself: How could Trump have become president, and now clinch the Republican nomination for the presidency for a third time, if he doesn’t have something in the brain bank? Even if Trump doesn’t read, can’t follow a logical argument, and has the attention span of a fruit fly, I keep believing he must have some intelligence.

"Well, it turns out there’s another form of intelligence, called 'emotional intelligence.'

"Emotional intelligence is a concept developed by two psychologists, John Mayer of the University of New Hampshire and Yale’s Peter Salovey, and popularized by Dan Goleman in his 1996 book of the same name.

"Mayer and Salovey define emotional intelligence as the ability to do two things: 'understand and manage our own emotions,' and 'recognize and influence the emotions of others.'

"True, Trump hasn’t displayed much capacity for the first. He’s thin-skinned, narcissistic, and vindictive. As dozens of Republican foreign policy experts have put it: 'He is unable or unwilling to separate truth from falsehood. He does not encourage conflicting views. He lacks self-control and acts impetuously. He cannot tolerate criticism.'

"Okay, but what about Mayer and Salovey’s second aspect of emotional intelligence — influencing the emotions of others?

"This is where Trump’s brain outperforms the brains of ordinary mortals. He knows how to manipulate people. He has an uncanny ability to discover their emotional vulnerabilities — their fears, anxieties, prejudices, and darkest desires — and use them for his own purposes.

"To put it another way, Trump is an extraordinarily talented conman."

Click on the link below for the full picture of his stupidity:

Seriously, again, how dumb is Trump?

Free Speech: IT IS NOT ABSOLUTE

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

There has been a consistent interpretation of the concept of the First Amendment to the US Constitution since its inclusion in the Bill of Rights as the FIRST of ten amendments: it is not absolute. A traditional phrase to teach this reality is: "You can't yell fire in a crowded theater.". In other words, if it incites harm, it is not constitutional. 

Given the above, it is objectively evidenced that many (? most) statements from every present-day conservative/MAGA Republican are unconstitutional. So, the question is: WHY ARE THEY ALLOWED TO USE MEDIA UNOPPOSED CONTEMPORANEOUSLY?  It is more than time to not only restore the Fairness Doctrine but make it inclusive of ALL media, with the requirement of instant/immediate fact-checking. With the wide knowledge base easily accessed by media today, this is now possible - - - use it!!!

Disinformation: Destroying Truth And The USA

"Barb McQuade is the former US Attorney from Michigan, and current University of Michigan Law School professor, NBC legal analyst, and CAFE contributor. She joins Preet to discuss her new book, Attack from Within: How Disinformation Is Sabotaging America, and how false information has become a serious threat to national security."

Click on the link below for a problem that society MUST address YESTERDAY!!

Trump & the Age of Disinformation

Voting Rights Continue To Be Under Attack

"The Department of Justice, created in 1870, was initially formed in part to enforce Reconstruction-era laws aimed at ensuring voting rights for formerly enslaved people. Yet, nearly 150 years later, voting access is still under attack. Eric Holder made history as the first black U.S. Attorney General, serving in the Obama administration. Holder now serves as the chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, which focuses on fighting back against gerrymandering to achieve fair maps. He joins WITHpod to discuss the fight for voting rights, growing redistricting concerns nationwide and how concerned he is about the possibility of former president Donald Trump being reelected."

Click on the link below for the podcast:

Protecting Voting Rights

Cults: A Hard Nut To Crack

"A few years ago, I did a video about cults and predicted that we live in conditions that make cults thrive. Today, a few years later, that seems to be the case, with cult activity skyrocketing not just in the US but worldwide. Today we look at what’s causing this problem, and what you can do if a friend or loved one goes a little too far down the rabbit hole."

Click on the links below for some advice against this major problem that notoriously is difficult to attack:

How To Deprogram A Cult Member

Welcome To The Golden Age Of Cults

Social Media, Conspiracy Theories, And Quackery

"Tesla Biohealing, which has no connection to the car company, is part of a growth industry marketing unproven cures and treatments to conspiracy theorists and others who have grown distrustful of science and medicine. Experts who study such claims say they’re on the increase, thanks to the internet, social media and skepticism about traditional health care.

"'There have always been hucksters selling medical cures, but I do feel like it’s accelerating,' said Timothy Caulfield, a health policy and law professor at the University of Alberta who studies medical ethics and fraud. 'There are some forces driving that: obviously the internet and social media, and distrust of traditional medicine, traditional science. Conspiracy theories are creating and feeding this distrust.'

