Thank you Heather. For sticking with us. We need your help, your careful understanding/writing about the history and the current issues.
Please do whatever keeps you healthy. Take time off, hang out w loved ones, always be good to yourself. You are my first living national treasure! Possibly President Biden will become one in a few years.
Your gift makes complex political and societal issues understandable. You bring me and many many others hope for a future for our families. Thank you again dear woman.
TROLLS from FSB MOSCOW: A Brief Counterintelligence Study in Open Forum
When I told my wife what I was up to this morning, conversing with Russian trolls, she discouraged me in no uncertain terms from continuing to engage. Her quote, which she coined from her days in political activism, “If you roll around in the mud with pigs, you get dirty, and the pigs love it.”
"Don’t engage” is her message. A victory, in their view, is any engagement, that's the other part of the message.
However since Substack is my 1st SM forum, I am getting initiated here and hence this investigation.
During my round trip to the clinic and back home, getting my 2nd vaccine, I was reflecting on our “disinformatsiya” friends who are living and working in Moscow. Curious juxtaposition, to be sure, vaccination and FSB. What I am learning:
(1) Today’s (April 29, the HCR 4/28 Comments section) troll group is from the FSB in Moscow and is actually associated with the Kremlin. Curiously, he/they volunteered that information. Sometimes I can recognize when someone is telling me the truth even though they pretend to be contemptuous and mocking. It has a very distinct feel to it.
(2) They insist on attempting to hide their identity, even when their Russian govt. agency status is obvious. (Not too bright.)
(3) When pressed, they begin to tell the truth, couching it as “ridiculous” or “hillarious.”
(4) They have a rapacious appetite for engagement: clearly what they are paid to do.
(5) The purpose of engagement is to spread propaganda and to gather information for their propaganda-generating machine. We on HCR are being stereotyped here as “Liberals” (capitalization is theirs, we must be a designated category in their official propaganda system) and they are engaging in order to infiltrate and influence. (Good luck with that, chumps)
(6) They change the subject because they are not paying attention to the discussion topic. I think they probably live in their email, like a fisherman with several lines in the water, waiting for someone to post a reply and then pouncing. Because they are multitasking, impossible to carry a discussion or even a coherent argument.
(7) One particular troll is an actual human being, the one from an early HCR April 28 post from Friday morning, soon after TPJ's Troll Patrol post. He was hurt and insulted when I said he was not acting human, a ploy possibly, but I sensed an actual owie. I think he interpreted my statement as saying that he was inhuman, and perhaps that is what I was implying. Since then, I have seen fake attempts at appearing hurt, but at least one of the accusations of not being human landed. (It helps when a real human is confronting a phony internet handle.)
(8) Reading TJ’s excellent piece, which I am re-posting here, my suspicion is confirmed that multiple FSB employees operate through the fake handle.
(9) These guys are robots in human form. Somewhere in there, in all that phony bullshit, lurks a real Russian with a heart and a soul. It is to that Russian I direct my comments.
(10) Being transparent about my low opinion of their intelligence and their humanity, btw, is producing dividends. They might still be the GRU, but who cares. My consistent mention of GRU squeezed the words “FSB” out of them, so perhaps there is some interagency rivalry at play here. **An opportunity for a counterintelligence operative, yes that means you, you are now being recruited as a member of the Mission Impossible team, to inflict a little needling and teasing.
To engage, or not to engage. That is the question. Well, they are still humans after all, even if they are woefully lost in crazy-land. Obviously the “Not Engage” camp has a super strong argument.
So if you choose to engage, have a clear purpose. Up until now, my purpose has been to do what one guy in the Leon mask referred to when he said “thank you for the olive branch.” Remember, opportunities in Russia are severely limited. The country has prosperity issues, big ones. Maybe one of these guys dreams of having a job where he can be a real human, instead of a robotic apparatchik spouting drivel. At least one of these guys may well start admiring America by virtue of what he sees and hears on HCR. Compassion shown is never wasted, imo. This FSB handle (fake identity) is my only direct link to Russia. We can have a reverse influence which can insidiously trickle back to them, call it Mission Impossible or the Counterintelligence of Love Dept. Who knows what effect these conversations are producing in the actual Russian puppets working for the FSB. Underneath the day job still lies a human.
In every aspect of life, the objective is to establish and maintain a position, an attitude, which agrees with your principles. In other words, to face the new object from a place of integrity.
Not Engage: Excellent choice.
Engage: Do so cautiously, with clear intent, and remain firmly in your power. Targeted posts. Continual engagement not recommended, unless we operate as a tag team, like they do.
Now a repost of TJ from a few hours ago.
P.S. On my drive home from the clinic, I got a clear hit that this is a rapacious larger operation, not a sole operator. I continue to see images of streets and buildings in Moscow, and once in awhile, I am reading one of their posts and I am actually seeing the Russian perspective pretending to be non-Russian. Anyway, mounting quantities of visual intuitive evidence.
[begin TJ post]
TJ:
Not to beat a dead troll or anything, but after watching this little Mr. Leon drama unfold for some time now I vacillate between two possibilities. On the one hand I can’t shake the feeling that this specific figure “Leon” might well be who he claims to be which makes him a kind of accidental troll who has just consumed too much right wing media in Canada or the US and now he is unwittingly parroting Putin’s talking points. In my limited reading about the Russian troll farms I understand that they have different teams assigned to target different groups using entirely different playbooks for each. With the MAGA-nation the goal might be to feed the hate, but with groups such as the literate and generally progressive readers of this blog the strategy is different—infiltrate slowly, develop a brand and bonds, foster loyalty before sowing seeds of dissension and doubt. The Russians are masterful propagandists. We should never underestimate their sophistication. Which leads me to my second speculation. I did notice that some of the linguistic peculiarities “Leon” demonstrated in earlier replies seem to have suddenly vanished in later comments. The aggression/latent sadism was suddenly dialed up and grammar and mechanics improved. Even the idiom is a bit different later on. Perhaps this is a second shift Leon or a floor supervisor stepping in to distract from the concerted efforts of those attempting to out foreign influence. I have zero interest in feeding trolls, neither the ones working for the ruble nor their sad North American dupes working for free, but I do find the discussion of the problem in general incredibly important and worthwhile because once again our openness and gullibility is being exploited. I really appreciate those of you patrolling for the trolls because you help us to remain aware that we are absolutely under attack by a foreign nation savvy enough to exploit the unhealed wounds of a civil war. It is important not to engage them too deeply though because once it’s clear they are not open to genuine dialogue further engagement just allows them to repeat their talking points.
My understanding is that the role of trolls is to spread disinformation and provoke responses. Trolls rise and gain value in their organizations, groups, or intelligence orgs, based on the number of responses they provoke and can continue to engage. Not responding to a troll is an effective way to deny them power. If a comment seems inflammatory, particularly, you can be certain that it is trolling for comments. The longer a troll can keep someone engaged is a measure of their success. Many "trolls" are just programmed, intelligent bots. Do not feed them.
I’ve learned that if you respond when someone posts disinformation on social media you cause it to be seen more. In other words, because you responded, the algorithm in the software causes the disinformation to appear in more feeds. So, not responding is a good idea. (I’ve been doing some social media monitoring and and I thought this was an important thing to know.)
I've read that a person's response reveals an emotional reaction to the post. The more emotion the troll can stir up, the more points the troll receives. If no one responds, no points.
I agree. Engaging with a troll involves the same emotional dynamics as sensationalized journalism, sexualized advertising, trash talking, hate mongering, and/or trump talk. It's bad enough with a contrarian. The trolls are really nefarious.
They think their billionaire friends can protect them. Above the law. This is a signal we are in Oligarchy. Will Rogers, two legal systems. “Only the The poor break laws.”
On that note, allow me to explain why I did not begin my "Trolls from FSB Moscow" post with an apology for being off-topic. Republicussians, as TPJ put it. Putin and Trump are partners. Has there been any more glaring and hideous spectacle in U.S. history than the 2 of them hosting a joint meeting in Helsinki? Putin has put so many Republican lawmakers in his back pocket that I have lost count. There is the July 4 trip, JULY 4, that a group of Republicans made to Moscow to give obeisance to their master and benefactor. You can believe Putin was gloating, he snaps his fingers, and the trained dogs come running, on the day of supposed American independence. Putin's minions have saturated America, including the Republican Party, so we owe it to ourselves to educate ourselves about Russian FSB et al activities, especially when they show up here.
If you aren't familiar with the basics of the Putin-Trump-Republican Party orgy, I recommend Greg Olear. He has written a book called Dirty Rubles, he posts extensively about that subject and many others, and he is one of the 3 places I hang out on the internet.
Fasten your seat belt, the level of criminality and depravity can be shocking.
This Putin story in particular is revealing and gut-wrenching. Must know information. Warning: take good care of yourself before, during, and after reading this.
Protection in high places. For Ron Johnson it’s the Devos’ billions. Am way dies a ton of business in Russia. The Devos have billions in Russian banks from Amway profits in Russia. Ever meet a Russian woman with out make up? In a way, the Devos are in the Putin oligarch club. There, I said it.
I'm sure you are correct. That club includes Moscow Mitch, all the July 4 members of Congress who took that trip to Moscow, Agent Orange of course, and probably the entire sedition caucus, or most of it anyway. Well, not oligarchs or plutocrats exactly, but who cares how much money they have, we know who owns them.
“Having trouble fundraising for your right wing campaign? Well, here at the NRA, we can help that! We can get all the funding you need from x, and thanks to Citizens United, nobody needs to know who X is!” Wink Putin wink.
I have limited time in the morning to absorb HCR’s columns, and I really look so forward to everyone’s comments. Thank you to everyone for taking the time to explain so much, and for your recommendations.
This exercise you undertook to flush out the trolls is fascinating. But I couldn’t help but wonder if one might take the bait if you were to ask for their favorite borscht or pirozhki recipes? 😁. Have a beautiful day, thank you and keep up the good fight!
LOL! Good one! Another thing I do whenever I have to call for support help for tech gone haywire and the voice sounds like something from the bottom of the barrel, is to ask how the weather is and ask about the time. I know this is mean, but call centers are EVERYWHERE these days, including right there in Moscow.
What are talking about? There's nothing mean. It's human to connect with other humans. I have been on Call Center calls with India, the Philippines, and elsewhere, discussing all manner of non-business related topics, when I have the time and the inclination, and when the service worker has the time and the inclination. I could write an entire article about my relationship with the AmEx India call center, it's fascinating.
TPJ, having read your illuminating and generous thoughts here for many months now, I was beginning to worry that you might be perfect. You seem to know everything. And you’re so nice! Such a relief to find out you’re a flawed human like the rest of us. A person who doesn’t like beets is still evolving :) But no worries, it’s clear you’re going in the right direction! Keep shining your light, except please keep quiet about beets. Re: everything else—write on!!
Thank you Adker, that's kind. I definitely do not know everything, but have managed to reduce my ignorance here and there.
But wait -- disliking beets is a flaw?? Full disclosure: I never cared for beets but occasionally ate them .... Until one day ... my never-vulgar father said that the best thing about them was that ... they made his urine turn red. Now when beets are in sight, there's that image and it's "no thanks."
I followed the vitriol-filled Leon yesterday in some bemusement. It really surprised me how much he got under the skin of the group which normally packs up and disposes of trolls with wry derision.
I am a naïf, it seems. It never occurred to me that this could be infiltration by a team of professionals. I don’t dispute the point - I have no experience with this sort of activity. I thought he was just a rather persistent sort of gadfly with his own personal axe to grind.
In any case, today’s post by Heather marking Biden’s first 100 days is a marvelous antidote for poison. For me this was Heather’s most brilliant piece yet. In fact, as I read it I thought at one point that it had a valedictory air to it - that somewhere in it, perhaps at the very end, Heather would announce that she had completed her work in this forum. I well remember her writing some time ago that she didn’t know how long she would continue, but perhaps it would be to the end of Biden’s first 100 days.
Blessedly, my antennae was jammed or my wires were crossed - pick an analogy. Heather goes on. She is moving mountains, day by day, as this group grows and grows.
The one point I’d make today is this. Heather referred today to a poll showing that 77% of Americans approve of the American Recovery Act.
My thought is this: obviously some of those, many in fact, are Republicans. Many are Trump voters.
Some of this subset are certain to be feeling caught between a rock and a hard place. Do they continue to look back and bask in the glory days of the Magaverse? Or are they being pulled forward and looking at the seriously practical and beneficial world that has at least started to unfold under Biden/Harris?
Anger propelled many Trump followers. “Owning the Libs” was delightful sport. Until it wasn’t. Anger fades in time, especially when there is no propulsive force to maintain and manage it. And we go days without thinking of Trump now.
The Big Lie is getting harder and harder to push with a straight face - and energy. The Cyber Ninjas are inspecting the Maricopa ballots for watermarks? Seems dubious, but...whatever. But now they’ve abandoned that idea and are looking at the ballots “kinematically”, for special folds that will reveal the diabolical genius of those who conspired to cheat Trump out of victory. Surely that will work...
Many people are looking at the federal landscape and seeing the utter bleakness, the complete paucity of ideas, the chicanery and in-fighting of today’s Republicans.
They will watch, as we will. And they will vote in 2022 and 2024. Some will certainly vote reflexively for their Lauren Boebert or Marjory Taylor Greene. But others will realize that to do so is to bite the hand that feeds them.
It’s my belief that we are at a huge turning point. An op-Ed writer in the Globe and Mail yesterday, one with dozens of years of experience, opined that Biden’s first 100 days have been as consequential as any President in the last century. A few hours later I saw the scare headline (HuffPost maybe?), “Are the Democrats going to be slaughtered in 2022?”.
My bet is no. As Biden himself said this week, “Never bet against America”.
I might amend that to “Never bet against America when they have one last chance to stop screwing up.”
But we are at that point now. The siren songs of the last several years sound not so seductive now. They are beginning to sound cacophonous and discordant.
Unless this administration badly screws up, I think that it is going to exert a quiet but strong gravitational pull back to sanity. Lawyers, judges and actively-engaged citizens will subdue the crazies. Lots of people are going to jail for their sins and momentum against thuggery will become decisive.
Thank you Heather. I was very inspired by today’s article.
Eric, your writing is always thoughtful and balanced. I'm betting with you - unless Biden really drops the ball, my guess is that his approval rating will hold at the polls - in '22 and '24. The road will be peppered with minefields, but other than the MAGA faithful, I believe most of us are tired of fighting and anxiety-filled dreams. Perhaps the best thing that could have happened was the removal of the Trump megaphone on Twitter. Having said all of this, we mustn't relax or lose vigilance. We must do what we did in the '20 election, and not assume that the threat is past.
