Is This The New Normal?

A New Dawn said:

My family has been Republican since I can remember, probably around the early 60s. There wasn’t a progressive bone in them. And Kennedy was progressive and embraced the civil rights movement, and the only reason LBJ signed the civil rights bill was because Kennedy was so keen on it, not because he had a soft spot for blacks, because he was the most racist president in modern terms. He knew that would keep the blacks coming back to vote for them for years. He was counting on 200 years, though it’s only been about 50 and they are starting to turn away because they see how those failed policies have not helped them move forward.

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That's odd. LBJ was a literal "New Deal Democrat" in the House and as Senate Majority leader pushed through the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960. (The now fallen "longest fillibuster on record" was made by Strom Thurman against the 1957 bill.)

Hans Blaster said:

That's odd. LBJ was a literal "New Deal Democrat" in the House and as Senate Majority leader pushed through the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960. (The now fallen "longest fillibuster on record" was made by Strom Thurman against the 1957 bill.)

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Well, it appears both are true.

Here is an article that will likely get taken down that illustrates that both are true.

A New Dawn said:

Well, it appears both are true.

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Frankly I was talking about your "Johnson did it only because of Kennedy" claim.

A New Dawn said:

Here is an article that will likely get taken down that illustrates that both are true.

Lyndon Johnson was a civil rights hero. But also a racist.

Lyndon Johnson was a racist. He was also the greatest champion of racial equality to occupy the White House since Lincoln.

www.msnbc.com

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You should really look into Wilson the Resegregator then.

A New Dawn said:

The only people whitewashing anything are those people who pick and choose what they want to push as the “accepted” narrative who then suppress anything that points to a different reality and then tries to gaslight everyone into not believing what their eyes are seeing, and when that doesn’t work, to sic the DoJ on people to silence them. You know what I’m saying, straight out of the leftists playbook, time after time.

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Except now, it's Trump and his administration doing those things.

-- A2SG, still nothing on those treason indictments, huh?

I dont thinknit can be denied that there has been a shift between Republican and Democratic parties. But what gets lost is the shift wasn't a complete flip flop. Elements of the old Democratic Party remains with the party and elements of the old Republican party remain with the Republican party. Also contained in that is the idea that societal expectations and beliefs also change over time. And both parties also incorporate these societal changes into their party.

Neither party is exactly what it was in the 40s and 50s. Nor ehat they were in the 60s and 70s or even the 90s. Both have also drifted futher and further apart from each other.

And from what we see right now the Democrats are moving left at a much faster pace than Republicans are moving right. The radicals are actually starting to take over the Democratic Party as they mover further and further left rapidly.
This is backed up by the people themselves.

Democrats’ political views are shifting faster than Republicans'

For those seeking balance in this polarized moment in American politics, Gallup offers news that initially seems good. The polling firm finds Americans are becoming increasingly socially liberal while generally remaining economically conservative. Using a crude definition of libertarian and classical liberal ideas, growing social liberalism paired with economic conservatism sounds encouraging. But the ideological shift is all one-sided, with Democrats moving left much more than Republicans moved to the right—threatening not balance, but a wider partisan divide.

"Both trends toward more liberal views than in the past are driven by U.S. Democrats; neither Republicans nor independents have become more liberal in their views over time," Gallup adds.

In 2004 39% of Democrats were liberal/very liberal on social issues. Today they are at 69%.

A very large jump. Even on economic issues they have increases rapidly to the left.

rjs330 said:

I dont thinknit can be denied that there has been a shift between Republican and Democratic parties. But what gets lost is the shift wasn't a complete flip flop. Elements of the old Democratic Party remains with the party and elements of the old Republican party remain with the Republican party. Also contained in that is the idea that societal expectations and beliefs also change over time. And both parties also incorporate these societal changes into their party.

Neither party is exactly what it was in the 40s and 50s. Nor ehat they were in the 60s and 70s or even the 90s. Both have also drifted futher and further apart from each other.

And from what we see right now the Democrats are moving left at a much faster pace than Republicans are moving right. The radicals are actually starting to take over the Democratic Party as they mover further and further left rapidly.
This is backed up by the people themselves.

Democrats’ political views are shifting faster than Republicans'

For those seeking balance in this polarized moment in American politics, Gallup offers news that initially seems good. The polling firm finds Americans are becoming increasingly socially liberal while generally remaining economically conservative. Using a crude definition of libertarian and classical liberal ideas, growing social liberalism paired with economic conservatism sounds encouraging. But the ideological shift is all one-sided, with Democrats moving left much more than Republicans moved to the right—threatening not balance, but a wider partisan divide.

