Some stuff to read today. Start with Greg Sargent, Striking new data about young voters should alarm Trump and the GOP. (No paywall.)
New data supplied to me by the Harvard Youth Poll sheds light on the powerful undercurrents driving these developments. Young voters have shifted in a markedly progressive direction on multiple issues that are deeply important to them: Climate change, gun violence, economic inequality and LGBTQ+ rights.
John Della Volpe, director of the poll, refers to those issues as the “big four.” They all speak to the sense of precarity that young voters feel about their physical safety, their economic future, their basic rights and even the ecological stability of the planet.
“This generation has never felt secure — personally, physically, financially,” Della Volpe told me.
My take: The New Deal brought prosperity and stability to working and middle class Americans by the mid-20th century. And for decades conservatives plus neoliberals have chipped away at the New Deal to the point that much of its support and protections for ordinary working people are gone. As a Boomer, when I was young the economy wasn’t a concern for most of us. We all assumed that economic growth and financial stability for most working folks was just a given. The bad old days of the Great Depression was just history.
But that’s not the reality the young folks of Gen Z are dealing with. For them, nothing is certain. They can’t even count on the planet being there for them their whole lives. Conservative/neoliberal financial policies have turned us into a nation of the exploiters and the exploited, and young people who aren’t from monied families will be among the exploited. And it appears a majority of them aren’t buying into the culture war distractions.
Many of today’s 18-to-29-year-olds, who are mostly older Gen Z Americans plus the tail end of the Millennial generation, lived their formative years during the Great Recession and the election of Trump. What’s more, these new voters are politically coming of age during a remarkable confluence of events that appear to be conspiring in an improbable way to push them to the left.
Mass shootings have been on the rise, with the 2018 massacre at a school in Parkland, Fla., acting as a galvanizing moment. Heat waves and wildfire smog have driven home the realities of climate change with new urgency and vividness.
The problem with younger voters has long been turnout. The article says a higher percentage of younger voters has been turning up at the polls beginning in 2018. There’s probably room for improvement.
See also ‘This Is a Really Big Deal’: How College Towns Are Decimating the GOP at Politico and Swing to the Left by Tom Sullivan at Hullabaloo.
In other news: Hunter Biden’s plea deal over federal tax charges fell apart in court, and now he is pleading not guilty, according to NBC News. I’m sure Fox News is all over this, if you’re interested.
Rudy Giuliani concedes that he made false statements about the two Georgia election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, who became targets of the MAGA mob. Freeman and Moss are suing Giuliani and a lot of others because of the hell the false charges put them through.
In a two-page declaration, Mr. Giuliani acknowledged that he had in fact made the statements about Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss that led to the filing of the suit and that the remarks “carry meaning that is defamatory per se.” He also admitted that his statements were “actionable” and “false” and that he no longer disputed the “factual elements of liability” the election workers had raised in their suit.
But Mr. Giuliani, insisting that he still had “legal defenses” in the case, said that he continued to believe his accusations about Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss were “constitutionally protected” under the First Amendment. He also refused to acknowledge that his statements had caused the women any damage — a key element required to collect a judgment in a defamation case.
You’ve been toast for some time, Rudy. You might as well accept it.
The Irish Times is reporting that Sinéad O’Connor died. She was only 56. The news story doesn’t say what she died of.
Kevin Spacey has been cleared of all sexual assault charges. Sorry about your career, Kevin.
This may be significant — “Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell suddenly stopped speaking during a weekly Republican leadership news conference on Wednesday afternoon, appearing to freeze, and then went silent and was walked away.” After a few minutes, he walked back and was able to speak. A TIA, maybe?
See Josh Marshall on the latest on the shrinking presidential hopes of Rhonda Santis.
I think it's time for McConnell to hang-up his cleats. He looks like he's ready to be positioned horizontally.
A friend of mine suggested if Taylor Swift did some concerts just for youth and particularly college students in swing states, the first dates to drive up registration and the second set to drive up youth turnout, she could singlehandedly change the election.
Hunter Biden, in spirit, reminds me of Billy Carter. He was Jimmy's brother and a loudmouth a-hole. I'm not sure what "normal" with DOJ is with the offenses Hunter is charged with. That's what should happen – the average penalty for his offenses. No more, no less. Regarding Burisma, there's STILL no credible evidence that links Hunter's sweetheart deal with them with any policy change from Biden to benefit Burisma. There's no evidence of any benefit to Joe Biden from ANY of the side deals Joe's family might have entered. I have no problem with future barriers to that kind of deal with the immediate family of the president, but if Hunter is "guilty" then let's look at Jarrad and tar Donald in exactly the same way. If they throw the book at Hunter for tax violations, then let's calculate the loss to NY and the feds from Trump's manipulation of property values and apply the same "Hang 'em high!" standard to Donald.