(11) They actually respond to a post that mentions trolls! Why do I find that so amusing? They know they’re trolls?! They don’t protest, they accept it and respond to it!! I’m sorry that’s just downright entertaining. What a bunch of chumps. Acting is not their strong suit. They suck at it.
So when TJ says they are master propaganda artists, I am holding my belly and gut laughing.
According to Janjamm's reading, these 'tools' (they are our opponents tools to me) win points when interacting with subscribers and when they receive emotional reactions from us.. Roland, you and other subscribers are feeding these propaganda tools, so they keep coming back. As a result our forum is being crowded, in my opinion, with crap. How does this relate to the information and issues Heather raises or the issues raised by subscribers? How does it discourage somewhat shy subscribers who would otherwise exchange with questions and ideas? I don't think that the 'tool' material provides a welcome opening to the this forum. In my opinion, the magnetism to 'tools' is, perhaps, getting out of hand.
Hello Fern, it's good to see you. Of course I agree with all the points in your statement.
I am learning here. Many of you are already well acquainted with the FSB (or the GRU, whoever they are). In my very long piece, hidden inside, I say that Substack is my 1st social media forum. I have not been on FB and Tw and elsewhere. So this is all new to me. I trust my wife implicitly, she says don't engage, then that is probably what I will eventually do. So far I have engaged maybe 8-10 times. Each time, I have learned a great deal. I'm not naïve. I have not let them suck me in to their meat-grinder, so each time one of them has made a few kopecks off me, it has come at a cost. I'm learning the rules, learning about their operation and how it works. And when I finish the learning process, trust me, I will use their game plan against them. I'm a very creative guy.
Roland, yes: be careful because there are operatives out there who are doing more dangerous stuff as well, but it sounds like you're having fun. So go for it! I am dealing with eastern European fake Academia "colleagues" (they don't seem to exist and the institutions they claim to be part of do not have them listed as faculty in their websites) who have been stealing my books, scanning them, and then posting them on Academia. I discovered this when one was tagged into my email as something I "might be interested in reading" as it relates to other work I have published or posted on Academia. This is a common situation for folks who publish--the Russians and the Chinese routinely break copyright laws--but I suspect that this is a tactic that comes from me using my real name on this platform and in other sites.
You know, I deliberated long and hard about whether to use my real name on Substack last summer. TPJ and TC might be the smarter ones here, because if I could go back, I would revisit that decision. Fortunately, I don't have much published here, I could lose it and start over, wouldn't be a real problem. I might have to do that, you never know.
I can't say I am having fun. When you play with fire, sometimes you get burned. I am providing a service to all of us, but I am also putting my ass on the line. I am doing this out of a sense of duty. The smarter play would probably be to just walk away from this risk, and it is definitely a risk. Last night, upon posting, I realized I might have to prepare myself to dump my email and substack accounts, and start over. This ain't no walk in the park. I am digging pretty deeply here. Putin is not someone to be messed with lightly, and its him and his minions running this show.
I use my moniker because in another existence I am more well-known by name, and I don't like that getting in the way of things at places like substack.
Yes, I understand. I know who you are from an admission you made elsewhere, you know the one. Your decision makes perfect sense. However, despite your unrelated motivation for using a moniker or "handle," the perhaps unintended consequence is that you are protecting yourself in ways that I am not as protected. Being a target of the Russian govt. is not advisable. Anyway, right now I am just doing one day of troll counterintelligence. I should be ok. But I know from experience that opening a door to the dark side can have unexpected and unhappy consequences. I am thinking out loud here, thinking to myself, not that you necessarily care. If I ever go further, unlikely as that is, I would find a way to protect myself more effectively.
Actually, I care and I am sure others do too. You've done a good deed by alerting the community to what was going on, so I think you can sink back to as much anonymity as you can, with us now knowing 'do not engage the FSB trolls." Thank you for that.
Thank you TC, very kind of you to say that. After the day before, with the Leon FSB team, I was sitting on too much information just to keep it all to myself. Knowledge is power. I care a lot about this place, and everyone in it, and it pisses me off when those ratf---ers screw with us. I want maximum firepower directed as these a$$holes and the $hitbox who is their ultimate leader, so the more we all know, the better.
It’s ubiquitous now. They focus on swing counties in swing states. How do they know? Paul Manafort gave them the “sensitive polling data”. We are in a cyber war, and we are missing bad!
Good morning, Roland and happy day to you! Intense post my man and one that fills me with glee and hope! Today will be a don’t engage with tRolls day for me. It is good to see the choices clearly, tomorrow who knows. ❤️ to all who read this thread. May your day be peaceful.
Roland, I went back and read yesterday’s Leon thread, which had grown considerably from my early morning read. I think your analysis today nailed it. A couple of things stood out for me. One, a Canadian would never say “our government” when referring to the US, which Leon says, a lot. Two, the vitriol of some of his responses was startling to say the least. Three, when you read them and look for it, the grammar and spelling mistakes of a non-native speaker are glaringly obvious. Nothing wrong with being a non-native speaker, but why deny it? Finally, and the part I don’t understand at all, is why here? What are they trying to achieve?
Yes, but why? To what purpose? To sow discord? To change people’s minds? To promote a false narrative? This particular audience isn’t really susceptible to that, so I still don’t understand why.
Did you notice how effectively IT managed to draw the conversation AWAY from HCR's letter of the day? I literally had to scroll down pages of off-topic tomfoolery (there' a new word for you, IT. Look it up) to find the original discussions and follow the contributions of those who were seriously trying to stay in a legitimate discussion ON TOPIC.
Kathy 100%. The goal is to divide, destabilize and weaken America. LFAA is a real challenge, given the high level of education and accomplishment among subscribers (yes, that's immodest). Maybe the Kremlin will award the Cross of St George to "Jack O'Lantern" for yesterday's less than Stalingrad-like "achievements."
TPJ, I just got a pass today from my horse trainer blogger that it's more than ok to be immodest over my accomplishments. I'll pass it along to you and all the subscribers on this page!!
Roland, thanks for this info. I am in your wife's camp, 'Don't engage'. This is garbage to me, taking up far too much space on the forum and the little time that I take the to read this stuff, it boils down to absolute nonsense or a psycho-ward show, if you go in for such entertainment. Why after all this time does this continue to interest you? I see able subscribers wasting their precious time with these tools. That is what they are here to do. Is there no better use of our time? REALLY???
Thanks, Roland. I agree with your wife. Don’t engage. For anyone thinking about engaging, please look back at the comments of our community here. Several of our friends here wouldn’t even read comments that day because of all the “bad juju”. Enough said.
Don’t Fight the same enemy to often. They learn from you and that can make them stronger, less detectable to other less deserving Americans. Don’t give too much insight into your touch points and pysche.
Thank you ted, that is really an excellent point. I’ve had to think about what I’m willing to disclose. When engaging, obviously you have to be acutely aware that you are engaging with an enemy. Don’t give them free ammunition. But this is an open forum, so we have to talk to each other too. So it’s tricky.
Roland, I was very happy that you liked my comment listing the reasons for not engaging the 'trolls', who I call 'tools'. They come here to divert attention from our objectives and to spew propaganda. The tools earn points when they engage us, thus we have become a rich site for messing around. More of them come and they come more often. It doesn't amount to censorship to simply ignore them. Thanks, Roland.
You’re welcome, Fern, and thank you for your perspective. Again, I’m probably sounding repetitive, but I’m figuring out for myself how to engage a hostile entity. I don’t like being a victim, I like being in my power, and as you’ve seen I encourage others to do the same, in whatever arena. Educating myself is the first step. Trust me, I’m not going to be bringing this up very often, if at all. I’m just in the middle of a brand new (for me) learning process. When engaging a hostile, it helps to know as much about them as possible, and to assess your own armament and resources. By doing a “troll information dump” today, I am eliciting comments to educate myself. Knowledge is power.
If it were up to me, in a perfect world, we would have an information resource section available here to catalog everything we know about this hostile. That would allow newcomers to educate themselves, and it would allow us to continually add new things we’ve learned. For now, I’m absorbing everything everybody has said.
FOLKS THIS IS THE LAST DAY OF THE MONTH FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO CHARLES BOOKER RUNNING AGAINST RAND PAUL. CHECK HIM OUT TO MAKE A CONTRIBUTION IF YOU CAN.
Charles Booker info@e.charlesbooker.orgHide
Charles Booker
Fern, I’m about to ask once more for a little help. But I hope you’ll hear me out for a second on why I’m asking before I get to that part.
First, I have to say I’m so grateful for y’all. When you think about running for office, it’s an emotional process. You’re throwing your whole self into it. You’re putting your family into it. The stakes are high and everything is on the line. So it means everything to me that we’ve barely just launched our exploratory and already we’ve had more than 10,000 people donate.
Knowing that so many people want to see us make a run for it against Rand Paul, that gets me fired up. But that’s not the only reason I’m asking you to donate before tonight’s end-of-month deadline. Let me explain real quick:
For starters, this is our very first deadline — tonight at midnight. The politicians and pundits want to know if we can raise enough money to run a big campaign if we go for it. I want to be able to show them we can.
Second, the Senate is 50-50 and Kentucky is in play. We’re one of the only states with a Democratic governor and two Republican senators. I know we could win, and just imagine what that would mean for our whole nation.
Grassroots is the only way to win. I can’t win if I run alone. That’s the truth. The only way we transform Kentucky and this country is by building a broad-based grassroots movement. And that starts with everyone joining in — yes, even by making a donation.
I'd like to send him to India to volunteer at a hospital in Calcutta.
For mr. Rand to say such stupid sh*t on the regular is one thing, but to continue to offer false assurance about natural herd immunity is too much for me. Much of mr. DT and mr. Scott Atlas false claims of herd immunity has been disproven in India, and now the victims and dying of Covid there are those 20 to 60. Previous exposure is no protection to a coldly cruel and clever mutating rna virus. (I know mr rand has never studied virology, if he did he is more stupid than he looks!)
But its not just the UK strain ripping India apart. There are also now new variants and new variants sure to come from such explosive growth of the disease. This thinking or "Not thinking" from Mr. Rand Paul and others has put not just Indians at risk. Such dumbfuckery continues to put ALL of us, even the vaccinated at increased risk if or when the new Indian variants reach our shores.
And so, as long as Mr. Rand runs, Ill be donating to any an all of his opponents. "hey Rand, go **** yourself!"
I know this is another ploy on their part, but Leon makes an entirely valid point when he suggests that we have a tendency to label as a troll anyone who vociferously disagrees with us. I agree, though, that distinguishing between the two is a fool's errand, so it's a dilemma.
How do you suggest replying to someone who has expressed views, opinions, or is prostituting's false facts antithetical to democracy & common sense, with a lack of good faith and disrespect towards humanity? Sometimes being overly polite is not what is required to defend democratic ideals. Not always, but sometimes.
Yes, there is clearly appropriate anger. What I have seen on this forum, though, is that the best of those who are here tend to respond with facts and persuasion and demand the same from their interlocutors. It's not always easy, especially when the opinions stated are provocative, but it seems to me the most effective response. For one thing, it makes clear who the irrational person in the conversation is; the contrast can be stunning.
Thanks! I have both a wry sense of humor and strong opinion and have been repeatedly cast as a troll here. It's very sad to see folks here gang up on others and it makes the group less intellectually appealing than what it could be. But what you state, above is key: "anyone who vociferously disagrees with us.".
There shouldn't be an "us" when it comes to disseminating ideas and information unless it's propaganda. Particularly if folks expect to be taken seriously as free thinkers.
Oh, I don't know, I think there is a place in society for like-minded people to gather for solace. Feeling that there is an "us" and that we largely agree about things is very comforting, especially in a world that has become hostile to much of what we think should be true. I don't think it's propaganda; an echo chamber, perhaps, but not propaganda. I sometimes feel very lost and hopeless in this world and this group helps.
Early on, on Facebook, Dr. Richardson commented that this was part of her motivation for LFAA - to create a community of support for each other. She succeeded, spectacularly.
Someone mentioned yesterday that she might stop writing this because she only promised to continue to do so for Biden's first 100 days. Especially as a newcomer here, I was surprised at the grief I felt (and continue to feel) at that possibility. I hope it's not true.
She's been an anchor in a storm for me since I first started reading her last summer. The storm of the GOP is still raging, though it's lost a lot of its strength.
I doubt she stops writing to us, maybe just the frequency. The process has been as transformational for her as for us. Once transformed there is no going back.
I think this platform has grown more than HCR had considered, initially. Oddly, folks can reach more minds as internet influencers than college professors.
LFAA is an affirmation of how forge comunity over the internet.
"This is a Day of Affirmation – a celebration of liberty. We stand here in the name of freedom.
At the heart of that western freedom and democracy is the belief that the individual man, the child of God, is the touchstone of value, and all society, all groups, and states, exist for that person's benefit. Therefore the enlargement of liberty for individual human beings must be the supreme goal and the abiding practice of any western society.
The first element of this individual liberty is the freedom of speech; the right to express and communicate ideas, to set oneself apart from the dumb beasts of field and forest; the right to recall governments to their duties and obligations; above all, the right to affirm one's membership and allegiance to the body politic – to society – to the men with whom we share our land, our heritage and our children's future." -RFK
Lynell, thank you for asking ❤️ I am doing ok. Finished my seven weeks of chemo and radiation two weeks ago, and am healing. I will need a surgery in a few weeks, but don’t know yet how complicated that will be. I tolerated treatment really well, and we are hopeful. I’ve ridden (my old horse, not the new spicy one!) twice this week which gave me an enormous amount of joy. Spring is helping, too - it’s lovely to see the world greening up.
There are places for folks to gather such as FB and Church (which this place often resembles, particularly when castigating the heathens that disagree).
I for one am not a member of FB or Church because collective head nodding makes me nauseous. Comfort should come from within, not from exogenous and poorly-constrained inputs. From those, I expect a cacophony of ideas and I hope them to be as varied and as interesting as the world, at large.
I really enjoy reading the ideas here and agree with some; disagree with others. But, I feel the real purpose in sharing said ideas is to debate them, test their veracity, find weaknesses and improve/discard them.
And in doing so, we need to refrain from dehumanizing and marginalizing others we dislike which certainly is a tactic that is unbecoming to the community.
I agree with your last point, certainly, that we should "refrain from dehumanizing and marginalizing others we dislike," and though I am unqualified, as a relative newcomer, to comment on whether or not that is the tendency here, it seems to me it is not, but it certainly does happen. As for your other points, I guess we will just have to disagree on where the boundary lies between a community and a forum dedicated to the rough-and-tumble of unbridled debate. I think this place tends more toward the community end of that spectrum than otherwise. I, for one, like it that way.
A community that, in concert with one another seeks out "trolls" to marginalize? Having been cast into that part of the spectrum, and hounded (puns always intended) by the fine deacon-beacons of the community, let's just say, "all is not what it seems, Alice".
