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James Wilson's avatar

Good morning Ben and Meidas Mighty, you’re right Ben these 17 months are going to move faster than we think. We need to stay strong and united as we battle back against the death cult that is MAGA. We all remember the normalcy we felt just a few short months ago when President Biden was leading our nation with compassion and decency. We will get back to that and rebuild our government and our alliances, our first steps will be rebuilding trust with voters and then retaking Congress. Trumps flood the zone has not been as successful as he expected thanks to the one group doing its job the courts. We are two weeks away from sending the loudest message to Trump on No Kings Day, that we are stronger than him and his death cult. The Meidas Mighty, the independence, and the traditional republicans will send the message that we will not be silenced by Trump and his billionaire friends.

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Gadget 49's avatar

My friends and I are all going to peaceful protests for the first time in our lives on June 14. We all between 75-82. Care enough to show up. I am afraid of kick back but I am going. We are in a reddish county. Mighty Meidas unite!

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gayle carper's avatar

Yay! It feels really good to go out and stand up for what you believe. I am in the same age group and we all go to local protests. You will find many like-minded people.

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Beth Witrogen's avatar

Yes Gayle me too!

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Kath Saberhagen's avatar

Glad to hear you're getting involved. I was a rabble rouser in the 70s...against Vietnam and for abortion rights...when Roe v Wade was passed I was graduating college...and emerged into a world that had no need for a new college grad... I lost interest in attending grad school on my summer drive from. Illinois to the west coast... I ended up in Oregon and mispent the rest of the 70s and early 80s trying to find myself... I never seemed to get excited about politics until now...it's just so screwed up that it's impossible to "ostrich". So maybe I'll see you at a protest...hope they don't come at us with Billy clubs. I know I won't be able to endure that this time. I'm pist enuf to not care tho. I've been taunting ICE to come "dissappear me", but so far...they're ignoring my requests.

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Pamela Koch's avatar

Stay safe.. don't engage..sit down. Sit ins were very successful in the 70s! If they attack someone who is peacefully sitting, that reflects horribly on them!

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Pat Robinson's avatar

Excellent advice, and these days we can make sure someone is videoing everything so there are very clear accounts of what happens.

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Barbara Mullen's avatar

It is bad bad bad advice. This is escalating. We do not escalate to civil disobedience. March, sing, carry signs. Do not provoke violence from them

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Barbara Mullen's avatar

Do not sit down! This is escalating up to civil disobedience. You will be dragged off. Sit ins were bloody in the 70's.

This is the absolute wrong advice. They are just itching for a reason to start shooting. They are just waiting to declare the Insurrection Act.

Do. Not. sit. Down.

March, Sing, Carry signs.

Be smart.

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Pamela Koch's avatar

I said this because it has been warned that disrupters are going to infiltrate peaceful protests & cause damage & possible injury & the only way to separate the good from the bad, for the cops to see who to arrest.

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Barbara Mullen's avatar

We must, must be careful in what we say. I will always check a source. There are also provocateurs writing things. Please check with the organizers, such Indivisible, on protest rules.

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Anastasia Pantsios's avatar

Never too late. I'm a tad older, come from a very activist family. My mom was marching to ban the bomb in the 1950s. 1968 destroyed politics for me. While my sister was hanging with the SDS and talking revolution, I looked at the Eugene McCarthy campaign and the sexist white Gene Bros and opted out. (People forget that he was the Bernie Sanders of 1968 and Robert F. Kennedy was their reviled Hillary, the "corporate" "establishment" candidate.) What brought me back — three decades later — was Florida 2000. The first demonstration I ever went to was a "count all the votes in Florida" protest.

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Beth Witrogen's avatar

we had SDS at UW Madison in the late 60s, almost shut down the campus & graduation. Thank you for staying engaged. We must!

