I just don't know. We gave up a couple months ago and moved to Italy (from Texas, don't get me started.) It's still unbelievable but at least now it's an ocean away.
From Texas to Italia. Congratulations 🎉🎈🍾. I lived in Napoli for three years -- loved, loved, loved it 😊. Where are you living in Italy? There is something of a divide in Italy between Northern Italy and Southern Italy -- not unlike the divide between Southern U.S. states and Northern U.S. states - as the history of the regions of Italy is quite diverse and (re)unification is fairly recent. Used to see some Confederate flags in southern Italy. Do you have a connection to Italy?
National politics in Italy is fraught with tension between fascist types and old-style communist types and is a subject of much amusement to the fizzizist community I associated with. Naples has the least green space and the least number of non-native residents of any city in Europe (it was said).
I am jealous of your move. Enjoy and travel. Takes more than one lifetime to see Italy.
And since you are replying to a brilliant article about religion, I am adding what I learned about Catholicism from an Italian friend: The reason the all male Catholic hierarchy/priests are forbidden to marry is so they do not have (legitimate) heirs to leave their money to, so all the offerings go to the highest in the hierarchy and stay within the very wealthy Vatican.
Also, this Italian friend noted that it is the widows and old women who go to Sunday mass with the rest of the population identifying as non-religious but still celebrating the big religious holidays as a tradition. (A generalization.) Guess Opus Dei in the North is an exception.
What are your impressions? (Compare with Texas.) My hub lived in Austin in the early 80’s for a UT postdoc and loved it. For music - maybe you can catch a piano concert by Mussolini’s son - if he is still around doing this. Amazing.
Congratulations on your Neapolitan ancestry. Hope you have kept some Italian food traditions alive. [Food is the real religion -- not the Church.] The vegetables still have taste as the sun shines on the richly cultivated soil in a special way and may still be the product of smaller plots and not large agri-business concerns.
I think about how to do just that 24/7. 10 years ago I thought by now I'd be writing screenplays and editing videos for quick money. I was always politically aware but was never expecting to channel my creativity into the political arena. Distilling moral arguments down to micro short videos for tik tok or facebook is hard.
Ugh. This is more depressing than anything else I've read this morning, and I've been reading some depressing stuff. Have a lovely weekend, and thanks for paying attention.
You know you’re living in an corrupt dangerous Republican religious alternate universe when six well bred groomed Catholic moneyed lawyers lie under Oath and face no consequences to Equal Justice under Law emblazoned over the damn building they sit in. Never mind Kavanaugh, ACB, Roberts were always the secret Republican political grenade to push through their fascist agenda by hijacking 2000 Bush v Gore legal case throwing it to Thomas to legitimize the pure stench of another stolen election and richly rewarded. They are all filthy fascists.
Apparently the asinine premise of 1776 “Gentleman’s Agreement” also went out the damn door at the same time. We have no way to deal with the Devil’s Spawn willing to burn down 245 years of ancestors sacrifice so the these rotten motherfuckers can own more yachts and homes. About as debased as it gets.
Jan 6 was modeled after the Brooks Brothers riot in WPB Fl both cooked up by Roger Stone. He thought he could run the same riot and get away with it again especially after Trump and Leo putJeb’s attorneys on SCOTUS, ACB, Kavanaugh, Roberts was already rewarded by Bush, who then used that riot as the ruse to kick it to SCOTUS. Jeb’s SoS kicked off over 800,000 minority using Kobach’s Crosscheck lies. They have mapped this out for decades.
I’m truly amazed at what rich dudes get away with! The average person who saves a little money in their 401k has to start spending the money at the age of 72. It’s required because the government wants their tax money! But we let theses ffers take 1.6 billion dollars off the table w/o paying taxes on it. I read Nina’s article excellent piece of writing on Barre Seid. From what I’ve been taught in the catholic community Leo and Barre and the Koch brothers will be last to enter the kingdom of God. That’s our consolation prize! 🤬🤬
It's vile. Also, it's mostly those who have INHERITED their wealth who are the most libertarian about not being taxed. Not Seid, but a lot of the time. Zero capacity for self-reflection. Soulless.
