I have deep inner doubts that Trump won this election fairly. His repeated statement that "(he) and Mike Johnson have a little secret...that will make it unnecessary to vote again in the future" screams out at me for a serious investigation [FBI? DOJ?] Trump would follow this mention of a "secret" with the Speaker of the House with saying that he really won't even need our votes! Is no agency investigating this bald admission of wrong-doing? Judd, and team, can you find out if it IS being investigated?
That would require Merrick Garland to actually do his job. Seems to me that chances are slim that that will happen now, since he has done very little . Biden and Harris have read the tea leaves for their future and will act like it's just an ordinary election. It's bullshit, but it's none the less true.
If only he'd gotten on the Supreme Court... His temperament seems fine for that. We have itch mcdonald to blame for that -- both parts of it: stacking the Supreme Court with repuglicans (ACB would never have gotten on), as well as sticking us with a passive AG.
Let's not go down that rabbit hole. I prefer to see Trump hang himself by proxy in his actions. For some people, they won't believe until they see it. Even Germany finally got rid of their problem child even if it cost a world war to do it.
Germany did NOT get rid of Hitler. The Allies did. Or, if you are a stickler, Hitler got rid of himself. I can think of no countries that have gotten rid of a living fascist leader without first being defeat on the battlefield - Germany, Italy, Argentina. Salazar and Franco died peacefully. Pinochet as I recall left office of his own accord.
LOL!!! You think WE'RE bad sports! That's a hoot, coming from a Trump-supporter. Oh. I forgot. Projection is now a requirement to be in the repugnicant party.
Thank you for these rays of light, Judd. It is a different perspective as I try to think about how to move forward, and I will also say that because facts still matter, we need you more than ever!
Joyce, your opinion that "facts still matter" is a key reason that America gets Trump 2.0. His voters don't get facts, apparently don't want them and make the purveyors of disinformation fabulously wealthy in the bargain. America allowed the First Amendment to be weaponized and used against the republic. All the hand wringing about how we could possibly be in this situation: a woman of color candidate, the economy, rigged voting in swing states or inflation are specious. The underlying reason America is divided is because half of the voters live in an information and news world completely different from the other half. "A democratic republic requires a well-informed electorate," said James Madison. The word "requires" is the operative one. We no longer have a well-informed electorate and democracy dies on its own poison pill, the right to unregulated free speech regardless of content. This is too tragic to be labeled ironic.
“Unregulated free speech”? Well, that’s the point of free speech being in the Constitution. If it is “regulated” you don’t have “free speech”.
Our electorate lives in confirmation bias bubbles. Yes, that means neither group knows the information consumed by the other. Each bases their opinions of the other group on their own info. It will continue until we figure out how to burst those bubbles.
After their unregulated free speech led to 60+ million deaths worldwide and many countries in smoldering ruins, Germany decided to pass hate speech laws and, last I checked, Germany is a functioning democracy. The founders added the First Amendment to insure that citizens could openly criticize the government without being jailed. They didn’t create it so that Alex Jones could spew hateful lies and conspiracy theories or the Daily Wire could claim that “elites” drank the blood of dead babies to live longer. Our libel and slander laws are no real deterrent. Fox paid almost a $1 billion but continues to spew bile. For them, the profits make such penalties simply a cost of doing business.
The founders had their version of fake news. It just spread more slowly. Trying to squelch the spread of fake news didn’t work. We need a better plan before we start sounding too much like maga.
When a national abortion ban becomes law, when the FDA no longer approves birth control medications, when IVF is outlawed, when national pregnancy registers are instituted, state protections vanish completely. When COVID vaccines are no longer available states will be powerless to provide them. When the Department of Education is eliminated, local school boards will become irrelevant. Stop blowing smoke; there is NOTHING good about 11/5/24. This is a mortal blow to this country. Trump will either not survive four years or he will resign and we will then have two full terms of Vance. If I were younger, I would absolutely be packing right now. Fascists will control the White House, both houses of Congress and SCOTUS. Game, set and match. We are witnessing nothing less than the death of the Great Experiment. Put your rose-colored glasses away and either find a bunker or get out of Dodge.
I can't help but agree with Mr. Dressler. I do not see any of these "wins" as significant. A national abortion ban overturns the will of voters in individual states so big whoop as to what the people want. Education in this country produced these results so anything that Trump/DeSantis does to education DOES NOT MATTER. So what if someone transgender won into a minority party congress? Is it that the person is transgender or highly qualified? Which is it? And two Black women? Wow, what progress. I mean aren't you tired of scraps?
