Vox Populi, our weekly live chat about the week’s events begings at 7:00pm PDT. Hope to see you then!
AdLib2 hours ago
Hey Murph! How are things?
AdLiban hour ago
well enough
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
That’s not the most reassuring response. Are you okay?
AdLiban hour ago
I thought I would sign in and wait to see who gathers….yeah, I’m fine.
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
Given where I live and the events of the day plus my enterprise coming to an inglorious end…..well enough is pretty good
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
TW is usually the first here, I’d expect him momentarily. Then CL comes pretty soon afterwards so we should have a quorum shortly.
AdLiban hour ago
Right, I understand.
AdLiban hour ago
That would be good
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
Which events of the day are you referring to?
AdLiban hour ago
It is the news in general.
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
There has been a lot of positive developments, in prosecuting Trump, 1/6 seditionists getting long prison time, the TX AG about to be impeached, and so on.
AdLiban hour ago
DeSantis’ launch being a joke, a debt ceiling deal very possible…
AdLiban hour ago
And Musk looking terrible after the DeSantis debacle.
AdLiban hour ago
Yes….I fear that those are not going to be enough if the GOP gets into even greater power….they have SCOTUS, and the House……the gerry pandering could not be more blatant and so on and on and on.
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
DeSantis is a sideshow…..what would help a lot in Trump behind bars….the worst would emerge explosively again and perhaps that event will pierce the general dullness of the electorate.
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
Yes, SCOTUS is lost and gerrymandering in red states especially is out of control. But a Dem majority in the Senate without Sinema could repeal the filibuster and Criminal Trump running as the face of the GOP in 2024 could flip the House as help Biden win re-election then passing a Voting Rights bill that ends gerrymandering and one that makes abortion legal nationally could be passed. There is legit hope that things could get better.
AdLiban hour ago
Not to mention a unifed Congress under Dems could enlarge the SCOTUS and cure that problem too.
AdLiban hour ago
Hey all – MURPH!! Haven’t seen you for a time. Hugs to all.
choicelady
an hour ago
Your scenario would be grand…..I just have little faith in the electorate….given all that has happened, an aware and reasonably educated electorate would dismiss the GOP as a legitimate party, but…….
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
Yes, I think with the documents indictment coming in weeks along with the GA indictment and the trial in NY set for March 2024, Trump will take a pounding in the GE polls like no other candidate in recent history. And where the GOP goes one, they go all.
AdLiban hour ago
Hey CL!
AdLiban hour ago
His Choice…yes was not here last week…..nothing bad…..a retirement dinner.
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
Where’s TW? Is this a rotation – Murph one week, TW the next? Are we sure they’re different people?
choicelady
an hour ago
Murph – perfectly understandable. Hope it was for someone else and not you. Though I’m retired, zero fanfare, and LOVE it.
choicelady
an hour ago
CL…LOL….really…. 
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
Murph – Keep in mind that Dems and Biden have a definite edge in 2024 with the three key swing states of MI, PA and WI having Dems in power and AZ and GA showing a history of leaning Dem.
AdLiban hour ago
Well….one likes to point out the obvious….
choicelady
an hour ago
CL – Surprised TW isn’t here, he texted me earlier in the week.
AdLiban hour ago
I have PTSD from my past. When people I love don’t show, I get worried.
choicelady
an hour ago
No one works harder being retired than CL.
AdLiban hour ago
Ad – Thanks! I think…
choicelady
an hour ago
CL – I completely understand.
AdLiban hour ago
Ad – I know you do.
choicelady
an hour ago
So, is DeSantis DeFunct after his Failure to Launch?
AdLiban hour ago
Ad – I LOVE that DeFunct DeSantis. Let’s make that a thing! I think he was defunct WELL before he attempted to announce.
choicelady
an hour ago
I know some candidates can make a comeback but DeSantis was only doing well when most people didn’t know what a cretin and monster he is.