Rudy has pissed off the judge by refusing to participate in discovery. The admission today seems to be a ploy to skip giving up evidence as required and move to a dismissal on the grounds that the falsehoods didn't harm the plaintiff. Which the judge won't go for. I think the jury will rip Rudy wide open with damages. Rudy won't pay so that will open up a whole layer of public declarations of assets and liabilities under penalty of perjury. I'm not sure Rudy knows how much trouble he's in. He might have cut a deal if he told the truth to prosecutors but I don't see it.
I don't wish ill health on Mitch. After viewing the clip, it looks like he was either paralyzed or his brain locked up. We have a few of the walking dead on our side of the aisle. It's dangerous to the health of the country that politicians don't see when it's time to exit.
Ah, Rhonda! He's a hateful little b^tch without any personality. (Trump has personality – I'll give him that!) I think Trump's at his breaking point with the two new indictments bearing down. This is why Rhonda won't quit, though she may suspend her campaign. One felony case is time-consuming. (Been there.) Four criminal cases at the same time??? And Trump, mentally challenged as he is, is going to micromanage each one of them? While running a campaign? IF Trump got a legal mastermind and dumped the criminal load, it's conceivable. He hasn't and I predict Trump won't.
It's not just that Trump will be AWOL from the campaign trail. He's already screaming threats through Truth Social daily. Any number of Republicans have warned Trump that his most loyal followers are turned off by repeatedly making the campaign about 2020. The extent of fraud that Trump engineered to steal the election will be out there as the central issue of Trump's public persona. Trump is gonna come apart under the pressure – I'm talking stark raving lunatic. The 2024 election will be blown, not just POTUS, but all the GOP lackeys in Congress who continue to hug Trump. Depending on when the meltdown happens, the GOP may look to the bench for a relief pitcher. Rhonda is still gonna be the strongest runner-up because he's a hateful little b^itch. Rhonda won't be a candidate unless Trump drops out.
I'm not predicting this WILL happen but Trump is losing his ,,, stuff. It's gonna get worse. Something's got to give.
I'm glad I'm not young today.
Right now, their future looks grim.
Or, it could look good.
The next few years are critical.
"The urgency of now."
We are at that point:
"The Tipping Point."
As for me:
Oh waiter!
Check please!!!
Let us now praise defective people. The young do generally seem to understand this is no way toward anything but getting a dystopian future for themselves. They are not that comatose. Would it not wreak you to find out one of your young family members idolized Rudy or Ronda?
Someone like Jay Inslee, governor of the state of Washington, leads toward a much more promising tomorrow. Far from utopia, but at least a fair chance. Good they seem to be along for the ride.
Florida is where woke comes to die and Jim Crow is coming to thrive. Thank you, Gov. DeSantis for the stain of racism you are casting on our state.
Coke profits up 33% and pepsi doubled their profit from last year. New cars 48000 used 30000 and fed raised rates for 11th time since march 2022. Why is fed raining on the parade?
Unemployment down
Gdp up 2.4 %
What is missing here in Bidenomics ? Regulation
Obviously the invisible hand seems quite visible from a reality perspective.
MSM continues to blame Biden for wealth concentration climate border etcetcetc
When will Dem party(hakeem we are looking at you) quit playing possum?
Young people dont really understand how we got here they just know we are here and it sucks. If they are so smart why are so many states held hostage to taliban republican scum? Why can a joe manchin or tommy tuberville gum up the whole works=it is time to change the rules if majority continues to lose.
Had a conversation with my daughter as she was considering college. Russian is actually her milk language though you'd never know it. I suggested that one way to turn that ability into a profeession is to major in Poly Sci with an emphasis in International Studies and an eye on a job in the State Dept. Kathy is liberal – no surprise – and a political activist. She had me in BLM early on.
But Kathy won't consider a job in the federal government because of the evil that the US has done, a point of principle I agree with though we see different interventions by the US sometimes in different ways. But this needs to be addressed in HS in government classes. The US HAS been on the wrong side of different wars it's either conducted or subsidized. However, the way to improve the score, the ratio of good vs bad decisions is to get involved.
I think Kathy's cynical attitude is emblamatic among young folks. They have high ideals and sometimes they're better informed. If you're too stinking proud to get dirty, the people who will rule you are the people most comfortable with slime.