Remember the enormous outrage when Hillary said there was a "vast right-wing conspiracy"?

[dlk]

She was so right. The violent insurrection, the vigilante law in Texas, the governor recall election in California-they’re all connected. And, no doubt, they have much more planned. Women’s wisdom…

[niyad]

1. Exactly.

[dlk]

3. How different our country would be if more of us valued women's wisdom

There’s a high price to the devaluation.

[niyad]

5. How different the world would be. Millenia of talent and knowledge and insight

Dismissed, devalued, destroyed, by patriarchy.

[CrispyQ]

18. This.

We're like a species at war with itself.

"The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula Le Guin, that was an interesting book. I remember reading it in the mid-70s & a whole set of new ideas opened up to me. I should re-read it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Left_Hand_of_Darkness

The inhabitants of Gethen are ambisexual humans; for twenty-four days (a period called somer in Karhidish, a Gethenian language) of each twenty-six-day lunar cycle, they are sexually latent androgynes. They only adopt sexual attributes once a month, during a period of sexual receptiveness and high fertility, called kemmer. During kemmer they become sexually male or female, with no predisposition towards either,[23] although which sex they adopt can depend on context and relationships.[6] Throughout the novel Gethenians are described as "he", whatever their role in kemmer. This absence of fixed gender characteristics led Le Guin to portray Gethen as a society without war, and also without sexuality as a continuous factor in social relationships.[23][22] On Gethen, every individual takes part in the "burden and privilege" of raising children, and rape and seduction are almost absent.[22]

I didn't realize she'd written other novels in this world. I'll definitely have to check them out.

[niyad]

24. Thank you for the reminder.

[scarytomcat]

41. How different this country would be if we hadn't had Republican

presidents this century.

[wnylib]

59. I think it was more than women's wisdom.

Hillary is the type of person who keeps up on details of what is going on, just like she mentioned the Alt Right in a debate in 2016. But, when she mentions things that the general public doesn't know about yet, the RWers take advantage of that to spin her words into "nonsense." By the time people knew about RW conspiracies and the Alt Right, people had absorbed the spin image about her and forgot how she warned them.

[mountain grammy]

72. So true

Ignoring the wisdom of half the population hasn’t worked out so well.

[RVN VET71]

122. Wisdom of some women, but never forget Handmaiden Amy

and assholes Greene and Boebert and Blackburn, and Colins, and Palin, and Ingraham, and Owens, and Stefanik, and Haley, and White, Schlafly, Bryant, Stein, Sarandon, Foxx, Lahren -- shoot, any female who works for Fox or OAN or Newsmax.

Many women are smart and perceptive and have wisdom that could save us all. But there are just so many who fall so far below the bar set by the women we all admire and love, so many who applauded Texas abortion ban, who would gladly -- and this is not an exaggeration, given the T-shirts* they wear to rallies announcing their desires -- sleep with the diseased former resident of the White House.

*Remember the “President Trump, you can grab my pussy!” shirts?

Neither men nor women have a monopoly on wisdom -- or it’s opposite: willful ignorance.

[mopinko]

2. back when i made buttons i had this- there really is a vast right wing conspiracy.

it was hiding in plain sight.

[dlk]

4. Sadly, it has withstood the test of time

n/t

[mopinko]

6. yeah, so many have. another one i've been talking about-

i used to make one w a coathanger, and the words- never again.
this generation had no idea. i had to explain that button more than any other.
and now my fb feed is full of images of coathangers.

[dlk]

9. The nightmare that never seems to end

I think too many Americans don’t understand (or don’t care) how deeply the bias against women runs in our country. We are a backward nation in that regard.

[mopinko]

13. they refuse to understand.

hell, i remember some heated debates here about whether or not hillary lost due to misogyny.

[NJCher]

7. I remember her saying it

Last edited Sat Sep 4, 2021, 11:04 AM - Edit history (1)

don't remember the outrage, but I remember a lot of people going around saying umhmm. Yep.

You have to name the problem, and that's what it is.

If anyone had any thoughts otherwise, there's a book I saw recently that is called something like the 30 year plot for the right wing to take over the judiciary.

And this was an old book!

We were warned.

[dlk]

10. Too many have the "it can't happen here" blind spot

How far do Republicans have to go before more people begin to wake up? The backlash to civil rights has been well-thought out and planned.

