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SPEAKER 2
Hey everyone, Sarah Longwell here, publisher of The Bulwark. Don't forget to subscribe to our channel here. But I was just on a call. We were talking about both the economy, the incoming tariffs, the shortage that people are already talking about, like people who own stores. And then we also got into the Mike Walls...
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Almost firing, but then actually just shuffling over to the United Nations. We got into both those things. It was a good conversation. Hope you enjoy it.
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SPEAKER 1
Sarah Longwell, the politics for any human being would be catastrophic. The politics for someone who ran for president saying that the price of everything will, quote, go down on day one. I'm talking about the grocery standing in front of melting meat should be lights out. Where are the where's the political sort of pendulum swinging on Trump?

Sarah Longwell joins Nicolle Wallace on MSNBC’s Deadline: White House to discuss how Donald Trump’s chaotic economic and immigration policies are backfiring, sending grocery prices soaring, devastating small business owners, and triggering deep anxiety even among his own supporters. They explore how the political fallout is eroding Trump’s approval ratings and exposing the total lack of competence and guardrails in his inner circle.

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Discussion about this video

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Jeff Biss's avatar

Sarah, the GOP is still NOT the party of the poor. It never has been. Those fools who voted for the GOP believing that are suffering the consequences of decades of such stupidity because the GOP is the party of the rich, as their tax cuts for the rich since Reagan and their erosion of the middle class proves. Be clearer, those fools BELIEVE that, nothing more.

Those serious Republicans in his prior administration, with those guardrails, supported the tax cuts for the rich! They, the GOP, are just more of the same BS since Reagan.

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P J Johnston's avatar

I work for Toys for Tots at Christmastimes and I have seen just how many people DON'T have money to get their kids ANYTHING for Christmas and they also can't afford and Christmas dinner either (we also bring in food to go with the gifts that they get ). Actually the Toys for Tots for many years have been working with local Food Banks to help the poor~

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Cam's avatar
May 3Edited

Another national election, another country moves further left away from Trumpism. The incumbent Labor party just destroyed the RW party here in Australia.

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Jzcode's avatar

Trump polls need to now be: approval/disapproval/supports impeachment.

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Jarno Jokinen's avatar

"Donald Trump’s chaotic economic and immigration policies are backfiring, sending grocery prices soaring, devastating small business owners, and triggering deep anxiety even among his own supporters." Worst is yet to come. Donald "The Beast" Trump is building a wall once again. Colossal tariff wall that is the beginning of the end for the system of down. At first the beast will pull the plug out of the global economy. The worst financial crisis of human history will pull a swarm of the banks underwater and the bank run begins. Then the beast will collapse a mountain of debt shattering the backbone of the monetary system causing a systemic risk to realize. Finally the beast will cast American citizens into a system slavery under the name of Ronald Wilson Reagan, just to "honor his legacy" count the number. After the destruction a new world order will be established in the US. And the Golden Age begins from the ruins of the world wide collapse. All of the system slaves will love it. No more cash - just digital transactions. No more traditional criminal activity. No more tax evasion. No more transactions without the "all seeing eye". Outcasts will hate the world without freedom, hope and privacy. To cover up the mess and distract the public by smoke and mirrors, the beast will engage in a war with Iran. Lies and deceit, corruption and decay, dancing on the graves will continue. Until; Black hole sun, won't you come, won't you come... I want to play a game. Time has come to opt out of the empire of filth. Live or die...

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Jerry Norman's avatar

Best takeaway-- "Marco Rubio has 10 jobs as he's one of the few actually competent!" Good points by Sarah and good questions by MSN. Seems Pres T wants a team handsome and loyal, so is picking too many Barbie and Ken dolls. They are fresh out of the box, so LOOK good. Dolls can't "talk back" or ask disturbing questions, so illusion of loyalty, with competence sacrificed.

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Kentuckistan's avatar

We have confirmation .....Trump's birthday military parade is on. June 14th Hail Geezer!

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dean apostol's avatar

No disrespect meant, but I do wonder if we hear what we want to hear from Trump supporters, that they are feeling the crunch, and don't hear what we don't want to hear, that they are giving him time to make the changes he claims are necessary. I frankly don't know what they think. I do think they are going to get screwed, but may never care enough for that to matter.

