A week ago, no one other than people who knew them directly personally knew who the Tennessee Three were. A week later the world knows who they are, and as Obi-Wan Kenobi said to Darth Vader as he delivered what he thought was the killing blow, "Now I shall be more powerful than you can possibly imagine." And they are. Today the governor was forced to issue an executive order establishing background checks for gun sales, and to ask his fellow Unreconstructed Confederates in the legislature to pass a "red flag" bill.
TC, Quoting a fellow subscriber, I write to “[t]hank you for expressing the right attitude—the only possible attitude—so perfectly.”
As for Jones, Pearson, and Johnson, continuing to quote: “May [their]…clear voice[s] be heard! May [they]… echo! May many million voices join with [theirs]…! May we all live to see the deep changes towards which [they discerningly]…urge us.”
'George Lucas Explains The True Meaning Of 'Star Wars'
'George Lucas made a surprise appearance at the Star Wars Celebration event in Orlando where he took part in a panel discussion on the film franchise.'
'The “Star Wars” creator outlined in an interview with actor Warwick Davis at the event Thursday what his beloved film series is really all about.'
“The idea was simply to do a high-adventure film that I loved when I was a kid with meaningful psychological themes,” he said. “I’m not supposed to say this, and I wasn’t supposed to say it then, but it’s a film for 12-year-olds.”
He explained:
“It was designed to be a film, like mythology, of: This is what we stand for. You’re about to enter the real world. You’re 12 years old, you’re going to go on into the big world, you’re moving away from your parents being the center of focus.'
'You’re probably scared, you don’t know what’s going to happen, and here is a little idea of some of the things you should pay attention to: Friendships, honesty, trust and doing the right thing, living on the light side, avoiding the dark side. Those are things that it was meant to do.” (Huffpost) See link below.
Our oldest was so so taken by Star Wars, that at 12 he knew exactly what he wanted to do. He is now creative director for ILM, and has worked with so many like minded ppl who don't go to the dark side. :)
“Friendships, honesty, trust and doing the right thing, living on the light side, avoiding the dark side.” Guess some Republicans haven’t seen the film… or didn’t get its message
💩Some💩 Republicans? Rose, can you name any repubs other than the Lincoln Project leaders who openly have opposed 🤡 manbaby orange overcomb? Wouldn't it be nice if any with cojones in Congress leave the party and change the balance in voting (which was caused by cheating and lies that 🤡 accused Democrats of). If any republican'ts woke up one morning and said-- my colleagues are wearing AR-15 pins in Congress which was physically and purposely attacked on January 6 led by a former president who is again running for office, who supports and defends Putin and other dictators, wouldn't it be nice!
'Star Wars' screenings around the country where Americans coalesce in 'Friendships, honesty, trust and doing the right thing'. Now, what an extension to George Lukas' imaginings!
My father didn’t believe in owning a TV. We had books and music and nature walks and discipline and fair boundaries that gave us the courage to go forward as curious , creative and kind citizens. Parents are the directors of their children’s chances.
The truth, I was a Bambi fan and had to be carried out of a movie theatre at age three sobbing over the dreadful fire that killed Bambi’s mother.
Today my soul was set on fire watching “Our Universe” narrated by Morgan Freeman whose voice could be God’s voice!
In fairness to all 12 year olds I will watch “Star Wars”.🌈👏🏻🌍🪐🌙⭐️
I was pregnant when I went to the theater and slept through Star Wars. I never liked it and still don't. But I love Morgan Freeman and David Attenborough!
Bravo to your dad. My kids grew up barely watching TV - instead, they played outdoors. I myself lived without TV for many years, mostly the 1990s thru 2011. Now I'm retired and love Netflix. Skip Star Wars and watch "My Octopus Teacher."
Mary , “ My Octopus Teacher” is among my very,very favorite films.
Then, if you watch the episodes of “Animals” I think right about the 6 or 7th episode is about octopus. It is even better (promise) because it goes into deeper learning about this miracle Octopus creature! Hope you can see it. Netflix 🎶🦋👏🏻
These character traits; friendship, honesty, kindness, etc. are the crux of our S.E.L (social emotional learning) program at the school where I teach. And, yet another part of our education system the extremists are trying to squash. The entire Republican Party has gone to the dark side.
'Joseph Campbell's study of classic mythology influenced Lucas. Most famously, Lucas came to see Campbell as “his Yoda” after "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" inspired revisions of Star Wars that enhanced the archetypal qualities of its characters, the symbolic depth of its imagery, and the mythic structure of its narrative. As John Williams said, “Until Campbell told us what Star Wars meant […] we regarded it as a Saturdaymorning space movie” (starwars.com). The mythic structure he learned from Campbell, famously called The Hero’s Journey, has gone from Lucas’ secret weapon to an industry standard that can be seen in a majority of studios and franchises.'
It's interesting to see a book-length treatment of the psychological forces that drive the hero myths of civilizations being used as a protocol to sell movies. No wonder all American movies have come to all look alike. (grump)
PBS produced a wonderful miniseries where Joseph Campbell's book "The Power of Myth" was explored. It was narrated by Bill Moyers, who also interviewed Campbell, who died 3 weeks after filming concluded.
Well, it did so on the first one. The rest, not so much, though there's a sliding scale of "not so much" with the first trilogy at the bottom and the most recent two so stupid that I walked out of the first of them and avoided the last one completely. The first one and the first part of the second one with Yoda are the best parts of the series. Watch them and do whatever you want with the rest. The "corporatization" of Star Wars, and the "Disneyfication," have done what "corporatization" and "Disneyfication" do to anything: make it dumb and stupid.
TC you transported me to Star Wars early this morning because I wanted to understand your comment. It was a great flight and superb landing with Lukas' vision for the first Star Wars' movie before me. Ah, flights with you are always thrilling, TC. Thank you, 'plane -o' or was your first word, 'o-plane'?
I saw it when it first came out - I was in my early 20s. It’s never too late to learn those lessons (especially if you had a traumatic childhood). I was fortunate to have great and close friends beginning at an early age. We had great adventures - in our neighborhood! Life-saving
Dana, I have reconnected (via Facebook) with the family that lived 3 doors down from me; they were a blended family (5 boys, 4 girls) that missed only my grade in that 9; their cousin and I (a boy I had met in first grade, and we were fast friends) were in that grade. I credit this family with my success as a high school and college athlete. Star Wars was late for us (I was already in college, and 3 of that family were in the military) but the description posted above was exactly what we were about as a bunch.
Last night Joy Reid had Pearson on the show: he described the toxic environment of the TN house. And he’s right. In my limited interactions my experience has been they know they’re kings and who are you. (PS Tim Burchett, he of the “there’s nothing we can do” and “criminals will be criminals” and “you can’t legislate morality,” was in the TN state house and is now my “Representative.” This is what we in TN live with. I’m so proud of The Justins and Gloria Johnson, also from here, and I hope we’ll see lots more of them.
The 2 Justin's, MLM, are so well spoken, knowledgeable and previously were experienced organizers before they became Delegates and 2 of the "Tennessee 3" with Gloria, and now Rock Stars in the Tennessee legislature and known worldwide. Let's help them keep up the momentum for justice, gun safety and common sense laws for Tennesseans and spreading the word to other legislatures, for the rest of us! They are amazing young leaders!
Well, THAT was a revelation - an appalling one - and it's encouraging to find that there are people in TN who find this procedure anti-American/anti-democracy, and intend to fix it as soon as they can.
I cringe at the almost unavoidable abuse described by this report, unavoidable because that is the nature of the overwhelming power they sought and temporarily achieved. I cringe because on one hand, such opaque abuse of power can destroy a democracy. I cringe on the other hand because being unable to deliberate with enough safety and privacy that you can make decisions unpopular with collegues and voters (assuming that anyone still has a conscience over there) can also destroy a democracy.
I don't see any way around the fact that democracy requires a committment to itself strong enough that voters, citizens or leaders, are willing to lose while still having faith in the process.
“I don't see any way around the fact that democracy requires a committment to itself strong enough that voters, citizens or leaders, are willing to lose while still having faith in the process.” This! I read recently that there are 2 rules in life #1 Never quit! #2 Never forget #1!
Democrats in the Northern District need to come up with a different candidate. Golden in really a DINO, but he was actually better than the candidate the thugs put up this past November. [cue wail - "I wanted to vote for Chellie!"] I truly HATE having to vote for the lesser of two evils, but that was my only option this past November.
Sometimes that happens.....I had to vote for Kurt Schroeder a few times. Ugh. The only time I felt sorry for him was years ago when he was at the Salem Saturday Market trying to talk with constituents. There was one of the local anti abortion types there making it very difficult. But as with you, the R options were truly terrible like Tootie Smith, now the chair of the Clackamus (aka Clackastan) County Commission who just last week changed her vote so that a motel could not become a place for the unhoused. Someone or someones important to her campaign financing complained.
Right! As undesirable as he is, Bruce Poliquin was 100x worse. Hopefully enough in rural Maine will see the fascists for what they are with the lawsuits against their Faux News coming front and center
Maybe the best part of the Tennessee Three story is that now I hope -- I *know* -- that there are people like them in (almost?) every legislature in the country, even the reddest of red states, ready to stand up if the spotlight shines on them and doing the work until it does.
I’d like to think you’re right TC. I’d like to think this is an inflection point - for Tennessee, for the nation. But we live in an age of spin doctors and a 24 hour news cycle. Tennessee Republicans will work hard to slither past this without burning any further bridges in full view of a (mostly) appalled public. Then along will come the next “Chinese balloon” shiny object and Tennessee will slump back into unnoticed normality. With a supermajority. With no red flag law, even as they press other states to pass them. The ultimate “Do as I say” example.