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Anastasia Pantsios's avatar

OMG. Maybe you passed by my sister. She dropped out of college (Barnard) for a semester in the late 60 (1968? 69?) to travel with her SDS Weatherman boyfriend to Madison to set up Revolutionary Headquarters for the Midwest. The goal was to travel to colleges in places like Iowa and Nebraska to set up revolutionary cells there. My sister came home for Christmas and told our parents she thought she wanted to go back to school the next semester. My parents asked what happened with the revolution. She said she didn't understand what was wrong with those kids in the midwest — it was all a bunch of agriculture majors and sorority girls who scratched their heads when you talked about the revolution. Probably a vulture shock — two upper-middle class Jewish kids from the big city talking to some kids fresh off the farm in Boone, Iowa!

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Beth Witrogen's avatar

OMG yes this was exactly the time I was there. We were passionate but also politically naive. I remember the weather underground and SDS activities, and later in 1970 the bombing of Sterling Hall. I probably did pass her by. We were teargassed, I remember the strong police presence.

And here we go again.

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gayle carper's avatar

Keep up the rabble rousing!

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Beth Witrogen's avatar

Likewise here -- VN, Kent State, Cambodia, MLK ... I was in Madison. Strength in numbers! Wish Mighty Meidas could form groups to attend in.

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Pam Abernathy's avatar

Beautiful!

I will turn 70 next year & I am disabled.

On 4/5, my (honorary) grandson & I drove to a nearby & slightly larger city to join in the HANDS OFF demonstration. His first experience. He was deeply affected. Surprised at how many "older" people were there.

Signs & posters supporting everything from saving Social Security, Medicaid, Veteran's rights, to BRING KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA HOME.

My grandson's first protest.

Not my first.

But it had been many decades.

We will join the peaceful civil action in our own city on 6/14.

We didn't have a sign made for the April event.

Last week, when Mark came over (he has had his own key to our house for a couple of years), he brought a giant poster board & a new thick black marker!

We, the people, fight peacefully, LOUDLY, and continuously.

We shall prevail.

There is no other option.

The Fourth Reich must be stopped.

We are the majority.

Keep your courage, friends.

Blessings.

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Bonnie Lane's avatar

Dear Pam, I just wanted to thank you for sharing your grandson’s reaction, and your commitment to exposing him and inspiring him to the importance of public involvement and community we all especially need now. I think there is alot of criticism of this z generation but I think they are starving for inspiration and encouragement. I’m hopeful and appreciative of people like you. Thank you again.

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Beth Witrogen's avatar

Bless you Pam! Wish I could go with you! Stay safe.

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MT's avatar

Funny, but I'm right there with you! I hope we do some good!

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Anastasia Pantsios's avatar

I think it's going to be epic!

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Jamie Hamilton's avatar

Be strong! I am 82 , use a walker and am going to all the protests! Once you get there you will find “your people” who are very solicitous about how you are doing, clear paths for you and are just an overall great bunch of people to be among! Very telling that they care a lot for our country and what it has stood for the last 245 years!

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Diane Schuler's avatar

I encourage you to join as many of us "old folks" have already done. I protested as a young one about Vietnam but was never involved in any violence or felt threatened. I then protested in some animal rights issues in the late 80s and early 90s. Now I do every protest I can to call attention to 47s death agenda. It is so good to be around so many people with the same concerns.

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Pat Robinson's avatar

Post like yours and the responses give me more hope than just about anything else. Stay strong and let us know how it goes on the 14th!

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Pamela Koch's avatar

Please stay safe! If trouble makers show up. . sit down, so the bad can be seen & removed!

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Pat Robinson's avatar

And video everything.

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Barbara Mullen's avatar

Do not sit down. Stop saying this!

Leave quietly and quickly.

The organizers of these protests know what they are doing. Follow their rules.

Look up Indivisible.

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peter tucker's avatar

"Kick back" What the fuck do you think you are doing... You assoles act like this is Turkey!!!

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Bad Bunny's avatar

Your hate has shriveled your soul into a dry husk.