"Blending the high-tech jargon of Western science with the spiritual terminology of traditional and Eastern medicine, these modern salesmen claim their treatments can reverse aging, restore mental acuity or fight COVID-19 better than a vaccine. They promise better health, but what they’re really selling is the idea of insider information, the promise of a secret known only to the wealthy and the powerful.

"So-called medbeds are one of the flashiest, most expensive, and least credible. 'Medbeds are coming,' exclaims a woman in one TikTok video. Similar videos have been seen millions of times on the platform.

"According to believers of the QAnon conspiracy theory, medbeds were developed by the military (in some versions, using alien technology) and are already in use by the world’s richest and most powerful families. Many accounts claim former President Donald Trump, if he wins another term in the White House, will unveil the devices and make them free for all Americans."

Click on the link below for more:

Miracle cures: Online conspiracy theories are creating a new age of unproven medical treatments

She Grabbed Him By The Wallet

While the criminal cases against the bastard are dragging their feet, E. Jean Carroll has set the stage for the future. Click on the link below for an interview with Rachel Maddow that goes in-depth on what Carroll has gone through and what she plans to do with the bastard's money:

"He is nothing"

A Horror Tale That WILL Be Reality If Trump Wins In 2024

"What happens if Trump takes the presidency? Thom Hartmann writes Trump's campaign promises as a dystopian tale. 

"It was a hell of a year, 2025: the first year of the First Reich (as those formerly called Democrats referred to it) or The New America as the GOP now refers to our nation. One people, one nation, one leader: America, President-for-life Trump tells us, is now 'truly great.' 

"It started with the election of November 2024, when the No Labels candidacy of Larry Hogan and Joe Manchin pulled enough electoral votes away from Biden — who was more than 10 million popular votes ahead of Trump — that none of the three tickets hit the necessary 270 Electoral College votes to win the White House. - - - 

Click on the link below for the rest of the story:

Rise & Fall of the Second Trump Reich - A Cautionary Tale

There Is NO Equivalency Between The Two Major US Political Parties

Anyone who watches Rachel Maddow knows her political views. The same can be said about Lis Cheney. There is no better example of polar opposites in political views. However, they agree 100% on ONE important matter: DONALD TRUMP MUST NEVER RETURN AS POTUS!!

Click on the link below for one of the best exposes of the dangers of Trump and his cult to the future of US representative democracy:

He is not the lesser of two evils’: Cheney emphasizes the severity of Trump threat

Ronald Reagan: The Creator Of What The USA Is Politically Today

“The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help.” ~ Ronald Reagan 

THE lie that is perpetually embedded in conservatism, with its associated isolationism and individualism.

"Today, we take a look at the life and legacy of President Ronald Reagan, the last transformational U.S. president whose regime we are still living in. Between his neoliberal economics, anti-government ideology, and white supremacist appeal to authoritarians, he did more to shape the last 40 years of the politics of the country and conservative movement than anyone else."

Click on the link below for a better understanding of the present US Republican Party:

Ronald Reagan, It Turns Out, Was Bad

Politicide: What Is Happening In The USA,The Middle East, And Around The World

"Politicide is the deliberate physical destruction or elimination of a group whose members share the main characteristic of belonging to a political movement. It is a type of political repression and one of the means used to politically cleanse populations, another being forced migration. It may be compared to genocide or ethnic cleansing, both of which involve the killing of people based on their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group rather than their adherence to a particular ideology." (Wikipedia)

Click on the link below for an interview with an expert on this form of discrimination/killing. It is essentially what Trump and the Republicans are doing in the USA and what both factions are doing in the Middle East:

From Trump’s Speech to Israel-Gaza: Jason Stanley on the Politics of Language

The Coup Is Complete

Last night, the Republican Party was finally totally hijacked by the Trump/Christian Nationalist wing. Against the hope that the majority of Republicans would prevail over the radical minority in the vote for House Speaker, they UNANAMIOUSLY chose the worst of the worst of them, Mike Johnson.

In light of the above, the rest of the USA will be watching with much fear and trepidation for the Republican Party's attempt to fully control all branches and levels of government:

• "Red Caesar and Project 2025: A fascist fever dream being given a vaguely respectable coat of paint by the Claremont Institute and the Heritage Foundation paving the way for an unconstrained, lawless, authoritarian Republican president."

• Wikipedia: Project 2025