As Napoleon pointed out, "Never interrupt an enemy who is destroying himself." Let Trump and the Republicans continue to screw up the conornavirus relief. They're machinegunning themselves in their feet. Today I had an e-mail from a friend of mine who we broke apart over the election of Trump. It had three words: "You were right." Further e-mailing back and forth, I find that he and his friends are now opposed to Trump over what has happened with the response to the coronavirus. Sadly what opened his eyes was the death of a favorite elderly aunt to it, but once the gate opened, the flood has come through. I suspect this may happen with other people too. I can tell you that six months ago if you'd have asked, I'd have said I would never forgive him for what he did in 2016, but no, I don't think so. he opened his eyes to the facts however that happened, and I am fine with welcoming him back to vote for Biden-Harris.
As for Harris - whoopee! She was my first choice for president. And since it's really unlikely that Joe is going to run again in 2024, I'll still get to vote for her for president. If there's anyone with the backbone to stand up to the fascist scum and actually go after them, someone who wouldn't have a problem with arresting them all for conspiracy to commit treason - which they are all guilty of - it's Kamala.
It has been my observation that people duped by someone become their most virulent enemies once they figure it out. Certainly the former-Trumpers I know are so rabidly against him I have found myself sometimes having to say, "I know he's bad, but he didn't.... [fill in the blank]. They have turned against him with a vengeance.
I have friends and family members who voted for Trump, and, to the best of my knowledge, have not come around to see what an inept, dangerous man he is; they are still defending every one of his insane thoughts, words and deeds. I would give my eye teeth to know they'd had a change of heart and mind. I don't need them to tell me I was right. I simply want them to wake up before they cast their vote so we don't live through another four years of pure hell.
What really shocks me is my advance-degree family members who voted for Trump in 2016 who are even more adamant about his rightousness now and more solidly entrenched in their hatred of any Democrat -- no matter who.
Yes! The situation is similar for me as well! Particularly those who are in the sciences, (But then, a couple of them are actually fervent climate science deniers too which I totally don't get given their specific fields). It's almost as though a chunk of their brain is missing.
I wish thefor same. Unfortunately this person feels that God put him in the WH and believes all the lies! I do have a dear Republican friend whom I questioned about trump and she said she loathed him but liked his policies. When I asked which policies she liked, she paused and answered "I never watch the news". This is a person who always used to have a small TV going in her kitchen. Sad
Thomas M Cleaver, I always enjoy your comments. A former colleague phone banked for Kamala Harris and got a picture with her husband when he visited the phone bank. That said one of the reasons, I try to maintain relationships with Trump supporting friends is the hope I will get the email that saids "You were right". Currently, I have a Trump supporting friend that I am losing patience with. She is a small business owner who thought the "payroll tax" holiday was a good thing. Rather than comment directly in opposition to that assertion. I wrote a separate post reminding people that employees contribute to Social Security and Medicare. She thinks all that money going in to pay those taxes is hers. She commented on that post in the manner I expected she would. I countered that assertion. A number of liked minded Facebook friends also called B$ to her comments. I have to admit it was fun. It is my prayer that someday she will find her way.
“Machine-gunning themselves in the feet” made me laugh. Quite a visual! I’m terribly impressed your friend not only told you you were right, but admitted it to you instead of the usual trumpic hunkering down and refusing to be wrong in the face of FACTS.
I am glad the VP slot is filled. While Biden and Harris are far from my dream ticket, I think that they will run roughshod over Trump and Pence and, with Harris in the wings, she will pursue the malefactors of the Trump regime with all the intensity of the Greek furies. Or so I hope.
Two things bother me, however. First, the response of the Left to the ticket. I consider myself Left of Liberal, somewhere between a Social Democrat and a Democratic Socialist. I was firmly in the Sanders/Warren camp, and thought, last summer, that they were working as a team in the debates. (I was worried that both are kind of old, meaning even older than me, but so is Biden, so let that pass.) They did not make the cut: the people of the Democratic Party had spoken. But now, on the simulated reality that is Twitter, Leftists are going after Biden and Harris as if they were Hitler and Goebbels. "Well it is a contest between a rapist and a transphobe on one side, and another rapist and transphobe on the other: which to choose?!", one comment read.
This bothers me no end. It is all strategy and no tactics. It ignores the reality that politics is a long slog, and that you might need to tactically retreat for a later strategic victory. It is also a confusion between holding abstractly one's principles and actually acting on them to bring about a good result. If both parties are equally bad (they can BOTH be bad without being EQUALLY bad!), and 3rd parties are made into spoilers by our electoral system, then you need to embrace being a revolutionary. Period. Put up or shut up. Or grow up and realize that sometimes you need to compromise to get things done, and this does not mean you aren't idealistic. It only means you like losing. You'll feel real noble as they lock more kids in cages and shoot protesters. How saintly.....
Second: Democrats, especially centrists, are euphoric. I can understand this, but I caution them to tone it down and not think this is a pre-victory party for Liberal Republican Democracy. There is still plenty of time for Trump to rig the election and pull a Lukashenko move like he other day in Belarus. And if he loses he can do a lot of damage between November and January. He has often said he is a big fan of revenge to the 10th power. This will be ugly.
So vote Biden and Harris -- and congratulations to them. Vote early if in person, so as to deny Trump any rhetorical leverage about an early lead. And if you vote by mail, do so early and drop it off NOT in the mail but a drop-off box or directly at your board of elections.
One of the best things about this whole project is seeing how incredibly smart my fellow Americans are. This is SO well put! If you're not a writer for a living, you ought to be. Not kidding.
I've always considered myself a "centre-left" sort, politically. I was not a fan of Bernie, but I was solidly behind Warren. She'd have made a good VP choice and Biden has already shown he will consult her on some issues and he does value her input. While I'm not super enthused about Biden, I think he may be just the transitional kind of figure we need to follow in the wake of the current disaster. He has shown he wants to reach out to progressives and that is what we need. Trying to unite the Democratic party right now is really like herding cats, so we need all hands on deck to make the first crucial step, and get rid of the Orange Menace. A lot of compromise is the order of the day to accomplish step # 1. Progressives are going to be a big voice in the future of the party. I'm sure of that. BUT, if progressives want to initiate change they have to turn out and vote to start the wheels of change. Walk the walk. Partisan intransigence on issues, my-way-or-the-highway, cannot be the order of the day. When I lived in The Netherlands for all those years I was amazed during their elections that there were (several years ago) 15 registered parties. Compromise and parties aligning here and there on various issues was how things had to be done. Slow and cumbersome it was, glacially slow, but things did get done. I do think that Leftists in the party who are obstinately refusing to have anything to do with Biden/Harris, even living-and-breathing-ones on Twitter, you have to question where THEY are getting their information and what is colouring THEIR opinions, and on down the line. Russian/Iranian bots are very very consistent and will be using every trick in the book, through every avenue of social media, media saturation, to discredit Democratic candidates. They're insidious. EVERYBODY has to be on their guard! Yes, we have work to do...
