The raucous roll call of states at the 2024 Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, as everybody danced to DJ Cassidy’s state-themed music, Lil Jon strode down the aisle to cheers for Georgia, and different delegations boasted about their states and good-naturedly teased other delegations, brought home the real-life meaning of E Pluribus Unum, “out of many, one.” From then until Thursday, as a sea of American flags waved and attendees joyfully chanted “USA, USA, USA,” the convention welcomed a new vision for the Democratic Party, deeply rooted in the best of traditional America.
I am feeling proud of my country again! There is so much work ahead of us, but we can do this, grabbing the flag back from the Republicans— and especially, the MAGA crowd. Thank you, Heather, for helping assist in bringing pride of our country back to being fashionable for all of us!
This past week reminds me of a song. "Happy Days Are Here Again", a 1929 melody with music by Milton Ager and lyrics by Jack Yellen. It was the campaign song for Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1932 presidential campaign.” Long a Democratic party favorite.
HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN
So long sad times
Go long bad times
We are rid of you at last
Howdy gay times
Cloudy gray times
You are now a thing of the past
Happy days are here again
The skies above are clear again
So let's sing a song of cheer again
Happy days are here again
All together shout it now
There's no one
Who can doubt it now
So let's tell the world about it now
Happy days are here again
Your cares and troubles are gone
There'll be no more from now on
From now on
Happy days are here again
The skies above are clear again
So let's sing a song of cheer again
Happy times, happy nights
Happy days are here again
Be a force for good, let’s get to work to insure this theme carries us to NOV-5 and beyond.
Thanks Hoyt for pointing the lyrics of "Happy Days". It brings back so many wonderful memories of my mom at the piano and the family singing even though we offended all the cats in the neighborhood.
Heather gives a wonderful summary of the DNC Convention. Based on what she says, a first order of business for a next administration that truly units the citizens of this country would be to rescind Citizens United!
David, you are so right on this one. Citizens United was/is a big lie the Supreme Court and everyone who supported it has perpetrated on the American people, claiming money is speech and that corporations are persons. Both are huge lies and need to be corrected, even if it is a piece at a time!
HERE, HERE !!! 'That' specifically has been my number one priority ever since I read that decision ! When I look down ballot at senators, reps, local and national, I have to hear or read their priority (or not). I have to tell you that it's been very rough keeping that issue at number one these past years, but it must be. jmho friends ~
Great idea. How would you propose to do that? Get the Supreme Court to change their minds? Get a new law passed on a congress that is likely to be led (at least in the senate) by republican sycophants for Donald Trump?
I am very seriously asking not for a "great idea" (which I totally agree with, citizens united is one of the worst Supreme court decision s of the past 100 years) but for an actual way to accomplish this.
Politics is the art of the possible and before you can just say "change this" you'd better have a pretty good idea of its possible and how to achieve it. Otherwise you are just spouting off as my mom used to say "to hear yourself talk".
I apologize I'm not trying to "suck up the oxygen" here, I am just trying to engage in an actual practical discussion about what I think is a serious critical issue. I hope that makes sense.
Jon, There are two means for rescinding Citizens United, both requiring a federal trifecta this November.
The first is through the legislative process, which would entail 50 Democratic Senators (the VP casting the tie-breaking vote) to enact filibuster reform allowing the bill to move to the floor for debate and an up or down majority vote. Of course, once the President signed the bill, it would be challenged and ultimately would work its way to the Supreme Court, where, inevitably, it would be overturned.
Accordingly, the only sure way to rescind Citizens United is to expand the Court. While I could recount several sound arguments for expanding the Court, one perfectly logical argument, in keeping with 1869 when the number of justices was set at 9, each assigned to 1 of the then-9 U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals, is to add 4 justices now that there are 13 Federal Appeals Courts.
I would note the path to meaningful reform on a host of issues, presuming we achieve a trifecta, is through Court expansion.
Barbara, that is a good answer to Jon's question. It would certainly require a federal trifecta, which is a lot to hope for at this point. However, if there were a trifecta, congress could impeach and remove two Supreme Court judges. Replacing them with judges chosen by Kamala Harris would eliminate the problem you point out here.
I don't like the results of Citizen's united any more than our fellow contributors on this thread do. As to expanding the SCOTUS, where does this expansion stop? Who controls the end, or are we to yoyo throughout history expanding and deflating a judicial body (admittedly, in serious doubt by most everyone these days)? I don't know the answer to this problem; however, I think we are biting off more than we can chew when or if we chronically manipulate a number of judges simply to serve our purposes. I wish Alito and Thomas weren't on the SCOTUS; I'd much rather see them on a sailboat somewhere off the coast, or even (but nowhere nearly as much), practicing law in private practice. That would be fine; just keep them the hell away from any bench that mandates serious decisions.
Ad let's face it- the RW SCOTUS members have completely abandoned the concept of the Rule of Law, as demonstrated by their allowing TFG to have the "right" to do anything he wants under the guise of his "decisions" be Core Values.
Hoyt-I live in Florida. I have seen groups posting from around the state where they are lining the streets with people waving Harris/Walz signs and people are waving and honking back. In the Villages, a Trump enclave, they had an enormous golf cart parade. This is a huge shift from only seeing pickups with huge American flags and flags either saying horrible things about our President or endorsing tfg. This is a joyous, hopeful, engaging shift. (And I wasn’t kidding-FDR and Eleanor have always been heroes to me-so I really am singing with you! 😊)
This is welcomed news from Florida, Jen. The state has been under attack by your Governor and his ilk for years now, and I hope this is a sign of healing and change for you and your fellow citizens, as well as hope for moving forward for the whole country.
I agree celeste. I have long looked at Florida as some kind of place where I would never want to live. Now I have hope even for there. Our neighbor, who is usually negative, is so excited about Harris/Walz. We have already had two celebrations for her and love the addition of Walz. Pretty amazing to have a Harris rally at The Villages. That is hopeful indeed.
Celeste, hopeful comment. It would be amazing if Florida would stand up and vote in some really good Dems in the down ballot races to get out some of those appalling legislators who vote for whatever the crazy governor DeSantis wants, even if his pronouncements hurt a lot of people. And DeSantis claims to be Christian! He doesn't follow any of the teachings of Jesus I ever read! Hey, maybe they could even vote a popular win there for Harris and Walz!
What a joyful message Jen. This is contagious and we have to insure it builds for the next 72 days. Here in NC we start voting on Oct-17, 53 days. A lot of work in such a short time.
Speaking of joy, the last paragraph re: the balloons made me cry. First because I was so happy to read that they were biodegradable, then the remarkable quantity, and lastly the story of love behind each and every balloon. 💕
Hoyt, the Dems put the "party" back in our Party. (But I must say that I greatly prefer the fifty-song playlist assembled of each state's choice to "Happy Days Are Here Again".)
I really enjoyed that 50 state play list! Maine's was "Shut Up and Dance"...I couldn't figure the reason for that choice until I watched the video--the lyrics are perfect ("don't you dare to look back" "the woman is my destiny" etc) and the female dancer is wearing high top chucks!
Doug, of course "Happy Days" will not be the song of this campaign. It worked in 1932 because it was a new song then. I like Biance's "Freedom," and I am sure there are some others like what we heard at the roll call that would work too. A couple of sing-along type songs would work too to get people singing at rallies. It makes a difference.
Thank you, Mr Bangs, for knowing all the verses. I only know the second, but I do have a shot glass (unfortunately chipped) from 1932 with the image of a donkey and “Happy Days are Here Again” on it. Found it in the back of my father’s liquor cabinet. Knew he voted for Roosevelt in 1932 and suspect it was a gift from one of his fellow happy Saturday-night, highball-drinking, bridge-playing friends in the early ‘30’s.
Judith, thank you for the Barbara and Judy rendition, which is memorable in so many ways, especially their regard for one another throughout. I love the rabbit holes this clip took me down on the Internet, especially two interviews with Pete Budegieg after his speech, one with Politico. Anything I can find online that keeps me linked to the convention is needed and welcome. But Judy and Barbara, will remain in my heart forever. Thanks again.
I remember the poster that proclaimed "A Family Is a Circle of Friends Who Love You," helping us understand without saying it in so many words that community, as expressed over and over during the Convention, supports us and protects us whether or not we are biologically related.
Like Kamala Harris’s mom, I had to have a circle of friends to help me raise my child. My family lived four states away, thankfully not on the other side of the world. But they were not close enough, physically, to be able to help me with the kids. My husband had a high level job and was often traveling for work. We all need and want to be part of a community because no one can handle life right by themselves.
Who said, "It takes a village"? Hilary Clinton. I am not a pediatrician or psychologist, but it is nearly impossible to raise children with only two parents. Kids require far more attention and guidance that only a close community/village can provide.
Edith, yes, it is an African proverb, and isn't it great that Hillary learned it and brought it to us so we can have language for what we/our parents have known forever, it takes a village. . . .
A close, caring community is not essential only for the kids, but also for the parents who otherwise have the sole responsibility for raising and loving those kids.
Essential for the father and the mother. Betsy, I am a second wave Boomer (1948) & grew up on street full of WWII working mothers & fathers when the need for homes & schools & teachers for the kids was 'booming'.
Bonus: There were so many kids we had our own subculture, our own games & into music, "it's got a beat you can dance to it". 1960's politics & music look out!
The nuclear family is actually an anomaly. In all social mammal species the young are raised by the whole group. That we humans have strayed from how we evolved speaks to how culture and biology have diverged. It's really too much to ask one or two people to be all that kids need to develop.
wow, Keith--above I just commented about visiting the Rockwell Museum--those four paintings are on display there! It almost feels sacred to stand and view them while their excellent docents tell the history behind the paintings.
Keith Wheelock -- Could you be more specific about Betsy Rockwell's Four Freedoms cover? Perhaps a link, or a "copy and paste" image? Mrs. Google isn't helpful. Norman Rockwell had one.
Judith I no longer have my Norman Rockwell photo cover book. The Four Freedoms I believe was after FDR met Churchill in the summer of 1941. You can identify the Four Freedoms on Google. I may be imagining it, but I have an image of a Rockwell poster. Of course I was only 9 and this was 83 years ago.
Keith, this one brought me to tears. What childhoods we had! And the unity (even of a Pennsylvania child and a Virginia child) is what I think both of us are feeling post the “long division” set off by Nixon’s Southern Strategy as neither Eisenhower no Kennedy set out to divide US.
Ah, the power of a comma (and of a Kamala)! If Keith had written "Betsy, also Rockwell..." it would have been clear that he was addressing me, and that I, Betsy Smith, never designed a cover for the Saturday Evening Post. Here's a link to the covers: https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2018/01/rockwells-four-freedoms-2/
Betsy Kudos for demonstrating that my memory, at age 9, was spot on. Of course at 90 I can’t remember what I did yesterday. What a difference a ‘0’ makes.
Betsy, I was moved by the many positive comments at the Convention about community and how important the concept is. I liked Hillary Clinton reminding me that it takes a village to raise our kids, but I also know it takes a village to bring about the positives of life: peace, caring, working hospitals, terrific public schools, the diversity of religious faiths and non-believers, and so much more. We needed the messages of this convention because so many of us were losing heart that we could rescue our nation from the grasping fingers of greed, resentment, fearmongering, perpetual anger, and hatred of those not like oneself. Those are such destructive emotions when on a forever loop with no relief, and that loop was being forced down our throats by a media so enamored with Donald Trump they couldn't break free from the spell themselves. I hope the Convention did a lot to break us out of the imposed bubble of despair, frustration, and being told Trump is "normal" and worthy of any kind of power. I am excited for Harris and Walz as two people with many supporters including Joe Biden, who believe we can do better if we do it together.
The Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, CA had a Rockwell exhibit a few years back that featured the Civil Rights images as well as ALL his cover pieces. A powerful exhibit. I wonder where they all are now. Hummm
I love that museum. A buddy of mine in Sacramento was an architect and did several renovations in Old Sacramento and the old homes around downtown Sacramento. What a beautiful area.
Yes, that's what I thought! In the 60s I'd moved to Europe, so I've never seen them (simply because you couldn't get the SEP). I knew Americans in Paris who were SNCC activists.
There is a Norman Rockwell museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. I interviewed him a few years before he died, and he told me that mostly he painted his neighbors, but Stockbridge is mostly white, and he made an effort to broaden his cast. I'm not sure what's available at the museum, but it's still open.
When you take a tour, the docent will point out and identify neighbors and family in his paintings, which was pretty cool, as several people were used a few times, so you'd recognize them as they were pointed out.
Thank you, Keith My father subscribed and I remember the cartoon, though cannot remember an article. I was reading Southern novels from age 10. High school library was stocked with them. Norman Rockwell’s paintings were “foreign” to me as the “wrong child” (father and aunt were math geniuses; after Alegebra I, math was all worse than Greek to me).
Virginia Saturday Evening Post. Norman Rockwell did many covers for them. So did Stephen Dohanos, who, under WPA, painted art work in the Puerto Rican post office, which I viewed some years ago.
I wonder if I would be permitted to say this. But there is reasonable chance that Trump will die before me and given that he does and I am able, I intend to drop some form of body waste on the stone that represents his godforsaken body. Even if I need to toss it from a distance. Even if I’m arrested for tossing crap at an “ex-president.” I’ll hire a team to video me so I can put it on my YouTube channel.
If ever you have a chance, go to the Norman Rockwell Museum in Massachusetts. OMG--every Rockwell SEP cover is on display, and the original paintings of so many of his famous paintings. I'm kind of a historical nerd--things that really move me are stuff like seeing John Lennon's round glasses at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, or Elton John's diamond epaulets at a traveling Diamond exhibit which I caught at the Field Museum years ago, so in that light, being able to lean forward and see the actual brushstrokes of his paintings--I found that very thrilling!
It’s a new forward looking day where we can solve problems in a straight forward matter of fact manner…. It’s a time where our dreams for a fairer, smarter, more creative and resilient future can become reality.
First, we make certain that we protect our planet…its magnificent natural life sustaining systems make everything else possible. The United States, once the worst polluter, must keep increasing its emphasis on making a rapid transition away from the burning of fossil fuels that have done so much damage over the past century. By setting a good example other countries will do more as well.
As we begin to succeed in stabilizing and then lowering the average temperature of the atmosphere by using much larger scale wind, solar, fusion and other non polluting energy sources we can continue to improve quality of life for everyone. Parks and ever more community gardens can bloom in every neighborhood, wildlife can thrive instead being roadkill and people can live longer healthier lives. When people feel hope for an increasingly better, fairer mor responsive future for all, conflicts will lessen.
President Harris and Vice President Walz will have a great opportunity to build on the many excellent policies of the Biden administration and keep leading.us further forward in the tradition of FDR. We can do this….
I am more proud of my Country these past few years than ever. It's easy to be proud when the skies are sunny. Not giving up, staying proud and working for change when the skies are darkest is the true test of a Country. We prevailed.
I am very proud of my Country under Joe Biden. To raise the United States up out of a four-year nightmare and move us forward at the same time is a huge historic feat. Joe Biden earned the respect of Americans and our allies abroad through his sending vaccines overseas during the pandemic, rebuilding NATO, fortifying the Pacific against the Chinese and engineering the best post covid economic recovery in the world. He stood down the Chinese and the Russians.
At home Joe Biden's Administration vaccinated 200 million Americans in just under 90 days. We were literally hiding in our homes until then. Please take a look at the historic legislation he has passed. Remember we have the best economy in 50 years.
We are proud under Joe Biden and the Democrats. Never let anyone take your pride away.
We had to wait until March for the vaccinations due to low priority for out of state seniors (74 and 70) moving out of the home we sold in California and helping with grandchildren care in Washington as child care at any price was unavailable. Vaccines helped communities share child care duties and let us get on the road to Maine.
Though a relative was the first person in Maine to die from Covid (a year earlier in March 2019), we found some of the highest percentages vaccinated and masking up (in our county in Maine) so were able to stay Covid free until 4 days after the Pandemic was declared over. Fortunately with all the vaccines and boosters available, the symptoms were mild enough that we wouldn’t have known it was Covid without the positive test results we got after a High School graduation ceremony.
Bringing back pride? Because DJT was such an embarrassment, combined with the legions of supporters he had , it caused one to feel ashamed that we had a political leader who lacked any redeeming qualities and appealed to the fear and hatred of his followers.
I told my husband on Day 4, that it was the first time in a pretty long time that I actually felt proud of my country again. Thanks, Joe. And thanks, Kamala and Tim, for being such good role models!
I understand your feelings concerning the notion that republicans have grabbed the flag for their own standard. No doubt, there has been much by the republicans who believe that the flag somehow belongs to them. That is exactly the kind of nationalist thinking no nation needs from its people. I would respectfully suggest to you that although the republicans have been vulgar in their inclination to think that the flag is theirs, you and I both know that flag ownership is the mark of nationalism that so easily matriculates into fascism. The flag belongs to everyone; even those with whom we virulently disagree. As difficult as it may be, we nevertheless need to keep reaching out to those whom we can convince of the true and faithful priorities that the left of center understands the promise of our programs. Hopefully, those folks who we are able to reach successfully, can try and reach those harder in understanding. No doubt, there will always be neanderthals who will insist on dragging their knuckles into oblivious ignorance; however, as Rick Blaine in Casablanca once said of the Nazis, maybe one day they will be a "minor inconvenience."
A beautiful week; thank you for reporting these pregnant days of change. As an erstwhile Republican and a loyal American, I felt a genuine optimism for the first time in a long time. Adam Kinzinger and Geoff Duncan are right: voting for President Harris is a duty, an exercise in practical patriotism. https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5129754/user-clip-conservative-makes-proud Finally, I was proud to be an American first, a conservative second. https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5129329/lt-gov-geoff-duncan We will survive to debate again for the betterment of all.
Ned, when we were kids, the Republicans and the Democrats were "Old School" -- we could argue all day long, but we always knew that ultimately we were on the same side, and we never ever stopped being friends. That's about half a century ago for many of us here. But we know we can get back to that good feeling that nothing can break our loyal friendship, even when we disagree on policy. The key is that we all agree that we must keep working to achieve consensus. When our society lost that cooperative quest for consensus, mostly in the late '70s approaching the Reagan years, the conversation fell apart and devolved into a quest for partisan power. There are some good exemplars out there. We hope their numbers will increase, so that we can get back to working together again to govern rationally.
P.S., one response to you, David: Reaganism, even in its recycled Project2025 version (aside from the snide asides), is exhausted much as the New Deal was in the mid-to-late 1970s. Hopefully, we are at a new beginning; a pregnant pause before a new plunge into history. I never voted for President Reagan though I was a Republican because I could not give up on the Great Society.
Ned, I think that the "conservative movement" had a very long run, from the early 1950s. For years, or decades, I've wondered how long it would take our society's political pendulum to swing back in the other direction, toward the Teddy Roosevelt-"Fighting Bob" La Follette Progressive Movement -- or the LBJ Great Society, etc. The pendulum moves back and forth -- I look at it as "well, let's give the conservatives a chance to see what they can do" and after an extended period, it changes to "well, let's give the liberals a chance to see what they can do". I remember a story about the FDR years, especially at the beginning in the '30s, when they tried various programs, continued those that worked, abandoned those that didn't work, and kept trying to find things that worked. It would help if we could ALL work together! Fortunately, at least some of us can work together, even when we are not in full agreement. Now I have a song playing in my mind "Why Can't We Be Friends?"
Thank you, David. Please excuse the late reply. I am on vacay. In the gloom and doom of my lonely room in Annapolis, I have time to answer properly comments like the one you make here.
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Unfortunately, around others for whom I hold an abiding affection (most of the time) up here in the Adirondacks, I am bizzy.
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Why I value you, David, is that you graciously take the time to spell out your wisdom plainly so others can chew the cud on it. That is a big favor to the rest of us.
My reaction or response to what you write: we are, at our most typical and workable (if not ideal), a nation of push-&-pull pragmatists. As, ironically, a fellow kultur-kampfer (i.e., forty years ago) and very decent man once said: "Ideology breeds idiocy."
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With nebulous decisions like the immunity case with vaporous distinctions of (un)official *acts or pluperfect reasoning like that used in the Dobbs case, that idiocy is on parade. That great silent majority does *exist in its political variations; we are pragmatic and we are pushing back.
Ned It will be a sustained fight to November 5th. Though the wind currently is at the back of Kamala/Coach, it would be dangerous to underestimate the shenanigans of the FEAR/DESPAIR folks.
You, like me, are proud to be an American. I was an Eisenhower Republican in 1956 and on the Nixon White House Enemies List by 1972. Now we have an opportunity to renew the values of Abraham Lincoln, which have been abandoned by the Republican Party.
The orange traitor is doing just what Nixon did, calling those who won't support him enemies, not Americans with differing opinions, but enemies. Sorry, but no American citizen is my enemy, except those like the former president who want to abolish the Constitution and the rule of law.
Wow, on dickie’s enemies list. Wonder if you can get on chump’s enemies list. I’m sure that his cretins have been busy compiling one in every nook and cranny in the land.
JD In the good old days a presidential enemies list could be written on a few scraps of paper. The Nixon Enemies List had only 550 names. With the Orange Orangutan, an enemies’ list would require the most sophisticated computer. It would include countless millions, not including ‘foreigners.’
I qualify for both lists—I continue to be feisty (pain in the ass) and care deeply about my country. By Dufus Donald’s definition, I was a ‘sucker’ and almost a ‘loser’ in service to my country. By contrast, he is only a loser.
Keith, I disagree. The former President is THE loser. Being deprecated by someone like the former President makes one estimable in the eyes and hearts of reasonable (wo)men.
The list will likely be a compendium from a whole crew of dirty tricksters. There is a multitude of helpers, as evidenced by Project 2025. Not much depends on chump anymore, except to spew hate better than his buds.
The irony here is that cousins of mine describe President Biden *as a sock-puppet; a slur I categorically reject, of course. The question arises for me: ¿when was *your man -- sic, or sick, I can not tell -- not a puppet?
Instead of an eager beaver, he is an evil beaver. Already trying to make up crap about illegals signing up to vote. Debunked but he is “investigating” anyway. And will milk the tit til hell freezes over.
Yes! But as Keith and I are both 90 and supposed to be dead (Covid and lack of medical care), the list doesn’t really worry about him (or me) adequately. I was never part of government as he was, but was in some way active in every presidential campaign for Democrats, so like many, fodder for DJT’s ire.
Comparing the views of the RNC vs the DNC the numbers are actually pretty close but the Dems won out overall by a few percentage points.
But the number of viewers has been decreasing since 1980 and extremely so this century. As more and more people drop cable TV people are streaming events when it is convenient for them to do so. Of course, millions of people still watched each convention live, but there are so many alternatives to streaming and even listening on Sirius/XM that we may never actually know how many people tuned in ever again.
