It IS time for everyone to "open their imaginations and stare into the darkness that is coming." The next 65 days are each going to be the worst in the country's history, a steady procession of awfulness. All in the service of the greatest traitor in American history, a man who is not creating all this out of ignorance and lack of experience. He is doing it as purposefully and as ignorantly as he acted in his last six bankruptcies. This time, he's bankrupting us.
Trump is an idiot savant not smart enough to engineer all this destruction on his own. All those nefarious operators behind the scenes have been researching broadly and deeply for all these cracks and loopholes to exploit in service of the 1% who are willing and able to finance the protection of their power and wealth. The operators being Steve Miller, Steve Bannon, to name a few, and with connections to the Kremlin operators, as did Paul Manafort. Then the operators place a wealthy sycophant in power to implement the toxic exploitation. Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education. Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury. Louis DeJoy, Postmaster General. Russell Vought, Director of the Office of Management and Budget. To name a few. Back Mitch McConnell and the Movement Conservative Republicans in the Senate. We are being bankrupted of democracy.
As we open our imaginations, we need to come up with actions to save ourselves, starting with getting the Democrats into the White House and the Senate—surmounting all the manipulations of the coming election. 🇺🇸
Unfortunately their is no fear of his bankruptcy, NY AG withstanding, as he has Putin's virtual soldiers working away and all Koch's billions funding him to make sure he stays in line and afloat.
Hundreds of HCR readers on Facebook and Substack support your taking off more time from this production, for your self care and for our interests, your sustainability. Now that you are back to work with your teaching, maybe one video talk per week instead of two? Four or five Letters per week instead of your intended seven? Your self-drive in service of democracy will no doubt define the lower limit of your production!
New Englanders are a self-sufficiently proud folk reluctant to ask for help. What about solidifying a designation of a couple reliable proofreaders on Facebook?
On your “off” nights, what about inviting “open mic” for Substack readers (at a few thousand, more manageable than 560,000 on Facebook) to post topics for us to chew on?
What about inviting some trusted researchers to volunteer to help with your process of producing these Letters?
However you continue to produce these Letters and talks, we are clearly grateful! ❤️
Heather first posts her Letter on Facebook and waits about 15 minutes to get proofreading edit comments. She applies fixes and comments back in acknowledgment before posting the Letter on Substack.
A few of the same people catch the Facebook post almost immediately and have emerged as reliable proofreaders, one in her same East Coast time zone. So maybe also have a West Cost proofreader waiting up until midnight instead of 3:00 am. Sometimes the Facebook proofreaders draw protective criticism from newer Facebook readers who don’t understand that Heather welcomes the initial edit suggestions.
I have asked before, rhetorically during this time of helplessly watching history repeat itself, “What will be our defining Kristallnacht?” It may not be a specific date, like November 9 (or even November 3), but this daily progression of chaos that we find ourselves in, where we see the forces of evil, of the hateful, murderous outbreaks of violence spurred on by a stochastic terrorist at the podium, rousing the low-life rabble in a populist movement of destruction. I fear the final outcome of this pandemonium that has taken this nation and continue watching helplessly as “what can’t happen here” is actually happening.
The days left before the election will be dark for sure. And it's possible that days following the election will be just as dark, regardless of who is elected. By Nov.3 all the Proud Boys and other right-wing groups will have made it clear their intentions to rile up the country, and then cause mayhem if Biden is elected. This is an ugly time in our history, one that makes me so sad. How we got here will be written about for decades. Wish it weren't so.
Don't be lulled into complacency by the polls or the belief that light always triumphs over dark. Trump's 42% is hard core and will vote for him no matter what. Biden's 50% is not based on a devotion towards or faith in the man, but largely on anti-Trump grounds. Michael Moore may be right. The bookies' odds are calling it in favor of Trump. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Trump and his cronies are putting the American People in a bell jar. He is pulling out all the stops to make sure people are ill informed or misinformed. I read The Guardian piece on right wing infiltration in law enforcement Friday morning. Sadly, I can't say I'm surprised.
Thanks for today's letter, HCR. This past week has been a really tough ride and you've stayed on top of it beautifully. Rest well.
Today, while waiting to go into a shop (someone had to come out for someone to go in) the clerk manning the door, who I know to talk to, said "I wonder when all this is going to end?" To which I replied it would end when we were no longer 4% of the world's population and 50% of the deaths. "Oh no, that's not true!" And he proceeded to recite all Trump's claims as outlined above. Everything's fine. The virus is going away. Thanks to the President for closing off China. There will be a vaccine soon. And then "I don't trust the media at all." It was the first time I had seen it face to face with someone I know. His eyes got glassy as he recited it all. I realized it really is a cult, and that defeating Trump in November is not going to end this, in fact things are likely to get worse after he loses. I'm never going to be able to look at that guy the same as I did 2 seconds before he asked that question.
In a religion, your savior dies for you. In a cult, you are willing to die for your savior.
Fact checkers and commentators' proclamations on TV, blogs, or other media are irrelevant. Hitler proved that the big lie works. Trump could proclaim that the world is flat and many people would believe him. As you said, this is a cult. You cannot argue with facts. It is very very dangerous.
As HCR has pointed out, McCarthy and Buckley started this in the 1950s, with the game being to keep churning out the lies and accusations to stay ahead of the fact checkers. That does not obviate the need to assert a counter narrative, which is HCR’s whole point of these Letters. This process is different from engaging with bullies or tilting at windmills. It’s education to empower the voting masses while there’s still a chance, in this case, before the trump Republicans win the next election.
As the US becomes aware of the forces behind the Extinction Rebellion and the environmental circumstances rapidly becoming apparent, we will be facing some very unpleasant conflicts. Movement Conservatives will ignore these as long as possible.
As HCR documents in her most recent book, the Movement Conservatives almost openly say that insisting on reality and evidence is unfair to them, since their position is based on ideology not facts. Loyalty to the Leader, consequences for anyone else are unimportant.
Funny thing is that Putin's philosophical mentor, Ivan Illyin, worked with the National Socialist Party in Berlin until 1934 as editor of Russian Emigré publications. Illyin saw Hiltler as Europe's defense against Bolshevism and approved of his antisemitism that he saw as derived from "White Russian Emigré" philosophy. Small world! The Art of the Deal probably makes Trump's Russian "handlers" laugh as they have effectively funded him keeping him out of bankruptcy. What a negitiator!