"Both trends toward more liberal views than in the past are driven by U.S. Democrats; neither Republicans nor independents have become more liberal in their views over time," Gallup adds.

In 2004 39% of Democrats were liberal/very liberal on social issues. Today they are at 69%.

A very large jump. Even on economic issues they have increases rapidly to the left.

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That's all very well, so long as economically liberal Democrats can disengage from the failed policies of the socially liberal Democrats--perhaps by forming a new party--especially as the socially liberal Democrats are those most entangled with neoLiberalism.

A2SG said:

Except now, it's Trump and his administration doing those things.

-- A2SG, still nothing on those treason indictments, huh?

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Perhaps an example or two would be helpful because this is THE MOST transparent administration ever.

Hans Blaster said:

Frankly I was talking about your "Johnson did it only because of Kennedy" claim.

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That is the story I was told by my parents, that Kennedy started looking at how to restructure the government to work on the civil rights movement.

A New Dawn said:

Perhaps an example or two would be helpful

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Not a problem.






All that required was a quick google search. If you need more, I suppose I could click on page two of the search results.

A New Dawn said:

because this is THE MOST transparent administration ever.

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On that...


-- A2SG, transparency from someone guilty of fraud on multiple occasions, including 34 criminal felony convictions....seriously?

A2SG said:

Not a problem.

How the DOJ under Trump is targeting his perceived political adversaries

An emerging strategy from President Trump's Department of Justice is undoing Biden-era policies and pursuing some of the president’s political adversaries. William Brangham discussed more with Carrie Johnson, the justice correspondent at NPR.

www.pbs.org

https://www.npr.org/2025/04/29/nx-s1-5327518/donald-trump-100-days-retribution-threats

Trump directs DOJ to investigate former administration officials who criticized him

President Trump signed executive orders Wednesday targeting two former aides who criticized him. Escalating his retribution campaign, the president directed the Justice Department to investigate Miles Taylor, a former Homeland Security official, and Christopher Krebs, a top cybersecurity...

www.pbs.org

Trump directs DOJ to investigate 2 officials from his first term who became critics

President Donald Trump on Wednesday directed his Justice Department to investigate two senior officials from his first administration who became critics.

abcnews.go.com

https://apnews.com/article/trump-visits-justice-department-e9091e3721adda4d3ed39bd15119a0d4

All that required was a quick google search. If you need more, I suppose I could click on page two of the search results.


On that...

USA: Trump's attacks on government transparency erode press freedom

President Donald Trump has spent the first two weeks of his second term restricting the public’s access to government information. Among other worrying measures, his administration has taken government webpages offline, deleting vital data that was previously available to the public, and...

rsf.org

-- A2SG, transparency from someone guilty of fraud on multiple occasions, including 34 criminal felony convictions....seriously?

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Well, the last one was the media’s fault for spending hours every day just making up lies on a daily basis about Trump, refusing to even report on the loads of good things that have come from his term(s). I wouldn’t invite habitual liars into my house either. It’s possible to report on something without all the opinionated commentary that generally goes along with it. Back in the day when newscasters were respected, that is how they reported the news, and you never knew what they personally believed in.

I’ll check the other two out, but neither of them appears to be what I was talking about. I’d check to see if any confidential stuff was leaked, or whatever, to see if there’s something warranted.

A New Dawn said:

Well, the last one was the media’s fault for spending hours every day just making up lies on a daily basis about Trump,

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So says Trump, the man guilty of fraud several times over.

I guess you gotta pick who you trust in such things.

A New Dawn said:

refusing to even report on the loads of good things that have come from his term(s).

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You do know how news works, right?

A New Dawn said:

I wouldn’t invite habitual liars into my house either. It’s possible to report on something without all the opinionated commentary that generally goes along with it. Back in the day when newscasters were respected, that is how they reported the news, and you never knew what they personally believed in.

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Ad hominems aside, the issue was transparency. It doesn't bode well for claims of transparency when you constantly attack the press.

A New Dawn said:

I’ll check the other two out, but neither of them appears to be what I was talking about.

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You asked for examples of the Trump administration using the DOJ to target political opponents, I provided that. What you do with the information is your business, and no concern of mine.

A New Dawn said:

I’d check to see if any confidential stuff was leaked, or whatever, to see if there’s something warranted.

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Have fun!

-- A2SG, but I wouldn't trust Trump's word on any accusations if I were you...y'know, the whole guilty of fraud on multiple occasions thingie....

rjs330 said:

In 2004 39% of Democrats were liberal/very liberal on social issues. Today they are at 69%.

