It's now a certainty that the last legitimately elected Republican president who wasn’t a traitor to the United States was Eisenhower. In aggregate, this should be the biggest story in the media...
Thom, I agree with your FSTV comment that The NY Times story is "the most important of the year." Thank you for making this the main story line of today's program.
The discussion on this over at Dailykos.com is also worth reading.
I'm hoping some concerned investigators, be they among the press or elsewhere, look into who in the Middle-Eastern countries were consulted with by the Reagan operatives, and disclose any information obtained.
In my view this story overshadows and undercuts every narrative and accolade about Reagan's words, deeds and ideology, and should be brought up anytime someone brings up Reagan.
Republicans don't have a president since Eisenhower worthy of invoking on any policy, ideology, or discussion for the direction of America.
Robert Weber, you've got Bibi mixed up with some earlier "warheads" running Israel. Their 6-day War? But Bibi is MUCH WORSE THAN those militaristic warheads. He's a wannabe fascist - trying to SHUT DOWN the Judiciary. Who's gonna keep an eye on HIM?
No, Bibi indeed is another wannabe DICTATOR-FASCIST. He's trying to shut down the ENTIRE JUDICIARY NOW. You don't think that's a problem? Well, who's supposed to hold HIM back from his creepy, fascistic laws "governing" the Palestinians. And the Israelis, for that matter. READ A BIT MORE, RENE TIHISTA!
The difference between conspiracy theories and history is the ability of historical evidence to support history and refute those conspiracy theories which cannot be supported by the historical record. Unfortunately, it takes time for the full historical record to emerge as yesterday’s NY Times article demonstrates.
What is ironic is that the party that has screamed the loudest about election fraud and a rigged political system is the same party that has perpetrated the fraud and rigged elections.
It is also worth noting that the primary constituency of this party's base is white males who, perhaps, have never believed in a multi-racial, multi-gender democracy to begin with. As long as this group controlled the levers of power, they could support the quasi-democracy that has characterized American democracy from the beginning. But, now that their majority control is under seige, their true authoritarian colors are becoming more obvious.
It is hard to hide behind the mask of patriotism, while embracing Putin, Orban, and other white supremacist authoritarians.
We are STILL engaged in a great civil war testing whether this nation or any nation, conceived dedicated to the proposition of equality, can long endure. Since the 1860s hundreds of thousands have given their lives so that those nations might live. It is now up to up to us in 2023 to be dedicated to the cause which they so nobly gave their last full measure of devotion.
Humanness transcends skin color, and although we are not blind to our differences, we must remember that as different as we are, we share a common humanity.
"What is ironic is that the party that has screamed the loudest about election fraud and a rigged political system is the same party that has perpetrated the fraud and rigged elections."
It is not irony, it is political tactics. Hannah Ahrendt covered this. When the authoritarian cries persecution, or accuses others of some trait, conspiracy or wrong doing, he is telegraphing (projecting) what he has in store.
The best defense is a good offense.When you commit a crime, be the first to point your finger at some one else. Kids learn that before kindergarten.
The trouble with liberals is that they are adults who forget their childhood, and the lessons they should have learned. For the Christian that heeds Matthew 25 or the Sermon on the Mount, there is the Christian that heeds Luke 19:27 But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.’” or Luke 22:36 He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.
At every milestone in my life whether it was Cronkite exposing the war atrocities every night right up to the Covid atrocities, every Republican voter continues to aid and abet this criminally negligent party,l has had a devastating negative effect on my family. When I say this is an unforgivable sin I mean it. Willful intentional collapse of economies under GOP cost us homes, pets went to kill shelters, kids had to move repeatedly and make new friends, bankruptcy’s to stop garnishments, literally everything gets destroyed for everyone when they steal power. When is will it be enough?
Dear Lord . These Republicans are the most corrupt group ever . Because it has become the boldest of all these groups of Republicans owing their current ease of corruption to the many layers of treasonous Republicans before them .
No wonder they lie with such ease. Lots of practice . From their villainous predecessors as well as Trump.
Its ridiculous how much damage they’ve done to this country and the world.
Every time any one of them opens their mouth we can all count on lies, misrepresentations and them having the gall to point fingers at Democrats.
I find it hard to have sympathy for Democrats as well for they’ve allowed this to go on.
Its despicable that they’re still claiming this election of Bidens’ should have been Trumps.
Its time for Democrats to some how get this information into the spotlight.
I thank you sincerely, Thom for your efforts to expose the truth .
This article ,Thom , is a must read for American news media if they could muster up the courage to print it. Clearly in the rear view mirror history will reveal the criminal cover-ups of Republican administrations. These malicious, sneaky, traitorous actions by Republicans over decades are many and dangerous to our democracy. However, in my lifetime I have witnessed the gaslighting by newspapers and news networks reporting only snippets (click bait ) junk ,thus the whole truth for an accurate accounting is not evident for the average American viewer. It takes work and dedication to find accurate information and reporting that is not biased by radical ideology in news sources. The average American is overwhelmed by working, family matters and other realities of life to take the extra time to research for accurate information. Americans should be able to watch their local and national news media for accurate and timely information but much unfortunately is spent on “entertainment tidbits “ or fluff. It’s way past time for all the tRump and Republican co-conspirators to be named, shamed, called out and indicted, then Sentenced! Lock Them Up!