I am not feeling optimistic because, as a historian, I look at the long view. We are idjits to think we are special. We being Americans. In fact, we are a spoiled, drunk/high, patriarchal, uniformed and misinformed country which is circling the drain. We will fail and 500 years from now, Trump et al will be a paragraph in ancient history of a country whose own pomposity brought it down.
Make that two of us. To Mr Dressler’s point though, don’t let age hold you back from moving out of the country so you stand a chance of enjoying your last few years. At age 77 last year I sold most everything I owned, packed up what was left into 24 plastic shipping crates and emigrated to Panamá, C.A. to be close to my son who had done the same thing four years ago. It’s like living in Florida seasonwise but the people are nice and my little bit of Spanish and a smile go a long way.
I wonder if the off the grid, homeschooling their kids or g.children, self sufficient people will be affected , what else would it take ,if not. Any ideas are welcomed.
Actually, make that THREE full terms of Vance. If drumpf is knocked out -- one way or another -- during his first term, that doesn't count as a term for Shady. He's still be allowed to stand for two elections. (That is, if elections still exist.)
Only if Trump makes it through two years or more. The 22nd Amendment is quite clear, "no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once." So at most (legally, under current rules) 10 years of Peter Theil's skin mask. Which is 10 years too many, but here we are.
Not to quibble, but if trump doesn’t complete his full term then, vance would have the opportunity for two FULL terms. His first, replacing trump, wouldn’t be full. In any case ANY term would be far too much. He’s just plain evil..
I thought that's what I wrote. Oh, I see: I should count the term when he replaces trump (which almost all of us feel certain is coming) with the word "Full". It might be "almost full" (i.e., 3-1/2 years), but "full" is the wrong word for it. I guess 11-1/2 (or however long) years is a better way to put it.
The distinction is small potatoes compared to the horror show we are about to witness. In a way I’m hoping trump “serves” his full term. Vance is even worse, if that’s possible. I’m living in a nightmare. OMG!!!!
I'm not at all sure how eliminating the Department of Education makes local school boards irrelevant, if anything, it makes them even more critical. Or did you think they were planning on closing all the schools if the federal department went away? Now the rest of your points are pretty much spot on, especially the Federal abortion ban, cause we KNOW that one is coming.
Even worse, the new administration will no doubt seek to remake public schools in the deep red state image. Bibles in classrooms, MAGA theology, science denied, history rewritten, etc., etc.
If schools don’t have funding support, many will suffer greatly no matter what local boards do. You can bet that the new administration will not be sending funds to schools in blue states.
Federal $$ is in the form of grants to support predominantly disadvantaged and/or disabled students. Another responsibility of the DOE is civil rights as they pertain to students (including ADA and equal access to education). It has a civil rights office.
It has no authority over curriculum or materials. That is set out in the legislation creating the dept. If you scroll through the purposes to page 4, Section 103, you can see the text re: Federal-State Relationships. Page 7 the Civil Rights Office. And so on. As for resources such as research and guidance, I’m sure the red hats wouldn’t miss it or the Civil Rights office.
Thank you. We have to deal with what is, not be destroyed by despair over setbacks no matter how bad. Seeing the places where democracy still works is important. This is not a time for attacking ourselves with recriminations.
I agree that the numbers don’t make sense. Cheating by people who clearly do it every chance they get is plausible.
I appreciate your silver lining outlook, but dictators don't follow the rules or recognize local elections. The will pass a law banning all abortions, which will negate state law. Funding for schools will crash when he strips them of funding. Millions will lose health care coverage when they repeal the ACA. Companies are already laying plans to raise prices to offset the expected taxes. They are promising to start deporting people on day one.
States rights only apply when the powers that be want them to. The confederacy has won a few battles but trump and co will win the war-this time for good. There will be no more states rights when their unitary fed takes command. Watch your local law enforcement too. Way too many sheriffs particularly will no longer be your “friendly sheriff”.
THIS. Honestly, I'm surprised that more states haven't followed the DeSantis doctrine: passing state laws overturning local ordinances. Even those that were put into law by voters (see Key West cruise regulations)
Kentucky did this on firearm regulation years ago. The state passed a law that says counties and other local governments may not pass more restrictive measures than state law. There are probably other similar laws on this and other subjects around the country. Even DeSantis and his doctrine are not too original.
But the legislature cannot overrule the state constitution. The KY legislature had tried several times to implement ‘choice’ for education using tax dollars in different ways only for the laws to be struck down.
Only the legislature can put an amendment on the ballot. They did and it lost, almost 2:1. That required the rural areas - their base - to oppose it.
