1. ¨All Russians will be hated.¨ No. Just as I don't hate all Americans because of Trump, McConnell and the others who are our Putin and his thugs.
2. ¨...a population in Russia gradually coming to realize they have fallen under the iron hand of a dictator as the government cracks down on dissent.¨ This is how I view Americans who refuse to see what the Republicans have become. It will be too late by the time they realize.
3. What an insight into the lives of Russians who have never felt that they have been under a dictator. They have ¨nice, good, warm, comfortable, cozy things¨. We tend to think that the people of Russia and China have miserable lives.
4. I wake up every morning thinking of all of the dead and displaced Ukrainians. One morning they kissed their children good bye to go to school. Their husbands and wives went to work. They had plans for the weekend. And. Just. Like. That. Their world ended because of one man. Anyone who thinks it can't happen here Just. Like. That. needs to wake up.
It happened. And the Republican Party led by a cabal organized a coup. That coup is ongoing. Its leaders and followers are in plain view. The congress is implicated. Black lying SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas married to an obese white fascist woman who directed the COS at the White House is deep into the coup. She thinks she’s running the coup with the Chief of Staff. Her best friend is Justice Thomas. He should be impeached. The American public must learn detail of January 6th, before, during and after.
A republic if you can keep it. It’s Midnight in DC. Chairman Adam Schiff did the book. We nearly lost our democracy and the peaceful transfer of power, and the GOP in the senate is complicit right down to toothy gutless Senator Ben Sasse, the college president terrified of his own shadow.
And what’s driving this coup? White racism, a national disease that was ignored by out white male slave owning founders, the tribal element led by Thomas Jefferson who was loving his Negro slave Sally Hemings and making babies with her here and in France, in plain view, and all knew it. He drafted the constitution and observed its words in the breach - and supported our national crime nightly. Some 400,000 Negro slaves were bought and sold, their children were bought and sold, and emancipation meant more of the same in plain view. We lynched them, we photographed the lynchings and sold postcards with those images. Land of the free was the first Big Lie.
Today’s Big Lie is Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Lindsay Graham and more savaging Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, their intellectual and moral superior as she smiles patiently and calls them senator, not fascist.
Correct. Jefferson drafted we the people... Monroe and others drafted the first draft. Amendments and other parts had many contributors. Our third president was among our most brilliant. He loved a slave. I do not judge him. I might have done the same. Lincoln was our most impressive. And may have been our most stressed and depressed. Biden is heroic and good. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is Biden’s best decision.
Maybe you should read "The 1619 Project" to be more informed about Jefferson. The Bible clearly provides that all men are created equal. Yet Jefferson & the slave owners drafted a Constitution in contravention of the Bible. Moreover, Republicans today are "originalists" but claim America was founded as a "Christian" nation. There is NO consistency to their arguments..
Where does the Bible "clearly provide that all men are created equal"?? The Bible, both Testaments, includes plenty of inequality, especially when women are included in the mix. And Jefferson and most of his cohorts weren't biblical literalists by any stretch of the imagination. IIRC The Bible, esp. the New Testament, does assert that all men are equal *in the eyes of God*. It's also pretty big on distinguishing what's owed to God and what's owed to secular authorities ("render unto Caesar . . .").
Paul in Galatians 3:28 for instance. We are all children of God, & God's greatest commandment is to love our neighbor, which is anyone in need. God suffers, when you treat his children as slaves, like the Egyptians treated the Jews. I suggest that you read "Christians Against Christianity" by Biblical scholar Obery Hendricks. You should also read "The 1619 Project" which provides the history of "cheap grace theology" in America.
If you look closely at the Constitution, you'll see that it provides checks and balances for the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, and between the federal government and the states, but it says very little about economic power coming from outside the government. That's because big business as it developed through the 19th century barely existed; the U.S. at the beginning was a mostly agrarian country. Originalism isn't just about race. It's about letting big business do what it wants with minimal regulation and restraint. In fact, a persuasive argument could be made that "traditional family values" (aka Christian white male supremacy) are a way to enlist popular support for "Big Business über alles," which isn't in its naked form all that attractive to most voters.
Agree. The consistency is found in the GOP inconsistency, their abject fear of color and those different, in differences, their hatreds, and their inconsiderate inconsistencies.
Correct, but "all men" simply meant all WHITE MEN. Not black or Native men, or any women, and certainly not enslaved men, just White men, and only those who owned property.
Some may want to read Abigail Adam's letter to her husband, John, in March 1776, in which she writes:
"Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could."
I believe her letter and historical precedent validates your opinion, Susan.
Thank you! My point was that women, black and indigenous men, and enslaved people were NOT considered equal to white property owning men. They were not permitted to vote, own property, or even control their own finances. In fact, it wasn't until nearly 200 years later that women could even obtain credit or purchase birth control without a man's permission. Equal means equal.
Of course you are right, Susan. I was thinking of the Declaration of Independence, the document, and the intentions of Jefferson and others who helped him draft it. You have stuck to the reality, which is in some respects worse than it was in 1776.
If some Americans have their way, it’ll be back to a “verkrampte” version of South Africa in 1950: no “miscegenation”, women as chattels and non-whites as unpersons. The “improvement”? In place of citizens, consumers.
I'm not so sure of that, Susan. How you can possibly be so sure of it?
We all know the ingrained prejudices of many, far too many, from the 18th century down to this day. But could you not merely be echoing some of our own contemporary counter-prejudices?
Pace the so-called “originalists”, how can we really know all that was on Jefferson's mind?
That is why I wrote of “contradictions”, perhaps I should have written “paradoxes”.
That said, we do know something about Jefferson’s relationships, in particular that with Sally Hemings. Now link this up with Jefferson’s personal acquaintance with the great French philosopher Condorcet and the latter’s determined championship of women’s rights and, above all, the abolition of African slavery.
“Of all the philosophes, Condorcet alone came out unequivocally
against almost all forms of discrimination. As he put it near the start
of his On the Admission of Women to Voting Rights (1790), ‘he who
votes against the right of another, whatever be his religion, color, or
sex, has from that moment on adjured his own rights’.”
In this conviction, he was continuing and developing the thought of his great predecessor Montesquieu (1689-1755) who wrote a scathingly ironic passage on the matter in De l’esprit des lois :
“If I had to justify our right to enslave negroes, this is what I would say:
Once the peoples of Europe had wiped out the people of America, they were obliged to enslave the peoples of Africa, because they needed someone to clear the land in America.
Sugar would be too expensive if there were no slaves to cultivate the plant it comes from.”
AND
“It is impossible to believe that these people are human beings, for, if we did believe them to be human beings, we would have to wonder whether we ourselves are Christians.”
With all this, Jefferson will have become familiar during the years he spent as America’s Minister to France, right up to the storming of the Bastille:
Here is an extract from a letter written by Jefferson to the French philosopher on August 30th 1791:
“I am happy to be able to inform you that we have now in the United States a negro, the son of a black man born in Africa, and of a black woman born in the United States, who is a very respectable Mathematician. I procured him to be employed under one of our chief directors in laying out the new federal city on the Patowmac, and in the intervals of his leisure, while on that work, he made an Almanac for the next year, which he sent me in his own handwriting, and which I inclose to you. I have seen very elegant solutions of Geometrical problems by him. Add to this that he is a very worthy and respectable member of society. He is a free man. I shall be delighted to see these instances of moral eminence so multiplied as to prove that the want of talents observed in them is merely the effect of their degraded condition, and not proceeding from any difference in the structure of the parts on which intellect depends.”
Horrors—look who had a hand in the design of Washington DC…
Plainly, if what now calls itself “the Republican Party” comes to power, we shall soon have book burnings, to include such subversive “woke” literature as Montesquieu, Condorcet and, no doubt, the outdated maunderings of Thomas Jefferson.
You are right Susan. When Ben was in London as the Agent of the Pennsylvania Assembly, per Marcia Baliscciano, the Director of the Ben Franklin House at 36 Craven Street in London, Ben brought only 3 people with him, his son, William and two (2) enslaved men ( names not stated). I saw a short PBS clip fron the Ben Franklin Series which starts tomorrow at 9 pm ET.
Thank you Peter, Ben Franklin is is often attributed with the phrase, "... with certain unalienable Rights ...*, See also, Ben's prescient "Albany Plan" of 1754. Hopefully, both historical facts will be explored in depth on a upcoming public Television documentary aimed at a National audience.
If we could learn his secret to being so curious and self motivated to learn maybe our capitalistic society could some how market it and inadvertently cause their own extinction. I love reading about Franklin. From Wikipedia: “Franklin's father wanted him to attend school with the clergy but only had enough money to send him to school for two years. He attended Boston Latin School but did not graduate; he continued his education through voracious reading. Although "his parents talked of the church as a career"[17] for Franklin, his schooling ended when he was ten. He worked for his father for a time, and at 12 he became an apprentice to his brother James, a printer, who taught Ben the printing trade.”
I never forgot his comments on his beer-swilling colleagues in England...
They were probably more lucid than their boozed-up descendants, especially the jumped-up journalist -- shades of Mussolini -- who presides over Downing Street junketing.
Meanwhile, America's geriatric Caligula's a teetotaller,
And then there was that Fuehrer whose speeches said geriatric Caligula is reported to have listened to as bedtime stories.
Thank you for stating the raw truth about how central racism is to America’s dilemmas. It’s too bad that people can’t see the role racism has played since America’s “founding”. It was 4 million enslaved people (not 400,000). The atrocities committed by Americans are rarely acknowledged or discussed. There’s a concerted effort even now to keep people from the truth (e.g bans on CRT, 1619 project).
The Republicans enjoy support because white people think they will keep people of color in their place-Trump has told them he is their savior to protect the real Americans. The majority of white people are all in with him.
Race has been an effective tool for their divide and conquer strategy. If people knew the historical truth about slavery and racism maybe we could move toward a more perfect union.
From reading Bell Hooks, I came to see racism as a real problem, but it’s real goal is political and social division. Racism is a manipulation tool of power to maintain classicism. Continued racism is an insurance policy for those with power and resources.
Yup! So of course the QOP wants to ban Critical Race Theory and dismiss history like the 1619 project. When people learn, ignorance is replaced with truth and knowledge, then all that left is compassion.
“But it’s real goal is political and social division.” Exactly. And thank you for bringing me back to see that. Squabblers don’t unite and remain controllable. Enter Facebook & Twitter stage Right.
In addition to "The 1619 Project", read "The Flag + The Cross" by Philip Gorski which describes the threat of white "Christian " Nationalism to our democratic republic.
You're right Nancy. I totally agree. My ill conceived comment was meant to highlight talking about women's appearances as opposed to men's. But it's not something we should talk about or judge anyone by. Thank you!
I believe the hatred mentioned was because he is a devious scoundrel that must be removed from his seat because he lies, cheats, is himself a racist hypocrite, and can not be trusted!
That may very well be true, Sandy, but it isn't applicable to what we are discussing here. Many women have a poor self image. This isn't even a part of the reason she's a terrible, horrible human.
In response... thanks for the comment. I am in agreement.. to a point: Obesity is a national ailment or disease, mostly caused by behavior, often leads to type 2 diabetes, drug cost, heart disease, different cancers - that burdens health care. Ginny Thomas is a societal problem, she misused her role as spouse of a justice, she is intolerant, she violated the law with her point of view urged on the White House - her husband’s votes are influenced by her - last, she and Clarence are emotionally disturbed and dangerous. Her obesity and his may be viewed as part of a bigger picture and problem, setting a bad example.
I know addiction first hand. I've never been addicted to an illegal substance. But I have been addicted to alcohol and food. Both are marketed heavily to young people with no warnings about their addictive properties. I got sober 11/15/2018. It has been significantly more difficult to get over my sugar addiction. Companies spend millions on the complicated science involved in making their products addictive. And just like alcohol, not everyone will become addicted. Because of the ignorance of people who believe what you believe, it is even more difficult for people to break their food addiction. Your comments are cruel and willfully ignorant. You don't belong here. You make this forum worse. Change or leave.
Dred Scott v. Sandford,[a] 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1857), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court in which the Court held that the United States Constitution was not meant to include American citizenship for people of African descent, regardless of whether they were enslaved or free, and so the rights and privileges that the Constitution confers upon American citizens could not apply to them.[3][4] The Supreme Court's decision has been widely denounced, both for how overtly racist the decision was and its crucial role in the start of the Civil War four years later.[5] Legal scholar Bernard Schwartz said that it "stands first in any list of the worst Supreme Court decisions." Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes called it the Court's greatest self-inflicted wound."[6] Historian Junius P. Rodriguez said that it is "universally condemned as the U.S. Supreme Court's worst decision."[7] Historian David Thomas Konig said that it was "unquestionably, our court's worst decision ever."[8]
And number two on that list of the worst decisions ever is the Supreme Court's decision of accepting as worthy justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett because of McConnell's clandestine methodology sneaking them in through the back door of corruption's den of thieves!
Well, I'd say number 2 is giving George W. Bush the presidency, without which those three probably never would have been on the court. But I'll take it as #3.
I don't agree with the part about white racism, although there's plenty of that to go around. The coup starts with Trump's megalomania and rides on a bunch of his acolytes who want to hold onto power at all costs. But I agree with the rest.
Gailee, you’re right. Our world came terrifyingly close to ending because of complacency and still could because of disinformation. People believed a demagogue because he talked like a buddy rather than talking like a teacher.
He gave them (and gives them) an example of someone who sounds like them who appears to be very successful in the business world. He addresses their concerns about a shifting social culture. He gives them a number of groups of “others” to fear or blame for their woes and warns them that only he can fix it (he only needs more time).
Mary, anyone who believed him because he "talks like a buddy" or because he appeared to be successful apparently didn't have access to a newspaper for the last 40 years. He had been fodder for news reports that spelled out his numerous bankruptcies; his base lack of character was evident when he evicted elderly tenants from his properties; his many divorces were examples of his total lack of morals; his lack of intellect was obvious because he was unable to string together a coherent sentence. The idea that anyone thought he could be successful as the most powerful man in the world is ludicrous. Those who voted for him, deserved him. The rest of us are suffering from this debacle, and his sycophants are allowing it to continue.
Nancy, same here -- never watched a single episode. A small fragment from time to time, but not by choice. Other people's homes, waiting rooms, etc. Growing up across the river from him, I could easily see the difference between the actual man and the script-reading character.
I was blindsided. I visited Germany during the campaign in 2016, and someone in Munich commented that he thought Trump would win. I laughed, and said "not a chance." I've been depressed and outraged ever since. Of course, initially I thought there would be guardrails . . . . wrong on all of it.🤢
There’s a great New Yorker article by Dorothy Wickendon from 2019 about Mark Burnett. One reveal: He entered the US illegally when, as a British merchant marine, he jumped ship in LA and then worked as a nanny. Doesn’t tfg just hate illegal immigrants? Oh yeah, only if they’re brown.
Most people don’t read the New York Times, the New York Post or the Washington Post. Trump was pilloried in these papers and the criticism deepened his inferiority complex. But he has explained to his minions that the press is elitist and they believe him. I don’t know if it’s stupidity so much as poor education lacking in critical thinking skills.
Barbara, I read about most of it in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, so hooray that Atlanta at least has that source. It also was on television. He's crafty, but I don't think that can be counted as intelligence. I'm also convinced that he was supported by Putin and our own oligarchs, who pointed him in the direction of the "elites." Lack of critical thinking skills is, indeed, an affliction that affects many.
Nancy and Barbara, I agree. Feral cunning not directly related to or indicative of higher reasoning. I also believe that poor or no critical reasoning skills are a significant factor in the pliable gullibility of the republican base. How on earth do we fight against that?
We lead with logic and reason, they lead with needs and emotion, impossible to have a productive discussion between the two.
I believe the only course left is to stop trying to change closed minds, and concentrate on activating democrats and independents to overwhelm at the polls; and fight in D.C. with legislation and DOJ -- and the states with litigation. Put all of our energies into strategies that are working, instead of base arguing with base.
Nancy, I don’t recall reading about anything other than gossip and ridicule about trump before 2015. I doubt the San Francisco Chronicle, my regional paper, covered him.
It might have been that the East Coast is far from SF, and I doubt that anyone ever envisioned what his future would be. I'm originally from Boston, and probably became aware of him there, many years ago. Before he bought the Atlantic City casinos, I read about his abuse of tenants in apartments that his father had developed and was appalled at his disgusting behavior. There were always rumors of his refusing to pay contractors and unethical political scheming. After that, then the bankruptcies of the casinos, his comment about Marla Maples getting only $1 million in their divorce because she came from "a backwater in Georgia, and had never seen that much money," cemented my disgust. I cannot think of one redeeming quality that he possesses.
Nancy, In 2015, there were only 35 million newspapers sold daily and The Apprentice audiences were 7 million per week. I can attest to the fact that there was very little about Donald Trump in our local newspaper other than the success of The Apprentice until he ran for office. There has never been anything about his evicting people or his bankruptcies. There was no coverage of his marriages or Stormy Daniels in the paper until 2018. I understand that people in the New York City area were aware of his shortcomings, but not in Texas.
Mary, I'm probably a good bit older than you, and the tales of his evicting elderly and his many bankruptcies took place in the '70s and '80s, so I understand that many are not aware of his antics (as a Democrat, by the way). Stormy Daniels' story never was revealed until 2018. Still, his behavior during the 2015 campaign should have given a whiff of the stench surrounding him and his total lack of character and intelligence. Hillary was correct about The Deplorables.
Mary, I agree with your analysis. When young Donald accompanied his father to construction sites, he learned how those guys talk and think. Many people deeply disliked school and teachers (mostly women, right?). The Apprentice did wonders for him. New Yorkers knew his history of stiffing contractors, etc., but people wouldn’t trust their advice because “coastal elites” became a group to despise along with the rest of the “others.”
Gailee, You. Said. It. I rarely catch a longer post from you (I am never able to read all of the daily comments, only maybe a third, max), but whenever you open up and let it fly, I stop and pay close attention to what you have to say. Thank you! Please write more....
Gailee, I grieve for the Ukrainians as well, they are never out of my mind or my prayers. I am SO glad that our President is doing the maximum to help them without crossing that invisible line that endangers the rest of the world as well — although it may yet come to that....
President Biden is not doing the maximum. And President Putin’s nuclear bluff is total nonsense. We are watching Ukraine be destroyed. A Ukrainian citizen force has whipped the mighty Russian bear - as Ukraine is being destroyed. Europe and Australia and many help, but the help is insufficient. President Zelenskyy begs for what he needs. The fearful cowardly allies blink.
This is Poland 1939. Italy and Germany are rolling. China is smiling as his nearest enemy is hated.
Who cares about Ukraine?
Think about King Leopold and the Congo. He cut off their hands to make rubber. When the newly hatched war photographers published, Leopold was sent packing.
Putin needs a kick in the ass.
Putin will roll through Ukraine to Poland and the Baltics. He wants the Atlantic Ocean.
We have WW III. Ukraine is WW III.
We blew Vietnam. We blew Iraq. We are blowing Ukraine.
Nato is great. But Nato is not us. America needs to export Tucker with his friends to GITMO for a week of therapy. We need to offer then passage to Siberia.
Zelenskyy declined the ride we offered. He asked for the means.
Pull out the stops.
War is not war when ambivalence rules. It’s losing as we did in Korea with armistice, in Saigon with 58,000 dead and America changed.
Ukraine is the ballgame. We can learn about the value of freedom from Zelenskyy and Ukrainians.
Sandy. I feel the same on an emotional level. But on a practical and risk based level, I ask you to review your statements.
