According to CNN, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has scrapped the idea of the “America First Caucus” after considerable pushback, now claiming that she had not approved the platform released on Friday and announced by her own spokesperson.
If Heather had the time to read what we have been discussing for months here in her community, she might not be gobsmacked. The source of the Republicans' behavior and ideology is racism (whites first), sexism (males first), genderism (boy-girl only, anti-LGBT+), and the preservation of the old society which places whites, males, and heteros first. Hence opposition to genderfree Potato Head. Hence voter suppression of non-Republicans and non-whites. etc etc etc etc
You can break any of the Republicans' actions and attitudes down using this template.
The Big Lie is wishful thinking that Trump and his Old World Society are still exercising hegemony like they have since the beginnings of the USA. Trump losing the election means accepting that white, male-first, boy-girl society has lost control and is no longer in power. They are in denial that they have lost the battle to diversity, to a society where whites (and males and straights) do not set the rules and don't come first anymore.
Personal news:
I am having a heavy-duty month. My dad is getting close to passing, and it means the end of an era. We are engaging what I am calling a transition-to-afterlife support team. They call themselves death and dying doulas. I have been feeling like my truck driving career is ending, which is a possibility when he goes. We have been speaking with an estate attorney, and with sisters and godchildren, about wills and trusts and inheritance and the like. My wife and I are speaking with the people who are closest to us, the ones who would be in our will and who share a bond with us.
The passing of the patriarch and self-designated head-of-household is churning the waters a bit. I am realizing even more vividly just what a poor match I am for the paternal side of this family. I'm just not a conservative, and not a Republican, and not interested in carrying on the values left over from Nazi Germany. Sorry.
In the mean time, despite all this intensity, my story project continues to gain steam. I have never felt so good about myself, ever. Multiple major break-throughs this month alone. My book has edges now, it has a beginning and an ending. I have a chapter outline. My wife is in love with the story, and so am I, I've never done anything this exciting.
Roland make sure you take care of yourself and the love of your life. In my experience, grief doesn’t have a timeline or an objective. It simply overwhelms and consumes. Your bravery to be vulnerable and share what you are navigating is commendable. The last paragraph of your post has changed my morning. It lifts, it inspires, it brings hope - TO ME. Thank you. Keep at it and how will we all see the results of your story project?
Thank you for the well wishes. I'm pleased that my words improved your morning. Yes, I have never been happier. I have found my calling. My calling is producing a story about my vision of the world and how it works, a vision of a bright and inspiring new society. It is a work of joy. I am living life now with an underlying foundation of joy. Sure, there are still dips and bumps, but there is a steady-state hum of joy. My story communicates that vision of the future, and that joy.
This news about your story project is very exciting, Roland. Thanks for sharing it with us. Will you keep us updated as the project progresses? Please!
It's at least a year or two away from completion. I wouldn't dream of keeping it a secret from my HCR community, no worries there. I am at the 1-year anniversary of the science-fiction story. Prior to 2020 I had never written any fiction, it was all nonfiction, my "Life: A Field Manual" book. My wife prevailed on me to write a story, and that story apeared in April 2020. Life: A Field Manual is now an item in a fictional tale with fictional characters. I can't give away my secrets just yet, but I will say that when Life: A Field Manual shows up in the book (and in the movie script), it's a hot scene.
Roland, dear Roland: we have all missed you but also our hearts are full for you and your situation. I know how hard it is to deal with this situation and all I can say is take care: of yourself, your loved ones, of whatever centers you. It is wonderful that you are able to channel your energies into a creative project. Do what you have to do, what your psyche and your soul say you need to do. And know we are with you too.
Roland, you've been missed, and your news of what has kept you away is very sad on the one hand, and uplifting on another. I'm sorry you are having to go through the dying/death of your father....a man who has clearly had a big impact on your life. But, it seems there is a bright side to your life...a book that is taking exciting shape, and a wife who loves it and you. Bless you, Roland.
Roland. I don't believe there are accidents in the universe. People are in our lives for a reason. Your father was a teacher (for you....in a difficult way ...but he got your attention!) and a catalyst for you to search, think and asses information and feelings probably from a very young age. That has made you the Roland that we know and value so much here. You are turning a page in the book of life. And moving forward to a new chapter IN YOUR OWN LIFE, the chapter that you writing now.....EVEN as you write your book! The BIG Dream! May God's blessings and all good things accompany you on your journey.
Very very sweet and kind of you br. Thank you. Yes of course you are correct. I have never known a minute without the domineering influence of the old order, conservative, leftover Nazi Germany converted into Republican values in my life. But that may change soon.
As I’ve read Heather’s daily letters and our community responses, your absence was noted. It’s good to hear from you but I’m sorry to hear the reason for your absence. I’m wishing your father, your family, and you peace as you go though this process. 💐.
It’s the strength you’re receiving from your work and family that will get you through.❣️
Roland, you are riding the wave of cultural, personal and cosmic change. Everything is changing and I know you can feel it. You are an instrument and an instigator here. Thank you for your role and I send you good juju to stay your course and be that change.
I have a nurse midwife friend who later in her career became a death and dying doula/midwife. She said it involves many of the same skills and sensitivities. She ffelt it was a gift to be abke to serve families during the passing.
When my son was about to be removed from life support, a nurse from the organ donor society asked in the most loving, kind and supportive way, if we would allow my son's body to be used in that way. Our answer of course was yes. It gives me great peace that 'parts' of him are still living on in someone else. I received a call early the next morning from a surgeon who had just harvested my son's corneas, which he told me would go to 2 people, one for each and that both persons would now be able to see. My point with this is that there are very special people out there, who make death and dying and what comes next easier than it might otherwise be. To this day, I honor those people who guided me to give all that I had to offer.
❤ Oh, how heartbreaking. I can't imagine that kind of loss and pain. How good that those very special people were there for you, and were so caring and supportive, and that parts of your son live on. Thank you, for your choice and for letting us know that that kind of compassion is there for us. It really helps to know that. Hugs.
He simply moved onto the next place because his work here was completed. No worries. We always 'knew' he would go before us. We loved him every minute of every day. He's let us know he's fine. Thank you Mary Pat Hugs backatcha!
My neighbor is a hospice nurse. She truly loves her job and uses different methods to help the person go onto their journey. Plus, she provides tender moments to those left behind. I want someone like her to be with me and our my family. Special people...
Helping a parent transition from this life to beyond is one of the things in life that can define us and who we are able to become going on. Your experience mirrors mine in that while my Mom was dying, I was having some of the most fulfilling professional experiences and personal growth independent of the component of her transitioning. Both experiences can be held together, and in retrospect, may augment one another.
I am looking forward to reading your book, and to having you rejoin us here in LFAA land again. May you walk the next few steps with love, grace, and knowing that you've a support network all around you.
You're so kind, thank you. And yes, it's a very exciting time in my life. It's a turning point. Shifting my story project, the book-and-movie, into higher gear.
Such joy, such sorrow. They often come hand in hand. As you attend to your father while his life’s chapter closes, knowing that your own new chapter begins, grieve, rejoice, it’s all love. Holding you in the Light.
We are all eagerly awaiting a chance to read your book! One of the things I treasure about this forum/community is the chance to learn about books to read on so many subjects and in so many genres. A heightened time for you, our friend! Take care and know that our thoughts are with you.
Roland, it is clear that you are a born storyteller. I'm guessing that you've tried to smooth your father's rough edges with your reasonable, logical philosophy, but his very traumatic beginnings were instructing him at a core level, and that is what won. Nevertheless, the fact that you've maintained any relationship is something you should be proud of. You are strong enough to voice your concerns and conflicts, and you're healthier because of that. I'm sure you have helped him on many levels, and would venture to guess that he is grateful. You are fortunate to understand what makes you happy and pursue that. Good luck with your story project.
Roland, I am so sorry to hear about your dad but I am also glad that you and your wife are being strong especially in your support for each other. Losing a parent...even when it is expected...is never easy. And, when there are some serious differences between parent and child, it is even harder as the struggle between family love and serious disagreements can lead to some soul searching and guilt. My mom could be a real "pain in the ass" at times, (nothing as serious as you have described) and my husband had more of a problem with her antics than I did. But when she died, my husband did a eulogy at her funeral and struggled with some of the negative feelings he had had for such a long time. But now he often tells me "you know, I really loved your mom". Blessings and strength to you and your family.
Congratulations Roland, and sympathies also. Your ending upbeat presages exciting things. Your dad’s imminent demise, turmoil for your family. I am delighted that you sound so hopeful. May your navigation of the oncoming events be fruitful. Be safe, be happy.
Thank you David. Personally I think the book is the hottest thing on the planet. I am being patient, because it is a large work, and I want to get it right.
Roland, Your post brought so many thoughts - major life shifts cause so much chaos in us, even the good ones. If the pandemic weren't bad enough, facing your dad's coming departure and all that entails - I can't imagine the stress. It's obvious from the comments that you are wished well by this community, and I add my sentiments to theirs.
We do such a lousy job in this country of dealing with death. Well, we don't deal with it, in fact. We try to pretend it's not part of life, not inevitable. Good on you for getting the dying doulas in. I didn't have that for my husband, but we did have a local hospice who served a similar role and were very attentive and kept us in the loop.
Blessings to you and your family. And good luck with that book! Keep us posted.
Absolutely, br. And thank you; I'm sure he does - he sent me a message in a dream last week- and no, I'm not delusional! I knew when I woke up from the dream that it was 'different', so I wrote it down. The more I pondered it, the more I could see what it was about and for -
I absolutely know you are not delusional. Our love never dies. It's the only thing we take with us when we leave this place and go onto the next. I believe it's the only thing we can offer to God......if we have loved. I'm glad you understand your dream. Its said that the dreams we remember clearly are meant to tell us something. Be safe. Be well.
I took a course on international human rights law in undergrad. The professor was excellent. She told us that most international human rights regulations are essentially non-binding. It's, more or less, a global honor code and not easily enforced.
I remember being a kid and wondering what would happen if a political party in the United States just refused to agree to the results of an election, and back then, it felt like a foolish enough question that I quickly forgot and moved on.
I am terrified for our future. January 6th should have been an equivalent in the public consciousness to a major terrorist attack, and yet, here we are, more than three months later, and it feels as though much of the media apparatus is petrified of centering it and holding those behind it accountable.
My hope is that convictions will bring January 6th back into the news. I'm still waiting to learn more about Capitol tours on the days before. Who authorized them? Who led them?
Who disabled a panic button in one legislator’s office? Did that really happen? I’m with you, cig, I hope convictions will keep coming. PBS had another good documentary of January 6 the other night.
When will Trump be indicted, that’s what I really want to see.
Yes, it really happened. It was in the office of my great Rep, Ayanna Pressley. On Jan 6, Congress came within inches and seconds of having multiple members assaulted, raped, tortured, murdered and lynched.
My fear is that we are past the tipping point. The gerrymandering in 2011 has given us state legislatures that do not represent the entire electorate. The unrepresentative state legislatures, together with those that are representative within their state but not representative of a national majority, are using insights from the 2020 election to pass laws that further undermine representation. The public face of the national majority is held together by two factors: the knowledge that this is not a good time to concede defeat and the hope that a miracle will intervene.
If we are hoping for a miracle in upcoming elections, we must focus our attention on voting rights. If defeat is not an option, no other issue matters. So that leaves us with a desperate challenge: how to pass a voting rights bill in the Senate.
That in turn leaves us with a desperate worry: that even if such a bill is passed, its essential provisions could be vacated by the Supreme Court. It sounds as though the commission on the Supreme Court might come along with some recommendations just at the right time. But those recommendations then have to be implemented in law, which requires running the gauntlet a second time.
By that analysis, we are down to hoping for a double miracle.
How to pass a voting rights bill in the Senate: Do not give up in advance. Support HR1/S1 For the People Act. Support organizations fighting state voter suppression bills.
17. Watch out for the paramilitaries. When the men with guns who have always claimed to be against the system start wearing uniforms and marching around with torches and pictures of a Leader, the end is nigh. When the pro-Leader paramilitary and the official police and military intermingle, the game is over.
The fact that this was written in 2016 and we first had Charlottesville and now have the Oath Keepers, all military, police and first responders, leading an insurrection, is truly frightening. Thanks for sharing this, Ellie. I've bookmarked it for further thought....and action.
#17 is what we were sideswiped by between 2016 & 2020. If we aren’t careful it will hit us head on when and if the MTG types gain power again. Our Republic is still at risk. Complacency is not an option.
Thank you for this list, Ellie. Some of these were a little difficult for me to understand and I will have to read it again. I will contact the US Holocaust Museum to ask about professional ethics. One item on the list was “Be as courageous as you can. If none of us are willing to die for freedom, all of us will die in unfreedom.” The second sentence gives me more courage.
Tim Snyder’s recent lecture at William and Mary parses what freedom means, what we need to do to have it, etc. For example, increased support for local investigative journalism so that on the local, community level we have a robust shared reality. He posits health care for everyone as necessary in a working democracy. And makes a good case for that. https://youtu.be/t4NFiviVWR8
I just watched this!!! Mr.Snyder in lecture is Phenomenal! I wrote down about 3 pages of notes from This! Everyone Should Listen to THIS!!! FASCINATING 😊💓
Very powerful set of ideas. Not a sound bite friendly lecture. I am going to listen to the rest in two more tranches because my brain is overwhelmed by the first 30 minutes.
Timothy Snyder’s book “On Tyranny” explains each item on this list with historical context. It’s a short easy read and well worth reading again and again.
From W. Somerset Maugham.."If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is, that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that too."
I think Dr. Snyder is doing that on purpose. To give us a break to the nonense of the Orange Traffic Cone of Treason, and offer new perspectives to move people to just think about what could be vs dwelling on what is so wrong. Just Finished his book, Bloodlands....its to close to our own story of Manifest Destiny and genocide of Native Americans and Slavery. In a way, Hitler and Stalin were playing catch up to America. HCR's How the South Won and Bloodlands follow a similar pattern of oppression and domination of one group over another.
Thanks Ellie! It’s notable that this piece was published on November 28, 2016. And looking back at the 4 years that followed, eerily, we saw many of these warnings become reality.
The question is, “Now what?” Given our present situation, how do we proceed? Would Snyder’s list look the same today?
Recommend #18 to those you know who carry firearms, either in a personal or a professional capacity. In particular, "Be ready to say no."
"18. Be reflective if you must be armed. If you carry a weapon in public service, God bless you and keep you. But know that evils of the past involved policemen and soldiers finding themselves, one day, doing irregular things. Be ready to say no. (If you do not know what this means, contact the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and ask about training in professional ethics.)"
Don't forget the opportunity for those Republican state legislatures to gerrymander further based on the recent census. Things are going to get worse before they get better.
Agree 100%. Have to accomplish two big things to combat the big lies.
1.Pass National Voter Protection into Law
2. Enlarge the Supreme Court
Seems simple enough, but during a pandemic, during shoot em up crisis, during a police killing unarmed black men causing riots crisis, during an opioid crisis, during an ongoing worldwide threat to democracy crisis, during a worldwide epistemological crisis....lets just hope that Russia doesn't invade Ukraine further escalating world wide anxiety. It is no wonder good Presidents age so much while serving. "Heavy wears the crown"
Yes to all this, except it's never going to happen. As for Ukraine, this seems to me a diversionary tactic to take the focus off Navalny, whether Putin invades or not. I was disappointed to hear a State Department spokesperson say there will be "consequences" if Putin makes further incursions into Ukraine. That's code for sanctions and scolding and not much more and Putin knows that. It will deter him not in the least.
It should have been a deep stain on that party’s commitment to the revered democratic process. Instead it has become their campaigning candy. What is up is down. Hard to remain convinced that right will indeed prevail unless outrage and shock converts to action for every last one of us.
Ah, but when you think of it, that honor code notion applies to so so many things. In my second career, I taught finance, and each year gave what I called my "philosophical underpinnings of finance" lecture....which basically posited that the entire financial system, global, national, local, all boiled down to trust....that we could, for example, borrow money on the basis of a belief (by a lender) that we would pay our loans back according to the terms agreed upon. ...that a U.S. Treasury rate was considered the 'risk free rate' (to which other risk premiums were added to establish rates of borrowing and lending by different entities) ONLY because the US had never defaulted on its financial obligations and that the world trusted that we would not do so in the future....That we could call our broker and put in an order to buy stock or some other financial instrument and the broker would consider the call a handshake agreement that we would pay for what we ordered. Basically, I argued, the whole system relied on the notion of a handshake and that one's word was immutable.
Then, along came the lies and cheating that created system chaos....the mortgage bubble, the smoke and mirrors that allows some to profit from heretofore unheard forms of securitization, derivatives, crypto currencies that are impossible to trace directly, and too many other manipulations and machinations to follow, and we are approaching maximum entropy. The system simply cannot keep track, so ' trust' ends up being for fools who aren't quick enough to take advantage of short term blips in whatever is being bet on. The financial system is like a global casino.
Then, into the bargain, along came DJT, serial defaulter, in his role as president of this huge country with its outsized economy, who ranted publicly that if 'we' didn't get our way in one or another international transaction, we simply would not repay US debt! Somebody, somewhere who knew something about finance got him to shut up about this, but I recall physically shuddering when I first heard him say we'll simply default.
I'm not teaching any more, but if I were I'd amend my 'trust' lecture to include the notion that trust as a principle is more than half way to being replaced by 'whatever you can get away with." And none of us should want that.
I took business administration at berzerkeley. Graduating I realized that arbitrage was a way of stealing. I had learned in my business ethics courses that wink wink you know ethics are important. I decided on graduating that I didn’t like playing with people whose mantra seemed to be: It is all good as long as you don’t get caught.
Carolyn Ryan, thank you for this perspective. LFAA can be from any discipline. You just wrote a Letter from you as an American on Finance and Democracy.
I should clarify that I do not at all want to impinge on HCR's copywrite of LFAA. I'm talking more generically about the concept of a letter from an American citizen on the topic of democracy and the letter writer's point of view from their field of expertise and experience.
I don't know that we have a historical record of what is going on with the Republicans in the political sphere, but I think we do have plenty of examples in the religious sphere. I think Trumpism is a religious mania, not a political movement. It isn't based on political calculation, and the endgame is a vision, a fantasy, and a nightmare. It is, for the Trumpists, the victorious End of History, their vindication, their apotheosis, the burning away of all imperfections, and -- in simpler words -- their glorious death.
That it makes no damn sense is entirely beside the point.
I'm thinking of the Millerites, the precursor to the Adventist sects. It started with a fairly theoretical exploration of an exigetical theory called "dispensationalism," became a date for the Return of Christ, and ended in something called The Great Disappointment when thousands of people sold everything they had and made ready for Jesus, and He failed to show. The date was recalculated, and a smaller party showed up for the second Return, and they were -- of course -- disappointed again. There have been echoes of this prediction/disappointment cycle in any number of American fundamentalist sects, right up to the present day.
One of the latest frenzies was the novel series Left Behind. An Evangelical writer, Fred Clark, wrote a series of blog entries that became a book, The Antichrist Handbook, which is a fairly amusing and blistering critique of Left Behind, and a great manual on how NOT to write a novel, but the interesting thing for me was to realize that neither I, nor anyone else, could really write a better version of Left Behind. The basic story does not, and cannot, hang together. This does not deter believers in the slightest.
I think we have exactly the same situation with Trumpism. The people who showed up on Jan 6 in Washington DC were expecting triumph. They would storm the Capitol; they would capture members of Congress; they would destroy the abomination in the Holy Place by burning the tainted state ballots; they would hang the guilty, like Pence; they would see Trump return in glory, pardon them all, and they would be lauded ever after as saviors of The People.
That's not a plan. That's a religious mania.
I think that religious mania is STILL at work in the Republican Party and its supporters, and the point I want to hammer home is that, if it IS a religious mania, it does not have to make any sense at all. It's all about The Glory. It's about the pain of being tried by adversity, and judged worthy by a Higher Power. The fact that you brought about that adversity by hitting your own hand with a sledgehammer is a side issue, as is the fact that the Higher Power is a liar, a con man, and a rather petty narcissist. NONE OF THAT MATTERS.
Very interesting to think about. I could see how this could be a major part of the puzzle. I still believe that there is multiple prongs to this perfect storm of dysfunction. Some are caught up in a religious mania, some just want to hold onto power at any cost and some are just plain power hungry narcissist grifters who want to be on TV and feel like they are the most important people in the world. I also believe that the democratic experiment is not working well enough for a lot of people and this fact opens them up to all kinds of outlets for fear, anger and frustration at the system. If people felt taken care of and felt inspired by our system there would not be as many people as susceptible to this level of grift. People are looking for something in these ridiculous and unrealistic prophesies. There will always be those that see the end of days but right now there seems to be more of this type of mania in the mainstream than ever.
Joseph, this is spot on. Theological arguments are used for all kinds of nefarious purposes because they appeal to emotions, tell people that thinking is wrong, and emphasize the ineffable over the rational. In my experience a vast majority of people prefer to be led rather than to do the hard work of independent and ongoing self-education and self-awareness. This makes it possible for phenomena like the Left Behind books to be popular--and the authors were clever in knowing that catching young people was far more useful than simply appealing to the oldsters.
Unfortunately, even seemingly rational people--such as C. S. Lewis--can fall victim to burying themselves in the irrational in order to find peace within their own psyches. If you read the Chronicles of Narnia, at the end, when the End Times come, Susan (not Lucy, who remains "pure," if I recall correctly) is "lost" to Narnia (in other words damned for eternity) because she wears makeup and is interested in boys. I know that most see Lewis as a man of his times (who isn't?!) but this casual dismissal of women is part of the theocratic outlook he embraced in the end.
I think you're onto something. I think what you have surmised is the power of "cults." Steven Hassan is an American mental health worker who has focused on destructive cults. He is especially knowledgeable about cults as he was once a former member of the Unification Church. His perspective, process for bringing people back, and understanding of cults is enlightening.
precisely Joseph! People are ignoring the laying-on-of-hands that took place in the Capitol; how the issues they fight for are biblically based (abortion at the forefront); the evangelical support of these "leaders" and their attempts to bring Christianity into our system of government. It is a religious movement in equal parts with politics.