Unfortunately one never gets used to choosing the better of 2 inadequate candidates despite having long and significant experience in the matter throughout Europe. It is time that we started to count spoiled ballots, blank ballots and abstentions. In such a system you oblige a candidate to obtain a "real" majority of the electorate rather just the most votes from people who actually bothered to get involved and answered frankly the question posed. Should nobody pass the bar then you exclude them as "unwanted" by the electorate and find new candidates that people actually want!
The US electoral system has however one or two very powerfull lessons to teach other countries yearning for more controll over their dithering and misdirected politicians. You at least can give your opinion on the performance of Congress/Senate every 2 years and change their direction. Here in France we are a "democracy" that only asks the people's opinion once in every 5 years!
Agreed! While I doubt that different voting systems will be seriously pursued by a Biden administration, I have NO doubt that they will happen in Trump wins a second term. We'll have a Belarus-style voting system then....
Further proof that the American Left has always had its head up its assets. Which is why I said good-bye to the collection of clucks 50 years ago. I think I have far more Bernouts on my FB block list that Trumpers.
True, this. Most of the rancorous tweets come, however, from Twitter folks I know are real flesh-and-blood types. As for Sanders supporters, among whom I count myself, I think it is important to note that Bernie himself has CONSISTENTLY supported the Democratic candidates, and told his followers to do so. He knows politics is a long slog. Most Bernie/Warren folks are on board to vote for Biden and Harris, at least those I know. But the real problem is that the full democratic spectrum cannot be represented by two parties, both of which are beholden to corporate money. The electoral system is totally broken. Hopefully B&H will fix it, but we need to hold their feet to the fire. That is, if we are not all in the streets in DC protesting a stolen election.
ABOUT BIDEN'S CHOICE OF KAMALA HARRIS: What I observed yesterday was the palpable joy, humongous and contagious, among black women and men as a result of this historic, mega equality moment in American history. No. Make that in world history. I cried real tears several times watching all of this unfold. Did anyone else kinda/sorta feel tectonic plates shifting?
It is, IMO, a brilliant choice. Morally and strategically. This from a white woman who fully supported two other candidates early on. (NOTE: Tulsi Gabbard was not one of them.) This team is far more than a nod to blacks in general and black women in particular.
Harris has mad skills. A boatload of relevant experience. She's fearless. She has energy and comparative youth. So, yeah, a brilliant decision, right? Hang on!
So, after I'd kind of risen to the rafters, I trotted my vicarious joy to the internet where I found no small amount of corresponding joy, but also the concerns of those less certain, whose take ran the gamut from damp to soaking wet blankets. Whew! A reality check. Frankly, I wasn't ready for that in the early hours of this Big Thing. No new revelations, but things to consider. Giddy vicarious joy came down a notch.
Then, for reasons still not clear to me, I dared myself to tune in to Fox Scary Fairy Tales. I was curious to see their version of this historic thing. OMG, people. Gird your loins before you venture there. Seriously! I endured several minutes of Tucker Carlson. And then several minutes of Sean Hannity. I've never watched either of them before. You know the expression "slack-jawed amazement"? What a stunning, um, feces-show that was/is. They sound and look so sincere. So certain, even as they distort, spin, lie. Experiential learning re "know your enemies."
I encourage you to brave Fox sometime, for as long as you can bear it. Really! If I can, you can. It's an education in rabbit-hole madness. You will know when it's time to back away from the peep-hole in order to bleach your eyeballs. My Big Happy was validated more by Fox than by MSNBC. I came away from Fox even more confident that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are what our country needs in this moment and beyond--their individual flaws and iffy past decisions notwithstanding.
I believe Harris and Biden can defeat the beast and then begin to plug the holes through which our nation is hemorrhaging its stature, credibility and chunklets of its moral compass. So, yeah. I'm in.
You are so right about Fox News! I have a “friend” on FB who often posts crap from Fox. When I feel up to it I challenge him, always ducking a barrage of incoming from his like minded followers. Yesterday he posted some crazy screen shot from Fox showing that Biden was encouraging Sharia law (or something similar). I told him it was nonsense and he knew it. His response? Said Tucker Carlson said it, not him and that I should watch Fox instead of CNN. Unbelievable.
The weirdest thing, to me, about the false claims about <whoever> wanting to impose Sharia law, is not that they are false. It's that the speakers generally themselves want to impose religious law on this country. They just have a different branch of religion in mind.
Heather, do you suppose the BIA members are all receiving twenty dollar bills for forcing the opening of Native American schools? I say that because Trump's favorite president is Andrew Jackson. When he ran for president in the 1840's, one of his major campaign policies was to get rid of native Americans. Sure enough, once elected, he pushed for it, and Congress passed "The Indian Removal Act."
I too am pleased about Biden choosing Kamala Harris. I normally tended towards being Moderate, but after seeing Elizabeth Warren’s warnings and ideas, I felt a more Progressive approach (I see Progressivism as more a decidedly more people-oriented / better quality of life version of Democrat) was necessary. I am hoping both Biden and Harris feel that way too and stray more towards helping the Lower & Middle income people than the wealthy like Conservatives. I think even now, their quality of life is just fine, even if they had sell off one or two of their multiple homes.
Someone’s comment about the Western portion of America’s business growth being better because of less government regulations caught me. To my mind, I see regulation of business as protecting workers & environment (no dumping/polluting air, water, land)- a necessary thing. Can’t businesses do the right thing and succeed? Must we all suffer for them to do well? This is something very close to my heart as I was permanently injured at work and if my employer had its way, I’d be out on my ear even though I can still do my job.
Anyway, I feel positive for the first time in a while and now I am going do my best to minimize my time on social media before the election.
I think your question on can businesses do the right thing and succeed gets right to the core of our political divide. Republicans promise less regulation, low taxes, and less government interference. So businesses are confident to invest more and expand, jobs are created and the economy picks up steam. Democrats favor regulation to protect workers, the environment, etc., so businesses tend to pull back when they are in charge. To me the question comes down to how much destruction do you want to let businesses get away with in return for more jobs?
Trump has blasted down taxes and deregulated everything in sight. Where, even before the coronavirus hit, are all the jobs that would have been created if that theory were correct? Nowhere - the economy was slowing down from the growth that had happened under the previous Democratic president, who had increased not only government regulation and social support, but also jobs and the stock market.
With respect, I disagree. The red states already sacrifice people and environment for the sake of business. They are far less prosperous than the blue states, who engage in more support of people and environment and get better results economically.
The trouble is, they are making the rest of us suffer as well. 45 only cares about red states, but all of us suffer from his miserable excuse for a presidency.
