Sometimes it is very, very difficult to tap that “heart” emoji. I do not love to read what is so horrifying and real. But I love that you are writing it with such clarity and truth and intelligence. Thank you, with all my heart.
Heather Cox Richardson's summary of the ante-bellum southern perversion of the meaning of our Founding documents does not mention their primary philosopher of slavery: John Locke.
For the past hundred years, and especially since the 1950s, this perverted Lockean understanding of the Declaration of Independence has maintained an uneasy hegemony over the minds of academic scholars.
Then, 15 years ago, I went to graduate school and stumbled across the 1776 congressional definition of "happiness" (in the original May 1776 Independence resolution), instantly demolishing the bogus Lockean argument, because this congressional definition of happiness includes "virtue" (rooted in benevolence -- active concern for the well-being of our fellow humans), and Locke -- a beneficiary of the slave trade who wrote South Carolina's very first slave constitution -- was unique in taking virtue OUT of his definition of happiness.
See " The Declaration of Independence without Locke: A Rebuttal of Michael Zuckert’s "The Natural Rights Republic," at
I read your twitter linked article. Brilliant writing , and, as a long time student and fan of John Adams was not surpised to see that John Adams led the effort to insure that government worked for the "happiness" of the people.
Indeed, John Adams gets neglected. He was "Mr. Independence" in Congress, which is why he deserved a turn as President.
And as President, perhaps his finest moment was his policy of "peace through strength" against France, first building the U.S. Navy to give the imperious French a bloody nose, and then sacrificing his chances for a second term as President to pursue a peace treaty with France, in opposition to the Federalist "war hawks" including Alexander Hamilton.
John Spot on! John Adams was ‘resurrected’ by my friend and classmate David McCullough in his Pulitzer-winning JOHN ADAMS. He did clearly jeopardize his re-election by putting country over self in avoiding war with France. His re-election campaign was badly damaged by Alexander Hamilton’s 78-page diatribe against Adams, which well may have cost him New York and re-election.
David told me that initially he commenced researching a book on the letters exchanged by ex-presidents Adams and Jefferson. When he found Jefferson to be extremely hypocritical, he switched to his John and Abigail blockbuster.
As president, Jefferson insisted on building little river gunboats that were called ‘Jeff’s,’ which proved totally ineffective in the War of 1812. I recall, many years ago, discovering the hypocrisy of Jefferson in Joseph Ellis’s book AMERICAN SPHINX. By contrast, Adams was dour, stubborn, and, in key moments, absolutely brilliant in shaping our country.
P. S. There was no love lost between Adams and Jefferson. On Jefferson’s inauguration, Adams left Washington at 3:30 a. M., stating that there was no convenient later stage coach to get him back to Boston. I believe that he and Trump were the only living presidents who skipped the inauguration of their successors.
However, I have also read the predecessor to David, Catherine Drinker Bowen's John Adams biography and her bio and picture of Adams are truly spectacular. McCollough must have read her as well because he takes up where she left off.
But, Adams early development, life and education is absolutely fascinating in Bowen's Biography.
Sadly, libraries are getting rid of her stuff but keeping McCollough's stuff. I just had my own local library re-acquire her Biography and place it in the teen section. Every teen should read it, especially the girls.
Bowen was a historian long before women were even hired at University. She wrote the book out of pure passion.
I've been inclined to think of Jefferson as a trimmer, never publicly out of step with the collective view of the Virginia aristocracy.
In all fairness, Adams and Jefferson patched things up late in life (as witnessed by Adams' last words on July 4), but in their correspondence, sometimes Jefferson's lack of candor is hard to miss.
Adams is the reason the United States of America exists today. Simple as that. Without him, things would have gone off the rails.
He was the person who nominated, then, worked mightily to get George Washington the supreme commander of the Continental Army, despite the more powerful Hancock wanting the job.
Adams picked the perfect person for that job.......and the rest is history.
Adams was convinced that a southern was imperative as commander of the Continental Army (Washington appeared at the Continental Congress in his military uniform). Virginia was the largest American colony. John Hancock, the biggest smuggler in the colonies, was appalled that Adams supported Washington. Without General Washington, the colonies would not have defeated the British.
Thank you - I'm so excited to read this in depth (post holiday preparations and celebrations!) I am now following you on Twitter. And I'll retweet your article as soon as I can make a clear statement of why I'm doing that. I think you are going to be a very important part of my better-late-than-never understanding of this country of my birth. Blessings,
There was so much that I left out... In the mind of Francis Hutcheson, the pathway to happiness was to obey the two great commandments of Jesus Christ, but Hutcheson never phrased it like that.
For Cicero, going beyond Aristotle, we are all created equal in that we have a natural capacity to become habitually virtuous (with benevolence at the heart of the preeminent virtue of justice), and that is the source of happiness -- but the meaning of the word has shifted. Where the Founders said "happiness," today we would say "well being."
The edification of "happiness," and the comments above I actually feel uplifted and think there just might be potential for democracy to live on. Thank you Mr. Schmmckle, I just followed you on Twitter and am anxious to go there and read more.
Thanks, the natural law really is a beautiful vision of human potential, but we must organize our society correctly to cultivate the individual's innate potential.
Article 5, Section 2 of the Massachusetts Constitution presents some thoughts in that direction:
Thank you John. If I understand your research, (a big if) the key "starting points" are the May 1776 Resolution, further June 1776 steps in Virginia before the July 1776 founding documents partly in reaction to King George's 1775 destruction of his royal "contract" with his colonial subjects? [ With deep roots in the Age of Reason.]
I will read your work more carefully, but thank you for the penetrating analysis.
More or less. The "original contract" (allegiance in exchange for protection) is referenced as a natural-law principle in Sir Edward Coke's all-important report on Calvin's Case (1609). (The eminent legal historian John Phillip Reid discusses the Original Contract, without mentioning natural law, in his Constitutional History of the American Revolution.)
The Original Contract is reaffirmed when every monarch takes their coronation oath.
In October 1775 King George, citing his concern for the "safety and happiness" of all his subjects, formally placed the rebellious colonists out of his protection, formally breaking the Original Contract, which was cited in the May independence resolution (with "reason and good conscience" as the formally correct natural law authorities) for the colonies to "totally suppress" royal authority, and this independence resolution defined safety ("protection of lives, liberties and property") and happiness ("internal peace, virtue and good order").
This was the moment of independence, according to both John Adams and Gordon S. Wood.
Our national birthday is actually May 15, but it appears that Adams and Jefferson colluded to create a myth of July 4.
I suppose my research, with smoking-gun evidence, could be considered the "tip of the spear" in an emerging academic paradigm shift. Right now the Old Guard is resisting.
Persist and persevere - their resistance will strengthen the will to transcend self indulgent ignorance - thank you so much for doing and sharing your research, John!!
John. My recollection is that Jefferson must have had John Locke in mind when, in the Declaration of Independence, he wrote “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Locke, nearly a century earlier had written “Life, Liberty, and estate (property).”
Yes, that's part of the established Lockean explanation, which only makes sense if we conflate property with "pursuit of happiness" and ignore the congressional definition of happiness, in favor of Locke's definition as the utmost pleasure of which we are capable.
The Continental Congress defined happiness as "internal peace, virtue and good order" side-by-side with its definition of safety (not happiness) in terms of life, liberty and property. (Life, liberty and property goes back to Magna Carta.)
The doctrine of "safety and happiness" as the standard for governmental legitimacy goes back to Cicero's De legibus, as I discussed in my article on the original May 1776 independence resolution, here:
It follows from today’s message that the electoral college and the U.S. Senate composition are anti-democratic institutions and vestiges of a state’s rights past as superior to democratic federalism. America must ultimately make a choice between being a federalist democracy where governing philosophy and principles are decided by a one person, one vote with all represented equally and fairly or we will choose a confederacy of States system with a weak central government and each state free to legislate and govern as they wish. We can be one United States of America or we can be each state for themselves. We cannot long survive as a divided nation. Lincoln, one of the founders of the Republican party understood this and made a choice for federalism. The modern Republican party seems bent on redefining itself as the new confederacy party.
MaryOMary: a way to reactivate the "heart"-try going to the top of the page then look to the left of the search bar. You'll see an incomplete circle w/ an arrow @ the end. Click on that. The action refreshes the page. You should be able to get the"heart" to turn red. Occasionally it might take a couple tries. I hope this helps.
“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.
What is breaking the hearts of those of us who still love democracy is the inability to bring together enough senators to protect voting rights on a bipartisan basis. It appears that the Senate, as a body, has become so corrupt or that senators fear more for their safety or value their careers over their patriotic duty or a combination of these. Where is the courage to prevent the subversion of the democratic process? Is keeping the Republican party intact more important than standing up for America? Does this responsibility have to be shouldered by Democrats only when two of our senators care more about their personal interests than their country? This cannot excuse Republicans who might vote otherwise to say it’s not their responsibility too. Most have already cast their lot and washed their hands when acquitting Trump in both impeachments. There is still no excuse although I fear there is no deal to be made before the midterms likely shift the majority of the House or Senate or both. As the child of immigrants who fled Hitler’s Austria, I never thought I would see fascism take over our country. But there it is.
Gary, you ask: " Is keeping the Republican party intact more important than standing up for America?" That is the central point. Their answer would be a resounding yes. Those of the current GQP rarely say it out loud, but they really do believe that their "principles" of white superiority and so called "states rights" to control women, disenfranchise people of color - to dominate - are worth fighting for and "democracy" be damned.
Their "America" is not one where all people have equal rights. Their America is more like the Gilead of the Handmaids Tale. We are at war with our own internal fascism. And they are gaining ground daily. I am no longer convinced that the "Union" will hold. And I am no longer feeling Lincolnesque. Perhaps the American Brown Shirts should have their own un-reconstructed region where bigots can be bigots. Where women will serve men.
They would need to create their own flimsy central government. Several of our Supreme Court "Justices" could be made available for their kangaroo court. We could operate in a loosely allied way. We would keep the military. And all the nukes, of course.
All of the above is just a horrible product of my ever increasing incredulity and fear that America is losing its collective mind. Fanatical religious haters are grabbing power all over certain states and threaten to actually take over our Federal government soon.
This is the time to yell "FIRE" in the theater. In a few short months, the America we believe in may not exist. They may rename it "Republica". America is not trending.
The astounding thing is the fanatical religious haters grabbing power, when the entire central point of Christianity is to love your neighbor as yourself; that hate and Christianity are anathema and diametrically opposed. And it doesn’t matter.
Bill, yes, it's time to yell "FIRE" in the theater. I have been struggling to understand as many of us have those many millions who have gone MAGA or Q or similar. Now up on my reading list is The Authoritarians (available for free download at https://theauthoritarians.org or at very low cost via the publisher, Lulu.com) by Bob Altemeyer, a retired history professor. https://theauthoritarians.org/options-for-getting-the-book/
Just working my way through the book, he has developed scales and done research over four decades. What I am reading is frightening but fits what we are seeing. People high on the RWA (Right Wing Authoritarian -- that applies also to radical communists) scale have been raised to believe and to not question their beliefs with critical thinking. They will not agree that there are contradictions in the Bible when shown them side by side. (I support the love and selflessness that Jesus preached.) Altemeyer's research and analysis seem to be thorough so far.
The people we need to reach are those who have tuned out or been discouraged. Most of the MAGA crowd is beyond reach.
Propaganda is powerful, as an old crone screamed in the dining hall of my assisted living residence “democrats are destroying America’s freedom.” Goebbels would be proud.
Putin is an honest man trying save Ukraine from Nazi's (not a war criminal)
Biden is at fault for inflation (not corporations, who are raising prices while having historic profits).
Trump is tough and strong (not the guy who signed the actual surrender agreement with the Taliban and EXCLUDED the government of Afghanistan).
Trump is a genius (not the guy whose Dad paid for him to be admitted to Wharton (another Ivy with no standards) and then paid for his C in all his classes when he failed each and every one of them by not attending (like George W. Bush at Yale).
well, there you have it. TRUTH (as they say on right wing websites).
Rupert’s version of our world; at least Hitler tried to put a kernel of truth in most of his most heinous propaganda. And who believes that Rupert will tell the MAGAt cult fools about Rick Scott’s republican platform. I would be shocked if the MSM laid out any of those details. Somebody had better…
To be able to create the flower you need to create microfoam, which does taste better than the sea foam you'll get from unskilled baristas because larger bubbles keep the coffee away from your tastebuds and aren't nearly as smooth and rich. Where'd you get the flower image? :-)
One might hypothesize that rich, white men (those in the Senate for example), normed to manipulating people through marketing and the legal system, have no ethics. They also have access to enough money to get elected by lying to the people who want to hear the lies.
People without ethics, do not think about courage at all. It is not that courage is absent, it is that courage does not even exist in that culture.
Only their own outcomes exist, and only their attainment of what they want exists. Courage is like air on the moon to them. Just absent.
Gary….You write my thoughts perfectly. Fear is a strong motivator. From fear of losing power and the perks of Washington to fear of safety for themselves and their family….there has got to be something that leads Republican elected officials (local, state, and Congress) to knowingly surrender their scruples/integrity including courage, and willingly lie to their constituents. And of course, this also applies to the media/propaganda as Jeri references. And lastly to the public whose willful ignorance accepts it all…because trump and his minions “tell it like it is”.