Gary A big difference is that there are a vast number of Dem convention highlights that can be used widely. From the Rep convention (which I did not see), I would take patches of the Orange Orangutan’s off-teleprompter bloviations and show these incessantly.
This is also a really good point. Many four-to-six minute speeches that pounded home the message from so many different perspectives, demonstrating in real time just how big a tent the Democratic Party has become.
Keith, many thanks! You are a far braver man than i. Thank you for taking the time to buck me up. As V.P. Knute Rockne said many times: we can sleep when we are dead.
Of course we are; always have been. That is why I believe this time is a pregnant pause before a new plunge into history. There will be mistakes and disagreements. Of course. Yet the country will be headed in the right direction -- of that much, at least, l am sure.
I’ve tried to explain to my children that when I was young, democrats and republicans tended to share the same goals for the nation, but differed on how to achieve those goals. I freely admit, especially knowing what I now know from these Letters, that that was a simplistic and naive view of our politics, but we did think that. That is, of course, no longer true, if it ever was.
Naive, perhaps, in the face of cynics. I sense many or most people want that naivete, at least aspirationally. Perhaps our society and culture are too atomized to enable that aspiration, the faint *hand of optimism.
Truth be told: with a mother as an occasionally rebellious conservative of a New Deal dad and my father as an occasionally rebellious liberal from a rock-ribbed Republican family, I always had one foot on either side of the ideological divide. I could not vote for President Reagan because I felt his policies were heartless; my parents had liked the Great Society, at least as an experiment of a nation at its peak seeking greatness from the inside-out over grandeur for the world to see. They may disagree with me today; we need to try for that greatness again.
That was a great moment! I also liked it when he said following Michelle in a speech was a big mistake! I loved Barack's speech but Michelle's was awesome!
Completely agree on Michelle being the Obama that hit for power, average and RBIs that night. I wrote the same in a comment on one of Marlon Weems's notes last week.
As the saying goes, "Behind every great man there is a great woman."
Please vote early as so many voting laws have been passed and the voter rolls culled. Even though I live in a Blue state I'm going to vote the first opportunity I can.
Field Team 6 works to register Democratic voters. Donate and/or choose from a variety of grassroots work of phone banking, text banking, writing postcards, etc.:
President Kamala Harris will need a Democratic majority in the Senate and House to pass Harris-Walz legislation. Swing Left does this strategically: https://swingleft.org/
Strategic donations are more effective than emotional donations. As David Pepper writes, state legislatures are the Laboratories of Autocracy. The States Project researches how to best use our donor dollars to support Democratic candidates in state races:
Yes AND, sorry but my need to do something now is about what's glossed over; I'm joyous and at the same time still watching to see the emergence of United States leadership effectiveness -- will the Prosecutor take aim to support (or at least comment at length on) the International Court of Justice's interpretation of agreements about who owns what in Israel and West bank? Will Palestinians be supported to have their rights upheld? This 30-minute video report on "The West Bank: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqK3_n6pdDY helped me understand the forces at work in Israel/Gaza.
Yes… “when one of us is harmed ALL of us are harmed.” I was riding on the joy of the democratic spirit. However I cannot Not see that the United States Government is supporting the murderous policies and actions of yet another autocrat in Netanyahu. I am counting on the belief and hope that she lives up to her many promises of our Big Tent and includes the children of Gaza, and people of Palestine, in that tent. I do not have any other choice right now, since the alternative is so so much worse, but the denial of allowing a Palestinian American to speak at the convention, when time was given to those Israeli Americans was a mistake.
Mark, call 5 of your friends and have them check their voter registration. Have them make a plan to vote. Then have each of them call 5 of THEIR friends to continue the chain. Call them again to make sure that they voted when they planned. Have them do the same with their friends.
Volunteer if you can. Donate if you can. When we vote, we win!
Mary Hardt (and many other engaged HCR readers whose names I recognize), being the retired public school and community college educator that I am, I want to share a personal anecdote…
I enjoyed a lovely gathering of mostly Republican voters last evening under the canopy of old oak trees here on the east coast on ubiquitous “Front Street”. Conversation seemed to inevitably drift toward grandchildren and the new school year approaching. I was able to, what I hope was “tactfully”, insert into my remarks the importance of public education and opportunity for higher education for all motivated young people. Without much effort, I also expressed my deep appreciation for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz’s stories which we continue to
absorb after the phenomenal DNC 2024. From the beautiful stories told at the convention, the role of public education within each COMMUNITY opened unimaginable doors for both Harris and Walz.
“This reworking of the American government to reflect community rather than economic relationships changed the entire fabric of the country…” as profoundly stated today by Heather Cox Richardson today is the foundation of what I understand by the word “democracy”. The change we want to help make happen will come within each of our communities.
I have a handmade sign on my front porch: Silentium est consensu”…VOTE.
Each of us has a community platform and a chance to not be silent.
Let’s use our platform at every chance we get and speak up respectfully and help elect Harris and Walz 2024.
I spent my Saturday working on my get out the vote postcards and doing text banking with field team 6 to encourage people to register to vote! It felt great! 🥳😎
HCR, thank you for tonights wonderful article. The message I got from the Democratic Convention last week is our country is too large and to diverse to have us be governed by a select few extreme Republicans from the Heritage Foundation with a mentally unstable and inexperienced person like Donald Trump.
“Not only do we have to defeat Trump, but we must build a strong grassroots movement that can confront the extraordinary greed of the big money interests that have so much power over the economic and political life of our country. Our goal: a government that works for all, not just the few.” - words spoken by Bernie Sanders this week. Remember that if we volunteer to keep writing to our elected officials, we can encourage our politicians that supporting the middle class will make our tax dollars get a higher return on its value. WE ARE BETTER TOGETHER!
Wow, thank you for writing about DeLorenzo's community of other balloon artists coming together in support of him while he is fighting cancer, to help blow up and tie balloons for the DNC drop! (and also relieved to find out that the 100K balloons were biodegradable!) His quote, "Words cannot express the gratitude I feel for this community" exactly reflect how I feel about this community of readers who are inspired by your LFAAs, that We the People are working together in every way that we can to ensure that our democracy will be preserved when it comes time to vote in Kamala/Walz as our next POTUS/VP. No matter how huge or how small the contributions and efforts, each of us supports others here.
Dr. Heather wrote:
"The 100,000 biodegradable balloons that fell from the rafters when Vice President Harris accepted the Democratic nomination for president were blown up and tied by a team of 55 balloon artists from 18 states and Canada who volunteered to prepare the drop in honor of their colleague, Tommy DeLorenzo, who, along with his husband Scott, runs a balloon business. DeLorenzo is battling cancer. “We’re more colleagues than competitors,” Patty Sorell told Sydney Page of the Washington Post. “We all wanted to do something to help Tommy, to show him how much we love him.”
“Words cannot express the gratitude I feel for this community,” DeLorenzo said." "
Gotta say that I'm happy they were biodegradable. My neighborhood trees are full of disintegrating balloons—mostly Mylar— from people's birthday and graduation parties.
I wish that Mylar and regular latex balloons were not out there to be found in the oceans and forests of our planet. It's especially detrimental to our sea birds and other ocean animals including turtles and fish, who mistake them for food or get entangled, and then die of starvation or trauma since the plastic pieces and balloon ribbons collect and fill their bellies, strangle them, or amputate limbs/wings.
With you there, bio balloons! On my trip to Aldi’s today I spotted reusable bags for sale that said on them ‘this bag is made from 100% ocean plastic’ outoftheocean.com
The Clinton Administration and Christopher Cox wanted to force the government out of the Strategic Helium Reserves as a cost savings act, and depend upon entirely private production and sales of the gas that is separated from natural gas (if profitable but vented off to lost forever if it not "profitable"), a reason I always want the government making sure we keep as much helium for the irreplaceable functions it serves. We had to change the welding methods that suffered from less available helium to weld aluminum ship hulls for example (and suffered from the failures in some ship modifications for the USCG, I believe). Then we had seemingly uncontrolled sales for party balloons that led to shortages for the critical uses, in my mind.
I'd like to see the government make sure as much helium as possible is recovered while they are extracting so much natural gas that can waste so much of it through needless loss. Then we might have enough for some level of party balloons if the world doesn't care how much of the impossible (so far), to create gas is lost forever.
That certainly puts things in perspective! Yikes! Every once in while when I was a kid (1950s), the phone rang, my mom picked up, and dissolved into giggles. It was my dad calling from his chemistry lab, having inhaled helium before calling home.
When my daughter was in HS lacrosse and I was the party organizer, a dad of another player was an elevator repairman who had a side job as a balloon artist. He made balloon arches, but for our banquet, he made a giant lacrosse stick with a homemade frame and balloons; it was incredible, and he never charged a dime, not even for the balloons. It was his contribution to the team. I don’t know if he was one of the 55, but I believe he would have pitched in if he got the call.
I watched the 1956 convention at age 12 with my father, and all since. This was the best of all. The party this Democrat has been looking for the past 50 years showed up at last.
Not your father's DNC Convention in Chicago... On the way home from a business meeting, my father's taxi was delayed by the unrest. When he got home to Orange Co. CA. He threw me out of bed and pushed me up against the wall, screaming about his experience on "The Loop" and blaming me, as I was a young progressive. It stuck with me, I was not a riot prone person, just progressive. A much older progressive now, I am thrilled to be watching "good trouble" being made for the best possible reasons. Preserving our Constitutional way of life into the future, insuring that it will continue to serve "We the People"
Thanks Heather, brilliant summary! The fact that former President Clinton brought up regarding job creation is essential to pound home to dispel the issue of Republicans untruthful grip on the economy. I feel also the strong statements on our support of our allies against authoritarian regimes was essential. We are witnessing history in real tine. You are the witness, scribe and interpreter. You have become an essential part of our lives and thank you for that!
We are indeed witnessing history in real time. I turned 25 just prior to Reagan being elected. So basically during my entire adult life I've observed the transformation of American politics from one end of the spectrum to the other, and now, back again.
I was raised in a traditional Republican (read Eisenhower,) house. Coming of age in the raucous 70s, I followed my heart to vote for Democrats despite my Dad's arguments. As the 80s and 90s evolved, we noticed Dad didn't like our political arguments, seemed to be less than supportive of the Bushes, and mom admitted later that she voted with us kids. Turns out my Eisenhower supporting parents raised 4 Democrats.
Mine raised 2 Democrats, and after my father passed away, my Mom reverted to follow her heart and become a Democrat, which she had always probably been anyway.
I have lived in Minnesota most of my life. I also have relatives in Nebraska. In ways that matter, I have long had a Tim and/or a Gwen Walz to lean on when things went sideways. My brothers and I talk about the neighborhood we grew up in in South Minneapolis and the people we miss - our family by love. Without them, I wouldn’t be here. But suddenly, there seems to be many more of them - everywhere!
Watching the rest of the country get to know Tim Walz is a deep joy. I was at the dog park yesterday, and one of Gus’s high school teachers was there. She whipped out her phone and showed us photos of Gus and some of his classmates who traveled as a group to the Convention. Just imagine the impact this convention had on a group of seniors from a very diverse big city school. Yeah, the Walz family thinks a public high school is good enough for their kids. It’s how they roll. Middle class, no elite private schools required. All of a sudden, things feel familiar again. Like we are remembering what community is!