I urge anyone to read “We’re Still Here: Pain and Politics in the Heart of America” by Jennifer Silva or “Raisiing Lazarus” by Beth Macy. In either book you will find an unbridgeable chasm between the poor, those with substance abuse disorder, and those who live daily trying to navigate personal violence. These people somehow manage to hold on to one core, highly personal, reason to live - one personal philosophy.
The saddest thing is that without exception they have zero faith in government and refuse to vote. America has kicked them to the curbside and doesn’t see them. They are still here though, a brilliant and meaningful abscess on the body politic.
They will not vote. The Democrats have one chance to put the Republicans out of their misery - and that is to go back to their roots as the party of the poor.
While I take heart from Tennessee, this is not systemic. Most of the Democrats are lost in the woods too - just not as deep and willfully as the Republicans.
When I was a step parent, my two step sons were at an age where, if they were upset (and there was reason for that to be true) they "acted out" by drawing on the wall of their room. When I spotted it, I made it clear I didn't like it. They kept doing it and I kept responding. I happened to do some "better person" training and realized I had set up a situation where the only "strokes" they got were negative, so they kept doing what got them the negative strokes. I stopped and started complimenting them on anything - no matter how small - they did that I wanted them to continue. Surprise surprise! After a while they stopped drawing on the walls. Today one of them has sons of his own, and he once told me he remembered that with me, and tries to practice it with his boys - who are turning out to be pretty amazing young men.
Complimenting someone for something, even when it's small and you don't think they'll do it again, can end up changing behavior. Not just in families.
I really appreciated the depth of thought in your comment. As a teacher, I always asked my classes (deliberately phrased in this direction), “ How many times are you complimented by your parents for each time you are praised?”
There would be a howl of laughter and one or more would inevitably say, “Phrase the question the opposite way”. They were almost all used to deluges of criticism.
And I parented from the get go on the “many compliments” theory. My wife took me in hand and educated me on that from the get go.
Anyway I’m not 100% sure I understand the relevance of your comment. I’m looking at the last sentence and guessing that you think my criticism was untimely. If so, I’ll certainly give that a second look.
In my SubStack “Cancel the American Dream” I write what I think is a well-researched, cogent analysis of America’s multiplicity of problems.
I find I’m getting sick of listening to myself, especially as I’m an outsider. So I’ve added a second set of articles, telling stories of what I find amazing about America.
There was no criticism of what you said; if it came across that way then I mis-wrote. I was meaning to say that no matter how small a step these politicians might take, and no matter how much we think/know they are doing it to weasel out and once the spotlight is off will return to their previous egregiousness, perhaps if they get complimented when they do the right thing no matter how small, they may discover they like getting the compliments which might lead to them continuing.
Wonder if the Faux News Cult has heard the Tennessee Three speak of their right to represent and be heard. So thankful for Dominion doing what was necessary. May Smartmatic add on and pile on.
A lingering question I have is why was Gloria Johnson the only other legislator to join Jones and Pearson in protesting? Kudos to her, but where were her colleagues?
Not only that, but the excellent investigative reporting of Popular Info has shined a big bright light on the cockroach Speaker of the TN House, Cameron Sexton. How do these scumbags get voted in to office?
Such blatant racism. Perhaps these young representatives broke “decorum” in the chamber but is that on a level that deserves expulsion? We have a former president who is a criminal and he gets away without consequence??? Yes, let that justice flow like a river!
These Tennessean Representatives HAD to break "decorum" since the white Republican speaker continually turned off their microphones evertime they tried to speak up to represent their voters. When we look up "good trouble" in future dictionaries, right next to "John Lewis" will be listed "Justin Jones and Justin Pearson."
Thanks, MaryPat. I, too, understood these three legislators repeatedly tried to be heard using the "decorous" methods but were sabotaged. They finally broke "decorum" during a recess (per reports) to support the thousands of student protesters on the Hill that day demanding a ban on assault rifles and related gun control. The R's lied about the "transgression" -- BIG SURPRISE!
The Big Lie, constantly perpetrated by the Big Liar (he learned it at his father’s knee), is a Big Disease. The TN three are part of the cure. They are heroic and giving US the gift of their energy and time. We owe them thanks and praise.
I love the rather unkind story from the days of George W. Bush's presidency (one thing about Trump, he's the best thing that ever happened to G.W.Bush), when he was new to the executive briefings that take place every morning at the White House.
As the aide read the list of news and action-worthy events from the night before, she was surprised when the President buried his face in his hands after she mentioned that 3 Brazilian peacekeepers had been killed in an incident in Angola; the aide was touched that the President seemed to be about to cry over the fate of three Brazilian soldiers.
She tentatively asked, "Are you alright, Mr. President?"
He replied, voice quavering, "It's just so horrible? How many is a "brasilian?"
I like this part, "The lawyer will investigate what led the defendant to this point and find out anything good they have done before the offense. All of their contributions to society, connections to the community, and all the positives about this person need to be presented to the court,"... and if the answer is "there are no positives"? Hmmmm.
Back in the day while gathering with rowdy friends, the notion of ‘fragile as egg shells’ would have been referred to in a much vulgar manner, ‘he has a paper rectum’! I cleaned the expression!
I usually try to dial back anything resembling profanity, much like I do at a local pizza & pub that caters to families ( a family - friendly " dive bar ! ), but there's a time & place to use it.
And RINOs have that nifty horn. Let's welcome them knowing we don't agree on much, but we all love democracy! Let's build the coalition of democrats, Red and Blue together against the destroyers! And when the destroyers are defeated, we will separate and civilly debate for a better future.
We know there are some Republicans who are sickened by what has happened to their Party, and we welcome them to join us, but to do so, they must reject the authoritarians and their racist, misogynist fascist agendas. Just sitting silently won't cut it.
The saddest thing is that they won't join the Democrats, because they've been convinced that the Dems, not the Repubs, are the party of "authoritarians" and "dictators." And we are, by design, unable to influence their information sources.
No matter how intelligent they may be as individuals, they are like a field of hammers, standing on their heads, waiting for someone to come along, grab their handles, and start hammering.
Whether in the majority or not, they are elected commissioners. They owe it to those who voted for them, and to those who pay whatever salary they get, to show up at meetings, listen to what people have to say, voice their opinions, and vote.
Full disclosure; I’m a former small town, unpaid, two six yr term zoning commissioner who sometimes voted with the minority. I raised my right hand and swore an oath. Those Republican Shelby County commissioners did as well.
Thank you for your voice. My father served on both petit and grand juries constantly. He was an employee in a small company. No question that unpaid jury duty was time off (understood no pay docked by the company) for patriotic duty. It was a different country in the mid-20th century.
When the news is framed in rational terms and people can respond to real events, we see the motions of push and pull with clear eyes. Again, Dr. Cox Richardson has placed the pieces in a pattern we can digest and find reason to continue the fight and continue to advocate. Fox "News", and Russian war crimes, vie with courtroom challenges for our attention. And the good Dr. weaves them into a tapestry that shows their relationships and meaning. I can breath easier, and hope you can too.
It's like having termites that the nasty, deadly insecticide does not affect. The termites just won't go away and keep going after the wood without a care for the world around them.
Bryan, I don't get it. I have reported over a dozen times. This idiot is still here.
Perhaps I should comment to TC's post above and ask him to add amazon links to every book he's published? I believe there are other published authors who comment, maybe they could do so as well.
Heck! Any Avon reps? Tupperware? Why not all post your wares here as well?
Is any of sourallib's work worth a reading? Is it good for a laugh? I could use one today, but I don't want to contaminate my laptop with the hootings of a self-described "Tarzan" unless it's really funny. Anyone?
To refer to the matter somewhat elliptically, I think Mr. Libor Soural's color knob is turned up a bit too high, leading him to describe things that are rather opaque to the rest of us. Please be kind, because I suspect that it's harder being Libor Soural than it is being around Libor Soural. For that reason, I'm willing to give him a pass, so long as he doesn't find a way to dominate the board.
Please read the Substack Inc standard Author, Platform & defined " Reader Contract.
You can get a copy of a prriof standard contract from former 'Authors'. If you do not know what I am talking about, see Columbia Journalism Report from 2 years ago or so. But, i would like one of the many good faith Authors in the LFAA Comm to post one here.
Know your contractual rights as a defined "Reader".
I do know the Reader Contact as well as reflecting on why one calls another who is calling out a 'termite'. Does the Contact and your conscience spell that out?
Trolls among other activities hollow cout their host(s) FERN, why don't you post your sample of the Substack Inc-Author contract?
Please delete any names on your contract sample except Substack Inc whose corporate office is also just around the corner from my old law office. JAMS, the chosen contract dispute resolution outfit is only a couple of blocks away as well. We are all vey close to each other.
I am working on blocking Trolls & the larger issue of Platform contractual duties to
"Readers".. My experience with over 20 matters at Substack Inc's chosen mediation venue in SF helps alot. JAMS is just around the corner from my old law office.
“You can't expel hope. You can’t expel justice,” Justin J. Pearson said. “You can't expel our voice. And you sure can’t expel our fight. We look forward to continuing to fight. Continuing to advocate. Until justice rolls down like water,” he said, echoing the Reverend Dr. King, “[a]nd righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
Rev Dr Martin Luther King's words surround the dramatic and overwhelming last meditative exhibit deep in the heart of the National Museum of African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian in Washington. The eloquence of Justin Pearson and HCR shows us the work here never ends. You can't bury the truth, but you sadly must bury the victims of lies.
Thank you for the link. Celebrate the little victories as we move toward ALL men (generic term now meaning men and women) are created equal. And with TFG's troubles the newly rediscovered mantra that "No one is above the law". Victims of gun violence or someone who knows a victim of gun violence and females who desire to control their own bodies will decide the 2024 elections. All these school shooting victims and those who graduated never having faced that but living under the threat of it every day will use their vote to ensure peace from dying in a classroom. Work at registering newly eligible voters. I believe Parkland made a difference in the 2020 elections and Oxford, Uvalde and Nashville will make a difference in 2024.
