Yesterday, on the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord at the beginning of the Revolutionary War, Americans across the country protested against President Donald J.
Heather well keeps reminding us our monster (or, monsters) has (have) many tentacles.
Timothy Snyder, however, reminds us, too, how these tentacles have one set of resemblances to each other. Yes, the U.S. rich gutted America – but centrally with help from Putin, to sink the American working and middle classes as Putin did Russia.
As Timothy Snyder’s “The Road to Unfreedom” says, “American and Russian oligarchs have far more in common with one another than they do with their own populations.”
One area of hurt, the U.S. working and middle classes’ massive housing crisis. As he says (p. 265), “more and more Americans are unable to change residences, which also makes better futures hard to imagine.”
Same page, he notes of U.S. health that, because it “lacks a functional public health system, inequality has brought a health crisis, which in turn has accelerated and reinforced inequality.”
And as he’s well in touch with the pain, he quotes from humanities, on p. 264 citing “Billy Joel’s 1982 song ‘Allentown,’ which . . . spoke of men of a second postwar generation without the social advancement attained by their fathers, of workers betrayed by narrow nationalism.”
Our schools, and thus all media, lost touch with the pain abroad the land – lost touch in that virtually no one has any reference to things like the Billy Joel song. That left us open to the oligarch predations.
After all this clears, can we restore our schools?
I am constantly reminded of that passage in Dickens "A Christmas Carol" where two skinny, raggedy children peek out from beneath the cloak of Christmas Present. When Scrooge asks who they are, the Ghost replies "The girl is Want" and the boy is "Ignorance". . "Most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased."
It is ignorance (not stupidity) that has landed America where she is today. And the GOP feeds on that. It is they who are pushing the "Oh, the democrats are defending a wife beater!" motif.
THEY DO NOT WANT THEIR BASE TO COTTON ON TO THE FACT THAT THEIR FREEDOM IS BEING TAKEN AWAY.
Trying to get trump supporters to use brains that have been neglected for years is an uphill job.
Tragically, while the American people at large have been largely (and perhaps willfully) ignorant of the fact that a very large portion of our fellow countrymen, following a period of union activism and social progress dating to FDR's New Deal, began to sink once again into the type of poverty they suffered during the 19th and early 20th century. This appears to have coincided with the implementation of the Trickle Down Economic theory promulgated by Reagan and successive Republican administrations, which to many appears to have been (and remain) either a pernicious error or an effort to further enrich their wealthy supporters by impoverishing the rest of us. Some of us still got by sufficiently well to look the other way while the less well educated, the rural, and laborers of all sorts sank into true poverty, leaving many homeless, poorly nourished, badly educated and angry. Very angry. It seems to me that changing this course would be one of the simplest and most direct ways to re-establish fairness and end the MAGA craziness in which the desperate have taken refuge.
And keeping them watching Fox News! Our friends who watch Fox News never hear any of the facts that Prof. Richardson has written about. And it is a fool's errand to try & inform them.
And in the south, entertain the ignorant with Friday night lights football, college football Saturdays, and beauty pageants, especially child beauty contests.
Well you are wrong about this Fox News watching degreed, Middle Class, retired, White Guy; I watch Fox News, read the New York Times, subscribe to Prof. Richardson's daily correspondence (read it daily), and various other News Sources. So I evaluate various News Sources. My Opinion and I am still allowed to have one is that Joe Biden was the worst President in my lifetime and Donald Trump is the best. So we can agree to disagree, but you opinion does not negate mine.
Three of your left-wing heroes and channels have just been sued and lost their lawsuit for lying to you the public very recently within the last 30 days. What say you about that talking about ignorance? Did you know about the lawsuits Stephanopoulos, Maddow Hayes Wallace?
I would love to see if you try to play the role of a juror and see both sides of the case before you render an unfair decision.
1. Snyder is voting with his feet -- moving to Canada!
2. The media has become Trump's codependent liars.
3. Once upon a time, the Administrative Procedure Act applied to deportation hearings, but during the Eisenhower administration, Congress removed APA due process from the procedure.
4. Ignorance? Apparently, the public has little intrerest in depoortations -- even when some are obvious due process violations. And although Trump repeatedly lies and commits contermpt the media is mostly silent.
5. Although due process is at stake, not one Congressional Republican has come forward on this issue.
Insightful, as ever, Daniel. On point-4, however I am not sure whether I agree. Since Citizens United monopolized 'free speech' in favor of wealthy right-wingnuts, it may be difficult to discern just what that opinion is on a particular issue. Additionally, people's feelings may vary on so many issues that relative solidarity on an immigrant's right to due process may be more latent than transparent. Alas, we live with a government motored by malice and malevolence creating an ambient ambivalence and ambiguity.
For starters, they are trying to keep Americans ignorant by doing away with the Department of Education. Disallowing books, underpaying teachers. Omitting the truth in history. Dissing heroic American people of color. Denying slavery. Anything that isn't White Makes Might. It's disgusting!
Not only lying, but repeating the lie so many times that it was believed. The human brain interprets the familiar as true, an important survival mechanism when the unfamiliar might be a tiger wanting us for a meal. Now we have greedy Trump who want us for dinner.and he has a bunch of tech moguls and others ignorant schemers witting at the table and hiring their thugs to enforce the steal. Many Trumpers are going to be terribly disappointed when Trump comes to steal their cattle and ship the farmer off to El Salvador. They did not realize until it was too late to join the Resistance. Our message to MAGA, He lied to you; come join the Resistance
Don't forget Rush Limbaugh along with hundreds of right-wing radio stations. Plus, right-wing newspapers. Plus, Fox News. Plus, internet sites. Plus, think tanks. The very wealthy like Charles Koch have been funding these operations. The return on investment is huge.
Leigh, there is another category of MAGA supporters: Relatively intelligent people that sup at the trough of mis and did information promulgated by Faux, OAN, and other media sources that have created out of whole cloth, the "talking points" that feed the hatred of "other" that is so strong in what I used to call conservative people that are now in no way, shape, or form conservative. My last foray was to attempt to communicate the absolute non-issue of transgender women competing in women's athletic events. I asked one guy if he knew how many transgender women were competing in women's sports. His reply was "one is too many". (The answer, as best as I could track down, was less than 20).
You're right, Ally, but I still think the vast majority of MAGAs are so focused on revenge, etc., because of their anger at the losses people like them have endured, as well as their unfortunately correct perception that most better-educated and economically better off people don't give a damn about them. This anger and resentment creates the impulse to tune in to the likes of OAN, Faux, et. al., and this adds fuel to the fire, and because many right wing firebrands are corrupted by a desire for power and money, and some are actually foreign agents exploiting the cracks in our system in order to weaken us from the inside out the whole thing snowballs. And as for trans athletes, I can't help thinking of golf handicaps and how such a system might be employed to level the playing field in women's sports. BTW I heard that it's only 9 such athletes currently competing against biological females. And I think the percentage of transgenders of both sexes is vanishingly small overall.
I do wish I could comprehend the hatred these folks have for transgender people. The vitriol is amazing. I happen to know about a dozen trans folks, all of them female to male. All of them are thriving living their true lives. How does that hurt other people?
The story of Janet Mock hit home for me. She knew at 3 that she was a she. And a beautiful one. Spent much of my life not knowing there was such a thing (except for a few writers who were out). But why would anybody subject themselves to societal vitriol for anything but a desire to live true lives. Let people be…
Honestly, I think this so-called 'issue' is yet another successful attempt by conscience-challenged Republican operatives to provide people with an easy class of persons to hate, which deflects this rage from the Republicans themselves. That this has gone on for donkeys' years goes without saying. I'll paraphrase Lyndon Johnson here. He said: If you give a poor (read oppressed, ignored) man someone to think is lesser than him, he'll allow you to pick his pockets. Remember Jim Crow and Willie Horton (in case you think Trump came up with all this on his own)? And btw, when I practiced as a therapist in a large Eastern city, and in small-town Appalachia, I had a few transgendered clients, and was struck by the fact that the vast majority of trans folk were of the 'man to woman' variety. Which may say something about self-hatred and confusion in these times when trad male roles and behaviors are on the chopping block, and/or something about the fact that as biologists will tell you, the female genetic prototype is prior to the male. (Sorry if I'm miss-stating this finding. I'm no biologist.) In a couple of cases--those easiest to support--my clients had felt like the opposite gender since early childhood. In other cases the motives were murkier. I don't believe we really understand transgenderism fully, and know that we often confuse Gender Dysphoria with it. There's overlap, but the two conditions are not identical. Ugh. I sure feel chatty today. Sorry not sorry. Sometimes I feel like a lonely crier on the wall when it comes to psychological issues. <sigh>
I think it started with the fear that these transgendered people were using the bathrooms and by extension would engage in assault. Preposterous notions cooked up by - I don't know - Christians, Conservatives... Beliefs of this sort do little to help us create a humane and tolerant future for those who exercise different beliefs or lifestyles. This represents as well a moral and intellectual emergency.
Ally, there is a trans person in my family, they went from male to female (no surgery involved.) She is much happier now than as a child or younger adult.
Ally, It doesn't and the Rs are blowing this all out of proportion concentrating on trans men to women competing against females. I would like to know if they really do have an advantage as is assumed. Also their numbers are next to nothing compared with the total number of athletes competing. What truly bothers me is denying the health care that they need to transition and interfering in medical decisions as Rs also do with abortions.
The short answer, is it doesn’t but that doesn’t stop the vitriol from these people. Hate is alive and well in their hearts, whether it is transgender people, immigrants, black and brown people or against liberals. They think of their world like it’s a pie and they want their piece and if anyone else gets a piece they see it as less for them. Sad.😢
I think trans people should be free to be who they are--but as someone who played a sport at a national level many, many years ago I know how I practiced through pain, gave up many things other kids were doing so I could follow my dream. The reality is that men (not all but most) are stronger-- so it could hurt others. I do not think sports or locker rooms are necessary for a trans person to be who they are. And I would truly stand up for their right to be accepted. I played golf so long ago that the coach at my high school wanted me to be on the boys golf team, (there was no girls team). I thought that was a great idea, but the city's board did not so I wasn't allowed. I survived.
Oddly all the hate and vitriol I see is against the male to female. The people that scream about them being sexual abusers lurking in women’s bathrooms are the very people who sexually abuse women. I think the idea of handicaps, like in golf, is a good one but could be problematic. Do we assign handicaps to all people in all sports based on testosterone or estrogen levels? Isn’t that what is considered to give levels of strength?
Maybe that are afraid that they might try to pick up a trans guy. I would love to be a fly on the wall when that discovery was made. And if any of his buddies ever found out, he would be ridiculed for life.
I don’t hate trans people but biological men should not compete in women’s sports. Lia Thomas for example should not be competing against women. I’m 100% liberal on pretty much everything else.
Look at the chaos Trump has created in Maine over one transgender athlete. All because our governor chose to stand up to him at a publicly failed attempt at humiliation.
Never underestimate the thirst for revenge, for even the most trivial acts, of malignant narcissists. As Trump has often demonstrated, these people nurture their resentment, even over years of time, and aren't satisfied until they 'level the field' by retaliation. Lisa Murkowski is right to be afraid, and courageous as hell for making this clear.
Phil has his humanities drum; I have my evangelicalism drum. And I'm about to bang on it.
Let's take a stroll through the mindset of the evangelical. It will require you to stick with me until the end.
You must first recognize that evangelicals dwell in the Hebrew Scriptures, aka The Old Testament. There is where you'll find a jealous, angry, vindictive God who routinely smites people who defy him. In the O.T., everything is good or evil, black or white. There is no middle ground.
Oh sure, they read the New Testament, and acknowledge Jesus, but he's really more like a good luck charm. They invoke his name when they pray, because doing so magically makes God do as they pray. And the whole point of praying is to make God give you what you want, right? But Jesus' yapping about love-your-neighbor-turn-the-other-cheek stuff? Nah, they like the good-or-evil-smite-your-enemies world.
Another primary feature of the evangelical mindset is that one never questions authority. "God said it. I believe it. That settles it." Critical thinking unnecessary. This authoritarian carte blanche is extended to anyone who's been ordained by God, no matter how flawed, including televangelists, local preachers, and a certain orange-colored tyrant.
How do evangelicals know someone was ordained by God? Because a familiar authority said so! It's the same illogic that enables evangelicals to "prove" the Bible is inerrant, by quoting other verses of the Bible.
If one believes that God is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent, as evangelicals do, then God made everything and everyone as they are supposed to be. That is good. Anything that varies from the norm; that is evil. So if a man is physically and emotionally attracted to a man, it varies from the norm. Therefore, he is evil. If an infant is born with a penis and declared by the delivering doctor to be a boy, who at an age of self-awareness feels like a girl, that is questioning God's handiwork. Therefore, he is evil.
"But, but," you say, "Not every conservative is an evangelical!"
No, that is true. But I guarantee that every conservative is either an evangelical or has a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or someone in their family background who is or was an evangelical. It's almost like a virus that spreads and causes a kind of psychosis.
I have no use for Evangelicals. A former commenter here (Mike S) said it best when he said that they are trained to do whatever the white man in front of the church tells him to do. Mike was from East Texas, just up the road from a dear friend of mine, and her experiences of growing up lesbian there simply reinforced everything Mike said.
Whether today's MAGAts are Evangelicals or not (many in my world are), they have been conditioned in that environment which shapes their belief structure (I dare not call it thinking).
And there, you've hit the nail on the head. Evangelicals, and by extension, conservatives do not think. They believe.
The problem with beliefs is that they are nearly impossible to change, because they are not based on fact or evidence. Beliefs are passive. That is, someone (an authority figure) plants an idea in the mind and it is embraced without question.
Thinking is both active and passive. Questioning, researching, concluding. A thinker may arrive at a belief, but it is the result of active thought. And the thinker's belief is subject to modification based on new information.
I get your drum beating but what about the Catholics? Aren’t they mostly conservatives?
We were the only Irish Italian family in our neighborhood who were Protestants. Oddly I learned at one time part of our family was Lutheran who because of prejudice moved to the Methodist church for the freedom to love who they wanted.
My husband is an atheist because his Catholic parents shunned the church and refused to raise their children with any religious knowledge. His aunt was a nun but he still knows nothing about religion. He is one of the most decent, fair-minded people I know. When we first met his previous wife forced him to go through the whole Catholic routine with her. I wonder does J.D. force Catholicism on his wife and kids? Anyway, he offered to go to Christmas church services with me and I told him it wasn’t necessary. We have never had a religious argument.
Sharon, I was born and grew up in an evangelical pastor's home, so I consider myself an "expert" on the tradition and feel qualified to speak (write) on that culture. With no direct, personal experience, I find Roman Catholicism to be complicated and less easily described.
To be sure, the Vatican shares much of the repressive dogma, outrageous hypocrisy and unbearable guilt-mongering purveyed by Protestant evangelicals. But Pope Francis has broken with some of that dogma. Also, I'm aware that there are many "strains" of Catholics, some of whom are dogmatic, some non-practicing and some very progressive.
For those reasons, I avoid beating on Catholics in general, as I don't want to be unfair to those who are just trying to be good people and mind their own business.
The Catholics seated in SCOTUS are not some of those good people.
I'm a Humanist but my very Catholic parents didn't shun the church ( I went to a Catholic school and my brother even went to a Catholic University). We don't believe in religion, an all omnipotent being or a grand plan. My husband grew up in a household where his father was a minister in a VERY conservative religion. But I would like to think that we are good people who learned from our parents that all people are worthy of respect until they prove otherwise and it is people judging others that gets in the way of people living the life they want. As for J.D. Vance, he is neither a good Catholic nor a good Christian nor a good person. He is one of those judgmental people who hides behind a thin veil, preaching to others but knows nothing about anything.
For the few who stew in hate together, it's The Rapture.
End Times. Drum up a mass campaign of hate, land theft, harassment, imprisonments, murders (yeah, Netanyahu!) and add in the easily-gotten U.S. arms (missiles, tanks, bombs) and soon all may have rapturous cataclysm.
But it’s the issue that appeals to ignorance and misogyny for those who can pretend “intelligence.” They are not stupid, but weaponized ignorance is just as bad.
Maine is currently the focus of full trump ire because of 2 transgender girls in sports. The question is, do the parents know, did they object? Are these girls even any good at their sport? One parent of a transgender girl said her child was horrible at baseball but loved playing.
I just wait for a small, slight F to M who, with muscle enhanced with male hormones and the flexibility of the female skeletal anatomy to become an excellent wrestler at one of the lighter weights.
Well, MTG has that butch body muscle enhanced anatomy and she’s terrified of a M to F. She spent lots of time showing off her horrendous workout skills.
The issues of gender and sexuality have a long deep history in human civilization. I do not understand the fear based reaction. If one researches history the wide variances of human in regards to gender and sexuality there .
Much has been forgotten or suppressed and ignorance yes a large issue as misinformation. I lost my father to Fox and Rush Limbaugh just as he was getting to see deeper with the female narrative. And he was very aware of transgender issues. Though it was just not talked about just a few lines of speech here and there.
In Maine, where Gov. Janet Mills has sworn to follow state and federal laws, regardless of what Trump threatens, the number of trans female athletes was two. For a threat of this size, we must be upset, very upset? And some people voted because of it.
Truth Leigh - trickle down economics might be the biggest scandal in American history. Let's see - cut the one-percenters' taxes, unshackle their power to grow and create jobs. You workers will benefit greatly - more jobs, and better pay. And, importantly, your taxes to the government will more than make up for the tax breaks we receive. Trust us.
What could possibly go wrong. What a crock. It's not even that convoluted, as some conspiracies can be. Only unscrupulous people insist on this plan's efficacy. No economist worth his salt stands by this. And yet it persists.
Here is what can go wrong - the rich and the corporations can enjoy reduced taxes, take those saved revenues and do stock buy-backs, create off shore accounts, increase the pay of their CEO's, build off-shore facilities to replace American facilities. Enrich thenselves without creating a single American job. That is what can happen, and is happening for the most part. And yet it persists.
The people who continue to push this ludicrous economic theory are powerful, and represent powerful people. To turn that around is going to take measures I am not sure this country can take. Trump sure won't do anythng, nor ANY Republican.
Leigh, the Rs have long been working to undermine the New Deal with the help of certain political operatives and the making of certain words like socialism anathema. One of the ploys has been recently to paint both parties as the same which has been bought by many, partly because progress in our democratic system is slow, making people both angry and cynical. In Washington's third they have a rep who has an auto shop (she is also a graduate of Reed) with her husband and she is often criticized for not being progressive enough. She fits in very well with her district and she has now won twice. Her opponent, mad Joe Kent, is now working for Gabbard. On Saturday we were having a chat with our pork guy at the Market. He is an ex-marine. He hates death star and thinks both parties are the same without understanding at this moment they certainly are not. We didn't get to the wrongs of Citizen United, but maybe another time. When I mentioned muskrat, he mentioned waste and that DOGE was working for free. We quickly explained the untruth of that. He took an oath to the Constitution, but doesn't seem to understand how the Constitution is being undermined.
Don't make the mistake of assuming that all polls are well-constructed, well-conducted and free of bias. The polls I've been reading, which are generally recognized for their quality, have shown Trump slipping on several issues, and 'underwater' overall, having lost a lot of goodwill since he was inaugurated. He seems, however, to still have a good deal of support on his immigration policy, at least he did until he authorized snatch and grabs of innocent people off the streets and then shipping them off to foreign gulags. And then, Hiro, there's your use of the word ignorant, which is broad and poorly defined. Ignorant of what? Do you mean poorly educated, poorly informed, or what, exactly? Not trying to be snarky, here, just to clarify your meaning enough to make a helpful relply.
Thank you Leigh for responding to my comment. By poll results I am referrring to polls reported in MSNBC TSRM show. By ignorant, I mean those who believe Trump is working for them. Make sense?
Even MSNBC has been known to refer to iffy polls on occasion. And for what it's worth I think we need at least two classes of ignorant: one composed of people who don't read or keep up with current events, and the other of people who do, but only to the extent that this keeps them within the silo of those who share their a priori convictions. In other words the 'true believers.' At any rate, Hiro, in today's world some precision with words and also critical thinking skills are really helpful in negotiating our way.