AdLiban hour ago
Glad you liked it, CL!
AdLiban hour ago
I do not think there are any depths to which the GOP will not sink…..it just seems to me that by this time the events of the last year would have solidified opposition to the GOP across the country…helll, the GOP in this state have done one nasty after another TO THEIR OWN PEOPLE AND. MANAGED TO GET THEM TO BUY THE “THE SOCIALISTS DID IT.” It is so inane.
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
Ad – I think his attempts to pretend he’s a “regular guy” creep out even the RW.
choicelady
an hour ago
DeSantis is an example of how gullible the electorate is.
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
Murph – I do think majority opposition to Trump and the GOP across the country is pretty solidified. Look at the surprisingly strong election results since then for Dems around the country, even in Red areas. I feel that the MSM as exemplified by CNN don’t want a lopsided election in 2024 and spend a lot of time and energy pushing stories abiout how evenly divided the country is. Election results totally dispute that. Remember the phony predictions and polls about how well the Repubs were going to do in 2022?
AdLiban hour ago
Murp[h – years ago I read Hoffstadter’s “Paranoid Style in American Politics”. The extremists today have centuries of predecessors. Don’t know why – and I never thought Hoffstadter proved why – but it’s unique in American political ideology and won’t likely go away soon.
choicelady
an hour ago
Ad – the recent voting is SO good. We need to keep this going. AND that means openly dissing RFK, Jr. Marianne Whoozits.
choicelady
an hour ago
CL – Watching DeSantis display his cringey “laugh” that he has been practicing in the mirror, it’s clear he is lacking some serious sections of his brain.
AdLiban hour ago
Ad – when you aren’t grounded in basic humanity, pretending you’re a ‘regular guy’ falls VERY flat.
choicelady
an hour ago
I know and even sort of LIKE a lot of RW people. Not horrific Nazis, but RW nonetheless. What lets us get along is a bond of humor and humaity on a lot of issues. DeSantis has NONE of that.
choicelady
an hour ago
CL – Yes, elections continue to skew heavily in favor of Dems even in races they should lose. I think the MSM simply doesn’t want to acknowledge that the majority is pulling away from the GOP because it’s bad for business but the election results expose their “both-sides” BS.
AdLiban hour ago
CL – Well said! DeSantis is emotionally stunted, he may have Asberger’s or some other serious mental issue. But he is incapable of connecting and relating with other people.
AdLiban hour ago
All – I think our big push should be to take a lesson from the anti abortion zealots of the 1980s and besiege media. Local and national – demand good reporting, truthful statements, and an end to narcissistic reporting that interjects jerky opinion in every graph. Bring back REAL investigative reporters. Woodward and Bernstein and Cronkite – they told the story without fear or favor. BTW – I went to HS with Bob Woodward. He wasn’t all that bright. He grew.
choicelady
an hour ago
If only Blue States, holding honest elections, clear the field of GOP in their states….is that enough to take control of national government?
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
CL…name dropping? Luv it.
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
Murph – one of the top RWers said when the JUDGE was elected in Wi that it killed GOP chances for decades. The judge, a liberal woman, will not permit WI gerrymandering. And that doomed them.
choicelady
an hour ago
CL – Whenver a candidate’s numbers keep dropping the more exposure he/she gets, the more doomed he/she likely is. Like I said, DeSantis was most liked when people didn’t know him. Now, people can see what an inhuman, self-serving and emotionally fragile narcissist he is. You can’t announce Disney is your enemy and win broad support in this country.
AdLiban hour ago
Ok….put Wi back in the Blue column….is that enough?
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
CL – Completely agree. And considering how much more activist so many in the majority have become, I see that as very doable that the people act as they did with CNN and punish news entities that cross the line from reporting to advocacy cloaked as “fair and balanced”.