The bible's explicit command to put a parapet on your roof so no one falls, has been taken to require thoughtfulness and effort to prevent incidental harm. If you know that widespread availability of mass murder weapons is correlating with the use of those weapons to murder a lot of people, that principle combined with "do not murder" requires gun control legislation. If you know that using police for traffic stops correlates with a lot of black drivers getting killed, the same reasoning requires removing police from standard traffic enforcement. Somehow the people so occupied with "do not murder" when it comes to abortion, do not see the bible as relevant in those other cases.
abortion is murder to them and I think there is something in the bible about not committing murder. I guess the way I worded that implied they are fighting FOR abortion. That was not what I meant.
This comes closest to answering the questions I have not seen asked anywhere: What did the dime-store insurrectionists really think was going to happen? What was their long game? Did they REALLY think that if they interrupted a ceremonial tabulation of pre-certified results, everybody would just say, "WOW, those guys are superduper mad that their guy lost, so let's give Trump another four years, just to play it safe." Is that what they thought?
I agree. It absolutely makes no sense and to them it does not matter. And like "The Glory," QAnon cultists/aka trump religious fanatics have "the Storm." And as you note above, they keep moving the date of the anticipated event, never once giving up their cherished dream.
I rarely, if ever, share personal news with this community, but feel compelled to do so this morning because I consider so many of you my friends. My 83-year old husband went missing for 3 hours yesterday afternoon after setting out for his usual post-lunch short neighborhood stroll in quiet west Pasadena. I went looking for him on foot after 10 minutes, by car after 20, and called 911 after 30. Police were terrific, patrolling the area, checking and double checking every area of our house and yard, even the insides and trunk of our cars (which, In a macabre thought later on, I figured was to help eliminate me as a suspect in his disappearance). At the 2 hour point, a police helicopter broadcast his description to the neighbors near the Rose Bowl area and asked people to look for him. One did, and found him resting, unhurt but unable to get up on his own, in the brushes off a long private and secluded driveway two doors down from our house. He was exploring and didn’t realize his limitations. And, unfortunately, he didn’t have his cell phone with him. He was taken by paramedics to Huntington Hospital for tests (dehydrated only) and released home by early evening. Lots of lessons here. Vastly relieved now and thankful for a happy ending, I will try to turn my thoughts today outward and am sending positive vibes to all of you who are doing such good work out there.
Mary B. Hugs to you. I'm glad he was uninjured and safe. It's hard to cope with changes like your husband's situation. Please continue to seek help from friends and/or support groups-they can provide ways to ease your mind. Take care of yourself as well. The need for support applies to those who care for parents as well.- I know from personal and professional experience- the latter from 35+ years as a Long Term Care RN
Thank you for 35+ years of dedicated LTC nursing!! I do OBRA nursing assessments in our county facilities and I am in awe of what the RNs and staff do, and the compassion, and patience and innovation and accommodation and cheerleading and the inevitable letting go.
Totally agree, MaryPat. The hospice nurses I mentioned elsewhere here were very kind as well as professional. I don't know what we would have done without them. So, let me add my thanks to Barbara D and all her sisters and brothers in the profession!
Thanks, Barbara. Complicating things, he has Parkinson’s. I do have LTC support and loving relatives nearby , which is essential. Still... it’s tough. Thanks for the good work you do
Thank you for sharing! Glad he is ok. Isn’t it wonderful that we feel supported and heard here. So much of what’s going on these days can be completely overwhelming but generally, everyone that chimes in here feels like an “ohana”, a family of the heart (and also of sanity and our collective search for truth). Even the most difficult news and analysis is somehow more digestible here. I feel buoyed up even when blown away and fed up!
SO glad to know things turned out okay in something that was certainly highly stressful. It is always reassuring, in the face of going through something like that, to find that there REALLY ARE some wonderful people "out there"...people who just go about their lives unheralded doing great things for others, asking nothing in return. A LOT of them are on here, which is one of the reasons this little community is so gratifying to be a part of. Though it was personal, thank you for sharing your experience and showing us some of the good of humanity.
Dear Mary, it's so good to know that he turned up safe and sound. But I must say, if he was Black, he'd be less safe with the police looking for him, especially if he seemed disoriented.
I know we were both treated exceedingly well; however, that didn’t stop the cops from checking the trunks of both cars, which amused us both upon reflection this morning. They were trying to eliminate me as a suspect.
I am thinking of you and hoping that this community of caring friends will give you strength to deal with the stress I am CERTAIN you are still experiencing. I speak from personal experience. I am thankful this turned out well for both of you.
Oh, so terrifying and exhausting for you. So glad he was found safe and sound. I often wonder on my walks and bikes and cross country skiis, when I leave my phone at home because it is just too heavy, or I don't want to be bothered by texts and calls, if I couldn't just have a little "decoder" ring with a button I can push if I need help, or that would beam my location if I am lost or injured. I haven't found an emergency alert device that fits that need - I don't want a smart watch or a pin or a necklace. Thoughts anyone?
Dearest Ms Randall, please take your phone with you. You are a far too valuable resource to be without it. It is your decoder ring. With much appreciation, KD
I am so pleased and relieved that your husband was found alive and—reasonably—well. My wife and I will add you two to our prayer list. Having entered my eighth decade I can well understand the anxiety that you must have felt when you could not find your husband. We wish good health and contentment for you two as you move forward.
I’m so happy he was found safe and not severely hurt. I cannot being to imagine your anguish and terror over those hours. I’m so very sorry, but some very good things to think about and remember for going out. Thank you for sharing, I’m sure you both are enjoying a night peaceful night.
Thanks so much, Margaret. Great relief now, mixed with guilt (I know, I shouldn’t blame myself!) for not watching more closely. He thinks he’s invincible.
Awww, no try not to blame yourself. You also wanted to give him his freedom of independence and dignity. Just now you know, he may need a little more help. I think we all think we are invincible, otherwise we might not ever venture outside.
Please do not blame yourself. If you do not mind, I will share a story about my dad. My mom did not tell my sister and I that for a couple of years, he would find the car keys that she had hidden and take off. They lived in a small town so everybody knew each other. The last time my dad went on an adventure, the police called my mom to tell her they had him. He drove the wrong way down a one-way street. Heaven forbid that he had injured anyone or himself! She reluctantly sold the car as she never learned to drive. He too, was in his 80’s. My sincere best to you.
It's "all hands on deck" with the police agency I work for when anyone is reported missing. As someone who had a very healthy, mobile mom with dementia, my biggest worry (well, one of them) was that she would escape and get lost or hurt. I'm so happy to hear they found your husband, that he was taken care of and is now safe. Those are always the BEST dispatches to come out over radio. "Subject has been located." ❤
Mary and everyone else. Bless your hearts for being in community here. This is some of what I mean by coming together as a community. I want to see small groups of people chatting in the break rooms about the good of our current government. There is confidence and strength in numbers. We mustn't isolate ourselves. That is when I begin to loose energy. When I feel alone with all of this.
I find myself wondering — where this right-wing pseudo-patriotism will finally end. When Trump and his family were photographed around Trump’s golden throne in his apartment after he won the 2016 election — the true believers commented breathlessly that “We have a dynasty!”. Now, in 2021 some observers have pointed out that Republicans identify with the British monarchy — another stretched too thin analogy. Finally, I think of the story in the Book of Judges in the Old Testament. The prophet Samuel complained to G-d that the people wanted a King “like other countries had”. To paraphrase the recorded answer: G-d said. “Go ahead and choose one, but they’ll be sorry!”
Looking at this long history of people preferring to be ruled rather than ruling themselves through law, I don’t know whether I’m losing my mind or the radical right has collectively lost theirs! Here endothelial the rant! Carry on!
Just remember, the ancestors of humans didn't jump out of the trees - they were pushed. The majority of people are quite happy to not think. Unfortunately.
Hi TC. A friend of mine drinks coffee every morning out of a mug that says, "I Think Therefore I am Overqualified." He is a high-end contractor and architect who is also obviously an iconoclast and renegade. Outside-the-box thinking, rejection of conventional thinking, is not as common as it should be. Case in point: paternal side of my family, the relics of Nazi Germany, the immigrants who became Republicans even without having to think about it. Goose-steppers.
😒😒 So wrong. Humans may not think the way you think they should think, but they think. One can disagree with the logic of their thinking, but humans cannot escape the process of thinking.
I don’t know, Andrea. I am often called a-critical by colleagues. I want to see the best in people, and have admitted here that I usually wear rose-colored glasses. And I do believe that the way back to unity is through listening to each other. But I also think TC has a point. How did Hitler oversee the torture and murder of over 6 million people unless many humans were happy to not think? And if you read Ellie Kona’s linked list of ways to fight Fascism, many of the items on the list are ways to fight the lemming-like following that Hitler’s followers and now Trump’s followers did and do.
Too many people are happy to follow someone else and not read or think for themselves. I have to challenge myself to dig deeper often and I read way more news than many of my thinking, thoughtful friends.
Jeanne, you raise some thoughtful points which prompted me to do some thinking.
I believe that people did think about what was happening under the Hitler regime. However, their thinking led to the realization that if they went against the torture and murder, they and their families would be the next victims. Not every human has it within themselves the courage to stand against a raging tide of death and destruction. Preservation of self and family within the limited resources at hand drives their thinking processes. One may not agree with the choices others make, but we must disabuse ourselves of the idea that they did not do some wrenching thinking about what best to do to save their families.
Trump’s followers are not faced with likely death, so they are not motivated by fear of death. However, like Hitler’s followers, Trump’s followers fall into the magnetism of a cult-like leader who effectively drives their thought processes. They think they are being good soldiers for the leader. Talk to or listen to any Trump follower, and it soon becomes clear that they have thought about what they are doing, they have ready answers to any question, and they have consciously made the decision to follow the leader.
It is the thinking process that we must recognize is happening by Trump’s followers. Our job is to try to change their way of thinking without dismissing them as lost causes, because, they most certainly are thinking. I do not have any answers to that problem. I can only try to understand what thoughts are driving Trump’s followers, including my family members. Dismissing them as nothing more than lemmings is a way to avoid becoming involved in change.
I also have family members and friends who follow Trump. The one to whom I am closest enough to question will not engage with me on this topic. He only watches Fox News and dismisses every other news outlet as “leftist.” I have even gone so far as to show him the media bias charts and have challenged him to read the AP news, which is in the center of both charts. He doesn’t. He studied theology, is a gardener, doesn’t own guns, happens to be gay, works in construction and landscaping and will not waver. I have tried to figure this out and cannot, so move further and further away from that friendship.
And I completely understand about the fear and the awful choices many Germans faced in Hitler’s time. I have stated here before that I fear I would have been silent to save my parents/spouse/children. I like to imagine I would have hidden Jewish neighbors, smuggled food into the Warsaw Ghetto, but I cannot know. But many many Germans followed willingly first. Many many had to for his power to grow as it did.
And when I hear Ted Cruz, Lindsay Graham, Mitch McConnell and so many others flip flopping like fish to Trump’s yanking, just for votes, for power, for money, I will call them lemmings and worse. They have zero integrity, zero honor and I don’t even want to know how they think.
When my daughter was ill with orthorexia, her care team advised me to add cream to her milk and extra oil to her pasta without her knowledge. Don't let her in the kitchen, they said. I was surprised and asked, “you want me to trick her?” That’s what we do in hospital they replied. “You have to get her brain back to a healthy place and she will start eating again. You can’t reason with her now.” They were right and they saved her life. Sometimes I think that trump followers have Fox News brains that need extra secret doses of nutrition. What that is, I haven’t figured out. Love? Exposure to poverty? What is the cream in the milk they need?
First, thank you so much for sharing the very relevant story of your daughter. Your pain must have been excruciating. Your brother is my sister, and some of my cousins. They tell me with great conviction that I have been fooled by fakes and manipulated video. From months of swallowing Fox, they are locked in. Just getting them to visit about repairs in the alley, or tulips especially bright this spring is my way of beginning to sneak in some cream. I believe that as the economy improves, Biden Harris initiatives become real, and the insurrectionists with their leaders go to jail the hearts and brains will begin to heal. Not directly challenging is hard. As Carrie Newcomer sings: You Can Do This Hard Thing.
I have a right-wing family member whose thinking process I do not trust. He watches Fox News and claims to have been more moderate in the past until MSNBC became too "leftist" and he abandoned them.
I reach out with public policy issues on which we can agree, like a proposed "loan-to-grant" program in NYS to help landlords with income loss due to COVID rent relief.
Not sure he called his state legislators.
Then I asked him to help with phone calls related to NYS Assembly bill A1115 and its "same as" bill in the NY Senate, S309. And he made the calls! And he thanked me for taking action on this.
My hope is that he will begin to see that sometimes he can take action -- make a phone call, put his legislators into his Contacts list, etc. -- and feel better about things.
Instead of feeling a sense of helpless grievance about how the system is rigged, etc. etc.
I just need to find some persistent political actors that he might admire. I'm not sure that mentioning Stacey Abrams and Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden will sit right with him.
One of my wife’s sisters and a few of our nephews kneel at the altar of Trump. For them it’s about avoiding “socialism “ and “owning the libs”, whatever that may mean to them.
Their mind is closed. Discussions are hopeless. We simply avoid them and move on with our life.
Thank you for your personal story, I’m so glad your daughter recovered. You end with one of the most relevant questions of our time - What is the antidote to this Republican madness?”
I have had personal experience with those whose brains and "thinking" ability were poisoned by their addiction to a certain NON "news" network and similar programming. Through these manipulative and destructive media channels, these supposedly intelligent people then were introduced to QAnon. I don't know what suffices for their brains these days, but they are apparently awash with conviction that George Soros, baby eating Democrats and other outlandish dangers are to be feared. I have given up on them. It is cultish behavior and I simply do not have the skills (nor the time or energy) to try to undo the damage that has been done to them. If they can be saved - which I seriously doubt - it will not be up to me. Since they also do not believe the pandemic is real, refuse to mask, refuse to socially distance themselves and continue to mingle in greater numbers than is safe, I avoid them like the very plague they have become.
I don't have any friends or family who follow the Don. When I discover that they do, I drop them. You cannot argue with idiots nor is it conducive to your well being to associate with ppl who condone racism, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia, irrational conspiracies and now armed sedition.
We need Fox News to administer that extra dose of "nutrition" (even though they are the malady that caused the "truth starvation.") If Fox fans only believe things if Fox says they are true, then Fox has to be sued, arrested, defunded or whatever it takes to make sure it starts telling the truth.
Thank you, Jeanne, for your personal story. I'm so glad your daughter recovered.
My thought about Trump followers' loyalty is that it's exactly like a cult. The cult gives them an intense feeling of belonging and identity. In exchaning posts with other cult members online, they get constant positive stroking and ego
gratification. As long as they stay in the cult and continue to profess allegiance, they never need to feel alone, or confused by current events. The cult gives them all the answers, and as an extra special bonus, all of those answers tell the cult members that everything that's wrong with their lives is someone else's fault: it's the fault of the leftist "socialist" conspiracy who want to take away their guns and freedom (and per QAnon, want to eat their babies or torture their children). Or it's the fault of the BIPOC people who are "lazy" "takers" who want the hard-working "good, white, true, hard-working Americans to support them. Or it's the fault of the immigrants or the "feminazis" or blah blah blah. The need to feel accepted as part of a tribe where they are always viewed as good and right and their ego is always stroked and their identity is clear and feels admirable and powerful - in my humble opinion the combinatikn of all these features makes membership in the Trumpist cult a very strong and addictive drug.
all reason, and sometimes beyond all self- interest like your gay, gardening, non-gun-owning family member
I think Trump supporters believe they have the upper armed hand. And those in the GOP who oppose Trump know that their own physical safety and that of their families depends on not riling up any armed Trump supporter such that they show up in your office or driveway with a weapon. Democrats in red states know it too. I think this is a massive elephant in the room---the admission that terrorism works, at least on a small scale.
I wrote down today, "America doesn't want to be American anymore."
I devide Republicans into 2 groups. Those who don't want to think, just follow, who can be manipulated into violence. (Terrorism) And those whose sole mission is to make money through tax laws and legislation. They find the people and situations which will line their pockets. Grifters, from FG to some of my relatives. There doesn't seem to be a moral center in their world.
Yes to all of this. I recently watched documentaries with interviews of aged Holocaust survivors. Even from decades later, some believe they did not know what was clear to their eyes, and even noses. The human brain tries to protect itself.
Certainly there are good reasons to wonder about our differing capacities for thought. It’s so fascinating to consider. We are on the frontier of neuroscience. So much is yet unknown and not understood. Having worked in the area of alcohol related birth defects for so many years, and then learning about traumatic brain injury, and that the apathy of depression may indeed be caused by inflammation in the brain, and addiction studies, and the apparent epidemics of autism and Alzheimer’s it appears there is a wealth of knowledge still not understood about our most crucial, complex and fascinating organ. We once were on the path of how an authoritarian parent and other repressive realities could traumatize a child’s inner genius to stay hidden for life with the Reptilian brain theory. But apparently that neuroscientist didn’t fully understand either. https://medicine.yale.edu/news/yale-medicine-magazine/a-theory-abandoned-but-still-compelling/
I can't resist offering an analogy based on some recent shopping research. I'm getting progressively hard of hearing and have the hardest time discerning what's being said when there is any background noise at all. There are new speakers (sound bars )that basically parse different portions of sound waves, dulling some (noise) and amplifying (bringing to the fore, they say in the ads) others (voices). Reportedly, people like me who can no longer filter the waves with our own hearing apparatus can use this technology to good effect.
I liken this to the cacophony of the media world. There's so much, it's so constant, and it's so loud that no one can 'hear' anything, so we end up either avoiding it all or picking one or two stations or pieces of information to hang onto because the totality is overwhelming. Each media outlet dampens some waves while simultaneously amplifying others. The results produce silos of information or disinformation that we stay rooted in. Inertia is a powerful force. Changing people's minds, like inertia, requires applying equal and opposite force to whatever state is present. Not physical force, but persuasive?
The "cacophony of the media world" is a good way to put it. It's not just Fox News, although it's a major problem. There's a lot of disinformation, conspiracy theories, etc. on social media and people read it, promote it and it multiplies. We'll need to address this issue eventually. We escaped in 2020 - see: https://time.com/5949210/facebook-misinformation-2020-election-report/ According to https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/02/technology/biden-reality-crisis-misinformation.html, several experts recommend that the Biden Admin. should look into the inner workings of Twitter, Facebook, Youtube... "many of which have been responsible for amplifying conspiracy theories and extremist views." I hope they do!
I think the "equal and opposite force" of persuasion concept applies to taking up oxygen, asserting reality over the false narratives/propaganda/fake news/Big Lie/Russian active efforts of destabilizing/gaslighting/diversion-distraction tactics/disinformation manipulations/PR spins...
That is a lot of cacophony through which to become focused, grounded, and centered.
The matter of changing people's hearts and minds is both short term (asserting reality) and long term (education). That's more complicated that equal and opposite "force."
Unfortunately, technology is still only helping the neuroscientist understand what part of the brain "turns on a light" when we either experience something, do something or think of something. Correllation then builds as the experiment is repeated but none of this actually tells you why we order our brains to produce a certain amino acid at some point to achieve some purpose or how. The "how" is easy in superficial mechanical terms but whether these experiments determine"Cause and Effect" or mere symptomes of the process....who knows.
It is a great mystery. I have lately begun to wonder who, exactly, am I talking with when I am thinking to myself, rolling ideas around in my head. This itself may be a strange thought. But I realized I'm having conversations in my head, and it struck me, what is this voice? My thoughts definitely unspool as words, is this how other people think? Or are there other ways? There must be. How do babies think? Or non-verbal people? I dunno, just some random thoughts.
Well hard science is hard to come by when studying the brains of live humans, thankfully. There are so many areas of neuroscience yet unexplored, but due to the mulitfacetedness of the organ and the science it will take some special genius to integrate the multiple disciplines into one.
My point was to the question of why everyone thinks "differently" and if we review the complexity of the science of our brains, I'm of the opinion that it is no wonder we struggle to understand each other.
Just for kicks here's Wiki's attempts an outline of the complexity: Neuroscience is the scientific study of the structure and function of the nervous system. It encompasses the branch of biology that deals with the anatomy, biochemistry, molecular biology, and physiology of neurons and neural circuits. It also encompasses cognition, and human behaviour.
Branches of neuroscience:
Neurophysiology
Neurophysiology is the study of the function (as opposed to structure) of the nervous system.
(Brain mapping
Electrophysiology
Extracellular recording
Intracellular recording
Brain stimulation
Electroencephalography
Intermittent rhythmic delta activity)
*Neuroendocrinology
*Neuroanatomy
Neuroanatomy is the study of the anatomy of nervous tissue and neural structures of the nervous system.
*Neuropharmacology is the study of how drugs affect cellular function in the nervous system.
*Behavioral neuroscience, also known as biological psychology, biopsychology, or psychobiology, is the application of the principles of biology to the study of mental processes and behavior in human and non-human animals.
*Neuroethology
*Developmental neuroscience
Developmental neuroscience aims to describe the cellular basis of brain development and to address the underlying mechanisms. The field draws on both neuroscience and developmental biology to provide insight into the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which complex nervous systems develop.
(Aging and memory
Cognitive neuroscience
Cognitive neuroscience is concerned with the scientific study of biological substrates underlying cognition, with a focus on the neural substrates of mental processes.)
*Neurolinguistics
*Neuroimaging(Functional magnetic resonance imaging
Positron emission tomography)
*Systems neuroscience
Systems neuroscience is a subdiscipline of neuroscience which studies the function of neural circuits and systems. It is an umbrella term, encompassing a number of areas of study concerned with how nerve cells behave when connected together to form neural networks.
Neural oscillation
*Molecular neuroscience
Molecular neuroscience is a branch of neuroscience that examines the biology of the nervous system with molecular biology, molecular genetics, protein chemistry and related methodologies.
Nutritional neuroscience
Neurochemistry
*Computational neuroscience
Computational neuroscience includes both the study of the information processing functions of the nervous system, and the use of digital computers to study the nervous system. It is an interdisciplinary science that links the diverse fields of neuroscience, cognitive science and psychology, electrical engineering, computer science, physics and mathematics.
Neural network
Neuroinformatics
Neuroengineering
Brain–computer interface
Mathematical neuroscience
Network Neuroscience
*Neurophilosophy
Neurophilosophy or "philosophy of neuroscience" is the interdisciplinary study of neuroscience and philosophy. Work in this field is often separated into two distinct approaches. The first approach attempts to solve problems in philosophy of mind with empirical information from the neurosciences. The second approach attempts to clarify neuroscientific results using the conceptual rigor and methods of philosophy of science.
Criticism of the scientific status of neuroscience
Neuroethics
Neuroscience of free will
*Neurology
(Neurology is the medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. It deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of disease involving the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems.)
