307 Comments

Loved the recognition from Jost that Biden is a decent man. After all America deserves a decent President.

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I loved it, too. President Biden was truly touched and humbled by the compliment.

I'm voting for decency, for 4 more years.

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At least its survival and most of the country does.

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One that regularly joined his adolescent daughter in the shower?

Yeah, that's decent alright.

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I am afraid. I’m almost 72. Lived through the Nixon trauma but trusted our legal system to right the wrongs. No more. I’m terrified that this despicable person will be returned to the highest office in this land by his legions of uneducated haters and the voting restrictions put in place by his scared followers who want to rule, not govern. This is a perilous time for our nation. Will we survive?

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I'm a couple of years older than you and I have never before worried that we would lose our democracy. I knew immediately that Ronald Reagan was 100% going the wrong direction but trusted an informed and caring populace would turn things around. Guess what? We have gone steadily downhill from there. I'm almost sorry I had children and grandchildren who will have to live with what our nation may become if we don't take a hard stand right now and choose democracy over an authoritarian system.

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You are not alone. I'm a couple of years older yet. WE have our work cut out for us. No slacking off. It's now or never.

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Stop your complaining, boomers. Sorry but that’s how I read you (I’m 76 so I’m allowed). Figure out what you can do. I’m no hero but I made VOTE BLUE FOR FREEDOM stickers. What is your talent? Maybe write some jokes about the guy who wears makeup to court.

https://thecommunety.etsy.com/listing/1616219621

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I also organize friends to write postcards to voters. Turn fear into action. There’s only room for one whining old fart. It’s not allowed to be one of us.

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Thank you. No time for whining but for action, please encourage everyone you know to vote.

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Which is why I take a hard stand and speak reality to everyone I can. Everyone. Not everyone will listen, but I try. At the clinic I work in (an abortion clinic), many of the patients seeking our services don't even realize that those services are at stake. Believe me, they do after sitting with me. I have gotten 60 (#60 just today!) young women registered to vote. I won't quit spreading the word even after Novembers election. Democracy (I tell people this, too) is a work in progress, and if it isn't nurtured and improved, it will wither. I won't sit back and watch that happen without fighting to preserve it any way I can.

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My exact sentiments, progeny notwithstanding. . .

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We must be positive in our convictions to support the good people who are working tirelessly to uphold this great democracy! I too have lived 70 plus years and we know about wars and different ways of thinking and living.

But now is not the time to give up. We must continue to urge even one person to see the truth and of course, to vote!

That is the most powerful thing we can do! Vote blue and support the goodness that is America!!

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Yes. Absolutely.

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We MUST survive!

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founding

We will all have to fight like hell

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Amen!!! 💙🇺🇸💙🇺🇸💙

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Dear gods, I hope we do survive. In a country where ignorance is admired, it's difficult to stay positive.

All I can do is look to history and see that in the end, dictatorships don't survive. That is no help at all for those of us living now. It means people for generations may have no hope, but eventually the system will fail.

I find no comfort in that.

Until we educate our populace about not only their rights, but responsibilities, we are slaves to ignorance and power plays.

But how do we educate a populace who refuse to think, and are incapable of following a simple logical conclusion?

It's better we ask a butterfly to perform a ballet.

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Government and civics is no longer taught in school. I don’t know where you live, but in my home state of Texas there’s a very active and well funded movement to defund public schools and give tax funded “vouchers” to anyone to send their children to private or religious schools. I have no problem with people sending their children to such schools, but NOT on the public dime.

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If "they" wish to continue "teaching delusion" to their children, then, Oh Well.

But NOT on my "Dollar!"

Texas gets more and more "F ckd Up" each day...

Peace & Best Regards to You and your Clear & Rational Thinking.

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I hope you do survive, refined and better

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Our fears too!

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unfortunately the democrats lack the courage and conviction to fight .....This is a time that calls for extraordinary measures to fight outside the bounds of convention......We need strong and fearless leadership but have nothing but career bureaucrats at the helm.....I fear that the American oligarchs have finally gained complete control and there is almost nothing we can do about it ib our current state of fear and confusion.......sad

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No more democrats 2024. Then no more insanity

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The legal system is working out pretty well for you so far - Biden avoids prosecution for taking classified documents because he’s too old and Trump spends almost every day in a courtroom - I would say it’s working like charm.

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I have never engaged directly with writers before, but I feel compelled to reply: Biden avoided federal prosecution on the classified documents case because he COOPERATED with the investigation. All Trump had to do was COOPERATE -- a pretty low bar -- but he was completely incapable of it. Instead, he lied, hid documents, etc. AND he is in state court on a completely different matter -- manipulating business records to hide hush money payments to a porn star. Considering the only thing Trump values is what he can monetize, odds are the feds were quite rightly worried he was hanging on to documents to sell to the highest bidder.

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Carol....seems to me that he has sold many of the documents and has them on hand for doing that again....after all, after he requested and was given a list of all of "our" high value assets....many of our spies went missing or turned up dead. SO he's already done what you think he might do....seems like that.

