“Now, he belongs to the ages.... “ memorializes President Lincoln’s death. I’d add, he belongs to us and to our children.
Tonight’s Letter suggests our republic may soon belong to the ages. Putin and Trump would be thrilled. And all this started with - slavery and the Black wet nurse much loved.
To Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, may God bless her brave and honest heart.
“Now, he belongs to the ages.... “ memorializes President Lincoln’s death. I’d add, he belongs to us and to our children.
Tonight’s Letter suggests our republic may soon belong to the ages. Putin and Trump would be thrilled. And all this started with - slavery and the Black wet nurse much loved.
To Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, may God bless her brave and honest heart.
"And all this started with - slavery and the Black wet nurse much loved."
Maybe all this started with lazy white men who prefer not to work and found ways to get work done while sitting on arse?
Same thing is happening today. Rather than the rich white men in our government and the oligarchs in our society doing the work of government, which, is actually a slog and quite difficult, those lazy men want to circumvent all that and sit on arse and still get, always, what they want.
As an exhibit of lazy white men behavior, I offer this from the NY Times;
"In Missouri, Georgia, Ohio and now Nebraska, Republican men running for high office face significant allegations of domestic violence, stalking, even sexual assault — accusations that once would have derailed any run for office. But in an era of Republican politics when Donald J. Trump could survive and thrive amid accusations of sexual assault, opposing candidates are finding little traction in dwelling on the issues.
Political scientists who have studied Republican voting since the rise of Trumpism are not surprised that accused candidates have soldiered on — and that their primary rivals have approached the accusations tepidly. In this fiercely partisan moment, concerns about personal behavior are dwarfed by the struggle between Republicans and Democrats, which Republican men and women see as life-or-death. Increasingly, Republicans cast accusations of sexual misconduct as an attempt by liberals to silence conservatives."
After all, isn’t sexual assault including rape a protected form of free speech in which men declare their right to control women? Surely Justices Kavanaugh and Thomas would agree. Anyone who disagrees is therefore guilty of cancelling the liberty of the rapists and must be silenced. What a time this is.
I cringe to draw this parallel,but it is an image that has stayed with me. Very early in the questioning of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, I understood in my bones that I was watching a ritual all too common--A group of white men gang-raping a black woman, repeatedly, believing in their right to do it and hideous in their enjoyment of what they were doing as pure performance. I am a very old white woman from Stacy Abrams' neck of the woods. I grew up with this all around me, spent my adult life fighting it, and now find it has surfaced in another form in a different kind of ritual where nothing like that should even have air space. It is, indeed, possible that the Great American Experiment just hasn't succeeded.
Thank you, Dr. Richardson, for pulling this history together. It deepens my understanding and sharpens my thinking. That there is still a community of critical thinkers is perhaps the greatest encouragement.
Amen! I still live "in Stacey Abrams' neck of the woods" (along with Nancy below) and can vouch for what you said and the imagery employed. Watching the ongoing spectacle of the embrace of a person like Herschel Walker for public office--the ultimate exercise of "cult of personality espoused by You-Know-Who--is like having to watch a horrible accident in slow motion. I also ask myself, "HOW could we have come to such a pitiable state??" It indeed should not "even have air space", yet here we are. I sincerely hope that over the next few months there will be a realisation, at least as regards Mr. Walker's suitability as a US Senator, within the Republican party here that the man is poison. When a number of the Republican candidates running in the upcoming primaries held a pow-wow here just last week, the universal question was "Where is Walker??", "Why doesn't he ever show up at political gatherings?", "What are they afraid of?", "Why are they keeping him quiet?", and so on. Even though he leads in the polls for now--even over Democratic incumbent Warnock, which I find beyond all manner of comprehension--I think a lot of Republicans here remain to be convinced he should be their Senate candidate. I try and hold out a glimmer of hope that some vestiges of sanity may prevail here come November!
