20 Comments

Great flow in this one, Greg. Very nice, solid, and I completely agree. Re B Kavanaught: why doesn’t he just go to another state to eat? Or better, why did he allow himself to get hungry?

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Thanks, John.

Medical care, though...if he was choking on some gristle, would we then make him drive to another state to find a doctor to administer the Heimlich?

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Of course we would. If it was Kavanaught.

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Jul 12, 2022Liked by Greg Olear

Excellent! You have articulated what I have been thinking. I’m tired of the daily polls that Biden sucks, that nobody sucks as badly as he does. Then the endless discussion of who will run for President in 2024 kicks in. For crying out loud! That’s over two years from now! A lifetime in politics! Daily discussions of the high price of gasoline...until the price falls...then crickets. Compare what we pay per gallon with other countries - we seem like entitled crybabies. Yes, Biden isn’t perfect, but who is?

I live in Florida, a blue dot in a very red county. Believe me, we don’t want DeSantis as President. He’s a cross between Putin & Trump. He is greedy & ambitious & could not care less about what’s good for our country. On June 27th of this year, New Yorker magazine published an article about DeSantis, « Can Ron DeSantis Displace Donald Trump As the GOP’s Combatant-in-Chief? » It’s an interesting read, well worth your time.

www.newyorker.com%2Fmagazine%2F2022%2F06%2F27%2Fcan-ron-desantis-displace-donald-trump-as-the-gops-combatant-in-chief&usg=AOvVaw0GjkelhNL8_GiwH_HMPGnL

Thanks for pointing out what we need to do to keep our democracy. Let’s turn out the vote.

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DeSantis is very very dangerous. I'm praying the Greenberg stuff ends his career.

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Mayor Pete, State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, Secy Raimondo, Politics Girl Leigh McGowan, Stephen Colbert, and last but not least, Greg Olear would all make great spokespersons for Dems IMO. There are surely more, but these are who I can think of off the top of my head. How do we get the ones in charge of campaign ads to contact these people?

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Thanks, but I'd be a terrible spox. Messaging, maybe. The Dems DO seem to be developing a voice for the times, which is good.

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100% agree. I dont always like criticism but i do find it valuable to take in, admit what is true, make changes as necessary and let go of the part of the criticism that is projection, deflection or just plain mean spirited.

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No one likes criticism. But we need to hear it, or else we can't learn.

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Jul 12, 2022Liked by Greg Olear

I've been saying online for the past year and a half that 2022 IS actually, really, not kidding this time, the MOST important election of our lives, with a big Sean Spiceresque "PERIOD." at the end. It will be the dividing line for what has come before and what will come after. Before, we have Trumpism in all its dangerous, antidemocratic, theocratic, minority rule. That's what we're STILL fighting about. The swamp creature that won't have the common courtesy to just roll over and die is still active. (How SICK I am of the media constantly reporting primary results as to whether the winner/loser was Trump-endorsed! WHO CARES who that pig endorses or not???)

And after? If Congress gets handed over to the Red Team, we then have two years to prepare for the autocrat that will be installed in the Presidency. I see it that simply. Yes, two years is an enormous amount of time in politics, but this 150-car freight train has shown no signs of slowing down since 2016. I like that DeSantis is trying to steal Trump's tarnished crown, but let's face it, they both want the same thing -- to subjugate the American people to make it easier for them to line their own pockets with money and power. No matter who wins the crown, it's bad news for blue America, and eventually red America too, but the reds are too hypnotized to even begin to be aware of it. To me, it's the height of irony when one of them tells me to, "WAKE UP!!"

Polls? Fuck the polls! I don't remember if I've ever articulated my conspiracy theory about Joe Biden polls here, but here it is: somehow, someway, MAGAts and/or Putin's henchmen are fucking with them. I don't live in a rose-colored world, and I have lots of stuff to criticize Biden and the administration about, but his poll numbers CONSTANTLY dropping? No. As Judge Judy used to say, "If it doesn't make sense, then it's not true," and this doesn't make sense. (Sorry, Judge Judy used to be a guilty pleasure. No more. I hate what she did to Bird when she started her new show (not even inviting him to appear on it), AND what she did to her hair! Ugh!)

Great column, Greg. It should be spread far and wide, but especially in the halls of Congress. They seem to be the ones that REALLY need to read it. They're the ones that need to "WAKE UP!" I'm sending it to all my reps. They're in the middle of hearings trying to prove a Republican President of the United States incited an insurrection to stay in power! You'd THINK that would at least nudge them a bit. It's NOT in the past. It's current and could very well BE the future. Vote blue because your life depends on it! Period.

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Jul 12, 2022Liked by Greg Olear

I also used to watch "Judge Judy" and learned a lot from her shows. I was especially interested in the Tenant/Landlord cases. When I heard what she did to Bird, I could no longer stomach watching her. So disappointing and heartbreaking. She makes $40 million a year and she can show no compassion to someone who's been by her side all these years? Disgusting!

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She doesn't even have to pay an agent! It was truly disgusting -- an again, THAT HAIR!! WTF? She's not paying a hairdresser either.

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Yes, yes, I know...the hair...was an interesting choice. But, how much money is enough? The GREED is blinding! I applied her line, "if something doesn't make sense, it's probably not true" to so many situations in my life and it really helped me get clarity. Nobody is all good or all bad - so many gray areas to each one of us.

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Thanks, Steve. And you are right. This is it. The big one. All comes down to this. No pressure.

I think Schumer should make everyone show up the day Graham has to testify in Georgia.

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I think Schumer should make everyone show up AND then have Elizabeth Warren and/or Amy Klobucher read this column into the Congressional Record. That would shut them down for a minute!

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Jul 12, 2022Liked by Greg Olear

One of the best columns I ever read.

And I've been reading political columns since I.F. Stone.

Good work!

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High praise! Thank you, Walter.

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So happy I discovered your blog. I share it whenever it's public.

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It's very hard for me to read all the doomsday comments about Biden's presidency. I see all the really good, amazing things his administration is doing. I'm glad you pointed out the downfalls of those four previous presidents - some decisions were truly horrible but they also did really good things. People are multi-dimensional. On a good note, we paid $4.79/gal. for gas at Costco yesterday. Today we went back to fill up another car and it was down to $4.75/gal. Every other place on the way was between $5.55 & $6.00/gal. Hopefully it will keep falling!

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Love it, YES! And by the way, I spent the weekend at a motel in Santa Rosa, CA that had Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny in each room instead of the Gideon Bible.

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