Thank you for being a champion of democracy and freedom.
I lived 8 years in China. One thing I learned while there is that anyone who believes in democracy like I shouldn’t assume the benefits of democracy are obvious. My Chinese friends were generally content with autocratic government as in their lifetimes, their own autocratic government had guided them to generally increasing living standards and opportunities.
After being back in America for a while I had forgotten that lesson, but Trump’s re-election taught it a second time. Lots of Americans have given up on democracy. Given up on freedom and individual rights, due process for all.
So I think we do need to argue for democracy. Why it’s important to protect everyone’s right to express themselves even those that we find vile. Why the law must apply to everyone instead of one set up rules for the favored and another set for the disfavored. Why losers need to respect the results of elections and why winners shouldn’t abuse power to undermine the fairness of the next election. Why economic growth relies on innovations, enterprise, and an educated populace.
Sure, you can start with Biden and his decision to run, but the rot goes deeper. The party that never stops shouting about “saving democracy” has spent years undermining democracy within its own ranks. If the DNC really wants to understand why they keep losing, even to someone as beatable as Trump, they need to take a hard look in the mirror.
Go back to 2016. Bernie Sanders was on track to take the primary, but the party elites decided he wasn’t “electable” whether due to his socialist leanings, his Jewish heritage, or just fear of losing control. So they let Hillary bail out the DNC of bankruptcy, and surprise, surprise, she suddenly surged.
Fast forward to 2020, and we saw the same playbook. Biden, a weak candidate from the start, rose from the ashes on Super Tuesday, as if resurrected by design. And let’s be honest, they knew Biden’s cognitive decline well before he stumbled on that debate stage. Was the entire game to prop him up, block RFK Jr or other possible candidates and then swap in someone “safe” late in the race when he inevitably gaffed? There’s an argument to be made.
The truth is, they don’t trust their own voters to choose the candidate they want. Until the Democrats become the party of democracy in practice, not just in branding, any so-called “autopsy” is just public-facing spin. It’s mental masturbation for optics, nothing more.
Except the party's voters did choose Hillary in 2016 and Biden in 2020. Biden rose from the ashes on Super Tuesday because the calendar was better for him, other candidates occupying similar lanes decided to drop out and endorse him as the best chance to beat Trump, and the primary voters voted for him. Its not very complicated. Nor is 2016. Hillary got more votes. A lot more votes. I don't even know what you are suggesting about her surging only after giving the DNC a loan, or what Bernie being "on track to take the primary" means, but party elites didn't make her the nominee, the voters did, and you sound more like Trump when he was trying to steal the 2020 election than someone who respects democratic outcomes in practice.
Hillary was the nominee in 2016 because she got more primary votes. Biden was the nominee in 2020 because he got more primary votes. Take a good hard look in that mirror yourself and stop trying to illegitimatize the voters when they don't choose your preferred candidate.
The record isn’t hard to find if you want to look. Donna Brazile, who ran the DNC as interim chair, revealed that Hillary’s campaign bailed the DNC out of bankruptcy in 2015 with at least 20 million dollars through the Hillary Victory Fund.
Because of that agreement, her team also had pre-primary control over hiring, messaging, budgeting, data, and digital strategy. Anything the DNC released had to be approved by her campaign. Brazile said she couldn’t even issue a press release without their sign-off.
When WikiLeaks exposed emails showing anti-Sanders bias, top officials resigned in a puff of smoke, including main honchos Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Amy Dacey, Brad Marshall, and Luis Miranda.
So yes, Hillary got more votes on paper. But with the party machine acting as her campaign headquarters before a single vote was cast, it’s fair to question if voters were truly choosing or just picking from what the machine chose for them.
Not sour grapes on my part as Bernie wasn’t my horse in this race, but if I had my chips on him at the poker table, I’d be flipping cards like Ace Rothstein in Casino, knowing the dealer stacked the deck.
The End Around: More Bad News for the Orange Cheeto
Cheeto has evaded public scrutiny over his sordid sexual predatory behavior for years First the Access Hollywood tapes, then the E Jean Carroll rape civil settlement, then the conviction in the Stormy Daniels escapade, but even his MAGA base can’t stomach the perverse pedophilia story hidden in the Epstein files In March the FBI was tasked to see how much Cheeto was mentioned in the files and with so many mentions, Cheeto decided to shut down the release of the files But then with the fallout with his compadre, Musk dropped the bomb that instigated the attention of MAGA about Cheeto’s involvement
On MSNBC last night O’Donnell interviewed Bradley Edwards primary attorney for the Epstein victims Edwards detailed how his clients have never been given due consideration by DOJ in their desire to have the files exposed to the public
Rep Ro Khanna, one of the lead Representatives in the subpoena of the files by the Congressional Oversight Committee, said in a later interview that the committee would like to hear from Edwards representing the Epstein victims Edwards also expressed that there is a lot of discovery information that between his office and the defense attorneys for Epstein a lot of information could be released without even having the DOJ release the files that they have
It appears that the public doesn’t need a distrustworthy DOJ led by the Orange Cheeto Congress can just subpoena the already existing records from the involved attorneys in the Epstein case
Biden beat Trump in the debate on issues and received record contributions the day after the debate. MANY OF US WHO ARE DEMOCRATS UNDERSTOOD THE COMMITMENT AND LOVE HE HAD FOR AMERICA AND WOULD HAVE CONTINUED TO SUPPORT HIM. I believe he had jet lag and had taken cold medicine before the debate, which caused his exhaustion. People do not understand the grueling schedules imposed on presidents (excluding Trump). It changes the debate when we focus on the Russian interference in the election and recognize that the Democrats didn’t lose.