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ramona j's avatar

I swear this idiot above has Tourettes Syndrome. And has a serious obsession with Ben.

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Sylvia Arrowood's avatar

The best thing you can do with peter tucker is report him. And do not engage with him.

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Barbara Mullen's avatar

I blocked you, collapsed your comment and will delete any future comments without reading. You have no voice.

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Janet Wilson's avatar

Given that your democracy is being throttled, why be so insulting?

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Cathy Delia's avatar

I don't think he knows what that means.

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Beth Witrogen's avatar

Thank you Gadget! 76 here and yes we are! I hope you will be safe in numbers!! Thank you for showing up. I'm in blue CA, but my neighbors are maga. I wish I had a group of us older women to go with, but we will be there in force!

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Sylvia Arrowood's avatar

I really don't think Trump sees the rallies at all. He does not recognize or see the constant rallies happening throughout the country. That is not to say we should not rally but I do not think it registers in that tiny brain.

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Barbara Mullen's avatar

We are not rallying so he sees them. We are not rallying to change MAGA.

We are rallying, writing, and voting in opposition. We are opposing the hostile takeover of our Country by fascists. The more we oppose the stronger we get. Remember this. There are more of us than them. And we will win.

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Janet Sanderson's avatar

Ty Ben! We are all ready to fight side by side! Ty for this incredible news outlet, where truth be told!📣💙🇺🇸💙

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Janet Sanderson's avatar

He notices, trust me!

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Anastasia Pantsios's avatar

As long as his name is mentioned, he notices.

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Barbara Mullen's avatar

I have not listened to him or read his rantings in many years. He is a narcissistic madman. Don't let his manipulations distract you.

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CJ's avatar

Bingo

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Janet Sanderson's avatar

Yes!👏👏💙🇺🇸💙🤜🤛💪🦾

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CJ's avatar

We are rallying for US!! We the people! This is for the rest of the American Democracy believers who are joining the momentum as we pick up speed.

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MT's avatar

Yes. We WILL win!

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Ronda Sheran's avatar

Thank you, Ben! This is the only news I trust—other outlets are too busy catering to TACO Trump's nonsense. I appreciate you being here for us! 💙💙

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

The people we need to impress are the Congressional Republicans. The insane Big Beautiful bill is toxic.

Today on Heather Cox Richardson. "Last night, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) told host Jimmy Kimmel that Republican senators are indeed unnerved by Trump’s behavior and the actions of the administration. The problem, Booker said, is what Thomas Jefferson said: “‘When the public fears their government, there is tyranny. When the government fears its people, there is liberty.’”

"Republicans in office “are so afraid of Donald Trump that they are letting things go,” Booker said “We the people have to make our politicians fear the consequences of…doing wrong more than the fear that Donald Trump will run a primary against them, or put $100 million, or troll them on the internet. This is…one of those moments when we are not going to see change in Washington unless more of us have said enough.”

We need to make them more afraid than unnerved.

Picket. Sit in. Call. Write.

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JavaJunkyMonkey's avatar

All I know is when we take the house back BOYYYY, if the Democratic senators don't have a backbone - they better fucking grow one overnight and bring charges against all those who have done wrong. LOCK THE BASTARDS UP!

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peter tucker's avatar

Another moron You sound like Trump

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Catt woman's avatar

You spelled your name wrong—Fucker…..

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Steve's avatar

Pete, Isn't it a bit early to be drunk?

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JavaJunkyMonkey's avatar

Get that tree trunk out of your ass!

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Janet Wilson's avatar

I don't buy the "we are afraid" excuse. If you are afraid to defend the Constitution, step down in favour of someone who is prepared to do that job.

Republicans in Congress should be more afraid of the midterms...unless they plan to collude in making sure there aren't any.

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

We're at the point where push comes to shove. Either they take on Trump or lose their next election.

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MT's avatar

Exactly!