They are seduced by money and power, and the very real prospect of keeping power indefinitely. They no longer try to convince and win voters over with ideas; instead, they seek only to maintain power, by fair means or foul. Mostly foul.
We don't have much time. How do we start a gut-grabbing, fanatical cult based on the true principles of a liberal democracy: real truth, actual facts, one person one vote, and liberty, justice, and the pursuit of happiness for all, regardless of race, creed, color, gender, gender identity, religion, or net worth?
Gary - I never thought I would see it either. I have to say - the outcome of the 2020 election was a near miss. I was thrilled that it went our way, but clearly it could have gone the other way, at least the Senate. Trump was his own worst enemy, and can take the blame for most Republican losses. And instead of a post mortem where Republicans rethink their platform, they are instead doing everything they can to rig the next election in their favor. That is pure authoritarianism. Anybody with just an inkling of political savvy knows that a Republican sweep in 2022 probably means an end to the democracy we hold dear. If it goes the way the political pundits think it will, I personally do not know what I am going to do. A whole lot of me says I cannot live in a country like that. I am afraid alot of folks think the same way. Another part of me says to stay the fight. But I am not into futility.
Predictions are silly. But I will give it a go. We might lose the House and actually add a seat or two in the Senate. The House will focus on Hunters laptop and the Senate will try to govern and make sensible laws. A deadlocked Congress. Biden handcuffed. And then the battle of all battles in 2024.
On the other hand, international events may eclipse everything and put Biden in an FDR role...
I’m an old gal, I predict that Rupert will continue his demonization of democracy, calling it “freedom” of course. What I would not have predicted is the MSM getting on the chump bandwagon to such an extent. They are not only predicting a Dem loss, they are helping it along. Unconscionable…
I no longer predict, I forecast. For, alas, prediction requires data and a formula to show proof or probability of being right. Besides, my area meteorologist gets paid way more than I ever did as an academic researcher. 😉
Sandy, I couldn’t agree more and simply would note that while Lincoln’s efforts, in no way, would guarantee acceptance of his worldview, his engaging could help ensure that his thinking at least was being heard and considered.
Yes, yes, Abraham Lincoln was far and away our best president. Our greatest political leader. Young, poor, log splitting Abraham Lincoln knew Kentucky, knew Illinois, knew to debate the great Stephen Douglas, knew his young nation, North and South, and he preserved and saved his nation, saved us, saved the constitution, emancipated our sick South, our stronger slaves - addressed our original sin as a nation, our founders’ sin, the Federalists’ sin, thus creating the incredible Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, straight line. The arc of our progress is found in the rainbow of our people, in sacred miscegenation and growing tolerance, in Ketanji’s beautiful daughters, their admiration of her, their smiles, in her husband’s love of her, in her quiet majesty. Thanks, Barbara Jo Krieger.
Correctisimo. Fox News personalities love to call themselves the party of Lincoln. What a joke. Republicans then are the Democrats of today. You can click off just about all the boxes.
I think this every day. He simply keeps going on doing amazing feats under powerful adversity. That so few Americans actually wish to see this tears my heart daily.
In a few words you have distilled the despair that it’s so easy to feel. We must rise above that to fight the good fight. If the Ukrainians can do it, so can we. Would love to see a good fight poem from you.
If only we had the passion of the Ukrainians, Milton Mayer said it best in The Germans: They thought they were Free, Germany 1933-45. “Each step was so small, so inconsequential, so well explained, or on occasion, “regretted,” that unless one (saw) what the whole thing was in principle what all these ‘little measures’ … must someday lead to, one no more saw it developing from day to day, than a farmer in his field sees his corn growing - each act is worse than the last, but only a little worse. You wait for the next and the next. You wait for the one great shocking occasion, thinking that others, when such a shock comes, will join you in resisting somehow.
You don’t want to act, or even talk, alone. You don’t want to go ‘out of your way to make trouble.’ But the one great shocking occasion, when the tens, or hundreds, or thousands, will join you never comes. That’s the difficulty. The forms are all there, all untouched, all reassuring, the houses, the shops, the jobs, the visits, the mealtimes, the concerts, the cinema, the holidays. But the spirit, which you never noticed because you made the lifelong mistake of identifying it with the forms, is changed. Now you live in a world of hate and fear, and the people who hate and fear do not even know it themselves. When everyone is transformed, no one is transformed. You have accepted things you would not have accepted five years ago, a year ago, Things your father never could have imagined.”
The one great shocking occasion has come and gone more times than I can count, but the propaganda machine grinds on, and the stench lessens, until it doesn’t…
Jeri, this is brilliant! Thank you for sharing. It’s happening now. “Now you live in a world of hate and fear, and the people who hate and fear do not even know it themselves. When everyone is transformed, no one is transformed. You have accepted things you would not have accepted five years ago, a year ago, Things your father never could have imagined.”
Milton A Mayer’s words grabbed me by the throat, as we focus on the latest Kardashian news, and such mind-numbing distractions. The rug is being pulled from under us, one inch at a time…
Actually the Ukrainians have been given an opportunity that we sorely need: being pushed over the threshold to where you are forced to look beyond your own bubble, and join in the larger good. We see it sometimes; when there's a terrible weather event...but otherwise we are like those who need to give up an addiction, nothing serious will happen until the patient hits the wall.
I agree, Charlie. My thought is, the Jan 6th committee and things going on behind the scenes that we don’t know about really f*cked up the Repub timetable. They expected to go into Nov elections ready to tie the red bow on the orchestrated victory with no one more the wiser. Well, not so. So much info being unearthed and revealed, turncoats, insurrectionists being prosecuted in various courts, lawmakers either being blatantly, viciously bold or scuttling back on their heels to keep clear of the reckoning. Haven’t hit the bottom yet because the breadth of the damage during 4rs and beyond of trump is not fully revealed yet. And Ukraine (not that I like characterizing it as such) being a variable that no one could foresee…especially putin and trump. And Joe Biden was not supposed to be in the Whitewash House of trump.
I believe once we hit the bottom of the disgusting reveal, then the forces will marshal more loudly as many are crying for and a blow as mighty as what President Lincoln marshaled will be heard.
And there will be many to thank whose names we don’t even know because that is how Democracy works. We are One.
Salud, Charlie. Hope your Easter basket is full of Light! Full moon tonight!
Thanks for the reminder about the Moon. Crystals outside in full moonlight for charging.
I do hope you are right about the timing of the 1/6 commission. If it were me (I'm not a PR guy and don't even play one on TV) I'd start pumping the real info out starting right after July 4 and keep a steady stream going for 90+ days. People start to firm up opinions in October as the media blitz descends.
Ukraine remains a wild card. Massive internal political mess for Putin if it drags much beyond May 9th. He really doesn't have a face saving way out now that I can see.
That is the danger of allowing others to amass power while, I, for example, stand aside without the skill to do so.
I am not charismatic like Hitler and Trump. I am also highly likely to say something that can be proven by data instead of some lie that everyone wants to hear.
So, I have close to zero chance of ever being powerful enough to stop a Trump or a Hitler.
That is really the problem. Trump and Hitler are and were quite skilled at amazing real power.
Chump’s power is based on the hate and ignorance of others, just like Adolf. With 90-decibel propaganda, how can any other message compete. When I saw David Mamet (smart man who admires chump) on Bill Maher, and Bill still giving his celeb Dems hell, I almost heaved. Of course free speech is important, but Bill has given Fox their own headlines in the propaganda war. Sad day, with MSM doing the same…. Dems need all hands on deck, a problem republicans never seem to have. Every slur against Joe is one of a thousand cuts to our future, whether they come from the lying bastards or our “friends.”
Mary, You wrote '...if the Ukrainians can do it, so can we." The Ukrainians under the most dire circumstances, are a model. Will it take fighting in the streets to wake up many more Americans? As Kim stated, 'We are talking to ourselves' how can we change that before we lose more?
And what about the filibuster as well as the bills passed in many red states to suppress voting and nullify election results? We need to get out the vote and support candidates who will honor public service principles but cannot ignore the serious obstacles to fair and free elections.
You bring up something that has been on my mind since Youngkin was elected. How do we make informed choices when the candidate presents him- or herself as one thing and after election becomes a different (presumably real) person?
You raised a very significant point, MLMinET. Sometimes it is impossible to know if a candidate is a fraud. The opposing candidate's team and voting rights activists must comb the history of the person and good questions are a valuable tool. You picked a perfect charlatan in naming Youngkin.
I mean that if the Ukrainians can keep hope of a better future to work towards, so can we. President Zelensky has fought a war of ideas and shows us how a country can unite for the sake of the children and democracy.
Yes, Mary, and the Ukrainians have had centuries of great struggle. As a start you might want to read what was written about the country in Wikipedia. One or two noted historians contributed to its summary.
I’ve read it and it reminds me of the quiet stoicism of the old black women that I marched with in 1963. They had seen very slow change, but believed that eventually good change would come.
Mary, I saw their beauty; the confirmation that they felt when among the crowd and, perhaps, their faith was a bedrock. Disappoints were the norm and every little step forward was received with a nod and a smile - stoicism - yes - and love..
"Shooting a Republican' is your idea not mine and has no connection to my post. I asked what it would take to wake up Americans, not suggesting that there be 'fighting in the streets;. Twisting the meaning of my post with your own notions has been noted.
Thank you, Chris. First there's Mike's BS and then his hutzpah (nerve) in associating it with another's post. Guilt by association - a deceitful or unthinking gambit?
Mike always tells what I see, without any BS, bravado or spin. The republicans invite demonization with glee, and yet, some people don’t believe who they say they are.
Is the key ... under most dire circumstances? Condition to be Ukrainian or a needed before WE would, with clarity, fight for what surely can be lost in America?
Thank you Fred for asking for more clarification. The Ukrainians' will not give up their fight for democracy even under the most horrifying circumstances of war, mass murder, brutality and destruction of the country's infrastructure. They are models and hopefully will prompt Americans to realize that we are losing our democracy because many of us aren't paying attention. What do you think now, Fred?
Fern, I fear that too few of us notice the enemy in our neighborhood, the dire circumstances needed for to few of us to put our latte down and dare to risk our live to protect the blind lady feedom.
Fred, the good news is that so many more of us have shed the complacency of the 1980’s through 2016. We assumed norms of governance. We now realize that so many are led by fear of losing the comfortable status quo. Demagogues stoke our fears that even a little change will lead to destruction.
Mary, for whatever reasons, US Americans, particularly those who do not currently identify as Republicans or right wing, do not seem to have the capacity for sustained anger and concern beyond hand wringing. It's as though a good bit of the population is in deep doldrums. Many blame the stress of Covid, inflation, etc., but this lack of interest and activity on the part of Democrats/progressives/liberals is constant. Every once in a while we get a glimmer of hope that someone is ready to step up and become a force to be reckoned with – Stacy Abrams, for example. But the fervor and passion Abrams was able to generate in that close, intense period of time simply faded away. The immediate crisis was "over". Similarly, the passion for social justice against BIPOC after George Floyd died at the hands of law enforcement has become dull and uninteresting to most. (Even as a Black man was shot in the back of the head by a law enforcement officer in Grand Rapids, the outcry and press have been negligible.)
We US Americans are like magpies. Something shiny catches our interest for a brief instant then we move on to a new shiny thing. It's all ho-hum until it's not.
Daria, contrast the makeup of the civil rights marches in the 1960’s with that of the John Floyd marches. Fear can’t endure unless it’s stoked or it’s a surprise; John Floyd’s video showed a lot of people the injustice they’d not personally experienced.
Whew! That’s glorious, especially the last line. Let us find magic words and shout them from the rooftops to bring out the better angels of those who hold high office. And by all means, let’s get out the vote!
... new generations will be born - fresh revolutions will come ... seeds of virtue and integrity will sprout, take root and grow strong in the composted soils of our times ... persist and persevere in the face of all odds - wheels of time continue turning through the ages ... it just takes more time than most can see or count on the fingers of one hand ....
What of quality health care for all Americans; what about safe streets for all Americans; what about affordable housing; what about good public education for all Americans; what about fair a free elections; what about the enormous wealth gap in the USA...???? Yes, we need to persist and persevere -- and inspire more Americans to do so as well and finding the routes to one anther and making stronger moves against the enemies of democracy.
And we need to reach as many Americans as we can who could believe that the federal government IS supposed to do these things that we cannot do for ourselves...that the federal government in a democracy does get to challenge "states' rights" when the state is denying rights and blocking the taking care of these very basic needs...and that preserving these rights and meeting these needs is more important than any culture war that can rile them up in anger.
Yes Chaplain - I'll vouch for it. There was a time you could not have paid me to accept government support. When I became too ill to work, and my only options were to be a bum, or die, I surrendered my pride and accepted state support rather than inconvenience others with my survival needs.
State support can help, but all too often, only serves to keep people in the street - subject to cycles that suppress - with no escape. Thankfully, I was able to access federal support which has allowed me to survive - minimally, but adequately - giving me the time to focus on healing process, and work that matters more than just making money to pay the bills ... it has been a complete blessing and a life saving grace for me.
Additional benefits, I became aware that government is not just an entity, it is people - from the ground up - people who get up early with tired feet and backs, come to work - overworked and underpaid - and all too often get blamed for inequities beyond their control. Players at the top who manipulate economy and law to serve only elite interests undermine the value and detract from the true purpose and potential of government support. So, it matters which people control the process.