Will that "wascally wabbit" finally be held accountable by the double barrels of ol' Elmer Fudd? The Republicans are working overtime to quash anything they can. One can only hope that the bombshell report from the New York Times, and this article from Thom, will give them pause to consider their heinous history since Eisenhower. Thanks for a great article Thom.
...'Shocked by the brazenness of that one.' Most of us just would never think to kill people, risk lives to get elected. That's what took down the Iroquois Nation (and other native people) too. The Native American was just amazed that a man would do to another man what the white man did to them; completely against 1,000's of years of governance. Dick 'the Anti-Christ' Cheney was involved in so much of this, too. Iran hostages, 9/11, war in Iraq. A few months before we went into Iraq, Halliburton-Brown and Root had become a 'slow pay' on $ millions owed for goods and services. They were 120 days out on several million, just our company alone. I was pressured to 'gently encourage' them to get current. Well, they had gone on an acquisition binge and were having major cash flow problems, with no real source of revenue. And along came war in Iraq; we banged billions of stuff into the war on no-bid contracts with Halliburton (Cheney's company). Rumor has it, he was heard saying, 'What we really need is another Pearl Harbor' and ...voila! 9/11
Let's not make the indigenous peoples of America into some kind of saints or hero's, Before the Europeans were trdding this ground, they were warring with each other over hunting rights.
The Hurons were deadly enemies of the Iriquois and vice versa, They submitted their captives to horrific tortures before killing them, the same with ther native tribes. Anasazi is a Navajo word which means ancient enemy.
The name Comanche comes from the Ute word kɨmantsi meaning 'enemy, stranger'. Their own name for the language is nʉmʉ tekwapʉ which means 'language of the people The Commanches's were hated and feared by all tribes, because of their viciousness, inhumanity and torture.
And so it goes with all native tribes, including the Cherokee. I am not dissing on native Americans, but their attitude and treatment of the other, the stranger, is a human trait, and the native Americans are human.
The problem is humanity itself. We the people of earth, we slaughter, oppress and enslave each other, for a yard of soil, an ounce of gold, a barrel of oil.
Mankind is always looking over his shoulder at the next one on the rung under his, and with trepidation and suspicion at his neighbor. And it is not just humans either, four legged critters fight and kill each other for sexual access, or food,or territory. Even the cute meerkats will kill an intruder on their territory.
Religion and education haven' t solved the problem either, in fact they have aggravated the problem, by giving it cover under "the divine".
The only solution is organizing around laws, and that requires enforcement, but he with the most power, which means he with the most resources, has the ability to define laws and control law enforcement. And that is where we are at this moment in time.
Perhaps the asteroid of 2046 will solve that problem, or global warming hasten the end of the anthropgene by the 22nd century.
We need a more accurate definition of intelligence, because despite man's accomplishments, including "the bomb" and the cell phone, there is a dearth of evidence of intelligent life on earth.
If there are aliens visitors from another dimension, the reason they don't make contact is because they are on safari, and this planet is the Serengeti of the galaxy, and on occasion they tranquilize and take a specimen.
Most of the violence and warfare we know of amongst Native peoples and all of mankind, for that matter, was after the introduction of alcohol. Yup; it's that bad. This goes back to ancient Middle-east and Greek/Roman times. As the story goes, Noah gets off the boat and first thing he does is plant a vineyard. Then, he gets drunk. His sons make fun of him so he condemns them. Only one son who treated his drunk, naked father with respect gets a blessing. (Genesis Ch. 9) And so we start, over and over again. Even Eve; fruit ferments naturally and a very ripe piece of fruit (or grapes) will have some alcohol content. That's why the vow of the Nazirite requires that you eat nothing of the vine. I don't take these stories literally but there is a fable/moral to each. Note that God threw up the rainbow as a sign of reconciliation before Noah got drunk - we are forgiven and loved, no matter what. (Genesis Ch. 8)
Interesting outlook, as a recovered alcoholic, (i quit in 1989, started at age 15 in 1954, I understand where you are coming from. I see red, when watching a show and see people who encounter some form of crisis reach for the bottle. WTF.
However the peope of this continent (BE) fefore Europeans did not consume alcohol, they were not genetically evolved to handle it, apparently neither were the Irish, there is a propensity for alcohoism in some ethnicities because they lack the gene.
EasternEurope and Russia are the worst, for the same reason as above.
The native inhabitants of this country, on the otherhand, were waging war on each other, including slaughter of innocents and torture, long before alcohol touched their lips, in fact Ginger you have fallen for a racist trope.
I visited, back in the early 70's the Indian museum at Lawton, OK, I saw the skull of a child, with a hole in it made by a stone axe.
My point is that they are people, just like whites, same with blacks,same with any peoples, it is not racist to say that people do bad shit to each other, use humans for sacrifice, enslave people, it is racist however to deny that any peoples are human and share the same qualities and characteristics as other peoples.
Uh, you don't think that Indigenous peoples were fermenting fruits, smoking 'peyote' 1,000's of years before whiskey was introduced by the white man? Think again. I am sober too (congratulations!!). I know Native Americans in recovery and they readily admit to millennia of alcoholism in their families (just like us). Good to discuss!