I read somewhere that trump read Mein Kampf in English translation while in college or graduate school. Or more likely, maybe he paid someone to digest it for him.
In what version of the Bible does Jesus say fight your enemies back 10 times harder, or condone lies? The religious right are as phony as Kushner’s and Miller’s brand of Judaism. They are lacking any sense of decency.
Trump, when asked about his favourite passage in the Bible, couldn't recite anything and said "I like it all; I don't have a favourite"...because he has never read it; couldn't even hold it right-side up.
Very well said. Many Trump cult members have already died for him, only a few of them well known, via covid-19 acquired at group events without masks. Pickiness moves me to note that not all religions have saviors, but it's a great epigram.
The passing of Herman Cain was tragic in and of itself because of his own denial, but it has become even more tragic since it seems not to have fazed any of Trump's followers.
Daria, I haven't had a chance to read the Guardian piece yet, but I can tell you that in my mostly rural, white county, the local constabulary is very much in sympathy with the boogaloo boys and their ilk.
Yesterday the sounds of gunfire were a solid tattoo for at least 6 hours. There is a gun range about a mile to my west, used by the sheriff's department as well as civilians. It is non-stop every weekend. And then there are the various neighbors in all directions, shooting for hours at a time. I know the economic strata around here, and yet they blow through hundreds of dollars worth of ammo every weekend. Even if they're re-loaders, that's a ton of money. And it's not just the old target practice with the family .22 or even 30.06, there are clearly AR-15s, one for sure equipped with a bump stock, because it sounds like Machine Gun Kelly lives there.
You overhear comments about 'time to start shooting the..........' now. Lots of comments about white grievance. "Thank you Jesus" signs in almost every yard, and more and more Trump/Pence signs, some veritable billboards.
Some of the locals are obviously spoiling for a fight. Some of it is typical good ol' boy BS, sure, but not all. And when they start bouncing those ideas off one another, at some point, some fool is going to do something stupid, and it will be 'too wet to plow', as they say around here.
If the worst happens, maybe we can all move to Costa Rica and form an ex-pat community - or enlarge the one that's already there. At any rate, I think I need to go back to my Spanish lessons. Canada probably won't take me - too old - and England is a mess. 🤔😥
I'm in Mérida, Yucatan. It's safe and quiet here with a decent quality of life. If I really wanted to, I could completely tune out what's happening in the U.S. Honestly, right now, the thought of being in the U.S. scares the living daylights out of me. I worry non-stop about the violence escalating out of control because of Trump's incessant haranguing. Every citizen, no matter where we currently are, has an obligation to stand against Trump's tyranny.
Joan, I'm sure some of it is. This area used to have small manufacturing plants and textile mills, where a guy (always guys in the good old daze) could get a job right out of high school, or even if he dropped out. So some of the resentment goes back to the '90s and NAFTA. But even then, one of the county's biggest exports was its young people.
Something I noticed as an 'outsider' was how little value is placed on education by so many of the locals. There's a saying - "Don't go risin' above your raisin'". Unfortunately, wanting to better your lot in life is too often seen as getting uppity. "It was good enough for your grandpaw, it should be good enough for you." Yes, Grandpaw was a poor, subsistence farmer, not much better off than a sharecropper, but you aren't supposed to try to get beyond that hard-scrabble existence. It's as if it's traitorous to your ancestors or something.
Add to all that the race issue, the Confederate re-write of history, lots of guns, and it's a hot mess.
So resent everyone in sight because your life is so hard, but don't actually do anything about it? What a trap. (This comment printed twice the first time, which is why the deletions.)
That's about the size of it. I wonder how much is because they've been fed the Glorious Lost Cause for almost 150 years, and are comfortable playing victim?
When you get them one on one, and race isn't in the picture (not often, that), they exhibit that famous "Southern hospitality". They'll help you build a fence, take down a tree, find your lost dog. They bring food when someone in the family dies. All the good neighborly things on the surface. But don't dig too deep, has been my experience.
I have noted that the move toward a more progressive state begun under Gov. Terry Sanford that was begun just before I moved to NC, began to falter in the '80s. By the time George Bush came in in 2000, the tide had definitely turned, and not in a good way. Instead of a beacon of hope, North Carolina is just another one of the gang now.
The trouble with the Guardian is that they are often silent when you get the extreme left doing exactly the same manoeuvre. In particular for instance, the takeover of the UK Labour Party by the extreme hard left under its previous leadership. Democracy was just as much under threat but they played the 3 wise monkeys! It took successive election defeats and a membership revolution to get rid of them. The Guardian is often the but of jokes and is referred to "fondly" as The Grauniad....always lost in a fantasy world somewhere.
I'm sure you know this, but your point is exactly the reason why you have to read multiple news sources. There are always multiple sides to every story and the truth is somewhere in the mix. It's frustrating to me that each of the major news outlets, who have the most resources to investigate, are the ones that put so much spin on the subjects they cover.
When reading about these right-wing groups going into Portland and other areas, I am reminded of Hitler's early force of the Brown Shirts. This group was tolerated by the Nazi Party until they were not. Then they were violently disbanded and replace by the SS. I know the saying "History does not repeat itself but it does rhyme." And I know that any attempt to make parallels between this administration and the rise of Hitler may not be a true parallel. Yet I do see what these radical right groups do not seem to see. Those who seek total power will use groups like them at first and then violently betray them when that power is consolidated. Also, we who condemn their actions must be careful and not give them a Horst Wessel to rally around. As for the police forces infiltrated by radicals, we are all to blame for our complacency and willingness to trade better oversight for security.
On a personal note, I have two grandnieces who are biracial. Their great grandmother, my older sister, is a ardent 45 supporter. I use to say that she cannot see that these girls would be one of the first to be persecuted under a 45 with total power and that my fair skinned blond-haired grandchildren would be at an advantage. Yesterday, as my three grandsons were leaving my apartment, the thought occurred to me that they would not be safe under such an administration. (forgive any grammar and spelling errors.)