Government only is evil if those who control it abandon integrity and virtue to serve the common good for excessive self interest and personal gain. So let's vote for people committed to public service - and work together to make government of, by and for the people prevail - from the ground up ....
'I became aware that government is not just an entity, it is people - from the ground up - people who get up early with tired feet and backs, come to work - overworked and underpaid - and all too often get blamed for inequities beyond their control.' Beautifully expressed from experience and from your heart. Kathleen Allen. '...GOVERNMENT IS NOT JUST AN ENTITY, IT IS PEOPLE - FROM THE GROUND UP'! How is that for a message?
Kathleen we have a similar story. I've never stayed at a "day" job long enough to earn any real retirement because I always left a "day job" (sales mostly) for my next creative or human service pursuit (Planned Parenthood, two books, two plays,), all of which were well received and appreciated, none of which generated enough income to live on. I even had to give up an apartment in 2013 because I could no longer afford the rent, so for 18 months, I carried my life around in my car and did house/cat sitting, with friends kindly taking me in those very few weeks when I didn't have a client.
My new plan was to work as a chaplain as soon as I graduated with my MA in Religion, and my chaplain training in 2020. But a combination of two very arthritic hips and COVID made that impossible - so I'm living on my Social Security and Medicare. I was very blessed to qualify for a subsidized studio apartment for which I am very grateful. One hip has been replaced and I'm waiting for surgery for the other. In the meantime, I'm writing, supporting some people by phone or zoom, and doing whatever I can to support those working for change. For the first time in my life, I'm doing what I feel called to do w/o worrying about how to pay the bills....as long as I stay somewhat frugal. But w/o these federal programs, I would be dependent on the kindness of family (all of whom are young and working very hard) and friends or strangers.
I love your "government is not just an entity - it's people from the ground up." I agree with Fern, that's a great message!!! Thank you!!! Blessings,
Chaplain Terry Nicholetti, I was thinking this afternoon about the organization of an email I will send to a friend. He's a caring intellectual, with a deep knowledge of history. My question was should I begin with the BIG subjects such as direction of America, the struggle between West and East (globally) - Putin's war against Ukraine is part the war between East and West or shall I begin with the human touch I feel with several subscribers. Human touch, and here's your communication with Kathleen. This is touch. Your personal message reached as deeply into my heart as I think a message unintended for me could go. Thank you.
Yes, Chaplain, Yes and Yes. I think of the pamphleteers in earlier times. Consider some of the most familiar voices who could brilliantly convey these messages via telex, internet, radio, iPhone - create a new/modern way of transmitting public service messages. We need the creative writers/poets, actors, comedians, musicians, graphic artists...to make a stir with the truth and in style.
Yes! We have the modern ways - social media - but we need the messages and the creative folks to "make a stir with truth and in style." (Great phrase!) I want to do something to make that happen!!! There's so much talent in the Democratic party - I can't believe it hasn't happened yet. Maybe if we all reached out to the president, he could call upon the communication experts and artists to make it happen! I'm going to start leaving messages at the white house.
Chaplain, I will think about this necessary campaign. My first inclination would not be to start with the White House. I suggest beginning with the creative talents like Streisand, Jay-Z, Spike Lee...I do not have contacts for this but would look around. What do you think about starting with the talent, which would include writers and directors? This idea needs one or several strong people in the entertainment business who would be a good match to pull this kind of enterprise together.
We have a message now and Rick Scott has given it to us with his proposed Republican platform that calls for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security to be sunsetted (abolished) unless reapproved every 5 years. Look it up and tell your friends, especially in Florida.
'We are talking to ourselves', you wrote Kim. Might that recognition - be the tell? Why is that? Is it irremediable? 'We are talking to ourselves.' What is blocking the way to our compatriots? Can we go around or through the wall between us?
Will knew about republicans “The money was all Appropriated For the top in the hopes that it would trickle down to the needy. Mr. Hoover didn’t know that money trickled up. Give it to people at the bottom and the people at the top will have it before night anyhow. But it will at least have passed through The poor fellows hands.” The republicans know this, but direct access to the trough is so much better…
Further proof that Harry Truman was right back in 1948: "the only 'good Republicans' are pushing up daisies." Some things never change (except for the worse).
The backbone of Lincoln's brilliance, humility, and vision is enshrined in the 14th Amendment. Section 1:
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
Each of these 19 states are in violation of this amendment by enacted their new election laws under the well worn canard and explicit euphemism of state rights. Only Congress has the ability to uniformly enact legislation to ensure Section 1 as law, and this action is explicit within Section 5:
"The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article."
If Congress, by default the Democrats, fail to move any named Voting Rights Legislation successfully into Law, then, as we well understand by now, any semblance of our democracy remains doomed. This should unequivocally be the focus. All other matters, granted there are many, can only be addressed if the Democrats retain Congress. The only way they can succeed, beyond the majority supporting their work in the polls, is for fair elections to substantiate it.
And we Democrats must assure that All Democratic incumbents, and candidates succeed in November...please support all those brave soles most generously while we still have an opportunity to save America for our children & GradnChildren!
And the “originalists” don’t agree that this amendment is legitimate. Apparently, these states’ rights folks forget that a MAJORITY of states is required to pass a constitutional amendment. A preponderance of Americans alive then wanted the federal protections of this amendment.
A former refugee from S. Sudan (now a naturalized U.S. citizen), who I have known for 20 years and I consider family, said to me yesterday (but not for the first time!), "I do not understand why people like trump have not been arrested and put in jail. It doesn't make sense. When I came to this country, I thought there were laws, democracy". He cannot help but fear the outcome when the "rule of law" disappears; when bad people are not held responsible but are allowed to continue their deeds unpunished.
This is not an educated man, and he has limited literacy yet understands and gets the issues. He saw and experienced first-hand the horrors of what happens when evil and incompetence infiltrates to become the government. A few control the masses and exert their power with weapons and brutality vs. laws and real leadership. The result for this kind, wonderful person is a level of anxiety of not being safe in the U.S. (being Black in America doesn't help). Yet, I am impressed that he moves forward to provide the best life he can for his family.
One doesn't have to be deep in the weeds of education, history, or politics to distinguish between the good, bad, and ugly in our current political environment. Seeing things from the perspective of those who were (and are) so grateful and proud to have the opportunity to come to the U.S. after surviving a genocide, become citizens then experience trump's reign of terror and continue to witness things disintegrate on their new homeland is heartbreaking. They do not understand (none of us do) why there are people who are against Biden when the administration has done so much to make life better.
When it comes to politicians of any persuasion it is hard to be too cynical. A leader who really puts the good of the country above his own welfare is a rare breed. I don't see many off that breed on either side of the aisle in Congress or in the State houses.
I know it's tempting to stay cynical. But I believe it's important to recognize and uphold the good ones and not lump all together. Cheney, Kinzinger, Raskin, are just a very few names that come quickly to mind. And there are many folks working at local levels who are working for the good of their communities. I'm still checking to make sure it's true, but it seems that Albert Einstein said that "Imagination is more important than knowledge." So while I know about the evil things many republican politicians are doing, I want to spend at least some of my energy imagining how it could be....and then doing what I can to bring that about, and supporting others who are also working for good...even though not perfectly.
That's a great quote, Fern. In a somewhat related vein, I think of the message I received in a Chinese fortune cookie years ago--"The philosophy of one century is the common sense of the next."
I have to disagree. I realize that all Ds are not pure as driven snow, but none of them took part in the insurrection. They are generally more for ordinary people. Here in Oregon I am lucky in that most of the Ds here support our democracy and do not try to undermine it. I am not against conservatives per se, but the current R party is radical regressive and full of insurrectionists. Here in Oregon it was a R who opened the door to the mob in the Capitol Building. Fortunately, the state police were able to get them out before they harmed anyone in the building. However, I am cynical about humankind in general.
Frankly, I am surprised that Oregon wasn't one of the "false electors" states recruited. Must have been our Democratic state house. We have both a strong Republiqan Q force and a well-established "sovereign citizens movement".
Just read an account in the local rag about the Flynn/Trump hate rally in Keizer which was aided and abetted by local Keizer officials and the Keizer police. And also several so called Christian pastors.
We were lucky. Yes, we have too many wing nuts here in Oregon. That's why my R next door neighbor, who is now an independent, cannot stand the current R party.
Washington has a similar situation; large population centers are primarily blue but the rest of the state is red. I’m hoping that has eased a bit. My evidence is shaky, though. Driving across the state to visit family, I used to cringe at the number of pro-you know who signs. Since January of this year that number has significantly decreased. I only had to give the one finger salute 3 times yesterday! Hah - absolute proof (of nothing).
The D's are, undoubtedly, better behaved than the R's. They can afford to be because they are in the majority. The system where the Dakotas have 30 times the representation per capita that Californians have, gerrymandering, Republican Supreme Court decisions that empower the rich over the average American, etc. have been cleverly managed by Republicans to allow them to over-rule the democratic process. The D's aren't fighting all that hard, though. They pull their punches while the R's go full force and fight as dirty as they can get away with. But then Nancy Pelosi fighting against stopping insider stock trading for Congress people is hardly a paragon.
I don’t think that it is just because the D’s are in the majority; in the last 60 years, it has been the D’s who have led the fight for a better social safety net for the common man. Medicare was once derided as socialism, as were the provisions in Obamacare that prohibit denying or overcharging due to preexisting conditions and coverage caps.
In ancient Classical Greek and Roman philosophy that was the definition of “virtue”—public mindedness or putting country before one’s self or interests. A reader has been writing that it means benevolence. That is definitely not the definition of virtue in its classical understanding, of which our Founders understood it and lived it.
Thanks for posting this link. Many of us here played outside as kids. Do parents know how valuable this free play time is today? The addiction to the screen suffered by lots of kids is often enabled by adults.
Plus the kids need role models, especially the kids living in the Cult. We need healthy adults in our communities in roles where the kids of the cult can interact with them.
Some parents change their families’ lives because they know. I’m associated with a large swath of homeschooling parent-educators to whom this is critically important. My own
journey of home educating began 9 years ago, largely due to Richard Louv’s book, Last Child Left in the Woods, along with dismay at the corporate educational goals of the new national Common Core standards. Free play, especially in nature (Louv coined the term “nature-deficit disorder”), off of screens, is how many of us built our “fringe” lives, completely supported by childhood development research. Not so fringe anymore, once the world shut down in 2020 , and “homeschooled” via non-stop screen interaction, which we long-timers point out is very much the antithesis of homeschool. Even recent research on universal Pre-K education in the U.S. has shown pushing back academic learning younger and younger to keep up and beat other countries scoring academically better than us (Common Core’s supposed mission) is not working for non-play based groups. Education must be developmentally appropriate, and too little unstructured free play and too much screen time is not!
Thank you Sandy. This pretty well sums up what may have started with good intentions, but has become the social media septic tank. Once again greed has it’s way.
So much extraordinary progress in 157 years, thanks to the wisdom and will of President Lincoln and so many others who followed him. Do today's Republicans who are trying to tear the nation asunder ever wonder about their personal hypocrisy? Wrapping themselves in the flag, as they so lustily do, while trying to destroy the concept of the United States. Gleefully taking credit for Democrats bringing millions of dollars to their states for infrastructure work that they opposed. Embracing a sworn enemy of the country, Putin. I could go on and on, but we all know these so-called patriots don't care a whit about hypocrisy. Or lying.
And now they've shed their masks, showing us clearly that they want to take us back to pre-Civil War days. As the professor articulates so powerfully, they want all-powerful states. States where well-off white people rule and suppress basic human and civil rights, trash the environment, assure the existential threat of climate change, and so much more. But, at the same time, they want to enjoy the benefits of a strong, well-funded federal government — especially the flow of money.
Why the Democrats in power, from the president to Congress, aren't shouting from the mountaintop about what's happening is simply shocking. Yes, a few are trying to do so, and all credit to them. But the media, which apparently doesn't see it will lose its freedom too, is increasingly complicit in this escalating soft Civil War, with one side now winning and rigging the game like crooked dealers at blackjack tables.
Michael, I find your analysis of our near-broken system accurate, thorough, and well-stated. As for a remedy, considering half of our leadership, constitutionally tasked with protecting our institutions, in fact, poses the greatest threat, and the other half is burdened, in part, by the filibuster and, in part, by a 50-50 Senate, I would submit that the media could be the most critical factor, as it alone can provide needed context, background, and a sense of which claims hold up and which are misleading. Any failure, in my view, should trigger our engagement in the mainstream, not our retreat from it.
Self-doubt has never been part of a Republican mind in my 68 years on the planet. The possibility they might be mistaken is not part of their program; no review of the alternative is necessary. Democrats may be too enamored of reviewing alternatives, and that has held them back from mounting a serious response to the Republican's juggernaut campaign of propaganda, college recruiting, purchase of over 5,000 professorships, and establishment of anti-democracy organizations like ALEC, which wrote most of the voter-suppression bills that were passed last year.
By donating primarily to Republicans corporations are complicit in taking freedoms and adding burdens on a weakened population. Confusing as the more economically successful the general population the more goods and services will be purchased. The oligarchs will eventually prey on smaller companies all the while the environment becomes more troublesome even for the rich. Welcome to the jungle.
If you are referring to "We the people," I think it's pretty clear that "We" are at best approximately 50% in FAVOR of the "fix" you mention. Maybe a little more. Maybe a little less.
