Despite this and so many other lessons of history, MAGAs want an all-powerful king to rule the nation. And they believe their lives will be better. Delusion is a powerful drug.
Not sure, Michael, that they simply "want an all-powerful king."
I'm pretty sure they don't want blacks voting, or women free, or brown-skinned immigrants.
They're frustrated -- remember, millions lost their jobs to the billionaires who offshored them. They've felt abandoned, as if no elites could see them or cared anything about their situation. OxyContin kicked in. Fentanyl. Social media sites run by other billionaires profiting from algorithms spreading hate, fear, resentment.
Democracy requires a people educated to respect "others." America hasn't had that in, what, how long?
Heather Cox Richardson tells a good story today -- almost quaint in the American people's expectations of democracy for themselves then, taking for granted the right to vote. I don't think anybody here was "delusional" then. You call that "a powerful drug." But back then, Americans were highly literate, and knew their facts fairly well. They had a king, one who didn't respect them.
Now we have someone who fancies himself king, immune to law. And we have something like 600 billionaires, nearly all of whom are much worse than one Donald J. Trump, or one George III those years ago. And these many kings all live among us, propped up on our public life, seeing us as no more than the serfs or feudal objects royalty in the old country took for granted manipulating, abusing, profiting off of.
For the people to rise up and stand up, they have to go very low.
Poland has just risen up, non-violently and democratically, and dragged what is left of their country from the bowels of 8 years of corrupt populist neo-fascism. They were just two steps behind Hungary.
The joy and optimism... and pride.... all over Poland today is palpable.
Those colonialists were at that rock bottom low, they rose up and stood up, it was the beginning of building something great.
Careful, the USA today can go a lot lower,..... complacency rules.... and it is a lot harder to mend a really broken nation - the mess in Poland is going to take some fixing, but they have young brilliant minds now, at the helm, sailing back out of the shadows into the light of freedom.
Democracy is messy, and freedom is fragile - don't let it slip over there. We need you.
What our forefathers brought upon the world was something unique, a government "of the people, by the people and for the people," as Pres. Lincoln would later characterize it. The U.S. is home to the first peaceful transfer of political power in world history when on March 4, 1801 Pres. John Adams relinquished the presidency to Thomas Jefferson, his bitter political foe. What so many millions have fought for and for which many died is now under threat by those who are simply modern Ku Klux Klaners, i.e., MAGA Republicans. Racism has become the most serious threat to our democratic system.
Further to my point about the racist basis to the MAGA/KKK makeup: this from Trump's campaign appearance in New Hampshire:
DURHAM, New Hampshire (Reuters) -Donald Trump, the Republican presidential frontrunner, said on Saturday that undocumented immigrants were "poisoning the blood of our country," repeating language that has previously drawn criticism as xenophobic and echoing of Nazi rhetoric.
Trump made the comments during a campaign event in New Hampshire where he railed against the record number of migrants attempting to cross the U.S. border illegally. Trump has promised to crack down on illegal immigration and restrict legal immigration if elected to a second four-year term in office.
Hmmmm! Is it possible that TFFG is correct about corrupting "our precious blood?" Is his blood corrupted by his grandfather's blood? Is this sound reasoning? That anyone could buy into this claim should give us reason to pause and to ponder: how can they possibly think such a thing? And the answer is: racism, provincialism. Somewhere, somehow, something went wrong in their upbringing, at home and at school. Clearly we need more teaching and instruction on diversity, in all respects: race, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, etc.
Teaching simple biology would be a good place to start. How DNA carries traits from one generation to the next, what is cultural transmission of beliefs and expectations, etc. Fun in-class discussions.
Ivana wasn't even a citizen when she had Ivanka. Perhaps a green card for her labor. Grandfather wasn't allowed back in Germany since he left right before WWI. They said he was a draft dodger. Where have I heard that term used to describe a trump.
Very interesting......since the Trump family were immigrants as were we each and all ....... as were our ancestors upon their arrival to this enormous continent.
Indian tribes were here before us. We are aware of the horrors of that experience.....many difficulties linger.
There is nothing new about prejudice...the white man's fear of anyone of color.
The white man's desire to be seen as superior and the white man's desire that persons of color may be stronger or more intelligent really makes them tremble. My skin is also white, but by being created as "female" my gender also experiences judgment and prejudice....also with age even more.
The Republican Party , in general, has filled itself with men and women who have forgotten the power of love and respect towards everyone. They are not inclined to care for the earth....just to use up her resources for themselves. It is all about them and their personal power....but for how long? None of us live forever.
President Joe Biden says that WE TOGETHER.....CAN DO ANYTHING.......WE ARE THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Our differentcies are also our strengths if we listen to and respect one another.
Jeri, you are absolutely correct - HATE in cap letters is TFFG's platform. This was made clear in the study that I have cited numerous times: "The Anger Games: Who Voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 Election, and Why?" published in Feb. 2018. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0896920517740615
Nice, Richard Sutherland, you bring up Adams and Jefferson.
The second and the third U.S. presidents headed strong -- vicious rivalries, one for the public interests of the North, the other, very different interests of the South.
But in their last two decades, they became great epistolary friends. From libraries and antiquarian dealers one may still get copies of their two-volume set of letters to each other, Adams' posted mostly from Boston, Jefferson's from Monticello.
Both died same day, July 4, 1826, 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Out farther west, in a small town where the waters of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers meet, a baby was born that same day -- who would become the greatest American composer of that century, Stephen Foster.
Don’t forget them”camps” where millions of “illegal immigrants” would be confined while awaiting deportation. And do we really think those same camps might be the plan for those who criticize the New Hitler?
Illegals, LBGT+, then blacks (maybe they will stop voting for him), Hispanic, Jewish people could find themselves in the same spot as in 1945 (unless you are rich and know someone).
You forgot the word "vermin". Immigrants entering is not a good thing. There should be some order to it. It's not that Biden is not doing anything, but the numbers keep growing. When sanctuary cities say enough, we have a problem.
Report is that 2.5 million migrants came to the U.S. in 2023. The larger question is: Why? And then, is there any way to attack the matter at its source? Treating the symptom without going after the cause doesn't solve the problem.
Curious about how you define the problem that needs to be addressed. Is it the people coming in, or the USA's unworkable immigration system? Is it our own failure to recognize that perhaps it is our failure to recognize that we benefit from immigration, and thus our failure to make it a workable process for people wishing to come here? Before we "attack the matter at it's source", let's be clear what the matter is.
You are so right. My impression is that they are afraid the Cartel, warring militaries who slaughter people just because. A cruel and authoritarian government. One of the episodes (3rd I think) in Jack Ryan shows how difficult it is to over come such a government unless it is a coup and that may not be an improvement.
I don’t understand why R. Sutherland and others fail to identify the force behind today’s attacks on democracy : an evolved form of fascism & fascists, all hiding behind the First Amendment.
East India Company? Now we have Boeing, Raytheon, ADM, Microsoft, Google, Amazon….
We need a revolution to throw off corporate rule, just as the colonists did. The two questions are, will it be peaceful or violent, and will it come in time to prevent the inevitable slide towards authoritarianism absent the revolution?
Bernie tried to tap into the revolutionary zeitgeist, but the Democratic Party establishment, and its primary voters controlled by fear, valuing comfort over reason, in an incrementalist rabbit hole, slammed the door, and down the corporate, and fascist, authoritarian path we trod.
HJR-54. MoveToAmend.org. Pressure, and demand, change from the Congress.
Elections will not save us. The political system breaks virtually everyone. Grassroots pressure, protest, general strikes, and nonviolent civil disobedience are the only way out of this mess.
Every bit of the New Deal came from pressure from Communists, Socialists, and labor unions. A massive chunk of GOP support could be peeled away in less than six months if the Democratic Party would throw off corporate fealty in favor of working people. But that only comes about when Team Blue voters grasp the fact that the real enemy is corporate rule, not Republican voters, and credibly threatens to withhold support from corporate-owned candidates.
During the midterm elections some $881 million dollars was donated by billionaires. Most of it came from 14 Republican billionaires and 6 Democratic billionaires. Now I wonder how many lobbyists do these billionaires own outright. Lobbyists or what I call people bribing politicians so corporations can do whatever the hell they want. Politicians spend half their days looking for funds to keep their jobs. That's insane. And you're right about a united front. We need boycotts. We need to protest. Call the idiots in office. Be a big pain on the ass! Ron Johnson's office loves when I call him. I call Republicans and a few Democrats. The GQP are the problem along with Citizens United.
I agree except for boycotts. We won’t in our lifetime be able to effectively boycott a product or brand or service because every product, brand, and service is owned by a bigger product, brand, or service. And that product, brand, or service is simply a small division of another more vertically integrated monopolistic product, brand, or service. And so on, and so on until you reach Rupert Murdoch himself.
Boycotts are sadly ineffective. To me calling for a boycott or participating in one is like separating your recycling. You think you’re making a difference and it feels good doing it, but it’s so vastly insignificant in the grand scheme of things that the act is rendered useless. (Side note: Personally, until laws that matter are in place, I think consumer recycling is relatively useless. I still do it, but the reality is I know the truck that picks it up and the plant that processes it probably produces more CO2 than any small benefit the earth might realize from recycling my garbage.)
Read the book "Junkyard Planet"!!! It is amazing and depressing at the same time. While I still recycle, I try even more to reuse as much as possible. I admire how many young people I know who (whether by necessity or by social outlook) seek out used items, esp clothing, and also limit their possessions.
My hero was William Proxmire, coincidentally also from Wisconsin. I remember one year when the only funds he spent on his election were filing fees of less than $100 from his own pocket and accepted no contributions, did no campaigning. He ran, and was re-elected, on his record. Although Wisconsin has suffered through Scott Walker, and now, Ron Johnson, Wisconsin is on the upswing. You will prevail, Lisa59.
Being from NC, I feel an affinity for Wisconsin. Both of our states had a history of progressive legislation and tolerance, and both took a hard right turn to the dark side in 2010, and have yet to recover from the massive gerrymandering that took place.
The Democratic establishment is consistent in several areas. Chief among them: consistently striving and aiming for the middle instead of aiming for the top (and then still missing when they take the shot); propping up and prioritizing mediocrity over progress; refusing to scout for new talent (really, Dems? In this whole, entire nation on the verge, there’s not one single person you can find who just might resonate with the people more than Biden? Not one person rises to the top for you? C’mon!); and an inefficient, ineffective, roll-over-and-take-it commitment to over compromising and relinquishing command and control (it’s not a compromise when you just outright surrender).
I know Biden’s record has been mostly good. But that’s just it. It’s “good.” Most of the time. We’ve slightly moved the needle in a couple of areas. But it’s not enough. We need, my God do we need, better than “good” right now. Not Biden. Not another Clinton. Not Harris. Not another mushy moderate who keeps reaching over the aisle with a hand extended only to have it lobbed off with a bloody axe. How many hands have we lost now, Dems? Quit listening to people like James Carville, who are mired in outdated strategies and who tell you the people don’t want progress. That the people don’t want you to fight back. For Pete’s sake find a new strategy, quit taking advice and direction from conservative pundits who are out of touch, stop courting the lite Republican vote, and find us a candidate who will get their hands dirty, fling some long overdue mud in the GOP’s face, move our country forward to match the progress actual first world countries have made, pry our rights back from the GOP’s grubby, twisted stronghold, tell the GOP “no, we’re not doing it your way anymore - period” (if you have to, shout it over all their bickering and gerrymandering and court stacking and fossil fuel burning and putting bullets ahead of children and putting forced births ahead of everything and dismantling of regulatory agencies and lobbyist worshiping and sycophancy and nationalism and...) and then mean it.
Find someone who will fight fire with fire.
Do. Better.
But they won’t. And that’s where you’re right; elections will not save us. It’s going to be up to us to apply pressure and demand action. But here’s where my cynicism comes in. Because good luck getting a general strike off the ground when we’re too busy working from home and fighting with our racist uncles at Thanksgiving. Good luck overcoming vote suppression and disenfranchisement. Good luck getting a protest with enough people in enough places at the right times to matter. (I really thought the March for Our Lives movement was going to do it. Nope.) And good luck getting anyone to notice civil disobedience. Half of us can’t even define it anymore.
In so many ways, I really fear we’re doomed. 😞
(Sorry. This should probably have been a letter to the Democratic Party, not a comment on a Substack post. I got a little carried away. Sometimes I do that.)
(But also, maybe I’ll turn this into an actual letter and send it.)
I share your fear, but am repeatedly strengthened by two quotes, one from Chris Hedges, the other from I.F. Stone.
Hedges says “I don’t fight the fascists because I think we will win, I fight the fascists because they are fascists.”
The I.F. Stone quote read as follows: “The only kinds of fights worth fighting are those you are going to lose, because somebody has to fight them and lose and lose and lose until someday, somebody who believes as you do wins. In order for somebody to win an important, major fight 100 years hence, a lot of other people have got to be willing — for the sheer fun and joy of it — to go right ahead and fight, knowing you’re going to lose. You mustn’t feel like a martyr. You’ve got to enjoy it.”
Hahaha. What about NOW? I've never enjoyed fighting. It's a matter of Duty to support the next move for the good of 'We The People'. That's what our country is based on. If we want USA to be governed by Democracy, we need to participate as a member of the voting public. Now with the Internet, there's so much BS swirling around it makes it more difficult - especially when there are hoards of people out there who just want to get attention or prove a point. They say stuff just to say it. Doesn't make it true. I have to go back to plain common sense. Common sense tells me that a corporation is not a person! That all people have the right to vote. That changing the rules in the middle of the game isn't fair. That fascism is only good for the fascist. When I look back at world history, it appears that humans enjoy fighting. It's always happening somewhere on the globe. Some do it just for the sensation of the win, especially fat white males. The military should only be there for Protection from the fascist who fight to take what isn't theirs. There's enough land, water, food & shelter for everyone on the planet if only people would play fair and stop the insanity of believing some are better than others.
Agree with much of what you write, with a couple of caveats.
For much of the post-WWII era, America has been the fascist taking what wasn’t ours, from bananas in Guatemala to rubber in Indonesia, from oil in Iran to sugar in Cuba. In virtually every instance, we overthrew democratically elected governments to accomplish the resource pillage.
As to common sense, I never use the term anymore. I read a book on neoliberalism once in which the author explained that common sense and good sense were not always synonymous. Common sense literally meant, from the commons, or town square, and sometimes, as he noted, the common sense was that witches should be burned at the stake.
Your observation that elections won't save us is likely true, even though there have been a few hopeful signs here and there (e.g., Kentucky governorship, reproductive freedom). Grassroots pressure, protest, general strikes, civil disobedience? If we can't persuade people to vote, how can we hope to persuade people to take these arguably more difficult - and definitely more dangerous - actions, e.g., in 2020 in Washington, when Trump called out the police and National Guard on horseback against peaceful protestors? Peaceful protest could very quickly, I think, turn into our own modern-day Boston Massacre. But would it actually then spin-up bigger protests or general strikes? I'd like to think it would, but I remain unconvinced that the average American would so engage. Hopefully I'm wrong and at some point the rightwing blinders will fall away, people will turn OFF Fox, and formerly-rational Republicans will come to see that their puppet-masters clearly don't have the best interest of the country at heart. One can only hope ...
I think the approach has to be multi leveled. We can't give up on voting, or forcing the political actions that will reverse the Citizens United decision, eliminate the electoral college, and put rank-choice voting in place. Also the unions have to be strengthened, IRS funding increased so tax cheaters can be caught, increase taxes on the wealthy. Corporations have to be regulated and forced to be responsible community members...forced to keep jobs in America, forced to address their destruction of the environment....and yes....by looking at corporate profits and CEO pay, they can well afford to do that. And yes....if women can be forced to continue pregnancies that endanger their lives and future welfare, minorities can be forced to live on the fringes of society, Corporations can be forced to give back to the nation and workers that allow them to be so profitable. Also Corporate welfare has to be stopped!
Mr. High, I believe you have illustrated the problem of how difficult it is to find a workable solution to saving our democracy.
You call for revolution, emphatically declaring: “Elections will not save us. The political system breaks virtually everyone.” Yet you then argue that the Democratic Party needs to “throw off corporate fealty in favor of working people,” but you concede, “that only comes about when Team Blue voters grasp the fact that the real enemy is corporate rule, not Republican voters.” You conclude: We must threaten to “withhold support from corporate-owned candidates.”
Good points all. But is the answer to saving our democracy through revolution — be it peaceful or violent — or via the ballot box?
To be clear, I’m not saying don’t vote. I’m also not going to try and shame people who don’t vote, nor those who vote outside the duopoly. I myself am one of the latter on the federal level.
My read of history, especially of the times in which the power of capital overwhelmed the ability of government to respond to the plight of an oppressed working class, tells me that the radical legislative change required to reign in the power of capital came from outside the electoral system.
Imo, anyone putting all their eggs in the voting booth path, and even worse, supporting corporate-owned candidates just because the have a D beside their name, as the change agent, is mistaken.
At the risk of being a heretic, I’m sick of people saying they won’t vote for Biden because he’s not progressive enough. That’s a recipe for Trump-led fascism. We don’t need to “send a message” to Democrats by voting third-party or staying home. That would be fine if Biden was leading in the polls. Message all you want as long as you don’t contribute to a Trump win. But it’s too close to throw tantrums about Biden not accomplishing the radical change you want to see. He’s accomplished more than most Democrats - and did so despite the insane, cruel, bigoted Republican Party and a similarly-inclined SCOTUS. Would I like to see more progressive laws and policies? You bet. But I’m not going to “cut off my nose to spite my face” (as my Republican mother used to say).
“Vote Blue no matter who” is a pretty terrible slogan and a pretty terrible strategy which seems like it usually ends with a position of political power for the GOP winner, a lousy book deal for the democrat loser, and an insane bonus for every CEO and Justice Clarence Thomas in the nation. It’s really, really disheartening. I am beginning to feel like holding my nose and pulling the lever for a bad candidate who, at least, isn’t the other guy is no longer a winning strategy. I am beginning to think we need to stop treating elections like a big chess match (well, Checkers match if I’m being honest), because it’s not working. But I’m torn. If 3rd party voters hadn’t third party voted...