1. Putin has shown his disregard for human life and the planet itself. If a tactical nuclear weapon would gain him an advantage, he would use it. This is not a bluff.
2. NATO is indeed us.
3. "Pull out the stops"? Escalate? Russia has a history of conflict that casually results in millions of deaths. And Putin is another Stalin. A madman. Clever, but totally unbalanced. (Sounds familiar, eh?)
I agree that "we blew Vietnam and Iraq". We should not have been in either country. And local resistance was more powerful than our "superior" forces. They beat us because they were motivated - just like Ukrainians.
Korea? Please. I think we can make the case for justification there. If all of Korea were like North Korea, Earth's hell would be larger. But we were out manned. The Chinese were coming over the hill faster than we could shoot them. And there were millions more behind them. Should we have escalated that war as well and bombed major Chinese cities?
I share your anger and frustration. But Biden is handling this situation very well. We ARE assisting by providing all manner of weaponry. And we just entered into a process where we can help NATO send Russian tanks (that the Ukrainians know how to use) to aid in the fight.
And we are sending more American NATO troops to those countries that might be threatened by a Russian expansion.
Putin is losing the war. Slaughtering his way in retreat. Russians will not put up with Putin forever. All of this will take much too long, of course. But it beats the speed of a nuclear explosion. And the impact on the rest of the world? Nuclear fallout drifting with the winds...
And now, back to the other front of the war on freedom. The fascist attempted coup of the USA.
Bill Alstrom, of course. Perfect sense. MAD risks nuclear war. So does ambivalence. Afghanistan. Cuba. Unthinkable. But real. My wife’s Opa was ‘25 Nobel James Franck. Close to the kind Albert Einstein, close to the heavy handed pianist Edward Teller. Close to Lise Meitner, brightest of all. Study The Franck Report, ignored by Harry S Truman. Franck dropped physics, took up photosynthesis.
We know the Russians and our CIA operatives. The logic is not always clear. Stalin was certifiable. A sick man. Demented. Sick. Bluffing Nikita Kruschev was not. Andropov was very sane. Like soccer. Mr. Gorbachev was perfectly sane and in love. Putin is nasty, cunning, psychotic, cruel, psychopathic, but not suicidal. He’s a coward. He will not initiate thermonuclear war. He likes his sex life in Switzerland. He is immensely wealthy. He will retire rich like Leopold II. When they threaten, it’s a bluff. Worry about the silent. America must not tolerate Syria, MBS, Kim in N. Korea - where armistice is a state of war for China’s proxy. We must worry about China and fresh water and our own fascists - where racial intolerance rules and the incredible pain persists - ignored here.
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is a God send. Watch her. She is the light. The love of America.
Viewing what Russia is doing in Ukraine, and also what the Republican leadership did in attempting to depose democracy right here, from that "practical and risk based level" you suggest, means doing little more than debating issues. There is a time to be 'practical' and a time to take risks in Ukraine and at home. Manhattan prosecutor Bragg chose the 'practical' course and the defeated former president is gloating. President Biden and Attorney-General Garland have decisions to make which will affect democracy right here and in the rest of the world as well.
Jack Lippman - I was raised by Bruno Bettelheim. He experienced Dachau and Buchenwald. He said in 1955 that I - Sandy Lewis - would live to experience Nazi type slaughter in my lifetime. I was 15.
Bill, thanks for being a voice of reason. Sandy, you say, “We blew Vietnam. We blew Iraq.” to support your argument for the US to join the war in Ukraine. Are you saying we should send American troops to Ukraine? Sending troops to Vietnam and Iraq is how we “blew it” in those countries. I agree with Bill, Biden has handled a complex, dangerous situation very well. And I am far from convinced that a cornered, desperate Putin won’t use nuclear weapons.
I like and voted for Biden, I supported Obama and helped him with NYT, supported, helped and knew George McGovern, redrafted his economic plan from MIT, knew Tom Eagleton, took him to The Orthogenic School, he was a house guest, I was a guest with him and Barbara, we knew R. Sargent Shriver, I knew Fritz Mondale, Jimmy Carter very slightly, dad knew Jack Javitz well, we worked on immigration, we knew Nelson A. Rockefeller very well, I know and detest George Elmer Pataki - et cetera.... but we start with the law. Wars must be declared. Exception: nuclear response to incoming missiles and base protection in our worldwide operations. We must give the commander in chief the power to react. This does not justify Kuwait with 550,000 involved with GHWB ... or what followed with W. The lines of authority slide in nuclear with missiles. But congress must declare and the Draft was obliterated by congress because Nobel Milton Friedman wanted to free the president and congress to fight without a draft... fearing a reluctant citizenry. In Ukraine, we must act... but only with congressional approval... bipartisan support is essential. If genocide does not matter, we will have genocide - as we see in many areas of the globe. In Ukraine, we see a democracy resisting a dictatorship... and the Security Council is helpless. We should act. I do not believe thermonuclear war will result. Putin wants to live.
Sandy, you’ve found your tribe here. We don’t think you’re crazy. You resonate with most of us. Keep sharing, my friend. I just read the NYT piece about you and cried and laughed and appreciated Barbara as being such a find for you and her because of course you’re difficult to live with and she does it and we’re all better off for her keeping you alive. Because you’re not done yet. And you’ve found your tribe now, too. Ethics and brains. My head is spinning. You are not alone here. You are appreciated.
I think you are commenting outside your circle of competence. I trust the wisdom of moral & Christian just war theory. War should always be the last resort. We have learned from the mistakes of Iraq.
Congress declaring war is a ship that sailed long ago. Congress is dysfunctional and has abdicated its role in such matters. Many Presidents ago. "Bi-partisan support?" Another ship over the horizon. Biden is doing a very delicate dance. I am grateful. More weapons, more aid is on its way.
American and/or NATO boots on the ground in Ukraine would do nothing to improve the lot of the Ukrainians. Just ask all the other nations we have tried to "aid". Can we and will we do more to enable the Ukrainians? Yes and yes. But no US boots, no US planes. The repercussions would be immense. There are millions of naive, misinformed Russian draftees who would be ready to run into the slaughter. It's a Russian tradition.
As horrific as the genocide is in Ukraine, I, for one, do not think NATO can achieve our goals by directly initiating combat with Russian forces. That will lead to an even greater carnage and give Putin the reasons he needs to move into Poland or Finland. Of course, if he took that step, the entire "free world" would be engaged. WW III. We would be lighting a match over the puddle of gasoline.
But reasons to be optimistic. Russian forces are performing poorly. They are not the army Putin thought he had. They are losing ground and giving back territory. There is dissension in the ranks and in Moscow. Heads are rolling. The pain of the Russian people has just begun. Putin is a short timer. Not quick enough. But it's inevitable.
I think we should consider the idea that we have limited control over the events of the world. What is happening in Ukraine is not "fixable" by just "getting tough". And haven't we shown a lot of sympathy to Europeans in this situation and done very little for Rwanda or Yemen or Sudan? Interesting, I think.
As much as I admire the Ukrainians and respect their desire for freedom and independence, we are not powerful enough to be the guarantor of such in all 193 countries on the Earth.
And please consider this. Not very long ago Ukraine had nuclear missiles - aimed at us. Their interest in democracy is quite new. No excuse for what Putin is doing. But Ukraine is not Canada.
Should we do every possible thing in terms of providing weapons, ammunition, and technology as well as assistance to the civilian population? Yes.
I don't think Putin is concerned with anything other than his legacy along with Stalin. "Make Russia great again" no matter the costs.
You say "We should act. I do not believe thermonuclear war will result. Putin wants to live." But there are ways Putin could employ dirty bombs and/or chemical agents that would not qualify as a missile strike. How would we respond to that?
If we handle this correctly, Putin will find an off ramp before his people slip him some novichok. Then we'll be looking at reparations from Russia. It will be a multi-generational story with no satisfying ending.
But hey, when that big ice shelf breaks off, we'll be worried about some even bigger problems.
Bill, I would submit that were Putin determined to escalate, he would invent a pretext for doing so. Meanwhile, short of putting American and NATO troops on the ground or in the air, I believe that 1) continuing to resupply Ukraine with much needed munitions and 2) providing the air power Ukraine requires to enforce its own no-fly zone are Ukraine’s best shots, in my view, at maintaining a stalemate and moving both parties towards a negotiated settlement. I, further, would note it is my understanding that, currently, Zelensky is requesting no more and no less.
Putin has already decided whether or not he will unleash nuclear or chemical weapons. It is left for him to decide only what he will use as an excuse. What are the reasons he may be withdrawing many Russian troops? And training fresh young troops?
Past the most effective time we could have given Ukraine the arms they requested. We need to send them immediately, if not sooner.
Bill Alstrom, we are witnessing pure GENOCIDE. The good Andrei Kozyrev former Russian foreign minister, gets it. He understands Putin. He’s right. Putin will not use nuclear weapons. Period.
I agree with Bill, war should always be the last resort. Since Ukraine is not a member of NATO, this is a UN problem. The UN must be reformed to prevent future Ukranian humanitarian crises. For now, Biden must continue to lead NATO & strategically supply Ukraine. He should seek further assistance from China.
We need a strong UN and UN needs strong democracies to grow it’s strength. Putin has long been in the making. The time to intervene was decades ago. We are way behind the 8 ball now with autocracies rising around the world and monsters like Putin with the nuclear power to take all of us out with him. The world leader in democracy fell asleep at the wheel and let the monsters in their front door.
Perchance, the knots may unravel in that line keeping a great evil in check.
I too greatly admire Mr Biden’s strategy, thinking it the right thing to do instead of applying a pretext-driven military reflex. At the same time I share the angst, the fear, that honoring a principle of never again can come at too high a cost for humanity and democracy, as Sandy suggests.
I appreciate the discussion here as I see parallels on the international stage as to how laws interpreted are used to maintain the status quo, effectively blocking growth in democracy achieved within this American theater.
When? When our CIA and the intel operations of our NATO partners determine that the Russian people, their military, and their oligarchs will not do the job themselves. Acting decisively ourselves before that point can strengthen his hold on these groups, painting our actions as Western 'picking on Russia.'
Sandy, did you ask Bruno Bettelheim how he knew you would see genocide in your lifetime? Did you ask him what causes such madness? Did you ask what can be done to prevent it? Did you understand his answer? I’m not meaning to disrespect you, a man that appears to have way above average intellect and the motivation to be self taught. However I am extremely grateful that a man of Biden’s composure, grace, and experience in the matters of world governments and leaders is making such decisions and not an emotional and reactive though very intelligent Sandy Lewis. Peace ☮️
How many more people will be slaughtered before the Russians 'will not put up with Putin forever?' (Bill Alstrom, quote)
There is more than one channel, Bill, that some human beings can pay attention to:
'Scenes of horror in Bucha spark outcry'
‘Scenes of horror and devastation emerged as Russian troops withdrew from towns they had seized in the opening days of the invasion of Ukraine. Bucha Mayor Anatoly Fedoruk told The Washington Post that about 270 residents had been buried in two graves. He estimated that 40 bodies were on the streets’.
‘Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Russian attack on his nation amounted to a genocide.’
‘ODESSA, Ukraine — Explosions rocked Odessa early Sunday as Russia said its missiles struck an oil refinery and fuel storage facilities — sending thick dark plumes of smoke into the sky in the first major strikes on the strategic Black Sea port city’s downtown.’ (WAPO)
‘As the days and weeks went by, food became scarce and any good will from the soldiers vanished, too. Residents boiled snow for water and lived off what they had stored from their small gardens. Russian soldiers, without a proper logistics pipeline, began looting people’s homes, shops and even the local chocolate factory. One butcher spray painted “ALREADY LOOTED” on his shop so the soldiers would not break in. On another store, another deterrence: “EVERYTHING IS TAKEN, NOTHING LEFT.”
‘Elections in Hungary and Serbia looked set to extend the rule of Europe’s two most Kremlin-friendly leaders.’ (NYTimes)
Note: President V. Putin claims to be very religious, and he has the allegiance of the top Russian prelate, the head of Greek Orthodox or Russian Church that split from Rome back when: no real surprise. So, Pope Francis is now thinking: should The Holy Father Pope Francis question the strange credibility of the Russian Orthodox leader that’s supporting genocide - and add yet another controversy to the Big Lie Tribal folks of Fox Fix? Clearly the Vatican in Rome is inching towards questioning Putin’s brutal killing of civilians.
Fern and Sandy. You both accurately describe the situation. The horrors unfolding. But what specific actions do you think the US should take now in response - other than providing weapons, technology, intelligence and humanitarian aid. And should that "whatever" be in concert with NATO? How should we "flex" or act more aggressively?
I completely agree. If ever there was a just war, this is it. Ukraine can defend itself if we provide the equipment and intelligence. Give them what they need, all of it, including planes. If we don’t stop Putin and his henchmen in Ukraine, history proves they will continue invading and destroying other nations. Every inch they gain emboldens them.
The nuclear threat hangs over our heads regardless, it’s no excuse to abandon an ally.
I agree, Diane. Give them all the equipment they need and have requested including planes. Maybe the gut wrenching photos shown this morning after the Ukrainians went back and discovered the bodies in the street, hands tied behind their backs, will finally be the tipping point.
Glad to have Sandy here, makes for a more interesting comments section. BTW, “Liar’s Poker” is the best expose of Wall St I’ve read. I believe Sandy was a source for the book. (Correction, Sandy was a source for "House of Cards", another expose of Wall St - jr).
I was not a source for Michael Lewis’ first Wall Street book. Salomon syndicate brilliant partner John H. Gutfreund was quoted and ridiculed. I had departed SB&H by that time. Michael Lewis (not related) was accurate. Gutfreund was trapped.
I would tend to agree with you. I feel if he wants to peruse nuclear war or cyber attacks he will do it no matter. I don’t think Zelenski is asking for anything he shouldn't have right now.
You may want to read today's WAPO Mag article/interview w retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman. I agree with him that this is the most important win of the century. He makes a very strong case as former Director of Russian Affairs for the NSC and was born in Ukraine. The interview was conducted on March 8, 2022.
"Alexander Vindman discusses the invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and the dangers ahead -" The Washington Post
Small point: Col. Vindman and his equally distinguished twin brother may have been born in Ukraine (then part of the USSR), but they are 100% American.
It’s worth mentioning that Vindman was the person who exposed Trump’s “perfect phone call” attempt to blackmail Ukraine, which led to his first impeachment. Trump fired him.
Most here are likely aware of Lt. Col. Vindman's book "Here, Right Matters". If not or you haven't yet read it, I recommend it. It's not classy literary writing but pretty straightforward and provides, in the first person, who he is and how he became such a dedicated American.
I find the comments of the Russian that was interviewed in Finland to exactly mirror the situation of American Trumpistas.
“The problem is that there are many Russians who cannot admit our mistakes, cannot realize that we are trapped in a nightmare,” an art director told Doyle. “It’s much easier to watch TV and absorb the government propaganda. It’s easier to not think…. You have this vast country with many people who are poor and who have never travelled abroad. They are very isolated, with no communication, only their television. They work hard all day, come home exhausted and the TV is their only source.”
If anyone had any questions about how people could vote against their own interests, here is the answer. And I am sorry, but the answer is not that they are “deplorable”. Understand that our language is also propaganda and we need to make sure that our propaganda remains truthful rather than vindictive.
Wow Patricia, thanks for your very constructive thoughts. I totally agree with you! The only thing I would add is the social media choices of the folks we are talking about. Very difficult to penetrate or change the resulting alternate reality of both TV and mobile device.
Very well said, Gailee. Your point #2 is particularly poignant. I devoutly hope that it is not too late for them to "realize" where they have taken us.
Agree Ally. I believe the spiritual realm of the universe always provides a time line and scenarios for mere humans to look and wonder about. That it had to be the decimation of Ukraine and cruel regard for its people, on top of the clear picture that emerges from Jan 6th committee and clear perceptive reporting from authors such as HCR and TC…..it’s pretty much in the face of every American…really every human on the planet. Free to live, love, create. Or, subjugated to a political philosophy which does not honor the collective good.
I tremble to think what more needs to be shown to humans to open their minds to the Light instead of cringing and creeping in darkness.
It's hard for me not to hate all republicans because they can't see what's happening to our democracy. They can't see what they are ALLOWING to happen.
The R's can clearly see what is happening, being enslaved by the Great Deceiver, they have created the origination of the dismantling of American Democracy.
HOW?
By their clandestine brotherhood of old rich bigoted lying, cheating, dark room existence of both complicit silence combined with bribery on the grandest of scale transforming ALL R's into their fervent allegiance to insatiable greed & power.
Not "Allowing"...
By the R's SELF-AGGRANDIZMENT ON THE GRANDEST OF SCALE!
I confess to smiling at biblical references, especially by us “liberals”. I long ago decided the religious right does not read the book they claim to love. Perhaps you can appreciate my weird humor at thinking about their love affair with Russia being tied to the statement in Revelation that a bear will help the Beast for a while at least (that’s a paraphrase of the text). If I were a betting man (which I am not :-)) They are misreading that part of the book too.
I do appreciate your humor of intermingling a juxtaposition of Russia's evilness Putin’s, (bear), and the Beast as set out in the book of Revelation in our Holy Bible.
I believe you may be referencing the book of Revelation and indeed they are misreading that part of the book also.
To wit:
Revelation 13:17, KJV:
“And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”
An interesting side bar note:
There is the long held conjecture that reference to the phrase "...number of his name...", is 666, (the Evil One, the False Prophet, the Anti-Christ, the Devil...A rose by any other name smells just the same).
The verse 13:17 describes the False Prophet's implementation of the ‘mark of the beast.’
This comes from a Greek word, charagma, which is used to describe the branding of livestock.
The purpose of this mark is to identify the bearer as one loyal to the Antichrist, e.g. the Beast.
Other statements in the book of Revelation make it clear that true believers will reject this mark (Revelation 20:4), and those who take it are knowingly rejecting God and His gospel (Revelation 14:9–11).
In other words, the mark is not something "innocent" people will be tricked into accepting.
Evidently some seem not so innocent and have already been tricked into accepting the Beast as their god, Eh!?
My caveat to you is the fact that every person contemplatively reading Holy Scripture is immediately interpreting the meaning of their reading based upon their collective experiences up to that moment of reading.
Or.
Actually hearing the voice of GOD based upon the blessing of HIS inspiration HE is giving to the reader to understand GOD's particular message to that reader at that moment of reading.
Right on. But given that we are talking about at least one-third of the American population we are not dealing with a mere cult or faction. This is much bigger. There appears to me only one way out of this for Russia and the U.S. Start over, as in our case drastically change the Constitution (which may involve creating two countries here). Actually, we have a second option: give the Democrats a super majority in the House and Senate so there is a 60-40 power base to get rid of gridlock. How likely is either? I wouldn't want the Las Vegas oddsmakers to tell us. Enjoy life while we can.
A chilling letter, Heather; it must have been a difficult one to write on both fronts. Putin and his army's blood curdling crimes are mirrored by those that tfg and his lackeys are capable of committing.
"They were just little things, those silly schedules and the articles about some deluded plan to decertify the state election results, littler than the many other norms Trump had broken. They were easily ignored or explained away by those who supported the president as well as by those just eager to see him gone. And yet, it turns out we should have been paying better attention: they were the signs that we were on the verge of losing our democracy.'
Jeri, I understand you and, apart from a tacit understanding that we are fellow humans, I have no idea how to communicate at any depth with those in my own family.
That said, these people are showing you their nasty contagious disease, not what they are.
What is peculiar to this psychotic condition is how it not only spreads through the population directly infected, it befouls the innocent victims of their madness, their children and grandchildren. It scars generations.