Of course, getting high is universal, pick yer pison. Your premise, however, is that alcohol introduced by whites is CAUSE of "most of the violence and warfare amongst NAms...." That's where you're running into pushback.
I thought you'd be interested in this reply to Ginger's reply to you. (I also replied to Ginger's earlier post)
Of course, getting high is universal, pick yer pison. Your premise, however, is that alcohol introduced by whites is CAUSE of "most of the violence and warfare amongst NAms...." That's where you're running into pushback.
Thanks, I saw your response earlier. I don't understand this need to excuse the NAm or blame the Europeans for NAm violence. Humans are violent and territorial, we were when the neanderthal and homo sapiens were running into each other. It is well known that other groups of NAm, like the Maya and Aztec were warring, sacrificing and eating each other, and the practice extended southward into Chile and Peru.
Sorry, but horses way badder than alcohol in creating NAm conflict. Suddenly exploded scale of territory and travel, suddenly tribes who barely knew about each other had a whole new "tradition:" horse-stealing raids! Hating each other for differences just like tribes of any kind since beginning of time everywhere. In far N. CA, a surveying expedition up the Pit River canyon was trying to recruit native porters around the turn of the 19th/20th C. (not even burro passable terrain!) Surveyors were surprised by NAm's reluctance. Finally one explained: There was a different tribe about four miles upriver, and they didn't even speak the same language, and if we run into them, they will kill us. Later on, a major cause of the famous "Modoc War" was that the Modocs and Klamaths were ancient enemies, and the whites put the Modocs on the same Res. as the much more numerous Klamaths. There are though to have been more than 3,000 distinct tribes in CA, and close to that many languages. So, small territories with localised survival strategies, and not so much with the horses.
For some reason, you seem to be emotionally invested in the idea that until white man's liquor the Native Americans were peace loving..
White man booze certainly brought its own problems and made a bad situation worse.
The fact is that they were killing each other. Talking of the Klamath. You should know that I live in the Pacific NW, and before the white man reached them, they were raiding each other, taking women with which to breed (genetic diversity) and, oh, killing each other.
Since you seem to be so interested in Native Americans, you would be interested in
The Red Record: The Wallam Olum: The Oldest Native North American History, by David McKutcheon. It seems that the oldest written record was that of the Leni Lenapi, besides recording the visit of John Cabot, they aso recorded their trek across America, including encountering and wiping out, what seems to be the Mound people of the Mississippi valley.
But I know how people and how the and how the mind works. When someone is emotionally invested in an idea, they will find all manners of rationalizations, excuses and distractions to justify and reinforce their beliefs. As I said on another post of Thom's, substack.
Beliefs are a powerful thing, part of, in fact the core of their identity.
And yes Europeans (white folk) committed wholesale genocide, and I know all about the Modocs and the extermination of California natives.
Did you know that California got it's name from a Queen (Califa) of what was then considered to be an island, as the central valley was once a lake,until an earthquake created a natural dam sealing off the lake from Baja California The early Spanish maps showed it as such.
It can be hard to follow the threads: You wanted this to go to Ginger, no? I was also pushing back against "the idea that until white man's liquor the Native Americans were peace loving.."
Running from North Carolina to Kentucky was a Cherokee warpath, that the was overlain on an animal trail, as were all migration paths.
Judge Richard Henderson had bright idea, Came up with a scheme. America was then a British colony, and the colonists were forbidden to settle beyond 100 miles of the Atlantic coast, as the Crown feared a war with the French and Indians, which eventually came thanks to the bungling of George Washington.
His scheme was the charade of the Cherokee selling him land, So he sruck a deal with a Cherokee chief, in which he would trade muskets and axes for land. Land that they didn’t own, and he knew they didn’t own. That Land was Kentucky. The event is recorded as the Treaty of Wauataga.
He then hired a ne’er do well, that had been in his court. This excuse for a man, abandoned his wife and younger children to go off on his great adventurers.
He didn’t break trail, but followed the Cherokee war path, he lost two sons, and eventually was evicted from the settlement that bore his name, Boonesboro, because he didn’t know how to survey and all of his surveys were invalidated with people losing their homes.
The point is that his explorations were along a Cherokee war path, a war path the Cherokee used to raid the Fox, Shawnee and other nations, and this is before the white man moved west beyond the Appalachians, save for the few hearty that had settled on
Thank you Thom, for this thoughtfully laid out history of our extremely flawed political story over the past several decades. Politicians and corporations driven by greed and power are some of history's most heinous criminals and the Republican party seems to be the safe haven for them in this country. It's been excruciating to watch over the years, but I am hoping that this year we will see some reckoning, with Trump getting indicted, and the Dominion lawsuit hopefully winning against Fox. One can only hope that accountability will finally be served, at least to some.
Either party could have been corrupt as hell and gotten away with it, because America hates the idea of publicly condemning one of its own presidents. I still won't believe Trump will be held accountable. An indictment is an accusatory instrument, not a declaration of guilt. We still have a long road ahead, and there's no reason to believe anything will change.