But they did. And they will.
I don’t know the answer. And I have voted down ticket my entire life because I believed in what the democrats stood for. They’re just not standing for much of anything these days. They’re just kind of...sitting there. :-/
You’re entitled to your opinion. I’m not voting for Biden because he is complicit in genocide, proxy war, and a failure when it comes to addressing corporate totalitarianism and climate change. His incremental crumbs of positive accomplishment pale in comparison.
“The global mystique of the U.S., after two decades of disastrous wars in the Middle East and the assault on the Capitol on Jan. 6, is as contaminated as its Israeli ally. The Biden administration, in its fervor to unconditionally support Israel and appease the powerful Israel lobby, has bypassed the congressional review process with the Department of State to approve the transfer of 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition to Israel. Secretary of State Antony Blinken argued that “an emergency exists that requires the immediate sale.” At the same time he has cynically called on Israel to minimize civilian casualties.
The Biden presidency, which ironically may have signed its own political death certificate, is tethered to Israel’s genocide. It will try to distance itself rhetorically, but at the same time it will funnel the billions of dollars of weapons demanded by Israel — including $14.3 billion in supplemental military aid to augment the $3.8 billion in annual aid — to “finish the job.” It is a full partner in Israel’s genocide project.“
It’s your vote, of course. I simply think that nothing Biden has done could compare with what Trump will do if he wins. Including enabling Putin’s genocide against the Ukrainians as just one example. That’s all I have to say.
Putin is not committing genocide against Ukraine. It could be argued that the closest thing to a Ukrainian genocide happened pre-Russian invasion, by Ukraine itself against its own citizens in the eastern provinces, following the 2014 coup we helped facilitate.
Trump would continue to be a clueless joke and asshole as POTUS. But one thing he isn’t, so far, is a willing tool of endless war and our national ‘security’ state.
He would have to be complicit in a genocide to be worse than Biden. I expect a broken moral compass from Republican politicians. I expect more from Democrats.
Classic. Cutting off the nose to spite the face. Elections are the cumulative result of the democratic process. The tactics you present would undermine the many aspects of that process that are right now taking place. And yet you want to blame Biden, apparently because you want sturm und angst, and are unable to see the subleties of his accomplishments and the regard the world holds him in. Among the things you miss is that we now have fiscal stability, international dialogue, and the hope for a functional Congress.
You use the word "fight" a lot. It is a fight, in a way, but I refuse to allow the image of violence to sabotage the democratic process If people who diss those of us who walk the talk and do the work start working on strengthening that process, it can succeed. But it takes all of us to make that happen.
Blathering on about old arguments I've heard since jr high debate days gets in the way. In other words, get off your high horse and join us in doing what you can to making democracy work for the people.
Hi. I’m here again with more words. I visited the MoveToAmend site and signed their petition. I also left a contact us note about how they should denounce Twitter and Facebook because they’re prime examples of the very corporations they’re wanting to reign in. I suggested they look to the fediverse and get away from algorithmic driven platforms which mine and sell data and are just generally awful. I signed it so what ironically from my iPhone, as Apple is definitely another example of a corporation that certainly benefits from Citizen’s United.
Long winded way of saying thanks for posting that link.
Thanks for signing the petition. Next up is lobbying for HJR-54 to your congressional representative. I got the only GOP member in the U.S. to cosponsor last session, but he passed away. But it can be done.
Move to Amend is one of the most important things we can do- remove corporate charters that are not intended for the public good and the public good includes COMPLAINCE WITH ALL LAWS or take their limited liability charter away. No more strategies for getting around laws or no limited liability. No public purpose- no limited liability. Oh if only! We cannot just demand change either- we have to become the change we wish to see.
Very well put, Phil Balla, all those off- (and sometimes still onshore?) George-Be-Kings their Great Pretender their courtiers their flunkeys their fixers their ocean-liner-size bath toys their armies of bought-and-soldiers in permanent occupation of Congress and state houses their Exclusive Freedoms their Divine Rights their chosen pet judges to enforce said Divine Rights and Freedoms their bands of bravos and attack dogs roaming city streets their subjects their peones... and those not theirs... mere vermin.
"Now we have someone who fancies himself king, immune to law. And we have something like 600 billionaires, nearly all of whom are much worse than one Donald J. Trump, or one George III those years ago. And these many kings all live among us, propped up on our public life, seeing us as no more than the serfs or feudal objects royalty in the old country took for granted manipulating, abusing, profiting off of."
Not that I hang around with many billionaires, but I challenge your statement "nearly all of whom are much worse than one DJT or George III.... If they were worse, democracy already would have been replaced with an autocracy. Many of us receive multiple daily requests from politicians running for political office. A small portion of those are big donors that spend enough money to influence the elections.
Warren Buffett has always claimed to be a Democrat. He could have bought every election in the midwest with his money and influence but he didn't. I'm not saying he's not greedy, but it was not in his best interest to piss off the consumers that make him wealthy.
A good portion of the 600 become wealthy wihen they inherited their money. If you scan through the Forbes list of wealthiest people, names like Walton and Mars are listed many times. And there are many others. Inheritance is welfare for the rich according to Warren Buffett and he should know because he has 3 children that are rich because of him.
The rest of you comment I agree with but our tax code allows the wealthiest Americans to extend their wealth by sitting around and doing nothing. Harlan Crowe has purchase a Supreme Court justice with an investment of less than a million dollars. We have no reason to assume this isn't going on right now or that it will end anytime soon.
MAGAts I know are anything but despondent, they simply hate the “others,” as defined by Rush and his ilk. And they are proud of their Christian hatred. For them, it’s that the DNA of brown skin is indicative of someone lower on the pecking order. Peck, peck, peck. And Obama, well, his tan just changed the equation so that “lower on the pecking order” had to be changed to socialist. As HST said. Socialism is the word they use to attack anything that helps all the people. Or words to that effect. But the pecking order is alive and well, and not limited to skin. Just ask any woman in Texas.
They are billionaires because you buy their stuff. Learn who they are and what they peddle and avoid it like your freedom, your life, depends on that action. Boycott is a powerful tool. You don't have to throw their "tea" in the harbor; let it rot on the shelves.
Here is a list of political reforms I put down a few days ago that address some of your issues:
1. Deep structural change: Congress (when it has the votes) should use its authority under Constitution Article 1, Section 4 to mandate the use of Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) in all future federal elections (as opposed to the interminable state-by-state route). This destroys the spoiler effect. (The voter no longer faces the dilemma of choosing between his actual preference and a candidate with an actual chance of winning. He makes his favorite his rank-1 choice and his "lesser-of-two-evils" his rank-2 choice. If his rank-1 choice is eliminated during instant run-off counts, all his other choices move up one rank: his former rank-2 choice becomes rank-1 and is counted.) Eliminating the spoiler effect has at least these advantages: A.) The preservation mechanism of the Duopoly is destroyed: a third party or independent candidate now has a realistic chance of being elected because the voter's dilemma has been eliminated. B.) The candidate must gather second, third, etc., choice votes during the instant run-off counts to have a chance of accumulating the winning majority. This requires moderation and a conciliatory approach to the voters and other candidates. Partisan extremists and firebrands lose! C.) Party bosses lose the threat of "primarying" Congress members to enforce the party line. That person now has the credible response of running as a third party or independent candidate and actually winning.
2. Congress should permanently outlaw the use of the "Hastert Rule", which allows the majority party to prevent legislation coming to a vote if it cannot be passed solely with votes of the majority party. Legislation requiring bipartisan support to pass is disallowed: the minority party is reduced to irrelevance. This is undemocratic and a declaration of partisan warfare. Banish it.
3. Congress should overturn the Supreme Court abomination, Citizens United, and related Court decisions. (Money is NOT speech. Corporations have NO citizen rights.) Monetary contributions should be limited to an amount the average citizen is likely to make. The 1965 Voting Rights legislation should be fully restored. A national voter registration list should be generated (without any action from the potential voter necessarily required, though invited) and federally maintained. Using it, ballots for federal elections should be mailed to all potential voters (perhaps with a return envelope and a form to be signed acknowledging receipt, for activation). List any condition that would temporarily disqualify the potential voter from voting: perhaps currently serving a prison term for a criminal conviction (though some European countries allow current felons to vote). All other citizens would be guaranteed the right to vote, overriding any state law to the contrary. The final text should reference the Constitution's Article III, Section 2, Clause 2 to inform the Supreme Court that this legislation is passed outside the Court's appellate jurisdiction.
4. Since the Supreme Court has demonstrated its inability to remain above partisan politics, its members' lifetime term should be modified. Perhaps a fifteen year term (not necessarily non-renewable--possible renewal would encourage prudent judicial behavior) would be appropriate. In addition, an external review board should be set up to monitor ethical behavior of its members.
5. Eliminate the tax cut legislation of Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush and Donald Trump (perhaps retaining the "sops" to average voters in these tax cuts added to make them superficially palatable.) Restore the former estate tax regulations and eliminate the rule that capital gains tax is "zeroed out" upon the death of the owner. The inheritors should be responsible for paying those taxes.
6. Legislate a social safety net (including medical) comparable to that of all the other advanced nations of the world.
7. Legislate a national standard of personal liberty, including reproductive rights, marriage rights, and gender rights. Parental rights should also be addressed, although this is more complicated because children's rights may be in competition.
8. Congress should endorse the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVCP) and instruct the Supreme Court that this is outside its judicial purview. The NPVCP is a state compact to go into effect when its members have accumulated enough electoral votes among its members to determine a Presidential election (currently 270 electoral votes). As of December 2023, members having fully enacted the NPVCP represent 205 elector votes. Another 62 electoral votes are held by states that have partially enacted NPVCP, for a total of 267 electoral votes. Replacing the archaic Electoral College via Constitutional Amendment is essentially impossible. The smaller states will not ratify an Amendment that takes away their unfair representative advantage. NPVCP leaves the Electoral College in place, but renders it moot.
Thank you Don for sharing these ideas of how we can save ourselves and our democracy. I find myself longing and wishing that we could implement these strategies immediately!
Phil Balla, I think you’re right. But my question is if it took decades to get to this despair, and those who think they’re unseen and forgotten believe tfg is looking out for them and don’t see the improvements Biden has made, what can change their minds before we get a dictator-for-life tfg? Rhetorical question, I guess.
Here's my read: people who are white, lower or middle class, and despondent, and have been self-propagandized for decades about the evils of government, are not looking for the government to create programs or policies that will benefit them. They are looking for scapegoats, and anything that will allow them to FEEL more successful in the world. Trump allows them to be furious, supports their worth as justifiably bitter people, and this fulfills that deep perverse need. He vaguely promises infrastructure projects and a new healthcare system, but doesn't deliver; his supporters don't care though because that's not what they really want. They're looking for emotional gratification now, which he gives them.
So I wonder/worry what will change this dynamic, and believe Team Biden is on the right track. But it will probably take at least a decade of successful job growth and economic development in poor areas of America for the despondency and scapegoating to lose some of their power.
It will also take, I'm convinced, changes in the ecosystem of social media, with regulations that stop the rewarding of toxic lies. It doesn't require infringing on free-speech, just smart regulations of how the reward systems and algorithms are allowed to work. There's no question in my mind social media has done enormous damage to America in the last 15 years, and must be reined in.
"Democracy requires" an educated populace. And the Repubs have done their best to dumb down the American education system. When we assume that life will provide what we need without much effort on our part, that complacency can turn to "feeling abandoned" by the system. While it's true that the economic system changed dramatically with the rush by corporations to find cheaper labor markets around the world, leaving a lot of workers in the US out of the good jobs they used to have, there were many opportunities for them to "retrain" offered, but for many of them, the expectation that the system should provide them with good jobs contributed to their disillusion. Instead of taking advantage of opportunities to "retool" a lot of them blamed the system, and seemingly never really recovered from the economic and social changes that occurred. To make people into total victims, takes away any power they might have to be the authors of their own lives. While we are all subject to environmental conditions and systems we have no control over, not taking any responsibility for our lives is on us.
I think the “retraining” was a sop to make it look like the job drain wasn’t really a problem. For it to work there would have had to be a match between the unemployed worker’s skills, the training effectiveness (often a farce) and the job that would actually locate in the worker’s area. And while this was supposedly taking place, the unemployed worker was trying desperately to keep their housing, feed their children and deal with health problems without employer-based health insurance. Many were caught in this trap of promises that could never have been fulfilled - and called lazy and entitled when they couldn’t escape. I’d be angry too.
Of course there were lots of empty promises made which left people scrambling. And of course people were angry. My point was, that if we expect the environment and system to hand us what we need we will be giving up the authority for our own lives. People who make it through very difficult circumstances, tend to be those who find ways to see the possibilities, find ways to adapt, and shift from anger to determination to manage. Staying angry, becoming passive, waiting for something to happen, and then finally engaging in violence against the system that the person believes let them down, is not really the best way to handle these changes.
I see apathy. I hear apathy. Those who's vote is based on the price of a bag potato chips. Those who are sick of all the drama and are tuning it out. Then there is the all lives matter group that is clueless to white privilege. That's a fun conversation. I have spent some time in recent years in bars and saloons in the mountains of Colorado. After I buy a few rounds for the MAGAQ guys the conversations get interesting. I buy. I talk. Facts do matter after all. It's a hoot. I always leave them smiling. But I was too liberal to join the bowling league. Hilarious.
Well said. It’s time to get rid of Citizens United, have universal health care (free medical school for qualified candidates), rebuild our basic education system (including liberal arts colleges), and face climate change head on. Until honesty about our situation is more prevalent throughout the country, we are in grave danger. Please add to this list and get to work finding the best Blue candidates and helping them get elected. That is how we and our offspring survive to make a better world.
Not just him. Not just billionaires. Evil comes in many guises.
from NPR today:
"Florida bill would ban civilian oversight of police statewide
The measure would effectively ban civilian oversight of police departments, and only allow police to investigate and hold themselves accountable for any potential wrongdoing. Advocates say it would betray efforts to foster better relations and trust among police and communities."
Since trumpers like authoritarian governments similar to Russia's, we can call them serfs. The only difference would be is that they probably would not have a Russian revolution at least not for many generations The serfs just trudge along-very little money, very little education, lots of complacency, most happy to do what they are told.....until you finally get a few that realize life doesn't have to be this way.
Not sure serfs were ever happy to do what they were told. Individually they were trapped by the life-and-death power of the rulers. And it’s hard to organize when you are exhausted and hungry.
You are right about being happy to do things. Probably a lot of them knew that things could be better but they have the organization. It is difficult to fight rifles and machine guns with rakes and shovels.
But the "trumpers," as you call them, also suffer (by the million -- real suffering) from OxyContin, Fentanyl, and in the MAGA states unusually high domestic violence and suicide rates.
Our MAGA also suffer from the rage, stroke, obesity, and heart conditions all set up for them by more yet more of the billionaires' online hate, fear, racism, and sensationalism programming.
I think it's clear the all-powerful king/dictator/czar/emperor they want hates the same people they do and will harm them. But the delusion is that Trump hates his non-rich supporters, too.
Also, MAGAs aren't the only victims of unrestrained globalization, unregulated capitalism, rampant propaganda, highly addictive drugs, poor education, and other developments that ail the nation. But they keep voting for leaders who perpetuate and intensify the problems.
600 billionaires need a king to represent them. Trump is assuming that role. Without a leader, these wealthy people cannot exert powers over ordinary people.
The following seemed a good choice on the 250th anniversary of The Boston Tea Party.
‘How the Trump era was predictable, according to author and historian Heather Cox Richardson’
'Last week, President Joe Biden strolled the streets of Nantucket with his family and made a noteworthy purchase: a copy of "Democracy Awakening" by Heather Cox Richardson.
Originally intended as a series of short essays addressing common questions such as how the electoral college was formed, Richardson found herself writing about the vulnerability of democracies to authoritarianism.'
'During an appearance on Boston Public Radio Friday, the Boston College history professor and author cited a saying from Mark Twain: “History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” Richardson explained there were moments in history, such as the 1860s and 1920s, when it seemed as if the U.S. democratic system was under attack.'
“Each of those times, Americans rose to the occasion and reached back to what I would consider our true history and reclaim democracy. And by our true history, they reached back to the idea that we should all be treated equally before the law and have a right to a say in our government.”
'Now, she witnesses democratic stress following the presidency of Donald Trump and his immune figure. She examines him as a “strongman,” a concept based on the 1951 book by Eric Hoffer, “The True Believer.”
“He said 'Let's stop worrying about the Hitlers and the Mussolinis of the world, because every generation has Hitlers and Mussolinis. What we really need to figure out is why people follow those strong men,'” Richardson explained.'
'She said the majority of support for figures like Trump comes from people who feel neglected, who can become supporters so long as they are convinced to hate someone.'
“Once you get that system [of a strongman] underway, it's got a natural momentum of its own, leading us in this moment to Trump calling his Democratic opponents vermin,” she said.
'Richardson argues that the rise of authoritarianism in the United States “follows basic patterns which the people in the United States who don't come from other countries are not necessarily attuned to. … I start the book with the idea that Americans seem to think that authoritarianism comes with goose-stepping soldiers and tanks. And the truth is that authoritarianism usually arrives through the ballot box.” (WGBH)
The link below to this article also contains the half-hour chat with HCR on Boston Public Radio.
A successful, healthy democracy requires that no citizen be left behind to market forces, all too eager to take jobs away from US workers and send those jobs to countries with a lower wage. And by no citizen should be left behind, I mean in terms of education, jobs, and healthcare.
George Bush ‘43 would have done much better had he focused on not leaving the city.ens behind. NCLB should have meant No Citizen Left Behind … when the adults are well educated, have the chance at well-paying jobs and good healthcare, they have the means to raise healthy and thoughtful children, the future stewards of our democracy.
Many thank you's Fern! I loved that photo of Biden holding "Democracy Awakening" the I saw posted on several sites. Your comment of "...glaring example of contradictions in our country" is stellar. Here's hoping that we reach back into history and get that "equality before the law" established for all of us, this time.