Love your optimism Sally - thx for sharing it and please continue to spread that stuff ! I do what I can within boundaries imposed by disabilities (work place injury in a "bidniss' friendly state"). I get a good measure of joy to be privileged to join in this community here, and do the little I can, sharing, greeting, meeting (such as it is), and learning; not just from our gifted, courageous HCR, but also from some awfully knowledgeable folks herein. Glad you and so many enjoyed the link. Keep the faith~
Me too Bill; all while searching my archives (messy) knowing I had articles and references. I am still so thankful Joan is still among us, fighting the good fights. She inspired me then and still yet - just adore her and always have. Thx Bill ~
Back in the day I was stunned by her voice. How does such an incredibly beautiful sound come from a human? Of course, the fact that her message was inspirational made for an epic combination. And...she is a beautiful person - inside and out.
If I were Justin I would make sure to save that video. As great as that video is, how sad that we have made so little progress since Joan Baez was protesting previously.
The Justins are going to be in the forefront in moving forward the American democratic ideal. They are eloquent, righteous, politically savvy, idealistic, have a clear appreciation of history, are warm, personable, magnetic and unafraid.
They are what we all need now--vivid examples of people in the next generation that will do the work to confront and defeat the white christian nationalist autocracy.
Christian, my fat red rump ! Vlad Tepes was more Christian. Victor Von Doom is more Christian. Darth Vader - more Christian. SATAN - more Christian ( a lot of irony ).
Thanks, Heather, for pointing out what appear to be signs that there will finally be a reckoning for those committed to authoritarianism rather than democracy. I hope there will not be further delays. No more powerful expression of democracy at work than the reinstatement of Jones and Pearson to their elected office. May justice finally prevail against those who seek to pervert it.
But, I am impatient for the US to avoid another post Civil War disaster by letting the traitors off and, further, paying them money. Remember that? We gave the "free slaves" a wonderful present called: Slavery is abolished except for those convicted of a crime"....so? We convicted most of the black men of a crime and tossed them into Angola, which, was a plantation until it became a prison for the same black men that were on the Plantation. Then, we PAID the white guys for their "loss".
So, knowing that we have history of letting the crooks continue to be crooks, I am speaking out. Every day is a full cup for me. Of anger.
IF we let Trump and his merry men go, which, appears more and more likely to me, then, its over here.
I’m dancing with joy today, watching the Three minority Tennesseans courageously standing up to the oppression of the patriarchy/corporatocracy/kleptocracy to make sure the voices of their constitutents are heard. And Abby Grossman for recording the bturds malicious intent and her courage in taking them to court and Judge Davis for sanctioning faux’s lawyers for hiding evidence. 🥳👏🏼💃🏻 I’m giving a shout out to a working democracy today and hopeful more people will see it and want to be it! 🤩🤩
Hmm. I'm not sure what you are advocating here. In all too many countries, if the former guy was making so much trouble, they would have simply shot him. In other counties, Trump never would have lost power. In yet other countries, "things" would happen behind the scenes, Trump would fall silent for unknown reasons, the power structure would be undisturbed, and the public would never knows what happened.
It sure ain't perfect, but I'll still take a society where everyone gets to watch and everything gets handled in open court and in newspapers, even if it does move maddeningly slowly.
Dirk Addertongue, you are so right. Justice has been slow in coming but I do believe it is coming. With enough rope they are well on their way to the gallows or so it seems. The light side will be vindicated, of that I’m certain but I’ve had my misgivings. We must all lift each other up when the Dawn is coming but we don’t see evidence of it yet. What a week ...
Trump creates his own storm of lies that cause a hurricane of bad press for him. Then he tells the judge to postpone and relocate his trial because the jury pool is poisoned by him. This is like the boy who kills parents and asks the judge for mercy because he is an orphan. I hope the judge tells him to "bug off" (in polite legal language, of course) and fines him and his lawyers for bringing frivolous suits. Meanwhile, I am preparing a message of "thoughts and prayers" in case his beloved "2nd Amendment" people take action.
He is simply “Flooding the Zone with Shit” to distract from our ability to take in the truly far reaching scope of his crimes. Lucky for us, we have Heather to help filter out the excrement and thoughtfully present the essential information that remains.
Thank you, for another informative, concise review of current events and some historical significance. I just can’t shake my head anymore with the goings on in our nation. Sometimes, the attack on human rights and democracy is just overwhelming.
'A federal appeals court late Wednesday partially blocked a decision by a judge in Texas to suspend U.S. government approval of a key abortion medication but set significant restrictions on the pill that could limit access nationwide.'
'The court’s order maintains mifepristone’s availability for now, although it temporarily prevents the drug from being sent to patients by mail and limits its approved use to the first seven weeks of pregnancy.'
'The Biden administration said Thursday it would immediately ask the Supreme Court to intervene.'
“The Justice Department strongly disagrees with the Fifth Circuit’s decision," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. "We will be seeking emergency relief from the Supreme Court to defend the FDA’s scientific judgment and protect Americans’ access to safe and effective reproductive care.”
'The order from the conservative U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit is directly at odds with a separate ruling last week from a federal judge in Washington state, and creates uncertainty and confusion about how and when patients can access the pill used in more than half of the abortions in the United States.' (WAPO) See link below. Sorry that gifting option is not available.
Isn’t it time to do the polite thing and send congratulations to the NRA and Republican National Committee every time there’s a mass shooting? If that isn’t too wearying a task.
How about the Repugnants who are actually LOOSENING restrictions on guns after mass shootings, even the murders of children?! It's more than insulting.
Having people carry signs that look like tombstones with the names of the massacres and the people killed by named weapons at the NRA upcoming meeting where trump & pence are speaking would be an idea.
I live in a city that is the county seat. For years, all we had were antiques stores and a couple of restaurants. Right before Covid hit, millennial groups reinvented our drab city and it has become alive with restaurants, music, breweries, and markets. Like the two Justins, this age group is stimulated by what they’ve lived through, what they have seen and experienced. Their enthusiasm and commitment has trickled down to me, a 72 yr old activist. I was like them once. Fighting for justice around every corner. The Tennessee Repubs met their match and then some. Schumer and a few other Democrats have asked Garland to investigate what went on in those chambers. I can tell you that it was a poisonous act. But guess what? That apple got thrown right back in the good ole boys faces! Between these marvelous and bright Justins and those who are GenZers, I think we’ll be okay.
7 days ago, no one outside of the TN statehouse knew who the “Justins” were. A week later, we all know who the “Justins” are! A WEEK! Actually it took 4 days! Justice wasn’t waiting for enough evidence or an indictment, or testimonies, tapes, subpoenas, hearings, arguments, time wasted, frivolous appeals. None of that bullshit. Justice jumped up and bit white supremacy in the ass!!!
Learning about the actions and aspirations of the American people so often tends to be more uplifting than learning about the actions and aspirations of their American politicians.
Reading Martin Luther King's words about the waters of justice, seeing, feeling the vast power that image expressed, I remembered Moses striking the rock in the wilderness, and water gushing forth.
*
Those words, again:
"WE WILL NOT BE SATISFIED TILL JUSTICE ROLLS DOWN LIKE WATERS AND RIGHTEOUSNESS LIKE A MIGHTY STREAM."
I have noticed that most of HCR's readership seem averse to anything that was written in the Bible. Maybe that's just a side-effect of modern secularism, maybe it is a consequence of having had one's head battered with a heavy Bible... As a teenager, I had that, day in, day out.
Left school, head throbbing, and the fields of my mind had to be left fallow for years.
Yet, even then, words continued to resonate. The Bible. Shakespeare.
No beliefs, yet breathing peace on entering English village churches, feeling the sheer power of Reims Cathedral (where they crowned the kings of France...).
In time, questions brought answers (and answers seed more questions).
This morning, I drew on Greek myth, the hero Hercules... yet other words were rumbling somewhere in the depths of my mind, old echoes. I remembered Moses striking the rock. And yes, King's words seemed to evoke something.
I looked and came to the context: Amos 5.
I can't have read that for many decades, but... those are words of power.
Words of Power.
You don't need to be a believer to feel the power of a great cathedral, you don't need to be a scholar to feel the earthquake force of Shakespeare's words in Hamlet or King Lear, you don't need to call yourself a Jew to sense the vast resonant echoes of Isaiah 6. Or here, the Prophet Amos...
“I hate, I despise your religious festivals;
your assemblies are a stench to me."
Why not read the whole chapter... and let it resonate, in our guts, in our minds?
Or those words of that other prophet...
"Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed."
Do we really HAVE to stay deaf to truth, do we have to stay blind to sense, when even the blind can feel it?
People think Biblical prophets "foretell the future" but what they really do is call a community, a people, back from wandering off course. The two Justins carry the thread of Amos, giving it power in 2023.
I would not say "most of the readership" since there seems to be no shortage of people here objecting to using "Christian" to describe people who deem themselves to be Christian Nationalists.
I am one of the readership that fundamentally hates having Christianity shoved down my throat at every turn, and the reason for that is the people who are nothing like the words written (many years later, by powerful men, who allegedly were documenting what the Christ said and what it meant, but I digress) telling people like me that we are unclean, undeserving, and unredeemable unless and until we accept their version of the Christ.
Why is Amos drowned out by the story of Sodom and Gomorrah? I've never heard of Amos, but by gum, I have been bludgeoned with the tale of Sodom and Gomorrah.