[femmocrat]

8. Hillary was right about everything.

And we were robbed!

[dlk]

11. Cheated and robbed

For one, she would have handled the pandemic responsibly and we wouldn’t be in such terrible shape this far down the road. When I look around at the state of things, it amazes me how too many Americans still don’t want a woman in charge because she might mess things up.

[spooky3]

73. Agree nt

[CTyankee]

12. I remember there were those of us here who, like me, initially supported Bernie.

I knew all along that if he failed to get the nomination and she our nominee, I would vote for her. Because I wanted the Democratic Party to move left, I voted for Bernie in our Dem state primary and HRC in the general.

I never imagined (nor barely heard about) about Trump. And I thought when he lost to Biden there would be such chaos in the puke party. I have underestimated how far the Republican Party had gone.

Now I wonder if I will live long enough to see the Republican Party shrink to oblivion or even that it will shrink at all.

[dlk]

15. Democrats should always remember that zealots vote

And fear works getting voters to the polls. Republicans have dug us into a deep hole and getting out will be difficult and take time. I’m not sure I’ll live long enough.

[CTyankee]

28. Fear is doing a number on me right now. This bounty thing has gotten me in a rage.

We've got a temporary solution but not a permanent one. I always used to think "Oh, now they've gone too far and will get pulled back" but they just keep on "going too far."

I hope for Pelosi's remedy.

[dlk]

85. For me, the best thing to do is channel the fear and rage into constructive action

Sitting on the sidelines is no longer an option.

[CTyankee]

89. I've never stopped really. I can't go to marches like I used to because of my age but I support

PP and the ACLU because of their activism. I may be 81 but I'm still marching in my spirit!

[dlk]

90. There are many ways to be active

Anything we can do is worthwhile.

[mrsadm]

109. Fantastic! Thank you!

[CTyankee]

123. Thank YOU! And let me add that all my grandchildren are , to the extent they can be, passing down

our values. I now have a transgendered grandchild who luckily lives in Los Angeles in a very liberal and welcoming community. You don't know these things until the grandchild gets past early childhood but now I know she is safe and her school is very caring and supportive of her. I saw her last summer and she is doing well and even getting better in her schoolwork, which was a major concern. I wish I had some magic powers to help her, but at least she knows we all have her back.

[Skittles]

99. Bernie was another Nader

there was no chance he was ever going to be the nominee

[DickKessler]

107. Bernie never ran third-party, and endorsed both Clinton and Biden, BUT

I agree with the sentiment regarding many of his most diehard supporters. I can't stand them...and I like Bernie.

He exercised incredibly poor judgement in terms of the some of the people he staffed for his campaigns though, some truly disgusting assholes, and I did lose some respect for him...

[Skittles]

111. I cannot stand him

no indeed

[betsuni]

115. He knew the damage he was doing, didn't care.

[Corgigal]

14. When the Supreme court

stole the election from Al Gore, we should have lit Florida on fire. I always will believe that was the day we should have taught them to fear us, the majority. I still kick myself.

[dlk]

17. Democrats' timidity after the theft of Gore's presidency has been very costly

There should have been riots in the streets! When there wasn’t, Republicans learned they had a clear path to achieving their agenda.

[Corgigal]

23. I thought,

such a younger person that I was, that they would count all the votes. Plenty of time. This is a democracy, we count votes.

Should have packed the van thrown the family in and fought then. Lots of young Americans from Iraq and Afghan wars would, be alive. All the citizens of those places would be alive.

[McKim]

39. Yep that was the time to act!!!

Yep, that was the time to act against the suit riot in Florida. I could not believe the passivity in this country. I went to the town square in downtown Portland with my sign and I was almost the only person there!!!!!

[uponit7771]

51. +1, GQP attempts to burn shit down when they lose FAIRLY !!!

[dlk]

54. Steal, kill and destroy is their mantra

[DickKessler]

108. Imagine how low effort it would be to be a Republican. Democrats care, Democrats have empathy...

Democrats think for themselves.

[Budi]

33. To your point, it was a GWBush. And just like when Clinton ran against GHW

He was threatened of political & personal ruin.

This is a decent recall from Wiki:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vast_right-wing_conspiracy
On January 27, 1998, Hillary Clinton appeared on NBC's The Today Show, in an interview with Matt Lauer.