The unemployment numbers were weird. They counted everyone, even if they were badly underemployed. We need to have a more reliable counting system here.
Also, do they count the people who have given up looking for a job, because there aren't any available? And when there are any jobs, they're unsafe, and probably don't pay even what your baby-sitter charges!
BTW, When, if ever have the businesses used the largess ( all going into their pockets) to invest and expand? The only reason to expand, is Demand!
I think Lyndon Johnson's feelings might be hurt. Democratic candidate for Vice President in 1960 and President in 1964. And very much from Texas! A flawed President, who screwed up on Vietnam, but he got some other things (Civil Rights, knowing when to quit) quite right.
I'm still smiling about Biden-Harris. I liked Kamala a lot in the Primaries and think she will make an excellent VP candidate and Vice President. I'll also quote something from her book to help everyone out as we get to know her: "It's pronounced 'Comma-la.' Like the punctuation."
Yeah, you nailed this. I realized it about five minutes after I posted! Was focused on making sure I didn't miss a VP candidate so missed the obvious. Totally embarrassed when I figured it out!
If you read Doris Kearns Goodwin's book on LBJ for whom she worked at one point, one finds that he did a little....even a lot... more than that and he knew how to "work" congress to get what he wanted done. Vietnam and other international questions were way over his horizon that's for sure and a generation paid very dearly for it.
Haven't read her LBJ bio, but I have read "On Leadership" where he is one of her subjects. He was a much more interesting and complicated man than I remembered. But then I was 11 when he left office, so my memories have a rather shallow perspective.
Correct. Her mom is from the same hood same city where I grew up. It is a traditional, not an uncommon name. A bit dated, very popular in the early 1900s through the 1960s. Every south Indian family will have at least a couple of people, older aunts, by that name.
Yesterday was the BEST day in a long time for me...while I haven't put my "moving to Costa Rica" file away....this morning on my walk I actually could envision our future in my own country for the first time in a long time. She is simply everything I could want in a VP candidate...even her mistakes serve her...I want to be able to say "Madame Vice President" so, so much. Now, we all must work to make sure the votes for Biden-Harris are too great for any cheating to matter.
First, what relief! With some mix of despair, fatigue, but then Biden's announcement of Harris followed by Heather's video talk conclusion of 3 points of hope, I've been weepy all evening.
If you need another bit of uplift, listen to the last 5 minutes of Heather's video talk today. She listed 3 things about which she is hopeful in today's political milieu with the preface, "The flip side of chaos is always opportunity." Good signs:
1. "...that Russian psy-ops...would not be trying to cause this much trouble if they thought Trump had sewn up this election." "Trump would not be trying to rig the Census, and rig the vote, and kill the United States Postal Service if he thought he were going to win."
2. "The degree to which Americans are involved now in a way that they have not been in my lifetime." "Now look at all you people here, caring about our country!"
3. "I believe in human self-determination." "...we fought and won a civil war to determine it, and we fought and won a war against fascism...to establish it, and I believe we will prevail again." "I also see people waking up and realizing that democracy is not a spectator sport...and caring once again about what America stands for. And that is both the concept of human self-determination and the concept of democracy that enables us to put human self-determination into a form under which we can all live."
I did wonder about Heather's thought that in selecting a candidate from California: "That the Democrats are cracking into that Republican stronghold with a national candidate suggests they are marking a sea change in American Politics." I get that Dixiecrats expanded into the West, extractive businesses grew free of government regulation, Nixon, Reagan...but how did we get the Left Coast as the blue bookend of the country?
As to Kamala Harris, I support her and understand fundraising, but we have had our eyes opened to the real threat of oligarchs. What do we have to look out for with benevolent oligarchs and Big Tech?
Ellie Kona, I hope you don't mind, but I shared your summary of HCR's 3 points of hope along with HCR's video chat with one of my Facebook groups. That list made my day yesterday too. I totally related to your weepiness about it. I also loved "The flip side of chaos is always opportunity" comment. One of my favorite definitions of "Opportunity" is "when luck meets preparation". I can think of three or four times in my memory where luck met preparation for Democrats unfortunately $hit happened. I am very optimistic that Democrats will have a good foothold this time. Lastly, thank you for sharing the tweet from Teddy Schleifer. It was an interesting read.
Please, go for it! The “3 points of hope” were Heather’s words, and the mission is to spread the word, “take up oxygen,” as she says, right?
That’s so funny about “opportunity.” When someone says “it was luck,” my favorite response is what I understood to be a Chinese proverb, that “Luck is when skill meets opportunity!” If next year we are able to look back and say we were lucky to have escaped falling off the precipice, it will largely be due to our having taken the opportunity to prepare ourselves, to open our eyes to understand what was happening and act before it was too late, with big thanks to Heather’s insightful Letters and video talks.
I don't remember where I heard opportunity is when luck meets preparation. But I have heard "Luck is when preparation meets opportunity". I hope if we are lucky enough to get Joe Biden in the White House.
Army feed, supplies and logistical support contracts and payments certainly maintained many towns and businesses. How do you ensure that the army brings the honey pot to the local economy...you make up some horror stories about, or forment trouble with, local Indian Tribes. Nothing like a slaughter or two to drum up busines...and free up even more land.
Yes, and the massive military contracts after WWII through now have poured cash into the West. Ranchers graze their cattle on federal land for small fees. There is lots and lots of government support for the western states. The whole riff about totally independent westerners reminds me of the contrast between Mitch McConnell's rants about bailing out blue states, vs the reality that many blue states have been subsidizing red ones including Kentucky for years if you look at federal dollars in and federal dollars out.
i came across this when reading Ivan Doigs novels about early scots immigrants starting and surviving in Montana raising sheep by grazing them on federal land at the end 19th C
But California, Oregon, and Washington are already predominantly Democratic blue, so it seemed to me that the sea change from Republican already happened.
My bank, Charles Schwab, has an announcement on their site (after login) stating that the USPS has announced they will no longer deliver mail to 111 countries (a concern for those expecting statements by mail). You have to admit, when it comes to disenfranchising American voters, the Trump administration leaves nothing to chance. There are 9 million expat Americans overseas.
“International Mail Service Suspensions Updated: August 7, 2020
The Postal Service™ is temporarily suspending international mail acceptance for certain destinations due to service impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“These service disruptions affect Priority Mail Express International® (PMEI), Priority Mail International® (PMI), First-Class Mail International® (FCMI), First-Class Package International Service® (FCPIS®), International Priority Airmail® (IPA®), International Surface Air Lift® (ISAL®), and M-Bag® items.
Unless otherwise noted, service suspensions to a particular country do not affect delivery of military and diplomatic mail.”