Thanks for highlighting this abomination. Doubly depressing that Leo's a Jersey guy...but as you point out, this money will long outlive even that incubus.
Disturbing, disgusting, and despicable. Saying Seid is Jewish is like saying Hitler was Christian. (I know, I know: Moore’s Law here.)
[ I should wait until my much smarter (high-energy particle theorist), way funnier, and most clever Heb hub wakes up to give this a proper answer. He does not like to be disgusted early in his day. ]
What does Mr. Seid know of the history of Catholicism? Is he some authoritarian a__hole? He seriously needs to be schooled. My blood is boiling--so I need to find his address to write him and ‘plain to him a different understanding of this sin he is perpetrating upon humankind.
Religion: Uggh: Organized Superstition. JFC at this.
Found your 2014 piece in “The Weaklings.” When so many historical facts are put together in one place . . it’s hard to be neighborly in my enclave of Christianity/Catholicism. (You left out the usually cited/best known example of the selling of indulgences which prompted Martin Luther’s nailing of theses. Fine to concentrate on other instances of love.)
When do you think religiosity will have run its course?
[Has driven me nuts my entire life as my bio-father was a Church Of Christ preacher. As a small tot, I never believed -- as he preached that those (including small children) who did not believe in Jesus, repent, and get baptized would definitely face an eternity of burning in hell with zero chance of reprieve for all - including those who were never told of Jesus. The gates of hell were wide - with many going through to eternal damnation - with the gates of Heaven being straight and narrow with few entering. Book, chapter and verse were given. How could this possibly be ?- I thought. Could never comprehend or imagine a hell worse than how I experienced my childhood. Sorry. ]
Bless you for your thoughtful and enlightened writings.😇❤️
That preacher could make you hate Christianity forever, sadly, I have family that subscribes to such insanity. If the gates of heaven are straight and narrow, I know who won’t be going through
They will never resign. Only someone capable of self-reflection and willing to do the right thing would resign, and they were chosen because they are not those people.
Catch 22 again...Boooshhhes had big part in this...all Godless war mongers... remember W saying we were in a Crusade against Iraq,who was Innocent in 9/11 👿👿👿
It might seem hopeful if we had a billionaire that was interested in funding the truth, but I don't think that would solve the problem. We need a grass roots way of getting fact based information to the masses, and it has to be corruption proof. The challenge ahead seems impossible, but it's either wake up or go extinct. Thanks for a cheery start to the weekend!
There have been well-meaning rich people who gave lots and lots of money to do good things for humanity. Heck, even John D. Rockefeller, who invented modern philanthropy, used his money for some amazing things. What we don't have is a current billionaire taking these people on in the same arena.
Seems like it all comes down to trust. The bad guys spend millions to destroy trust, and then promise that they are the only ones to be trusted. People fall for it. We need to build organic networks of trust that are grounded, and not count on philanthropy. But I have no idea how that might be done. Hopefully we'll get it figured out while we still can. Cheery!
I haven't completely lost my political optimism, but it's getting harder to maintain. We need some loud billionaires to step up and make themselves known to the masses (that's us). The Leos are in hiding, like children who think, if they cover their eyes, we can't see them.
"Yet even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America - there's the United States of America. There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America. The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America."