Lauer: You have said, I understand, to some close friends, that this is the last great battle, and that one side or the other is going down here.
Clinton: Well, I don't know if I've been that dramatic. That would sound like a good line from a movie. But I do believe that this is a battle. I mean, look at the very people who are involved in this—they have popped up in other settings. This is—the great story here for anybody willing to find it and write about it and explain it is this vast right-wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since the day he announced for president.

Clinton elaborated by decrying the tactics "and the kind of intense political agenda at work here". Bob Woodward recounts in his book The Agenda (1994) that the then-first lady claimed that when her husband was making his decision to run for the presidency in 1991, he reported receiving "a direct threat from someone in the Bush White House, warning that if he ran, the Republicans would go after him. 'We will do everything we can to destroy you personally,' she recalled that the Bush White House man had said."[1]


The wiki page has a lot I's forgotten or wasn't aware of.

It was Bill Clinton's own AG Janet Reno who appointed Ken Starr to investigate & once he was started, he never stopped.

Ken Starr's appt was the kiss of death, opening the door to the likes of Roger Stone, the DiGenova's, Ann Coulter, Kellyann Conway & the warning from those in GHW's circle indeed then proceded to destroy the Clintons for the rest of their lives, because Bill Clinton didn't just run against GHW, he defeated him.

Steve Bannon, Breitbart, Roger Stone etc. Yes there really was a RW Conspiracy and it's followed the Clintons thru this day.

[dlk]

60. The Bushes were so much dirtier than they've ever been given credit for

Thanks for the wiki page. I never cared for the Bushes who were the worst type of “country club” snobs and resented being bested by someone brilliant from a poor background and no political connections.

[Budi]

71. Wasn't GHW the 1st one into the Gulf with the Saudi Oil Barrons?

Bill Clinton stalled that plan's advancement. Why GW had to be immediately seated after BC & 9-11 was the answer to dive back in full speed ahead.

The Bush's were dirty af, & GW was just a figurehead chosen for his dad's deals already made.
I don't think GW ever really wanted the job.
Not to excuse him, but more to realize the depth of the deals that had been already in play & stalled by the election of BC.

[DickKessler]

101. Yes, Bush 41 was good friends with the royal family of Wahhabi Arabia

and other super-rich families like the bin Ladens. You might recognize that name.

[DickKessler]

103. The Bush family is/was just a more genteel version of the Trump-Kushner family.

And let's not forget the original right-wing celebrity dimwit President Ronald Reagan, or the original criminal conspiracy racist Republican President Richard Nixon.

Donald Trump embodied the shittiness of all of them.

[Evolve Dammit]

119. Good post. Thanks

[DickKessler]

100. All of the current right-wingers on the Court helped and/or benefited from the 2000 GOP coup in FL.

Three of them worked on it as lawyers for the Bush campaign. One of those is the Chief Justice, who was given the position (and previously, a seat on the DC Court of Appeals) by the beneficiary of Bush v. Gore and also served in 43's father's administration.

Two of them Court worked in the installed administration post-2000.

Two of them clerked for one the right-wingers on the Court who participated in the 2000 coup in FL, a guy whose death resulted in a stolen (thanks to the POS Senate Republican leader) Supreme Court seat being filled by yet another illegitimate, shitty Republican President.

And the senior right-wing justice on the Court was put there by the father of the beneficiary of Bush v. Gore and also participated in the 2000 coup in Florida.

Not a single right-winger on the Court today who didn't either serve in the second Bush administration, wasn't put on the Court by the second Bush administration, and/or didn't help install the second Bush administration whether as a a lawyer for their campaign or as a vote on Bush's behalf on the Court.

[FoxNewsSucks]

16. She was correct,

and it's only gotten far more vast and effective since then.

[dlk]

22. It's been said, we teach people how to treat us

We have let Republicans know they can get away with tearing apart our democracy, piece-by-piece. Democrats need to up their game. There’s not much runway left.

[Kid Berwyn]

19. SCROTUS

[dlk]

26. Frightening and true

Republicans have incrementally politicized and co-opted SCOTUS. The court has lost all credibility and major reform is long overdue.

[czarjak]

97. Illegitimate all.

[twodogsbarking]

20. Having lived in Pennsylvania my entire life

Last edited Sat Sep 4, 2021, 01:09 PM - Edit history (1)

I would concur.