Thank you, Lynn. Trump's 'Poisoning the Blood' is making the headlines in the US and around the world. He's spreading his vile-bile far and wide. The clash between the reasons behind The Boston Tea Party and Trump's fascism is a glaring example the of contradictions within our country.
I heard that he said that on MSNBC this afternoon. I can no longer call him and his followers MAGAs. They are MAGANAZIs evil and cruel to their core.
I can no longer use the term white Christian Nationalists. It's a total misnomer akin to calling a dog a cat. I can only refer to them as white Faux-Christian Nationalists. This includes most Republican politicians who refuse to condemn the Fascist hate speech of TFFG.
The MSM replays TFFGs bile ad nauseam. They often leave it to their audience to decide if it is vile or acceptable. If they play it to get a reaction, then they must condemn it. It's hate speech and should be acknowledge as such. Rachel Maddox, Nicole Wallace and many others understand this. But they aren't journalists. Maggie Haberman's job is to report the facts and she is an excellent journalist, but like HCR she needs to find a way to voice her opinion if only through the quotes of others.
It is such a disgusting, creepy, revolting, ugly show. They are so destructive, menacing, cruel, without consciences. Who would make this up? They are alive, came out of their mothers' wombs; they are not plastic ...they are such a combination of the worst...'Only in America'?
Poor MAGA’s think they will get the better end of the deal with an authoritarian in place who supposedly shares their anti-women’s independence, white supremacy, anti-LGBTQIA +, and evil-Christian values.
Do regular MAGA’s think they will be permitted to keep their guns? Once an authoritarian regime is in place, they’re not going to want regular citizens to rise up against them.
Say goodbye to freedom of speech and the free press. Heck, say goodbye to the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.
Yeah, you're right they can't keep their guns. That's precious. King Turd wouldn't want an uprising would he. Bigoted stupid voters will be standing empty handed with that deer in the headlight look after he takes their courage away.
Mike, that would probably be a sticking point in my cohort. Although when I tried to draw a parallel with Texas's abortion "stance" and the confiscation of guns, all I got was the "it's in the constitution". I then asked if I (as both a woman and member of the LGBTQ+ community) got rights because they were not in the original document...I got crickets, which I translate to meaning "no" that they were unwilling to say to me.
There are a lot of non-Trump but too-scared-of-Democrats voters out there because they believe the propaganda about Dems taking away their rights. Those are the ones who will regret choosing Republicans.
Nope. We ALL will be regretting their votes if Republicans continue to hold seats and wield power as they now are doing. I think we need to get busy ourselves and shout the truth and stop dissing people because they disagree with us. Recognize the reality of their fear and do what we can to demonstrate the truth. Not rant. Not sneer. But demonstrate the truth by showing how Biden's policies have improved things, even in the face of Covid, even in the face of an inadequate media response. We have work to do.
Really? Have you asked them that? If Trump was re-elected or somehow gains control again, and asked you to hand all your guns and ammo into the department of Homeland Security, would you? Every Trumper/righteous conservative I know would say so version of “No, hell no, etc etc etc.” ‘Course, my Trumpers have been hating the government and occasionally shooting at government agents of various sorts since long before Trump appeared to be a useful idiot to those seeking to wrest control away from the good voters of these United States...
And it is so amusing to me that now our monarch, dictator, wannabe is demanding not just a win but a "blowout" in Iowa. Pretty soon it will be a unanimous acceptance that he is more important than their love for their spouses, their children, their God. He will declare himself their God to be obeyed and worshiped. How far will the MAGA's go? That remains to be seen.
And it washes the Americanism right out of them. Instead of becoming freer they become the serfs of Trump and he values them like Putin values his. Useful cannon fodder.
IMHO, the Democratic leadership is not able or willing to take the message to the average American. And that's why so many of them are in Trump's corner. They need a simple massage that demonstrates in no uncertain terms the benefits of their platform and the vacuous danger of Trump's. As so many people have said, "The Democrats appear to have abandoned the Middle Class." when the truth is just the opposite. Trump's message is their mirage in the desert but when there is no other message, they abandon rationality for the safety of the mirage. So much of the problem is the rarity of aggressive Democratic messaging and the media's scramble for "clicks".
Basically, the MAGAs are looking for assurance that they will have good medical care and a decent minimum wage (probably $24 an hour with paid vacation and sick leave). It is time for the return of those former middle class “perks,” along with unions AND the rescinding of the Trump tax cuts.
Cults go so damn far because they specifically replace rational thought with belief and faith. Don't think, just fear. Don't think, just hate. Cults appeal to our reptilian brainstem. Actions and reactions to cult messaging never gets to our cortex where rationality might interfere. W/o an intervention cults can destroy a life and a society and it seems a democracy. So Democrats must become successful interventionists.
Agreed. So much of it is amygdala over-ride, canceling out the prefrontal cortex. Conservatives have a larger amygdala. Does that generate their anger/fear? Or does the constant stimulation of their amygdala make it larger and easier to activate? Chicken and egg - but scary either way.
I just saw a cartoon in The Daily Kos which said, and I’m probably paraphrasing, “democracy is hard, choose me (trump) and you’ll never have to vote again”. Terrifying.
I’m sure the magas don’t know what they’re doing or what they want other than to keep their money for themselves and live apart from our evolving democracy. Their affinity with trump is that they like his brand of selfishness and his defiant pose. Hey, if he can live his life above the law and norms of our pluralistic democracy ... why not them too? Drill baby Drill... don’t pay taxes...who cares what tomorrow may bring.
This kind of thinking leads to disastrous anarchy. J6 was a manifestation of all this and only because we are a country based on the rule of law, do many of the perps... particularly the principle leaders and instigators...continue to be allowed to largely freely express themselves and walk free while fighting to escape their legal entanglements. John Adams would understand why this continues to be the way. Most Americans do as well and expect the rule of law to prevail. There is risk in this approach. We accept it.
The question of which people are fighting for freedom and resisting tyranny and which are seeking to redefine tyranny and fight against this new definition continues to be relevant today. Some of the colonists felt the loss of their status as Englishmen and were pushed to the point of revolution. Some people today feel the loss of their status as white Americans, and talk about violently overthrowing a government that, in their understanding, discriminates against them. Whether or not someone is a freedom fighter or a terrorist depends on who is telling the story. It is easy for me, in my bubble, to ignore the complaints of those who seek redress for their grievances, but I do so at my peril if I wish to keep the democracy that I value alive.
Unlike the early Americans though we do have representation; sometimes the best that money can buy but we do have it if we choose to vote. So many don’t vote for whatever reason which, to my way of thinking, is very poor citizenship, but that’s their choice. I’m just thankful for our forefathers who had the opportunity to live through a momentous time in our history and leave us a legacy that we just can’t sacrifice now. We just can’t.
Too often our representatives don’t even respect their own campaign promises. Our choices are often between terrible or maybe less terrible. Lobbyists decide on legislation more than voters.
Onecould argue that we don’t have representation when politicians who represent about 38% of the population (by getting fewer votes) hold an inordinate amount of power, thanks to two vestiges of slavery: the US Senate and the Electoral College, and a 3rd factor: gerrymandering, whereby politicians pick their voters rather than voters picking their representatives. Finally, apathy and a growing distrust of voting integrity means we have low voter participation. Other countries require eligible people to vote.
Excellent observation, Betsy. As I read HRC the questions were racing through my head. Is Heather using this history to point to the grievances of western land owners, rural residents, urban and suburban residents who don’t feel heard that are similar to the revolutionary times? I doubt it.
It does seem to require us to think about these matters in 2023.
Here are some questions:
In what ways do citizens in 2023 (or perhaps in 2016?) have grievances that require them to attack our capitol?
Are their grievances about religious principles which they value? The sacredness of life as they see it?
Have they been forced to accept laws that infringe upon their liberties as some might claim? But wait, no one is telling them they have to have an abortion. Why do they feel they can impose a limits on people who see it differently, especially in cases like the recent Texas, Kate Cox?
Have their lands been possessed by the government without their having a say or reasonable compensation on behalf of the collective citizenry?
What about the grievances about guns? A manufactured grievance on the part of the NRA when we recognize that no one is asking to take away their hunting or sports arms, but rather saying we don’t need people to have such easy access to military arms and we want them to take safety precautions? Is this an unreasonable infringement on their rights as we repeatedly see, hear of, and experience the slaughter of children and adults of all ages?
Isn’t the biggest argument, the second amendment, really a misinterpretation of a constitutional clause written at the earliest times of our country when there were different understandings, use, and far less deadliness to weapons?
So many questions that should seem easily resolved with people who recognize and respect everyone’s desire to live in a safe civilized community? Communities that value and respect the lives and voices of every citizen?
Stop! I am not proposing that this forum is the place to debate these questions. It isn’t, as I understand Letters From An American.
I reflect on these few hot topics in amazement and wonder at how we have come to this point where emotions whipped up by media or an organization like the NRA and dark money groups who have captured our passions at the expense of our safety and rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of the health and welfare of all?
How is it that our country has come to the point that civility has been abandoned and a former guy called for people to “come to D.C., it will be wild” only to find people so divided after such an assault on our capital because of lies and misinformation?
We surely can and must do better because at the end of the day we are all one humanity, aren’t we?
"Have their lands been possessed by the government without their having a say or reasonable compensation on behalf of the collective citizenry?"
Yes. That has happened.
When the USA put in the Interstate Highway system that connected all American cities so that cars (sadly not trains), could go everywhere,
ALL of the black sections of every American city were confiscated under imminent domain and covered over with concrete for highways.
Black folks were ejected/dispossessed from their (nice) neighborhoods and pushed into other (worse) areas of the the city with essentially no compensation.
So, Answer? Yes.
Of course, it was NOT black folks who stormed the Capitol in anger.
Who "stormed" (or hilariously and incompetently attempted to take over) the Capitol??
I bet all of you can guess what I will write next, so, I will skip it.
I agree with most of what you posted, except for the point that "it was NOT black folks who stormed the Capitol in anger."
Seton Hall Law School provides some insight into the demographics of the people who have been charged in the January 6th riots at our Capitol:
"Those charged were overwhelmingly white (659 of 716, 92%) but also included Hispanics (39, 5.4%), Blacks (10, 1.4%), Asians (7.1%, 5 of the 7 were of Vietnamese ancestry) and one Native American."
mbrowne: I have been following the prosecutions & the court documents & DOJ data along with copies of the written guilty-plea deals since J6.. Do you have the demographics on those convicted, those that electrocuted and or tore off the badge & or stole the gun of a volunteer officer who rushed to defend against the attack & to protect Congress or those who died as a result of the attack?
Arrests & prosecutions will continue. I want to see, hopefully, 1318 arrests or double your cohort.
Brian, I don't have the demographics you're after. I agree, they would be great to have, because as we both know demographic data helps us understand more about the problem space, and who is motivated by various issues.
I had just read the Seton Hall update and thought it was germane to our discussion here.... I wish we could get out of the habit as a society of broad-brush characterizations and smears. While indeed the "vast majority" of the people who showed up to participate in the chaos of January 6th were NOT Black, Asian, Hispanic or Indigenous, people who fit within those demographic slices were indeed there, and actively participating in trying to reverse the outcome of the free, fair election.
I wouldn't be surprised if conviction data is available somewhere, too.
Let's think about the observations you make and those offered by readers below. First, the government may have been the instrument of the land grab, but we can probably dig a little deeper to find that it is ultimately and almost always money that buys power, so called free capitalist entrepreneurs who are driven by profits with no regard to who gets pushed aside. And where government should have helped, elected leaders are bought off. Thanks Citizens United and SCOTUS!
Second, as the comments below indicate we then move to demographic data that does what? it divides us without our intention being to do so. Nevertheless, we have moved to a discussion that puts people, fellow citizens in a category rather than recognizing them as our neighbors, friends, family - members of humanity's collective. Are they Hispanic, Blacks, Asians, Vietnamese, or Native American? So, the system known as government which does not distinguish between civil servants who are working for the voters collective benefit from the elected politicians/leaders who are driven by - you got it! - money that the free market entrepreneurs are sharing with them. (I feel left out as a white male. Surely I belong among those who are abused by a system that allows this displacement without proper compensation such as new and better communities.)
We need reform, but we don't need to tear down the capitol building and the democracy that must be adjusted to serve the citizens rather than folks who are happy to live and die by $$$s. Am I wrong? And we certainly don't need to threaten, abuse or harm our fellow citizens and community while TFG runs back to his Mar-a-lair to feed those who want to score points, as one reader wrote.
I don't know where you get the idea that this is not the place to debate these questions. It has been such for as long as I've been reading the site. You must be reading a different LFAA over there on Earth II, where the sky is green and the grass is blue.
You are right to challenge that statement. In these heated times when civility is not always the response, I’d reviewed and tried to be “safe” in putting forth ideas. It was late and I misspoke. Forgive me, for I sometimes know not how reasonable efforts might be perceived. Thank you. I will work to stiffen my backbone. Peace .
A lot of them will not agree that we are all “one humanity”.
Too many people are one issue voters. (anti-LBGTQ, anti-non whites”, anti “baby killers”, anti regulation, anti tax, anti gun control, anti ___religion, anti “leftists”)
They have nurtured this grievance for so long they enjoy every time they can score a point against their enemy.
Therein lies the sad truth of our time. People cannot grasp the truth that we are all human beings, but have consciously or subconsciously come to value “scoring points” over respecting our obvious (to me) oneness. Even and especially those who are so invested in spiritual communities seem unable or unwilling to see our oneness.
To be sure, I completely agree with you. Did I make any mention of religion, a particular denomination, etc? I hope not because your take on "spiritual communities" is aligned with mine. In fact, it is not religion it is the "community of our shared humanity."
No you didn’t mention religion, but that’s often what comes to mind (or at least mine) when someone mentions “spiritual communities”. Weren’t religions created for dealing with the spiritual side?
Finding a community of our shared humanity seems difficult these days. Friends & family & Substack commenters such as yourself. Thank you for your comments 😊
John, a well-thought-out list of grievances. Try hatred and the 'replacement conspiracy'. Abortion = punishment for having sex. Guns = protection against the government.
Immigration = see 'replacement conspiracy'
LBGTQ = unacceptable - black and white - male or female PERIOD.
Each & everyone of your questions is based on faulty assumptions. Objection. assumes "facts not in evidence" if you will. And, I already know you won't.
So what's your MO? Locate a thread from an intelligent Commenter like Betsy Smith & then work the Crowd?
There is a 2023 Terms of Use(TOU) on this site subject ADR. & I have asked Substack Inc to update their TOU to be prepared for the nasty weather in 2024.
Well Bryan, I am not a lawyer and seek civil discourse outside of a courtroom with these days embracing the crazy notion that life might be about win-win rather than win-lose sans attention to our shared oneness seeking liberty, safety and good health for all. I won’t be playing in your playground but seeking win-win turf where we can walk away arm in arm.
This comment expressed well what came up for me, one does not win against abuse by being a bigger abuser. As important as reason is with issues like forced birth & assault weapons, it wasn't primarily about the tea, it was about abuse of power. It is important to keep that clear & apply that question directly to each action we are observing, is abuse being used to counter perceived abuse? If so, that worsens the problem, what models can we look to of what has worked?
Good questions, Kathy. What models exactly when we are represented as "the model." We certainly don't need to look beyond our shores to Vladimir Putin or Viktor Orban. Doctor heal thyself would seem to be the better option without calling people to D.C. to do one man's bidding. We need healthy dialogue and change to reform the system that promotes power through dollars rather than "justice, liberty and happiness for all."
You raise important issues here. I am particularly concerned about how ordinary people who might otherwise be reasonable, can become fanatics by appeals only emotion.
The question I ask is “what are the MAGA putting in place of what they destroy? What are they offering instead? To whom? For how long? How sustainable is what the MAGA offers?
It’s not sustainable, as the game of Monopoly teaches. They won’t take care of anything or anyone, but themselves..
Might makes right is what they offer, & even that is unsustainable. Those who live by the sword die by it. The last man standing is lonely, and they have to do all the work.
This last sentence shows the shortsightedness of the MAGA voters who make under $400G bc they will become the new vermin. I shake my head daily.
They tear down their own house by undermining their schools. They argue for ignorance by banning books. Little do they realize how they do the legwork of their own demise.
I have nothing against tradespeople. They are necessary. However, too many people can’t see the tree through the forest, and they argue against going to college instead of for affordable higher education. They’ve been convinced (or they’ve convinced themselves) that it’s not necessary or they aren’t worthy.
America is in an intellectual war that requires more of our people to have higher educations than in the past, or we will lose our power, influence, & status globally.
I liken it to the space race. Today, we’ve pushed more people to graduate high school with more math & science than ever before—however grudgingly they do it.
Soon, a whole generation of parents will be telling their kids to deal with learning Algebra 2 bc they took it. It will be the new minimum education the way grade 1-8 was, before k-12. Now we’re looking at P-Associates Degree.
In addition to the battle of the brains, people live longer, retire later, and each generation needs something to do while they await their turn in the job market.
MAGA ‘s whole plan is just to have the masses serve them like in 3rd world countries.
HCR’s post seems to shine a light on that reality, IMO. I believe it’s a rallying reminder of what we need to be doing to oppose MAGA.
The saddest observation I can make about those who follow the MAGA "leadership", is they will never have their needs truly addressed. Instead they will be fed grievance and culture war fodder to distract them from the fact that they do have real issues that are not being addressed/articulated by any party and very few individuals. Jobs/careers/dignity off-shored by globalization. A financial system that supports those who profit from poverty (predatory pay-day loans, etc.). A health care and legal system that allowed the Sackler family and others to destroy whole families, towns, and regions with for profit pill mills. No wonder there is little trust even for life saving COVID vaccines. A policy environment that militates against an effective, affordable education system. A health care/insurance system so broken it can't even adequately care for middle class white folks anymore. These needs are instead subsumed by bathroom issues, etc on the right and silence on the left. This is what the lack of representative democracy has done to these folks. It is small wonder they will follow anyone who offers a shortcut up and out.
I am hoping that everyone commenting will never forget the role of Fox and some other inadequate and very slanted in fact toxic media and include that in our remarks. Because somehow that has to change. Drastically.