I can only speak for myself, of course, but I think that we "progressives" pride ourselves on a allegience to "Truth through Rational Means." That certainly describes me, ever suspcious of anything that smacks of the irrational. It's only in my old age that I'm finally grappling with "Truths that are Irrational" issue, a difficult task for someone who avoids any conclusion that doesn't leave an evidence trail.
Thank you, J L Graham, for completing what I wrote.
In today's world, even those who abominate Darwin believe in "the survival of the fittest" and act in accordance with their understanding of those words, aggressively.
Again and again, the word "fight", again and again, war and every form of violence.
And yes, we may have to fight... for peace, for peace with justice.
Remembering mythical hero Hercules... he fought many fights, and overcame.
But when he broke the banks of rivers and channeled their waters through the deep layers of filth in the Augean Stables, that was not "fighting", that was Nature restoring the world... (Yet, no one speaks of the fertility that action will have spread...)
The aim of all action, very much including all fights, must be Peace.
And Peace is not inertia, not inaction, not some couch potatoes' kingdom, but in it energy works for us, not only against us. Like the explosions in an internal combustion engine...? Yes... Only, more freely.
*
An important postscriptum:
Does not the latest scientific research show that symbiosis, life forms that develop through networks of inter-dependence, are those that have survived the best?
It has been noticed that life seems an exception to the notion that entropy, the decay of order and concentration of energy, seems to be challenged by life. It's not really, or course, but life in effect tacks against the wind, as a sailboat powered by the wind cleverly controlled can sail against the wind in a zig-zag pattern. Nature never does our bidding, but if we know her ways, we can sometimes hitch a ride. Nature can and does crush us like bugs, especially when we don't pay her enough attention.
Coincidentally, I was using the metaphor of tacking into the wind in another context today: that of countering action by people who are very powerful but wrong-headed... like those Foes of the Earth whom I call "philentropists".
Another piece of wordplay came to me while reading your post... In place of anthropology, read entropology... The study of human regression...?
Bound to attract me, given the self-debunking character of positivism and positivists' pet fetish, Progress...
It strikes me that Biden tacked into the wind when he trapped "Republicans" into vowing to preserve Social Security. Yes, they will still try to work their dark arts, but now they're in a bind.
With respect to Darwin, I notice that aggressive narcissists are master cherry-pickers when they are not outright fabulists. Yup, there is certainly competition, but also cooperation in nature, even among unicellular creatures, without which, we we wouldn't be here. Moreover, I think self-conscious agency inevitably confers responsibility. I think that is the core message of the story of Adam and Eve, apart from it's punitive context. Life is not inherently fair, but sentient creatures face choices, and we have evolved to the point of having clues about the nature of our own processes. The universe may not care if we go the way of the dinosaurs, but it will matter to us.
Solidarity IS NOT conformity, even though they may have a common ground. Conformity is " mechanical ", solidarity is organic. That's my humble opinion anyway.
Mechanical as in "cookie cutter". I think it is the heart of malignant narcissism to insist that all others be just like you, or like what you imagine yourself to be.
& perhaps a symptom of OCD & / or Asperger's Syndrome. I have OCD that can go from mild to moderate, & had to study Aspergers & autism because I worked with a young woman who was extremely autistic. My cousin is 52 & has shown signs of Asperger's since I came here in '08.
The Russian tactic of 'encouraging' and/or requiring their soldiers to participate in war crimes as a way of binding them to their units and their mission is precisely what was done during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. People who were not members of the Interahamwe (civilian militias) were forced to commit murders with their own hands at roadblocks all over the country or else be killed themselves. Some did it for the chance of profiting by the act, or as a form of revenge, but for the majority it was much like the Bosnian truck drivers forced to drive loads of bodies away from mass murder sites for burial in secret - do your part or be part of the load. It is now estimated (by Gerald Prunier among others) that at least one third of the Hutu population of Rwanda at the time directly participated in at least one murder, though relatively few were leaders of any kind.
Although this is off topic, I want to share what I learned from a friend just back from Burundi and Rwanda. Things are looking up in Rwanda, one place on earth I had no desire to visit. Healing has begun and continues. It was one of the most hopeful things I've heard in a long time.
Pat MacEwen, I appreciate your reminder that all participants in war do not have the same motivations. People are never a monolith. “Participate or get the next bullet” when you have a family or loved one depending on you, I feel, produces a lot of horrible choices in war. You remind me to tread carefully with my blanket judgements.
"do your part or be part of the load" Kinda applies to all of us, eh? Get off your duff, pay attention, say/do something, or you're part of the problem.
Thank you. I had seen some mention of this one, but nothing in detail as yet. There are a number of horrible aspects to the whole thing, not least being the treatment of Russian soldiers by their own leadership.
That falls into the same category as " when are they going to tell MTG aka Maniac Marjorie to get the freak out of DC & NEVER RETURN ? ". Not only is she BS insane, she fills NO purpose in a democracy trying to heal after 4 years of having a corrupt, negligent " administration ".
A week ago, no one other than people who knew them directly personally knew who the Tennessee Three were. A week later the world knows who they are, and as Obi-Wan Kenobi said to Darth Vader as he delivered what he thought was the killing blow, "Now I shall be more powerful than you can possibly imagine." And they are. Today the governor was forced to issue an executive order establishing background checks for gun sales, and to ask his fellow Unreconstructed Confederates in the legislature to pass a "red flag" bill.
TC, Quoting a fellow subscriber, I write to “[t]hank you for expressing the right attitude—the only possible attitude—so perfectly.”
As for Jones, Pearson, and Johnson, continuing to quote: “May [their]…clear voice[s] be heard! May [they]… echo! May many million voices join with [theirs]…! May we all live to see the deep changes towards which [they discerningly]…urge us.”
'George Lucas Explains The True Meaning Of 'Star Wars'
'George Lucas made a surprise appearance at the Star Wars Celebration event in Orlando where he took part in a panel discussion on the film franchise.'
'The “Star Wars” creator outlined in an interview with actor Warwick Davis at the event Thursday what his beloved film series is really all about.'
“The idea was simply to do a high-adventure film that I loved when I was a kid with meaningful psychological themes,” he said. “I’m not supposed to say this, and I wasn’t supposed to say it then, but it’s a film for 12-year-olds.”
He explained:
“It was designed to be a film, like mythology, of: This is what we stand for. You’re about to enter the real world. You’re 12 years old, you’re going to go on into the big world, you’re moving away from your parents being the center of focus.'
'You’re probably scared, you don’t know what’s going to happen, and here is a little idea of some of the things you should pay attention to: Friendships, honesty, trust and doing the right thing, living on the light side, avoiding the dark side. Those are things that it was meant to do.” (Huffpost) See link below.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/george-lucas-meaning-of-star-wars_n_58f04cd0e4b0da2ff85facfb
Our oldest was so so taken by Star Wars, that at 12 he knew exactly what he wanted to do. He is now creative director for ILM, and has worked with so many like minded ppl who don't go to the dark side. :)
WOW! How cool is THAT?!
“Friendships, honesty, trust and doing the right thing, living on the light side, avoiding the dark side.” Guess some Republicans haven’t seen the film… or didn’t get its message
💩Some💩 Republicans? Rose, can you name any repubs other than the Lincoln Project leaders who openly have opposed 🤡 manbaby orange overcomb? Wouldn't it be nice if any with cojones in Congress leave the party and change the balance in voting (which was caused by cheating and lies that 🤡 accused Democrats of). If any republican'ts woke up one morning and said-- my colleagues are wearing AR-15 pins in Congress which was physically and purposely attacked on January 6 led by a former president who is again running for office, who supports and defends Putin and other dictators, wouldn't it be nice!
I wouldn't piss on a Republican if they were on fire.
Gigi, you are right.
I really don't like to generalize, Rose, but after all these years their silence is deafening. They stand for "I got mine and good luck to you."
'Star Wars' screenings around the country where Americans coalesce in 'Friendships, honesty, trust and doing the right thing'. Now, what an extension to George Lukas' imaginings!
My father didn’t believe in owning a TV. We had books and music and nature walks and discipline and fair boundaries that gave us the courage to go forward as curious , creative and kind citizens. Parents are the directors of their children’s chances.
The truth, I was a Bambi fan and had to be carried out of a movie theatre at age three sobbing over the dreadful fire that killed Bambi’s mother.
Today my soul was set on fire watching “Our Universe” narrated by Morgan Freeman whose voice could be God’s voice!
In fairness to all 12 year olds I will watch “Star Wars”.🌈👏🏻🌍🪐🌙⭐️
I was pregnant when I went to the theater and slept through Star Wars. I never liked it and still don't. But I love Morgan Freeman and David Attenborough!
Bravo to your dad. My kids grew up barely watching TV - instead, they played outdoors. I myself lived without TV for many years, mostly the 1990s thru 2011. Now I'm retired and love Netflix. Skip Star Wars and watch "My Octopus Teacher."
Mary , “ My Octopus Teacher” is among my very,very favorite films.
Then, if you watch the episodes of “Animals” I think right about the 6 or 7th episode is about octopus. It is even better (promise) because it goes into deeper learning about this miracle Octopus creature! Hope you can see it. Netflix 🎶🦋👏🏻
Thank you, I'll watch it tonight!
“My Octopus Teacher” is the BEST documentary I’ve ever seen!
At least the first one (now called Episode 4). The rest, not so much.
These character traits; friendship, honesty, kindness, etc. are the crux of our S.E.L (social emotional learning) program at the school where I teach. And, yet another part of our education system the extremists are trying to squash. The entire Republican Party has gone to the dark side.