[dlk]

48. Yes

[Walleye]

21. Of course we knew she was right at the time

The problem being that most people think of a conspiracy as something secret, and the vast right wing are lying and cheating out in the open and bragging about it. I don’t know how we combat that

[FoxNewsSucks]

29. Maybe "machine" would have been a better term

Conspiracy does have the connotation of "secret plotting". That period was over long before Clinton's statement. It came true and the result was a highly effective "rightwing machine" that has been improved by them.

[moose65]

34. True

Was it also Hillary who coined the term “the right wing noise machine”?

[FoxNewsSucks]

37. That was the title of David Brock's book

a sequel to Blinded by the Right.

They were excellent books. Written during the criminal Bush years. They do explain the "conspiracy", and after reading them the reasons for the behavior of the corporate media becomes obvious. Watching cable news channels to this day, one can see the same things happening.

[Walleye]

42. Correct. And now it's an international crime organization

[dlk]

50. Hiding in plain sight

To paraphrase, they have repeatedly shown us who they really are. It’s time to believe them.

[Hortensis]

25. Women's wisdom? For 25 years the "VRWC" swiftboated the Clintons with

constant investigation-style attacks that all found nothing, but yet somehow all "proved" them guilty of everything. Big business, Republican-controlled governments, and most of the MSM colluded in the swiftboating. Which coincided with the advent of the 24/7/365 news cycle and social media.

The allegations became the crimes, and the VRWC packed them all and many more in suitcases labeled "Hillary's Baggage" and schlepped them after her everywhere she went.

Just one of the VRWC's many projects, but special for being mostly conducted out in the open for EVERYONE to witness.

[dlk]

30. Yes, misogyny runs deep in America

Hillary was seen as a serious threat to their white, male, theocratic agenda. They have done everything they can to take her out. When I mention “women’s wisdom,” I meant that too many Americans don’t value women or their knowledge. Republicans have used that fact to their advantage with their well-coordinated, ongoing attacks on Hillary.

[Hortensis]

40. Oh, yes. Absolutely. Where women politicians scored higher

than men, though, was in trustworthiness and caring. So building on prejudice against "ambitious" women, among both men and women, left and right, included specific attention to restyling her as Hillary the intensely untrustworthy and uncaring witch.

I don't know how many times I heard people on the left, vulnerable to the slanders but too sophisticated to reiterate them, say things like, "I just don't like her" and "I don't know if I can vote for her." (Translation: I'm probably not voting for her." ) Not as shocking as the "Lock her up!" rabble, but none looked for truth or they would have found it.

[dlk]

52. The double standard continues to thrive

[iemanja]

68. One of the most disturbing aspects

Is how the right and media shifted to Hillary the blame for Bill's illicit relationships.

Remember during the debates when Trump brought someone (Juanita Broaddrick?) who claimed Bill Clinton had raped her? Her argument was that Hillary somehow knew about it because she greeted her at an event and thanked her for all she had done.

Imagine what that means: Bill Clinton would have had to come home from seeing the woman and said to Hillary, "Oh, I raped" so and so. How utterly ridiculous.

More evidence that Trump is a misogynist pig of the worst sort.

Just the other day, I saw someone on this board claim Hillary abused Monica Lewinsky. What the ever loving fuck?!!!!!

[DickKessler]

104. Yeah, Steve Bannon brought Bill's accusers to the first debate right after the Access Hollywood tape

had leaked and so many women started going on the record about Trump's assaults and harassment.

Just the most cynical, vicious politicization, total Whataboutism to deflect from Trump's so-called "locker room talk." I'm still furious about it.

[ashredux]

27. Hillary was correct about EVERYTHING

[dlk]

31. Yes!

[Rebl2]

32. Forgive me,

but I somewhat doubted her at the time, but no longer do I doubt what she said. I now believe everything she said.

[Hortensis]

57. The war began before and will continue for some time. All soldiers needed.

[dlk]

86. Yes, this is no time to be a spectator

[gulliver]

35. Being right and a dime will get you a funny look at Starbucks

Yes, Republicans have gone haywire.

[dlk]

36. And the bias against Hillary has helped make that happen

n/t

[gulliver]

38. Yep

[CTyankee]

43. When I lived in NYC that saying was "that and 50 cents will get you a ride on the BMT" back when

fifty cents was the cost of most subway rides.