Let us do all we can to protect ourselves from the disease and the diseased, even killing criminal psychopaths if we must, as surgeons amputate gangrened limbs. But let us hate no one.
Hatred is the primary symptom of their mass madness.
The seven generations principle got run over and decimated when indigenous peoples were treated with the same madness. “Seven generation stewardship is a concept that urges the current generation of humans to live and work for the benefit of the seventh generation into the future.[citation needed] It is believed to have originated[citation needed] with the Iroquois – Great Law of the Iroquois – which holds appropriate to think seven generations ahead” (wiki)
Thank you for citing this wisdom from a more stable society.
The accelerating treadmill that is ours makes it difficult to manage our own lives and enable our children to manage theirs, let alone build for posterity.
We are trying to face down parasites who bleed both the present and the future dry.
So true. And, unfortunately, our current society only looks to the next quarterly financial report. It prevents us from learning sufficiently from the past (and believing we won't repeating it) as well as not planning sufficiently for the future.
When something is predictable, it's potentially preventable.
Thank you for your viewpoint, Peter. I live among them and battle my knowledge of them as good people, vs. my feeling that to support TFG and the GOP makes them monsters. I’ve come to the conclusion also that they may deserve my pity. Of course I suppose that makes me an elitist. ; )
Yes compassion. Try to remember that we were one and all duped by a sophisticated worldwide attempt to subvert democracy. As brilliance once again catches us up we will put it together again. Stronger. I went to war. I want to fight the bastards with every ounce of cunning and strength in my frail old man body. When it comes time to die that is the easy part. To lay down your life heroically. No fear, no shame knowing you exercise your only option. We must walk slowly among the dead. We must walk slowly amongst those still living as well. We must find that way which preserves their lives. If we put a million men into the breach we can arrest the motion of war and the outlook of the future. No doubt. We may yet go there. We may have no choice but to go there. I trust this president. I choose to trust this American assemblage of great wisdom and experience that came out of the ether coalescing around these letters to America. In every period of The American journey we have met the resistance head on and while this one is on our watch the tide will come in once again. We have to do this. We have to calmly re-unite our fractured factions. And yes, with Joy’s compassion.
I paid attention, and my blood ran a little colder every day. All in plain sight, and another cut every hour of every day. While we tuned in and dropped out.
You’ve said it as many times as you have said “Be safe. Be well”. I remain wondering how we humans are so able to ignore when one does not want to see.
There are many wondering the same thing, “hoping” they come to see it, scared they might not, yet ready to battle if it comes to that to save the common good.
Good morning my friend. A sobering missive from Heather. I am humbled on this Sunday morning at the tipping point that freedom precariously balances on. And pray and implore to have yet another chance to make things right in the name of common good and abundance.
how many times have you heard someone say, "history is so boring, all those names and dates." those names and dates sometimes turn out to be the most fascinating aspects of history. Meanwhile, in russia today as in bolshevik times, the people in the remote hinterlands hardly matter. it's the people in the cities in western russia who matter. can the truth reach them in time, and how much damage has biden's gaffe done in slowing down that realization?
This quote from the article could just as easily be about folks in America watching Fox News as their only major source of information: “It’s much easier to watch TV and absorb the government propaganda. It’s easier to not think…. You have this vast country with many people who are poor and who have never travelled abroad. They are very isolated, with no communication, only their television. They work hard all day, come home exhausted and the TV is their only source.” Putin & Trump are the same kind of animal. Trump and his cabal must be dealt with...Ukraine is the preview of how far it can go. It's all there for us to witness and resist.
Absolutely right: Fox News will be the Government News Agency after the fall of Democracy.
Just imagine. The only information we will get comes from Hannity and Carlson.
This shows the power of a behavior I routinely saw in American corporations.
I will use the words "currying favor", but, really, the words that are more appropriate are "kissing arse". Those latter words are the key to rising in corporations. No joke. Same with Trump.
Hannity and Carlson spent Trump's four years on their knees behind Trump kissing his arse.
In Corporate America the rewards of spending your career on your knees are profound in the extreme. Those that do end up as VP. Those that don't often end up unemployed.
I tred a middle ground by staying highly technical so my value was not the thickness of the callous on my knees and also attempting to be benign verbally when in the presence of some loser with half a brain who was my boss.
But, Carlson and Hannity? THEY are the very model of a corporate arse kisser. Nothing true ever emanates, and, their knees are thickly calloused from crawling around on them mewling at the feet to "The Donald".
"...super-spreaders of their deadly disease" Spot on!
I read Mike's (repeated) message and apply it to my own career. The synopsis that I use is "success without promotion". I worked for the SO for 28+ years, and retired as a line Deputy. I flirted with promotion from 1998-2002 (during that time frame I worked out of class as an "AIC*" Sergeant for 80% of the hours I worked which included over 500 hours of overtime filling in for one sergeant who was ultimately given the "opportunity" to resign in lieu of termination for gender based harassment after his multiple "management plans" failed to produce the desired results. During that time, I tested for sergeant, was the #1 candidate coming out of that process, and saw three others promoted instead of me. I determined that I was "not what they were looking for" in a first line supervisor, which was ultimately the most positive thing that happened to me in my career (I watched the female who was promoted sell her soul to them and both of the others left the department for greener pastures within 5 years). I think that my ultimate death knell was that during the time on the promotion list, the lieutenant asked me how to "encourage" one deputy to apply for promotion, or to take on a role as a training officer. My reply was, essentially, that he came to work every day, did more than his share of the work, wrote decent reports, and was easy to work with, exemplifying a team player. Why should we push him to move out of what he was really good at, and make him do something he didn't want to do? Apparently, that was the wrong answer...
Well said. Even in education with administrators who like to have their arses kissed have plenty around them with calluses on their knees. Why....so they could get the coaching assignment they wanted, or the teaching schedule they wanted, minimum work of course, so they take revenge on people who refused to go along with everything subjected to high and mighty sports. I could go on. This is a sure way to raise tension to the cutting it with a knife level and energy that should go to kids goes to fear of what will happen next.
Unlike the Russians, Americans have a choice on whether to watch Fox "News". Unlike the Russians, White conservative evangelicals & conservative Catholics are also being fed "cheap grace theology" on Sundays by "mere peddlers of God's word", read "Jesus & John Wayne", or "The Power Worshippers", or "Christians against Christianity'. Such evil is much worse when done out of "religious" conviction.
Exactly so. It describes the Americans who sup at the Faux Noise trough. They don't have to think, they get their collective amygdalae tickled every day.
And to think my impression of Oregonians was one in which the nether regions of Arkansas prevailed. You really slaughter that vision. Could you visit Port Orford please and let them know life has filtered back this spring, in copious abundance. A La the Ally.
Sadly, from Bandon south the Oregon Coast seems to be more like the Arkansas that you describe. Bandon (about a 2.5 hour drive for us) used to be a favorite getaway spot. Not anymore.
I enjoyed doing truck driving deliveries up the coast, from Crescent City CA all the way up to Lincoln City, but I was delivering exclusively to health food stores . . .
See, Daria? Doesn't this describe the prescribed 'woman's role' in the equation - that and keeping silent at all costs ... is it any wonder that men (and women) who do not relate to the role they are assigned in this paradigm, identify as 'gay' ...?!
Oh, no, Kathleen. I understand far better than you could possibly ever imagine. I have spent the last 14 years of my life being categorized as less than a whole human because I have no vocal cords and speak via an electronic device. I need no lessons in supremacy or subjugation. I live it every single day of my life facing people who ridicule and malign. Do not ever presume the life of someone who lives outside your precept of a paradigm. There are many forms of hell which you are not personally familiar with. Don't school me on what you believe to be valid and genuine. I live my truth every god damded day and trust me, you have no idea how ugly and mean people are on a personal, not conceptual basis.
I effing know what enforced silence is. I spent 2 years literally unable to speak, writing any and everything I needed to communicate down on a piece of effing paper or white board or computer. I know what it is like to order a god damned cup of coffee black and have it brought to me with cream and sugar because I'm flawed and cannot possibly know what it is I really want or need. NO MORE. You nor anyone else should believe that you can articulate my needs or anyone else's needs who are not your own or in the mainstream. I DO NOT need anyone saying, see Daria, to me. I struggle every god damned day to live a full, balanced life. I struggle in ways you will never know. So please, do not ever lecture me about human and civil rights. I live it every day of my life.
Thank you Mike. Yes, I very much agree with what Daria said - and was expressing how it articulated the point I attempted to make. And yes, I deeply agree with what you say here ... kudos to Daria for saying - and being able to say what needs to be said ... over and over until people listen and hear, comprehend and act accordingly ... be well, all ....
Mike, perhaps Kathleen was in agreement, perhaps not. Kathleen has taken me to task, in the past, for my "sins" of omission when commenting but I am done. I'm done with people second guessing my motives or perceptions. I'm done with having someone tell me that my POV is flawed, my POV is less than theirs, my POV is not inclusive or unpatriotic or unsympathetic to whomever or whatever subject or cause is the subject du jour. People spend untold amounts of time on this platform expressing themselves. Some in dribs, drabs, and oneliners, others in lengthy essays. All of that is okay. But damn it, once in a while, when a comment is made, does it have to be redirected to another topic entirely? And once it's redirected doesn't any other topic become fair game? I'm sorry. I'm simply done this morning and need to shut up. Be well.
Daria among all the posters here, your voice is among those to which I listen. Others, who attempt to hijack the conversation to something entirely different do a disservice, I think, both to this group and to the cause they espouse. Thank you for being here.
Almost exclusively, this board is supportive EVEN when another post appears "critical". Diversity of thought is what gives any entity REAL power.
daria, Some of my posts were (appropriately) called out because I did not have appropriate references. Since then, I have tried to obtain good references when I make fact statements (not opinion....which...I just post).
I am sure Kathleen was attempting to show compassion through similarity.
We are with you daria. EVEN if someone offers another angle or diversity of thought. Which, in Kathleen's post was not the case.
Right there with you today daria. I almost always find wisdom among these comments - yours in particular - and bristle more than a bit at some “redirection.” Wishing you peace today. Glad you are here.
Daria, I don't recall taking you to task for 'sins of omission' ... unless I am mistaken, I have always felt your comments were insightful and relevant ... and I did say 'meow' to your cat ... that was you - yes?
Kathleen, Oy, I just wrote a response to your comment and it was inadvertently erased when I tried to post it. The post in question was at the start of the Russian Invasion of the Ukraine and how we, in the US, have not withstood an attack from an outside invader. You immediately called me to task for omitting the atrocities commited against Indigenous Americans. I apologized to you for the omission though my comment dealt with a pretty specific set of factors. Let's call it a day, I can't think anymore.
Jeri expressed it perfectly, Daria. I was struggling to get the “right” words to you on paper. You are a warrior and a truth seeker. That requires only a fine mind, an illuminated heart, and a forager of a spirit.
Many here love you, Daria. I am humbled by the personal stories I have come across in this community, what others have overcome, and my world has been expanded so significantly by your words.
Oh Daria, thank you for sharing your personal truth - I did not mean to insult or offend you - or school you on anything - just making the observation ... I can hardly guess what you go through with no vocal chords - how that must impact the function of your Vagus nerve which normally runs through the vocal chords ... Daria, if only I could touch you with healing hands and repair the damages you have suffered ... my heart goes out to you, dear Daria - please accept my apology for aggravating your tribulation - I meant no harm ... healing love to you ....
I have no vocal cords Kathleen. No. Vocal. Cords. I'm sorry to be so personal but I am tired and exhausted by academic arguments about what should and should not be for people who "fall outside the norm" whether it is race, ethnicity, color, sexual orientation, or differently abled. Live one day as "the other" you may, then understand where I and millions of others are coming from.
Thank you Daria, I hear you - loud and clear ... I too am fed up with so much, I cannot begin to say - even with vocal chords intact ... I am not offended by what you have said - can relate deeply, as an outcast in my own world for being sooo outspoken about matters more often left unsaid ... I appreciate that you express yourself openly and honestly - something too few people do often enough ... I carry your wound in my heart with healing love ....
Thank you, Kathleen. I appreciate that you have listened and heard.. I rarely respond and lash out so honestly and vehemently. I hold your frustration in my heart and hope it dissolves as days go by.
Kathleen, you cannot heal or repair me. I am angered by the presumption and arrogance. I would only urge you to think about the words you commit to others before posting them.
Daria, I have read through this thread, and cannot imagine what it must be like/feel like to have "no voice." Your courage in providing your story of "enforced silence" gives further voice to your valuable comments here on LFAA. As someone here said, I too look for your comments as they are usually right on target, and often say tons in very few words. I hope you know that many here value your written voice. I believe you may already know I sure so.
For the past sixty-five of my seventy-one years, I have identified as 'straight'. I have also had an inability to keep my mouth shut. Just yesterday, I was practically thrown out of a Trump wannabe's store-in Plains, Georgia, of all places, for daring to say that Barack Obama was a decent president. No, ladies-and gents, do not keep silent. The lives you save will be those of the people you love most. I do not intend this comment as "mansplaining". My mother was the source of much of my views of the world.
💙 to you, Daria. For sharing your lived experience, and for the deep wisdom you share with us on a daily basis, I thank you. You’re one of the voices I look for, to help me navigate this scary world.
"The president will depart the White House at 6:10PM for a victory rally in Dalton, GA". Now, what victory would he have been rallying about, on 3rd/4th January? Why is this man still on the loose, 15 months later?
I think the biggest news here is that the Russians (police? the Army?) are accused of removing as many as 400,000 Ukrainian civilians from Ukraine and spiriting them off to.... where? Russia bordering Ukraine? Refugee camps? Prison camps? Death camps? Siberia, perhaps? Russia has a long and disgraceful history of imprisoning and eventually killing entire populations based on their ethnicity and beliefs (Alexander Solzhenitsyn knew a lot about this and wrote it down).
I think we in the relatively safe and comfortable West need to be ready for a long, nasty and wasteful conflict with Russia. It will cause many of us great anxiety and a fair amount of economic hardship, but Putin needs to be thwarted and frustrated to the point that Russia is on its knees economically. Once the Russian people understand why they are suffering more than usual and who's responsible, they will take care of their own business. Direct military intervention by NATO is to be avoided because Putin cannot be trusted not to shoot nukes at us, as he has threatened to do in an "existential" crisis. As poker players know, calling someone's bluff does not always work out.
The price the world will pay for failing to eliminate nuclear arms when that might still have been possible and preferring economic competition between sovereign states over the establishment of a cooperative, tolerant and peacefully coexisting international community will be borne by all of us, but in unequal measure.
And climate change/global warming will finally gain the world's full attention just about the same time we discover that we have waited too long.
"I think the biggest news here is that the Russians (police? the Army?) are accused of removing as many as 400,000 Ukrainian civilians from Ukraine and spiriting them off to.... where? "
Having read the Gulag Archipelago one winter when I was about 32 before I had kids when I had time for such a book, I can say: There a PLENTY of old Soviet prisons to house them.
Solzhenitsyn was my thesis subject back in the 70’s. It, and ‘A Day in the Life...’ were shattering. Svetlana Stalin’s autobiography is on my “just read” list. Our complacency and acceptance of status quo has consequences.
"A Day in the Life of Ivan I llyich " was the topic of a criticism paper I did while getting my MEd. Applebaum's "Gulag" is a more recent revelation of what happened and can happen.
I read last week that citizens of Mariupol who were rounded up were indeed sent to Siberia. Human shields: the strategy of every monstrous autocrat in human history.
"I think we in the relatively safe and comfortable West need to be ready for a long, nasty and wasteful conflict with Russia."
Every minute that we allow Putin to terrorize Ukraine confirms for him that he can get away with it, and his actions will escalate. David, I think in response to one of HCR's columns you wrote that, using our fighter jets, it would take two days to eliminate Russia's presence in Ukraine. This. Is. What. We. Need. To. Do. We can't let this go on for months or years. We can't allow the destruction of Ukraine. We have to use our jets TO PROMOTE PEACE.
Diane, every minute we do not goad Putin into firing off the nukes is another minute we have to try to figure out the right response to his cruel aggression. The last thing the courageous Ukrainians need right now is a nuclear war.
Also, I do not recall suggesting that using US fighter jets would be a good idea in this situation, but only because it could set off a Russian nuclear response. In this sense, they have us by the you-know-whats, but we've got them that way too. Nuclear weapons are totally useless when more than one country has a bunch of them, and we should have eliminated them the day after a demonstration blast off the coast of Japan in the summer of 1945. Of course, that was not in the cards -- we hated Japan too much -- and history moved on.
David, it may not have been you who suggested using fighter jets to eliminate the conflict in two days.
Threats always make people hesitate. Is the threat real? Or is it meant just to intimidate? Would Putin really use nuclear missiles against Ukraine or the West if we stopped his aggressions by eliminating his army? I think the answer may be no if Putin understands that the West can respond in kind. Now I am reading about Buccha, and my thoughts are, of course. If Russians can't have something, they will destroy it so that no one else can have it either. My fear is that they will continue to destroy all of Ukraine. How long are we going to allow this to go on? And after Russia has destroyed Ukraine and gotten away with it, which country will be next? It seems that we may need to use weapons against the Russian army to destroy it in order to preserve what is left of Ukraine, and to establish peace.
Yes, Diane, it is extremely frustrating not to respond directly to Putin's murderous aggression by destroying his army and kicking Russian ass in Ukraine. In a world without nukes, that's what we would be doing, though without nukes and the threat of using them, even Putin would know he could never defeat our (and Europe's) conventional forces, and might have tried to get along better with his neighbors. But he's got nukes and so do we, lots of them, enough to exterminate humanity in short order. And for what? To punish Putin and his enablers? Talk about cutting off noses...
In any case, it appears the Russian military and Putin have had their noses bloodied by the freedom loving and united Ukrainians and their mini-missile-firing drones operated by high school age computer nerds. It is almost humorous. Now it is only a matter of time -- maybe not that long now -- before Putin's humiliation is complete and his generals and other enablers begin to realize they have bet on the wrong horse and utterly underestimated the rest of the world's intense interest in this war. We will only know in retrospect if we are at the crucial moment in history that either saved -- or destroyed -- our species, but I think a bit of patience is called for. If I were Putin, I would be eying each lamppost warily and compulsively loosening my tie every few minutes.
Here is an excerpt from Greg Olear's Substack column regarding Russia and nukes. I think he makes some good points, as do his readers in the comments. I'll post a link below.
"I don’t think Putin will use nuclear weapons. I don’t think his generals would obey such an order, even if it were given. And even if they did, I don’t think their missiles work. Putin and his thieves have boosted so much from Russia, stolen anything that wasn’t nailed down, that the nuclear program has likely fallen into disrepair, like the rest of their shit military.
This may, I’ll allow, be wishful thinking on my part. I am prone to wishful thinking. Like, I once believed that when the Republican Party figured out Trump was in bed with the Russians, they would be horrified and immediately repudiate him. Talk about gullible!
But I trust that Joe and Kamala will keep us safe. And honestly, I have enough to worry about without fretting over nuclear annihilation. . . ."
Diana, I think Greg O'Lear is a wishful thinker, as he admits. Putin's cruise missiles, also the hypersonic ones, are doing enormous damage and killing a lot of Ukrainians. If Putin is squeamish about nukes, it is only because he may not want one landing on him. And, I imagine that 20 odd years in power is enough time to pick generals who will follow his orders.
Yes, the saddest words of tongue or pen, what might have been. But that must not stop us from doing what we can. Quoting somebody else, the best time to plant a tree? Twenty years ago. Second best time? Today.