The Brown Shirts leadership started to get the idea that they were more important than the Party...and were thus eliminated. They were also accused of all sorts of sexually prohibited practices to ease their disappearance. putin's use of Anti-LBGTetc hate propaganda and legislation is on the same level and for the same purpose.
I have a Black niece, 5 years old, the only adopted child of my single sister in law. My in-laws are ardent Trump supporters fueled by FOX propaganda day in and day out. I have tried, since before the last election, to get my mother in law to understand how potentially dangerous it is for her granddaughter. I have not been successful.
I gave up on my father in law on election night 2008 when the family sat in a lodge in Yosemite watching the election returns and his vicious reaction to Obama's election was jarring. The rest of the holiday was extremely unpleasant. Since then, he's only gotten worse.
My father passed away a year before the 2008 election. It gave our whole family the opportunity to enjoy 8 years of President Obama. Otherwise my Dad's insane right wing ranting would have driven us all mad.
Many years ago, we hosted a young woman from Germany for her senior year in America. We talk often and she recently said to me that she often wondered how Germany could ever have been taken over by the Nazis. Then she went on to say, "But we watch what is going on in America with Trump, and now we understand how it could happen." The world is watching.
The anti-immigrant white supremacists and Neo-Nazis are also armed militias in Europe, some with connections to the Kremlin.
Your German exchange student would have also seen yesterday’s news of the big multinational maskless protest in Berlin against COVID-19 public health restrictions.
I have a question for this group. Why isn't more publicity given to the 2 protestors killed by that teen gunman (won't say his name)? Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, were killed in the shooting; Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, was injured. Anthony was killed trying to protect the protestors around him. Only slight mention has been given to these individuals. Why aren't we making a really big deal about their deaths at the hands of a white gunman? Where is the outrage directed about this? I am 1000% in favor of the BLM movement but we need to highlight these other individuals as well. Why can't we start to talk about them.....loudly?
I know all about it from both NBC and MSNBC and have from the beginning. The people they interview from Kenosha and from other groups involved or in the know have emphasized how egregious it is that Jacob Blake gets shot in the back while walking away from police, and The kid from Illinois at first thought the police were onto him and was ready to turn himself in, but then they started offering him water and driving past him. Two worlds. black and white justice. It's all there, Annette. What networks or shows or sources are you reading?
I've seen it on MSNBC and I had to look for it on cnn.com. But my point is that the initial shooting was mentioned sort of "in passing" without really giving much detail to these three men. We don't hear the stories of them or their families and how they are affected. I would hope that people listening to mainstream news or on line news would understand the tragedy of these folks losing their lives while the shooter has received a promise of over $100K from several groups (including a "Christian" group) for his legal defense. What about a fund to cover funeral and medical expenses for these victims?
Thank you HCR for doing the hard work of following the news cycle in Trumpistan. The forces of darkness are gathering and ramping up their attacks. It’s only a failure of imagination to believe it won’t get much much worse with a 2nd Trump term. Evil will be unleashed in our country. I’ve added phone calling voters to texting and writing and social media posts. After last week’s RNC spectacle, I’m specific: Vote Biden/Harris as if your life depends on it. Because it does. ❤️🤍💙
No rest for the weary! Thanks for this. I know you must be tired!
Dealing with quite literally the trauma of being back in school rooms, is definitely bringing traumatized teachers to quit. A close friend just texted me this morning, “I won’t be back, I resigned.” Two positive cases in another school led to a cohort group ( students are grouped in 3 and 4 students and remain together throughout the day) being quarantined. The district hasn’t released the information, parents leaked it. That kind of thing leads teachers to get mad and walk out. And they are!
Hearing the latest developing information in your voice gives it gravitas! Thank you so much! Hope you take Sunday off!
Thanks! My daughter bought me the HN95 masks and I sanitize tables and chairs between each art class. Looking into an air purifier with the mounting evidence of aerosol spreading this virus. We’re laying odds on when will we close. Like a days gone by football spread. But the kids are amazing! And I want them to be safe! You stay safe too! We all have to be careful! 💙
I hope it’s ok to share this here, please delete if not. I use one of these at home and plan to get one for my office when I return to work. Highly rated and I personally recommend it for working well with clearing odors quickly and running quiet:
My doctor's office has been using an air purifier with UVC lights in their small waiting room for 8 years, without the staff catching anything from the patients. That model is out of stock, and there are a lot of variations. I would recommend that you get a combination of internal UVC light and HEPA filters. Check model reviews, and make sure the unit is rated for your size of room. Anything smaller won't do the job.
Denise, you have my heart-felt sympathy and admiration...my heart aches for all my colleagues trying to teach and what they're going through. One of my dearest friends who teaches Spanish in a luxe private school came VERY close to quitting this past week. He is one of the most dedicated teachers I know and loves his job more than anything, so for him, of all people I know in the profession, to come to such a point means it all must be SO maddening and frustrating. Try to hang on as well as you can...we desperately NEED people dedicated to the profession to stay in it. I woulda if I coulda...
That's a real interesting question. There is certainly a schism between conservatives and progressives which has been roiling since Nixon's day. He termed his support the "silent majority." I've always felt that more people align with Democratic values than Republican, but they're harder to get to the polls. Now, with resident Trump whipping up his base and muddying the waters with distortions and lies, we may just see where the majority really is. Are there enough people who can see through his antics and willing to vote? I hope so. It seems like it's going to get uglier and uglier until election day. Armed Trump supporters caravanning into protests is going to end badly.
I said as much yesterday, and even asked/wondered if the current (seemingly widening) gulf between two opposing sides in this country is in any way similar to the period of the 1850s leading up to the Civil War. Some of the situations are obviously different, and the world is a very different place now because of technological advances, but as someone who lives in one of what was The Confederate States of America I get the feeling we're on the brink of some kind of reckoning. This country is armed to the teeth, a populace in possession of more firepower than most countries' armies. Having that on top of the very virulent divisions in this country, divisions being stoked more and more by almost violent rhetoric coming from the current administration/Republican party...I think this is a dangerous cocktail of ingredients that could easily explode. I am deeply worried.