One of the first bills passed in 2022 after we elected a blue trifecta government, was a 100% renewable energy standard, one of the strongest in the country. Minnesota has a long history of moving towards renewables both because of the climate crisis and because, with no oil or coal, it made economic sense to develop energy sources that were local. One of the byproducts of this type of legislation is that we now have two of the largest turbine builders based here - the center of the push for the entire country. Clean energy, great jobs, more income for farmers and other land owners, and a utility, Xcel Energy, that is translating what they learned here to other places like Colorado where they also operate. Translation? Maybe we actually have a shot at getting a real grip on the climate crisis in time -all the while creating an “opportunity economy!” Love that phrase!!!
Walz highlighted many of his accomplishments as governor in his acceptance speech and I know he will bring that same passion - to protect, create good jobs, make the future better, and teach some folks to; “mind their own damn business” to his job as vice president. We understand the assignment too. Now let’s do this
For a writer, that place is an endless source of inspiration. Regular folks making a living and a life, and caring for a motley crew of mutts along the way. And the stupid antics of the dogs - so fun- and a great antidote to the madness of MAGA.
I love my dog park friends! It’s funny how my dog’s best buddies’ owners are my friends. The park I go to is in the city and full of young people - it’s vastly entertaining to watch them flirt. I do my “are you registered to vote?” lecture pretty often.
Thank you! I watched every minute and then more minutes on YouTube of the speeches I missed. Love the roll call. As always, you’ve braided together the important people and points seamlessly. Beautiful! I am inspired and hopeful, however, I still have a heavy feeling in my gut. As a Democrat Abroad I will be calling people all over the states to encourage them to register, to vote, and hopefully vote their entire ticket BLUE! Thank you again, Heather! 💙
An Under-Rated Hero Is Francis Perkins... She was a Pragmatic Person whose Credentials were Accomplishments in her chosen fields... She was not a Theoretician, or an Academic... I belief that she was the longest serving U.S. Cabinet Member... She headed several Departments in the FDR, and Truman Administrations... I would lay the blame of the Re-Orientation of the American Economy from an Ethos of the Greatest-Good for the Many, to the benefit of the 1%, at the Feet of Milton Friedman... IMHO he was an Academic with an Antiseptic View of American Society, and the World... The re-orientation of the Economy to mainly benefit the 1% began under his influence during the Nixon Administration... Greed Bacame Good... Corporate Managements were told that they only were responsible for Shareholder Maximization... Social Responsibility, and the Environment be Damned...
I may have heard the name before, but reading today's newsletter is the first time I paid attention. When I read that Francis Perkins recognized that the purpose of government is to protect the community, the first thought that occurred to me is that she was an originalist.
To "Justice" Samuel Alito ... Rationalizing your selfish behavior by quoting an 18th century misogynist does not make you an originalist. I can't stop you from calling yourself an originalist, but I can point out that when you do, you are being a hypocrite.
James, Professor Richardson has written about Frances Perkins several times. I've learned more about Perkins here than I ever did in school, or in my collateral reading about the presidency.
As a Social Worker, Francis Perkins is one of the first people we learn about in our studies. But she is genuinely an undersung hero to most for sure. Thank you to HCR for rectifying that in her letters.
As have I! Francis Perkins has gone from a foot note to place of prominence. The fact she is from Maine (and I live in Maine) makes knowing her better all the sweeter.
We went to the Francis Perkins Center in Newcastle, Maine yesterday, where I was reminded she was appointed to the United States Civil Service Commission in 1945 (after 12 years as Secretary of Labor, 4th longest of any cabinet Secretary, but longest as Secretary of Labor), and served until 1952 on the Civil Service Commission. Wikipedia mentions her time at Cornell until she passed away in 1965.
“…At Cornell, she lived at the Telluride House where she was one of the first women to become a member of that renowned intellectual community. Kirstin Downey, author of The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR's Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience, dubbed her time at the Telluride House "probably the happiest phase of her life…"
HCR, thank you for your insightful posts on the Convention. You continue to make an invaluable contribution to the public discourse on the future of the United States.
Speakers on the last night of the Convention addressed the global role of the US. As an observer of, not a participant in, your democracy, I welcomed the strong commitment they expressed to the global defense of democracy. VP Harris left no doubt about where she would stand as President:
I will never waver in defense of America’s security and ideals, because in the enduring struggle between democracy and tyranny, I know where I stand and I know where the United States belongs.
Since the Second World War, the US has played an indispensable leadership role in the global defense of democracy against the aggression of authoritarian regimes. Given Trump and his followers are intent on destroying US democracy, there is no expectation that he and a MAGA-controlled Congress would defend democracy internationally. Trump is a clear and present danger not only to US democracy but also to the cause of democracy around the globe.
What amazed me as how they pulled together so many people in such a short time to tell their personal stories that so well got all the needed messages out in such a believable and poignant manner. Every speaker had an experience that moved the crowd. Nothing made up or lied about; just human stories. I certainly hope Republicans of all varieties were watching. What a fantastic organizational committee.
John F Kennedy's declaration on January 20, 1961 during his inaugural address is even more critical today:
"Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans--born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage--and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world."
We cannot go back! We must not go back! A new future lays before us. It is in our hands to win or lose. We have only just begun to fight!
L.D., I like the meme I heard about/saw that likened our political parties to a auto gear shift: “D” for “drive”= Democrats and “R” for “reverse”= Republicans….brilliantly simple!
I get it….lol…while I have driven automatics a handful of times, all my vehicles have been manual transmissions….the last 30 years or so, 5-speed stick shifts….currently my 20 year old “Taco” (Toyota Tacoma).
When I moved to Missoula in 1976, the soul of Montana was palpable and shared by all, no matter what their political affiliation. For years, Montana has gone back and forth with Republican and Democratic governors, all of them being sane and centrist, united by a shared respect and reverence for the state itself. But since the election of 2016, Montana's Republican voters have forsaken the soul of Montana in order to foolishly lockstep their way into the Trump cult, thus creating MAGATANA, destroying the myth of "the last best place" and turning the state into just another Jonestown. Enough is enough. We, the Democrats of Montana, hereby reclaim the soul of Montana and cast all of our votes for the next president of the United States, Kamala Harris!
I, too, will be in Montana in September. I lived there for a decade (1976-1985), the smartest and most socially and politically potent move I've ever made. Right now, the goal of all left-wing Montanans is to get rid of the current carpetbagger Republican governor and hold the senate seat now filled by Jon Tester (D).
I am feeling proud of my country again! There is so much work ahead of us, but we can do this, grabbing the flag back from the Republicans— and especially, the MAGA crowd. Thank you, Heather, for helping assist in bringing pride of our country back to being fashionable for all of us!
This past week reminds me of a song. "Happy Days Are Here Again", a 1929 melody with music by Milton Ager and lyrics by Jack Yellen. It was the campaign song for Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1932 presidential campaign.” Long a Democratic party favorite.
HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN
So long sad times
Go long bad times
We are rid of you at last
Howdy gay times
Cloudy gray times
You are now a thing of the past
Happy days are here again
The skies above are clear again
So let's sing a song of cheer again
Happy days are here again
All together shout it now
There's no one
Who can doubt it now
So let's tell the world about it now
Happy days are here again
Your cares and troubles are gone
There'll be no more from now on
From now on
Happy days are here again
The skies above are clear again
So let's sing a song of cheer again
Happy times, happy nights
Happy days are here again
Be a force for good, let’s get to work to insure this theme carries us to NOV-5 and beyond.
Thanks Hoyt for pointing the lyrics of "Happy Days". It brings back so many wonderful memories of my mom at the piano and the family singing even though we offended all the cats in the neighborhood.
Heather gives a wonderful summary of the DNC Convention. Based on what she says, a first order of business for a next administration that truly units the citizens of this country would be to rescind Citizens United!
David, you are so right on this one. Citizens United was/is a big lie the Supreme Court and everyone who supported it has perpetrated on the American people, claiming money is speech and that corporations are persons. Both are huge lies and need to be corrected, even if it is a piece at a time!
HERE, HERE !!! 'That' specifically has been my number one priority ever since I read that decision ! When I look down ballot at senators, reps, local and national, I have to hear or read their priority (or not). I have to tell you that it's been very rough keeping that issue at number one these past years, but it must be. jmho friends ~
Great idea. How would you propose to do that? Get the Supreme Court to change their minds? Get a new law passed on a congress that is likely to be led (at least in the senate) by republican sycophants for Donald Trump?
I am very seriously asking not for a "great idea" (which I totally agree with, citizens united is one of the worst Supreme court decision s of the past 100 years) but for an actual way to accomplish this.
Politics is the art of the possible and before you can just say "change this" you'd better have a pretty good idea of its possible and how to achieve it. Otherwise you are just spouting off as my mom used to say "to hear yourself talk".
I apologize I'm not trying to "suck up the oxygen" here, I am just trying to engage in an actual practical discussion about what I think is a serious critical issue. I hope that makes sense.
Jon, There are two means for rescinding Citizens United, both requiring a federal trifecta this November.
The first is through the legislative process, which would entail 50 Democratic Senators (the VP casting the tie-breaking vote) to enact filibuster reform allowing the bill to move to the floor for debate and an up or down majority vote. Of course, once the President signed the bill, it would be challenged and ultimately would work its way to the Supreme Court, where, inevitably, it would be overturned.
Accordingly, the only sure way to rescind Citizens United is to expand the Court. While I could recount several sound arguments for expanding the Court, one perfectly logical argument, in keeping with 1869 when the number of justices was set at 9, each assigned to 1 of the then-9 U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals, is to add 4 justices now that there are 13 Federal Appeals Courts.
I would note the path to meaningful reform on a host of issues, presuming we achieve a trifecta, is through Court expansion.
Barbara, that is a good answer to Jon's question. It would certainly require a federal trifecta, which is a lot to hope for at this point. However, if there were a trifecta, congress could impeach and remove two Supreme Court judges. Replacing them with judges chosen by Kamala Harris would eliminate the problem you point out here.
I don't like the results of Citizen's united any more than our fellow contributors on this thread do. As to expanding the SCOTUS, where does this expansion stop? Who controls the end, or are we to yoyo throughout history expanding and deflating a judicial body (admittedly, in serious doubt by most everyone these days)? I don't know the answer to this problem; however, I think we are biting off more than we can chew when or if we chronically manipulate a number of judges simply to serve our purposes. I wish Alito and Thomas weren't on the SCOTUS; I'd much rather see them on a sailboat somewhere off the coast, or even (but nowhere nearly as much), practicing law in private practice. That would be fine; just keep them the hell away from any bench that mandates serious decisions.
Ad let's face it- the RW SCOTUS members have completely abandoned the concept of the Rule of Law, as demonstrated by their allowing TFG to have the "right" to do anything he wants under the guise of his "decisions" be Core Values.
😂
I have a petition drive to forbid a Trump portrait in the White House.
Gary, are you sure they were offended? Cats are pretty smart and I suspect appreciated your family's enthusiasm!
😀
! Lol Gary....
I’m singing with you!💙
I feel it Jen, all over the country even for those that have never heard the song, Happy Days are here and we will fight to insure they last.
Hoyt-I live in Florida. I have seen groups posting from around the state where they are lining the streets with people waving Harris/Walz signs and people are waving and honking back. In the Villages, a Trump enclave, they had an enormous golf cart parade. This is a huge shift from only seeing pickups with huge American flags and flags either saying horrible things about our President or endorsing tfg. This is a joyous, hopeful, engaging shift. (And I wasn’t kidding-FDR and Eleanor have always been heroes to me-so I really am singing with you! 😊)
This is welcomed news from Florida, Jen. The state has been under attack by your Governor and his ilk for years now, and I hope this is a sign of healing and change for you and your fellow citizens, as well as hope for moving forward for the whole country.