"Once the Russian people understand why they are suffering more than usual and who's responsible . . . ." I'm not sure I agree with this. Putin may tell the Russians that the world supports the Ukrainians who are killing the Russians. And that will make the gullible Russians hate the West.
I think the Russians may be subject to misinformation and disinformation, but I doubt they are particularly gullible, certainly no more than Americans in any case.
Diana, I remember that when the Berlin Wall fell, a critical mass of Russians seemed to have understood that their government was failing them and they could not compete with the relative dynamism of the West. To put it bluntly, they wanted to be able to buy stuff and have a bit of free time and do some travelling, like Americans and Europeans could in 1989. On the other hand, the world has changed a lot since then, and hatred may dominate politics going forward in Russia as it appears to be doing in the USA.
The Russians ditching Putin is the best option that comes to mind, at the moment.
Putin is a sadist! His ego has turned Europe, a continent of 600 million plus, upside down. The USA of around 333 million is at each other's throats helped by Republican, Russian, Chinese, and North Korean disinformation. The continent of Africa is going to have a lot of people suffering even more hunger and death due to the impact on food sources, but the despots running many countries there are in Putin's pockets. I know that some are often looking to Europe for new alliances, but are understandably wary. The world is in turmoil. Is peace a luxury, like clean air and water, that we will no longer have? I hope not! I am grateful each day that Joe Biden, even on his worst day, is in charge. The situation we find ourselves in call for experience and intelligence. Joe has both. World populations are shifting. What I find difficult about this shifting is that it changes the voting, and having so many people from undemocratic, and very conservative countries populate your country all of a sudden can shift the voting patterns as they become citizens. We see this in action in our own country. Europe has been more measured in letting people in, and while it is viewed as a fault it might help control the right shift. Russia hardly lets anyone in. Perhaps that is why its population does not get enough exposure to other ideas. Too bad! I do sense a growing dissatisfaction there, but it is slowly growing. like a rusty, rusty machine that needs oiling to get the gears cranking. Meanwhile we need to vigilantly fight the disinformation of the Republicans, Russians, Chinese, North Koreans and their social media paid agents and bots here at home. I am heartened that there is slow movement towards revealing Trumps crimes, which we hope leads to bringing him to justice. Enough that we see more and more Republican movement away from his camp. I am glad that an LGBTQ+ backed lawsuit in Florida is taking on the Trump-bot of a sadistic governor DeSantis. As I said the other day. We need to be very vocal for democracy. Many groups are trying to do just that. We need to simultaneously take care of business here at home while trying to support Ukraine against Putin's sadistic assault.
"I am grateful each day that Joe Biden, even on his worst day, is in charge. The situation we find ourselves in call for experience and intelligence. Joe has both. "
I don't think it's that 'Russia doesn't let anyone else in.' Who wants to live in Russia? Do the oligarchs live in Russia? No. The Russian standard of life is not something that Westerners want.
As Duda said, Poland has crawled away from Russia's influence and does not want to go back there.
President Biden called Putin a ‘murderer.’ Indeed, he is a murderer of Stalinist proportions.
In the early 1930s Stalin, by selling Ukrainian wheat to buy machinery for his Five Year Industrial Plan, starved to death between 3-to-6 million Ukrainians. Putin has invaded Ukraine and is killing countless thousands Ukrainians while destroying major urban areas.
Putin is callously killing and destroying to force President Zelensky to accept an imposed ‘settlement’ that would permit Putin to claim ‘victory’ from his disastrous military campaign.
Whatever the long-term American, NATO, and European strategy, Zelensky is confronted with an ongoing human tragedy.
Putin, his siloviki, and his unbridled military in Ukraine must be held accountable for their war crimes. Meanwhile, my heart goes out to brave Zelensky, who is facing a ‘Sophie’s choice’ decision.
"In the early 1930s Stalin, by selling Ukrainian wheat to buy machinery for his Five Year Industrial Plan, starved to death between 3-to-6 million Ukrainians."
AND, he starved roughly 38 MILLION kulaks in Russia. AT THE SAME TIME, the NY Times was writing glowing reports on Stalin's new approach to government.
No lie.
Note, I have subscribed to the NY Times all my adult life post college. BUT, I bear in mind the past.
Mike The long-time NYT correspondent (Duranty?) won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting. Subsequently it turned out that he had totally ignored (more likely deliberately rather than for lack of knowledge) the Ukrainian mass starvation and later thought that the massive forced-confession trials (in which top generals and many others were convicted and executed) were just fine.
I have a book (upstairs) that describes this guy’s sordid Moscow tour. There was a fairly recent effort to get the NYT to petition the Pulitzer committee to revoke their award. After some months, the NYT opined that they would not seek revocation.
(I started reading the NYT when I was about about 7–WW II started for my family in September, 1939– and, when living in Egypt, Congo, and Chile, would receive the European edition—later a combo of NYT and Herald Tribune days late. I would diligently arrange the papers chronologically then start with the oldest. The temptation to jump to the newest was considerable, but I never did it.
The NYT may have been the reason that I got on Nixon White Enemies List, but that is another story.)
Mike Thanks! I also find that the Substack system can be ‘heartless,’ though a subscriber commented that this was a ‘momentary’ situation. On occasion I return to award a heart or two.
Gail Taylor published a book (Oxford U. Press), Stalin’s Apologist-Walter Duranty, that I found devastating about his journalistic bias. Personally, while working in Egypt, where there were two resident NYT correspondents, I found George Doty (the older one) excellent while the younger one, Ken Love, was less experienced.
In the 1960s the NYT tended to send cub journalists to Africa. In Congo the resident NYT rep was a young Lloyd Garrison (named after the crusading journalist of the 19th century). Lloyd was enthusiastic and energetic, but not, in my opinion, yet a seasoned reporter.
Mike Walter Duranty. I posted extensively today about him and his totally undeserved Pulitzer. Remember, official Washington read Duranty’s false report at the outset of every day. I remember, as a Foreign Service Officer, having to write, for The Secretary and others, a classified rejoinder to some of the daily news. I doubt that this was done in the early 1930s.
Ellie Lunch with David Ben-Gurion and Egypt’s Gamal Abdul Nasser in the same week tops the list. Dinner with Kim Philby in Beirut shortly before this Russian spy in the British ‘old boy’ diplomatic service is on my should-have-killed-the-SOB list (There are a few others.)
There is the question of where this quote came from: Joseph Stalin? Leonard Lyons? Beilby Porteus? Kurt Tucholsky? Erich Maria Remarque?
However, the full quote from a 1947 Washington Post article is “𝘐𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥𝘺. 𝘐𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴.”
Another anecdote, perhaps more pointed, is: Lady Astor exuberantly opened the conversation with this remark: “𝘔𝘳. 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦?”
I haven't heard that, but I see it working out now: Putin sending secondary troops to Kiev, poorly armed, ill trained, meant to get lost. As a diversion to make the Ukrainians over confident. Just like Stalin's winter war on Finland, only to come back with the big sledge hammer, in eastern Ukraine. And the 20 million Russians lost in WWII becomes the sign of the greatest achievement, even if 15 million were lost in vain to the callous strategy of Stalin.
Olof Perhaps agreed upon in the 1939 Von Ribbentrop/Molotov Agreement between Germany and the Soviet Union, that fall, after demanding that Finland cede to the Soviets a portion of its country, the Soviet Union invaded.
It seemed an easy campaign in which to seize much, or even all, of Finland. Under the courageous and brilliant leadership of General Mannerheim (considered to be Finland’s greatest hero), Finland’s small, mobile ski troops mangled the Soviet invaders.
The Soviets regrouped, sent in a much larger force, and imposed a settlement that required Finland to give up 9% of its territory.
Hopefully this is not the outcome that President Zelensky will experience with Putin, Stalin’s present-day counterpart.
Seizing Finland was not agreed by Hitler, since Germany later went into the war on Finland's side. In the winter war Russian soldiers had summer uniforms and few weapons, poorly trained soldiers, some of them communist enthusiasts, evidently meant to get lost. Finland, over confident with its remarkable success even occupied some Russian territory with Finnish speaking population. In the continued war SU was using massive aerial bombardment, and Finland ended up on the loosing German side, paying heavily and loosing more territory than they had gained. One propaganda story I heard from my father, who was a doctor at the Swedish Red Cross Ambulance for two months: One morning a young Finnish colleague arrived at the hospital saying he had made a 'motti', which meant he had been going three laps around a Russian camp on skis. The Russians thought they were encircled by Finnish troops, dug themselves down in the snow, and froze to death.
A Waffen-SS soldier described facing effective Red Army snipers, including women, in Finland, though this is not to overgeneralize to the Red Army as a whole in Finland.
Parenthetically, this man’s story illustrated a path out of fascism, however much it might have been more survival under Allies’ control than conscience.
Black Edelweiss: A Memoir of Combat and Conscience By a Soldier of the Waffen-SS, by Johann Voss
Olof I was not aware of the German involvement with the Finns in the Soviet-Finish Winter War. I read an assessment of the Molotov/Von Ribbentrop Agreement that suggested that a Hitler nod to Stalin on Finland was in a secret protocol. [Another report indicated that the Soviet’s weakness against the small Finnish army contributed to Hitler’s decision to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.]
I read a fascinating book on Swedish foreign policy perhaps 50 years ago that highlighted the massive financial and military assistance that ‘neutral’ Sweden provided to Finland during the 1939-1940 Winter War.
I remember seeing Daniel Dale’s daily tweets with the former guy’s schedule: essentially empty, devoid of appointments, and with that ridiculous statement about him working through the day and doing many things. It seemed like a joke! I envisioned the evil one sitting in front of the t.v. all day, eating his burgers, and barking orders from time to time. Well, I interpreted that empty daily schedule incorrectly. He obviously did have some planning meetings and took calls on his burner phone. Many calls. Important calls. It does, indeed, involve many meetings and calls to plan a coup.
I just read an article in this week’s New Yorker referencing historian Caroline Elkin’s research into the horrific abuses in British colonization. The key point that makes this relevant here is the destruction of the records of atrocities hiding this, the lapses in files, information gaps- for nearly a century. The transparency of government is essential. A healthy press counters propaganda.
The photos coming from the Bucha region are horrific. The streets are strewn with dead bodies of civilians, many with their hands tied behind their backs, shot in the head. Victims’ pockets have been emptied, so identifying bodies will be difficult. There is ample evidence of rapes, even of children. It is beyond me how soldiers can exercise such brutality and kill innocent people by the thousands. What Putin and his complicit military are doing is barbaric.
We can’t look away. Media all over the world need to show these photos and tell these stories, as difficult as they are to see. It is important for people to bear witness and to act decisively.
Most of us feel helpless to do much, but we can continue to make donations and call on our representatives to keep the pressure on and send meaningful aid. We can’t get numb to the atrocities and genocide, as the war grinds on, day after day. I don’t know what is going to get Russia to stop. There must be more and broader sanctions that can be imposed. At a minimum, companies still doing business in Ukraine - and there are dozens - need to be pressured to pull out completely.
What else? This is unbearable. “Never again” needs to truly mean something.
Putin's army is drunk most of the time. Ukrainians report them drunk routinely. Never understimate the bad stuff that can happen when group of young men with guns get drunk.
As the Red Army advanced to liberate towns from the Nazis, they raped routinely and indiscriminately. Their reputation preceded them such that some women committed suicide or female infanticide. No doubt that incidents of rape were nevertheless under-reported, and continue to be so. How many women would have admitted that when their soldier husbands returned home.
The rapes in Ukraine are not just under reported in the MSM, they’re not reported at all. You have to follow Ukrainian journalists on Twitter to get that.
And let's not forget voter fraud by Mark Meadows himself as he registered a home address in trailer that I understand he never visited. Talk about Ghost voters.
Yea, those words never have any business being in the same sentence. Insipid, imbecilic, moronic, gutless, loathsome, satanic, all fit nicely with his name, which I have with great difficulty uttered just a few times since 2017, despised he is in spade’s.
Heart sinking information. Horrible war atrocities in Ukraine. Sickening activity within our own government. I hope you can step away from it and give yourself a chance to recover from the thoughts of it all. The stress I feel from briefly reading and hearing about it all must be minuscule compared to what your mind goes through! Please take time for yourself! Thank you for this, Heather!
Thinking it better to have Hitler in the government than as an outside agitator, Vice Chancellor von Papen said "Within two months we will have pushed Hitler so far in the corner that he'll squeak.” Paul von Ludendorf, telegrammed President Hindenburg “…you have handed over our Fatherland to one of the greatest demagogues of all time … Future generations will curse you in your grave for this action”. History almost rhymed January 6th, but the GOP could still snatch autocracy from the jaws of democracy!
I don't think "yawn" is the right verb. They are so committed to their "true beliefs" that they will fight to "save their freedom" when in truth they are killing democracy, and have no freaking clue what they're doing.
My reactions to:
1. ¨All Russians will be hated.¨ No. Just as I don't hate all Americans because of Trump, McConnell and the others who are our Putin and his thugs.
2. ¨...a population in Russia gradually coming to realize they have fallen under the iron hand of a dictator as the government cracks down on dissent.¨ This is how I view Americans who refuse to see what the Republicans have become. It will be too late by the time they realize.
3. What an insight into the lives of Russians who have never felt that they have been under a dictator. They have ¨nice, good, warm, comfortable, cozy things¨. We tend to think that the people of Russia and China have miserable lives.
4. I wake up every morning thinking of all of the dead and displaced Ukrainians. One morning they kissed their children good bye to go to school. Their husbands and wives went to work. They had plans for the weekend. And. Just. Like. That. Their world ended because of one man. Anyone who thinks it can't happen here Just. Like. That. needs to wake up.
4.
It happened. And the Republican Party led by a cabal organized a coup. That coup is ongoing. Its leaders and followers are in plain view. The congress is implicated. Black lying SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas married to an obese white fascist woman who directed the COS at the White House is deep into the coup. She thinks she’s running the coup with the Chief of Staff. Her best friend is Justice Thomas. He should be impeached. The American public must learn detail of January 6th, before, during and after.
A republic if you can keep it. It’s Midnight in DC. Chairman Adam Schiff did the book. We nearly lost our democracy and the peaceful transfer of power, and the GOP in the senate is complicit right down to toothy gutless Senator Ben Sasse, the college president terrified of his own shadow.
And what’s driving this coup? White racism, a national disease that was ignored by out white male slave owning founders, the tribal element led by Thomas Jefferson who was loving his Negro slave Sally Hemings and making babies with her here and in France, in plain view, and all knew it. He drafted the constitution and observed its words in the breach - and supported our national crime nightly. Some 400,000 Negro slaves were bought and sold, their children were bought and sold, and emancipation meant more of the same in plain view. We lynched them, we photographed the lynchings and sold postcards with those images. Land of the free was the first Big Lie.
Today’s Big Lie is Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Lindsay Graham and more savaging Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, their intellectual and moral superior as she smiles patiently and calls them senator, not fascist.
Which is what they are.
Sandy, Jefferson did not draft the Constitution but the Declaration of Independence.
The words "All men are created equal" draw attention to an even deeper contradiction.
Apart from that detail, I'm with you.
Correct. Jefferson drafted we the people... Monroe and others drafted the first draft. Amendments and other parts had many contributors. Our third president was among our most brilliant. He loved a slave. I do not judge him. I might have done the same. Lincoln was our most impressive. And may have been our most stressed and depressed. Biden is heroic and good. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is Biden’s best decision.
Maybe you should read "The 1619 Project" to be more informed about Jefferson. The Bible clearly provides that all men are created equal. Yet Jefferson & the slave owners drafted a Constitution in contravention of the Bible. Moreover, Republicans today are "originalists" but claim America was founded as a "Christian" nation. There is NO consistency to their arguments..
Where does the Bible "clearly provide that all men are created equal"?? The Bible, both Testaments, includes plenty of inequality, especially when women are included in the mix. And Jefferson and most of his cohorts weren't biblical literalists by any stretch of the imagination. IIRC The Bible, esp. the New Testament, does assert that all men are equal *in the eyes of God*. It's also pretty big on distinguishing what's owed to God and what's owed to secular authorities ("render unto Caesar . . .").
Paul in Galatians 3:28 for instance. We are all children of God, & God's greatest commandment is to love our neighbor, which is anyone in need. God suffers, when you treat his children as slaves, like the Egyptians treated the Jews. I suggest that you read "Christians Against Christianity" by Biblical scholar Obery Hendricks. You should also read "The 1619 Project" which provides the history of "cheap grace theology" in America.
So ... if we take the current GOP as "originalists", it therefore means that they want to return to "slavery times".
If you look closely at the Constitution, you'll see that it provides checks and balances for the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, and between the federal government and the states, but it says very little about economic power coming from outside the government. That's because big business as it developed through the 19th century barely existed; the U.S. at the beginning was a mostly agrarian country. Originalism isn't just about race. It's about letting big business do what it wants with minimal regulation and restraint. In fact, a persuasive argument could be made that "traditional family values" (aka Christian white male supremacy) are a way to enlist popular support for "Big Business über alles," which isn't in its naked form all that attractive to most voters.
Agree. The consistency is found in the GOP inconsistency, their abject fear of color and those different, in differences, their hatreds, and their inconsiderate inconsistencies.
PS: they are not Christian. More to the point, who is, and what is a Christain, today?
Get to the point: make your points.
I claim no expertise. Jefferson fathered with Sally. I have the numbers as published.
Correct, but "all men" simply meant all WHITE MEN. Not black or Native men, or any women, and certainly not enslaved men, just White men, and only those who owned property.
Some may want to read Abigail Adam's letter to her husband, John, in March 1776, in which she writes:
"Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could."
I believe her letter and historical precedent validates your opinion, Susan.
Thank you! My point was that women, black and indigenous men, and enslaved people were NOT considered equal to white property owning men. They were not permitted to vote, own property, or even control their own finances. In fact, it wasn't until nearly 200 years later that women could even obtain credit or purchase birth control without a man's permission. Equal means equal.
Of course you are right, Susan. I was thinking of the Declaration of Independence, the document, and the intentions of Jefferson and others who helped him draft it. You have stuck to the reality, which is in some respects worse than it was in 1776.
If some Americans have their way, it’ll be back to a “verkrampte” version of South Africa in 1950: no “miscegenation”, women as chattels and non-whites as unpersons. The “improvement”? In place of citizens, consumers.
I'm not so sure of that, Susan. How you can possibly be so sure of it?
We all know the ingrained prejudices of many, far too many, from the 18th century down to this day. But could you not merely be echoing some of our own contemporary counter-prejudices?
Pace the so-called “originalists”, how can we really know all that was on Jefferson's mind?
That is why I wrote of “contradictions”, perhaps I should have written “paradoxes”.
That said, we do know something about Jefferson’s relationships, in particular that with Sally Hemings. Now link this up with Jefferson’s personal acquaintance with the great French philosopher Condorcet and the latter’s determined championship of women’s rights and, above all, the abolition of African slavery.
Now, take a good look at this essay, Condorcet, Abolitionist: https://brill.com/previewpdf/book/9789004246713/B9789004246713-s005.xml
In particular this passage:
“Of all the philosophes, Condorcet alone came out unequivocally
against almost all forms of discrimination. As he put it near the start
of his On the Admission of Women to Voting Rights (1790), ‘he who
votes against the right of another, whatever be his religion, color, or
sex, has from that moment on adjured his own rights’.”
In this conviction, he was continuing and developing the thought of his great predecessor Montesquieu (1689-1755) who wrote a scathingly ironic passage on the matter in De l’esprit des lois :
https://books.openedition.org/obp/2956?lang=en
Excerpts :
“If I had to justify our right to enslave negroes, this is what I would say:
Once the peoples of Europe had wiped out the people of America, they were obliged to enslave the peoples of Africa, because they needed someone to clear the land in America.
