Chris - Do you really believe that documenting what Trump says matters anymore? You write in the transcript articles about how you believe it's important and that words matter. But I believe if we've learned anything over the last few years and from this election it is that his words DON'T MATTER. He can rant about Hannibal Lector, a golfers genitals, immigrants eating pets. He can tell as many lies as he wants. None of it moved the needle at all. We are living in a post truth society and that is deeply depressing to me. I used to chuckle at the transcript articles but now they are just very sobering. He will ramble and lie about anything and everything, his speeches and press conferences are basically all the same. Why continue to do them?
Agreed. I will spend minimal time checking to see what the rapist said; will follow what I need to to understand the goings on of the government: will not let his voice or his picture pollute my space as best as possible … and will be detoxing my soul and spirit ; and building back up my loving peaceful self and outlook .. the better to be of use and help in the days moths years to come.
We have signed off of MSM as we can’t look at him or listen to him. It is so distressing to us and feel as though it causes too much anxiety. We will be engaged enough to know what is going on but not interested in his every utterance.
I agree with you. I think a Democrat should run in 2028 and just go full Trump, putting everyone on blast and calling the GOP "garbage" every chance they get. Will the media treat that candidate like Trump and just roll their eyes, or will they do their jobs and call them out for it?
How about this - can the Biden Administration create any rules/procedures before Biden leaves office that Dems could litigate if Trump administration tries to change them?
A not insubstantial number of Americans are distressed by what feels like a dark populist turn among our fellow Americans, led by what some of us feel is an extremely flawed President-Elect. Some of us wonder what our place is in this country. I suppose that mostly I am getting over the gut-punch numbness of this sweeping win for populism. And, it's not just the results of the Presidential election, it is our neighbors, coworkers, friends who apparently feel deeply different than I do. How do people like me find a place, destress, and prepare to move forward through the next 4 years? How do we hear our fellow citizens points of view when those points of view make no sense to us?
I am feeling similarly. Born and raised in NJ (burbs of NYC), a reliably blue state. This election, the state still went blue but at a much smaller margin, shocking. We moved 3 years ago to another blue state but see a shift, even in the few years being here. We have some areas of the state that are deep blue, some areas are red and some are mix. We are in the mix but feeling a shift, for sure. At local town meetings, it is very apparent. I can’t imagine voting for Trump the first time (growing up outside of NYC, he was always in the news), but a 2nd time????? This has been a gut punch, for sure.
Make that “a minority of Americans are distressed…”
Just as “a minority of Americans are exhilarated…”
Nobody is obligated to agree with you or me.
A great many Americans simply crave the middle and won’t mind if both Tucker Carlson and Jimmy Kimmel simply disappear. They want to keep Joe Rogan though.
Polls - can you comment on this? Even though you were technically correct on YouTube this week saying they were within the margin of error (perhaps not Nevada though?), it still feels there was an (unintentional) systematic Trump undercount AGAIN. They were all on the SAME SIDE of the Margin of Error, right?
I’m really disgusted by all the Monday morning quarterbacking, with finger pointing at Kamala Harris, I.e. “she wasn’t a good candidate”, “she did too much of this/she didn’t do enough of that”, etc. You, Chris by virtue of your Thursday morning post, are one of those doing the finger pointing at her. And then you went on to say in a different post that Biden started this disaster in motion by announcing in March of 2020 that he would be choosing a woman as a VP. I believe this is grossly unfair and feeds into the misogyny that has been clearly present in this country. Your comments would be much appreciated, because I’m depressed and pissed at the same time.
I too …. Feel like there is LOTS of information out there pointing in many directions…largely people didn’t want a woman president STILL! AND the percentage of males who voted for the rapist … is alarming!!!! The fact that less people voted in 2024 than 2020 … speaks to the apathy? piece ? Idk. But I’m with you. Kamala shines … she was and is AMAZING.
As an aggressive co-conspirator in the process that acted to hide Biden‘s steep intellectual decline from all of us (“sharp as a tack“), Harris should have been immediately disqualified as a candidate. And it turned out she was as inadequate in 2024 as she was in 2020.
Will anyone in the media ask why Trump (likely) won the popular vote and what people see in him? All of the people who voted for him are not racists, mysoginists, Nazis and garbage as the media believes. Will they be reflective on why this rich guy from New York can talk to the working class and blue collar America and the D's can't? If Trump had just said, "I feel your pain," he would've truly shown that he is possibly as good of a politician as Bill Clinton. He saw the concerns with the border, crime, inflation and wokeness and no one on the other side did. Will the media ask the questions or just reflexively paint all of his supporters (over 50% of the people who voted) as racists, mysoginists, Nazis and garbage and, perhaps, if the way they covered Trump and the race pushed people to vote for him?