I'm more hopeful, as things get to the "jury" stage, even if the "Grand" kind so far. Remember there have been a lot of jury convictions of Jan. 6 defendants, and the guys who plotted to kidnap Gov. Whitmer, f'rinstance. I think there was a fear that it would be hard to get unanimous verdicts, that there would often be at least that one brainwashed holdout. As a former Public Defender, I was always more optimistic. It's very different when the citizens actually sit in the box, and actually have to hear the rest of the story. I retired with huge respect.
I was a court clerk for over 10 years and have a lot of skepticism after seeing what juries can do. I have seen innocent people go to prison, and the real kicker was seeing the defendant in one criminal trial take the witness stand and during his testimony, admit he committed the crime - and the jury acquitted him.
Grand juries, as you know, only decide whether there is enough evidence to go to trial.
You're right on target today, Thom! I watched Medhi Hasan on his Sunday MSNBC show yesterday and was appalled by the interview he did with a reporter? / writer? about Reagan's deal with the Ayatollah Khomeini in 1980. Neither of them revealed the real facts about this "treason"--as you appropriately call it. In fact, they left the matter as uncertain...vague...incomplete. This really amazed me that Medhi, born of Indian parents, either knows very little about this matter--or is very deceitful to his viewers. I thought your interview with him last week was absolutely superb...and that Medhi was on top of game. However, this piece he did on MSNBC really makes me think less of him. Can you please contact him...or at least send him your today's "Report"? I think he needs some education on this very important topic that reveals the "treasonous" behavior of past Republican presidents. It's long past time to set the record straight ! Thanks again, Thom !!
All of the anchors, talking heads, whatever y ou call them on MSNBC are employees of a corporation that itself is not liberal. It is owned by NBCUniversal—a subsidiary of Comcast.
Comcast is not liberal, it is actually Fox light. The "hosts" and reporters have earbuds, and are
being monitored by producers who know how far to tread. That and the screen in front of them.
Comcast, NBC Universal is nothing more than infotainment, designed to capture that percent of the viewing population that is not enslaved to Fox and CNN, hence its "liberal" skin. The hosts and anchors and reporters know what not to discuss and how far to go with a subject, if they value their jobs. Tiffany Cross, Keith Olbermann and others have found out, the hard way, where not to tread. Mehdi may be of Iranian parents, but he does love his million dollar a year job and wants to keep it. (I would include Chris Matthews in that list, but I am thrilled that that narcissistic, amoral, loud mouth is gone. The ass hat waged war on Democrats when the Repubicans were in power, and his wife had the gal to run for office as a Democrat.)
I will give Rachel Maddow some credit, but she is an expert on bloviating, and spends a whole hour on a pedantic rant about one, arcane subject.
You will never see one of them take a deep dive on Russia and Ukraine, and you will never see anyone on MSNBC , except Joy Reid and her guests, take the Trump humping DOJ and their right wing Attorney General to task, all I have seen from them is "expert" guests making excuses, even for SCOTUS.
The corporate media is , CNN, MSNBC. Washington Post, NYT, the right wing Media is Fox, The Tribune papers, and stations, Sinclair, Heartland and others.
If you expect real facts, relevance and coverage of truly important things, prepare to be disappointed.
And by the way, their analysts (experts) are a joke. Especially those retired Colonels and Generals they pay $10,000 an appearance. They have been retired so long I would be surprised if they could put together, in precedence, row of ribbons (awards and decorations) that they would wear on their mothballed dress uniforms. Same goes with legal experts, People with opinions and we all have those, don't we.
P.S. on Trump; I really don't think his voters would have cared about Ms. Daniels and his affairs. His voters are more like, 'You go, Dude!' He shouldn't have bothered paying her off; probably would have increased his vote numbers.
We can only hope that the law is enforced in this case. I hope there are enough people going into this with their eyers/ ears, and minds open and enforce the law against him. My fear is that because he is wealthy and influential to enough of the populace, that his threats to get his hypnotized base to support him (read revolt violently) that he'll/ avoid any consequences for his actions stronger than a slap on the wrist. I hope to see enough strength of character and conviction of morality and ethics, that we will see a truly just conclusion to his trials.
Trump needs more than prison time, but the problem is which prison and how. Seriously.
He is entitled to Secret Service protection for the rest of his life. The Secret Service, even Biden's detail, are either hide bound conservatives or Trump Humpers. Would his prison guards be his SS detail.
He would wind up in a country club prison, surrounded by sycophants. He would take over the prison, like he has taken over the Republican party, and I would guess that most inmates are already fans anyway.
Real punishment would be taking away his cell phone and locking him out, via court order, from all social media.
Maybe confine him to his penthouse in Trump Tower, that way he could not enlist other prisoners in his treason, but then there are his sycophants in the Secret Service, they need to be fired or rotated and replaced with liberals., if such an animal exists in law enforcement (doubtful).
Thom, I agree with your FSTV comment that The NY Times story is "the most important of the year." Thank you for making this the main story line of today's program.
The discussion on this over at Dailykos.com is also worth reading.
I'm hoping some concerned investigators, be they among the press or elsewhere, look into who in the Middle-Eastern countries were consulted with by the Reagan operatives, and disclose any information obtained.
In my view this story overshadows and undercuts every narrative and accolade about Reagan's words, deeds and ideology, and should be brought up anytime someone brings up Reagan.