Bruce, we both know why Herschel is being kept under wraps because the mob bosses are afraid that he'll make more insane comments claiming that we can't have evolved from apes because apes still exist, and other gems of wisdom attributed to him. This can't go on forever. Even if he continues to refuse to debate and chooses to stay in the shadows, once the campaigns begin in earnest, Raphael will smile, then bring up every negative point about Herschel; his lies about his class graduation standing at UGA when he quit in his junior year to go pro; his questionable business practices; his residency inconsistencies; his issues with emotional instability; threatening his wife with murder, and more. At that point, only the MTGs will be his cheerleaders, and hopefully the majority of voters will see the real picture. He is being promoted by the same racists who believe that Black people are so stupid that they'll vote for an over-the-hill athlete - a Republican, no less - before they will embrace Rephael Warnock. We must trust that Black voters know when they're being manipulated.
Thank you, Bruce. I still have family about 60 miles NW of Atlanta and I grew up on a mighty pretty piece of deep woods close by. I miss it and sometimes think of coming "home", but I think it's my southern dream of the land--those hills are my bones--and not a thought based on reality. I was proud of some folks down there during the last election and the aftermath but feel something close to despair, though not surprise, at how quickly the darkness returns. And how easily too many friends and neighbors are manipulated. I expect the pandemic and the drug crisis have made it worse. A bunch of people, already feeling worthless, trapped in their houses shooting heroin and smoking crack, nursing their hatred. But the fact is that the hatred was there. The poison that now resides in the GOP. has not had too much trouble using these already damaged and dreadful souls to finish off our world.
That same thought lingered in my mind as I watched Linsey Graham badgering her with a single line of law knowing full well that judicial decisions are not made from a cookbook taken from the shelf of his plantations kitchen shelf. No respect, just lashing way.
Lindsey has so many issues with initially saying one thing, then doing another - i.e., after the insurrection, saying he was "through," most recently saying he'd vote for Justice Brown Jackson, then reneging, after having voted for her just a year ago. Those of us who have never trusted him have to wonder what his fellow Republicans really think. He has to be a worry to them.
Wow, Joan. A terrible new perspective and a painful reminder of how every detail of what we thought we had built is being turned upside down and used to destroy. I'll say one things for these b**tards. They're clever.
Mike, could we update for 21st century by saying lazy...lying...white...men...and...women. Both women q fanatics are up for re-election. When they lose, tfg idjt might repay them by finding a place in his media empire with Devon Nunes. Public service is not their strong suit.
Sandy, you contribute countless wonderful ideas and insights, built on your broad and deep knowledge and experience, and I take pleasure when you take the time to write those insights in cogent, articulate prose. I must admit, though, that these free-association strings of images you sometimes post leave me scratching my head. Perhaps I am stupid. How are we to process a list of images and references--some cryptic, many followed by ellipses--like this one? More enlightenment, please!
Sandy, your comment reminds me of the irony the Senator who presided over the hearing that vetted Clarence Thomas despite the brave and honest heart of Anita Hill would become the President who successfully nominated Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. And I often wonder if this white man is atoning for his past action.
I recall again the wisdom of the tribal matriarchs who decided since all the tribal leadership's actions (including hiring lobbyists) hadn't succeeded, they would start a prayer circle to change the mind of Senator Slade Gorton (R-WA). And lo and behold, the Senator decided not to run for office again.
Mindful Frederick Douglass said (paraphrasing) God didn't answer my prayers until I got up off my knees and started marching, I am convinced our republic needs both unity in prayer for the vision Lincoln saw and successfully fought to keep, and a concerted march upon the media until they speak of nothing other than the true meaning of democracy and its value for humanity as our country's greatest power.
“Now, he belongs to the ages.... “ memorializes President Lincoln’s death. I’d add, he belongs to us and to our children.
Tonight’s Letter suggests our republic may soon belong to the ages. Putin and Trump would be thrilled. And all this started with - slavery and the Black wet nurse much loved.
To Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, may God bless her brave and honest heart.
Sandy, one of your best comments ever – just the pure and simple truth.
My deepest thanks...
"And all this started with - slavery and the Black wet nurse much loved."
Maybe all this started with lazy white men who prefer not to work and found ways to get work done while sitting on arse?
Same thing is happening today. Rather than the rich white men in our government and the oligarchs in our society doing the work of government, which, is actually a slog and quite difficult, those lazy men want to circumvent all that and sit on arse and still get, always, what they want.
Maybe it all starts with lazy....white....men..
As an exhibit of lazy white men behavior, I offer this from the NY Times;
"In Missouri, Georgia, Ohio and now Nebraska, Republican men running for high office face significant allegations of domestic violence, stalking, even sexual assault — accusations that once would have derailed any run for office. But in an era of Republican politics when Donald J. Trump could survive and thrive amid accusations of sexual assault, opposing candidates are finding little traction in dwelling on the issues.