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MT's avatar

Yes. They took an Oath of Office to protect and defend the Constitution. I specifically asked each of the five MAGA leaders to comment on if the hold to their Oath of Office. I didn't get one reply! Not even one is holding to their Oath!

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Rusty (Woke/DEI Commenter)'s avatar

Yes… I want to see impeachments, I want to see investigations and I want to see my representatives show up and act like they give a shit.

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MT's avatar

Thank you for saying it. Now I don't have to.

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CJ's avatar

Perfect!

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Sylvia Arrowood's avatar

Totally agree with you. And we also need to email our Democratic representatives to let them know what we are thinking.

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MT's avatar

I call and email so much they're sick of hearing from me and have stopped replying to my requested responses.

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Sylvia Arrowood's avatar

Just keep doing it. I am.

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Barbara Mullen's avatar

Do not provoke. The President, Hollman, Stephen Miller, Noem and the rest of them are just itching to shoot some Americans and invoke the Insurrection Act.

We keep our heads. We maintain a peaceful approach. We practice non-violence.

Anything else is sabotaging ourselves. Violence gets us nowhere. Beware using the sit-in approach historically it is a provocation. We stay standing, shouting and marching. It is impossible to corral a million protesters. We need to raise huge numbers of people in the streets.

It is not our job to strike fear. It is our job to raise our voices in strong opposition. It is our job to take back our Country.

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

Nobody (except maybe Trump agent prevacateurs) is advocating violence.

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Barbara Mullen's avatar

I did not say they were.

These things need to be talked about ahead of time. It is important to educate protesters; possibly many of whom have never been in the streets.

The organizers of major protests such as Indivisible talk about these things.

Sit-ins turned bloody in the 1960's. I see people in these comments talking about doing that. This is called civil disobedience action and takes things up significantly.

Educating protesters is the best play.

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MT's avatar

Love you Corey Booker!

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Pamela Koch's avatar

Fear of being primaried holds them in check, also fear of violence(which is more likely), but at some point it's not worth keeping your job & with all the money they get paid for doing nothing, they can afford private security! Grow a spine, Republican Congress!

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Pat Robinson's avatar

I'd like to believe Booker maybe in that some or even many Republicans are unnerved by trump's behaviors but are just too cowardly to do anything, but I sometimes think that is worse that genuinely worshiping him and feeling he can do no wrong. The folks that may be unnerved by him yet stand by and do nothing are just as bad or worse for their constituents that the true believers..they are not serving their constituents, will gladly see them hurt greatly just to get that paycheck every month...what horrible cowards. If they only had the integrity to stand up to trump the worst that can happen is he "primaries" them out of a job that is causing them to go against everything they claim to believe in, and how bad of an outcome is that? For goodness sake, they need to stand up for what is right and if they get primaried out then find a real job where they can honestly work towards outcomes they believe in....again what a bunch of cowards. I hope that the Congressman who recently said at a town hall meeting that he didn't know the budget bill included unlimited immunity for trump and whomever he likes at the moment at least feels a little bit like a real jerk. For some even those with next to no integrity, admitting you voted for something you had no idea about has got to be just a tiny bit unnerving deep down inside. I know many of these folks do in fact have parents who would be proud of their incompetency and deception, but I'd like to think there are a few whose parents would cringe and that they know this and again, deep down inside feel like crap for being such a disappointment to their parents.

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Vicki Murrell's avatar

I’d love to know how to get the MeidasTouch folks talking about this: https://open.substack.com/pub/dashkaslater/p/the-democrats-dont-love-democracy

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

I'm sorry but It looks like Russian Trump/Musk psy ops has you on the wrong track. It's not us - it's REPUBLICANS who let us get into this position.

My regret about Biden is that he didn't go after Trump. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_interference_in_the_2024_United_States_elections

IMHO we wuz robbed. “Those who vote decide nothing. Those who count the vote decide everything.”― Joseph Stalin. Did Trump admit that Musk stole Pennsylvania for him?