Yes, words matter, especially from the bully pulpit. He could have used his words to stem the pandemic, thereby to some extent saving not only lives but the economy. Instead, 45 has used them to foment hatred and inflame those who were only waiting for permission to act out. Portland's recent killings might be a taste of what's to come if 45 continues to fan the sparks.
Even though these latest events are taking place in northern states, I can't help thinking of the refrain "the South shall rise again." Just wondering if this is what we're seeing now.
We say to ourselves that it can't keep getting worse: the lies, the obfuscations, the gaslighting, the intensity of the effort by this administration to re-elect this monster. Yet it does. Every day.
Yesterday it was armed Creature supporters caravanning into protesters (a la Charlotte). One of them was killed, perhaps (hopefully) by "friendly fire." What will tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow bring?
I forget where i read it recently but i believe research, covering those countries bothering to hold elections and publish the results, has identified a very close, inverse correlation between participation rates in elections and degree of income/wealth inequality. Get them to the polls!
All the stops have been pulled by DJT and his henchmen. Our lives and the life of our country are at stake. With every letter you write, Professor Richardson, you illustrate this, with facts. We must get out the vote and defeat the GOP. Thank you for the facts and what they mean.
Mike Baker's video from Portland scares the hell out of me. This reminds me of scenes of ISIS arriving in towns in Syria and Iraq....except these people are using pepper spray and paintballs...for now.
Can you share a link? I try to keep up with Portland because my son and his family live there but I haven’t seen this. My son just tells me not to worry because it’s not happening near where he is but I can’t help it. I worry less when I can keep up with what’s happening there.
The DI poll, which correctly predicted Trump's 2016 victory and Brexit, has Trump 3% ahead of Biden overall and 6% ahead in the swing states. The poll says that most voters have already made up their minds, with 3% of Trump supporters and 9% of Biden supporters saying they might have a change of heart before election day. The reason the other polls are inaccurate (according to Sean Spicer...the former press secretary who said that Trump's inauguration had the highest turnout ever)...is that many Trump supporters won't admit this to pollsters, but will vote for him when they fill out their ballots. Remember, Trump doesn't need a majority if he wins the right states to get the electoral college. If you truly fear another four years of demagoguery and destruction, get out and do your damndest to make sure that like-minded people vote early.
IMHO, we need to put out pieces and constantly reinforce the difference between "rule of law" and "law and order," as I believe many within the electorate believe those are the same thing.
In modern politics, law and order, also known as tough on crime, demands a strict criminal justice system, especially in relation to violence and property crime, through stricter criminal penalties. It is clear where the law-and-order message is taking us. How can we reach voters to help them understand the difference? Tough on crime is going to lead to more shootings by police.
Calling Democrats “deranged lowlifes” is unacceptable behavior that trump followers seem to think is manly. His wife defended his bizarre sexist comments on attacking women as locker room talk. The militia “boys” are strutting around with guns drawn while police ignore or even thank them. These warped ideas of masculinity, that they are better than someone else, have spread this culture of bullies. But how does one account for theIr adoring women?
And their powerful, souped-up automatic rifles are penile extensions...yup, warped masculinity alright. Take their toys away from them and they shut right up.
Of course...they resemble the "wives" of ultra-rich football players in UK...commonly referred to as Wags! Somewhat plastic celluloid images of publicity photos...hardware without the requisite operating software!
That expresses our annoyance with them, but it doesn't explain anything. Mostly I have no idea either. My one clue is this: I have a formerly progressive relative, an intelligent woman, who is married to a Fox News believer. Before 2016, they had no trouble disagreeing about politics. As the intensity ramped up in 2016, my relative switched sides. I'm guessing she did it to save her marriage.
I guess you're right! The first reaction of a woman threatened by verbal or physical violence by her partner is often to shut up and hope the problem goes away! There are not many "Kellyanne Conway" couples where both withdraw from the fight to " save the marriage".
Stuart Attewell, I very much appreciate your normal commentary grounded in an amazing fund of knowledge. But this comment is an over-generalization perhaps grounded in pre-Feminist perception.
Although this over-generalization does also unfortunately permeate the field of domestic violence with a hetero-normative view in which the woman is presumed to be the passive, compliant victim of the male perpetrator. Lots of women fight back and even instigate violent escalation verbally and physically. But this, too, is an emotionally reactive response that makes the problem worse instead of better.
Feminism, early education in conflict resolution, and emotional intelligence still have a long way to go.
👏👏 Expressing annoyance without explaining anything seems to be a common theme here. Like a "who’s more irate" competition! This isn’t some fucking support group! And preaching to the choir isn’t helpful at all. You’ve made a valid point about family politics and the potential effects of them. I only wish your relative could’ve changed her husband’s mind, and I’m sure that you do too.
As HCR writes these Letters, to an extent it is preaching to the choir in that we basically agree. But her service is curating the news in a way that illuminates what we may have missed; validating our values and process of reason, fairness, and truth; and clarifying the arguments for us to amplify and act upon as we pick our battles to most effectively channel our precious energy.
To an extent this is a support group. It is very reassuring in these threatening times to see we are not alone and we are not crazy. But with the range of human personalities, I, too, am sometimes frustrated at how often hyperbolic comments draw a lot of attention while a pithy albeit gloomy wake up comment seems too much for people to take in.
When people share their own experience, it has no statistical validity, but it helps humanize the issues and make them more relatable. This may have been what HCR sought in her series of Question posts.
It IS time for everyone to "open their imaginations and stare into the darkness that is coming." The next 65 days are each going to be the worst in the country's history, a steady procession of awfulness. All in the service of the greatest traitor in American history, a man who is not creating all this out of ignorance and lack of experience. He is doing it as purposefully and as ignorantly as he acted in his last six bankruptcies. This time, he's bankrupting us.
Trump is an idiot savant not smart enough to engineer all this destruction on his own. All those nefarious operators behind the scenes have been researching broadly and deeply for all these cracks and loopholes to exploit in service of the 1% who are willing and able to finance the protection of their power and wealth. The operators being Steve Miller, Steve Bannon, to name a few, and with connections to the Kremlin operators, as did Paul Manafort. Then the operators place a wealthy sycophant in power to implement the toxic exploitation. Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education. Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury. Louis DeJoy, Postmaster General. Russell Vought, Director of the Office of Management and Budget. To name a few. Back Mitch McConnell and the Movement Conservative Republicans in the Senate. We are being bankrupted of democracy.