*Neurosurgery
*Neuropsychology
Neuropsychology studies the structure and function of the brain related to psychological processes and behaviors. The term is used most frequently with reference to studies of the effects of brain damage in humans and animals.
*Neuroevolution
Noogenesis
I would love that we start at birth for "all our children" to teach brain health and support brain health at every opportunity in hopes that we can all understand and live by the Golden Rule. Though I sometimes find my thinking may be different.
I think(!) you are correct, but will add there is more than a minor difference between just thinking, and thinking well. Which I believe rests on one's information set and analysis skills. This causes me to watch in amazement the battles over information manipulation - spin - and the poor state of critical thinking in this country.
There are very real things to be scared of, i.e., climate change and the prospect that ecological devastation and massive loss of life of every kind is possible within our lifetimes. And that our efforts to mitigate it are far too little and too late. It's coming. I personally don't give myself more than ten more years of life (I'm 67).
But to think on that very real danger could be devastating to one's psyche. So I think we chop it up and assign Danger to different things, things we think we can manage, like the flow of immigration or running out of fossil fuels. Fix immigration, you could tell yourself, and the climate problem will solve itself. "Fix the tax system and then address climate change." "Climate change is about capitalism, so fix capitalism first." Or you could aver, "Fix social and racial inequality--do that first and climate change will be corrected." (I have read the all the latter sentiments.) People can devolve Danger onto anything they want for their own comfort. But we can't control the forces of climate change, which I think casts rather a pall over things.
I was just noting a comment above that laments the "thinking" mind's endless chatter. I am a long-time meditater and one of the "perks" and discoveries of meditation is the universal lack of control we have over our thoughts. "Watching" them course through the mind, particularly the "judging mind" is awful, but serves to free some meditators from the tyranny of the "chatter." The mind, like the endless beating of the heart, is rigidly dedicated to producing thoughts. We are full of biases, endless bias. Seeing them, even briefly, really helps.
We stopped teaching critical thinking in the public schools a couple of decades ago. The Texas school board, which oversees the approval of textbooks for most of the country, removed it from texts, and in 2012, the GOP came right out and said it in their platform. “ We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs ...” https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/texas-gop-no-more-critical-thinking-in-schools/2012/06
Wow, thank you for another wake up call. This one in Texas (HOTS!) has been on the books since 2012--that's half a generation! HCR has said you can change the world in a generation, the 18 years it takes to raise a child to adulthood. The Nazis understood this and by the 1940s had a generation of energetic young people ready to die for Hitler. The Soviets understand this, as have Chinese Communists.
Today, with internet, SM, a troll farm, and a about 100 million to spend on bots and ad spending (active measures) you can transform and disable entire countries in 3-7 years.
Thank you for this very hard reality--we have yet to fully deal with it. Russians have been deploying nonmilitary means of political, shadow, psy-ops warfare through a persistent, multi-faceted campaign of hacking, disinformation, and election interference since 2013.
I had to look it up, just to see and it IS a "thing" - the endothelial! But if here endeth the endothelial truly comes to pass, then it would no doubt be the here endeth of one's life. Thanks for the new word for today!
If Repugs identify with the 20-21C British monarchy, that might be OK, because the hallmark is strict limits on power. But if it's John, Edward II, Bloody Mary (not the drink), Charles I, James II, George III or IV, that's a problem.
I will start my comment with a quote from the non-religious Humanist, Isaac Asimov:
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”
And, I will continue with my own observation (which may piss off some) that religious ppl perpetuate this ignorance, for if you can believe the supernatural writings of Bronze Age goat herders over rational fact-based observation you can believe any Big Lie. BTW, this can be quantified by observing that both the Puritans and the Taliban subscribe to their versions of these archaic Abrahamic religions and have done the most dreadful atrocities in the name of their god. (And their leaders who preach their version of morality are often found to be breaking all those moral precepts of their religion).
So it is that the original “Christian Identity” terrorist organization the KKK, requires you to be a Christian. How they rectify that hypocrisy with the actual words of Jesus the Christ is anyone’s guess. (Insert image here of the Disgusting Don, wrapped in an American Flag and holding up a Holy Buybull). Oh yes, the America First Caucus is just a rewording of an old German song from the 1930s, “America, America Über Alles.”
You can always find what you are looking for. You only mentioned religious extremists. There are so many religions that also believe in science, and so much science that meets the mystical and unexplainable. Religious people have been at the front of every social justice movement since Jesus flipped tables. They walked on Washington, across the Selma bridge, and in the Twin Cities and one had their church burned there (Unitarian Universalist) and every march between then and now. They organize and provide safe haven for those without a home, food or care. They collect funds to send to the desert for supplies and legal funds those crossing the border and detained, and even go on pilgrimages to help bring water to people coming across seeking asylum in Arizona. So look a little harder please. Look at Unitarian Universalists, Methodists, Lutherans, UCC specifically. Look up Rev. William Barber, leader of The Poor People's Campaign. Follow Rev. Cecilia Kingman on Facebook. Follow Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber on Facebook or YouTube or listen to her podcast: The Confessional, or read her books. There is so much you are missing.
I particularly like Rev. John Pavlovitz and have followed him when on FB and now on twitter.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Pavlovitz. He “preaches” the essence of the Essene Jesus and emfasizes Humanist ideals. However, the mainstream preachers and so-called Evangelicals are “Paulists” and seem to have abandoned the teachings of Jesus. As mentioned in this thread, I have vacillated over the years and searched many disparate beliefs in the 1970s. I even had a ‘Puja’ table for years. https://twitter.com/roboyte/status/1384144821091147776
I have worked with Christian charities before (paid employee with the Archdiocese of New Orleans) & even shacked up with a Methodist Missionary for half a year who I met in my volunteer work.
So you do understand. I'm glad. That's where I choose to focus, and I qualify my statements about extremist religions that are harmful to others rather than helpful.
Just a couple of points. Firstly, Science has a bit to go yet before it "disproves" the existence of a primal energy that people associate with a god-figure....should they even want to. The religious intuition of the many, be they Abrahamic or not, is shared by most advanced scientists looking at the origins of life and the universe. They use different terminology and come together often in the opacity of their conscious descriptions of that which they are "unconscious". Most scientists who get to this point in their research maintain a very high degree of "humility" on any "certainty" that they might come across.
Secondly on the "Christian Identity" I would suggest that you pick up a copy of the "Icelandic Sagas" before mistakenly believing that the KKK invented something.
I almost used "science" but then went more with "rational fact-based observation." I omitted "in the U.S." with my ref to Christian Identity Terrorists but that was implied, so 9th Century Iceland doesn't apply. I know the KKK didn't invent terrorism. An earlier terrorist org was the Catholic Church in the Dark Ages. And, since declaring myself an Atheist in high school where an astute Social Studies teach convinced me I was an Anti-Religious Agnostic, I have vacillated to Eastern religious & occult thot back to an amorfous "Force" flowing thru everything (Prana). So, Jedi is my religion at the moment but likely will change.
I believe in "The Great Irish Tea Party in the Sky" (not to be confused with the ault-right political one). Physicist Lisa Randall explains that there are dimensions we humans cannot see, and I take her literally. We Celts have "The Gift." Amazing and wonderful things happen to and for me when I mention to my relatives in the Great Beyond (or sandwiched between electron waves) that I could use a little support. I swear I can hear them giggle after they pull it off.
Rob, I took an ungrad course where the prof said on day one that we would spend the first half of the semester reading and discussing that there is, beyond doubt, a God. Second half was spent reading & discussing that there can't possibly be a God (humanism etc). Great class!! I spent about a year after that trying to be an atheist, but it didn't stick. I've traversed, immersed and gathered much on my path through Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, Buddhist, and Pagan traditions. Nothing organized now, but I'd call myself Christo-Pagan currently.
Science cannot prove negatives and makes no attempt to do so. On the other hand, there is not a shred of evidence that suggests anything other than human hope and aspiration for company in the dark universe.
"...for if you can believe the supernatural writings of Bronze Age goat herders over rational fact-based observation you can believe any Big Lie." I agree, but I don't dare say that to my Christian brothers, as much as I want to. Why, when someone says, "I am a Christian" do I immediately decide they are not true practitioners of the loving wisdom of Jesus of Nazareth? Not very Christian of me. There are, however, other sources of wisdom, recorded or orally passed down, that we can learn from. I think of my Native American friends, now fighting to preserve Mother Earth, as they always, respectfully have done.
I am a firm believer that ignorance has spread across our nation, but ignorance has been used to keep people in line so to speak. (I use the definition of ignorance that means lack of information. I've been attacked quite a bit for "calling people names.") Our family structures have broken down, and what was once taught in the home is now the total responsibility of the public schools. Disability, drugs and alcohol addictions, poverty, and teen defiance have contributed to students across the nation having little ability to complete a quality education. Big cities have huge poorly funded educational facilities with woefully inadequate support staff basically putting a child labeled as a number instead of a name. Kids bring hunger, anger, developmental delays, mental health concerns, and other problems into their classrooms daily. The new trend for large schools is kindergarten children who are not potty trained. So we add that to a teacher's duties. Yes, TV and music and video games have taken the place of healthy, active time outside of school. So many latchkey children that get themselves in trouble by dabbling in drugs, alcohol, and sex while unsupervised. These kids are much more experienced than any of use old people on the ways of the streets. They grow into mentally ill or ignorant adults in the good ways of the world. And, it isn't all of children and adults, but a good portion. Then you take the Fairness doctrine out of public broadcasting allowing the introduction and pushing of conspiracy theories, lies, extreme views, and such to these ignorant adults. Is it no wonder we are where we are?
A therapist of mine posited one day that he wished people could not have children if they weren't able to prove that they could be good, attentive and dedicated parents. Being a good parent is an 'all hands on deck' proposition, one that lasts for years. And yet, it has been the most fulfilling job I have ever had. It matters what kind of child you send out into the greater world. It is your legacy to the world.
Religion aside, I believe the cult of ignorance got a big boost with the advent of television. Before TV, adults discussed things based on what they read in newspapers. Children were rarely included in any discussion. With TV, children (without any framework of life experience) started inserting their opinions into adult conversations. Initially, this had some positive outcomes, with the involvement of youth in the Civil Rights and anti-Vietnam War movements. In the long run, it has led to children being treated as equals and friends by their parents and other adults, even calling adults by their first names. If children are equal to adults, they are not being trained in right/wrong or appropriate behavior. Children’s behavior, especially noticed in schools, deteriorated significantly starting in the 80s, a large cause of the deterioration of education in our public schools. Every teacher has had a class where their initial reaction to a student being absent is relief and anticipation of how much more they could accomplish that day. I see the effects and it’s getting worse. If you watch TV, pay attention to how many commercials and shows feature children who “know more” than parents/adults. And we wonder why we have so many mass shootings, many perpetrated by teens-adults in their 30s.
A lot of what you said here is overbroad and does not tie effect to cause. I am the first gen of kids who watched TV (And remember the same programs on radio before that). I am of that gen, the Post-War Baby Boomers, that protested the Vietnam War (After I got out of the Air Force). I see TV and other media as a reflection of the current culture and being driven by that culture, often by the unimaginative ppl who perpetuate stereotypes. But, that is just me, somewhat an iconoclast.
I am also of the first generation of children who watched TV, although I was 5 when we first got one and prior to that essentially raised in the “Children should be seen and not heard” school. The point I had in mind and failed to make was that adult conversations were based on background knowledge and interpretation of written coverage of the day’s events. With the advent of TV news and shows children (and often adults) instead were responding more to sound bites than to more detailed coverage.
I have more respect for those Bronze Age goat herders than for most modern religious sorts. The old stories exist in a context, and if you don't understand that context, you have no understanding of what you are reading.
For instance, as Daniel Quinn explores in his book, Ishmael, the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis of the Bible is a story that would appear to come down from the time that agriculture began to render the earlier hunting/gathering lifestyle impossible. Abel, the hunter/herder/gatherer brought the acceptable sacrifice, but Cain, the agriculturalist, killed Abel. It's a pretty incomprehensible story until you realize it is the story version of the domination of agricultural in the fertile crescent, as seen through the eyes of many generations.
And it correctly notes that agriculture is a very mixed bag of good and bad news, a concept that was totally lost in my upbringing where pre-agriculture humans were brutes, and agriculture was our first step out of darkness and ignorance.
Most American religious are nominally Christian, overwhelmingly Protestant, mostly Evangelical, and they've pretty much made up their religion from whole cloth. Through no fault of their own, the cultural context of the old stories exist only as fragmented symbols, without meaning. But they then go on to reframe the old stories without understanding them, and the result is usually ... well, pretty awful.
Heather, gobsmacked is spot on. I think I have used that word more since Election Day than I have in the preceding 66 years. Trump spent more than four years building and shaping The Big Lie. He kept his base stirred up by constantly referring to voter fraud in one form or another, emphatically stating that if he lost it would be because Democrats cheated. Tied to The Big Lie is the Socialist/Communist plot where Democrats take over the country and rob its citizens of their money and their freedom/liberty. Their idea of liberty extends only so far: guns, anti-masking, and a perverted form of patriotism where white people are the only true and worthy Americans. Yet, how many times have we read, "Privately, Republican leaders are saying (fill in the blank). If they're saying it privately, why won't they stand together and deny The Big Lie and loosen the stranglehold they allowed Trump to place on the party? Money, of course, but also this: how are they going to recant The Big Lie and keep their base? The answer is, they won't. The instant a Republican publicly supports The Truth they run the risk of losing everything to an opponent willing to double down on The Big Lie. Politicians supporting Trump are like flies on fly paper. They are stuck. They have no way to extricate themselves from him without commiting political suicide and they won't do that.
Daria, this is spot on. tRump spent 4 years lying and therefore grooming his followers to then believe the BIG LIE. Soon, many will believe that the Jan 6 insurrection was a "democratic ploy" or a "riot fueled by Antifa and BLM." I wish the press would address the BIG LIE everyday...EVERYDAY.
Pam, thanks. I, too, wish the press would address the Big Lie and all his other lies and cons every day. I wish the press would expose the lies of every Trump pawn as well. I wish they would use the word lie, not euphemisms. I hope that every one of the people who were/are attached to Trump's criminality go down with him.
Daria, as long as Fox "news" is allowed to report garbage, there is little chance the BIG LIE will ever really be challenged. As long as people believe in "fake news" we will continue to have the wishes you enumerate. There need to be multiple arrests for those most guilty of lies and the spreading of lies. Because you know they've done more than just lie!
Many of them, of course, are using this language, outright calling them lies, but there are still far too many softballs tossed the way of Rs. On the other hand, the press has largely been divided into camps, those who promote the lie and those who repudiate it, and their readership is similarly divided, so I'm not sure how much good it would do for MSM to challenge the lie over and over again. They are preaching to the choir.
You are right, of course. The only time my Floridian Trumpublican in-laws change the channel to something other than Fox News Channel is when a hurricane is predicated to hit between Fort Meyers and Tampa. Otherwise its Fox 24/7.
Speaking, again, from my discipline, mental health, I see our former president, and the elected leaders who follow him, as classic abusers. As abusers, they are not against any lie for any reason, as long as they think it is useful to their control. The minute they find a better lie, they will promulgate the new lie with loud fervor, and not even mention the old one. It's all about brute, thuggish power. It's a very reduced position, by which I mean, considerations of, say, making sense, being thoughtful, having a platform, etc have no place. It's just about power.
As for their followers, they aren't looking for qualities like making sense or a platform from their elected leaders either. In the case of their followers, they are enjoying a positive image of themselves which their leaders groom them with. It takes remarkably little effort on the part of the followers to forget whatever standards or criteria they may have espoused in the past, to receive and return the plentiful, bizarre praise heaped on them by their leaders. They are being groomed. And they are being praised. They are now important patriots with a historic role. And they like the praise and the special status they are told they have ("Go home. You are very special" D.T. January 6, 2021).
Where does it end? Where does abuse end? In tragic harm.
Pam, I absolutely agree with this. Abusers groom and then abuse, but to those groomed it is not abuse but important recognition. tRump told so many lies, grooming. So when it came time for the ultimate BIG LIE, he had groomed his followers well. Until we can manage to figure out the effective equivalent to restraining order the abuse will continue, and escalate. That's how it works with abusers. Sickening....
Restraining orders are not always effective. The more committed abusers, if you will, ignore restraining orders, or subvert them. I think more awareness of the tactics of abusers might help those they are abusing realize that they are being cynically lied to and manipulated. For example, another part of the abuser's tactics is to ridicule or cut off information from anyone except the abuser or others who support the abuser. People need to know that if someone in their life is claiming to be the only source of the truth, they are listening to an abuser.
❤️😡✅💐💔 I could not agree more. The one thing that every iDJT follower I know has in common is Fox as their only and constant information source. 45 gave its employees praise and special status early and often.
Sidney Powell’s lawyers argued that “No reasonable person would conclude that the statements were truly statements of fact.” Marjorie Taylor Greene defends herself against the backlash of the “America First Caucus” by saying someone else wrote it and she HAD NOT READ it. No one in the Republican Party calls them on their lying. Gobsmacked is right, Professor Richardson! We must not be silent and we must keep speaking out and telling the truth. And we must keep supporting President Biden and Vice President Harris and the Democrats. In-fighting will hurt us deeply. Our democracy depends on truth, and the empowerment of ALL the people and ALL the voters.
Greene is an understudy to the former Liar-in-Chief. Lying and supporting conspiracy theories is just what she does. Her base just loves her. That’s all she cares about.
What I find fascinating about these statements is that they apparently consider claiming utter incompetence as a legitimate defense. This seems to be an extension of the "former guy's" statement of how much he loves the poorly educated. I know that the Repugnicans rely on the ignorance of their followers in order to gain sufficient votes to amass and sustain their power but when the actual population of Repugnican leaders claim to be, well, stupid, lazy, and ignorant it does befuddle me a bit. They used to prefer the claim that they are all ivy league educated and highly qualified. Now it seems ignorance is bliss--although ignorance of the law is still not supposed to be an excuse.
The Republicans think this will end with them still in power, given that the Republican-led Georgia and Iowa legislatures, motivated by the Big Lie, have already passed "new Jim Crow" voting laws. Some 40+ other states hope to implement similar restrictions.
The courts will decide if these new election laws will stand, while the upcoming election cycles will determine the fate of the GOP and the future of America.
Regardless of how the courts rule, President Biden and his initiatives are popular -- let's hope popular enough to get people out to vote, in spite of any obstacles.
The way to get the voters out will be to deliver on as many of the initiatives as possible in the next 12 months, so that six months after that when it's voting time, the voters have seen stuff in their own lives they like.
More importantly, progressives have got to keep the "wonderful ideas and programs" they have, that don't (yet) have majority support and will if pushed motivate the other side. filed away in their briefcases till we use passage of these popular initiatives to build a bigger majority. Anyone in the politics business who doesn't have a long term perspective and the ability to read political reality has no business in that business.
There are those that play politics and those that understand the words of the oath they take and become public servants and represent all the people, not just the ones who voted for them. 45 was a deep swamp politician. President Biden is not. It’s pretty obvious whom we need to support.
I’ve been concerned about BidenHarris messaging since South Carolina. (Maybe even before-when I realized my Trumpeter relatives considered Biden the only viable alternative to Trump. That’s why SC did not surprise me. Bernie wasn’t viable to Democratic Party leaders.) Messaging has gotten better, but still isn’t great. And not enough. ❤️🤍💙
It's not just the Biden-Harris messaging. Every time I see a sign with "Defund the Police" I get angry. While everyone recognizes the need to reform, re-imagine, re-program, etc. the police, this slogan carries too much negativity. In fact, it is what helped contribute to the defeat of several Democratic congressmen and senators in 2020. We need much better messaging, especially when Republicans try to paint us as Socialists, extremists, etc.
The filibuster needs to be taken down in order to pass important legislation on infrastructure, immigration and especially election . With bold action in Congress, policy decisions can be moved back to law-building and away from finger-in-the dike executive orders. We saw how Republicans failed to remove the Affordable Care Act even when they had the presidency and both houses of Congress. Republicans are a dying breed in their unreformed present state, and will not return in some electoral wave in 2022. Their single political gambit it to stop any federal governance from happening. Look at the fact that the three postwar constituencies born out of the war-powers centralization and the end of white-male rule "localism"— women, people of color and 60's generation liberals—are presently the embattled forces of creative cooperation and optimism for the postwar future. Reagan style, ah shucks, simple-mindedness will die under its own death-wish incoherence as Reagan Boomers like "Ol'Reb" McConnell, "Boy-o"Lindsey Graham, Chucky Grassley, "Oh my God" John Kennedy, Richard Shelby, Thom Tillis and John Cornyn, age out and become non-voting ghosts.
I wish I shared your optimism about this, but I don't. The filibuster is going nowhere and, while I agree that the current crop of Rs are a dying breed, I think that death will be a decade in the making. Sadly, I am pretty sure they WILL return in an "electoral wave in 2022," especially considering their ability to gerrymander after the most recent census and their voter suppression efforts. We are in deep trouble and need to have our weapons ready for reality, not what we wish would happen.
The reason I write as I do here is because I believe that focusing on what I consider to be pie-in-the-sky aspirations robs us of the capacity to plan for what is really going to happen. Trumpism is a cancer and pretending it's "just a little lump" or hoping really hard that our good thoughts and affirmative actions will make it go away is not going to cure that cancer. There is precisely zero evidence I can see that there is a prayer of passing federal voting rights legislation this session. The infrastructure bill is probably going nowhere as well. We must face the fact that Biden/Harris may well be at their apogee right this moment and, absent a few very meaningful executive actions, have been essentially cut off at the knees by Joe Manchin who, despite my early optimism about his stand on the filibuster, has since doubled down on his support for it. This administration and this Congress will be unable to pass any more meaningful legislation, many state legislatures will successfully pass voter suppression and more severely gerrymander their legislative and congressional districts, and the mess will get worse. We must prepare for this reality, in my opinion. I am taking all the actions I can take to bring about a different outcome, but am fully prepared for what I consider to be the more likely one.
Reid, What actions are you taking? Your activism could inspire other subscribers who don't want to sit around weighing this may or may not happen; stuck with anxiety and or judgements of others.