Countries include many in Africa, Caribbean, Bahamas, Bermuda, Central America (Panama, Costa Rica!), South America, Middle East, South Pacific, Asia...
Ouch. First the Trump donor Postmaster General cuts service within the country in half, then doubles the charge for ballots, then cuts all civilian international mail. Looks like the plan is to shut down the USPS entirely, in stages to make it less obvious. Or to leave a tiny shred in place, while private carriers take over all mail delivery.
I was very happy that news of Kamala Harris's selection broke during yesterday's history chat. Your comments about Senator Harris made me feel quite optimistic about the selection. I also really appreciate your analysis about the selection in this letter. Now let the games begin!
Trump’s advisors need to tell him never to speak extemporaneously. He is unable to form a coherent thought and convert it into a meaningful sentence. I have seen very young children form more intelligent and coherent thoughts on serious and complex issues than Trump. He is functionally illiterate as well as inarticulate. How is it possible he was elected POTUS?
Right, Stuart, but Bill Barr, Steven Mnuchin, Tom DeJoy, Betsy DeVos, Mitch McConnell, et al have no compunction about stirring the pot to create more uproar and dismantle the institutions and agencies that are supposed to work for us/protect us all.
With the Harris announcement I felt some hope for the first time. I'm sure the repubs are worried, and they should be. She is whip smart, and can make most anyone who comes up against her into mincemeat. Yes, she will be called all the sexist names, "too aggressive" or "too whatever", but that's what we need.....someone to enter the fight with both fists raised. And as for tRump's continued blithering, he's in a place he's never experienced before with no way out. He's too dumb to realize if he just addressed the virus with sanity, his numbers might reflect that. Fear of being outed as the pathetic person he is has paralyzed him. May he go down to "Biden/Harris!"
I read trump’s comments that were included in the documentation above: nonsense! He doesn’t have a coherent idea in the exchange. His words are stream of consciousness babblings from a very sick individual. Pathetic that we still have months of pain to endure!
We have a politician who answers like that here in France....and when questioned on the absence of relevance of her answers to any question she looks into the camera and says "Well it's all interrelated!"
Yesterday I felt the most hopeful of the last 3.75 years. But I must restrain myself. Also I’ve spent lots of time in Wisconsin, a beautiful place—is it the cold and snowy winters that produce Joe McCarthys and Ron Johnsons?
I just watched the Biden-Harris first joint campaign event - 8/12 Support Biden-Harris 2020. Build it back better! Inspiring! www.joebiden.com
Freedom is not free. It is a continual struggle to gain and to hold on to human rights and the equality of opportunity here in America.
Now that I understand through watching your lectures and reading that the “American Paradox,” is the idea that our history has been shaped by the fact that in America, equality for some has always depended on inequality for others, through your book, How the South Won the Civil War: Oligarchy, Democracy, and the Continuing Fight for the Soul of America and watching your videos as a family, the only way to make America Trump-proof in the future is to teach the unvarnished history of America to students--the road to keeping politics oligarch proof starts with teaching truthful history/civics courses, pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, the ERA, repeal Citizens United, pass the House's legislation to end the U.S. Postal Service's mandatory payment toward the health benefits for future retirees—an idiotic prefunding mandate in the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (a Republican plow to kill the USPS).
Is there an LGBTQIA rights act gathering dust on McConnell's desk from the House? Yes, there is. Pass it. “The Equality Act is a bill in the United States Congress, that, if passed, would amend the Civil Rights Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, public education, federal funding, credit, and the jury system.[1] While the Supreme Court's June 2020 ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia said that the Civil Rights Act protects sexual orientation and gender identity in matters of employment, the other areas remain undefined.
As of 2020, 29 states have not outlawed anti-LGBT discrimination, with members of the LGBT community being given very little protection at a national level[2][3] and two-thirds of LGBT Americans in the United States reporting facing or having experienced discrimination in their personal lives. The Equality Act seeks to remedy this lack of protection, applying existing state anti-LGBT discrimination laws nationwide.[1] The Equality Act passed the United States House of Representatives on May 17, 2019, in a bipartisan 236-173 vote.[4][5] The United States Senate received the bill for consideration on May 20, 2019, where the bill remains.[6] too.” - Wiki. It's a start.
I just watched the Biden-Harris first joint campaign event - 8/12 Support Biden-Harris 2020. Build it back better!
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris believe in science and facts. Joe and Kamala socially distanced until they donned their face masks. Their spouses joined them on stage wearing face masks. The couples wore face masks at the closing of their first joint campaign modeling the responsible behavior all Americans should follow during this pandemic. Biden-Harris are trustworthy leaders that care about Americans…it is the simplest of things that leaders do that show Americans and the world the true content of their character. Biden-Harris 2020.
Go, Joe! It is so invigorating and hopeful to listen to a leader that respects the American people and speaks about a positive future and how to attain that positive future by providing the opportunity of equality for all Americans, not just the wealthiest, including an economic opportunity for all. And he is called out the fascists—thank you! Silence is complicity. With the opportunity of equality for all, the possibilities for life-improving achievements are possible and the possibilities are endless.
Go, Kamala! Kamala’s mother said, “Do not sit around and complain about a problem, doing something!”
I love it! The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act! Thank you. All Americans are experiencing voter suppression because of the criminal in the White House. www.joebiden.com
As Napoleon pointed out, "Never interrupt an enemy who is destroying himself." Let Trump and the Republicans continue to screw up the conornavirus relief. They're machinegunning themselves in their feet. Today I had an e-mail from a friend of mine who we broke apart over the election of Trump. It had three words: "You were right." Further e-mailing back and forth, I find that he and his friends are now opposed to Trump over what has happened with the response to the coronavirus. Sadly what opened his eyes was the death of a favorite elderly aunt to it, but once the gate opened, the flood has come through. I suspect this may happen with other people too. I can tell you that six months ago if you'd have asked, I'd have said I would never forgive him for what he did in 2016, but no, I don't think so. he opened his eyes to the facts however that happened, and I am fine with welcoming him back to vote for Biden-Harris.
As for Harris - whoopee! She was my first choice for president. And since it's really unlikely that Joe is going to run again in 2024, I'll still get to vote for her for president. If there's anyone with the backbone to stand up to the fascist scum and actually go after them, someone who wouldn't have a problem with arresting them all for conspiracy to commit treason - which they are all guilty of - it's Kamala.
It has been my observation that people duped by someone become their most virulent enemies once they figure it out. Certainly the former-Trumpers I know are so rabidly against him I have found myself sometimes having to say, "I know he's bad, but he didn't.... [fill in the blank]. They have turned against him with a vengeance.
I have friends and family members who voted for Trump, and, to the best of my knowledge, have not come around to see what an inept, dangerous man he is; they are still defending every one of his insane thoughts, words and deeds. I would give my eye teeth to know they'd had a change of heart and mind. I don't need them to tell me I was right. I simply want them to wake up before they cast their vote so we don't live through another four years of pure hell.