I never forget the source of the propaganda. I also don't feel the need to announce that the sky is blue; it is a given, as is the gawdawful "toxic media" (a description I love).
While Hobbes gets the credit for resolving the wars between the kingdoms, Lock gets the credit for articulating the rights of people to throw off tyranny, while Lincoln defined who those people are. All are cornerstones of the enlightenment which has survived in America through many challenges and will do so again.
What I see as missing in Gaza, Maga, and Ukraine are recognitions of the legitimate aspirations of the parties. Gazans want people to live under the nourishing wing of Allah, Israel wants Jews to be free of pogroms, Maga, want us to live under White Christian Nationalism. Ukraine wants to live under the rule of law and Russia wants manifest destiny. Some aspirations are more legitimate than others.
I'm grateful to live during one of the least violent times, according to S. Pinker. But entropy will prevail if external energy isn't used with foresight and good judgement. Enjoy watching Falcon 9 land on "of course we still love you" https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TIpgl9IPu2A
"But entropy will prevail if external energy isn't used with foresight"
Great point. It has been a while since I thought about the third law of Thermodynamics.
The Entropy of a Closed System (not at absolute zero) will always increase.
In other words, the disorder/diversity of a closed system will always increase, without bound. If you have ever been in one of the very, very, very few virgin forests on earth, you can see this law in effect with the myriad of tree species present. Diversity is a natural outcome of the Third Law of Thermodynamics.
Large diversity in closed systems is the natural outcome.
Germany's effort to reverse entropy and eliminate diversity, of course, failed because, in the long run, the Third Law of Thermodynamics cannot be defeated.
It takes too much energy to overcome the natural laws of nature.
Nice! I always enjoy your input to LFAA. One way to look at entropy is viewing it as the inverse of temperature. In nature, the temperature goes down and the entropy goes up. Now all I have to do is visualize what the "closed system" is?
Be careful with the word genocide. The extremists in the Kaneset might want to exterminate the Palestinians, but the present military action is not aimed at eliminating the Palestinians. We need to appreciate that what Hamas did on Oct 7th was done with the expectation the Israelis would do in response and they could care less about the consequences, i.e. carnage of their people. A sacrifice that might gain worldwide sympathy. 20k dead. And to negotiate any peace with the Palestinians whose only position is to eliminate Israel. That is an impossible negotiating position.
Hamas and extremist Palestinians do not want a two-state solution anymore than Israeli extremists do. And of course, the one-state solution each favors differs diametrically.
Muslims are taught that Allah forced Jews from Israel for killing Jesus. The Nazis and other antisemitics preached the same BS to justify the holocaust. The Pope apologized but not one Mullah, or one Christian Nationalist. If they want to believe god wants Palestine to punish the Jews, then they can enjoy their f-ing virgins with Allah. It's just the ranting of a bunch of medieval Dunning Kruger Effect Worse People in History! Don't believe it.
Well stated. Consider the grievousness that the trumpsters have, and that trump does address them. Primarily hatred of, a laundry list of grievances, top of the list of are nonwhites and the audacity of women and LBGTQs who only want their constitutional rights. Their sense of righteousness is backed by the "replacement conspiracy".
Betsy, you write true words. I have asked my (mostly white male ex-cop) cohort what discrimination they have suffered as rights have been given to BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and women that they have enjoyed all along. With respect to the female and lesbian part of me, I get a religious argument that abortion is a mortal sin, and that homosexuality is an abomination. When I counter that with the prohibition of establishment of religion, I get more crickets.
In the March, 1770 ‘Boston Massacre,’ an agitated crowd prompted British soldiers to kill and wound some American colonists. Paul Revere’s instantly famous image—grossly misrepresenting what happened—enraged the colonists.
There was a trial of some British soldiers. John Adams (brother of rebellious Sam) volunteered to defend the Brits at their trial. He stated that, as a lawyer, he was obliged to see that the Brits were justly represented in court. His sense of ‘Justice’ initially was not well received by his fellow Bostonians.
John defended the Brits well. Some received minor punishment, others were acquitted.
John, with this noble sense of ‘justice,’ later became president of the United States.
His professional behavior was in stark contrast to another president, whose ignoble sense of ‘Justice’ threatens the Constitution, the courts, and the professional functioning of the Department of Justice.
Mentioning Trump and justice is an oxymoron, with emphasis on the ‘moron.’
John Adams is a long time hero of mine as well and for the reasons you note.
I first became enamored of Adams through Catherine Drinker Bowen's truly immense and wonderful biography of Adams written in 1949. The biography contains a detailed description of the trial Adams sponsored for the British soldiers and his, initial, lack of popularity in Boston for that stand.
Her Biography also resulted in my kids being forced to read the book and then (when they were in high school) we all went to Braintree Massachusetts to see the room where he wrote the first tripartite Constitution. The MA constitution. 1779.
Written alone by John Adams in his childhood home.
Mike, that's one reason I am so glad I found Professor Cox's letters. My feelings about Trump and all his misguided followers are validated by like-minded people, but also, I have learned so much about the people and events in our history that helped lead us to our democratic way of life.
I am enlightened when I hear our history come alive.
Trump and his cult members do not care about learning anything that will open their minds to new concepts, or to the appreciation of those in our history who dedicated their lives for the betterment of ALL people.
MAGAs do not care about learning anything new.
They just want to protect a way of life which they think is the ONLY way of life for everyone.
My sister's husband down in TX is a huge Trump supporter. But, I don't really think he can put his specific finger on why he loves Trump so much.
In watching him and others who are ardent Trump lovers, I think Trump's appeal is mostly how he trash talks all the time.
If you remember middle school (at least at my school), the biggest trash talking guys were ALSO the same guys all the girls fell in love with and all the boys followed. Those guys ended up heroes of the football team as well, trash talking their way through high school.
I think there might be something fundamental to humanity that Trump has found and is using. I think that both males and females are ATTRACTED to a big bully trash talker.
But, I could not tell you the evolutionary origins of WHY. I don't know.
I also cannot tell you why I am, as a long time guy, from East Texas where I did my own fair amount of trash talking, despise Trump so much.
Mike, you said what I have thought since the time that Trump crawled out of the woodwork to make himself known to the world.
His supporters see in him what they've felt and seen in themselves and others like them. He is validating their mean-spirited, entitled thoughts and actions.
My husband was elated when Trump won in 2016. I was sick over his win. Everytime Trump said or did something horrendous, I was appalled and would say, "Do you see how he REALLY is? " My husband's pat answer was a snide "Get used to it."
He continued to watch FOX, and praised Trump's efforts to divide our country. We had many arguments because I spoke my mind with conviction. So much so, that he would say, " Stop talking so loud. You're scaring the dog":)
Anyway, as the years went by, and especially when Trump bashed veterans and POWs, my husband's opinion of him has changed. He now sees how dangerous he is, and finally sees his true selfish, childish words and actions. He finally realizes that Trump was not, or never will be, good for our country if we want to keep our democracy.
I'm glad that you and he have realized the "Truth about Trump."
Interesting evolution of your husband's position, Pam. I am ever surprised at some people that I know who are both intelligent and friendly are so enamoured of fpotus. I suspect that with the several that fall into this category, the white Christian nationalism is what leads them in their support .
Pat But few of these high school bullies or heart throbs ever amounted to much out in the real world. I am gobsmacked that 74 million people voted for TRASH TALKING TRUMP in 2020 and, between indictments, he is the favored Trumpublican candidate in 2024.
In fourth grade we had a trash-talking bully, Kent Temple. Initially he intimidated. Then some of us ‘ganged up’ on him and ‘cauterized’ his bullying. He didn’t return in fifth grade. I never knew why. [I checked. He didn’t become a Republican Congressman.]
We’ll put.Somehow we have to get pastMAGA and back to governing. It would be a great help if the wealthy, be they individuals or corporations, paid their fair share of taxes. I think of good people like Jamie Raskin and Elizabeth Warren who keep working for a better America.
Mike My good friend David McCullough [died last year after living with two strokes] restored John Adams historically with his Pulitzer-winning JOHN ADAMS.
Initially David started out researching a book on the post-presidential letters between Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Then he wrote me that he was fed up with Jefferson’s hypocrisy, scrapped some of his initial research, and decided to focus on John and Abigail.
Some years later he collected and wrote the foreword of a book of letters between ex-prez Truman and ex-SecState Dean Acheson. He (and I) thought that these ranked among the most erudite letters ever exchanged between two senior American statesmen.
What impressed me that Truman, getting even more strong willed out of office, matched Acheson’s erudition. Truman, because he had to work on his father’s farm, never went to college, though he was a voracious reader—history and biography. Acheson patterned his education and personage around the British upper class. They were an admirable twosome both in and out of office.
Those are a couple books I'd like to read, Keith. I shall hunt them down. My Dad was a huge Truman guy; I suspect there was kinship in the "WWII service/No College/Voracious reader" status.
I would label John's "sense of ‘Justice’ initially was not well received by his fellow Bostonians" as more standing on principle. Standing on principle against a popular tide of sentiment at the moment is often what makes people unpopular, at least initially until there has been time enough to see or prove the wisdom of standing on one's principles.
I believe that is one of the most difficult aspects of the Israeli war in Gaza for Biden and our government, how to choose which principle should be the foremost, support for our long-term allies with the only functioning democracy in the Middle East (and the rule of law) or support for a displaced people without a homeland (and the laws of war), knowing that we tend to love underdogs.
John As a former Foreign Service Officer who had boots on the ground in the Middle East for years, I firmly believe that President Biden has been wrong in his handling of the Israel/Gaza situation.
He may have imagined that he could have influenced that viper Netanyahu. WRONG! Biden loathed and distrusted Netanyahu over the years.
Biden publicly seeks more ‘humane’ Israeli military assaults and Netanyahu responds with public ‘f++k yous.’ Meanwhile, Biden surreptitiously rushes massive replacements of 2000 pound bombs, artillery shells, and other war materials for the Israel Defense Forces.
For over two months Biden has not displayed an effective sense of humanity regarding what is occurring to 2 million Gazan civilians. This will affect the United States in much of the world, including in Arab countries.
Putin just made a successful trip to some Arab countries. I sense that he was chortling about being the ‘good guy,’ while America was the ‘bad guy.’ Sad—but quite plausible.
I couldn’t agree with you more Keith, Netanyahu has played our president like a violin, every note he has played has been to protect himself from the reckoning that is sure to come. From all of the things I have read, he and his government are as complicit in what happened on 7 Oct as is Hamas. Biden slipped into the trap of protecting Israel no matter what, while we have watched a massive bombing campaign take place in an area densely packed with children, the results are all too predictable. Israel is rapidly loosing support around the world, by people and governments who know what they are looking at. Hamas is a terrible enemy to have on your border, they are not stupid, and have engineered a counter to the IDF and their technological superiority. In chess I think they would call that checkmate, whatever it is called, a lot of lives are going to be lost while it plays out to its conclusion. They say it takes two to tango, neither of which would be at this juncture without the other. Our government needs to take a much harder stance regarding Israel, and make it crystal clear that we are not ok with the right wing government running the country and it’s agenda.
Keith, I appreciate your post here. I am WOEFULLY (I say again, woefully) ignorant of the history of that part of the world. What I do "know" (believe is probably a more accurate word, but I digress) is that the situation is untenable. Hamas comes to power over horrible treatment of Palestinians by the Israeli government. Hamas attacks said government with the stated intent of creating an overreaction (which is spectacularly an over reaction) by Israel. The Gaza strip (reportedly very concentration-camp like in its pre Oct.7, 2023 days) has been reduced to rubble with no delineation between the Palestinians who live there and Hamas.
In many circles (LFAA among them) there seems to be no room for anything other than a completely pro-Israel (and anyone who criticises anything is branded an "anti-Semite") stance. To my way of thinking, both sides have done wrong; the anti-Palestinian stance of Israel leads to Hamas, Hamas attack leads to Israeli attempted obliteration of the Gaza strip in an attempt to eliminate Hamas.
I am not an anti-Semite OR anti-Palestinian. I believe that the situation there has been exacerbated by white Europeans attempting to "regulate" the area in an "equitable" manner (Balfour) and to atone for the lack of response to Hitler's extermination of the Jews in Europe. (Oh, and protect petroleum sources for western useage. How could I forget.) Both "sides" are both right and wrong.
I appreciate your last three paragraphs. It sums up what I believe as well, but much more founded in knowledge and experience.
Tuba I almost expect to be attacked as ‘antisemitic’ because of my straight forward assessments of what is occurring in the Israel/Gaza situation.
I strongly supported the creation of the State of Israel. I lunched with David Ben-Gurion in 1954. I was invited to spend a month at the Israeli Defense College in 1960, the year my book on Nasser’s Egypt was banned by Nasser.
I strongly resent that the ‘antisemitism’ charge is being thrown at informed people who disagree with what Netanyahu has sought to create for nearly 20 years. Over the last two years, this was a topic of conversation at the bat and bar Mitzahs of two of my grandchildren.
Not so incidentally, there has been a strong denigration of Arabs who, like Jews, are Semitic.
Taxation without representation is still anathema to a democracy. Winner-take-all electoral college votes can make a citizen living in a strongly partisan state feel that, for the election of the president and vice president, their vote doesn’t count. A proportional number of electoral votes apportioned according to the percentage of votes won by each candidate would help to alleviate the problem and dilute the power of the swing states.
The concept of a less democratic body (the Senate, and the electoral college) comes from John Adams Massachusetts's Constitution written around 1779 in his home in Braintree Massachusetts.
There he wrote the template for the US Constitution. A tripartite constitution with a Judicial Branch, a "House of Representatives" (democratically elected by white males), and then he put in the "Senate" where a derivative of the people were used to select the representatives in the Senate. The Senate was not directly elected by popular vote.
It would be fascinating to talk to Adams or see if any of his letters contain a clear underpinning, rational reason for this division and for the Senate.
Maybe Adams, having gone to Harvard, "believed" there was an upper crust of people who were better able to "represent" than the "commoners". But, he also believed "commoners" should have a say.
Although, Adams barely got into Harvard because he, himself, was not from a wealthy family. He had to find a wealthy sponsor.
Remember, British culture was well embedded in the white male community of that time. Never mind Adams' break from a desire for a King.
And even 40 years ago the Caste system in Britain remained rigid. I don't know about today.
I had an older gentleman who was a close friend from Britain who married a beautiful Irish girl he met while he was still in Britain.
He literally had to move to America to not be treated like dirt because he married an Irish girl. That would have been around 1970.
Mike S, I may be on shaky ground here but I thought the tripartite nature of our government was Judicial, Executive (president) and Legislative branches with the bicameral structure of the Congress including the Senate (with 2 Senators per state regardless of population) as well as the House of Representatives (with representation based on numbers of people) to ensure less populated states they wouldn't always be dominated by the more populated states. Leading to our current dilemma of repeatedly feeling the low-populated states dominate "the majority of people."
Oversimplification perhaps, but I've seen the argument that "the coasts" get too much power in voting, which I take to mean the MAGAs don't like all the liberals in urban areas. I counter with we "urban liberals" have LESS power, because of the Senate!! I've asked why less populous states get as much senatorial representation as states with populations much larger? While I'm all for bison herds, I don't think they should get as much representation as humans do.
Well, I guess I would if senators really gave a shit on the living conditions of the bison.
The 1773 Boston Tea Party is legendary in American history. In fact, as Heather points out, the British, in an effort to rescue the East India Company, provided it a tea monopoly in the American colonies. Despite a small tea tax, this would have provided cheaper tea than what was being smuggled in.
John Hancock, perhaps the largest smuggler in the colonies, was furious at this challenge to his smuggling business. A story that I find credible is that Hancock, in cahoots with Sam Adams (most famous today by his beer), arranged the Boston Tea Party.
This triggered a massive British crack down on Boston which, in turn, consolidated cohesive opposition by the colonists. After the battle of Lexington, the American revolution commenced.
John Hancock desperately wanted to be appointed commander of the American troops. However, John Adams, seeking to unify the colonists, supported Virginian George Washington, who just happened to appear at the colonist gathering in his French-Indian War military uniform.
John Hancock’s bold signature was the first on the Declaration of Independence.
"John Hancock, perhaps the largest smuggler in the colonies, was furious at this challenge to his smuggling business. A story that I find credible is that Hancock, in cahoots with Sam Adams (most famous today by his beer), arranged the Boston Tea Party."
Keith, this story is backed up by Katherine Drinker Bowen's wonderful Biography of John Adams. In fact, in her retelling of the history, it was John Hancock who organized the Boston Tea Party and MADE SURE that none of the RUM he was running into Boston, to the poor Irish wards, was dumped into the harbor.
The original sin today is unlimited funds to determine who successfully runs for office. A corporation is not a citizen as Federalist jurists would like you to believe. Democracy has already been fatally wounded. Now it’s just a matter of time unless decisions can be reversed. And when you have all the money in the world, you can make your own reality. MAGAs are convinced that regulations are not good for the populace. Imagine that. They already won the reality wars.
Re our First Amendment andfree speech: Areopagetica, a speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parliament of England, is a 1644 prose polemic by the English poet, scholar, and polemical author John Milton opposing licensing and censorship, published November 23, 1644, about 20 pages in an original larger binding I bought from Bernard Quaritch for $20,000 and sold back to Quaritch for $120,000 to gratify an Arab buyer... a few years later... is the first open defiance of the Crown - that leads directly to our First Amendment - indicating that parliament forbid the King of England from taxing the printed word from that day forward. This speech by John Milton was and is critical to American history. It is ignored by American historians.
S B, many thanks for the reference to Areopagetica. I have now read a bit about it and found a link to background and the entire speech. Link below. It would appear that Milton's famous speech was, indeed, the underpinning of some of the thoughts that Adams and others had. Thanks for the reference. Link below.