If you are referring to "we" as the group on this website, I'd love to hear an actual plan that I could participate in.
Otherwise, it seems to me that we are constrained to wait. Wait for the 2022 midterm, and see how the power lies at that point. Wait for the 2024 election carnival, and see who puts a hat in the ring. Wait for the 2024 election, and see who wins. Wait and worry.
The "fix being in" means that these outcomes are actually known in advance, because they've anticipated obstacles, and have already eliminated them. Based on what I see, on what we're talking about, that means we end up with a neutered Federalism lording over a Balkanized collection of feifdoms called States, each with its own form of government. Many will reinstate slavery as an institution. Women will be sent back to the bedroom and kitchen as breeders. Vicious local religions will regain power, not just politically, but also coercive power to enforce their peculiar moral rules. Witch trials. Torture. Grisly public executions. Religion will also take over education of the young.
It also means that Texas can legally hold the rest of the continent hostage by closing up the Mexican ports. It means SoCal can legally starve the rest of the continent by closing is ports. It means an unstable national currency, and the rise of state currencies, and trade imbalances and tariffs between states. It mean non-cooperation in what used to be national emergencies, like hurricanes in Texas, or wildfires in California.
In short, it means the end of the United States.
I'd really like to know what "we" can do about it.
Joseph, Though your comment wasn’t addressed to me, I would note that if you are seeking an alternative merely to waiting and watching and growing increasingly anxious, like so many others, Indivisible, co- founded by former Congressional staff under the leadership of Ezra Levin, in my view, provides the most astute playbook for citizen activist engagement.
I am writing about a deep concern regarding the future of our nation. I apologize for the length, but it is a deadly serious topic.
The United States is ripping itself apart, politically. This much is obvious. Other democratic nations have noticed, calling us a "backsliding democracy," even questioning whether we are still a democracy. I question it, too.
This has happened at least twice before, in the 1850's, and again in the 1930's. In both cases, the Union was at serious risk of dissolution. We are now in a similar position.
The core issue seems to be the same in all three cases: the entitlement of the wealthy to increase their wealth to the detriment of the nation.
In the 1850's, the issue was slavery, the right of the wealthy to own other humans, work them as property, trade them for profit as property, and pursue them if they fled as "stolen" property. In the 1930's, it was the dominance of corporations and trusts, which sought to evade the new federal taxes, manipulate the stock markets, and monopolize entire industries to eliminate competition; to raise prices and lower wages, all with no concern for the harm it caused the workers or the residents near their operations or the nation as a whole.
The issue since the 1980's, culminating in the 2010's with the election of Donald Trump, has been the attempt to reduce the federal government to a tool for the wealthy to protect their "investments," returning all other political power to the states, which may choose to nullify federal regulations and any pesky amendments to the Constitution that offend them. To "shrink the federal government until it can be drowned in a bathtub."
We see the kinds of powers the states wish to exercise in the behavior of Governor Abbott of Texas, or Governor de Santis of Florida. We are headed toward Balkanization, interstate economic war, and (eventually) military conflict supported by state governments and militias.
The nation fell into civil war once, and avoided it the second time. I am not confident of our chances this time.
It is clear that the entire Republican Party is deeply complicit in this matter. They have packed the Supreme Court with "originalists," a philosophy that enshrines the Constitution as Holy Writ, and carries the potential for disregarding any of the amendments to the Constitution, such as the 14th, which makes human slavery illegal, or the 16th, which allows a Federal income tax. Under this philosophy, even the 1st amendment could be ignored. Or the 5th. When in the majority, Republicans use the filibuster relentlessly to shut down debate, discussion, and lawmaking. They were deeply involved in, and have turned a blind eye toward an attempted coup of the office of the Presidency -- a coup that very nearly succeeded.
It falls to President Biden and the Democrats in Congress to carry us through this time. The Republicans will bring us to dissolution and war.
I do not wish to see a civil war. I have grandchildren.
I believe that the dry wood fueling this fire is a disaffected, angry population, with one broad underlying problem. Put in simple terms, we all live now in a nation-sized company town.
I'm referring to the "company towns" of the big logging and mining operations of the late 1800's and early 1900's, where you could go to make big paychecks, but found that the company store would take it all back with inflated prices that kept your pockets empty. You would make great money, spend it all on necessities or small pleasures, and walk away older and no richer. The Trump supporters call this a loss of "freedom." But it is really a loss of opportunity, based on a loss of security. You cannot pursue an opportunity when you have no time to do anything but try to make next month's rent.
US Americans have no security.
Medical care is catastrophic. I went through a medical bankruptcy, for colon cancer. I watched a man suffering a heart-attack decline care because he could not afford the ambulance; he died that night, alone and in pain. I was forced out of independent contracting, trying to keep up with medical insurance under the pre-Obamacare price-padding from the insurance companies. Drug prices are a scandal, even with medical insurance, due to open price-gouging.
Housing is increasingly inaccessible. Denver, Colorado, where I once lived, has been reported as approaching a $1M median house price. California housing prices have long been ridiculous. Where does all that money go? To the mortgage bankers.
Old age is desperately insecure. My first "stake" in retirement was wiped out by the 2001 tech-bubble collapse. My second would have been destroyed by the 2008 meltdown, had it survived the medical bankruptcy. Social Security is coming up fast on the "boomer" trust-fund cliff, and the Republicans have successfully blocked any fix to that since Reagan.
Income for many is capped at a level below a living wage by monopolies on jobs. Throwing money into the workforce can create new jobs, as Biden has demonstrated, but it doesn't address the fact that many of those jobs remain below living wage.
Education is no longer a right, but a speculative commodity, surrounded by loan sharks. It is rapidly falling out-of-favor with the young, for the very good reason that it no longer makes any economic sense for them.
Few believe the US government will rise to the challenge of global climate change -- I certainly do not.
The common element underlying all of these ailments is ultimately the failure of the Federal government to finish the job it started in the 1860's. Back then, the ownership class owned people. Now, the ownership class owns everything except people. Food. Water. Shelter. Land. Labor.
The Democratic Party needs to stop dithering, and face the core of the problem: the ownership class. The American oligarchs, barons, investors. The wealthy. The systems of ownership that make them wealth, and keep them wealthy.
Both Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have thought deeply about these matters, and while their solutions may need more work, the core idea is sound: we need to return ownership of the nation to the people of the nation.
If the Democratic Party continues to dither, telling the citizens that this is the best they can do, then the United States will fail.
Joseph, Your letter presents a most astute account of a lethal linkage of relative economic decline (e.g., working-class wage stagnation), cultural decay (created largely by the failure of those who own and control to fulfill collective needs), and political lethargy. In my view, you rightly imply that no democracy can survive with a working and middle class so insecure that it is willing to accept any authoritarian option in order to provide some sense of normalcy and security in their lives.
Considering, nationwide, that the country needs Explainers with your background and experience to educate people about what they’re already losing and why, I can think of no greater contribution than you publishing in outlets that reach the broadest possible audience.
I've shared this letter on my blog site, and on Facebook.
The unfortunate reality is that broad audiences are earned. It's damned hard work, and deeply subject to the prejudices of the audience.
Heather has done damned hard work: I think her worst posts are very good, her best posts are brilliant, and she turns them out EVERY SINGLE DAY. She's been doing this for several years, now. End result: a pretty steady 2000-3000 likes per day, and a regular list of responders that post about 400-500 comments. She's also expanding by going into regular podcasts, and has done interviews on mass media.
At this point in my life and circumstances, it isn't possible for me to earn that audience. OTOH, items like this I relinquish to the public domain, meaning no one needs to ask permission to reprint or redistribute it.
Joseph, Clearly, I agree that widespread authority is earned through steady, conscientious “damned hard work.”Still, in my view, one need not be a Heather Cox Richardson for one’s thinking to gain prominence in public dialogue, possibly sending ripples of influence that feasibly could effect public policy.
I've looked into this, a little, and it fails to inspire me. It isn't a growing movement, it's a dying one. The last post to the local group website was 2018. It was apparently idle all through 2020.
It isn't that it fails to inspire "me," per-se. It's my personal indication that it fails to inspire. And this whole issue is about inspiring the masses. That is what Trump's propaganda has done.
But YOU have inspired me to write more to the few channels I can write to. Unfortunately, we are losing Feinstein. I didn't always agree with her policies, but she was admirably old-school, and her staff is well-trained in responding to letters. I understand these get aggregated into reports: 40% of your constituents are worried about X, another 30% about Y, and 2% think Z.
Joseph, Though I am delighted you feel inspired to write more, as stated in my response to your letter, I hope, for reasons enumerated in my reply, that your reach exceeds a “few channels.”
I mean we the people, who must vote Democratic like never before and increase power. Otherwise, a possible scenario: If the authoritarians take power, the only answer to save democracy will be civil disobedience of a scale that this country has never seen. And it must be done in combination with blue states (as in your California example) asserting their considerable power — especially financially.
The right-wing will try to stop all of this with increasing force and violence And then comes the war, which will include police forces in many if not most cities siding with the right and domestic terrorist groups. Will they be able to bend big Democratic cities to their will? Or will the nation transform into many countries.
Most people, regardless of their political beliefs, don't want any of this.
The balance is around 50%. It could go either way.
The Jan 6 committee will divulge information in a series of public performances sometime this year. I hope. And I hope they have a good -- no, a great -- producer for that show. Someone who understands lighting and timing and framing at least as well as Trump does. If done even halfway well, it should sway people.
Even Presidential elections bring in just a little over 50% of eligible voters. A highly-polarized Presidential election in 2024 could bring out more voters, and that could throw some surprises at the pollsters and fixers.
It still doesn't feel like there is a damn thing I can do about it.
We are on the eve of civil war. Will it be averted? We can only wait.
Thank you, Professor, for the always enlightening history lesson. So much of History repeats. The names may change but corruption and greed and power grabs are the badges of the party that either steals the election or convinces enough voters and their leaders that it was stolen. Is that today’s story? Someday in a hundred years, if there is still a USA, our great-great-great grandchildren will marvel at how we all worked together to save the Democracy. Fiction or Non-Fiction?
Sometimes it is very, very difficult to tap that “heart” emoji. I do not love to read what is so horrifying and real. But I love that you are writing it with such clarity and truth and intelligence. Thank you, with all my heart.
Heather Cox Richardson's summary of the ante-bellum southern perversion of the meaning of our Founding documents does not mention their primary philosopher of slavery: John Locke.
For the past hundred years, and especially since the 1950s, this perverted Lockean understanding of the Declaration of Independence has maintained an uneasy hegemony over the minds of academic scholars.
Then, 15 years ago, I went to graduate school and stumbled across the 1776 congressional definition of "happiness" (in the original May 1776 Independence resolution), instantly demolishing the bogus Lockean argument, because this congressional definition of happiness includes "virtue" (rooted in benevolence -- active concern for the well-being of our fellow humans), and Locke -- a beneficiary of the slave trade who wrote South Carolina's very first slave constitution -- was unique in taking virtue OUT of his definition of happiness.
See " The Declaration of Independence without Locke: A Rebuttal of Michael Zuckert’s "The Natural Rights Republic," at
https://independent.academia.edu/JohnSchmeeckle
I summarized my research on this Twitter thread:
https://twitter.com/john_schmeeckle/status/1497950349549879302
John,
I read your twitter linked article. Brilliant writing , and, as a long time student and fan of John Adams was not surpised to see that John Adams led the effort to insure that government worked for the "happiness" of the people.
Absolutely great writing Mr. Shmeeckle!!
Indeed, John Adams gets neglected. He was "Mr. Independence" in Congress, which is why he deserved a turn as President.
And as President, perhaps his finest moment was his policy of "peace through strength" against France, first building the U.S. Navy to give the imperious French a bloody nose, and then sacrificing his chances for a second term as President to pursue a peace treaty with France, in opposition to the Federalist "war hawks" including Alexander Hamilton.
John Spot on! John Adams was ‘resurrected’ by my friend and classmate David McCullough in his Pulitzer-winning JOHN ADAMS. He did clearly jeopardize his re-election by putting country over self in avoiding war with France. His re-election campaign was badly damaged by Alexander Hamilton’s 78-page diatribe against Adams, which well may have cost him New York and re-election.
David told me that initially he commenced researching a book on the letters exchanged by ex-presidents Adams and Jefferson. When he found Jefferson to be extremely hypocritical, he switched to his John and Abigail blockbuster.
As president, Jefferson insisted on building little river gunboats that were called ‘Jeff’s,’ which proved totally ineffective in the War of 1812. I recall, many years ago, discovering the hypocrisy of Jefferson in Joseph Ellis’s book AMERICAN SPHINX. By contrast, Adams was dour, stubborn, and, in key moments, absolutely brilliant in shaping our country.
P. S. There was no love lost between Adams and Jefferson. On Jefferson’s inauguration, Adams left Washington at 3:30 a. M., stating that there was no convenient later stage coach to get him back to Boston. I believe that he and Trump were the only living presidents who skipped the inauguration of their successors.
Keith, I have read David's good biography.
However, I have also read the predecessor to David, Catherine Drinker Bowen's John Adams biography and her bio and picture of Adams are truly spectacular. McCollough must have read her as well because he takes up where she left off.
But, Adams early development, life and education is absolutely fascinating in Bowen's Biography.