Oh give me a break. When the hell have you ever been a troll William? That’s ridiculous. I’ve never seen anything but extremely well thought out positions coming from you. You’re a gem. Anybody who says otherwise is clueless or just got their buttons pushed because you disagreed with them. Overly sensitive. It happens. I’ve been there. Eric O’Donnell from Toronto. Then when we cleared things up, he told me something I will never forget:
Ah, but I do recall someone calling William a troll a while back.. hopefully each of us works to not be in an echo chamber (when did silo go away?). I sometimes wonder if William & others are being a devil's advocate.
Sounds right to me. A devil's advocate is a thinking, concerned human being expressing his thoughts. William's statements don't always appeal to me, but I would not call him a troll. If William gets under your skin, then there's a growth opportunity there, an opportunity for maturing. He's not hostile. That would be the Russian tag teams, like the ones working through the Jack_Leon handle-moniker. Now those are hostiles.
WOW! Just wow Roland! You give fascinating and useful insight into russian trolling. I love your wife’s comment about the pigs.
#5 is surprising, “... they are engaging in order to infiltrate and influence.” I wonder if they get a bonus for converting a “Liberal” 🤣. Maybe an extra piroshki.
Roland, Thanks for doing the heavy lifting here. I'm not too good at spotting these folks. Could you post a list of trolls you have found? It would help me do a quick first, "do not respond" list. I wish substack had a filter feature. Harking back to the early '80s (yes I'm dating myself) the "Whole Earth 'Lectric Link" (WELL) had moderators who sniffed out trolls who we called 'flamers' back then and shut them off. Very effective community collaboration.
A list of trolls wouldn’t do you much good. They have teams that work through a single name, i.e. a single fake identity here on Substack. They open and close new fake names, new fake identities, at will. The way to recognize them is the inflammatory politically charged statements designed to engage you and keep you engaged, apparently they earn money for the number of replies they elicit. Which is why most people choose not to engage.
Actually, I think this is already happening. When I see a post that is controversial and has been on the comments for a fair amount of time, but has fewer than expected responses, I immediately see a red (pardon the pun) flag.
Oh my gosh, this, this is heartwarming - and I donated to both Ossoff and Warnock even though I am not a Georgia resident. Never doubt that together en masse we can accomplish great things! Thanks, Dr Heather, for another summary of current events with your historical perspective.
"One thing, though, about what sure seems to be a very strong start from the Biden administration…. Never forget that what made the American Rescue Plan possible was the election of Democratic Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock in Georgia. Had the Democrats not held 50 seats in the Senate, enabling them to enact the American Rescue Plan through reconciliation, Biden would be able to maneuver only through executive orders, since Republicans in the Senate would have stopped all legislation."
Like you, Janice, I donated to both campaigns from across state lines, more than I ever had before. Though no direct return is expected, it may be the best investment I've ever made.
I wish it were possible to defeat the vile creep, but Kentucky is 88% white, and in that 88% Republican voters outnumber Democratic voters 2-to-1. If you do the arithmetic, that comes to a 15 point magin for Rand, and that’s not counting Republican efforts in voter suppression. It’s hard to imagine any campaign effort that, even with unlimited funding, could overcome a 15-point margin. Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi are different. In those states, the white voters comprise 60% to 70% of the electorate, which gives Democrats a fighting chance if they can overcome voter suppression. That’s the foundation of the Georgia miracle. Best to choose the battles where there’s a fighting chance.
Rex, Your argument is good. It is important to grow candidates like Booker. With that in mind, promoting him still makes sense, without depleting your budget for donating to good candidates for whom the odds are much better. Another part of my argument to make serious dents in any remaining respect for Rand Paul. He seems more and more imbalanced, and I don't mean politically. Of course, the Republican Party is in the possession of Trump, so it's completely nuts. The two - mental state and political positions cannot be separated anymore.
'Sen. Rand Paul is well-positioned to get reelected next year, according to a new poll from Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy.'
'Of 625 registered voters across Kentucky, 53% said they approved of the junior senator's job performance, and 47% said they'd vote to give him another six-year term in Congress if Election Day happened right now.'
'Comparatively, 41% of the people polled said they'd vote to replace him with a Democrat and 12% said they'd be undecided if Paul's election was imminent. (It's actually well over a year-and-a-half away.)' Courier Journal, 2/12/21
This poll estimates Rand Paul’s lead at about 7 points, assuming undecideds vote about the same way as voters who have already decided. That’s about half the margin of my estimate, which was based demographics and past voting records records rather than current polling. Encouraging. A fifteen point lead would be insurmountable, but a seven point lead, maybe not.
Booker is a very good sort, but he in the wrong state. This is the craziest time, but I think not that crazy in Kentucky. Rand Paul is not popular and neither is McConnell, but the more I read local press, the more I realize how bad the odds are, worse than the poll indicates. A Black man with Bernie's Sanders strong support...I cannot use the language that would capture it. I'll check it out from time to time, but it looks like Rand will be around.
I donated to both of them as well, and would again.... I feel that we have to keep an eye on that state and be prepared to do whatever it takes to support these fabulous Senators. That’s just the beginning... state by state, we have to keep the pressure on, we cannot let up ... 2022 is in 5 minutes!
Good thing to be considering now. Daily Kos has an elections roundup that gives regular news about what’s going on in every state. I signed up for it and it does keep an eye on what’s happening everywhere.
Watch Oregon's redistricting with our gaining a representative. Peter DeFazio's seat is probably in jeopardy. I don't think we need to worry about the senate; the R's nominated a QAnnoner to run against Jeff Merkely.
I live in NYS - must have commented to Jeff Merkely about something so I get his letters - which are great - and informative letting his constituents (and others, I guess) know what is happening. Wish MY reps & Sens did that. The former Rep I had before 2020 was a Democrat and he also did these letters - current one(Repub) was in office before the Dem - she does NOT impress me at all.
I donated to Cheri Beasley who is running for the open Senate seat in North Carolina. She was Chief Justice of North Carolina. It would be nice to pick up that Senate seat.
Do you (or anyone else here from Ohio) know dates to keep in mind, most viable candidates, if primaries are held, etc. Any input is appreciated, so that we can effectively support these candidates.
For those who wrote out and mailed postal cards which helped elect Warnock and Ossoff in Georgia, do you remember the difficulty you may have had (I know I did) in getting those pre-stamped blank postal cards from the Post Office? There will be mailing lists (and phone banks) again when Senator Warnock runs for re-election in 2022, about eighteen months from now. Now might be a good time to drop into a post office to pick them up.
Hey, Jacob. I wrote letters, stuffing them in envelopes!! So thanks for the heads up. I'm also going to use those blank greeting cards I get throughout the year (the ones with a picture on one side). Not pre-stamped, but...
A fervent wish...the numbers just don't add up AT ALL. And the way he just laughed at her in the debate...
screams FIX
I donated to these folks, not much, because I'm not all that, and have been deluged with paper and electronic requests/exhortations/demands for more money ever since. Such a waste of resources and time. I tell them, but it doesn't stop. Unsub from one list and they have already sold or shared contact info with half a dozen other orgs.
I'd like to see more unity among the organizations; less energy devoted to admins of each org and more energy freed up to focus on results.
Check for incumbency too; a popular sitting official has an advantage to counter superior opponent funding. Still, the best bet for a win is an incumbent with more money than other candidates. (That is rather less than a brilliant insight.)
Of course, popular incumbency is advantageous, but we gave to both Warnock and Ossoff from out of state too because of their compelling messages and their potentials to build our Senate majority. A wonderful underdog with potential to blast through McConnell’s wall of obstruction gets my support every time.
Donation Fatigue 🤪 The emails and text messages are annoying BUT I guess effective- unfortunately our election cycles lately start 2yrs before election day.
I am still torn between donating the relief money from the government- ($1000, then $600, then $1400) to food pantries, voting rights groups, the various requests from the Democratic party. So far I have been leaning more heavily toward food pantries, but I do not know if that’s the right decision. Do you have any wise advice?
I volunteer at my local food bank and we are flush with money. Lots of local folks have given their checks to the food bank. This may well be true in your area. Check in with them.
And you might want to refrain from action until there is a situation evidencing dire need of support; like when the races tighten up and the strategies are increasingly focused. Just imho.
None of your choices are wrong. HCR has requested that instead of sending her money for what she does, donate to local food banks. I'd add whatever type of "Occupy Medical" in a community you may have ties to.
We tend to donate to Oregon LGBTQ rights groups, the Democratic party or specific candidates, or local community arts groups.
Brennan Center for Justice: https://www.brennancenter.org/ I'm torn, as you are. Not sure if I should give a little to a lot or give a lot to a little!
I really like the Brennan Center too. They have wonderful forums (online) on various issues and I often look for their articles especially on voting issues.
Thanks for asking Meemoo. I second your choice, however, would apportion about 1/4 of the donation to rights groups (the one or two you like most,) What a generous and thoughtful decision about what to do with your money.
I like ACLU and SPLC for bringing lawsuits against the crooks and lawyers for good government to support legal fees for asylum seekers. And trying to do my best to fund journalists. There never seems to be a lack of need for donations. Wondering if there are others that do the legal work of accountability?
Wonderful suggestion. Thank you for your compliment, but I couldn’t in good conscience spend the government money on myself. I am fine with a small teachers pension (4th career), minuscule Social Security because of the teachers pension, And no debt thanks to my dad’s lesson to be frugal.
"Money, pardon the expression, is like manure; it ain't worth a thing unless it's spread around, encouraging young things to grow." So channeling Team Biden's focus on children mostly. But IMO works for politics, too!
For the first time in my life, I'm making recurring contributions to my Georgia Democratic representatives and the DNC. 'Can't think of a better use for 10% of my SS check, and I'm extremely grateful that I don't need that money for food or shelter.
Thanks from all of us. I’m drained financially and it pains me to receive all these requests for money that I’d like to contribute to, but no longer can.
Imagine how much could get done, if officials could work and not focus on fundraising. Hmmmmm. They do our work, we should have to pay them twice not to do the work we hired them to do. America is crazy stupid. Campaign Finance like yesterday please.
We got your back in 2020 AND 2022, Dan. I'm just one among many, donating nearly $300 to W and O together, all donations with 100%-650% matches from progressive PACs. In return, I insist that there be dancing at the victory parties.
So time to push for an actual Federal investigation into these E&S voting machines! Thats the only way to make inroads on this. And what a turmoil THAT will cause in the Rs little tiny minds!
Well, I say "So far, so good." Unfortunately there is a limit to what can be accomplished through reconciliation in the Senate. It appears the GOP will not support any of Mr. Biden's legislative proposals, that at least 2 Democratic Senators are not on board (yet), and that the weight of new GOP-supported state-level anti-voting legislation and the Trump-packed SCOTUS may be more than any of us can bear. The risk that Joe Biden will become (de facto) the lamest of ducks after the midterm elections is real and represents yet another existential threat to our nation (and world), as if pandemics, climate change and nuclear arms were not enough of a threat already.
I figure that unless our law enforcement and legal system can manage to jail the organizers of the Jan 6th insurrection and follow all the trails of illegality leading to and emanating from the Trump administration (and family), and do it within the next year, our future prospects are not good.
I do not know what should be done to get the Biden program passed and operative enough that the many Americans who did not vote for Biden will feel the benefits and vote for Democratic legislators in 2022. But that is what needs to happen.
For me I plan to celebrate when the For the People Act on voting rights is passed. That may well be the tipping point between success and failure of democracy. If it isn't passed my plan is to join the non-violent resistance. If you notice my ID photo, it is a US flag made of safety pins and beads. It is upside down as a symbol of distress. The safety pin is a sign that if I see someone not being treated fairly or being discriminated against I have their back (racism, xenophobia, and misogyny). The bottom two rows of beads I did a couple of variations -- one was pink pussy cat ears; another was all skin colors to represent all of us this time.
Hopefully NOT like Hunger Games! I watched only the first film and it's revolting. Children forced to murder other children as crowds cheer. Disgraceful.
Cathy, do you have an Etsy site? Because I would love one of your flag/safety pin pieces. I've worn a safety pin on and off (usually when students are around) since that became a trope--there was a push to make them with those little plastic beads so that LGBT rainbows and the pastel rainbow (for trans people) could be added to make it clearer. Here in MO there was worry that the symbol would be misused by haters; that didn't happen but I did receive some nasty remarks for a time, before people forgot what the safety pin represents.
Cathy I am continuing to celebrate, we have stolen the ring of invisibility from Gollum. We accomplished this with Biden’s election and the election of two GA senators Warnock and Ossoff. We can’t guarantee that Gollum is dead as he could still steal the ring back, but just as Hitler was defeated through perseverance so too can we defeat the forces behind TFG’s reign of terror. Those forces of capitulation still support their Fuehrer but I hope we cause them furor when we beat them again in 2022.
If I remember correctly, it took three full length movies and climbing Mount Doom before Gollum grabbed the ring back but then fell into the fire and the ring (and Gollum) were destroyed. It was a close call that the good guys finally won.
No. Not to early to celebrate the return of hope. And the very slightest beginning of the process of moving in the direction of inclusion. No quitting to admire it, agree. But celebrating, absolutely.
I'm sure there is a deep fear of investigating sitting members of Congress and their wealthy, right-wing donors. Unfortunately, that faction also represents one of our most potent dangers.
What a great recap. It is and maybe always will be impossible to overstate the importance of the Georgia runoffs, and the women organizers who created and nurtured the GOTV campaigns.
Truly an inspiration. So I guess I feel better than last night, when I had little hope for democracy. :)
Rep. Sam Park (Korean-American, first openly gay man to be elected to the state legislature in Georgia)
Rep. Park Cannon (self-identified queer, arrested on 3/25/2021 for knocking-on-door-while-Black during governor’s closed-door signing ceremony for voter suppression bill SB202)
Rep. Karla Drenner, Renitta Shannon, Keisha Waites, and Matthew Wilson (additional LGBTQ Dem. Representatives)
Rep. Nikema Williams (successor to John Lewis, top Dem. Fundraiser, first Black woman chair of Georgia Democratic Party)
Keisha Lance Bottoms, Mayor of Atlanta
GOTV in Georgia 2020-21 South Asian grassroots organizers:
Thank you Ellie. Say their names. We must remember the heroes for justice as well as the victims of injustice. And keep sending money. Warnock is facing another election in 2022. And please help Florida get Rubio out of the Senate in 2022.
Yes indeed, and there were other stories such as the one of the woman bank manager who created an organization and took her lunch breaks to canvass neighborhoods, as well as another young man who did the same, and those who manned the phone and text banks. I’m wondering if there might be a move to organize van-pools or neighborhood car pools to get people to the polls the next election, to help people get out the vote, now that ballot boxes and voting hours/days have been reduced.