Republicans don't have a president since Eisenhower worthy of invoking on any policy, ideology, or discussion for the direction of America.
Bill, I couldn't find a similar article to NYT on Daily Kos. Maybe a different headline? I'd like to find it! Thanks
Hi Dana, I'm sorry for the late reply... Hoping they work. The Dailykos "might" link to NYT "free access"...
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/18/us/politics/jimmy-carter-october-surprise-iran-hostages.html
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/18/2158994/-Republican-insider-reveals-conspiracy-that-sabotaged-Jimmy-Carter-s-1980-reelection-campaign
Robert Weber, you've got Bibi mixed up with some earlier "warheads" running Israel. Their 6-day War? But Bibi is MUCH WORSE THAN those militaristic warheads. He's a wannabe fascist - trying to SHUT DOWN the Judiciary. Who's gonna keep an eye on HIM?
No, Bibi indeed is another wannabe DICTATOR-FASCIST. He's trying to shut down the ENTIRE JUDICIARY NOW. You don't think that's a problem? Well, who's supposed to hold HIM back from his creepy, fascistic laws "governing" the Palestinians. And the Israelis, for that matter. READ A BIT MORE, RENE TIHISTA!
The difference between conspiracy theories and history is the ability of historical evidence to support history and refute those conspiracy theories which cannot be supported by the historical record. Unfortunately, it takes time for the full historical record to emerge as yesterday’s NY Times article demonstrates.
What is ironic is that the party that has screamed the loudest about election fraud and a rigged political system is the same party that has perpetrated the fraud and rigged elections.
It is also worth noting that the primary constituency of this party's base is white males who, perhaps, have never believed in a multi-racial, multi-gender democracy to begin with. As long as this group controlled the levers of power, they could support the quasi-democracy that has characterized American democracy from the beginning. But, now that their majority control is under seige, their true authoritarian colors are becoming more obvious.
It is hard to hide behind the mask of patriotism, while embracing Putin, Orban, and other white supremacist authoritarians.
We are STILL engaged in a great civil war testing whether this nation or any nation, conceived dedicated to the proposition of equality, can long endure. Since the 1860s hundreds of thousands have given their lives so that those nations might live. It is now up to up to us in 2023 to be dedicated to the cause which they so nobly gave their last full measure of devotion.
Humanness transcends skin color, and although we are not blind to our differences, we must remember that as different as we are, we share a common humanity.
"What is ironic is that the party that has screamed the loudest about election fraud and a rigged political system is the same party that has perpetrated the fraud and rigged elections."
It is not irony, it is political tactics. Hannah Ahrendt covered this. When the authoritarian cries persecution, or accuses others of some trait, conspiracy or wrong doing, he is telegraphing (projecting) what he has in store.
The best defense is a good offense.When you commit a crime, be the first to point your finger at some one else. Kids learn that before kindergarten.
The trouble with liberals is that they are adults who forget their childhood, and the lessons they should have learned. For the Christian that heeds Matthew 25 or the Sermon on the Mount, there is the Christian that heeds Luke 19:27 But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.’” or Luke 22:36 He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.
At every milestone in my life whether it was Cronkite exposing the war atrocities every night right up to the Covid atrocities, every Republican voter continues to aid and abet this criminally negligent party,l has had a devastating negative effect on my family. When I say this is an unforgivable sin I mean it. Willful intentional collapse of economies under GOP cost us homes, pets went to kill shelters, kids had to move repeatedly and make new friends, bankruptcy’s to stop garnishments, literally everything gets destroyed for everyone when they steal power. When is will it be enough?
Dear Lord . These Republicans are the most corrupt group ever . Because it has become the boldest of all these groups of Republicans owing their current ease of corruption to the many layers of treasonous Republicans before them .
No wonder they lie with such ease. Lots of practice . From their villainous predecessors as well as Trump.
Its ridiculous how much damage they’ve done to this country and the world.
Every time any one of them opens their mouth we can all count on lies, misrepresentations and them having the gall to point fingers at Democrats.
I find it hard to have sympathy for Democrats as well for they’ve allowed this to go on.
Its despicable that they’re still claiming this election of Bidens’ should have been Trumps.
Its time for Democrats to some how get this information into the spotlight.
I thank you sincerely, Thom for your efforts to expose the truth .
This article ,Thom , is a must read for American news media if they could muster up the courage to print it. Clearly in the rear view mirror history will reveal the criminal cover-ups of Republican administrations. These malicious, sneaky, traitorous actions by Republicans over decades are many and dangerous to our democracy. However, in my lifetime I have witnessed the gaslighting by newspapers and news networks reporting only snippets (click bait ) junk ,thus the whole truth for an accurate accounting is not evident for the average American viewer. It takes work and dedication to find accurate information and reporting that is not biased by radical ideology in news sources. The average American is overwhelmed by working, family matters and other realities of life to take the extra time to research for accurate information. Americans should be able to watch their local and national news media for accurate and timely information but much unfortunately is spent on “entertainment tidbits “ or fluff. It’s way past time for all the tRump and Republican co-conspirators to be named, shamed, called out and indicted, then Sentenced! Lock Them Up!