What really shocks me is my advance-degree family members who voted for Trump in 2016 who are even more adamant about his rightousness now and more solidly entrenched in their hatred of any Democrat -- no matter who.
Yes! The situation is similar for me as well! Particularly those who are in the sciences, (But then, a couple of them are actually fervent climate science deniers too which I totally don't get given their specific fields). It's almost as though a chunk of their brain is missing.
There are none so blind as those who will not see. As they say.
Go figure, right?
I wish thefor same. Unfortunately this person feels that God put him in the WH and believes all the lies! I do have a dear Republican friend whom I questioned about trump and she said she loathed him but liked his policies. When I asked which policies she liked, she paused and answered "I never watch the news". This is a person who always used to have a small TV going in her kitchen. Sad
Yeah. Many of my Trump supporting neighbors now say they don't watch the news because it's all so horrible. But they still support him.
Thomas M Cleaver, I always enjoy your comments. A former colleague phone banked for Kamala Harris and got a picture with her husband when he visited the phone bank. That said one of the reasons, I try to maintain relationships with Trump supporting friends is the hope I will get the email that saids "You were right". Currently, I have a Trump supporting friend that I am losing patience with. She is a small business owner who thought the "payroll tax" holiday was a good thing. Rather than comment directly in opposition to that assertion. I wrote a separate post reminding people that employees contribute to Social Security and Medicare. She thinks all that money going in to pay those taxes is hers. She commented on that post in the manner I expected she would. I countered that assertion. A number of liked minded Facebook friends also called B$ to her comments. I have to admit it was fun. It is my prayer that someday she will find her way.
“Machine-gunning themselves in the feet” made me laugh. Quite a visual! I’m terribly impressed your friend not only told you you were right, but admitted it to you instead of the usual trumpic hunkering down and refusing to be wrong in the face of FACTS.
For Pervese Narscisists it is the fault of the other.....as he is not "crazy", they are! And he const
antly needs to prove it to maintain a semblance of his "normality" in his own head.
I am glad the VP slot is filled. While Biden and Harris are far from my dream ticket, I think that they will run roughshod over Trump and Pence and, with Harris in the wings, she will pursue the malefactors of the Trump regime with all the intensity of the Greek furies. Or so I hope.
Two things bother me, however. First, the response of the Left to the ticket. I consider myself Left of Liberal, somewhere between a Social Democrat and a Democratic Socialist. I was firmly in the Sanders/Warren camp, and thought, last summer, that they were working as a team in the debates. (I was worried that both are kind of old, meaning even older than me, but so is Biden, so let that pass.) They did not make the cut: the people of the Democratic Party had spoken. But now, on the simulated reality that is Twitter, Leftists are going after Biden and Harris as if they were Hitler and Goebbels. "Well it is a contest between a rapist and a transphobe on one side, and another rapist and transphobe on the other: which to choose?!", one comment read.
This bothers me no end. It is all strategy and no tactics. It ignores the reality that politics is a long slog, and that you might need to tactically retreat for a later strategic victory. It is also a confusion between holding abstractly one's principles and actually acting on them to bring about a good result. If both parties are equally bad (they can BOTH be bad without being EQUALLY bad!), and 3rd parties are made into spoilers by our electoral system, then you need to embrace being a revolutionary. Period. Put up or shut up. Or grow up and realize that sometimes you need to compromise to get things done, and this does not mean you aren't idealistic. It only means you like losing. You'll feel real noble as they lock more kids in cages and shoot protesters. How saintly.....
Second: Democrats, especially centrists, are euphoric. I can understand this, but I caution them to tone it down and not think this is a pre-victory party for Liberal Republican Democracy. There is still plenty of time for Trump to rig the election and pull a Lukashenko move like he other day in Belarus. And if he loses he can do a lot of damage between November and January. He has often said he is a big fan of revenge to the 10th power. This will be ugly.
So vote Biden and Harris -- and congratulations to them. Vote early if in person, so as to deny Trump any rhetorical leverage about an early lead. And if you vote by mail, do so early and drop it off NOT in the mail but a drop-off box or directly at your board of elections.
Then the work really starts.....
One of the best things about this whole project is seeing how incredibly smart my fellow Americans are. This is SO well put! If you're not a writer for a living, you ought to be. Not kidding.
For a living, no (IT nerd). For an avocation. yes! https://medium.com/@lnelson10051954
And thank you so much! Your newsletter and this substack makes my day. It makes the news far more endurable.....
I've always considered myself a "centre-left" sort, politically. I was not a fan of Bernie, but I was solidly behind Warren. She'd have made a good VP choice and Biden has already shown he will consult her on some issues and he does value her input. While I'm not super enthused about Biden, I think he may be just the transitional kind of figure we need to follow in the wake of the current disaster. He has shown he wants to reach out to progressives and that is what we need. Trying to unite the Democratic party right now is really like herding cats, so we need all hands on deck to make the first crucial step, and get rid of the Orange Menace. A lot of compromise is the order of the day to accomplish step # 1. Progressives are going to be a big voice in the future of the party. I'm sure of that. BUT, if progressives want to initiate change they have to turn out and vote to start the wheels of change. Walk the walk. Partisan intransigence on issues, my-way-or-the-highway, cannot be the order of the day. When I lived in The Netherlands for all those years I was amazed during their elections that there were (several years ago) 15 registered parties. Compromise and parties aligning here and there on various issues was how things had to be done. Slow and cumbersome it was, glacially slow, but things did get done. I do think that Leftists in the party who are obstinately refusing to have anything to do with Biden/Harris, even living-and-breathing-ones on Twitter, you have to question where THEY are getting their information and what is colouring THEIR opinions, and on down the line. Russian/Iranian bots are very very consistent and will be using every trick in the book, through every avenue of social media, media saturation, to discredit Democratic candidates. They're insidious. EVERYBODY has to be on their guard! Yes, we have work to do...
Unfortunately one never gets used to choosing the better of 2 inadequate candidates despite having long and significant experience in the matter throughout Europe. It is time that we started to count spoiled ballots, blank ballots and abstentions. In such a system you oblige a candidate to obtain a "real" majority of the electorate rather just the most votes from people who actually bothered to get involved and answered frankly the question posed. Should nobody pass the bar then you exclude them as "unwanted" by the electorate and find new candidates that people actually want!
The US electoral system has however one or two very powerfull lessons to teach other countries yearning for more controll over their dithering and misdirected politicians. You at least can give your opinion on the performance of Congress/Senate every 2 years and change their direction. Here in France we are a "democracy" that only asks the people's opinion once in every 5 years!
Ranked choice voting would solve that problem. It's starting to get some traction...