You are spot on, Patsy. While we all want HB1/S1 to pass, the reality is that it faces steep obstacles. So until then, the best we can do is work to register new voters, provide rides and to get whatever ID is required in each state. For example, in Florida gun permits are valid ID but other IDs may not qualify.
The Florida voter-suppression law looks to be a violation of Articles 20, 21 and 28 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of which the US is a signatory.
Hi Ellie, would you please re-post the Heather's Herd email and/or URL here? Curious folks are asking today. Roland is one, so maybe reply to a comment of his. Thanks!
Heather opens today's Letter marking the end of the first 100 days of the Biden - Harris administration. 'A hundred days is not an entirely useless metric, though, because by that time, a modern president has generally set the tone of the administration.' (Today's Letter) With that in mind, I would like to call our attention to a couple of the most prominent people in the Biden - Harris administration.
Last night, Ron Klain, the President's Chief of Staff, was interviewed on Lawrence O'Donell's, The Last Word (MSNBC). He's been on with Lawrence many times and on other shows as well. It seems natural to call him Ron because he is so affable, calm, clear and easy - a warm and welcoming man. It doesn't end there; Ron Klain was raised in Indianapolis, Indiana and graduated from North Central High School, Harvard University, Georgetown University and Harvard Law School. He was the first member of his family to finish college, graduating summa cum laude from Harvard in 1983. Ron was named associate general counsel and Vice President Al Gore's chief of staff in the Bill Clinton administration, and was Vice President Joe Biden's top aide and the "Ebola czar" under President Barack Obama. Ron attended fine schools and has served in high positions, yet the man is as down to earth as Biden and without a whiff of arrogance
Jen Psaki is familiar to many of us because she is the President's Press Secretary. She previously served in the Obama administration as the White House deputy press secretary (2009); the White House deputy communications director (2009–2011); the spokesperson for the United States Department of State (2013–2015); and the White House communications director (2015–2017). Psaki was a political contributor for CNN from 2017 to 2020.[6]. Born in Stamford, Connecticut, she graduated from Greenwich High School and from the College of William & Mary. (Wikipedia)
I've watched many press secretaries and Jen is the most appealing to me. She is warm, professional and seems to keep a good balance of accommodation and information. Without impatience, she ably signals when enough is enough. I cannot leave Jen Psaki without noting her lovely smile, that wins points as well.
These two outstanding public servants match Joe and Jill's appeal. They are real people without fuss or showiness. They are polite, respectful, communicative, friendly, experienced, devoted to their work and to Joe Biden. Along with him, they set a perfectly welcome tone for the Biden-Harris administration.
From what Ron said to Lawrence last night, the entire Biden-Harris team is composed of people of that caliber. Biden knows people, good and bad, and chooses the good ones well.
Because of trump and his minions I became and remain more politically active than I have been since the McGovern campaign. I donated to Ossoff, Warnock, and Kelly even though I do not reside in those states. I usually try not to interfere in another state's political landscape (here in OH we have a few of our own problems think Jim Jordan, Bill Johnson), but the situation was dire enough that I contributed to out of state candidates. The pace at which Biden/Harris have started getting things turned around is truly breath taking and I am happy every day instead of getting up worrying about what new insult emerged over night from the WH.
Ohio will be redistricted now that the census shows we have lost a seat. Also the voters approved a better (not perfect) bi-partisan redistricting plan in 2018, so it may depend on how that goes as well. Fingers crossed.
Thanks so much for this wonderful recounting of what’s been so positive these
last 100 days. It’s so easy to get sucked into all the negativity from the right - so seductive to wallow in the true insanity of it all. Meanwhile, Biden and his team just move steadily forward doing the work of good government. A huge blessing!
This makes me as happy as I was the day I got my second vaccine. I am grateful to have a real public servant at the helm of our country, surrounded by the most diverse cabinet ever. I am grateful for Dr Richardson's letters flushing out the news of the day. And finally, so grateful that, for the first time ever, I worked on and donated to elections in a state on the opposite side of the country from me and, the right people won. 🙏🏼
I have friends and family who subscribe to the alternative narrative - the one that, whether they know it or not, is advocating for a whole new confederate conflict that would, if it could, institute a one party system and authoritarianism, bringing to an end our Great Experiment. I used to find these rebellious efforts to be fringy and pathetic. Now…
Heather, thank you for your good efforts in connecting the dots, showing US where we are and how we got here. May they be of some measurable help in winning hearts and minds, and uniting US - or at least enough of US to stand our ground in defending our Constitution.
I see a lot of those people in my daily life. Cops, court staff, my retired friends, ex-newscasters, hairdressers, waitstaff, and most of the tRumper Truck brigade. I have no clue as to how these folks who fancy themselves as "independent free thinkers" realize how close to authoritarian rule they are. I probably don't need to mention this, but they are 80% male, 99% white, and 100% Christian*.
*Allegedly. They don't seem to be following the words of the Christ.
President Biden seems focused not only on new legislation to help working folks, but he seems to be trying to help citizens realize that they do have efficacy to change how government operates, making a special effort to point out the success of the Georgia elections. We citizens may finally have the president we deserve -- someone who really takes our democratic experiment seriously, and not a cynical mind solely focused on its will to power.
"As Sheriff, Rep Nehls implemented HVAC and welding programs for non-violent inmates at the county jail," Gribble said. "He had wild success reducing the 2 year re-arrest rate with participating inmates. He’d like to see similar programs available in County jails across the country and is working on legislation that will make that possible.”
Morning, Ellie!! As always, you complement Dr. R's Letters so well. My thought is to get bipartisan support, Team Biden will have "angels with dirty faces" to deal with. Perhaps Nehls will be a breakthrough for the Team!
Morning, Lynell! You're so kind! Some angels have dirtier faces than others--get out the scrub brush. But I'll give Nehls a Romney point for taking a step in the right direction!
L-E-M, you all are funny. You have Massachusetts' permission to give away all the Romneypoints you want. But I really want to see Mittens earn some Ayannapoints!
Yes. That's when I joined hands too. 1981 is Reagan deserting all thins Lincoln except the booze statute in the Oval Office. When only the artifacts remain, the transformation and end clearly has happened.
Thank you Heather. For sticking with us. We need your help, your careful understanding/writing about the history and the current issues.
Please do whatever keeps you healthy. Take time off, hang out w loved ones, always be good to yourself. You are my first living national treasure! Possibly President Biden will become one in a few years.
Your gift makes complex political and societal issues understandable. You bring me and many many others hope for a future for our families. Thank you again dear woman.
Yes Heather please take care— you’re a national treasure.
What a beautiful love letter to Heather. Thank you Carol.
Thank you, Carol, for helping us thank Dr. R!
TROLLS from FSB MOSCOW: A Brief Counterintelligence Study in Open Forum
When I told my wife what I was up to this morning, conversing with Russian trolls, she discouraged me in no uncertain terms from continuing to engage. Her quote, which she coined from her days in political activism, “If you roll around in the mud with pigs, you get dirty, and the pigs love it.”
"Don’t engage” is her message. A victory, in their view, is any engagement, that's the other part of the message.
However since Substack is my 1st SM forum, I am getting initiated here and hence this investigation.
During my round trip to the clinic and back home, getting my 2nd vaccine, I was reflecting on our “disinformatsiya” friends who are living and working in Moscow. Curious juxtaposition, to be sure, vaccination and FSB. What I am learning:
(1) Today’s (April 29, the HCR 4/28 Comments section) troll group is from the FSB in Moscow and is actually associated with the Kremlin. Curiously, he/they volunteered that information. Sometimes I can recognize when someone is telling me the truth even though they pretend to be contemptuous and mocking. It has a very distinct feel to it.
(2) They insist on attempting to hide their identity, even when their Russian govt. agency status is obvious. (Not too bright.)
(3) When pressed, they begin to tell the truth, couching it as “ridiculous” or “hillarious.”
(4) They have a rapacious appetite for engagement: clearly what they are paid to do.
(5) The purpose of engagement is to spread propaganda and to gather information for their propaganda-generating machine. We on HCR are being stereotyped here as “Liberals” (capitalization is theirs, we must be a designated category in their official propaganda system) and they are engaging in order to infiltrate and influence. (Good luck with that, chumps)
(6) They change the subject because they are not paying attention to the discussion topic. I think they probably live in their email, like a fisherman with several lines in the water, waiting for someone to post a reply and then pouncing. Because they are multitasking, impossible to carry a discussion or even a coherent argument.
(7) One particular troll is an actual human being, the one from an early HCR April 28 post from Friday morning, soon after TPJ's Troll Patrol post. He was hurt and insulted when I said he was not acting human, a ploy possibly, but I sensed an actual owie. I think he interpreted my statement as saying that he was inhuman, and perhaps that is what I was implying. Since then, I have seen fake attempts at appearing hurt, but at least one of the accusations of not being human landed. (It helps when a real human is confronting a phony internet handle.)
(8) Reading TJ’s excellent piece, which I am re-posting here, my suspicion is confirmed that multiple FSB employees operate through the fake handle.
(9) These guys are robots in human form. Somewhere in there, in all that phony bullshit, lurks a real Russian with a heart and a soul. It is to that Russian I direct my comments.
(10) Being transparent about my low opinion of their intelligence and their humanity, btw, is producing dividends. They might still be the GRU, but who cares. My consistent mention of GRU squeezed the words “FSB” out of them, so perhaps there is some interagency rivalry at play here. **An opportunity for a counterintelligence operative, yes that means you, you are now being recruited as a member of the Mission Impossible team, to inflict a little needling and teasing.
To engage, or not to engage. That is the question. Well, they are still humans after all, even if they are woefully lost in crazy-land. Obviously the “Not Engage” camp has a super strong argument.
So if you choose to engage, have a clear purpose. Up until now, my purpose has been to do what one guy in the Leon mask referred to when he said “thank you for the olive branch.” Remember, opportunities in Russia are severely limited. The country has prosperity issues, big ones. Maybe one of these guys dreams of having a job where he can be a real human, instead of a robotic apparatchik spouting drivel. At least one of these guys may well start admiring America by virtue of what he sees and hears on HCR. Compassion shown is never wasted, imo. This FSB handle (fake identity) is my only direct link to Russia. We can have a reverse influence which can insidiously trickle back to them, call it Mission Impossible or the Counterintelligence of Love Dept. Who knows what effect these conversations are producing in the actual Russian puppets working for the FSB. Underneath the day job still lies a human.
In every aspect of life, the objective is to establish and maintain a position, an attitude, which agrees with your principles. In other words, to face the new object from a place of integrity.
Not Engage: Excellent choice.
Engage: Do so cautiously, with clear intent, and remain firmly in your power. Targeted posts. Continual engagement not recommended, unless we operate as a tag team, like they do.
Now a repost of TJ from a few hours ago.
P.S. On my drive home from the clinic, I got a clear hit that this is a rapacious larger operation, not a sole operator. I continue to see images of streets and buildings in Moscow, and once in awhile, I am reading one of their posts and I am actually seeing the Russian perspective pretending to be non-Russian. Anyway, mounting quantities of visual intuitive evidence.
[begin TJ post]
TJ:
Not to beat a dead troll or anything, but after watching this little Mr. Leon drama unfold for some time now I vacillate between two possibilities. On the one hand I can’t shake the feeling that this specific figure “Leon” might well be who he claims to be which makes him a kind of accidental troll who has just consumed too much right wing media in Canada or the US and now he is unwittingly parroting Putin’s talking points. In my limited reading about the Russian troll farms I understand that they have different teams assigned to target different groups using entirely different playbooks for each. With the MAGA-nation the goal might be to feed the hate, but with groups such as the literate and generally progressive readers of this blog the strategy is different—infiltrate slowly, develop a brand and bonds, foster loyalty before sowing seeds of dissension and doubt. The Russians are masterful propagandists. We should never underestimate their sophistication. Which leads me to my second speculation. I did notice that some of the linguistic peculiarities “Leon” demonstrated in earlier replies seem to have suddenly vanished in later comments. The aggression/latent sadism was suddenly dialed up and grammar and mechanics improved. Even the idiom is a bit different later on. Perhaps this is a second shift Leon or a floor supervisor stepping in to distract from the concerted efforts of those attempting to out foreign influence. I have zero interest in feeding trolls, neither the ones working for the ruble nor their sad North American dupes working for free, but I do find the discussion of the problem in general incredibly important and worthwhile because once again our openness and gullibility is being exploited. I really appreciate those of you patrolling for the trolls because you help us to remain aware that we are absolutely under attack by a foreign nation savvy enough to exploit the unhealed wounds of a civil war. It is important not to engage them too deeply though because once it’s clear they are not open to genuine dialogue further engagement just allows them to repeat their talking points.
[end TJ post]
My understanding is that the role of trolls is to spread disinformation and provoke responses. Trolls rise and gain value in their organizations, groups, or intelligence orgs, based on the number of responses they provoke and can continue to engage. Not responding to a troll is an effective way to deny them power. If a comment seems inflammatory, particularly, you can be certain that it is trolling for comments. The longer a troll can keep someone engaged is a measure of their success. Many "trolls" are just programmed, intelligent bots. Do not feed them.
I’ve learned that if you respond when someone posts disinformation on social media you cause it to be seen more. In other words, because you responded, the algorithm in the software causes the disinformation to appear in more feeds. So, not responding is a good idea. (I’ve been doing some social media monitoring and and I thought this was an important thing to know.)
Thank you Joan for this tidbit. A lot to learn here.
Yes, Janjamm. A few subscribers cannot resist them, and I cannot understand the magnetism.
I've read that a person's response reveals an emotional reaction to the post. The more emotion the troll can stir up, the more points the troll receives. If no one responds, no points.
I agree. Engaging with a troll involves the same emotional dynamics as sensationalized journalism, sexualized advertising, trash talking, hate mongering, and/or trump talk. It's bad enough with a contrarian. The trolls are really nefarious.
Great analogies. According to this is from six years ago trolls often work in teams to carry out a task! https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/02/putin-kremlin-inside-russian-troll-house
Thank you 🙏
that must be the so-called Internet Research Agency
Help each other. Even if it seems redundant. We all have our vulnerabilities that make us unique so we all fall for it sooner or later.
Thanks Roland. What's really bizarre is the similarity between the Russians and the Republicans. Autocrats all.
Republicussians
Made me laugh
Made me cry. To do so, so blatantly, speaks to higher goings on
It’s in the news that the FBI explicitly warned Rudy G and Ron Johnson that the Russian spies were using them. It made no difference.
They think their billionaire friends can protect them. Above the law. This is a signal we are in Oligarchy. Will Rogers, two legal systems. “Only the The poor break laws.”
The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal loaves of bread.