I agree, not all are racists, bigots, misogynists, etc.. When you hear some of these people that are interviewed on TV as to why they will/did vote for Trump it’s amazing. One woman said because he will protect abortion rights. What??? They clearly are so misinformed and that may be the issue..misinformation/disinformation. I think that the people here, in this community, have a pretty good grasp as to what is going on and understand the issues. However, many people do not dial in until a bit before an election and depending on where they get their information it can be catastrophic results as we see here. Not saying that is the whole problem but I think it’s part of the problem.
I agree with your earlier post. I was literally yelling at my screen when Harris did the town halls and refused to directly answer a voter's questions. Instead, she went back to standard boiler plate. Voters want a candidate who they can relate to and is on their level. My question, do you think the democrats, after two failed female campaigns, will try to run a "relatable" male this time? Mayor Pete or Gov Shapiro come to mind.
Just have a robust primary process and erase the possibility of superdelegates and the Dem voters will pick their preferred candidate. No need to overworry it now.
As a woman, I would love to see a woman president and was crushed when HRC didn’t break that glass ceiling. I do understand she had a ton of baggage and not well liked. However, I am not sure that the country is ready for one. I feel as though Whitmer would make a great candidate but hesitant to have her at the top of the ticket.
I am reading with horrific joy and glee so many of them at his reelection. I'm pretty certain that if you asked his 72 million voters, they would gladly and with great joy inaugurate him today for life. They have elevated him to a God-like status and he can do no wrong.
At this point since all his criminal issues will be gone, I think he will leave office at 82 and go back to being rich and golfing all the time. Sad reality that with this election win, the man will go his entire life without ever facing accountability for his crimes and the damage he's done to this country.
No one else can replicate the cult like fervor like Trump though. Trump is actually mentally ill so he can say and do things that normal people can't. The other Republicans try to cosplay as him but it won't work as well.
Chris--very happy paid subscriber! Wondering your thoughts on the "partnership" between Trump and Musk? I find this bromance very concerning. Two erratic people with high level security clearance working together, especially one that controls communication satellites and is an out sourced division of NASA. Lets not forget X and Musk's ability to silence users that might be critical to his causes or friends.
You've been saying that Harris needed to distance herself from Biden, earlier and more vigorously.
But how would that work? "I disagreed on A, B, and C. But I was ignored." This is not a winning message, is it?
There's a reason why sitting VPs have usually not made great presidential candidates. It's really hard to separate yourself from an unpopular incumbent who hand-picked you. As Hubert Humphrey and Al Gore could tell us.
While we debate what the Democratic party did wrong, how can we acknowledge the role that disinformation played without sounding elitist? My frustration is that all of the pundits/analysts seem to be looking for problems with the party and overlooking that facts are facts, simply because DJT's message took hold and made people believe it, does not make it true. It seems impossible to have a full discussion.
I'm very curious about how trump didn't get more votes in the raw numbers. Everyone is talking about how the percentage changes btwn the two, but what happened to the 15 million plus people who apparently didn't show up? There was record registration shouldn't the raw number of voters be much higher than they are? How can the US get a more active, involved populous? Would a 100$ tax break for everyone who actually voted get people to actually show up to the polls? Or would Australian model of fines fir not voting be more effective?
Also what happens if it is found that millions of votes were thrown out?
Before the election I was an avid consumer of news, both on tv and written. Post election I have nothing left in me to hear analysis and commentary on the election. I don’t want to hear the blame game. I am most disappointed in my fellow citizens who are ok with our country becoming Nazi inspired dictatorship. It’s too sad and depressing. I have to step back from news sources indefinitely for my mental health.
Chris - Do you really believe that documenting what Trump says matters anymore? You write in the transcript articles about how you believe it's important and that words matter. But I believe if we've learned anything over the last few years and from this election it is that his words DON'T MATTER. He can rant about Hannibal Lector, a golfers genitals, immigrants eating pets. He can tell as many lies as he wants. None of it moved the needle at all. We are living in a post truth society and that is deeply depressing to me. I used to chuckle at the transcript articles but now they are just very sobering. He will ramble and lie about anything and everything, his speeches and press conferences are basically all the same. Why continue to do them?
Agreed. I will spend minimal time checking to see what the rapist said; will follow what I need to to understand the goings on of the government: will not let his voice or his picture pollute my space as best as possible … and will be detoxing my soul and spirit ; and building back up my loving peaceful self and outlook .. the better to be of use and help in the days moths years to come.