'Joseph Campbell's study of classic mythology influenced Lucas. Most famously, Lucas came to see Campbell as “his Yoda” after "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" inspired revisions of Star Wars that enhanced the archetypal qualities of its characters, the symbolic depth of its imagery, and the mythic structure of its narrative. As John Williams said, “Until Campbell told us what Star Wars meant […] we regarded it as a Saturdaymorning space movie” (starwars.com). The mythic structure he learned from Campbell, famously called The Hero’s Journey, has gone from Lucas’ secret weapon to an industry standard that can be seen in a majority of studios and franchises.'
https://www.indiewire.com/2018/03/joseph-campbell-heros-journey-2001-star-wars-1201937470/
It's interesting to see a book-length treatment of the psychological forces that drive the hero myths of civilizations being used as a protocol to sell movies. No wonder all American movies have come to all look alike. (grump)
PBS produced a wonderful miniseries where Joseph Campbell's book "The Power of Myth" was explored. It was narrated by Bill Moyers, who also interviewed Campbell, who died 3 weeks after filming concluded.
I loved that series! And had no idea that Campbell died so soon thereafter.
Well, it did so on the first one. The rest, not so much, though there's a sliding scale of "not so much" with the first trilogy at the bottom and the most recent two so stupid that I walked out of the first of them and avoided the last one completely. The first one and the first part of the second one with Yoda are the best parts of the series. Watch them and do whatever you want with the rest. The "corporatization" of Star Wars, and the "Disneyfication," have done what "corporatization" and "Disneyfication" do to anything: make it dumb and stupid.
TC you transported me to Star Wars early this morning because I wanted to understand your comment. It was a great flight and superb landing with Lukas' vision for the first Star Wars' movie before me. Ah, flights with you are always thrilling, TC. Thank you, 'plane -o' or was your first word, 'o-plane'?
It was, according to mommie dearest, "O-pane". :-)
I'll remember and write it down, just in case. Thank you, TCin not LA!
Guess I was too old to enjoy the Star Wars series once I saw the first one.
I saw it when it first came out - I was in my early 20s. It’s never too late to learn those lessons (especially if you had a traumatic childhood). I was fortunate to have great and close friends beginning at an early age. We had great adventures - in our neighborhood! Life-saving
Dana, I have reconnected (via Facebook) with the family that lived 3 doors down from me; they were a blended family (5 boys, 4 girls) that missed only my grade in that 9; their cousin and I (a boy I had met in first grade, and we were fast friends) were in that grade. I credit this family with my success as a high school and college athlete. Star Wars was late for us (I was already in college, and 3 of that family were in the military) but the description posted above was exactly what we were about as a bunch.
And it did it so well. And continues to do so
Last night Joy Reid had Pearson on the show: he described the toxic environment of the TN house. And he’s right. In my limited interactions my experience has been they know they’re kings and who are you. (PS Tim Burchett, he of the “there’s nothing we can do” and “criminals will be criminals” and “you can’t legislate morality,” was in the TN state house and is now my “Representative.” This is what we in TN live with. I’m so proud of The Justins and Gloria Johnson, also from here, and I hope we’ll see lots more of them.
On the path forward, please consider joining our Giving Circle, Tending To Democracy, https://www.grapevine.org/giving-circle/1XQhnyD/Tending-to-Democracy. We’re part of The States Project, and we have seen up close how desperately this state needs revision!
The 2 Justin's, MLM, are so well spoken, knowledgeable and previously were experienced organizers before they became Delegates and 2 of the "Tennessee 3" with Gloria, and now Rock Stars in the Tennessee legislature and known worldwide. Let's help them keep up the momentum for justice, gun safety and common sense laws for Tennesseans and spreading the word to other legislatures, for the rest of us! They are amazing young leaders!
This excellent report on TN “voice votes”shows the corruption that power can grow.
https://twitter.com/noliewithbtc/status/1645259456605827072?s=46&t=CX_bOzeU4s-6QHyRMXmUsw
Well, THAT was a revelation - an appalling one - and it's encouraging to find that there are people in TN who find this procedure anti-American/anti-democracy, and intend to fix it as soon as they can.
I cringe at the almost unavoidable abuse described by this report, unavoidable because that is the nature of the overwhelming power they sought and temporarily achieved. I cringe because on one hand, such opaque abuse of power can destroy a democracy. I cringe on the other hand because being unable to deliberate with enough safety and privacy that you can make decisions unpopular with collegues and voters (assuming that anyone still has a conscience over there) can also destroy a democracy.
I don't see any way around the fact that democracy requires a committment to itself strong enough that voters, citizens or leaders, are willing to lose while still having faith in the process.
“I don't see any way around the fact that democracy requires a committment to itself strong enough that voters, citizens or leaders, are willing to lose while still having faith in the process.” This! I read recently that there are 2 rules in life #1 Never quit! #2 Never forget #1!
TCInLA, thank you for your diligently work in cleaning up yet another fine mess someone else has gotten us into.
FYI, the 'Delaware Courts' has published a Public Notice for digital access to the "audio only" of the Trial of Dominion vs Fox News & Fox Corp.
I recommend reviewing Judge Eric Davis' pre-Trial Orders before taking a digital seat in the Courtroom. Popcorn OK.
Woo hoo!
Democratic Rep. Jared Golden of Maine voted against the red flag bill. Time to vote him out.
Democrats in the Northern District need to come up with a different candidate. Golden in really a DINO, but he was actually better than the candidate the thugs put up this past November. [cue wail - "I wanted to vote for Chellie!"] I truly HATE having to vote for the lesser of two evils, but that was my only option this past November.
Sometimes that happens.....I had to vote for Kurt Schroeder a few times. Ugh. The only time I felt sorry for him was years ago when he was at the Salem Saturday Market trying to talk with constituents. There was one of the local anti abortion types there making it very difficult. But as with you, the R options were truly terrible like Tootie Smith, now the chair of the Clackamus (aka Clackastan) County Commission who just last week changed her vote so that a motel could not become a place for the unhoused. Someone or someones important to her campaign financing complained.
She's one of the ones that I really detest.
Somehow Tootie fits her.
Right! As undesirable as he is, Bruce Poliquin was 100x worse. Hopefully enough in rural Maine will see the fascists for what they are with the lawsuits against their Faux News coming front and center
TC, thank you for once again adding to our knowledge—this time without gratuitous name calling.
Maybe the best part of the Tennessee Three story is that now I hope -- I *know* -- that there are people like them in (almost?) every legislature in the country, even the reddest of red states, ready to stand up if the spotlight shines on them and doing the work until it does.
I’d like to think you’re right TC. I’d like to think this is an inflection point - for Tennessee, for the nation. But we live in an age of spin doctors and a 24 hour news cycle. Tennessee Republicans will work hard to slither past this without burning any further bridges in full view of a (mostly) appalled public. Then along will come the next “Chinese balloon” shiny object and Tennessee will slump back into unnoticed normality. With a supermajority. With no red flag law, even as they press other states to pass them. The ultimate “Do as I say” example.
I urge anyone to read “We’re Still Here: Pain and Politics in the Heart of America” by Jennifer Silva or “Raisiing Lazarus” by Beth Macy. In either book you will find an unbridgeable chasm between the poor, those with substance abuse disorder, and those who live daily trying to navigate personal violence. These people somehow manage to hold on to one core, highly personal, reason to live - one personal philosophy.
The saddest thing is that without exception they have zero faith in government and refuse to vote. America has kicked them to the curbside and doesn’t see them. They are still here though, a brilliant and meaningful abscess on the body politic.
They will not vote. The Democrats have one chance to put the Republicans out of their misery - and that is to go back to their roots as the party of the poor.
While I take heart from Tennessee, this is not systemic. Most of the Democrats are lost in the woods too - just not as deep and willfully as the Republicans.
When I was a step parent, my two step sons were at an age where, if they were upset (and there was reason for that to be true) they "acted out" by drawing on the wall of their room. When I spotted it, I made it clear I didn't like it. They kept doing it and I kept responding. I happened to do some "better person" training and realized I had set up a situation where the only "strokes" they got were negative, so they kept doing what got them the negative strokes. I stopped and started complimenting them on anything - no matter how small - they did that I wanted them to continue. Surprise surprise! After a while they stopped drawing on the walls. Today one of them has sons of his own, and he once told me he remembered that with me, and tries to practice it with his boys - who are turning out to be pretty amazing young men.
Complimenting someone for something, even when it's small and you don't think they'll do it again, can end up changing behavior. Not just in families.
I really appreciated the depth of thought in your comment. As a teacher, I always asked my classes (deliberately phrased in this direction), “ How many times are you complimented by your parents for each time you are praised?”
There would be a howl of laughter and one or more would inevitably say, “Phrase the question the opposite way”. They were almost all used to deluges of criticism.
And I parented from the get go on the “many compliments” theory. My wife took me in hand and educated me on that from the get go.
Anyway I’m not 100% sure I understand the relevance of your comment. I’m looking at the last sentence and guessing that you think my criticism was untimely. If so, I’ll certainly give that a second look.
In my SubStack “Cancel the American Dream” I write what I think is a well-researched, cogent analysis of America’s multiplicity of problems.
I find I’m getting sick of listening to myself, especially as I’m an outsider. So I’ve added a second set of articles, telling stories of what I find amazing about America.
Always enjoy reading you T.C. :)
There was no criticism of what you said; if it came across that way then I mis-wrote. I was meaning to say that no matter how small a step these politicians might take, and no matter how much we think/know they are doing it to weasel out and once the spotlight is off will return to their previous egregiousness, perhaps if they get complimented when they do the right thing no matter how small, they may discover they like getting the compliments which might lead to them continuing.
Thanks TC.
One hopes…
Sizzlin, TC, sizzlin’ on the griddle.
Salud.
🗽
Indeed!
Wonder if the Faux News Cult has heard the Tennessee Three speak of their right to represent and be heard. So thankful for Dominion doing what was necessary. May Smartmatic add on and pile on.
A lingering question I have is why was Gloria Johnson the only other legislator to join Jones and Pearson in protesting? Kudos to her, but where were her colleagues?
