POLITICS? I DON’T THINK SO. – The Real Question For Any Republican Candidate

PHOTO: Tom Olmscheid, Minnpost

Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Lisa Demuth, when questioned about her potential relationship with the White House, keeps telling us she’ll never let politics or partisanship deter her from doing “what’s best for Minnesotans.”
     
Politics? It’s been well over a decade since any thoughtful American could honestly call Donald Trump’s two-pronged assault on Democracy and decency—or their resistance to it—“politics.” Politics is someone coming to your door with a set of values and aspirations. To a cultivate a relationship. To encourage dialogue. 

Trump is a ruthless predator who’s broken right through your door in the middle of the night. No values, no relationship, no dialogue. He’s simply creeping his way up the stairs toward your kids’ bedroom.

Partisanship? Ms. Demuth, no Minnesotan wants to hear how you’ll be your own person with that ranting thug—the one who’s now reached the top of our stairs. We want to hear how you’ll stop him. We want you to take a moral, not a political, stand.

Have the courage, unlike nearly every one of your cowardly counterparts in Congress, to put your job, your ambition, on the line. To take a punch if necessary for what’s right.

To you, Lisa Demuth, I ask the one and only campaign question that matters for any political candidate as our beloved constitutional republic teeters on the brink of collapse: Do you denounce Donald Trump? 

Want to support my ad-free writing? Buy me a coffee—just click on the purple button at the upper-right of this page. Many thanks! – Jeff

FAILURE BY ANOTHER NAME - The Predictable Chaos of You Know Whom

The man has an M.O. It’s not just his favorite course of action; it’s his only one. 

 It’s the same every time. Totally predictable.

• Cause chaos. 

  

  PHOTO-ILLUSTRATION: loulex for the New York Times

• Accuse others of doing it.
• Claim credit for having solved the problem.
• Fail to solve the problem.
• Fire anyone who says you failed. 
• Leave the damage and cost to others.
• Countersue anyone who sues you.
• Keep doubling down till the case lands in a court you've bought and paid for. 
• Cause more chaos to distract from the previous chaos.

The same every time. There's never been a U.S. president with less intelligence, tact, grace, virtue...or imagination.

Fight chaos with resolve. Make good trouble. Plan. Register. And then vote Tuesday, November 3. Even better, vote early. Oh, and find a way to get a few voters who might otherwise skip mid-terms to step up and join you. 

Want to support my ad-free writing? Buy me a coffee—just click on the purple button at the upper-right of this page. Many thanks! – Jeff

ROBBING PETER TO PAY PETER – The Plain Truth About Trump’s Vote-Buying Scheme

For those who might be considering selling their vote to wannabe-president-for-life Donald Trump, a few things (besides its being illegal) to consider:


• The $1,200,000,000,000-plus price of this little boondoggle would be paid for by—you guessed it—you. That’s right, “You vote Trumpublican; I pay you five grand of your own money that you can’t afford because I’ve already tanked our economy.”

CARTOON: Joseph Mirachi, in the New Yorker

• His Royal Lie-ness has promised bribes before. In just the last year or so, it was $2,000 from the “trillions of dollars” in tariff revenue he said his administration had collected (revenue that has not materialized). And the $5,000-a-person “DOGE dividend” from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, whose wack-a-mole flailings have proved ineffective.

• And if you think TinyHands’s payola would, indeed go to every voting-eligible American as he promises, I’ve got some shares in Trump University to sell you. What you should bet on is that the con man of our generation will find a way to deny the payoff to democrat voters and call it an heroic cost-saving measure. (Why else do you think his regime’s so hell-bent on appropriating confidential voter information?)

• Oh, and there’s that pesky legality thing. Here’s the law, as spelled out in 18 U.S. Code § 597:

Whoever makes or offers to make an expenditure to any person, either to vote or 
withhold his vote, or to vote for or against any candidate; and
Whoever solicits, accepts, or receives any such expenditure in consideration of 
his vote or the withholding of his vote—
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and 
if the violation was willful, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more 
than two years, or both.

 
Even the most addlebrained MAGA loyalist should be able to fathom at least one of these cautions, right? 

Right?

Want to support my ad-free writing? Buy me a coffee—just click on the purple button at the upper-right of this page. Many thanks! – Jeff