If I were a Blue State Governor that could trace a contiguous Blue State path to Canada, I would consider seceding from the US, if the states between me and Canada would too, and consider joining Canada if they will have us. The West Coast would have an easier time. The East Coast would not.
I have wanted this repeatedly, even when Biden was president. At some point one has to move beyond what would Putin want and let's don't do that' to what is best for our country. This rift was never resolvable, and Lincoln has just been defeated. We will see the Confederacy rise in what is going on right now. One can romanticize the fight that is to come, and the horrid oppression, or one can say, what might be some other options to fight for. I am not saying all is lost, but a lot of people chose, and a lot of people sat on their asses and did not vote.
According to Robert Hubbell, while it was a high turnout election, 93 million eligible voters did not vote.
I know several. They are all millennial men who are fairly well off to well off. They tell me they do not vote because their votes don't count. I feel like they are comfortable and as men, feel that they will be fine whoever is in power, and turn their attention to YouTube, spending time with their families and making money. Their wives vote. I am sure there are others in this demographic who are not well off. What I do sense is that candidates is not who they get excited about. They are cynical.
So, if we look at a. big rift, we should be looking at how effective the American experiment is. Or, should we just accept the status quo. We should at least question it. Don't know what would happen, but nothing so fast that Putin can jump on it right away. I am glad you are more optimistic.
Judd et al: The small rays of sunshine are good but not good enough. Trump will what he can to negate these victories. Rs took the Senate back and that means more corrupt judges will be appointed. The House is too close to call right now but that means Ds are in peril of not having any control or say in what happens in the next 2 years & possibly longer. States have rights, NOW. Trump will try to change that. We are headed for a dark place. No amount of light can keep those facts at bay. I fear for Kamala, Joe & all the Rs that supported them. Trump is a storm and his supporters will not be stopped.
Yes a few rays of sunshine so not a total eclipse but let’s not delude ourselves as to where this country is going in the macro. It’s making an epochal hard right turn that will last well into the next generation. Project 2025 will enshrine their extremist ideology in govt policies and legislation. The SCOTUS will rubber stamp the agenda and scuttle all challenges. We are the minority now and will remain so.
That doesn’t make sense. Voter registration rolls are already public. Your ballot / vote is not tied to your registration. States will typically sell some or all voter info to campaigns. But they have privacy laws also.
I cancelled my LA Times and Washington Post subscriptions, but I'll keep getting my news from Popular Information and several other Substacks that I subscribe to during these dark times.
Thank you for this Judd. This is a hard loss for sure. But I am an American, and I always plan to be an American, so I am looking to the future. As hard as it seems now, we will regroup, strategize, and press on. I feel fortunate to have media sources such as Popular Information to give us the unvarnished truth and keep us informed. I am going to focus on what is good in the world and wait to see what happens before I react. That is the best I can do.
Thank you for bringing these important changes to light. To see it in writing gives me a much appreciated lift! And despite the bad election outcome for democracy, there is still goodness in the land. Thank you for bringing it to us.
Needed this! It has taken decades of concerted effort by the Christian nationalists and monied interests of the republican party to achieve this level of power, they started at the local levels. We must as well, it will be a long slog, we must be vigilant and united.
Trump won the popular vote, showing that Dems have an existential problem: expand to include racists and misogynists or die. Apparently a majority of American are happier hating each other than working together.
Thank you PI for your reporting and ray of hope. Good luck to us all!
Don't negate the impact of the incredible disinformation campaign (heard that Twitter/X lost thousands of accounts right after the election and the assumption is they were bots that are no longer needed).
Also, Trump may have won the popular vote (maybe?) but won fewer votes than Biden did in 2020. Did you see less voter turnout? It seemed very robust to me. Was there cheating? We will not behave like Trump et al did, but could be good to know if we can find out in a practical way. And while we certainly have far too many racists and misogynists, maybe it's fewer than we think.
Feel like I'm grasping at straws, but let's see what happens. We can't give in to hate.
In Kentucky the 2 largest cities had a smaller turnout by 5% than in 2020. The % for trump & Biden versus trump & Harris was almost exactly the same in those areas. Rural areas had a larger turnout and increased trump’s results by 1% or so. Both probably lost a few votes to Gary Johnson & Jill Stein who had over 60,000 votes between them. (We had ballot initiatives that may have driven up the rural vote too.)
This may have been true in more consequential states also.