I am doing my best to elevate women and POC and transgender folks into electoral positions of power. I am currently active in the campaign to help elect an Indigenous woman as mayor of Seattle. I give money and support to anyone battling voter suppression efforts and bringing lawsuits challenging those efforts. I give money and support to politicians across the country who are challenging Republican candidates. For better or for worse, there is not much I can do to influence my congressional representatives further because they are already on the side of the angels (for example, my Congresswoman is Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Progressive Caucus), but I write letters and make calls when I think they are not moving fast enough or not being vocal enough (which is pretty much always). I read antiracist books and literature every day, while bearing in mind that any knowledge I keep to myself is worthwhile only to me. In this regard, I do my best to purchase their books rather than getting them from the library, so they have the wherewithal to write more. And I never, ever buy them from Amazon, doing my best to support independent bookstores and, in particular, black-owned bookstores (there are lots and they mostly have online ordering: https://lithub.com/you-can-order-today-from-these-black-owned-independent-bookstores). I am always open to more suggestions for action. The house in on fire and we cannot afford to pretend it's not.
Talking "weapons" is frustration getting the better of imagination, and, thus, unhelpful. In standard herd dynamics, public opinion occurs as a consensus arbitration process, the working of private, personal moral consideration being born into public life and into a consensus struggle. A breakdown in consensus arbitration, which is our discursive means for achieving a sufficient degree of consent to allow concerted action cannot last very long since incoherence is wasteful of time and energy and death tending, a state of disorder we register biologically as a three to ten engine weakening. Consent as an act of positive engagement (experienced physically as well) through the give-and-take of arbitration most often leaves us defending public positions on policy direction that is shaped by nuanced bargained compromise. So, "You don't always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need"—something life-promoting.
However, personal opinion responding to historically objective conditions perceived and deliberated in the effort to achieve a shared reality, are individuated in the inner resources of particular, embodied person. It takes private work to achieve a logically principled and informed state of personal opinion whose achievement is its own satisfaction. There is not such thing as "collective opinion" (homogenized) except as is represented in a collection of moral persons willing to invest in deriving a workable conscience. Opinion forming is consequential, not treatable by psychology: opinion is objective worldly content given a form by experience as a moral, i.e., principle guided, private individual. The philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, discussing how "modern" goes with "progressive", suggested it may not be possible for a person to change the world, but nothing stops her from changing herself. We cannot relocate our autonomy beyond our the fixed embodied limits of our moral compass and claim we are zombies run by some set of mediated, or unmediated influences. No one outside of us can be blamed for what we choose to believe.
So, Reid, I am neither optimistic, nor the other, but my reading of history gives me good reason to believe the life hungry urges of biology drive us, however circuitously, in the direction of coherence. If we take care to develop our own means to think and seek to find a public life in a networked community of encouraging, like minded persons, the surface craziness of the evanescent present is not where we go to satisfy ourselves that the direction we are taking is indefensible on objective criteria. Others may see our Public Person as a performance, but if we give in to making a performance of ourselves to win friends and influence people, we can expect to inherit the tail we chase in circles. Let's leave our guns with the hat-check person.
Not sure where you got the impression anyone was advocating armed struggle--I don't see that anywhere in this string. As for coherence in human thinking, I point you toward climate change as an avatar of the absolute and consistent lack of coherence. We have known for decades that climate change is a literal existential crisis and have done next to nothing, as individuals, as nations, and as a world, to ameliorate it. This will wipe us off the face of the Earth and most of the other species of the world will go with us, yet we carry blithely on. No tending toward coherence I can see.
With "weapons" so much in the news and in the streets, including those leading to the Capitol, I took you more literally than you intended. But, climate change is not a subject suited to weapons. It's suited to an intelligent, educated response to observation and information. I think you don't disagree. As we all know, it's been only fairly recently accepted that climate change is related to human activity and is on good measurable evidence outside the bounds of what would be expected from only natural causes. Positive incremental change in public thinking on climate change is in evidence, and is moving faster than might be anticipated considering that not that long ago the guiding paradigm relating man to nature was life-crushing "scarcity", a very real matter of survival to worry over at every moment. The old farmers I lived with in the rural area of my childhood were not able to factor intuitively the idea that Nature in some way depended upon human protection and husbanding.
In my thinking, reliable information and Artificial Intelligence (extended human intelligence) will play a major role in environment stewardship and the much talked-about "jobs" will be in getting that information and engineering workable solutions. Work will move away from profit driven production that leaves the environment out of the cost column. "Work" that will be more and more linked to educated ability in the future can't help but augment the already apparent "class separation" among generational cohorts between the more and less ability-qualified. Persons left out of the qualifications race increasingly find themselves working under conditions of what I like to call "Neo-feudalism" because most muscle-work like that seen in Amazon warehouses and the growing "hospitality industry" depends upon non-negotiable owner structured work and worker acceptance of palliative consumerism, a state in which worker and owner are not faced with having to live in the same community of concern as moral persons. This kind of worker begging-obedience makes stimulus-response brutes who find recognition in the populist cold human warmth of a Donald Trump whose boundless love of self sees them as donation-shedding dupes searching for themselves in the digital reality of selfies.
The only national solution to this collective delusion on the part of Republicans is for the John Lewis Voter Rights Act to be passed or they will legislate the Democrats into perpetual minority status. So, Joe Manchin and Kirsten Sinema, DO YOUR JOBS. The Republicans shoved Amy Coney Barret down our throats AFTER tens of millions had already voted, and yet you want to work with these people when the ability of millions to vote is at stake?
Hey, again, everyone! Having already addressed today's Letter on this page, my thoughts turn to an important partner who plays a huge role in each of our daily lives. There is a concept called Calming Signals that some in the horse community embrace as a way of getting along with our equine friends. No, it is not how humans calm horses but, rather, how horses ask humans to calm themselves to be better partners in our lives with them.
To get to the point, it occurs to me that for years now our partner Mother Earth has been sending Calming Signals that mostly have fallen on deaf ears. I have noticed that these signals have been getting louder and louder as each year passes. So as a lead-in to Earth Day (April 22), a little history: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-first-earth-day
Hello Lynell, good morning. My contribution to Earth Day is a huge revelation I had earlier this month which is being incorporated into my story project. The Earth speaks to us in so many ways, should we only care to listen.
Here's the article which sparked my revelation.
Ogopogo
Chief Byron Louis says he commends the City of Vernon’s decision to give the copyright to the Syilx Nation, and he will work with elders and knowledge holders on how to appropriately use the intellectual property.
‘Like copyrighting Moses’: hands off our water spirit, say First Nations
The green dragon in the artwork looks to me like the spirit of water. Living in California, land of water shortage and where all water is sacred, we need an Earth-based, Earth-centric, natural relationship and bond with water. That concept of speaking directly to the Earth, and having the Earth respond in return, is becoming part of my story project which is actually a science fiction story about the redemption of humanity.
Thank you, Lynell. Calming Signals are also well known in the dog community. Let’s get busy with humans, as President Biden and his administration are doing daily.
Thank you for sharing this site. I have old equipment that I know should not be tossed but didn’t know what to do with it. I plan to dispose in a responsible way and share this info for there are certainly others who have no clue.
I believe they think they will wear us out, we will give up the fight for American Democracy and in the long run they will take over the country just like Hitler and others. I don't know about you but 5 years of disinformation, lies, criminal behavior and FOX NEWS, I'm tired and overwhelmed. How would Trump and Friends get this lie going and keep it going if they didn't have Rupert Murdoch and Fox News? Shutting Fox down would be like cutting the head off a snake and it will IMO be the only way to turn this around now. Stop the source feeding the lie 24/7 and most people will not work to hard to find another source to feed their morbid fear of change. But then again how do you shut Fox down? How do you educate those that don't want the truth in the first place? I think the Democrats should go full speed ahead as fast and as hard as they can (we can) and beef up our educational systems to teach true history and critical thinking etc. and it will take several generations to get that done in the middle of a pandemic and climate change that is threatening to kill us all. Am I depressed about this, yup, can't hardly breath most days. Catch myself screaming into the phone when I make my calls to Congress. I'm tired, so very tired...
Fox News depends on cable fees collected from it being part of basic packages. If you have cable, use some of that screaming to tell your supplier that Fox should be an add-on that is only paid for by people who choose it.
MaryPat, I always like to see your name, your comments and your likes. Thank you for the enthusiasm, ideas, information and support, which brighten our forum. Some facts of life cannot be smiled upon. You know what's up and what's down.
For me, periodically just unplug...from news, media, social media, everything..and I try to find solace in some of the beautiful things in the world. Because of the overabundance of communication and news in these tomes, it is easier now than ever before to completely overload. For me, I think my perspective improves when I step away and ruminate on only a few things IN. SILENCE. The ugly parts of life out there in the world are always going to be there and if you dwell on them they will affect you. I'd say try and take things in smaller doses. It's all too easy to get overwhelmed. It seems to work for me.
For me it's silence and tackling a crossword or a sudoku...maybe some Bach...currently immersing myself in a recent biography of Mozart. I like to keep my mind engaged but in a different way, NOT in current news or events. It's kind of Zen in a way, I guess...I like just "being" in the moment...whatever works for you...
Along with outdoor activities, I speak with like minded people and work to share the truth but I never, ever forward or pass on a single thing, picture or article that has 45 in it or if is from him. His poison spreads. He needs to be indicted and then erased. We also need to keep pressure on Congress to expose the lawmakers who were complicit in the Capitol attack. And to force retraction of the lie that Biden lost. I’m supporting those issues and it helps me mentally to know I’m working for the preservation of our democracy.
I call my congress members, write letters and attend online trainings on how to reach out to others. I take every opportunity to share the truth on all
Platforms and never pass on anything “hateful” or 45 news updates related other than indictments or legal matters. I work with the Democratic Party to advance democracy. I support and listen to the excellent podcasts aired by the Lincoln Project. I boycott the companies who haven’t taken a stand against voter suppression. These are a few of my strategies. I welcome other ideas or suggestions.
I write with great frequency. being in WA, the state, my folks in Congress are mostly in the right place for me. It is the rest of the states I worry about.
I have no argument with that. What I was commenting on was the metaphor of running over something dangerous (Trump followers, fascists, etc.) and continuing on our journey. We all have to do that and remember that our candidate won the election, we are in the majority, we're motivated, and we must continue to focus and be unafraid. The metaphorical "snake" is not an innocent animal.
I can finally get to work in the garden (Pacific Northwest translation: it's stopped raining), and between the planting, weeding and shoveling manure, I'm starting to find -- not exactly peace, but at least focus on the positive.
that's where I go to Ruth, to the garden and we just had a week of awesome sun here in the NW rural Wa. state...I just can't overcome the constant terror that like Roland, I'm the matriarch of my family. When I go, what will I have left my family who rock my world...???
In Port Townsend, such a lovely July in April! Seeds in the ground. Starts planted. Making new garden spaces... and the temps will drop, rain will return, June-uary will commence, and then the sun will return. Life is wondrous and magical.
All of the care, comfort, guidance and love you gave to them in life. But each has their own life to live. I think they will keep you close in their hearts.
I listen to classical music and create in an art journal and stay in touch with friends. My other outlets have had to be put on hold due to the pandemic.
Ruth, great question. I spend time outdoors. I’m often walking purposefully for the exercise. Sometimes I’m just poking along the trail, looking for spring wildflowers and listening to the birds. Walking is my therapy. I’m 64 and feel like 34, and I’m immensely grateful to be still enjoying hiking.
I garden, make compost (or the worms do). I carve stone. I take care of others in this small community. Walks in the forest, at the shores, rivers, mountain trails...grow food, flowers, habitat for birds, frogs, and humans. Loving the most local could be the most radical acts we do.
I made a mistake this morning and googled Roy Cohn, the attorney, later disbarred, who advised Joe McCarthy during the 50's communist hearings, and Donald Trump during his machinations with the NYC mob-owned cement companies to build Trump Tower. Oh, and advised Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. Somewhere in there is Robert Murdoch. In 1979 Cohn had Roger Stone deliver a suitcase of undisclosed contents to the New York State Libertarian Party to support presidential candidate, John Anderson, in order to split the Democratic vote, and consequently Republican Reagan won in 1980 handily. Then, the same Roger Stone initiated The Brooks Brother's Riot in 2000 that threw the Florida election into the hands of the Supreme Court (with an enabling assist by basketball star and attorney Brett Kavanaugh, along with fellow Federalist Society attorney Amy Conan-Barrett, both sent to Florida to supervise the count) for a George W. Bush win. And, of course it was the same Roger Stone and cronies who colluded with the Russians to blackball Hillary Clinton, and assure Donald Trump's win in 2016. The only logical, malevolent, gas-lighting next step for this hoard of mobster, criminal, con men is to DENY that Trump lost, and to purchase (or threaten to "defund") elected officials to in turn kill voting rights when the planned insurrection failed. The Big Lie is not just that Trump won, but that the Republican Party has fairly, honestly won any presidential election (except perhaps George Bush Sr?) since Dwight D. Eisenhower did the year I was born, and I am pretty old. The Mob, and now the Russians, own Lincoln's Party. It's over. Lock them up.
MaryPat, you turned a mistake into a gold mine of information linking the dots. I didn’t realize Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Conan Barrett were part of the 2000 election debacle. That these two now sit on the Supreme Court is a shocking travesty.
We the People need to be backing him up day to day in all aspects of our daily lives. Casual conversations, openly or acting integrity, yard signs?, displaying the American flag, organizing like minds locally. We have to form “unions” fearlessly.
I don’t want to have to download another app. This is too complicated and people will not join yet another organization who is asking for money. Just a Facebook page will do! Or a Twitter feed.
Indivisible is not an app. It’s an organization doing good work, in tandem with other organizations. The Truth Brigade works to counter misinformation, like the BIg Lie and the need for “election security” laws. Yes, of course like all nonprofits it needs money but that doesn’t mean you must donate. Instead you can do other things, like assist the Truth Brigade. I don’t find anything about it complicated, personally.
Anne, Every state and many, many local communities have their own indivisible organizations that meet locally to support and plan local activism. It is a great place to connect with folks. Most local orgs keep their Facebook pages to a private group to keep out the trolls. Here is a link to the national organization. There is a lot here about all they are doing. I guarantee something for everyone. From here you should be able to find contact info for your local group. https://indivisible.org/ I also find my local League of Women Voters is doing great work.
It will hopefully end with a lot of ga-ga old boomers having early heart attacks and Making America Great Again by finally getting rid of a good portion of that generation. Everyone thinks the Boomers were the generation of "The Sixties" and all it represented - it turns out less than 15% of boomers were active participants in "The Sixties". For my high school graduating class, it meant exactly two of us, with the rest either never getting out of the Fifties or if they did "participate" it was just music and dope, since the biggest "heads" back at the 10 year reunion are all now big Trumpers - at least the ones still alive are. (I'm always glad I hauled ass three days after graduation and never went back) That end result of too many of the boomers is pretty widespread, which is why the Faux viewership and Republican votership is majority 55+.
Thanks Merrianne. Ageism is another one of those -isms that divides us. It's simplistic (at best) to herd people into categories based on the decade they were born in. I am a proud Baby Boomer and will defend our place in history as being a force of nature (not perfect, but well-intentioned) and challenge younger people to take up the banner of political activism and engage with us to solve these problems.
Please, TC, stop generalizing about boomers. There are plenty of us who were activists and who still are. In fact, many of my friends in this age group continue to fight for change. Meanwhile there are a lot of Gen xers who are blindly following the Tramp train as well.
15% is good participation. Remember, the white working class, which m has been the enemy of progress since forever in America, way outnumber the rest of the population. They are the ones who cheered when the war protesters were murdered by the National Guard at Kent State, fot example. Progress was made in the sixties in spite of them. Today, “only” 60% of white Americans are stone cold racists. In the fifties it was 80%.
If Heather had the time to read what we have been discussing for months here in her community, she might not be gobsmacked. The source of the Republicans' behavior and ideology is racism (whites first), sexism (males first), genderism (boy-girl only, anti-LGBT+), and the preservation of the old society which places whites, males, and heteros first. Hence opposition to genderfree Potato Head. Hence voter suppression of non-Republicans and non-whites. etc etc etc etc
You can break any of the Republicans' actions and attitudes down using this template.
The Big Lie is wishful thinking that Trump and his Old World Society are still exercising hegemony like they have since the beginnings of the USA. Trump losing the election means accepting that white, male-first, boy-girl society has lost control and is no longer in power. They are in denial that they have lost the battle to diversity, to a society where whites (and males and straights) do not set the rules and don't come first anymore.
Personal news:
I am having a heavy-duty month. My dad is getting close to passing, and it means the end of an era. We are engaging what I am calling a transition-to-afterlife support team. They call themselves death and dying doulas. I have been feeling like my truck driving career is ending, which is a possibility when he goes. We have been speaking with an estate attorney, and with sisters and godchildren, about wills and trusts and inheritance and the like. My wife and I are speaking with the people who are closest to us, the ones who would be in our will and who share a bond with us.
The passing of the patriarch and self-designated head-of-household is churning the waters a bit. I am realizing even more vividly just what a poor match I am for the paternal side of this family. I'm just not a conservative, and not a Republican, and not interested in carrying on the values left over from Nazi Germany. Sorry.
In the mean time, despite all this intensity, my story project continues to gain steam. I have never felt so good about myself, ever. Multiple major break-throughs this month alone. My book has edges now, it has a beginning and an ending. I have a chapter outline. My wife is in love with the story, and so am I, I've never done anything this exciting.
Roland make sure you take care of yourself and the love of your life. In my experience, grief doesn’t have a timeline or an objective. It simply overwhelms and consumes. Your bravery to be vulnerable and share what you are navigating is commendable. The last paragraph of your post has changed my morning. It lifts, it inspires, it brings hope - TO ME. Thank you. Keep at it and how will we all see the results of your story project?
Thank you for the well wishes. I'm pleased that my words improved your morning. Yes, I have never been happier. I have found my calling. My calling is producing a story about my vision of the world and how it works, a vision of a bright and inspiring new society. It is a work of joy. I am living life now with an underlying foundation of joy. Sure, there are still dips and bumps, but there is a steady-state hum of joy. My story communicates that vision of the future, and that joy.
Ir seems that your father raised his son well.
I think my mother might be more proud.
God bless your mama bear! She done good!
Will-he or nill-he (in the sense of whether the result he intended was the one he got).
Well said!
Please let us know when it's ready to be shared, Roland. We all need to hear about joyful visions of the future.
This news about your story project is very exciting, Roland. Thanks for sharing it with us. Will you keep us updated as the project progresses? Please!
OK I’ll see what I can do. If you click on my name and subscribe to “Life: A Field Manual“ you’ll see all the updates by email.
Will do. Thanks!
I'm excited to read it!! Even if I have to wait a year or more!
I want to live in that world. And will.
It's at least a year or two away from completion. I wouldn't dream of keeping it a secret from my HCR community, no worries there. I am at the 1-year anniversary of the science-fiction story. Prior to 2020 I had never written any fiction, it was all nonfiction, my "Life: A Field Manual" book. My wife prevailed on me to write a story, and that story apeared in April 2020. Life: A Field Manual is now an item in a fictional tale with fictional characters. I can't give away my secrets just yet, but I will say that when Life: A Field Manual shows up in the book (and in the movie script), it's a hot scene.
Roland, dear Roland: we have all missed you but also our hearts are full for you and your situation. I know how hard it is to deal with this situation and all I can say is take care: of yourself, your loved ones, of whatever centers you. It is wonderful that you are able to channel your energies into a creative project. Do what you have to do, what your psyche and your soul say you need to do. And know we are with you too.
You're incredibly sweet Linda, thank you.
Roland, you've been missed, and your news of what has kept you away is very sad on the one hand, and uplifting on another. I'm sorry you are having to go through the dying/death of your father....a man who has clearly had a big impact on your life. But, it seems there is a bright side to your life...a book that is taking exciting shape, and a wife who loves it and you. Bless you, Roland.
I am so blessed and fortunate, you have no idea. It's a time of change. A time of transformation.
Metamorphosis, even. Holding you in my heart.
That is exactly the word. Roland has it right in front of him now, but we all are living through a metamorphosis. https://media.awakeningtowholeness.net/walking-backwards-into-the-future/
Couldn't agree more with your post and information you provided. Metamorphosis! Thanks so much Charlie
🙏❤️❤️
Roland. I don't believe there are accidents in the universe. People are in our lives for a reason. Your father was a teacher (for you....in a difficult way ...but he got your attention!) and a catalyst for you to search, think and asses information and feelings probably from a very young age. That has made you the Roland that we know and value so much here. You are turning a page in the book of life. And moving forward to a new chapter IN YOUR OWN LIFE, the chapter that you writing now.....EVEN as you write your book! The BIG Dream! May God's blessings and all good things accompany you on your journey.
Very very sweet and kind of you br. Thank you. Yes of course you are correct. I have never known a minute without the domineering influence of the old order, conservative, leftover Nazi Germany converted into Republican values in my life. But that may change soon.
Allow me to add my prayers for you and for that change. It is a change that is desperately needed in ourselves, communities, nations and the world.
How many ❤️s can I give to that sentiment???
Amen!
As I’ve read Heather’s daily letters and our community responses, your absence was noted. It’s good to hear from you but I’m sorry to hear the reason for your absence. I’m wishing your father, your family, and you peace as you go though this process. 💐.
It’s the strength you’re receiving from your work and family that will get you through.❣️
“THE untold want by life and land ne'er granted,
Now voyager sail thou forth to seek and find.” Whitman
Both you and your dad are on a journey. May you both find a safe harbour. 🥰
Roland, you are riding the wave of cultural, personal and cosmic change. Everything is changing and I know you can feel it. You are an instrument and an instigator here. Thank you for your role and I send you good juju to stay your course and be that change.
I have a nurse midwife friend who later in her career became a death and dying doula/midwife. She said it involves many of the same skills and sensitivities. She ffelt it was a gift to be abke to serve families during the passing.
When my son was about to be removed from life support, a nurse from the organ donor society asked in the most loving, kind and supportive way, if we would allow my son's body to be used in that way. Our answer of course was yes. It gives me great peace that 'parts' of him are still living on in someone else. I received a call early the next morning from a surgeon who had just harvested my son's corneas, which he told me would go to 2 people, one for each and that both persons would now be able to see. My point with this is that there are very special people out there, who make death and dying and what comes next easier than it might otherwise be. To this day, I honor those people who guided me to give all that I had to offer.
❤ Oh, how heartbreaking. I can't imagine that kind of loss and pain. How good that those very special people were there for you, and were so caring and supportive, and that parts of your son live on. Thank you, for your choice and for letting us know that that kind of compassion is there for us. It really helps to know that. Hugs.