I sure hope this continues in TN. Evoking Star Wars now... that is masterful.
Not only that, but the excellent investigative reporting of Popular Info has shined a big bright light on the cockroach Speaker of the TN House, Cameron Sexton. How do these scumbags get voted in to office?
https://open.substack.com/pub/popularinformation/p/update-tennessee-house-speaker-secretly?r=2xpfg&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
🖖🏼
“The Republicans on the [Shelby County] commission didn’t show up to vote.”
How’s that for standing up for what you believe in?
Real profiles in courage, those Republicans. Yes sir!
“Are you mice or are you men? Well, squeak up!”
Such blatant racism. Perhaps these young representatives broke “decorum” in the chamber but is that on a level that deserves expulsion? We have a former president who is a criminal and he gets away without consequence??? Yes, let that justice flow like a river!
These Tennessean Representatives HAD to break "decorum" since the white Republican speaker continually turned off their microphones evertime they tried to speak up to represent their voters. When we look up "good trouble" in future dictionaries, right next to "John Lewis" will be listed "Justin Jones and Justin Pearson."
and Gloria Johnson
Thanks, Yes, Gloria Johnson!
Thanks, MaryPat. I, too, understood these three legislators repeatedly tried to be heard using the "decorous" methods but were sabotaged. They finally broke "decorum" during a recess (per reports) to support the thousands of student protesters on the Hill that day demanding a ban on assault rifles and related gun control. The R's lied about the "transgression" -- BIG SURPRISE!
The Big Lie, constantly perpetrated by the Big Liar (he learned it at his father’s knee), is a Big Disease. The TN three are part of the cure. They are heroic and giving US the gift of their energy and time. We owe them thanks and praise.
Wire fraud... now that sounds juicy! State Republicans have painted themselves into one sweet corner by doubling down.
Will they charge each count of wire fraud? I don’t think people are used to numbers like “a gazillion”.
I love the rather unkind story from the days of George W. Bush's presidency (one thing about Trump, he's the best thing that ever happened to G.W.Bush), when he was new to the executive briefings that take place every morning at the White House.
As the aide read the list of news and action-worthy events from the night before, she was surprised when the President buried his face in his hands after she mentioned that 3 Brazilian peacekeepers had been killed in an incident in Angola; the aide was touched that the President seemed to be about to cry over the fate of three Brazilian soldiers.
She tentatively asked, "Are you alright, Mr. President?"
He replied, voice quavering, "It's just so horrible? How many is a "brasilian?"
I laughed out loud.
Can't say, but here's one article on the matter. I'm inclined to think that if wire fraud is established, it's pretty serious. https://criminallawyerwashingtondc.com/dc-federal-criminal-lawyer/mail-and-wire-fraud/sentencing/
I like this part, "The lawyer will investigate what led the defendant to this point and find out anything good they have done before the offense. All of their contributions to society, connections to the community, and all the positives about this person need to be presented to the court,"... and if the answer is "there are no positives"? Hmmmm.
Quintinfinityillion ?
They love to bully; but when the sides are more even, they, like their exemplar"Fearless Leader", are as fragile as egg shells
When the going gets tough, the " tough " get diarrhea & run to the restroom !
Back in the day while gathering with rowdy friends, the notion of ‘fragile as egg shells’ would have been referred to in a much vulgar manner, ‘he has a paper rectum’! I cleaned the expression!
The rectum is below his nose.
I usually try to dial back anything resembling profanity, much like I do at a local pizza & pub that caters to families ( a family - friendly " dive bar ! ), but there's a time & place to use it.
Republicans show their spines of solid gelatin. SNOWFLAKES.
And RINOs have that nifty horn. Let's welcome them knowing we don't agree on much, but we all love democracy! Let's build the coalition of democrats, Red and Blue together against the destroyers! And when the destroyers are defeated, we will separate and civilly debate for a better future.
We know there are some Republicans who are sickened by what has happened to their Party, and we welcome them to join us, but to do so, they must reject the authoritarians and their racist, misogynist fascist agendas. Just sitting silently won't cut it.
Silence is compliance.
The saddest thing is that they won't join the Democrats, because they've been convinced that the Dems, not the Repubs, are the party of "authoritarians" and "dictators." And we are, by design, unable to influence their information sources.
No matter how intelligent they may be as individuals, they are like a field of hammers, standing on their heads, waiting for someone to come along, grab their handles, and start hammering.
Snowflakes are singularly unique in their brilliant Chrystal design! ‘Spines of solid gelatin’ conjures up fetid ooze on a toxic pond! Just saying!
They’re outnumbered in Shelby County.
Whether in the majority or not, they are elected commissioners. They owe it to those who voted for them, and to those who pay whatever salary they get, to show up at meetings, listen to what people have to say, voice their opinions, and vote.
Full disclosure; I’m a former small town, unpaid, two six yr term zoning commissioner who sometimes voted with the minority. I raised my right hand and swore an oath. Those Republican Shelby County commissioners did as well.
Thank you for your voice. My father served on both petit and grand juries constantly. He was an employee in a small company. No question that unpaid jury duty was time off (understood no pay docked by the company) for patriotic duty. It was a different country in the mid-20th century.
and in all of the other red states!
Last sentence is brilliant!
Pretty clear what their position is. Yes, definitely mice.
Not surprised....when they knew they are wrong they hide, don't show up, or remain silent.
Apparently they have no shame.
When the news is framed in rational terms and people can respond to real events, we see the motions of push and pull with clear eyes. Again, Dr. Cox Richardson has placed the pieces in a pattern we can digest and find reason to continue the fight and continue to advocate. Fox "News", and Russian war crimes, vie with courtroom challenges for our attention. And the good Dr. weaves them into a tapestry that shows their relationships and meaning. I can breath easier, and hope you can too.
Certainly, you speak for me.
Another perfect, informative, and inspiring letter. Thank you, Doc! 🌞
Yes, indeed!
Hi 'Bec
Good grief.
It's like having termites that the nasty, deadly insecticide does not affect. The termites just won't go away and keep going after the wood without a care for the world around them.
Much like Trump is also a termite.
Thank you Mike S, Substack Inc has been given notice of the infestation ... contractual notice.
Thank you Rose & other Subcribers. We are on the very good ship, HCR & the Platform must act in good faith to the entire Community.
Clearly, by more than one subscriber!
Bryan, I don't get it. I have reported over a dozen times. This idiot is still here.
Perhaps I should comment to TC's post above and ask him to add amazon links to every book he's published? I believe there are other published authors who comment, maybe they could do so as well.
Heck! Any Avon reps? Tupperware? Why not all post your wares here as well?
Is any of sourallib's work worth a reading? Is it good for a laugh? I could use one today, but I don't want to contaminate my laptop with the hootings of a self-described "Tarzan" unless it's really funny. Anyone?
To refer to the matter somewhat elliptically, I think Mr. Libor Soural's color knob is turned up a bit too high, leading him to describe things that are rather opaque to the rest of us. Please be kind, because I suspect that it's harder being Libor Soural than it is being around Libor Soural. For that reason, I'm willing to give him a pass, so long as he doesn't find a way to dominate the board.
He describes himself as a "Tarzan", with some apparent pride in this accomplishment. So, yeah, perhaps he's wound a bit too tight.
Sorry Lynn, the repeated links to the same Advertisements are pretty dreary.
Thanks, Bryan.
To call this person 'a termite' who is calling out; what harm is being done to whom?
Please read the Substack Inc standard Author, Platform & defined " Reader Contract.
You can get a copy of a prriof standard contract from former 'Authors'. If you do not know what I am talking about, see Columbia Journalism Report from 2 years ago or so. But, i would like one of the many good faith Authors in the LFAA Comm to post one here.
Know your contractual rights as a defined "Reader".
I do know the Reader Contact as well as reflecting on why one calls another who is calling out a 'termite'. Does the Contact and your conscience spell that out?
Trolls among other activities hollow cout their host(s) FERN, why don't you post your sample of the Substack Inc-Author contract?
Please delete any names on your contract sample except Substack Inc whose corporate office is also just around the corner from my old law office. JAMS, the chosen contract dispute resolution outfit is only a couple of blocks away as well. We are all vey close to each other.
I wish we could block users.
I am working on blocking Trolls & the larger issue of Platform contractual duties to
"Readers".. My experience with over 20 matters at Substack Inc's chosen mediation venue in SF helps alot. JAMS is just around the corner from my old law office.
Thanks for doing what you are with respect to this self-aggrandizing and self-promoting name calling individual.
Thank you Officer.
These two who have seen killings in the black community, protested the killing of white kids, and adults.
They were expelled upon saying dramatically that :
all lives matter.
Excellent observation.
WHOAH. 🤯🤯 You are so profoundly right on!! What a way to put it.
What an inspired and succinct description of their actions. Thank you.
Thank you Heather.
“You can't expel hope. You can’t expel justice,” Justin J. Pearson said. “You can't expel our voice. And you sure can’t expel our fight. We look forward to continuing to fight. Continuing to advocate. Until justice rolls down like water,” he said, echoing the Reverend Dr. King, “[a]nd righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
“Let’s get back to work.” Yes, let US.
Rev Dr Martin Luther King's words surround the dramatic and overwhelming last meditative exhibit deep in the heart of the National Museum of African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian in Washington. The eloquence of Justin Pearson and HCR shows us the work here never ends. You can't bury the truth, but you sadly must bury the victims of lies.
:’-) :’-(
Love that part!!!!