Agreed! While I doubt that different voting systems will be seriously pursued by a Biden administration, I have NO doubt that they will happen in Trump wins a second term. We'll have a Belarus-style voting system then....
No, it won't. Any state can choose to use it. https://www.fairvote.org/rcv#constitutionality
Further proof that the American Left has always had its head up its assets. Which is why I said good-bye to the collection of clucks 50 years ago. I think I have far more Bernouts on my FB block list that Trumpers.
I agree with you 100% on all points.
True, this. Most of the rancorous tweets come, however, from Twitter folks I know are real flesh-and-blood types. As for Sanders supporters, among whom I count myself, I think it is important to note that Bernie himself has CONSISTENTLY supported the Democratic candidates, and told his followers to do so. He knows politics is a long slog. Most Bernie/Warren folks are on board to vote for Biden and Harris, at least those I know. But the real problem is that the full democratic spectrum cannot be represented by two parties, both of which are beholden to corporate money. The electoral system is totally broken. Hopefully B&H will fix it, but we need to hold their feet to the fire. That is, if we are not all in the streets in DC protesting a stolen election.
yeah, the Russians are going to town on this one.
On the Corona relief bill, I find it ironic that the refusal of Republicans to shore up cities and states is in effect Defunding the Police.
Excellent point.
ABOUT BIDEN'S CHOICE OF KAMALA HARRIS: What I observed yesterday was the palpable joy, humongous and contagious, among black women and men as a result of this historic, mega equality moment in American history. No. Make that in world history. I cried real tears several times watching all of this unfold. Did anyone else kinda/sorta feel tectonic plates shifting?
It is, IMO, a brilliant choice. Morally and strategically. This from a white woman who fully supported two other candidates early on. (NOTE: Tulsi Gabbard was not one of them.) This team is far more than a nod to blacks in general and black women in particular.
Harris has mad skills. A boatload of relevant experience. She's fearless. She has energy and comparative youth. So, yeah, a brilliant decision, right? Hang on!
So, after I'd kind of risen to the rafters, I trotted my vicarious joy to the internet where I found no small amount of corresponding joy, but also the concerns of those less certain, whose take ran the gamut from damp to soaking wet blankets. Whew! A reality check. Frankly, I wasn't ready for that in the early hours of this Big Thing. No new revelations, but things to consider. Giddy vicarious joy came down a notch.
Then, for reasons still not clear to me, I dared myself to tune in to Fox Scary Fairy Tales. I was curious to see their version of this historic thing. OMG, people. Gird your loins before you venture there. Seriously! I endured several minutes of Tucker Carlson. And then several minutes of Sean Hannity. I've never watched either of them before. You know the expression "slack-jawed amazement"? What a stunning, um, feces-show that was/is. They sound and look so sincere. So certain, even as they distort, spin, lie. Experiential learning re "know your enemies."
I encourage you to brave Fox sometime, for as long as you can bear it. Really! If I can, you can. It's an education in rabbit-hole madness. You will know when it's time to back away from the peep-hole in order to bleach your eyeballs. My Big Happy was validated more by Fox than by MSNBC. I came away from Fox even more confident that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are what our country needs in this moment and beyond--their individual flaws and iffy past decisions notwithstanding.
I believe Harris and Biden can defeat the beast and then begin to plug the holes through which our nation is hemorrhaging its stature, credibility and chunklets of its moral compass. So, yeah. I'm in.
You are so right about Fox News! I have a “friend” on FB who often posts crap from Fox. When I feel up to it I challenge him, always ducking a barrage of incoming from his like minded followers. Yesterday he posted some crazy screen shot from Fox showing that Biden was encouraging Sharia law (or something similar). I told him it was nonsense and he knew it. His response? Said Tucker Carlson said it, not him and that I should watch Fox instead of CNN. Unbelievable.
The weirdest thing, to me, about the false claims about <whoever> wanting to impose Sharia law, is not that they are false. It's that the speakers generally themselves want to impose religious law on this country. They just have a different branch of religion in mind.
Heather, do you suppose the BIA members are all receiving twenty dollar bills for forcing the opening of Native American schools? I say that because Trump's favorite president is Andrew Jackson. When he ran for president in the 1840's, one of his major campaign policies was to get rid of native Americans. Sure enough, once elected, he pushed for it, and Congress passed "The Indian Removal Act."
ha ha . thats some historic writing
I too am pleased about Biden choosing Kamala Harris. I normally tended towards being Moderate, but after seeing Elizabeth Warren’s warnings and ideas, I felt a more Progressive approach (I see Progressivism as more a decidedly more people-oriented / better quality of life version of Democrat) was necessary. I am hoping both Biden and Harris feel that way too and stray more towards helping the Lower & Middle income people than the wealthy like Conservatives. I think even now, their quality of life is just fine, even if they had sell off one or two of their multiple homes.
Someone’s comment about the Western portion of America’s business growth being better because of less government regulations caught me. To my mind, I see regulation of business as protecting workers & environment (no dumping/polluting air, water, land)- a necessary thing. Can’t businesses do the right thing and succeed? Must we all suffer for them to do well? This is something very close to my heart as I was permanently injured at work and if my employer had its way, I’d be out on my ear even though I can still do my job.
Anyway, I feel positive for the first time in a while and now I am going do my best to minimize my time on social media before the election.
I think your question on can businesses do the right thing and succeed gets right to the core of our political divide. Republicans promise less regulation, low taxes, and less government interference. So businesses are confident to invest more and expand, jobs are created and the economy picks up steam. Democrats favor regulation to protect workers, the environment, etc., so businesses tend to pull back when they are in charge. To me the question comes down to how much destruction do you want to let businesses get away with in return for more jobs?
Trump has blasted down taxes and deregulated everything in sight. Where, even before the coronavirus hit, are all the jobs that would have been created if that theory were correct? Nowhere - the economy was slowing down from the growth that had happened under the previous Democratic president, who had increased not only government regulation and social support, but also jobs and the stock market.
So like with coronavirus but worse, we have to sacrifice people and environment for companies and employment to grow😢
I nominate the red states people and environment.
With respect, I disagree. The red states already sacrifice people and environment for the sake of business. They are far less prosperous than the blue states, who engage in more support of people and environment and get better results economically.
Equally respectfully, I must reassert my statement. He who voteth Red, must suffer in our stead.
The trouble is, they are making the rest of us suffer as well. 45 only cares about red states, but all of us suffer from his miserable excuse for a presidency.
The headlines were record high stock market and record low unemployment.
The unemployment numbers were weird. They counted everyone, even if they were badly underemployed. We need to have a more reliable counting system here.
Also, do they count the people who have given up looking for a job, because there aren't any available? And when there are any jobs, they're unsafe, and probably don't pay even what your baby-sitter charges!