AdLiban hour ago
Murph – I was younger, of NO interest to Bob. He was BMOC but dumb as a post. The opening graphs in “All The President’s Men” was about the views held of each man – and the ones about Woodward were true. The staff of WaPo weren’t sure English was his native language. He was NOT bright. He still prevailed. I still think what I thought then – he’s an ass. But he did a GREAT job.
choicelady
an hour ago
Murph – apparently WI was THE tipping point for the RW. And it’s gone.
choicelady
an hour ago
Murph – Here in CA, Repubs are nearly-extinct. I think 2024 will purge more Repubs here, in NY, MA, WI, AZ, and on and on. Especially in WI where the new Dem majority on the SC will throw out the gerrymandered maps.
AdLiban hour ago
I think that a relentless prosecution of Trump such that he cannot field a real campaign, coupled with successful hawking of the atrocity that is being foisted on the nation’s women, and the danger that has become a constant in a nation awash in guns.
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
CL – Yes, that was the Milo guy who said that. And with PA, MI and WI trashing gerrymandering and voter suppression, I don’t see a path for any Repub nom for president. Not to mention AZ and GA leaning into the Dem column.
AdLib44 minutes ago
To finish….hit the wrong key…..if all of that were to happen and there would be sufficient funding to promote that truth up against the power of the red billionaires…..things could move in a better direction.
MurphTheSurf3
44 minutes ago
All – As one who lived in NY for 20 years, I once upon a time voted for a wonderful Republican woman for County Supervisor. She was prochoice, pro labor, all kinds of good things, and frankly a lot of the Dem party back then was corrupt. But she would NOT be OK today, and NY won’t have the zealots. So yeah – they’re fizzling out of their own accord.
choicelady
43 minutes ago
Murph – wrong key maybe. RIGHT ON ALL POINTS!
choicelady
43 minutes ago
CL – I always thought Bernstein was the brains of the reporting. Woodward has always spoken and reasoned like a not-too-bright- guy IMO.
AdLib43 minutes ago
As we now see, you were correct, but Woodward during the Watergate stuff pulled his weight. Then, like the dumbo he is, it all went to his head.
choicelady
42 minutes ago
I think Woodward never got beyond wanting to be BMOC as he was in HS. But his work on Watergate was excellent. Bernstein gives kudos for that.
choicelady
41 minutes ago
Murph – Same here, I think you nailed all of that! There is no question now that Trump WILL BE buried in criminal and civil cases throughout the primary and election and he will be having his focus and available time fragmented as well as have constant trial updates in the news throughout. The majority of Americans and a meaningful segment of Repubs do not like him or are willing to even consider voting for him. And as more of his crimes are exposed in courts, he will crash and burn with the majority. While his cult in the GOP will cling to him like Nazis to Hitler.
AdLib40 minutes ago
I did not know about the Woodward/Bernstein roles on that team….interesting.
MurphTheSurf3
39 minutes ago
Ad….oh, let it be so.
MurphTheSurf3
38 minutes ago
Murph – you didn’t know Woodward and Bernstein on WATERGATE? Or have I missed something.
choicelady
38 minutes ago
CL – Those were the days, when a decent Repub could earn the vote of a Dem who opposed political corruption in their own party. Today, there is zero reason for a Dem to vote for a Repub. They no longer have any platforms, they pointedly ran in 2020 without any platform nor did they have one in 2022. Issues to them are all about prejudice, fear and hate, not policy. Whoever supports that is already voting for them, they can’t increase their share, only lose more.
AdLib37 minutes ago
CL….no I was very aware of the team and what they did…what I had never heard was that the two were not evenly matched…..thus Bernstein’s ongoing presence in the world of political writing.