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The Overton window done did shift a ways to the Right, 2004’s Centrist is 2025’s “radical leftist”.

A2SG said:

So says Trump, the man guilty of fraud several times over.

I guess you gotta pick who you trust in such things.


You do know how news works, right?


Ad hominems aside, the issue was transparency. It doesn't bode well for claims of transparency when you constantly attack the press.


You asked for examples of the Trump administration using the DOJ to target political opponents, I provided that. What you do with the information is your business, and no concern of mine.


Have fun!

-- A2SG, but I wouldn't trust Trump's word on any accusations if I were you...y'know, the whole guilty of fraud on multiple occasions thingie....

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So says people with eyes to see and ears to hear. The left hates Trump so much because his aim is to actively problems Instead of making empty campaign promises and just kick the can down the road to the next president.

I know how news is supposed to work. It is supposed to give you the necessary information you need to make decisions for yourself. It isn’t supposed to make those decisions for you. I know, for instance, to show an example of something the media, as well as the previous administration, covered up and then lied to you and tried to gaslight you about, from the very beginning of Biden’s campaign to run for president in 2020, that he showed signs of dementia. They kept him hidden for much of the campaign, and when he was out he showed signs of pretty advanced dementia, from angry shouting at people he was supposed to be courting their votes, to deer in headlights stares as he didn’t seem to know where he was and what he was supposed to be doing. This went on the whole time he was president. Everyone on the right saw it from the beginning but the leftist media hid it and didn’t show those videos. There is a reason he capped his day at noon and refused to meet anyone later in the day, because that is the worst time for someone with Alzheimer’s. It’s called sundowning. Sure he had some days that were better than others, that is also common with Alzheimer’s, but they became less and less frequent as time went by. And still everyone on the left, media and politicians alike, said “Joe is at the top of his game”, and “the right is just making cheap AI fakes and calling them real” to try to gaslight everyone, but it only worked on the left. Until the debate debacle. I mean, he was SO bad I felt sorry for him. And I hated everyone behind him who was using him as a puppet. It was disgusting the lengths the left went to to keep this decrepit old man in office so they didn’t have to turn the country over to Kamala, who, only weeks before the debate and the need to come up with a new candidate, they were talking about pulling her out and replacing her with a new VP for the second term they were sure Joe was going to get.

So don’t try to even suggest people on the right don’t know what’s going on. Our eyes are open. We know we have a president that at times is unpredictable, and sometimes we wish he would put his phone down, but he is addressing the problems that the previous president couldn’t address because of his mental decline. Problems that the shadow government behind him created.

A New Dawn said:

So says people with eyes to see and ears to hear.

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People who listen to Trump and believe what he says, anyway.

A New Dawn said:

The left hates Trump so much because his aim is to actively problems Instead of making empty campaign promises and just kick the can down the road to the next president.

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I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm on "the left," politically, and I don't hate Donald Trump. I don't know the man, never met him. I don't trust him worth a plug nickel, but that has more to do with his numerous fraud convictions and guilty verdicts than anything else. I also disagree with pretty much all of his policies, but that's neither here nor there, since I don't believe he has any firm policies, just scams that he will benefit from in some way. But that's back to the fraud thing.

As to your characterization of "the left," I'd suggest you allow them to speak for themselves instead of assuming you know how they think. But that suggestion is probably going to fall on deaf ears anyway.

A New Dawn said:

I know how news is supposed to work. It is supposed to give you the necessary information you need to make decisions for yourself.

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Nope.

A New Dawn said:

It is t supposed to make those decisions for you.

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Nor does it.

A New Dawn said:

I know, for instance, to show an example of something the media, as well as the previous administration, covered up and then lied to you and tried to gaslight you, from the very beginning of Biden’s campaign to run for president in 2020, that he showed signs of dementia. They kept him hidden for much of the campaign, and when he was out he showed signs of pretty advanced dementia, from angry shouting at people he was supposed to be courting their votes, to deer in headlights stares as he didn’t seem to know where he was and what he was supposed to be doing. This went on the whole time he was president. Everyone on the right saw it from the beginning but the leftist media hid it and didn’t show those videos. There is a reason he capped his day at noon and refused to meet anyone later in the day, because that is the worst time for someone with Alzheimer’s. It’s called sundowning. Sure he had some days that were better than others, that is also common with Alzheimer’s, but they became less and less frequent as time went by. And still everyone on the left, media and politicians alike, said “Joe is at the top of his game”, and “the right is just making cheap AI fakes and calling them real” to try to gaslight everyone, but it only worked on the left. Until the debate debacle. I mean, he was SO bad I felt sorry for him. And I hated everyone behind him who was using him as a puppet. It was disgusting the lengths the left went to to keep this decrepit old man in office so they didn’t have to turn the country over to Kamala, who, only weeks before the debate and the need to come up with a new candidate, they were talking about pulling her out and replacing her with a new VP for the second term they were sure Joe was going to get.