I remember it well. It's a portion of Barack Obama's speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention. I also remember WANTING it to be true, while, even then, knowing that it wasn't. There are TWO Americas, and there has been since at least Richard Nixon. One of them is us, the "normies," who try to go about our daily lives, just living and doing things we're able to because we're currently in a free society -- this is the America Obama was describing even though it wasn't real. It's even less real now. The other America is headed up by the likes of people like Leo, Seid, the Federalist Society, the SCOTUS, and the Republican Party, who are all trying to WILL into existence their own utopia of forced birth, a Supreme Court that makes rulings based on Old Testament law, and a President and Congress who are subject to the will not of the People, but of the moneyed interests making everything else possible. I've ALWAYS remembered that Republicans and the theocrats in the US play the LONG game. "Citizens United" was one of the first steps to where we are now. It makes the BILLIONS that are invested into changing laws and norms for EVERYONE by a few, possible.
I 100% agree with Greg. SUNLIGHT is the best disinfectant. People need to know who Leonard Leo is, and Barre Seid especially, who seems to be a shy boy who doesn't want any publicity for his "donations to social causes." One of the first things a Democratic Congress and president should do after 2024 is rework and code into law the abolition of "Citizens United," and the rules surrounding 501(c)(4) donations. As an American citizen, I want to be able to find out WHERE money used to bribe, oh, wait, I mean DONATE to candidates and organizations being used to try and change MY life are coming from. What is the deal with SECRET donations anyway? Is it shame? Embarrassment? I'm more than happy for everyone to know that I donated $10 to Colin Allred for Senator of Texas, running against the disgusting Ted Cruz, and I live in Illinois! This stuff has to either be stopped or brought out for all to see. Seid's "donation" is dangerous to the Republic, especially in the hands of the odious Leonard Leo. Ugh, I just can't anymore with these people, but at least now we know, with 99.9% certainty, who paid off Kavanaugh's credit cards. Also, I've used Tripp Lite power strips and UPSs, and they are known far and wide in the IT community as being the shittiest products of that sort you can buy. They fail pretty consistently, and I haven't used anything made by them in more than a decade. Better to just plug delicate computer components into a wall socket and hope for the best!
OMG, thanks for that bit about his products. OF COURSE his stuff sucks. It's so on brand!
And just to insert some hope here...we are in a country where, not that long ago in the grand scheme, some humans owned some other humans. Not "owned" like we use the word in relation to Mike Pence or Lindsey Graham, either. Talk about two Americas! Certainly things are better now.
It IS bribery by another name. And the reason they want it to be secret? How do we know that money isn't coming from foreign sources? The onus should be on these fuckers to show us they are NOT foreign spies.
I absolutely agree about taking taking 501C(4)s off the table.
Citizens United needs to die immediately in 2024...corporations are economic structures, not people. End of story. Hidden and dark PACs need to die under withering sunshine. All dark money needs to be revealed. That is exactly how this started; it's the water that grew what Nixon and Reagan started.
Most political 501C(4)s are mini-financial institutions; treat them as such in the interim before they are dissolved completely. (Those that are real charities can be redefined in a reasonable manner.)
So, definitely, the answer is making these things 'not for sale' whatsoever. Not now, not ever. And the legal penalties should be stiffer and relatively easy to convict.
So, the next step right now is to convey to the voting public what needs to be done and why, how they are screwed by the present situation and what they are really losing right now, every day. Get our whizbang lawyers to work on the legal language now, get the attack dogs into action. Chew their asses every day.
Sorry, was late for this, had work. This kind of crap makes me growl and slobber.
For the record I ran a 501c(3), a museum, from start-up to fully functioning for 15 years. For free. These black hats don't know what personal charity and gifts of the heart really are.
Glad to know who makes them, done with the cretin. BTW, Abbott has changed laws to make repubs shoo ins across the board. Hate to see Colin lose, but the deck is stacked.
“Dark” indeed! I’m feeling the tension between the old saw “ignorance is bliss”—I was certainly happier before I read about Seid than after—and the idea that knowing about danger helps us deal with reality. Fortunately I have a firmly held spiritual belief—and admittedly it’s also a defense mechanism against despair—that the Light will ultimately prevail. In time to save our democracy? I guess we’ll see.