Sugar would be too expensive if there were no slaves to cultivate the plant it comes from.”
AND
“It is impossible to believe that these people are human beings, for, if we did believe them to be human beings, we would have to wonder whether we ourselves are Christians.”
With all this, Jefferson will have become familiar during the years he spent as America’s Minister to France, right up to the storming of the Bastille:
https://ugapress.manifoldapp.org/read/the-french-enlightenment-in-america-essays-on-the-times-of-the-founding-fathers/section/d18e63db-06fc-4084-83e0-783d451cf0b2
Here is an extract from a letter written by Jefferson to the French philosopher on August 30th 1791:
“I am happy to be able to inform you that we have now in the United States a negro, the son of a black man born in Africa, and of a black woman born in the United States, who is a very respectable Mathematician. I procured him to be employed under one of our chief directors in laying out the new federal city on the Patowmac, and in the intervals of his leisure, while on that work, he made an Almanac for the next year, which he sent me in his own handwriting, and which I inclose to you. I have seen very elegant solutions of Geometrical problems by him. Add to this that he is a very worthy and respectable member of society. He is a free man. I shall be delighted to see these instances of moral eminence so multiplied as to prove that the want of talents observed in them is merely the effect of their degraded condition, and not proceeding from any difference in the structure of the parts on which intellect depends.”
Horrors—look who had a hand in the design of Washington DC…
Plainly, if what now calls itself “the Republican Party” comes to power, we shall soon have book burnings, to include such subversive “woke” literature as Montesquieu, Condorcet and, no doubt, the outdated maunderings of Thomas Jefferson.
❤️
No idea why I can’t ❤️ your post by clicking on the icon, but here it is: ❤️❤️❤️
You are right Susan. When Ben was in London as the Agent of the Pennsylvania Assembly, per Marcia Baliscciano, the Director of the Ben Franklin House at 36 Craven Street in London, Ben brought only 3 people with him, his son, William and two (2) enslaved men ( names not stated). I saw a short PBS clip fron the Ben Franklin Series which starts tomorrow at 9 pm ET.
Property: slaves.
Thank you Peter, Ben Franklin is is often attributed with the phrase, "... with certain unalienable Rights ...*, See also, Ben's prescient "Albany Plan" of 1754. Hopefully, both historical facts will be explored in depth on a upcoming public Television documentary aimed at a National audience.
And thank you, Bryan, for drawing attention to the influence of Ben Franklin -- I hope that many here will take due note.
His down-to-earth sanity is a balm in times of insanity.
PBS is airing a Ken Burns film about Benjamin Franklin, starting tomorrow (April 4). I’m looking forward to it.
My TIVO is already programmed.
Awesome! ❤️ I’ll look for it! Thanks for the heads up. 🙏
If we could learn his secret to being so curious and self motivated to learn maybe our capitalistic society could some how market it and inadvertently cause their own extinction. I love reading about Franklin. From Wikipedia: “Franklin's father wanted him to attend school with the clergy but only had enough money to send him to school for two years. He attended Boston Latin School but did not graduate; he continued his education through voracious reading. Although "his parents talked of the church as a career"[17] for Franklin, his schooling ended when he was ten. He worked for his father for a time, and at 12 he became an apprentice to his brother James, a printer, who taught Ben the printing trade.”
And, Ben was a darn good young printer & journaliist tight with his Community.
I never forgot his comments on his beer-swilling colleagues in England...
They were probably more lucid than their boozed-up descendants, especially the jumped-up journalist -- shades of Mussolini -- who presides over Downing Street junketing.
Meanwhile, America's geriatric Caligula's a teetotaller,
And then there was that Fuehrer whose speeches said geriatric Caligula is reported to have listened to as bedtime stories.
What was it someone called him?
A vegetarian Tamerlane?
Ken Burns documentary on Ben Franklin coming up on PBS. Starts this Monday, tomorrow, I believe.
We agree
Thank you for stating the raw truth about how central racism is to America’s dilemmas. It’s too bad that people can’t see the role racism has played since America’s “founding”. It was 4 million enslaved people (not 400,000). The atrocities committed by Americans are rarely acknowledged or discussed. There’s a concerted effort even now to keep people from the truth (e.g bans on CRT, 1619 project).
The Republicans enjoy support because white people think they will keep people of color in their place-Trump has told them he is their savior to protect the real Americans. The majority of white people are all in with him.
Race has been an effective tool for their divide and conquer strategy. If people knew the historical truth about slavery and racism maybe we could move toward a more perfect union.
From reading Bell Hooks, I came to see racism as a real problem, but it’s real goal is political and social division. Racism is a manipulation tool of power to maintain classicism. Continued racism is an insurance policy for those with power and resources.
YES! bell hooks is right on with her analysis, Ted. And for the seditionists, any ism can be made a tool for division.
Yup! So of course the QOP wants to ban Critical Race Theory and dismiss history like the 1619 project. When people learn, ignorance is replaced with truth and knowledge, then all that left is compassion.
“But it’s real goal is political and social division.” Exactly. And thank you for bringing me back to see that. Squabblers don’t unite and remain controllable. Enter Facebook & Twitter stage Right.
In addition to "The 1619 Project", read "The Flag + The Cross" by Philip Gorski which describes the threat of white "Christian " Nationalism to our democratic republic.
Truth in every word
Justice Thomas is obese too.
Kim and Sandy - Stop this. Obesity is not a personality trait, a belief system, or a reason to hate anyone.
Thankyou, Nancy. I'm also an obese white woman but that does not make me evil.
You're right Nancy. I totally agree. My ill conceived comment was meant to highlight talking about women's appearances as opposed to men's. But it's not something we should talk about or judge anyone by. Thank you!
I believe the hatred mentioned was because he is a devious scoundrel that must be removed from his seat because he lies, cheats, is himself a racist hypocrite, and can not be trusted!
Trump calls out people for being obese too. Don't be like Trump.
Income enhanced by darker money constantly fattens his piggy bank, Eh!?
She’s enormous. Poor self image.
That may very well be true, Sandy, but it isn't applicable to what we are discussing here. Many women have a poor self image. This isn't even a part of the reason she's a terrible, horrible human.
He is domed to enjoying his exclusion from the "Club" in disgrace, without benefits!
See
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v3MCAeLsfY
Trump calls out people for being obese. You are better than that, Sandy. I forgive you, but be better, please.
In response... thanks for the comment. I am in agreement.. to a point: Obesity is a national ailment or disease, mostly caused by behavior, often leads to type 2 diabetes, drug cost, heart disease, different cancers - that burdens health care. Ginny Thomas is a societal problem, she misused her role as spouse of a justice, she is intolerant, she violated the law with her point of view urged on the White House - her husband’s votes are influenced by her - last, she and Clarence are emotionally disturbed and dangerous. Her obesity and his may be viewed as part of a bigger picture and problem, setting a bad example.
I know addiction first hand. I've never been addicted to an illegal substance. But I have been addicted to alcohol and food. Both are marketed heavily to young people with no warnings about their addictive properties. I got sober 11/15/2018. It has been significantly more difficult to get over my sugar addiction. Companies spend millions on the complicated science involved in making their products addictive. And just like alcohol, not everyone will become addicted. Because of the ignorance of people who believe what you believe, it is even more difficult for people to break their food addiction. Your comments are cruel and willfully ignorant. You don't belong here. You make this forum worse. Change or leave.
MONEY GRUBBING WHORE SLAVES TO THE PIMP OF PIMPS.
GEORGE!
Study the Senate GOP today.. and this decision:
Dred Scott v. Sandford,[a] 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1857), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court in which the Court held that the United States Constitution was not meant to include American citizenship for people of African descent, regardless of whether they were enslaved or free, and so the rights and privileges that the Constitution confers upon American citizens could not apply to them.[3][4] The Supreme Court's decision has been widely denounced, both for how overtly racist the decision was and its crucial role in the start of the Civil War four years later.[5] Legal scholar Bernard Schwartz said that it "stands first in any list of the worst Supreme Court decisions." Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes called it the Court's greatest self-inflicted wound."[6] Historian Junius P. Rodriguez said that it is "universally condemned as the U.S. Supreme Court's worst decision."[7] Historian David Thomas Konig said that it was "unquestionably, our court's worst decision ever."[8]
And number two on that list of the worst decisions ever is the Supreme Court's decision of accepting as worthy justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett because of McConnell's clandestine methodology sneaking them in through the back door of corruption's den of thieves!
Well, I'd say number 2 is giving George W. Bush the presidency, without which those three probably never would have been on the court. But I'll take it as #3.
I don't agree with the part about white racism, although there's plenty of that to go around. The coup starts with Trump's megalomania and rides on a bunch of his acolytes who want to hold onto power at all costs. But I agree with the rest.
Quite right.
Gailee, you’re right. Our world came terrifyingly close to ending because of complacency and still could because of disinformation. People believed a demagogue because he talked like a buddy rather than talking like a teacher.
https://youtu.be/phsU1vVHOQI
He gave them (and gives them) an example of someone who sounds like them who appears to be very successful in the business world. He addresses their concerns about a shifting social culture. He gives them a number of groups of “others” to fear or blame for their woes and warns them that only he can fix it (he only needs more time).
Mary, anyone who believed him because he "talks like a buddy" or because he appeared to be successful apparently didn't have access to a newspaper for the last 40 years. He had been fodder for news reports that spelled out his numerous bankruptcies; his base lack of character was evident when he evicted elderly tenants from his properties; his many divorces were examples of his total lack of morals; his lack of intellect was obvious because he was unable to string together a coherent sentence. The idea that anyone thought he could be successful as the most powerful man in the world is ludicrous. Those who voted for him, deserved him. The rest of us are suffering from this debacle, and his sycophants are allowing it to continue.
We have Mark Burnett and The Apprentice to thank for creating the “successful businessman” false narrative.
I never watched a single episode of The Apprentice. I knew what he was, although I was stunned by his winning the election, even with Putin's help.
Nancy, same here -- never watched a single episode. A small fragment from time to time, but not by choice. Other people's homes, waiting rooms, etc. Growing up across the river from him, I could easily see the difference between the actual man and the script-reading character.
Once a wretch, always a wretch, Gus.
Nor did I. How could so many have been sucked into his world of make believe? The damage done...
I was blindsided. I visited Germany during the campaign in 2016, and someone in Munich commented that he thought Trump would win. I laughed, and said "not a chance." I've been depressed and outraged ever since. Of course, initially I thought there would be guardrails . . . . wrong on all of it.🤢
There’s a great New Yorker article by Dorothy Wickendon from 2019 about Mark Burnett. One reveal: He entered the US illegally when, as a British merchant marine, he jumped ship in LA and then worked as a nanny. Doesn’t tfg just hate illegal immigrants? Oh yeah, only if they’re brown.
Most people don’t read the New York Times, the New York Post or the Washington Post. Trump was pilloried in these papers and the criticism deepened his inferiority complex. But he has explained to his minions that the press is elitist and they believe him. I don’t know if it’s stupidity so much as poor education lacking in critical thinking skills.
Barbara, I read about most of it in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, so hooray that Atlanta at least has that source. It also was on television. He's crafty, but I don't think that can be counted as intelligence. I'm also convinced that he was supported by Putin and our own oligarchs, who pointed him in the direction of the "elites." Lack of critical thinking skills is, indeed, an affliction that affects many.
Nancy and Barbara, I agree. Feral cunning not directly related to or indicative of higher reasoning. I also believe that poor or no critical reasoning skills are a significant factor in the pliable gullibility of the republican base. How on earth do we fight against that?
We lead with logic and reason, they lead with needs and emotion, impossible to have a productive discussion between the two.
I believe the only course left is to stop trying to change closed minds, and concentrate on activating democrats and independents to overwhelm at the polls; and fight in D.C. with legislation and DOJ -- and the states with litigation. Put all of our energies into strategies that are working, instead of base arguing with base.
Nancy, I don’t recall reading about anything other than gossip and ridicule about trump before 2015. I doubt the San Francisco Chronicle, my regional paper, covered him.
It might have been that the East Coast is far from SF, and I doubt that anyone ever envisioned what his future would be. I'm originally from Boston, and probably became aware of him there, many years ago. Before he bought the Atlantic City casinos, I read about his abuse of tenants in apartments that his father had developed and was appalled at his disgusting behavior. There were always rumors of his refusing to pay contractors and unethical political scheming. After that, then the bankruptcies of the casinos, his comment about Marla Maples getting only $1 million in their divorce because she came from "a backwater in Georgia, and had never seen that much money," cemented my disgust. I cannot think of one redeeming quality that he possesses.
Yes, TFG was and is the perfect tool.
“I don’t know if it’s stupidity so much as poor education lacking in critical thinking skills.”
All of that.
Nancy, In 2015, there were only 35 million newspapers sold daily and The Apprentice audiences were 7 million per week. I can attest to the fact that there was very little about Donald Trump in our local newspaper other than the success of The Apprentice until he ran for office. There has never been anything about his evicting people or his bankruptcies. There was no coverage of his marriages or Stormy Daniels in the paper until 2018. I understand that people in the New York City area were aware of his shortcomings, but not in Texas.
Mary, I'm probably a good bit older than you, and the tales of his evicting elderly and his many bankruptcies took place in the '70s and '80s, so I understand that many are not aware of his antics (as a Democrat, by the way). Stormy Daniels' story never was revealed until 2018. Still, his behavior during the 2015 campaign should have given a whiff of the stench surrounding him and his total lack of character and intelligence. Hillary was correct about The Deplorables.
Yes, and I heard about them in Texas.
Mary, I agree with your analysis. When young Donald accompanied his father to construction sites, he learned how those guys talk and think. Many people deeply disliked school and teachers (mostly women, right?). The Apprentice did wonders for him. New Yorkers knew his history of stiffing contractors, etc., but people wouldn’t trust their advice because “coastal elites” became a group to despise along with the rest of the “others.”
"Very successful in the business world"??
"who appears to be"...
Gailee, You. Said. It. I rarely catch a longer post from you (I am never able to read all of the daily comments, only maybe a third, max), but whenever you open up and let it fly, I stop and pay close attention to what you have to say. Thank you! Please write more....
Gailee, I grieve for the Ukrainians as well, they are never out of my mind or my prayers. I am SO glad that our President is doing the maximum to help them without crossing that invisible line that endangers the rest of the world as well — although it may yet come to that....
President Biden is not doing the maximum. And President Putin’s nuclear bluff is total nonsense. We are watching Ukraine be destroyed. A Ukrainian citizen force has whipped the mighty Russian bear - as Ukraine is being destroyed. Europe and Australia and many help, but the help is insufficient. President Zelenskyy begs for what he needs. The fearful cowardly allies blink.
This is Poland 1939. Italy and Germany are rolling. China is smiling as his nearest enemy is hated.
Who cares about Ukraine?
Think about King Leopold and the Congo. He cut off their hands to make rubber. When the newly hatched war photographers published, Leopold was sent packing.
Putin needs a kick in the ass.
Putin will roll through Ukraine to Poland and the Baltics. He wants the Atlantic Ocean.
We have WW III. Ukraine is WW III.
We blew Vietnam. We blew Iraq. We are blowing Ukraine.
Nato is great. But Nato is not us. America needs to export Tucker with his friends to GITMO for a week of therapy. We need to offer then passage to Siberia.
Zelenskyy declined the ride we offered. He asked for the means.
Pull out the stops.
War is not war when ambivalence rules. It’s losing as we did in Korea with armistice, in Saigon with 58,000 dead and America changed.
Ukraine is the ballgame. We can learn about the value of freedom from Zelenskyy and Ukrainians.
Let’s give Zelenskyy what he needs.
Sandy. I feel the same on an emotional level. But on a practical and risk based level, I ask you to review your statements.
1. Putin has shown his disregard for human life and the planet itself. If a tactical nuclear weapon would gain him an advantage, he would use it. This is not a bluff.
2. NATO is indeed us.
3. "Pull out the stops"? Escalate? Russia has a history of conflict that casually results in millions of deaths. And Putin is another Stalin. A madman. Clever, but totally unbalanced. (Sounds familiar, eh?)
I agree that "we blew Vietnam and Iraq". We should not have been in either country. And local resistance was more powerful than our "superior" forces. They beat us because they were motivated - just like Ukrainians.
Korea? Please. I think we can make the case for justification there. If all of Korea were like North Korea, Earth's hell would be larger. But we were out manned. The Chinese were coming over the hill faster than we could shoot them. And there were millions more behind them. Should we have escalated that war as well and bombed major Chinese cities?
I share your anger and frustration. But Biden is handling this situation very well. We ARE assisting by providing all manner of weaponry. And we just entered into a process where we can help NATO send Russian tanks (that the Ukrainians know how to use) to aid in the fight.
And we are sending more American NATO troops to those countries that might be threatened by a Russian expansion.
Putin is losing the war. Slaughtering his way in retreat. Russians will not put up with Putin forever. All of this will take much too long, of course. But it beats the speed of a nuclear explosion. And the impact on the rest of the world? Nuclear fallout drifting with the winds...
And now, back to the other front of the war on freedom. The fascist attempted coup of the USA.
Bill Alstrom, of course. Perfect sense. MAD risks nuclear war. So does ambivalence. Afghanistan. Cuba. Unthinkable. But real. My wife’s Opa was ‘25 Nobel James Franck. Close to the kind Albert Einstein, close to the heavy handed pianist Edward Teller. Close to Lise Meitner, brightest of all. Study The Franck Report, ignored by Harry S Truman. Franck dropped physics, took up photosynthesis.
We know the Russians and our CIA operatives. The logic is not always clear. Stalin was certifiable. A sick man. Demented. Sick. Bluffing Nikita Kruschev was not. Andropov was very sane. Like soccer. Mr. Gorbachev was perfectly sane and in love. Putin is nasty, cunning, psychotic, cruel, psychopathic, but not suicidal. He’s a coward. He will not initiate thermonuclear war. He likes his sex life in Switzerland. He is immensely wealthy. He will retire rich like Leopold II. When they threaten, it’s a bluff. Worry about the silent. America must not tolerate Syria, MBS, Kim in N. Korea - where armistice is a state of war for China’s proxy. We must worry about China and fresh water and our own fascists - where racial intolerance rules and the incredible pain persists - ignored here.
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is a God send. Watch her. She is the light. The love of America.
There is hope with judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.
God likes us. 
'Ambivalence' is dangerous.
'The lying and the truth'
By, Timothy Snyder (fully copied from the historian's newsletter 'Thinking about....' 2 April 2022')
The lying
that there is no Ukraine
that there is no nation
that there is no state
The war to make the lies true
The lying about the war
The shelling of Kyiv
The shelling of Kharkiv
The shelling of Chernihiv
The old beautiful cities
The shelling everywhere
The bombing everywhere
The ghastly siege of Mariupol
The attacks on refugees from Mariupol
The bombing of children in Mariupol
The lying about Mariupol
The attacks on refugees from everywhere
The reporters
The truth of seeing
The abducted
The deported
The millions in flight
The schools Those bombed schools
The hospitals Those bombed hospitals
The archives burned
The lying about the schools and the hospitals
The lying on Russian television
The lying at Russian funerals
The lying about death that enables
The killing for a lie
The future lying enabled by the burning of records about the past
The truth under everything
The rubble, the bodies
The volunteers
The truth of solidarity
The mass murder at Irpin, the bodies under tanks
The mass murder at Bucha, the hands behind backs
The mass murder at Trostyanets, the desecration of corpses
The cities, the towns, the villages, the countryside
The murders everywhere
The truth
(Copied in full from Timothy Snyder's newsletter, 'Thinking about...')