I listened to an analyst list previous presidential election results & the seated president’s approval rating. The candidate of the president’s party (when it was the seated president or VP) were either the same or within a point or 2 of the approval rating of the party’s president. He noted that Harris is on track to receive 48% of the vote. This would be about 8% greater than Biden’s approval rating.
The economy, inflation especially, was the biggest factor I believe. People (wrongly) put high grocery prices etc down to the Biden administration, and Harris was tainted by that. I refuse to believe a majority of the electorate is racist. They are just badly misinformed, too busy or distracted to see the truth. Which is that they were conned by the world's biggest con man.
Speaking of good news, I hope all those Arab/Muslim and Latino Americans who voted red will be happy when Netanyahu turns Gaza and Lebanon into parking lots and mass deportations of DACA children and other Latinos kick in. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face!
Gaza is already a parking lot. Kushner had his eye on it as great beachfront property once the population is removed. I think in their view it doesn’t matter which president killed/kills their families. Many voted 3rd party.
Trump has a rich Lebanese friend who campaigned for him. That community is hoping he can intervene on Lebanon’s behalf.
The Latino vote has several complications. Here’s one: Since 2018 DeSantis has pounded the idea that Dems are socialists / communists. He was the first GOP candidate to win Miami-Dade county. He’s expanded on it as have others. He added the ‘evils of communism’ to the school curriculum with an emphasis on Latin America. (Signed a new order this spring) Apparently social media for Latinos was flooded with Commie-La Harris memes, influencers, radio ads, images etc. Musk put out AI images of her in “communist gear”. Reuters debunked a USSR credential with her image & info on it that they traced to a Russian website’s template.
Thanks for the info. More evidence that this country is circling the MAGA bowl. Trump will intervene on Lebanon’s behalf four weeks after Hades freezes over. The greatest gaslighting in American history combined with a toxic mixture of incuriosity, ignorance and bigotry. Prepare for at least 4-12 years of this “stuff” on steroids. Berlin ca. 1938 redux.
I live in magaland. At some point these characters begin to worry about their base. Our veto-proof legislature is finding the rules of physics can apply to politics. Push back from inside their House scuttled the most extreme education bills. Their most extreme candidates lost in that election cycle & we have a 2nd term Dem governor.
Their attempt to ‘clarify’ our constitution by amending it to say nothing in it can be interpreted to protect abortion - after passing a ban - lost by about 5%. Right to Life complains they quit filling out their candidate surveys.
This election their ‘non-citizens can’t vote’ passed but the Amendment for tax $$ for private ed only received 34% of the vote. It was a last resort after the courts threw out their workarounds for yrs. Our constitution clearly says “no” unless a majority of voters approve a tax allowing $$ to go to “education outside the common school system”.
Don't be like that. No one deserves the hardships that are coming to them. They were conned. Save all your hate for the liars, not those who believed the lies.
Sorry, actions have consequences and some people only learn the hard way, if at all. If fools put us all, especially themselves, in jeopardy then they have no one to blame but themselves. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me. And there’s plenty of anger to go around. Not running short on that.
Thank you, Judd, for any good news!
I have deep inner doubts that Trump won this election fairly. His repeated statement that "(he) and Mike Johnson have a little secret...that will make it unnecessary to vote again in the future" screams out at me for a serious investigation [FBI? DOJ?] Trump would follow this mention of a "secret" with the Speaker of the House with saying that he really won't even need our votes! Is no agency investigating this bald admission of wrong-doing? Judd, and team, can you find out if it IS being investigated?
It does seem odd in light of all the down ballot Dem and progressive policy wins that voters would go this way.
IDK about that...It might just mean that red state voters are fine with progressive economic policies as long as they think it's their idea.
Valerie, agreed on the doubts!
That would require Merrick Garland to actually do his job. Seems to me that chances are slim that that will happen now, since he has done very little . Biden and Harris have read the tea leaves for their future and will act like it's just an ordinary election. It's bullshit, but it's none the less true.
If only he'd gotten on the Supreme Court... His temperament seems fine for that. We have itch mcdonald to blame for that -- both parts of it: stacking the Supreme Court with repuglicans (ACB would never have gotten on), as well as sticking us with a passive AG.
Ditto from me - TY JUDD for only the only journalists doing actual research with facts & truth.
I agree. I remember this being said and we need to find out what they meant. Were they able to change votes and get away with it?
Not only do they lie, they admit it: Elon Musk with his AI and frequent talks with Vladimir Putin.
Let's not go down that rabbit hole. I prefer to see Trump hang himself by proxy in his actions. For some people, they won't believe until they see it. Even Germany finally got rid of their problem child even if it cost a world war to do it.