Always been a closet optimist. As Churchill said, of what use is it to be anything else. However, lately, it seems that hope is just a tease designed to keep me from facing cruel reality. (Courtesy of Violet on Downton Abbey.)
How very depressing.
Stole the words right out of my mouth. Geez, wtf are we to do?
I just don't know. We gave up a couple months ago and moved to Italy (from Texas, don't get me started.) It's still unbelievable but at least now it's an ocean away.
From Texas to Italia. Congratulations 🎉🎈🍾. I lived in Napoli for three years -- loved, loved, loved it 😊. Where are you living in Italy? There is something of a divide in Italy between Northern Italy and Southern Italy -- not unlike the divide between Southern U.S. states and Northern U.S. states - as the history of the regions of Italy is quite diverse and (re)unification is fairly recent. Used to see some Confederate flags in southern Italy. Do you have a connection to Italy?
National politics in Italy is fraught with tension between fascist types and old-style communist types and is a subject of much amusement to the fizzizist community I associated with. Naples has the least green space and the least number of non-native residents of any city in Europe (it was said).
I am jealous of your move. Enjoy and travel. Takes more than one lifetime to see Italy.
And since you are replying to a brilliant article about religion, I am adding what I learned about Catholicism from an Italian friend: The reason the all male Catholic hierarchy/priests are forbidden to marry is so they do not have (legitimate) heirs to leave their money to, so all the offerings go to the highest in the hierarchy and stay within the very wealthy Vatican.
Also, this Italian friend noted that it is the widows and old women who go to Sunday mass with the rest of the population identifying as non-religious but still celebrating the big religious holidays as a tradition. (A generalization.) Guess Opus Dei in the North is an exception.
What are your impressions? (Compare with Texas.) My hub lived in Austin in the early 80’s for a UT postdoc and loved it. For music - maybe you can catch a piano concert by Mussolini’s son - if he is still around doing this. Amazing.
In Naples -- where some of my ancestors hailed -- I took the scariest cab ride of my life.
Almost got mowed down in Naples, partly my fault, being an ignorant tourist
Palermo, Sicily
How do you say "jealous" in Italian?
Congratulations on your Neapolitan ancestry. Hope you have kept some Italian food traditions alive. [Food is the real religion -- not the Church.] The vegetables still have taste as the sun shines on the richly cultivated soil in a special way and may still be the product of smaller plots and not large agri-business concerns.
The first thing is, make sure people know who Leonard Leo is. It's astonishing how many people, even in DC, have no idea who he is.
I think about how to do just that 24/7. 10 years ago I thought by now I'd be writing screenplays and editing videos for quick money. I was always politically aware but was never expecting to channel my creativity into the political arena. Distilling moral arguments down to micro short videos for tik tok or facebook is hard.
MassMedia keeps all this SECRET
Nina's article was a gut punch.
Ugh. This is more depressing than anything else I've read this morning, and I've been reading some depressing stuff. Have a lovely weekend, and thanks for paying attention.
I hate to be a downer, as you know, but we have to make this guy famous. It's the only thing we can control.
MassMedia won't EXPOSE the debacle..it has always been my worry😟
You know you’re living in an corrupt dangerous Republican religious alternate universe when six well bred groomed Catholic moneyed lawyers lie under Oath and face no consequences to Equal Justice under Law emblazoned over the damn building they sit in. Never mind Kavanaugh, ACB, Roberts were always the secret Republican political grenade to push through their fascist agenda by hijacking 2000 Bush v Gore legal case throwing it to Thomas to legitimize the pure stench of another stolen election and richly rewarded. They are all filthy fascists.
That 2000 election was a fork in the road moment. We took the wrong path. No question about it.
Apparently the asinine premise of 1776 “Gentleman’s Agreement” also went out the damn door at the same time. We have no way to deal with the Devil’s Spawn willing to burn down 245 years of ancestors sacrifice so the these rotten motherfuckers can own more yachts and homes. About as debased as it gets.