🌿❤️
I am also a fan of Timothy Snyder.
Viewing what Russia is doing in Ukraine, and also what the Republican leadership did in attempting to depose democracy right here, from that "practical and risk based level" you suggest, means doing little more than debating issues. There is a time to be 'practical' and a time to take risks in Ukraine and at home. Manhattan prosecutor Bragg chose the 'practical' course and the defeated former president is gloating. President Biden and Attorney-General Garland have decisions to make which will affect democracy right here and in the rest of the world as well.
Jack Lippman - I was raised by Bruno Bettelheim. He experienced Dachau and Buchenwald. He said in 1955 that I - Sandy Lewis - would live to experience Nazi type slaughter in my lifetime. I was 15.
Never Again is NOW.
Bill, thanks for being a voice of reason. Sandy, you say, “We blew Vietnam. We blew Iraq.” to support your argument for the US to join the war in Ukraine. Are you saying we should send American troops to Ukraine? Sending troops to Vietnam and Iraq is how we “blew it” in those countries. I agree with Bill, Biden has handled a complex, dangerous situation very well. And I am far from convinced that a cornered, desperate Putin won’t use nuclear weapons.
JR The heart doesn't work.
I like and voted for Biden, I supported Obama and helped him with NYT, supported, helped and knew George McGovern, redrafted his economic plan from MIT, knew Tom Eagleton, took him to The Orthogenic School, he was a house guest, I was a guest with him and Barbara, we knew R. Sargent Shriver, I knew Fritz Mondale, Jimmy Carter very slightly, dad knew Jack Javitz well, we worked on immigration, we knew Nelson A. Rockefeller very well, I know and detest George Elmer Pataki - et cetera.... but we start with the law. Wars must be declared. Exception: nuclear response to incoming missiles and base protection in our worldwide operations. We must give the commander in chief the power to react. This does not justify Kuwait with 550,000 involved with GHWB ... or what followed with W. The lines of authority slide in nuclear with missiles. But congress must declare and the Draft was obliterated by congress because Nobel Milton Friedman wanted to free the president and congress to fight without a draft... fearing a reluctant citizenry. In Ukraine, we must act... but only with congressional approval... bipartisan support is essential. If genocide does not matter, we will have genocide - as we see in many areas of the globe. In Ukraine, we see a democracy resisting a dictatorship... and the Security Council is helpless. We should act. I do not believe thermonuclear war will result. Putin wants to live.
Sandy, you’ve found your tribe here. We don’t think you’re crazy. You resonate with most of us. Keep sharing, my friend. I just read the NYT piece about you and cried and laughed and appreciated Barbara as being such a find for you and her because of course you’re difficult to live with and she does it and we’re all better off for her keeping you alive. Because you’re not done yet. And you’ve found your tribe now, too. Ethics and brains. My head is spinning. You are not alone here. You are appreciated.
I think you are commenting outside your circle of competence. I trust the wisdom of moral & Christian just war theory. War should always be the last resort. We have learned from the mistakes of Iraq.
Congress declaring war is a ship that sailed long ago. Congress is dysfunctional and has abdicated its role in such matters. Many Presidents ago. "Bi-partisan support?" Another ship over the horizon. Biden is doing a very delicate dance. I am grateful. More weapons, more aid is on its way.
American and/or NATO boots on the ground in Ukraine would do nothing to improve the lot of the Ukrainians. Just ask all the other nations we have tried to "aid". Can we and will we do more to enable the Ukrainians? Yes and yes. But no US boots, no US planes. The repercussions would be immense. There are millions of naive, misinformed Russian draftees who would be ready to run into the slaughter. It's a Russian tradition.
As horrific as the genocide is in Ukraine, I, for one, do not think NATO can achieve our goals by directly initiating combat with Russian forces. That will lead to an even greater carnage and give Putin the reasons he needs to move into Poland or Finland. Of course, if he took that step, the entire "free world" would be engaged. WW III. We would be lighting a match over the puddle of gasoline.
But reasons to be optimistic. Russian forces are performing poorly. They are not the army Putin thought he had. They are losing ground and giving back territory. There is dissension in the ranks and in Moscow. Heads are rolling. The pain of the Russian people has just begun. Putin is a short timer. Not quick enough. But it's inevitable.
I think we should consider the idea that we have limited control over the events of the world. What is happening in Ukraine is not "fixable" by just "getting tough". And haven't we shown a lot of sympathy to Europeans in this situation and done very little for Rwanda or Yemen or Sudan? Interesting, I think.
As much as I admire the Ukrainians and respect their desire for freedom and independence, we are not powerful enough to be the guarantor of such in all 193 countries on the Earth.
And please consider this. Not very long ago Ukraine had nuclear missiles - aimed at us. Their interest in democracy is quite new. No excuse for what Putin is doing. But Ukraine is not Canada.
Should we do every possible thing in terms of providing weapons, ammunition, and technology as well as assistance to the civilian population? Yes.
I don't think Putin is concerned with anything other than his legacy along with Stalin. "Make Russia great again" no matter the costs.
You say "We should act. I do not believe thermonuclear war will result. Putin wants to live." But there are ways Putin could employ dirty bombs and/or chemical agents that would not qualify as a missile strike. How would we respond to that?
If we handle this correctly, Putin will find an off ramp before his people slip him some novichok. Then we'll be looking at reparations from Russia. It will be a multi-generational story with no satisfying ending.
But hey, when that big ice shelf breaks off, we'll be worried about some even bigger problems.
Javits.
Bill, I would submit that were Putin determined to escalate, he would invent a pretext for doing so. Meanwhile, short of putting American and NATO troops on the ground or in the air, I believe that 1) continuing to resupply Ukraine with much needed munitions and 2) providing the air power Ukraine requires to enforce its own no-fly zone are Ukraine’s best shots, in my view, at maintaining a stalemate and moving both parties towards a negotiated settlement. I, further, would note it is my understanding that, currently, Zelensky is requesting no more and no less.
Putin has already decided whether or not he will unleash nuclear or chemical weapons. It is left for him to decide only what he will use as an excuse. What are the reasons he may be withdrawing many Russian troops? And training fresh young troops?
Past the most effective time we could have given Ukraine the arms they requested. We need to send them immediately, if not sooner.
Bill Alstrom, we are witnessing pure GENOCIDE. The good Andrei Kozyrev former Russian foreign minister, gets it. He understands Putin. He’s right. Putin will not use nuclear weapons. Period.
I agree with Bill, war should always be the last resort. Since Ukraine is not a member of NATO, this is a UN problem. The UN must be reformed to prevent future Ukranian humanitarian crises. For now, Biden must continue to lead NATO & strategically supply Ukraine. He should seek further assistance from China.
UN problem????? No, this is a worldwide problem that involves every human on earth.
We need a strong UN and UN needs strong democracies to grow it’s strength. Putin has long been in the making. The time to intervene was decades ago. We are way behind the 8 ball now with autocracies rising around the world and monsters like Putin with the nuclear power to take all of us out with him. The world leader in democracy fell asleep at the wheel and let the monsters in their front door.
If we don’t stop Putin now, when?
If not here, where?
If not now, when?
If not when, how?
If not, what ends?
Perchance, the knots may unravel in that line keeping a great evil in check.
I too greatly admire Mr Biden’s strategy, thinking it the right thing to do instead of applying a pretext-driven military reflex. At the same time I share the angst, the fear, that honoring a principle of never again can come at too high a cost for humanity and democracy, as Sandy suggests.
I appreciate the discussion here as I see parallels on the international stage as to how laws interpreted are used to maintain the status quo, effectively blocking growth in democracy achieved within this American theater.
When? When our CIA and the intel operations of our NATO partners determine that the Russian people, their military, and their oligarchs will not do the job themselves. Acting decisively ourselves before that point can strengthen his hold on these groups, painting our actions as Western 'picking on Russia.'
We have fear itself to fear.
Sandy, did you ask Bruno Bettelheim how he knew you would see genocide in your lifetime? Did you ask him what causes such madness? Did you ask what can be done to prevent it? Did you understand his answer? I’m not meaning to disrespect you, a man that appears to have way above average intellect and the motivation to be self taught. However I am extremely grateful that a man of Biden’s composure, grace, and experience in the matters of world governments and leaders is making such decisions and not an emotional and reactive though very intelligent Sandy Lewis. Peace ☮️
Well said. thanks.
How many more people will be slaughtered before the Russians 'will not put up with Putin forever?' (Bill Alstrom, quote)
There is more than one channel, Bill, that some human beings can pay attention to:
'Scenes of horror in Bucha spark outcry'
‘Scenes of horror and devastation emerged as Russian troops withdrew from towns they had seized in the opening days of the invasion of Ukraine. Bucha Mayor Anatoly Fedoruk told The Washington Post that about 270 residents had been buried in two graves. He estimated that 40 bodies were on the streets’.
‘Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Russian attack on his nation amounted to a genocide.’
‘ODESSA, Ukraine — Explosions rocked Odessa early Sunday as Russia said its missiles struck an oil refinery and fuel storage facilities — sending thick dark plumes of smoke into the sky in the first major strikes on the strategic Black Sea port city’s downtown.’ (WAPO)
‘As the days and weeks went by, food became scarce and any good will from the soldiers vanished, too. Residents boiled snow for water and lived off what they had stored from their small gardens. Russian soldiers, without a proper logistics pipeline, began looting people’s homes, shops and even the local chocolate factory. One butcher spray painted “ALREADY LOOTED” on his shop so the soldiers would not break in. On another store, another deterrence: “EVERYTHING IS TAKEN, NOTHING LEFT.”
‘Elections in Hungary and Serbia looked set to extend the rule of Europe’s two most Kremlin-friendly leaders.’ (NYTimes)
Note: President V. Putin claims to be very religious, and he has the allegiance of the top Russian prelate, the head of Greek Orthodox or Russian Church that split from Rome back when: no real surprise. So, Pope Francis is now thinking: should The Holy Father Pope Francis question the strange credibility of the Russian Orthodox leader that’s supporting genocide - and add yet another controversy to the Big Lie Tribal folks of Fox Fix? Clearly the Vatican in Rome is inching towards questioning Putin’s brutal killing of civilians.
Russians of conscience are silent or ignorant or both. We can correct ignorance.
Fern and Sandy. You both accurately describe the situation. The horrors unfolding. But what specific actions do you think the US should take now in response - other than providing weapons, technology, intelligence and humanitarian aid. And should that "whatever" be in concert with NATO? How should we "flex" or act more aggressively?
If America fails to flex on this Russian sponsored genocide, Never Again will mean nothing.
We agree.
Thanks for this!
I completely agree. If ever there was a just war, this is it. Ukraine can defend itself if we provide the equipment and intelligence. Give them what they need, all of it, including planes. If we don’t stop Putin and his henchmen in Ukraine, history proves they will continue invading and destroying other nations. Every inch they gain emboldens them.
The nuclear threat hangs over our heads regardless, it’s no excuse to abandon an ally.
I agree, Diane. Give them all the equipment they need and have requested including planes. Maybe the gut wrenching photos shown this morning after the Ukrainians went back and discovered the bodies in the street, hands tied behind their backs, will finally be the tipping point.
Correct!
❤️
Is this you? https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/16/nyregion/the-lonely-redemption-of-sandy-lewis-wall-street-provocateur.html
Also, this, I think. https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/former-wall-street-maverick-sandy-lewis-is-an-adirondack-agitator/Content?oid=18420897
Glad to have Sandy here, makes for a more interesting comments section. BTW, “Liar’s Poker” is the best expose of Wall St I’ve read. I believe Sandy was a source for the book. (Correction, Sandy was a source for "House of Cards", another expose of Wall St - jr).
Agreed. Sandy is a welcome irritant who makes us all think, not the troll we originally suspected he was....
I was not a source for Michael Lewis’ first Wall Street book. Salomon syndicate brilliant partner John H. Gutfreund was quoted and ridiculed. I had departed SB&H by that time. Michael Lewis (not related) was accurate. Gutfreund was trapped.
Yes, Gailee, it is the same Sandy Lewis
WOW! Thanks for the link.
Thanks for finding this article, Gailee.
I would tend to agree with you. I feel if he wants to peruse nuclear war or cyber attacks he will do it no matter. I don’t think Zelenski is asking for anything he shouldn't have right now.
“Peace for our time”?
Neville Chamberlain
You may want to read today's WAPO Mag article/interview w retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman. I agree with him that this is the most important win of the century. He makes a very strong case as former Director of Russian Affairs for the NSC and was born in Ukraine. The interview was conducted on March 8, 2022.
"Alexander Vindman discusses the invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and the dangers ahead -" The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2022/03/23/ukraine-russia-putin-war-alexander-vindman/
Small point: Col. Vindman and his equally distinguished twin brother may have been born in Ukraine (then part of the USSR), but they are 100% American.
Good point, Jon, thx!
It’s worth mentioning that Vindman was the person who exposed Trump’s “perfect phone call” attempt to blackmail Ukraine, which led to his first impeachment. Trump fired him.
Most here are likely aware of Lt. Col. Vindman's book "Here, Right Matters". If not or you haven't yet read it, I recommend it. It's not classy literary writing but pretty straightforward and provides, in the first person, who he is and how he became such a dedicated American.
Another small point: The article is dated March 23, 2022. But thanks for finding and sharing it, smv1540.
I neglected to say the interview was conducted March 7, 2022, thanks Mim. Article is in the 4-3-22 WAPO Sunday magazine.
Thank you.
💕🌻
I find the comments of the Russian that was interviewed in Finland to exactly mirror the situation of American Trumpistas.
“The problem is that there are many Russians who cannot admit our mistakes, cannot realize that we are trapped in a nightmare,” an art director told Doyle. “It’s much easier to watch TV and absorb the government propaganda. It’s easier to not think…. You have this vast country with many people who are poor and who have never travelled abroad. They are very isolated, with no communication, only their television. They work hard all day, come home exhausted and the TV is their only source.”
If anyone had any questions about how people could vote against their own interests, here is the answer. And I am sorry, but the answer is not that they are “deplorable”. Understand that our language is also propaganda and we need to make sure that our propaganda remains truthful rather than vindictive.
Wow Patricia, thanks for your very constructive thoughts. I totally agree with you! The only thing I would add is the social media choices of the folks we are talking about. Very difficult to penetrate or change the resulting alternate reality of both TV and mobile device.
Thank you Patricia, I was thinking along those very lines, how much Russian TV watchers have in common with people who vote Republican.
Very well said, Gailee. Your point #2 is particularly poignant. I devoutly hope that it is not too late for them to "realize" where they have taken us.
Agree Ally. I believe the spiritual realm of the universe always provides a time line and scenarios for mere humans to look and wonder about. That it had to be the decimation of Ukraine and cruel regard for its people, on top of the clear picture that emerges from Jan 6th committee and clear perceptive reporting from authors such as HCR and TC…..it’s pretty much in the face of every American…really every human on the planet. Free to live, love, create. Or, subjugated to a political philosophy which does not honor the collective good.
I tremble to think what more needs to be shown to humans to open their minds to the Light instead of cringing and creeping in darkness.
I see you, Ally. Salud!
“I tremble to think what more needs to be shown to humans to open their minds to the Light . . .”
I am quoting just one segment of your lovely piece, Christine, but know that I absolutely love all of it.
It's hard for me not to hate all republicans because they can't see what's happening to our democracy. They can't see what they are ALLOWING to happen.
"ALLOWING"
The R's can clearly see what is happening, being enslaved by the Great Deceiver, they have created the origination of the dismantling of American Democracy.
HOW?
By their clandestine brotherhood of old rich bigoted lying, cheating, dark room existence of both complicit silence combined with bribery on the grandest of scale transforming ALL R's into their fervent allegiance to insatiable greed & power.
Not "Allowing"...
By the R's SELF-AGGRANDIZMENT ON THE GRANDEST OF SCALE!
My mother's parents are turning in their graves - there was a time people of that political persuasion were decent and kind hearted ....
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on HIM the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6
I confess to smiling at biblical references, especially by us “liberals”. I long ago decided the religious right does not read the book they claim to love. Perhaps you can appreciate my weird humor at thinking about their love affair with Russia being tied to the statement in Revelation that a bear will help the Beast for a while at least (that’s a paraphrase of the text). If I were a betting man (which I am not :-)) They are misreading that part of the book too.
Patricia Andrews (WA)
Yes.
I do appreciate your humor of intermingling a juxtaposition of Russia's evilness Putin’s, (bear), and the Beast as set out in the book of Revelation in our Holy Bible.
I believe you may be referencing the book of Revelation and indeed they are misreading that part of the book also.
To wit:
Revelation 13:17, KJV:
“And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”
An interesting side bar note:
There is the long held conjecture that reference to the phrase "...number of his name...", is 666, (the Evil One, the False Prophet, the Anti-Christ, the Devil...A rose by any other name smells just the same).
The verse 13:17 describes the False Prophet's implementation of the ‘mark of the beast.’
This comes from a Greek word, charagma, which is used to describe the branding of livestock.
The purpose of this mark is to identify the bearer as one loyal to the Antichrist, e.g. the Beast.
Other statements in the book of Revelation make it clear that true believers will reject this mark (Revelation 20:4), and those who take it are knowingly rejecting God and His gospel (Revelation 14:9–11).
In other words, the mark is not something "innocent" people will be tricked into accepting.
Evidently some seem not so innocent and have already been tricked into accepting the Beast as their god, Eh!?
My caveat to you is the fact that every person contemplatively reading Holy Scripture is immediately interpreting the meaning of their reading based upon their collective experiences up to that moment of reading.
Or.
Actually hearing the voice of GOD based upon the blessing of HIS inspiration HE is giving to the reader to understand GOD's particular message to that reader at that moment of reading.
Right on. But given that we are talking about at least one-third of the American population we are not dealing with a mere cult or faction. This is much bigger. There appears to me only one way out of this for Russia and the U.S. Start over, as in our case drastically change the Constitution (which may involve creating two countries here). Actually, we have a second option: give the Democrats a super majority in the House and Senate so there is a 60-40 power base to get rid of gridlock. How likely is either? I wouldn't want the Las Vegas oddsmakers to tell us. Enjoy life while we can.
VOTE INTELLIGENTLY and help your neighbors to become educated about the issues, candidates, incumbents... bar-b-Q pot luck gatherings etc.
DO IT!
Isaiah 53:6
A chilling letter, Heather; it must have been a difficult one to write on both fronts. Putin and his army's blood curdling crimes are mirrored by those that tfg and his lackeys are capable of committing.
"They were just little things, those silly schedules and the articles about some deluded plan to decertify the state election results, littler than the many other norms Trump had broken. They were easily ignored or explained away by those who supported the president as well as by those just eager to see him gone. And yet, it turns out we should have been paying better attention: they were the signs that we were on the verge of losing our democracy.'
Thanks for highlighting Dr. Richardson's last paragraph.
I am sending that paragraph far and wide making me EVEN more popular with my growing number of former Republican friends.
:-)
I have none left. Sorry, Bill Maher and those who think we should not be tribal. When people show you who they are, believe them.
Jeri, I understand you and, apart from a tacit understanding that we are fellow humans, I have no idea how to communicate at any depth with those in my own family.
That said, these people are showing you their nasty contagious disease, not what they are.
What is peculiar to this psychotic condition is how it not only spreads through the population directly infected, it befouls the innocent victims of their madness, their children and grandchildren. It scars generations.
Let us do all we can to protect ourselves from the disease and the diseased, even killing criminal psychopaths if we must, as surgeons amputate gangrened limbs. But let us hate no one.
Hatred is the primary symptom of their mass madness.