I agree celeste. I have long looked at Florida as some kind of place where I would never want to live. Now I have hope even for there. Our neighbor, who is usually negative, is so excited about Harris/Walz. We have already had two celebrations for her and love the addition of Walz. Pretty amazing to have a Harris rally at The Villages. That is hopeful indeed.
Thank you, Celeste-and hoping with you! Ain’t hope grand???? 😊
Celeste, hopeful comment. It would be amazing if Florida would stand up and vote in some really good Dems in the down ballot races to get out some of those appalling legislators who vote for whatever the crazy governor DeSantis wants, even if his pronouncements hurt a lot of people. And DeSantis claims to be Christian! He doesn't follow any of the teachings of Jesus I ever read! Hey, maybe they could even vote a popular win there for Harris and Walz!
What a joyful message Jen. This is contagious and we have to insure it builds for the next 72 days. Here in NC we start voting on Oct-17, 53 days. A lot of work in such a short time.
See Kamala Harris Rally in The Villages Video a:t
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKDkqqDiFkw
"Kamala Country" now
Registration ends in Florida Oct. 7. Until then we can swamp them with new and re-registered folk. We need volunteers.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/
On BYOP texting into FL, NC is free. https://www.fieldteam6.org/free-byop-textbanks
FT 6 phone calling to unregistered folk. FL on Thursdays 2 pm. https://www.mobilize.us/ft6/event/632594/ Pa, @ 4pm. edt
Phone bank N. Carolina Mondays at 6 pm
No time to waste! You can do it North Carolina!
🌊🌊🌊. Yes, we KAM!!!!
Nothing like some inspiring music to amplify what everyone wants to feel anyway!
Our hearts are filled with song and hope and joy. Frank, this is our time to fulfill our greatest dreams.
Speaking of joy, the last paragraph re: the balloons made me cry. First because I was so happy to read that they were biodegradable, then the remarkable quantity, and lastly the story of love behind each and every balloon. 💕
It made me cry too. Not the first time with the joy and grief of this massive national celebration.
Hoyt, the Dems put the "party" back in our Party. (But I must say that I greatly prefer the fifty-song playlist assembled of each state's choice to "Happy Days Are Here Again".)
Now that the party is over, the work continues.
I really enjoyed that 50 state play list! Maine's was "Shut Up and Dance"...I couldn't figure the reason for that choice until I watched the video--the lyrics are perfect ("don't you dare to look back" "the woman is my destiny" etc) and the female dancer is wearing high top chucks!
Doug, of course "Happy Days" will not be the song of this campaign. It worked in 1932 because it was a new song then. I like Biance's "Freedom," and I am sure there are some others like what we heard at the roll call that would work too. A couple of sing-along type songs would work too to get people singing at rallies. It makes a difference.
I have a favorite, but it's not particularly upbeat; It is deeply contemplative though. It's been an 'ear worm' for me the entire past decade or so.
Yellen? I wonder if he was related to Janet Yellen?
Yep! it's easy to sing that song at the moment.
I wondered that too, Anne-Louise. Yolen’s children’s books are stellar! The spelling of the last name is different though.
Thank you, Mr Bangs, for knowing all the verses. I only know the second, but I do have a shot glass (unfortunately chipped) from 1932 with the image of a donkey and “Happy Days are Here Again” on it. Found it in the back of my father’s liquor cabinet. Knew he voted for Roosevelt in 1932 and suspect it was a gift from one of his fellow happy Saturday-night, highball-drinking, bridge-playing friends in the early ‘30’s.
Great story, thank you. I copied the song from a lyrics website, i also was challenged on all the verses.
Streisand's rendition is my favorite!
yep
Here are a couple of YouTube links to "Happy Days Are Here Again", including the original:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqsT4xnKZPg
and the remarkable https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFVxX3RtyhQ with Barbara Streisand and Judy Garland!
Goodness, I forgot how good Garland's voice was. Streisand is Streisand, but Garland? Something else!
OMG, Barbra and Judy, never heard that before, thank you so much. Goosebumps.
Judith, thank you for the Barbara and Judy rendition, which is memorable in so many ways, especially their regard for one another throughout. I love the rabbit holes this clip took me down on the Internet, especially two interviews with Pete Budegieg after his speech, one with Politico. Anything I can find online that keeps me linked to the convention is needed and welcome. But Judy and Barbara, will remain in my heart forever. Thanks again.
I just shared, then took down the link to the original song because I saw you already shared it and the Streisand/Garland link. Thanks, Judith.
OMG, you set off an ear worm…it'll hang around for days. I still know that song by heart.
Yes - and thank you for sharing the lyrics.
As President Biden has said, more than once: " There is nothing we cannot do, if we do it together."
Always loved when Joe stated that powerful idea!
I remember the covers of the "Saturday Evening Post".
I remember the poster that proclaimed "A Family Is a Circle of Friends Who Love You," helping us understand without saying it in so many words that community, as expressed over and over during the Convention, supports us and protects us whether or not we are biologically related.
Like Kamala Harris’s mom, I had to have a circle of friends to help me raise my child. My family lived four states away, thankfully not on the other side of the world. But they were not close enough, physically, to be able to help me with the kids. My husband had a high level job and was often traveling for work. We all need and want to be part of a community because no one can handle life right by themselves.
Who said, "It takes a village"? Hilary Clinton. I am not a pediatrician or psychologist, but it is nearly impossible to raise children with only two parents. Kids require far more attention and guidance that only a close community/village can provide.
Hilary said it, but I know it as an African proverb.
Edith, yes, it is an African proverb, and isn't it great that Hillary learned it and brought it to us so we can have language for what we/our parents have known forever, it takes a village. . . .
A close, caring community is not essential only for the kids, but also for the parents who otherwise have the sole responsibility for raising and loving those kids.
Essential for the father and the mother. Betsy, I am a second wave Boomer (1948) & grew up on street full of WWII working mothers & fathers when the need for homes & schools & teachers for the kids was 'booming'.
Bonus: There were so many kids we had our own subculture, our own games & into music, "it's got a beat you can dance to it". 1960's politics & music look out!
The nuclear family is actually an anomaly. In all social mammal species the young are raised by the whole group. That we humans have strayed from how we evolved speaks to how culture and biology have diverged. It's really too much to ask one or two people to be all that kids need to develop.
Though we are all pretty closely related as a species. There are some to which we open our hearts more widely.
Betsy Also Rockwell had a powerful Four Freedoms cover, related to FDR’r 1941 pronouncement.
wow, Keith--above I just commented about visiting the Rockwell Museum--those four paintings are on display there! It almost feels sacred to stand and view them while their excellent docents tell the history behind the paintings.
Keith Wheelock -- Could you be more specific about Betsy Rockwell's Four Freedoms cover? Perhaps a link, or a "copy and paste" image? Mrs. Google isn't helpful. Norman Rockwell had one.
Judith I no longer have my Norman Rockwell photo cover book. The Four Freedoms I believe was after FDR met Churchill in the summer of 1941. You can identify the Four Freedoms on Google. I may be imagining it, but I have an image of a Rockwell poster. Of course I was only 9 and this was 83 years ago.
Keith, this one brought me to tears. What childhoods we had! And the unity (even of a Pennsylvania child and a Virginia child) is what I think both of us are feeling post the “long division” set off by Nixon’s Southern Strategy as neither Eisenhower no Kennedy set out to divide US.
Judith, "Betsy" is who Keith was responding to; Norman Rockwell had the Four Freedoms Post cover.
Ah, the power of a comma (and of a Kamala)! If Keith had written "Betsy, also Rockwell..." it would have been clear that he was addressing me, and that I, Betsy Smith, never designed a cover for the Saturday Evening Post. Here's a link to the covers: https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2018/01/rockwells-four-freedoms-2/
Betsy Kudos for demonstrating that my memory, at age 9, was spot on. Of course at 90 I can’t remember what I did yesterday. What a difference a ‘0’ makes.
I do remember that one. It’s like remembering Pearl Harbor and the War Effort.
Betsy, I was moved by the many positive comments at the Convention about community and how important the concept is. I liked Hillary Clinton reminding me that it takes a village to raise our kids, but I also know it takes a village to bring about the positives of life: peace, caring, working hospitals, terrific public schools, the diversity of religious faiths and non-believers, and so much more. We needed the messages of this convention because so many of us were losing heart that we could rescue our nation from the grasping fingers of greed, resentment, fearmongering, perpetual anger, and hatred of those not like oneself. Those are such destructive emotions when on a forever loop with no relief, and that loop was being forced down our throats by a media so enamored with Donald Trump they couldn't break free from the spell themselves. I hope the Convention did a lot to break us out of the imposed bubble of despair, frustration, and being told Trump is "normal" and worthy of any kind of power. I am excited for Harris and Walz as two people with many supporters including Joe Biden, who believe we can do better if we do it together.
Amen. : )
A -L This felt like a Norman Rockwell event. Also, Rockwell, apart from the SEP, in the 1960s painted some searing Civil Rights images.
The Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, CA had a Rockwell exhibit a few years back that featured the Civil Rights images as well as ALL his cover pieces. A powerful exhibit. I wonder where they all are now. Hummm
In the Norman Rockwell Museum in Massachusetts. A small place, but a wonderful place to visit and well worth the trip!
I love that museum. A buddy of mine in Sacramento was an architect and did several renovations in Old Sacramento and the old homes around downtown Sacramento. What a beautiful area.
Yes, that's what I thought! In the 60s I'd moved to Europe, so I've never seen them (simply because you couldn't get the SEP). I knew Americans in Paris who were SNCC activists.
There is a Norman Rockwell museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. I interviewed him a few years before he died, and he told me that mostly he painted his neighbors, but Stockbridge is mostly white, and he made an effort to broaden his cast. I'm not sure what's available at the museum, but it's still open.
We visited the Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge......there are many original Rockwell paintings and they are inspiring.
Thanks Progwoman, I need to make a pilgrimage to the Rockwell museum.
When you take a tour, the docent will point out and identify neighbors and family in his paintings, which was pretty cool, as several people were used a few times, so you'd recognize them as they were pointed out.
Thank you, Keith My father subscribed and I remember the cartoon, though cannot remember an article. I was reading Southern novels from age 10. High school library was stocked with them. Norman Rockwell’s paintings were “foreign” to me as the “wrong child” (father and aunt were math geniuses; after Alegebra I, math was all worse than Greek to me).
I do know SNCC, however. Also years of support for SLC.
And there was CREEP—-Committee to Re-elect the President (Watergate)
What, for this acronym-challenged person, is SEP?
Virginia Saturday Evening Post. Norman Rockwell did many covers for them. So did Stephen Dohanos, who, under WPA, painted art work in the Puerto Rican post office, which I viewed some years ago.
I wonder if I would be permitted to say this. But there is reasonable chance that Trump will die before me and given that he does and I am able, I intend to drop some form of body waste on the stone that represents his godforsaken body. Even if I need to toss it from a distance. Even if I’m arrested for tossing crap at an “ex-president.” I’ll hire a team to video me so I can put it on my YouTube channel.
I've wondered if there's really going to be a trump library. Frankly, a hilarious idea.
They should have a special section on all of the children's books banned while he was President.