[sarchasm]

44. Hillary was right, and so was Al Gore.

The conspiracy continues unabated and with dire consequences for all of us.

Is it .. “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”

or ... Newton's Third Law - For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction?

[dlk]

45. Yes, time will tell

We may see a tipping point soon.

[Budi]

47. Thanks for opening this conversation

[sarchasm]

65. Hopefully, in our favor.

When baking, timing is essential.

[Budi]

53. Knowing all this as we look back at the lifelong RWC against both Clintons,

I recall at the end of the 2016 election as the electoral #'s came in, Hillary was quoted as saying, " they're not going to let me win are they"

At the time I wondered who all the "they" were.

After reading this thread & this brief wiki link, I now know what she meant.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215820493#post33

Read, The Today Show Interview:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vast_right-wing_conspiracy

SNIP
"Clinton elaborated by decrying the tactics "and the kind of intense political agenda at work here". Bob Woodward recounts in his book The Agenda (1994) that the then-first lady claimed that when her husband was making his decision to run for the presidency in 1991, he reported receiving "a direct threat from someone in the Bush White House, warning that if he ran, the Republicans would go after him. 'We will do everything we can to destroy you personally,' she recalled that the Bush White House man had said."[1]"

They never stopped making good on their threat for running against GHW. Not with Bill nor Hillary.
Thanks dlk. This so needed to be re-examined

[dlk]

62. Republicans are endlessly vindictive

Someone once told me, “you’ll never meet a more viscous breed.” They carry their grudges to the grave.

[sarchasm]

67. So true ... makes me think of Graham Nash for some reason.

Probably because I've been listening to a lot of Crosby lately, who at 80 years is making some of his best IMO.

[Javaman]

56. she was on to them, that's why they were pissed. nt

[dlk]

63. The emperor has no clothes...

[Celerity]

58. It was actually Chris Lehane in 1995 who came up with it.

Vast right-wing conspiracy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vast_right-wing_conspiracy

"Vast right-wing conspiracy" is a conspiracy theory popularized by a 1995 memo by political opposition researcher Chris Lehane and then referenced in 1998 by the then First Lady of the United States Hillary Rodham Clinton, in defense of her husband, President Bill Clinton, characterizing the continued allegations of scandal against her and her husband, including the Lewinsky scandal, as part of a long campaign by Clinton's political enemies. The term has been used since, including in a question posed to Bill Clinton in 2009 to describe verbal attacks on Barack Obama during his early presidency. Hillary Clinton mentioned it again during her 2016 presidential campaign.

[calimary]

61. Yes. I believed her then I still believe her now.

And believed IN her then as I still do now.

She was right. And she was cheated. As were we all.

[dlk]

64. Exactly

[Evolve Dammit]

120. indeed.

We have been since 2000 and they are being increasingly overt and "in your face" about it. Which forces us to respond in kind. Not something that comes natural for many Dems, who are inherently better people, that actually care about humanity.

[iemanja]

66. I struggle to think of anything Hillary wasn't right about.

It's unfortunate that the right spent so much energy trashing her. She would have made a great president.

[dlk]

76. Yes, our country is so much poorer because she wasn't president

[Scalded Nun]

69. This has been going on in earnest for over 40 years

Well thought-out. Sometimes well but often poorly planned. Frightening that they would have had much more success by now if they did not have so many incompetent fools running things.

Their strategy...nibble, nibble, nibble, bite. Slapped down after the bite. Back off for a bit, rinse and repeat.

Only now they have gotten to the point where it is just a continuous bite, bite, bite. No need to back off since it is just a minimal slap-down at most.

No one in authority seems to have the will to really fight this, and so we teeter at the brink. If these treasonous bastards and their leaders are not truly held to account with real penalties I do not see how we get through this. $500 fines and probation will not deter future outrages.

[dlk]

78. Yes, trespassing charges for sedition and treason are pathetic

It pretty much guarantees they’ll be back.

[Evolve Dammit]

121. Agreed.

[NurseJackie]

70. I remember when Sarandon said she was "more dangerous than Trump" too.

[dlk]

79. Some people are just plain irrational and don't deserve a platform

[Budi]

84. "More Dangerous than Trump", to whom exactly?