"It scars generations." Chilling thought.
The seven generations principle got run over and decimated when indigenous peoples were treated with the same madness. “Seven generation stewardship is a concept that urges the current generation of humans to live and work for the benefit of the seventh generation into the future.[citation needed] It is believed to have originated[citation needed] with the Iroquois – Great Law of the Iroquois – which holds appropriate to think seven generations ahead” (wiki)
Thank you for citing this wisdom from a more stable society.
The accelerating treadmill that is ours makes it difficult to manage our own lives and enable our children to manage theirs, let alone build for posterity.
We are trying to face down parasites who bleed both the present and the future dry.
So true. And, unfortunately, our current society only looks to the next quarterly financial report. It prevents us from learning sufficiently from the past (and believing we won't repeating it) as well as not planning sufficiently for the future.
When something is predictable, it's potentially preventable.
Yes. And still we've not learned.
Thank you for your viewpoint, Peter. I live among them and battle my knowledge of them as good people, vs. my feeling that to support TFG and the GOP makes them monsters. I’ve come to the conclusion also that they may deserve my pity. Of course I suppose that makes me an elitist. ; )
If you just substitute the word compassion for pity, I think that gives you some more room.
Yes compassion. Try to remember that we were one and all duped by a sophisticated worldwide attempt to subvert democracy. As brilliance once again catches us up we will put it together again. Stronger. I went to war. I want to fight the bastards with every ounce of cunning and strength in my frail old man body. When it comes time to die that is the easy part. To lay down your life heroically. No fear, no shame knowing you exercise your only option. We must walk slowly among the dead. We must walk slowly amongst those still living as well. We must find that way which preserves their lives. If we put a million men into the breach we can arrest the motion of war and the outlook of the future. No doubt. We may yet go there. We may have no choice but to go there. I trust this president. I choose to trust this American assemblage of great wisdom and experience that came out of the ether coalescing around these letters to America. In every period of The American journey we have met the resistance head on and while this one is on our watch the tide will come in once again. We have to do this. We have to calmly re-unite our fractured factions. And yes, with Joy’s compassion.
How well put.
No elitist, just sane.
A dangerous condition when surrounded by the insane...
Try reading HG Wells' Country of the Blind.
Or Saramago...
Only if you lose the struggle to maintain some compassion.
Salud, Gail. We certainly have our challenges living in FL.
We’re quite friendly, to a point. I struggle with thinking myself a hypocrite for not torching their LGB flags...
Well felt, Peter.
Thank you for how you've put it.
Feeling matters, but it took me a long time to understand how much.
💕❤️💕
Its a shared experience for sure. One that comes with a new definition of Patriotism. The old one is useless in its inadequacy
I paid attention, and my blood ran a little colder every day. All in plain sight, and another cut every hour of every day. While we tuned in and dropped out.
Jeri, as did I. I've lost track of the times I have said, "in plain site".
You’ve said it as many times as you have said “Be safe. Be well”. I remain wondering how we humans are so able to ignore when one does not want to see.
Salud, Linda.
Good morning Christine. Both statements I firmly believe in.
I agree, what is the tipping point for those that deny what their eyes show them.
There are many wondering the same thing, “hoping” they come to see it, scared they might not, yet ready to battle if it comes to that to save the common good.
At some point I became numb and I’m not sure how to fix it now. Masking only works most of the time.
Agreed: This was one of the Professor's most gut-wrenching.
Good morning my friend. A sobering missive from Heather. I am humbled on this Sunday morning at the tipping point that freedom precariously balances on. And pray and implore to have yet another chance to make things right in the name of common good and abundance.
And so it is. Please.
Salud, Rowshan.
how many times have you heard someone say, "history is so boring, all those names and dates." those names and dates sometimes turn out to be the most fascinating aspects of history. Meanwhile, in russia today as in bolshevik times, the people in the remote hinterlands hardly matter. it's the people in the cities in western russia who matter. can the truth reach them in time, and how much damage has biden's gaffe done in slowing down that realization?
This quote from the article could just as easily be about folks in America watching Fox News as their only major source of information: “It’s much easier to watch TV and absorb the government propaganda. It’s easier to not think…. You have this vast country with many people who are poor and who have never travelled abroad. They are very isolated, with no communication, only their television. They work hard all day, come home exhausted and the TV is their only source.” Putin & Trump are the same kind of animal. Trump and his cabal must be dealt with...Ukraine is the preview of how far it can go. It's all there for us to witness and resist.
Absolutely right: Fox News will be the Government News Agency after the fall of Democracy.
Just imagine. The only information we will get comes from Hannity and Carlson.
This shows the power of a behavior I routinely saw in American corporations.
I will use the words "currying favor", but, really, the words that are more appropriate are "kissing arse". Those latter words are the key to rising in corporations. No joke. Same with Trump.
Hannity and Carlson spent Trump's four years on their knees behind Trump kissing his arse.
In Corporate America the rewards of spending your career on your knees are profound in the extreme. Those that do end up as VP. Those that don't often end up unemployed.
I tred a middle ground by staying highly technical so my value was not the thickness of the callous on my knees and also attempting to be benign verbally when in the presence of some loser with half a brain who was my boss.
But, Carlson and Hannity? THEY are the very model of a corporate arse kisser. Nothing true ever emanates, and, their knees are thickly calloused from crawling around on them mewling at the feet to "The Donald".
Truth.
Mike, I read your (repeated) message very clearly and I hope that many will.
It is very important.
What matters especially is the attention you are drawing to the deliberate super--spreaders of their deadly disease.
"...super-spreaders of their deadly disease" Spot on!
I read Mike's (repeated) message and apply it to my own career. The synopsis that I use is "success without promotion". I worked for the SO for 28+ years, and retired as a line Deputy. I flirted with promotion from 1998-2002 (during that time frame I worked out of class as an "AIC*" Sergeant for 80% of the hours I worked which included over 500 hours of overtime filling in for one sergeant who was ultimately given the "opportunity" to resign in lieu of termination for gender based harassment after his multiple "management plans" failed to produce the desired results. During that time, I tested for sergeant, was the #1 candidate coming out of that process, and saw three others promoted instead of me. I determined that I was "not what they were looking for" in a first line supervisor, which was ultimately the most positive thing that happened to me in my career (I watched the female who was promoted sell her soul to them and both of the others left the department for greener pastures within 5 years). I think that my ultimate death knell was that during the time on the promotion list, the lieutenant asked me how to "encourage" one deputy to apply for promotion, or to take on a role as a training officer. My reply was, essentially, that he came to work every day, did more than his share of the work, wrote decent reports, and was easy to work with, exemplifying a team player. Why should we push him to move out of what he was really good at, and make him do something he didn't want to do? Apparently, that was the wrong answer...
Ally, well written capture of the dysfunction.
For millions Fox is already state TV.
And the mainstream media is more than happy to spread Fox's propaganda.
Well said. Even in education with administrators who like to have their arses kissed have plenty around them with calluses on their knees. Why....so they could get the coaching assignment they wanted, or the teaching schedule they wanted, minimum work of course, so they take revenge on people who refused to go along with everything subjected to high and mighty sports. I could go on. This is a sure way to raise tension to the cutting it with a knife level and energy that should go to kids goes to fear of what will happen next.
Makes me 🤮
😰🤢🤮🤢😰
And CBS?
Unlike the Russians, Americans have a choice on whether to watch Fox "News". Unlike the Russians, White conservative evangelicals & conservative Catholics are also being fed "cheap grace theology" on Sundays by "mere peddlers of God's word", read "Jesus & John Wayne", or "The Power Worshippers", or "Christians against Christianity'. Such evil is much worse when done out of "religious" conviction.
The religion of white Christian nationalism
It is threatening our democratic republic, read "The Flag & The Cross" by Gorski.
Exactly so. It describes the Americans who sup at the Faux Noise trough. They don't have to think, they get their collective amygdalae tickled every day.
And to think my impression of Oregonians was one in which the nether regions of Arkansas prevailed. You really slaughter that vision. Could you visit Port Orford please and let them know life has filtered back this spring, in copious abundance. A La the Ally.
Sadly, from Bandon south the Oregon Coast seems to be more like the Arkansas that you describe. Bandon (about a 2.5 hour drive for us) used to be a favorite getaway spot. Not anymore.
I enjoyed doing truck driving deliveries up the coast, from Crescent City CA all the way up to Lincoln City, but I was delivering exclusively to health food stores . . .
Mike, the same thoughts occurred to me as I read that paragraph
That was my thought exactly.
Oh my God. From a Russian: Everything I hear, I'm not sure, is true or not?
This is what a world run by authoritarians is all about. You will do as I say. You will not question. You will do or die. You choose.
See, Daria? Doesn't this describe the prescribed 'woman's role' in the equation - that and keeping silent at all costs ... is it any wonder that men (and women) who do not relate to the role they are assigned in this paradigm, identify as 'gay' ...?!
Oh, no, Kathleen. I understand far better than you could possibly ever imagine. I have spent the last 14 years of my life being categorized as less than a whole human because I have no vocal cords and speak via an electronic device. I need no lessons in supremacy or subjugation. I live it every single day of my life facing people who ridicule and malign. Do not ever presume the life of someone who lives outside your precept of a paradigm. There are many forms of hell which you are not personally familiar with. Don't school me on what you believe to be valid and genuine. I live my truth every god damded day and trust me, you have no idea how ugly and mean people are on a personal, not conceptual basis.
I effing know what enforced silence is. I spent 2 years literally unable to speak, writing any and everything I needed to communicate down on a piece of effing paper or white board or computer. I know what it is like to order a god damned cup of coffee black and have it brought to me with cream and sugar because I'm flawed and cannot possibly know what it is I really want or need. NO MORE. You nor anyone else should believe that you can articulate my needs or anyone else's needs who are not your own or in the mainstream. I DO NOT need anyone saying, see Daria, to me. I struggle every god damned day to live a full, balanced life. I struggle in ways you will never know. So please, do not ever lecture me about human and civil rights. I live it every day of my life.
daria,
I think Kathleen was agreeing with your post by providing a specific example of similarity.
However, thank you for outlining your profound challenges and the difficulties presented by being different. Very tough indeed daria.
Your writing has a great clarity so your words penetrate the mist.
Be well.
Thank you Mike. Yes, I very much agree with what Daria said - and was expressing how it articulated the point I attempted to make. And yes, I deeply agree with what you say here ... kudos to Daria for saying - and being able to say what needs to be said ... over and over until people listen and hear, comprehend and act accordingly ... be well, all ....
Mike, perhaps Kathleen was in agreement, perhaps not. Kathleen has taken me to task, in the past, for my "sins" of omission when commenting but I am done. I'm done with people second guessing my motives or perceptions. I'm done with having someone tell me that my POV is flawed, my POV is less than theirs, my POV is not inclusive or unpatriotic or unsympathetic to whomever or whatever subject or cause is the subject du jour. People spend untold amounts of time on this platform expressing themselves. Some in dribs, drabs, and oneliners, others in lengthy essays. All of that is okay. But damn it, once in a while, when a comment is made, does it have to be redirected to another topic entirely? And once it's redirected doesn't any other topic become fair game? I'm sorry. I'm simply done this morning and need to shut up. Be well.
Daria among all the posters here, your voice is among those to which I listen. Others, who attempt to hijack the conversation to something entirely different do a disservice, I think, both to this group and to the cause they espouse. Thank you for being here.
Gail, thank you.
daria, we, on this board, are with you.
Almost exclusively, this board is supportive EVEN when another post appears "critical". Diversity of thought is what gives any entity REAL power.
daria, Some of my posts were (appropriately) called out because I did not have appropriate references. Since then, I have tried to obtain good references when I make fact statements (not opinion....which...I just post).
I am sure Kathleen was attempting to show compassion through similarity.
We are with you daria. EVEN if someone offers another angle or diversity of thought. Which, in Kathleen's post was not the case.
She was agreeing through similarity matching.
Thank you again Mike - for saying what I may not be finding words to say ....
Next time you visit a lighthouse look at the beacon, we see that in you. Thank you!
Pat, I don't know what to say! Thank you
Right there with you today daria. I almost always find wisdom among these comments - yours in particular - and bristle more than a bit at some “redirection.” Wishing you peace today. Glad you are here.
Thanks, Sheila.
Daria, I don't recall taking you to task for 'sins of omission' ... unless I am mistaken, I have always felt your comments were insightful and relevant ... and I did say 'meow' to your cat ... that was you - yes?
Kathleen, Oy, I just wrote a response to your comment and it was inadvertently erased when I tried to post it. The post in question was at the start of the Russian Invasion of the Ukraine and how we, in the US, have not withstood an attack from an outside invader. You immediately called me to task for omitting the atrocities commited against Indigenous Americans. I apologized to you for the omission though my comment dealt with a pretty specific set of factors. Let's call it a day, I can't think anymore.
You can articulate better than most with superior vocal cords, bless your electronic device and the brain and courage behind it
Jeri, I am humbled.🌷
Jeri expressed it perfectly, Daria. I was struggling to get the “right” words to you on paper. You are a warrior and a truth seeker. That requires only a fine mind, an illuminated heart, and a forager of a spirit.
Check, check, check on the Daria list.
Salud and Love,Daria.
💜🙋🏻🙋🏼🙋🏽🙋🏾🙋🏿
much love and endless blessings upon you, Daria!
Salud & Love back, Christine.
Many here love you, Daria. I am humbled by the personal stories I have come across in this community, what others have overcome, and my world has been expanded so significantly by your words.
Heart.
Oh Daria, thank you for sharing your personal truth - I did not mean to insult or offend you - or school you on anything - just making the observation ... I can hardly guess what you go through with no vocal chords - how that must impact the function of your Vagus nerve which normally runs through the vocal chords ... Daria, if only I could touch you with healing hands and repair the damages you have suffered ... my heart goes out to you, dear Daria - please accept my apology for aggravating your tribulation - I meant no harm ... healing love to you ....
I have no vocal cords Kathleen. No. Vocal. Cords. I'm sorry to be so personal but I am tired and exhausted by academic arguments about what should and should not be for people who "fall outside the norm" whether it is race, ethnicity, color, sexual orientation, or differently abled. Live one day as "the other" you may, then understand where I and millions of others are coming from.
Thank you Daria, I hear you - loud and clear ... I too am fed up with so much, I cannot begin to say - even with vocal chords intact ... I am not offended by what you have said - can relate deeply, as an outcast in my own world for being sooo outspoken about matters more often left unsaid ... I appreciate that you express yourself openly and honestly - something too few people do often enough ... I carry your wound in my heart with healing love ....
Thank you, Kathleen. I appreciate that you have listened and heard.. I rarely respond and lash out so honestly and vehemently. I hold your frustration in my heart and hope it dissolves as days go by.
Kathleen, you cannot heal or repair me. I am angered by the presumption and arrogance. I would only urge you to think about the words you commit to others before posting them.
I know that Daria - however, if I could, I would ... and yes, I will endeavor to speak more care-fully with deeper sensitivity ....
I appreciate that. Thank you.
Daria, I should have said, "I agree Daria," not "See, Daria?" ... I meant the same - thank you for helping me to see the difference ....
Daria, I have read through this thread, and cannot imagine what it must be like/feel like to have "no voice." Your courage in providing your story of "enforced silence" gives further voice to your valuable comments here on LFAA. As someone here said, I too look for your comments as they are usually right on target, and often say tons in very few words. I hope you know that many here value your written voice. I believe you may already know I sure so.
Very much so Daria - what they said ....
Pam, I thank you.
♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
For the past sixty-five of my seventy-one years, I have identified as 'straight'. I have also had an inability to keep my mouth shut. Just yesterday, I was practically thrown out of a Trump wannabe's store-in Plains, Georgia, of all places, for daring to say that Barack Obama was a decent president. No, ladies-and gents, do not keep silent. The lives you save will be those of the people you love most. I do not intend this comment as "mansplaining". My mother was the source of much of my views of the world.
I appreciate your comment (but not sure how this would be taken as mansplaining.)
💙 to you, Daria. For sharing your lived experience, and for the deep wisdom you share with us on a daily basis, I thank you. You’re one of the voices I look for, to help me navigate this scary world.
Thanks, KR.
1984. Soviet Russia. Communist China.
"The president will depart the White House at 6:10PM for a victory rally in Dalton, GA". Now, what victory would he have been rallying about, on 3rd/4th January? Why is this man still on the loose, 15 months later?
I believe that was in anticipation of victory in the Georgia Senate races, which, we now know, were not Republican "victories," were they?
I think the biggest news here is that the Russians (police? the Army?) are accused of removing as many as 400,000 Ukrainian civilians from Ukraine and spiriting them off to.... where? Russia bordering Ukraine? Refugee camps? Prison camps? Death camps? Siberia, perhaps? Russia has a long and disgraceful history of imprisoning and eventually killing entire populations based on their ethnicity and beliefs (Alexander Solzhenitsyn knew a lot about this and wrote it down).
I think we in the relatively safe and comfortable West need to be ready for a long, nasty and wasteful conflict with Russia. It will cause many of us great anxiety and a fair amount of economic hardship, but Putin needs to be thwarted and frustrated to the point that Russia is on its knees economically. Once the Russian people understand why they are suffering more than usual and who's responsible, they will take care of their own business. Direct military intervention by NATO is to be avoided because Putin cannot be trusted not to shoot nukes at us, as he has threatened to do in an "existential" crisis. As poker players know, calling someone's bluff does not always work out.
The price the world will pay for failing to eliminate nuclear arms when that might still have been possible and preferring economic competition between sovereign states over the establishment of a cooperative, tolerant and peacefully coexisting international community will be borne by all of us, but in unequal measure.
And climate change/global warming will finally gain the world's full attention just about the same time we discover that we have waited too long.
"I think the biggest news here is that the Russians (police? the Army?) are accused of removing as many as 400,000 Ukrainian civilians from Ukraine and spiriting them off to.... where? "
Having read the Gulag Archipelago one winter when I was about 32 before I had kids when I had time for such a book, I can say: There a PLENTY of old Soviet prisons to house them.
Sadly. THE darkest book of my life.
Solzhenitsyn was my thesis subject back in the 70’s. It, and ‘A Day in the Life...’ were shattering. Svetlana Stalin’s autobiography is on my “just read” list. Our complacency and acceptance of status quo has consequences.
"A Day in the Life of Ivan I llyich " was the topic of a criticism paper I did while getting my MEd. Applebaum's "Gulag" is a more recent revelation of what happened and can happen.
Thanks for the recommendation!
1000% agree with this, Gail.
I read Gulag Archipelago right after it was published in English. It was a gut punch.
I can remember when I had 4 little kids under the age of 6 and I waited excitedly for this book to come out.
I read last week that citizens of Mariupol who were rounded up were indeed sent to Siberia. Human shields: the strategy of every monstrous autocrat in human history.
Sad but true, especially that last sentence
"I think we in the relatively safe and comfortable West need to be ready for a long, nasty and wasteful conflict with Russia."
Every minute that we allow Putin to terrorize Ukraine confirms for him that he can get away with it, and his actions will escalate. David, I think in response to one of HCR's columns you wrote that, using our fighter jets, it would take two days to eliminate Russia's presence in Ukraine. This. Is. What. We. Need. To. Do. We can't let this go on for months or years. We can't allow the destruction of Ukraine. We have to use our jets TO PROMOTE PEACE.
Diane, every minute we do not goad Putin into firing off the nukes is another minute we have to try to figure out the right response to his cruel aggression. The last thing the courageous Ukrainians need right now is a nuclear war.