I believe that TC in LA has reported he p'd on Nixon's grave, which is one of the reasons I like TC so much! :D
I’m serious. I’m 71 he is 77 I’m in great shape he is in bad shape. I should outlive Trump. I hope he isn’t buried in Arlington.
Gawwwd forbid!! However, on second thought, the ghosts of the fallen soldiers could haunt him forever.
If ever you have a chance, go to the Norman Rockwell Museum in Massachusetts. OMG--every Rockwell SEP cover is on display, and the original paintings of so many of his famous paintings. I'm kind of a historical nerd--things that really move me are stuff like seeing John Lennon's round glasses at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, or Elton John's diamond epaulets at a traveling Diamond exhibit which I caught at the Field Museum years ago, so in that light, being able to lean forward and see the actual brushstrokes of his paintings--I found that very thrilling!
It’s a new forward looking day where we can solve problems in a straight forward matter of fact manner…. It’s a time where our dreams for a fairer, smarter, more creative and resilient future can become reality.
First, we make certain that we protect our planet…its magnificent natural life sustaining systems make everything else possible. The United States, once the worst polluter, must keep increasing its emphasis on making a rapid transition away from the burning of fossil fuels that have done so much damage over the past century. By setting a good example other countries will do more as well.
As we begin to succeed in stabilizing and then lowering the average temperature of the atmosphere by using much larger scale wind, solar, fusion and other non polluting energy sources we can continue to improve quality of life for everyone. Parks and ever more community gardens can bloom in every neighborhood, wildlife can thrive instead being roadkill and people can live longer healthier lives. When people feel hope for an increasingly better, fairer mor responsive future for all, conflicts will lessen.
President Harris and Vice President Walz will have a great opportunity to build on the many excellent policies of the Biden administration and keep leading.us further forward in the tradition of FDR. We can do this….
KD,
Appreciate your mentioning, "care for our planet".....we take so much for granted.
Along with that, we must work to care for one another as is possible....ie health, education, welfare.....friendship/community.
I am more proud of my Country these past few years than ever. It's easy to be proud when the skies are sunny. Not giving up, staying proud and working for change when the skies are darkest is the true test of a Country. We prevailed.
I am very proud of my Country under Joe Biden. To raise the United States up out of a four-year nightmare and move us forward at the same time is a huge historic feat. Joe Biden earned the respect of Americans and our allies abroad through his sending vaccines overseas during the pandemic, rebuilding NATO, fortifying the Pacific against the Chinese and engineering the best post covid economic recovery in the world. He stood down the Chinese and the Russians.
At home Joe Biden's Administration vaccinated 200 million Americans in just under 90 days. We were literally hiding in our homes until then. Please take a look at the historic legislation he has passed. Remember we have the best economy in 50 years.
We are proud under Joe Biden and the Democrats. Never let anyone take your pride away.
We had to wait until March for the vaccinations due to low priority for out of state seniors (74 and 70) moving out of the home we sold in California and helping with grandchildren care in Washington as child care at any price was unavailable. Vaccines helped communities share child care duties and let us get on the road to Maine.
Though a relative was the first person in Maine to die from Covid (a year earlier in March 2019), we found some of the highest percentages vaccinated and masking up (in our county in Maine) so were able to stay Covid free until 4 days after the Pandemic was declared over. Fortunately with all the vaccines and boosters available, the symptoms were mild enough that we wouldn’t have known it was Covid without the positive test results we got after a High School graduation ceremony.
I honestly feel Joe Biden may have saved my life.
Bringing back pride? Because DJT was such an embarrassment, combined with the legions of supporters he had , it caused one to feel ashamed that we had a political leader who lacked any redeeming qualities and appealed to the fear and hatred of his followers.
I told my husband on Day 4, that it was the first time in a pretty long time that I actually felt proud of my country again. Thanks, Joe. And thanks, Kamala and Tim, for being such good role models!
I'm volunteering to write please vote postcards.
I understand your feelings concerning the notion that republicans have grabbed the flag for their own standard. No doubt, there has been much by the republicans who believe that the flag somehow belongs to them. That is exactly the kind of nationalist thinking no nation needs from its people. I would respectfully suggest to you that although the republicans have been vulgar in their inclination to think that the flag is theirs, you and I both know that flag ownership is the mark of nationalism that so easily matriculates into fascism. The flag belongs to everyone; even those with whom we virulently disagree. As difficult as it may be, we nevertheless need to keep reaching out to those whom we can convince of the true and faithful priorities that the left of center understands the promise of our programs. Hopefully, those folks who we are able to reach successfully, can try and reach those harder in understanding. No doubt, there will always be neanderthals who will insist on dragging their knuckles into oblivious ignorance; however, as Rick Blaine in Casablanca once said of the Nazis, maybe one day they will be a "minor inconvenience."
Kamala Harris, for the people.
It makes a terrific campaign slogan, doesn't it?
Yes - it writes itself.
A beautiful week; thank you for reporting these pregnant days of change. As an erstwhile Republican and a loyal American, I felt a genuine optimism for the first time in a long time. Adam Kinzinger and Geoff Duncan are right: voting for President Harris is a duty, an exercise in practical patriotism. https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5129754/user-clip-conservative-makes-proud Finally, I was proud to be an American first, a conservative second. https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5129329/lt-gov-geoff-duncan We will survive to debate again for the betterment of all.
Ned, when we were kids, the Republicans and the Democrats were "Old School" -- we could argue all day long, but we always knew that ultimately we were on the same side, and we never ever stopped being friends. That's about half a century ago for many of us here. But we know we can get back to that good feeling that nothing can break our loyal friendship, even when we disagree on policy. The key is that we all agree that we must keep working to achieve consensus. When our society lost that cooperative quest for consensus, mostly in the late '70s approaching the Reagan years, the conversation fell apart and devolved into a quest for partisan power. There are some good exemplars out there. We hope their numbers will increase, so that we can get back to working together again to govern rationally.
Thank you Ned for your critical thinking and to Heather for delivering her observations of the convention’s closing—hope for national sanity….
Thank you, Sophia, the lady of wisdom!
The thanks properly go to Dr Cox Richardson. Easier for one to respond than to initiate.
So beautifully stated, good man (i.e., David H.). My comment may have two hundred likes; this comment of yours ought to have two thousand.
P.S., one response to you, David: Reaganism, even in its recycled Project2025 version (aside from the snide asides), is exhausted much as the New Deal was in the mid-to-late 1970s. Hopefully, we are at a new beginning; a pregnant pause before a new plunge into history. I never voted for President Reagan though I was a Republican because I could not give up on the Great Society.
Ned, I think that the "conservative movement" had a very long run, from the early 1950s. For years, or decades, I've wondered how long it would take our society's political pendulum to swing back in the other direction, toward the Teddy Roosevelt-"Fighting Bob" La Follette Progressive Movement -- or the LBJ Great Society, etc. The pendulum moves back and forth -- I look at it as "well, let's give the conservatives a chance to see what they can do" and after an extended period, it changes to "well, let's give the liberals a chance to see what they can do". I remember a story about the FDR years, especially at the beginning in the '30s, when they tried various programs, continued those that worked, abandoned those that didn't work, and kept trying to find things that worked. It would help if we could ALL work together! Fortunately, at least some of us can work together, even when we are not in full agreement. Now I have a song playing in my mind "Why Can't We Be Friends?"
Thank you, David. Please excuse the late reply. I am on vacay. In the gloom and doom of my lonely room in Annapolis, I have time to answer properly comments like the one you make here.
😱
Unfortunately, around others for whom I hold an abiding affection (most of the time) up here in the Adirondacks, I am bizzy.
⚖️
Why I value you, David, is that you graciously take the time to spell out your wisdom plainly so others can chew the cud on it. That is a big favor to the rest of us.
My reaction or response to what you write: we are, at our most typical and workable (if not ideal), a nation of push-&-pull pragmatists. As, ironically, a fellow kultur-kampfer (i.e., forty years ago) and very decent man once said: "Ideology breeds idiocy."
🤔
With nebulous decisions like the immunity case with vaporous distinctions of (un)official *acts or pluperfect reasoning like that used in the Dobbs case, that idiocy is on parade. That great silent majority does *exist in its political variations; we are pragmatic and we are pushing back.
Ned It will be a sustained fight to November 5th. Though the wind currently is at the back of Kamala/Coach, it would be dangerous to underestimate the shenanigans of the FEAR/DESPAIR folks.
You, like me, are proud to be an American. I was an Eisenhower Republican in 1956 and on the Nixon White House Enemies List by 1972. Now we have an opportunity to renew the values of Abraham Lincoln, which have been abandoned by the Republican Party.
The orange traitor is doing just what Nixon did, calling those who won't support him enemies, not Americans with differing opinions, but enemies. Sorry, but no American citizen is my enemy, except those like the former president who want to abolish the Constitution and the rule of law.
Bravo!
Wow, on dickie’s enemies list. Wonder if you can get on chump’s enemies list. I’m sure that his cretins have been busy compiling one in every nook and cranny in the land.
JD In the good old days a presidential enemies list could be written on a few scraps of paper. The Nixon Enemies List had only 550 names. With the Orange Orangutan, an enemies’ list would require the most sophisticated computer. It would include countless millions, not including ‘foreigners.’
I qualify for both lists—I continue to be feisty (pain in the ass) and care deeply about my country. By Dufus Donald’s definition, I was a ‘sucker’ and almost a ‘loser’ in service to my country. By contrast, he is only a loser.
Keith, I disagree. The former President is THE loser. Being deprecated by someone like the former President makes one estimable in the eyes and hearts of reasonable (wo)men.
The list will likely be a compendium from a whole crew of dirty tricksters. There is a multitude of helpers, as evidenced by Project 2025. Not much depends on chump anymore, except to spew hate better than his buds.
The irony here is that cousins of mine describe President Biden *as a sock-puppet; a slur I categorically reject, of course. The question arises for me: ¿when was *your man -- sic, or sick, I can not tell -- not a puppet?
Chump is Pinocchio on steroids. With Putin pulling the strings.
We should ALL strive to be "E-listers!"
Most on here have been vocal enough to be noticed by the Texas MAGAts. Paxton is a busy beaver…. Likely same is true in other states…
He’s a beaver, all right. Sheesh…
Instead of an eager beaver, he is an evil beaver. Already trying to make up crap about illegals signing up to vote. Debunked but he is “investigating” anyway. And will milk the tit til hell freezes over.
Yes! But as Keith and I are both 90 and supposed to be dead (Covid and lack of medical care), the list doesn’t really worry about him (or me) adequately. I was never part of government as he was, but was in some way active in every presidential campaign for Democrats, so like many, fodder for DJT’s ire.
I’m older than dirt but I worry about my grands.
Not sure he has an enemies list. That requires effort.
Ned To identify an enemy Trump just has to look in a mirror.
“Mirror mirror on the wall
Who’s the biggest asshole of all?”
It’s not just him anymore
That is more like it. ;)
Ned, I got a chuckle out of that one: pmurT would not have an enemies list because compiling a list would require effort.
Too indolent to work up an enemies list, he might be characterized as
a half-fast fascist.
🥳 That last line -- half-assed fascist -- is Mussolini and Trump! Thanks.
But Ned, he has Stephen Miller by his side to make up that list.
See reply to Keith W
🤣
Comparing the views of the RNC vs the DNC the numbers are actually pretty close but the Dems won out overall by a few percentage points.
But the number of viewers has been decreasing since 1980 and extremely so this century. As more and more people drop cable TV people are streaming events when it is convenient for them to do so. Of course, millions of people still watched each convention live, but there are so many alternatives to streaming and even listening on Sirius/XM that we may never actually know how many people tuned in ever again.