A .pdf of the entire speech/pamphlet by Milton and thanks for the reference.:
"According to George H. Sabine, the Areopagitica presumed and was written for an engaged public:
Its basic principle was the right and also the duty of every intelligent man as a rational being, to know the grounds and take responsibility for his beliefs and actions. Its corollary was a society and a state in which decisions are reached by open discussion, in which the sources of information are not contaminated by authority in the interest of party, and in which political unity is secured not by force but by a consensus that respects variety of opinion.[7]"
" presumed and was written for an engaged public:"
Well, I guess if you think of all those folks in America sitting in recliners watching Fox News all day, we do have an "engaged public".
YES Mike S, as I read above about Areopagitica I think Milton was also arguing for basing actions on principles and hence the importance of knowing or being clear upon what principe one bases one's actions and therefore the importance of free speech (and writing) to allow enunciation of those principles.
Thanks. I like quizzes. Annoyingly though I have no idea what my “grade” would be. It only tells you the correct answers, you have to go back and grade yourself.
Thank you for the refresher course. I had forgotten so much in the last 60 years. History and art being my favorite classes. I so enjoy your letters about the past and in a lot of cases how the past relates to today.
Despite this and so many other lessons of history, MAGAs want an all-powerful king to rule the nation. And they believe their lives will be better. Delusion is a powerful drug.
Not sure, Michael, that they simply "want an all-powerful king."
I'm pretty sure they don't want blacks voting, or women free, or brown-skinned immigrants.
They're frustrated -- remember, millions lost their jobs to the billionaires who offshored them. They've felt abandoned, as if no elites could see them or cared anything about their situation. OxyContin kicked in. Fentanyl. Social media sites run by other billionaires profiting from algorithms spreading hate, fear, resentment.
Democracy requires a people educated to respect "others." America hasn't had that in, what, how long?
Heather Cox Richardson tells a good story today -- almost quaint in the American people's expectations of democracy for themselves then, taking for granted the right to vote. I don't think anybody here was "delusional" then. You call that "a powerful drug." But back then, Americans were highly literate, and knew their facts fairly well. They had a king, one who didn't respect them.
Now we have someone who fancies himself king, immune to law. And we have something like 600 billionaires, nearly all of whom are much worse than one Donald J. Trump, or one George III those years ago. And these many kings all live among us, propped up on our public life, seeing us as no more than the serfs or feudal objects royalty in the old country took for granted manipulating, abusing, profiting off of.
I agree Phil, it's despondency, not delusion.
For the people to rise up and stand up, they have to go very low.
Poland has just risen up, non-violently and democratically, and dragged what is left of their country from the bowels of 8 years of corrupt populist neo-fascism. They were just two steps behind Hungary.
The joy and optimism... and pride.... all over Poland today is palpable.
Those colonialists were at that rock bottom low, they rose up and stood up, it was the beginning of building something great.
Careful, the USA today can go a lot lower,..... complacency rules.... and it is a lot harder to mend a really broken nation - the mess in Poland is going to take some fixing, but they have young brilliant minds now, at the helm, sailing back out of the shadows into the light of freedom.
Democracy is messy, and freedom is fragile - don't let it slip over there. We need you.
And Poland rose up AFTER Covid. Can we?
we are.
May we succeed.
When in doubt, rooting for the Poles is generally a good choice.
When my dad was flying in WWII, they told him that if he was shot down, look for help from the Poles.
What our forefathers brought upon the world was something unique, a government "of the people, by the people and for the people," as Pres. Lincoln would later characterize it. The U.S. is home to the first peaceful transfer of political power in world history when on March 4, 1801 Pres. John Adams relinquished the presidency to Thomas Jefferson, his bitter political foe. What so many millions have fought for and for which many died is now under threat by those who are simply modern Ku Klux Klaners, i.e., MAGA Republicans. Racism has become the most serious threat to our democratic system.
Further to my point about the racist basis to the MAGA/KKK makeup: this from Trump's campaign appearance in New Hampshire:
DURHAM, New Hampshire (Reuters) -Donald Trump, the Republican presidential frontrunner, said on Saturday that undocumented immigrants were "poisoning the blood of our country," repeating language that has previously drawn criticism as xenophobic and echoing of Nazi rhetoric.
Trump made the comments during a campaign event in New Hampshire where he railed against the record number of migrants attempting to cross the U.S. border illegally. Trump has promised to crack down on illegal immigration and restrict legal immigration if elected to a second four-year term in office.
And yet…his grandfather was an immigrant as were two of his three wives. As are his in-laws.
Hmmmm! Is it possible that TFFG is correct about corrupting "our precious blood?" Is his blood corrupted by his grandfather's blood? Is this sound reasoning? That anyone could buy into this claim should give us reason to pause and to ponder: how can they possibly think such a thing? And the answer is: racism, provincialism. Somewhere, somehow, something went wrong in their upbringing, at home and at school. Clearly we need more teaching and instruction on diversity, in all respects: race, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, etc.
How dare you promote DEI!🤣🤣🤣 Thank you, Richard. It’s the first full-throated support of DEI that I have read. It’s like taking a deep breath.
Teaching simple biology would be a good place to start. How DNA carries traits from one generation to the next, what is cultural transmission of beliefs and expectations, etc. Fun in-class discussions.
They were and are white - the poison he alludes to is about class and race.
and gender. Oppression and disrespect for women is center stage in case you missed it.
Ain’t that a puzzle for anybody still looking for logic
Ivana wasn't even a citizen when she had Ivanka. Perhaps a green card for her labor. Grandfather wasn't allowed back in Germany since he left right before WWI. They said he was a draft dodger. Where have I heard that term used to describe a trump.
Yes. Donald knows immigrant wives are obedient appreciative wives.
well he does regularly talk out of both sides of his mouth.
Don't forget his mother
I just posted that before I read your post. Methinks he would confuse even Freud.
As was his mother.
Very interesting......since the Trump family were immigrants as were we each and all ....... as were our ancestors upon their arrival to this enormous continent.
Indian tribes were here before us. We are aware of the horrors of that experience.....many difficulties linger.
There is nothing new about prejudice...the white man's fear of anyone of color.
The white man's desire to be seen as superior and the white man's desire that persons of color may be stronger or more intelligent really makes them tremble. My skin is also white, but by being created as "female" my gender also experiences judgment and prejudice....also with age even more.
The Republican Party , in general, has filled itself with men and women who have forgotten the power of love and respect towards everyone. They are not inclined to care for the earth....just to use up her resources for themselves. It is all about them and their personal power....but for how long? None of us live forever.
President Joe Biden says that WE TOGETHER.....CAN DO ANYTHING.......WE ARE THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Our differentcies are also our strengths if we listen to and respect one another.
Hate is his platform
Jeri, you are absolutely correct - HATE in cap letters is TFFG's platform. This was made clear in the study that I have cited numerous times: "The Anger Games: Who Voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 Election, and Why?" published in Feb. 2018. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0896920517740615
Nice, Richard Sutherland, you bring up Adams and Jefferson.
The second and the third U.S. presidents headed strong -- vicious rivalries, one for the public interests of the North, the other, very different interests of the South.
But in their last two decades, they became great epistolary friends. From libraries and antiquarian dealers one may still get copies of their two-volume set of letters to each other, Adams' posted mostly from Boston, Jefferson's from Monticello.
Both died same day, July 4, 1826, 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Out farther west, in a small town where the waters of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers meet, a baby was born that same day -- who would become the greatest American composer of that century, Stephen Foster.
Considering their fierce rivalry, imagine if Adams had refused to step aside. An interesting aside about Stephen Foster too.
Don’t forget them”camps” where millions of “illegal immigrants” would be confined while awaiting deportation. And do we really think those same camps might be the plan for those who criticize the New Hitler?
Illegals, LBGT+, then blacks (maybe they will stop voting for him), Hispanic, Jewish people could find themselves in the same spot as in 1945 (unless you are rich and know someone).
You forgot the word "vermin". Immigrants entering is not a good thing. There should be some order to it. It's not that Biden is not doing anything, but the numbers keep growing. When sanctuary cities say enough, we have a problem.
What are the actual numbers of illegal immigrants? Or is that going too far, asking?
Report is that 2.5 million migrants came to the U.S. in 2023. The larger question is: Why? And then, is there any way to attack the matter at its source? Treating the symptom without going after the cause doesn't solve the problem.
Curious about how you define the problem that needs to be addressed. Is it the people coming in, or the USA's unworkable immigration system? Is it our own failure to recognize that perhaps it is our failure to recognize that we benefit from immigration, and thus our failure to make it a workable process for people wishing to come here? Before we "attack the matter at it's source", let's be clear what the matter is.
You are so right. My impression is that they are afraid the Cartel, warring militaries who slaughter people just because. A cruel and authoritarian government. One of the episodes (3rd I think) in Jack Ryan shows how difficult it is to over come such a government unless it is a coup and that may not be an improvement.
And diversity should be our strength. Well, it is, if it weren’t stifled at every turn.
Diversity IS OUR STRENGTH!
I don’t understand why R. Sutherland and others fail to identify the force behind today’s attacks on democracy : an evolved form of fascism & fascists, all hiding behind the First Amendment.
💯 Mr Sutherland
East India Company? Now we have Boeing, Raytheon, ADM, Microsoft, Google, Amazon….
We need a revolution to throw off corporate rule, just as the colonists did. The two questions are, will it be peaceful or violent, and will it come in time to prevent the inevitable slide towards authoritarianism absent the revolution?
Bernie tried to tap into the revolutionary zeitgeist, but the Democratic Party establishment, and its primary voters controlled by fear, valuing comfort over reason, in an incrementalist rabbit hole, slammed the door, and down the corporate, and fascist, authoritarian path we trod.
HJR-54. MoveToAmend.org. Pressure, and demand, change from the Congress.
Elections will not save us. The political system breaks virtually everyone. Grassroots pressure, protest, general strikes, and nonviolent civil disobedience are the only way out of this mess.
Every bit of the New Deal came from pressure from Communists, Socialists, and labor unions. A massive chunk of GOP support could be peeled away in less than six months if the Democratic Party would throw off corporate fealty in favor of working people. But that only comes about when Team Blue voters grasp the fact that the real enemy is corporate rule, not Republican voters, and credibly threatens to withhold support from corporate-owned candidates.
During the midterm elections some $881 million dollars was donated by billionaires. Most of it came from 14 Republican billionaires and 6 Democratic billionaires. Now I wonder how many lobbyists do these billionaires own outright. Lobbyists or what I call people bribing politicians so corporations can do whatever the hell they want. Politicians spend half their days looking for funds to keep their jobs. That's insane. And you're right about a united front. We need boycotts. We need to protest. Call the idiots in office. Be a big pain on the ass! Ron Johnson's office loves when I call him. I call Republicans and a few Democrats. The GQP are the problem along with Citizens United.
I agree except for boycotts. We won’t in our lifetime be able to effectively boycott a product or brand or service because every product, brand, and service is owned by a bigger product, brand, or service. And that product, brand, or service is simply a small division of another more vertically integrated monopolistic product, brand, or service. And so on, and so on until you reach Rupert Murdoch himself.
Boycotts are sadly ineffective. To me calling for a boycott or participating in one is like separating your recycling. You think you’re making a difference and it feels good doing it, but it’s so vastly insignificant in the grand scheme of things that the act is rendered useless. (Side note: Personally, until laws that matter are in place, I think consumer recycling is relatively useless. I still do it, but the reality is I know the truck that picks it up and the plant that processes it probably produces more CO2 than any small benefit the earth might realize from recycling my garbage.)
Read the book "Junkyard Planet"!!! It is amazing and depressing at the same time. While I still recycle, I try even more to reuse as much as possible. I admire how many young people I know who (whether by necessity or by social outlook) seek out used items, esp clothing, and also limit their possessions.
My hero was William Proxmire, coincidentally also from Wisconsin. I remember one year when the only funds he spent on his election were filing fees of less than $100 from his own pocket and accepted no contributions, did no campaigning. He ran, and was re-elected, on his record. Although Wisconsin has suffered through Scott Walker, and now, Ron Johnson, Wisconsin is on the upswing. You will prevail, Lisa59.
Scott Walker was a Koch puppet. He did what he was told to do. I have to look up William Proxmire. That's amazing and unheard of. Thanks for that.
Being from NC, I feel an affinity for Wisconsin. Both of our states had a history of progressive legislation and tolerance, and both took a hard right turn to the dark side in 2010, and have yet to recover from the massive gerrymandering that took place.
💯💯💯
The Democratic establishment is consistent in several areas. Chief among them: consistently striving and aiming for the middle instead of aiming for the top (and then still missing when they take the shot); propping up and prioritizing mediocrity over progress; refusing to scout for new talent (really, Dems? In this whole, entire nation on the verge, there’s not one single person you can find who just might resonate with the people more than Biden? Not one person rises to the top for you? C’mon!); and an inefficient, ineffective, roll-over-and-take-it commitment to over compromising and relinquishing command and control (it’s not a compromise when you just outright surrender).
I know Biden’s record has been mostly good. But that’s just it. It’s “good.” Most of the time. We’ve slightly moved the needle in a couple of areas. But it’s not enough. We need, my God do we need, better than “good” right now. Not Biden. Not another Clinton. Not Harris. Not another mushy moderate who keeps reaching over the aisle with a hand extended only to have it lobbed off with a bloody axe. How many hands have we lost now, Dems? Quit listening to people like James Carville, who are mired in outdated strategies and who tell you the people don’t want progress. That the people don’t want you to fight back. For Pete’s sake find a new strategy, quit taking advice and direction from conservative pundits who are out of touch, stop courting the lite Republican vote, and find us a candidate who will get their hands dirty, fling some long overdue mud in the GOP’s face, move our country forward to match the progress actual first world countries have made, pry our rights back from the GOP’s grubby, twisted stronghold, tell the GOP “no, we’re not doing it your way anymore - period” (if you have to, shout it over all their bickering and gerrymandering and court stacking and fossil fuel burning and putting bullets ahead of children and putting forced births ahead of everything and dismantling of regulatory agencies and lobbyist worshiping and sycophancy and nationalism and...) and then mean it.
Find someone who will fight fire with fire.
Do. Better.
But they won’t. And that’s where you’re right; elections will not save us. It’s going to be up to us to apply pressure and demand action. But here’s where my cynicism comes in. Because good luck getting a general strike off the ground when we’re too busy working from home and fighting with our racist uncles at Thanksgiving. Good luck overcoming vote suppression and disenfranchisement. Good luck getting a protest with enough people in enough places at the right times to matter. (I really thought the March for Our Lives movement was going to do it. Nope.) And good luck getting anyone to notice civil disobedience. Half of us can’t even define it anymore.
In so many ways, I really fear we’re doomed. 😞
(Sorry. This should probably have been a letter to the Democratic Party, not a comment on a Substack post. I got a little carried away. Sometimes I do that.)
(But also, maybe I’ll turn this into an actual letter and send it.)
I share your fear, but am repeatedly strengthened by two quotes, one from Chris Hedges, the other from I.F. Stone.
Hedges says “I don’t fight the fascists because I think we will win, I fight the fascists because they are fascists.”
The I.F. Stone quote read as follows: “The only kinds of fights worth fighting are those you are going to lose, because somebody has to fight them and lose and lose and lose until someday, somebody who believes as you do wins. In order for somebody to win an important, major fight 100 years hence, a lot of other people have got to be willing — for the sheer fun and joy of it — to go right ahead and fight, knowing you’re going to lose. You mustn’t feel like a martyr. You’ve got to enjoy it.”
Btw, your bringing up Carville brought me back to this epic takedown from the Due Dissidence guys - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hepK48KsAeo&t=17s
Hahaha. What about NOW? I've never enjoyed fighting. It's a matter of Duty to support the next move for the good of 'We The People'. That's what our country is based on. If we want USA to be governed by Democracy, we need to participate as a member of the voting public. Now with the Internet, there's so much BS swirling around it makes it more difficult - especially when there are hoards of people out there who just want to get attention or prove a point. They say stuff just to say it. Doesn't make it true. I have to go back to plain common sense. Common sense tells me that a corporation is not a person! That all people have the right to vote. That changing the rules in the middle of the game isn't fair. That fascism is only good for the fascist. When I look back at world history, it appears that humans enjoy fighting. It's always happening somewhere on the globe. Some do it just for the sensation of the win, especially fat white males. The military should only be there for Protection from the fascist who fight to take what isn't theirs. There's enough land, water, food & shelter for everyone on the planet if only people would play fair and stop the insanity of believing some are better than others.
Agree with much of what you write, with a couple of caveats.
For much of the post-WWII era, America has been the fascist taking what wasn’t ours, from bananas in Guatemala to rubber in Indonesia, from oil in Iran to sugar in Cuba. In virtually every instance, we overthrew democratically elected governments to accomplish the resource pillage.
As to common sense, I never use the term anymore. I read a book on neoliberalism once in which the author explained that common sense and good sense were not always synonymous. Common sense literally meant, from the commons, or town square, and sometimes, as he noted, the common sense was that witches should be burned at the stake.
Thank you! You got my vote!
Please do!
Your observation that elections won't save us is likely true, even though there have been a few hopeful signs here and there (e.g., Kentucky governorship, reproductive freedom). Grassroots pressure, protest, general strikes, civil disobedience? If we can't persuade people to vote, how can we hope to persuade people to take these arguably more difficult - and definitely more dangerous - actions, e.g., in 2020 in Washington, when Trump called out the police and National Guard on horseback against peaceful protestors? Peaceful protest could very quickly, I think, turn into our own modern-day Boston Massacre. But would it actually then spin-up bigger protests or general strikes? I'd like to think it would, but I remain unconvinced that the average American would so engage. Hopefully I'm wrong and at some point the rightwing blinders will fall away, people will turn OFF Fox, and formerly-rational Republicans will come to see that their puppet-masters clearly don't have the best interest of the country at heart. One can only hope ...
I think the approach has to be multi leveled. We can't give up on voting, or forcing the political actions that will reverse the Citizens United decision, eliminate the electoral college, and put rank-choice voting in place. Also the unions have to be strengthened, IRS funding increased so tax cheaters can be caught, increase taxes on the wealthy. Corporations have to be regulated and forced to be responsible community members...forced to keep jobs in America, forced to address their destruction of the environment....and yes....by looking at corporate profits and CEO pay, they can well afford to do that. And yes....if women can be forced to continue pregnancies that endanger their lives and future welfare, minorities can be forced to live on the fringes of society, Corporations can be forced to give back to the nation and workers that allow them to be so profitable. Also Corporate welfare has to be stopped!