He simply moved onto the next place because his work here was completed. No worries. We always 'knew' he would go before us. We loved him every minute of every day. He's let us know he's fine. Thank you Mary Pat Hugs backatcha!
It is certainly a loving way to continue his existence while saving others lives. I commend you and your wife/partner.
My neighbor is a hospice nurse. She truly loves her job and uses different methods to help the person go onto their journey. Plus, she provides tender moments to those left behind. I want someone like her to be with me and our my family. Special people...
Helping a parent transition from this life to beyond is one of the things in life that can define us and who we are able to become going on. Your experience mirrors mine in that while my Mom was dying, I was having some of the most fulfilling professional experiences and personal growth independent of the component of her transitioning. Both experiences can be held together, and in retrospect, may augment one another.
I am looking forward to reading your book, and to having you rejoin us here in LFAA land again. May you walk the next few steps with love, grace, and knowing that you've a support network all around you.
You're so kind, thank you. And yes, it's a very exciting time in my life. It's a turning point. Shifting my story project, the book-and-movie, into higher gear.
Such joy, such sorrow. They often come hand in hand. As you attend to your father while his life’s chapter closes, knowing that your own new chapter begins, grieve, rejoice, it’s all love. Holding you in the Light.
🙏🙏🌺💕
We are all eagerly awaiting a chance to read your book! One of the things I treasure about this forum/community is the chance to learn about books to read on so many subjects and in so many genres. A heightened time for you, our friend! Take care and know that our thoughts are with you.
Roland, it is clear that you are a born storyteller. I'm guessing that you've tried to smooth your father's rough edges with your reasonable, logical philosophy, but his very traumatic beginnings were instructing him at a core level, and that is what won. Nevertheless, the fact that you've maintained any relationship is something you should be proud of. You are strong enough to voice your concerns and conflicts, and you're healthier because of that. I'm sure you have helped him on many levels, and would venture to guess that he is grateful. You are fortunate to understand what makes you happy and pursue that. Good luck with your story project.
Roland, I am so sorry to hear about your dad but I am also glad that you and your wife are being strong especially in your support for each other. Losing a parent...even when it is expected...is never easy. And, when there are some serious differences between parent and child, it is even harder as the struggle between family love and serious disagreements can lead to some soul searching and guilt. My mom could be a real "pain in the ass" at times, (nothing as serious as you have described) and my husband had more of a problem with her antics than I did. But when she died, my husband did a eulogy at her funeral and struggled with some of the negative feelings he had had for such a long time. But now he often tells me "you know, I really loved your mom". Blessings and strength to you and your family.
Congratulations Roland, and sympathies also. Your ending upbeat presages exciting things. Your dad’s imminent demise, turmoil for your family. I am delighted that you sound so hopeful. May your navigation of the oncoming events be fruitful. Be safe, be happy.
Can’t wait for the release of your book.
Thank you David. Personally I think the book is the hottest thing on the planet. I am being patient, because it is a large work, and I want to get it right.
I am sorry about your father, Roland.
Thank you Ian.
Comfort to you and your family as your dad passes, Roland. What is your book about?
Click on my name. I have left out recent developments because I am keeping them under wraps.
Roland, Your post brought so many thoughts - major life shifts cause so much chaos in us, even the good ones. If the pandemic weren't bad enough, facing your dad's coming departure and all that entails - I can't imagine the stress. It's obvious from the comments that you are wished well by this community, and I add my sentiments to theirs.
We do such a lousy job in this country of dealing with death. Well, we don't deal with it, in fact. We try to pretend it's not part of life, not inevitable. Good on you for getting the dying doulas in. I didn't have that for my husband, but we did have a local hospice who served a similar role and were very attentive and kept us in the loop.
Blessings to you and your family. And good luck with that book! Keep us posted.
Glad you mentioned 'dying doulas'. We need to face death as part of living. God bless your husband and you. Im sure he watches from heaven.
Absolutely, br. And thank you; I'm sure he does - he sent me a message in a dream last week- and no, I'm not delusional! I knew when I woke up from the dream that it was 'different', so I wrote it down. The more I pondered it, the more I could see what it was about and for -
I absolutely know you are not delusional. Our love never dies. It's the only thing we take with us when we leave this place and go onto the next. I believe it's the only thing we can offer to God......if we have loved. I'm glad you understand your dream. Its said that the dreams we remember clearly are meant to tell us something. Be safe. Be well.
I took a course on international human rights law in undergrad. The professor was excellent. She told us that most international human rights regulations are essentially non-binding. It's, more or less, a global honor code and not easily enforced.
I remember being a kid and wondering what would happen if a political party in the United States just refused to agree to the results of an election, and back then, it felt like a foolish enough question that I quickly forgot and moved on.
I am terrified for our future. January 6th should have been an equivalent in the public consciousness to a major terrorist attack, and yet, here we are, more than three months later, and it feels as though much of the media apparatus is petrified of centering it and holding those behind it accountable.
January 6th was horrifying to watch.
Amidst news of too many recent shootings, on Friday a "member of the Oath Keepers militia who was charged in connection with the riot at the Capitol pleaded guilty...." https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/16/us/politics/oath-keeper-guilty-plea.html
My hope is that convictions will bring January 6th back into the news. I'm still waiting to learn more about Capitol tours on the days before. Who authorized them? Who led them?
Who disabled a panic button in one legislator’s office? Did that really happen? I’m with you, cig, I hope convictions will keep coming. PBS had another good documentary of January 6 the other night.
When will Trump be indicted, that’s what I really want to see.
Yes, it really happened. It was in the office of my great Rep, Ayanna Pressley. On Jan 6, Congress came within inches and seconds of having multiple members assaulted, raped, tortured, murdered and lynched.
The nightmare scenario
As Admiral McRaven said, the Republican Party is the greatest existing threat to American democracy.
I Hope McRaven runs for Texas Gov.
That would be heavenly.
Boy, I'll drink to that, TCinLA!!
My fear is that we are past the tipping point. The gerrymandering in 2011 has given us state legislatures that do not represent the entire electorate. The unrepresentative state legislatures, together with those that are representative within their state but not representative of a national majority, are using insights from the 2020 election to pass laws that further undermine representation. The public face of the national majority is held together by two factors: the knowledge that this is not a good time to concede defeat and the hope that a miracle will intervene.
If we are hoping for a miracle in upcoming elections, we must focus our attention on voting rights. If defeat is not an option, no other issue matters. So that leaves us with a desperate challenge: how to pass a voting rights bill in the Senate.
That in turn leaves us with a desperate worry: that even if such a bill is passed, its essential provisions could be vacated by the Supreme Court. It sounds as though the commission on the Supreme Court might come along with some recommendations just at the right time. But those recommendations then have to be implemented in law, which requires running the gauntlet a second time.
By that analysis, we are down to hoping for a double miracle.
How to pass a voting rights bill in the Senate: Do not give up in advance. Support HR1/S1 For the People Act. Support organizations fighting state voter suppression bills.
https://kottke.org/16/11/fighting-authoritarianism-20-lessons-from-the-20th-century#:~:text=%20Fighting%20Authoritarianism%3A%2020%20Lessons%20from%20the%2020th,the%20leaders%20of%20state%20set%20a...%20More%20
17. Watch out for the paramilitaries. When the men with guns who have always claimed to be against the system start wearing uniforms and marching around with torches and pictures of a Leader, the end is nigh. When the pro-Leader paramilitary and the official police and military intermingle, the game is over.
The fact that this was written in 2016 and we first had Charlottesville and now have the Oath Keepers, all military, police and first responders, leading an insurrection, is truly frightening. Thanks for sharing this, Ellie. I've bookmarked it for further thought....and action.
Yes Gina 17 was the one that really shook me too.
Jan 6th, #17 is all I thought about.
#17 is what we were sideswiped by between 2016 & 2020. If we aren’t careful it will hit us head on when and if the MTG types gain power again. Our Republic is still at risk. Complacency is not an option.
Thank you for this list, Ellie. Some of these were a little difficult for me to understand and I will have to read it again. I will contact the US Holocaust Museum to ask about professional ethics. One item on the list was “Be as courageous as you can. If none of us are willing to die for freedom, all of us will die in unfreedom.” The second sentence gives me more courage.
The whole idea is prevention. Do not give up in advance. Act now to prevent authoritarianism that would require the rest of the lessons on the list.
Tim Snyder’s recent lecture at William and Mary parses what freedom means, what we need to do to have it, etc. For example, increased support for local investigative journalism so that on the local, community level we have a robust shared reality. He posits health care for everyone as necessary in a working democracy. And makes a good case for that. https://youtu.be/t4NFiviVWR8
Thank you Lee!!!
I just watched this!!! Mr.Snyder in lecture is Phenomenal! I wrote down about 3 pages of notes from This! Everyone Should Listen to THIS!!! FASCINATING 😊💓
https://snyder.substack.com/
Very powerful set of ideas. Not a sound bite friendly lecture. I am going to listen to the rest in two more tranches because my brain is overwhelmed by the first 30 minutes.
Thank you Lee for recommending this.
Timothy Snyder’s book “On Tyranny” explains each item on this list with historical context. It’s a short easy read and well worth reading again and again.
From W. Somerset Maugham.."If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is, that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that too."
Could apply to political parties too. " If the Republican Party values...."
That was my thought...
timothy snyder continues to inform us on youtube. maybe that venue would help?
Timothy Snyder also has his own Substack, but writing more about health.
I think Dr. Snyder is doing that on purpose. To give us a break to the nonense of the Orange Traffic Cone of Treason, and offer new perspectives to move people to just think about what could be vs dwelling on what is so wrong. Just Finished his book, Bloodlands....its to close to our own story of Manifest Destiny and genocide of Native Americans and Slavery. In a way, Hitler and Stalin were playing catch up to America. HCR's How the South Won and Bloodlands follow a similar pattern of oppression and domination of one group over another.
i loved his book Our Malady. just signed into his substack, thank you
thank you!! i did not know.
It's all summarized in Tim Snyder's short book "On Tyranny", which is mentioned at the bottom of Kottke's post.
Thanks Ellie! It’s notable that this piece was published on November 28, 2016. And looking back at the 4 years that followed, eerily, we saw many of these warnings become reality.
The question is, “Now what?” Given our present situation, how do we proceed? Would Snyder’s list look the same today?
Your comment-question is in response to this:
Support HR1/S1 For the People Act. Support organizations fighting state voter suppression bills.
Focus so as to prevent the manifestation of Snyder's list today. That's presumably why he was raising these points again so much over the past year.
“Email is skywriting.”
Recommend #18 to those you know who carry firearms, either in a personal or a professional capacity. In particular, "Be ready to say no."
"18. Be reflective if you must be armed. If you carry a weapon in public service, God bless you and keep you. But know that evils of the past involved policemen and soldiers finding themselves, one day, doing irregular things. Be ready to say no. (If you do not know what this means, contact the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and ask about training in professional ethics.)"
Ellie, Excellent Article!! thank you
I agree. ❤️🤍💙
Exactly! Giving up is not an option.
Don't forget the opportunity for those Republican state legislatures to gerrymander further based on the recent census. Things are going to get worse before they get better.
oh dear. But I know ur right.
Agree 100%. Have to accomplish two big things to combat the big lies.
1.Pass National Voter Protection into Law
2. Enlarge the Supreme Court
Seems simple enough, but during a pandemic, during shoot em up crisis, during a police killing unarmed black men causing riots crisis, during an opioid crisis, during an ongoing worldwide threat to democracy crisis, during a worldwide epistemological crisis....lets just hope that Russia doesn't invade Ukraine further escalating world wide anxiety. It is no wonder good Presidents age so much while serving. "Heavy wears the crown"
Yes to all this, except it's never going to happen. As for Ukraine, this seems to me a diversionary tactic to take the focus off Navalny, whether Putin invades or not. I was disappointed to hear a State Department spokesperson say there will be "consequences" if Putin makes further incursions into Ukraine. That's code for sanctions and scolding and not much more and Putin knows that. It will deter him not in the least.
It should have been a deep stain on that party’s commitment to the revered democratic process. Instead it has become their campaigning candy. What is up is down. Hard to remain convinced that right will indeed prevail unless outrage and shock converts to action for every last one of us.
Ah, but when you think of it, that honor code notion applies to so so many things. In my second career, I taught finance, and each year gave what I called my "philosophical underpinnings of finance" lecture....which basically posited that the entire financial system, global, national, local, all boiled down to trust....that we could, for example, borrow money on the basis of a belief (by a lender) that we would pay our loans back according to the terms agreed upon. ...that a U.S. Treasury rate was considered the 'risk free rate' (to which other risk premiums were added to establish rates of borrowing and lending by different entities) ONLY because the US had never defaulted on its financial obligations and that the world trusted that we would not do so in the future....That we could call our broker and put in an order to buy stock or some other financial instrument and the broker would consider the call a handshake agreement that we would pay for what we ordered. Basically, I argued, the whole system relied on the notion of a handshake and that one's word was immutable.
Then, along came the lies and cheating that created system chaos....the mortgage bubble, the smoke and mirrors that allows some to profit from heretofore unheard forms of securitization, derivatives, crypto currencies that are impossible to trace directly, and too many other manipulations and machinations to follow, and we are approaching maximum entropy. The system simply cannot keep track, so ' trust' ends up being for fools who aren't quick enough to take advantage of short term blips in whatever is being bet on. The financial system is like a global casino.
Then, into the bargain, along came DJT, serial defaulter, in his role as president of this huge country with its outsized economy, who ranted publicly that if 'we' didn't get our way in one or another international transaction, we simply would not repay US debt! Somebody, somewhere who knew something about finance got him to shut up about this, but I recall physically shuddering when I first heard him say we'll simply default.
I'm not teaching any more, but if I were I'd amend my 'trust' lecture to include the notion that trust as a principle is more than half way to being replaced by 'whatever you can get away with." And none of us should want that.
I took business administration at berzerkeley. Graduating I realized that arbitrage was a way of stealing. I had learned in my business ethics courses that wink wink you know ethics are important. I decided on graduating that I didn’t like playing with people whose mantra seemed to be: It is all good as long as you don’t get caught.
So I went back to school and became a nurse. Now I don’t make money for nothing, I earn it.
thank you. as a retired Rn after 40 years, I know you earn it!
Carolyn Ryan, thank you for this perspective. LFAA can be from any discipline. You just wrote a Letter from you as an American on Finance and Democracy.
I should clarify that I do not at all want to impinge on HCR's copywrite of LFAA. I'm talking more generically about the concept of a letter from an American citizen on the topic of democracy and the letter writer's point of view from their field of expertise and experience.
How much does the Republican Party spend/purchase in ad time from media companies annually?
If media isn't reporting enough on "The Big Lie", we know why.
I don't know that we have a historical record of what is going on with the Republicans in the political sphere, but I think we do have plenty of examples in the religious sphere. I think Trumpism is a religious mania, not a political movement. It isn't based on political calculation, and the endgame is a vision, a fantasy, and a nightmare. It is, for the Trumpists, the victorious End of History, their vindication, their apotheosis, the burning away of all imperfections, and -- in simpler words -- their glorious death.
That it makes no damn sense is entirely beside the point.
I'm thinking of the Millerites, the precursor to the Adventist sects. It started with a fairly theoretical exploration of an exigetical theory called "dispensationalism," became a date for the Return of Christ, and ended in something called The Great Disappointment when thousands of people sold everything they had and made ready for Jesus, and He failed to show. The date was recalculated, and a smaller party showed up for the second Return, and they were -- of course -- disappointed again. There have been echoes of this prediction/disappointment cycle in any number of American fundamentalist sects, right up to the present day.
One of the latest frenzies was the novel series Left Behind. An Evangelical writer, Fred Clark, wrote a series of blog entries that became a book, The Antichrist Handbook, which is a fairly amusing and blistering critique of Left Behind, and a great manual on how NOT to write a novel, but the interesting thing for me was to realize that neither I, nor anyone else, could really write a better version of Left Behind. The basic story does not, and cannot, hang together. This does not deter believers in the slightest.
I think we have exactly the same situation with Trumpism. The people who showed up on Jan 6 in Washington DC were expecting triumph. They would storm the Capitol; they would capture members of Congress; they would destroy the abomination in the Holy Place by burning the tainted state ballots; they would hang the guilty, like Pence; they would see Trump return in glory, pardon them all, and they would be lauded ever after as saviors of The People.
That's not a plan. That's a religious mania.
I think that religious mania is STILL at work in the Republican Party and its supporters, and the point I want to hammer home is that, if it IS a religious mania, it does not have to make any sense at all. It's all about The Glory. It's about the pain of being tried by adversity, and judged worthy by a Higher Power. The fact that you brought about that adversity by hitting your own hand with a sledgehammer is a side issue, as is the fact that the Higher Power is a liar, a con man, and a rather petty narcissist. NONE OF THAT MATTERS.
Brings to mind the golden statue in the likeness of Trump at CPAC .....
horrifying
What’s crazier that a life size gold idol of Girth Vader?
Girth Vader -- were you watching Colbert tonight??? ;-)
Very interesting to think about. I could see how this could be a major part of the puzzle. I still believe that there is multiple prongs to this perfect storm of dysfunction. Some are caught up in a religious mania, some just want to hold onto power at any cost and some are just plain power hungry narcissist grifters who want to be on TV and feel like they are the most important people in the world. I also believe that the democratic experiment is not working well enough for a lot of people and this fact opens them up to all kinds of outlets for fear, anger and frustration at the system. If people felt taken care of and felt inspired by our system there would not be as many people as susceptible to this level of grift. People are looking for something in these ridiculous and unrealistic prophesies. There will always be those that see the end of days but right now there seems to be more of this type of mania in the mainstream than ever.
Joseph, this is spot on. Theological arguments are used for all kinds of nefarious purposes because they appeal to emotions, tell people that thinking is wrong, and emphasize the ineffable over the rational. In my experience a vast majority of people prefer to be led rather than to do the hard work of independent and ongoing self-education and self-awareness. This makes it possible for phenomena like the Left Behind books to be popular--and the authors were clever in knowing that catching young people was far more useful than simply appealing to the oldsters.
Unfortunately, even seemingly rational people--such as C. S. Lewis--can fall victim to burying themselves in the irrational in order to find peace within their own psyches. If you read the Chronicles of Narnia, at the end, when the End Times come, Susan (not Lucy, who remains "pure," if I recall correctly) is "lost" to Narnia (in other words damned for eternity) because she wears makeup and is interested in boys. I know that most see Lewis as a man of his times (who isn't?!) but this casual dismissal of women is part of the theocratic outlook he embraced in the end.
Linda, you might appreciate Neil Gaiman's short story "The Problem of Susan." Here is a link for online reading https://talesofmytery.blogspot.com/2014/11/neil-gaiman-problem-of-susan.html
Thanks for posting this.
I think you're onto something. I think what you have surmised is the power of "cults." Steven Hassan is an American mental health worker who has focused on destructive cults. He is especially knowledgeable about cults as he was once a former member of the Unification Church. His perspective, process for bringing people back, and understanding of cults is enlightening.
I forgot to say, he's written several books that provide important insights into this phenomenon and how to confront it.
precisely Joseph! People are ignoring the laying-on-of-hands that took place in the Capitol; how the issues they fight for are biblically based (abortion at the forefront); the evangelical support of these "leaders" and their attempts to bring Christianity into our system of government. It is a religious movement in equal parts with politics.
The bible's explicit command to put a parapet on your roof so no one falls, has been taken to require thoughtfulness and effort to prevent incidental harm. If you know that widespread availability of mass murder weapons is correlating with the use of those weapons to murder a lot of people, that principle combined with "do not murder" requires gun control legislation. If you know that using police for traffic stops correlates with a lot of black drivers getting killed, the same reasoning requires removing police from standard traffic enforcement. Somehow the people so occupied with "do not murder" when it comes to abortion, do not see the bible as relevant in those other cases.
There is no Biblical base for abortion.
Not necessary. There is a biological, medical, social and personal basis for abortion.
abortion is murder to them and I think there is something in the bible about not committing murder. I guess the way I worded that implied they are fighting FOR abortion. That was not what I meant.
We are seeing Trump supporters play out their response to the failed prophecy. Trump has become not just the leader, but the icon of this sect.
so interesting that the "afterlife" is such a motivating force.
Cult Mania.
And why is it we here will not come together for the goodness of humanity?
This comes closest to answering the questions I have not seen asked anywhere: What did the dime-store insurrectionists really think was going to happen? What was their long game? Did they REALLY think that if they interrupted a ceremonial tabulation of pre-certified results, everybody would just say, "WOW, those guys are superduper mad that their guy lost, so let's give Trump another four years, just to play it safe." Is that what they thought?
I agree. It absolutely makes no sense and to them it does not matter. And like "The Glory," QAnon cultists/aka trump religious fanatics have "the Storm." And as you note above, they keep moving the date of the anticipated event, never once giving up their cherished dream.
I rarely, if ever, share personal news with this community, but feel compelled to do so this morning because I consider so many of you my friends. My 83-year old husband went missing for 3 hours yesterday afternoon after setting out for his usual post-lunch short neighborhood stroll in quiet west Pasadena. I went looking for him on foot after 10 minutes, by car after 20, and called 911 after 30. Police were terrific, patrolling the area, checking and double checking every area of our house and yard, even the insides and trunk of our cars (which, In a macabre thought later on, I figured was to help eliminate me as a suspect in his disappearance). At the 2 hour point, a police helicopter broadcast his description to the neighbors near the Rose Bowl area and asked people to look for him. One did, and found him resting, unhurt but unable to get up on his own, in the brushes off a long private and secluded driveway two doors down from our house. He was exploring and didn’t realize his limitations. And, unfortunately, he didn’t have his cell phone with him. He was taken by paramedics to Huntington Hospital for tests (dehydrated only) and released home by early evening. Lots of lessons here. Vastly relieved now and thankful for a happy ending, I will try to turn my thoughts today outward and am sending positive vibes to all of you who are doing such good work out there.
Mary B. Hugs to you. I'm glad he was uninjured and safe. It's hard to cope with changes like your husband's situation. Please continue to seek help from friends and/or support groups-they can provide ways to ease your mind. Take care of yourself as well. The need for support applies to those who care for parents as well.- I know from personal and professional experience- the latter from 35+ years as a Long Term Care RN
Thank you for 35+ years of dedicated LTC nursing!! I do OBRA nursing assessments in our county facilities and I am in awe of what the RNs and staff do, and the compassion, and patience and innovation and accommodation and cheerleading and the inevitable letting go.