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Jerry Norman's avatar

There's a lot of "denial", something seen in alcoholic families that don't get counseling and don't go to AA. A good friend or other counselor deals with denial by presenting reality in a undeniable way. EXAMPLE: Have encountered some who say T's bad plans are plans only, that he won't actually DO any of it. They look at his rallies as if it's World Wide Wrestling and entertaining fakery. However, reality is coming soon. When their trucker relatives get laid off as far fewer ships are arriving at LA and Long Beach waiting to be unloaded? When favorite stores are missing key items? That will be undeniable reality It won't seem like funny entertainment any longer.

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dean apostol's avatar

Yes, but will they blame Trump for getting laid off? For empty shelves? Higher prices? I'm not optimistic.

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Jerry Norman's avatar

You can say something low-key like, “Yeah, I’m really upset about that too. Too bad T. was in such a rush to do tariffs. “ Let it go at that. When their sister-in-law says the same thing a week later, they might say to themselves, “that’s the second time I’ve heard that. Might be something to it.” That’s how “social influencing” works, a bit at a time, one person here, another person there, not everybody responds, but enough respond that change happens. Took thirty years for all farmers to give up horse-and-plow for tractors. We have the internet so change fast, We don’t need everybody to shift, just enough, don’t care about unchangeable MAGA, as we don’t need them. Did you check out ages on the Jan 6 set when filmed clubbing cops at the capital? Not spring chickens, they will die out eventually.

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dean apostol's avatar

All farmers haven't given up hoarse drawn plows. The Amish still farm that way. Successfully. But their social network helps make up for holding back on technology. I think we thought the Trump team had little youth support. I'm not sure that is actually the case any longer though. A lot of young men did vote for the turd.

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Jerry Norman's avatar

I should know better! We see Amish with horses when we visit those on my wife’s side, nice set, chatty. They call themselves “the German”, vs “the English” for us, not actual ethnicity, but for language spoken in the home. IMPORTANT—They do vote to innovate, to modernize, locally, if it makes sense. EXAMPLES—Where wife’s family farms, they voted to allow some gas engines outdoors, not in the house,. They voted for a refrigerator all could share, to keep their ice cream from melting in the summer. They voted for 1 telephone, shared, for emergencies. A BIG SURPRISE? The last time German measles “came through”, some of the Germans’ kids had bad consequences, as none were vaccinated. “The English” saw no bad results, as all were vaccinated. "The Germans" observed the difference, and "the Germans" voted to vaccinate thereafter.

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dean apostol's avatar

Wendall Berry has written a lot about Amish farming practices, and how they are designed in part to hold their community together. I can imagine the debates.

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Christina Ronnberg's avatar

You’re an amazing communicator and you have compassion- thank you!

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Denise Arn's avatar

Well done, Sarah! Thank you for giving it to us straight, while giving us hope. Keep up the great work!

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Kentuckistan's avatar

2025 vibe verb of the year....empty shelved. As in my fishing lures went up 100% and then they just empty shelved

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Roderick's avatar

Boo hoo! Inflation is hurting Trump voters.....GOOD. They had ample warning. They should consider themselves lucky for not having to live in Ukraine. Selfish dimwits.

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Karen greengard's avatar

SARAH - you always nail it, but the connection (out in the world that does not attend focus groups) of TARIFFS to LIFE is circuitous and kind of fuzzy. We need to equate tariffs to cost of living in a more visceral way. Please take the lead, and call tariffs IMPORT TAXES. Like SALES TAX but WORSE!!! Because IMPORT TAX is on everything that comes in from outside. Even food, vaccines, medicine, etc. You can do it the way we do with "x" (formerly known as Twitter). Think about it and take the lead:

"IMPORT TAX" (formerly known as Tariffs).

I read and watch you religiously. Fight on, Woman. And thank you.

Karen G

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MPT's avatar

trump voters will get what they deserve. As H.L. Mencken who noted, 'On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.'

