Interestingly, as we watched Jim Acosta this morning we were discussing how he was one of the few, if any, left who actually speak the truth and fight back against dis- and misinformation from guests on CNN. And then he resigned. We were shocked and saddened. But worse still was that his show was followed, as usual, by Pamela Brown, who politely bid him farewell and said he'd be missed, then continued on her show to host primarily republican speakers whose lies she did NOT call out or address. But first, she had Democratic Senator Cohen from Tennessee, who spoke about his life with polio, his advocacy for vaccine availability, and his concern about RFK, Jr's confirmation. When he finished his very cogent, intelligent reasons for opposing a vaccine skeptic's confirmation, she replied, "Well, that's your opinion." And then he was dismissed. If she really appreciated and respected Jim Acosta's bravery and intelligence, she would strive more to be like him. But no, instead she'll continue to be the trump supporting milquetoast CNN demands. Shame on her.
Steve Cohen is a Congressman from Memphis, TN. But your point about the legacy media normalizing Trump’s depravity and treating him with kid gloves is correct. According to the online research I recently conducted, part of the reason democracies collapse and autocracies rise in their place as well as an indicator of this is when powerful and influential citizens and institutions capitulate to the whims of the aspiring dictator our of fear or to curry favor with him. This episode with CNN and Pam Brown is another absolute disgrace during a disgraceful period in American history.
I cancelled all of my subscriptions to national newspapers for this reason and only subscribe to independent online news outlets now like The Bulwark, The Contrarian, and Olivia’s newsletter. And I only watch certain shows on MSNBC for my television news.
Olivia, why aren't the Democratic leaders in the Senate and House holding daily press conferences to condemn what is happening? It seems like total cowardice when they should be forcefully fighting for Congressional authority to check an imperial president. Why is it that I see bold leadership in governors like Newsom, Shapiro, and Pritzker, but not the Democratic leadership in Congress that is supposed to serve as a check and balance on other branches?
Thanks, Olivia. Democratic and anti-Trump/ MAGA leaders nationwide remain oddly silent while Trump advances his agenda through calculated media stunts, equally avoiding truth and accountability.
Where are the coordinated responses? While Trump, Abbott, and Reynolds orchestrated border photo-ops for maximum impact this past election, Democrats failed to showcase how their policies protect vital community services.
I live in a state with a Republican federal delegation to DC. My Senator Grassley has been considered a hero on accountability. Now he gets a chance to earn his final stripes if and when he holds the Trump administration accountable.
I feel compelled to try. Others will march in protests or do sit in’s at elected officials offices. Being a bit mobility challenged, I write and volunteer in other ways to let my federal delegation know I disagree with them
It is so important that people like you, myself, as well as all of the people in the comments below, continue to be voices for facts and reason. I truly believe there are more of us, than there are of them. Keep up the good work Olivia!!
This is a time to try stuff .. leaders you must be bold and direct.. more than anyone ever thought necessary in politics .. being nice, following protocols will not get us anywhere … look how straight forward AOC is .. she is leading the directness campaigns, yet gets ridiculed by the politically correct dems. Who knows what will work .. it’s experiment time .. leaders just fucking try things and make them public .. !!!
Jim Acosta has long been one of my favorites on CNN. I had quit watching CNN because of some of their guests, but I always tried to watch Jim's show at 11 AM. When everyone else softened their stance on Trump, Jim held true to his beliefs.As do you Olivia! Stay strong!
Democrats always seem to be “puzzled by nature of Trump’s game,” to paraphrase Mick Jagger. It really is not that complex. His ultimate aspiration in life is to rule the United States like Putin rules Russia. He worships thugs like Putin because they rule over their countries with an iron fist. Trump’s M.O. is cruelty, recklessness, incompetence, and cronyism. He is a tinpot dictator wannabe, knave, and schmo all rapped into one.
And part of the reason he has become so powerful in American politics is because of the indifference to his depravity among a large nunber citizens, including influential and powerful citizens, for various reasons. According to the online research I conducted, apathy and indifference to the depravity of aspiring autocrats and their most rabid followers is both a characteristic of a democracy sliding into an autocracy as well as a cause.
Among elected Democrats, I believe this indifference is caused by complacency as opposed to lack of empathy. They reason that because everything has always worked out before, it will certainly work out for the better again due to the inherent goodness of the overwhelming number of Americans. It is why there so little urgency among them at this time and they look like deer in the headlights about to get hit by a runaway bus.