-- Anatole France, "The Red Lily"
True, although mainly it is more evidence that they know they are working for Putin and don't care that he is an enemy of this country.
“American Oligarchs have more in common with Russian oligarchs than with everyday Americans”- Tim Snyder
On that note, allow me to explain why I did not begin my "Trolls from FSB Moscow" post with an apology for being off-topic. Republicussians, as TPJ put it. Putin and Trump are partners. Has there been any more glaring and hideous spectacle in U.S. history than the 2 of them hosting a joint meeting in Helsinki? Putin has put so many Republican lawmakers in his back pocket that I have lost count. There is the July 4 trip, JULY 4, that a group of Republicans made to Moscow to give obeisance to their master and benefactor. You can believe Putin was gloating, he snaps his fingers, and the trained dogs come running, on the day of supposed American independence. Putin's minions have saturated America, including the Republican Party, so we owe it to ourselves to educate ourselves about Russian FSB et al activities, especially when they show up here.
If you aren't familiar with the basics of the Putin-Trump-Republican Party orgy, I recommend Greg Olear. He has written a book called Dirty Rubles, he posts extensively about that subject and many others, and he is one of the 3 places I hang out on the internet.
Fasten your seat belt, the level of criminality and depravity can be shocking.
https://gregolear.substack.com/
This Putin story in particular is revealing and gut-wrenching. Must know information. Warning: take good care of yourself before, during, and after reading this.
https://gregolear.substack.com/p/from-trump-to-trump-how-the-mobs
Have heard of O’Lear. Will check it out.🙏
Birds of a kletocracic feather.
Bizarre sums it up nicely.
Protection in high places. For Ron Johnson it’s the Devos’ billions. Am way dies a ton of business in Russia. The Devos have billions in Russian banks from Amway profits in Russia. Ever meet a Russian woman with out make up? In a way, the Devos are in the Putin oligarch club. There, I said it.
I'm sure you are correct. That club includes Moscow Mitch, all the July 4 members of Congress who took that trip to Moscow, Agent Orange of course, and probably the entire sedition caucus, or most of it anyway. Well, not oligarchs or plutocrats exactly, but who cares how much money they have, we know who owns them.
“Having trouble fundraising for your right wing campaign? Well, here at the NRA, we can help that! We can get all the funding you need from x, and thanks to Citizens United, nobody needs to know who X is!” Wink Putin wink.
*shaking my head*
You nailed it.
I have limited time in the morning to absorb HCR’s columns, and I really look so forward to everyone’s comments. Thank you to everyone for taking the time to explain so much, and for your recommendations.
This exercise you undertook to flush out the trolls is fascinating. But I couldn’t help but wonder if one might take the bait if you were to ask for their favorite borscht or pirozhki recipes? 😁. Have a beautiful day, thank you and keep up the good fight!
Ask about their favorite vodka.
All right!!! The Counterintelligence Network is kicking in!!!!
I love that idea, Sherree! Just keep asking for recipes. LOL! That's great. 😅
You Good People are warming my heart!!
Sherree I love this contribution, thank you. GO TEAM HCR!!!!
LOL! Good one! Another thing I do whenever I have to call for support help for tech gone haywire and the voice sounds like something from the bottom of the barrel, is to ask how the weather is and ask about the time. I know this is mean, but call centers are EVERYWHERE these days, including right there in Moscow.
What are talking about? There's nothing mean. It's human to connect with other humans. I have been on Call Center calls with India, the Philippines, and elsewhere, discussing all manner of non-business related topics, when I have the time and the inclination, and when the service worker has the time and the inclination. I could write an entire article about my relationship with the AmEx India call center, it's fascinating.
True, Ellen, I have some uproarious conversations with operators in Quezon City and Bangalore.
On my to do list to look up the recipe for borscht— my husband hates beets and 85% of the other vegetables so it’s challenging.
Beets = bleccch. Your husband is a wise man where beets are concerned, but may need some coaching on other veggies.
TPJ, having read your illuminating and generous thoughts here for many months now, I was beginning to worry that you might be perfect. You seem to know everything. And you’re so nice! Such a relief to find out you’re a flawed human like the rest of us. A person who doesn’t like beets is still evolving :) But no worries, it’s clear you’re going in the right direction! Keep shining your light, except please keep quiet about beets. Re: everything else—write on!!
Thank you Adker, that's kind. I definitely do not know everything, but have managed to reduce my ignorance here and there.
But wait -- disliking beets is a flaw?? Full disclosure: I never cared for beets but occasionally ate them .... Until one day ... my never-vulgar father said that the best thing about them was that ... they made his urine turn red. Now when beets are in sight, there's that image and it's "no thanks."
Shoot, now I can’t unsee this either. Good thing I’m old, I’ll probably soon forget.
I could never make borscht the way the Russian Tea room can so ok I give up.
I followed the vitriol-filled Leon yesterday in some bemusement. It really surprised me how much he got under the skin of the group which normally packs up and disposes of trolls with wry derision.
I am a naïf, it seems. It never occurred to me that this could be infiltration by a team of professionals. I don’t dispute the point - I have no experience with this sort of activity. I thought he was just a rather persistent sort of gadfly with his own personal axe to grind.
In any case, today’s post by Heather marking Biden’s first 100 days is a marvelous antidote for poison. For me this was Heather’s most brilliant piece yet. In fact, as I read it I thought at one point that it had a valedictory air to it - that somewhere in it, perhaps at the very end, Heather would announce that she had completed her work in this forum. I well remember her writing some time ago that she didn’t know how long she would continue, but perhaps it would be to the end of Biden’s first 100 days.
Blessedly, my antennae was jammed or my wires were crossed - pick an analogy. Heather goes on. She is moving mountains, day by day, as this group grows and grows.
The one point I’d make today is this. Heather referred today to a poll showing that 77% of Americans approve of the American Recovery Act.
My thought is this: obviously some of those, many in fact, are Republicans. Many are Trump voters.
Some of this subset are certain to be feeling caught between a rock and a hard place. Do they continue to look back and bask in the glory days of the Magaverse? Or are they being pulled forward and looking at the seriously practical and beneficial world that has at least started to unfold under Biden/Harris?
Anger propelled many Trump followers. “Owning the Libs” was delightful sport. Until it wasn’t. Anger fades in time, especially when there is no propulsive force to maintain and manage it. And we go days without thinking of Trump now.
The Big Lie is getting harder and harder to push with a straight face - and energy. The Cyber Ninjas are inspecting the Maricopa ballots for watermarks? Seems dubious, but...whatever. But now they’ve abandoned that idea and are looking at the ballots “kinematically”, for special folds that will reveal the diabolical genius of those who conspired to cheat Trump out of victory. Surely that will work...
Many people are looking at the federal landscape and seeing the utter bleakness, the complete paucity of ideas, the chicanery and in-fighting of today’s Republicans.
They will watch, as we will. And they will vote in 2022 and 2024. Some will certainly vote reflexively for their Lauren Boebert or Marjory Taylor Greene. But others will realize that to do so is to bite the hand that feeds them.
It’s my belief that we are at a huge turning point. An op-Ed writer in the Globe and Mail yesterday, one with dozens of years of experience, opined that Biden’s first 100 days have been as consequential as any President in the last century. A few hours later I saw the scare headline (HuffPost maybe?), “Are the Democrats going to be slaughtered in 2022?”.
My bet is no. As Biden himself said this week, “Never bet against America”.
I might amend that to “Never bet against America when they have one last chance to stop screwing up.”
But we are at that point now. The siren songs of the last several years sound not so seductive now. They are beginning to sound cacophonous and discordant.
Unless this administration badly screws up, I think that it is going to exert a quiet but strong gravitational pull back to sanity. Lawyers, judges and actively-engaged citizens will subdue the crazies. Lots of people are going to jail for their sins and momentum against thuggery will become decisive.
Thank you Heather. I was very inspired by today’s article.
Eric, your writing is always thoughtful and balanced. I'm betting with you - unless Biden really drops the ball, my guess is that his approval rating will hold at the polls - in '22 and '24. The road will be peppered with minefields, but other than the MAGA faithful, I believe most of us are tired of fighting and anxiety-filled dreams. Perhaps the best thing that could have happened was the removal of the Trump megaphone on Twitter. Having said all of this, we mustn't relax or lose vigilance. We must do what we did in the '20 election, and not assume that the threat is past.
Eric, I echo Linda. Excellent.
I like your phrase, “a quiet but strong gravitational pull back to sanity.” Very nicely said.
That really pulled at my positivity threads—that still exist!
Thank you Joan. :)
I’m with Joan, that’s a beautiful turn of phrase, “gravitational pull back to sanity.“
The utter bleakness and chicanery.. those words encapsulate our predicament. Thank you.
Oh, another thing.
(11) They actually respond to a post that mentions trolls! Why do I find that so amusing? They know they’re trolls?! They don’t protest, they accept it and respond to it!! I’m sorry that’s just downright entertaining. What a bunch of chumps. Acting is not their strong suit. They suck at it.
So when TJ says they are master propaganda artists, I am holding my belly and gut laughing.
Learn from a professional, someone who really knows.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjIU-zqxJEA
too funny! Thanks for the first good laugh of the day!
That cracked me up. Thanks!
TJP, you're never at a loss, are you? You crack me up!😍
Thanks Nancy; you all are the inspiration. Someone writes something, then I remember something.
It is a gift that few possess.
Highly recommend watching this “documentary” with kids and grandkids!!! Trolls are real!
The lead actor has convinced me!
Thanks for that movie clip! Now I want to watch it.😂
You're welcome, Mitzi. The film is alternately scary and hilarious (just one L), not always intentional. It doesn't take itself too seriously.
Watch with kids it’s best!!! Watch their faces. Watch a little bit late, preferably during a storm.
😂
Imagine "Jack O'Lantern" agonizing for hours over which category he fits in.
According to Janjamm's reading, these 'tools' (they are our opponents tools to me) win points when interacting with subscribers and when they receive emotional reactions from us.. Roland, you and other subscribers are feeding these propaganda tools, so they keep coming back. As a result our forum is being crowded, in my opinion, with crap. How does this relate to the information and issues Heather raises or the issues raised by subscribers? How does it discourage somewhat shy subscribers who would otherwise exchange with questions and ideas? I don't think that the 'tool' material provides a welcome opening to the this forum. In my opinion, the magnetism to 'tools' is, perhaps, getting out of hand.
Hello Fern, it's good to see you. Of course I agree with all the points in your statement.
I am learning here. Many of you are already well acquainted with the FSB (or the GRU, whoever they are). In my very long piece, hidden inside, I say that Substack is my 1st social media forum. I have not been on FB and Tw and elsewhere. So this is all new to me. I trust my wife implicitly, she says don't engage, then that is probably what I will eventually do. So far I have engaged maybe 8-10 times. Each time, I have learned a great deal. I'm not naïve. I have not let them suck me in to their meat-grinder, so each time one of them has made a few kopecks off me, it has come at a cost. I'm learning the rules, learning about their operation and how it works. And when I finish the learning process, trust me, I will use their game plan against them. I'm a very creative guy.
100% how they respond! They are people with psychology that give us clues to their identity and motives.
In 2017, I really enjoyed Clint Watts, “Messing with the Enemy”
Roland, yes: be careful because there are operatives out there who are doing more dangerous stuff as well, but it sounds like you're having fun. So go for it! I am dealing with eastern European fake Academia "colleagues" (they don't seem to exist and the institutions they claim to be part of do not have them listed as faculty in their websites) who have been stealing my books, scanning them, and then posting them on Academia. I discovered this when one was tagged into my email as something I "might be interested in reading" as it relates to other work I have published or posted on Academia. This is a common situation for folks who publish--the Russians and the Chinese routinely break copyright laws--but I suspect that this is a tactic that comes from me using my real name on this platform and in other sites.
Wow! How disheartening.
You know, I deliberated long and hard about whether to use my real name on Substack last summer. TPJ and TC might be the smarter ones here, because if I could go back, I would revisit that decision. Fortunately, I don't have much published here, I could lose it and start over, wouldn't be a real problem. I might have to do that, you never know.
I can't say I am having fun. When you play with fire, sometimes you get burned. I am providing a service to all of us, but I am also putting my ass on the line. I am doing this out of a sense of duty. The smarter play would probably be to just walk away from this risk, and it is definitely a risk. Last night, upon posting, I realized I might have to prepare myself to dump my email and substack accounts, and start over. This ain't no walk in the park. I am digging pretty deeply here. Putin is not someone to be messed with lightly, and its him and his minions running this show.
I use my moniker because in another existence I am more well-known by name, and I don't like that getting in the way of things at places like substack.
Yes, I understand. I know who you are from an admission you made elsewhere, you know the one. Your decision makes perfect sense. However, despite your unrelated motivation for using a moniker or "handle," the perhaps unintended consequence is that you are protecting yourself in ways that I am not as protected. Being a target of the Russian govt. is not advisable. Anyway, right now I am just doing one day of troll counterintelligence. I should be ok. But I know from experience that opening a door to the dark side can have unexpected and unhappy consequences. I am thinking out loud here, thinking to myself, not that you necessarily care. If I ever go further, unlikely as that is, I would find a way to protect myself more effectively.
Actually, I care and I am sure others do too. You've done a good deed by alerting the community to what was going on, so I think you can sink back to as much anonymity as you can, with us now knowing 'do not engage the FSB trolls." Thank you for that.
Thank you TC, very kind of you to say that. After the day before, with the Leon FSB team, I was sitting on too much information just to keep it all to myself. Knowledge is power. I care a lot about this place, and everyone in it, and it pisses me off when those ratf---ers screw with us. I want maximum firepower directed as these a$$holes and the $hitbox who is their ultimate leader, so the more we all know, the better.
Yikes, I had no idea this was so prevalent.
It’s ubiquitous now. They focus on swing counties in swing states. How do they know? Paul Manafort gave them the “sensitive polling data”. We are in a cyber war, and we are missing bad!
😔
That is awful!
Good morning, Roland and happy day to you! Intense post my man and one that fills me with glee and hope! Today will be a don’t engage with tRolls day for me. It is good to see the choices clearly, tomorrow who knows. ❤️ to all who read this thread. May your day be peaceful.
Yours too.
Roland, I went back and read yesterday’s Leon thread, which had grown considerably from my early morning read. I think your analysis today nailed it. A couple of things stood out for me. One, a Canadian would never say “our government” when referring to the US, which Leon says, a lot. Two, the vitriol of some of his responses was startling to say the least. Three, when you read them and look for it, the grammar and spelling mistakes of a non-native speaker are glaringly obvious. Nothing wrong with being a non-native speaker, but why deny it? Finally, and the part I don’t understand at all, is why here? What are they trying to achieve?