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i find it nearly impossible to possible to believe that at this point trump is actually polling a bit ahead of Joe Biden. what are we thinking?!?! it's unimaginable to me that anyone but the least informed and most deluded could seriously want to see trump back in office, and yet... we can't let this happen, not if we want to keep our country a free democracy.

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Raven, I completely agree with you. I feel the same. Right now I’m taking a class on the Holocaust. The instructor posted 4 ways the GOP has used similar words and actions as Hitler and the Nazis. He put them side by side so we could compare. It is truly alarming. I just don’t understand why so many Americans are supporting this. Yet some people tell me they “hate” Biden. Hate is such a strong word. I don’t see why anyone would feel that way about such a kind, thoughtful and caring person and hold someone who is immoral , uncaring, and hateful as Trump in high regard.

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The propaganda campaign is prevalent and successful . It feeds off emotion and defies logic. That is what is so terrifying. It is surreal that DT is on the ballot after Jan 6…. We all watched on TV as he participated in the insurrection, yet he bears no consequence! And he has destroyed the Republican Party….now exists like a mafia family operation.

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I'm sorry, but hate is not a strong enough word for how I feel about tRump.

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Same here! How one hates Biden is beyond me and it has nothing to do with politics, but the character of the man. And the Cheeto has no character whatsoever.

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How do you describe the character of a man that regularly joined his adolescent daughter in the shower?

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I worked with incest survivors for 18 years....what we call the parent who does this, is....a perpetrator.

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I understand. It’s hard to like someone who is mean, hateful, rude, self centered, arrogant, dishonest, breaks laws, inspires acts of violence, and is dishonest.

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AND,,,,, Owns the Legal System and It's Judges. All the way to the "Former" Supreme Court.

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Once there are people in place to obey orders throughout our institutions, we can kiss our democracy goodbye. Why any American would want this is beyond me.

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"Criminal Traitor" is good for starts...

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Nazi’s were focused on persecution, they manipulated the media, censored people and took away their 1st amendment rights. That’s not what the GOP is about. It’s actually more like what Biden’s handlers are about.

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?? care to clarify... or are you just being a troll?🤔

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Clarify which part? Are you calling me a troll because I bring a different point of view?

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A bit of clarification, please. Exactly how is Biden manipulating the media by asking them to be fair?

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Apr 30·edited Apr 30

Biden administration pressured social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) to censor people who were not in alignment with them on a number of many critical issues. Covid, Vaccines, Laptop story, etc. The government (our government) and tech firms coordinated to suppress unpopular views. I don’t think people realize how dangerous that is, regardless of what you believe. I would be saying the same thing for any party. We all have to stand up for everyone’s 1st amendment rights, all the time.

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Racism's a helluva drug, and that has always been Trump's appeal.

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Add lies and fear and you have a perfect trifecta that a lot of people will succumb to.

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Mary Trump's Substack article tonight compares him to a cult leader. I believe that is positively accurate. The cult followers are isolated in their information; they believe his lies and wallow in fear. He has made their racism acceptable.

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There are a lot of people like us who agree with her on that, and it's unfotunate that more don't realize this and the danger that he poses.

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I think it is who they ask in the polls. I have never been polled by an honest middle of the road poll taker. I hope he is convicted and disqualified from running from jail. Altho I doubt even if convicted he will go to jail. He would have a price on his head from his fellow inmates!!!

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Polls are dodgy things. Who is being polled? What is the size and location of the sample? How are the questionse worrded? Who is conducting the poll? The only real poll result is that of the vote count follwing the November election. The rest is fuel for pundits and click-bait for lazy reporters to churn over.

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totally agree!!!!

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Thank you.

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Apr 29·edited Apr 29

I have no idea who is being polled, so I don't put too much stock in those numbers. The most important thing is for those of us who know what a traitor trump to be sure to VOTE. I'm sickened, too, that we have to fight to even get our vote counted.

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It’s upsetting that someone wants us to believe that Trump is ahead in the polls. The media has been capitalizing on Trump from the get go. They have focused on him more than Biden. I don’t trust that poll.

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I believe the polls have become another form of political propaganda - not buying it for a minute!

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I live in Trump territory. We shouldn't turn away from the scary truth. That's what Hillary did in 2016

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I have read from several people today that the CNN poll was an outlier just like the NYT poll was. I follow Simon Rosenberg who writes the Hopium Chronicles on Substack and he keeps track of all the latest polls. trump is ahead in a few but more polls show Biden ahead. The Harvard polls show Biden is several points ahead of trump with the 18 to 29 yo group. I am more concerned with all the gerrymandering and voter purging of Democrats in quite a few states currently.

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Don't believe the polls. Has anyone asked your opinion? or mine?? The silent majority must prevail!!

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DO NOT LOOK AT THE POLLS!! That’s my advice to you. It’s nearly May and the election is in November. Polls are useless right now. We still have trials going on and let’s not forget that the ex-prez didn’t come up with a bond so just waiting for Letitia James to go shopping at his residences that she will seize on behalf of New Yorkers.