Just to add some frosting I wanna' share this little gem with any who didn't know. Joan Baez knew MLK very well; she was frequently at civil rights landmark protests, including the 1963 march in Washington D.C. - I'm thinking she was maybe 21 or so at the time. Anyway, check out this happenstance event, cheers to all > https://news.yahoo.com/joan-baez-meets-gloria-johnson-144202320.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9kdWNrZHVja2dvLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAKdECzyiaW2CgEyPqPLWcsK1X7yE3wOiRVXb_FCKCoQGj1jYPD_nRfbzHw3qqlC8D6TYg82R3O1JFygrnBwLS84L_MM3lpu51rClb8v8h8_tIOAFIGkdmj0FQotQvKUg7rkDcBg6uSsWwzN_o-6XlnPYX9gsb3U-HtfIcXfdYMZX
Thank you for the link. Celebrate the little victories as we move toward ALL men (generic term now meaning men and women) are created equal. And with TFG's troubles the newly rediscovered mantra that "No one is above the law". Victims of gun violence or someone who knows a victim of gun violence and females who desire to control their own bodies will decide the 2024 elections. All these school shooting victims and those who graduated never having faced that but living under the threat of it every day will use their vote to ensure peace from dying in a classroom. Work at registering newly eligible voters. I believe Parkland made a difference in the 2020 elections and Oxford, Uvalde and Nashville will make a difference in 2024.
Love your optimism Sally - thx for sharing it and please continue to spread that stuff ! I do what I can within boundaries imposed by disabilities (work place injury in a "bidniss' friendly state"). I get a good measure of joy to be privileged to join in this community here, and do the little I can, sharing, greeting, meeting (such as it is), and learning; not just from our gifted, courageous HCR, but also from some awfully knowledgeable folks herein. Glad you and so many enjoyed the link. Keep the faith~
OK. That got me. I believe that the first LP I bought as a teen was by Joan Baez. That clip brought tears to my eyes - joyous tears.
Me too Bill; all while searching my archives (messy) knowing I had articles and references. I am still so thankful Joan is still among us, fighting the good fights. She inspired me then and still yet - just adore her and always have. Thx Bill ~
Back in the day I was stunned by her voice. How does such an incredibly beautiful sound come from a human? Of course, the fact that her message was inspirational made for an epic combination. And...she is a beautiful person - inside and out.
If I were Justin I would make sure to save that video. As great as that video is, how sad that we have made so little progress since Joan Baez was protesting previously.
Truth.
Yes indeed. It’s like reliving my youth!
So cool!!
Aaaahhhhh..... 🤗
The Justins are going to be in the forefront in moving forward the American democratic ideal. They are eloquent, righteous, politically savvy, idealistic, have a clear appreciation of history, are warm, personable, magnetic and unafraid.
They are what we all need now--vivid examples of people in the next generation that will do the work to confront and defeat the white christian nationalist autocracy.
Christian, my fat red rump ! Vlad Tepes was more Christian. Victor Von Doom is more Christian. Darth Vader - more Christian. SATAN - more Christian ( a lot of irony ).
Thanks, Heather, for pointing out what appear to be signs that there will finally be a reckoning for those committed to authoritarianism rather than democracy. I hope there will not be further delays. No more powerful expression of democracy at work than the reinstatement of Jones and Pearson to their elected office. May justice finally prevail against those who seek to pervert it.
"Grossberg recorded Trump allies Rudy Giuliani and others saying they didn’t have evidence for their accusations of fraud. "
So, now we know a recording exists that proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt, Trump and Giuliani were lying and knew they lost and?
They remain at large, Trump is running for President.
Only in America. There simply is no other country where these guys would still be at large.
????
Mike, did you sleep yet? Our glass is half full today, not half empty.
https://d2c0db5b8fb27c1c9887-9b32efc83a6b298bb22e7a1df0837426.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/789610-gci-ranking-2021-3000x3482.png#3000x3482
🌞🌞
Christy,
Thanks!! My glass doth overfloweth. :-)
But, I am impatient for the US to avoid another post Civil War disaster by letting the traitors off and, further, paying them money. Remember that? We gave the "free slaves" a wonderful present called: Slavery is abolished except for those convicted of a crime"....so? We convicted most of the black men of a crime and tossed them into Angola, which, was a plantation until it became a prison for the same black men that were on the Plantation. Then, we PAID the white guys for their "loss".
So, knowing that we have history of letting the crooks continue to be crooks, I am speaking out. Every day is a full cup for me. Of anger.
IF we let Trump and his merry men go, which, appears more and more likely to me, then, its over here.
Sadly, angrily and frustratingly it also appears this way to me. PLEASE let me be wrong.
I’m dancing with joy today, watching the Three minority Tennesseans courageously standing up to the oppression of the patriarchy/corporatocracy/kleptocracy to make sure the voices of their constitutents are heard. And Abby Grossman for recording the bturds malicious intent and her courage in taking them to court and Judge Davis for sanctioning faux’s lawyers for hiding evidence. 🥳👏🏼💃🏻 I’m giving a shout out to a working democracy today and hopeful more people will see it and want to be it! 🤩🤩
Hmm. I'm not sure what you are advocating here. In all too many countries, if the former guy was making so much trouble, they would have simply shot him. In other counties, Trump never would have lost power. In yet other countries, "things" would happen behind the scenes, Trump would fall silent for unknown reasons, the power structure would be undisturbed, and the public would never knows what happened.
It sure ain't perfect, but I'll still take a society where everyone gets to watch and everything gets handled in open court and in newspapers, even if it does move maddeningly slowly.
Dirk Addertongue, you are so right. Justice has been slow in coming but I do believe it is coming. With enough rope they are well on their way to the gallows or so it seems. The light side will be vindicated, of that I’m certain but I’ve had my misgivings. We must all lift each other up when the Dawn is coming but we don’t see evidence of it yet. What a week ...
Fair point. No doubt.
Israel.
Look at Netanyahu.
And I think the UK where Boris Johnson seems to be sliding through the muck.
Trump creates his own storm of lies that cause a hurricane of bad press for him. Then he tells the judge to postpone and relocate his trial because the jury pool is poisoned by him. This is like the boy who kills parents and asks the judge for mercy because he is an orphan. I hope the judge tells him to "bug off" (in polite legal language, of course) and fines him and his lawyers for bringing frivolous suits. Meanwhile, I am preparing a message of "thoughts and prayers" in case his beloved "2nd Amendment" people take action.
Trump creates his own sh-tstorm, then blames everyone else for his problems.
And it has worked thus far!
He is simply “Flooding the Zone with Shit” to distract from our ability to take in the truly far reaching scope of his crimes. Lucky for us, we have Heather to help filter out the excrement and thoughtfully present the essential information that remains.
Trump is trying to lay grounds for an appeal on the basis of a tainted jury pool.
Lazy, grotesque Trump shows a certain blunt force talent as a con man.
Trump has the potency of a withered rutabaga.
Where in the world shall the trial be held? Ukraine?
Thank you, for another informative, concise review of current events and some historical significance. I just can’t shake my head anymore with the goings on in our nation. Sometimes, the attack on human rights and democracy is just overwhelming.
'A federal appeals court late Wednesday partially blocked a decision by a judge in Texas to suspend U.S. government approval of a key abortion medication but set significant restrictions on the pill that could limit access nationwide.'
'The court’s order maintains mifepristone’s availability for now, although it temporarily prevents the drug from being sent to patients by mail and limits its approved use to the first seven weeks of pregnancy.'
'The Biden administration said Thursday it would immediately ask the Supreme Court to intervene.'
“The Justice Department strongly disagrees with the Fifth Circuit’s decision," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. "We will be seeking emergency relief from the Supreme Court to defend the FDA’s scientific judgment and protect Americans’ access to safe and effective reproductive care.”
'The order from the conservative U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit is directly at odds with a separate ruling last week from a federal judge in Washington state, and creates uncertainty and confusion about how and when patients can access the pill used in more than half of the abortions in the United States.' (WAPO) See link below. Sorry that gifting option is not available.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/13/abortion-pill-ruling-mifepristone-fda-approval/
Isn’t it time to do the polite thing and send congratulations to the NRA and Republican National Committee every time there’s a mass shooting? If that isn’t too wearying a task.
They also need to have lapel pins that display the faces of those gunned down to go along with their AR15 pins.
Those AR-15 lapel pins are insulting to all who have lost loved ones to gun violence!
How about the Repugnants who are actually LOOSENING restrictions on guns after mass shootings, even the murders of children?! It's more than insulting.
A monument with a field of names would look like a war memorial...
Having people carry signs that look like tombstones with the names of the massacres and the people killed by named weapons at the NRA upcoming meeting where trump & pence are speaking would be an idea.
Crosses, with the AR-whatever as the cross bar, and the face of one of the slaughtered right in the center.
I've seen one with a statue of David with an AR-15 replacing the "offending appendage".
Wonderful idea, Lynell! Let’s get those made and send them to all of the GQP.
The GOP is so far into DENIAL that they could see the pyramids !
That’s a LOT of money in postage!
I live in a city that is the county seat. For years, all we had were antiques stores and a couple of restaurants. Right before Covid hit, millennial groups reinvented our drab city and it has become alive with restaurants, music, breweries, and markets. Like the two Justins, this age group is stimulated by what they’ve lived through, what they have seen and experienced. Their enthusiasm and commitment has trickled down to me, a 72 yr old activist. I was like them once. Fighting for justice around every corner. The Tennessee Repubs met their match and then some. Schumer and a few other Democrats have asked Garland to investigate what went on in those chambers. I can tell you that it was a poisonous act. But guess what? That apple got thrown right back in the good ole boys faces! Between these marvelous and bright Justins and those who are GenZers, I think we’ll be okay.
7 days ago, no one outside of the TN statehouse knew who the “Justins” were. A week later, we all know who the “Justins” are! A WEEK! Actually it took 4 days! Justice wasn’t waiting for enough evidence or an indictment, or testimonies, tapes, subpoenas, hearings, arguments, time wasted, frivolous appeals. None of that bullshit. Justice jumped up and bit white supremacy in the ass!!!