BTW, When, if ever have the businesses used the largess ( all going into their pockets) to invest and expand? The only reason to expand, is Demand!
I think Lyndon Johnson's feelings might be hurt. Democratic candidate for Vice President in 1960 and President in 1964. And very much from Texas! A flawed President, who screwed up on Vietnam, but he got some other things (Civil Rights, knowing when to quit) quite right.
I'm still smiling about Biden-Harris. I liked Kamala a lot in the Primaries and think she will make an excellent VP candidate and Vice President. I'll also quote something from her book to help everyone out as we get to know her: "It's pronounced 'Comma-la.' Like the punctuation."
Yeah, you nailed this. I realized it about five minutes after I posted! Was focused on making sure I didn't miss a VP candidate so missed the obvious. Totally embarrassed when I figured it out!
I suspect I had more sleep than you did, which makes it easier to notice little things!
If you read Doris Kearns Goodwin's book on LBJ for whom she worked at one point, one finds that he did a little....even a lot... more than that and he knew how to "work" congress to get what he wanted done. Vietnam and other international questions were way over his horizon that's for sure and a generation paid very dearly for it.
Haven't read her LBJ bio, but I have read "On Leadership" where he is one of her subjects. He was a much more interesting and complicated man than I remembered. But then I was 11 when he left office, so my memories have a rather shallow perspective.
That was my reaction too.
If you want to understand LBJ, Kearns-Goodwin is not your best source. Read the Robert Caro trilogy.
Many thanks! Will do.
Correct. Her mom is from the same hood same city where I grew up. It is a traditional, not an uncommon name. A bit dated, very popular in the early 1900s through the 1960s. Every south Indian family will have at least a couple of people, older aunts, by that name.
Yesterday was the BEST day in a long time for me...while I haven't put my "moving to Costa Rica" file away....this morning on my walk I actually could envision our future in my own country for the first time in a long time. She is simply everything I could want in a VP candidate...even her mistakes serve her...I want to be able to say "Madame Vice President" so, so much. Now, we all must work to make sure the votes for Biden-Harris are too great for any cheating to matter.
Costa Rica's not going to let Americans in anymore.
First, what relief! With some mix of despair, fatigue, but then Biden's announcement of Harris followed by Heather's video talk conclusion of 3 points of hope, I've been weepy all evening.
If you need another bit of uplift, listen to the last 5 minutes of Heather's video talk today. She listed 3 things about which she is hopeful in today's political milieu with the preface, "The flip side of chaos is always opportunity." Good signs:
1. "...that Russian psy-ops...would not be trying to cause this much trouble if they thought Trump had sewn up this election." "Trump would not be trying to rig the Census, and rig the vote, and kill the United States Postal Service if he thought he were going to win."
2. "The degree to which Americans are involved now in a way that they have not been in my lifetime." "Now look at all you people here, caring about our country!"
3. "I believe in human self-determination." "...we fought and won a civil war to determine it, and we fought and won a war against fascism...to establish it, and I believe we will prevail again." "I also see people waking up and realizing that democracy is not a spectator sport...and caring once again about what America stands for. And that is both the concept of human self-determination and the concept of democracy that enables us to put human self-determination into a form under which we can all live."
I did wonder about Heather's thought that in selecting a candidate from California: "That the Democrats are cracking into that Republican stronghold with a national candidate suggests they are marking a sea change in American Politics." I get that Dixiecrats expanded into the West, extractive businesses grew free of government regulation, Nixon, Reagan...but how did we get the Left Coast as the blue bookend of the country?
As to Kamala Harris, I support her and understand fundraising, but we have had our eyes opened to the real threat of oligarchs. What do we have to look out for with benevolent oligarchs and Big Tech?
https://twitter.com/teddyschleifer/status/1293349907487526914?s=20
Ellie Kona, I hope you don't mind, but I shared your summary of HCR's 3 points of hope along with HCR's video chat with one of my Facebook groups. That list made my day yesterday too. I totally related to your weepiness about it. I also loved "The flip side of chaos is always opportunity" comment. One of my favorite definitions of "Opportunity" is "when luck meets preparation". I can think of three or four times in my memory where luck met preparation for Democrats unfortunately $hit happened. I am very optimistic that Democrats will have a good foothold this time. Lastly, thank you for sharing the tweet from Teddy Schleifer. It was an interesting read.
Please, go for it! The “3 points of hope” were Heather’s words, and the mission is to spread the word, “take up oxygen,” as she says, right?
That’s so funny about “opportunity.” When someone says “it was luck,” my favorite response is what I understood to be a Chinese proverb, that “Luck is when skill meets opportunity!” If next year we are able to look back and say we were lucky to have escaped falling off the precipice, it will largely be due to our having taken the opportunity to prepare ourselves, to open our eyes to understand what was happening and act before it was too late, with big thanks to Heather’s insightful Letters and video talks.
I don't remember where I heard opportunity is when luck meets preparation. But I have heard "Luck is when preparation meets opportunity". I hope if we are lucky enough to get Joe Biden in the White House.
yes....yesterday's lectured was a spark of hope!
Keep in mind that the West grew with a great deal of government financial support in the form of railroads, dams, and military contracts.
And federal land grants
Plus the use of the US Army and a mountain of federal treaty breaking to take the land from the Native Americans.
Army feed, supplies and logistical support contracts and payments certainly maintained many towns and businesses. How do you ensure that the army brings the honey pot to the local economy...you make up some horror stories about, or forment trouble with, local Indian Tribes. Nothing like a slaughter or two to drum up busines...and free up even more land.
Yes, and the massive military contracts after WWII through now have poured cash into the West. Ranchers graze their cattle on federal land for small fees. There is lots and lots of government support for the western states. The whole riff about totally independent westerners reminds me of the contrast between Mitch McConnell's rants about bailing out blue states, vs the reality that many blue states have been subsidizing red ones including Kentucky for years if you look at federal dollars in and federal dollars out.
i came across this when reading Ivan Doigs novels about early scots immigrants starting and surviving in Montana raising sheep by grazing them on federal land at the end 19th C
But California, Oregon, and Washington are already predominantly Democratic blue, so it seemed to me that the sea change from Republican already happened.
They're blue in to about 50 miles from the coast. After that, they're Greater Arizona, Greater Nevada and Greater Idaho.
My bank, Charles Schwab, has an announcement on their site (after login) stating that the USPS has announced they will no longer deliver mail to 111 countries (a concern for those expecting statements by mail). You have to admit, when it comes to disenfranchising American voters, the Trump administration leaves nothing to chance. There are 9 million expat Americans overseas.
“International Mail Service Suspensions Updated: August 7, 2020
The Postal Service™ is temporarily suspending international mail acceptance for certain destinations due to service impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“These service disruptions affect Priority Mail Express International® (PMEI), Priority Mail International® (PMI), First-Class Mail International® (FCMI), First-Class Package International Service® (FCPIS®), International Priority Airmail® (IPA®), International Surface Air Lift® (ISAL®), and M-Bag® items.