I see the same in Poland. Democracy advocates have lost three consecutive presidential elections (this is fifteen years!!!) because they refuse to learn anything. Why do they keep shouting how they're protecting democracy while making the same mistakes over and over again? Pathetic.
If we want to have honest debate, let's start with statement that "The Next Move" is non-partisan. On one occasion, that I read, where you had something positive to say about Trump, you spend more time apologizing for having something nice to say about Trump, than actually saying you had to say. Doesn't sound "non-partisan". I might be wrong, but first we need to figure out what are we debating about? Format of the debate is secondary. Suggest the specific positions we want to debate.
I take issue with “being strictly nonpartisan” because it’s inherently self censoring. You can never separate your personal experience and beliefs from your writing. To believe otherwise is a textbook example of delusion. Buddha would not be proud of the lack of self awareness.
There is a party responsible for Garry creating this substack in the first place. It’s the GOP. He knows it. He openly endorsed the last 3 democratic candidates and whether he regrets it or not, his true feelings at the time led him to support the Democratic Party in the last 3 elections. That’s an expression of his true self.
I have genuine pity for the people who feel bound to the farcical goal of being non-partisan. Always walking on eggshells, never knowing who they’re going to upset next, constantly scrutinizing their written work just to scrub out the most valuable part: their lived experience.
Just speak your mind and be done with it. That’s the right answer, always.
I will double down on dismissing your “blue maga” label because you’re clearly doing it to provoke criticism rather than be ideologically correct. You’re fishing for ammo for your next “responding to the haters” column, where you will tee off on all the useful idiots that gave you the ammo you were seeking.
The Kasparovian cycle is predictable. And dare I say it, it’s insulting to the intelligence of your own readers.
MAGA is a populist right movement, so when you say blue MAGA, I should be able to safely assume you are referring to the populist left.
Thank you for being a champion of democracy and freedom.
I lived 8 years in China. One thing I learned while there is that anyone who believes in democracy like I shouldn’t assume the benefits of democracy are obvious. My Chinese friends were generally content with autocratic government as in their lifetimes, their own autocratic government had guided them to generally increasing living standards and opportunities.
After being back in America for a while I had forgotten that lesson, but Trump’s re-election taught it a second time. Lots of Americans have given up on democracy. Given up on freedom and individual rights, due process for all.
So I think we do need to argue for democracy. Why it’s important to protect everyone’s right to express themselves even those that we find vile. Why the law must apply to everyone instead of one set up rules for the favored and another set for the disfavored. Why losers need to respect the results of elections and why winners shouldn’t abuse power to undermine the fairness of the next election. Why economic growth relies on innovations, enterprise, and an educated populace.
Sure, you can start with Biden and his decision to run, but the rot goes deeper. The party that never stops shouting about “saving democracy” has spent years undermining democracy within its own ranks. If the DNC really wants to understand why they keep losing, even to someone as beatable as Trump, they need to take a hard look in the mirror.
Go back to 2016. Bernie Sanders was on track to take the primary, but the party elites decided he wasn’t “electable” whether due to his socialist leanings, his Jewish heritage, or just fear of losing control. So they let Hillary bail out the DNC of bankruptcy, and surprise, surprise, she suddenly surged.
Fast forward to 2020, and we saw the same playbook. Biden, a weak candidate from the start, rose from the ashes on Super Tuesday, as if resurrected by design. And let’s be honest, they knew Biden’s cognitive decline well before he stumbled on that debate stage. Was the entire game to prop him up, block RFK Jr or other possible candidates and then swap in someone “safe” late in the race when he inevitably gaffed? There’s an argument to be made.
The truth is, they don’t trust their own voters to choose the candidate they want. Until the Democrats become the party of democracy in practice, not just in branding, any so-called “autopsy” is just public-facing spin. It’s mental masturbation for optics, nothing more.
Except the party's voters did choose Hillary in 2016 and Biden in 2020. Biden rose from the ashes on Super Tuesday because the calendar was better for him, other candidates occupying similar lanes decided to drop out and endorse him as the best chance to beat Trump, and the primary voters voted for him. Its not very complicated. Nor is 2016. Hillary got more votes. A lot more votes. I don't even know what you are suggesting about her surging only after giving the DNC a loan, or what Bernie being "on track to take the primary" means, but party elites didn't make her the nominee, the voters did, and you sound more like Trump when he was trying to steal the 2020 election than someone who respects democratic outcomes in practice.