Yep. It’s a big puzzle, with many pieces.
Mr. High, I believe you have illustrated the problem of how difficult it is to find a workable solution to saving our democracy.
You call for revolution, emphatically declaring: “Elections will not save us. The political system breaks virtually everyone.” Yet you then argue that the Democratic Party needs to “throw off corporate fealty in favor of working people,” but you concede, “that only comes about when Team Blue voters grasp the fact that the real enemy is corporate rule, not Republican voters.” You conclude: We must threaten to “withhold support from corporate-owned candidates.”
Good points all. But is the answer to saving our democracy through revolution — be it peaceful or violent — or via the ballot box?
A frightening, paralyzing puzzle, hey?
To be clear, I’m not saying don’t vote. I’m also not going to try and shame people who don’t vote, nor those who vote outside the duopoly. I myself am one of the latter on the federal level.
My read of history, especially of the times in which the power of capital overwhelmed the ability of government to respond to the plight of an oppressed working class, tells me that the radical legislative change required to reign in the power of capital came from outside the electoral system.
Imo, anyone putting all their eggs in the voting booth path, and even worse, supporting corporate-owned candidates just because the have a D beside their name, as the change agent, is mistaken.
At the risk of being a heretic, I’m sick of people saying they won’t vote for Biden because he’s not progressive enough. That’s a recipe for Trump-led fascism. We don’t need to “send a message” to Democrats by voting third-party or staying home. That would be fine if Biden was leading in the polls. Message all you want as long as you don’t contribute to a Trump win. But it’s too close to throw tantrums about Biden not accomplishing the radical change you want to see. He’s accomplished more than most Democrats - and did so despite the insane, cruel, bigoted Republican Party and a similarly-inclined SCOTUS. Would I like to see more progressive laws and policies? You bet. But I’m not going to “cut off my nose to spite my face” (as my Republican mother used to say).
“Vote Blue no matter who” is a pretty terrible slogan and a pretty terrible strategy which seems like it usually ends with a position of political power for the GOP winner, a lousy book deal for the democrat loser, and an insane bonus for every CEO and Justice Clarence Thomas in the nation. It’s really, really disheartening. I am beginning to feel like holding my nose and pulling the lever for a bad candidate who, at least, isn’t the other guy is no longer a winning strategy. I am beginning to think we need to stop treating elections like a big chess match (well, Checkers match if I’m being honest), because it’s not working. But I’m torn. If 3rd party voters hadn’t third party voted...
But they did. And they will.
I don’t know the answer. And I have voted down ticket my entire life because I believed in what the democrats stood for. They’re just not standing for much of anything these days. They’re just kind of...sitting there. :-/
You’re entitled to your opinion. I’m not voting for Biden because he is complicit in genocide, proxy war, and a failure when it comes to addressing corporate totalitarianism and climate change. His incremental crumbs of positive accomplishment pale in comparison.
Biden is the one contributing to a Trump win.
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-death-of-israel?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=778851&post_id=139865400&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=eov1&utm_medium=email
“The global mystique of the U.S., after two decades of disastrous wars in the Middle East and the assault on the Capitol on Jan. 6, is as contaminated as its Israeli ally. The Biden administration, in its fervor to unconditionally support Israel and appease the powerful Israel lobby, has bypassed the congressional review process with the Department of State to approve the transfer of 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition to Israel. Secretary of State Antony Blinken argued that “an emergency exists that requires the immediate sale.” At the same time he has cynically called on Israel to minimize civilian casualties.
The Biden presidency, which ironically may have signed its own political death certificate, is tethered to Israel’s genocide. It will try to distance itself rhetorically, but at the same time it will funnel the billions of dollars of weapons demanded by Israel — including $14.3 billion in supplemental military aid to augment the $3.8 billion in annual aid — to “finish the job.” It is a full partner in Israel’s genocide project.“
It’s your vote, of course. I simply think that nothing Biden has done could compare with what Trump will do if he wins. Including enabling Putin’s genocide against the Ukrainians as just one example. That’s all I have to say.
Putin is not committing genocide against Ukraine. It could be argued that the closest thing to a Ukrainian genocide happened pre-Russian invasion, by Ukraine itself against its own citizens in the eastern provinces, following the 2014 coup we helped facilitate.
Trump would continue to be a clueless joke and asshole as POTUS. But one thing he isn’t, so far, is a willing tool of endless war and our national ‘security’ state.
He would have to be complicit in a genocide to be worse than Biden. I expect a broken moral compass from Republican politicians. I expect more from Democrats.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zisnii2Lrm4
Classic. Cutting off the nose to spite the face. Elections are the cumulative result of the democratic process. The tactics you present would undermine the many aspects of that process that are right now taking place. And yet you want to blame Biden, apparently because you want sturm und angst, and are unable to see the subleties of his accomplishments and the regard the world holds him in. Among the things you miss is that we now have fiscal stability, international dialogue, and the hope for a functional Congress.
You use the word "fight" a lot. It is a fight, in a way, but I refuse to allow the image of violence to sabotage the democratic process If people who diss those of us who walk the talk and do the work start working on strengthening that process, it can succeed. But it takes all of us to make that happen.
Blathering on about old arguments I've heard since jr high debate days gets in the way. In other words, get off your high horse and join us in doing what you can to making democracy work for the people.
Hi. I’m here again with more words. I visited the MoveToAmend site and signed their petition. I also left a contact us note about how they should denounce Twitter and Facebook because they’re prime examples of the very corporations they’re wanting to reign in. I suggested they look to the fediverse and get away from algorithmic driven platforms which mine and sell data and are just generally awful. I signed it so what ironically from my iPhone, as Apple is definitely another example of a corporation that certainly benefits from Citizen’s United.
Long winded way of saying thanks for posting that link.
Thanks for signing the petition. Next up is lobbying for HJR-54 to your congressional representative. I got the only GOP member in the U.S. to cosponsor last session, but he passed away. But it can be done.
*somewhat* ironically. Not “so what” ironically.
Move to Amend is one of the most important things we can do- remove corporate charters that are not intended for the public good and the public good includes COMPLAINCE WITH ALL LAWS or take their limited liability charter away. No more strategies for getting around laws or no limited liability. No public purpose- no limited liability. Oh if only! We cannot just demand change either- we have to become the change we wish to see.
Very well put, Phil Balla, all those off- (and sometimes still onshore?) George-Be-Kings their Great Pretender their courtiers their flunkeys their fixers their ocean-liner-size bath toys their armies of bought-and-soldiers in permanent occupation of Congress and state houses their Exclusive Freedoms their Divine Rights their chosen pet judges to enforce said Divine Rights and Freedoms their bands of bravos and attack dogs roaming city streets their subjects their peones... and those not theirs... mere vermin.
Liberticides.
Poor George III had nothing on this bunch...
"Now we have someone who fancies himself king, immune to law. And we have something like 600 billionaires, nearly all of whom are much worse than one Donald J. Trump, or one George III those years ago. And these many kings all live among us, propped up on our public life, seeing us as no more than the serfs or feudal objects royalty in the old country took for granted manipulating, abusing, profiting off of."
Not that I hang around with many billionaires, but I challenge your statement "nearly all of whom are much worse than one DJT or George III.... If they were worse, democracy already would have been replaced with an autocracy. Many of us receive multiple daily requests from politicians running for political office. A small portion of those are big donors that spend enough money to influence the elections.
Warren Buffett has always claimed to be a Democrat. He could have bought every election in the midwest with his money and influence but he didn't. I'm not saying he's not greedy, but it was not in his best interest to piss off the consumers that make him wealthy.
A good portion of the 600 become wealthy wihen they inherited their money. If you scan through the Forbes list of wealthiest people, names like Walton and Mars are listed many times. And there are many others. Inheritance is welfare for the rich according to Warren Buffett and he should know because he has 3 children that are rich because of him.
The rest of you comment I agree with but our tax code allows the wealthiest Americans to extend their wealth by sitting around and doing nothing. Harlan Crowe has purchase a Supreme Court justice with an investment of less than a million dollars. We have no reason to assume this isn't going on right now or that it will end anytime soon.
MAGAts I know are anything but despondent, they simply hate the “others,” as defined by Rush and his ilk. And they are proud of their Christian hatred. For them, it’s that the DNA of brown skin is indicative of someone lower on the pecking order. Peck, peck, peck. And Obama, well, his tan just changed the equation so that “lower on the pecking order” had to be changed to socialist. As HST said. Socialism is the word they use to attack anything that helps all the people. Or words to that effect. But the pecking order is alive and well, and not limited to skin. Just ask any woman in Texas.
They are billionaires because you buy their stuff. Learn who they are and what they peddle and avoid it like your freedom, your life, depends on that action. Boycott is a powerful tool. You don't have to throw their "tea" in the harbor; let it rot on the shelves.
I try, ain’t easy
Yes, hit them in the wallet. It is not easy to do.
Phil,
Here is a list of political reforms I put down a few days ago that address some of your issues:
1. Deep structural change: Congress (when it has the votes) should use its authority under Constitution Article 1, Section 4 to mandate the use of Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) in all future federal elections (as opposed to the interminable state-by-state route). This destroys the spoiler effect. (The voter no longer faces the dilemma of choosing between his actual preference and a candidate with an actual chance of winning. He makes his favorite his rank-1 choice and his "lesser-of-two-evils" his rank-2 choice. If his rank-1 choice is eliminated during instant run-off counts, all his other choices move up one rank: his former rank-2 choice becomes rank-1 and is counted.) Eliminating the spoiler effect has at least these advantages: A.) The preservation mechanism of the Duopoly is destroyed: a third party or independent candidate now has a realistic chance of being elected because the voter's dilemma has been eliminated. B.) The candidate must gather second, third, etc., choice votes during the instant run-off counts to have a chance of accumulating the winning majority. This requires moderation and a conciliatory approach to the voters and other candidates. Partisan extremists and firebrands lose! C.) Party bosses lose the threat of "primarying" Congress members to enforce the party line. That person now has the credible response of running as a third party or independent candidate and actually winning.
2. Congress should permanently outlaw the use of the "Hastert Rule", which allows the majority party to prevent legislation coming to a vote if it cannot be passed solely with votes of the majority party. Legislation requiring bipartisan support to pass is disallowed: the minority party is reduced to irrelevance. This is undemocratic and a declaration of partisan warfare. Banish it.
3. Congress should overturn the Supreme Court abomination, Citizens United, and related Court decisions. (Money is NOT speech. Corporations have NO citizen rights.) Monetary contributions should be limited to an amount the average citizen is likely to make. The 1965 Voting Rights legislation should be fully restored. A national voter registration list should be generated (without any action from the potential voter necessarily required, though invited) and federally maintained. Using it, ballots for federal elections should be mailed to all potential voters (perhaps with a return envelope and a form to be signed acknowledging receipt, for activation). List any condition that would temporarily disqualify the potential voter from voting: perhaps currently serving a prison term for a criminal conviction (though some European countries allow current felons to vote). All other citizens would be guaranteed the right to vote, overriding any state law to the contrary. The final text should reference the Constitution's Article III, Section 2, Clause 2 to inform the Supreme Court that this legislation is passed outside the Court's appellate jurisdiction.
4. Since the Supreme Court has demonstrated its inability to remain above partisan politics, its members' lifetime term should be modified. Perhaps a fifteen year term (not necessarily non-renewable--possible renewal would encourage prudent judicial behavior) would be appropriate. In addition, an external review board should be set up to monitor ethical behavior of its members.
5. Eliminate the tax cut legislation of Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush and Donald Trump (perhaps retaining the "sops" to average voters in these tax cuts added to make them superficially palatable.) Restore the former estate tax regulations and eliminate the rule that capital gains tax is "zeroed out" upon the death of the owner. The inheritors should be responsible for paying those taxes.
6. Legislate a social safety net (including medical) comparable to that of all the other advanced nations of the world.
7. Legislate a national standard of personal liberty, including reproductive rights, marriage rights, and gender rights. Parental rights should also be addressed, although this is more complicated because children's rights may be in competition.
8. Congress should endorse the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVCP) and instruct the Supreme Court that this is outside its judicial purview. The NPVCP is a state compact to go into effect when its members have accumulated enough electoral votes among its members to determine a Presidential election (currently 270 electoral votes). As of December 2023, members having fully enacted the NPVCP represent 205 elector votes. Another 62 electoral votes are held by states that have partially enacted NPVCP, for a total of 267 electoral votes. Replacing the archaic Electoral College via Constitutional Amendment is essentially impossible. The smaller states will not ratify an Amendment that takes away their unfair representative advantage. NPVCP leaves the Electoral College in place, but renders it moot.
Thank you Don for sharing these ideas of how we can save ourselves and our democracy. I find myself longing and wishing that we could implement these strategies immediately!
Brilliant!
If only…
Could this ever occur?
What a happy thought!
Phil Balla, I think you’re right. But my question is if it took decades to get to this despair, and those who think they’re unseen and forgotten believe tfg is looking out for them and don’t see the improvements Biden has made, what can change their minds before we get a dictator-for-life tfg? Rhetorical question, I guess.
Here's my read: people who are white, lower or middle class, and despondent, and have been self-propagandized for decades about the evils of government, are not looking for the government to create programs or policies that will benefit them. They are looking for scapegoats, and anything that will allow them to FEEL more successful in the world. Trump allows them to be furious, supports their worth as justifiably bitter people, and this fulfills that deep perverse need. He vaguely promises infrastructure projects and a new healthcare system, but doesn't deliver; his supporters don't care though because that's not what they really want. They're looking for emotional gratification now, which he gives them.
So I wonder/worry what will change this dynamic, and believe Team Biden is on the right track. But it will probably take at least a decade of successful job growth and economic development in poor areas of America for the despondency and scapegoating to lose some of their power.
It will also take, I'm convinced, changes in the ecosystem of social media, with regulations that stop the rewarding of toxic lies. It doesn't require infringing on free-speech, just smart regulations of how the reward systems and algorithms are allowed to work. There's no question in my mind social media has done enormous damage to America in the last 15 years, and must be reined in.
Really good question MLMinET
"Democracy requires" an educated populace. And the Repubs have done their best to dumb down the American education system. When we assume that life will provide what we need without much effort on our part, that complacency can turn to "feeling abandoned" by the system. While it's true that the economic system changed dramatically with the rush by corporations to find cheaper labor markets around the world, leaving a lot of workers in the US out of the good jobs they used to have, there were many opportunities for them to "retrain" offered, but for many of them, the expectation that the system should provide them with good jobs contributed to their disillusion. Instead of taking advantage of opportunities to "retool" a lot of them blamed the system, and seemingly never really recovered from the economic and social changes that occurred. To make people into total victims, takes away any power they might have to be the authors of their own lives. While we are all subject to environmental conditions and systems we have no control over, not taking any responsibility for our lives is on us.
I think the “retraining” was a sop to make it look like the job drain wasn’t really a problem. For it to work there would have had to be a match between the unemployed worker’s skills, the training effectiveness (often a farce) and the job that would actually locate in the worker’s area. And while this was supposedly taking place, the unemployed worker was trying desperately to keep their housing, feed their children and deal with health problems without employer-based health insurance. Many were caught in this trap of promises that could never have been fulfilled - and called lazy and entitled when they couldn’t escape. I’d be angry too.
Of course there were lots of empty promises made which left people scrambling. And of course people were angry. My point was, that if we expect the environment and system to hand us what we need we will be giving up the authority for our own lives. People who make it through very difficult circumstances, tend to be those who find ways to see the possibilities, find ways to adapt, and shift from anger to determination to manage. Staying angry, becoming passive, waiting for something to happen, and then finally engaging in violence against the system that the person believes let them down, is not really the best way to handle these changes.
I think it’s laziness and victimhood and pour me ism.
I see apathy. I hear apathy. Those who's vote is based on the price of a bag potato chips. Those who are sick of all the drama and are tuning it out. Then there is the all lives matter group that is clueless to white privilege. That's a fun conversation. I have spent some time in recent years in bars and saloons in the mountains of Colorado. After I buy a few rounds for the MAGAQ guys the conversations get interesting. I buy. I talk. Facts do matter after all. It's a hoot. I always leave them smiling. But I was too liberal to join the bowling league. Hilarious.
Well said. It’s time to get rid of Citizens United, have universal health care (free medical school for qualified candidates), rebuild our basic education system (including liberal arts colleges), and face climate change head on. Until honesty about our situation is more prevalent throughout the country, we are in grave danger. Please add to this list and get to work finding the best Blue candidates and helping them get elected. That is how we and our offspring survive to make a better world.
Not just him. Not just billionaires. Evil comes in many guises.
from NPR today:
"Florida bill would ban civilian oversight of police statewide
The measure would effectively ban civilian oversight of police departments, and only allow police to investigate and hold themselves accountable for any potential wrongdoing. Advocates say it would betray efforts to foster better relations and trust among police and communities."
(https://www.wlrn.org/law-justice/2023-12-14/florida-ban-civilian-police-oversight-panels)
In other words, the fox guarding the hen house. Things are ass-backwards in Florida - in state government, anyway.
Since trumpers like authoritarian governments similar to Russia's, we can call them serfs. The only difference would be is that they probably would not have a Russian revolution at least not for many generations The serfs just trudge along-very little money, very little education, lots of complacency, most happy to do what they are told.....until you finally get a few that realize life doesn't have to be this way.
Not sure serfs were ever happy to do what they were told. Individually they were trapped by the life-and-death power of the rulers. And it’s hard to organize when you are exhausted and hungry.
You are right about being happy to do things. Probably a lot of them knew that things could be better but they have the organization. It is difficult to fight rifles and machine guns with rakes and shovels.
Yes, true enough, Karen.
But the "trumpers," as you call them, also suffer (by the million -- real suffering) from OxyContin, Fentanyl, and in the MAGA states unusually high domestic violence and suicide rates.
Our MAGA also suffer from the rage, stroke, obesity, and heart conditions all set up for them by more yet more of the billionaires' online hate, fear, racism, and sensationalism programming.
