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It's funny. I took a few paragraphs of my post out.  Now given what you wrote I wish I'd left them in. What I said is that for most of my life one political model prevailed.  There was Team Republican and Team Democrat.  And there could be fierce political battles.  But often enough, especially on big things like winning the Cold War or creating a budget surplus, the two teams compromised and got big things done.  And this had an impact.  There are two Presidents who left office having restored trust in government to about 50 % of the public:  Reagan, then Clinton.  I'd argued that is because of what I said.  People noticed that the Cold War ended.  People noticed we had a budget surplus.  Since 2000, no POTUS has cracked something like 20-25 % of people who actually trust the government most of the time. Now the model is that we have Team Red and Team Blue.  There is much less respect for government, or politicians.  And, partly as result, more Independents who say a pox on both your houses.  But they have not been effective in building a third party.  And, with all due respect to Elon Musk, there is no reason to think they ever will succeed.  Parties can change, which Trump has proven.  But in the US that is how parties evolve.  It is very rare for them to die.  So then the game becomes trying to convince Independents, who are turned off in general anyway, that the other team is bat shit crazy.  And we have now had a bunch of close elections where it substantially comes down to which way Independents go. So that is what I took out of the post.  My point is that in a way what Democrats or Republicans think is irrelevant.  All that matters now is Independents. So from that perspective, we don't have to wonder how to convince Independents that this bill sucks, and is cruel.  The poll says they are there already.  They think the bill sucks.  And it is cruel.  That is the most important political fact.  This is why conservatives like Molly Ball are saying loud and clear in the Wall Street Journal that this is definitely bad news for Republicans.  Who were likely to face headwinds in 2026 anyway. What is also particularly toxic is that this poll shows that among Republicans who are NOT MAGA supporters, which is of course a minority of Republicans, they think this bill sucks and is cruel, too.   So for at least some slice of Republicans, Democrats are reinforcing what Republicans already believe.   For Republicans who are MAGA supporters, the poll confirms you are correct.  And our cruel barking dog is proof of concept. He deserves his treat.  Because he is conditioned to bark like mad.  Especially now.  The sick and cruel dog brain is conditioned to think this is loyalty.  Not cruelty.  In fact, if the sick and cruel dog brain could understand polls rather than Tik Tok, the barking dog might realize he is making an ass of himself.  And I am getting joy out of seeing him do it.  Which I suppose means I am not Mother Theresa.  I never pretended to be.  But the sick and cruel dog is helpless, and proves it with each new post.  So I will just goad him and laugh at him.  It neither helps not hurts the most important reality:  Independents think this bill is a  cruel piece of shit.

He wrote this after his concerts were banned in Canada in March 2022 under pressure from the large Ukrainian diaspora, consisting mainly of the descendants of Hitler's henchmen who fled to Canada. Without this declaration, he would have been left without concerts in the West, as happened with Netrebko, who did not bend under political pressure and was kicked out of the Metropolitan Opera for refusing to make a statement condemning Russian actions. And after the declaration, Malofeev's concerts were restored and they took place in the summer of 2022. And every publication about Malofeev's talent was necessarily accompanied by the quote you provided above. Malofeev in Vatican month ago:

A Will should be written as soon as one reaches a stage of financial independence and lives on their own. This could be as early as 21 years of age. One can never predict when they will die nor know the circumstances of the cause. An accident such as an auto accident, plane crash or any other disaster could leave the deceased's Estate with substantial money. Even a simple holographic (hand written Will) not witnessed can be probated.  There is no excuse for not having a Will. ( Not sure if holographic Wills are acceptable in Thailand). I had a friend in Thailand who had several "drafts" of his Will to insure his latest boyfriend(s) would be taken care of, but the drafts were never executed, only one Will from  years ago was witnessed, and so that boyfriend(s) received his inheritance.

Is there anyone, anywhere - even in Trump's administration - who actually believes there is no list?  Are we expected to believe that he chewed and swallowed it before being tipped off about his being arrested? From what we have learned about Epstein, among his many other dreadful traits the man was a master manipulator. Of course he had a list - and for us to be expected to believe it might have just been in his head has to be pure b/s. Somewhere there is a list with Trump, Clinton, Dershowitz, Prince Andrew and no doubt hundreds of other names on it. Perhaps his partner in crime Ghislaine Maxwell might know where it is, but I doubt it as surely she would have used that information to lighten her jail sentence. Someone must know and the secret remains hidden for the time being. Once Trump has finally been ousted fro the White house or is six feet under, that person may come forward. Whoever he or she may be, there will many tens of millions to be made from a book deal and various media events.

I have enjoyed what is rather loosely termed classical music since I started piano lessons at the age of six. I have had the joy of hearing many of the great musicians in concert and others on CDs and other means. Occasionally I come across a musician who I find extraordinary and of whom I have heard nothing at all! Anyone who happened to watch the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition Finals (something I would never normally do) will know that the 18-year old South Korean winner Yunchan Lim is an absolute genius. That one so young had never studied outside South Korea was extraordinary. And when he completed the marathon Third Concerto by Rachmaninoff, the conductor Marin Alsop was in tears, so magnificent had been his playing. He won the Competition by a large margin and is now a superstar. This morning I found a youtube concert by a young (and now very handsome!) 23-year old Russian, Alexander Malofeev. I was knocked out by his playing. This is a youtube version of his playing the very popular Second Concerto by Rachmaninof when he was only 15. The second movement is quite short and has several popular themes. One you will recognise is "All By Myself", the song made popular by Eric Carmen who himself was trained as a classical pianist. Carmen actually used this theme believing that Rachmaninoff's works were out of copyright. It so happened they were in the USA, but not in the rest of the world. As a result Rachmaninoff's estate earned hundreds of thousands of dollars! Start at 11:30 and the movement ends at 21:55   Malofeev could easily have stayed in Russia and been feted as a virtuoso pianist. Instead, in 2022 he was one of the few top Russian musicians to denounce Russia's invasion of Ukraine, declaring "every Russian will feel guilty for decades because of the terrible and bloody decision that none of us could influence and predict."  Soon after he defected and now lives in Berlin. And for anyone still interested, this is an interview the now 23-year old gave in English about growing up in Russia and life as a professional musician. This young man is almost certainly becoming one of the greats.