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I eagerly await the evidence you have to support these assumptions.

A New Dawn said:

So don’t try to even suggest people on the right don’t know what’s going on.

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I never said a word about that.

A New Dawn said:

Our eyes are open. We know we have a president that at times is unpredictable, and sometimes we wish he would put his phone down, but he is addressing the problems that the previous president couldn’t address because of his mental decline. Problems that the shadow government behind him created.

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I eagerly await the evidence you have to support the existence of this "shadow government" you assume.

-- A2SG, but, just on the off chance that evidence isn't forthcoming, along with the information on those previously mentioned treason indictments, I brought a book to pass the time....

A2SG said:

I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm on "the left," politically, and I don't hate Donald Trump. I don't know the man, never met him. I don't trust him worth a plug nickel, but that has more to do with his numerous fraud convictions and guilty verdicts than anything else. I also disagree with pretty much all of his policies, but that's neither here nor there, since I don't believe he has any firm policies, just scams that he will benefit from in some way. But that's back to the fraud thing.

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And who on the left is without sin? Every single one of them has skeletons in their closets, many in Congress get rich off them, like Pelosi, who took advantage of insider trading. Or Clinton, now his skeletons are all out in the open. Biden sold stuff (state secrets?) to the highest bidder. Your suggestion that Trump's fraud convictions are unique are mindblowing. Trump is the only president who left office poorer than when he went in, but I guess not taking a salary somehow turns into a scam to make money in your book.

Nor does it.

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But it does, since nobody knew how sick Biden was until the debate.

I eagerly await the evidence you have to support these assumptions.

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I assumed (wrongly?) that you watch mainstream news to get your news. I mean, you have to get it from somewhere, and I highly doubt it is the only neutral news program on cable (FOX). So you should have heard most of what I said regarding Biden's health and the lack of transparancy around it, and the accusations made.

I eagerly await the evidence you have to support the existence of this "shadow government" you assume.

-- A2SG, but, just on the off chance that evidence isn't forthcoming, along with the information on those previously mentioned treason indictments, I brought a book to pass the time....

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I hope it's Jake Tapper's book.

A New Dawn said:

And who on the left is without sin?

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I have no idea.

A New Dawn said:

Every single one of them has skeletons in their closets, many in Congress get rich off them, like Pelosi, who took advantage of insider trading. Or Clinton, now his skeletons are all out in the open. Biden sold stuff (state secrets?) to the highest bidder. Your suggestion that Trump's fraud convictions are unique are mindblowing. Trump is the only president who left office poorer than when he went in, but I guess not taking a salary somehow turns into a scam to make money in your book.

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How many of those other examples have been found guilty of fraud on multiple occasions, including being convicted of 34 criminal felonies? That's why I don't trust Donald Trump.

As to those others, well, how much I trust any one of them depends on the individual. And all of them rank above Trump. But, to be fair, few rank below, so that's not saying much.

A New Dawn said:

But it does, since nobody knew how sick Biden was until the debate.

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The media did not make any decisions for anyone regarding President Biden's performance at the presidential debate. Any decisions you made based on any media outlet's reporting was your own.

A New Dawn said:

I assumed (wrongly?) that you watch mainstream news to get your news.

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You're free to assume whatever you like. Since you know nothing about me or where I get my news from, it doesn't really mean much, though.

A New Dawn said:

I mean, you have to get it from somewhere, and I highly doubt it is the only neutral news program on cable (FOX).

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If you think Fox News is neutral, then you really have no idea what you're talking about. Did Fox News have to pay a $787 million judgment due to their neutral reporting?

A New Dawn said:

So you should have heard most of what I said regarding Biden's health and the lack of transparancy around it, and the accusations made.

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Yeah, I've heard those accusations, and I've heard the assumptions you, and others, have come to because of them.

What I haven't seen is any evidence to support any of these accusations or assumptions. Feel free to provide that at any time.

A New Dawn said:

MSN

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough confronted on viral 'best Biden ever' clip

Joe Scarborough stood by his viral comments from March 2024 claiming that Joe Biden was the "Best Biden ever" during an interview with Mark Halperin on Tuesday.

www.foxnews.com

Biden allies say president is ‘sharp,’ special counsel criticism is ‘B.S.’