To whom would HRC be so dangerous, that it would involve an entire foreign criminal organization to keep her from the power of the Presidency?

[NurseJackie]

88. Sarandon was SO afraid of Hillary...

... yet she had previously given her FULL SUPPORT to Senator John Edwards when he was running for president. Funny thing that Edwards had ALSO voted for the Iraq War Resolution (and you'll recall that Hillary's IWR vote was something that Sarandon often mentioned in her ANTI-HILLARY screeds). I wonder why it didn't matter when she was supporting Edwards.

That's a woman who can't handle disappointment and seeks revenge on the candidate (and party) that "stole her dreams".

Fuck you, Susan! Just... fuck... you!

[dlk]

91. Your follow up question should have been asked

It was a missed opportunity.

[Budi]

92. Perhaps next time she surfaces on the TV some adept person can flat out ask her

Give her all the time she needs to explain.
We'll just sit & watch & wait as the camera holds that "Loreal fresh face" shot.

A lot of questions were missed then, & still are.

[dlk]

94. Yes, Too many reporters need to up their game

They miss important follow up questions.

[betsuni]

93. I think because her types were so used to setting their hair on fire that Obama was going to

start WWIII any time (as well as drone wedding parties for fun), that Hillary "Satan" Clinton would definitely do it. Iran and Russia hated her so she would immediately start bombing them after the inauguration. Later in the day she'd take over Obama's kill list and turn it into a fifteen volume set. In the evening she'd sign an executive order making everyone set up a fracking operation in their backyards.

[DickKessler]

106. Remember "Trump the Dove?"

Which makes sense, if you ignore his actions and rhetoric regarding Iran, North Korea before he and Kim "fell in love," China, Iraq, Afghanistan, Venezuela, many of America's closest allies and partners...very dovish!


Oh, and then there was taking away the restrictions on the use of force by the US military that Obama had put in to avoid civilian casualties. Very dovish!

Also, deploying the US military last year against peaceful protesters IN THE US, or his big stupid military parade for the Fourth of July...or the events of January 6 of this year...again, very dovish!

Trump was so good at being a dove you wouldn't know it. We got sick of his dovishness, just like we got sick of so much winning..."believe me."

[ancianita]

74. But being right will only go so far to protect women.

Having right on their side will not stop this war, the wagers only go into strategic retreat to lull women into thinking it's over. They do this over and over.

Corporations who support the anti-woman warriors are only publicly quiet,
but their donor support -- money as speech -- for anti-abortion officials is never silent and never in retreat.

The ways to stop this war ...

[dlk]

80. There's too much nudge, nudge, wink wink

After being repeatedly sold out, getting a clue is overdue. When Republicans use scorched earth tactics, responding with logic, reason and appealing to better angels is ineffective.

[SKKY]

75. Janet Napolitano warned about this very thing in 2009...

...and was eviscerated for even suggesting it. Turns out her comments were more prescient than we all imagined.

[dlk]

81. Kill the messenger...

Especially if the messenger is a woman.

[JanMichael]

77. Yep she was. Same with the basket full of deplorables. Right on that too. nt

[dlk]

82. Hillary took endless flack for that remark

And as it turns out, it was a gross understatement.

[DickKessler]

105. You don't think Trump's base is full of "very fine people?"

I can't imagine why, lol

[SYFROYH]

83. I remember that she said it to defend Bill and herself

This is—the great story here for anybody willing to find it and write about it and explain it is this vast right-wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since the day he announced for president.

[dlk]

87. Agreed, a great story that needs retelling

[joetheman]

96. Just because she said it about Bill doesn't make it untrue. "Vast" covers a range of issues. nt

[iemanja]

102. It was true.

[cstanleytech]

95. You forgot secret backroom collusion with a hostile foreign government (Russia) to gather

intel on a political rival and provide an online propaganda attack.

[dlk]

124. And because we don't do much of a job holding connected white men accountable,

Here we are, on the verge of losing our democracy.

[DickKessler]

98. Kochs, Scaifes, Mercers, ALEC, FOX, talk radio, Federalist Society, Putin, Bibi, MBS, MBZ...

All working toward the same wretched and horrifying goals.

[dlk]

125. Reagan's repealing the Fairness Doctrine has brought us to this place

After WWII, Americans understood the threat of fascism and put the doctrine in place. Now, too many Americans don’t understand or don’t care about this very real threat.