Sadly, libraries are getting rid of her stuff but keeping McCollough's stuff. I just had my own local library re-acquire her Biography and place it in the teen section. Every teen should read it, especially the girls.
Bowen was a historian long before women were even hired at University. She wrote the book out of pure passion.
I've been inclined to think of Jefferson as a trimmer, never publicly out of step with the collective view of the Virginia aristocracy.
In all fairness, Adams and Jefferson patched things up late in life (as witnessed by Adams' last words on July 4), but in their correspondence, sometimes Jefferson's lack of candor is hard to miss.
Adams is the reason the United States of America exists today. Simple as that. Without him, things would have gone off the rails.
He was the person who nominated, then, worked mightily to get George Washington the supreme commander of the Continental Army, despite the more powerful Hancock wanting the job.
Adams picked the perfect person for that job.......and the rest is history.
Adams was convinced that a southern was imperative as commander of the Continental Army (Washington appeared at the Continental Congress in his military uniform). Virginia was the largest American colony. John Hancock, the biggest smuggler in the colonies, was appalled that Adams supported Washington. Without General Washington, the colonies would not have defeated the British.
John - I read your abbreviated piece. This is very interesting indeed! Thank you.
Thank you - I'm so excited to read this in depth (post holiday preparations and celebrations!) I am now following you on Twitter. And I'll retweet your article as soon as I can make a clear statement of why I'm doing that. I think you are going to be a very important part of my better-late-than-never understanding of this country of my birth. Blessings,
There was so much that I left out... In the mind of Francis Hutcheson, the pathway to happiness was to obey the two great commandments of Jesus Christ, but Hutcheson never phrased it like that.
For Cicero, going beyond Aristotle, we are all created equal in that we have a natural capacity to become habitually virtuous (with benevolence at the heart of the preeminent virtue of justice), and that is the source of happiness -- but the meaning of the word has shifted. Where the Founders said "happiness," today we would say "well being."
The edification of "happiness," and the comments above I actually feel uplifted and think there just might be potential for democracy to live on. Thank you Mr. Schmmckle, I just followed you on Twitter and am anxious to go there and read more.
Thanks, the natural law really is a beautiful vision of human potential, but we must organize our society correctly to cultivate the individual's innate potential.
Article 5, Section 2 of the Massachusetts Constitution presents some thoughts in that direction:
https://ballotpedia.org/Chapter_5,_Massachusetts_Constitution#:~:text=Wisdom%2C%20and%20knowledge%2C%20as%20well,different%20orders%20of%20the%20people%2C
Thanks for the link for Ballotpedia
Thank you John. If I understand your research, (a big if) the key "starting points" are the May 1776 Resolution, further June 1776 steps in Virginia before the July 1776 founding documents partly in reaction to King George's 1775 destruction of his royal "contract" with his colonial subjects? [ With deep roots in the Age of Reason.]
I will read your work more carefully, but thank you for the penetrating analysis.
More or less. The "original contract" (allegiance in exchange for protection) is referenced as a natural-law principle in Sir Edward Coke's all-important report on Calvin's Case (1609). (The eminent legal historian John Phillip Reid discusses the Original Contract, without mentioning natural law, in his Constitutional History of the American Revolution.)
The Original Contract is reaffirmed when every monarch takes their coronation oath.
In October 1775 King George, citing his concern for the "safety and happiness" of all his subjects, formally placed the rebellious colonists out of his protection, formally breaking the Original Contract, which was cited in the May independence resolution (with "reason and good conscience" as the formally correct natural law authorities) for the colonies to "totally suppress" royal authority, and this independence resolution defined safety ("protection of lives, liberties and property") and happiness ("internal peace, virtue and good order").
This was the moment of independence, according to both John Adams and Gordon S. Wood.
Our national birthday is actually May 15, but it appears that Adams and Jefferson colluded to create a myth of July 4.
Excellent post, John. The old Locke/Hobbes debate which offers different views of man in nature couldn't be more fascinating today.
Learned a. lot reading this, John.
😯😮😲😮😯 Thank you John. Is this enforceable?
I suppose my research, with smoking-gun evidence, could be considered the "tip of the spear" in an emerging academic paradigm shift. Right now the Old Guard is resisting.
Persist and persevere - their resistance will strengthen the will to transcend self indulgent ignorance - thank you so much for doing and sharing your research, John!!
John. My recollection is that Jefferson must have had John Locke in mind when, in the Declaration of Independence, he wrote “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Locke, nearly a century earlier had written “Life, Liberty, and estate (property).”
Yes, that's part of the established Lockean explanation, which only makes sense if we conflate property with "pursuit of happiness" and ignore the congressional definition of happiness, in favor of Locke's definition as the utmost pleasure of which we are capable.
The Continental Congress defined happiness as "internal peace, virtue and good order" side-by-side with its definition of safety (not happiness) in terms of life, liberty and property. (Life, liberty and property goes back to Magna Carta.)
The doctrine of "safety and happiness" as the standard for governmental legitimacy goes back to Cicero's De legibus, as I discussed in my article on the original May 1776 independence resolution, here:
https://www.academia.edu/resource/work/1479704
It follows from today’s message that the electoral college and the U.S. Senate composition are anti-democratic institutions and vestiges of a state’s rights past as superior to democratic federalism. America must ultimately make a choice between being a federalist democracy where governing philosophy and principles are decided by a one person, one vote with all represented equally and fairly or we will choose a confederacy of States system with a weak central government and each state free to legislate and govern as they wish. We can be one United States of America or we can be each state for themselves. We cannot long survive as a divided nation. Lincoln, one of the founders of the Republican party understood this and made a choice for federalism. The modern Republican party seems bent on redefining itself as the new confederacy party.
Tragic...
...and let's not forget that SCOTUS has been ignoring the Constitution's Federal Supremacy clause in favor of states' rights.
MaryOMary: a way to reactivate the "heart"-try going to the top of the page then look to the left of the search bar. You'll see an incomplete circle w/ an arrow @ the end. Click on that. The action refreshes the page. You should be able to get the"heart" to turn red. Occasionally it might take a couple tries. I hope this helps.
“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.
What is breaking the hearts of those of us who still love democracy is the inability to bring together enough senators to protect voting rights on a bipartisan basis. It appears that the Senate, as a body, has become so corrupt or that senators fear more for their safety or value their careers over their patriotic duty or a combination of these. Where is the courage to prevent the subversion of the democratic process? Is keeping the Republican party intact more important than standing up for America? Does this responsibility have to be shouldered by Democrats only when two of our senators care more about their personal interests than their country? This cannot excuse Republicans who might vote otherwise to say it’s not their responsibility too. Most have already cast their lot and washed their hands when acquitting Trump in both impeachments. There is still no excuse although I fear there is no deal to be made before the midterms likely shift the majority of the House or Senate or both. As the child of immigrants who fled Hitler’s Austria, I never thought I would see fascism take over our country. But there it is.
Gary, you ask: " Is keeping the Republican party intact more important than standing up for America?" That is the central point. Their answer would be a resounding yes. Those of the current GQP rarely say it out loud, but they really do believe that their "principles" of white superiority and so called "states rights" to control women, disenfranchise people of color - to dominate - are worth fighting for and "democracy" be damned.
Their "America" is not one where all people have equal rights. Their America is more like the Gilead of the Handmaids Tale. We are at war with our own internal fascism. And they are gaining ground daily. I am no longer convinced that the "Union" will hold. And I am no longer feeling Lincolnesque. Perhaps the American Brown Shirts should have their own un-reconstructed region where bigots can be bigots. Where women will serve men.
They would need to create their own flimsy central government. Several of our Supreme Court "Justices" could be made available for their kangaroo court. We could operate in a loosely allied way. We would keep the military. And all the nukes, of course.
All of the above is just a horrible product of my ever increasing incredulity and fear that America is losing its collective mind. Fanatical religious haters are grabbing power all over certain states and threaten to actually take over our Federal government soon.
This is the time to yell "FIRE" in the theater. In a few short months, the America we believe in may not exist. They may rename it "Republica". America is not trending.
The astounding thing is the fanatical religious haters grabbing power, when the entire central point of Christianity is to love your neighbor as yourself; that hate and Christianity are anathema and diametrically opposed. And it doesn’t matter.
Exactly, dear KR!💙
Who doesn’t see that actual Republican Christians are as rare as hen’s teeth.
Bill, yes, it's time to yell "FIRE" in the theater. I have been struggling to understand as many of us have those many millions who have gone MAGA or Q or similar. Now up on my reading list is The Authoritarians (available for free download at https://theauthoritarians.org or at very low cost via the publisher, Lulu.com) by Bob Altemeyer, a retired history professor. https://theauthoritarians.org/options-for-getting-the-book/
Just working my way through the book, he has developed scales and done research over four decades. What I am reading is frightening but fits what we are seeing. People high on the RWA (Right Wing Authoritarian -- that applies also to radical communists) scale have been raised to believe and to not question their beliefs with critical thinking. They will not agree that there are contradictions in the Bible when shown them side by side. (I support the love and selflessness that Jesus preached.) Altemeyer's research and analysis seem to be thorough so far.
The people we need to reach are those who have tuned out or been discouraged. Most of the MAGA crowd is beyond reach.
Propaganda is powerful, as an old crone screamed in the dining hall of my assisted living residence “democrats are destroying America’s freedom.” Goebbels would be proud.
Jeri,
Putin is an honest man trying save Ukraine from Nazi's (not a war criminal)
Biden is at fault for inflation (not corporations, who are raising prices while having historic profits).
Trump is tough and strong (not the guy who signed the actual surrender agreement with the Taliban and EXCLUDED the government of Afghanistan).
Trump is a genius (not the guy whose Dad paid for him to be admitted to Wharton (another Ivy with no standards) and then paid for his C in all his classes when he failed each and every one of them by not attending (like George W. Bush at Yale).
well, there you have it. TRUTH (as they say on right wing websites).
:-)
Rupert’s version of our world; at least Hitler tried to put a kernel of truth in most of his most heinous propaganda. And who believes that Rupert will tell the MAGAt cult fools about Rick Scott’s republican platform. I would be shocked if the MSM laid out any of those details. Somebody had better…
My coffee barista made me a lovely flower on my coffee today. He said he had been practicing for a month.
I have been a coffee hobbyist for 12 years. Only recently did I get the feel for making latte art. We need to be awake these days. ;-)
Kathy. A wonderful two line story. But, what happens next!!!
She drank it.
But it tasted even better than coffee w/o a flower! 🌺
To be able to create the flower you need to create microfoam, which does taste better than the sea foam you'll get from unskilled baristas because larger bubbles keep the coffee away from your tastebuds and aren't nearly as smooth and rich. Where'd you get the flower image? :-)
:-)
Gary:
"Where is the courage"?
One might hypothesize that rich, white men (those in the Senate for example), normed to manipulating people through marketing and the legal system, have no ethics. They also have access to enough money to get elected by lying to the people who want to hear the lies.
People without ethics, do not think about courage at all. It is not that courage is absent, it is that courage does not even exist in that culture.
Only their own outcomes exist, and only their attainment of what they want exists. Courage is like air on the moon to them. Just absent.
Nailed it exactly
Gary….You write my thoughts perfectly. Fear is a strong motivator. From fear of losing power and the perks of Washington to fear of safety for themselves and their family….there has got to be something that leads Republican elected officials (local, state, and Congress) to knowingly surrender their scruples/integrity including courage, and willingly lie to their constituents. And of course, this also applies to the media/propaganda as Jeri references. And lastly to the public whose willful ignorance accepts it all…because trump and his minions “tell it like it is”.
They are seduced by money and power, and the very real prospect of keeping power indefinitely. They no longer try to convince and win voters over with ideas; instead, they seek only to maintain power, by fair means or foul. Mostly foul.
Willful ignorance, and it’s not just a trait of the stupid. Smart people are experts at it too…
Excellent and timely biblical reference, Gary. I, too, am the child of an immigrant who fled Hitler, and share your disbelief that this is happening.
We don't have much time. How do we start a gut-grabbing, fanatical cult based on the true principles of a liberal democracy: real truth, actual facts, one person one vote, and liberty, justice, and the pursuit of happiness for all, regardless of race, creed, color, gender, gender identity, religion, or net worth?
Gary - I never thought I would see it either. I have to say - the outcome of the 2020 election was a near miss. I was thrilled that it went our way, but clearly it could have gone the other way, at least the Senate. Trump was his own worst enemy, and can take the blame for most Republican losses. And instead of a post mortem where Republicans rethink their platform, they are instead doing everything they can to rig the next election in their favor. That is pure authoritarianism. Anybody with just an inkling of political savvy knows that a Republican sweep in 2022 probably means an end to the democracy we hold dear. If it goes the way the political pundits think it will, I personally do not know what I am going to do. A whole lot of me says I cannot live in a country like that. I am afraid alot of folks think the same way. Another part of me says to stay the fight. But I am not into futility.
I am an old guy. And I will stay to fight.
Predictions are silly. But I will give it a go. We might lose the House and actually add a seat or two in the Senate. The House will focus on Hunters laptop and the Senate will try to govern and make sensible laws. A deadlocked Congress. Biden handcuffed. And then the battle of all battles in 2024.
On the other hand, international events may eclipse everything and put Biden in an FDR role...