And that's not a bad thing.
Goof point, Gary. I watched about half of Democratic Convention through C-span. Did not bother with the G.O.P. convention. EDIT . . . .
¿Why?
Shrinking grey matter; too little shelf-space left to waste it trying to tackle feckless flatulence.
Gary A big difference is that there are a vast number of Dem convention highlights that can be used widely. From the Rep convention (which I did not see), I would take patches of the Orange Orangutan’s off-teleprompter bloviations and show these incessantly.
This is also a really good point. Many four-to-six minute speeches that pounded home the message from so many different perspectives, demonstrating in real time just how big a tent the Democratic Party has become.
Keith, many thanks! You are a far braver man than i. Thank you for taking the time to buck me up. As V.P. Knute Rockne said many times: we can sleep when we are dead.
Ned As Coach said, we’re on the same team.
Of course we are; always have been. That is why I believe this time is a pregnant pause before a new plunge into history. There will be mistakes and disagreements. Of course. Yet the country will be headed in the right direction -- of that much, at least, l am sure.
Keith, I LOVE that you were on the Nixon White House enemies list by 1972. That speaks of your enormous perspicacity. Thank you!
I’ve tried to explain to my children that when I was young, democrats and republicans tended to share the same goals for the nation, but differed on how to achieve those goals. I freely admit, especially knowing what I now know from these Letters, that that was a simplistic and naive view of our politics, but we did think that. That is, of course, no longer true, if it ever was.
Naive, perhaps, in the face of cynics. I sense many or most people want that naivete, at least aspirationally. Perhaps our society and culture are too atomized to enable that aspiration, the faint *hand of optimism.
Ned, there is still hope for you to change your mind! Just saying you can migrate to the big tent party if you want to.
Truth be told: with a mother as an occasionally rebellious conservative of a New Deal dad and my father as an occasionally rebellious liberal from a rock-ribbed Republican family, I always had one foot on either side of the ideological divide. I could not vote for President Reagan because I felt his policies were heartless; my parents had liked the Great Society, at least as an experiment of a nation at its peak seeking greatness from the inside-out over grandeur for the world to see. They may disagree with me today; we need to try for that greatness again.
Thank you everyone: David H., Sophia, Keith, J.D., Celeste, David S., Gary, Matt, K.R. and, most of all, Dr Cox Richardson! Y'all made my day.
My new callout for Democrats is, “Don’t complain, DO something.”
I like President Obama's motto too:
Don't boo, vote!
That was a great moment! I also liked it when he said following Michelle in a speech was a big mistake! I loved Barack's speech but Michelle's was awesome!
“I am feeling ready to go, even if I am the only person stupid enough to speak after Michelle Obama.”
That line sure got a big laugh - by MILLIONS!
Wow. Laughter. Remember that?
Completely agree on Michelle being the Obama that hit for power, average and RBIs that night. I wrote the same in a comment on one of Marlon Weems's notes last week.
And Barack knew, and stated, he was unable to match Michelle's speech. A true President who knows where his support came from.
As the saying goes, "Behind every great man there is a great woman."
Please vote early as so many voting laws have been passed and the voter rolls culled. Even though I live in a Blue state I'm going to vote the first opportunity I can.
Pete Souza took this wonderful picture of Barack watching Michelle's speech.
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10164044475799498&set=a.10150865829259498
Yay Pete Souza! What a great picture, as always.
Out of the park for sure! Barack's was a homer, but Michelle's was out of the park, landing on the streets.
By golly if we can chew gum and walk at the same time we can boo and most importantly GOTV and VOTE all at the same time.
Do Something!
Volunteer at a voter registration event.
Participate in a Get Out the Vote effort.
Support your candidates with time & money.
Your vote is precious.
Your participation is a force multiplier.
We can all run with Michelle Obama’s call to DO SOMETHING!
Social Workers for Harris have a great Quick Guide, “Want to Make a Difference but Short on Time?”
https://www.instagram.com/p/C-8c4aVxC-J/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Field Team 6 works to register Democratic voters. Donate and/or choose from a variety of grassroots work of phone banking, text banking, writing postcards, etc.:
https://www.fieldteam6.org/all-volunteer-ops
President Kamala Harris will need a Democratic majority in the Senate and House to pass Harris-Walz legislation. Swing Left does this strategically: https://swingleft.org/
Strategic donations are more effective than emotional donations. As David Pepper writes, state legislatures are the Laboratories of Autocracy. The States Project researches how to best use our donor dollars to support Democratic candidates in state races:
https://statesproject.org/get-involved/give-smart/
https://www.grapevine.org/giving-circle/1XQhnyD/-
Onward with our patriotic pride!
💙🇺🇸💙🇺🇸💙
You’re so great, Ellie! 🥳
Yes AND, sorry but my need to do something now is about what's glossed over; I'm joyous and at the same time still watching to see the emergence of United States leadership effectiveness -- will the Prosecutor take aim to support (or at least comment at length on) the International Court of Justice's interpretation of agreements about who owns what in Israel and West bank? Will Palestinians be supported to have their rights upheld? This 30-minute video report on "The West Bank: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqK3_n6pdDY helped me understand the forces at work in Israel/Gaza.
Yes… “when one of us is harmed ALL of us are harmed.” I was riding on the joy of the democratic spirit. However I cannot Not see that the United States Government is supporting the murderous policies and actions of yet another autocrat in Netanyahu. I am counting on the belief and hope that she lives up to her many promises of our Big Tent and includes the children of Gaza, and people of Palestine, in that tent. I do not have any other choice right now, since the alternative is so so much worse, but the denial of allowing a Palestinian American to speak at the convention, when time was given to those Israeli Americans was a mistake.
Mark, call 5 of your friends and have them check their voter registration. Have them make a plan to vote. Then have each of them call 5 of THEIR friends to continue the chain. Call them again to make sure that they voted when they planned. Have them do the same with their friends.
Volunteer if you can. Donate if you can. When we vote, we win!
Mary Hardt (and many other engaged HCR readers whose names I recognize), being the retired public school and community college educator that I am, I want to share a personal anecdote…
I enjoyed a lovely gathering of mostly Republican voters last evening under the canopy of old oak trees here on the east coast on ubiquitous “Front Street”. Conversation seemed to inevitably drift toward grandchildren and the new school year approaching. I was able to, what I hope was “tactfully”, insert into my remarks the importance of public education and opportunity for higher education for all motivated young people. Without much effort, I also expressed my deep appreciation for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz’s stories which we continue to
absorb after the phenomenal DNC 2024. From the beautiful stories told at the convention, the role of public education within each COMMUNITY opened unimaginable doors for both Harris and Walz.
“This reworking of the American government to reflect community rather than economic relationships changed the entire fabric of the country…” as profoundly stated today by Heather Cox Richardson today is the foundation of what I understand by the word “democracy”. The change we want to help make happen will come within each of our communities.
I have a handmade sign on my front porch: Silentium est consensu”…VOTE.
Each of us has a community platform and a chance to not be silent.
Let’s use our platform at every chance we get and speak up respectfully and help elect Harris and Walz 2024.
I love your approach Jane. Also thank you for your years of service in Public Education.
Well said. As the child of an English teacher, I thank you for your time as a teacher.
I spent my Saturday working on my get out the vote postcards and doing text banking with field team 6 to encourage people to register to vote! It felt great! 🥳😎
HCR, thank you for tonights wonderful article. The message I got from the Democratic Convention last week is our country is too large and to diverse to have us be governed by a select few extreme Republicans from the Heritage Foundation with a mentally unstable and inexperienced person like Donald Trump.
“Not only do we have to defeat Trump, but we must build a strong grassroots movement that can confront the extraordinary greed of the big money interests that have so much power over the economic and political life of our country. Our goal: a government that works for all, not just the few.” - words spoken by Bernie Sanders this week. Remember that if we volunteer to keep writing to our elected officials, we can encourage our politicians that supporting the middle class will make our tax dollars get a higher return on its value. WE ARE BETTER TOGETHER!
Supreme Court reform and campaign finance reform can accomplish so much—once we win the trifecta!
Here is someone’s genius idea: Post-It posted in the women’s restroom of big box stores, encouraging women to vote privately:
https://www.threads.net/@thornusanimator/post/C_Eh7xPRPJW/?xmt=AQGzSN00_n8i6YTRuhsitGkecMOBUcnDpoJPD0PxAksq7A
Wow, thank you for writing about DeLorenzo's community of other balloon artists coming together in support of him while he is fighting cancer, to help blow up and tie balloons for the DNC drop! (and also relieved to find out that the 100K balloons were biodegradable!) His quote, "Words cannot express the gratitude I feel for this community" exactly reflect how I feel about this community of readers who are inspired by your LFAAs, that We the People are working together in every way that we can to ensure that our democracy will be preserved when it comes time to vote in Kamala/Walz as our next POTUS/VP. No matter how huge or how small the contributions and efforts, each of us supports others here.
Dr. Heather wrote:
"The 100,000 biodegradable balloons that fell from the rafters when Vice President Harris accepted the Democratic nomination for president were blown up and tied by a team of 55 balloon artists from 18 states and Canada who volunteered to prepare the drop in honor of their colleague, Tommy DeLorenzo, who, along with his husband Scott, runs a balloon business. DeLorenzo is battling cancer. “We’re more colleagues than competitors,” Patty Sorell told Sydney Page of the Washington Post. “We all wanted to do something to help Tommy, to show him how much we love him.”
“Words cannot express the gratitude I feel for this community,” DeLorenzo said." "
18 states - and Canada! Isn't it beautiful?
Gotta say that I'm happy they were biodegradable. My neighborhood trees are full of disintegrating balloons—mostly Mylar— from people's birthday and graduation parties.
I wish they were not for sale.
I wish that Mylar and regular latex balloons were not out there to be found in the oceans and forests of our planet. It's especially detrimental to our sea birds and other ocean animals including turtles and fish, who mistake them for food or get entangled, and then die of starvation or trauma since the plastic pieces and balloon ribbons collect and fill their bellies, strangle them, or amputate limbs/wings.
While Florida is known for banning books 📚, at least we did ban balloon 🎈releases this year !
With you there, bio balloons! On my trip to Aldi’s today I spotted reusable bags for sale that said on them ‘this bag is made from 100% ocean plastic’ outoftheocean.com
I bought one!
They look so disgusting.
I've always been concerned about privatization of Helium that could lead to shortages for critical uses like MRI and NMR uses.
Harold Ickes refused to let it be sold the Germany in the 1930s as described at:
https://repository.arizona.edu/bitstream/handle/10150/318934/AZU_TD_BOX25_E9791_1964_132.pdf?sequence=1
The Clinton Administration and Christopher Cox wanted to force the government out of the Strategic Helium Reserves as a cost savings act, and depend upon entirely private production and sales of the gas that is separated from natural gas (if profitable but vented off to lost forever if it not "profitable"), a reason I always want the government making sure we keep as much helium for the irreplaceable functions it serves. We had to change the welding methods that suffered from less available helium to weld aluminum ship hulls for example (and suffered from the failures in some ship modifications for the USCG, I believe). Then we had seemingly uncontrolled sales for party balloons that led to shortages for the critical uses, in my mind.
See https://cryptome.org/eyeball/helium/helium-eyeball.htm
The latest scary (to me), news is at:
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/us-just-sold-helium-stockpile-s-medical-world-worried-rcna134785
I'd like to see the government make sure as much helium as possible is recovered while they are extracting so much natural gas that can waste so much of it through needless loss. Then we might have enough for some level of party balloons if the world doesn't care how much of the impossible (so far), to create gas is lost forever.