Do you know about 99% of the people on this thread need to look up the word patience and then see if you can find any because you were patient for four years of the disaster where Joe Biden was ostensibly president while the legacy media hid the fact of his declining mental acuity from you you didn’t say a thing. Just went along like gullible lemmings. By the way, do you see any right wing people being desperate here? This is what I mean by you needing a mirror Trump supporters are smiling they are not the ones complaining you might take heed in that
Oh, I do agree that Biden's inner circle were complicit in minimizing his increasing problems with concentration and physical stamina. I think that if he had resigned at the end of one term as he promised he would during his campaign, we would have had an open primary and nominated a candidate who could have beat Trump who barely squeaked by. But be careful, even if Trump is a bit healthier physically, he is much less able on a good day than Biden was on a bad day to govern, largely because he is stubborn and arrogant as well as ignorant of the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, Congressional powers and process, foreign affairs and more. And he has never been able to assemble a cabinet capable of helping him sort through all this and actually govern, as opposed to issuing edicts from on high. IMO he'd have been better off if he'd stayed in NYC and continued to pile up bankruptcies and felony convictions.
If you want people to pay respectful attention to your point of view you might want to organize your thoughts better. Trying to follow your leaps and segues made me feel seasick.
I was grateful for President Biden and the attempt he made at "cleaning up" the disasters Trump left in his path from his first term. I voted for Kamala Harris...an intelligent and joyful true American...a successful lawyer....from a successful hardworking family.
I changed political parties upon Trump's first "run" for President of the USA. I was in absolute shock that a human being so lacking in character or contributions to anything uplifting .... within the entire realm of humanity....could be chosen to lead this great though imperfect nation.
While he was not serving as President, he managed to mistreat women and involve himself in criminal activities for which he was tried and found guilty AND YET FOOLED ENOUGH CITIZENS TO REELECT HIM....I am sure for the hope of personal gain and power!!!
It is so sad to see persons, though on the opposing political party from me, become Trump's robots. Pam Bondie knows exactly what is going on. She knows the law and it is creating a battle inside of any righteous cell she has left within her being. Makeup does not hide the strain on her face. She has chosen to sell her soul to our President, criminal, Donald Trump! (OH!...but our President is a criminal WITH A RECORD!!!....these men in El Salvador have had NO DUE PROCESS OF LAW !!!)....they have been "whisked away"....is an American citizen or resident of America...OR STUDENT IN AMERICA safe??? The answer is "NO"! We have seen this already...young persons, students who have committed no crimes whisked away due to having personal opinions regarding faith!!!
I have always appreciated that we are a country with mutual respect for one another ....that we enrich the lives of one another when we are able to share our beliefs!!!
It is this man the President of the USA ...."land of the free BECAUSE of the brave"
who has sent men to El Salvador without due process of law. There is one man whose brave wife has followed the law to request her husband be brought back to her and to their three children!!!! No one in the United States of America should be imprisoned without a fair trial.
I agree. Emily - life today in America is both frightening - and tiring. However, I take much comfort from the fact that we are NOT alone - look at the pictures of yesterdays protest marches. This government may be drunk with power - but they still have enough sense to realise that if pushed too far, the American people WILL rise up.
Well, there are news deserts where the less educated reside due to Wall St. investors, with no interest in the survival of the news, therefore abuses - national and local - go unreported.
Even MSNBC, Meidas, et al are not reporting on the many Congressional Republicans who are unhappy with Trump. We need to get them to come to their senses and stand up with us. https://jerryweiss.substack.com/
The people who watch only the Fox Spews network don't know what they don't know. It's not just that the reporting is biased; many stories aren't reported at all.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote about why stupidity is more dangerous than malice. I urge you to check out his theory of stupidity; there are many resources available in YouTube.
Fear and ignorance feed off each other. Trump inculcates fear of immigrants by wheeling out a grieving mother (Patty Morin) and posting a doctored photo. This is where, I believe Senator Van Hollen and others who share his principled view is wrong. It's important in the Abrego Garcia case to defend the man as well as the principle. This poor guy was swept up by ICE and DHS, detained and deported without any due process on the basis of the flimsiest evidence imaginable to an inhumane hellhole of a prison in El Salvador (thankfully he's not there any more, hugely undermining the way he's been portrayed by Trump's execrable minions like Miller, Bondi and Leavitt). It's grotesque enough to be something out of a Kafka novel. And he's not alone in being the victim of unconscionable and unjustifiable harsh treatment by the administration. -
We were all reminded today that the late Pope Francis once enjoined Barack Obama to welcome immigrant families into the country rather than allow them to be demonised, reminding him that America was built by such immigrant families. Yet polls show that the majority of Americans are in favour of deporting all illegal immigrants (all 11 million of them).
Erwin Chemerinsky, the Dean of UC Berkeley School of Law a few days ago wrote in the Los Angeles Times about the very real nature of the constitutional crisis your country faces over cases like Abrego Garcia. The last paragraph of his article summarises the dilemma. -
I don't think Trump's base can be moved-they have been indoctrinatedthrifht Fox News and other rightwing media for a couple of decades, but swing voters and people who didn't vote in 2024 are out there and we can work to reach them.
Collectively voting can make a huge difference. We vote for the best obtainable circumstances for ALL of our people and for posterity, not just to express our particular preference or disappointment with respect to personal agendas. A think a large bloc of abstentions and capricious voting has helped enable poor choices, choices that typically hurt the already disadvantaged even more than the average. W,hose fault is that?
This ignorance which helps people to accept lies as the truth has led to this. It is an indictment of our education system, which this fascist in the White house and his fellow fascists want to destroy even more.
In addition to agreeing with everything you said, I'd like to clarify one thing.
Whatever we know, there is much more that we don't know, and we are all "ignorant" of what we don't know. There's nothing any of us can control about that, but the wise constrain their own ignorance. In other words, don't beware of ignorance and instead beware of the person who refuses to constrain their own ignorance by refusing to admit when they are wrong.
I'm of a mind that is starting to believe the know our worries to not have a bearing on them as they know (having been repeatedly told by their press and media) that they don't have any of those rights we have our knickers in a knot (or not) over.
As Timothy Snyder’s “The Road to Unfreedom” says, “American and Russian oligarchs have far more in common with one another than they do with their own populations.”
It seems to depots of whatever sort are pretty much cut of the same cloth; left wing, right wing, theocratic, or whatever, they are all bad news for the preponderance of humanity, and for a quality of life informed by better angels of our nature. We fight them again and again, and yet abidingly struggle to outgrow them.
The one thing the American wannabe oligarchs don’t share with their Russian counterparts is competence. Trump and his crew of blockheads aren’t just corrupt—they’re embarrassingly inept. Everything they touch turns into a slow-motion disaster. The Kilmar Albrego Garcia fiasco is just the latest example—a spectacular waste of taxpayer money. Add that to the growing list of bungled decisions since tRump took office. Honestly, Larry, Moe, and Curly could run a more functional government. Meanwhile, the polar caps are melting.
Kazz, thank you for mentioning the ice caps. Sadly the reports on the death of Pope Francis do not remind US of his stand on climate change softening it to “his caring for the planet.”
I have greater fear of smoother criminals, but Putin is certainly an example of one, and seems to have played no small part in installing the Orange Statewrecker. One thing that MAGA is currently accomplishing is bulldozing our nation's strengths, domestically and internationally; a virtual army of saboteurs. Let me count the ways.
For power-mad sociopaths (and Putin is certainly the more skilled at his craft) the price paid by the rest of us, the planet, and by generations to come for their insatiable vainglory is of no concern to them. They seem even to enjoy seeing others suffer.
That ugly twist of our human nature the real threatening devil we face; in stark, empirical terms. Not an unseen phantom with goat horns.
It’s been no smooth operation and Putin I think has become just as flummoxed as the rest of us with the caper cops antics. Competence and humanitarian values in those standing up to him - people who know their stuff, is stark by comparison, and proving to be the mightier force that can stop the orange wrecking ball. Not to mention mass public dissent. Good people everywhere are starting to ‘fight like hell’, not the MAGA fan base, much to tRump’s chagrin. The curtain has been pulled back to reveal a weak and stupid old man with nothing but a big megaphone.
Poor Graham. We’re supposed to be happy on Easter but all you people whine and complain and make references to things that don’t matter. It’s amazing. Why don’t you be like the 77 million or more that voted for Trump and be happy every day be excited for our future be pro American, instead of anti-American quit name-calling. There’s a good start for children like you.
Restore the planet ? Wow. You better talk to AOC you only have 512 yrs to restore the better talk to AOC you only have 5 ½ more years to live forget about restoring the planet. At that time, we’re just dustin the wind.
"Honestly, Larry, Moe, and Curly could run a more functional government." Now, why did you have to drag my family into this? 😉 Kazz, I am not entirely convinced that we are watching incompetence as opposed to planned chaos. One thing remains "perfectly clear": we are caught in a dash for dictatorship. 🤬😢💔
Maybe I’m simply being an optimist, but the ‘planned chaos’ looks very much like the hand-me-down ‘101 dictator handbook’ to me. 1930s era fascism has worked in Russia because its had zero history of democracy and because Yeltsin’s disastrously corrupt democratic rule and eventual coup, made Putin look like a strong leader. tRump inherited a booming economy, global superpower status, and a population used to enjoying basic freedoms. Thinking you can hoodwink the American people into thinking less is more is laugh-out-loud funny.
Well, for whatever reason, a good number of millions of idiots voted for the scumbag, maybe because they are chronic idiots after all. Regarding the story of fascism, Russia and zero experience with democracy, you are absolutely right ✅️ 😉
Hillary Clinton on illegal immigration. Double standard and hypocrisy. N
Ps. That’s all I do is post meaningful responses.
You guys are so wrong in obrego. Garcia. 90% to 10 and you take the 10% road
May I suggest you run this “Maryland man” for president in ‘28.
Bungled decisions. Eggs down 2 bucks gas down over a dollar. Inflation down mtg rates down 3/4% the border closed where is the waste of taxpayer money? Five dem congress members travel as the representatives of EL SALVADOR. LMAO.
So why aren’t the 77 million people that voted for him not embarrassed actually proud he’s actually lowered the price of groceries actually lower the price of eggs actually lower the price of gas actually lowered the price of mortgage rates actually lowered by 95% the number of illegals crossing the border. Pretty inept and only 90 days.
Rick, I don’t need to defend Biden in order to despise Trump. Biden did his job relatively well. Trump is bound to destroy the nation. Let him. We need total destruction of our nation in order to rebuild. Be happy you follow ignorance because you are ignorant yourself.
This contribution from Hillary Clinton’s own mouth. Ooopsie.
Would you like to hear Obama and bill Clinton on immigration and tariffs?
It ain’t pretty for you guys. SAME EXACT THING TRUMP IS DOING. but not a peep back then when Obama deported some 3 million and. Fired half a million from the govt payrolls. Ooooopsie again.
Easy to agree though. JD is an astute observer and his comments are becoming prescient for me as Missouri joins the Florida/Texas sweepstakes for most out of touch with reality.
I have watched the dominos fall, one by one for decades. Now it’s like all at once. Chump has been the P2025 cretins dream come true. No reverse, but maybe we can create a nudge, sort of like nudging the path of a threatening comet or asteroid so they would miss earth.
Yeah and how is that worked out for these kids 1979 we are first in the world 2009 we were 18th and they were 40th in the world in education that sound good to you
Maybe you should've learned to read when you were younger than the United States was ranked first in education in the world in 1979 when they first opened the department of education to 30 years later we were 18th and today they were 40th is that clear enough for you
Trust me, D4N -- there's more, much more, in this particular Timothy Snyder book.
Probably has the best accounting available of how the vulgar rich so grew the wealth gap so much in their lurid favor, so pathetically, crassly, cruelly against most Americans.
I was particularly taken by The Phil Lind Initiative presentation/discussion, "What it Means to be "AMERICAN, Navigating Identity in a Changing Nation," at the University of British Columbia, presented by UBC’s School of Public Policy and Global Affairs in partnership with the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.
I'm slowly working my way through the auto generated transcript as I listen to sections at half speed to make sure I get what was said, and the way it was said, right. Among the many, it seems a "keeper" as an overview with many key points I can refer back to, trying to help others navigate our history.
I would be embarrassed but not surprised if Canadians knew the bedrock of our history better than we do. I would not be surprised if they knew it better because they could sit back a bit as they follow Heather's navigation through the forest of trees, pointing out so many of the important trees.
The news comes as "60 Minutes" and CBS are embroiled in a $20 billion lawsuit launched by President Donald Trump over the show's interview of then-Vice President Kamala Harris on the show last year. The network aired different parts of Harris' response to a question about Israel on separate nights, leading Trump to accuse CBS of election interference.
So should we sue Trump for maybe at least $2 Trillon for the losses in the stock market, insider trading, market manipulation, destruction of most of the services the people fired provided to our citizens (in my case VA, where I've had 4 different primary doctors in the last year, the last on loan from 5 states away). Then there are our allies we used to help thru USAID and Emergency responses, massive increases (due to the real impacts of climate change), in the inability to insure against floods and fires, maintenance of infrastructure, and alienation of good will of most of the rest of the world? Who do you think will want to keep relying on us as trading partners, or a country to invest in? Where do you think some of our best scientists will be going as our Universities lose international students that will leave our best universities in shambles like Germany's became through the lead up to WWII, and some that never recovered after the war?
In addition to all of those, they missed three of the ones I attended at least once or more times (weekly). The one closest to my house (a block away), had 60 or so (with only 2 Trump supporters) this Tuesday, around 200 last Saturday (same 2 Trump supporters), before many of us went to one that did show up on the map, with a few thousand.
I do tend to look at the worst case, what's insurable, and what's not, etc. This wild show is going to run a while, with a lot of people hurt a lot more than they ever imagined no matter how well those ready for volatility come out at the end. Personal wealth is not the peak goal of most of those of us who would rather provide honest service to the community and large public projects that benefit the most people (without leaving the least of us with no where near enough of what they need) .
My wife's grand father seems to have ended up with about a third of what he had peaked at back before 1929, after which he concentrated far more on being a good steward of the watershed vs reckless land development as one of the last really active hereditary members of East Jersey Board of Proprietors.
The corporation that lasted from 1682 to 1998 might look more like a protector of property rights to outsiders, but he described how they set aside areas for towns, roads, and commercial activities on the land they granted or sold but he stressed to me the 1960s and early 1970s protection of watershed areas. He was a good friend of Interior Secretary Harold Ickes, so much so that my mother-in-law, as a preteen actually thought he was an uncle from his more frequent visits (and buying her 1st bicycle), compared to her real uncles. They thought very much alike on being good stewards of the land.
P.S. most Tesla owners around here are very polite and even encouraging as they pass our local protests of 60 to 180 people. I've only heard of one that flipped off our mostly senior citizen protestors and children (none of who have been rude to them. Some have apologized for not being able to part with their Tesla without undo financial sacrifice. We live in sight of 8 Superchargers, and have seen no problems.
I do wonder if you have Tesla stock, or anticipate problems selling or servicing the Teslas you said you own(ed)
Good point. The Constitutional crisis of today started in 2016 and represents the latest end-point of a gradual rotting from within. Like a floating cancer cell not attended to suddenly becoming visible and malignant.
Phil, I know you are a constant critic of our schools. I attended a protest on Saturday which ended with a man in colonial garb holding a rustic cloth banner with the words "NO KING" written on it. He recited the Declaration of Independence, followed by a brief speech reminding us of the reasons we rebelled 250 years ago, and that we must continue to fight tyranny. He's a *Social Studies* teacher at the local high school. His recitations were inspiring to us in the crowd, and he must be equally inspiring to his students.
A similar Social Studies Teacher I met at a Constitution Day parade in Santa Monica (which he helped organize), got me started on celebrating it every year since. I'm sure it was about 22 years after I graduated from High School (in Massachusetts), but 10 or 11 years before Stephen Miller went to Santa Monica High School. I do wonder what he would think of Miller if he had him as a student.
Jim, the main reason I joined Twitter many years ago (but deleted my account once musk bought it) was to follow the sage comments of people such as Lawrence Tribe, the renowned Constitutional scholar and Harvard Prof. I recall how he would call out Constitution Day in September, saying that is a day which should get greater recognition..
And add on top of it the now coming to your state - (give back to the rich schemes with) "school vouchers" passing with the HARD push from Texas money grubbing politicians especially the one sitting in the wheel chair. It's a corporate world in Texas now.......... so Texas public schools are going to be hit even worse if they can survive
Anyone who believes that vouchers will "level the playing field" for poor and underprivileged children, have never had to endure the humiliation heaped on them by the "upper class" kids whose parents can afford full tuition for their little darlings.
Snyder also says that American government and Russian government have more in common than one would think in On Freedom, which was written before Trump took power again.
Still, this reads like good news doesn't it? It sounds like Hegseth's reign is falling apart, and the people enforcing the laws are coming together. MAGAs are getting discredited by the truth, something that has not been allowed to shine through before like it is now.
First things first: Rest in Peace my fave Jesuit, Pope Francis. 🙏 💔 😢 ⚖️ 😇 💖 🙏 Thank you Phil, as always, for a kick-ass kick-off commentary. 🤝
I watched the 'American Experience' installment on the Love Canal last evening. What a struggle -- a narrow defense of rights against a functioning democracy, no less.
We have our work cut out for us.
Blight the education. Blight the mind. Blight the mind. Blight the citizen. Blight the citizen, blight the democracy.
One encouraging note: at the Annapolis protest on Saturday, I hung with a few people whom I had never met. I expressed thankfulness that several general generations dispersed throughout the crowd; several generations of drivers honking horns in solidarity.
A young and recent college graduate -- drumpfed in his Americorps service and NOT a probationary employee -- pointed out that we are all one generation now.
Back came the words of President Kennedy to the United Nations just two months before his utterly untimely murder: "We have the power to make this the best generation of mankind in the history of the world or to make it the last."
Phil, I agree with you that we have a first class crisis and that the undermining of schools is part of it. However, I always think of the teachers I know who are fighting like hell to better the lives of their students despite all the nonsense that is going on. Our friends, who are teaching in a heavily Hispanic district were part of the group of teachers, parents, and students who made the school board take back their decision not to stand against ICE (Customs which from what I see on the internet, has gone totally jackboot). They and many other teachers and ex-educators are to be found among those protesting. May 1 I am having coffee with an ex-student who graduated in the late 70s. We also see school administrators not letting ICE in and the Oregon Department of Education and the governor are refusing the death star directives on D.E.I.. We have a school board election here in Salem coming up in May and I will vote for those who I know will do their best for all the students. The legislature here in Oregon is considering a bill that will address cell phones in schools as well. It will not be an easy fix; however, in the meantime, we should support those who are in the trenches doing what they can.
I believe Gilded Age levels of inequality is the root of all of our problems. The decimation of our American middle class- and the "American dream" that went with it - from 60% in 1980 to 42% today is the tipping point, the crux around which everything else revolved: the consumer based economy; trust in government; trust in neighbors; our innate sense of fairness; healthy job markets with jobs that support families; living wages, home ownership affordability; the balance between supply and demand with the recognition that demand is what builds business; the progressive tax systems that kept billionaires from becoming oligarchs and kept businessmen reinvesting in local industry; community service and civic pride; and a government of, by, and FOR the People.
That is why my protest sign read "BILLIONAIRES TOOK YOUR MONEY. NOW THEY WANT YOUR RIGHTS! And the other side read "STOP THIS BILLIONAIRE COUP!"
Exactly. It’s all and only about money. No ethics. No morals. No ideology. Nada. Accumulation of wealth is first and last. There is nothing wrong with being wealthy but when a society and government squeezes until much of the wealth has migrated to the super few, that’s the original sin of Man. This is what we must fight for. No not a communist or socialist concept. Only a system of government with guardrails which insures the vast majority of standards and care. So don’t be misinformed that this is ideological. But we on the correct side must stop dividing us. We must stop slicing and dicing it and turning us against each other. This more subtle sin rests on our side. We love to denigrate those who don’t tow the line and fall into ideological formation. You know what I’m talking about I don’t need to spell I out. But I will spell it out. There s a place for DEI but we have taken it far beyond to the point where it’s values diminish. It’s a divider not a uniter. We have laws in place. Let’s stop giving the enemy the tools to win over us. And that’s my opinion.
There you are. It took me awhile to find you. And now the tapping is very slow. And this response would be long. And at end, you would simply disagree with me. It’s divisive. It pits white working class against the rest. Why do you want to live in a divisive nation where you can almost never win elections. I don’t know. There are laws against discrimination these days. Not perfect nothing ever is.
This is going to be the fourth huge lawsuit against left wing media lying this is the worst one
The news comes as "60 Minutes" and CBS are embroiled in a $20 billion lawsuit launched by President Donald Trump over the show's interview of then-Vice President Kamala Harris on the show last year. The network aired different parts of Harris' response to a question about Israel on separate nights, leading Trump to accuse CBS of election interference.