Will that "wascally wabbit" finally be held accountable by the double barrels of ol' Elmer Fudd? The Republicans are working overtime to quash anything they can. One can only hope that the bombshell report from the New York Times, and this article from Thom, will give them pause to consider their heinous history since Eisenhower. Thanks for a great article Thom.
...'Shocked by the brazenness of that one.' Most of us just would never think to kill people, risk lives to get elected. That's what took down the Iroquois Nation (and other native people) too. The Native American was just amazed that a man would do to another man what the white man did to them; completely against 1,000's of years of governance. Dick 'the Anti-Christ' Cheney was involved in so much of this, too. Iran hostages, 9/11, war in Iraq. A few months before we went into Iraq, Halliburton-Brown and Root had become a 'slow pay' on $ millions owed for goods and services. They were 120 days out on several million, just our company alone. I was pressured to 'gently encourage' them to get current. Well, they had gone on an acquisition binge and were having major cash flow problems, with no real source of revenue. And along came war in Iraq; we banged billions of stuff into the war on no-bid contracts with Halliburton (Cheney's company). Rumor has it, he was heard saying, 'What we really need is another Pearl Harbor' and ...voila! 9/11
Let's not make the indigenous peoples of America into some kind of saints or hero's, Before the Europeans were trdding this ground, they were warring with each other over hunting rights.
The Hurons were deadly enemies of the Iriquois and vice versa, They submitted their captives to horrific tortures before killing them, the same with ther native tribes. Anasazi is a Navajo word which means ancient enemy.
The name Comanche comes from the Ute word kɨmantsi meaning 'enemy, stranger'. Their own name for the language is nʉmʉ tekwapʉ which means 'language of the people The Commanches's were hated and feared by all tribes, because of their viciousness, inhumanity and torture.
And so it goes with all native tribes, including the Cherokee. I am not dissing on native Americans, but their attitude and treatment of the other, the stranger, is a human trait, and the native Americans are human.
The problem is humanity itself. We the people of earth, we slaughter, oppress and enslave each other, for a yard of soil, an ounce of gold, a barrel of oil.
Mankind is always looking over his shoulder at the next one on the rung under his, and with trepidation and suspicion at his neighbor. And it is not just humans either, four legged critters fight and kill each other for sexual access, or food,or territory. Even the cute meerkats will kill an intruder on their territory.
Religion and education haven' t solved the problem either, in fact they have aggravated the problem, by giving it cover under "the divine".
The only solution is organizing around laws, and that requires enforcement, but he with the most power, which means he with the most resources, has the ability to define laws and control law enforcement. And that is where we are at this moment in time.
Perhaps the asteroid of 2046 will solve that problem, or global warming hasten the end of the anthropgene by the 22nd century.
We need a more accurate definition of intelligence, because despite man's accomplishments, including "the bomb" and the cell phone, there is a dearth of evidence of intelligent life on earth.
If there are aliens visitors from another dimension, the reason they don't make contact is because they are on safari, and this planet is the Serengeti of the galaxy, and on occasion they tranquilize and take a specimen.
Most of the violence and warfare we know of amongst Native peoples and all of mankind, for that matter, was after the introduction of alcohol. Yup; it's that bad. This goes back to ancient Middle-east and Greek/Roman times. As the story goes, Noah gets off the boat and first thing he does is plant a vineyard. Then, he gets drunk. His sons make fun of him so he condemns them. Only one son who treated his drunk, naked father with respect gets a blessing. (Genesis Ch. 9) And so we start, over and over again. Even Eve; fruit ferments naturally and a very ripe piece of fruit (or grapes) will have some alcohol content. That's why the vow of the Nazirite requires that you eat nothing of the vine. I don't take these stories literally but there is a fable/moral to each. Note that God threw up the rainbow as a sign of reconciliation before Noah got drunk - we are forgiven and loved, no matter what. (Genesis Ch. 8)
Interesting outlook, as a recovered alcoholic, (i quit in 1989, started at age 15 in 1954, I understand where you are coming from. I see red, when watching a show and see people who encounter some form of crisis reach for the bottle. WTF.
However the peope of this continent (BE) fefore Europeans did not consume alcohol, they were not genetically evolved to handle it, apparently neither were the Irish, there is a propensity for alcohoism in some ethnicities because they lack the gene.
EasternEurope and Russia are the worst, for the same reason as above.
Counties with a Celtic heritage like France, Belgium,Portugal are behind Russia and Eastern Europe and way ahead of Italy, which has been imbibing the fermented grape for millenia. and lag France by percentages. https://www.abbeycarefoundation.com/alcohol/alcoholism-by-country-statistics/
The native inhabitants of this country, on the otherhand, were waging war on each other, including slaughter of innocents and torture, long before alcohol touched their lips, in fact Ginger you have fallen for a racist trope.
I visited, back in the early 70's the Indian museum at Lawton, OK, I saw the skull of a child, with a hole in it made by a stone axe.
My point is that they are people, just like whites, same with blacks,same with any peoples, it is not racist to say that people do bad shit to each other, use humans for sacrifice, enslave people, it is racist however to deny that any peoples are human and share the same qualities and characteristics as other peoples.
Uh, you don't think that Indigenous peoples were fermenting fruits, smoking 'peyote' 1,000's of years before whiskey was introduced by the white man? Think again. I am sober too (congratulations!!). I know Native Americans in recovery and they readily admit to millennia of alcoholism in their families (just like us). Good to discuss!