That certainly puts things in perspective! Yikes! Every once in while when I was a kid (1950s), the phone rang, my mom picked up, and dissolved into giggles. It was my dad calling from his chemistry lab, having inhaled helium before calling home.
When my daughter was in HS lacrosse and I was the party organizer, a dad of another player was an elevator repairman who had a side job as a balloon artist. He made balloon arches, but for our banquet, he made a giant lacrosse stick with a homemade frame and balloons; it was incredible, and he never charged a dime, not even for the balloons. It was his contribution to the team. I don’t know if he was one of the 55, but I believe he would have pitched in if he got the call.
This was the best convention of my lifetime, and I’ll turn sixty-eight next week. I’ve never been more proud of my party.
I watched the 1956 convention at age 12 with my father, and all since. This was the best of all. The party this Democrat has been looking for the past 50 years showed up at last.
Not your father's DNC Convention in Chicago... On the way home from a business meeting, my father's taxi was delayed by the unrest. When he got home to Orange Co. CA. He threw me out of bed and pushed me up against the wall, screaming about his experience on "The Loop" and blaming me, as I was a young progressive. It stuck with me, I was not a riot prone person, just progressive. A much older progressive now, I am thrilled to be watching "good trouble" being made for the best possible reasons. Preserving our Constitutional way of life into the future, insuring that it will continue to serve "We the People"
That's painful to hear, but once again, I think the media abetted that.
At least we had the "Fairness Doctrine". The truth is even harder to track down now.
Thanks Heather, brilliant summary! The fact that former President Clinton brought up regarding job creation is essential to pound home to dispel the issue of Republicans untruthful grip on the economy. I feel also the strong statements on our support of our allies against authoritarian regimes was essential. We are witnessing history in real tine. You are the witness, scribe and interpreter. You have become an essential part of our lives and thank you for that!
We are indeed witnessing history in real time. I turned 25 just prior to Reagan being elected. So basically during my entire adult life I've observed the transformation of American politics from one end of the spectrum to the other, and now, back again.
I was raised in a traditional Republican (read Eisenhower,) house. Coming of age in the raucous 70s, I followed my heart to vote for Democrats despite my Dad's arguments. As the 80s and 90s evolved, we noticed Dad didn't like our political arguments, seemed to be less than supportive of the Bushes, and mom admitted later that she voted with us kids. Turns out my Eisenhower supporting parents raised 4 Democrats.
Could it be that the Republican party left your family members, not that your family left the Republicans party?
Mine raised 2 Democrats, and after my father passed away, my Mom reverted to follow her heart and become a Democrat, which she had always probably been anyway.
I have lived in Minnesota most of my life. I also have relatives in Nebraska. In ways that matter, I have long had a Tim and/or a Gwen Walz to lean on when things went sideways. My brothers and I talk about the neighborhood we grew up in in South Minneapolis and the people we miss - our family by love. Without them, I wouldn’t be here. But suddenly, there seems to be many more of them - everywhere!
Watching the rest of the country get to know Tim Walz is a deep joy. I was at the dog park yesterday, and one of Gus’s high school teachers was there. She whipped out her phone and showed us photos of Gus and some of his classmates who traveled as a group to the Convention. Just imagine the impact this convention had on a group of seniors from a very diverse big city school. Yeah, the Walz family thinks a public high school is good enough for their kids. It’s how they roll. Middle class, no elite private schools required. All of a sudden, things feel familiar again. Like we are remembering what community is!
One of the first bills passed in 2022 after we elected a blue trifecta government, was a 100% renewable energy standard, one of the strongest in the country. Minnesota has a long history of moving towards renewables both because of the climate crisis and because, with no oil or coal, it made economic sense to develop energy sources that were local. One of the byproducts of this type of legislation is that we now have two of the largest turbine builders based here - the center of the push for the entire country. Clean energy, great jobs, more income for farmers and other land owners, and a utility, Xcel Energy, that is translating what they learned here to other places like Colorado where they also operate. Translation? Maybe we actually have a shot at getting a real grip on the climate crisis in time -all the while creating an “opportunity economy!” Love that phrase!!!
Walz highlighted many of his accomplishments as governor in his acceptance speech and I know he will bring that same passion - to protect, create good jobs, make the future better, and teach some folks to; “mind their own damn business” to his job as vice president. We understand the assignment too. Now let’s do this
Sheila,I always love your dog park stories !
💙
For a writer, that place is an endless source of inspiration. Regular folks making a living and a life, and caring for a motley crew of mutts along the way. And the stupid antics of the dogs - so fun- and a great antidote to the madness of MAGA.
I love my dog park friends! It’s funny how my dog’s best buddies’ owners are my friends. The park I go to is in the city and full of young people - it’s vastly entertaining to watch them flirt. I do my “are you registered to vote?” lecture pretty often.
Thank you! I watched every minute and then more minutes on YouTube of the speeches I missed. Love the roll call. As always, you’ve braided together the important people and points seamlessly. Beautiful! I am inspired and hopeful, however, I still have a heavy feeling in my gut. As a Democrat Abroad I will be calling people all over the states to encourage them to register, to vote, and hopefully vote their entire ticket BLUE! Thank you again, Heather! 💙
Have you seen the videos contrasting the DNC with the RNC roll calls? Quite a difference!
They are on YouTube. 🙏
Here's another one.
https://x.com/Morning_Joe/status/1826198620724474332
An Under-Rated Hero Is Francis Perkins... She was a Pragmatic Person whose Credentials were Accomplishments in her chosen fields... She was not a Theoretician, or an Academic... I belief that she was the longest serving U.S. Cabinet Member... She headed several Departments in the FDR, and Truman Administrations... I would lay the blame of the Re-Orientation of the American Economy from an Ethos of the Greatest-Good for the Many, to the benefit of the 1%, at the Feet of Milton Friedman... IMHO he was an Academic with an Antiseptic View of American Society, and the World... The re-orientation of the Economy to mainly benefit the 1% began under his influence during the Nixon Administration... Greed Bacame Good... Corporate Managements were told that they only were responsible for Shareholder Maximization... Social Responsibility, and the Environment be Damned...
I may have heard the name before, but reading today's newsletter is the first time I paid attention. When I read that Francis Perkins recognized that the purpose of government is to protect the community, the first thought that occurred to me is that she was an originalist.
To "Justice" Samuel Alito ... Rationalizing your selfish behavior by quoting an 18th century misogynist does not make you an originalist. I can't stop you from calling yourself an originalist, but I can point out that when you do, you are being a hypocrite.
James, Professor Richardson has written about Frances Perkins several times. I've learned more about Perkins here than I ever did in school, or in my collateral reading about the presidency.
As a Social Worker, Francis Perkins is one of the first people we learn about in our studies. But she is genuinely an undersung hero to most for sure. Thank you to HCR for rectifying that in her letters.
As have I! Francis Perkins has gone from a foot note to place of prominence. The fact she is from Maine (and I live in Maine) makes knowing her better all the sweeter.
We went to the Francis Perkins Center in Newcastle, Maine yesterday, where I was reminded she was appointed to the United States Civil Service Commission in 1945 (after 12 years as Secretary of Labor, 4th longest of any cabinet Secretary, but longest as Secretary of Labor), and served until 1952 on the Civil Service Commission. Wikipedia mentions her time at Cornell until she passed away in 1965.
“…At Cornell, she lived at the Telluride House where she was one of the first women to become a member of that renowned intellectual community. Kirstin Downey, author of The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR's Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience, dubbed her time at the Telluride House "probably the happiest phase of her life…"
Thank you for the book recommendation. I was looking for a biography of Frances Perkins and this one sounds outstanding.
HCR, thank you for your insightful posts on the Convention. You continue to make an invaluable contribution to the public discourse on the future of the United States.
Speakers on the last night of the Convention addressed the global role of the US. As an observer of, not a participant in, your democracy, I welcomed the strong commitment they expressed to the global defense of democracy. VP Harris left no doubt about where she would stand as President:
I will never waver in defense of America’s security and ideals, because in the enduring struggle between democracy and tyranny, I know where I stand and I know where the United States belongs.
Since the Second World War, the US has played an indispensable leadership role in the global defense of democracy against the aggression of authoritarian regimes. Given Trump and his followers are intent on destroying US democracy, there is no expectation that he and a MAGA-controlled Congress would defend democracy internationally. Trump is a clear and present danger not only to US democracy but also to the cause of democracy around the globe.
Your sentiments are shared by the readers of the three European-language newspapers I subscribe to.
Kamala did a great job of emphasizing community while describing her journey. She was strong and relatable, two qualities that will serve her well!
Beautiful letter. Thank you.
The convention and all of the speakers were so full of joy and hope for the future. It was quite inspiring (and at times tearful).
Kamala’s great nieces teaching the crowd how to pronounce her name was SO cute! Good fun.
Cheers.
What amazed me as how they pulled together so many people in such a short time to tell their personal stories that so well got all the needed messages out in such a believable and poignant manner. Every speaker had an experience that moved the crowd. Nothing made up or lied about; just human stories. I certainly hope Republicans of all varieties were watching. What a fantastic organizational committee.
Yes, all of this - the campaign, the convention, all of it - has been pulled together in 30 days. There's never been a time like this before.
“Every speaker had an experience that moved the crowd. Nothing made up or lied about; just human stories.” So much this!!
Real people, instead of tfg's family, and that pseudo professional wrestler?
John F Kennedy's declaration on January 20, 1961 during his inaugural address is even more critical today:
"Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans--born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage--and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world."
We cannot go back! We must not go back! A new future lays before us. It is in our hands to win or lose. We have only just begun to fight!
L.D., I like the meme I heard about/saw that likened our political parties to a auto gear shift: “D” for “drive”= Democrats and “R” for “reverse”= Republicans….brilliantly simple!
Ha! 👏 Love it! I have also 1, 2, 3, 4 on my standard shift so need to figure out what that means. 😉
Oh! 1 Double check registration. 2 Vote! 3 Remind friends/family to vote. 4 Win!
I get it….lol…while I have driven automatics a handful of times, all my vehicles have been manual transmissions….the last 30 years or so, 5-speed stick shifts….currently my 20 year old “Taco” (Toyota Tacoma).
When I moved to Missoula in 1976, the soul of Montana was palpable and shared by all, no matter what their political affiliation. For years, Montana has gone back and forth with Republican and Democratic governors, all of them being sane and centrist, united by a shared respect and reverence for the state itself. But since the election of 2016, Montana's Republican voters have forsaken the soul of Montana in order to foolishly lockstep their way into the Trump cult, thus creating MAGATANA, destroying the myth of "the last best place" and turning the state into just another Jonestown. Enough is enough. We, the Democrats of Montana, hereby reclaim the soul of Montana and cast all of our votes for the next president of the United States, Kamala Harris!
My Dad was a native Montanan; born in Livingston in 1916. He would be aghast at what has become of his birth state.
Please reclaim Montana!! i l plan to spend a week there in Sept. and would if I could help you.
I, too, will be in Montana in September. I lived there for a decade (1976-1985), the smartest and most socially and politically potent move I've ever made. Right now, the goal of all left-wing Montanans is to get rid of the current carpetbagger Republican governor and hold the senate seat now filled by Jon Tester (D).
O_M_G = Montana is so large on my 'bucket list'. Lots of friends I've met online and long to hug them.