Cause For Optimism March 19, 2024March 17, 2024 But first . . . These must-watch 3 minutes, wherein Bill Maher acknowledges Trump’s official takeover of the Republican party — he installed his daughter-in-law in as chair of the RNC (that part is real) — and then . . . well, watch. Also fun, if you have time . . . JB Pritzker: How to Spot an Idiot (3 minutes). And: Joe Biden hears from 7 presidents in preparation for the State of the Union (4 minutes). Somehow I missed this at the time. And now . . . Jennifer Rubin lists Biden’s advantages over Trump. (And then offers the transcript of an exchange between George Stephanopoulos and one of Trump’s supporters.) There’s tons to be worried about. Including third party candidates who, like Ralph Nader, are being incredibly reckless. (Nader, disastrously, gave us Bush 43, and thus the war in Iraq, gigantic deficits, a near financial collapse, and the right-leaning Court that gave us Trump; who, in turn, gave us, among much else, the hard-right leaning Court that killed Roe. Nader, alone, could have prevented all that just by urging his swing-state supporters to vote for Al Gore.) But if we all keep at it, and keep our eyes on the ball, and give and volunteer, we’ll win.