Germany did NOT get rid of Hitler. The Allies did. Or, if you are a stickler, Hitler got rid of himself. I can think of no countries that have gotten rid of a living fascist leader without first being defeat on the battlefield - Germany, Italy, Argentina. Salazar and Franco died peacefully. Pinochet as I recall left office of his own accord.
Oops, sorry you are right. I guess I was thinking of his removal and forgot the rest in the moment.
Cannot happen fast enough
Agreed
Election deniers pop up in Democrat land like mushrooms in the damp decaying forest of their political party.
LOL!!! You think WE'RE bad sports! That's a hoot, coming from a Trump-supporter. Oh. I forgot. Projection is now a requirement to be in the repugnicant party.
Thank you for these rays of light, Judd. It is a different perspective as I try to think about how to move forward, and I will also say that because facts still matter, we need you more than ever!
Joyce, your opinion that "facts still matter" is a key reason that America gets Trump 2.0. His voters don't get facts, apparently don't want them and make the purveyors of disinformation fabulously wealthy in the bargain. America allowed the First Amendment to be weaponized and used against the republic. All the hand wringing about how we could possibly be in this situation: a woman of color candidate, the economy, rigged voting in swing states or inflation are specious. The underlying reason America is divided is because half of the voters live in an information and news world completely different from the other half. "A democratic republic requires a well-informed electorate," said James Madison. The word "requires" is the operative one. We no longer have a well-informed electorate and democracy dies on its own poison pill, the right to unregulated free speech regardless of content. This is too tragic to be labeled ironic.
“Unregulated free speech”? Well, that’s the point of free speech being in the Constitution. If it is “regulated” you don’t have “free speech”.
Our electorate lives in confirmation bias bubbles. Yes, that means neither group knows the information consumed by the other. Each bases their opinions of the other group on their own info. It will continue until we figure out how to burst those bubbles.
After their unregulated free speech led to 60+ million deaths worldwide and many countries in smoldering ruins, Germany decided to pass hate speech laws and, last I checked, Germany is a functioning democracy. The founders added the First Amendment to insure that citizens could openly criticize the government without being jailed. They didn’t create it so that Alex Jones could spew hateful lies and conspiracy theories or the Daily Wire could claim that “elites” drank the blood of dead babies to live longer. Our libel and slander laws are no real deterrent. Fox paid almost a $1 billion but continues to spew bile. For them, the profits make such penalties simply a cost of doing business.
It is true that despite free speech in their constitution Germany censors a variety of speech. We’re not Germany.
Yes, it is a functioning democracy. Censorship has not stopped the threat from the right. This is a particularly bad time to use them as an example.
https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2024/11/05/germany-arrests-eight-suspected-far-right-group-members-accused-of-neo-nazi-takeover-plot
The founders had their version of fake news. It just spread more slowly. Trying to squelch the spread of fake news didn’t work. We need a better plan before we start sounding too much like maga.
What’s your plan?
When a national abortion ban becomes law, when the FDA no longer approves birth control medications, when IVF is outlawed, when national pregnancy registers are instituted, state protections vanish completely. When COVID vaccines are no longer available states will be powerless to provide them. When the Department of Education is eliminated, local school boards will become irrelevant. Stop blowing smoke; there is NOTHING good about 11/5/24. This is a mortal blow to this country. Trump will either not survive four years or he will resign and we will then have two full terms of Vance. If I were younger, I would absolutely be packing right now. Fascists will control the White House, both houses of Congress and SCOTUS. Game, set and match. We are witnessing nothing less than the death of the Great Experiment. Put your rose-colored glasses away and either find a bunker or get out of Dodge.
I can't help but agree with Mr. Dressler. I do not see any of these "wins" as significant. A national abortion ban overturns the will of voters in individual states so big whoop as to what the people want. Education in this country produced these results so anything that Trump/DeSantis does to education DOES NOT MATTER. So what if someone transgender won into a minority party congress? Is it that the person is transgender or highly qualified? Which is it? And two Black women? Wow, what progress. I mean aren't you tired of scraps?
I am not feeling optimistic because, as a historian, I look at the long view. We are idjits to think we are special. We being Americans. In fact, we are a spoiled, drunk/high, patriarchal, uniformed and misinformed country which is circling the drain. We will fail and 500 years from now, Trump et al will be a paragraph in ancient history of a country whose own pomposity brought it down.