As we open our imaginations, we need to come up with actions to save ourselves, starting with getting the Democrats into the White House and the Senate—surmounting all the manipulations of the coming election. 🇺🇸
Spot on.
Unfortunately their is no fear of his bankruptcy, NY AG withstanding, as he has Putin's virtual soldiers working away and all Koch's billions funding him to make sure he stays in line and afloat.
Dear Heather,
Hundreds of HCR readers on Facebook and Substack support your taking off more time from this production, for your self care and for our interests, your sustainability. Now that you are back to work with your teaching, maybe one video talk per week instead of two? Four or five Letters per week instead of your intended seven? Your self-drive in service of democracy will no doubt define the lower limit of your production!
New Englanders are a self-sufficiently proud folk reluctant to ask for help. What about solidifying a designation of a couple reliable proofreaders on Facebook?
On your “off” nights, what about inviting “open mic” for Substack readers (at a few thousand, more manageable than 560,000 on Facebook) to post topics for us to chew on?
What about inviting some trusted researchers to volunteer to help with your process of producing these Letters?
However you continue to produce these Letters and talks, we are clearly grateful! ❤️
Researchers, perhaps. But I don't see the need for proofreaders. Heather's writing is as close to perfect as can be.
Heather first posts her Letter on Facebook and waits about 15 minutes to get proofreading edit comments. She applies fixes and comments back in acknowledgment before posting the Letter on Substack.
A few of the same people catch the Facebook post almost immediately and have emerged as reliable proofreaders, one in her same East Coast time zone. So maybe also have a West Cost proofreader waiting up until midnight instead of 3:00 am. Sometimes the Facebook proofreaders draw protective criticism from newer Facebook readers who don’t understand that Heather welcomes the initial edit suggestions.
PS: As a proofreader myself, I was not meaning to be critical of other proofreaders.
That is interesting to know, Ellie. Thank you. I wouldn't expect that Heather would be anything but grateful for edit suggestions.
and 106 Facebook readers also like, love, or care in agreement!
I have asked before, rhetorically during this time of helplessly watching history repeat itself, “What will be our defining Kristallnacht?” It may not be a specific date, like November 9 (or even November 3), but this daily progression of chaos that we find ourselves in, where we see the forces of evil, of the hateful, murderous outbreaks of violence spurred on by a stochastic terrorist at the podium, rousing the low-life rabble in a populist movement of destruction. I fear the final outcome of this pandemonium that has taken this nation and continue watching helplessly as “what can’t happen here” is actually happening.
The days left before the election will be dark for sure. And it's possible that days following the election will be just as dark, regardless of who is elected. By Nov.3 all the Proud Boys and other right-wing groups will have made it clear their intentions to rile up the country, and then cause mayhem if Biden is elected. This is an ugly time in our history, one that makes me so sad. How we got here will be written about for decades. Wish it weren't so.
Don't be lulled into complacency by the polls or the belief that light always triumphs over dark. Trump's 42% is hard core and will vote for him no matter what. Biden's 50% is not based on a devotion towards or faith in the man, but largely on anti-Trump grounds. Michael Moore may be right. The bookies' odds are calling it in favor of Trump. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Trump and his cronies are putting the American People in a bell jar. He is pulling out all the stops to make sure people are ill informed or misinformed. I read The Guardian piece on right wing infiltration in law enforcement Friday morning. Sadly, I can't say I'm surprised.
Thanks for today's letter, HCR. This past week has been a really tough ride and you've stayed on top of it beautifully. Rest well.
Today, while waiting to go into a shop (someone had to come out for someone to go in) the clerk manning the door, who I know to talk to, said "I wonder when all this is going to end?" To which I replied it would end when we were no longer 4% of the world's population and 50% of the deaths. "Oh no, that's not true!" And he proceeded to recite all Trump's claims as outlined above. Everything's fine. The virus is going away. Thanks to the President for closing off China. There will be a vaccine soon. And then "I don't trust the media at all." It was the first time I had seen it face to face with someone I know. His eyes got glassy as he recited it all. I realized it really is a cult, and that defeating Trump in November is not going to end this, in fact things are likely to get worse after he loses. I'm never going to be able to look at that guy the same as I did 2 seconds before he asked that question.
In a religion, your savior dies for you. In a cult, you are willing to die for your savior.
Fact checkers and commentators' proclamations on TV, blogs, or other media are irrelevant. Hitler proved that the big lie works. Trump could proclaim that the world is flat and many people would believe him. As you said, this is a cult. You cannot argue with facts. It is very very dangerous.
As HCR has pointed out, McCarthy and Buckley started this in the 1950s, with the game being to keep churning out the lies and accusations to stay ahead of the fact checkers. That does not obviate the need to assert a counter narrative, which is HCR’s whole point of these Letters. This process is different from engaging with bullies or tilting at windmills. It’s education to empower the voting masses while there’s still a chance, in this case, before the trump Republicans win the next election.
As the US becomes aware of the forces behind the Extinction Rebellion and the environmental circumstances rapidly becoming apparent, we will be facing some very unpleasant conflicts. Movement Conservatives will ignore these as long as possible.
As HCR documents in her most recent book, the Movement Conservatives almost openly say that insisting on reality and evidence is unfair to them, since their position is based on ideology not facts. Loyalty to the Leader, consequences for anyone else are unimportant.
Remember Jimmy Jones and the Kool Aide!!!
Goebbels handled all that vrry "nicely" without too much help from his friend Adolf.
But Adolf wrote "Mein Kampf" and nobody believed it. (The modern day version is "The Art of the Deal")
Funny thing is that Putin's philosophical mentor, Ivan Illyin, worked with the National Socialist Party in Berlin until 1934 as editor of Russian Emigré publications. Illyin saw Hiltler as Europe's defense against Bolshevism and approved of his antisemitism that he saw as derived from "White Russian Emigré" philosophy. Small world! The Art of the Deal probably makes Trump's Russian "handlers" laugh as they have effectively funded him keeping him out of bankruptcy. What a negitiator!