Rick, You lose all credibility as a conservative when you ally yourself to Trump who is nothing more than a pretend wannabe second rate Staten Island corner neighborhood mafia Don who was poisoned by his papa who hated his own son. Go find another hero why don’t you but not this pice of smelly manure.
All you have going for you bill is hate this is just one example Obama deported 3 million people Clinton departed 375,000 Obama fired half 1 million people Clinton fire 325,000
Hey Bill you forgot to say proud supporter of. 45 more wonderful months to go enjoy the ride and if you look at all the links I've sent you he's doing exactly what Clinton Obama Hillary Sumer Pelosi we're doing exactly the same thing but since everybody hates Trump have added you take care of yourself
Oh, my! _ don't you know it's always been that way?
In the UK what were known as "Hooray Henrys" used to go to Uni. for a "lark" and to widen their social connections - while the the miners would gather what knowledge the could from books at the library, or attend talks at The Working Men's Club".
Well you can do that if you open up to school choice then the White Christians don't have to be involved in your school districts you can have your own.
Reportedly, Sen. VanHollen made the talk show rounds on Easter Sunday. Did this Episcopalian Christian not worship in a church on this holiest day of our faith? Has he forgotten where real strength lies? By Jesus' sacrifice we can apprehend the Holy Spirit for counsel and presence. I count on that.
Sadly I have to say that I, as a humble atheist, find it insulting in forums like this when people who i would hope would be friends have to bring "god", "the lord" or "christ" into the discussion. Our country was founded with explicit barriers between church and state for good reason. We are a multiplistic society and we aren't supposed to be political fights on religion since many of us may disagree with any particular establishment of religion, or on the establishment of any religion at all.
To state so bluntly that VanHollen is doing the "lord's work" is highly offensive to me and others because I believe in no religious "lord" and would hope that a US politician would never take actions on behalf of some church or religious dogma.
We should stand together because we are fighting a common enemy, Trump and his unlawful administration, but bringing "god" into that fight just creates divisions.
As a devout atheist, I understand your concern Jon.
I was replying ONLY to Eleanor, who appears to think Sundays should be devoted to worship solely, which is a noble and deeply felt concern for most Christians on the most holy of days on the Christian liturgical calendar. I don't think she realizes that Van Hollen was following the teachings of a compassionate Christ by prosecuting the detention of Garcia Abrego by giving him HOPE that he may be set free to rejoin his family, and that he hadn't been forgotten.
Please don't feel insulted, or get offended by my comment. I've been an atheist since the age of eight, when I could not understand why a loving and wise God could allow children to starve in Ethiopia (Biafra.) The rector at my Episcopalian church in NYC could not comfort my young self, despite his well-meaning attempts. We talked several times, but I realized I could not follow the flock, so to speak.
I cannot deny other humans the right to find solace and guidance in religion, even when I -personally- find religion a crutch to replace critical thinking and the scientific method.
You write: "... would hope that a US politician would never take actions on behalf of some church or religious dogma."
The dangerous and destructive nature of White Christian supremacy on the politics of this nation is most alarming. That Mike 'Moses' Johnson is an adherent of the Seven Mountains Mandate is most concerning. He has hundreds of fellow Republicans falling in line to support him.
Derek, I've always appreciated Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson singing the line "I don't believe you, you've got the whole damn thing all wrong. He's not the kind you have to wind up on Sundays." I've been an atheist since high school.
Jon and Derek, each of us chooses what and who we take offense from, whether from a believer’s comment or from an atheist’s. We don’t need to take offense, we can simply allow each other our comments.
Jon, why take umbrage at Derek, instead of Eleanor? Personally, I find her comment more distasteful than Derek's. I completely agree that bringing the imaginary sky pilot to the discussion is useless; freedom "of" religion is also freedom "from" religion.
Point taken. I pointed to Derek below (i think). To be fair I didn't bother responding to Eleanor because her comment puts her clearly in "That camp" and it would be a waste of time to try to convince her otherwise. From Derek's other posts i felt his comment was more appropriate to call out. I've made peace with him I think.
As an atheist myself, I believe it is possible to be sincere and virtuous and still unbelieving. I also don't believe that religion is compatible with a civilized society. I think people can meet their emotional needs without embracing a make believe, man made deity.
Eleanor, I have to say your comment reminds me of a family story. A "young" family member (he must have been about thirty) became a curate. For his first posting he was sent to a small island in the Hebrides of Scotland. He was warned before he went to watch his step as the Elders on the island were notoriously stiff necked. One Sunday after preaching, he had an hour to spare, and so thought it might be an idea to go for a walk and read is Bible on the cliffs, to appreciate the wonders of nature that God has gifted us with.
That evening, a delegation of Elders visited him.
"You were seen walking this afternoon""
"Yes -while I was reading my bible"
"It is not seemly to go stravaiging aboot on the Sabbath!" ( Stravaiging is "wandering idly")
"But our Lord himself walked and preached on the Sabbath!"
Pause. Then:
"Aye - but he wisnae always richt, ye ken! (Yes - but wasn't always right, you know. . ."
Collapse of stout curate.
I am quite sure a) That senator Van Ollen contemplates his relationship with Christ each and every day. b) That Christ would have smiled kindly on him for continuing the fight to restore Christianity in the hearts of people who have gone astray - however much he had to "stravaige" on a Holy Day and c) that you are "Not always richt, ye ken!"
Eleanor, what -- no criticism of JD Vance who met with the (now dead) pope on Easter? You criticize Van Hollen for choosing to speak out in support of a man wrongfully, spitefully, cruelly, even mockingly detained by US policy rather than (allegedly) not attending church, yet fail to mention the hypocrisy of Christian-in-name-only Vance who fully supports the policy yet meets with the pope. (After which, I'm imagining Pope Francis whispering "God, just kill me now.") And Catholics, please take no offense at that joke.
Is it required that you be in a church to speak to God? Is that what makes you a good person? Is that why people that claim to be Christians do evil except when they’re inside the church?
Another excellent Letter! I wanted to comment how beautiful and moving the YouTube of your speech at the Old North Church was. I appreciate it being shared.
Ten years ago I got to walk the Freedom Trail and felt such a vitality standing in that Church. You brought that back to me.
Does anyone recall wearing cut-off jean shorts when you were in school?
The first day of summer my mom would cut off our jeans (we only had one pair for the school year unless we outgrew them) and that became our summer wardrobe.
At first their was a straight line of denim where she cut them off, but then the threads started to unravel at cut. Within in few weeks everyone's summer wardrobes became summer uniforms complete with fringe.
This is what is happening to the Trump administration. They are unraveling thread by thread. Trump's shorts seem to be unraveling very quickly now as do a few other's in his cast of Fascists.
If only, the administration understood, well, anything, but especially the reasons for "due process, they might not be reviled quite as much. Ok, who am I kidding, they have done dozens of other cruel and hateful things.
Trump has done nothing to curb inflation, especially the price of groceries. Gasoline prices are lower, but now the fossil fuel industry can't afford to drill new wells, so he is losing some of his oligarchy. The hedge fund managers are bleeding money and are terrified of what's to come with the US backing out of the global economy.
The cut-offs may need to be patched to hide some of the nasty bits, but hopefully more and more will be revealed.
Every day I wonder what hell awaits us - from a disinhibited nihilist, whose brain spews daily rage, prevarication, ignorance and who is unmoored from decency and respect and........at what point does a narcissist's head run out of space and energy and just implodes....
I totally understood your purpose, but I have to say I felt a small flutter inside at the comparison of cut-off jeans, such a wonderful symbol of the summer of youth, with the outrages of this administration. IMHO they deserve no such equivalence.
Oh Jon, I felt the flutter as well. I think those cut offs represented a bit of rebellion that is still simmering in some of us old boomers. That rebellion has been dormant for decades. But it is now awakening slowly - but dramatically, like a dragon in the Game of Thrones.
I'll keep saying it. A person can't insult, defame, fire, humiliate, disenfranchise and hurt this many people over a lifetime of intimidation and hubris on steroids without reaping the rewards. The Karma Cops are coming.
My generation has contributed a lot. And has f**ked up a lot as well. Too much greed (thanks Gordon Gecko) and selfishness.
And now...the outrages of the MAGA movement are so egregious, so murderous, so disgusting, so anti-American that some of us are figuratively finding those old cutoffs.
We are about to achieve "Critical Mass". The insanity of $Trump and Musk are becoming more and more evident. Too many people are being hurt - people of all stripes.
Next? More pressure and a few more change agents in leadership to step up and quash things like cutting Medicaid. The House Budget resolution is political suicide.
And here is the next episode in this ridiculous movie: Musk is just as childish and impatient as Trump. He lives in a world of gaming and super heroes. He and Trump will break up and Trump will try to blame Musk for the disasters unfolding at Social Security and the IRS, etc.
But as good old Harry made famous: "The buck stops here." All the monsters of history had an expiration date. I see the orange Menace boarding a plane just Iike Nixon.
I believe in action fueled by creative visualization. Let's create a new future. In the streets, everywhere.
Your essay is both nostalgic and uplifting. But as a baby boomer myself, we went through a lot - the Viet Nam crisis, Reagan, W - but this is so much worse, unthinkable. The existing level of conflict is seemingly the highest in more than a generation.
"A person can't insult, defame, fire, humiliate, disenfranchise and hurt this many people over a lifetime of intimidation and hubris on steroids without reaping the rewards. The Karma Cops are coming." Yes!
This administration has done absolutely nothing that is positive, that helps anyone except the very wealthy.
Thank you, Lucy! I had been wondering where I could find Heather's speech. (I read it, but it would be nice to hear her speaking it.) I loved walking the Freedom Trail, which I did many years ago on July the 4th! Thanks for the memories!
Finally those dunces on the Supreme Court figured out that their own legal system is under seige. They won't be very supreme any more if they don't protect the law.
And this will be the fourth major lawsuit against lying left wing media who actually changed a live interview with Kamala Harris and deleted what she said and put in their own words apparently
The news comes as "60 Minutes" and CBS are embroiled in a $20 billion lawsuit launched by President Donald Trump over the show's interview of then-Vice President Kamala Harris on the show last year. The network aired different parts of Harris' response to a question about Israel on separate nights, leading Trump to accuse CBS of election interference.
The dissent purported to be about timing - "we haven't heard from the lower courts about this yet" - but the majority clearly understood that the government could not be trusted to wait for the lower courts, and the Supreme Court, before deporting the people they had targeted.
So Alito (and no doubt Thomas) is being disingenuous, i.e. dishonest, pretending t be concerned about procedure when he is aiming at the result.
Sad and scary day when the government - from the top down - cannot be trusted to act within the rule of law - which includes waiting to see what the law says, when a question has been raised about it.
Trump and his toadies (a band destined for failure, hurrying towards it) are violating not just the Constitution but the Magna Carta (1215).
Well to be fair this country is NOT governed by the Magna Carta. Our Constitution, Bill of Rights and many US laws are rooted in the Magna Carta's principles as well as the English common law, we do not conduct our legal system by referencing it as an authority, so violations of the Magna Carta if any are not really relevant.
However violations of the Constitution itself certainly are.
So, let me get this straight: the convicted felon and convicted rapist in the Whitehouse, whose late wife accused him of violence and whose former staff members reported his temper tantrums resulting in plates with ketchup being thrown against the wall-- that guy has just made the admissible-in-court statement that wrongfully abducted Abrego Garcia "is not coming back" as a middle finger to SCOTUS, Van Hollen, and the American people, and has also lied about Mr. Garcia's past and faked photos of tattoos, but the same guy brought a convicted sex-trafficker back to Florida on a private jet? Is that about it?
Yes, and it’s the same guy who’s causing the biggest economic recession the US has ever seen, but still is constantly posting on social media in all-caps how great he is.
You are obviously a rich person living with protected financial status and have no concept of the suffering people who are not rich are experiencing day to day due to cuts in government programs, firings and lay offs and price gouging.
LOL, sorry Sabrina, I just had to laugh. Talking about someone else's financial predicament is always a risky thing to do.
I am a 74-yo retired person living SOLELY on Social Security (admittedly a larger monthly SSI payment than many but still not the max) with virtually no savings of any kind (well under $100k) for my retirement and I live in San Francisco, not exactly the most economical place to live in retirement. I am fortunate to share a residence with a fellow retiree and it is rent-controlled, so I like to joke that there are many people who can't afford to live in San Francisco but I can't afford to move away (in the Bay area, my rent would triple just about any place I would go and even in the most affordable parts of the US, like my hometown of Tucson, AZ, rent there would be at least the same or slightly higher than what I pay here).
So no, I am NOT a "rich person" living with a "protected" financial status. I have plenty of concept of the suffering people who are not rich are experiencing day to day, although I am amazingly lucky to not be experiencing that myself, at least not at this time. I AM living with a medical condition that if Medicare was to be drastically cut or to go away, I would be left with minimal if any adequate health coverage and that ABSOLUTELY affects my outlook.
However, none of that changes the facts of the matter. The most recent 10% downturn should NOT have been a fatal impact on anyone's retirement nest eggs unless they had ignored plentiful advice to keep their money in a diversified set of funds, rather than investing in specific stocks. If they did the latter, yes the recent downturn could cause some of those people to lose most or even all their money, but that could happen even during boom times.
Those are the facts of the current situation, not the emotional situation. We are ALL scared of what could happen, that is true. I do not disagree with that.
Hm, it doesn't seem to get better. From Heather's letter today: "Hannah Erin Lang of the Wall Street Journal reported that “[t]he Trump rout is taking on historic dimensions.” She noted that the Dow Jones Industrial Average “is headed for its worst April performance since 1932,” when the country was in the midst of the Great Depression. "
It's a middle finger to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. It's a more pernicious form of tyranny than that imposed by King George lll.
And this is more hyperbole lol. You know I can't stand Trump but to suggest he is worse than King George III is WAY out there. He may turn out to be that bad but I sure hope not.
Jon, I agree that hyperbole isn't always helpful. Yet, reading the indictment portion of the Declaration of Independence there are similarities in actions.
"obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither,
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers. (Snubbing SCOTUS)
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, (Threats to impeach judges)
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance. (DOGE)
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. (Federal law enforcement)
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power. (Sycophants running DoD)
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: (Tariffs)
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences (Garcia)
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: (Consolidating power in the Executive)
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, (January 6)
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
I can understand how people are making the connection...
There is one fundamental difference that I have noted and should be noted again. The status of King George III as a "king" means that the people (and especially the people in America) had no say in the situation they found themselves in. Theoretically, the King had the power to impose all sorts of draconian situations on the people, who were not ever consulted on those situations. That is what led to the Declaration of Independence which you so appropriately cite.
Trump was ELECTED BY OUR OWN PEOPLE according to an agreed upon process (even if you think it is imperfect, as I do).
That is a HUGE difference from the situation in 1776. We CHOSE this man (and I do mean we, those of us who voted against him notwithstanding, an election is the will of the people, otherwise it is meaningless) and that is a far cry from the situation where King George III could impose his personal will on us without fear (until our decision to revolt) of repercussions.
King George III was accused of tyranny, of inflicting taxation without representation. We can't rationally make that accusation. We, the people, had plenty of time and opportunity to keep Trump out of office again and we, the people, chose not to do that.
You are correct Trump was elected, George was not. I agree completely with you that we did this to ourselves and the process is flawed. We know the framers did not anticipate the rise of the two party system, and believed their system would protect us against ideologues.
Yet, George was not able to fully impose his will on us, at that time Britain was a constitutional monarchy in which the king reigned but did not rule. Parliament ruled. It was a parliamentary decision to deny us representation. Interestingly it was Edmund Burke, the father of conservatism who argued for giving us MPs.
Two points if I may, our congress is also doing this to us by their complicity. Not all members, but the body of congress. Further, we lost our representation when an single unelected person with no public accountability is allowed to make cuts to programs that congress has created.
Are Trump and George the same? Not exactly. But the comparison to the conditions that lead to the conclusion they are tyrants has merit.
Maybe it's worse in that Trump was elected only to turn his back on those who thought he was a their savior. George never claimed to be our retribution against Parliament.
At least King George didn't have to destroy anything to become King. The throne was there waiting for him. There were no 250 years of democracy being perfected to destroy and replace unlike what's going on here.
Well that's it. King George was in ultimately in charge, and Trump's coup is still in progress; and I see no certainty to where that is leading. The prognosis is pretty mixed. IF Trump succeeds in imposing dictatorial rule, I read his character as far more malign than my admittedly superficial impressions of King George; and I think, along with our founding documents, Trump would also be pleased to flush anything resembling a Magna Carta.
Also, as just a matter of circumstance, Trump is here, and George was over there
Jon, I forgot one. He hasn't yet but Trump has asked his cabinet to figure out how to use the military domestically counter to the concept of Posse Comitatus.
'For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:"
A call to action. A truly sick, angry, delusional person has been given the reigns of power in world's most powerful country. He must be stopped. While Trump is replaying old tactics from his Central Park Five days, and enabling his entire MAGA government to jump into the mud with him, WE, the 70% or so Americans who do not see this country as a "weak, failed state" need to go on STRIKE, literally, until the craziness stops. Could anyone really have imagined Trump would create false evidence to justify his paranoid rants on Truth Social? We must stop Trump, not only to our fellow Americans, but to our fellow world citizens.
All people with Hispanic names are criminals to trump and his regime. Trump and his regime project their own sins and crimes onto people they consider lower than them in the pecking order. Due process has no meaning to them. That's how authoritarianism works, and that's why it's so important to fight for all the legal residents who were deported. We need a new Reconstruction Era to fight this new tilt toward rule by the wealthy. The tactics of the Civil Rights Era are relevant today.
As an activist in Florida with Hispanic surname,I’ve started carrying a copy of my passport/birth certificate along with my Real ID.
“Additionally, driver’s licenses—including REAL IDs—as well military or tribal IDs would not be sufficient forms of documentation to prove citizenship under the legislation.*”
Definitely Kathy, you are describing a different country created in less than a 100 days. This is the most efficient administration ( regime) in the last 250 years. Could you imagine using all that planning and energy to really make America better?
A desperate man and a disastrous President. People voted ignorantly in 2016 for a media joke and deliberately in 2024 for a convicted felon known both times for horrendous sexual harassment. The worst thing is the voting. President Trump is what he is with little actual change. But where did we get these American voters and how do we get sensible people inspired to outnumber them?
Democrats ignored or talked past the angst, anger and disgust that too many working men felt about their futures, about an America that they perceived had forgotten them, and about the changes they observed in American society. False media such as Breitbart, One America Network, News Max, Fox and others fanned and encouraged those emotions, and provided a nurturing ecosystem for them. A majority of Americans chose not to vote for Harris in 2024. It was a failure based on a framework of lies.
Absolutely JD. And be a uniter of the many seeming disparate demonstration groups with their own agenda's. Help them see that we're all relative and relevant; that we're stronger together seeking civil and unalienable rights. There will be a need for tighter organization and unique identification for those that are 'part of,' so as to disprove those that will try to co-opt a movement to their own dubious ends. Henna tattoo's ?
More, Democrats (like my former governor) belittled the hard working men and women in our state, insisting they all were going to be sent to college to learn how to use computers to build cars now. Every plumber, electrician and carpenter I hired to work on my house after that announcement had nothing but disgust for Democratic leadership. Trump didn't win this alone.
Oddly those autoworkers have been using computers to build cars for decades. I grew up in GM Lordstown country and there was so much automation in the 70’s that they learned on the job. Imagine being so obtuse you have to believe a college education is required to learn how to operate a computer.
And Fox is still delivering their message of "all liberals are bad". Their viewers and listeners are misinformation and uninformed as to what is really happening.
If Fox turns against Trump, is that the end of Trump?
So is Sinclair Broadcasting and talk radio. Now there's a good one to google / examine; Sinclair Broadcasting, if they still have the same name along with their multiple subsidiaries. What an octopus. All the more reason to 'strike while the iron's hot' - provable lies and damage, and protests are hot.
Yes, Je: "an America that they perceived had forgotten them."
By plan, Je -- the far-right foundations of the Powell memo totally eviscerated the humanities by plan. And replaced them all with a shackle of standardized testing totally opposite all that's human and personal.
Lol. I was waiting for when you would veer off into space again. Sigh, the saddest part for me is that your diversions are in the service of what is real and important and good, to recognize how our entire system needs improvement, but your obsession just fails to provide any thing except nominal support for what you believe in.
And single minded obsessions are not going to win this war.