Political scientists who have studied Republican voting since the rise of Trumpism are not surprised that accused candidates have soldiered on — and that their primary rivals have approached the accusations tepidly. In this fiercely partisan moment, concerns about personal behavior are dwarfed by the struggle between Republicans and Democrats, which Republican men and women see as life-or-death. Increasingly, Republicans cast accusations of sexual misconduct as an attempt by liberals to silence conservatives."
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/15/us/politics/republicans-accusations-women.html
After all, isn’t sexual assault including rape a protected form of free speech in which men declare their right to control women? Surely Justices Kavanaugh and Thomas would agree. Anyone who disagrees is therefore guilty of cancelling the liberty of the rapists and must be silenced. What a time this is.
I cringe to draw this parallel,but it is an image that has stayed with me. Very early in the questioning of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, I understood in my bones that I was watching a ritual all too common--A group of white men gang-raping a black woman, repeatedly, believing in their right to do it and hideous in their enjoyment of what they were doing as pure performance. I am a very old white woman from Stacy Abrams' neck of the woods. I grew up with this all around me, spent my adult life fighting it, and now find it has surfaced in another form in a different kind of ritual where nothing like that should even have air space. It is, indeed, possible that the Great American Experiment just hasn't succeeded.
Thank you, Dr. Richardson, for pulling this history together. It deepens my understanding and sharpens my thinking. That there is still a community of critical thinkers is perhaps the greatest encouragement.
Amen! I still live "in Stacey Abrams' neck of the woods" (along with Nancy below) and can vouch for what you said and the imagery employed. Watching the ongoing spectacle of the embrace of a person like Herschel Walker for public office--the ultimate exercise of "cult of personality espoused by You-Know-Who--is like having to watch a horrible accident in slow motion. I also ask myself, "HOW could we have come to such a pitiable state??" It indeed should not "even have air space", yet here we are. I sincerely hope that over the next few months there will be a realisation, at least as regards Mr. Walker's suitability as a US Senator, within the Republican party here that the man is poison. When a number of the Republican candidates running in the upcoming primaries held a pow-wow here just last week, the universal question was "Where is Walker??", "Why doesn't he ever show up at political gatherings?", "What are they afraid of?", "Why are they keeping him quiet?", and so on. Even though he leads in the polls for now--even over Democratic incumbent Warnock, which I find beyond all manner of comprehension--I think a lot of Republicans here remain to be convinced he should be their Senate candidate. I try and hold out a glimmer of hope that some vestiges of sanity may prevail here come November!
Bruce, we both know why Herschel is being kept under wraps because the mob bosses are afraid that he'll make more insane comments claiming that we can't have evolved from apes because apes still exist, and other gems of wisdom attributed to him. This can't go on forever. Even if he continues to refuse to debate and chooses to stay in the shadows, once the campaigns begin in earnest, Raphael will smile, then bring up every negative point about Herschel; his lies about his class graduation standing at UGA when he quit in his junior year to go pro; his questionable business practices; his residency inconsistencies; his issues with emotional instability; threatening his wife with murder, and more. At that point, only the MTGs will be his cheerleaders, and hopefully the majority of voters will see the real picture. He is being promoted by the same racists who believe that Black people are so stupid that they'll vote for an over-the-hill athlete - a Republican, no less - before they will embrace Rephael Warnock. We must trust that Black voters know when they're being manipulated.
Thank you, Bruce. I still have family about 60 miles NW of Atlanta and I grew up on a mighty pretty piece of deep woods close by. I miss it and sometimes think of coming "home", but I think it's my southern dream of the land--those hills are my bones--and not a thought based on reality. I was proud of some folks down there during the last election and the aftermath but feel something close to despair, though not surprise, at how quickly the darkness returns. And how easily too many friends and neighbors are manipulated. I expect the pandemic and the drug crisis have made it worse. A bunch of people, already feeling worthless, trapped in their houses shooting heroin and smoking crack, nursing their hatred. But the fact is that the hatred was there. The poison that now resides in the GOP. has not had too much trouble using these already damaged and dreadful souls to finish off our world.