Senior adviser to the president Mitch Landrieu said on NBC News' “Meet the Press” that recent criticisms of President Joe Biden are “just a bucket of B.S.”

www.nbcnews.com

‘Cheap fakes’ and why Trump, Biden are fighting about them

President Joe Biden sitting in an "invisible" chair in France. Biden wandering off from an event in Italy. Biden freezin

www.politifact.com

I hope it's Jake Tapper's book.

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Yeah, a bunch of random opinions isn't evidence of much, dude. If you want to prove, say, a medical diagnosis, then random opinions from people who have no medical training or credentials, and have not performed a medical examination on the patient isn't going to do that.

-- A2SG, all you got are assumptions based on nothing more than opinions.....less than nothing, really....

A New Dawn said:

So says people with eyes to see and ears to hear. The left hates Trump so much because his aim is to actively problems Instead of making empty campaign promises and just kick the can down the road to the next president.

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I don't know about "the left", but I do hate Trump and it isn't new. He's been a despicable public person for decades. He was one of those slimy NY business guys that hard working rural midwesterners couldn't stand back in the 80s and into the 90s. His presence always resulted in my ire then.

I hadn't thought about him for years until he ran for president. All I knew of him from 1995 to 2015 was that he was the washed-up business man that NBC got to host their "reality" show. Then he reemerges in 2015 to run for president. I thought it was a joke (a racist, bigoted joke). Then he got traction with the GOP electorate and the authoritarian and xenophobic nature of his campaign made clear that he was not only vile, but dangerous.

He and his allies have attacked the foundations of American democracy and civil society. Today (see OP) he deploys troops in the street as a show of force to governments he does not like and wishes to intimidate in the classic style of the strong-man autocrats. He is the inversion of the American ideal. He has earned my hatred and like a good capitalist, I think he should get to keep what he has earned.

A New Dawn said:

I know how news is supposed to work. It is supposed to give you the necessary information you need to make decisions for yourself. It isn’t supposed to make those decisions for you. I know, for instance, to show an example of something the media, as well as the previous administration, covered up and then lied to you and tried to gaslight you about, from the very beginning of Biden’s campaign to run for president in 2020, that he showed signs of dementia. They kept him hidden for much of the campaign, and when he was out he showed signs of pretty advanced dementia, from angry shouting at people he was supposed to be courting their votes, to deer in headlights stares as he didn’t seem to know where he was and what he was supposed to be doing. This went on the whole time he was president. Everyone on the right saw it from the beginning but the leftist media hid it and didn’t show those videos. There is a reason he capped his day at noon and refused to meet anyone later in the day, because that is the worst time for someone with Alzheimer’s. It’s called sundowning. Sure he had some days that were better than others, that is also common with Alzheimer’s, but they became less and less frequent as time went by. And still everyone on the left, media and politicians alike, said “Joe is at the top of his game”, and “the right is just making cheap AI fakes and calling them real” to try to gaslight everyone, but it only worked on the left. Until the debate debacle. I mean, he was SO bad I felt sorry for him. And I hated everyone behind him who was using him as a puppet. It was disgusting the lengths the left went to to keep this decrepit old man in office so they didn’t have to turn the country over to Kamala, who, only weeks before the debate and the need to come up with a new candidate, they were talking about pulling her out and replacing her with a new VP for the second term they were sure Joe was going to get.

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You do know Biden isn't president anymore, right?

A New Dawn said:

So don’t try to even suggest people on the right don’t know what’s going on. Our eyes are open. We know we have a president that at times is unpredictable, and sometimes we wish he would put his phone down, but he is addressing the problems that the previous president couldn’t address because of his mental decline. Problems that the shadow government behind him created.

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What troubles me the most is that you may know exactly what type of anti-democratic, authoritarian, bigoted person Trump is and you like him for it. I hope you are just ignorant about Trump, but it seems a thin hope.

A New Dawn said:

I assumed (wrongly?) that you watch mainstream news to get your news. I mean, you have to get it from somewhere, and I highly doubt it is the only neutral news program on cable (FOX).

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Perhaps the thread of hope that you are ignorant of Trump's vileness isn't as thin as I thought it was if you think FOX is "neutral". (No one is "neutral", the point is to understand the biases and the differences between reporting and commentary.)

A New Dawn said:

Perhaps an example or two would be helpful because this is THE MOST transparent administration ever.

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Love the way they've been forthcoming with the Epstein files!