They are quite amazing and for the most part, without recognition
Totally agree, MaryPat. The hospice nurses I mentioned elsewhere here were very kind as well as professional. I don't know what we would have done without them. So, let me add my thanks to Barbara D and all her sisters and brothers in the profession!
Thanks, Barbara. Complicating things, he has Parkinson’s. I do have LTC support and loving relatives nearby , which is essential. Still... it’s tough. Thanks for the good work you do
Bless you, Barbara--you are a saint and an angel to those of us who needed you to assist in the care of a loved one.
Thank you for sharing! Glad he is ok. Isn’t it wonderful that we feel supported and heard here. So much of what’s going on these days can be completely overwhelming but generally, everyone that chimes in here feels like an “ohana”, a family of the heart (and also of sanity and our collective search for truth). Even the most difficult news and analysis is somehow more digestible here. I feel buoyed up even when blown away and fed up!
Dear people, thank you for showing up!
Subscribe to LFAA, and get a free 10,000-person extended family!
Such a deal! Actually, this group is the real deal.
LOL I thought it was just an extra perk!
Thank you Mitzi! Well said!
SO glad to know things turned out okay in something that was certainly highly stressful. It is always reassuring, in the face of going through something like that, to find that there REALLY ARE some wonderful people "out there"...people who just go about their lives unheralded doing great things for others, asking nothing in return. A LOT of them are on here, which is one of the reasons this little community is so gratifying to be a part of. Though it was personal, thank you for sharing your experience and showing us some of the good of humanity.
Thank you, Bruce, and other wonderful people — spot on.
Dear Mary, it's so good to know that he turned up safe and sound. But I must say, if he was Black, he'd be less safe with the police looking for him, especially if he seemed disoriented.
I know we were both treated exceedingly well; however, that didn’t stop the cops from checking the trunks of both cars, which amused us both upon reflection this morning. They were trying to eliminate me as a suspect.
So very happy that your husband was found, relatively safe and sound. I am sure you must have been worried sick. Love happy endings.
That was a scary time for you. I am so happy to hear all turned out well.
Mary, I'm happy that everything turned out positive for your husband. Wish him well for me.
I am thinking of you and hoping that this community of caring friends will give you strength to deal with the stress I am CERTAIN you are still experiencing. I speak from personal experience. I am thankful this turned out well for both of you.
Sorry you went through such a stressful situation and happy that it turned out well for both of you.
As we are sending positive vibes back to you and your husband. So glad he is home and okay!
Oh, so terrifying and exhausting for you. So glad he was found safe and sound. I often wonder on my walks and bikes and cross country skiis, when I leave my phone at home because it is just too heavy, or I don't want to be bothered by texts and calls, if I couldn't just have a little "decoder" ring with a button I can push if I need help, or that would beam my location if I am lost or injured. I haven't found an emergency alert device that fits that need - I don't want a smart watch or a pin or a necklace. Thoughts anyone?
Dearest Ms Randall, please take your phone with you. You are a far too valuable resource to be without it. It is your decoder ring. With much appreciation, KD
kimceann You made my day! Thank You!!
I am so pleased and relieved that your husband was found alive and—reasonably—well. My wife and I will add you two to our prayer list. Having entered my eighth decade I can well understand the anxiety that you must have felt when you could not find your husband. We wish good health and contentment for you two as you move forward.
I’m so happy he was found safe and not severely hurt. I cannot being to imagine your anguish and terror over those hours. I’m so very sorry, but some very good things to think about and remember for going out. Thank you for sharing, I’m sure you both are enjoying a night peaceful night.
Thanks so much, Margaret. Great relief now, mixed with guilt (I know, I shouldn’t blame myself!) for not watching more closely. He thinks he’s invincible.
Awww, no try not to blame yourself. You also wanted to give him his freedom of independence and dignity. Just now you know, he may need a little more help. I think we all think we are invincible, otherwise we might not ever venture outside.
Please do not blame yourself. If you do not mind, I will share a story about my dad. My mom did not tell my sister and I that for a couple of years, he would find the car keys that she had hidden and take off. They lived in a small town so everybody knew each other. The last time my dad went on an adventure, the police called my mom to tell her they had him. He drove the wrong way down a one-way street. Heaven forbid that he had injured anyone or himself! She reluctantly sold the car as she never learned to drive. He too, was in his 80’s. My sincere best to you.
Sending you and your husband much love, MaryB. So glad he’s home safe and sound.
It's "all hands on deck" with the police agency I work for when anyone is reported missing. As someone who had a very healthy, mobile mom with dementia, my biggest worry (well, one of them) was that she would escape and get lost or hurt. I'm so happy to hear they found your husband, that he was taken care of and is now safe. Those are always the BEST dispatches to come out over radio. "Subject has been located." ❤
What a terrifying experience Mary. I’m so glad it ended well.
Mary and everyone else. Bless your hearts for being in community here. This is some of what I mean by coming together as a community. I want to see small groups of people chatting in the break rooms about the good of our current government. There is confidence and strength in numbers. We mustn't isolate ourselves. That is when I begin to loose energy. When I feel alone with all of this.
I find myself wondering — where this right-wing pseudo-patriotism will finally end. When Trump and his family were photographed around Trump’s golden throne in his apartment after he won the 2016 election — the true believers commented breathlessly that “We have a dynasty!”. Now, in 2021 some observers have pointed out that Republicans identify with the British monarchy — another stretched too thin analogy. Finally, I think of the story in the Book of Judges in the Old Testament. The prophet Samuel complained to G-d that the people wanted a King “like other countries had”. To paraphrase the recorded answer: G-d said. “Go ahead and choose one, but they’ll be sorry!”
Looking at this long history of people preferring to be ruled rather than ruling themselves through law, I don’t know whether I’m losing my mind or the radical right has collectively lost theirs! Here endothelial the rant! Carry on!
Just remember, the ancestors of humans didn't jump out of the trees - they were pushed. The majority of people are quite happy to not think. Unfortunately.
Hi TC. A friend of mine drinks coffee every morning out of a mug that says, "I Think Therefore I am Overqualified." He is a high-end contractor and architect who is also obviously an iconoclast and renegade. Outside-the-box thinking, rejection of conventional thinking, is not as common as it should be. Case in point: paternal side of my family, the relics of Nazi Germany, the immigrants who became Republicans even without having to think about it. Goose-steppers.
If I had one, it would say, “I think, therefore I am overwhelmed.”
Yes! Permission to come aboard the 'Overwhelmed'?!
Mine says "I Love NY" and the coffee is good. All emotion, sensation and inner and outer warmth.
😒😒 So wrong. Humans may not think the way you think they should think, but they think. One can disagree with the logic of their thinking, but humans cannot escape the process of thinking.
I don’t know, Andrea. I am often called a-critical by colleagues. I want to see the best in people, and have admitted here that I usually wear rose-colored glasses. And I do believe that the way back to unity is through listening to each other. But I also think TC has a point. How did Hitler oversee the torture and murder of over 6 million people unless many humans were happy to not think? And if you read Ellie Kona’s linked list of ways to fight Fascism, many of the items on the list are ways to fight the lemming-like following that Hitler’s followers and now Trump’s followers did and do.
Too many people are happy to follow someone else and not read or think for themselves. I have to challenge myself to dig deeper often and I read way more news than many of my thinking, thoughtful friends.
Jeanne, you raise some thoughtful points which prompted me to do some thinking.
I believe that people did think about what was happening under the Hitler regime. However, their thinking led to the realization that if they went against the torture and murder, they and their families would be the next victims. Not every human has it within themselves the courage to stand against a raging tide of death and destruction. Preservation of self and family within the limited resources at hand drives their thinking processes. One may not agree with the choices others make, but we must disabuse ourselves of the idea that they did not do some wrenching thinking about what best to do to save their families.
Trump’s followers are not faced with likely death, so they are not motivated by fear of death. However, like Hitler’s followers, Trump’s followers fall into the magnetism of a cult-like leader who effectively drives their thought processes. They think they are being good soldiers for the leader. Talk to or listen to any Trump follower, and it soon becomes clear that they have thought about what they are doing, they have ready answers to any question, and they have consciously made the decision to follow the leader.
It is the thinking process that we must recognize is happening by Trump’s followers. Our job is to try to change their way of thinking without dismissing them as lost causes, because, they most certainly are thinking. I do not have any answers to that problem. I can only try to understand what thoughts are driving Trump’s followers, including my family members. Dismissing them as nothing more than lemmings is a way to avoid becoming involved in change.
Thank you, Jeanne
I also have family members and friends who follow Trump. The one to whom I am closest enough to question will not engage with me on this topic. He only watches Fox News and dismisses every other news outlet as “leftist.” I have even gone so far as to show him the media bias charts and have challenged him to read the AP news, which is in the center of both charts. He doesn’t. He studied theology, is a gardener, doesn’t own guns, happens to be gay, works in construction and landscaping and will not waver. I have tried to figure this out and cannot, so move further and further away from that friendship.
And I completely understand about the fear and the awful choices many Germans faced in Hitler’s time. I have stated here before that I fear I would have been silent to save my parents/spouse/children. I like to imagine I would have hidden Jewish neighbors, smuggled food into the Warsaw Ghetto, but I cannot know. But many many Germans followed willingly first. Many many had to for his power to grow as it did.
And when I hear Ted Cruz, Lindsay Graham, Mitch McConnell and so many others flip flopping like fish to Trump’s yanking, just for votes, for power, for money, I will call them lemmings and worse. They have zero integrity, zero honor and I don’t even want to know how they think.
When my daughter was ill with orthorexia, her care team advised me to add cream to her milk and extra oil to her pasta without her knowledge. Don't let her in the kitchen, they said. I was surprised and asked, “you want me to trick her?” That’s what we do in hospital they replied. “You have to get her brain back to a healthy place and she will start eating again. You can’t reason with her now.” They were right and they saved her life. Sometimes I think that trump followers have Fox News brains that need extra secret doses of nutrition. What that is, I haven’t figured out. Love? Exposure to poverty? What is the cream in the milk they need?
First, thank you so much for sharing the very relevant story of your daughter. Your pain must have been excruciating. Your brother is my sister, and some of my cousins. They tell me with great conviction that I have been fooled by fakes and manipulated video. From months of swallowing Fox, they are locked in. Just getting them to visit about repairs in the alley, or tulips especially bright this spring is my way of beginning to sneak in some cream. I believe that as the economy improves, Biden Harris initiatives become real, and the insurrectionists with their leaders go to jail the hearts and brains will begin to heal. Not directly challenging is hard. As Carrie Newcomer sings: You Can Do This Hard Thing.
I have a right-wing family member whose thinking process I do not trust. He watches Fox News and claims to have been more moderate in the past until MSNBC became too "leftist" and he abandoned them.
I reach out with public policy issues on which we can agree, like a proposed "loan-to-grant" program in NYS to help landlords with income loss due to COVID rent relief.
Not sure he called his state legislators.
Then I asked him to help with phone calls related to NYS Assembly bill A1115 and its "same as" bill in the NY Senate, S309. And he made the calls! And he thanked me for taking action on this.
My hope is that he will begin to see that sometimes he can take action -- make a phone call, put his legislators into his Contacts list, etc. -- and feel better about things.
Instead of feeling a sense of helpless grievance about how the system is rigged, etc. etc.
I just need to find some persistent political actors that he might admire. I'm not sure that mentioning Stacey Abrams and Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden will sit right with him.
One of my wife’s sisters and a few of our nephews kneel at the altar of Trump. For them it’s about avoiding “socialism “ and “owning the libs”, whatever that may mean to them.
Their mind is closed. Discussions are hopeless. We simply avoid them and move on with our life.
Thank you for your personal story, I’m so glad your daughter recovered. You end with one of the most relevant questions of our time - What is the antidote to this Republican madness?”
I have had personal experience with those whose brains and "thinking" ability were poisoned by their addiction to a certain NON "news" network and similar programming. Through these manipulative and destructive media channels, these supposedly intelligent people then were introduced to QAnon. I don't know what suffices for their brains these days, but they are apparently awash with conviction that George Soros, baby eating Democrats and other outlandish dangers are to be feared. I have given up on them. It is cultish behavior and I simply do not have the skills (nor the time or energy) to try to undo the damage that has been done to them. If they can be saved - which I seriously doubt - it will not be up to me. Since they also do not believe the pandemic is real, refuse to mask, refuse to socially distance themselves and continue to mingle in greater numbers than is safe, I avoid them like the very plague they have become.
I don't have any friends or family who follow the Don. When I discover that they do, I drop them. You cannot argue with idiots nor is it conducive to your well being to associate with ppl who condone racism, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia, irrational conspiracies and now armed sedition.
We need Fox News to administer that extra dose of "nutrition" (even though they are the malady that caused the "truth starvation.") If Fox fans only believe things if Fox says they are true, then Fox has to be sued, arrested, defunded or whatever it takes to make sure it starts telling the truth.
Interesting they suggested you nourish her brain with fat. You'd think that stuff was actually good for you (it is).
Media bias charts and an article about whether to trust them.
https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/media-literacy/2021/should-you-trust-media-bias-charts/
I have the same brother! ❤️🤍💙
Thank you, Jeanne, for your personal story. I'm so glad your daughter recovered.
My thought about Trump followers' loyalty is that it's exactly like a cult. The cult gives them an intense feeling of belonging and identity. In exchaning posts with other cult members online, they get constant positive stroking and ego
gratification. As long as they stay in the cult and continue to profess allegiance, they never need to feel alone, or confused by current events. The cult gives them all the answers, and as an extra special bonus, all of those answers tell the cult members that everything that's wrong with their lives is someone else's fault: it's the fault of the leftist "socialist" conspiracy who want to take away their guns and freedom (and per QAnon, want to eat their babies or torture their children). Or it's the fault of the BIPOC people who are "lazy" "takers" who want the hard-working "good, white, true, hard-working Americans to support them. Or it's the fault of the immigrants or the "feminazis" or blah blah blah. The need to feel accepted as part of a tribe where they are always viewed as good and right and their ego is always stroked and their identity is clear and feels admirable and powerful - in my humble opinion the combinatikn of all these features makes membership in the Trumpist cult a very strong and addictive drug.
all reason, and sometimes beyond all self- interest like your gay, gardening, non-gun-owning family member
I think Trump supporters believe they have the upper armed hand. And those in the GOP who oppose Trump know that their own physical safety and that of their families depends on not riling up any armed Trump supporter such that they show up in your office or driveway with a weapon. Democrats in red states know it too. I think this is a massive elephant in the room---the admission that terrorism works, at least on a small scale.
I wrote down today, "America doesn't want to be American anymore."
I devide Republicans into 2 groups. Those who don't want to think, just follow, who can be manipulated into violence. (Terrorism) And those whose sole mission is to make money through tax laws and legislation. They find the people and situations which will line their pockets. Grifters, from FG to some of my relatives. There doesn't seem to be a moral center in their world.
😞😔
Yes to all of this. I recently watched documentaries with interviews of aged Holocaust survivors. Even from decades later, some believe they did not know what was clear to their eyes, and even noses. The human brain tries to protect itself.
Both the body and the mind, i.e., one's emotional state, seek homeostasis.
Thank you, too, Andrea!
Certainly there are good reasons to wonder about our differing capacities for thought. It’s so fascinating to consider. We are on the frontier of neuroscience. So much is yet unknown and not understood. Having worked in the area of alcohol related birth defects for so many years, and then learning about traumatic brain injury, and that the apathy of depression may indeed be caused by inflammation in the brain, and addiction studies, and the apparent epidemics of autism and Alzheimer’s it appears there is a wealth of knowledge still not understood about our most crucial, complex and fascinating organ. We once were on the path of how an authoritarian parent and other repressive realities could traumatize a child’s inner genius to stay hidden for life with the Reptilian brain theory. But apparently that neuroscientist didn’t fully understand either. https://medicine.yale.edu/news/yale-medicine-magazine/a-theory-abandoned-but-still-compelling/
I can't resist offering an analogy based on some recent shopping research. I'm getting progressively hard of hearing and have the hardest time discerning what's being said when there is any background noise at all. There are new speakers (sound bars )that basically parse different portions of sound waves, dulling some (noise) and amplifying (bringing to the fore, they say in the ads) others (voices). Reportedly, people like me who can no longer filter the waves with our own hearing apparatus can use this technology to good effect.
I liken this to the cacophony of the media world. There's so much, it's so constant, and it's so loud that no one can 'hear' anything, so we end up either avoiding it all or picking one or two stations or pieces of information to hang onto because the totality is overwhelming. Each media outlet dampens some waves while simultaneously amplifying others. The results produce silos of information or disinformation that we stay rooted in. Inertia is a powerful force. Changing people's minds, like inertia, requires applying equal and opposite force to whatever state is present. Not physical force, but persuasive?
The "cacophony of the media world" is a good way to put it. It's not just Fox News, although it's a major problem. There's a lot of disinformation, conspiracy theories, etc. on social media and people read it, promote it and it multiplies. We'll need to address this issue eventually. We escaped in 2020 - see: https://time.com/5949210/facebook-misinformation-2020-election-report/ According to https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/02/technology/biden-reality-crisis-misinformation.html, several experts recommend that the Biden Admin. should look into the inner workings of Twitter, Facebook, Youtube... "many of which have been responsible for amplifying conspiracy theories and extremist views." I hope they do!
I think the "equal and opposite force" of persuasion concept applies to taking up oxygen, asserting reality over the false narratives/propaganda/fake news/Big Lie/Russian active efforts of destabilizing/gaslighting/diversion-distraction tactics/disinformation manipulations/PR spins...
That is a lot of cacophony through which to become focused, grounded, and centered.
The matter of changing people's hearts and minds is both short term (asserting reality) and long term (education). That's more complicated that equal and opposite "force."
Unfortunately, technology is still only helping the neuroscientist understand what part of the brain "turns on a light" when we either experience something, do something or think of something. Correllation then builds as the experiment is repeated but none of this actually tells you why we order our brains to produce a certain amino acid at some point to achieve some purpose or how. The "how" is easy in superficial mechanical terms but whether these experiments determine"Cause and Effect" or mere symptomes of the process....who knows.
It is a great mystery. I have lately begun to wonder who, exactly, am I talking with when I am thinking to myself, rolling ideas around in my head. This itself may be a strange thought. But I realized I'm having conversations in my head, and it struck me, what is this voice? My thoughts definitely unspool as words, is this how other people think? Or are there other ways? There must be. How do babies think? Or non-verbal people? I dunno, just some random thoughts.
Well hard science is hard to come by when studying the brains of live humans, thankfully. There are so many areas of neuroscience yet unexplored, but due to the mulitfacetedness of the organ and the science it will take some special genius to integrate the multiple disciplines into one.
My point was to the question of why everyone thinks "differently" and if we review the complexity of the science of our brains, I'm of the opinion that it is no wonder we struggle to understand each other.
Just for kicks here's Wiki's attempts an outline of the complexity: Neuroscience is the scientific study of the structure and function of the nervous system. It encompasses the branch of biology that deals with the anatomy, biochemistry, molecular biology, and physiology of neurons and neural circuits. It also encompasses cognition, and human behaviour.
Branches of neuroscience:
Neurophysiology
Neurophysiology is the study of the function (as opposed to structure) of the nervous system.
(Brain mapping
Electrophysiology
Extracellular recording
Intracellular recording
Brain stimulation
Electroencephalography
Intermittent rhythmic delta activity)
*Neuroendocrinology
*Neuroanatomy
Neuroanatomy is the study of the anatomy of nervous tissue and neural structures of the nervous system.
*Neuropharmacology is the study of how drugs affect cellular function in the nervous system.
*Behavioral neuroscience, also known as biological psychology, biopsychology, or psychobiology, is the application of the principles of biology to the study of mental processes and behavior in human and non-human animals.
*Neuroethology
*Developmental neuroscience
Developmental neuroscience aims to describe the cellular basis of brain development and to address the underlying mechanisms. The field draws on both neuroscience and developmental biology to provide insight into the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which complex nervous systems develop.
(Aging and memory
Cognitive neuroscience
Cognitive neuroscience is concerned with the scientific study of biological substrates underlying cognition, with a focus on the neural substrates of mental processes.)
*Neurolinguistics
*Neuroimaging(Functional magnetic resonance imaging
Positron emission tomography)
*Systems neuroscience
Systems neuroscience is a subdiscipline of neuroscience which studies the function of neural circuits and systems. It is an umbrella term, encompassing a number of areas of study concerned with how nerve cells behave when connected together to form neural networks.
Neural oscillation
*Molecular neuroscience
Molecular neuroscience is a branch of neuroscience that examines the biology of the nervous system with molecular biology, molecular genetics, protein chemistry and related methodologies.
Nutritional neuroscience
Neurochemistry
*Computational neuroscience
Computational neuroscience includes both the study of the information processing functions of the nervous system, and the use of digital computers to study the nervous system. It is an interdisciplinary science that links the diverse fields of neuroscience, cognitive science and psychology, electrical engineering, computer science, physics and mathematics.
Neural network
Neuroinformatics
Neuroengineering
Brain–computer interface
Mathematical neuroscience
Network Neuroscience
*Neurophilosophy
Neurophilosophy or "philosophy of neuroscience" is the interdisciplinary study of neuroscience and philosophy. Work in this field is often separated into two distinct approaches. The first approach attempts to solve problems in philosophy of mind with empirical information from the neurosciences. The second approach attempts to clarify neuroscientific results using the conceptual rigor and methods of philosophy of science.
Criticism of the scientific status of neuroscience
Neuroethics
Neuroscience of free will
*Neurology
(Neurology is the medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. It deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of disease involving the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems.)
*Neurosurgery
*Neuropsychology
Neuropsychology studies the structure and function of the brain related to psychological processes and behaviors. The term is used most frequently with reference to studies of the effects of brain damage in humans and animals.
*Neuroevolution
Noogenesis
I would love that we start at birth for "all our children" to teach brain health and support brain health at every opportunity in hopes that we can all understand and live by the Golden Rule. Though I sometimes find my thinking may be different.
I think(!) you are correct, but will add there is more than a minor difference between just thinking, and thinking well. Which I believe rests on one's information set and analysis skills. This causes me to watch in amazement the battles over information manipulation - spin - and the poor state of critical thinking in this country.
Yes, they think. And many act from fear which clouds their thinking.
There are very real things to be scared of, i.e., climate change and the prospect that ecological devastation and massive loss of life of every kind is possible within our lifetimes. And that our efforts to mitigate it are far too little and too late. It's coming. I personally don't give myself more than ten more years of life (I'm 67).
