Thomas L. Friedman of the NY Times on Morning Joe Today .... rough quotes

[Botany]

The biggest threat to democracy is sitting in the oval office.

If you are not scared right now you are not paying attention.

We have an upcoming Constitutional crisis with Trump and what the Mueller investigation
will show to the American people.

***************

Please call your senators and congress critters today and tell them that you want
a good American, Bob Mueller, protected. Ask two other people to do the same.

[lunatica]

1. Maybe its not a bad thing to have a Constitutional crisis for real

I don’t understand why a crisis wasn’t full blown when the Supreme Court selected Bush as President.

We’ve been pretending that everything was OK since then. That somehow shredding the Constitution that day didn’t change its meaning in our Constitutionally based government. Now some people are finally getting a come to Jesus moment? People are suddenly getting alarmed?

Color me cynical.

[Botany]

2. and we had another one in Ohio 2004 and in 2016 when McConnell refused to follow the Constitution ..

... and have a vote on Garland for the SCOTUS. Russia's work with and for Trumpin the election
sure should have set off waring bells.

[SammyWinstonJack]

3. Set off waring bells. That's Bolton's job.

[Botany]

4. Hey! Life is hard enough .... it is even harder when you a dumb.

Botany =

[WhiteTara]

15. ...

I almost alerted your post for trashing a DU member and then I realized it was you! You must have kinder self talk!

[KPN]

9. Yes, we've "normalized" stolen elections as politics as usual. That is our own fault.

I'm not sure what Gore could have done differently, but we Democrats should have been out on the streets immediately in DC, NYC, LA, Chicago, everywhere and stayed there for days and weeks if necessary. We should have orchestrated mass protests and work stoppages ... and our party leaders should have been "leading" that.

We should have pushed relentlessly for a thorough investigation of vote tallies in Ohio following GW's so called victory in 2000.

AND we should have pursued criminal investigations into Bush/Chaney et al., falsifications that led to Iraq and potentially impeachment thereafter. We should have pounded that call and message relentlessly.

Maybe it's too late now. Maybe this is all the normal course of things going forward. Maybe we have already capitulated once and for all.

I can tell you one thing for sure: if leadership in the Democratic Party doesn't start showing some balls, the GOP will get away with Trumpism and nothing will have changed -- and I personally will likely give up on our party completely.

[lunatica]

12. I hear you!

I remember how we were all in shock, expecting that out government and judicial system would kick in to right the unbelievably and obvious un-Constitutional violation on the part of the Supreme Court.

I expected some states to sue legally, like they did with Trumps travel ban on Muslims. I waited for that or something like that to happen, and I think others did the same because we believed in our separation of powers. They were built into the system specifically for just something like what happened.

I think it wouldn’t have made any difference if we had gone into the streets. Within a few months 9/11 happened and we went to an unjustified and illegal war soon thereafter. I remember going into the streets multiple times to march against the war both in Afghanistan and Iraq. The media barely mentioned us. Before that we hardly noticed how the media was no longer what we had when we could believe every word that Walter Cronkite told us.

We have a country, and its name is The United States and it outwardly looks like a Constitutional Democracy, but it hasn’t been one since Bush was selected.

I do believe though that it can be restored to a Constitutional Democracy. But I fear we can only do that by admitting the illegality of the SCOTUS crime.

I don’t see that happening, especially with the gerrymandering of the last two decades and Russian claws deep in our election system calling the shots. And the Republicans have proven that corruption runs deep in our government.

Most people will pretend all is well though. I, for example, will continue to vote in the hope that it matters. I will continue to cheer when states stand up to Trump’s crimes, and when at least part of our Judiciary fights those crimes.

I do still believe in our potential. We still have a choice.

[Wednesdays]

5. Video link

[kentuck]

6. He also said that if there was a huge drop in the stock market...

...that some Republicans might drop their support for him?

[Cosmocat]

7. He is swinging his junk at the market now

He isn't real thoughtful, but he is instinctual.

And, with a year in he has a sense of how how can manipulate the market using his bully pulpit.

The steel deal that turned some massive coin for his supporters was the toe in the swimming pool.

Yesterday he tanked Amazon - that was him and his personal vendetta stuff.

But, the tariffs, etc, he has people whispering in his ear, and they may or may not be in the US.

[KPN]

10. How many of the orange shit-for-brains' friends shorted Amazon over the past week I wonder?

[Cosmocat]

13. yep

nm

[Skittles]

14. there has already been a huge drop

[disndat]

8. The Midterms

I think Friedman or someone on the "Mornin'Joe" today brought up the upcoming midterm elections going hugely
Democratic because of unhinged Trump. Are the huge moneyed Trump supporters like the Mercers and the Koch Bros. are still
on board?

[Scruffy1]

11. They will always be n board. It's either that or prison time. n/t.

[Cha]

16. Yep, Public Global Enemy #1.

Paying attention