I think there is a good percentage of the 89 million who didn't bother to vote who are now beginning to feel some serious fear and personal pain. The first 90 days of disaster are just the tip of the iceberg - the damage being done to our institutions isn't abstract. It's about to ruin a lot of lives.
And if enough of us are in the streets OVER and OVER again, even the weak kneed pathetic mainstream media will have to notice.
Je, You are so 'on the mark,' if understated. I came out of heavy industrial manufacturing - approximately 50 years; I was a maintenance professional for most of that. I 'lived' among those people you speak of. Spent more hours with them over 50 years than I spent with my spouse. We worked together, ate together, laughed and cried together. Celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, and sat beside one another through losses and the deepest sadness' of losses together. I could speak for them and not miss much of their stories and lived experiences; I was there among them and hurt with them. I closely identified with all their hurt and resentments. The 'truth' narratives I have within me are in fact the extremists absolute nightmares; Factual, provable narratives that are unassailable. Believe if you can that I tried mightily to gain the attentions of legislators and more ears and hearts. But, all to no avail. As you aptly, yet understated and remarked, my pleas were "ignored or talked past," even worse. If you knew the truth narratives within me, it would shock you beyond comprehension that you should find me here among you all, as opposed to living as a 'ring leader' "with" the extremists; I have leadership and good troublemaking in my past - hell, in my DNA. I daresay that I have won over hearts and minds of right wing believers in my past; I'm relatively certain that I could help to do it again "if" this time around incentivized to do so, and there are solid, relatable reasons that I would even state something so seemingly callous. Someday perhaps, my truth narratives will be revealed. I have my doubts though, and I can say with some certainty that my time is short; I should have died 8 years ago, and a few more since then.
Ironically though, in my daily voluminous reading and study, I came across an article outlining the current thrust of efforts by the democrats to, as they put it, "win back the working class." I'll post a link for reference and interest below. My hand slapped straight up to my forehead as I perused their 'labors' into repeating the same mistakes, the same way; EGADS !
This link is to a Vox article that is somewhat good. You will notice right away a paywall to mount. Vox it would seem has gone all "mercenary patriot" like so many others. There are other ways around it, one being a public library; the others, little work around hacks that I might share if you reach out to me privately.
Well Harris had every opportunity to distance herself from Biden and his obsession with Netanyahu (see, obsessions are NOT good things in politics on EITHER side, Phil, I hope you are reading!)
I am in the midst of reading FIGHT , Jonathan Allen's book about the 2024 campaign, and while it is a bit tedious, he definitely looks at the lock hold Biden had over Harris in her attempts to find her own space. The Democratic party has never been successful at finding a common alliance to bond the party except by accident (2020 and the electing of Obama were exceptions).
We seem to be well into another round of that failure again.
"Obsession?" Seemed more like he was frustrated by Netanyahu's regime, yet committed to work with an ally. Would you have preferred unilateral action a-la-Trump?
He became frustrated after Netanyahu failed to take proper actions in the war. But at the outset, Biden was a wholly-supportive cheerleader, pledging to support their regime with military equipment and almost anything else Israel needed. For the record, I am a Jewish liberal/radical and I have had little to no interest in supporting the right-wing regime of Netanyahu, but I too was supportive of taking action after the Oct 7 massacre of innocent people. But it became clear after a week that the response was not going to be a proportional one in response, but rather it was going to be used as a justification to try to destroy the Gaza leadership. I certainly wish there had been more diplomacy and less destruction, but for Netanyaho, destruction is one way of keeping himself out of jail.
The parallels between Trump 2.0 and Netanyahu are perilously close.
I understand. I'm still trying to understand your use of the word "obsession." But that's really a minor matter compared to the abandonment of Biden by many erstwhile supporters. Were they "obsessed" with getting someone, anyone, to force Israel to stop or at least change their tactics?
Politically, in the US, Israel retained majority support. Politically , in Israel, the traumatized population on average lurched right, having lost any once-held compassion for the Palestinian's plight. In this one instance, the country aligned with Netanyahu, with the biggest variation being just when to pull back. Israeli democracy right now is a bit more stable than the US's.
Trump wishes he could conjure up a domestic existential threat like Hamas and Hezbollah are to Israel to solidify his domestic political support.
The abandonment of Biden, as I haved noted frequently and is reiterated in Allen's book, is a complex thing. There is no single reason for it, but clearly Biden misunderstood the level of support he had during his term. He did some very very good (even great) things, there is no doubt about it. He stabilized our rapidly "coming-apart-at-the-seams" government under Trump 1.0, and he handled the pandemic much better than Trump's ping-pong approach. But Biden also misread a lot of what the electorate was saying, particularly about the economy. Biden focused on jobs, which was good, but he definitely ignored the impact on the average consumer's purchasing power, which was definitely sinking during his 4 years in office. Ditto for wages, which for the lowest lever (minimum wage) did well (and that is a good thing), but for middle income people, the four years of Biden were at best a tread water moment and for many there was a definite loss of buying power as salaries at the middle-to-upper-middle end stagnated.
Coupled with that was the fact that Biden was clearly an aging candidate and this country simply wasn't used to that. Biden was by far the oldest living President ever in office and there was no precedent for someone in that position seeklng a second term.
And finally, Biden's support of Israel at the outbreak of the war was the nail in his coffin.
When he appeared on TV in the only debate he had in 2024 with Trump, it was clear he was quickly losing his grip on the Presidency and a second candidacy. I remember watching that performance almost a year ago and sitting there stunned by how bad it actually was. Many of my friends (including people here) were saying "he's okay, its just a bad night" but it wasn't a bad night, it was a disaster and anyone whose mind wasn't totally closed to seeing it knew that the writing was already on the wall. Our only hope was the Biden would get out quickly enough to let a replacement have a fair shot at beating Trump. I thought Harris would have that, but it was too little, too late.
LOL, just doing what I can from home for the past year. Calling people, writing emails and mails, contributing what little I can monetarily. I have been dealing with a medical condition since last May which is hopefully approaching a conclusion (surgery) but I have not been able to go to rallies and marches since the start of Harris' campaign so that has limited me quite a bit.
I am hopeful the "errant" Democratic party can find their way. It will be a tough fight, but I continue to have hope and faith that the GOP, once the spectre of Trump is removed, will right themselves and we can return to a more normal politics. But that is just a hope, I can not predict the future, sigh. If I could, I would not be poor LOL!
We're started to see home made signs posted on telephone poles along the roads and highways in our county. My understanding is that in ME at least, this is legal. But compared to all of the laws the Trump administration is breaking, there is no way this could or would be prosecuted.
Is it even possible to convince the "deluded and fooled" D4N that Trump is not working to make America great?
Janis, Trump promised over and over again that he would lower the price of eggs. That was enough for desperate people to vote for him. Believing his lies still amazes this person who knows chickens. Climate change and war have reduced the harvesting of their favorite food and lack of freedom has reduced their lives and likely their laying capacity.
I read he claimed he had lowered the price of eggs. Do the people he’s duped believe the price of their eggs increased because Democrats own the store they’re buying their eggs at? How do they not clearly see prices increasing?
Realizing, and more so "accepting" that you were fooled, is a gargantuan task Sharon; Imagine for a moment that you were wrong, and worse fooled by someone or something you were very deeply invested in. Can you even do that ? In differing degrees, we all want to believe our own minds and bias'. I've said herein that I want to always believe my own bs without challenge; hell, I'd even love to grade my own tests, lol ! Though it sort of galls me to think so, we 'need' as many of those folks as we can patiently shepherd. The only approach I can muster though is patient repetition of "facts in evidence" with certifications at hand. Some bravery is requisite as well.
Amazingly I’ve done that multiple times in my life. I have never been afraid to admit I’m wrong about anything. I’m far from flawless. It’s probably why I am less tolerant of those who refuse to admit they’re wrong.
I used to have great difficulty with the poor work habits and ethics of my coworkers. I could not understand it because I was taught that if you’re going to do something do it well. Finally, one day my husband pointed out to me that I was frustrated because I had always done everything to the best of my abilities.
Now I saw a report that Bukele intends to use those prisoners to negotiate a prisoner exchange with Venezuela! The plot thickens. No wonder he doesn’t want to return these guys to the US!
$20,000 per man per year of incarceration. But not to be forgotten that each inmate is also a valuable asset. Bukele can send them to work outside the prison to bring in more revenue for Bukele.
Still, was it not six 6 million - cash up front out of pocket (treasury) ? What it ultimately costs per man, per time is an unknown at this point, other than the propaganda pushed out. The particulars of this "contract" have not been published. I would venture the price will ultimately be far more after passing through several hands and time. I'd require full disclosure and cleansing sunlight on all that shady business; You must know or at least feel that if cfg is involved, there's far more to know with certainty.
Remember the horror of family separation? I guess that was not bad enough to dissuade people from seeking "the American dream" so now they crash the economy and send people to foreign concentration camps without due process or chance of return. Immigration problem solved. Who would want to come here? For once the Venezuelan government is behaving better than our own. Can't say El Salvador is doing the same for their citizen.
Puzzle me this. What if a foreign army of special forces, stormed the prison killing all of the guards and then armed the prisoners releasing them to depose Bukele? What would Trump do then?
Don’t miss the YouTube video of Heather’s speech in the Old North Church in Boston recounting and commemorating the events of the night when Paul Revere warned the colonists of the marching of British troops to Lexington and Concord to seize their arms/ammunition and arrest their leaders. Heather does a stupendous and historic job. It is a dramatic presentation that all Americans and their children should hear. Heather got multiple well deserved standing ovations from the audience. Don’t miss it. These are times that try men’s and women’s souls.
Conveniently, Trump won't release the names of the "ass-kissers" or the countries they represent. We can guess a few of them, like Tim Cook and Bekule, but it doesn't seem that they aren't interested in making a deal with a liar who has reneged on virtually every deal he has ever made.
"White House chief of staff Stephen Miller were all present at the meeting. Miller mischaracterized the Supreme Court decision to say it had ruled unanimously in favor of the administration, the exact opposite of reality."
The exact opposite seems to be the only brand of reality they peddle.
Every time media reprints posts from this man’s pissy rants and screeds, they show that a raging psychopath now occupies the White House. Yesterday, he tried to post an Easter message. Within a few ghastly words, it had degenerated into yet one more, CAPITALIZED, obsessive attack against “sleepy Joe Biden.”
It takes a truly wretched sociopath to turn ‘Happy Easter’ into something like that. A dessicated, morally bankrupt, dried-up, decayed peachpit of a human being, obsessed by petty demons, is now simply desperate for you to accept his lunacy as reality.
When will Republicans finally get around to vomiting and then taking action against this?
People hunger for stories, narratives, scenarios, scripts. That's all void in schools -- has been for decades -- so people don't at all know our actual novels, memoirs, histories, biographies, and other arts in writing.
People don't at all know actual people. So Fox in this vast educational vacuum can profit immensely by the abstracted, fabulist, vulgar versions they peddle instead.
Vulgar is their calling card, applied to everything, not just the ridiculous wrestling. I loved Bill Moyers. He warned of political upheaval, but he loved poetry, literature, and was a scholar with a voice. That why Fox tried to smear him. I miss his voice so much.
For anyone interested, here's the link to Alito's dissent.
Not surprisingly, he utterly fails to address the unanimous decision from just 9 days earlier - Noem vs Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
He also complains about the case having been filed on Good Friday, late in the afternoon (as if many of the putative deportees might not also be as Catholic as Sam), and complains also that the injunctive relief granted by the other 7 Justices is somehow not proper because it was not issued "sparingly and only in the most critical and exigent circumstances,” as if a kidnapping and rendering to a foreign nation's gulag with no hope of return is not "the most critical and exigent circumstances” for those about be flown to El Salvador.
Dr. Heather, I still read every one of your letters avidly, but I don't comment much anymore because I'm too angry and don't want to spread bad vibes here. Thank you for your persistence and good will.
I hear you. I most often comment on other folks' writing. I am not writing many "original" posts these days, mostly because what I say has either already been said, or what I want to say is (as you write) could spread "bad vibes" here.
If it weren't for you and the other commentators here, I would be tempted to give in to a heavy sense of futility. As it is, my favorite other therapy is to sling skippers into the incoming/outgoing tide of the Atlantic Ocean, and send a little message/prayer along with it. Skipper prayers may seem superficial at first, but eventually they sink in and are often tossed up on the beach again. “Caste your (stone ground) bread upon the waters, and it shall come back to thee”. Sometimes I find an answer there.
Thank you, Susan. I took a "mental health day" yesterday and managed to catch a fabulous day on the Oregon coast. I met a friend for lunch in Newport, saw three lighthouses, got my feet in the ocean, and felt some peace for the first time in quite a while. I have had several people close to me die recently, one my age from cancer, another is a younger woman who was an amazing coach for softball players in a car wreck with her team caused by a drunk driver. I needed Vitamin Sea, and I got it.
Heather well keeps reminding us our monster (or, monsters) has (have) many tentacles.
Timothy Snyder, however, reminds us, too, how these tentacles have one set of resemblances to each other. Yes, the U.S. rich gutted America – but centrally with help from Putin, to sink the American working and middle classes as Putin did Russia.
As Timothy Snyder’s “The Road to Unfreedom” says, “American and Russian oligarchs have far more in common with one another than they do with their own populations.”
One area of hurt, the U.S. working and middle classes’ massive housing crisis. As he says (p. 265), “more and more Americans are unable to change residences, which also makes better futures hard to imagine.”
Same page, he notes of U.S. health that, because it “lacks a functional public health system, inequality has brought a health crisis, which in turn has accelerated and reinforced inequality.”
And as he’s well in touch with the pain, he quotes from humanities, on p. 264 citing “Billy Joel’s 1982 song ‘Allentown,’ which . . . spoke of men of a second postwar generation without the social advancement attained by their fathers, of workers betrayed by narrow nationalism.”
Our schools, and thus all media, lost touch with the pain abroad the land – lost touch in that virtually no one has any reference to things like the Billy Joel song. That left us open to the oligarch predations.
After all this clears, can we restore our schools?
I am constantly reminded of that passage in Dickens "A Christmas Carol" where two skinny, raggedy children peek out from beneath the cloak of Christmas Present. When Scrooge asks who they are, the Ghost replies "The girl is Want" and the boy is "Ignorance". . "Most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased."
It is ignorance (not stupidity) that has landed America where she is today. And the GOP feeds on that. It is they who are pushing the "Oh, the democrats are defending a wife beater!" motif.
THEY DO NOT WANT THEIR BASE TO COTTON ON TO THE FACT THAT THEIR FREEDOM IS BEING TAKEN AWAY.
Trying to get trump supporters to use brains that have been neglected for years is an uphill job.
Tragically, while the American people at large have been largely (and perhaps willfully) ignorant of the fact that a very large portion of our fellow countrymen, following a period of union activism and social progress dating to FDR's New Deal, began to sink once again into the type of poverty they suffered during the 19th and early 20th century. This appears to have coincided with the implementation of the Trickle Down Economic theory promulgated by Reagan and successive Republican administrations, which to many appears to have been (and remain) either a pernicious error or an effort to further enrich their wealthy supporters by impoverishing the rest of us. Some of us still got by sufficiently well to look the other way while the less well educated, the rural, and laborers of all sorts sank into true poverty, leaving many homeless, poorly nourished, badly educated and angry. Very angry. It seems to me that changing this course would be one of the simplest and most direct ways to re-establish fairness and end the MAGA craziness in which the desperate have taken refuge.
Yes.
And keeping the public ignorant admirably serve the purpose for every GOP administration since Reagan.
Keeping them ignorant? How? LYING!
And keeping them watching Fox News! Our friends who watch Fox News never hear any of the facts that Prof. Richardson has written about. And it is a fool's errand to try & inform them.
It is a cult of ignorance.
And in the south, entertain the ignorant with Friday night lights football, college football Saturdays, and beauty pageants, especially child beauty contests.
Well you are wrong about this Fox News watching degreed, Middle Class, retired, White Guy; I watch Fox News, read the New York Times, subscribe to Prof. Richardson's daily correspondence (read it daily), and various other News Sources. So I evaluate various News Sources. My Opinion and I am still allowed to have one is that Joe Biden was the worst President in my lifetime and Donald Trump is the best. So we can agree to disagree, but you opinion does not negate mine.
How would you know what Fox News is saying? lol
Three of your left-wing heroes and channels have just been sued and lost their lawsuit for lying to you the public very recently within the last 30 days. What say you about that talking about ignorance? Did you know about the lawsuits Stephanopoulos, Maddow Hayes Wallace?
I would love to see if you try to play the role of a juror and see both sides of the case before you render an unfair decision.
1. Snyder is voting with his feet -- moving to Canada!
2. The media has become Trump's codependent liars.
3. Once upon a time, the Administrative Procedure Act applied to deportation hearings, but during the Eisenhower administration, Congress removed APA due process from the procedure.
4. Ignorance? Apparently, the public has little intrerest in depoortations -- even when some are obvious due process violations. And although Trump repeatedly lies and commits contermpt the media is mostly silent.
5. Although due process is at stake, not one Congressional Republican has come forward on this issue.
Insightful, as ever, Daniel. On point-4, however I am not sure whether I agree. Since Citizens United monopolized 'free speech' in favor of wealthy right-wingnuts, it may be difficult to discern just what that opinion is on a particular issue. Additionally, people's feelings may vary on so many issues that relative solidarity on an immigrant's right to due process may be more latent than transparent. Alas, we live with a government motored by malice and malevolence creating an ambient ambivalence and ambiguity.
For starters, they are trying to keep Americans ignorant by doing away with the Department of Education. Disallowing books, underpaying teachers. Omitting the truth in history. Dissing heroic American people of color. Denying slavery. Anything that isn't White Makes Might. It's disgusting!
Not only lying, but repeating the lie so many times that it was believed. The human brain interprets the familiar as true, an important survival mechanism when the unfamiliar might be a tiger wanting us for a meal. Now we have greedy Trump who want us for dinner.and he has a bunch of tech moguls and others ignorant schemers witting at the table and hiring their thugs to enforce the steal. Many Trumpers are going to be terribly disappointed when Trump comes to steal their cattle and ship the farmer off to El Salvador. They did not realize until it was too late to join the Resistance. Our message to MAGA, He lied to you; come join the Resistance
Don't forget Rush Limbaugh along with hundreds of right-wing radio stations. Plus, right-wing newspapers. Plus, Fox News. Plus, internet sites. Plus, think tanks. The very wealthy like Charles Koch have been funding these operations. The return on investment is huge.
Since Nixon.
Assuming the public is ignorant/stupid was one of the reasons for the electoral college.
But not the main one. The main one was to retain clout for the hold-out Confederates of the South.
I was taught the main one was to placate the slaveholders (read: oligarchs) to accept the Constitution.
Leigh, there is another category of MAGA supporters: Relatively intelligent people that sup at the trough of mis and did information promulgated by Faux, OAN, and other media sources that have created out of whole cloth, the "talking points" that feed the hatred of "other" that is so strong in what I used to call conservative people that are now in no way, shape, or form conservative. My last foray was to attempt to communicate the absolute non-issue of transgender women competing in women's athletic events. I asked one guy if he knew how many transgender women were competing in women's sports. His reply was "one is too many". (The answer, as best as I could track down, was less than 20).
You're right, Ally, but I still think the vast majority of MAGAs are so focused on revenge, etc., because of their anger at the losses people like them have endured, as well as their unfortunately correct perception that most better-educated and economically better off people don't give a damn about them. This anger and resentment creates the impulse to tune in to the likes of OAN, Faux, et. al., and this adds fuel to the fire, and because many right wing firebrands are corrupted by a desire for power and money, and some are actually foreign agents exploiting the cracks in our system in order to weaken us from the inside out the whole thing snowballs. And as for trans athletes, I can't help thinking of golf handicaps and how such a system might be employed to level the playing field in women's sports. BTW I heard that it's only 9 such athletes currently competing against biological females. And I think the percentage of transgenders of both sexes is vanishingly small overall.
Your search skills must be better than mine!!
I do wish I could comprehend the hatred these folks have for transgender people. The vitriol is amazing. I happen to know about a dozen trans folks, all of them female to male. All of them are thriving living their true lives. How does that hurt other people?