I think it's clear the all-powerful king/dictator/czar/emperor they want hates the same people they do and will harm them. But the delusion is that Trump hates his non-rich supporters, too.
Also, MAGAs aren't the only victims of unrestrained globalization, unregulated capitalism, rampant propaganda, highly addictive drugs, poor education, and other developments that ail the nation. But they keep voting for leaders who perpetuate and intensify the problems.
600 billionaires need a king to represent them. Trump is assuming that role. Without a leader, these wealthy people cannot exert powers over ordinary people.
The following seemed a good choice on the 250th anniversary of The Boston Tea Party.
‘How the Trump era was predictable, according to author and historian Heather Cox Richardson’
'Last week, President Joe Biden strolled the streets of Nantucket with his family and made a noteworthy purchase: a copy of "Democracy Awakening" by Heather Cox Richardson.
Originally intended as a series of short essays addressing common questions such as how the electoral college was formed, Richardson found herself writing about the vulnerability of democracies to authoritarianism.'
'During an appearance on Boston Public Radio Friday, the Boston College history professor and author cited a saying from Mark Twain: “History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” Richardson explained there were moments in history, such as the 1860s and 1920s, when it seemed as if the U.S. democratic system was under attack.'
“Each of those times, Americans rose to the occasion and reached back to what I would consider our true history and reclaim democracy. And by our true history, they reached back to the idea that we should all be treated equally before the law and have a right to a say in our government.”
'Now, she witnesses democratic stress following the presidency of Donald Trump and his immune figure. She examines him as a “strongman,” a concept based on the 1951 book by Eric Hoffer, “The True Believer.”
“He said 'Let's stop worrying about the Hitlers and the Mussolinis of the world, because every generation has Hitlers and Mussolinis. What we really need to figure out is why people follow those strong men,'” Richardson explained.'
'She said the majority of support for figures like Trump comes from people who feel neglected, who can become supporters so long as they are convinced to hate someone.'
“Once you get that system [of a strongman] underway, it's got a natural momentum of its own, leading us in this moment to Trump calling his Democratic opponents vermin,” she said.
'Richardson argues that the rise of authoritarianism in the United States “follows basic patterns which the people in the United States who don't come from other countries are not necessarily attuned to. … I start the book with the idea that Americans seem to think that authoritarianism comes with goose-stepping soldiers and tanks. And the truth is that authoritarianism usually arrives through the ballot box.” (WGBH)
The link below to this article also contains the half-hour chat with HCR on Boston Public Radio.
https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2023-12-01/how-the-trump-era-was-predictable-according-to-author-and-historian-heather-cox-richardson
A successful, healthy democracy requires that no citizen be left behind to market forces, all too eager to take jobs away from US workers and send those jobs to countries with a lower wage. And by no citizen should be left behind, I mean in terms of education, jobs, and healthcare.
George Bush ‘43 would have done much better had he focused on not leaving the city.ens behind. NCLB should have meant No Citizen Left Behind … when the adults are well educated, have the chance at well-paying jobs and good healthcare, they have the means to raise healthy and thoughtful children, the future stewards of our democracy.
Many thank you's Fern! I loved that photo of Biden holding "Democracy Awakening" the I saw posted on several sites. Your comment of "...glaring example of contradictions in our country" is stellar. Here's hoping that we reach back into history and get that "equality before the law" established for all of us, this time.
Dear Ally, you brought 5 stars to this Sunday. Wishing you a good one! 🌿
Thank you Fern.
Thank you, Lynn. Trump's 'Poisoning the Blood' is making the headlines in the US and around the world. He's spreading his vile-bile far and wide. The clash between the reasons behind The Boston Tea Party and Trump's fascism is a glaring example the of contradictions within our country.
I heard that he said that on MSNBC this afternoon. I can no longer call him and his followers MAGAs. They are MAGANAZIs evil and cruel to their core.
I can no longer use the term white Christian Nationalists. It's a total misnomer akin to calling a dog a cat. I can only refer to them as white Faux-Christian Nationalists. This includes most Republican politicians who refuse to condemn the Fascist hate speech of TFFG.
The MSM replays TFFGs bile ad nauseam. They often leave it to their audience to decide if it is vile or acceptable. If they play it to get a reaction, then they must condemn it. It's hate speech and should be acknowledge as such. Rachel Maddox, Nicole Wallace and many others understand this. But they aren't journalists. Maggie Haberman's job is to report the facts and she is an excellent journalist, but like HCR she needs to find a way to voice her opinion if only through the quotes of others.
It is such a disgusting, creepy, revolting, ugly show. They are so destructive, menacing, cruel, without consciences. Who would make this up? They are alive, came out of their mothers' wombs; they are not plastic ...they are such a combination of the worst...'Only in America'?
Thank you Fern.
Thank you, Robert. HCR is right on key with The Boston Tea Party's message v. Trump's fascism.
Thx for posting this link! I was so disappointed to miss this episode.
Terrific, I am glad it worked out. Wishing you a lovely Sunday!
Poor MAGA’s think they will get the better end of the deal with an authoritarian in place who supposedly shares their anti-women’s independence, white supremacy, anti-LGBTQIA +, and evil-Christian values.
Do regular MAGA’s think they will be permitted to keep their guns? Once an authoritarian regime is in place, they’re not going to want regular citizens to rise up against them.
Say goodbye to freedom of speech and the free press. Heck, say goodbye to the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.
Yeah, you're right they can't keep their guns. That's precious. King Turd wouldn't want an uprising would he. Bigoted stupid voters will be standing empty handed with that deer in the headlight look after he takes their courage away.
I hadn’t thought of the guns thing—boy, I bet that could keep lots of MAGAts from voting for tfg.
They will never believe it. Til it happens
I agree. They already see themselves as a militia, using their guns to support the cause.
We've sure seen enough evidence of that.
Dictatorship demands a monopoly of violence.
Except it won’t happen until AFTER (god forbid) he’s back in office
Lisa,
The people that I know love Trump so much they will happily give up their guns to him.
Never mind that will come back to haunt them.
Mike, that would probably be a sticking point in my cohort. Although when I tried to draw a parallel with Texas's abortion "stance" and the confiscation of guns, all I got was the "it's in the constitution". I then asked if I (as both a woman and member of the LGBTQ+ community) got rights because they were not in the original document...I got crickets, which I translate to meaning "no" that they were unwilling to say to me.
There are a lot of non-Trump but too-scared-of-Democrats voters out there because they believe the propaganda about Dems taking away their rights. Those are the ones who will regret choosing Republicans.
Nope. We ALL will be regretting their votes if Republicans continue to hold seats and wield power as they now are doing. I think we need to get busy ourselves and shout the truth and stop dissing people because they disagree with us. Recognize the reality of their fear and do what we can to demonstrate the truth. Not rant. Not sneer. But demonstrate the truth by showing how Biden's policies have improved things, even in the face of Covid, even in the face of an inadequate media response. We have work to do.
Really? Have you asked them that? If Trump was re-elected or somehow gains control again, and asked you to hand all your guns and ammo into the department of Homeland Security, would you? Every Trumper/righteous conservative I know would say so version of “No, hell no, etc etc etc.” ‘Course, my Trumpers have been hating the government and occasionally shooting at government agents of various sorts since long before Trump appeared to be a useful idiot to those seeking to wrest control away from the good voters of these United States...
Nailed it, Lisa. Imagine intentionally voting for a worse life. That's the level of delusion.
And it is so amusing to me that now our monarch, dictator, wannabe is demanding not just a win but a "blowout" in Iowa. Pretty soon it will be a unanimous acceptance that he is more important than their love for their spouses, their children, their God. He will declare himself their God to be obeyed and worshiped. How far will the MAGA's go? That remains to be seen.
No betting from the this corner of hell. They will slurp the kool-aid with gusto
And it washes the Americanism right out of them. Instead of becoming freer they become the serfs of Trump and he values them like Putin values his. Useful cannon fodder.
Oh my...This is such a chilling statement. I wish the Democrats declared this loudly on their platform...
IMHO, the Democratic leadership is not able or willing to take the message to the average American. And that's why so many of them are in Trump's corner. They need a simple massage that demonstrates in no uncertain terms the benefits of their platform and the vacuous danger of Trump's. As so many people have said, "The Democrats appear to have abandoned the Middle Class." when the truth is just the opposite. Trump's message is their mirage in the desert but when there is no other message, they abandon rationality for the safety of the mirage. So much of the problem is the rarity of aggressive Democratic messaging and the media's scramble for "clicks".
Basically, the MAGAs are looking for assurance that they will have good medical care and a decent minimum wage (probably $24 an hour with paid vacation and sick leave). It is time for the return of those former middle class “perks,” along with unions AND the rescinding of the Trump tax cuts.
That is truly a terrifying image.
Chump has made it a horrow like Dorian Gray
And gleefully ask for more.
The ones I know are not being forced nor are they desperate. It's that old pecking order...
It’s a cult. And cults will go pretty damn far.
Cults go so damn far because they specifically replace rational thought with belief and faith. Don't think, just fear. Don't think, just hate. Cults appeal to our reptilian brainstem. Actions and reactions to cult messaging never gets to our cortex where rationality might interfere. W/o an intervention cults can destroy a life and a society and it seems a democracy. So Democrats must become successful interventionists.
Agreed. So much of it is amygdala over-ride, canceling out the prefrontal cortex. Conservatives have a larger amygdala. Does that generate their anger/fear? Or does the constant stimulation of their amygdala make it larger and easier to activate? Chicken and egg - but scary either way.
I just saw a cartoon in The Daily Kos which said, and I’m probably paraphrasing, “democracy is hard, choose me (trump) and you’ll never have to vote again”. Terrifying.
I’m sure the magas don’t know what they’re doing or what they want other than to keep their money for themselves and live apart from our evolving democracy. Their affinity with trump is that they like his brand of selfishness and his defiant pose. Hey, if he can live his life above the law and norms of our pluralistic democracy ... why not them too? Drill baby Drill... don’t pay taxes...who cares what tomorrow may bring.
This kind of thinking leads to disastrous anarchy. J6 was a manifestation of all this and only because we are a country based on the rule of law, do many of the perps... particularly the principle leaders and instigators...continue to be allowed to largely freely express themselves and walk free while fighting to escape their legal entanglements. John Adams would understand why this continues to be the way. Most Americans do as well and expect the rule of law to prevail. There is risk in this approach. We accept it.
Well said
The question of which people are fighting for freedom and resisting tyranny and which are seeking to redefine tyranny and fight against this new definition continues to be relevant today. Some of the colonists felt the loss of their status as Englishmen and were pushed to the point of revolution. Some people today feel the loss of their status as white Americans, and talk about violently overthrowing a government that, in their understanding, discriminates against them. Whether or not someone is a freedom fighter or a terrorist depends on who is telling the story. It is easy for me, in my bubble, to ignore the complaints of those who seek redress for their grievances, but I do so at my peril if I wish to keep the democracy that I value alive.
Unlike the early Americans though we do have representation; sometimes the best that money can buy but we do have it if we choose to vote. So many don’t vote for whatever reason which, to my way of thinking, is very poor citizenship, but that’s their choice. I’m just thankful for our forefathers who had the opportunity to live through a momentous time in our history and leave us a legacy that we just can’t sacrifice now. We just can’t.
Too often our representatives don’t even respect their own campaign promises. Our choices are often between terrible or maybe less terrible. Lobbyists decide on legislation more than voters.
Nothing can change until money is taken out of politics. Politicians need only to satisfy their donors.
Onecould argue that we don’t have representation when politicians who represent about 38% of the population (by getting fewer votes) hold an inordinate amount of power, thanks to two vestiges of slavery: the US Senate and the Electoral College, and a 3rd factor: gerrymandering, whereby politicians pick their voters rather than voters picking their representatives. Finally, apathy and a growing distrust of voting integrity means we have low voter participation. Other countries require eligible people to vote.
Sadly, can you see the inhabitants in this country being “required” to be good citizens by voting?
Trump is telling us he can do better for us. It’s another lie!
trump speaks the truth except it is usually the exact opposite, i.e. a big fat lie.
He has never uttered more than 3 words in a row that weren’t lies, when you think about it that is astounding.
Excellent observation, Betsy. As I read HRC the questions were racing through my head. Is Heather using this history to point to the grievances of western land owners, rural residents, urban and suburban residents who don’t feel heard that are similar to the revolutionary times? I doubt it.
It does seem to require us to think about these matters in 2023.
Here are some questions:
In what ways do citizens in 2023 (or perhaps in 2016?) have grievances that require them to attack our capitol?
Are their grievances about religious principles which they value? The sacredness of life as they see it?
Have they been forced to accept laws that infringe upon their liberties as some might claim? But wait, no one is telling them they have to have an abortion. Why do they feel they can impose a limits on people who see it differently, especially in cases like the recent Texas, Kate Cox?
Have their lands been possessed by the government without their having a say or reasonable compensation on behalf of the collective citizenry?
What about the grievances about guns? A manufactured grievance on the part of the NRA when we recognize that no one is asking to take away their hunting or sports arms, but rather saying we don’t need people to have such easy access to military arms and we want them to take safety precautions? Is this an unreasonable infringement on their rights as we repeatedly see, hear of, and experience the slaughter of children and adults of all ages?
Isn’t the biggest argument, the second amendment, really a misinterpretation of a constitutional clause written at the earliest times of our country when there were different understandings, use, and far less deadliness to weapons?
So many questions that should seem easily resolved with people who recognize and respect everyone’s desire to live in a safe civilized community? Communities that value and respect the lives and voices of every citizen?
Stop! I am not proposing that this forum is the place to debate these questions. It isn’t, as I understand Letters From An American.
I reflect on these few hot topics in amazement and wonder at how we have come to this point where emotions whipped up by media or an organization like the NRA and dark money groups who have captured our passions at the expense of our safety and rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of the health and welfare of all?
How is it that our country has come to the point that civility has been abandoned and a former guy called for people to “come to D.C., it will be wild” only to find people so divided after such an assault on our capital because of lies and misinformation?
We surely can and must do better because at the end of the day we are all one humanity, aren’t we?
"Have their lands been possessed by the government without their having a say or reasonable compensation on behalf of the collective citizenry?"
Yes. That has happened.
When the USA put in the Interstate Highway system that connected all American cities so that cars (sadly not trains), could go everywhere,
ALL of the black sections of every American city were confiscated under imminent domain and covered over with concrete for highways.
Black folks were ejected/dispossessed from their (nice) neighborhoods and pushed into other (worse) areas of the the city with essentially no compensation.
So, Answer? Yes.
Of course, it was NOT black folks who stormed the Capitol in anger.
Who "stormed" (or hilariously and incompetently attempted to take over) the Capitol??
I bet all of you can guess what I will write next, so, I will skip it.
And tfg is talking about continuing to build the wall without considering who owns private property—just build over it.
I agree with most of what you posted, except for the point that "it was NOT black folks who stormed the Capitol in anger."
Seton Hall Law School provides some insight into the demographics of the people who have been charged in the January 6th riots at our Capitol:
"Those charged were overwhelmingly white (659 of 716, 92%) but also included Hispanics (39, 5.4%), Blacks (10, 1.4%), Asians (7.1%, 5 of the 7 were of Vietnamese ancestry) and one Native American."
You can read more here:
https://law.shu.edu/news/a-demographic-and-legal-profile-of-january-6-prosecutions.html#
mbrowne: I have been following the prosecutions & the court documents & DOJ data along with copies of the written guilty-plea deals since J6.. Do you have the demographics on those convicted, those that electrocuted and or tore off the badge & or stole the gun of a volunteer officer who rushed to defend against the attack & to protect Congress or those who died as a result of the attack?
Arrests & prosecutions will continue. I want to see, hopefully, 1318 arrests or double your cohort.
Brian, I don't have the demographics you're after. I agree, they would be great to have, because as we both know demographic data helps us understand more about the problem space, and who is motivated by various issues.
I had just read the Seton Hall update and thought it was germane to our discussion here.... I wish we could get out of the habit as a society of broad-brush characterizations and smears. While indeed the "vast majority" of the people who showed up to participate in the chaos of January 6th were NOT Black, Asian, Hispanic or Indigenous, people who fit within those demographic slices were indeed there, and actively participating in trying to reverse the outcome of the free, fair election.
I wouldn't be surprised if conviction data is available somewhere, too.
Let's think about the observations you make and those offered by readers below. First, the government may have been the instrument of the land grab, but we can probably dig a little deeper to find that it is ultimately and almost always money that buys power, so called free capitalist entrepreneurs who are driven by profits with no regard to who gets pushed aside. And where government should have helped, elected leaders are bought off. Thanks Citizens United and SCOTUS!
Second, as the comments below indicate we then move to demographic data that does what? it divides us without our intention being to do so. Nevertheless, we have moved to a discussion that puts people, fellow citizens in a category rather than recognizing them as our neighbors, friends, family - members of humanity's collective. Are they Hispanic, Blacks, Asians, Vietnamese, or Native American? So, the system known as government which does not distinguish between civil servants who are working for the voters collective benefit from the elected politicians/leaders who are driven by - you got it! - money that the free market entrepreneurs are sharing with them. (I feel left out as a white male. Surely I belong among those who are abused by a system that allows this displacement without proper compensation such as new and better communities.)
We need reform, but we don't need to tear down the capitol building and the democracy that must be adjusted to serve the citizens rather than folks who are happy to live and die by $$$s. Am I wrong? And we certainly don't need to threaten, abuse or harm our fellow citizens and community while TFG runs back to his Mar-a-lair to feed those who want to score points, as one reader wrote.
We can and must do better. Vote in 2024. GOTV!!
I don't know where you get the idea that this is not the place to debate these questions. It has been such for as long as I've been reading the site. You must be reading a different LFAA over there on Earth II, where the sky is green and the grass is blue.
You are right to challenge that statement. In these heated times when civility is not always the response, I’d reviewed and tried to be “safe” in putting forth ideas. It was late and I misspoke. Forgive me, for I sometimes know not how reasonable efforts might be perceived. Thank you. I will work to stiffen my backbone. Peace .