I am usually an empathetic person, but after three trump election cycles, I have lost all empathy for the trump voter and the ruinous choice they keep making. As your pal, Tim Miller observed, the bottom has to fall out before the trump cult sees reality. No pain, no gain. A case of tough love is about to engulf the lives of millions of trump cult members. Right now the kindling is just getting hot. The wildfires will follow, now matter how calm the winds seem at present.

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Rich Wingerter's avatar

We are all getting what they deserve.

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Diana E's avatar

But the rest of us are, too.

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MPT's avatar

I understand. I do not want to downplay the damage all will encounter. But we see it coming and maga will be caught unaware. I look at it like preparing for a hurricane. People are better off knowing where the hurricane will hit and how to prepare for it.

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Christina Ronnberg's avatar

From your lips to God’s ears

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Christina Ronnberg's avatar

MAGA is a Weak Evil Death Cult

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MPT's avatar

And soon they will be wailing ignored into the darkness they caused.

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Lisette's avatar

You crushed it Sarah, congratulations!

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Janet's avatar

So powerful. Thank you, Sarah!

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Bob From Arizona's avatar

Why didn't we make "a thing" out of the White House reaction to Amazon floating the idea of including tariff costs on Amazon receipts. (Perhaps immediately above the state sales tax line?) The White House reaction was to go to def con 5 while calling it "a hostile political act". And of course, Bezos backed down. What would be so terrifying about a tariff line on Amazon receipts? What are they afraid of? Frankly, I suspected that the cost impacts of tariffs were being overblown and that the tariff component for most items would be something like, for example, $1.23 for a $50 item, which I would shrug off. Apparently, that is not the case. Maybe what they fear most is working Americans being exposed to irrefutable facts in the form of numbers that directly affect them and refute Trump's lie, that he repeated many times, that the tariffs were not going to be a tax on working people.

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Don White's avatar

The Oath-Breaking SoB doesn't care what polls indicate his current or former supporters think or believe. He and his Project 2025 Nazis instead depend on their ultimate control of government institutions and our military.

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patricia sherman's avatar

Nice, Sarah.

Here's an idea. For all of the people whose representative is a GOPer who is too cowardly to hold a town hall.

Get together with a group of people (no more than ten at a time; you don't want to frighten the staffers. You want to send a message.) and go to the Rep's LOCAL office and tell them what your concerns are.

Do this EVERY DAY. With ten different people. Be persistent. Be curteous. But show up.

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Diane Kirkland's avatar

Maddis, Milley, Wray, Garland. I have been having that same thought….where are they???

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Roderick's avatar

Garland's probably writing a book full of excuses for being an epic failure.

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Catherine Carroll's avatar

Newish (1 month or so) Bulwark subscriber. I first heard of Sarah Longwell and The Bulwark when she was interviewed by Ezra Klein sometime in the late winter, early spring of 2024. I was impressed by her in that interview and remembered her name. Now, in desperate need of reliable and accurate information on what we and our country are up against, I've had to abandon the legacy media. Pre-election they were dreadful! NYT seems to be trying to a little harder now but others are still dreadful. Last night I watched the PBS News Hour. Amna Nawaz interviewed Christopher Rufo "on his push to scrutinize higher education." It was a disaster. She was no match for his lying and horrible ideas and could not even call him out on them. To be honest she did try but it fell flat. His distortions continued. I wanted to jump out the window, but instead just turned the TV off. How can we watch as this stuff is being disseminated by "honest and reliable" journalism sources. Why interview this man? Bothsiderism? I am otherwise sympathetic because PBS itself is under the scrutiny of the Trump administration's slash and burn antics. I like PBS otherwise, but I have to face facts. I am no longer able to watch that news show. Not to pick solely on the PBS News Hour, I could also call out David Remnick of The New Yorker.

As I watched the News Hour interview, I began thinking Sarah Longwell could handle this guy. I know this is not supposed to be an admiration outlet and there are no brownie points awarded, but listening to Sarah Longwell's clarity and directness as a voice against Trump in this MSNBC interview lowers my blood pressure. For me and my blood pressure, that's worth the price of admission. I reviewed other comments and see that many agree. Top notch.