Of course, getting high is universal, pick yer pison. Your premise, however, is that alcohol introduced by whites is CAUSE of "most of the violence and warfare amongst NAms...." That's where you're running into pushback.
I thought you'd be interested in this reply to Ginger's reply to you. (I also replied to Ginger's earlier post)
Of course, getting high is universal, pick yer pison. Your premise, however, is that alcohol introduced by whites is CAUSE of "most of the violence and warfare amongst NAms...." That's where you're running into pushback.
Thanks, I saw your response earlier. I don't understand this need to excuse the NAm or blame the Europeans for NAm violence. Humans are violent and territorial, we were when the neanderthal and homo sapiens were running into each other. It is well known that other groups of NAm, like the Maya and Aztec were warring, sacrificing and eating each other, and the practice extended southward into Chile and Peru.
Sorry, but horses way badder than alcohol in creating NAm conflict. Suddenly exploded scale of territory and travel, suddenly tribes who barely knew about each other had a whole new "tradition:" horse-stealing raids! Hating each other for differences just like tribes of any kind since beginning of time everywhere. In far N. CA, a surveying expedition up the Pit River canyon was trying to recruit native porters around the turn of the 19th/20th C. (not even burro passable terrain!) Surveyors were surprised by NAm's reluctance. Finally one explained: There was a different tribe about four miles upriver, and they didn't even speak the same language, and if we run into them, they will kill us. Later on, a major cause of the famous "Modoc War" was that the Modocs and Klamaths were ancient enemies, and the whites put the Modocs on the same Res. as the much more numerous Klamaths. There are though to have been more than 3,000 distinct tribes in CA, and close to that many languages. So, small territories with localised survival strategies, and not so much with the horses.
For some reason, you seem to be emotionally invested in the idea that until white man's liquor the Native Americans were peace loving..
White man booze certainly brought its own problems and made a bad situation worse.
The fact is that they were killing each other. Talking of the Klamath. You should know that I live in the Pacific NW, and before the white man reached them, they were raiding each other, taking women with which to breed (genetic diversity) and, oh, killing each other.
Since you seem to be so interested in Native Americans, you would be interested in
The Red Record: The Wallam Olum: The Oldest Native North American History, by David McKutcheon. It seems that the oldest written record was that of the Leni Lenapi, besides recording the visit of John Cabot, they aso recorded their trek across America, including encountering and wiping out, what seems to be the Mound people of the Mississippi valley.
But I know how people and how the and how the mind works. When someone is emotionally invested in an idea, they will find all manners of rationalizations, excuses and distractions to justify and reinforce their beliefs. As I said on another post of Thom's, substack.
Beliefs are a powerful thing, part of, in fact the core of their identity.
And yes Europeans (white folk) committed wholesale genocide, and I know all about the Modocs and the extermination of California natives.
Did you know that California got it's name from a Queen (Califa) of what was then considered to be an island, as the central valley was once a lake,until an earthquake created a natural dam sealing off the lake from Baja California The early Spanish maps showed it as such.
It can be hard to follow the threads: You wanted this to go to Ginger, no? I was also pushing back against "the idea that until white man's liquor the Native Americans were peace loving.."
Here is another tidbit for you
Running from North Carolina to Kentucky was a Cherokee warpath, that the was overlain on an animal trail, as were all migration paths.
Judge Richard Henderson had bright idea, Came up with a scheme. America was then a British colony, and the colonists were forbidden to settle beyond 100 miles of the Atlantic coast, as the Crown feared a war with the French and Indians, which eventually came thanks to the bungling of George Washington.
His scheme was the charade of the Cherokee selling him land, So he sruck a deal with a Cherokee chief, in which he would trade muskets and axes for land. Land that they didn’t own, and he knew they didn’t own. That Land was Kentucky. The event is recorded as the Treaty of Wauataga.
He then hired a ne’er do well, that had been in his court. This excuse for a man, abandoned his wife and younger children to go off on his great adventurers.
He didn’t break trail, but followed the Cherokee war path, he lost two sons, and eventually was evicted from the settlement that bore his name, Boonesboro, because he didn’t know how to survey and all of his surveys were invalidated with people losing their homes.
The point is that his explorations were along a Cherokee war path, a war path the Cherokee used to raid the Fox, Shawnee and other nations, and this is before the white man moved west beyond the Appalachians, save for the few hearty that had settled on
The Wautaga River in 1772. These men subsequently defeated the Loyalist militia of Maj Ferguson on King’s Mountain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watauga_Association
Yup, we blame everyone and everything but ourselves. Best defense is an offense.
So what is your real name? Are you in the PRC?
This article should be in The NY Times and Washington Post.
Thank you Thom, for this thoughtfully laid out history of our extremely flawed political story over the past several decades. Politicians and corporations driven by greed and power are some of history's most heinous criminals and the Republican party seems to be the safe haven for them in this country. It's been excruciating to watch over the years, but I am hoping that this year we will see some reckoning, with Trump getting indicted, and the Dominion lawsuit hopefully winning against Fox. One can only hope that accountability will finally be served, at least to some.
Thank you!!! I liked Gerald Ford right up to today. It is no wonder Trump thinks he can get away with criminal behavior.
