Folks, stop a minute, okay? I know there is a lot of confusing and infuriating crap

[Atticus]

being flung at us on an almost hourly basis lately, but let's not allow ourselves to be distracted from THE cause of it all: Donald Trump in the White House and his Trumpist disciples.

Everything we do or say should make it abundantly clear that he is a criminal, this is a criminal regime and anyone still supporting the maniac is guilty of aiding and abetting. No Republican is guiltless; no Republican is unstained; no Republican should be re-elected.

Surgeons do not remove part of a cancerous tumor. They take great pains to cut out every last malignant cell. From POTUS down to our local school boards and township trustees, there is only one way to vote: straight Democratic.

The cancer of Trumpism must be excised from the body politic.

[soothsayer]

1. Huzzah

[Glorfindel]

2. Hear, hear!

Well said, Atticus.

[frazzled]

3. And that means

We should be posting more about the policies, speeches, and campaign events of his opponent, Joe Biden. And posting more information about ways to increase the vote. And posting about other federal races that Democrats could win.

Most of the posts here are repeats of repeats of daily screeds about Trump and his latest shenanigans. One or two big ones a day would be enough to vent. There are 50-umpteen per day complaining about his horrendous handling of the pandemic. We all know he is horrible already. And nothing we say is going to change the mind of any of his loyal supporters.

So I say, post the minimum that we need to know, and keep the posts to important actions. Otherwise, shroud him. Don’t give him the attention he craves and needs to deflect from other issues. Make like he’s not there and not worth our time

We will not get rid of him by sitting on our behinds and throwing daily shade. We need to focus on the strengths of our own Democrats and their plans for restoring the nation. That is barely evident here most days.

[Roy Rolling]

5. 👆👆👆👆

Yes. The virtual world has different rules than the real world.

Don’t give Trump attention, starve him out. All he wants is shallow, election admiration at the cost of saying anything to grab headlines.

Don’t respond by Either agreeing or disagreeing.

Ignore him, and carry on with the ground game of cultivating Biden/Democratic/progressive/non-Trump voters.

While the opposition is “owning the libs” on Facebook, Democrats are printing out reams of pink slips.

[SallyHemmings]

7. YES!!!!!!

[peggysue2]

21. Exactly right!

Anything that doesn't support and promote a Biden win in November needs to be tossed overboard. That means we need to let go of past arguments and dissension and all move and push in the same direction.

There's only one goal at the moment: defeat Trump, Trumpism and his enablers and live long enough to see Joe Biden sworn into the Office of the Presidency.

All else is distracting noise. Eyes on the prize!

[Hstch05]

36. Yes! nt

[BarbD]

6. Wse words! GOTV

[wnylib]

31. Yes, but not just federal races for Dems.

Get rid of every local Republican and Libertarian.

[2naSalit]

4. K&R

[Stuart G]

8. It will be exicised on November 3.

[CaptainTruth]

9. +1000000

[Wounded Bear]

10. K & R...for visibility...nt

[DownriverDem]

11. trump/repubs

have the rich, haters and religious nuts. We must fight them every day.

[PatrickforO]

12. Yes. And after we consign the GOP to the dustbin, we will have a more

arduous task ahead - our republic cannot survive with a dumb populace.

Which is why we Democrats stress education - but I'm going to go further. I believe our goal should be to so improve our K-12 system that it is the envy of the world. To make a system every single American can be proud of. No American should be unable to name at least 25 countries on a world map, or not know what our three branches of government are, or how a bill is passed into law. No American should be unable to name their local government representatives, state legislators and of course US Congresspeople.

Getting rid of the GOP may happen fairly quickly, but this other bit is going to take a minute.

[peggysue2]

22. Bingo!

Think that's absolutely on the mark. There will be years of restoration required to turn this around. Our schools have been sliding for decades, purposely so by underfunding and then pushing towards privatization goals. The usual suspects want to make money on the backs of undereducated kids while pushing their own theology for good measure.

You're so right that a democratic Republic requires an educated population to survive. Without critical thinking skills, people are vulnerable to these cult-like followings and simply will not have the leadership skills needed for the future. The opposition and our enemies know this. Even demented Donald Trump knows this, said as much early on:

"I love uneducated people."

Btw, civics and geography were taken out of school curriculums by the time my kids entered school. Wonder why????

[summer_in_TX]

35. Concurrently, part of ensuring we don't continue to have a dumb populace

we are going to have to tackle the media policy that allowed the rise of the propaganda system that has brought us to the brink of fascism.

If we are fortunate enough to elect him, I very much hope President Biden to establish a blue-ribbon panel of people across the political spectrum (both academics and thought-leaders in the industry), including some of the Lincoln Project people to do three things:
1) Establish the history of media policies and changes that brought us to the brink of fascism and how they occurred;
2) Detail the harms those changes wrought;
3) Propose policies that will foster democracy and protect it from devolving again.

At least that's what seems to me to be the approach that could bring about change to the propaganda.

I think of it as part of the process of deprogramming and accountability we desperately need.