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Sue Connaughton's avatar

Nicole Wallace consistently has the best show on MSNBC. She is well versed and an insightful and forceful moderator. She also has the most informed guests on her show. Love seeing more of Sarah on Nicole’s show. Great job Sarah!

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KC's avatar
May 2Edited

Sarah seems to be evading answering Nicolle´s real question in a direct manner (and I'm paraphrasing): Have Trump voters now finally seen the light? Because.... they (still) have not.

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Diana E's avatar

Because she can’t, she’t not a Trumper.

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Pamela Tanton's avatar

I’m thinking about Sarah last night in the AMA saying she often avoids reading others’ analysis so that she can keep a focus on her own. That’s why she’s so good to listen to. It’s genuine, clear, interesting, and fresh.

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Denise Wallace's avatar

Outstanding !!

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Linda Weide's avatar

I knew from reading Project 2025, that Trump's actions would erode his approval ratings sooner or later. A friend called me from Chicago on his hundredth day to tell me Trump was speaking at MaComb Community College where her sister works, but fortunately did not have to go in that day. Her sister told her that there were protesters organizing. However, his visit there was not on the College's website, and we were wondering why of all places would he go to Warren, Michigan to talk at a campus unless someone there was a billionaire. My friend pointed out that the Chrysler Center is nearby. Aha! So then I read that he talked to the auto workers to tell them how much his tariffs are helping them. Given that the Auto Industry is using the tariffs to excuse laying off lots of unionized auto workers, I did not think they would be seeing it that way.

Then, I heard historian Jefferson Cowie talk to Democrats Abroad around the world. My book club had read his Pulitzer Prize winning "Freedom's Dominion" and had invited him to come. Then the DA Global Black Caucus Chair organized it for us. She is amazing and really used to doing this. Cowie told us that from the workers point of view, NAFTA and other trade agreements had been very harmful to their jobs, and we saw a decline in their communities. We know that Biden had protective trade tariffs for the auto industry, because the leaving of manufacturing was considered a problem. However, Biden negotiated that they would switch to producing Ecars, so killing two birds with one stone.

Cowie also pointed out something, that I think most White Americans do not understand in the way that Black people do that we need to be more aggressive in protecting our voting rights. I wrote a summary of some of his points here.

https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/voting-rights-come-before-all-others?r=f0qfn

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Karen Landry's avatar

In the House the other night, Democrats brought up close to 30 bills and not ONE Republican said anything. They were told to shut up like Stepford Wives by Mike Johnson. It's ridiculous.

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Linda Weide's avatar

Next steps is for the Democrats to be calling press conferences on their bills and telling the people about them.

Mike Johnson and all the other Christian Nationalists in our government are absolutely twisted. Johnson has a keeper. His son is supposed to help guard his virtuousness by monitoring his porn intake. Andra Watkins tells us that when CNs say porn, they don't mean what we do. They include seeing paintings or photos with nakedness or scantily clad people as pornography. They consider the women's body as tantillizing and pornographic. They view being gay as pornographic. So, Mike Johnson's having a gay hook up app on his phone must be one of the things his son has to monitor. How twisted is that. It is like Mike Pence calling his wife "Mother." I sometimes call my husband Papa, but that is in the context of saying something to my daughter, like, "Can you please go see if papa wants to come to the movies with us?" In another case of twisted manage my behavior so that I follow the narrow CN rules is drunk Defense Chief Hegseth, whose wife is doing his job together with him and going everywhere he goes.

So, at least the Dems are getting the idea that they need to create legislation to protect us from the plans of the CNs and the Tech Bros. Both are dangerous.

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Elizabeth Standard's avatar

Sarah as always great! I keep thinking when will the Republicans in the house and Senate finally find their spine and voice! Their silence is defeating!

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Rebecca Bishop's avatar

Soooo much better without guys CONSTANTLY interrupting you! You were able to talk about real politics.

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PK's avatar

"Where is everybody?!" Great line.

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Ellen Thomas's avatar

The Contrarian had a great piece of art—the Grinch with Trump’s hair, blue suit coat and red tie. It should be everywhere. It says it all I one glance.