I’m an old gal, I predict that Rupert will continue his demonization of democracy, calling it “freedom” of course. What I would not have predicted is the MSM getting on the chump bandwagon to such an extent. They are not only predicting a Dem loss, they are helping it along. Unconscionable…
I no longer predict, I forecast. For, alas, prediction requires data and a formula to show proof or probability of being right. Besides, my area meteorologist gets paid way more than I ever did as an academic researcher. 😉
Yes, but Meteorologists double as the local movie star now.
:-)
Age and place in life might have something to do with fight or flight.
Today's Republicans would detest Abraham Lincoln.
And Abraham Lincoln would detest them, too.
No. Lincoln would not detest. He wasn’t that type. He would reflect, reason, debate, educate and pray.
Sandy, I couldn’t agree more and simply would note that while Lincoln’s efforts, in no way, would guarantee acceptance of his worldview, his engaging could help ensure that his thinking at least was being heard and considered.
Yes, yes, Abraham Lincoln was far and away our best president. Our greatest political leader. Young, poor, log splitting Abraham Lincoln knew Kentucky, knew Illinois, knew to debate the great Stephen Douglas, knew his young nation, North and South, and he preserved and saved his nation, saved us, saved the constitution, emancipated our sick South, our stronger slaves - addressed our original sin as a nation, our founders’ sin, the Federalists’ sin, thus creating the incredible Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, straight line. The arc of our progress is found in the rainbow of our people, in sacred miscegenation and growing tolerance, in Ketanji’s beautiful daughters, their admiration of her, their smiles, in her husband’s love of her, in her quiet majesty. Thanks, Barbara Jo Krieger.
Sandy, Thank you for your gorgeous portrayal of what truly is worth seeking, worth having, and worth doing.
You're probably right.
Correct.
👍🏼
And appoint some to his cabinet, gaining a degree of their loyalty. (Didn't he do that?)
And he would put some in his cabinet, gaining a degree of loyalty from them. (Didn't that happen?)
Not so.
Correctisimo. Fox News personalities love to call themselves the party of Lincoln. What a joke. Republicans then are the Democrats of today. You can click off just about all the boxes.
... pretty sure it would be mutual ...
Given US history, Biden is as brave as Zelensky every time he appears in public.
I think this every day. He simply keeps going on doing amazing feats under powerful adversity. That so few Americans actually wish to see this tears my heart daily.
We are quite ill at present, our democracy.
We are short of breath, and short on
magic words referencing wondrous policy.
We are fractured, broken, unhealed, and plenty unheeding
We are lies and manipulation, naked greed
we are saints and sinners, all
We are stalwart, heroic, upstanding and righteous crusaders
We are talking to ourselves
We are taking on the filth of propaganda
We are silly, sad, little people
We will be surprised by the already changed climate
All of us.
In this human condition
that is, the bed we have made,
a lot of us are toast.
Blessings upon us
Kim,
In a few words you have distilled the despair that it’s so easy to feel. We must rise above that to fight the good fight. If the Ukrainians can do it, so can we. Would love to see a good fight poem from you.
If only we had the passion of the Ukrainians, Milton Mayer said it best in The Germans: They thought they were Free, Germany 1933-45. “Each step was so small, so inconsequential, so well explained, or on occasion, “regretted,” that unless one (saw) what the whole thing was in principle what all these ‘little measures’ … must someday lead to, one no more saw it developing from day to day, than a farmer in his field sees his corn growing - each act is worse than the last, but only a little worse. You wait for the next and the next. You wait for the one great shocking occasion, thinking that others, when such a shock comes, will join you in resisting somehow.
You don’t want to act, or even talk, alone. You don’t want to go ‘out of your way to make trouble.’ But the one great shocking occasion, when the tens, or hundreds, or thousands, will join you never comes. That’s the difficulty. The forms are all there, all untouched, all reassuring, the houses, the shops, the jobs, the visits, the mealtimes, the concerts, the cinema, the holidays. But the spirit, which you never noticed because you made the lifelong mistake of identifying it with the forms, is changed. Now you live in a world of hate and fear, and the people who hate and fear do not even know it themselves. When everyone is transformed, no one is transformed. You have accepted things you would not have accepted five years ago, a year ago, Things your father never could have imagined.”
The one great shocking occasion has come and gone more times than I can count, but the propaganda machine grinds on, and the stench lessens, until it doesn’t…
Jeri, this is brilliant! Thank you for sharing. It’s happening now. “Now you live in a world of hate and fear, and the people who hate and fear do not even know it themselves. When everyone is transformed, no one is transformed. You have accepted things you would not have accepted five years ago, a year ago, Things your father never could have imagined.”
Milton A Mayer’s words grabbed me by the throat, as we focus on the latest Kardashian news, and such mind-numbing distractions. The rug is being pulled from under us, one inch at a time…
Actually the Ukrainians have been given an opportunity that we sorely need: being pushed over the threshold to where you are forced to look beyond your own bubble, and join in the larger good. We see it sometimes; when there's a terrible weather event...but otherwise we are like those who need to give up an addiction, nothing serious will happen until the patient hits the wall.
And we haven't hit bottom yet IMHO.
I agree, Charlie. My thought is, the Jan 6th committee and things going on behind the scenes that we don’t know about really f*cked up the Repub timetable. They expected to go into Nov elections ready to tie the red bow on the orchestrated victory with no one more the wiser. Well, not so. So much info being unearthed and revealed, turncoats, insurrectionists being prosecuted in various courts, lawmakers either being blatantly, viciously bold or scuttling back on their heels to keep clear of the reckoning. Haven’t hit the bottom yet because the breadth of the damage during 4rs and beyond of trump is not fully revealed yet. And Ukraine (not that I like characterizing it as such) being a variable that no one could foresee…especially putin and trump. And Joe Biden was not supposed to be in the Whitewash House of trump.
I believe once we hit the bottom of the disgusting reveal, then the forces will marshal more loudly as many are crying for and a blow as mighty as what President Lincoln marshaled will be heard.
And there will be many to thank whose names we don’t even know because that is how Democracy works. We are One.
Salud, Charlie. Hope your Easter basket is full of Light! Full moon tonight!
Thanks for the reminder about the Moon. Crystals outside in full moonlight for charging.
I do hope you are right about the timing of the 1/6 commission. If it were me (I'm not a PR guy and don't even play one on TV) I'd start pumping the real info out starting right after July 4 and keep a steady stream going for 90+ days. People start to firm up opinions in October as the media blitz descends.
Ukraine remains a wild card. Massive internal political mess for Putin if it drags much beyond May 9th. He really doesn't have a face saving way out now that I can see.
Pearl Harbor shut up the fascists before, hope we can coalesce without being pushed to such a threshold
Jeri,
That is the danger of allowing others to amass power while, I, for example, stand aside without the skill to do so.
I am not charismatic like Hitler and Trump. I am also highly likely to say something that can be proven by data instead of some lie that everyone wants to hear.
So, I have close to zero chance of ever being powerful enough to stop a Trump or a Hitler.
That is really the problem. Trump and Hitler are and were quite skilled at amazing real power.
Chump’s power is based on the hate and ignorance of others, just like Adolf. With 90-decibel propaganda, how can any other message compete. When I saw David Mamet (smart man who admires chump) on Bill Maher, and Bill still giving his celeb Dems hell, I almost heaved. Of course free speech is important, but Bill has given Fox their own headlines in the propaganda war. Sad day, with MSM doing the same…. Dems need all hands on deck, a problem republicans never seem to have. Every slur against Joe is one of a thousand cuts to our future, whether they come from the lying bastards or our “friends.”
Mary, You wrote '...if the Ukrainians can do it, so can we." The Ukrainians under the most dire circumstances, are a model. Will it take fighting in the streets to wake up many more Americans? As Kim stated, 'We are talking to ourselves' how can we change that before we lose more?
Work hard to expand Democratic majorities in both houses in 2022.
And what about the filibuster as well as the bills passed in many red states to suppress voting and nullify election results? We need to get out the vote and support candidates who will honor public service principles but cannot ignore the serious obstacles to fair and free elections.
You bring up something that has been on my mind since Youngkin was elected. How do we make informed choices when the candidate presents him- or herself as one thing and after election becomes a different (presumably real) person?
You raised a very significant point, MLMinET. Sometimes it is impossible to know if a candidate is a fraud. The opposing candidate's team and voting rights activists must comb the history of the person and good questions are a valuable tool. You picked a perfect charlatan in naming Youngkin.
Can’t❤️! Good morning, Fern!
Great to see you Marlene. There was too much good stuff from
subscribers, so I waded in. Cheers!
I mean that if the Ukrainians can keep hope of a better future to work towards, so can we. President Zelensky has fought a war of ideas and shows us how a country can unite for the sake of the children and democracy.
Yes, Mary, and the Ukrainians have had centuries of great struggle. As a start you might want to read what was written about the country in Wikipedia. One or two noted historians contributed to its summary.
I’ve read it and it reminds me of the quiet stoicism of the old black women that I marched with in 1963. They had seen very slow change, but believed that eventually good change would come.
Mary, I saw their beauty; the confirmation that they felt when among the crowd and, perhaps, their faith was a bedrock. Disappoints were the norm and every little step forward was received with a nod and a smile - stoicism - yes - and love..
Fern, currently it is still illegal to shoot a Republican. It is also illegal in Texas for a woman to seek to end her pregnancy.
Republicans are fighting smart (again) and writing laws that make it hard to fight them.
Slavery was legal back in the day right? Totally .... legal.
But, it was illegal to shoot a slave owner.
So, "fighting in the streets", right now, means going to jail forthwith.
"Shooting a Republican' is your idea not mine and has no connection to my post. I asked what it would take to wake up Americans, not suggesting that there be 'fighting in the streets;. Twisting the meaning of my post with your own notions has been noted.
Thank you, Chris. First there's Mike's BS and then his hutzpah (nerve) in associating it with another's post. Guilt by association - a deceitful or unthinking gambit?
Chris, perhaps you have good feedback for thought.
However, when you think of the causes of slavery, what would you list?
When you read "fighting in the streets" how would you visualize that actually occurring?
So, I think what you write is true, but, perhaps what I wrote is equally true? Maybe.
Mike always tells what I see, without any BS, bravado or spin. The republicans invite demonization with glee, and yet, some people don’t believe who they say they are.
Is the key ... under most dire circumstances? Condition to be Ukrainian or a needed before WE would, with clarity, fight for what surely can be lost in America?
Thank you Fred for asking for more clarification. The Ukrainians' will not give up their fight for democracy even under the most horrifying circumstances of war, mass murder, brutality and destruction of the country's infrastructure. They are models and hopefully will prompt Americans to realize that we are losing our democracy because many of us aren't paying attention. What do you think now, Fred?
Fern, I fear that too few of us notice the enemy in our neighborhood, the dire circumstances needed for to few of us to put our latte down and dare to risk our live to protect the blind lady feedom.
Fred, the good news is that so many more of us have shed the complacency of the 1980’s through 2016. We assumed norms of governance. We now realize that so many are led by fear of losing the comfortable status quo. Demagogues stoke our fears that even a little change will lead to destruction.
Mary, for whatever reasons, US Americans, particularly those who do not currently identify as Republicans or right wing, do not seem to have the capacity for sustained anger and concern beyond hand wringing. It's as though a good bit of the population is in deep doldrums. Many blame the stress of Covid, inflation, etc., but this lack of interest and activity on the part of Democrats/progressives/liberals is constant. Every once in a while we get a glimmer of hope that someone is ready to step up and become a force to be reckoned with – Stacy Abrams, for example. But the fervor and passion Abrams was able to generate in that close, intense period of time simply faded away. The immediate crisis was "over". Similarly, the passion for social justice against BIPOC after George Floyd died at the hands of law enforcement has become dull and uninteresting to most. (Even as a Black man was shot in the back of the head by a law enforcement officer in Grand Rapids, the outcry and press have been negligible.)
We US Americans are like magpies. Something shiny catches our interest for a brief instant then we move on to a new shiny thing. It's all ho-hum until it's not.
Daria, contrast the makeup of the civil rights marches in the 1960’s with that of the John Floyd marches. Fear can’t endure unless it’s stoked or it’s a surprise; John Floyd’s video showed a lot of people the injustice they’d not personally experienced.
Whew! That’s glorious, especially the last line. Let us find magic words and shout them from the rooftops to bring out the better angels of those who hold high office. And by all means, let’s get out the vote!
Kim, poignant and true. Blessings upon us. And the world.
... new generations will be born - fresh revolutions will come ... seeds of virtue and integrity will sprout, take root and grow strong in the composted soils of our times ... persist and persevere in the face of all odds - wheels of time continue turning through the ages ... it just takes more time than most can see or count on the fingers of one hand ....
What of quality health care for all Americans; what about safe streets for all Americans; what about affordable housing; what about good public education for all Americans; what about fair a free elections; what about the enormous wealth gap in the USA...???? Yes, we need to persist and persevere -- and inspire more Americans to do so as well and finding the routes to one anther and making stronger moves against the enemies of democracy.
And we need to reach as many Americans as we can who could believe that the federal government IS supposed to do these things that we cannot do for ourselves...that the federal government in a democracy does get to challenge "states' rights" when the state is denying rights and blocking the taking care of these very basic needs...and that preserving these rights and meeting these needs is more important than any culture war that can rile them up in anger.