Agree. And there are some very spunky Millennials that have raised and mentored these GenZ-ers and those youngins’ coming next.
Salud, Marlene.
💜
Don’tcha just love it, Christine? Like a real breath of fresh air!
Learning about the actions and aspirations of the American people so often tends to be more uplifting than learning about the actions and aspirations of their American politicians.
Could real human beings actually be entering the political system?
ROLL ON, WATERS OF JUSTICE !
ROLL ON !
The Narcissism virus turns people to zombies. But there is a cure.
TSUNAMI TIME. " Gonna send a flood, gonna drown 'em out " <--- " Lettie ", The Greatest Showman "
Reading Martin Luther King's words about the waters of justice, seeing, feeling the vast power that image expressed, I remembered Moses striking the rock in the wilderness, and water gushing forth.
*
Those words, again:
"WE WILL NOT BE SATISFIED TILL JUSTICE ROLLS DOWN LIKE WATERS AND RIGHTEOUSNESS LIKE A MIGHTY STREAM."
Those words, yet again...
I have noticed that most of HCR's readership seem averse to anything that was written in the Bible. Maybe that's just a side-effect of modern secularism, maybe it is a consequence of having had one's head battered with a heavy Bible... As a teenager, I had that, day in, day out.
Left school, head throbbing, and the fields of my mind had to be left fallow for years.
Yet, even then, words continued to resonate. The Bible. Shakespeare.
No beliefs, yet breathing peace on entering English village churches, feeling the sheer power of Reims Cathedral (where they crowned the kings of France...).
In time, questions brought answers (and answers seed more questions).
This morning, I drew on Greek myth, the hero Hercules... yet other words were rumbling somewhere in the depths of my mind, old echoes. I remembered Moses striking the rock. And yes, King's words seemed to evoke something.
I looked and came to the context: Amos 5.
I can't have read that for many decades, but... those are words of power.
Words of Power.
You don't need to be a believer to feel the power of a great cathedral, you don't need to be a scholar to feel the earthquake force of Shakespeare's words in Hamlet or King Lear, you don't need to call yourself a Jew to sense the vast resonant echoes of Isaiah 6. Or here, the Prophet Amos...
“I hate, I despise your religious festivals;
your assemblies are a stench to me."
Why not read the whole chapter... and let it resonate, in our guts, in our minds?
Or those words of that other prophet...
"Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed."
Do we really HAVE to stay deaf to truth, do we have to stay blind to sense, when even the blind can feel it?
People think Biblical prophets "foretell the future" but what they really do is call a community, a people, back from wandering off course. The two Justins carry the thread of Amos, giving it power in 2023.
They read the " trails " & the lay of the land & are generally people possessing wisdom. Guides.
The biblical prophets excoriated the powerful and called everyone to justice. Thank you, Peter B, for naming Amos who hated hypocrisy.
I would not say "most of the readership" since there seems to be no shortage of people here objecting to using "Christian" to describe people who deem themselves to be Christian Nationalists.
I am one of the readership that fundamentally hates having Christianity shoved down my throat at every turn, and the reason for that is the people who are nothing like the words written (many years later, by powerful men, who allegedly were documenting what the Christ said and what it meant, but I digress) telling people like me that we are unclean, undeserving, and unredeemable unless and until we accept their version of the Christ.
Why is Amos drowned out by the story of Sodom and Gomorrah? I've never heard of Amos, but by gum, I have been bludgeoned with the tale of Sodom and Gomorrah.
I picked up this quote from somewhere--"I am a Christian, and we do not believe what those people profess is Christianity" Sums it up for me
I can only speak for myself, of course, but I think that we "progressives" pride ourselves on a allegience to "Truth through Rational Means." That certainly describes me, ever suspcious of anything that smacks of the irrational. It's only in my old age that I'm finally grappling with "Truths that are Irrational" issue, a difficult task for someone who avoids any conclusion that doesn't leave an evidence trail.
" Blessed are those who hunger & thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled ". I believe that's us.....
We are what democracy is.
We uplift when we have a mind to. The more who are lifting, the more who are lifted. We lift ourselves and one another.
That's when it works.
Thank you, J L Graham, for completing what I wrote.
In today's world, even those who abominate Darwin believe in "the survival of the fittest" and act in accordance with their understanding of those words, aggressively.
Again and again, the word "fight", again and again, war and every form of violence.
And yes, we may have to fight... for peace, for peace with justice.
Remembering mythical hero Hercules... he fought many fights, and overcame.
But when he broke the banks of rivers and channeled their waters through the deep layers of filth in the Augean Stables, that was not "fighting", that was Nature restoring the world... (Yet, no one speaks of the fertility that action will have spread...)
The aim of all action, very much including all fights, must be Peace.
And Peace is not inertia, not inaction, not some couch potatoes' kingdom, but in it energy works for us, not only against us. Like the explosions in an internal combustion engine...? Yes... Only, more freely.
*
An important postscriptum:
Does not the latest scientific research show that symbiosis, life forms that develop through networks of inter-dependence, are those that have survived the best?
Thich Nhat Hanh coined a word for this:
INTER-BEING.
It has been noticed that life seems an exception to the notion that entropy, the decay of order and concentration of energy, seems to be challenged by life. It's not really, or course, but life in effect tacks against the wind, as a sailboat powered by the wind cleverly controlled can sail against the wind in a zig-zag pattern. Nature never does our bidding, but if we know her ways, we can sometimes hitch a ride. Nature can and does crush us like bugs, especially when we don't pay her enough attention.
Coincidentally, I was using the metaphor of tacking into the wind in another context today: that of countering action by people who are very powerful but wrong-headed... like those Foes of the Earth whom I call "philentropists".
Another piece of wordplay came to me while reading your post... In place of anthropology, read entropology... The study of human regression...?
Bound to attract me, given the self-debunking character of positivism and positivists' pet fetish, Progress...
It strikes me that Biden tacked into the wind when he trapped "Republicans" into vowing to preserve Social Security. Yes, they will still try to work their dark arts, but now they're in a bind.
With respect to Darwin, I notice that aggressive narcissists are master cherry-pickers when they are not outright fabulists. Yup, there is certainly competition, but also cooperation in nature, even among unicellular creatures, without which, we we wouldn't be here. Moreover, I think self-conscious agency inevitably confers responsibility. I think that is the core message of the story of Adam and Eve, apart from it's punitive context. Life is not inherently fair, but sentient creatures face choices, and we have evolved to the point of having clues about the nature of our own processes. The universe may not care if we go the way of the dinosaurs, but it will matter to us.
Life:
Not fair, but inherently dangerous.
Other points taken, but though it may look obvious, I can't quite get my tight little mind round the last sentence...
Strength in numbers.
And not conformity but solidarity. The common good, the general welfare, the common weal. That and friendship, but even in it's absence.
Solidarity IS NOT conformity, even though they may have a common ground. Conformity is " mechanical ", solidarity is organic. That's my humble opinion anyway.
Mechanical as in "cookie cutter". I think it is the heart of malignant narcissism to insist that all others be just like you, or like what you imagine yourself to be.
& perhaps a symptom of OCD & / or Asperger's Syndrome. I have OCD that can go from mild to moderate, & had to study Aspergers & autism because I worked with a young woman who was extremely autistic. My cousin is 52 & has shown signs of Asperger's since I came here in '08.
Beautifully put, J L Graham !
The Russian tactic of 'encouraging' and/or requiring their soldiers to participate in war crimes as a way of binding them to their units and their mission is precisely what was done during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. People who were not members of the Interahamwe (civilian militias) were forced to commit murders with their own hands at roadblocks all over the country or else be killed themselves. Some did it for the chance of profiting by the act, or as a form of revenge, but for the majority it was much like the Bosnian truck drivers forced to drive loads of bodies away from mass murder sites for burial in secret - do your part or be part of the load. It is now estimated (by Gerald Prunier among others) that at least one third of the Hutu population of Rwanda at the time directly participated in at least one murder, though relatively few were leaders of any kind.
Although this is off topic, I want to share what I learned from a friend just back from Burundi and Rwanda. Things are looking up in Rwanda, one place on earth I had no desire to visit. Healing has begun and continues. It was one of the most hopeful things I've heard in a long time.
Cambodia has tourism, so I understand, even after all the horrors such as the Killing Fields. Their economy is ( almost ) rebuilt.
Pat MacEwen, I appreciate your reminder that all participants in war do not have the same motivations. People are never a monolith. “Participate or get the next bullet” when you have a family or loved one depending on you, I feel, produces a lot of horrible choices in war. You remind me to tread carefully with my blanket judgements.
"do your part or be part of the load" Kinda applies to all of us, eh? Get off your duff, pay attention, say/do something, or you're part of the problem.
Which is all too close to, "You're either for us or against us. No moderate voices allowed here."
Pat, the latest atrocity report from Ukraine. The men who were killed were reportedly POWs. https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/11/europe/beheading-videos-ukraine-intl-hnk-ml/index.html
Thank you. I had seen some mention of this one, but nothing in detail as yet. There are a number of horrible aspects to the whole thing, not least being the treatment of Russian soldiers by their own leadership.
"Grossberg recorded Trump allies Rudy Giuliani and others saying they didn’t have evidence for their accusations of fraud. "
Honestly, we now have a recording of Trump's main team claiming he was the real President basically admitting to lying about that fact.
When are we going to arrest these traitors?
That’s exactly what I’m sitting here stewing about. WHO NOW HAS THOSE TAPES!
That falls into the same category as " when are they going to tell MTG aka Maniac Marjorie to get the freak out of DC & NEVER RETURN ? ". Not only is she BS insane, she fills NO purpose in a democracy trying to heal after 4 years of having a corrupt, negligent " administration ".