Nikki likes Donny

All this trouble, and Nikki Haley says she'll pardon him if she wins.

The party of Lincoln giveth, the party of Lincoln, tries to taketh away. The trouble is the GOP isn’t feeling very well. They haven’t for a long time. Must be someone they elected.

A show-stopping moment, the world indeed slowed on Thursday, to listen to presidential candidate Haley fumble through “why the civil war”. If anyone hasn’t seen enough, here she splains in a shorter, still painful, version.

A real “gotcha'“ question for a third grader. The answer Joe Biden gave without hesitation was “Slavery”, easily winning the lighting round.

Our American historian of these times and the past, with little doubt is Heather Cox Richardson. Her knowledge and style help contextualize our daily trials. Subscribe to “Letters from An American” right now if you’re not yet. Her latest Substack offering is a must read telling the story of the party of Lincoln, from inception to the present state of affairs as only she can.

The Civil War was fought and won to insure the character of the nation, if I may add, we did not make the trip away from kings, our own selves a kind of slave, only to create a new world based on an even greater inequality of actual slavery. Lincoln and his ilk sought a different economic and social reality. A vision they felt was superior in every way. Some slave owners felt they would fight for their “way of life”, their right to own other people, capitalizing on their labor, and so, Civil War. Some say the South has never surrendered or ever will.

Indeed in 2024 we may be facing another civil war as we continue to pull further away from each other ideologically. A war of factions, the nation is of opinions in polar opposite ways. One to democracy, the other, dictatorship né Trump autocracy or something less final sounding. But he said it already,… the “d” word.

HCR talks about the party in their current MAGA phase of thought:

MAGA’s determination to impose white Christian nationalism on the United States of America is a rejection of the ideology of the Republican Party in all its phases. Rather than either an active government that defends equal rights and opportunity or a small government that protects property and relies on market forces, which Republicans stood for as recently as eight years ago, today’s Republicans advocate a strong government that imposes religious rules on society.

Haley’s response was about as good as DeSantis might do, which is to say, bungling in word, deed and thought. She was governor of South Carolina. She should do “south”. She will know this… psssst, starts with an s….

Where are Republicans pushing us? Heather Cox Richardson sees the future bleakly with them at the helm politically.

Domestically, the new ideology of MAGA means forcing the majority to live under the rules of a small minority; internationally, it means support for a global authoritarian movement. MAGA Republicans’ current refusal to fund Ukraine’s war against Russian aggression until the administration agrees to draconian immigration laws—which they are also refusing to participate in crafting—is not only a gift to Putin. It also suggests to any foreign government that U.S. foreign policy is changeable so long as a foreign government succeeds in influencing U.S. lawmakers. Under this system, American global leadership will no longer be viable.

And just yesterday…

Voila. Back to the start?

She may be Sen. Susan “I think Trump has learned his lesson” Collins in a rubber mask.

Could be?

Thanks for being here. ❤️ wouldn’t be here without you.