I was in Miami court house that day,filling paperwork little did I know the Rukus was historical 😓
Jan 6 was modeled after the Brooks Brothers riot in WPB Fl both cooked up by Roger Stone. He thought he could run the same riot and get away with it again especially after Trump and Leo putJeb’s attorneys on SCOTUS, ACB, Kavanaugh, Roberts was already rewarded by Bush, who then used that riot as the ruse to kick it to SCOTUS. Jeb’s SoS kicked off over 800,000 minority using Kobach’s Crosscheck lies. They have mapped this out for decades.
Thank you, so clear but so hidden
They played us like a fiddle now sit back and watch Rome burn.
I knew it at the time, the sense of foreboding has never left me. I was shocked by the vitriol when Obama was elected, the evil was multiplied…
Including the collective yawns and shrugs from Mainslime Media.
Depressing, true, but unmistakable and therefore urgent. Greg: Brilliant!
Thanks, Steven!
I’m truly amazed at what rich dudes get away with! The average person who saves a little money in their 401k has to start spending the money at the age of 72. It’s required because the government wants their tax money! But we let theses ffers take 1.6 billion dollars off the table w/o paying taxes on it. I read Nina’s article excellent piece of writing on Barre Seid. From what I’ve been taught in the catholic community Leo and Barre and the Koch brothers will be last to enter the kingdom of God. That’s our consolation prize! 🤬🤬
It's vile. Also, it's mostly those who have INHERITED their wealth who are the most libertarian about not being taxed. Not Seid, but a lot of the time. Zero capacity for self-reflection. Soulless.
That's the problem 100% self righteous 👿
Wish I felt consoled…
Thanks for highlighting this abomination. Doubly depressing that Leo's a Jersey guy...but as you point out, this money will long outlive even that incubus.
I mention his roots b/c I suspect he's ashamed of where he came from. And we Jersey natives are ashamed of him, so it's even!
Disturbing, disgusting, and despicable. Saying Seid is Jewish is like saying Hitler was Christian. (I know, I know: Moore’s Law here.)
[ I should wait until my much smarter (high-energy particle theorist), way funnier, and most clever Heb hub wakes up to give this a proper answer. He does not like to be disgusted early in his day. ]
What does Mr. Seid know of the history of Catholicism? Is he some authoritarian a__hole? He seriously needs to be schooled. My blood is boiling--so I need to find his address to write him and ‘plain to him a different understanding of this sin he is perpetrating upon humankind.
Religion: Uggh: Organized Superstition. JFC at this.
I wrote a piece years ago called "A Brief History of Christian Love." The number of people who did needlessly for religion is dumbfounding.
Found your 2014 piece in “The Weaklings.” When so many historical facts are put together in one place . . it’s hard to be neighborly in my enclave of Christianity/Catholicism. (You left out the usually cited/best known example of the selling of indulgences which prompted Martin Luther’s nailing of theses. Fine to concentrate on other instances of love.)
When do you think religiosity will have run its course?
[Has driven me nuts my entire life as my bio-father was a Church Of Christ preacher. As a small tot, I never believed -- as he preached that those (including small children) who did not believe in Jesus, repent, and get baptized would definitely face an eternity of burning in hell with zero chance of reprieve for all - including those who were never told of Jesus. The gates of hell were wide - with many going through to eternal damnation - with the gates of Heaven being straight and narrow with few entering. Book, chapter and verse were given. How could this possibly be ?- I thought. Could never comprehend or imagine a hell worse than how I experienced my childhood. Sorry. ]
Bless you for your thoughtful and enlightened writings.😇❤️
That preacher could make you hate Christianity forever, sadly, I have family that subscribes to such insanity. If the gates of heaven are straight and narrow, I know who won’t be going through
The Crusades..Blood was measured on walls of city,like a Tsunami😓
They knew about this. Explains their 'Supreme' confidence. That is why they wouldn't resign.