We have signed off of MSM as we can’t look at him or listen to him. It is so distressing to us and feel as though it causes too much anxiety. We will be engaged enough to know what is going on but not interested in his every utterance.
I agree with you. I think a Democrat should run in 2028 and just go full Trump, putting everyone on blast and calling the GOP "garbage" every chance they get. Will the media treat that candidate like Trump and just roll their eyes, or will they do their jobs and call them out for it?
good point!
Chris, are there executive orders Biden can declare in the next 2 months to stop or blunt the convicted felon’s heinous plans?
If I may comment here: any executive orders Biden declares can be rescinded by Trump on January 21.
How about this - can the Biden Administration create any rules/procedures before Biden leaves office that Dems could litigate if Trump administration tries to change them?
We need to get Marc Elias on the phone. :)
No.
Thanks. Maybe some one- time things could be implemented right away??
What I'd like to see is some quickie laws passed before GOP takes over the Senate. Might not matter because of filibuster but worth a try.
Excellent idea!
A not insubstantial number of Americans are distressed by what feels like a dark populist turn among our fellow Americans, led by what some of us feel is an extremely flawed President-Elect. Some of us wonder what our place is in this country. I suppose that mostly I am getting over the gut-punch numbness of this sweeping win for populism. And, it's not just the results of the Presidential election, it is our neighbors, coworkers, friends who apparently feel deeply different than I do. How do people like me find a place, destress, and prepare to move forward through the next 4 years? How do we hear our fellow citizens points of view when those points of view make no sense to us?
I am feeling similarly. Born and raised in NJ (burbs of NYC), a reliably blue state. This election, the state still went blue but at a much smaller margin, shocking. We moved 3 years ago to another blue state but see a shift, even in the few years being here. We have some areas of the state that are deep blue, some areas are red and some are mix. We are in the mix but feeling a shift, for sure. At local town meetings, it is very apparent. I can’t imagine voting for Trump the first time (growing up outside of NYC, he was always in the news), but a 2nd time????? This has been a gut punch, for sure.
Make that “a minority of Americans are distressed…”
Just as “a minority of Americans are exhilarated…”
Nobody is obligated to agree with you or me.
A great many Americans simply crave the middle and won’t mind if both Tucker Carlson and Jimmy Kimmel simply disappear. They want to keep Joe Rogan though.
Polls - can you comment on this? Even though you were technically correct on YouTube this week saying they were within the margin of error (perhaps not Nevada though?), it still feels there was an (unintentional) systematic Trump undercount AGAIN. They were all on the SAME SIDE of the Margin of Error, right?
What guardrails are left if the House also goes red?
The filibuster. But, as Democrats have been demanding for the last several years, we should get rid of that.
And we should expand the Supreme Court to 13 and let Trump name the additional justices with the Senate confirming them
Does anyone here now see why those suggestions were so idiotic?
Do you miss Joe Manchin yet?
I’m really disgusted by all the Monday morning quarterbacking, with finger pointing at Kamala Harris, I.e. “she wasn’t a good candidate”, “she did too much of this/she didn’t do enough of that”, etc. You, Chris by virtue of your Thursday morning post, are one of those doing the finger pointing at her. And then you went on to say in a different post that Biden started this disaster in motion by announcing in March of 2020 that he would be choosing a woman as a VP. I believe this is grossly unfair and feeds into the misogyny that has been clearly present in this country. Your comments would be much appreciated, because I’m depressed and pissed at the same time.
I too …. Feel like there is LOTS of information out there pointing in many directions…largely people didn’t want a woman president STILL! AND the percentage of males who voted for the rapist … is alarming!!!! The fact that less people voted in 2024 than 2020 … speaks to the apathy? piece ? Idk. But I’m with you. Kamala shines … she was and is AMAZING.
As an aggressive co-conspirator in the process that acted to hide Biden‘s steep intellectual decline from all of us (“sharp as a tack“), Harris should have been immediately disqualified as a candidate. And it turned out she was as inadequate in 2024 as she was in 2020.
PS “ depressed and pissed at the same time “….💯.
I am sure I am not the only poster of this question: is it possible for Dems to escape the wilderness and who leads us out of it?
Will anyone in the media ask why Trump (likely) won the popular vote and what people see in him? All of the people who voted for him are not racists, mysoginists, Nazis and garbage as the media believes. Will they be reflective on why this rich guy from New York can talk to the working class and blue collar America and the D's can't? If Trump had just said, "I feel your pain," he would've truly shown that he is possibly as good of a politician as Bill Clinton. He saw the concerns with the border, crime, inflation and wokeness and no one on the other side did. Will the media ask the questions or just reflexively paint all of his supporters (over 50% of the people who voted) as racists, mysoginists, Nazis and garbage and, perhaps, if the way they covered Trump and the race pushed people to vote for him?