MurphTheSurf3
36 minutes ago
Ad – that is spot ON. Honorable Republican equal Compassionate Nazi today.
choicelady
36 minutes ago
Murph – I think Bernstein was the better writer, but the TEAM was boffo. Woodward had many strengths. HE was the friend of Deep Throat. He pulled his weight. I still think “All the President’s Men” is a superlative book on journalism and investigative reporting as well as on Watergate per se.
choicelady
34 minutes ago
Watch, the Double Whammy on Trump is coming this Summer, it’s basically been announced in ways by Fani Willis and Trump’s lawyers regarding Jack Smith and the DoJ. Trump is definitely going to be indicted by August at the latest, by both the DoJ and Fulton County and all of these charges will be very serious. Meanwhile, the NY cases (two of them, the AG and Manhattan DA) will be coming to trial within the next 9 months or so. Trump will be buried! It is coming.
AdLib33 minutes ago
Lucas Kunce has already launched his effort to bring down Josh Hawley….he seems to be well funded…..from where I do not know. Hawley is pond scum.
MurphTheSurf3
33 minutes ago
I don’t think Woodward has done a thing since that is half so good. He has the higher profile, but he’s the lesser talent.
choicelady
33 minutes ago
CL – Not saying Woodward didn’t contribute profoundly to the Watergate exposure but Bernstein seemed like the smart one.
AdLib32 minutes ago
Murph – I have three targets for funding outside of CA: Kunce, Sherrod Brown, John Tester. They and Barbara Lee get my money,.
choicelady
32 minutes ago
CL…poiints re. the team are on the mark…..in the aftermath it seemed to me that Bernstein was a much more significant presence
MurphTheSurf3
31 minutes ago
Ad – I would agree Bernstein was smarter, and Woodward’s work since Watergate shows the absence of that partner as a lodestar and goad.
choicelady
31 minutes ago
I don’t disagree. Woodward is and always will be a lightweight intellectually.
choicelady
31 minutes ago
Murph – Keep in mind that while MO is descending into a swamp of fascism and authoritariansim, so is FL and in Repub Jacksonville, a Dem won the race for mayor after decades of Repub domination. I think people are getting fed up with the Nazi state repubs are bringing them.
AdLib31 minutes ago
CL…thanks for your support of Lucas…..and your lists mine as well.
MurphTheSurf3
30 minutes ago
IOW, Kunce who is an incredible candidate may have the odds against him but his quest is not an impossible one…especially against a terrible human being like Hawley.
AdLib29 minutes ago
Speaking of Jacksonville – Jackson MS is to me a horror equal to the obscene “right” of the TX governor to overturn Harris County elections. We are moving PERILOUSLY close to implementing bills of attainder outlawed in the Constitution.
choicelady
29 minutes ago
CL – Woodward flirted with Trump at the beginning and I disliked that about him. He finally tried to flip that dynamic later as Trump became more mostrous but I saw Woodward as a hack after that.
AdLib28 minutes ago
Murph – I adore Brown and deeply respect Tester. Even read his bio, and I hate biographies for some reason. They are all good men as Barbara is an excellent woman., All deserve to be in the Senate.
choicelady
28 minutes ago
Ad- that is one of MANY reasons I don’t like Bob Woodward. Well, i didn’t like him in HS either, but so what? He was a lightweight then and now.
choicelady
27 minutes ago
Here the State legislature is in the process of cutting pieces of St. Louis away to lessen its voting weight and taking over supervision of the electoral process such that do not see how any Dem really stands a chance here….including Lucas.
MurphTheSurf3
27 minutes ago
I’m going to be supporting Kunce too. Along with Colin Allred in TX against Cruz and several more.
AdLib27 minutes ago
MO may tenporarily be unrehabilitated.
choicelady
27 minutes ago
Oh! I forgot about Allread! I’ll fund him, too.
choicelady
26 minutes ago
You guys really have the lineup defined. I shall join in supporting its stars.