This naivety and complacency among Democrats are caused by them being completely out of touch with what is going on with the American people. Of course, there are some notable exceptions to this. But do most of them realize how dangerous those January pardons were? That there are potentially almost as many as 1.8 million Trump voters radicalized enough to commit acts of political violence, according to terrorist expert Malcolm Nance? And that tens of millions of more of his followers are so brainwashed that they would literally still support Trump if he “shot someone in the middle of 5th Avenue,” as Trump said in 2016 about many of his supporters?
As Olivia wrote today, it will take tens of millions of Americans standing up for the rule of law and United States Constitution if American democracy stands any chance of surviving. And if elected Democrats in Congress would get their heads out of their asses and develop a coherent strategy to fight back against the flagrant assaults on these ideals by Trump and the zealots around him, it would sure be helpful.
I share the frustration of many subscribers regarding the impotence and spinelessness of the contemporary Democratic Parry. And it is why I no longer directly send them money. There are a few of their elected representatives I still support financially like Adam Schiff, Rashida Tlaib, Eric Swawell, and Jasmine Crockett, to name a few.
But I think it would be better for Americans concerned about defending the rights and freedoms guaranteed to them under the United Stares Constitution and the survival of liberal democracy in the United States to only send money to those elected representatives and organizations for whom defending freedom, democracy, and decency is the absolute highest priority regardless of where they stand on any particular issue.
The Lincoln Project and the ACLU are two organizations committed to doing just that, even though their politics are very different. And the same holds true for supporting independent news outlets, being that the mainstream news media is such an abject failure.
Agree 100 %. Very well said. I also admire certain religious denominations who are mobilizing legally. Our nation is in terrible shock. We will come around. I am proud of our people. They are very very good folk.
Thank you for replying to my comment. At this point in time, you have a lot more faith in the wisdom and probity of the American people than I.
But if there are free and fair elections held in the U.S. in 2026 and 2028, Democrats may do quite well due to the sheer carnage and devastation that may result from the from the Musk-Trump regime’s ignorance, arrogance, recklessness, ineptness, vindictiveness, and cruelty.
I worked in government for 25 years. Politicians and their appointees have always operated by surrounding themselves with sycophants. The key difference with Trump is he doesn’t even try to follow the laws and no one will stand up to him. At least not yet.
I have faith in our people to wake up. They are all in shock. The churches synagogues have pulled themselves together the fastest more dynamically. People are in shock, numb, some afraid. We WILL wake up. Trump is brilliant with PR and crowd control/ manipulation. We need to discover ways to find common ground issues. . Our social political skism is made worse by completely different TV informational resources. Very few can afford traditional cable. Our realities are polar opposite and Trump cashes in on this massive informational skism
brilliantly. We must become creative in overcoming these increasingly strong cultural roadblocks.
Thanks for these good thoughts. One thing that really bothers me about the discussion of our failure to achieve sensible immigration legislation is it seems that many business sectors in the U.S. RELY upon undocumented immigrants for a large proportion of their workforce. It is not in their financial interest to solve the problem. They have a nearly infinite pool of potential workers who will work for substandard wages and work conditions, and who will accept the harsh terms that say if they complain about anything ICE will be called in to deport them. Why can't we have an honest conversation about how this set of realities has really contributed to the paralysis in Congress that has gone on for almost fifty years now? Meanwhile, it is used as a wedge issue to inflame fear and anger in the electorate to leverage for one party or the other (it seems more often by the GOP, but I can see ways in which Democrats too have used this issue). Sadly, the human rights of so many desperate people who are seeking a better life in this country are not respected.
All three DNC chair candidates reportedly believe that Harris lost due to inflation. I hope they are not that stupid. The complete indifference to inflation in the media and electorate since the orange turd was elected is proof of that. The real reason is that the orange turd and the right wing media brainwashed the fools into believing that it was the orange turd who would take care of them -- and that what they needed was to put down Blacks, women and dark skinned foreigners and to promote a generic christianity that is anti-abortion and intolerant of gays. The virulence of the hatred towards Blacks can be seen in the virulence of the hatred for DEI which seems to be a proxy for some of the worst racist slurs ever.