[Blue Owl]

110. K&R

[summer_in_TX]

112. A literally vast right wing conspiracy.

Some influences predate FDR, who they despised. They wanted to undo the New Deal and discredit it. American Enterprise Association (later Institute)

John Birch Society influences (Charles Koch and others)

Reagan's Business Roundtable brought a lot of the key players together.

Billionaires funding of think tanks, scholarships, academic seats, "research." Funneling the young conservatives they recruit and cultivate into the think tanks where they hone credentials and media skills to become pundits, regular guests on media shows. Then many become political candidates, members of Congress, and so forth. The young pundits become regular media guests and authoritatively detail the "research."

[dlk]

126. Exactly

[LetMyPeopleVote]

113. Opinion: Hillary Clinton warned us this day would come

Link to tweet

The results are in. Of the five Supreme Court justices who allowed Texas to implement the strictest abortion ban in the nation, three — Neil M. Gorsuch in 2017, Brett M. Kavanaugh in 2018 and Amy Coney Barrett in 2020 — were appointed by President Trump.

You may argue back and forth whether fair warning is ever fair play. But there’s no disputing the fact that Clinton’s red alert came in plenty of time for voters caring about women’s rights to plan how to deal with Trump on Election Day. Did it fall on deaf ears?

Clinton handily won the popular vote but lost in the electoral college. Too many voters, in states where they were needed, failed to turn out or skipped her name on the ballot. The whys of it are being debated to this day. The fact is that some voters might have heard what she said was at stake but still chose to follow the alluring sounds of Trump’s snake-oil campaign.

Had truth won out in 2016, this dark day for women’s rights could have been avoided.

But, perhaps, some consolation might come with the thought that Texas’s dreadful law might serve to mobilize women’s health voters — across the entire gender spectrum — to do what apparently too many failed to do five years ago: flock to the polls to protect reproductive freedom like there’s no tomorrow. There wasn’t one for candidate Clinton five years ago. There should be plenty of tomorrows, however, for the cause of reproductive rights and justice — if voters, next time around, respond as they should have when Hillary Clinton first sounded the alarm.

Now, there’s no excuse.

[dlk]

127. Yes, there is no excuse

Too many Americans discounted and minimized Hillary’s accurate warnings. Misogyny has a high price.

[C Moon]

114. It's surprised me in the past 4 years, how many hate-filled, dumb racists there are milling about.

I knew they were there, but I had no idea it was so rampant.

[dlk]

128. I'm surprised by the large numbers, too

We have far to go toward a more perfect union.

[King_Klonopin]

116. The Republicans are better at playing the "long-game" than we are

Or should I refer to it as "the long-con"? Like watching a glacier, I guess.

It took 40 years of politicizing and packing the courts, dominating state legislatures,
gerrymandering, voter suppression laws, repealing voter protection laws, the rancid
election campaign finance rules, and the overall abuse of power whenever they could
sink their bloody claws into it -- but that is why we are in this mess today.
They use the electoral college to their advantage. They use the guaranteed minority-rule
of the Senate to their advantage. They exploit the media to their advantage (because they
have no shame about lying)

We needed to counter-attack all these "offensive" tactics as they were deployed -- but they
seemed like small potatoes at the time. Now, we are playing from a position of one who is
behind in the score. This is now in the trenches --
suspend the filibuster when needed and expand the SCOTUS before it is too late.
We need to adopt their relentless style of warfare.

[dlk]

129. Republicans are often temperamentally better suited to the war that is politics

They take orders and fall in line, and their willingness to bend the rules and cheat to win can’t be underestimated. Conversely, Democrats tend to be less rigid and structured, and often think logic, reason and good policy are enough. Given human nature, we are seeing that isn’t always the case.

[Jakes Progress]

117. She was also right about the basket of deplorable.

Of course, she was wrong about the basket. It's really a festering dung pile that keeps getting worse daily.

[dlk]

130. She definitely made an enormous understatement

Who knew there were so many truly awful Americans?

[Moebym]

118. I'm no historian

But I believe that the 2016 election was a major inflection point in the history of the world, not just the United States.

77k votes are all it took.

[dlk]

131. I agree

The world was forever changed as a result, and not in a good way.