MurphTheSurf3
25 minutes ago
Then there’s this terrible news about MO:
AdLib25 minutes ago
Shit – we have the cop helicopter overhead. NEVER good. No clue why.
choicelady
25 minutes ago
“Study: More than 80% of Missouri, 60% of Kansas kids have lead in their blood”
AdLib24 minutes ago
OMG =- I am horrified MO has lead in the water!
choicelady
24 minutes ago
CL…..when I came to Mo. the governor was a. Democrat and had four Dems in his cabinet. The Legislature was GOP but narrowly so……13 years later that is mythic history. Maybe it is the lead in our water.
MurphTheSurf3
24 minutes ago
CL – That is very worrying, TX is becoming a blatant dictatorship and FL, MO, etc. are not far behind. Dems will have all the motivation they need to pass voting rights laws if they win unitary control of Congress in 2024.
AdLib22 minutes ago
Murph – I was born in NE and raised in IL. I have solid Midwestern/Plains values. Told a dear friend who is from N.Dakota that at the heart of who I am, I am a “covered dish” lady. She laughed. She got it. Is that a “thing” in MO?
choicelady
22 minutes ago
Brown and Tester are happy additions to my list too. A few more out there additionally.
AdLib22 minutes ago
CL….Covered trough maybe.
MurphTheSurf3
21 minutes ago
LOL!!! A “covered dish lady” is one who brings food to families in celebrations and in hard times. Mostly we have swapped disposable aluminum pans, but even in CA I bring food.
choicelady
20 minutes ago
Murph – That may very well be the case and it is a bit horrifying. Dems have to leap over so many obstacles and show up in massive numbers to even have a small chance of winning in gerrymandered Red states. So difficult but maybe not impossible?
AdLib20 minutes ago
Ad….that unitary government you hope for will have to neuter the Supreme Court…..13 justices would do it but fundamental alterations of how it operates and how checks and balances must be injected into the instituti will have generational impact.
MurphTheSurf3
19 minutes ago
CL – I get it now, as in neighbors who bring food to others after terrible events. That is you , indeed.
AdLib18 minutes ago
Murph – Great point, SCOTUS reform has only gained more momentum after the corruption of the Repubs on the bench has become more exposed. Adding 4 justices, imposing ethics rules and limiting lifetime appointments one way or another seem sorely needed and would be highly supported by most Americans.
AdLib17 minutes ago
All – yes, I kick butt in the legislature and bring food in hard times. Only ONE person has ever done that for me. It’s a cultural thing not really prevalent in CA except in communities of color. The Senators I gravitate toward are all out of that tradition. Not remote – hands on with people in need, To me that matters.
choicelady
16 minutes ago
Think of all the corrupt decisions and functioning of this SCOTUS, their sliver of an approval rating is proof that most Americans see them as disconnected and slanted away from the country the majority wants. I can’t see more than the Trumper Cult howling against ACOTUS reform.
AdLib15 minutes ago
CL – That’s very cool! Not something I grew up with in LA, maybe more of a Midwest and Southern thing? But I know Italian communities were also like that, in addition to black communities.
AdLib14 minutes ago
Several years back after the state legislature (and governor) denied our citizens the benefit of the Affordable Care Act….they would not adopt it…..a ground based effort to put a referendum on the ballot that was supposedly binding directed them to adopt Obamacare. It passed rather easily. The legislature acted as if it had not happened noting that referendum were simply opinion displayers.
MurphTheSurf3
14 minutes ago
SCOTUS needs remediation, no question about it. It’s not even that they’re conservative but that they REJECT precedent and Common Law. The Federalist influence is itself fascist. It has to go.
choicelady
13 minutes ago
Murph – the very IDEA that a referendum is to be ignored is a Federalist violation of American law.
choicelady
12 minutes ago
Murph – And I read that community hospitals in MO and other anti-ACA states are failing. With all of this anti-abortion and anti-Trans insanity, doctors and nurses are leaving these states too so the situation of hobbled and non-existent medical care, especially in small communities, will become acute within the next few years.
AdLib11 minutes ago
CL…they pretended it never happen and court challenges were dismissed by Red Judges.