Also, I do not recall suggesting that using US fighter jets would be a good idea in this situation, but only because it could set off a Russian nuclear response. In this sense, they have us by the you-know-whats, but we've got them that way too. Nuclear weapons are totally useless when more than one country has a bunch of them, and we should have eliminated them the day after a demonstration blast off the coast of Japan in the summer of 1945. Of course, that was not in the cards -- we hated Japan too much -- and history moved on.
David, it may not have been you who suggested using fighter jets to eliminate the conflict in two days.
Threats always make people hesitate. Is the threat real? Or is it meant just to intimidate? Would Putin really use nuclear missiles against Ukraine or the West if we stopped his aggressions by eliminating his army? I think the answer may be no if Putin understands that the West can respond in kind. Now I am reading about Buccha, and my thoughts are, of course. If Russians can't have something, they will destroy it so that no one else can have it either. My fear is that they will continue to destroy all of Ukraine. How long are we going to allow this to go on? And after Russia has destroyed Ukraine and gotten away with it, which country will be next? It seems that we may need to use weapons against the Russian army to destroy it in order to preserve what is left of Ukraine, and to establish peace.
Yes, Diane, it is extremely frustrating not to respond directly to Putin's murderous aggression by destroying his army and kicking Russian ass in Ukraine. In a world without nukes, that's what we would be doing, though without nukes and the threat of using them, even Putin would know he could never defeat our (and Europe's) conventional forces, and might have tried to get along better with his neighbors. But he's got nukes and so do we, lots of them, enough to exterminate humanity in short order. And for what? To punish Putin and his enablers? Talk about cutting off noses...
In any case, it appears the Russian military and Putin have had their noses bloodied by the freedom loving and united Ukrainians and their mini-missile-firing drones operated by high school age computer nerds. It is almost humorous. Now it is only a matter of time -- maybe not that long now -- before Putin's humiliation is complete and his generals and other enablers begin to realize they have bet on the wrong horse and utterly underestimated the rest of the world's intense interest in this war. We will only know in retrospect if we are at the crucial moment in history that either saved -- or destroyed -- our species, but I think a bit of patience is called for. If I were Putin, I would be eying each lamppost warily and compulsively loosening my tie every few minutes.
Here is an excerpt from Greg Olear's Substack column regarding Russia and nukes. I think he makes some good points, as do his readers in the comments. I'll post a link below.
"I don’t think Putin will use nuclear weapons. I don’t think his generals would obey such an order, even if it were given. And even if they did, I don’t think their missiles work. Putin and his thieves have boosted so much from Russia, stolen anything that wasn’t nailed down, that the nuclear program has likely fallen into disrepair, like the rest of their shit military.
This may, I’ll allow, be wishful thinking on my part. I am prone to wishful thinking. Like, I once believed that when the Republican Party figured out Trump was in bed with the Russians, they would be horrified and immediately repudiate him. Talk about gullible!
But I trust that Joe and Kamala will keep us safe. And honestly, I have enough to worry about without fretting over nuclear annihilation. . . ."
https://gregolear.substack.com/p/sunday-pages-earth?s=r
Diana, I think Greg O'Lear is a wishful thinker, as he admits. Putin's cruise missiles, also the hypersonic ones, are doing enormous damage and killing a lot of Ukrainians. If Putin is squeamish about nukes, it is only because he may not want one landing on him. And, I imagine that 20 odd years in power is enough time to pick generals who will follow his orders.
I too am gladad that Joe and Kamala
Yes, the saddest words of tongue or pen, what might have been. But that must not stop us from doing what we can. Quoting somebody else, the best time to plant a tree? Twenty years ago. Second best time? Today.
🤕😥🤕
The world will not eliminate nuclear arms. There will always be errant players who hold on to their weapons even if they pretend to dismantle them.
Diana, "there will always" always remains to be proven. We really don't know what might happen if always ever actually arrives.
Let's hope for the best.
Yes.
"Once the Russian people understand why they are suffering more than usual and who's responsible . . . ." I'm not sure I agree with this. Putin may tell the Russians that the world supports the Ukrainians who are killing the Russians. And that will make the gullible Russians hate the West.
I think the Russians may be subject to misinformation and disinformation, but I doubt they are particularly gullible, certainly no more than Americans in any case.
You're right.
Only sometimes....
Diana, I remember that when the Berlin Wall fell, a critical mass of Russians seemed to have understood that their government was failing them and they could not compete with the relative dynamism of the West. To put it bluntly, they wanted to be able to buy stuff and have a bit of free time and do some travelling, like Americans and Europeans could in 1989. On the other hand, the world has changed a lot since then, and hatred may dominate politics going forward in Russia as it appears to be doing in the USA.
The Russians ditching Putin is the best option that comes to mind, at the moment.
Oligarchs have already ditched Putin, but that has not made a difference. Although sanctions have been established, oligarchs still have the means to travel and purchase property. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/26/dubai-throws-open-the-doors-for-the-rich-russians-escaping-sanctions
Putin is a sadist! His ego has turned Europe, a continent of 600 million plus, upside down. The USA of around 333 million is at each other's throats helped by Republican, Russian, Chinese, and North Korean disinformation. The continent of Africa is going to have a lot of people suffering even more hunger and death due to the impact on food sources, but the despots running many countries there are in Putin's pockets. I know that some are often looking to Europe for new alliances, but are understandably wary. The world is in turmoil. Is peace a luxury, like clean air and water, that we will no longer have? I hope not! I am grateful each day that Joe Biden, even on his worst day, is in charge. The situation we find ourselves in call for experience and intelligence. Joe has both. World populations are shifting. What I find difficult about this shifting is that it changes the voting, and having so many people from undemocratic, and very conservative countries populate your country all of a sudden can shift the voting patterns as they become citizens. We see this in action in our own country. Europe has been more measured in letting people in, and while it is viewed as a fault it might help control the right shift. Russia hardly lets anyone in. Perhaps that is why its population does not get enough exposure to other ideas. Too bad! I do sense a growing dissatisfaction there, but it is slowly growing. like a rusty, rusty machine that needs oiling to get the gears cranking. Meanwhile we need to vigilantly fight the disinformation of the Republicans, Russians, Chinese, North Koreans and their social media paid agents and bots here at home. I am heartened that there is slow movement towards revealing Trumps crimes, which we hope leads to bringing him to justice. Enough that we see more and more Republican movement away from his camp. I am glad that an LGBTQ+ backed lawsuit in Florida is taking on the Trump-bot of a sadistic governor DeSantis. As I said the other day. We need to be very vocal for democracy. Many groups are trying to do just that. We need to simultaneously take care of business here at home while trying to support Ukraine against Putin's sadistic assault.
"I am grateful each day that Joe Biden, even on his worst day, is in charge. The situation we find ourselves in call for experience and intelligence. Joe has both. "
Me too Linda. Me too.
👍
I don't think it's that 'Russia doesn't let anyone else in.' Who wants to live in Russia? Do the oligarchs live in Russia? No. The Russian standard of life is not something that Westerners want.
As Duda said, Poland has crawled away from Russia's influence and does not want to go back there.
Diana, This is what I had read that led me to say it is hard to get in. Perhaps no harder than here for an immigrant. https://www.rbth.com/travel/330996-moving-russia-immigration-living-kirby
Thank you for posting the article!
President Biden called Putin a ‘murderer.’ Indeed, he is a murderer of Stalinist proportions.
In the early 1930s Stalin, by selling Ukrainian wheat to buy machinery for his Five Year Industrial Plan, starved to death between 3-to-6 million Ukrainians. Putin has invaded Ukraine and is killing countless thousands Ukrainians while destroying major urban areas.
Putin is callously killing and destroying to force President Zelensky to accept an imposed ‘settlement’ that would permit Putin to claim ‘victory’ from his disastrous military campaign.
Whatever the long-term American, NATO, and European strategy, Zelensky is confronted with an ongoing human tragedy.
Putin, his siloviki, and his unbridled military in Ukraine must be held accountable for their war crimes. Meanwhile, my heart goes out to brave Zelensky, who is facing a ‘Sophie’s choice’ decision.
"In the early 1930s Stalin, by selling Ukrainian wheat to buy machinery for his Five Year Industrial Plan, starved to death between 3-to-6 million Ukrainians."
AND, he starved roughly 38 MILLION kulaks in Russia. AT THE SAME TIME, the NY Times was writing glowing reports on Stalin's new approach to government.
No lie.
Note, I have subscribed to the NY Times all my adult life post college. BUT, I bear in mind the past.
Mike The long-time NYT correspondent (Duranty?) won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting. Subsequently it turned out that he had totally ignored (more likely deliberately rather than for lack of knowledge) the Ukrainian mass starvation and later thought that the massive forced-confession trials (in which top generals and many others were convicted and executed) were just fine.
I have a book (upstairs) that describes this guy’s sordid Moscow tour. There was a fairly recent effort to get the NYT to petition the Pulitzer committee to revoke their award. After some months, the NYT opined that they would not seek revocation.
(I started reading the NYT when I was about about 7–WW II started for my family in September, 1939– and, when living in Egypt, Congo, and Chile, would receive the European edition—later a combo of NYT and Herald Tribune days late. I would diligently arrange the papers chronologically then start with the oldest. The temptation to jump to the newest was considerable, but I never did it.
The NYT may have been the reason that I got on Nixon White Enemies List, but that is another story.)
Giving you a heart, but it wouldn't click so I type it. This history helps me understand a lot about how so many were bamboozled by Stalin.
Mike Thanks! I also find that the Substack system can be ‘heartless,’ though a subscriber commented that this was a ‘momentary’ situation. On occasion I return to award a heart or two.
Wow. I see how I may spend my afternoon.
Gail Taylor published a book (Oxford U. Press), Stalin’s Apologist-Walter Duranty, that I found devastating about his journalistic bias. Personally, while working in Egypt, where there were two resident NYT correspondents, I found George Doty (the older one) excellent while the younger one, Ken Love, was less experienced.
In the 1960s the NYT tended to send cub journalists to Africa. In Congo the resident NYT rep was a young Lloyd Garrison (named after the crusading journalist of the 19th century). Lloyd was enthusiastic and energetic, but not, in my opinion, yet a seasoned reporter.
<3
Thank you!
Keith, I don't know who the correspondent was ..... but I read about the Times fawning over Stalin back in the day in a history book of sorts.
Mike Walter Duranty. I posted extensively today about him and his totally undeserved Pulitzer. Remember, official Washington read Duranty’s false report at the outset of every day. I remember, as a Foreign Service Officer, having to write, for The Secretary and others, a classified rejoinder to some of the daily news. I doubt that this was done in the early 1930s.
<3 (Thanks, Michael Brouwer, when the darn “heart” doesn’t work!)
What a broadly amazing education! Still looking forward to your memoir of lunch and dinner companions!
Ellie Lunch with David Ben-Gurion and Egypt’s Gamal Abdul Nasser in the same week tops the list. Dinner with Kim Philby in Beirut shortly before this Russian spy in the British ‘old boy’ diplomatic service is on my should-have-killed-the-SOB list (There are a few others.)
Wasn’t it Stalin who said that one death is a tragedy, but a million deaths are a statistic.
There is the question of where this quote came from: Joseph Stalin? Leonard Lyons? Beilby Porteus? Kurt Tucholsky? Erich Maria Remarque?
However, the full quote from a 1947 Washington Post article is “𝘐𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥𝘺. 𝘐𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴.”
Another anecdote, perhaps more pointed, is: Lady Astor exuberantly opened the conversation with this remark: “𝘔𝘳. 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦?”
The Soviet Dictator quietly answered: “𝘈𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺.”
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/21/death-statistic/
I haven't heard that, but I see it working out now: Putin sending secondary troops to Kiev, poorly armed, ill trained, meant to get lost. As a diversion to make the Ukrainians over confident. Just like Stalin's winter war on Finland, only to come back with the big sledge hammer, in eastern Ukraine. And the 20 million Russians lost in WWII becomes the sign of the greatest achievement, even if 15 million were lost in vain to the callous strategy of Stalin.
Olof Perhaps agreed upon in the 1939 Von Ribbentrop/Molotov Agreement between Germany and the Soviet Union, that fall, after demanding that Finland cede to the Soviets a portion of its country, the Soviet Union invaded.
It seemed an easy campaign in which to seize much, or even all, of Finland. Under the courageous and brilliant leadership of General Mannerheim (considered to be Finland’s greatest hero), Finland’s small, mobile ski troops mangled the Soviet invaders.
The Soviets regrouped, sent in a much larger force, and imposed a settlement that required Finland to give up 9% of its territory.
Hopefully this is not the outcome that President Zelensky will experience with Putin, Stalin’s present-day counterpart.
Seizing Finland was not agreed by Hitler, since Germany later went into the war on Finland's side. In the winter war Russian soldiers had summer uniforms and few weapons, poorly trained soldiers, some of them communist enthusiasts, evidently meant to get lost. Finland, over confident with its remarkable success even occupied some Russian territory with Finnish speaking population. In the continued war SU was using massive aerial bombardment, and Finland ended up on the loosing German side, paying heavily and loosing more territory than they had gained. One propaganda story I heard from my father, who was a doctor at the Swedish Red Cross Ambulance for two months: One morning a young Finnish colleague arrived at the hospital saying he had made a 'motti', which meant he had been going three laps around a Russian camp on skis. The Russians thought they were encircled by Finnish troops, dug themselves down in the snow, and froze to death.
A Waffen-SS soldier described facing effective Red Army snipers, including women, in Finland, though this is not to overgeneralize to the Red Army as a whole in Finland.
Parenthetically, this man’s story illustrated a path out of fascism, however much it might have been more survival under Allies’ control than conscience.
Black Edelweiss: A Memoir of Combat and Conscience By a Soldier of the Waffen-SS, by Johann Voss
Olof I was not aware of the German involvement with the Finns in the Soviet-Finish Winter War. I read an assessment of the Molotov/Von Ribbentrop Agreement that suggested that a Hitler nod to Stalin on Finland was in a secret protocol. [Another report indicated that the Soviet’s weakness against the small Finnish army contributed to Hitler’s decision to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.]
I read a fascinating book on Swedish foreign policy perhaps 50 years ago that highlighted the massive financial and military assistance that ‘neutral’ Sweden provided to Finland during the 1939-1940 Winter War.
Wow…
And he executed/sent to gulags or Siberia millions more who were educated, who owned property, or who might oppose him.
I remember seeing Daniel Dale’s daily tweets with the former guy’s schedule: essentially empty, devoid of appointments, and with that ridiculous statement about him working through the day and doing many things. It seemed like a joke! I envisioned the evil one sitting in front of the t.v. all day, eating his burgers, and barking orders from time to time. Well, I interpreted that empty daily schedule incorrectly. He obviously did have some planning meetings and took calls on his burner phone. Many calls. Important calls. It does, indeed, involve many meetings and calls to plan a coup.
I remember that, thinking what a joke he is. Nah, not funny evil…
Big Macs are very hard to digest, don't you know.
I hear that you can set one on a counter, and 5 months later it still won't be moldy. :-)
It must be the secret sauce😉
... beautiful, wonderful, glorious, very, very special calls ...!!
VERY special. PERFECT. :-)
I just read an article in this week’s New Yorker referencing historian Caroline Elkin’s research into the horrific abuses in British colonization. The key point that makes this relevant here is the destruction of the records of atrocities hiding this, the lapses in files, information gaps- for nearly a century. The transparency of government is essential. A healthy press counters propaganda.
Link to this ( by Sunil Khilnani ) ... https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/04/04/the-british-empire-was-much-worse-than-you-realize-caroline-elkinss-legacy-of-violence
War. Is. Hell.
Joan, thanks for the reference link.
And Putin has closed the Russian storage of historical documents Memorial that was opened not too many years ago with all the info about Stalin.
"Our democracy" has been on a slippery slope since the Reagan administration.
Make that: "since the Nixon Administration."
Make that since the 1600s when they decided on slavery based on skin color
The photos coming from the Bucha region are horrific. The streets are strewn with dead bodies of civilians, many with their hands tied behind their backs, shot in the head. Victims’ pockets have been emptied, so identifying bodies will be difficult. There is ample evidence of rapes, even of children. It is beyond me how soldiers can exercise such brutality and kill innocent people by the thousands. What Putin and his complicit military are doing is barbaric.
We can’t look away. Media all over the world need to show these photos and tell these stories, as difficult as they are to see. It is important for people to bear witness and to act decisively.
Most of us feel helpless to do much, but we can continue to make donations and call on our representatives to keep the pressure on and send meaningful aid. We can’t get numb to the atrocities and genocide, as the war grinds on, day after day. I don’t know what is going to get Russia to stop. There must be more and broader sanctions that can be imposed. At a minimum, companies still doing business in Ukraine - and there are dozens - need to be pressured to pull out completely.
What else? This is unbearable. “Never again” needs to truly mean something.
Mary Anne,
Putin's army is drunk most of the time. Ukrainians report them drunk routinely. Never understimate the bad stuff that can happen when group of young men with guns get drunk.
It is, as you note, horrifying.
Read the history of the Red Army in Eastern Europe 1944-45.
As the Red Army advanced to liberate towns from the Nazis, they raped routinely and indiscriminately. Their reputation preceded them such that some women committed suicide or female infanticide. No doubt that incidents of rape were nevertheless under-reported, and continue to be so. How many women would have admitted that when their soldier husbands returned home.
The rapes in Ukraine are not just under reported in the MSM, they’re not reported at all. You have to follow Ukrainian journalists on Twitter to get that.
😔
😔
Can't. I'd never forget it.
Which I guess is the point.
Putin was formed in KGB world, no surprise
And let's not forget voter fraud by Mark Meadows himself as he registered a home address in trailer that I understand he never visited. Talk about Ghost voters.
“President Trump will work from early in the morning until late in the evening."
Now that sentence is the most hilarious sentence I have read in probably 30 years.
"Trump" and "work" in the same sentence???
Brouhaahaaaahaaaaaaaaa
Trump never worked a minute in his life.
Trump. Work. Mutually exclusive terms. Full stop.
Yea, those words never have any business being in the same sentence. Insipid, imbecilic, moronic, gutless, loathsome, satanic, all fit nicely with his name, which I have with great difficulty uttered just a few times since 2017, despised he is in spade’s.
Shades of Maynard G. Krebbs!!
Not one, never
His work was mostly watching himself on Fox, and eating Big Macs.
Heart sinking information. Horrible war atrocities in Ukraine. Sickening activity within our own government. I hope you can step away from it and give yourself a chance to recover from the thoughts of it all. The stress I feel from briefly reading and hearing about it all must be minuscule compared to what your mind goes through! Please take time for yourself! Thank you for this, Heather!
Agreed.
Thinking it better to have Hitler in the government than as an outside agitator, Vice Chancellor von Papen said "Within two months we will have pushed Hitler so far in the corner that he'll squeak.” Paul von Ludendorf, telegrammed President Hindenburg “…you have handed over our Fatherland to one of the greatest demagogues of all time … Future generations will curse you in your grave for this action”. History almost rhymed January 6th, but the GOP could still snatch autocracy from the jaws of democracy!
I’m beginning to worry that when the J6 committee and DOJ finally expose the vast plot to overturn our election that the GOP voters will yawn.
GOP voters will think it is all a lie and political and that it is a "witch hunt" because Hannity and Carlson will tell them that.
No matter WHEN an arrest occurs, it will be met with a hue and cry of lies from all manner of corners.
Indeed they will. Rupert will lull them to sleep. Waiting for Rupert to go full bore for Putin. It’s coming…
I don't think "yawn" is the right verb. They are so committed to their "true beliefs" that they will fight to "save their freedom" when in truth they are killing democracy, and have no freaking clue what they're doing.