Make that two of us. To Mr Dressler’s point though, don’t let age hold you back from moving out of the country so you stand a chance of enjoying your last few years. At age 77 last year I sold most everything I owned, packed up what was left into 24 plastic shipping crates and emigrated to Panamá, C.A. to be close to my son who had done the same thing four years ago. It’s like living in Florida seasonwise but the people are nice and my little bit of Spanish and a smile go a long way.
Lovely!
I wonder if the off the grid, homeschooling their kids or g.children, self sufficient people will be affected , what else would it take ,if not. Any ideas are welcomed.
They voted for trump.
🤣 well this one didn’t
Actually, make that THREE full terms of Vance. If drumpf is knocked out -- one way or another -- during his first term, that doesn't count as a term for Shady. He's still be allowed to stand for two elections. (That is, if elections still exist.)
Only if Trump makes it through two years or more. The 22nd Amendment is quite clear, "no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once." So at most (legally, under current rules) 10 years of Peter Theil's skin mask. Which is 10 years too many, but here we are.
Not to quibble, but if trump doesn’t complete his full term then, vance would have the opportunity for two FULL terms. His first, replacing trump, wouldn’t be full. In any case ANY term would be far too much. He’s just plain evil..
I thought that's what I wrote. Oh, I see: I should count the term when he replaces trump (which almost all of us feel certain is coming) with the word "Full". It might be "almost full" (i.e., 3-1/2 years), but "full" is the wrong word for it. I guess 11-1/2 (or however long) years is a better way to put it.
The distinction is small potatoes compared to the horror show we are about to witness. In a way I’m hoping trump “serves” his full term. Vance is even worse, if that’s possible. I’m living in a nightmare. OMG!!!!
I know. We aren't going to be able to wake up and find out that it's gone. What I haven't been able to sort through is what we can do about it.
I'm not at all sure how eliminating the Department of Education makes local school boards irrelevant, if anything, it makes them even more critical. Or did you think they were planning on closing all the schools if the federal department went away? Now the rest of your points are pretty much spot on, especially the Federal abortion ban, cause we KNOW that one is coming.
Even worse, the new administration will no doubt seek to remake public schools in the deep red state image. Bibles in classrooms, MAGA theology, science denied, history rewritten, etc., etc.
If schools don’t have funding support, many will suffer greatly no matter what local boards do. You can bet that the new administration will not be sending funds to schools in blue states.
Perhaps this will help:
https://www.perplexity.ai/search/how-does-the-department-of-edu-J_F9D5lMQpeca4VuLmnieQ
Schools get the overwhelming majority of their funding from local and state taxes. A whopping 8% is provided by the Feds. https://www.ed.gov/about/ed-overview/federal-role-in-education A lot of it is from other agencies, not DOE.
Federal $$ is in the form of grants to support predominantly disadvantaged and/or disabled students. Another responsibility of the DOE is civil rights as they pertain to students (including ADA and equal access to education). It has a civil rights office.
It has no authority over curriculum or materials. That is set out in the legislation creating the dept. If you scroll through the purposes to page 4, Section 103, you can see the text re: Federal-State Relationships. Page 7 the Civil Rights Office. And so on. As for resources such as research and guidance, I’m sure the red hats wouldn’t miss it or the Civil Rights office.
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-726/pdf/COMPS-726.pdf
Thank you. We have to deal with what is, not be destroyed by despair over setbacks no matter how bad. Seeing the places where democracy still works is important. This is not a time for attacking ourselves with recriminations.
I agree that the numbers don’t make sense. Cheating by people who clearly do it every chance they get is plausible.
I appreciate your silver lining outlook, but dictators don't follow the rules or recognize local elections. The will pass a law banning all abortions, which will negate state law. Funding for schools will crash when he strips them of funding. Millions will lose health care coverage when they repeal the ACA. Companies are already laying plans to raise prices to offset the expected taxes. They are promising to start deporting people on day one.
But, but … state’s rights! 🙄
States rights only apply when the powers that be want them to. The confederacy has won a few battles but trump and co will win the war-this time for good. There will be no more states rights when their unitary fed takes command. Watch your local law enforcement too. Way too many sheriffs particularly will no longer be your “friendly sheriff”.
THIS. Honestly, I'm surprised that more states haven't followed the DeSantis doctrine: passing state laws overturning local ordinances. Even those that were put into law by voters (see Key West cruise regulations)
Kentucky did this on firearm regulation years ago. The state passed a law that says counties and other local governments may not pass more restrictive measures than state law. There are probably other similar laws on this and other subjects around the country. Even DeSantis and his doctrine are not too original.
But the legislature cannot overrule the state constitution. The KY legislature had tried several times to implement ‘choice’ for education using tax dollars in different ways only for the laws to be struck down.