How optimistic
An Uncle Tom comparison comes to the mind of White voters: Vote for the house slave or for the field slave? Choose the better behaved.
That same thought lingered in my mind as I watched Linsey Graham badgering her with a single line of law knowing full well that judicial decisions are not made from a cookbook taken from the shelf of his plantations kitchen shelf. No respect, just lashing way.
Lindsey has so many issues with initially saying one thing, then doing another - i.e., after the insurrection, saying he was "through," most recently saying he'd vote for Justice Brown Jackson, then reneging, after having voted for her just a year ago. Those of us who have never trusted him have to wonder what his fellow Republicans really think. He has to be a worry to them.
Very powerful, Dean. The treatment of Judge/Justice Brown Jackson was a reminder of how far we haven't come, and how far we have yet to go.
At least some of us recognize the dog whistles for what they are.
The spectacle you saw is exactly what was happening. We're teetering on the edge.
Zora Neale Hurston once wrote, "Black women are the mules of the world."
Holy Smokes this is a powerful observation!
Joan, what a scary interpretation of "free speech". And, you're right that the two womanizers on the Supreme Court would agree.
You could substitute "womanizers" with "predators" and still be correct.
Joan, in the context of the messages and verbiage of Fox News, well, YES, you are correct. LIBERTY to beat women when and where men want to.
Wow, Joan. A terrible new perspective and a painful reminder of how every detail of what we thought we had built is being turned upside down and used to destroy. I'll say one things for these b**tards. They're clever.
Great point!!
wow!
Mike, could we update for 21st century by saying lazy...lying...white...men...and...women. Both women q fanatics are up for re-election. When they lose, tfg idjt might repay them by finding a place in his media empire with Devon Nunes. Public service is not their strong suit.
Sure. Why not?
Sandy, you contribute countless wonderful ideas and insights, built on your broad and deep knowledge and experience, and I take pleasure when you take the time to write those insights in cogent, articulate prose. I must admit, though, that these free-association strings of images you sometimes post leave me scratching my head. Perhaps I am stupid. How are we to process a list of images and references--some cryptic, many followed by ellipses--like this one? More enlightenment, please!
Enlightenment.
Any time.
Round up all the usual subjects.
White men, Black men... it starts with women..
Black women..
Our Black folks came first... bought and sold.
The Bible got it wrong. Never mentioned color.
One became many.
Tower of Babel... God’s answer.
Natural Selection got it right. God’s plan.
Natural Selection. Evolution.
Inherit the Wind...
The Scopes Trial in Tennessee...
The three time presidential candidate died in the heat.
William Jennings Bryan - Cross of Gold - died 3 days later..
Charles Darwin... evolution...
Clarence Darrow... how long was the first day, Sir?
The trials... the juries.
Bobby Franks. Leopold and Loeb. Cook County, Chicago. Darrow again.
In Cold Blood. Truman Capote.
Life not death.
One survived in San Juan, was released.
Sandy, your comment reminds me of the irony the Senator who presided over the hearing that vetted Clarence Thomas despite the brave and honest heart of Anita Hill would become the President who successfully nominated Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. And I often wonder if this white man is atoning for his past action.
I recall again the wisdom of the tribal matriarchs who decided since all the tribal leadership's actions (including hiring lobbyists) hadn't succeeded, they would start a prayer circle to change the mind of Senator Slade Gorton (R-WA). And lo and behold, the Senator decided not to run for office again.
Mindful Frederick Douglass said (paraphrasing) God didn't answer my prayers until I got up off my knees and started marching, I am convinced our republic needs both unity in prayer for the vision Lincoln saw and successfully fought to keep, and a concerted march upon the media until they speak of nothing other than the true meaning of democracy and its value for humanity as our country's greatest power.
May this Easter bring such rebirth!
Joe was weak. Teddy Kennedy was weak. The senate was - and remains - weak.
Our Greek Chorus is for hire.
We cannot buy tolerance.
Our classiest citizens are Black women. They understand us and themselves - best.
They elected Joe inspired by Joe Knows Us.
James Clyburn was answering a question: put to him in his church by a Black lady. Whispering.
He did not whisper. He got all to get off their knees.
We must do this again and again and again.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is Our Light.
Sandy
Wouldn't that be grand, Rhea.
From your lips to God’s ears, Fred.