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EvergreenSoul's avatar

I will have to look for that image. As soon as he won, I started thinking of him as the Grinch. The song from the scene where the Whos down in Whoville are all holding hands and singing after their Christmas was stolen got into my head. We all need to join forces with our good hearts to defeat these pathological people.

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Cindy Maike's avatar

Go Sarah. We are being run by Donnie 2 Dolls head of the Trump Crime Family!!!

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Krysia Alexander's avatar

Excellent information, facts, and comments. So much more could be said and done, however the final point of where are the old guards along with those who once held different positions in our government? Now, right now, is when all the voices need to be heard! We the people are protesting, supporting all who are standing up to this vile destruction of our democracy. But we do need and want the support of retired and strong voices of those who protected our country in the past. Please speak now reach out to all of us. Silence is violence right now! Silence is complacency! Our country is the country of the people!

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monoview21's avatar

Obviously, The Don lied to the "believers" just to get his hands on more grift. He does not give a fuck about these people.

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Anne's avatar

My youngest brother is one of them!🙆‍♀️

So enraging. What house did you grow up in brother?!

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monoview21's avatar

hour north of San Francisco

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bitchybitchybitchy's avatar

And we know hr never did care. I know that it must be really difficult for voters to admit that thy were wrong I placing their trust in Trump, but hey, it's necessary.

Perhaps this is an opportunity to really hold thr GOP responsible for tanking thr economy-after all, the Senate could slow down Trump by saying NO, or slow walking his nominees. Yet, Thune and Co. just roll over and say yes, master.

Trump and thr GOP own thr mess that he is creating.

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Steve Beckwith's avatar

When prices go up and jobs become scarce, no talking points will matter.

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Christina Ronnberg's avatar

I think martial law could backfire and enrage MAGA - no one tells them what to do remember?

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Steve Beckwith's avatar

My thought exactly. THAT is the basis of their support for the Second.

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Christina Ronnberg's avatar

It’s going to be a long hot summer I’m thinking

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Christina Ronnberg's avatar

And I live in Arizona where the average person has guns in their cars purses and open carry

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Steve Beckwith's avatar

Yeah. Orban didn't have a heavily armed populace to deal with. I wonder how the regime "plans" to handle that.

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Christina Ronnberg's avatar

As Bob Marley said - A hungry man is an angry man… - I’m afraid MAGA will become violent when all Trump promised comes to pass. And they’ll always blame dems not themselves for their lives. So we will be the targets. There is no one a cult members hates more than the people who didn’t fall for the cult / con.

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Steve Beckwith's avatar

I think you're probably right.

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Clare's avatar

Yes! I always love your take on things! (I also love JVL. Ask him to explain his comments on Pope Francis some time,though? ).

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Lintoinette's avatar

Welp. We told them but they had to own the libs.

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Kevin's avatar

Before this country can move forward, those voters need to acknowledge that they were indeed taken by a con man and that voting for him was a grievous mistake. So long as a large portion of them are still "yeah / but" and refuse to take the stark lesson, we're still going to spin and spin.

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Duane Pierson's avatar

Knocked it out of the park. Hope is starting to build that Trump's rampage can be stopped, or at least slowed down to something the still standing institutions can handle.

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Bob Sartwell's avatar

Sarah!! Great work as always. The speaking up will come. The folks that track this stuff (like us) knew this was coming and would be bad. But, I don't think anyone thought it would be this much shit in the flood and that it come this fast and furious. Folks are just starting to grasp the depth of the disruption and realize how much will never come back. We need to quit saying Trump and start saying Republicans. They are complicit and need to not be let to weasel out. The real pain is coming soon. Us elite, college educated F...rs will do OK. My brother the truck driver won't.

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MiaLake's avatar

GO SARAH!! Excellent piece!

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0:27
SPEAKER 1
Sarah Longwell, the politics for any human being would be catastrophic. The politics for someone who ran for president saying that the price of everything will, quote, go down on day one. I'm talking about the grocery standing in front of melting meat should be lights out. Where are the where's the political sort of pendulum swinging on Trump?