Only the legislature can put an amendment on the ballot. They did and it lost, almost 2:1. That required the rural areas - their base - to oppose it.
If I were a Blue State Governor that could trace a contiguous Blue State path to Canada, I would consider seceding from the US, if the states between me and Canada would too, and consider joining Canada if they will have us. The West Coast would have an easier time. The East Coast would not.
https://ballotpedia.org/Partisan_composition_of_governors
Not saying it should happen, just that it is time to think ouside the box. https://www.thetoptens.com/states-provinces/u-s-states-should-join-canada/
Would love your statistical analysis of that.
I live in MN & I approve this message
Not Alberta province—they have their own trumper
Interesting Linda…🤔
I’ve always felt that this country is too big. And that we should secede. Becoming Canadian is a good thing.
I think it is about to get a lot smaller. Should be interesting, but not in a good way.
This is far enough outside the box to be on another planet.
Putin wants the US broken up, just like the USSR was. Don't fall for this trap please.
I have wanted this repeatedly, even when Biden was president. At some point one has to move beyond what would Putin want and let's don't do that' to what is best for our country. This rift was never resolvable, and Lincoln has just been defeated. We will see the Confederacy rise in what is going on right now. One can romanticize the fight that is to come, and the horrid oppression, or one can say, what might be some other options to fight for. I am not saying all is lost, but a lot of people chose, and a lot of people sat on their asses and did not vote.
According to Robert Hubbell, while it was a high turnout election, 93 million eligible voters did not vote.
https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/lets-take-it-slow
I know several. They are all millennial men who are fairly well off to well off. They tell me they do not vote because their votes don't count. I feel like they are comfortable and as men, feel that they will be fine whoever is in power, and turn their attention to YouTube, spending time with their families and making money. Their wives vote. I am sure there are others in this demographic who are not well off. What I do sense is that candidates is not who they get excited about. They are cynical.
So, if we look at a. big rift, we should be looking at how effective the American experiment is. Or, should we just accept the status quo. We should at least question it. Don't know what would happen, but nothing so fast that Putin can jump on it right away. I am glad you are more optimistic.
Judd et al: The small rays of sunshine are good but not good enough. Trump will what he can to negate these victories. Rs took the Senate back and that means more corrupt judges will be appointed. The House is too close to call right now but that means Ds are in peril of not having any control or say in what happens in the next 2 years & possibly longer. States have rights, NOW. Trump will try to change that. We are headed for a dark place. No amount of light can keep those facts at bay. I fear for Kamala, Joe & all the Rs that supported them. Trump is a storm and his supporters will not be stopped.
Yes a few rays of sunshine so not a total eclipse but let’s not delude ourselves as to where this country is going in the macro. It’s making an epochal hard right turn that will last well into the next generation. Project 2025 will enshrine their extremist ideology in govt policies and legislation. The SCOTUS will rubber stamp the agenda and scuttle all challenges. We are the minority now and will remain so.
Just read Trump wants a national voter registration. He will surely use it to track who votes for whom. Good I feel sick.
That doesn’t make sense. Voter registration rolls are already public. Your ballot / vote is not tied to your registration. States will typically sell some or all voter info to campaigns. But they have privacy laws also.
He put Pence of a commission on election fraud and tried to get states to turn over all their data. Many refused because states run their elections (per the Constitution) and their laws didn’t authorize it. It was suspected they wanted to use the registration data for voter suppression. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/05/how-will-trump-turn-voter-fraud-accusations-voter-suppression/
We are Fucked
I cancelled my LA Times and Washington Post subscriptions, but I'll keep getting my news from Popular Information and several other Substacks that I subscribe to during these dark times.
Thanks.
ThankYou for reminding us a small victories. It’s not nothing.
Thank you for this Judd. This is a hard loss for sure. But I am an American, and I always plan to be an American, so I am looking to the future. As hard as it seems now, we will regroup, strategize, and press on. I feel fortunate to have media sources such as Popular Information to give us the unvarnished truth and keep us informed. I am going to focus on what is good in the world and wait to see what happens before I react. That is the best I can do.
Thank you for giving us some very good news at this difficult time, Judd.
Thank you for bringing these important changes to light. To see it in writing gives me a much appreciated lift! And despite the bad election outcome for democracy, there is still goodness in the land. Thank you for bringing it to us.
Needed this! It has taken decades of concerted effort by the Christian nationalists and monied interests of the republican party to achieve this level of power, they started at the local levels. We must as well, it will be a long slog, we must be vigilant and united.