Good work, Olivia. Keep it up. Mike Groothuis, U of P '64
Interestingly, as we watched Jim Acosta this morning we were discussing how he was one of the few, if any, left who actually speak the truth and fight back against dis- and misinformation from guests on CNN. And then he resigned. We were shocked and saddened. But worse still was that his show was followed, as usual, by Pamela Brown, who politely bid him farewell and said he'd be missed, then continued on her show to host primarily republican speakers whose lies she did NOT call out or address. But first, she had Democratic Senator Cohen from Tennessee, who spoke about his life with polio, his advocacy for vaccine availability, and his concern about RFK, Jr's confirmation. When he finished his very cogent, intelligent reasons for opposing a vaccine skeptic's confirmation, she replied, "Well, that's your opinion." And then he was dismissed. If she really appreciated and respected Jim Acosta's bravery and intelligence, she would strive more to be like him. But no, instead she'll continue to be the trump supporting milquetoast CNN demands. Shame on her.
Bonnie,
Steve Cohen is a Congressman from Memphis, TN. But your point about the legacy media normalizing Trump’s depravity and treating him with kid gloves is correct. According to the online research I recently conducted, part of the reason democracies collapse and autocracies rise in their place as well as an indicator of this is when powerful and influential citizens and institutions capitulate to the whims of the aspiring dictator our of fear or to curry favor with him. This episode with CNN and Pam Brown is another absolute disgrace during a disgraceful period in American history.
I cancelled all of my subscriptions to national newspapers for this reason and only subscribe to independent online news outlets now like The Bulwark, The Contrarian, and Olivia’s newsletter. And I only watch certain shows on MSNBC for my television news.
And stay safe! You have impressed me with your honesty and integrity.
Thank you Olivia. I admire your resolve, integrity and intelligence. 🙏🏻
Thank you Olivia. I am so disappointed with the Democratic Party. What are my Senators doing? Good question! Have heard Nothing from them.
They are being silenced, their voices drowned out by a media who only report what Republicans say and do, and that they whitewash.
Olivia, why aren't the Democratic leaders in the Senate and House holding daily press conferences to condemn what is happening? It seems like total cowardice when they should be forcefully fighting for Congressional authority to check an imperial president. Why is it that I see bold leadership in governors like Newsom, Shapiro, and Pritzker, but not the Democratic leadership in Congress that is supposed to serve as a check and balance on other branches?
Thanks, Olivia. Democratic and anti-Trump/ MAGA leaders nationwide remain oddly silent while Trump advances his agenda through calculated media stunts, equally avoiding truth and accountability.
Where are the coordinated responses? While Trump, Abbott, and Reynolds orchestrated border photo-ops for maximum impact this past election, Democrats failed to showcase how their policies protect vital community services.
I live in a state with a Republican federal delegation to DC. My Senator Grassley has been considered a hero on accountability. Now he gets a chance to earn his final stripes if and when he holds the Trump administration accountable.
Don’t hold your breath, Ralph. He has no interest in holding Trump accountable.
I feel compelled to try. Others will march in protests or do sit in’s at elected officials offices. Being a bit mobility challenged, I write and volunteer in other ways to let my federal delegation know I disagree with them
It is so important that people like you, myself, as well as all of the people in the comments below, continue to be voices for facts and reason. I truly believe there are more of us, than there are of them. Keep up the good work Olivia!!
This is a time to try stuff .. leaders you must be bold and direct.. more than anyone ever thought necessary in politics .. being nice, following protocols will not get us anywhere … look how straight forward AOC is .. she is leading the directness campaigns, yet gets ridiculed by the politically correct dems. Who knows what will work .. it’s experiment time .. leaders just fucking try things and make them public .. !!!
Thank you! Absolutely right!
Jim Acosta has long been one of my favorites on CNN. I had quit watching CNN because of some of their guests, but I always tried to watch Jim's show at 11 AM. When everyone else softened their stance on Trump, Jim held true to his beliefs.As do you Olivia! Stay strong!
Democrats always seem to be “puzzled by nature of Trump’s game,” to paraphrase Mick Jagger. It really is not that complex. His ultimate aspiration in life is to rule the United States like Putin rules Russia. He worships thugs like Putin because they rule over their countries with an iron fist. Trump’s M.O. is cruelty, recklessness, incompetence, and cronyism. He is a tinpot dictator wannabe, knave, and schmo all rapped into one.
And part of the reason he has become so powerful in American politics is because of the indifference to his depravity among a large nunber citizens, including influential and powerful citizens, for various reasons. According to the online research I conducted, apathy and indifference to the depravity of aspiring autocrats and their most rabid followers is both a characteristic of a democracy sliding into an autocracy as well as a cause.