Hillary was the nominee in 2016 because she got more primary votes. Biden was the nominee in 2020 because he got more primary votes. Take a good hard look in that mirror yourself and stop trying to illegitimatize the voters when they don't choose your preferred candidate.
The record isn’t hard to find if you want to look. Donna Brazile, who ran the DNC as interim chair, revealed that Hillary’s campaign bailed the DNC out of bankruptcy in 2015 with at least 20 million dollars through the Hillary Victory Fund.
Because of that agreement, her team also had pre-primary control over hiring, messaging, budgeting, data, and digital strategy. Anything the DNC released had to be approved by her campaign. Brazile said she couldn’t even issue a press release without their sign-off.
When WikiLeaks exposed emails showing anti-Sanders bias, top officials resigned in a puff of smoke, including main honchos Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Amy Dacey, Brad Marshall, and Luis Miranda.
So yes, Hillary got more votes on paper. But with the party machine acting as her campaign headquarters before a single vote was cast, it’s fair to question if voters were truly choosing or just picking from what the machine chose for them.
Not sour grapes on my part as Bernie wasn’t my horse in this race, but if I had my chips on him at the poker table, I’d be flipping cards like Ace Rothstein in Casino, knowing the dealer stacked the deck.
The End Around: More Bad News for the Orange Cheeto
Cheeto has evaded public scrutiny over his sordid sexual predatory behavior for years First the Access Hollywood tapes, then the E Jean Carroll rape civil settlement, then the conviction in the Stormy Daniels escapade, but even his MAGA base can’t stomach the perverse pedophilia story hidden in the Epstein files In March the FBI was tasked to see how much Cheeto was mentioned in the files and with so many mentions, Cheeto decided to shut down the release of the files But then with the fallout with his compadre, Musk dropped the bomb that instigated the attention of MAGA about Cheeto’s involvement
On MSNBC last night O’Donnell interviewed Bradley Edwards primary attorney for the Epstein victims Edwards detailed how his clients have never been given due consideration by DOJ in their desire to have the files exposed to the public
Rep Ro Khanna, one of the lead Representatives in the subpoena of the files by the Congressional Oversight Committee, said in a later interview that the committee would like to hear from Edwards representing the Epstein victims Edwards also expressed that there is a lot of discovery information that between his office and the defense attorneys for Epstein a lot of information could be released without even having the DOJ release the files that they have
It appears that the public doesn’t need a distrustworthy DOJ led by the Orange Cheeto Congress can just subpoena the already existing records from the involved attorneys in the Epstein case
Biden beat Trump in the debate on issues and received record contributions the day after the debate. MANY OF US WHO ARE DEMOCRATS UNDERSTOOD THE COMMITMENT AND LOVE HE HAD FOR AMERICA AND WOULD HAVE CONTINUED TO SUPPORT HIM. I believe he had jet lag and had taken cold medicine before the debate, which caused his exhaustion. People do not understand the grueling schedules imposed on presidents (excluding Trump). It changes the debate when we focus on the Russian interference in the election and recognize that the Democrats didn’t lose.
I see the same in Poland. Democracy advocates have lost three consecutive presidential elections (this is fifteen years!!!) because they refuse to learn anything. Why do they keep shouting how they're protecting democracy while making the same mistakes over and over again? Pathetic.
I very much welcome your essays. I don’t always agree and that keeps me from giving up chess and just throwing dice - metaphorically.
If we want to have honest debate, let's start with statement that "The Next Move" is non-partisan. On one occasion, that I read, where you had something positive to say about Trump, you spend more time apologizing for having something nice to say about Trump, than actually saying you had to say. Doesn't sound "non-partisan". I might be wrong, but first we need to figure out what are we debating about? Format of the debate is secondary. Suggest the specific positions we want to debate.
I take issue with “being strictly nonpartisan” because it’s inherently self censoring. You can never separate your personal experience and beliefs from your writing. To believe otherwise is a textbook example of delusion. Buddha would not be proud of the lack of self awareness.
There is a party responsible for Garry creating this substack in the first place. It’s the GOP. He knows it. He openly endorsed the last 3 democratic candidates and whether he regrets it or not, his true feelings at the time led him to support the Democratic Party in the last 3 elections. That’s an expression of his true self.
I have genuine pity for the people who feel bound to the farcical goal of being non-partisan. Always walking on eggshells, never knowing who they’re going to upset next, constantly scrutinizing their written work just to scrub out the most valuable part: their lived experience.
Just speak your mind and be done with it. That’s the right answer, always.
Nonsense. This is fighting the last war. It will never happen again. Move on.
"move on" means "do not learn"
I will double down on dismissing your “blue maga” label because you’re clearly doing it to provoke criticism rather than be ideologically correct. You’re fishing for ammo for your next “responding to the haters” column, where you will tee off on all the useful idiots that gave you the ammo you were seeking.
The Kasparovian cycle is predictable. And dare I say it, it’s insulting to the intelligence of your own readers.
MAGA is a populist right movement, so when you say blue MAGA, I should be able to safely assume you are referring to the populist left.