I read somewhere that trump read Mein Kampf in English translation while in college or graduate school. Or more likely, maybe he paid someone to digest it for him.
https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trumps-ex-wife-once-said-he-kept-a-book-of-hitlers-speeches-by-his-bed-2015-8
In what version of the Bible does Jesus say fight your enemies back 10 times harder, or condone lies? The religious right are as phony as Kushner’s and Miller’s brand of Judaism. They are lacking any sense of decency.
Trump, when asked about his favourite passage in the Bible, couldn't recite anything and said "I like it all; I don't have a favourite"...because he has never read it; couldn't even hold it right-side up.
So true.
Very well said. Many Trump cult members have already died for him, only a few of them well known, via covid-19 acquired at group events without masks. Pickiness moves me to note that not all religions have saviors, but it's a great epigram.
The passing of Herman Cain was tragic in and of itself because of his own denial, but it has become even more tragic since it seems not to have fazed any of Trump's followers.
Daria, I haven't had a chance to read the Guardian piece yet, but I can tell you that in my mostly rural, white county, the local constabulary is very much in sympathy with the boogaloo boys and their ilk.
Yesterday the sounds of gunfire were a solid tattoo for at least 6 hours. There is a gun range about a mile to my west, used by the sheriff's department as well as civilians. It is non-stop every weekend. And then there are the various neighbors in all directions, shooting for hours at a time. I know the economic strata around here, and yet they blow through hundreds of dollars worth of ammo every weekend. Even if they're re-loaders, that's a ton of money. And it's not just the old target practice with the family .22 or even 30.06, there are clearly AR-15s, one for sure equipped with a bump stock, because it sounds like Machine Gun Kelly lives there.
You overhear comments about 'time to start shooting the..........' now. Lots of comments about white grievance. "Thank you Jesus" signs in almost every yard, and more and more Trump/Pence signs, some veritable billboards.
Some of the locals are obviously spoiling for a fight. Some of it is typical good ol' boy BS, sure, but not all. And when they start bouncing those ideas off one another, at some point, some fool is going to do something stupid, and it will be 'too wet to plow', as they say around here.
I hear the same comments. It breaks my heart. And scares me.
If the worst happens, maybe we can all move to Costa Rica and form an ex-pat community - or enlarge the one that's already there. At any rate, I think I need to go back to my Spanish lessons. Canada probably won't take me - too old - and England is a mess. 🤔😥
I'm in Mérida, Yucatan. It's safe and quiet here with a decent quality of life. If I really wanted to, I could completely tune out what's happening in the U.S. Honestly, right now, the thought of being in the U.S. scares the living daylights out of me. I worry non-stop about the violence escalating out of control because of Trump's incessant haranguing. Every citizen, no matter where we currently are, has an obligation to stand against Trump's tyranny.
Sandra, how much of that is being exacerbated by unemployment?
Joan, I'm sure some of it is. This area used to have small manufacturing plants and textile mills, where a guy (always guys in the good old daze) could get a job right out of high school, or even if he dropped out. So some of the resentment goes back to the '90s and NAFTA. But even then, one of the county's biggest exports was its young people.
Something I noticed as an 'outsider' was how little value is placed on education by so many of the locals. There's a saying - "Don't go risin' above your raisin'". Unfortunately, wanting to better your lot in life is too often seen as getting uppity. "It was good enough for your grandpaw, it should be good enough for you." Yes, Grandpaw was a poor, subsistence farmer, not much better off than a sharecropper, but you aren't supposed to try to get beyond that hard-scrabble existence. It's as if it's traitorous to your ancestors or something.
Add to all that the race issue, the Confederate re-write of history, lots of guns, and it's a hot mess.
So resent everyone in sight because your life is so hard, but don't actually do anything about it? What a trap. (This comment printed twice the first time, which is why the deletions.)
That's about the size of it. I wonder how much is because they've been fed the Glorious Lost Cause for almost 150 years, and are comfortable playing victim?
When you get them one on one, and race isn't in the picture (not often, that), they exhibit that famous "Southern hospitality". They'll help you build a fence, take down a tree, find your lost dog. They bring food when someone in the family dies. All the good neighborly things on the surface. But don't dig too deep, has been my experience.
I have noted that the move toward a more progressive state begun under Gov. Terry Sanford that was begun just before I moved to NC, began to falter in the '80s. By the time George Bush came in in 2000, the tide had definitely turned, and not in a good way. Instead of a beacon of hope, North Carolina is just another one of the gang now.
The trouble with the Guardian is that they are often silent when you get the extreme left doing exactly the same manoeuvre. In particular for instance, the takeover of the UK Labour Party by the extreme hard left under its previous leadership. Democracy was just as much under threat but they played the 3 wise monkeys! It took successive election defeats and a membership revolution to get rid of them. The Guardian is often the but of jokes and is referred to "fondly" as The Grauniad....always lost in a fantasy world somewhere.
I'm sure you know this, but your point is exactly the reason why you have to read multiple news sources. There are always multiple sides to every story and the truth is somewhere in the mix. It's frustrating to me that each of the major news outlets, who have the most resources to investigate, are the ones that put so much spin on the subjects they cover.
That's exactly my morning routine before turning to HCR to see what she makes of it.
When reading about these right-wing groups going into Portland and other areas, I am reminded of Hitler's early force of the Brown Shirts. This group was tolerated by the Nazi Party until they were not. Then they were violently disbanded and replace by the SS. I know the saying "History does not repeat itself but it does rhyme." And I know that any attempt to make parallels between this administration and the rise of Hitler may not be a true parallel. Yet I do see what these radical right groups do not seem to see. Those who seek total power will use groups like them at first and then violently betray them when that power is consolidated. Also, we who condemn their actions must be careful and not give them a Horst Wessel to rally around. As for the police forces infiltrated by radicals, we are all to blame for our complacency and willingness to trade better oversight for security.
On a personal note, I have two grandnieces who are biracial. Their great grandmother, my older sister, is a ardent 45 supporter. I use to say that she cannot see that these girls would be one of the first to be persecuted under a 45 with total power and that my fair skinned blond-haired grandchildren would be at an advantage. Yesterday, as my three grandsons were leaving my apartment, the thought occurred to me that they would not be safe under such an administration. (forgive any grammar and spelling errors.)