MurphTheSurf3
11 minutes ago
Spot on Ad.
MurphTheSurf3
11 minutes ago
(I will be very blunt. If we want to beat the extremist, fascist Right, it will have to be with people such as Kunce NOT by putting up Black women. Is that fair and correct? HELL NO. It’s political reality. We need to face the issue of racism squarely. Black candidates do not and will not do well until Gen Z gets better turn out and things can REALLY change.
choicelady
10 minutes ago
CL – Exactly! This “court” is more of a MAGA Star Chamber. They flout the precedents and understandings of the judiciary and simply declare unfounded decisions, especially using the Shadow Docket. Like criminals.
AdLib10 minutes ago
Murph – that’s sickening to read.
choicelady
9 minutes ago
CL…ring that bell! Right on.
MurphTheSurf3
9 minutes ago
I just bought the book, “Shadow Docket” to read what’s happening.
choicelady
9 minutes ago
CL – I know you’re talking about in Red districts and states, a sad but true reality, we know very well how powerful the racism in these areas dictates so much about how these people vote. Disgusting.
AdLib8 minutes ago
CL – I read an article about how this court is intentionally using the Shadow Docket to dispose of justice and be unaccountable for doing so. It is a travesty.
AdLib7 minutes ago
Ad…..that is my reading as well.
MurphTheSurf3
7 minutes ago
It’s NOT a position that is universally true – we can run anyone in CA, IL etc.But the idea a Black candidate can beat Green and Boebert? Oh, please. FACE RACISM. Make this incremental – however WRONG that is. We need white liberal males NOW for those positions. Kunce has, I seriously think, a GENUINE chance against wimpy “Runaway” Hawley where others would not.
choicelady
7 minutes ago
Well friends I need to lay my weary head down……all of the work on farm has fallen to me and those I can hire in.
MurphTheSurf3
5 minutes ago
Remember the TX “law” using vigilantes to stop women from getting abortions? The SCOTUS used the shadow docket to prevent any injunction…no justification for such an anti-constitutional law needed, they just said no injunction allowed with no explanation. Fascist, IMO. How can you call that a court or justice, where they just declare something legal or illegal with no arguments in front of them and no reasoning provided to the public.
AdLib5 minutes ago
CL – Well, don’t foget Gillum nearly beat DeSantis in racist FL.
AdLib4 minutes ago
I know Rev. Warnock did a number in GA. He remains the outlier. He is SO prominent from Ebeneezer that he had a running start. But unknown Black candidates in ultra racist and fascist areas? No way/
choicelady
4 minutes ago
Ad – and Beto in TX. But “nearly” isn’t enough.
choicelady
3 minutes ago
CL – I agree, I do think Kunce has a chance to win, be it from a very disadvantaged position. But there are Dem Govs in KS and KY so it does happen.
AdLib3 minutes ago
Ad – Yup. It does.
choicelady
3 minutes ago
But they are both WHITE. And in this world that freaking matters. Racism is the original sin of America. It’s to the BONE. We have to admit that.
choicelady
2 minutes ago
I am nodding off…..enjoyed your give and take.
MurphTheSurf3
2 minutes ago
CL – Good point, Warnock got over the top 4 times in GA! (including runoffs). What were the odds against him doing it the first time?
AdLib2 minutes ago
Night Murph! Have a nice holiday weekend!
AdLiba minute ago
I think I’m doing the same. I fear we are leaving Ad all to his lonesome, but we are not the kids we used to be! Hugs to you both.
choicelady
a minute ago
No worries, CL! Have a great weekend with hubby!
AdLiba minute ago
I’m crashing. Hell of a day. See you next week. OBTW – PPO sold his house yesterday if you didn’t see. He’s going to buy closer to the water and sailing, and PUBS, and I’m really happy for him!!! See you next Friday!
choicelady
in a few seconds
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