Thank you, Judd. I really needed some positive news today. Please keep up your good work.
Janis Bouchard
Trump won the popular vote, showing that Dems have an existential problem: expand to include racists and misogynists or die. Apparently a majority of American are happier hating each other than working together.
Thank you PI for your reporting and ray of hope. Good luck to us all!
Don't negate the impact of the incredible disinformation campaign (heard that Twitter/X lost thousands of accounts right after the election and the assumption is they were bots that are no longer needed).
Also, Trump may have won the popular vote (maybe?) but won fewer votes than Biden did in 2020. Did you see less voter turnout? It seemed very robust to me. Was there cheating? We will not behave like Trump et al did, but could be good to know if we can find out in a practical way. And while we certainly have far too many racists and misogynists, maybe it's fewer than we think.
Feel like I'm grasping at straws, but let's see what happens. We can't give in to hate.
Of those who voted. Has there been a calculation of how many Americans did not vote at all in this critical election?
In Kentucky the 2 largest cities had a smaller turnout by 5% than in 2020. The % for trump & Biden versus trump & Harris was almost exactly the same in those areas. Rural areas had a larger turnout and increased trump’s results by 1% or so. Both probably lost a few votes to Gary Johnson & Jill Stein who had over 60,000 votes between them. (We had ballot initiatives that may have driven up the rural vote too.)
This may have been true in more consequential states also.
https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-millions-voters-kamala-harris-trump-election-1981954
I listened to an analyst list previous presidential election results & the seated president’s approval rating. The candidate of the president’s party (when it was the seated president or VP) were either the same or within a point or 2 of the approval rating of the party’s president. He noted that Harris is on track to receive 48% of the vote. This would be about 8% greater than Biden’s approval rating.
The economy, inflation especially, was the biggest factor I believe. People (wrongly) put high grocery prices etc down to the Biden administration, and Harris was tainted by that. I refuse to believe a majority of the electorate is racist. They are just badly misinformed, too busy or distracted to see the truth. Which is that they were conned by the world's biggest con man.
Speaking of good news, I hope all those Arab/Muslim and Latino Americans who voted red will be happy when Netanyahu turns Gaza and Lebanon into parking lots and mass deportations of DACA children and other Latinos kick in. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face!
Gaza is already a parking lot. Kushner had his eye on it as great beachfront property once the population is removed. I think in their view it doesn’t matter which president killed/kills their families. Many voted 3rd party.
Trump has a rich Lebanese friend who campaigned for him. That community is hoping he can intervene on Lebanon’s behalf.
The Latino vote has several complications. Here’s one: Since 2018 DeSantis has pounded the idea that Dems are socialists / communists. He was the first GOP candidate to win Miami-Dade county. He’s expanded on it as have others. He added the ‘evils of communism’ to the school curriculum with an emphasis on Latin America. (Signed a new order this spring) Apparently social media for Latinos was flooded with Commie-La Harris memes, influencers, radio ads, images etc. Musk put out AI images of her in “communist gear”. Reuters debunked a USSR credential with her image & info on it that they traced to a Russian website’s template.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/12/14/latino-voters-2020-election-524190
Thanks for the info. More evidence that this country is circling the MAGA bowl. Trump will intervene on Lebanon’s behalf four weeks after Hades freezes over. The greatest gaslighting in American history combined with a toxic mixture of incuriosity, ignorance and bigotry. Prepare for at least 4-12 years of this “stuff” on steroids. Berlin ca. 1938 redux.
I live in magaland. At some point these characters begin to worry about their base. Our veto-proof legislature is finding the rules of physics can apply to politics. Push back from inside their House scuttled the most extreme education bills. Their most extreme candidates lost in that election cycle & we have a 2nd term Dem governor.
Their attempt to ‘clarify’ our constitution by amending it to say nothing in it can be interpreted to protect abortion - after passing a ban - lost by about 5%. Right to Life complains they quit filling out their candidate surveys.
This election their ‘non-citizens can’t vote’ passed but the Amendment for tax $$ for private ed only received 34% of the vote. It was a last resort after the courts threw out their workarounds for yrs. Our constitution clearly says “no” unless a majority of voters approve a tax allowing $$ to go to “education outside the common school system”.
Don't be like that. No one deserves the hardships that are coming to them. They were conned. Save all your hate for the liars, not those who believed the lies.
Sorry, actions have consequences and some people only learn the hard way, if at all. If fools put us all, especially themselves, in jeopardy then they have no one to blame but themselves. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me. And there’s plenty of anger to go around. Not running short on that.