Yes Chaplain - I'll vouch for it. There was a time you could not have paid me to accept government support. When I became too ill to work, and my only options were to be a bum, or die, I surrendered my pride and accepted state support rather than inconvenience others with my survival needs.
State support can help, but all too often, only serves to keep people in the street - subject to cycles that suppress - with no escape. Thankfully, I was able to access federal support which has allowed me to survive - minimally, but adequately - giving me the time to focus on healing process, and work that matters more than just making money to pay the bills ... it has been a complete blessing and a life saving grace for me.
Additional benefits, I became aware that government is not just an entity, it is people - from the ground up - people who get up early with tired feet and backs, come to work - overworked and underpaid - and all too often get blamed for inequities beyond their control. Players at the top who manipulate economy and law to serve only elite interests undermine the value and detract from the true purpose and potential of government support. So, it matters which people control the process.
Government only is evil if those who control it abandon integrity and virtue to serve the common good for excessive self interest and personal gain. So let's vote for people committed to public service - and work together to make government of, by and for the people prevail - from the ground up ....
'I became aware that government is not just an entity, it is people - from the ground up - people who get up early with tired feet and backs, come to work - overworked and underpaid - and all too often get blamed for inequities beyond their control.' Beautifully expressed from experience and from your heart. Kathleen Allen. '...GOVERNMENT IS NOT JUST AN ENTITY, IT IS PEOPLE - FROM THE GROUND UP'! How is that for a message?
Kathleen we have a similar story. I've never stayed at a "day" job long enough to earn any real retirement because I always left a "day job" (sales mostly) for my next creative or human service pursuit (Planned Parenthood, two books, two plays,), all of which were well received and appreciated, none of which generated enough income to live on. I even had to give up an apartment in 2013 because I could no longer afford the rent, so for 18 months, I carried my life around in my car and did house/cat sitting, with friends kindly taking me in those very few weeks when I didn't have a client.
My new plan was to work as a chaplain as soon as I graduated with my MA in Religion, and my chaplain training in 2020. But a combination of two very arthritic hips and COVID made that impossible - so I'm living on my Social Security and Medicare. I was very blessed to qualify for a subsidized studio apartment for which I am very grateful. One hip has been replaced and I'm waiting for surgery for the other. In the meantime, I'm writing, supporting some people by phone or zoom, and doing whatever I can to support those working for change. For the first time in my life, I'm doing what I feel called to do w/o worrying about how to pay the bills....as long as I stay somewhat frugal. But w/o these federal programs, I would be dependent on the kindness of family (all of whom are young and working very hard) and friends or strangers.
I love your "government is not just an entity - it's people from the ground up." I agree with Fern, that's a great message!!! Thank you!!! Blessings,
Chaplain Terry Nicholetti, I was thinking this afternoon about the organization of an email I will send to a friend. He's a caring intellectual, with a deep knowledge of history. My question was should I begin with the BIG subjects such as direction of America, the struggle between West and East (globally) - Putin's war against Ukraine is part the war between East and West or shall I begin with the human touch I feel with several subscribers. Human touch, and here's your communication with Kathleen. This is touch. Your personal message reached as deeply into my heart as I think a message unintended for me could go. Thank you.
🙏🌤🙏🌤🙏
Yes, Chaplain, Yes and Yes. I think of the pamphleteers in earlier times. Consider some of the most familiar voices who could brilliantly convey these messages via telex, internet, radio, iPhone - create a new/modern way of transmitting public service messages. We need the creative writers/poets, actors, comedians, musicians, graphic artists...to make a stir with the truth and in style.
Yes! We have the modern ways - social media - but we need the messages and the creative folks to "make a stir with truth and in style." (Great phrase!) I want to do something to make that happen!!! There's so much talent in the Democratic party - I can't believe it hasn't happened yet. Maybe if we all reached out to the president, he could call upon the communication experts and artists to make it happen! I'm going to start leaving messages at the white house.
www.whitehouse.gov/contact
202-456-1111 White House comment line T-Th 11 AM - 3 PM
Blessings,
Chaplain, I will think about this necessary campaign. My first inclination would not be to start with the White House. I suggest beginning with the creative talents like Streisand, Jay-Z, Spike Lee...I do not have contacts for this but would look around. What do you think about starting with the talent, which would include writers and directors? This idea needs one or several strong people in the entertainment business who would be a good match to pull this kind of enterprise together.
We have a message now and Rick Scott has given it to us with his proposed Republican platform that calls for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security to be sunsetted (abolished) unless reapproved every 5 years. Look it up and tell your friends, especially in Florida.
That's a big one and could reach a lot of people who probably have no idea.
Resurrect HST
Sorry, I looked it up and I still don't know what it is...harmonized sales tax? Thanks!
Simon & Garfunkel - A Hazy Shade of Winter (Audio)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVA-1iJxRQI
Peter Seeger & Johnny Cash - Worried Man Blues
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5_z_IQoiAs
" ... worried now ..., I won't be worried long!!!" ☺️😊☺️
''...I woke up...found shackles on my feet'!!! 😞
'We are talking to ourselves', you wrote Kim. Might that recognition - be the tell? Why is that? Is it irremediable? 'We are talking to ourselves.' What is blocking the way to our compatriots? Can we go around or through the wall between us?
Kim, spot on.
The other side of the coin is that the Democrats in Congress don't seem to be acting effectively to mobilize Americans to keep the pledge that:
"Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth."
Abraham Lincoln
"I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat."
Will Rogers
Don’t stop there Barry! You are in the money.
Will knew about republicans “The money was all Appropriated For the top in the hopes that it would trickle down to the needy. Mr. Hoover didn’t know that money trickled up. Give it to people at the bottom and the people at the top will have it before night anyhow. But it will at least have passed through The poor fellows hands.” The republicans know this, but direct access to the trough is so much better…
Further proof that Harry Truman was right back in 1948: "the only 'good Republicans' are pushing up daisies." Some things never change (except for the worse).
He also said “Socialism is their name for almost anything that helps all the people.”
Another President that had true character.
The backbone of Lincoln's brilliance, humility, and vision is enshrined in the 14th Amendment. Section 1:
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
Each of these 19 states are in violation of this amendment by enacted their new election laws under the well worn canard and explicit euphemism of state rights. Only Congress has the ability to uniformly enact legislation to ensure Section 1 as law, and this action is explicit within Section 5:
"The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article."
If Congress, by default the Democrats, fail to move any named Voting Rights Legislation successfully into Law, then, as we well understand by now, any semblance of our democracy remains doomed. This should unequivocally be the focus. All other matters, granted there are many, can only be addressed if the Democrats retain Congress. The only way they can succeed, beyond the majority supporting their work in the polls, is for fair elections to substantiate it.
And we Democrats must assure that All Democratic incumbents, and candidates succeed in November...please support all those brave soles most generously while we still have an opportunity to save America for our children & GradnChildren!
And the “originalists” don’t agree that this amendment is legitimate. Apparently, these states’ rights folks forget that a MAJORITY of states is required to pass a constitutional amendment. A preponderance of Americans alive then wanted the federal protections of this amendment.
Good point!
A former refugee from S. Sudan (now a naturalized U.S. citizen), who I have known for 20 years and I consider family, said to me yesterday (but not for the first time!), "I do not understand why people like trump have not been arrested and put in jail. It doesn't make sense. When I came to this country, I thought there were laws, democracy". He cannot help but fear the outcome when the "rule of law" disappears; when bad people are not held responsible but are allowed to continue their deeds unpunished.
This is not an educated man, and he has limited literacy yet understands and gets the issues. He saw and experienced first-hand the horrors of what happens when evil and incompetence infiltrates to become the government. A few control the masses and exert their power with weapons and brutality vs. laws and real leadership. The result for this kind, wonderful person is a level of anxiety of not being safe in the U.S. (being Black in America doesn't help). Yet, I am impressed that he moves forward to provide the best life he can for his family.
One doesn't have to be deep in the weeds of education, history, or politics to distinguish between the good, bad, and ugly in our current political environment. Seeing things from the perspective of those who were (and are) so grateful and proud to have the opportunity to come to the U.S. after surviving a genocide, become citizens then experience trump's reign of terror and continue to witness things disintegrate on their new homeland is heartbreaking. They do not understand (none of us do) why there are people who are against Biden when the administration has done so much to make life better.
He sees what is before our eyes, but Orwell knew that those “lying eyes” could be questioned
Thank you for this comparison. It is so scary to realize how many insurrectionists are part of the government.
When it comes to politicians of any persuasion it is hard to be too cynical. A leader who really puts the good of the country above his own welfare is a rare breed. I don't see many off that breed on either side of the aisle in Congress or in the State houses.
I know it's tempting to stay cynical. But I believe it's important to recognize and uphold the good ones and not lump all together. Cheney, Kinzinger, Raskin, are just a very few names that come quickly to mind. And there are many folks working at local levels who are working for the good of their communities. I'm still checking to make sure it's true, but it seems that Albert Einstein said that "Imagination is more important than knowledge." So while I know about the evil things many republican politicians are doing, I want to spend at least some of my energy imagining how it could be....and then doing what I can to bring that about, and supporting others who are also working for good...even though not perfectly.
“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.” – Albert Einstein
That's a great quote, Fern. In a somewhat related vein, I think of the message I received in a Chinese fortune cookie years ago--"The philosophy of one century is the common sense of the next."
Heydon, You always bring two or more gifts to the forum, the first is yourself. Wonderful to see you. Now off to mail my tax returns. Salud!
I have to disagree. I realize that all Ds are not pure as driven snow, but none of them took part in the insurrection. They are generally more for ordinary people. Here in Oregon I am lucky in that most of the Ds here support our democracy and do not try to undermine it. I am not against conservatives per se, but the current R party is radical regressive and full of insurrectionists. Here in Oregon it was a R who opened the door to the mob in the Capitol Building. Fortunately, the state police were able to get them out before they harmed anyone in the building. However, I am cynical about humankind in general.
Frankly, I am surprised that Oregon wasn't one of the "false electors" states recruited. Must have been our Democratic state house. We have both a strong Republiqan Q force and a well-established "sovereign citizens movement".
Just read an account in the local rag about the Flynn/Trump hate rally in Keizer which was aided and abetted by local Keizer officials and the Keizer police. And also several so called Christian pastors.
Joy. Not.
We were lucky. Yes, we have too many wing nuts here in Oregon. That's why my R next door neighbor, who is now an independent, cannot stand the current R party.
Washington has a similar situation; large population centers are primarily blue but the rest of the state is red. I’m hoping that has eased a bit. My evidence is shaky, though. Driving across the state to visit family, I used to cringe at the number of pro-you know who signs. Since January of this year that number has significantly decreased. I only had to give the one finger salute 3 times yesterday! Hah - absolute proof (of nothing).
The D's are, undoubtedly, better behaved than the R's. They can afford to be because they are in the majority. The system where the Dakotas have 30 times the representation per capita that Californians have, gerrymandering, Republican Supreme Court decisions that empower the rich over the average American, etc. have been cleverly managed by Republicans to allow them to over-rule the democratic process. The D's aren't fighting all that hard, though. They pull their punches while the R's go full force and fight as dirty as they can get away with. But then Nancy Pelosi fighting against stopping insider stock trading for Congress people is hardly a paragon.
I don’t think that it is just because the D’s are in the majority; in the last 60 years, it has been the D’s who have led the fight for a better social safety net for the common man. Medicare was once derided as socialism, as were the provisions in Obamacare that prohibit denying or overcharging due to preexisting conditions and coverage caps.
No, she isn't and this is disappointing. However, I would rather have her as Speaker and third in line than Kevin spineless McCarthy.
In ancient Classical Greek and Roman philosophy that was the definition of “virtue”—public mindedness or putting country before one’s self or interests. A reader has been writing that it means benevolence. That is definitely not the definition of virtue in its classical understanding, of which our Founders understood it and lived it.
Another one of your best letters. Thank you ❤️
Sadly...
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/05/social-media-democracy-trust-babel/629369/
The anti-social media dialogue swamp, where deep thinking and considered reflection go to die.
Thanks for posting this link. Many of us here played outside as kids. Do parents know how valuable this free play time is today? The addiction to the screen suffered by lots of kids is often enabled by adults.
Plus the kids need role models, especially the kids living in the Cult. We need healthy adults in our communities in roles where the kids of the cult can interact with them.
Some parents change their families’ lives because they know. I’m associated with a large swath of homeschooling parent-educators to whom this is critically important. My own
journey of home educating began 9 years ago, largely due to Richard Louv’s book, Last Child Left in the Woods, along with dismay at the corporate educational goals of the new national Common Core standards. Free play, especially in nature (Louv coined the term “nature-deficit disorder”), off of screens, is how many of us built our “fringe” lives, completely supported by childhood development research. Not so fringe anymore, once the world shut down in 2020 , and “homeschooled” via non-stop screen interaction, which we long-timers point out is very much the antithesis of homeschool. Even recent research on universal Pre-K education in the U.S. has shown pushing back academic learning younger and younger to keep up and beat other countries scoring academically better than us (Common Core’s supposed mission) is not working for non-play based groups. Education must be developmentally appropriate, and too little unstructured free play and too much screen time is not!
https://www.npr.org/2022/02/10/1079406041/researcher-says-rethink-prek-preschool-prekindergarten
http://richardlouv.com/books/last-child
Thank you Sandy. This pretty well sums up what may have started with good intentions, but has become the social media septic tank. Once again greed has it’s way.