The story of Janet Mock hit home for me. She knew at 3 that she was a she. And a beautiful one. Spent much of my life not knowing there was such a thing (except for a few writers who were out). But why would anybody subject themselves to societal vitriol for anything but a desire to live true lives. Let people be…
Honestly, I think this so-called 'issue' is yet another successful attempt by conscience-challenged Republican operatives to provide people with an easy class of persons to hate, which deflects this rage from the Republicans themselves. That this has gone on for donkeys' years goes without saying. I'll paraphrase Lyndon Johnson here. He said: If you give a poor (read oppressed, ignored) man someone to think is lesser than him, he'll allow you to pick his pockets. Remember Jim Crow and Willie Horton (in case you think Trump came up with all this on his own)? And btw, when I practiced as a therapist in a large Eastern city, and in small-town Appalachia, I had a few transgendered clients, and was struck by the fact that the vast majority of trans folk were of the 'man to woman' variety. Which may say something about self-hatred and confusion in these times when trad male roles and behaviors are on the chopping block, and/or something about the fact that as biologists will tell you, the female genetic prototype is prior to the male. (Sorry if I'm miss-stating this finding. I'm no biologist.) In a couple of cases--those easiest to support--my clients had felt like the opposite gender since early childhood. In other cases the motives were murkier. I don't believe we really understand transgenderism fully, and know that we often confuse Gender Dysphoria with it. There's overlap, but the two conditions are not identical. Ugh. I sure feel chatty today. Sorry not sorry. Sometimes I feel like a lonely crier on the wall when it comes to psychological issues. <sigh>
I think it started with the fear that these transgendered people were using the bathrooms and by extension would engage in assault. Preposterous notions cooked up by - I don't know - Christians, Conservatives... Beliefs of this sort do little to help us create a humane and tolerant future for those who exercise different beliefs or lifestyles. This represents as well a moral and intellectual emergency.
Ally, there is a trans person in my family, they went from male to female (no surgery involved.) She is much happier now than as a child or younger adult.
It reveals their own gender insecurity. Anything different from tradition, change, threatens them.
Ally, It doesn't and the Rs are blowing this all out of proportion concentrating on trans men to women competing against females. I would like to know if they really do have an advantage as is assumed. Also their numbers are next to nothing compared with the total number of athletes competing. What truly bothers me is denying the health care that they need to transition and interfering in medical decisions as Rs also do with abortions.
The short answer, is it doesn’t but that doesn’t stop the vitriol from these people. Hate is alive and well in their hearts, whether it is transgender people, immigrants, black and brown people or against liberals. They think of their world like it’s a pie and they want their piece and if anyone else gets a piece they see it as less for them. Sad.😢
It's a castration phobia. They hate gays because somehow they might "catch it."
And they hate trans because they are afraid someone is going to come along and cut their dicks off - or stitch one on.
I think trans people should be free to be who they are--but as someone who played a sport at a national level many, many years ago I know how I practiced through pain, gave up many things other kids were doing so I could follow my dream. The reality is that men (not all but most) are stronger-- so it could hurt others. I do not think sports or locker rooms are necessary for a trans person to be who they are. And I would truly stand up for their right to be accepted. I played golf so long ago that the coach at my high school wanted me to be on the boys golf team, (there was no girls team). I thought that was a great idea, but the city's board did not so I wasn't allowed. I survived.
Oddly all the hate and vitriol I see is against the male to female. The people that scream about them being sexual abusers lurking in women’s bathrooms are the very people who sexually abuse women. I think the idea of handicaps, like in golf, is a good one but could be problematic. Do we assign handicaps to all people in all sports based on testosterone or estrogen levels? Isn’t that what is considered to give levels of strength?
Maybe that are afraid that they might try to pick up a trans guy. I would love to be a fly on the wall when that discovery was made. And if any of his buddies ever found out, he would be ridiculed for life.
I don’t hate trans people but biological men should not compete in women’s sports. Lia Thomas for example should not be competing against women. I’m 100% liberal on pretty much everything else.
Look at the chaos Trump has created in Maine over one transgender athlete. All because our governor chose to stand up to him at a publicly failed attempt at humiliation.
Never underestimate the thirst for revenge, for even the most trivial acts, of malignant narcissists. As Trump has often demonstrated, these people nurture their resentment, even over years of time, and aren't satisfied until they 'level the field' by retaliation. Lisa Murkowski is right to be afraid, and courageous as hell for making this clear.
I’m surprised he’s not accusing her of being transgender.
Trump overreached as usual as this is a state matter. Nonetheless I’m opposed to biological males competing in women’s sports.
Phil has his humanities drum; I have my evangelicalism drum. And I'm about to bang on it.
Let's take a stroll through the mindset of the evangelical. It will require you to stick with me until the end.
You must first recognize that evangelicals dwell in the Hebrew Scriptures, aka The Old Testament. There is where you'll find a jealous, angry, vindictive God who routinely smites people who defy him. In the O.T., everything is good or evil, black or white. There is no middle ground.
Oh sure, they read the New Testament, and acknowledge Jesus, but he's really more like a good luck charm. They invoke his name when they pray, because doing so magically makes God do as they pray. And the whole point of praying is to make God give you what you want, right? But Jesus' yapping about love-your-neighbor-turn-the-other-cheek stuff? Nah, they like the good-or-evil-smite-your-enemies world.
Another primary feature of the evangelical mindset is that one never questions authority. "God said it. I believe it. That settles it." Critical thinking unnecessary. This authoritarian carte blanche is extended to anyone who's been ordained by God, no matter how flawed, including televangelists, local preachers, and a certain orange-colored tyrant.
How do evangelicals know someone was ordained by God? Because a familiar authority said so! It's the same illogic that enables evangelicals to "prove" the Bible is inerrant, by quoting other verses of the Bible.
If one believes that God is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent, as evangelicals do, then God made everything and everyone as they are supposed to be. That is good. Anything that varies from the norm; that is evil. So if a man is physically and emotionally attracted to a man, it varies from the norm. Therefore, he is evil. If an infant is born with a penis and declared by the delivering doctor to be a boy, who at an age of self-awareness feels like a girl, that is questioning God's handiwork. Therefore, he is evil.
"But, but," you say, "Not every conservative is an evangelical!"
No, that is true. But I guarantee that every conservative is either an evangelical or has a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or someone in their family background who is or was an evangelical. It's almost like a virus that spreads and causes a kind of psychosis.
I have no use for Evangelicals. A former commenter here (Mike S) said it best when he said that they are trained to do whatever the white man in front of the church tells him to do. Mike was from East Texas, just up the road from a dear friend of mine, and her experiences of growing up lesbian there simply reinforced everything Mike said.
Whether today's MAGAts are Evangelicals or not (many in my world are), they have been conditioned in that environment which shapes their belief structure (I dare not call it thinking).
And there, you've hit the nail on the head. Evangelicals, and by extension, conservatives do not think. They believe.
The problem with beliefs is that they are nearly impossible to change, because they are not based on fact or evidence. Beliefs are passive. That is, someone (an authority figure) plants an idea in the mind and it is embraced without question.
Thinking is both active and passive. Questioning, researching, concluding. A thinker may arrive at a belief, but it is the result of active thought. And the thinker's belief is subject to modification based on new information.
Many from the Midwest are Lutheran.
I get your drum beating but what about the Catholics? Aren’t they mostly conservatives?
We were the only Irish Italian family in our neighborhood who were Protestants. Oddly I learned at one time part of our family was Lutheran who because of prejudice moved to the Methodist church for the freedom to love who they wanted.
My husband is an atheist because his Catholic parents shunned the church and refused to raise their children with any religious knowledge. His aunt was a nun but he still knows nothing about religion. He is one of the most decent, fair-minded people I know. When we first met his previous wife forced him to go through the whole Catholic routine with her. I wonder does J.D. force Catholicism on his wife and kids? Anyway, he offered to go to Christmas church services with me and I told him it wasn’t necessary. We have never had a religious argument.
Sharon, I was born and grew up in an evangelical pastor's home, so I consider myself an "expert" on the tradition and feel qualified to speak (write) on that culture. With no direct, personal experience, I find Roman Catholicism to be complicated and less easily described.
To be sure, the Vatican shares much of the repressive dogma, outrageous hypocrisy and unbearable guilt-mongering purveyed by Protestant evangelicals. But Pope Francis has broken with some of that dogma. Also, I'm aware that there are many "strains" of Catholics, some of whom are dogmatic, some non-practicing and some very progressive.
For those reasons, I avoid beating on Catholics in general, as I don't want to be unfair to those who are just trying to be good people and mind their own business.
The Catholics seated in SCOTUS are not some of those good people.
I'm a Humanist but my very Catholic parents didn't shun the church ( I went to a Catholic school and my brother even went to a Catholic University). We don't believe in religion, an all omnipotent being or a grand plan. My husband grew up in a household where his father was a minister in a VERY conservative religion. But I would like to think that we are good people who learned from our parents that all people are worthy of respect until they prove otherwise and it is people judging others that gets in the way of people living the life they want. As for J.D. Vance, he is neither a good Catholic nor a good Christian nor a good person. He is one of those judgmental people who hides behind a thin veil, preaching to others but knows nothing about anything.
Good, Dale. But remember the Happy Ending.
For the few who stew in hate together, it's The Rapture.
End Times. Drum up a mass campaign of hate, land theft, harassment, imprisonments, murders (yeah, Netanyahu!) and add in the easily-gotten U.S. arms (missiles, tanks, bombs) and soon all may have rapturous cataclysm.
Phil, I almost wish there was an after-life so I could see the looks on their faces when they realize they're not getting anything they were promised!
But it’s the issue that appeals to ignorance and misogyny for those who can pretend “intelligence.” They are not stupid, but weaponized ignorance is just as bad.
Maine is currently the focus of full trump ire because of 2 transgender girls in sports. The question is, do the parents know, did they object? Are these girls even any good at their sport? One parent of a transgender girl said her child was horrible at baseball but loved playing.
Good questions, Karen.
I just wait for a small, slight F to M who, with muscle enhanced with male hormones and the flexibility of the female skeletal anatomy to become an excellent wrestler at one of the lighter weights.
Well, MTG has that butch body muscle enhanced anatomy and she’s terrified of a M to F. She spent lots of time showing off her horrendous workout skills.
The issues of gender and sexuality have a long deep history in human civilization. I do not understand the fear based reaction. If one researches history the wide variances of human in regards to gender and sexuality there .
Much has been forgotten or suppressed and ignorance yes a large issue as misinformation. I lost my father to Fox and Rush Limbaugh just as he was getting to see deeper with the female narrative. And he was very aware of transgender issues. Though it was just not talked about just a few lines of speech here and there.
In Maine, where Gov. Janet Mills has sworn to follow state and federal laws, regardless of what Trump threatens, the number of trans female athletes was two. For a threat of this size, we must be upset, very upset? And some people voted because of it.
Pretty much.
Truth Leigh - trickle down economics might be the biggest scandal in American history. Let's see - cut the one-percenters' taxes, unshackle their power to grow and create jobs. You workers will benefit greatly - more jobs, and better pay. And, importantly, your taxes to the government will more than make up for the tax breaks we receive. Trust us.
What could possibly go wrong. What a crock. It's not even that convoluted, as some conspiracies can be. Only unscrupulous people insist on this plan's efficacy. No economist worth his salt stands by this. And yet it persists.
Here is what can go wrong - the rich and the corporations can enjoy reduced taxes, take those saved revenues and do stock buy-backs, create off shore accounts, increase the pay of their CEO's, build off-shore facilities to replace American facilities. Enrich thenselves without creating a single American job. That is what can happen, and is happening for the most part. And yet it persists.
The people who continue to push this ludicrous economic theory are powerful, and represent powerful people. To turn that around is going to take measures I am not sure this country can take. Trump sure won't do anythng, nor ANY Republican.
Ugh. I'd 'forgotten' (managed to repress because it's so, so enraging and frightening) those offshore tax havens!
That’s because you believe in paying your share of taxes instead of hiding your wealth and hoarding it.
Leigh, the Rs have long been working to undermine the New Deal with the help of certain political operatives and the making of certain words like socialism anathema. One of the ploys has been recently to paint both parties as the same which has been bought by many, partly because progress in our democratic system is slow, making people both angry and cynical. In Washington's third they have a rep who has an auto shop (she is also a graduate of Reed) with her husband and she is often criticized for not being progressive enough. She fits in very well with her district and she has now won twice. Her opponent, mad Joe Kent, is now working for Gabbard. On Saturday we were having a chat with our pork guy at the Market. He is an ex-marine. He hates death star and thinks both parties are the same without understanding at this moment they certainly are not. We didn't get to the wrongs of Citizen United, but maybe another time. When I mentioned muskrat, he mentioned waste and that DOGE was working for free. We quickly explained the untruth of that. He took an oath to the Constitution, but doesn't seem to understand how the Constitution is being undermined.
So it seems to me, that when we can take time off from protesting ("Protecting Democracy") we need to really work on getting the public EDUCATED.
If a majority is ignorant, why polls are now showing Trump is losing on every issue?
Don't make the mistake of assuming that all polls are well-constructed, well-conducted and free of bias. The polls I've been reading, which are generally recognized for their quality, have shown Trump slipping on several issues, and 'underwater' overall, having lost a lot of goodwill since he was inaugurated. He seems, however, to still have a good deal of support on his immigration policy, at least he did until he authorized snatch and grabs of innocent people off the streets and then shipping them off to foreign gulags. And then, Hiro, there's your use of the word ignorant, which is broad and poorly defined. Ignorant of what? Do you mean poorly educated, poorly informed, or what, exactly? Not trying to be snarky, here, just to clarify your meaning enough to make a helpful relply.
Thank you Leigh for responding to my comment. By poll results I am referrring to polls reported in MSNBC TSRM show. By ignorant, I mean those who believe Trump is working for them. Make sense?
Even MSNBC has been known to refer to iffy polls on occasion. And for what it's worth I think we need at least two classes of ignorant: one composed of people who don't read or keep up with current events, and the other of people who do, but only to the extent that this keeps them within the silo of those who share their a priori convictions. In other words the 'true believers.' At any rate, Hiro, in today's world some precision with words and also critical thinking skills are really helpful in negotiating our way.
Ignorance is not bliss. The truth shall set you free.
Exactly
Do you know about 99% of the people on this thread need to look up the word patience and then see if you can find any because you were patient for four years of the disaster where Joe Biden was ostensibly president while the legacy media hid the fact of his declining mental acuity from you you didn’t say a thing. Just went along like gullible lemmings. By the way, do you see any right wing people being desperate here? This is what I mean by you needing a mirror Trump supporters are smiling they are not the ones complaining you might take heed in that
Oh, I do agree that Biden's inner circle were complicit in minimizing his increasing problems with concentration and physical stamina. I think that if he had resigned at the end of one term as he promised he would during his campaign, we would have had an open primary and nominated a candidate who could have beat Trump who barely squeaked by. But be careful, even if Trump is a bit healthier physically, he is much less able on a good day than Biden was on a bad day to govern, largely because he is stubborn and arrogant as well as ignorant of the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, Congressional powers and process, foreign affairs and more. And he has never been able to assemble a cabinet capable of helping him sort through all this and actually govern, as opposed to issuing edicts from on high. IMO he'd have been better off if he'd stayed in NYC and continued to pile up bankruptcies and felony convictions.
If you want people to pay respectful attention to your point of view you might want to organize your thoughts better. Trying to follow your leaps and segues made me feel seasick.
Despite all his problems Biden wasn’t destroying the economy like Trump.
Lady Emsworth,
Everyday becomes more deeply concerning to me.
I was grateful for President Biden and the attempt he made at "cleaning up" the disasters Trump left in his path from his first term. I voted for Kamala Harris...an intelligent and joyful true American...a successful lawyer....from a successful hardworking family.
I changed political parties upon Trump's first "run" for President of the USA. I was in absolute shock that a human being so lacking in character or contributions to anything uplifting .... within the entire realm of humanity....could be chosen to lead this great though imperfect nation.
While he was not serving as President, he managed to mistreat women and involve himself in criminal activities for which he was tried and found guilty AND YET FOOLED ENOUGH CITIZENS TO REELECT HIM....I am sure for the hope of personal gain and power!!!
It is so sad to see persons, though on the opposing political party from me, become Trump's robots. Pam Bondie knows exactly what is going on. She knows the law and it is creating a battle inside of any righteous cell she has left within her being. Makeup does not hide the strain on her face. She has chosen to sell her soul to our President, criminal, Donald Trump! (OH!...but our President is a criminal WITH A RECORD!!!....these men in El Salvador have had NO DUE PROCESS OF LAW !!!)....they have been "whisked away"....is an American citizen or resident of America...OR STUDENT IN AMERICA safe??? The answer is "NO"! We have seen this already...young persons, students who have committed no crimes whisked away due to having personal opinions regarding faith!!!
I have always appreciated that we are a country with mutual respect for one another ....that we enrich the lives of one another when we are able to share our beliefs!!!
It is this man the President of the USA ...."land of the free BECAUSE of the brave"
who has sent men to El Salvador without due process of law. There is one man whose brave wife has followed the law to request her husband be brought back to her and to their three children!!!! No one in the United States of America should be imprisoned without a fair trial.
I agree. Emily - life today in America is both frightening - and tiring. However, I take much comfort from the fact that we are NOT alone - look at the pictures of yesterdays protest marches. This government may be drunk with power - but they still have enough sense to realise that if pushed too far, the American people WILL rise up.
And the revenge will be terrible.
Ignorance is curable with information, and since information is readily available, it is stupid, for stupidity is incurable.
Well, there are news deserts where the less educated reside due to Wall St. investors, with no interest in the survival of the news, therefore abuses - national and local - go unreported.
Even MSNBC, Meidas, et al are not reporting on the many Congressional Republicans who are unhappy with Trump. We need to get them to come to their senses and stand up with us. https://jerryweiss.substack.com/
Keith Olbermannn today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjUmNp4kg60&t=240s
The most important thing said by a Congressional Republican. "I am afraid."
And "There is retaliation".
The people who watch only the Fox Spews network don't know what they don't know. It's not just that the reporting is biased; many stories aren't reported at all.
People need information literacy, because they are obviously illiterate and succumb to propaganda and lies on their channels of choice.
Like I once wrote -- stupidity is contagious.
Boy, it is. Cults, tribes, family. Belonging to the “cult” is a family affair in some places
And it seems so is cruelty.
Not information, but knowledge, which involves analysis and understanding, not just raw information.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote about why stupidity is more dangerous than malice. I urge you to check out his theory of stupidity; there are many resources available in YouTube.
In a nutshell, that’s about the size of it.
“Trying to get trump supporters to use brains that have been neglected for years is an uphill job.”
Pushing rope, herding cats, leaping a tall building in a single bound, wrestling pigs in mud😀
Fear and ignorance feed off each other. Trump inculcates fear of immigrants by wheeling out a grieving mother (Patty Morin) and posting a doctored photo. This is where, I believe Senator Van Hollen and others who share his principled view is wrong. It's important in the Abrego Garcia case to defend the man as well as the principle. This poor guy was swept up by ICE and DHS, detained and deported without any due process on the basis of the flimsiest evidence imaginable to an inhumane hellhole of a prison in El Salvador (thankfully he's not there any more, hugely undermining the way he's been portrayed by Trump's execrable minions like Miller, Bondi and Leavitt). It's grotesque enough to be something out of a Kafka novel. And he's not alone in being the victim of unconscionable and unjustifiable harsh treatment by the administration. -
https://popular.info/p/federal-immigration-authorities-wrongfully?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1664&post_id=161759094&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=9sm91&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
We were all reminded today that the late Pope Francis once enjoined Barack Obama to welcome immigrant families into the country rather than allow them to be demonised, reminding him that America was built by such immigrant families. Yet polls show that the majority of Americans are in favour of deporting all illegal immigrants (all 11 million of them).
Erwin Chemerinsky, the Dean of UC Berkeley School of Law a few days ago wrote in the Los Angeles Times about the very real nature of the constitutional crisis your country faces over cases like Abrego Garcia. The last paragraph of his article summarises the dilemma. -
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2025-04-17/abrego-garcia-el-salvador-donald-trump
Good stuff, Russell. Thank you, again and again and always.
You're always welcome, Ned. I am wholly reliant on the output of people much smarter and more knowledgeable than I am.
More knowledgeable? Likely yes for all of us. 😳
Intelligence? No way. Few are more intelligent. 💡
Right here, right now, however, what counts most of all -- rendering the other two marginal -- is your ninety-ninth percentile character. ⚖️
I don't think Trump's base can be moved-they have been indoctrinatedthrifht Fox News and other rightwing media for a couple of decades, but swing voters and people who didn't vote in 2024 are out there and we can work to reach them.