They will never resign. Only someone capable of self-reflection and willing to do the right thing would resign, and they were chosen because they are not those people.
Wow.
I'm still holding my breath that Putin may resign.(and Thomas, Gorsuch, Alito...)
However, '...they are not those people...' is the reality.
Catch 22 again...Boooshhhes had big part in this...all Godless war mongers... remember W saying we were in a Crusade against Iraq,who was Innocent in 9/11 👿👿👿
W/Dickie as evil as any today
Could be. We are fucked.
What we have on our side is numbers. People need to know who Leonard Leo is. His name is memorable.
Need an INTREPID Media Star to break it on AIR
Another Rupert with a heart. Maybe court Bloomberg
It might seem hopeful if we had a billionaire that was interested in funding the truth, but I don't think that would solve the problem. We need a grass roots way of getting fact based information to the masses, and it has to be corruption proof. The challenge ahead seems impossible, but it's either wake up or go extinct. Thanks for a cheery start to the weekend!
Yeah, it's not so cheery, ugh.
There have been well-meaning rich people who gave lots and lots of money to do good things for humanity. Heck, even John D. Rockefeller, who invented modern philanthropy, used his money for some amazing things. What we don't have is a current billionaire taking these people on in the same arena.
Seems like it all comes down to trust. The bad guys spend millions to destroy trust, and then promise that they are the only ones to be trusted. People fall for it. We need to build organic networks of trust that are grounded, and not count on philanthropy. But I have no idea how that might be done. Hopefully we'll get it figured out while we still can. Cheery!
I haven't completely lost my political optimism, but it's getting harder to maintain. We need some loud billionaires to step up and make themselves known to the masses (that's us). The Leos are in hiding, like children who think, if they cover their eyes, we can't see them.
I think that Leo, like all secret masterminds, wants very badly for us all to look on his works and marvel.
I do, I marvel at his 100% pure evil
Are we sure Seid is sane and not a prisoner of Leo?
I'm not convinced for Leo irs about god but rather about BEING a god.
As to outing Leo; his activities have been there for the knowing for years. But 90 percent of the population dosen't know or want to know.
30 percent dont even read. So its up to us 10 percent to kick butt.
I learned the 10 percent rule when i was president of employee union as was my father.
I'm told that even in the Beltway, in political circles, people don't know his name.
"Beltway people dont know"
no suprise. not their problem.
Survival today is much harder than when we were hunter/gathers:
Hunting, eating , fucking and sleeping.
plenty of time to observe whats happening.
Today mass chaos and hysteria reigns.
How about THE MIGHTY POPE HIMSELF..EXPOSE it ‼️‼️‼️‼️
Remember this?
"Yet even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America - there's the United States of America. There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America. The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America."
I remember it well. It's a portion of Barack Obama's speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention. I also remember WANTING it to be true, while, even then, knowing that it wasn't. There are TWO Americas, and there has been since at least Richard Nixon. One of them is us, the "normies," who try to go about our daily lives, just living and doing things we're able to because we're currently in a free society -- this is the America Obama was describing even though it wasn't real. It's even less real now. The other America is headed up by the likes of people like Leo, Seid, the Federalist Society, the SCOTUS, and the Republican Party, who are all trying to WILL into existence their own utopia of forced birth, a Supreme Court that makes rulings based on Old Testament law, and a President and Congress who are subject to the will not of the People, but of the moneyed interests making everything else possible. I've ALWAYS remembered that Republicans and the theocrats in the US play the LONG game. "Citizens United" was one of the first steps to where we are now. It makes the BILLIONS that are invested into changing laws and norms for EVERYONE by a few, possible.