Either party could have been corrupt as hell and gotten away with it, because America hates the idea of publicly condemning one of its own presidents. I still won't believe Trump will be held accountable. An indictment is an accusatory instrument, not a declaration of guilt. We still have a long road ahead, and there's no reason to believe anything will change.
I'm more hopeful, as things get to the "jury" stage, even if the "Grand" kind so far. Remember there have been a lot of jury convictions of Jan. 6 defendants, and the guys who plotted to kidnap Gov. Whitmer, f'rinstance. I think there was a fear that it would be hard to get unanimous verdicts, that there would often be at least that one brainwashed holdout. As a former Public Defender, I was always more optimistic. It's very different when the citizens actually sit in the box, and actually have to hear the rest of the story. I retired with huge respect.
I was a court clerk for over 10 years and have a lot of skepticism after seeing what juries can do. I have seen innocent people go to prison, and the real kicker was seeing the defendant in one criminal trial take the witness stand and during his testimony, admit he committed the crime - and the jury acquitted him.
Grand juries, as you know, only decide whether there is enough evidence to go to trial.
Eisenhower: Beware the military-industrial complex.
You're right on target today, Thom! I watched Medhi Hasan on his Sunday MSNBC show yesterday and was appalled by the interview he did with a reporter? / writer? about Reagan's deal with the Ayatollah Khomeini in 1980. Neither of them revealed the real facts about this "treason"--as you appropriately call it. In fact, they left the matter as uncertain...vague...incomplete. This really amazed me that Medhi, born of Indian parents, either knows very little about this matter--or is very deceitful to his viewers. I thought your interview with him last week was absolutely superb...and that Medhi was on top of game. However, this piece he did on MSNBC really makes me think less of him. Can you please contact him...or at least send him your today's "Report"? I think he needs some education on this very important topic that reveals the "treasonous" behavior of past Republican presidents. It's long past time to set the record straight ! Thanks again, Thom !!
All of the anchors, talking heads, whatever y ou call them on MSNBC are employees of a corporation that itself is not liberal. It is owned by NBCUniversal—a subsidiary of Comcast.
Comcast is not liberal, it is actually Fox light. The "hosts" and reporters have earbuds, and are
being monitored by producers who know how far to tread. That and the screen in front of them.
Comcast, NBC Universal is nothing more than infotainment, designed to capture that percent of the viewing population that is not enslaved to Fox and CNN, hence its "liberal" skin. The hosts and anchors and reporters know what not to discuss and how far to go with a subject, if they value their jobs. Tiffany Cross, Keith Olbermann and others have found out, the hard way, where not to tread. Mehdi may be of Iranian parents, but he does love his million dollar a year job and wants to keep it. (I would include Chris Matthews in that list, but I am thrilled that that narcissistic, amoral, loud mouth is gone. The ass hat waged war on Democrats when the Repubicans were in power, and his wife had the gal to run for office as a Democrat.)
I will give Rachel Maddow some credit, but she is an expert on bloviating, and spends a whole hour on a pedantic rant about one, arcane subject.
You will never see one of them take a deep dive on Russia and Ukraine, and you will never see anyone on MSNBC , except Joy Reid and her guests, take the Trump humping DOJ and their right wing Attorney General to task, all I have seen from them is "expert" guests making excuses, even for SCOTUS.
The corporate media is , CNN, MSNBC. Washington Post, NYT, the right wing Media is Fox, The Tribune papers, and stations, Sinclair, Heartland and others.
If you expect real facts, relevance and coverage of truly important things, prepare to be disappointed.
And by the way, their analysts (experts) are a joke. Especially those retired Colonels and Generals they pay $10,000 an appearance. They have been retired so long I would be surprised if they could put together, in precedence, row of ribbons (awards and decorations) that they would wear on their mothballed dress uniforms. Same goes with legal experts, People with opinions and we all have those, don't we.
P.S. on Trump; I really don't think his voters would have cared about Ms. Daniels and his affairs. His voters are more like, 'You go, Dude!' He shouldn't have bothered paying her off; probably would have increased his vote numbers.
We can only hope that the law is enforced in this case. I hope there are enough people going into this with their eyers/ ears, and minds open and enforce the law against him. My fear is that because he is wealthy and influential to enough of the populace, that his threats to get his hypnotized base to support him (read revolt violently) that he'll/ avoid any consequences for his actions stronger than a slap on the wrist. I hope to see enough strength of character and conviction of morality and ethics, that we will see a truly just conclusion to his trials.
Trump needs more than prison time, but the problem is which prison and how. Seriously.
He is entitled to Secret Service protection for the rest of his life. The Secret Service, even Biden's detail, are either hide bound conservatives or Trump Humpers. Would his prison guards be his SS detail.
He would wind up in a country club prison, surrounded by sycophants. He would take over the prison, like he has taken over the Republican party, and I would guess that most inmates are already fans anyway.
Real punishment would be taking away his cell phone and locking him out, via court order, from all social media.
Maybe confine him to his penthouse in Trump Tower, that way he could not enlist other prisoners in his treason, but then there are his sycophants in the Secret Service, they need to be fired or rotated and replaced with liberals., if such an animal exists in law enforcement (doubtful).