Holy shit, Kathy, you're my new hero. You *voluntarily* went back into the war zone? Damn, Girl, you got my respect. (genuflects once, twice, thrice)
Go back to my original long piece "Trolls from FSB Moscow" and jump to the end, my repost of RJ from yesterday. He addresses that point specifically.
To be fair, I didn’t know what I was getting into! In light of your analysis, though, it was pretty interesting.
Good. More power to you if you can wade into that war zone and come out unscathed.
I’m relying on other voices but they’re getting paid to engage??
Yes, but why? To what purpose? To sow discord? To change people’s minds? To promote a false narrative? This particular audience isn’t really susceptible to that, so I still don’t understand why.
Did you notice how effectively IT managed to draw the conversation AWAY from HCR's letter of the day? I literally had to scroll down pages of off-topic tomfoolery (there' a new word for you, IT. Look it up) to find the original discussions and follow the contributions of those who were seriously trying to stay in a legitimate discussion ON TOPIC.
Excellent observation, Ellen. Thank you.
I think Ellen has a point. If nothing else, they are cluttering the freeway with traffic and making it harder for us to navigate.
Kathy 100%. The goal is to divide, destabilize and weaken America. LFAA is a real challenge, given the high level of education and accomplishment among subscribers (yes, that's immodest). Maybe the Kremlin will award the Cross of St George to "Jack O'Lantern" for yesterday's less than Stalingrad-like "achievements."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orders,_decorations,_and_medals_of_Russia#State_decorations_of_the_Russian_Federation
TPJ, I just got a pass today from my horse trainer blogger that it's more than ok to be immodest over my accomplishments. I'll pass it along to you and all the subscribers on this page!!
Hmm, do we have to donate to the RF, too?
I used to be conceited, but now I'm perfect.
Pure infiltration?? Honestly I haven’t a clue.
Just whack them. I actually got LieOn to squeal like a piggie.
Whack a trolee
Nice work. I saw that.
Roland, thanks for this info. I am in your wife's camp, 'Don't engage'. This is garbage to me, taking up far too much space on the forum and the little time that I take the to read this stuff, it boils down to absolute nonsense or a psycho-ward show, if you go in for such entertainment. Why after all this time does this continue to interest you? I see able subscribers wasting their precious time with these tools. That is what they are here to do. Is there no better use of our time? REALLY???
Just today Fern. One and done. I felt it was my duty to publicize what I learned.
Thanks, Roland. I agree with your wife. Don’t engage. For anyone thinking about engaging, please look back at the comments of our community here. Several of our friends here wouldn’t even read comments that day because of all the “bad juju”. Enough said.
I must be doing something wrong. I rarely see troll posts. Leon once in a while. I enjoy reading posts from Republican trolls.
And remember it is bad to lose an arguement with a skunk but what does it say if you win?
Everyone loses with a skunk, Even if we win, we lose.
That is why I choose non engagement
I think that’s for the best. Don’t give them an inch.
Yup.
Lol, but I really like skunks, even if Pepe le Pew is a creepy misogynist.
I like skunks too but have never been in an argument with one. My dogs have. Pepe is truly not God's gift to women is he?
All the research conducted in my formative years suggest only that Pepe was not appealing to cats. Of course, that was before smellivision
Even when we win with a troll, we have given them insights into our pysche. Into our hearts and minds. Winning a troll debate should feel bittersweet.
Excellent point. As always.
Also a time waster, where there are more productive drums to pound?
Don’t Fight the same enemy to often. They learn from you and that can make them stronger, less detectable to other less deserving Americans. Don’t give too much insight into your touch points and pysche.
Thank you ted, that is really an excellent point. I’ve had to think about what I’m willing to disclose. When engaging, obviously you have to be acutely aware that you are engaging with an enemy. Don’t give them free ammunition. But this is an open forum, so we have to talk to each other too. So it’s tricky.
“. . . less discerning Americans,” thank you ted.
Roland, I was very happy that you liked my comment listing the reasons for not engaging the 'trolls', who I call 'tools'. They come here to divert attention from our objectives and to spew propaganda. The tools earn points when they engage us, thus we have become a rich site for messing around. More of them come and they come more often. It doesn't amount to censorship to simply ignore them. Thanks, Roland.
You’re welcome, Fern, and thank you for your perspective. Again, I’m probably sounding repetitive, but I’m figuring out for myself how to engage a hostile entity. I don’t like being a victim, I like being in my power, and as you’ve seen I encourage others to do the same, in whatever arena. Educating myself is the first step. Trust me, I’m not going to be bringing this up very often, if at all. I’m just in the middle of a brand new (for me) learning process. When engaging a hostile, it helps to know as much about them as possible, and to assess your own armament and resources. By doing a “troll information dump” today, I am eliciting comments to educate myself. Knowledge is power.
If it were up to me, in a perfect world, we would have an information resource section available here to catalog everything we know about this hostile. That would allow newcomers to educate themselves, and it would allow us to continually add new things we’ve learned. For now, I’m absorbing everything everybody has said.
Let ‘em have it. Stay unpredictable too. Sometimes it’s just good to let them know, that we know we are in a cyberwar of sorts.
FOLKS THIS IS THE LAST DAY OF THE MONTH FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO CHARLES BOOKER RUNNING AGAINST RAND PAUL. CHECK HIM OUT TO MAKE A CONTRIBUTION IF YOU CAN.
Charles Booker info@e.charlesbooker.orgHide
Charles Booker
Fern, I’m about to ask once more for a little help. But I hope you’ll hear me out for a second on why I’m asking before I get to that part.
First, I have to say I’m so grateful for y’all. When you think about running for office, it’s an emotional process. You’re throwing your whole self into it. You’re putting your family into it. The stakes are high and everything is on the line. So it means everything to me that we’ve barely just launched our exploratory and already we’ve had more than 10,000 people donate.
Knowing that so many people want to see us make a run for it against Rand Paul, that gets me fired up. But that’s not the only reason I’m asking you to donate before tonight’s end-of-month deadline. Let me explain real quick:
For starters, this is our very first deadline — tonight at midnight. The politicians and pundits want to know if we can raise enough money to run a big campaign if we go for it. I want to be able to show them we can.
Second, the Senate is 50-50 and Kentucky is in play. We’re one of the only states with a Democratic governor and two Republican senators. I know we could win, and just imagine what that would mean for our whole nation.
Grassroots is the only way to win. I can’t win if I run alone. That’s the truth. The only way we transform Kentucky and this country is by building a broad-based grassroots movement. And that starts with everyone joining in — yes, even by making a donation.
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/cb-ads-dd-google-explrty-launch?source=ads_ms_CHB_20210412-DD-GS-AprilExploratoryLaunch-National_brandedkw-Natl-18U-MF_ad001&UTM_source=ads_ms_CHB_20210412-DD-GS-AprilExploratoryLaunch-National_brandedkw-Natl-18U-MF_ad001&gclid=Cj0KCQjw1a6EBhC0ARIsAOiTkrGztfWC6Kw4Kj3H_PR44ErOUVBPry2Ik9HxKMhI76MdjSpLuVmdXlkaAnQ_EALw_wcB
Click above to donate to a good human, and send Rand back to the paul.
Wish I had five heart memes to reply. Thanks.
I'd like to send him to India to volunteer at a hospital in Calcutta.
For mr. Rand to say such stupid sh*t on the regular is one thing, but to continue to offer false assurance about natural herd immunity is too much for me. Much of mr. DT and mr. Scott Atlas false claims of herd immunity has been disproven in India, and now the victims and dying of Covid there are those 20 to 60. Previous exposure is no protection to a coldly cruel and clever mutating rna virus. (I know mr rand has never studied virology, if he did he is more stupid than he looks!)
But its not just the UK strain ripping India apart. There are also now new variants and new variants sure to come from such explosive growth of the disease. This thinking or "Not thinking" from Mr. Rand Paul and others has put not just Indians at risk. Such dumbfuckery continues to put ALL of us, even the vaccinated at increased risk if or when the new Indian variants reach our shores.
And so, as long as Mr. Rand runs, Ill be donating to any an all of his opponents. "hey Rand, go **** yourself!"
Done. Thanks!
Discerning not deserving ( finger typing again)
I know this is another ploy on their part, but Leon makes an entirely valid point when he suggests that we have a tendency to label as a troll anyone who vociferously disagrees with us. I agree, though, that distinguishing between the two is a fool's errand, so it's a dilemma.
How do you suggest replying to someone who has expressed views, opinions, or is prostituting's false facts antithetical to democracy & common sense, with a lack of good faith and disrespect towards humanity? Sometimes being overly polite is not what is required to defend democratic ideals. Not always, but sometimes.
Yes, there is clearly appropriate anger. What I have seen on this forum, though, is that the best of those who are here tend to respond with facts and persuasion and demand the same from their interlocutors. It's not always easy, especially when the opinions stated are provocative, but it seems to me the most effective response. For one thing, it makes clear who the irrational person in the conversation is; the contrast can be stunning.
Commonality amongst humans. We are passionate beings.
Passion and compassion.
And sometimes you get your button pushed. Restimulated. It happens. You take a deep breath, you get through it, you learn from it.
Thanks! I have both a wry sense of humor and strong opinion and have been repeatedly cast as a troll here. It's very sad to see folks here gang up on others and it makes the group less intellectually appealing than what it could be. But what you state, above is key: "anyone who vociferously disagrees with us.".
There shouldn't be an "us" when it comes to disseminating ideas and information unless it's propaganda. Particularly if folks expect to be taken seriously as free thinkers.
Oh, I don't know, I think there is a place in society for like-minded people to gather for solace. Feeling that there is an "us" and that we largely agree about things is very comforting, especially in a world that has become hostile to much of what we think should be true. I don't think it's propaganda; an echo chamber, perhaps, but not propaganda. I sometimes feel very lost and hopeless in this world and this group helps.
Early on, on Facebook, Dr. Richardson commented that this was part of her motivation for LFAA - to create a community of support for each other. She succeeded, spectacularly.
Someone mentioned yesterday that she might stop writing this because she only promised to continue to do so for Biden's first 100 days. Especially as a newcomer here, I was surprised at the grief I felt (and continue to feel) at that possibility. I hope it's not true.
She's been an anchor in a storm for me since I first started reading her last summer. The storm of the GOP is still raging, though it's lost a lot of its strength.
I doubt she stops writing to us, maybe just the frequency. The process has been as transformational for her as for us. Once transformed there is no going back.
I think this platform has grown more than HCR had considered, initially. Oddly, folks can reach more minds as internet influencers than college professors.
LFAA is an affirmation of how forge comunity over the internet.
"This is a Day of Affirmation – a celebration of liberty. We stand here in the name of freedom.
At the heart of that western freedom and democracy is the belief that the individual man, the child of God, is the touchstone of value, and all society, all groups, and states, exist for that person's benefit. Therefore the enlargement of liberty for individual human beings must be the supreme goal and the abiding practice of any western society.
The first element of this individual liberty is the freedom of speech; the right to express and communicate ideas, to set oneself apart from the dumb beasts of field and forest; the right to recall governments to their duties and obligations; above all, the right to affirm one's membership and allegiance to the body politic – to society – to the men with whom we share our land, our heritage and our children's future." -RFK
There’s always a reason to double back and read HRC’s readers’ posts later in the day. So glad I did so today.
Ted initially I had thought this was your writing. Bobby wasn’t wrong!
Oh my God that’s moving
Spectacularly. Yes. 100%.
Millions strong. More than an army of activism and cohesiveness.
Agree, Kathy! BTW, how are you doing these days? Just checking in.
Lynell, thank you for asking ❤️ I am doing ok. Finished my seven weeks of chemo and radiation two weeks ago, and am healing. I will need a surgery in a few weeks, but don’t know yet how complicated that will be. I tolerated treatment really well, and we are hopeful. I’ve ridden (my old horse, not the new spicy one!) twice this week which gave me an enormous amount of joy. Spring is helping, too - it’s lovely to see the world greening up.
Aftermorning Lynell!! I joined Heather's Herd and expect to be part of tomorrow's 1pm Zoom. Please consider doing the same.
I absolutely am. Delighted to learn this again.
SPECTACULARLY
There are places for folks to gather such as FB and Church (which this place often resembles, particularly when castigating the heathens that disagree).
I for one am not a member of FB or Church because collective head nodding makes me nauseous. Comfort should come from within, not from exogenous and poorly-constrained inputs. From those, I expect a cacophony of ideas and I hope them to be as varied and as interesting as the world, at large.
I really enjoy reading the ideas here and agree with some; disagree with others. But, I feel the real purpose in sharing said ideas is to debate them, test their veracity, find weaknesses and improve/discard them.
And in doing so, we need to refrain from dehumanizing and marginalizing others we dislike which certainly is a tactic that is unbecoming to the community.
Yes, I agree, and have said so on these pages. But we are right to be wary, and warned, when we are just being played.
It doesn't matter if you are being "played" as long as you have fun while doing it ;)
I agree with your last point, certainly, that we should "refrain from dehumanizing and marginalizing others we dislike," and though I am unqualified, as a relative newcomer, to comment on whether or not that is the tendency here, it seems to me it is not, but it certainly does happen. As for your other points, I guess we will just have to disagree on where the boundary lies between a community and a forum dedicated to the rough-and-tumble of unbridled debate. I think this place tends more toward the community end of that spectrum than otherwise. I, for one, like it that way.
A community that, in concert with one another seeks out "trolls" to marginalize? Having been cast into that part of the spectrum, and hounded (puns always intended) by the fine deacon-beacons of the community, let's just say, "all is not what it seems, Alice".
Oh give me a break. When the hell have you ever been a troll William? That’s ridiculous. I’ve never seen anything but extremely well thought out positions coming from you. You’re a gem. Anybody who says otherwise is clueless or just got their buttons pushed because you disagreed with them. Overly sensitive. It happens. I’ve been there. Eric O’Donnell from Toronto. Then when we cleared things up, he told me something I will never forget:
When I see “Roland“ I read “Roland.“
The ultimate compliment.
Ah, but I do recall someone calling William a troll a while back.. hopefully each of us works to not be in an echo chamber (when did silo go away?). I sometimes wonder if William & others are being a devil's advocate.
Sounds right to me. A devil's advocate is a thinking, concerned human being expressing his thoughts. William's statements don't always appeal to me, but I would not call him a troll. If William gets under your skin, then there's a growth opportunity there, an opportunity for maturing. He's not hostile. That would be the Russian tag teams, like the ones working through the Jack_Leon handle-moniker. Now those are hostiles.
WOW! Just wow Roland! You give fascinating and useful insight into russian trolling. I love your wife’s comment about the pigs.
#5 is surprising, “... they are engaging in order to infiltrate and influence.” I wonder if they get a bonus for converting a “Liberal” 🤣. Maybe an extra piroshki.