Collectively voting can make a huge difference. We vote for the best obtainable circumstances for ALL of our people and for posterity, not just to express our particular preference or disappointment with respect to personal agendas. A think a large bloc of abstentions and capricious voting has helped enable poor choices, choices that typically hurt the already disadvantaged even more than the average. W,hose fault is that?
Lady Emsworth worth you are spot on. Thank you
This ignorance which helps people to accept lies as the truth has led to this. It is an indictment of our education system, which this fascist in the White house and his fellow fascists want to destroy even more.
Very important!! The distinction between “ Stupidity” and “Ignorance”.
In addition to agreeing with everything you said, I'd like to clarify one thing.
Whatever we know, there is much more that we don't know, and we are all "ignorant" of what we don't know. There's nothing any of us can control about that, but the wise constrain their own ignorance. In other words, don't beware of ignorance and instead beware of the person who refuses to constrain their own ignorance by refusing to admit when they are wrong.
".....their freedom is being taken away......" might not be what Snyder means in "On Freedom".
Mirror.
I'm of a mind that is starting to believe the know our worries to not have a bearing on them as they know (having been repeatedly told by their press and media) that they don't have any of those rights we have our knickers in a knot (or not) over.
As Timothy Snyder’s “The Road to Unfreedom” says, “American and Russian oligarchs have far more in common with one another than they do with their own populations.”
It seems to depots of whatever sort are pretty much cut of the same cloth; left wing, right wing, theocratic, or whatever, they are all bad news for the preponderance of humanity, and for a quality of life informed by better angels of our nature. We fight them again and again, and yet abidingly struggle to outgrow them.
The one thing the American wannabe oligarchs don’t share with their Russian counterparts is competence. Trump and his crew of blockheads aren’t just corrupt—they’re embarrassingly inept. Everything they touch turns into a slow-motion disaster. The Kilmar Albrego Garcia fiasco is just the latest example—a spectacular waste of taxpayer money. Add that to the growing list of bungled decisions since tRump took office. Honestly, Larry, Moe, and Curly could run a more functional government. Meanwhile, the polar caps are melting.
Kazz, thank you for mentioning the ice caps. Sadly the reports on the death of Pope Francis do not remind US of his stand on climate change softening it to “his caring for the planet.”
We are benefitting from their incompetence - imagine if they were competent...our democracy would be completely gone by now.
Yeah I agree Terry, that’s how dumb they are. But what a waste of time when time is the very thing needed to restore the planet.
I have greater fear of smoother criminals, but Putin is certainly an example of one, and seems to have played no small part in installing the Orange Statewrecker. One thing that MAGA is currently accomplishing is bulldozing our nation's strengths, domestically and internationally; a virtual army of saboteurs. Let me count the ways.
For power-mad sociopaths (and Putin is certainly the more skilled at his craft) the price paid by the rest of us, the planet, and by generations to come for their insatiable vainglory is of no concern to them. They seem even to enjoy seeing others suffer.
That ugly twist of our human nature the real threatening devil we face; in stark, empirical terms. Not an unseen phantom with goat horns.
We were supposed to build a world governance after World War Two, not a worldwide gangster régime.
It’s been no smooth operation and Putin I think has become just as flummoxed as the rest of us with the caper cops antics. Competence and humanitarian values in those standing up to him - people who know their stuff, is stark by comparison, and proving to be the mightier force that can stop the orange wrecking ball. Not to mention mass public dissent. Good people everywhere are starting to ‘fight like hell’, not the MAGA fan base, much to tRump’s chagrin. The curtain has been pulled back to reveal a weak and stupid old man with nothing but a big megaphone.
Poor Graham. We’re supposed to be happy on Easter but all you people whine and complain and make references to things that don’t matter. It’s amazing. Why don’t you be like the 77 million or more that voted for Trump and be happy every day be excited for our future be pro American, instead of anti-American quit name-calling. There’s a good start for children like you.
Beware of liar, liar, Vance on fire. Trump has the questionable virtue of transparently churlish behavior. V.P. Alcibiades is smoother.
Restore the planet ? Wow. You better talk to AOC you only have 512 yrs to restore the better talk to AOC you only have 5 ½ more years to live forget about restoring the planet. At that time, we’re just dustin the wind.
"Honestly, Larry, Moe, and Curly could run a more functional government." Now, why did you have to drag my family into this? 😉 Kazz, I am not entirely convinced that we are watching incompetence as opposed to planned chaos. One thing remains "perfectly clear": we are caught in a dash for dictatorship. 🤬😢💔
There is some underlying method to the madness when you follow the money.
Maybe I’m simply being an optimist, but the ‘planned chaos’ looks very much like the hand-me-down ‘101 dictator handbook’ to me. 1930s era fascism has worked in Russia because its had zero history of democracy and because Yeltsin’s disastrously corrupt democratic rule and eventual coup, made Putin look like a strong leader. tRump inherited a booming economy, global superpower status, and a population used to enjoying basic freedoms. Thinking you can hoodwink the American people into thinking less is more is laugh-out-loud funny.
Well, for whatever reason, a good number of millions of idiots voted for the scumbag, maybe because they are chronic idiots after all. Regarding the story of fascism, Russia and zero experience with democracy, you are absolutely right ✅️ 😉
Thank you, J.L., as always.
Improvised guesswork at best.
https://x.com/america/status/1862869854350389510?s=61
Hillary Clinton on illegal immigration. Double standard and hypocrisy. N
Ps. That’s all I do is post meaningful responses.
You guys are so wrong in obrego. Garcia. 90% to 10 and you take the 10% road
May I suggest you run this “Maryland man” for president in ‘28.
Bungled decisions. Eggs down 2 bucks gas down over a dollar. Inflation down mtg rates down 3/4% the border closed where is the waste of taxpayer money? Five dem congress members travel as the representatives of EL SALVADOR. LMAO.
So why aren’t the 77 million people that voted for him not embarrassed actually proud he’s actually lowered the price of groceries actually lower the price of eggs actually lower the price of gas actually lowered the price of mortgage rates actually lowered by 95% the number of illegals crossing the border. Pretty inept and only 90 days.
Rick, I don’t need to defend Biden in order to despise Trump. Biden did his job relatively well. Trump is bound to destroy the nation. Let him. We need total destruction of our nation in order to rebuild. Be happy you follow ignorance because you are ignorant yourself.
Really?? I thought we’d exhausted this dance Mr Sender. But since you’re here:
To quote Jane Austen, “If you haven’t got anything valuable to contribute then I suggest you keep your comments to the weather.”
- from Sense and Sensibility
https://x.com/america/status/1862869854350389510?s=61
This contribution from Hillary Clinton’s own mouth. Ooopsie.
Would you like to hear Obama and bill Clinton on immigration and tariffs?
It ain’t pretty for you guys. SAME EXACT THING TRUMP IS DOING. but not a peep back then when Obama deported some 3 million and. Fired half a million from the govt payrolls. Ooooopsie again.
I don’t have any problem deporting criminals. Now can we deport you? Your a criminal.
Or pelosi and Schumer. The list is long but distinguished. Lol
Just ask and I will send you the links. NOT MY WORDS…THEIRS
That quote, coming from him no less, grabbed me in it's specificity and confident certainty. I've not yet to ever find him as hyperbolic.
Texas has just passed a law signaling the death knell for public education. A long way to go…
Hard to "like" this, JD.
It makes me apoplectic
Easy to agree though. JD is an astute observer and his comments are becoming prescient for me as Missouri joins the Florida/Texas sweepstakes for most out of touch with reality.
Agreed.
ditto...
Should be a faster way to stop this out of control destructive madness before we reach the point of no return.
I have watched the dominos fall, one by one for decades. Now it’s like all at once. Chump has been the P2025 cretins dream come true. No reverse, but maybe we can create a nudge, sort of like nudging the path of a threatening comet or asteroid so they would miss earth.
Good luck with that JD 😁
Still 83% of kids go to traditional public schools. This must really piss off Texas and Florida, Oklahoma and Arizona.
Abbott spent big bucks in Nov to squash opposition. Repubs always cheat in Texas
Not just in Texas....
Yeah and how is that worked out for these kids 1979 we are first in the world 2009 we were 18th and they were 40th in the world in education that sound good to you
Cant understand what you are saying.
Maybe you should've learned to read when you were younger than the United States was ranked first in education in the world in 1979 when they first opened the department of education to 30 years later we were 18th and today they were 40th is that clear enough for you
Phil that speaks to only a fraction of the damage done over the past 44 or so years.
Trust me, D4N -- there's more, much more, in this particular Timothy Snyder book.
Probably has the best accounting available of how the vulgar rich so grew the wealth gap so much in their lurid favor, so pathetically, crassly, cruelly against most Americans.
I was particularly taken by The Phil Lind Initiative presentation/discussion, "What it Means to be "AMERICAN, Navigating Identity in a Changing Nation," at the University of British Columbia, presented by UBC’s School of Public Policy and Global Affairs in partnership with the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.
See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m9C5OoaHTM
I'm slowly working my way through the auto generated transcript as I listen to sections at half speed to make sure I get what was said, and the way it was said, right. Among the many, it seems a "keeper" as an overview with many key points I can refer back to, trying to help others navigate our history.
I would be embarrassed but not surprised if Canadians knew the bedrock of our history better than we do. I would not be surprised if they knew it better because they could sit back a bit as they follow Heather's navigation through the forest of trees, pointing out so many of the important trees.
Canadians have better schools that we do, that teach the truth. Whether those schools teach the whole truth about Canada, I'll leave to the Canadians.
As we should do in making our own schools able to teach the whole truth.
I think Heather should rename this thread be unhappy people Of America
People can choose to live there to free country
The news comes as "60 Minutes" and CBS are embroiled in a $20 billion lawsuit launched by President Donald Trump over the show's interview of then-Vice President Kamala Harris on the show last year. The network aired different parts of Harris' response to a question about Israel on separate nights, leading Trump to accuse CBS of election interference.
So should we sue Trump for maybe at least $2 Trillon for the losses in the stock market, insider trading, market manipulation, destruction of most of the services the people fired provided to our citizens (in my case VA, where I've had 4 different primary doctors in the last year, the last on loan from 5 states away). Then there are our allies we used to help thru USAID and Emergency responses, massive increases (due to the real impacts of climate change), in the inability to insure against floods and fires, maintenance of infrastructure, and alienation of good will of most of the rest of the world? Who do you think will want to keep relying on us as trading partners, or a country to invest in? Where do you think some of our best scientists will be going as our Universities lose international students that will leave our best universities in shambles like Germany's became through the lead up to WWII, and some that never recovered after the war?
Take a peek at the map of protests at https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&mid=1NiJprGgrxLL6FBEV0Cg2NtkHlLhc-kA&ll=47.26468307492362%2C-97.77139124902658&z=5
In addition to all of those, they missed three of the ones I attended at least once or more times (weekly). The one closest to my house (a block away), had 60 or so (with only 2 Trump supporters) this Tuesday, around 200 last Saturday (same 2 Trump supporters), before many of us went to one that did show up on the map, with a few thousand.
Well I don't know who your financial advisor is but my portfolio now is down 1/2 of 1%.
Oh my. Overlook every ridiculously incorrect statement that come out of your mouth
I do tend to look at the worst case, what's insurable, and what's not, etc. This wild show is going to run a while, with a lot of people hurt a lot more than they ever imagined no matter how well those ready for volatility come out at the end. Personal wealth is not the peak goal of most of those of us who would rather provide honest service to the community and large public projects that benefit the most people (without leaving the least of us with no where near enough of what they need) .
My wife's grand father seems to have ended up with about a third of what he had peaked at back before 1929, after which he concentrated far more on being a good steward of the watershed vs reckless land development as one of the last really active hereditary members of East Jersey Board of Proprietors.
The corporation that lasted from 1682 to 1998 might look more like a protector of property rights to outsiders, but he described how they set aside areas for towns, roads, and commercial activities on the land they granted or sold but he stressed to me the 1960s and early 1970s protection of watershed areas. He was a good friend of Interior Secretary Harold Ickes, so much so that my mother-in-law, as a preteen actually thought he was an uncle from his more frequent visits (and buying her 1st bicycle), compared to her real uncles. They thought very much alike on being good stewards of the land.
See https://www.amboyguardian.com/2017/06/02/historic-building-converted-to-new-perth-amboy-museum/
P.S. most Tesla owners around here are very polite and even encouraging as they pass our local protests of 60 to 180 people. I've only heard of one that flipped off our mostly senior citizen protestors and children (none of who have been rude to them. Some have apologized for not being able to part with their Tesla without undo financial sacrifice. We live in sight of 8 Superchargers, and have seen no problems.
I do wonder if you have Tesla stock, or anticipate problems selling or servicing the Teslas you said you own(ed)
Good point. The Constitutional crisis of today started in 2016 and represents the latest end-point of a gradual rotting from within. Like a floating cancer cell not attended to suddenly becoming visible and malignant.
Phil, I know you are a constant critic of our schools. I attended a protest on Saturday which ended with a man in colonial garb holding a rustic cloth banner with the words "NO KING" written on it. He recited the Declaration of Independence, followed by a brief speech reminding us of the reasons we rebelled 250 years ago, and that we must continue to fight tyranny. He's a *Social Studies* teacher at the local high school. His recitations were inspiring to us in the crowd, and he must be equally inspiring to his students.
A similar Social Studies Teacher I met at a Constitution Day parade in Santa Monica (which he helped organize), got me started on celebrating it every year since. I'm sure it was about 22 years after I graduated from High School (in Massachusetts), but 10 or 11 years before Stephen Miller went to Santa Monica High School. I do wonder what he would think of Miller if he had him as a student.
Jim, the main reason I joined Twitter many years ago (but deleted my account once musk bought it) was to follow the sage comments of people such as Lawrence Tribe, the renowned Constitutional scholar and Harvard Prof. I recall how he would call out Constitution Day in September, saying that is a day which should get greater recognition..
Heart-warming, Doug. Thank you.
And add on top of it the now coming to your state - (give back to the rich schemes with) "school vouchers" passing with the HARD push from Texas money grubbing politicians especially the one sitting in the wheel chair. It's a corporate world in Texas now.......... so Texas public schools are going to be hit even worse if they can survive
Anyone who believes that vouchers will "level the playing field" for poor and underprivileged children, have never had to endure the humiliation heaped on them by the "upper class" kids whose parents can afford full tuition for their little darlings.
Snyder also says that American government and Russian government have more in common than one would think in On Freedom, which was written before Trump took power again.
Still, this reads like good news doesn't it? It sounds like Hegseth's reign is falling apart, and the people enforcing the laws are coming together. MAGAs are getting discredited by the truth, something that has not been allowed to shine through before like it is now.
First things first: Rest in Peace my fave Jesuit, Pope Francis. 🙏 💔 😢 ⚖️ 😇 💖 🙏 Thank you Phil, as always, for a kick-ass kick-off commentary. 🤝
I watched the 'American Experience' installment on the Love Canal last evening. What a struggle -- a narrow defense of rights against a functioning democracy, no less.
We have our work cut out for us.
Blight the education. Blight the mind. Blight the mind. Blight the citizen. Blight the citizen, blight the democracy.
One encouraging note: at the Annapolis protest on Saturday, I hung with a few people whom I had never met. I expressed thankfulness that several general generations dispersed throughout the crowd; several generations of drivers honking horns in solidarity.
A young and recent college graduate -- drumpfed in his Americorps service and NOT a probationary employee -- pointed out that we are all one generation now.
Back came the words of President Kennedy to the United Nations just two months before his utterly untimely murder: "We have the power to make this the best generation of mankind in the history of the world or to make it the last."
The news on Pope Francis came late, but I caught Tim Snyder's very moving post this morning at https://snyder.substack.com/p/humble-francis/comments
So did I.
Phil, I agree with you that we have a first class crisis and that the undermining of schools is part of it. However, I always think of the teachers I know who are fighting like hell to better the lives of their students despite all the nonsense that is going on. Our friends, who are teaching in a heavily Hispanic district were part of the group of teachers, parents, and students who made the school board take back their decision not to stand against ICE (Customs which from what I see on the internet, has gone totally jackboot). They and many other teachers and ex-educators are to be found among those protesting. May 1 I am having coffee with an ex-student who graduated in the late 70s. We also see school administrators not letting ICE in and the Oregon Department of Education and the governor are refusing the death star directives on D.E.I.. We have a school board election here in Salem coming up in May and I will vote for those who I know will do their best for all the students. The legislature here in Oregon is considering a bill that will address cell phones in schools as well. It will not be an easy fix; however, in the meantime, we should support those who are in the trenches doing what they can.
Fine reporting from you, Michele.
One of the great casualties (among many) in recent decades has been the death of small town, local, and regional press.
They used to tell the stories you cite here -- which we need very much.
I believe Gilded Age levels of inequality is the root of all of our problems. The decimation of our American middle class- and the "American dream" that went with it - from 60% in 1980 to 42% today is the tipping point, the crux around which everything else revolved: the consumer based economy; trust in government; trust in neighbors; our innate sense of fairness; healthy job markets with jobs that support families; living wages, home ownership affordability; the balance between supply and demand with the recognition that demand is what builds business; the progressive tax systems that kept billionaires from becoming oligarchs and kept businessmen reinvesting in local industry; community service and civic pride; and a government of, by, and FOR the People.
That is why my protest sign read "BILLIONAIRES TOOK YOUR MONEY. NOW THEY WANT YOUR RIGHTS! And the other side read "STOP THIS BILLIONAIRE COUP!"
And singing in the schools! It lifts the spirits and binds like nothing else. I learned that as a child during WWII.
Exactly. It’s all and only about money. No ethics. No morals. No ideology. Nada. Accumulation of wealth is first and last. There is nothing wrong with being wealthy but when a society and government squeezes until much of the wealth has migrated to the super few, that’s the original sin of Man. This is what we must fight for. No not a communist or socialist concept. Only a system of government with guardrails which insures the vast majority of standards and care. So don’t be misinformed that this is ideological. But we on the correct side must stop dividing us. We must stop slicing and dicing it and turning us against each other. This more subtle sin rests on our side. We love to denigrate those who don’t tow the line and fall into ideological formation. You know what I’m talking about I don’t need to spell I out. But I will spell it out. There s a place for DEI but we have taken it far beyond to the point where it’s values diminish. It’s a divider not a uniter. We have laws in place. Let’s stop giving the enemy the tools to win over us. And that’s my opinion.
I think it's about power as well as money. The two seem to go hand in hand.
Hey Bill guess what it's been a Democrat Congress except for three times in the past 50 years.
And now the raped the middle class from this country billy clinton
There you are. It took me awhile to find you. And now the tapping is very slow. And this response would be long. And at end, you would simply disagree with me. It’s divisive. It pits white working class against the rest. Why do you want to live in a divisive nation where you can almost never win elections. I don’t know. There are laws against discrimination these days. Not perfect nothing ever is.
This is going to be the fourth huge lawsuit against left wing media lying this is the worst one
The news comes as "60 Minutes" and CBS are embroiled in a $20 billion lawsuit launched by President Donald Trump over the show's interview of then-Vice President Kamala Harris on the show last year. The network aired different parts of Harris' response to a question about Israel on separate nights, leading Trump to accuse CBS of election interference.
Rick, You lose all credibility as a conservative when you ally yourself to Trump who is nothing more than a pretend wannabe second rate Staten Island corner neighborhood mafia Don who was poisoned by his papa who hated his own son. Go find another hero why don’t you but not this pice of smelly manure.
Here's Hillary she sounds like Donald Trump in a pants. Suit
https://x.com/america/status/1862869854350389510?s=61
All you have going for you bill is hate this is just one example Obama deported 3 million people Clinton departed 375,000 Obama fired half 1 million people Clinton fire 325,000
Not a peep from you hypocrites
PS and the group of people here are the last ones I need credibility from
Hey Bill you forgot to say proud supporter of. 45 more wonderful months to go enjoy the ride and if you look at all the links I've sent you he's doing exactly what Clinton Obama Hillary Sumer Pelosi we're doing exactly the same thing but since everybody hates Trump have added you take care of yourself
https://www.google.com/search?q=wikipedia%2C+hedgeriw+schools&client=ms-android-xiaomi-rvo3&sca_esv=722f758a1a99b9f3&sxsrf=AHTn8zqiDi5Qkf011zCEXDRw929_VFfp3A%3A1745224999756&ei=JwUGaJTrLfOTxc8P1qGZyQU&oq=wikipedia%2C+hedgeriw+schools&gs_lp=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&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp
This link is absurd, to be honest. It goes to a Google search which pulls up links to schools in Ireland.
Thank you!