I agree, not all are racists, bigots, misogynists, etc.. When you hear some of these people that are interviewed on TV as to why they will/did vote for Trump it’s amazing. One woman said because he will protect abortion rights. What??? They clearly are so misinformed and that may be the issue..misinformation/disinformation. I think that the people here, in this community, have a pretty good grasp as to what is going on and understand the issues. However, many people do not dial in until a bit before an election and depending on where they get their information it can be catastrophic results as we see here. Not saying that is the whole problem but I think it’s part of the problem.
I agree with your earlier post. I was literally yelling at my screen when Harris did the town halls and refused to directly answer a voter's questions. Instead, she went back to standard boiler plate. Voters want a candidate who they can relate to and is on their level. My question, do you think the democrats, after two failed female campaigns, will try to run a "relatable" male this time? Mayor Pete or Gov Shapiro come to mind.
Just have a robust primary process and erase the possibility of superdelegates and the Dem voters will pick their preferred candidate. No need to overworry it now.
As a woman, I would love to see a woman president and was crushed when HRC didn’t break that glass ceiling. I do understand she had a ton of baggage and not well liked. However, I am not sure that the country is ready for one. I feel as though Whitmer would make a great candidate but hesitant to have her at the top of the ticket.
How can the American public be assured he does not install himself for a 3rd term in 2028 ? Seriously, what happens if he refuses to leave?
He’s going to die in office. He is not healthy .
I am reading with horrific joy and glee so many of them at his reelection. I'm pretty certain that if you asked his 72 million voters, they would gladly and with great joy inaugurate him today for life. They have elevated him to a God-like status and he can do no wrong.
Precisely why I'm asking. He's no FDR.
Well, his mind may be crippled.
At this point since all his criminal issues will be gone, I think he will leave office at 82 and go back to being rich and golfing all the time. Sad reality that with this election win, the man will go his entire life without ever facing accountability for his crimes and the damage he's done to this country.
He won’t last all 4 years but then we would have Vance,so there’s that.
No one else can replicate the cult like fervor like Trump though. Trump is actually mentally ill so he can say and do things that normal people can't. The other Republicans try to cosplay as him but it won't work as well.
Chris--very happy paid subscriber! Wondering your thoughts on the "partnership" between Trump and Musk? I find this bromance very concerning. Two erratic people with high level security clearance working together, especially one that controls communication satellites and is an out sourced division of NASA. Lets not forget X and Musk's ability to silence users that might be critical to his causes or friends.
You've been saying that Harris needed to distance herself from Biden, earlier and more vigorously.
But how would that work? "I disagreed on A, B, and C. But I was ignored." This is not a winning message, is it?
There's a reason why sitting VPs have usually not made great presidential candidates. It's really hard to separate yourself from an unpopular incumbent who hand-picked you. As Hubert Humphrey and Al Gore could tell us.
How likely do you think it is that TFG will implement the Project 2025 agenda? I truly fear for the future of democracy in the US if that's the case.
The Once and Future Guy isn’t going to give the Project 2025 dudes the time of day because he thinks they damaged his chances of winning.
While we debate what the Democratic party did wrong, how can we acknowledge the role that disinformation played without sounding elitist? My frustration is that all of the pundits/analysts seem to be looking for problems with the party and overlooking that facts are facts, simply because DJT's message took hold and made people believe it, does not make it true. It seems impossible to have a full discussion.
Especially since there were numerous warnings that disinformation campaigns were being waged by Russia and China.
I'm very curious about how trump didn't get more votes in the raw numbers. Everyone is talking about how the percentage changes btwn the two, but what happened to the 15 million plus people who apparently didn't show up? There was record registration shouldn't the raw number of voters be much higher than they are? How can the US get a more active, involved populous? Would a 100$ tax break for everyone who actually voted get people to actually show up to the polls? Or would Australian model of fines fir not voting be more effective?
Also what happens if it is found that millions of votes were thrown out?
Before the election I was an avid consumer of news, both on tv and written. Post election I have nothing left in me to hear analysis and commentary on the election. I don’t want to hear the blame game. I am most disappointed in my fellow citizens who are ok with our country becoming Nazi inspired dictatorship. It’s too sad and depressing. I have to step back from news sources indefinitely for my mental health.