Roland, Thanks for doing the heavy lifting here. I'm not too good at spotting these folks. Could you post a list of trolls you have found? It would help me do a quick first, "do not respond" list. I wish substack had a filter feature. Harking back to the early '80s (yes I'm dating myself) the "Whole Earth 'Lectric Link" (WELL) had moderators who sniffed out trolls who we called 'flamers' back then and shut them off. Very effective community collaboration.
Keep up the good work.
A list of trolls wouldn’t do you much good. They have teams that work through a single name, i.e. a single fake identity here on Substack. They open and close new fake names, new fake identities, at will. The way to recognize them is the inflammatory politically charged statements designed to engage you and keep you engaged, apparently they earn money for the number of replies they elicit. Which is why most people choose not to engage.
Maybe this is a time for passive resistance— we recognize them and ignore them.
Actually, I think this is already happening. When I see a post that is controversial and has been on the comments for a fair amount of time, but has fewer than expected responses, I immediately see a red (pardon the pun) flag.
"red flag" Nice!
We need a code phrase to warn each other. To protect each other. Early warning them ignore. Do not feed signs.
How about SA? "Schmuck Alert" Open to options but this is a family place.
"IGNORE" should work well enough.
The word "troll" seems to be the usual go-to option.
See what you wrote 16 hours ago and what triggers.
Think of peanuts. Do not throw peanuts to the gallery.
Oh, those flamers!!
Thank you Sir. Appreciate the support and encouragement. Take a look at my reply to Linda Mitchell.
Oh my gosh, this, this is heartwarming - and I donated to both Ossoff and Warnock even though I am not a Georgia resident. Never doubt that together en masse we can accomplish great things! Thanks, Dr Heather, for another summary of current events with your historical perspective.
"One thing, though, about what sure seems to be a very strong start from the Biden administration…. Never forget that what made the American Rescue Plan possible was the election of Democratic Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock in Georgia. Had the Democrats not held 50 seats in the Senate, enabling them to enact the American Rescue Plan through reconciliation, Biden would be able to maneuver only through executive orders, since Republicans in the Senate would have stopped all legislation."
Like you, Janice, I donated to both campaigns from across state lines, more than I ever had before. Though no direct return is expected, it may be the best investment I've ever made.
I like Charles Booker running against Rand Paul in Kennedy. Check him out. He's a very worthy candidate.
Yes. Defeat Rand at all costs.
Fellow subscribers, Many thanks for seeing through my typo. Booker hopes to be the candidate against R. Paul in KENTUCKY!
I wish it were possible to defeat the vile creep, but Kentucky is 88% white, and in that 88% Republican voters outnumber Democratic voters 2-to-1. If you do the arithmetic, that comes to a 15 point magin for Rand, and that’s not counting Republican efforts in voter suppression. It’s hard to imagine any campaign effort that, even with unlimited funding, could overcome a 15-point margin. Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi are different. In those states, the white voters comprise 60% to 70% of the electorate, which gives Democrats a fighting chance if they can overcome voter suppression. That’s the foundation of the Georgia miracle. Best to choose the battles where there’s a fighting chance.
Rex, Your argument is good. It is important to grow candidates like Booker. With that in mind, promoting him still makes sense, without depleting your budget for donating to good candidates for whom the odds are much better. Another part of my argument to make serious dents in any remaining respect for Rand Paul. He seems more and more imbalanced, and I don't mean politically. Of course, the Republican Party is in the possession of Trump, so it's completely nuts. The two - mental state and political positions cannot be separated anymore.
'Sen. Rand Paul is well-positioned to get reelected next year, according to a new poll from Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy.'
'Of 625 registered voters across Kentucky, 53% said they approved of the junior senator's job performance, and 47% said they'd vote to give him another six-year term in Congress if Election Day happened right now.'
'Comparatively, 41% of the people polled said they'd vote to replace him with a Democrat and 12% said they'd be undecided if Paul's election was imminent. (It's actually well over a year-and-a-half away.)' Courier Journal, 2/12/21
This poll estimates Rand Paul’s lead at about 7 points, assuming undecideds vote about the same way as voters who have already decided. That’s about half the margin of my estimate, which was based demographics and past voting records records rather than current polling. Encouraging. A fifteen point lead would be insurmountable, but a seven point lead, maybe not.
Booker is a very good sort, but he in the wrong state. This is the craziest time, but I think not that crazy in Kentucky. Rand Paul is not popular and neither is McConnell, but the more I read local press, the more I realize how bad the odds are, worse than the poll indicates. A Black man with Bernie's Sanders strong support...I cannot use the language that would capture it. I'll check it out from time to time, but it looks like Rand will be around.
Me too. I am a tiny donor but convinced every bit counts.
Small donor, big heart.
Like this "Me too" thread! Me, Too!! FairFight, Amy McGrath and Michigan Dems.
Yep. I sent a few small amounts to Stacy Abrams, with Fight Fair, and the GA campaigns, too. Every bit helps, IMO.
Me too — I was donating way too much but desperately trying to avoid another 4 years of idiocy
I donated to both of them as well, and would again.... I feel that we have to keep an eye on that state and be prepared to do whatever it takes to support these fabulous Senators. That’s just the beginning... state by state, we have to keep the pressure on, we cannot let up ... 2022 is in 5 minutes!
What other states are high risk and need support for 2022? What states have REAL chances for Democratic candidate victory?
I’m thinking Mark Kelly in Arizona. He’s up again in 2022 and Arizona is conducting that bat-bleep crazy “audit” which the judge failed to stop.
Good thing to be considering now. Daily Kos has an elections roundup that gives regular news about what’s going on in every state. I signed up for it and it does keep an eye on what’s happening everywhere.
Can you please post the link?
Watch Oregon's redistricting with our gaining a representative. Peter DeFazio's seat is probably in jeopardy. I don't think we need to worry about the senate; the R's nominated a QAnnoner to run against Jeff Merkely.
I live in NYS - must have commented to Jeff Merkely about something so I get his letters - which are great - and informative letting his constituents (and others, I guess) know what is happening. Wish MY reps & Sens did that. The former Rep I had before 2020 was a Democrat and he also did these letters - current one(Repub) was in office before the Dem - she does NOT impress me at all.
https://elections.dailykos.com/app/elections/2020
I donated to Cheri Beasley who is running for the open Senate seat in North Carolina. She was Chief Justice of North Carolina. It would be nice to pick up that Senate seat.
Joan 100%!
Ohio
Do you (or anyone else here from Ohio) know dates to keep in mind, most viable candidates, if primaries are held, etc. Any input is appreciated, so that we can effectively support these candidates.
Yes!
No kidding.
Good idiocy, Liz. What happens to me is I get all set to donate to a cause today, only to figure out I just donated to them 2 days ago!!
ha! yes!!! I just got a receipt from ActBlue and I can't remember who it was for!?!
For the people, of course. All of us this time, every time, for all time!
Well, there you go, Cynthia...TPJ never fails to deliver the right answer
LOL, Cynthia...We must get organized!
We Americans are known for generosity— I’m proud of that.
That’s no fun Lynell!
For those who wrote out and mailed postal cards which helped elect Warnock and Ossoff in Georgia, do you remember the difficulty you may have had (I know I did) in getting those pre-stamped blank postal cards from the Post Office? There will be mailing lists (and phone banks) again when Senator Warnock runs for re-election in 2022, about eighteen months from now. Now might be a good time to drop into a post office to pick them up.
Hopefully Louis DeStroy will be unemployed long before then. That can only help.
Here’s a link for where I get mine if it makes it easier for anyone else https://postcardstovoters.org/postcards/
Hey, Jacob. I wrote letters, stuffing them in envelopes!! So thanks for the heads up. I'm also going to use those blank greeting cards I get throughout the year (the ones with a picture on one side). Not pre-stamped, but...
I am reserving my stimulus money to donate in contested democratic seats in 2022.
Thanks for that. I like the wait and watch approach.
Janice and TPJ you are my heroes. Giving to both Warnock and Ossoff. AWESOME.
I donated to Amy McGrath, against McTurtle. I'd love to see a recount of ballots in KY....
Oh boy. McGrath ain’t done.
A fervent wish...the numbers just don't add up AT ALL. And the way he just laughed at her in the debate...
screams FIX
I donated to these folks, not much, because I'm not all that, and have been deluged with paper and electronic requests/exhortations/demands for more money ever since. Such a waste of resources and time. I tell them, but it doesn't stop. Unsub from one list and they have already sold or shared contact info with half a dozen other orgs.
I'd like to see more unity among the organizations; less energy devoted to admins of each org and more energy freed up to focus on results.
I am disgusted: have stopped donating because every donation produces offspring... I too want my money to be "effective".
And the ghosts removed from Kentucky voter registration lists.
AMEN, Sister!
Something like over 90% since 1980... who spends the most wins, over 90% of the time. I’ll try to find the report.
Thanks Ted. Search if you like, but we believe you.
I wonder how the other 10% cross references with the most gerrymandered? Kinda curious....
Check for incumbency too; a popular sitting official has an advantage to counter superior opponent funding. Still, the best bet for a win is an incumbent with more money than other candidates. (That is rather less than a brilliant insight.)
Of course, popular incumbency is advantageous, but we gave to both Warnock and Ossoff from out of state too because of their compelling messages and their potentials to build our Senate majority. A wonderful underdog with potential to blast through McConnell’s wall of obstruction gets my support every time.
It may be a less than brilliant insight to you, but it’s news to me. Thank you both. I’ve never seen that stated as a fact. 🙏🙏
Likewise. Wish it didn’t have to come down to money so much of the time.
Me too — I’m in donation depression— so much in our amazing country comes down to dialing for dollars.
Donation Fatigue 🤪 The emails and text messages are annoying BUT I guess effective- unfortunately our election cycles lately start 2yrs before election day.
Joe 100%. Donate & sign petitions -- get more chances to sign & donate!
NB, the next cycle always starts on election night. No rest for the weary.
I am still torn between donating the relief money from the government- ($1000, then $600, then $1400) to food pantries, voting rights groups, the various requests from the Democratic party. So far I have been leaning more heavily toward food pantries, but I do not know if that’s the right decision. Do you have any wise advice?
I volunteer at my local food bank and we are flush with money. Lots of local folks have given their checks to the food bank. This may well be true in your area. Check in with them.
And you might want to refrain from action until there is a situation evidencing dire need of support; like when the races tighten up and the strategies are increasingly focused. Just imho.
Thank you for your advice. You may be correct. I like the wait and watch approach.
None of your choices are wrong. HCR has requested that instead of sending her money for what she does, donate to local food banks. I'd add whatever type of "Occupy Medical" in a community you may have ties to.
We tend to donate to Oregon LGBTQ rights groups, the Democratic party or specific candidates, or local community arts groups.
We just sent money to the campaign of the women running against Boebert.
She is an embarrassment to our state of CO.
My family used to own land in Boobert's home town of Rifle. For decades it was an endless source of trouble for us. Coincidence? We think not!
I just saw her post on Instagram and I donated too!
Please consider American Friends Service Committee. They do all kinds of good work.
https://www.afsc.org/
Thank you!
Brennan Center for Justice: https://www.brennancenter.org/ I'm torn, as you are. Not sure if I should give a little to a lot or give a lot to a little!
I really like the Brennan Center too. They have wonderful forums (online) on various issues and I often look for their articles especially on voting issues.
Thanks for asking Meemoo. I second your choice, however, would apportion about 1/4 of the donation to rights groups (the one or two you like most,) What a generous and thoughtful decision about what to do with your money.
I like ACLU and SPLC for bringing lawsuits against the crooks and lawyers for good government to support legal fees for asylum seekers. And trying to do my best to fund journalists. There never seems to be a lack of need for donations. Wondering if there are others that do the legal work of accountability?
Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
1500 K Street NW Suite 900 Washington, DC 20005
Get Directions
Phone 202-662-8600 Toll Free 888-299-5227 Fax 202-783-0857 Privacy
votingrightsinstitute@campaignlegalcenter.org
Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
100 North LaSalle Street, Suite 600,
Chicago, IL, 60602,
United States
312-630-9744
info@clccrul.org
Thank you Fern!
I love these organizations too — I have SPLC’s latest report and it’s hard to read-/these white supremacy groups are spreading.
Wonderful suggestion. Thank you for your compliment, but I couldn’t in good conscience spend the government money on myself. I am fine with a small teachers pension (4th career), minuscule Social Security because of the teachers pension, And no debt thanks to my dad’s lesson to be frugal.
There's that money and manure thing again!
How does that saying go Lynell? I think manure is more dependable.
"Money, pardon the expression, is like manure; it ain't worth a thing unless it's spread around, encouraging young things to grow." So channeling Team Biden's focus on children mostly. But IMO works for politics, too!
i agree! I donated multiple times to both campaigns
For the first time in my life, I'm making recurring contributions to my Georgia Democratic representatives and the DNC. 'Can't think of a better use for 10% of my SS check, and I'm extremely grateful that I don't need that money for food or shelter.
Thanks from all of us. I’m drained financially and it pains me to receive all these requests for money that I’d like to contribute to, but no longer can.
Imagine how much could get done, if officials could work and not focus on fundraising. Hmmmmm. They do our work, we should have to pay them twice not to do the work we hired them to do. America is crazy stupid. Campaign Finance like yesterday please.
“Should not have to pay them twice”
I love that idea!
We got your back in 2020 AND 2022, Dan. I'm just one among many, donating nearly $300 to W and O together, all donations with 100%-650% matches from progressive PACs. In return, I insist that there be dancing at the victory parties.
I usually dance like a drunken three-toed sloth, but for you, TPJ, I'll go to that party and breakdance.
I've been told I dance like an intellectual. It wasn't a compliment.
I saw this on twitter yesterday and thought it was very interesting. About how the ES&S voting machines seem to have played a part in election results. She analyzed Kentucky, S.C. and GA.https://twitter.com/GrassrootsSpeak/status/1387493542935867395?s=20
Thanks for this, Margaret. Too many correlations for coincidence. Multiple investigations urgently needed.
So time to push for an actual Federal investigation into these E&S voting machines! Thats the only way to make inroads on this. And what a turmoil THAT will cause in the Rs little tiny minds!
I did wonder how Lindsey so handily beat Jaime Harrison.
I am not up on the conspiracy act however. Is there more proof?
1,369,137 voted for Lindsey, 1,385,103 voted for the iDJT. Not sure 🤔 if there is any there there.
1.4% less voted down ballot for Lindsey.
Wow, thanks, Margaret. Hoping for a correction to this travesty before the next round of elections.
Same here. Probably the single most important election to support.