Unless otherwise noted, service suspensions to a particular country do not affect delivery of military and diplomatic mail.”
Countries include many in Africa, Caribbean, Bahamas, Bermuda, Central America (Panama, Costa Rica!), South America, Middle East, South Pacific, Asia...
https://about.usps.com/newsroom/service-alerts/international/welcome.htm
Wow. Lots of expletives coming to mind. The expats are one of the most receptive groups to reminder calls to vote.
Yeah, this jumped out at me, too.
I’m so glad you found this, and I know you’ll run with it!
Wow.
Ouch. First the Trump donor Postmaster General cuts service within the country in half, then doubles the charge for ballots, then cuts all civilian international mail. Looks like the plan is to shut down the USPS entirely, in stages to make it less obvious. Or to leave a tiny shred in place, while private carriers take over all mail delivery.
And it’s looking like a well thought out, coordinated plan researched with insider knowledge. Just my impression.
I haven't lived in the US since 1970. My MA state primary ballot arrived in Tokyo, no delay.
That’s good. Japan is not on the list.
Only post on an initial Twitter search, 22 countries as of 4/02/2020:
https://twitter.com/w7voa/status/1245708728629854209?s=21
I was very happy that news of Kamala Harris's selection broke during yesterday's history chat. Your comments about Senator Harris made me feel quite optimistic about the selection. I also really appreciate your analysis about the selection in this letter. Now let the games begin!
Trump’s advisors need to tell him never to speak extemporaneously. He is unable to form a coherent thought and convert it into a meaningful sentence. I have seen very young children form more intelligent and coherent thoughts on serious and complex issues than Trump. He is functionally illiterate as well as inarticulate. How is it possible he was elected POTUS?
"Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the average American."
- H.L. Menken, 1924
The Democrats have a wicked ticket for November now that Harris is on board.
Trump is floundering.
I’d say it’s about time for the Orange Beast to do something very nasty.
but he's loosing the knack of making his stupidities stick!
Right, Stuart, but Bill Barr, Steven Mnuchin, Tom DeJoy, Betsy DeVos, Mitch McConnell, et al have no compunction about stirring the pot to create more uproar and dismantle the institutions and agencies that are supposed to work for us/protect us all.
Too true but they are focused more on the practicalities of destruction rather than headlines! Often very quiet. Much more dangerous.
With the Harris announcement I felt some hope for the first time. I'm sure the repubs are worried, and they should be. She is whip smart, and can make most anyone who comes up against her into mincemeat. Yes, she will be called all the sexist names, "too aggressive" or "too whatever", but that's what we need.....someone to enter the fight with both fists raised. And as for tRump's continued blithering, he's in a place he's never experienced before with no way out. He's too dumb to realize if he just addressed the virus with sanity, his numbers might reflect that. Fear of being outed as the pathetic person he is has paralyzed him. May he go down to "Biden/Harris!"
I can't decide which I find more discombobulating - Trump's purple prose or the word salads that continue to show how unspooled he's becoming.
I read trump’s comments that were included in the documentation above: nonsense! He doesn’t have a coherent idea in the exchange. His words are stream of consciousness babblings from a very sick individual. Pathetic that we still have months of pain to endure!
We have a politician who answers like that here in France....and when questioned on the absence of relevance of her answers to any question she looks into the camera and says "Well it's all interrelated!"
Yesterday I felt the most hopeful of the last 3.75 years. But I must restrain myself. Also I’ve spent lots of time in Wisconsin, a beautiful place—is it the cold and snowy winters that produce Joe McCarthys and Ron Johnsons?
Be not forgetting Scott Walker!
Or Reince Priebus.
I just watched the Biden-Harris first joint campaign event - 8/12 Support Biden-Harris 2020. Build it back better! Inspiring! www.joebiden.com
Freedom is not free. It is a continual struggle to gain and to hold on to human rights and the equality of opportunity here in America.
Now that I understand through watching your lectures and reading that the “American Paradox,” is the idea that our history has been shaped by the fact that in America, equality for some has always depended on inequality for others, through your book, How the South Won the Civil War: Oligarchy, Democracy, and the Continuing Fight for the Soul of America and watching your videos as a family, the only way to make America Trump-proof in the future is to teach the unvarnished history of America to students--the road to keeping politics oligarch proof starts with teaching truthful history/civics courses, pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, the ERA, repeal Citizens United, pass the House's legislation to end the U.S. Postal Service's mandatory payment toward the health benefits for future retirees—an idiotic prefunding mandate in the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (a Republican plow to kill the USPS).
Is there an LGBTQIA rights act gathering dust on McConnell's desk from the House? Yes, there is. Pass it. “The Equality Act is a bill in the United States Congress, that, if passed, would amend the Civil Rights Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, public education, federal funding, credit, and the jury system.[1] While the Supreme Court's June 2020 ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia said that the Civil Rights Act protects sexual orientation and gender identity in matters of employment, the other areas remain undefined.
As of 2020, 29 states have not outlawed anti-LGBT discrimination, with members of the LGBT community being given very little protection at a national level[2][3] and two-thirds of LGBT Americans in the United States reporting facing or having experienced discrimination in their personal lives. The Equality Act seeks to remedy this lack of protection, applying existing state anti-LGBT discrimination laws nationwide.[1] The Equality Act passed the United States House of Representatives on May 17, 2019, in a bipartisan 236-173 vote.[4][5] The United States Senate received the bill for consideration on May 20, 2019, where the bill remains.[6] too.” - Wiki. It's a start.
I just watched the Biden-Harris first joint campaign event - 8/12 Support Biden-Harris 2020. Build it back better!
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris believe in science and facts. Joe and Kamala socially distanced until they donned their face masks. Their spouses joined them on stage wearing face masks. The couples wore face masks at the closing of their first joint campaign modeling the responsible behavior all Americans should follow during this pandemic. Biden-Harris are trustworthy leaders that care about Americans…it is the simplest of things that leaders do that show Americans and the world the true content of their character. Biden-Harris 2020.
Go, Joe! It is so invigorating and hopeful to listen to a leader that respects the American people and speaks about a positive future and how to attain that positive future by providing the opportunity of equality for all Americans, not just the wealthiest, including an economic opportunity for all. And he is called out the fascists—thank you! Silence is complicity. With the opportunity of equality for all, the possibilities for life-improving achievements are possible and the possibilities are endless.
Go, Kamala! Kamala’s mother said, “Do not sit around and complain about a problem, doing something!”
I love it! The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act! Thank you. All Americans are experiencing voter suppression because of the criminal in the White House. www.joebiden.com