But to think on that very real danger could be devastating to one's psyche. So I think we chop it up and assign Danger to different things, things we think we can manage, like the flow of immigration or running out of fossil fuels. Fix immigration, you could tell yourself, and the climate problem will solve itself. "Fix the tax system and then address climate change." "Climate change is about capitalism, so fix capitalism first." Or you could aver, "Fix social and racial inequality--do that first and climate change will be corrected." (I have read the all the latter sentiments.) People can devolve Danger onto anything they want for their own comfort. But we can't control the forces of climate change, which I think casts rather a pall over things.
Climate change is the 500 lb. gorilla in the room. I agree.
Except in deep meditation.
I was just noting a comment above that laments the "thinking" mind's endless chatter. I am a long-time meditater and one of the "perks" and discoveries of meditation is the universal lack of control we have over our thoughts. "Watching" them course through the mind, particularly the "judging mind" is awful, but serves to free some meditators from the tyranny of the "chatter." The mind, like the endless beating of the heart, is rigidly dedicated to producing thoughts. We are full of biases, endless bias. Seeing them, even briefly, really helps.
I believe that too Andrea
Nice screen name, Anne. The PBS series was sometimes sappy but often moving. Do you have a PEI connection?
I see. No, I wish. The closest I get is my ancestors immigrated from Quebec to Red Lake Falls, MN where they claimed land in late 1800’s.
PEI?
That would be a no. It's Prince Edward Island, where novel and filming are set.
We stopped teaching critical thinking in the public schools a couple of decades ago. The Texas school board, which oversees the approval of textbooks for most of the country, removed it from texts, and in 2012, the GOP came right out and said it in their platform. “ We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs ...” https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/texas-gop-no-more-critical-thinking-in-schools/2012/06
Wow, thank you for another wake up call. This one in Texas (HOTS!) has been on the books since 2012--that's half a generation! HCR has said you can change the world in a generation, the 18 years it takes to raise a child to adulthood. The Nazis understood this and by the 1940s had a generation of energetic young people ready to die for Hitler. The Soviets understand this, as have Chinese Communists.
Today, with internet, SM, a troll farm, and a about 100 million to spend on bots and ad spending (active measures) you can transform and disable entire countries in 3-7 years.
The Gerasimov Doctrine
https://www.politico.eu/article/new-battles-cyberwarfare-russia/
Thank you for this very hard reality--we have yet to fully deal with it. Russians have been deploying nonmilitary means of political, shadow, psy-ops warfare through a persistent, multi-faceted campaign of hacking, disinformation, and election interference since 2013.
HOTS defined by the GQP: Higher Order Treason Skills
Wow.
If that’s not Orwellian I don’t no what is!
That’s “endeth” the rant!
Here endeth the rant. Some stupid program written by an ignoramus, unfamiliar with the word "endeth," decided to substitute the word "endothelial."
It appears the stupid programs are out in force today.
But Roland, "Endothelial" does you much more good than just an ordinary rant.....let it all out!
I had to look it up, just to see and it IS a "thing" - the endothelial! But if here endeth the endothelial truly comes to pass, then it would no doubt be the here endeth of one's life. Thanks for the new word for today!
🤣
Got it! Google spell check is only semi-literate.
Pity, I preferred the first version.
If Repugs identify with the 20-21C British monarchy, that might be OK, because the hallmark is strict limits on power. But if it's John, Edward II, Bloody Mary (not the drink), Charles I, James II, George III or IV, that's a problem.
In a course in college years ago, the professor said perhaps the best form of government was a benevolent dictator.
That works with me as long as I get to be the dictator and not you. 😉
Your tyranny is subject to a LFAA referendum. Time to update your resume?!
I've said this very thing, particularly as it relates to environmental matters
Loved the "endothelial"......akin to the primal scream! Does wonders.
Liked your post, and chuckled that your spell checker turned "end the" into "endothelial."
Isn't "endothelial" currently awaiting FDA approval?
I will start my comment with a quote from the non-religious Humanist, Isaac Asimov:
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”
And, I will continue with my own observation (which may piss off some) that religious ppl perpetuate this ignorance, for if you can believe the supernatural writings of Bronze Age goat herders over rational fact-based observation you can believe any Big Lie. BTW, this can be quantified by observing that both the Puritans and the Taliban subscribe to their versions of these archaic Abrahamic religions and have done the most dreadful atrocities in the name of their god. (And their leaders who preach their version of morality are often found to be breaking all those moral precepts of their religion).
So it is that the original “Christian Identity” terrorist organization the KKK, requires you to be a Christian. How they rectify that hypocrisy with the actual words of Jesus the Christ is anyone’s guess. (Insert image here of the Disgusting Don, wrapped in an American Flag and holding up a Holy Buybull). Oh yes, the America First Caucus is just a rewording of an old German song from the 1930s, “America, America Über Alles.”
You can always find what you are looking for. You only mentioned religious extremists. There are so many religions that also believe in science, and so much science that meets the mystical and unexplainable. Religious people have been at the front of every social justice movement since Jesus flipped tables. They walked on Washington, across the Selma bridge, and in the Twin Cities and one had their church burned there (Unitarian Universalist) and every march between then and now. They organize and provide safe haven for those without a home, food or care. They collect funds to send to the desert for supplies and legal funds those crossing the border and detained, and even go on pilgrimages to help bring water to people coming across seeking asylum in Arizona. So look a little harder please. Look at Unitarian Universalists, Methodists, Lutherans, UCC specifically. Look up Rev. William Barber, leader of The Poor People's Campaign. Follow Rev. Cecilia Kingman on Facebook. Follow Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber on Facebook or YouTube or listen to her podcast: The Confessional, or read her books. There is so much you are missing.
I particularly like Rev. John Pavlovitz and have followed him when on FB and now on twitter.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Pavlovitz. He “preaches” the essence of the Essene Jesus and emfasizes Humanist ideals. However, the mainstream preachers and so-called Evangelicals are “Paulists” and seem to have abandoned the teachings of Jesus. As mentioned in this thread, I have vacillated over the years and searched many disparate beliefs in the 1970s. I even had a ‘Puja’ table for years. https://twitter.com/roboyte/status/1384144821091147776
I have worked with Christian charities before (paid employee with the Archdiocese of New Orleans) & even shacked up with a Methodist Missionary for half a year who I met in my volunteer work.
So you do understand. I'm glad. That's where I choose to focus, and I qualify my statements about extremist religions that are harmful to others rather than helpful.
YES, love Pavlovitz. I knew I was forgetting to include someone in my list. Thanks for the addition! And for your work.
My favorite is Quaker Pastor Phil Gulley. Warm, droll, intelligent, compassionate and fully believable. An inspiration. https://www.philipgulley.com/
Just a couple of points. Firstly, Science has a bit to go yet before it "disproves" the existence of a primal energy that people associate with a god-figure....should they even want to. The religious intuition of the many, be they Abrahamic or not, is shared by most advanced scientists looking at the origins of life and the universe. They use different terminology and come together often in the opacity of their conscious descriptions of that which they are "unconscious". Most scientists who get to this point in their research maintain a very high degree of "humility" on any "certainty" that they might come across.
Secondly on the "Christian Identity" I would suggest that you pick up a copy of the "Icelandic Sagas" before mistakenly believing that the KKK invented something.
I almost used "science" but then went more with "rational fact-based observation." I omitted "in the U.S." with my ref to Christian Identity Terrorists but that was implied, so 9th Century Iceland doesn't apply. I know the KKK didn't invent terrorism. An earlier terrorist org was the Catholic Church in the Dark Ages. And, since declaring myself an Atheist in high school where an astute Social Studies teach convinced me I was an Anti-Religious Agnostic, I have vacillated to Eastern religious & occult thot back to an amorfous "Force" flowing thru everything (Prana). So, Jedi is my religion at the moment but likely will change.
I believe in "The Great Irish Tea Party in the Sky" (not to be confused with the ault-right political one). Physicist Lisa Randall explains that there are dimensions we humans cannot see, and I take her literally. We Celts have "The Gift." Amazing and wonderful things happen to and for me when I mention to my relatives in the Great Beyond (or sandwiched between electron waves) that I could use a little support. I swear I can hear them giggle after they pull it off.
ou gO!
I love that you are bringing this idea into the conversation. I wonder if it rings familiar to anybody but me.?
It does me, br and MaryPat. From personal experience.
COOL!
Wonderful!
Rob, I took an ungrad course where the prof said on day one that we would spend the first half of the semester reading and discussing that there is, beyond doubt, a God. Second half was spent reading & discussing that there can't possibly be a God (humanism etc). Great class!! I spent about a year after that trying to be an atheist, but it didn't stick. I've traversed, immersed and gathered much on my path through Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, Buddhist, and Pagan traditions. Nothing organized now, but I'd call myself Christo-Pagan currently.
And all power to your arm.
Science cannot prove negatives and makes no attempt to do so. On the other hand, there is not a shred of evidence that suggests anything other than human hope and aspiration for company in the dark universe.
Just like "dark matter" and "dark energy" ...we know it's there in the universe but not what it is.
"Dark matter, matters" is the best Physics joke I can muster for this!
"...for if you can believe the supernatural writings of Bronze Age goat herders over rational fact-based observation you can believe any Big Lie." I agree, but I don't dare say that to my Christian brothers, as much as I want to. Why, when someone says, "I am a Christian" do I immediately decide they are not true practitioners of the loving wisdom of Jesus of Nazareth? Not very Christian of me. There are, however, other sources of wisdom, recorded or orally passed down, that we can learn from. I think of my Native American friends, now fighting to preserve Mother Earth, as they always, respectfully have done.
Rob, You are correct. Too bad if it pisses some folk off. Go see my view on the same topic https://media.awakeningtowholeness.net/walking-backwards-into-the-future/
I am a firm believer that ignorance has spread across our nation, but ignorance has been used to keep people in line so to speak. (I use the definition of ignorance that means lack of information. I've been attacked quite a bit for "calling people names.") Our family structures have broken down, and what was once taught in the home is now the total responsibility of the public schools. Disability, drugs and alcohol addictions, poverty, and teen defiance have contributed to students across the nation having little ability to complete a quality education. Big cities have huge poorly funded educational facilities with woefully inadequate support staff basically putting a child labeled as a number instead of a name. Kids bring hunger, anger, developmental delays, mental health concerns, and other problems into their classrooms daily. The new trend for large schools is kindergarten children who are not potty trained. So we add that to a teacher's duties. Yes, TV and music and video games have taken the place of healthy, active time outside of school. So many latchkey children that get themselves in trouble by dabbling in drugs, alcohol, and sex while unsupervised. These kids are much more experienced than any of use old people on the ways of the streets. They grow into mentally ill or ignorant adults in the good ways of the world. And, it isn't all of children and adults, but a good portion. Then you take the Fairness doctrine out of public broadcasting allowing the introduction and pushing of conspiracy theories, lies, extreme views, and such to these ignorant adults. Is it no wonder we are where we are?
A therapist of mine posited one day that he wished people could not have children if they weren't able to prove that they could be good, attentive and dedicated parents. Being a good parent is an 'all hands on deck' proposition, one that lasts for years. And yet, it has been the most fulfilling job I have ever had. It matters what kind of child you send out into the greater world. It is your legacy to the world.
Aaron Lecklider, Inventing the Egghead
Richard Hofstader, Anti-Intellectualism in American Life
Religion aside, I believe the cult of ignorance got a big boost with the advent of television. Before TV, adults discussed things based on what they read in newspapers. Children were rarely included in any discussion. With TV, children (without any framework of life experience) started inserting their opinions into adult conversations. Initially, this had some positive outcomes, with the involvement of youth in the Civil Rights and anti-Vietnam War movements. In the long run, it has led to children being treated as equals and friends by their parents and other adults, even calling adults by their first names. If children are equal to adults, they are not being trained in right/wrong or appropriate behavior. Children’s behavior, especially noticed in schools, deteriorated significantly starting in the 80s, a large cause of the deterioration of education in our public schools. Every teacher has had a class where their initial reaction to a student being absent is relief and anticipation of how much more they could accomplish that day. I see the effects and it’s getting worse. If you watch TV, pay attention to how many commercials and shows feature children who “know more” than parents/adults. And we wonder why we have so many mass shootings, many perpetrated by teens-adults in their 30s.
A lot of what you said here is overbroad and does not tie effect to cause. I am the first gen of kids who watched TV (And remember the same programs on radio before that). I am of that gen, the Post-War Baby Boomers, that protested the Vietnam War (After I got out of the Air Force). I see TV and other media as a reflection of the current culture and being driven by that culture, often by the unimaginative ppl who perpetuate stereotypes. But, that is just me, somewhat an iconoclast.
I am also of the first generation of children who watched TV, although I was 5 when we first got one and prior to that essentially raised in the “Children should be seen and not heard” school. The point I had in mind and failed to make was that adult conversations were based on background knowledge and interpretation of written coverage of the day’s events. With the advent of TV news and shows children (and often adults) instead were responding more to sound bites than to more detailed coverage.
Also radio from the early 20C.
I have more respect for those Bronze Age goat herders than for most modern religious sorts. The old stories exist in a context, and if you don't understand that context, you have no understanding of what you are reading.
For instance, as Daniel Quinn explores in his book, Ishmael, the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis of the Bible is a story that would appear to come down from the time that agriculture began to render the earlier hunting/gathering lifestyle impossible. Abel, the hunter/herder/gatherer brought the acceptable sacrifice, but Cain, the agriculturalist, killed Abel. It's a pretty incomprehensible story until you realize it is the story version of the domination of agricultural in the fertile crescent, as seen through the eyes of many generations.
And it correctly notes that agriculture is a very mixed bag of good and bad news, a concept that was totally lost in my upbringing where pre-agriculture humans were brutes, and agriculture was our first step out of darkness and ignorance.
Most American religious are nominally Christian, overwhelmingly Protestant, mostly Evangelical, and they've pretty much made up their religion from whole cloth. Through no fault of their own, the cultural context of the old stories exist only as fragmented symbols, without meaning. But they then go on to reframe the old stories without understanding them, and the result is usually ... well, pretty awful.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/21/books/the-death-of-expertise-explores-how-ignorance-became-a-virtue.html
Heather, gobsmacked is spot on. I think I have used that word more since Election Day than I have in the preceding 66 years. Trump spent more than four years building and shaping The Big Lie. He kept his base stirred up by constantly referring to voter fraud in one form or another, emphatically stating that if he lost it would be because Democrats cheated. Tied to The Big Lie is the Socialist/Communist plot where Democrats take over the country and rob its citizens of their money and their freedom/liberty. Their idea of liberty extends only so far: guns, anti-masking, and a perverted form of patriotism where white people are the only true and worthy Americans. Yet, how many times have we read, "Privately, Republican leaders are saying (fill in the blank). If they're saying it privately, why won't they stand together and deny The Big Lie and loosen the stranglehold they allowed Trump to place on the party? Money, of course, but also this: how are they going to recant The Big Lie and keep their base? The answer is, they won't. The instant a Republican publicly supports The Truth they run the risk of losing everything to an opponent willing to double down on The Big Lie. Politicians supporting Trump are like flies on fly paper. They are stuck. They have no way to extricate themselves from him without commiting political suicide and they won't do that.
Daria, this is spot on. tRump spent 4 years lying and therefore grooming his followers to then believe the BIG LIE. Soon, many will believe that the Jan 6 insurrection was a "democratic ploy" or a "riot fueled by Antifa and BLM." I wish the press would address the BIG LIE everyday...EVERYDAY.
Pam, thanks. I, too, wish the press would address the Big Lie and all his other lies and cons every day. I wish the press would expose the lies of every Trump pawn as well. I wish they would use the word lie, not euphemisms. I hope that every one of the people who were/are attached to Trump's criminality go down with him.
Daria, as long as Fox "news" is allowed to report garbage, there is little chance the BIG LIE will ever really be challenged. As long as people believe in "fake news" we will continue to have the wishes you enumerate. There need to be multiple arrests for those most guilty of lies and the spreading of lies. Because you know they've done more than just lie!
Many of them, of course, are using this language, outright calling them lies, but there are still far too many softballs tossed the way of Rs. On the other hand, the press has largely been divided into camps, those who promote the lie and those who repudiate it, and their readership is similarly divided, so I'm not sure how much good it would do for MSM to challenge the lie over and over again. They are preaching to the choir.
Pam, agree with you 100%.
You are right, of course. The only time my Floridian Trumpublican in-laws change the channel to something other than Fox News Channel is when a hurricane is predicated to hit between Fort Meyers and Tampa. Otherwise its Fox 24/7.
All the more reason we should be coming together and setting the example that integrity truly supports the pursuit of happiness
What they THINK is political suicide. They underestimate honorable conservatives who are looking for true leaders.
If honorable conservatives are only 10% of Republicans they will lose resoundingly in the mudterms coming up.
Speaking, again, from my discipline, mental health, I see our former president, and the elected leaders who follow him, as classic abusers. As abusers, they are not against any lie for any reason, as long as they think it is useful to their control. The minute they find a better lie, they will promulgate the new lie with loud fervor, and not even mention the old one. It's all about brute, thuggish power. It's a very reduced position, by which I mean, considerations of, say, making sense, being thoughtful, having a platform, etc have no place. It's just about power.
As for their followers, they aren't looking for qualities like making sense or a platform from their elected leaders either. In the case of their followers, they are enjoying a positive image of themselves which their leaders groom them with. It takes remarkably little effort on the part of the followers to forget whatever standards or criteria they may have espoused in the past, to receive and return the plentiful, bizarre praise heaped on them by their leaders. They are being groomed. And they are being praised. They are now important patriots with a historic role. And they like the praise and the special status they are told they have ("Go home. You are very special" D.T. January 6, 2021).
Where does it end? Where does abuse end? In tragic harm.
Pam, I absolutely agree with this. Abusers groom and then abuse, but to those groomed it is not abuse but important recognition. tRump told so many lies, grooming. So when it came time for the ultimate BIG LIE, he had groomed his followers well. Until we can manage to figure out the effective equivalent to restraining order the abuse will continue, and escalate. That's how it works with abusers. Sickening....
How effective are restraining orders? How about arrest, conviction and hard time. That would be fair.
Restraining orders are not always effective. The more committed abusers, if you will, ignore restraining orders, or subvert them. I think more awareness of the tactics of abusers might help those they are abusing realize that they are being cynically lied to and manipulated. For example, another part of the abuser's tactics is to ridicule or cut off information from anyone except the abuser or others who support the abuser. People need to know that if someone in their life is claiming to be the only source of the truth, they are listening to an abuser.
and often, the abused will contact the abuser, rendering such orders virtually ineffective...
I like your solution much better. I was just following through on the abuser analogy. Wonder when/if there will be arrests/convictions/jail.
❤️😡✅💐💔 I could not agree more. The one thing that every iDJT follower I know has in common is Fox as their only and constant information source. 45 gave its employees praise and special status early and often.
Pam, your explanation is spot on. Thank you.
Sidney Powell’s lawyers argued that “No reasonable person would conclude that the statements were truly statements of fact.” Marjorie Taylor Greene defends herself against the backlash of the “America First Caucus” by saying someone else wrote it and she HAD NOT READ it. No one in the Republican Party calls them on their lying. Gobsmacked is right, Professor Richardson! We must not be silent and we must keep speaking out and telling the truth. And we must keep supporting President Biden and Vice President Harris and the Democrats. In-fighting will hurt us deeply. Our democracy depends on truth, and the empowerment of ALL the people and ALL the voters.
Greene is an understudy to the former Liar-in-Chief. Lying and supporting conspiracy theories is just what she does. Her base just loves her. That’s all she cares about.
Wish there was a big frown emoji. :-((((
😾 Cats frown the best!
I was desperately trying to find a way to put a heart a moment ago!
Wasn't this woman previously an employee of the NSA.....hope there are no more like her in the Fed government.....but i think i'll be disappointed!
Those individuals should be required to wear warning labels!
What I find fascinating about these statements is that they apparently consider claiming utter incompetence as a legitimate defense. This seems to be an extension of the "former guy's" statement of how much he loves the poorly educated. I know that the Repugnicans rely on the ignorance of their followers in order to gain sufficient votes to amass and sustain their power but when the actual population of Repugnican leaders claim to be, well, stupid, lazy, and ignorant it does befuddle me a bit. They used to prefer the claim that they are all ivy league educated and highly qualified. Now it seems ignorance is bliss--although ignorance of the law is still not supposed to be an excuse.
You are absolutely right, Suzette.
What do you suggest be done other than what you have said which is what we are now doing
The Republicans think this will end with them still in power, given that the Republican-led Georgia and Iowa legislatures, motivated by the Big Lie, have already passed "new Jim Crow" voting laws. Some 40+ other states hope to implement similar restrictions.
The courts will decide if these new election laws will stand, while the upcoming election cycles will determine the fate of the GOP and the future of America.
Regardless of how the courts rule, President Biden and his initiatives are popular -- let's hope popular enough to get people out to vote, in spite of any obstacles.
The way to get the voters out will be to deliver on as many of the initiatives as possible in the next 12 months, so that six months after that when it's voting time, the voters have seen stuff in their own lives they like.
Agreed!
The Biden team, et al, must promote their good works. They cannot let Republicans define them. Time for effective messaging!
More importantly, progressives have got to keep the "wonderful ideas and programs" they have, that don't (yet) have majority support and will if pushed motivate the other side. filed away in their briefcases till we use passage of these popular initiatives to build a bigger majority. Anyone in the politics business who doesn't have a long term perspective and the ability to read political reality has no business in that business.
Voters need to realize that politics IS a business. Politicians are our CEO’s. So, vote and make it count. ❤️🤍💙
There are those that play politics and those that understand the words of the oath they take and become public servants and represent all the people, not just the ones who voted for them. 45 was a deep swamp politician. President Biden is not. It’s pretty obvious whom we need to support.
And that must come from each and every one of us.
I’ve been concerned about BidenHarris messaging since South Carolina. (Maybe even before-when I realized my Trumpeter relatives considered Biden the only viable alternative to Trump. That’s why SC did not surprise me. Bernie wasn’t viable to Democratic Party leaders.) Messaging has gotten better, but still isn’t great. And not enough. ❤️🤍💙
It's not just the Biden-Harris messaging. Every time I see a sign with "Defund the Police" I get angry. While everyone recognizes the need to reform, re-imagine, re-program, etc. the police, this slogan carries too much negativity. In fact, it is what helped contribute to the defeat of several Democratic congressmen and senators in 2020. We need much better messaging, especially when Republicans try to paint us as Socialists, extremists, etc.