Among elected Democrats, I believe this indifference is caused by complacency as opposed to lack of empathy. They reason that because everything has always worked out before, it will certainly work out for the better again due to the inherent goodness of the overwhelming number of Americans. It is why there so little urgency among them at this time and they look like deer in the headlights about to get hit by a runaway bus.
This naivety and complacency among Democrats are caused by them being completely out of touch with what is going on with the American people. Of course, there are some notable exceptions to this. But do most of them realize how dangerous those January pardons were? That there are potentially almost as many as 1.8 million Trump voters radicalized enough to commit acts of political violence, according to terrorist expert Malcolm Nance? And that tens of millions of more of his followers are so brainwashed that they would literally still support Trump if he “shot someone in the middle of 5th Avenue,” as Trump said in 2016 about many of his supporters?
As Olivia wrote today, it will take tens of millions of Americans standing up for the rule of law and United States Constitution if American democracy stands any chance of surviving. And if elected Democrats in Congress would get their heads out of their asses and develop a coherent strategy to fight back against the flagrant assaults on these ideals by Trump and the zealots around him, it would sure be helpful.
I share the frustration of many subscribers regarding the impotence and spinelessness of the contemporary Democratic Parry. And it is why I no longer directly send them money. There are a few of their elected representatives I still support financially like Adam Schiff, Rashida Tlaib, Eric Swawell, and Jasmine Crockett, to name a few.
But I think it would be better for Americans concerned about defending the rights and freedoms guaranteed to them under the United Stares Constitution and the survival of liberal democracy in the United States to only send money to those elected representatives and organizations for whom defending freedom, democracy, and decency is the absolute highest priority regardless of where they stand on any particular issue.
The Lincoln Project and the ACLU are two organizations committed to doing just that, even though their politics are very different. And the same holds true for supporting independent news outlets, being that the mainstream news media is such an abject failure.
Agree 100 %. Very well said. I also admire certain religious denominations who are mobilizing legally. Our nation is in terrible shock. We will come around. I am proud of our people. They are very very good folk.
Tara,
Thank you for replying to my comment. At this point in time, you have a lot more faith in the wisdom and probity of the American people than I.
But if there are free and fair elections held in the U.S. in 2026 and 2028, Democrats may do quite well due to the sheer carnage and devastation that may result from the from the Musk-Trump regime’s ignorance, arrogance, recklessness, ineptness, vindictiveness, and cruelty.
I worked in government for 25 years. Politicians and their appointees have always operated by surrounding themselves with sycophants. The key difference with Trump is he doesn’t even try to follow the laws and no one will stand up to him. At least not yet.
I have faith in our people to wake up. They are all in shock. The churches synagogues have pulled themselves together the fastest more dynamically. People are in shock, numb, some afraid. We WILL wake up. Trump is brilliant with PR and crowd control/ manipulation. We need to discover ways to find common ground issues. . Our social political skism is made worse by completely different TV informational resources. Very few can afford traditional cable. Our realities are polar opposite and Trump cashes in on this massive informational skism
brilliantly. We must become creative in overcoming these increasingly strong cultural roadblocks.
Thanks for these good thoughts. One thing that really bothers me about the discussion of our failure to achieve sensible immigration legislation is it seems that many business sectors in the U.S. RELY upon undocumented immigrants for a large proportion of their workforce. It is not in their financial interest to solve the problem. They have a nearly infinite pool of potential workers who will work for substandard wages and work conditions, and who will accept the harsh terms that say if they complain about anything ICE will be called in to deport them. Why can't we have an honest conversation about how this set of realities has really contributed to the paralysis in Congress that has gone on for almost fifty years now? Meanwhile, it is used as a wedge issue to inflame fear and anger in the electorate to leverage for one party or the other (it seems more often by the GOP, but I can see ways in which Democrats too have used this issue). Sadly, the human rights of so many desperate people who are seeking a better life in this country are not respected.
Speak up more and more! Thank you
All three DNC chair candidates reportedly believe that Harris lost due to inflation. I hope they are not that stupid. The complete indifference to inflation in the media and electorate since the orange turd was elected is proof of that. The real reason is that the orange turd and the right wing media brainwashed the fools into believing that it was the orange turd who would take care of them -- and that what they needed was to put down Blacks, women and dark skinned foreigners and to promote a generic christianity that is anti-abortion and intolerant of gays. The virulence of the hatred towards Blacks can be seen in the virulence of the hatred for DEI which seems to be a proxy for some of the worst racist slurs ever.
Full copy
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.276820/gov.uscourts.dcd.276820.1.0.pdf