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