Help is here!
The filibuster needs to be taken down in order to pass important legislation on infrastructure, immigration and especially election . With bold action in Congress, policy decisions can be moved back to law-building and away from finger-in-the dike executive orders. We saw how Republicans failed to remove the Affordable Care Act even when they had the presidency and both houses of Congress. Republicans are a dying breed in their unreformed present state, and will not return in some electoral wave in 2022. Their single political gambit it to stop any federal governance from happening. Look at the fact that the three postwar constituencies born out of the war-powers centralization and the end of white-male rule "localism"— women, people of color and 60's generation liberals—are presently the embattled forces of creative cooperation and optimism for the postwar future. Reagan style, ah shucks, simple-mindedness will die under its own death-wish incoherence as Reagan Boomers like "Ol'Reb" McConnell, "Boy-o"Lindsey Graham, Chucky Grassley, "Oh my God" John Kennedy, Richard Shelby, Thom Tillis and John Cornyn, age out and become non-voting ghosts.
I wish I shared your optimism about this, but I don't. The filibuster is going nowhere and, while I agree that the current crop of Rs are a dying breed, I think that death will be a decade in the making. Sadly, I am pretty sure they WILL return in an "electoral wave in 2022," especially considering their ability to gerrymander after the most recent census and their voter suppression efforts. We are in deep trouble and need to have our weapons ready for reality, not what we wish would happen.
No no no dear Reid, please step back and consider Ellie’s admonishment: don’t give up in advance.
It is far easier to stop authoritarianism before it takes over. The weapons we need are our voices, our votes, our refusal to comply.
The reason I write as I do here is because I believe that focusing on what I consider to be pie-in-the-sky aspirations robs us of the capacity to plan for what is really going to happen. Trumpism is a cancer and pretending it's "just a little lump" or hoping really hard that our good thoughts and affirmative actions will make it go away is not going to cure that cancer. There is precisely zero evidence I can see that there is a prayer of passing federal voting rights legislation this session. The infrastructure bill is probably going nowhere as well. We must face the fact that Biden/Harris may well be at their apogee right this moment and, absent a few very meaningful executive actions, have been essentially cut off at the knees by Joe Manchin who, despite my early optimism about his stand on the filibuster, has since doubled down on his support for it. This administration and this Congress will be unable to pass any more meaningful legislation, many state legislatures will successfully pass voter suppression and more severely gerrymander their legislative and congressional districts, and the mess will get worse. We must prepare for this reality, in my opinion. I am taking all the actions I can take to bring about a different outcome, but am fully prepared for what I consider to be the more likely one.
Reid, What actions are you taking? Your activism could inspire other subscribers who don't want to sit around weighing this may or may not happen; stuck with anxiety and or judgements of others.
I am doing my best to elevate women and POC and transgender folks into electoral positions of power. I am currently active in the campaign to help elect an Indigenous woman as mayor of Seattle. I give money and support to anyone battling voter suppression efforts and bringing lawsuits challenging those efforts. I give money and support to politicians across the country who are challenging Republican candidates. For better or for worse, there is not much I can do to influence my congressional representatives further because they are already on the side of the angels (for example, my Congresswoman is Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Progressive Caucus), but I write letters and make calls when I think they are not moving fast enough or not being vocal enough (which is pretty much always). I read antiracist books and literature every day, while bearing in mind that any knowledge I keep to myself is worthwhile only to me. In this regard, I do my best to purchase their books rather than getting them from the library, so they have the wherewithal to write more. And I never, ever buy them from Amazon, doing my best to support independent bookstores and, in particular, black-owned bookstores (there are lots and they mostly have online ordering: https://lithub.com/you-can-order-today-from-these-black-owned-independent-bookstores). I am always open to more suggestions for action. The house in on fire and we cannot afford to pretend it's not.
Talking "weapons" is frustration getting the better of imagination, and, thus, unhelpful. In standard herd dynamics, public opinion occurs as a consensus arbitration process, the working of private, personal moral consideration being born into public life and into a consensus struggle. A breakdown in consensus arbitration, which is our discursive means for achieving a sufficient degree of consent to allow concerted action cannot last very long since incoherence is wasteful of time and energy and death tending, a state of disorder we register biologically as a three to ten engine weakening. Consent as an act of positive engagement (experienced physically as well) through the give-and-take of arbitration most often leaves us defending public positions on policy direction that is shaped by nuanced bargained compromise. So, "You don't always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need"—something life-promoting.
However, personal opinion responding to historically objective conditions perceived and deliberated in the effort to achieve a shared reality, are individuated in the inner resources of particular, embodied person. It takes private work to achieve a logically principled and informed state of personal opinion whose achievement is its own satisfaction. There is not such thing as "collective opinion" (homogenized) except as is represented in a collection of moral persons willing to invest in deriving a workable conscience. Opinion forming is consequential, not treatable by psychology: opinion is objective worldly content given a form by experience as a moral, i.e., principle guided, private individual. The philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, discussing how "modern" goes with "progressive", suggested it may not be possible for a person to change the world, but nothing stops her from changing herself. We cannot relocate our autonomy beyond our the fixed embodied limits of our moral compass and claim we are zombies run by some set of mediated, or unmediated influences. No one outside of us can be blamed for what we choose to believe.
So, Reid, I am neither optimistic, nor the other, but my reading of history gives me good reason to believe the life hungry urges of biology drive us, however circuitously, in the direction of coherence. If we take care to develop our own means to think and seek to find a public life in a networked community of encouraging, like minded persons, the surface craziness of the evanescent present is not where we go to satisfy ourselves that the direction we are taking is indefensible on objective criteria. Others may see our Public Person as a performance, but if we give in to making a performance of ourselves to win friends and influence people, we can expect to inherit the tail we chase in circles. Let's leave our guns with the hat-check person.
Not sure where you got the impression anyone was advocating armed struggle--I don't see that anywhere in this string. As for coherence in human thinking, I point you toward climate change as an avatar of the absolute and consistent lack of coherence. We have known for decades that climate change is a literal existential crisis and have done next to nothing, as individuals, as nations, and as a world, to ameliorate it. This will wipe us off the face of the Earth and most of the other species of the world will go with us, yet we carry blithely on. No tending toward coherence I can see.
With "weapons" so much in the news and in the streets, including those leading to the Capitol, I took you more literally than you intended. But, climate change is not a subject suited to weapons. It's suited to an intelligent, educated response to observation and information. I think you don't disagree. As we all know, it's been only fairly recently accepted that climate change is related to human activity and is on good measurable evidence outside the bounds of what would be expected from only natural causes. Positive incremental change in public thinking on climate change is in evidence, and is moving faster than might be anticipated considering that not that long ago the guiding paradigm relating man to nature was life-crushing "scarcity", a very real matter of survival to worry over at every moment. The old farmers I lived with in the rural area of my childhood were not able to factor intuitively the idea that Nature in some way depended upon human protection and husbanding.
In my thinking, reliable information and Artificial Intelligence (extended human intelligence) will play a major role in environment stewardship and the much talked-about "jobs" will be in getting that information and engineering workable solutions. Work will move away from profit driven production that leaves the environment out of the cost column. "Work" that will be more and more linked to educated ability in the future can't help but augment the already apparent "class separation" among generational cohorts between the more and less ability-qualified. Persons left out of the qualifications race increasingly find themselves working under conditions of what I like to call "Neo-feudalism" because most muscle-work like that seen in Amazon warehouses and the growing "hospitality industry" depends upon non-negotiable owner structured work and worker acceptance of palliative consumerism, a state in which worker and owner are not faced with having to live in the same community of concern as moral persons. This kind of worker begging-obedience makes stimulus-response brutes who find recognition in the populist cold human warmth of a Donald Trump whose boundless love of self sees them as donation-shedding dupes searching for themselves in the digital reality of selfies.
Sadly, in addition to all this, we must also contend with gerrymandering, which is largely controlled at the state level by Republicans.
Yep!
The only national solution to this collective delusion on the part of Republicans is for the John Lewis Voter Rights Act to be passed or they will legislate the Democrats into perpetual minority status. So, Joe Manchin and Kirsten Sinema, DO YOUR JOBS. The Republicans shoved Amy Coney Barret down our throats AFTER tens of millions had already voted, and yet you want to work with these people when the ability of millions to vote is at stake?
So totally agree. ❤️🤍💙
Hey, again, everyone! Having already addressed today's Letter on this page, my thoughts turn to an important partner who plays a huge role in each of our daily lives. There is a concept called Calming Signals that some in the horse community embrace as a way of getting along with our equine friends. No, it is not how humans calm horses but, rather, how horses ask humans to calm themselves to be better partners in our lives with them.
To get to the point, it occurs to me that for years now our partner Mother Earth has been sending Calming Signals that mostly have fallen on deaf ears. I have noticed that these signals have been getting louder and louder as each year passes. So as a lead-in to Earth Day (April 22), a little history: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-first-earth-day
Here's some stuff to get us started: https://allgreenrecycling.com/blog/
As the week progresses, don't hesitate to post any of your climate saving ideas here.
Thank you!!
Hello Lynell, good morning. My contribution to Earth Day is a huge revelation I had earlier this month which is being incorporated into my story project. The Earth speaks to us in so many ways, should we only care to listen.
Here's the article which sparked my revelation.
Ogopogo
Chief Byron Louis says he commends the City of Vernon’s decision to give the copyright to the Syilx Nation, and he will work with elders and knowledge holders on how to appropriately use the intellectual property.
‘Like copyrighting Moses’: hands off our water spirit, say First Nations
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/06/ogopogo-sacred-water-spirit-indigenous-canada?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
The green dragon in the artwork looks to me like the spirit of water. Living in California, land of water shortage and where all water is sacred, we need an Earth-based, Earth-centric, natural relationship and bond with water. That concept of speaking directly to the Earth, and having the Earth respond in return, is becoming part of my story project which is actually a science fiction story about the redemption of humanity.
Morning, Roland!! Thanks for this important story.
Thank you, Lynell. Calming Signals are also well known in the dog community. Let’s get busy with humans, as President Biden and his administration are doing daily.
Morning, Cathy Mc.!! Thanks for this confirmation. Affirming your reminder to get busy!
🙏 Thank you
Thank you for sharing this site. I have old equipment that I know should not be tossed but didn’t know what to do with it. I plan to dispose in a responsible way and share this info for there are certainly others who have no clue.
That's how I got started on this...a recalcitrant printer who didn't deserve to go to the landfill! So happy this site reached you.
I believe they think they will wear us out, we will give up the fight for American Democracy and in the long run they will take over the country just like Hitler and others. I don't know about you but 5 years of disinformation, lies, criminal behavior and FOX NEWS, I'm tired and overwhelmed. How would Trump and Friends get this lie going and keep it going if they didn't have Rupert Murdoch and Fox News? Shutting Fox down would be like cutting the head off a snake and it will IMO be the only way to turn this around now. Stop the source feeding the lie 24/7 and most people will not work to hard to find another source to feed their morbid fear of change. But then again how do you shut Fox down? How do you educate those that don't want the truth in the first place? I think the Democrats should go full speed ahead as fast and as hard as they can (we can) and beef up our educational systems to teach true history and critical thinking etc. and it will take several generations to get that done in the middle of a pandemic and climate change that is threatening to kill us all. Am I depressed about this, yup, can't hardly breath most days. Catch myself screaming into the phone when I make my calls to Congress. I'm tired, so very tired...
Fox News depends on cable fees collected from it being part of basic packages. If you have cable, use some of that screaming to tell your supplier that Fox should be an add-on that is only paid for by people who choose it.
Me either.
I don't watch network TV period so I use the comment app to tell them what I think. I have no confidence that it will help.
Excellent Joan
"I'm tired, so very tired..." So am I. Heather readers, what do you all do to rejuvenate?
Think of Alexi Nalvany. What is he going through? https://snyder.substack.com/
😣
MaryPat, I always like to see your name, your comments and your likes. Thank you for the enthusiasm, ideas, information and support, which brighten our forum. Some facts of life cannot be smiled upon. You know what's up and what's down.
Thank you for that Fern. The same goes for you!!
For me, periodically just unplug...from news, media, social media, everything..and I try to find solace in some of the beautiful things in the world. Because of the overabundance of communication and news in these tomes, it is easier now than ever before to completely overload. For me, I think my perspective improves when I step away and ruminate on only a few things IN. SILENCE. The ugly parts of life out there in the world are always going to be there and if you dwell on them they will affect you. I'd say try and take things in smaller doses. It's all too easy to get overwhelmed. It seems to work for me.
This is good self care. Our brand didn’t evolve with algorithms and binary exposure. Books and reading and discussing I also find quieting to my mind as well. This helps to: https://snyder.substack.com/p/the-horizontal-magic-of-books
For me it's silence and tackling a crossword or a sudoku...maybe some Bach...currently immersing myself in a recent biography of Mozart. I like to keep my mind engaged but in a different way, NOT in current news or events. It's kind of Zen in a way, I guess...I like just "being" in the moment...whatever works for you...
Words with Friends!!!
Brain not brand. Phone typing gets me again!
thank you
Along with outdoor activities, I speak with like minded people and work to share the truth but I never, ever forward or pass on a single thing, picture or article that has 45 in it or if is from him. His poison spreads. He needs to be indicted and then erased. We also need to keep pressure on Congress to expose the lawmakers who were complicit in the Capitol attack. And to force retraction of the lie that Biden lost. I’m supporting those issues and it helps me mentally to know I’m working for the preservation of our democracy.
What are the best ways you feel keep pressure on Congress?
Hi Anne,
I call my congress members, write letters and attend online trainings on how to reach out to others. I take every opportunity to share the truth on all
Platforms and never pass on anything “hateful” or 45 news updates related other than indictments or legal matters. I work with the Democratic Party to advance democracy. I support and listen to the excellent podcasts aired by the Lincoln Project. I boycott the companies who haven’t taken a stand against voter suppression. These are a few of my strategies. I welcome other ideas or suggestions.
I write with great frequency. being in WA, the state, my folks in Congress are mostly in the right place for me. It is the rest of the states I worry about.
Amen.
Peaceful Public protest and millions marching.
I've hiked 422 miles in the mountains so far this year. It really keeps me grounded...
20 mile mountain bike ride Sunday. Heavy breathing, burning lungs, Epic views. Sun on my back. Then I ran over a rattlesnake. I kept going.
Good for you on the ride, but, poor snake! I grew up where the Eastern Diamond reigned, but these are functionally extinct now.
I did look back. Snake was very pissed off. Coiled up, hissing & rattling.
Yes, gravely injured animals do that. Very unfortunate.
The symbolism is magnificent! We all need to keep going.
The snake is an innocent animal. I think we all need to tread a bit more lightly upon nature.
I have no argument with that. What I was commenting on was the metaphor of running over something dangerous (Trump followers, fascists, etc.) and continuing on our journey. We all have to do that and remember that our candidate won the election, we are in the majority, we're motivated, and we must continue to focus and be unafraid. The metaphorical "snake" is not an innocent animal.
We are innocent too!
Fresh air and vigorous exercise.
I can finally get to work in the garden (Pacific Northwest translation: it's stopped raining), and between the planting, weeding and shoveling manure, I'm starting to find -- not exactly peace, but at least focus on the positive.
that's where I go to Ruth, to the garden and we just had a week of awesome sun here in the NW rural Wa. state...I just can't overcome the constant terror that like Roland, I'm the matriarch of my family. When I go, what will I have left my family who rock my world...???
In Port Townsend, such a lovely July in April! Seeds in the ground. Starts planted. Making new garden spaces... and the temps will drop, rain will return, June-uary will commence, and then the sun will return. Life is wondrous and magical.
All of the care, comfort, guidance and love you gave to them in life. But each has their own life to live. I think they will keep you close in their hearts.
I listen to classical music and create in an art journal and stay in touch with friends. My other outlets have had to be put on hold due to the pandemic.
Ruth, great question. I spend time outdoors. I’m often walking purposefully for the exercise. Sometimes I’m just poking along the trail, looking for spring wildflowers and listening to the birds. Walking is my therapy. I’m 64 and feel like 34, and I’m immensely grateful to be still enjoying hiking.
Morning sitting practice. 35 years and going strong.
I garden, make compost (or the worms do). I carve stone. I take care of others in this small community. Walks in the forest, at the shores, rivers, mountain trails...grow food, flowers, habitat for birds, frogs, and humans. Loving the most local could be the most radical acts we do.
Please hang in there, we need you and other voices of reason!!!
I made a mistake this morning and googled Roy Cohn, the attorney, later disbarred, who advised Joe McCarthy during the 50's communist hearings, and Donald Trump during his machinations with the NYC mob-owned cement companies to build Trump Tower. Oh, and advised Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. Somewhere in there is Robert Murdoch. In 1979 Cohn had Roger Stone deliver a suitcase of undisclosed contents to the New York State Libertarian Party to support presidential candidate, John Anderson, in order to split the Democratic vote, and consequently Republican Reagan won in 1980 handily. Then, the same Roger Stone initiated The Brooks Brother's Riot in 2000 that threw the Florida election into the hands of the Supreme Court (with an enabling assist by basketball star and attorney Brett Kavanaugh, along with fellow Federalist Society attorney Amy Conan-Barrett, both sent to Florida to supervise the count) for a George W. Bush win. And, of course it was the same Roger Stone and cronies who colluded with the Russians to blackball Hillary Clinton, and assure Donald Trump's win in 2016. The only logical, malevolent, gas-lighting next step for this hoard of mobster, criminal, con men is to DENY that Trump lost, and to purchase (or threaten to "defund") elected officials to in turn kill voting rights when the planned insurrection failed. The Big Lie is not just that Trump won, but that the Republican Party has fairly, honestly won any presidential election (except perhaps George Bush Sr?) since Dwight D. Eisenhower did the year I was born, and I am pretty old. The Mob, and now the Russians, own Lincoln's Party. It's over. Lock them up.
MaryPat, you turned a mistake into a gold mine of information linking the dots. I didn’t realize Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Conan Barrett were part of the 2000 election debacle. That these two now sit on the Supreme Court is a shocking travesty.
My husband and I just cringed when that happened. I hope the SC can be expanded.
Oh that Federalist Society.
Now THERE'S a cabal if evil doers if ever there was one!
Stone's going back to jail for tax evasion. $2 million in back taxes.
Al Capone style justice: get 'em on taxes.
Stick with what works.
Ted, when I read that, what I saw was, "stick it where it hurts". Freudian slip?
Hey Sandra, Do you think Roger will be "turning dirty tricks" in prison? ha ha
I wouldn't put it past him. Or much else, for that matter. When you look up 'sleaze' in the dictionary, it should have a picture of Roger.
But at least he will have enough Jan 6th Oath Keepers to keep him safe, providing that "VIP" protection in Prison.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/roger-stone-sued-2-million-unpaid-taxes/
Oh.
Your newsreels are done with humor as well. Brava!
Republicans are edging ever closer to a tipping point, the view from the other side of which appears more ominous with each passing day.
Our President is doing and saying all the right things, but there is only so much he can do in the face of beliefs that are impervious to reason.
We the People need to be backing him up day to day in all aspects of our daily lives. Casual conversations, openly or acting integrity, yard signs?, displaying the American flag, organizing like minds locally. We have to form “unions” fearlessly.
Check out Indivisible’s Truth Brigade.
I don’t want to have to download another app. This is too complicated and people will not join yet another organization who is asking for money. Just a Facebook page will do! Or a Twitter feed.
Indivisible is not an app. It’s an organization doing good work, in tandem with other organizations. The Truth Brigade works to counter misinformation, like the BIg Lie and the need for “election security” laws. Yes, of course like all nonprofits it needs money but that doesn’t mean you must donate. Instead you can do other things, like assist the Truth Brigade. I don’t find anything about it complicated, personally.
Anne, Every state and many, many local communities have their own indivisible organizations that meet locally to support and plan local activism. It is a great place to connect with folks. Most local orgs keep their Facebook pages to a private group to keep out the trolls. Here is a link to the national organization. There is a lot here about all they are doing. I guarantee something for everyone. From here you should be able to find contact info for your local group. https://indivisible.org/ I also find my local League of Women Voters is doing great work.
It will hopefully end with a lot of ga-ga old boomers having early heart attacks and Making America Great Again by finally getting rid of a good portion of that generation. Everyone thinks the Boomers were the generation of "The Sixties" and all it represented - it turns out less than 15% of boomers were active participants in "The Sixties". For my high school graduating class, it meant exactly two of us, with the rest either never getting out of the Fifties or if they did "participate" it was just music and dope, since the biggest "heads" back at the 10 year reunion are all now big Trumpers - at least the ones still alive are. (I'm always glad I hauled ass three days after graduation and never went back) That end result of too many of the boomers is pretty widespread, which is why the Faux viewership and Republican votership is majority 55+.
My god, please stop this. That's how the Republicans work--divide and conquer. Generational conflict plays right into their hands. The facts are more complicated. 49% of the electorate is D or lean D and 1/2 of them are over 50. That's 24.5% of the electorate. 44% is R or lean R and 56% are over 50. That's 24.6% of the electorate. Older people are just as divided as the rest of the country. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/10/26/what-the-2020-electorate-looks-like-by-party-race-and-ethnicity-age-education-and-religion/
Thank you, Merrianne. I agree with you rebuttal of TC. I am a proud boomer.
Thanks Merrianne. Ageism is another one of those -isms that divides us. It's simplistic (at best) to herd people into categories based on the decade they were born in. I am a proud Baby Boomer and will defend our place in history as being a force of nature (not perfect, but well-intentioned) and challenge younger people to take up the banner of political activism and engage with us to solve these problems.
Bravo Merrianne. Let's avoid divisiveness at all costs. It's the slippery slope that can only play into the game plan of the autocrats.
Interesting. Most of my graduating class are serious liberals/progressives.
Please, TC, stop generalizing about boomers. There are plenty of us who were activists and who still are. In fact, many of my friends in this age group continue to fight for change. Meanwhile there are a lot of Gen xers who are blindly following the Tramp train as well.
15% is good participation. Remember, the white working class, which m has been the enemy of progress since forever in America, way outnumber the rest of the population. They are the ones who cheered when the war protesters were murdered by the National Guard at Kent State, fot example. Progress was made in the sixties in spite of them. Today, “only” 60% of white Americans are stone cold racists. In the fifties it was 80%.
Yes!!! I never went back either. Thank you for clarity. ❤️🤍💙
Well said!