The Brown Shirts leadership started to get the idea that they were more important than the Party...and were thus eliminated. They were also accused of all sorts of sexually prohibited practices to ease their disappearance. putin's use of Anti-LBGTetc hate propaganda and legislation is on the same level and for the same purpose.
I have a Black niece, 5 years old, the only adopted child of my single sister in law. My in-laws are ardent Trump supporters fueled by FOX propaganda day in and day out. I have tried, since before the last election, to get my mother in law to understand how potentially dangerous it is for her granddaughter. I have not been successful.
I gave up on my father in law on election night 2008 when the family sat in a lodge in Yosemite watching the election returns and his vicious reaction to Obama's election was jarring. The rest of the holiday was extremely unpleasant. Since then, he's only gotten worse.
My father passed away a year before the 2008 election. It gave our whole family the opportunity to enjoy 8 years of President Obama. Otherwise my Dad's insane right wing ranting would have driven us all mad.
Many years ago, we hosted a young woman from Germany for her senior year in America. We talk often and she recently said to me that she often wondered how Germany could ever have been taken over by the Nazis. Then she went on to say, "But we watch what is going on in America with Trump, and now we understand how it could happen." The world is watching.
The anti-immigrant white supremacists and Neo-Nazis are also armed militias in Europe, some with connections to the Kremlin.
Your German exchange student would have also seen yesterday’s news of the big multinational maskless protest in Berlin against COVID-19 public health restrictions.
This ignorant toxicity threatens worldwide.
I have a question for this group. Why isn't more publicity given to the 2 protestors killed by that teen gunman (won't say his name)? Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, were killed in the shooting; Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, was injured. Anthony was killed trying to protect the protestors around him. Only slight mention has been given to these individuals. Why aren't we making a really big deal about their deaths at the hands of a white gunman? Where is the outrage directed about this? I am 1000% in favor of the BLM movement but we need to highlight these other individuals as well. Why can't we start to talk about them.....loudly?
I know all about it from both NBC and MSNBC and have from the beginning. The people they interview from Kenosha and from other groups involved or in the know have emphasized how egregious it is that Jacob Blake gets shot in the back while walking away from police, and The kid from Illinois at first thought the police were onto him and was ready to turn himself in, but then they started offering him water and driving past him. Two worlds. black and white justice. It's all there, Annette. What networks or shows or sources are you reading?
I've seen it on MSNBC and I had to look for it on cnn.com. But my point is that the initial shooting was mentioned sort of "in passing" without really giving much detail to these three men. We don't hear the stories of them or their families and how they are affected. I would hope that people listening to mainstream news or on line news would understand the tragedy of these folks losing their lives while the shooter has received a promise of over $100K from several groups (including a "Christian" group) for his legal defense. What about a fund to cover funeral and medical expenses for these victims?
Thank you HCR for doing the hard work of following the news cycle in Trumpistan. The forces of darkness are gathering and ramping up their attacks. It’s only a failure of imagination to believe it won’t get much much worse with a 2nd Trump term. Evil will be unleashed in our country. I’ve added phone calling voters to texting and writing and social media posts. After last week’s RNC spectacle, I’m specific: Vote Biden/Harris as if your life depends on it. Because it does. ❤️🤍💙
No rest for the weary! Thanks for this. I know you must be tired!
Dealing with quite literally the trauma of being back in school rooms, is definitely bringing traumatized teachers to quit. A close friend just texted me this morning, “I won’t be back, I resigned.” Two positive cases in another school led to a cohort group ( students are grouped in 3 and 4 students and remain together throughout the day) being quarantined. The district hasn’t released the information, parents leaked it. That kind of thing leads teachers to get mad and walk out. And they are!
Hearing the latest developing information in your voice gives it gravitas! Thank you so much! Hope you take Sunday off!
Denise, please take care!
Thanks! My daughter bought me the HN95 masks and I sanitize tables and chairs between each art class. Looking into an air purifier with the mounting evidence of aerosol spreading this virus. We’re laying odds on when will we close. Like a days gone by football spread. But the kids are amazing! And I want them to be safe! You stay safe too! We all have to be careful! 💙
I hope it’s ok to share this here, please delete if not. I use one of these at home and plan to get one for my office when I return to work. Highly rated and I personally recommend it for working well with clearing odors quickly and running quiet:
Blueair Blue Pure 211+ Air Purifier 3 Stage with Two Washable Pre-Filters, Particle, Carbon Filter, Captures Allergens, Odors, Smoke, Mold, Dust, Germs, Pets, Smokers, Large Room https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073WJL99W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_N74sFbZAKYXJK
My doctor's office has been using an air purifier with UVC lights in their small waiting room for 8 years, without the staff catching anything from the patients. That model is out of stock, and there are a lot of variations. I would recommend that you get a combination of internal UVC light and HEPA filters. Check model reviews, and make sure the unit is rated for your size of room. Anything smaller won't do the job.
Denise, you have my heart-felt sympathy and admiration...my heart aches for all my colleagues trying to teach and what they're going through. One of my dearest friends who teaches Spanish in a luxe private school came VERY close to quitting this past week. He is one of the most dedicated teachers I know and loves his job more than anything, so for him, of all people I know in the profession, to come to such a point means it all must be SO maddening and frustrating. Try to hang on as well as you can...we desperately NEED people dedicated to the profession to stay in it. I woulda if I coulda...
I feel like we're marking the beginning of a civil war. Am I wrong?
That's a real interesting question. There is certainly a schism between conservatives and progressives which has been roiling since Nixon's day. He termed his support the "silent majority." I've always felt that more people align with Democratic values than Republican, but they're harder to get to the polls. Now, with resident Trump whipping up his base and muddying the waters with distortions and lies, we may just see where the majority really is. Are there enough people who can see through his antics and willing to vote? I hope so. It seems like it's going to get uglier and uglier until election day. Armed Trump supporters caravanning into protests is going to end badly.