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He lives the uneducated and we have been hard at work destroying education so we will have more uneducated people. Wait till this school age cohort gets to vote. The most important elections are for school boards.

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Once again, Mr. Rather, you are my voice of reason. When I read Steady and hear your voice I breathe a little easier in the chaos that surrounds me. I can only be

optimistic that the news correspondents not only listed to your words but heard what you and President Biden said: do you job. Thank you.

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Yes!!!

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Do these journalists not realize they’ll be living under Trump too? They used to have the drive to uncover and share the truth, but today it’s all about propaganda or whatever gets attention. Where did the moral responsibility go? I miss it.

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Same!

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founding

They would be out of work under tRump except the most vile.

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It is a mark of how much the political media in DC have changed since Mr. Rather was part of it that the vast majority of those present undoubtedly thought that the president was being gratuitous and stupid when, in fact, he was subtly blaming them for the possible impending destruction of this country.

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I noticed that as well. It was a gentle chiding but I felt it, and I'm sure the ones who care most did, too.

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Very few can offer as objective an analysis of the WHCD as Dan Rather. Many, many thanks, sir, for keeping your voice. It means the world to this country.

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A person who has committed sexual assault is polling higher than our current president. Read that again. Use this with everyone you know who is a trump follower. He’s under many indictments. That’s another point. My fear is that his followers just don’t care. Women are trivialized, as are crimes against them. LGBTQ+ people have laws passed against them. People of color are marginalized. People with disabilities are mocked in public. Military who gave their life to preserve our democracy are called losers. Why would anyone follow trump? Let alone vote for him. But they will. They see a totally different world where bullies are in charge and no one cares about others. I’m worried about this election. Hoping the spirit of decency prevails.

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They hate just what you identified … women’s rights, LGBT rights, people of color, those with special challenges, and even veterans like myself who answered the nations call.

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Thank you for your service, Eugene L. Brownell.

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His followers think all the court issues are made up. They do not have an astute grasp on reality. They feel like victims in a world moving too fast for their liking. Trump plays very well to this type of person.

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Well said and oh so sadly true. It is truly shocking that anyone would even consider this tyrannical bully a viable leader of our country, yet so many of the misguided do. Let us hope and pray that decency does prevail and let us try to bring awareness to any that we can.

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The fearfulness for our future is no charade; it’s our national nightmare. With the exception of the Election of 1860, at no time in our history has democracy been so clearly threatened. The MAGA mob refuses to acknowledge that we are even a democracy; they’ve chosen to label us a republic only. What does that say? Message is clear .., government of the people, by the people, and for the people (democracy) is not on their agenda. MAGA people want a government that does not answer to WE THE PEOPLE - but WE THE PEOPLE answer to the government. Trump’s claim of TOTAL IMMUNITY is a perfect example - the King can do no wrong? That sounds like Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran. The election promises to be close, violent, and perhaps deadly. No

matter what happens we must vote to reject Trump and the MAGA agenda. The free life for our children and grandchildren is on the ballot!

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I have seven precious grandchildren and want for them the democracy I love.

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Sounds like George Steph... stepped up Sunday morning.

And YES: decency matters: https://elliotkirschner.substack.com/p/decency-is-on-the-ballot

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yes, Elliots read was moving.....and certainly spoke to me......but I am not an American.....and do people who are polarised even change their minds................?????

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I'd love to think the intended audience will do as the president asks, but I live in the real world. Much of the mainstream media takes its cues from The New York Times, and as Politico's recent expose revealed, The Times is rotting from the head downward. If we somehow manage to preserve democracy in this year's election, I suspect that it will be in spite of, not because of, most of our mainstream news-media outlets.

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Wow. This is brilliant. I hope they were listening.

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Unfortunately, too many media outlets have forgotten that a ‘free press’ is of value only when those feeding it understand that true freedom involves responsibility to tell the truth and to report the facts instead of becoming just a mouthpiece for the liars, the distorters, and the deranged.

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I’d like the editors at FOX to dig deep. Ask themselves: if we are constantly promoting Trump and his fever dreams, will we live to regret it? Will we have been a handmaiden to the rise of an autocracy and the consequent demise of our country’s democracy?

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And to think, Mitch the Bitch, Graham, Barr and countless others endorse this dangerous fool - "party over country!". They knew better in '16 and thought they could control him. They REALLY should have known better in '20. Should have voted to impeach for J6 and kicked his big ass into exile in FL. They're all co-conspirators in the attack on our liberal democratic order.

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McConnell is in the twilight of his career. He could have been a tough guy. He could have called the charlatan out and said to the world: "Not on My Watch". But, of course, he chose to defend the pond scum who smeared his wife with a racist epithet. Quite a guy.

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Thanks Dan, a timely comment. I hope your message will be taken to heart.

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Thank you for serving as a ballast, while America frequently appears to be adrift from unsteady influences.

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