Cleaner link seems to be https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedge_school
My first impression is that education is most appreciated by those who are denied easy (or any), access to it.
Oh, my! _ don't you know it's always been that way?
In the UK what were known as "Hooray Henrys" used to go to Uni. for a "lark" and to widen their social connections - while the the miners would gather what knowledge the could from books at the library, or attend talks at The Working Men's Club".
"Can we restore our schools?" Only if we can keep the god-damned revisionist White "Christian" nationalists out of our school boards.
Well you can do that if you open up to school choice then the White Christians don't have to be involved in your school districts you can have your own.
I sure hope so, Phil.
Also, "Allentown" is one of my favorite Billy Joel tunes.
Reportedly, Sen. VanHollen made the talk show rounds on Easter Sunday. Did this Episcopalian Christian not worship in a church on this holiest day of our faith? Has he forgotten where real strength lies? By Jesus' sacrifice we can apprehend the Holy Spirit for counsel and presence. I count on that.
In his defense, he’s doing the Lord’s work.
Sadly I have to say that I, as a humble atheist, find it insulting in forums like this when people who i would hope would be friends have to bring "god", "the lord" or "christ" into the discussion. Our country was founded with explicit barriers between church and state for good reason. We are a multiplistic society and we aren't supposed to be political fights on religion since many of us may disagree with any particular establishment of religion, or on the establishment of any religion at all.
To state so bluntly that VanHollen is doing the "lord's work" is highly offensive to me and others because I believe in no religious "lord" and would hope that a US politician would never take actions on behalf of some church or religious dogma.
We should stand together because we are fighting a common enemy, Trump and his unlawful administration, but bringing "god" into that fight just creates divisions.
Please stop.
Thank you.
As a devout atheist, I understand your concern Jon.
I was replying ONLY to Eleanor, who appears to think Sundays should be devoted to worship solely, which is a noble and deeply felt concern for most Christians on the most holy of days on the Christian liturgical calendar. I don't think she realizes that Van Hollen was following the teachings of a compassionate Christ by prosecuting the detention of Garcia Abrego by giving him HOPE that he may be set free to rejoin his family, and that he hadn't been forgotten.
Please don't feel insulted, or get offended by my comment. I've been an atheist since the age of eight, when I could not understand why a loving and wise God could allow children to starve in Ethiopia (Biafra.) The rector at my Episcopalian church in NYC could not comfort my young self, despite his well-meaning attempts. We talked several times, but I realized I could not follow the flock, so to speak.
I cannot deny other humans the right to find solace and guidance in religion, even when I -personally- find religion a crutch to replace critical thinking and the scientific method.
You write: "... would hope that a US politician would never take actions on behalf of some church or religious dogma."
The dangerous and destructive nature of White Christian supremacy on the politics of this nation is most alarming. That Mike 'Moses' Johnson is an adherent of the Seven Mountains Mandate is most concerning. He has hundreds of fellow Republicans falling in line to support him.
Peace, Jon.
Thanks and peace back. And thanks to Ally too.
Derek, I've always appreciated Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson singing the line "I don't believe you, you've got the whole damn thing all wrong. He's not the kind you have to wind up on Sundays." I've been an atheist since high school.
Jon and Derek, each of us chooses what and who we take offense from, whether from a believer’s comment or from an atheist’s. We don’t need to take offense, we can simply allow each other our comments.
Jon, why take umbrage at Derek, instead of Eleanor? Personally, I find her comment more distasteful than Derek's. I completely agree that bringing the imaginary sky pilot to the discussion is useless; freedom "of" religion is also freedom "from" religion.
Point taken. I pointed to Derek below (i think). To be fair I didn't bother responding to Eleanor because her comment puts her clearly in "That camp" and it would be a waste of time to try to convince her otherwise. From Derek's other posts i felt his comment was more appropriate to call out. I've made peace with him I think.
I will sometimes use their language to communicate with them, much as Derek did. It is moderately successful...sometimes.
I completely agree, Ally.
As an atheist myself, I believe it is possible to be sincere and virtuous and still unbelieving. I also don't believe that religion is compatible with a civilized society. I think people can meet their emotional needs without embracing a make believe, man made deity.
Eleanor, I have to say your comment reminds me of a family story. A "young" family member (he must have been about thirty) became a curate. For his first posting he was sent to a small island in the Hebrides of Scotland. He was warned before he went to watch his step as the Elders on the island were notoriously stiff necked. One Sunday after preaching, he had an hour to spare, and so thought it might be an idea to go for a walk and read is Bible on the cliffs, to appreciate the wonders of nature that God has gifted us with.
That evening, a delegation of Elders visited him.
"You were seen walking this afternoon""
"Yes -while I was reading my bible"
"It is not seemly to go stravaiging aboot on the Sabbath!" ( Stravaiging is "wandering idly")
"But our Lord himself walked and preached on the Sabbath!"
Pause. Then:
"Aye - but he wisnae always richt, ye ken! (Yes - but wasn't always right, you know. . ."
Collapse of stout curate.
I am quite sure a) That senator Van Ollen contemplates his relationship with Christ each and every day. b) That Christ would have smiled kindly on him for continuing the fight to restore Christianity in the hearts of people who have gone astray - however much he had to "stravaige" on a Holy Day and c) that you are "Not always richt, ye ken!"
Beautifully expressed, Lady Emsworth! Thank you.
Eleanor, what -- no criticism of JD Vance who met with the (now dead) pope on Easter? You criticize Van Hollen for choosing to speak out in support of a man wrongfully, spitefully, cruelly, even mockingly detained by US policy rather than (allegedly) not attending church, yet fail to mention the hypocrisy of Christian-in-name-only Vance who fully supports the policy yet meets with the pope. (After which, I'm imagining Pope Francis whispering "God, just kill me now.") And Catholics, please take no offense at that joke.
Is it required that you be in a church to speak to God? Is that what makes you a good person? Is that why people that claim to be Christians do evil except when they’re inside the church?
Your whole comment puzzles me.
He easily could have attended the Saturday Easter Eve service, Eleanor. What would Jesus do, go to the temple or speak to a crowd about justice?
Another excellent Letter! I wanted to comment how beautiful and moving the YouTube of your speech at the Old North Church was. I appreciate it being shared.
Ten years ago I got to walk the Freedom Trail and felt such a vitality standing in that Church. You brought that back to me.
Does anyone recall wearing cut-off jean shorts when you were in school?
The first day of summer my mom would cut off our jeans (we only had one pair for the school year unless we outgrew them) and that became our summer wardrobe.
At first their was a straight line of denim where she cut them off, but then the threads started to unravel at cut. Within in few weeks everyone's summer wardrobes became summer uniforms complete with fringe.
This is what is happening to the Trump administration. They are unraveling thread by thread. Trump's shorts seem to be unraveling very quickly now as do a few other's in his cast of Fascists.
If only, the administration understood, well, anything, but especially the reasons for "due process, they might not be reviled quite as much. Ok, who am I kidding, they have done dozens of other cruel and hateful things.
Trump has done nothing to curb inflation, especially the price of groceries. Gasoline prices are lower, but now the fossil fuel industry can't afford to drill new wells, so he is losing some of his oligarchy. The hedge fund managers are bleeding money and are terrified of what's to come with the US backing out of the global economy.
The cut-offs may need to be patched to hide some of the nasty bits, but hopefully more and more will be revealed.
Every day I wonder what hell awaits us - from a disinhibited nihilist, whose brain spews daily rage, prevarication, ignorance and who is unmoored from decency and respect and........at what point does a narcissist's head run out of space and energy and just implodes....
Never to soon Stephanie, never. It's like waking up in the morning and going through a new nightmare every day, the whole day. Repeat next day....
I totally understood your purpose, but I have to say I felt a small flutter inside at the comparison of cut-off jeans, such a wonderful symbol of the summer of youth, with the outrages of this administration. IMHO they deserve no such equivalence.
Oh Jon, I felt the flutter as well. I think those cut offs represented a bit of rebellion that is still simmering in some of us old boomers. That rebellion has been dormant for decades. But it is now awakening slowly - but dramatically, like a dragon in the Game of Thrones.
I'll keep saying it. A person can't insult, defame, fire, humiliate, disenfranchise and hurt this many people over a lifetime of intimidation and hubris on steroids without reaping the rewards. The Karma Cops are coming.
My generation has contributed a lot. And has f**ked up a lot as well. Too much greed (thanks Gordon Gecko) and selfishness.
And now...the outrages of the MAGA movement are so egregious, so murderous, so disgusting, so anti-American that some of us are figuratively finding those old cutoffs.
We are about to achieve "Critical Mass". The insanity of $Trump and Musk are becoming more and more evident. Too many people are being hurt - people of all stripes.
Next? More pressure and a few more change agents in leadership to step up and quash things like cutting Medicaid. The House Budget resolution is political suicide.
And here is the next episode in this ridiculous movie: Musk is just as childish and impatient as Trump. He lives in a world of gaming and super heroes. He and Trump will break up and Trump will try to blame Musk for the disasters unfolding at Social Security and the IRS, etc.
But as good old Harry made famous: "The buck stops here." All the monsters of history had an expiration date. I see the orange Menace boarding a plane just Iike Nixon.
I believe in action fueled by creative visualization. Let's create a new future. In the streets, everywhere.
Your essay is both nostalgic and uplifting. But as a baby boomer myself, we went through a lot - the Viet Nam crisis, Reagan, W - but this is so much worse, unthinkable. The existing level of conflict is seemingly the highest in more than a generation.
It can't happen soon enough!
"A person can't insult, defame, fire, humiliate, disenfranchise and hurt this many people over a lifetime of intimidation and hubris on steroids without reaping the rewards. The Karma Cops are coming." Yes!
This administration has done absolutely nothing that is positive, that helps anyone except the very wealthy.
I love your analogy.
Thank you, Lucy! I had been wondering where I could find Heather's speech. (I read it, but it would be nice to hear her speaking it.) I loved walking the Freedom Trail, which I did many years ago on July the 4th! Thanks for the memories!
Finally those dunces on the Supreme Court figured out that their own legal system is under seige. They won't be very supreme any more if they don't protect the law.
Alas, not Alito nor Thomas though. They consistently show their racism.
They are panting toadies for billionaire largess.
I am hoping a few of the other Magastrates will be less eager to be window dressing. They prize their own share of outsized power.
Oh, I like that: Magastrates! That wins the internet today, as of 0426 local.
And this will be the fourth major lawsuit against lying left wing media who actually changed a live interview with Kamala Harris and deleted what she said and put in their own words apparently
The news comes as "60 Minutes" and CBS are embroiled in a $20 billion lawsuit launched by President Donald Trump over the show's interview of then-Vice President Kamala Harris on the show last year. The network aired different parts of Harris' response to a question about Israel on separate nights, leading Trump to accuse CBS of election interference.
Well put J L.
And/or Trump’s approval.
When the issue is due process -- a most core, foundational principle of Constitutional Law - I fail to see how they find room for dissent.
The dissent purported to be about timing - "we haven't heard from the lower courts about this yet" - but the majority clearly understood that the government could not be trusted to wait for the lower courts, and the Supreme Court, before deporting the people they had targeted.
So Alito (and no doubt Thomas) is being disingenuous, i.e. dishonest, pretending t be concerned about procedure when he is aiming at the result.
Sad and scary day when the government - from the top down - cannot be trusted to act within the rule of law - which includes waiting to see what the law says, when a question has been raised about it.
Trump and his toadies (a band destined for failure, hurrying towards it) are violating not just the Constitution but the Magna Carta (1215).
Well to be fair this country is NOT governed by the Magna Carta. Our Constitution, Bill of Rights and many US laws are rooted in the Magna Carta's principles as well as the English common law, we do not conduct our legal system by referencing it as an authority, so violations of the Magna Carta if any are not really relevant.
However violations of the Constitution itself certainly are.
Alito was ignoring or slow walking the entire process to allow Trump to get away with his crimes.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/04/supreme-court-blocks-deportations-donald-trump-alito-dissent.html
7-2 is good under the circumstances
Has anyone been watching "The Dark Money Game" on HBO Max? Episode 2 looks at how the Supreme Court evolved into what it is now.
So, let me get this straight: the convicted felon and convicted rapist in the Whitehouse, whose late wife accused him of violence and whose former staff members reported his temper tantrums resulting in plates with ketchup being thrown against the wall-- that guy has just made the admissible-in-court statement that wrongfully abducted Abrego Garcia "is not coming back" as a middle finger to SCOTUS, Van Hollen, and the American people, and has also lied about Mr. Garcia's past and faked photos of tattoos, but the same guy brought a convicted sex-trafficker back to Florida on a private jet? Is that about it?
Yes, and it’s the same guy who’s causing the biggest economic recession the US has ever seen, but still is constantly posting on social media in all-caps how great he is.
And toady traitors lap it up.
Careful Dutch. There is no evidence that the current down turn is ANYTHING closer to the "biggest economic recession" the US has ever seen".
The stock market took a 10% dip over the past two months. Not great of course but not even CLOSE to the biggest drops we've ever seen.
I recognize that it could get worse and probably will, but we are jumping the gun to say it is that already.
I prefer facts to grandiose exaggerations. I prefer to leave the exaggeration crap to the GOP. For now, this is one of the latter, not the former.
I hope you're right... Economists are already calling it "the Trumpcession". That's at least some relief, because that must piss him off massively.
You are obviously a rich person living with protected financial status and have no concept of the suffering people who are not rich are experiencing day to day due to cuts in government programs, firings and lay offs and price gouging.
LOL, sorry Sabrina, I just had to laugh. Talking about someone else's financial predicament is always a risky thing to do.
I am a 74-yo retired person living SOLELY on Social Security (admittedly a larger monthly SSI payment than many but still not the max) with virtually no savings of any kind (well under $100k) for my retirement and I live in San Francisco, not exactly the most economical place to live in retirement. I am fortunate to share a residence with a fellow retiree and it is rent-controlled, so I like to joke that there are many people who can't afford to live in San Francisco but I can't afford to move away (in the Bay area, my rent would triple just about any place I would go and even in the most affordable parts of the US, like my hometown of Tucson, AZ, rent there would be at least the same or slightly higher than what I pay here).
So no, I am NOT a "rich person" living with a "protected" financial status. I have plenty of concept of the suffering people who are not rich are experiencing day to day, although I am amazingly lucky to not be experiencing that myself, at least not at this time. I AM living with a medical condition that if Medicare was to be drastically cut or to go away, I would be left with minimal if any adequate health coverage and that ABSOLUTELY affects my outlook.
However, none of that changes the facts of the matter. The most recent 10% downturn should NOT have been a fatal impact on anyone's retirement nest eggs unless they had ignored plentiful advice to keep their money in a diversified set of funds, rather than investing in specific stocks. If they did the latter, yes the recent downturn could cause some of those people to lose most or even all their money, but that could happen even during boom times.
Those are the facts of the current situation, not the emotional situation. We are ALL scared of what could happen, that is true. I do not disagree with that.
Hm, it doesn't seem to get better. From Heather's letter today: "Hannah Erin Lang of the Wall Street Journal reported that “[t]he Trump rout is taking on historic dimensions.” She noted that the Dow Jones Industrial Average “is headed for its worst April performance since 1932,” when the country was in the midst of the Great Depression. "
If he were great Dutch, he wouldn't need to post in all- caps or to be posting at all. He would let the facts speak by themselves.
That's the point exactly ;)
It's a middle finger to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. It's a more pernicious form of tyranny than that imposed by King George lll.
And this is more hyperbole lol. You know I can't stand Trump but to suggest he is worse than King George III is WAY out there. He may turn out to be that bad but I sure hope not.
Jon, I agree that hyperbole isn't always helpful. Yet, reading the indictment portion of the Declaration of Independence there are similarities in actions.
"obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither,
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers. (Snubbing SCOTUS)
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, (Threats to impeach judges)
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance. (DOGE)
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. (Federal law enforcement)
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power. (Sycophants running DoD)
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: (Tariffs)
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences (Garcia)
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: (Consolidating power in the Executive)
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, (January 6)
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
I can understand how people are making the connection...
There is one fundamental difference that I have noted and should be noted again. The status of King George III as a "king" means that the people (and especially the people in America) had no say in the situation they found themselves in. Theoretically, the King had the power to impose all sorts of draconian situations on the people, who were not ever consulted on those situations. That is what led to the Declaration of Independence which you so appropriately cite.
Trump was ELECTED BY OUR OWN PEOPLE according to an agreed upon process (even if you think it is imperfect, as I do).
That is a HUGE difference from the situation in 1776. We CHOSE this man (and I do mean we, those of us who voted against him notwithstanding, an election is the will of the people, otherwise it is meaningless) and that is a far cry from the situation where King George III could impose his personal will on us without fear (until our decision to revolt) of repercussions.
King George III was accused of tyranny, of inflicting taxation without representation. We can't rationally make that accusation. We, the people, had plenty of time and opportunity to keep Trump out of office again and we, the people, chose not to do that.
You are correct Trump was elected, George was not. I agree completely with you that we did this to ourselves and the process is flawed. We know the framers did not anticipate the rise of the two party system, and believed their system would protect us against ideologues.
Yet, George was not able to fully impose his will on us, at that time Britain was a constitutional monarchy in which the king reigned but did not rule. Parliament ruled. It was a parliamentary decision to deny us representation. Interestingly it was Edmund Burke, the father of conservatism who argued for giving us MPs.
Two points if I may, our congress is also doing this to us by their complicity. Not all members, but the body of congress. Further, we lost our representation when an single unelected person with no public accountability is allowed to make cuts to programs that congress has created.
Are Trump and George the same? Not exactly. But the comparison to the conditions that lead to the conclusion they are tyrants has merit.
Maybe it's worse in that Trump was elected only to turn his back on those who thought he was a their savior. George never claimed to be our retribution against Parliament.
Thanks for your thoughts.
At least King George didn't have to destroy anything to become King. The throne was there waiting for him. There were no 250 years of democracy being perfected to destroy and replace unlike what's going on here.
Well that's it. King George was in ultimately in charge, and Trump's coup is still in progress; and I see no certainty to where that is leading. The prognosis is pretty mixed. IF Trump succeeds in imposing dictatorial rule, I read his character as far more malign than my admittedly superficial impressions of King George; and I think, along with our founding documents, Trump would also be pleased to flush anything resembling a Magna Carta.
Also, as just a matter of circumstance, Trump is here, and George was over there
Jon, I forgot one. He hasn't yet but Trump has asked his cabinet to figure out how to use the military domestically counter to the concept of Posse Comitatus.
'For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:"
That "WAY out there", is closer than you think.
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/policy-solutions/limiting-militarys-role-law-enforcement?ms=gad_posse%20comitatus%20act_725693723682_8626214133_175154016431&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAC8kUVmb_3m4OE8QbIZYSNTG0ukaM&gclid=Cj0KCQjw2ZfABhDBARIsAHFTxGwCjNkXvsXq1m2JPQCL4cVbtNRwBNR47beNGMq49CT8_H9tbJWue2MaAmfLEALw_wcB
A call to action. A truly sick, angry, delusional person has been given the reigns of power in world's most powerful country. He must be stopped. While Trump is replaying old tactics from his Central Park Five days, and enabling his entire MAGA government to jump into the mud with him, WE, the 70% or so Americans who do not see this country as a "weak, failed state" need to go on STRIKE, literally, until the craziness stops. Could anyone really have imagined Trump would create false evidence to justify his paranoid rants on Truth Social? We must stop Trump, not only to our fellow Americans, but to our fellow world citizens.
generalstrikeus.com
We, you you and many ‘me too’ need 3% of the population or 11 million to sign up.
I did. You can. And please pass it on🐎
All people with Hispanic names are criminals to trump and his regime. Trump and his regime project their own sins and crimes onto people they consider lower than them in the pecking order. Due process has no meaning to them. That's how authoritarianism works, and that's why it's so important to fight for all the legal residents who were deported. We need a new Reconstruction Era to fight this new tilt toward rule by the wealthy. The tactics of the Civil Rights Era are relevant today.
"While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society's pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole
That he's in"
But I mean no harm nor put fault
On anyone that lives in a vault
But it’s alright, Ma, if I can’t please him
Old lady judges watch people in pairs
Limited in sex, they dare
To push fake morals, insult and stare
While money doesn’t talk, it swears
Obscenity, who really cares
Propaganda, all is phony
While them that defend what they cannot see
With a killer’s pride, security
It blows the minds most bitterly
For them that think death’s honesty
Won’t fall upon them naturally
Life sometimes must get lonely
My eyes collide head-on with stuffed
Graveyards, false gods, I scuff
At pettiness which plays so rough
Walk upside-down inside handcuffs
Kick my legs to crash it off
Say okay, I have had enough
what else can you show me?