Genuine DITTO!!!!😊❣
Well, I say "So far, so good." Unfortunately there is a limit to what can be accomplished through reconciliation in the Senate. It appears the GOP will not support any of Mr. Biden's legislative proposals, that at least 2 Democratic Senators are not on board (yet), and that the weight of new GOP-supported state-level anti-voting legislation and the Trump-packed SCOTUS may be more than any of us can bear. The risk that Joe Biden will become (de facto) the lamest of ducks after the midterm elections is real and represents yet another existential threat to our nation (and world), as if pandemics, climate change and nuclear arms were not enough of a threat already.
I figure that unless our law enforcement and legal system can manage to jail the organizers of the Jan 6th insurrection and follow all the trails of illegality leading to and emanating from the Trump administration (and family), and do it within the next year, our future prospects are not good.
I do not know what should be done to get the Biden program passed and operative enough that the many Americans who did not vote for Biden will feel the benefits and vote for Democratic legislators in 2022. But that is what needs to happen.
It is way too early for celebration.
For me I plan to celebrate when the For the People Act on voting rights is passed. That may well be the tipping point between success and failure of democracy. If it isn't passed my plan is to join the non-violent resistance. If you notice my ID photo, it is a US flag made of safety pins and beads. It is upside down as a symbol of distress. The safety pin is a sign that if I see someone not being treated fairly or being discriminated against I have their back (racism, xenophobia, and misogyny). The bottom two rows of beads I did a couple of variations -- one was pink pussy cat ears; another was all skin colors to represent all of us this time.
Hi Cathy! Hope we see each other this Sat, running with Heather's Herd.
I love that — Heather’s herd— galloping
Sure will!
Cathy and TPJ, I am out of town tomorrow.
We miss you already, Marcy!
TPJ, is Heather's herd still meeting? I haven't heard a thing in months and was wondering.
Yes and the invitation went out on Wednesday. I’ll double check to make sure you are still on the district list.
Distribution list
How does one apply to be considered part of the herd?
I got it.😉
There’s districts? Like the hunger games?
Hopefully NOT like Hunger Games! I watched only the first film and it's revolting. Children forced to murder other children as crowds cheer. Disgraceful.
Thanks a million!
Yes, it is. Can you check your last invite for links to the group. I'll mention to Ellie Kona too.
Will do, Julie!
Cathy, do you have an Etsy site? Because I would love one of your flag/safety pin pieces. I've worn a safety pin on and off (usually when students are around) since that became a trope--there was a push to make them with those little plastic beads so that LGBT rainbows and the pastel rainbow (for trans people) could be added to make it clearer. Here in MO there was worry that the symbol would be misused by haters; that didn't happen but I did receive some nasty remarks for a time, before people forgot what the safety pin represents.
If you send me your email, I will send you instructions on how to make it. Use the email is spirtsa@windstream.net to reach me.
Cathy, I love your safety pin flag and the creativity that went into it! From engineer to artist! Fabulous.
Me, too!
Cathy I am continuing to celebrate, we have stolen the ring of invisibility from Gollum. We accomplished this with Biden’s election and the election of two GA senators Warnock and Ossoff. We can’t guarantee that Gollum is dead as he could still steal the ring back, but just as Hitler was defeated through perseverance so too can we defeat the forces behind TFG’s reign of terror. Those forces of capitulation still support their Fuehrer but I hope we cause them furor when we beat them again in 2022.
If I remember correctly, it took three full length movies and climbing Mount Doom before Gollum grabbed the ring back but then fell into the fire and the ring (and Gollum) were destroyed. It was a close call that the good guys finally won.
Spoiler Alert !!!
No. Not to early to celebrate the return of hope. And the very slightest beginning of the process of moving in the direction of inclusion. No quitting to admire it, agree. But celebrating, absolutely.
I'm sure there is a deep fear of investigating sitting members of Congress and their wealthy, right-wing donors. Unfortunately, that faction also represents one of our most potent dangers.
You have outlined the problem in a "nutshell," touching all of the bases.
What a great recap. It is and maybe always will be impossible to overstate the importance of the Georgia runoffs, and the women organizers who created and nurtured the GOTV campaigns.
Truly an inspiration. So I guess I feel better than last night, when I had little hope for democracy. :)
Georgia boots on the ground, heroic names to remember:
Stacey Abrams and Lauren Groh-Wargo who founded Fair Fight Action:
https://fairfight.com/
Georgia state legislators:
Rep. Bee Nguyen (Vietnamese-American)
Rep. Sam Park (Korean-American, first openly gay man to be elected to the state legislature in Georgia)
Rep. Park Cannon (self-identified queer, arrested on 3/25/2021 for knocking-on-door-while-Black during governor’s closed-door signing ceremony for voter suppression bill SB202)
Rep. Karla Drenner, Renitta Shannon, Keisha Waites, and Matthew Wilson (additional LGBTQ Dem. Representatives)
Rep. Nikema Williams (successor to John Lewis, top Dem. Fundraiser, first Black woman chair of Georgia Democratic Party)
Keisha Lance Bottoms, Mayor of Atlanta
GOTV in Georgia 2020-21 South Asian grassroots organizers:
https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=crmas&ei=UTF-8&p=gotv+georgia#id=0&vid=9c39ddc77573b96681121587c553ef83&action=click
Thank you Ellie. Say their names. We must remember the heroes for justice as well as the victims of injustice. And keep sending money. Warnock is facing another election in 2022. And please help Florida get Rubio out of the Senate in 2022.
Yes yes yes!
Long list to flush. Little Marco, Big Chris Christie, Orange Man Trump..
I certainly admire every single one of these people and pray they kick butt!
Yes indeed, and there were other stories such as the one of the woman bank manager who created an organization and took her lunch breaks to canvass neighborhoods, as well as another young man who did the same, and those who manned the phone and text banks. I’m wondering if there might be a move to organize van-pools or neighborhood car pools to get people to the polls the next election, to help people get out the vote, now that ballot boxes and voting hours/days have been reduced.
You are spot on, Patsy. While we all want HB1/S1 to pass, the reality is that it faces steep obstacles. So until then, the best we can do is work to register new voters, provide rides and to get whatever ID is required in each state. For example, in Florida gun permits are valid ID but other IDs may not qualify.
Yes! And there will be places like GA where we can help in the same way. Are we all part of Heather’s herd?
And Florida just passed it’s voter suppression law. It is just waiting for DeathSantis to sign it.
The Florida voter-suppression law looks to be a violation of Articles 20, 21 and 28 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of which the US is a signatory.
https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
PS, Gary DeathSentence
Excellent!
Thank you for the list of people to watch.
Hi Ellie, would you please re-post the Heather's Herd email and/or URL here? Curious folks are asking today. Roland is one, so maybe reply to a comment of his. Thanks!
Me too!
Cathy too.
American heroine
Heather opens today's Letter marking the end of the first 100 days of the Biden - Harris administration. 'A hundred days is not an entirely useless metric, though, because by that time, a modern president has generally set the tone of the administration.' (Today's Letter) With that in mind, I would like to call our attention to a couple of the most prominent people in the Biden - Harris administration.
Last night, Ron Klain, the President's Chief of Staff, was interviewed on Lawrence O'Donell's, The Last Word (MSNBC). He's been on with Lawrence many times and on other shows as well. It seems natural to call him Ron because he is so affable, calm, clear and easy - a warm and welcoming man. It doesn't end there; Ron Klain was raised in Indianapolis, Indiana and graduated from North Central High School, Harvard University, Georgetown University and Harvard Law School. He was the first member of his family to finish college, graduating summa cum laude from Harvard in 1983. Ron was named associate general counsel and Vice President Al Gore's chief of staff in the Bill Clinton administration, and was Vice President Joe Biden's top aide and the "Ebola czar" under President Barack Obama. Ron attended fine schools and has served in high positions, yet the man is as down to earth as Biden and without a whiff of arrogance
Jen Psaki is familiar to many of us because she is the President's Press Secretary. She previously served in the Obama administration as the White House deputy press secretary (2009); the White House deputy communications director (2009–2011); the spokesperson for the United States Department of State (2013–2015); and the White House communications director (2015–2017). Psaki was a political contributor for CNN from 2017 to 2020.[6]. Born in Stamford, Connecticut, she graduated from Greenwich High School and from the College of William & Mary. (Wikipedia)
I've watched many press secretaries and Jen is the most appealing to me. She is warm, professional and seems to keep a good balance of accommodation and information. Without impatience, she ably signals when enough is enough. I cannot leave Jen Psaki without noting her lovely smile, that wins points as well.
These two outstanding public servants match Joe and Jill's appeal. They are real people without fuss or showiness. They are polite, respectful, communicative, friendly, experienced, devoted to their work and to Joe Biden. Along with him, they set a perfectly welcome tone for the Biden-Harris administration.
From what Ron said to Lawrence last night, the entire Biden-Harris team is composed of people of that caliber. Biden knows people, good and bad, and chooses the good ones well.
Yes! Thank you for this warm assessment Fern! I see I turned off Lawrence too early last night.
Excellent summation!
Because of trump and his minions I became and remain more politically active than I have been since the McGovern campaign. I donated to Ossoff, Warnock, and Kelly even though I do not reside in those states. I usually try not to interfere in another state's political landscape (here in OH we have a few of our own problems think Jim Jordan, Bill Johnson), but the situation was dire enough that I contributed to out of state candidates. The pace at which Biden/Harris have started getting things turned around is truly breath taking and I am happy every day instead of getting up worrying about what new insult emerged over night from the WH.
Does Ohio have elections that we can support in order to get rid Gym Jordan and Bill Johnson?
Ohio will be redistricted now that the census shows we have lost a seat. Also the voters approved a better (not perfect) bi-partisan redistricting plan in 2018, so it may depend on how that goes as well. Fingers crossed.
Thanks. Keep us updated, as I'm happy to support a viable candidate with a donation.
I know someone is running against Jordan, but no one against Bill Johnson that I know of
I heartily agree with your sentiments Pamela. I am pleased at Biden’s current pace.
If you want to know what Raphael Warnock is like, imagine Rev Dr King as a senator.
I do as well. I also am a member of Emily's List.
Thanks so much for this wonderful recounting of what’s been so positive these
last 100 days. It’s so easy to get sucked into all the negativity from the right - so seductive to wallow in the true insanity of it all. Meanwhile, Biden and his team just move steadily forward doing the work of good government. A huge blessing!
Plain speak. Compassion. Common sense. Science. Moral Leadership. How far can we go? How much can we accomplish?
Answer: no limit
Unlimited
This makes me as happy as I was the day I got my second vaccine. I am grateful to have a real public servant at the helm of our country, surrounded by the most diverse cabinet ever. I am grateful for Dr Richardson's letters flushing out the news of the day. And finally, so grateful that, for the first time ever, I worked on and donated to elections in a state on the opposite side of the country from me and, the right people won. 🙏🏼
It wasn’t just Georgia.
In Colorado, Democrat Hickenlooper unseated Republican Gardner.
Without that win, McConnell would still be the majority leader.
Yes, thank God, Hickenlooper won.
Good point, Harry. And I like your suggestion made elsewhere that we donate to Boebert’s opponent. I’ll do it.
John Hickenlooper: funny name, serious public servant.
I knew him well when we were young. A stand-up guy. So glad his Senate bid was successful.
I have friends and family who subscribe to the alternative narrative - the one that, whether they know it or not, is advocating for a whole new confederate conflict that would, if it could, institute a one party system and authoritarianism, bringing to an end our Great Experiment. I used to find these rebellious efforts to be fringy and pathetic. Now…
Heather, thank you for your good efforts in connecting the dots, showing US where we are and how we got here. May they be of some measurable help in winning hearts and minds, and uniting US - or at least enough of US to stand our ground in defending our Constitution.
I see a lot of those people in my daily life. Cops, court staff, my retired friends, ex-newscasters, hairdressers, waitstaff, and most of the tRumper Truck brigade. I have no clue as to how these folks who fancy themselves as "independent free thinkers" realize how close to authoritarian rule they are. I probably don't need to mention this, but they are 80% male, 99% white, and 100% Christian*.
*Allegedly. They don't seem to be following the words of the Christ.
Here too.
Sadly true in Michigan, too.
Yup.
You all are welcome here in MA. Those folks are pretty thin on the ground here.
In fact, come in droves so that MA gets a couple more Reps. It'll be good for the whole country.
🎼He’s simply the best, better than all the rest....👏 and hail Georgia❣️
Earworm engaged! NOOOO!
🤣
and I give thanks to Stacy Abrams for all her tireless work on getting out the VOTE in Georgia . May she won the Nobel Peace Prize .
President Biden seems focused not only on new legislation to help working folks, but he seems to be trying to help citizens realize that they do have efficacy to change how government operates, making a special effort to point out the success of the Georgia elections. We citizens may finally have the president we deserve -- someone who really takes our democratic experiment seriously, and not a cynical mind solely focused on its will to power.
Some Republican cracks to watch…
Republican Accountability Project (Lincoln Project-ish and a good resource to Remember Their Names in upcoming elections):
https://accountability.gop/report-card/
Yesterday [4/28/2021] Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) identified himself as a sheriff and told Biden that he wants to work on law enforcement reform.
https://twitter.com/jimsciutto/status/1387753240989769729?s=21
"As Sheriff, Rep Nehls implemented HVAC and welding programs for non-violent inmates at the county jail," Gribble said. "He had wild success reducing the 2 year re-arrest rate with participating inmates. He’d like to see similar programs available in County jails across the country and is working on legislation that will make that possible.”
https://www.texastribune.org/2021/04/29/tory-nehls-joe-biden/
But don’t get too excited. His website has what you’d expect with neo-conservative comments and a picture of him sidling up to Cruz.
Morning, Ellie!! As always, you complement Dr. R's Letters so well. My thought is to get bipartisan support, Team Biden will have "angels with dirty faces" to deal with. Perhaps Nehls will be a breakthrough for the Team!
Morning, Lynell! You're so kind! Some angels have dirtier faces than others--get out the scrub brush. But I'll give Nehls a Romney point for taking a step in the right direction!
Love that- Romney point. Do you give out Cheney points, too?
Only if specifying Liz Cheney points!
Absolutely. Extremely important. We would not want to confuse anyone.
Since Romney is a charter member of the sometimes-I-vote-liberal-consensus club, Liz should just get a Romney point, too, imho!
Or since Liz is being more vocal, we should rename it to a Liz Cheney point! Or Murkowski or Susan Collins...
L-E-M, you all are funny. You have Massachusetts' permission to give away all the Romneypoints you want. But I really want to see Mittens earn some Ayannapoints!
I am calling Republicans who can work across the aisle (and distance from trump) "Lincolnites."
Democratic Party, the party of Lincoln since 1981.
1965
Yes. That's when I joined hands too. 1981 is Reagan deserting all thins Lincoln except the booze statute in the Oval Office. When only the artifacts remain, the transformation and end clearly has happened.
Thank you for this information
thank you!!