I 100% agree with Greg. SUNLIGHT is the best disinfectant. People need to know who Leonard Leo is, and Barre Seid especially, who seems to be a shy boy who doesn't want any publicity for his "donations to social causes." One of the first things a Democratic Congress and president should do after 2024 is rework and code into law the abolition of "Citizens United," and the rules surrounding 501(c)(4) donations. As an American citizen, I want to be able to find out WHERE money used to bribe, oh, wait, I mean DONATE to candidates and organizations being used to try and change MY life are coming from. What is the deal with SECRET donations anyway? Is it shame? Embarrassment? I'm more than happy for everyone to know that I donated $10 to Colin Allred for Senator of Texas, running against the disgusting Ted Cruz, and I live in Illinois! This stuff has to either be stopped or brought out for all to see. Seid's "donation" is dangerous to the Republic, especially in the hands of the odious Leonard Leo. Ugh, I just can't anymore with these people, but at least now we know, with 99.9% certainty, who paid off Kavanaugh's credit cards. Also, I've used Tripp Lite power strips and UPSs, and they are known far and wide in the IT community as being the shittiest products of that sort you can buy. They fail pretty consistently, and I haven't used anything made by them in more than a decade. Better to just plug delicate computer components into a wall socket and hope for the best!
OMG, thanks for that bit about his products. OF COURSE his stuff sucks. It's so on brand!
And just to insert some hope here...we are in a country where, not that long ago in the grand scheme, some humans owned some other humans. Not "owned" like we use the word in relation to Mike Pence or Lindsey Graham, either. Talk about two Americas! Certainly things are better now.
It IS bribery by another name. And the reason they want it to be secret? How do we know that money isn't coming from foreign sources? The onus should be on these fuckers to show us they are NOT foreign spies.
Happy weekend, Steve!
I absolutely agree about taking taking 501C(4)s off the table.
Citizens United needs to die immediately in 2024...corporations are economic structures, not people. End of story. Hidden and dark PACs need to die under withering sunshine. All dark money needs to be revealed. That is exactly how this started; it's the water that grew what Nixon and Reagan started.
Most political 501C(4)s are mini-financial institutions; treat them as such in the interim before they are dissolved completely. (Those that are real charities can be redefined in a reasonable manner.)
So, definitely, the answer is making these things 'not for sale' whatsoever. Not now, not ever. And the legal penalties should be stiffer and relatively easy to convict.
So, the next step right now is to convey to the voting public what needs to be done and why, how they are screwed by the present situation and what they are really losing right now, every day. Get our whizbang lawyers to work on the legal language now, get the attack dogs into action. Chew their asses every day.
Sorry, was late for this, had work. This kind of crap makes me growl and slobber.
For the record I ran a 501c(3), a museum, from start-up to fully functioning for 15 years. For free. These black hats don't know what personal charity and gifts of the heart really are.
Another growler and slobberer agrees
Glad to know who makes them, done with the cretin. BTW, Abbott has changed laws to make repubs shoo ins across the board. Hate to see Colin lose, but the deck is stacked.
The deck is always stacked. The resistance goes on! Who would have thought there could have been a worse governor than GW Bush, and here we are.
Thank goodness we balance the scale with the good guys money. 💰
At the end of the day, the only questions I will ask myself are …
Did I love enough?
Did I laugh enough?
Did I make a difference?
Cretins only say did I screw enough people
Luckily, there are more of us ✌🏻
I used to think that but I live in Texas where “voter integrity” rules. LOL
I’m in Florida but with Nikki Fried in charge now, I’m hopeful 😎
“Dark” indeed! I’m feeling the tension between the old saw “ignorance is bliss”—I was certainly happier before I read about Seid than after—and the idea that knowing about danger helps us deal with reality. Fortunately I have a firmly held spiritual belief—and admittedly it’s also a defense mechanism against despair—that the Light will ultimately prevail. In time to save our democracy? I guess we’ll see.
Always been a closet optimist. As Churchill said, of what use is it to be anything else. However, lately, it seems that hope is just a tease designed to keep me from facing cruel reality. (Courtesy of Violet on Downton Abbey.)
I fled for my health already,I'm thinking a NEW FEARLESS JANE FONDA type..needs to do a Presentation