I said as much yesterday, and even asked/wondered if the current (seemingly widening) gulf between two opposing sides in this country is in any way similar to the period of the 1850s leading up to the Civil War. Some of the situations are obviously different, and the world is a very different place now because of technological advances, but as someone who lives in one of what was The Confederate States of America I get the feeling we're on the brink of some kind of reckoning. This country is armed to the teeth, a populace in possession of more firepower than most countries' armies. Having that on top of the very virulent divisions in this country, divisions being stoked more and more by almost violent rhetoric coming from the current administration/Republican party...I think this is a dangerous cocktail of ingredients that could easily explode. I am deeply worried.
Yes, words matter, especially from the bully pulpit. He could have used his words to stem the pandemic, thereby to some extent saving not only lives but the economy. Instead, 45 has used them to foment hatred and inflame those who were only waiting for permission to act out. Portland's recent killings might be a taste of what's to come if 45 continues to fan the sparks.
Even though these latest events are taking place in northern states, I can't help thinking of the refrain "the South shall rise again." Just wondering if this is what we're seeing now.
We say to ourselves that it can't keep getting worse: the lies, the obfuscations, the gaslighting, the intensity of the effort by this administration to re-elect this monster. Yet it does. Every day.
Yesterday it was armed Creature supporters caravanning into protesters (a la Charlotte). One of them was killed, perhaps (hopefully) by "friendly fire." What will tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow bring?
I forget where i read it recently but i believe research, covering those countries bothering to hold elections and publish the results, has identified a very close, inverse correlation between participation rates in elections and degree of income/wealth inequality. Get them to the polls!
All the stops have been pulled by DJT and his henchmen. Our lives and the life of our country are at stake. With every letter you write, Professor Richardson, you illustrate this, with facts. We must get out the vote and defeat the GOP. Thank you for the facts and what they mean.
And ensure that ballot counting machines are not hacked.
Paper is always going to be safer
Always!
Mike Baker's video from Portland scares the hell out of me. This reminds me of scenes of ISIS arriving in towns in Syria and Iraq....except these people are using pepper spray and paintballs...for now.
Can you share a link? I try to keep up with Portland because my son and his family live there but I haven’t seen this. My son just tells me not to worry because it’s not happening near where he is but I can’t help it. I worry less when I can keep up with what’s happening there.
Try https://www.oregonlive.com/ the website of The Oregonian newspaper. We check it for factual info on the situation in Portland.
The DI poll, which correctly predicted Trump's 2016 victory and Brexit, has Trump 3% ahead of Biden overall and 6% ahead in the swing states. The poll says that most voters have already made up their minds, with 3% of Trump supporters and 9% of Biden supporters saying they might have a change of heart before election day. The reason the other polls are inaccurate (according to Sean Spicer...the former press secretary who said that Trump's inauguration had the highest turnout ever)...is that many Trump supporters won't admit this to pollsters, but will vote for him when they fill out their ballots. Remember, Trump doesn't need a majority if he wins the right states to get the electoral college. If you truly fear another four years of demagoguery and destruction, get out and do your damndest to make sure that like-minded people vote early.
IMHO, we need to put out pieces and constantly reinforce the difference between "rule of law" and "law and order," as I believe many within the electorate believe those are the same thing.
In modern politics, law and order, also known as tough on crime, demands a strict criminal justice system, especially in relation to violence and property crime, through stricter criminal penalties. It is clear where the law-and-order message is taking us. How can we reach voters to help them understand the difference? Tough on crime is going to lead to more shootings by police.
Yes! I make it a point to say law and order is a tv show; the rule of law is adherence to established law from the Constitution.
Calling Democrats “deranged lowlifes” is unacceptable behavior that trump followers seem to think is manly. His wife defended his bizarre sexist comments on attacking women as locker room talk. The militia “boys” are strutting around with guns drawn while police ignore or even thank them. These warped ideas of masculinity, that they are better than someone else, have spread this culture of bullies. But how does one account for theIr adoring women?
And their powerful, souped-up automatic rifles are penile extensions...yup, warped masculinity alright. Take their toys away from them and they shut right up.
Adoring women as sexual objects you mean!
I should have said the women who adore them and defend them. Hello Melania, Kimberly et al.
Of course...they resemble the "wives" of ultra-rich football players in UK...commonly referred to as Wags! Somewhat plastic celluloid images of publicity photos...hardware without the requisite operating software!
That expresses our annoyance with them, but it doesn't explain anything. Mostly I have no idea either. My one clue is this: I have a formerly progressive relative, an intelligent woman, who is married to a Fox News believer. Before 2016, they had no trouble disagreeing about politics. As the intensity ramped up in 2016, my relative switched sides. I'm guessing she did it to save her marriage.
I guess you're right! The first reaction of a woman threatened by verbal or physical violence by her partner is often to shut up and hope the problem goes away! There are not many "Kellyanne Conway" couples where both withdraw from the fight to " save the marriage".
Stuart Attewell, I very much appreciate your normal commentary grounded in an amazing fund of knowledge. But this comment is an over-generalization perhaps grounded in pre-Feminist perception.
Although this over-generalization does also unfortunately permeate the field of domestic violence with a hetero-normative view in which the woman is presumed to be the passive, compliant victim of the male perpetrator. Lots of women fight back and even instigate violent escalation verbally and physically. But this, too, is an emotionally reactive response that makes the problem worse instead of better.
Feminism, early education in conflict resolution, and emotional intelligence still have a long way to go.
👏👏 Expressing annoyance without explaining anything seems to be a common theme here. Like a "who’s more irate" competition! This isn’t some fucking support group! And preaching to the choir isn’t helpful at all. You’ve made a valid point about family politics and the potential effects of them. I only wish your relative could’ve changed her husband’s mind, and I’m sure that you do too.
As HCR writes these Letters, to an extent it is preaching to the choir in that we basically agree. But her service is curating the news in a way that illuminates what we may have missed; validating our values and process of reason, fairness, and truth; and clarifying the arguments for us to amplify and act upon as we pick our battles to most effectively channel our precious energy.
To an extent this is a support group. It is very reassuring in these threatening times to see we are not alone and we are not crazy. But with the range of human personalities, I, too, am sometimes frustrated at how often hyperbolic comments draw a lot of attention while a pithy albeit gloomy wake up comment seems too much for people to take in.
When people share their own experience, it has no statistical validity, but it helps humanize the issues and make them more relatable. This may have been what HCR sought in her series of Question posts.