This is wonderful. Thank you. Have reposted on LinkedIn.
Thanks for posting this - I was about to. "Rank Democracy" is indeed a problem - if by the term "Rank" we mean the uninformed. Madison had it right.
The internet is a great tool, but a poor lifestyle.
So much extraordinary progress in 157 years, thanks to the wisdom and will of President Lincoln and so many others who followed him. Do today's Republicans who are trying to tear the nation asunder ever wonder about their personal hypocrisy? Wrapping themselves in the flag, as they so lustily do, while trying to destroy the concept of the United States. Gleefully taking credit for Democrats bringing millions of dollars to their states for infrastructure work that they opposed. Embracing a sworn enemy of the country, Putin. I could go on and on, but we all know these so-called patriots don't care a whit about hypocrisy. Or lying.
And now they've shed their masks, showing us clearly that they want to take us back to pre-Civil War days. As the professor articulates so powerfully, they want all-powerful states. States where well-off white people rule and suppress basic human and civil rights, trash the environment, assure the existential threat of climate change, and so much more. But, at the same time, they want to enjoy the benefits of a strong, well-funded federal government — especially the flow of money.
Why the Democrats in power, from the president to Congress, aren't shouting from the mountaintop about what's happening is simply shocking. Yes, a few are trying to do so, and all credit to them. But the media, which apparently doesn't see it will lose its freedom too, is increasingly complicit in this escalating soft Civil War, with one side now winning and rigging the game like crooked dealers at blackjack tables.
In other words, the fix is in. Unless we stop it.
Michael, I find your analysis of our near-broken system accurate, thorough, and well-stated. As for a remedy, considering half of our leadership, constitutionally tasked with protecting our institutions, in fact, poses the greatest threat, and the other half is burdened, in part, by the filibuster and, in part, by a 50-50 Senate, I would submit that the media could be the most critical factor, as it alone can provide needed context, background, and a sense of which claims hold up and which are misleading. Any failure, in my view, should trigger our engagement in the mainstream, not our retreat from it.
Self-doubt has never been part of a Republican mind in my 68 years on the planet. The possibility they might be mistaken is not part of their program; no review of the alternative is necessary. Democrats may be too enamored of reviewing alternatives, and that has held them back from mounting a serious response to the Republican's juggernaut campaign of propaganda, college recruiting, purchase of over 5,000 professorships, and establishment of anti-democracy organizations like ALEC, which wrote most of the voter-suppression bills that were passed last year.
and, most importantly, the Federalist Society with the Judicial Crisis Network stacking the Supreme Court.
By donating primarily to Republicans corporations are complicit in taking freedoms and adding burdens on a weakened population. Confusing as the more economically successful the general population the more goods and services will be purchased. The oligarchs will eventually prey on smaller companies all the while the environment becomes more troublesome even for the rich. Welcome to the jungle.
"Unless 'we' stop it."
Who is "we?"
If you are referring to "We the people," I think it's pretty clear that "We" are at best approximately 50% in FAVOR of the "fix" you mention. Maybe a little more. Maybe a little less.
If you are referring to "we" as the group on this website, I'd love to hear an actual plan that I could participate in.
Otherwise, it seems to me that we are constrained to wait. Wait for the 2022 midterm, and see how the power lies at that point. Wait for the 2024 election carnival, and see who puts a hat in the ring. Wait for the 2024 election, and see who wins. Wait and worry.
The "fix being in" means that these outcomes are actually known in advance, because they've anticipated obstacles, and have already eliminated them. Based on what I see, on what we're talking about, that means we end up with a neutered Federalism lording over a Balkanized collection of feifdoms called States, each with its own form of government. Many will reinstate slavery as an institution. Women will be sent back to the bedroom and kitchen as breeders. Vicious local religions will regain power, not just politically, but also coercive power to enforce their peculiar moral rules. Witch trials. Torture. Grisly public executions. Religion will also take over education of the young.
It also means that Texas can legally hold the rest of the continent hostage by closing up the Mexican ports. It means SoCal can legally starve the rest of the continent by closing is ports. It means an unstable national currency, and the rise of state currencies, and trade imbalances and tariffs between states. It mean non-cooperation in what used to be national emergencies, like hurricanes in Texas, or wildfires in California.
In short, it means the end of the United States.
I'd really like to know what "we" can do about it.
Joseph, Though your comment wasn’t addressed to me, I would note that if you are seeking an alternative merely to waiting and watching and growing increasingly anxious, like so many others, Indivisible, co- founded by former Congressional staff under the leadership of Ezra Levin, in my view, provides the most astute playbook for citizen activist engagement.
So I've written to both my State's senators.
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Dear Senator <name>,
I am writing about a deep concern regarding the future of our nation. I apologize for the length, but it is a deadly serious topic.
The United States is ripping itself apart, politically. This much is obvious. Other democratic nations have noticed, calling us a "backsliding democracy," even questioning whether we are still a democracy. I question it, too.
This has happened at least twice before, in the 1850's, and again in the 1930's. In both cases, the Union was at serious risk of dissolution. We are now in a similar position.
The core issue seems to be the same in all three cases: the entitlement of the wealthy to increase their wealth to the detriment of the nation.
In the 1850's, the issue was slavery, the right of the wealthy to own other humans, work them as property, trade them for profit as property, and pursue them if they fled as "stolen" property. In the 1930's, it was the dominance of corporations and trusts, which sought to evade the new federal taxes, manipulate the stock markets, and monopolize entire industries to eliminate competition; to raise prices and lower wages, all with no concern for the harm it caused the workers or the residents near their operations or the nation as a whole.
The issue since the 1980's, culminating in the 2010's with the election of Donald Trump, has been the attempt to reduce the federal government to a tool for the wealthy to protect their "investments," returning all other political power to the states, which may choose to nullify federal regulations and any pesky amendments to the Constitution that offend them. To "shrink the federal government until it can be drowned in a bathtub."
We see the kinds of powers the states wish to exercise in the behavior of Governor Abbott of Texas, or Governor de Santis of Florida. We are headed toward Balkanization, interstate economic war, and (eventually) military conflict supported by state governments and militias.
The nation fell into civil war once, and avoided it the second time. I am not confident of our chances this time.
It is clear that the entire Republican Party is deeply complicit in this matter. They have packed the Supreme Court with "originalists," a philosophy that enshrines the Constitution as Holy Writ, and carries the potential for disregarding any of the amendments to the Constitution, such as the 14th, which makes human slavery illegal, or the 16th, which allows a Federal income tax. Under this philosophy, even the 1st amendment could be ignored. Or the 5th. When in the majority, Republicans use the filibuster relentlessly to shut down debate, discussion, and lawmaking. They were deeply involved in, and have turned a blind eye toward an attempted coup of the office of the Presidency -- a coup that very nearly succeeded.
It falls to President Biden and the Democrats in Congress to carry us through this time. The Republicans will bring us to dissolution and war.
I do not wish to see a civil war. I have grandchildren.
I believe that the dry wood fueling this fire is a disaffected, angry population, with one broad underlying problem. Put in simple terms, we all live now in a nation-sized company town.
I'm referring to the "company towns" of the big logging and mining operations of the late 1800's and early 1900's, where you could go to make big paychecks, but found that the company store would take it all back with inflated prices that kept your pockets empty. You would make great money, spend it all on necessities or small pleasures, and walk away older and no richer. The Trump supporters call this a loss of "freedom." But it is really a loss of opportunity, based on a loss of security. You cannot pursue an opportunity when you have no time to do anything but try to make next month's rent.
US Americans have no security.
Medical care is catastrophic. I went through a medical bankruptcy, for colon cancer. I watched a man suffering a heart-attack decline care because he could not afford the ambulance; he died that night, alone and in pain. I was forced out of independent contracting, trying to keep up with medical insurance under the pre-Obamacare price-padding from the insurance companies. Drug prices are a scandal, even with medical insurance, due to open price-gouging.
Housing is increasingly inaccessible. Denver, Colorado, where I once lived, has been reported as approaching a $1M median house price. California housing prices have long been ridiculous. Where does all that money go? To the mortgage bankers.
Old age is desperately insecure. My first "stake" in retirement was wiped out by the 2001 tech-bubble collapse. My second would have been destroyed by the 2008 meltdown, had it survived the medical bankruptcy. Social Security is coming up fast on the "boomer" trust-fund cliff, and the Republicans have successfully blocked any fix to that since Reagan.
Income for many is capped at a level below a living wage by monopolies on jobs. Throwing money into the workforce can create new jobs, as Biden has demonstrated, but it doesn't address the fact that many of those jobs remain below living wage.
Education is no longer a right, but a speculative commodity, surrounded by loan sharks. It is rapidly falling out-of-favor with the young, for the very good reason that it no longer makes any economic sense for them.
Few believe the US government will rise to the challenge of global climate change -- I certainly do not.
The common element underlying all of these ailments is ultimately the failure of the Federal government to finish the job it started in the 1860's. Back then, the ownership class owned people. Now, the ownership class owns everything except people. Food. Water. Shelter. Land. Labor.
The Democratic Party needs to stop dithering, and face the core of the problem: the ownership class. The American oligarchs, barons, investors. The wealthy. The systems of ownership that make them wealth, and keep them wealthy.
Both Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have thought deeply about these matters, and while their solutions may need more work, the core idea is sound: we need to return ownership of the nation to the people of the nation.
If the Democratic Party continues to dither, telling the citizens that this is the best they can do, then the United States will fail.
I feel this in my bones.
Joseph, Your letter presents a most astute account of a lethal linkage of relative economic decline (e.g., working-class wage stagnation), cultural decay (created largely by the failure of those who own and control to fulfill collective needs), and political lethargy. In my view, you rightly imply that no democracy can survive with a working and middle class so insecure that it is willing to accept any authoritarian option in order to provide some sense of normalcy and security in their lives.
Considering, nationwide, that the country needs Explainers with your background and experience to educate people about what they’re already losing and why, I can think of no greater contribution than you publishing in outlets that reach the broadest possible audience.
Thank you for that. :-)
I've shared this letter on my blog site, and on Facebook.
The unfortunate reality is that broad audiences are earned. It's damned hard work, and deeply subject to the prejudices of the audience.
Heather has done damned hard work: I think her worst posts are very good, her best posts are brilliant, and she turns them out EVERY SINGLE DAY. She's been doing this for several years, now. End result: a pretty steady 2000-3000 likes per day, and a regular list of responders that post about 400-500 comments. She's also expanding by going into regular podcasts, and has done interviews on mass media.
At this point in my life and circumstances, it isn't possible for me to earn that audience. OTOH, items like this I relinquish to the public domain, meaning no one needs to ask permission to reprint or redistribute it.
Joseph, Clearly, I agree that widespread authority is earned through steady, conscientious “damned hard work.”Still, in my view, one need not be a Heather Cox Richardson for one’s thinking to gain prominence in public dialogue, possibly sending ripples of influence that feasibly could effect public policy.
I've looked into this, a little, and it fails to inspire me. It isn't a growing movement, it's a dying one. The last post to the local group website was 2018. It was apparently idle all through 2020.
It isn't that it fails to inspire "me," per-se. It's my personal indication that it fails to inspire. And this whole issue is about inspiring the masses. That is what Trump's propaganda has done.
But YOU have inspired me to write more to the few channels I can write to. Unfortunately, we are losing Feinstein. I didn't always agree with her policies, but she was admirably old-school, and her staff is well-trained in responding to letters. I understand these get aggregated into reports: 40% of your constituents are worried about X, another 30% about Y, and 2% think Z.
Thank you for that. :-)
Joseph, Though I am delighted you feel inspired to write more, as stated in my response to your letter, I hope, for reasons enumerated in my reply, that your reach exceeds a “few channels.”
I mean we the people, who must vote Democratic like never before and increase power. Otherwise, a possible scenario: If the authoritarians take power, the only answer to save democracy will be civil disobedience of a scale that this country has never seen. And it must be done in combination with blue states (as in your California example) asserting their considerable power — especially financially.
The right-wing will try to stop all of this with increasing force and violence And then comes the war, which will include police forces in many if not most cities siding with the right and domestic terrorist groups. Will they be able to bend big Democratic cities to their will? Or will the nation transform into many countries.
Most people, regardless of their political beliefs, don't want any of this.
So we wait, and hope.
I think there are some grounds for hope.
The balance is around 50%. It could go either way.
The Jan 6 committee will divulge information in a series of public performances sometime this year. I hope. And I hope they have a good -- no, a great -- producer for that show. Someone who understands lighting and timing and framing at least as well as Trump does. If done even halfway well, it should sway people.
Even Presidential elections bring in just a little over 50% of eligible voters. A highly-polarized Presidential election in 2024 could bring out more voters, and that could throw some surprises at the pollsters and fixers.
It still doesn't feel like there is a damn thing I can do about it.
We are on the eve of civil war. Will it be averted? We can only wait.
Thank you, Professor, for the always enlightening history lesson. So much of History repeats. The names may change but corruption and greed and power grabs are the badges of the party that either steals the election or convinces enough voters and their leaders that it was stolen. Is that today’s story? Someday in a hundred years, if there is still a USA, our great-great-great grandchildren will marvel at how we all worked together to save the Democracy. Fiction or Non-Fiction?
Thank you, HCR. Please do get some rest.