[PatrickforO]

37. Now THAT is a sensible proposal. Well thought out! n/t

[summer_in_TX]

38. Thank you!

Boycotting and shaming don't seem to work. Changes in policy got us here and hopefully can get us out.

[ananda]

13. Absolutely!

No question

[iluvtennis]

14. Well said...let's have a Blue Tsunami in Nov 2020. nt

[malaise]

15. Great post

Rec

[wendyb-NC]

16. Thank you, Yes, every last one of them.

[johnthewoodworker]

17. Never gonna happen. Trumptard republicans constitute about 35% to 40% of the population.

They exist in protected pockets throughout the country and through effective gerrymandering and voter suppression will always maintain a hold in politics. The pendulum will swing democratic in this election if things happen normally (that's a big if) but will be back republican in an election cycle or two.

The one reality is that for that 40% base racism is the key. As a species it's easier to be lazy, racist and tribal than work to embrace diversity and understanding.

[lastlib]

18. Let's all make it a goal, and do whatever we can toward it!

Never say never! Yes, a big chunk of our populace has their knuckles dug in, but if we bash them in the head hard enough, often enough, they'll either come around or die off (either way is fine.) Keep swinging the lumber at 'em, and maybe that pendulum won't swing back so soon.

[Atticus]

20. Your resignation and pessimism may be contagious and the only people they benefit are

wearing those red caps. The most common excuse for doing nothing is "Nothing can be done."

[johnthewoodworker]

23. If acknowledging reality somehow curtails the actions of others we are truly screwed.

I acknowledge that people in my community don't wear masks in public. I guess I'm now responsible for the lack of masks in my community.

[Atticus]

24. I was mistaken. I thought you were being sincere. This post clears that up. You just like

to piss on peoples' shoes.

[johnthewoodworker]

25. Ha, ha, ha, ha. I had no idea you had me figured out.

To hell with logic, right. Nothing but cheerleading and hurrahs. Democrats forever! We'll never fail! Is that more palatable for you.

[mac56]

33. You seem nice.

[stopdiggin]

26. racism will not be a winning ticket

in ANY significant portion of this country in a relatively short period of time, gerrymander or not. Talk to any (functioning) Republican strategist on the issue. And Trump (with his bleating, blundering and "deft" political touch) has done more to destroy their brand than any politician in living memory.

Thanks for your contribution. But you have fundamentally misjudged the direction of the country (including things that have crossed our TV screens in just the past couple of weeks).
----- -----

[philly_bob]

19. The intellectual influence of Ayn Rand &

the political influence of Roy Cohn.

[CrispyQ]

27. I love the subtly of this Bramhall toon:

[Skittles]

28. correct

lack of leadership is killing us

the GOP needs to be stamped out along with that damned virus

[EqualityNow]

29. Laser focused.

Focused on turning Texas blue. Social media, phone bank volunteering, donating as able.

I want Cornyn out. I want MJ Hegar in.
I want to keep Representative Lizzie Fletcher.. first time I've had a Representative that represents me.
I want Trump Out, I want Biden in.

There is NOTHING they could say, do, bring to light, or use that will change this for me between now and November.

At this point they could have video footage of Joe eating kittens and I'd STILL be all in for him.

Come November, the next POTUS will either be Biden or Trump.. period. I'm not looking for a spouse that must be perfect, I'm looking for the bus route that will get me closest to where I want to get. That's #Biden2020 period.

[not_the_one]

30. "The cancer of Trumpism must be excised from the body politic."

A bank robbery happens. It was not just one individual. There was the driver. There were the lookouts. There were the robbers who went into the bank. During the robbery a teller was shot and killed by one of the robbers.

That robber is guilty of murder. ALL the rest are accomplices. All should be punished according to their involvement.

As I understand the definition of treason, it is seeking assistance for the overthrow of our government by an enemy/adversary.

Donald Trump (I very seldom say or type his name, instead use "the turd" ) solicited assistance from Vladimir Putin to subvert our democratic elections, thereby having himself installed as the so-called president Of The United States. He has taken his marching orders from Putin, performing presidential duties in a way to destroy the foundation of our political system. EVERYthing he has done qualifies as TREASON.

BUT Donald Trump is the gun man. He is not doing this alone. He has surrounded himself with enablers that have assisted EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. William Barr is his co-henchman, and EVERY REPUBLICAN THAT IS STILL IN THE GOP, and not left out of outrage, ARE ACCOMPLICES TO TREASON.

The punishment of treason is death. I want every one of these traitors, from top to bottom, prosecuted, and receive at a minimum, based on degree of enabling, life in prison with no parole.

For the top, Trump, Barr, McConnell, Graham, Nunes, and a few more who fit the bill, get DEATH.

I won't hold my breath, but that sounds reasonable to me. Let's take bets on when it happens.

edit to show relation to original post.

[czarjak]

32. Keep reminding them republican failure rates are 100%.

[bluestateboomer]

34. Eyes on the Prize!

Every GOPer has to go. We have to fight every race as if we were the underdog.