We have a window of opporunity because the toxicity of the Big Beautiful budget casts REPUBLICANS as codependants of an insane, malicious demagogue.

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Barbara Mullen's avatar

Why? What is there of any substance to talk about?

This reads exactly like a summary of the mainstream news junk over the past few months with more than a little of make-believe thrown in. Lots of words saying little to nothing. (and yes-I read it)

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Vicki Murrell's avatar

I don’t follow mainstream news, so I don’t know what they are saying. I do know, however, that Biden should not have run (surely you noticed the physical decline?), that the old Dems need to play a different games with different rules or move aside, and that we cannot continue to lose local and national elections to the kinds of Repubs who have been taking over state and national legislatures for the past 25+ years.

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Barbara Mullen's avatar

I do not play hindsight what if scenarios. We are here right now. How we got here is a moot point; one for the historians to chew over.

I don't get stuck in the weeds of how the Democratic Party should function at this time. We are not holding elections. We are in a coup.

No one is coming to save us. Endless critiques are useless at this point.

Let's organize and fight back. There are more of us than them. And we will win.

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Janet Wilson's avatar

Sylvia, he may notice but he does not care. What the protests accomplish is showing the voters what is happening (your country is losing its democracy) and that change is possible. Getting the vote out for the midterms is essential and Congress needs to be in the hands of Democrats to keep the country safe.

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CJ's avatar

RIGHT!! It's to show the voters! US! the people! Americans! For goodness sake!

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Patricia Gibbons's avatar

But the Senators and Representatives do see the protests and town halls, and they’re scared as hell of what’s going to happen to them at the midterms!

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Jordan Sollitto's avatar

I'll go you one better. On some subconscious level, he LIKES the protests...even if all the signs say "Screw Trump!" That's because the malignant narcissist craves attention of absolutely ANY kind. We don't protest for Trump; we protest to inspire couch sitters who see us on the news to get up and get in the game!

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CJ's avatar

You are probably right. Any publicity is good for him. He will spin it in his favor for his cult followers.

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Cathy Delia's avatar

If he doesn't see them it's because his handlers don't want him to see how much the public hates him.

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Kate's avatar

Assuming his tiny brain hasn't atrophied to the point of complete dementia!! I'm hoping the DC protest is huge and in his disgusting taco face!!! IMPEACHMENT IMMEDIATELY!!

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Pamela Koch's avatar

His nazi flunkies do their best to keep bad news from him! He only gets fed good news & patted on the head!

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Anastasia Pantsios's avatar

How can we "rebuild trust' with voters when that so-called "trust' was deliberately savaged by the GOP feeding voters lies? We did nothing to damage that "trust." When the media is dominated by stories about the former president's health, not his accomplishments, how do we break through?

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Barbara Mullen's avatar

Stop listening to legacy media. They are owned by oligarchs who oppose Democracy. Support the building of our own megaphone. We don't rebuild trust. That is the problem of politicians. We rebuild our voting laws. We rebuild voter participation.

We take over the information machine in this Country. Most everything follows that.

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Pamela Koch's avatar

100%! June 14th is going to be clear how we all feel about the Government Regime, Weak Ass Congress, Unqualified Baffoons in the Cabinet & MAGA Knuckle Draggers!

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peter tucker's avatar

My fucking God,,, you are fucking lost

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Valerie Campbell's avatar

Peter peter Trump's d--k eater, find another place to play.

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Black Raven's avatar

Report him. Click on the bottom right to his comment. ( the three horizontal dots) and report him.

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Therese Kravetz's avatar

Good idea. But also good is that he stands out as so imbalanced on this forum, like a lost, miserable soul.

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Black Raven's avatar

Lol, that's true.

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ramona j's avatar

Report him! Commit him. He's nuts.

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Black Raven's avatar

😂😂😂 he is! Is brain is fried.

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Steve's avatar

Pete, are you drunk again? Get back on the wagon!

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Cathy Delia's avatar

You're the one who's lost. Go crawl back under your rock.

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