And if my thought-dreams could be seen
They’d probably put my head in a guillotine
But it’s alright, Ma, it’s life, and life only
>Bob Dylan.
Copyright © 1965 by Warner Bros. Inc.;
renewed 1993 by Special Rider Music<
This is why he won a Nobel Prize.
Wow! That sure brings back memories!
I'm partial to John Prine as well.
Oh yeah! One of my favorite songs in the world is John Prine and Iris Dement's Never Gonna Let Her Go! But he has so much stuff that is awesome.
Yep! That is a lovely one!
Sure does, Bringing it All Back Home.
Recently in Florida a U.S. a citizen was arrested for “illegally entering Florida as an unauthorized alien.”
https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/04/17/u-s-citizen-released-from-jail-after-arrest-under-floridas-new-anti-immigration-law/
As an activist in Florida with Hispanic surname,I’ve started carrying a copy of my passport/birth certificate along with my Real ID.
“Additionally, driver’s licenses—including REAL IDs—as well military or tribal IDs would not be sufficient forms of documentation to prove citizenship under the legislation.*”
https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-save-act-would-disenfranchise-millions-of-citizens/
Kathy thank you for the Link to the excellent 4/17/25 factual reporting & photography of JACKIE IIANOS of the Florida, 'Phoenix' platform.
Your Link also has Jackie's photo of Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez & embracing his mother while weeping.
It's all right madre.
Definitely Kathy, you are describing a different country created in less than a 100 days. This is the most efficient administration ( regime) in the last 250 years. Could you imagine using all that planning and energy to really make America better?
This is so horrendous.
Bo surprises, The April BIG SELL OFF continues.
And, among may things, Wreck is verbally attacking Chairman Powell
TESLS sunk nearly 7% today; 1st Quarter Autopsy tomorrow morning.
Be Safe All
If they’re not white they’re a target for ICE Barbie and her gang of misfits. It doesn’t matter what their name is.
A desperate man and a disastrous President. People voted ignorantly in 2016 for a media joke and deliberately in 2024 for a convicted felon known both times for horrendous sexual harassment. The worst thing is the voting. President Trump is what he is with little actual change. But where did we get these American voters and how do we get sensible people inspired to outnumber them?
Democrats ignored or talked past the angst, anger and disgust that too many working men felt about their futures, about an America that they perceived had forgotten them, and about the changes they observed in American society. False media such as Breitbart, One America Network, News Max, Fox and others fanned and encouraged those emotions, and provided a nurturing ecosystem for them. A majority of Americans chose not to vote for Harris in 2024. It was a failure based on a framework of lies.
More about hate (as much for Dems) and racism, with a bit of misogyny thrown in, the war on women should not be overlooked. Ditch the SAVE act.
Absolutely JD. And be a uniter of the many seeming disparate demonstration groups with their own agenda's. Help them see that we're all relative and relevant; that we're stronger together seeking civil and unalienable rights. There will be a need for tighter organization and unique identification for those that are 'part of,' so as to disprove those that will try to co-opt a movement to their own dubious ends. Henna tattoo's ?
No red hats but something
More, Democrats (like my former governor) belittled the hard working men and women in our state, insisting they all were going to be sent to college to learn how to use computers to build cars now. Every plumber, electrician and carpenter I hired to work on my house after that announcement had nothing but disgust for Democratic leadership. Trump didn't win this alone.
Oddly those autoworkers have been using computers to build cars for decades. I grew up in GM Lordstown country and there was so much automation in the 70’s that they learned on the job. Imagine being so obtuse you have to believe a college education is required to learn how to operate a computer.
And Fox is still delivering their message of "all liberals are bad". Their viewers and listeners are misinformation and uninformed as to what is really happening.
If Fox turns against Trump, is that the end of Trump?
Rupert seems to have rogues at the WSJ, but Foxers don’t watch that anyway.
So is Sinclair Broadcasting and talk radio. Now there's a good one to google / examine; Sinclair Broadcasting, if they still have the same name along with their multiple subsidiaries. What an octopus. All the more reason to 'strike while the iron's hot' - provable lies and damage, and protests are hot.
Yes, Je: "an America that they perceived had forgotten them."
By plan, Je -- the far-right foundations of the Powell memo totally eviscerated the humanities by plan. And replaced them all with a shackle of standardized testing totally opposite all that's human and personal.
Lol. I was waiting for when you would veer off into space again. Sigh, the saddest part for me is that your diversions are in the service of what is real and important and good, to recognize how our entire system needs improvement, but your obsession just fails to provide any thing except nominal support for what you believe in.
And single minded obsessions are not going to win this war.
I think there is a good percentage of the 89 million who didn't bother to vote who are now beginning to feel some serious fear and personal pain. The first 90 days of disaster are just the tip of the iceberg - the damage being done to our institutions isn't abstract. It's about to ruin a lot of lives.
And if enough of us are in the streets OVER and OVER again, even the weak kneed pathetic mainstream media will have to notice.
Je, You are so 'on the mark,' if understated. I came out of heavy industrial manufacturing - approximately 50 years; I was a maintenance professional for most of that. I 'lived' among those people you speak of. Spent more hours with them over 50 years than I spent with my spouse. We worked together, ate together, laughed and cried together. Celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, and sat beside one another through losses and the deepest sadness' of losses together. I could speak for them and not miss much of their stories and lived experiences; I was there among them and hurt with them. I closely identified with all their hurt and resentments. The 'truth' narratives I have within me are in fact the extremists absolute nightmares; Factual, provable narratives that are unassailable. Believe if you can that I tried mightily to gain the attentions of legislators and more ears and hearts. But, all to no avail. As you aptly, yet understated and remarked, my pleas were "ignored or talked past," even worse. If you knew the truth narratives within me, it would shock you beyond comprehension that you should find me here among you all, as opposed to living as a 'ring leader' "with" the extremists; I have leadership and good troublemaking in my past - hell, in my DNA. I daresay that I have won over hearts and minds of right wing believers in my past; I'm relatively certain that I could help to do it again "if" this time around incentivized to do so, and there are solid, relatable reasons that I would even state something so seemingly callous. Someday perhaps, my truth narratives will be revealed. I have my doubts though, and I can say with some certainty that my time is short; I should have died 8 years ago, and a few more since then.
Ironically though, in my daily voluminous reading and study, I came across an article outlining the current thrust of efforts by the democrats to, as they put it, "win back the working class." I'll post a link for reference and interest below. My hand slapped straight up to my forehead as I perused their 'labors' into repeating the same mistakes, the same way; EGADS !
This link is to a Vox article that is somewhat good. You will notice right away a paywall to mount. Vox it would seem has gone all "mercenary patriot" like so many others. There are other ways around it, one being a public library; the others, little work around hacks that I might share if you reach out to me privately.
If you will, please see > https://www.vox.com/politics/409412/democrats-swing-red-state-working-class-latino-black-white-2028-2032
D4N. That article in Vox is decent. Thank you. I had no problems accessing it.
The people pissed about Gaza stayed home. Wonder how they now like chump’s love of Netanyahu. At least I knew Netanyahu would be a worse nightmare
Well Harris had every opportunity to distance herself from Biden and his obsession with Netanyahu (see, obsessions are NOT good things in politics on EITHER side, Phil, I hope you are reading!)
I am in the midst of reading FIGHT , Jonathan Allen's book about the 2024 campaign, and while it is a bit tedious, he definitely looks at the lock hold Biden had over Harris in her attempts to find her own space. The Democratic party has never been successful at finding a common alliance to bond the party except by accident (2020 and the electing of Obama were exceptions).
We seem to be well into another round of that failure again.
Sigh...
"Obsession?" Seemed more like he was frustrated by Netanyahu's regime, yet committed to work with an ally. Would you have preferred unilateral action a-la-Trump?
He became frustrated after Netanyahu failed to take proper actions in the war. But at the outset, Biden was a wholly-supportive cheerleader, pledging to support their regime with military equipment and almost anything else Israel needed. For the record, I am a Jewish liberal/radical and I have had little to no interest in supporting the right-wing regime of Netanyahu, but I too was supportive of taking action after the Oct 7 massacre of innocent people. But it became clear after a week that the response was not going to be a proportional one in response, but rather it was going to be used as a justification to try to destroy the Gaza leadership. I certainly wish there had been more diplomacy and less destruction, but for Netanyaho, destruction is one way of keeping himself out of jail.
The parallels between Trump 2.0 and Netanyahu are perilously close.
I understand. I'm still trying to understand your use of the word "obsession." But that's really a minor matter compared to the abandonment of Biden by many erstwhile supporters. Were they "obsessed" with getting someone, anyone, to force Israel to stop or at least change their tactics?
Politically, in the US, Israel retained majority support. Politically , in Israel, the traumatized population on average lurched right, having lost any once-held compassion for the Palestinian's plight. In this one instance, the country aligned with Netanyahu, with the biggest variation being just when to pull back. Israeli democracy right now is a bit more stable than the US's.
Trump wishes he could conjure up a domestic existential threat like Hamas and Hezbollah are to Israel to solidify his domestic political support.
The abandonment of Biden, as I haved noted frequently and is reiterated in Allen's book, is a complex thing. There is no single reason for it, but clearly Biden misunderstood the level of support he had during his term. He did some very very good (even great) things, there is no doubt about it. He stabilized our rapidly "coming-apart-at-the-seams" government under Trump 1.0, and he handled the pandemic much better than Trump's ping-pong approach. But Biden also misread a lot of what the electorate was saying, particularly about the economy. Biden focused on jobs, which was good, but he definitely ignored the impact on the average consumer's purchasing power, which was definitely sinking during his 4 years in office. Ditto for wages, which for the lowest lever (minimum wage) did well (and that is a good thing), but for middle income people, the four years of Biden were at best a tread water moment and for many there was a definite loss of buying power as salaries at the middle-to-upper-middle end stagnated.
Coupled with that was the fact that Biden was clearly an aging candidate and this country simply wasn't used to that. Biden was by far the oldest living President ever in office and there was no precedent for someone in that position seeklng a second term.
And finally, Biden's support of Israel at the outbreak of the war was the nail in his coffin.
When he appeared on TV in the only debate he had in 2024 with Trump, it was clear he was quickly losing his grip on the Presidency and a second candidacy. I remember watching that performance almost a year ago and sitting there stunned by how bad it actually was. Many of my friends (including people here) were saying "he's okay, its just a bad night" but it wasn't a bad night, it was a disaster and anyone whose mind wasn't totally closed to seeing it knew that the writing was already on the wall. Our only hope was the Biden would get out quickly enough to let a replacement have a fair shot at beating Trump. I thought Harris would have that, but it was too little, too late.
So, just curious, Jon, what has your role been in leading the errant Democratic Party to salvation?
LOL, just doing what I can from home for the past year. Calling people, writing emails and mails, contributing what little I can monetarily. I have been dealing with a medical condition since last May which is hopefully approaching a conclusion (surgery) but I have not been able to go to rallies and marches since the start of Harris' campaign so that has limited me quite a bit.
I am hopeful the "errant" Democratic party can find their way. It will be a tough fight, but I continue to have hope and faith that the GOP, once the spectre of Trump is removed, will right themselves and we can return to a more normal politics. But that is just a hope, I can not predict the future, sigh. If I could, I would not be poor LOL!
As patiently as we can, and with facts in evidence. Keep on updating your fact sheets for reference. Most were fooled and deluded.
We're started to see home made signs posted on telephone poles along the roads and highways in our county. My understanding is that in ME at least, this is legal. But compared to all of the laws the Trump administration is breaking, there is no way this could or would be prosecuted.
Is it even possible to convince the "deluded and fooled" D4N that Trump is not working to make America great?
Janis, Trump promised over and over again that he would lower the price of eggs. That was enough for desperate people to vote for him. Believing his lies still amazes this person who knows chickens. Climate change and war have reduced the harvesting of their favorite food and lack of freedom has reduced their lives and likely their laying capacity.
I read he claimed he had lowered the price of eggs. Do the people he’s duped believe the price of their eggs increased because Democrats own the store they’re buying their eggs at? How do they not clearly see prices increasing?
Realizing, and more so "accepting" that you were fooled, is a gargantuan task Sharon; Imagine for a moment that you were wrong, and worse fooled by someone or something you were very deeply invested in. Can you even do that ? In differing degrees, we all want to believe our own minds and bias'. I've said herein that I want to always believe my own bs without challenge; hell, I'd even love to grade my own tests, lol ! Though it sort of galls me to think so, we 'need' as many of those folks as we can patiently shepherd. The only approach I can muster though is patient repetition of "facts in evidence" with certifications at hand. Some bravery is requisite as well.
Amazingly I’ve done that multiple times in my life. I have never been afraid to admit I’m wrong about anything. I’m far from flawless. It’s probably why I am less tolerant of those who refuse to admit they’re wrong.
I used to have great difficulty with the poor work habits and ethics of my coworkers. I could not understand it because I was taught that if you’re going to do something do it well. Finally, one day my husband pointed out to me that I was frustrated because I had always done everything to the best of my abilities.
I can so relate to all that Sharon.
Now I saw a report that Bukele intends to use those prisoners to negotiate a prisoner exchange with Venezuela! The plot thickens. No wonder he doesn’t want to return these guys to the US!
How much did El Salvador get paid, to take Trump's deportees?
Wasn't it 6 million ? The other unknown is how much kick back is involved and to whom.
$20,000 per man per year of incarceration. But not to be forgotten that each inmate is also a valuable asset. Bukele can send them to work outside the prison to bring in more revenue for Bukele.
Still, was it not six 6 million - cash up front out of pocket (treasury) ? What it ultimately costs per man, per time is an unknown at this point, other than the propaganda pushed out. The particulars of this "contract" have not been published. I would venture the price will ultimately be far more after passing through several hands and time. I'd require full disclosure and cleansing sunlight on all that shady business; You must know or at least feel that if cfg is involved, there's far more to know with certainty.
Thanks, I hadn’t see the breakdown in those numbers. $20,000 per year is way less than it would cost us in our corrupt for profit prisons.
Thank you Anne-Louise Luccarini; more sordid facts will soon be uncovered.
***********
Community: PRISCILLA ALVAREZ is the CNN correspondent covering all matters "immigration". Priscilla Alvarez was formerly at The Atlantic.
***********
URGENT: Priscila Alvarez is seeking TIPS now: CONTACT: priscilla.alvarez@cnn.com
Yes, it's true. All over the web.
"POTUS" certainly knows where to bestow his friendship.
Two pees in a pisspot. . .
Urds of a feather.
Remember the horror of family separation? I guess that was not bad enough to dissuade people from seeking "the American dream" so now they crash the economy and send people to foreign concentration camps without due process or chance of return. Immigration problem solved. Who would want to come here? For once the Venezuelan government is behaving better than our own. Can't say El Salvador is doing the same for their citizen.
Puzzle me this. What if a foreign army of special forces, stormed the prison killing all of the guards and then armed the prisoners releasing them to depose Bukele? What would Trump do then?
Tom Clancy passed, but Mark Greaney has probably got your plot well underway, GJ.
Does that mean we get our millions back we paid for him to imprison them. I read the story too.
Don’t miss the YouTube video of Heather’s speech in the Old North Church in Boston recounting and commemorating the events of the night when Paul Revere warned the colonists of the marching of British troops to Lexington and Concord to seize their arms/ammunition and arrest their leaders. Heather does a stupendous and historic job. It is a dramatic presentation that all Americans and their children should hear. Heather got multiple well deserved standing ovations from the audience. Don’t miss it. These are times that try men’s and women’s souls.
Here is the link to the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Bv5lfpOMUiE
It felt like we were there, with Paul Revere! Try this link:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1ESDD2vVEQ/?mibextid=oFDknk
Starts at 1:18:35
Link please - the Vimeo recording seems to be unavailable.
tRump relishes the idea that other countries are phoning to kiss his a$$. Looks like he wants universities to follow suit. Stand firm, Harvard!!
Looks more like they are kicking rather than kissing. Some of our Democrats I'm less sure of.
Conveniently, Trump won't release the names of the "ass-kissers" or the countries they represent. We can guess a few of them, like Tim Cook and Bekule, but it doesn't seem that they aren't interested in making a deal with a liar who has reneged on virtually every deal he has ever made.
Stand firm, Big Ten!
I like the "NATO for the Big Ten" and would like to see it expanded to all freedom loving colleges and universities.
See https://www.klkntv.com/nato-for-the-big-ten-unl-faculty-seek-to-join-pact-defending-schools-from-federal-action/
"White House chief of staff Stephen Miller were all present at the meeting. Miller mischaracterized the Supreme Court decision to say it had ruled unanimously in favor of the administration, the exact opposite of reality."
The exact opposite seems to be the only brand of reality they peddle.
Straight from Goebbels
Every time media reprints posts from this man’s pissy rants and screeds, they show that a raging psychopath now occupies the White House. Yesterday, he tried to post an Easter message. Within a few ghastly words, it had degenerated into yet one more, CAPITALIZED, obsessive attack against “sleepy Joe Biden.”
It takes a truly wretched sociopath to turn ‘Happy Easter’ into something like that. A dessicated, morally bankrupt, dried-up, decayed peachpit of a human being, obsessed by petty demons, is now simply desperate for you to accept his lunacy as reality.
When will Republicans finally get around to vomiting and then taking action against this?
Don’t hold your breath
Even worse are the people that revel in it encouraging him to be more awful in every screed.
Raging evil and insanity, pure and simple.
And plutocrats actively spreading it. Trump and is ilk never were and never will be the working person's friend.
But Fox keeps that lie going 24/7, and has since he showed his orange mug
Revenue, JDinTX.
People hunger for stories, narratives, scenarios, scripts. That's all void in schools -- has been for decades -- so people don't at all know our actual novels, memoirs, histories, biographies, and other arts in writing.
People don't at all know actual people. So Fox in this vast educational vacuum can profit immensely by the abstracted, fabulist, vulgar versions they peddle instead.
Vulgar is their calling card, applied to everything, not just the ridiculous wrestling. I loved Bill Moyers. He warned of political upheaval, but he loved poetry, literature, and was a scholar with a voice. That why Fox tried to smear him. I miss his voice so much.
Why support a dictator running a money making concentration camp holding Americans?
Hit them where it hurts: tourism and coffee which are two of El Salvador's biggest revenue sources. Boycott El Salvador tourism and coffee.
https://thedemlabs.org/2025/04/20/boycott-el-salvador-tourism-and-coffee/
Thanks Deepak. Shared.
For anyone interested, here's the link to Alito's dissent.
Not surprisingly, he utterly fails to address the unanimous decision from just 9 days earlier - Noem vs Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
He also complains about the case having been filed on Good Friday, late in the afternoon (as if many of the putative deportees might not also be as Catholic as Sam), and complains also that the injunctive relief granted by the other 7 Justices is somehow not proper because it was not issued "sparingly and only in the most critical and exigent circumstances,” as if a kidnapping and rendering to a foreign nation's gulag with no hope of return is not "the most critical and exigent circumstances” for those about be flown to El Salvador.
He's quite a gaslighter.
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a1007_22p3.pdf
Dr. Heather, I still read every one of your letters avidly, but I don't comment much anymore because I'm too angry and don't want to spread bad vibes here. Thank you for your persistence and good will.
I hear you. I most often comment on other folks' writing. I am not writing many "original" posts these days, mostly because what I say has either already been said, or what I want to say is (as you write) could spread "bad vibes" here.
If it weren't for you and the other commentators here, I would be tempted to give in to a heavy sense of futility. As it is, my favorite other therapy is to sling skippers into the incoming/outgoing tide of the Atlantic Ocean, and send a little message/prayer along with it. Skipper prayers may seem superficial at first, but eventually they sink in and are often tossed up on the beach again. “Caste your (stone ground) bread upon the waters, and it shall come back to thee”. Sometimes I find an answer there.
Thank you, Susan. I took a "mental health day" yesterday and managed to catch a fabulous day on the Oregon coast. I met a friend for lunch in Newport, saw three lighthouses, got my feet in the ocean, and felt some peace for the first time in quite a while. I have had several people close to me die recently, one my age from cancer, another is a younger woman who was an amazing coach for softball players in a car wreck with her team caused by a drunk driver. I needed Vitamin Sea, and I got it.
How does the power struggle with the court end? The answer will tell us a great deal. The situation appears to be fluid as of this moment.