That’s a Dolly Parton song - The Grass is Blue - 🎵🥰
A lot of them will not agree that we are all “one humanity”.
Too many people are one issue voters. (anti-LBGTQ, anti-non whites”, anti “baby killers”, anti regulation, anti tax, anti gun control, anti ___religion, anti “leftists”)
They have nurtured this grievance for so long they enjoy every time they can score a point against their enemy.
Therein lies the sad truth of our time. People cannot grasp the truth that we are all human beings, but have consciously or subconsciously come to value “scoring points” over respecting our obvious (to me) oneness. Even and especially those who are so invested in spiritual communities seem unable or unwilling to see our oneness.
My only quibble is with your phrase “spiritual communities”.
Religion often has nothing to do with spirituality, instead it is tribal.
To be sure, I completely agree with you. Did I make any mention of religion, a particular denomination, etc? I hope not because your take on "spiritual communities" is aligned with mine. In fact, it is not religion it is the "community of our shared humanity."
No you didn’t mention religion, but that’s often what comes to mind (or at least mine) when someone mentions “spiritual communities”. Weren’t religions created for dealing with the spiritual side?
Finding a community of our shared humanity seems difficult these days. Friends & family & Substack commenters such as yourself. Thank you for your comments 😊
John, a well-thought-out list of grievances. Try hatred and the 'replacement conspiracy'. Abortion = punishment for having sex. Guns = protection against the government.
Immigration = see 'replacement conspiracy'
LBGTQ = unacceptable - black and white - male or female PERIOD.
trumsters sure have their grievances.
Each & everyone of your questions is based on faulty assumptions. Objection. assumes "facts not in evidence" if you will. And, I already know you won't.
So what's your MO? Locate a thread from an intelligent Commenter like Betsy Smith & then work the Crowd?
There is a 2023 Terms of Use(TOU) on this site subject ADR. & I have asked Substack Inc to update their TOU to be prepared for the nasty weather in 2024.
Well Bryan, I am not a lawyer and seek civil discourse outside of a courtroom with these days embracing the crazy notion that life might be about win-win rather than win-lose sans attention to our shared oneness seeking liberty, safety and good health for all. I won’t be playing in your playground but seeking win-win turf where we can walk away arm in arm.
This comment expressed well what came up for me, one does not win against abuse by being a bigger abuser. As important as reason is with issues like forced birth & assault weapons, it wasn't primarily about the tea, it was about abuse of power. It is important to keep that clear & apply that question directly to each action we are observing, is abuse being used to counter perceived abuse? If so, that worsens the problem, what models can we look to of what has worked?
Good questions, Kathy. What models exactly when we are represented as "the model." We certainly don't need to look beyond our shores to Vladimir Putin or Viktor Orban. Doctor heal thyself would seem to be the better option without calling people to D.C. to do one man's bidding. We need healthy dialogue and change to reform the system that promotes power through dollars rather than "justice, liberty and happiness for all."
You raise important issues here. I am particularly concerned about how ordinary people who might otherwise be reasonable, can become fanatics by appeals only emotion.
The question I ask is “what are the MAGA putting in place of what they destroy? What are they offering instead? To whom? For how long? How sustainable is what the MAGA offers?
It’s not sustainable, as the game of Monopoly teaches. They won’t take care of anything or anyone, but themselves..
Might makes right is what they offer, & even that is unsustainable. Those who live by the sword die by it. The last man standing is lonely, and they have to do all the work.
This last sentence shows the shortsightedness of the MAGA voters who make under $400G bc they will become the new vermin. I shake my head daily.
They tear down their own house by undermining their schools. They argue for ignorance by banning books. Little do they realize how they do the legwork of their own demise.
I have nothing against tradespeople. They are necessary. However, too many people can’t see the tree through the forest, and they argue against going to college instead of for affordable higher education. They’ve been convinced (or they’ve convinced themselves) that it’s not necessary or they aren’t worthy.
America is in an intellectual war that requires more of our people to have higher educations than in the past, or we will lose our power, influence, & status globally.
I liken it to the space race. Today, we’ve pushed more people to graduate high school with more math & science than ever before—however grudgingly they do it.
Soon, a whole generation of parents will be telling their kids to deal with learning Algebra 2 bc they took it. It will be the new minimum education the way grade 1-8 was, before k-12. Now we’re looking at P-Associates Degree.
In addition to the battle of the brains, people live longer, retire later, and each generation needs something to do while they await their turn in the job market.
MAGA ‘s whole plan is just to have the masses serve them like in 3rd world countries.
HCR’s post seems to shine a light on that reality, IMO. I believe it’s a rallying reminder of what we need to be doing to oppose MAGA.
The saddest observation I can make about those who follow the MAGA "leadership", is they will never have their needs truly addressed. Instead they will be fed grievance and culture war fodder to distract them from the fact that they do have real issues that are not being addressed/articulated by any party and very few individuals. Jobs/careers/dignity off-shored by globalization. A financial system that supports those who profit from poverty (predatory pay-day loans, etc.). A health care and legal system that allowed the Sackler family and others to destroy whole families, towns, and regions with for profit pill mills. No wonder there is little trust even for life saving COVID vaccines. A policy environment that militates against an effective, affordable education system. A health care/insurance system so broken it can't even adequately care for middle class white folks anymore. These needs are instead subsumed by bathroom issues, etc on the right and silence on the left. This is what the lack of representative democracy has done to these folks. It is small wonder they will follow anyone who offers a shortcut up and out.
I am hoping that everyone commenting will never forget the role of Fox and some other inadequate and very slanted in fact toxic media and include that in our remarks. Because somehow that has to change. Drastically.
I never forget the source of the propaganda. I also don't feel the need to announce that the sky is blue; it is a given, as is the gawdawful "toxic media" (a description I love).
While Hobbes gets the credit for resolving the wars between the kingdoms, Lock gets the credit for articulating the rights of people to throw off tyranny, while Lincoln defined who those people are. All are cornerstones of the enlightenment which has survived in America through many challenges and will do so again.
What I see as missing in Gaza, Maga, and Ukraine are recognitions of the legitimate aspirations of the parties. Gazans want people to live under the nourishing wing of Allah, Israel wants Jews to be free of pogroms, Maga, want us to live under White Christian Nationalism. Ukraine wants to live under the rule of law and Russia wants manifest destiny. Some aspirations are more legitimate than others.
I'm grateful to live during one of the least violent times, according to S. Pinker. But entropy will prevail if external energy isn't used with foresight and good judgement. Enjoy watching Falcon 9 land on "of course we still love you" https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TIpgl9IPu2A
"But entropy will prevail if external energy isn't used with foresight"
Great point. It has been a while since I thought about the third law of Thermodynamics.
The Entropy of a Closed System (not at absolute zero) will always increase.
In other words, the disorder/diversity of a closed system will always increase, without bound. If you have ever been in one of the very, very, very few virgin forests on earth, you can see this law in effect with the myriad of tree species present. Diversity is a natural outcome of the Third Law of Thermodynamics.
Large diversity in closed systems is the natural outcome.
Germany's effort to reverse entropy and eliminate diversity, of course, failed because, in the long run, the Third Law of Thermodynamics cannot be defeated.
It takes too much energy to overcome the natural laws of nature.
Nice! I always enjoy your input to LFAA. One way to look at entropy is viewing it as the inverse of temperature. In nature, the temperature goes down and the entropy goes up. Now all I have to do is visualize what the "closed system" is?
Interesting point. It’s something I’ve thought about intuitively but you articulated it very clearly 🙏
“entropy will prevail . . .”. is indeed a great point.
G. I. Gurdjieff put it another way,
“That which does not consciously grow, degenerates”
“Gazans want people to live under the nourishing wing of Allah, Israel wants Jews to be free of pogroms, “
Gazans have been pushed off their lands. Is it not normal to want back what was once your own home?
By treating Palestinians so miserably for so long, Israel is losing respect for Jews the world over, thereby increasing the chance of renewed pogroms.
I agree with "Israel is losing respect for Jews the world over",
But, not with: "thereby increasing the chance of renewed pogroms"
I think it is clear that NetanYahoo does not really represent the minds of most Israeli's at this point.
Yahoo's far right government is pursuing genocide in Gaza, yes, BUT, Israeli's will vote him out or expel him as soon as they can I think.
I hope anyway.
Be careful with the word genocide. The extremists in the Kaneset might want to exterminate the Palestinians, but the present military action is not aimed at eliminating the Palestinians. We need to appreciate that what Hamas did on Oct 7th was done with the expectation the Israelis would do in response and they could care less about the consequences, i.e. carnage of their people. A sacrifice that might gain worldwide sympathy. 20k dead. And to negotiate any peace with the Palestinians whose only position is to eliminate Israel. That is an impossible negotiating position.
Hamas and extremist Palestinians do not want a two-state solution anymore than Israeli extremists do. And of course, the one-state solution each favors differs diametrically.
Muslims are taught that Allah forced Jews from Israel for killing Jesus. The Nazis and other antisemitics preached the same BS to justify the holocaust. The Pope apologized but not one Mullah, or one Christian Nationalist. If they want to believe god wants Palestine to punish the Jews, then they can enjoy their f-ing virgins with Allah. It's just the ranting of a bunch of medieval Dunning Kruger Effect Worse People in History! Don't believe it.
Good point.
Brilliant list of "wants".
Well stated. Consider the grievousness that the trumpsters have, and that trump does address them. Primarily hatred of, a laundry list of grievances, top of the list of are nonwhites and the audacity of women and LBGTQs who only want their constitutional rights. Their sense of righteousness is backed by the "replacement conspiracy".
Betsy, you write true words. I have asked my (mostly white male ex-cop) cohort what discrimination they have suffered as rights have been given to BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and women that they have enjoyed all along. With respect to the female and lesbian part of me, I get a religious argument that abortion is a mortal sin, and that homosexuality is an abomination. When I counter that with the prohibition of establishment of religion, I get more crickets.
In the March, 1770 ‘Boston Massacre,’ an agitated crowd prompted British soldiers to kill and wound some American colonists. Paul Revere’s instantly famous image—grossly misrepresenting what happened—enraged the colonists.
There was a trial of some British soldiers. John Adams (brother of rebellious Sam) volunteered to defend the Brits at their trial. He stated that, as a lawyer, he was obliged to see that the Brits were justly represented in court. His sense of ‘Justice’ initially was not well received by his fellow Bostonians.
John defended the Brits well. Some received minor punishment, others were acquitted.
John, with this noble sense of ‘justice,’ later became president of the United States.
His professional behavior was in stark contrast to another president, whose ignoble sense of ‘Justice’ threatens the Constitution, the courts, and the professional functioning of the Department of Justice.
Mentioning Trump and justice is an oxymoron, with emphasis on the ‘moron.’
Keith,
John Adams is a long time hero of mine as well and for the reasons you note.
I first became enamored of Adams through Catherine Drinker Bowen's truly immense and wonderful biography of Adams written in 1949. The biography contains a detailed description of the trial Adams sponsored for the British soldiers and his, initial, lack of popularity in Boston for that stand.
Her Biography also resulted in my kids being forced to read the book and then (when they were in high school) we all went to Braintree Massachusetts to see the room where he wrote the first tripartite Constitution. The MA constitution. 1779.
Written alone by John Adams in his childhood home.
John Adams was a true giant in human history.
Mike, that's one reason I am so glad I found Professor Cox's letters. My feelings about Trump and all his misguided followers are validated by like-minded people, but also, I have learned so much about the people and events in our history that helped lead us to our democratic way of life.
I am enlightened when I hear our history come alive.
Trump and his cult members do not care about learning anything that will open their minds to new concepts, or to the appreciation of those in our history who dedicated their lives for the betterment of ALL people.
MAGAs do not care about learning anything new.
They just want to protect a way of life which they think is the ONLY way of life for everyone.
Pam,
My sister's husband down in TX is a huge Trump supporter. But, I don't really think he can put his specific finger on why he loves Trump so much.
In watching him and others who are ardent Trump lovers, I think Trump's appeal is mostly how he trash talks all the time.
If you remember middle school (at least at my school), the biggest trash talking guys were ALSO the same guys all the girls fell in love with and all the boys followed. Those guys ended up heroes of the football team as well, trash talking their way through high school.
I think there might be something fundamental to humanity that Trump has found and is using. I think that both males and females are ATTRACTED to a big bully trash talker.
But, I could not tell you the evolutionary origins of WHY. I don't know.
I also cannot tell you why I am, as a long time guy, from East Texas where I did my own fair amount of trash talking, despise Trump so much.
Mike, you said what I have thought since the time that Trump crawled out of the woodwork to make himself known to the world.
His supporters see in him what they've felt and seen in themselves and others like them. He is validating their mean-spirited, entitled thoughts and actions.
My husband was elated when Trump won in 2016. I was sick over his win. Everytime Trump said or did something horrendous, I was appalled and would say, "Do you see how he REALLY is? " My husband's pat answer was a snide "Get used to it."
He continued to watch FOX, and praised Trump's efforts to divide our country. We had many arguments because I spoke my mind with conviction. So much so, that he would say, " Stop talking so loud. You're scaring the dog":)
Anyway, as the years went by, and especially when Trump bashed veterans and POWs, my husband's opinion of him has changed. He now sees how dangerous he is, and finally sees his true selfish, childish words and actions. He finally realizes that Trump was not, or never will be, good for our country if we want to keep our democracy.
I'm glad that you and he have realized the "Truth about Trump."
Interesting evolution of your husband's position, Pam. I am ever surprised at some people that I know who are both intelligent and friendly are so enamoured of fpotus. I suspect that with the several that fall into this category, the white Christian nationalism is what leads them in their support .
You're so right. I could talk a blue streak about "Christian nationalism", but I'm getting ready to go to my brother's church Christmas Cantata.
Music has brought me through many times of frustration and dissolutionment.
Middle school bully who found his buddies. The guy the girl’s mom’s warned them about…
Pat But few of these high school bullies or heart throbs ever amounted to much out in the real world. I am gobsmacked that 74 million people voted for TRASH TALKING TRUMP in 2020 and, between indictments, he is the favored Trumpublican candidate in 2024.
In fourth grade we had a trash-talking bully, Kent Temple. Initially he intimidated. Then some of us ‘ganged up’ on him and ‘cauterized’ his bullying. He didn’t return in fifth grade. I never knew why. [I checked. He didn’t become a Republican Congressman.]
We’ll put.Somehow we have to get pastMAGA and back to governing. It would be a great help if the wealthy, be they individuals or corporations, paid their fair share of taxes. I think of good people like Jamie Raskin and Elizabeth Warren who keep working for a better America.
Mike My good friend David McCullough [died last year after living with two strokes] restored John Adams historically with his Pulitzer-winning JOHN ADAMS.
Initially David started out researching a book on the post-presidential letters between Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Then he wrote me that he was fed up with Jefferson’s hypocrisy, scrapped some of his initial research, and decided to focus on John and Abigail.
Some years later he collected and wrote the foreword of a book of letters between ex-prez Truman and ex-SecState Dean Acheson. He (and I) thought that these ranked among the most erudite letters ever exchanged between two senior American statesmen.
What impressed me that Truman, getting even more strong willed out of office, matched Acheson’s erudition. Truman, because he had to work on his father’s farm, never went to college, though he was a voracious reader—history and biography. Acheson patterned his education and personage around the British upper class. They were an admirable twosome both in and out of office.
This is fascinating. There are a lot of folks out there who are intelligent but never went to college. I’d like to read those letters. 🙏
Those are a couple books I'd like to read, Keith. I shall hunt them down. My Dad was a huge Truman guy; I suspect there was kinship in the "WWII service/No College/Voracious reader" status.
I would label John's "sense of ‘Justice’ initially was not well received by his fellow Bostonians" as more standing on principle. Standing on principle against a popular tide of sentiment at the moment is often what makes people unpopular, at least initially until there has been time enough to see or prove the wisdom of standing on one's principles.
I believe that is one of the most difficult aspects of the Israeli war in Gaza for Biden and our government, how to choose which principle should be the foremost, support for our long-term allies with the only functioning democracy in the Middle East (and the rule of law) or support for a displaced people without a homeland (and the laws of war), knowing that we tend to love underdogs.
John As a former Foreign Service Officer who had boots on the ground in the Middle East for years, I firmly believe that President Biden has been wrong in his handling of the Israel/Gaza situation.
He may have imagined that he could have influenced that viper Netanyahu. WRONG! Biden loathed and distrusted Netanyahu over the years.
Biden publicly seeks more ‘humane’ Israeli military assaults and Netanyahu responds with public ‘f++k yous.’ Meanwhile, Biden surreptitiously rushes massive replacements of 2000 pound bombs, artillery shells, and other war materials for the Israel Defense Forces.
For over two months Biden has not displayed an effective sense of humanity regarding what is occurring to 2 million Gazan civilians. This will affect the United States in much of the world, including in Arab countries.
Putin just made a successful trip to some Arab countries. I sense that he was chortling about being the ‘good guy,’ while America was the ‘bad guy.’ Sad—but quite plausible.
I couldn’t agree with you more Keith, Netanyahu has played our president like a violin, every note he has played has been to protect himself from the reckoning that is sure to come. From all of the things I have read, he and his government are as complicit in what happened on 7 Oct as is Hamas. Biden slipped into the trap of protecting Israel no matter what, while we have watched a massive bombing campaign take place in an area densely packed with children, the results are all too predictable. Israel is rapidly loosing support around the world, by people and governments who know what they are looking at. Hamas is a terrible enemy to have on your border, they are not stupid, and have engineered a counter to the IDF and their technological superiority. In chess I think they would call that checkmate, whatever it is called, a lot of lives are going to be lost while it plays out to its conclusion. They say it takes two to tango, neither of which would be at this juncture without the other. Our government needs to take a much harder stance regarding Israel, and make it crystal clear that we are not ok with the right wing government running the country and it’s agenda.
Keith, I appreciate your post here. I am WOEFULLY (I say again, woefully) ignorant of the history of that part of the world. What I do "know" (believe is probably a more accurate word, but I digress) is that the situation is untenable. Hamas comes to power over horrible treatment of Palestinians by the Israeli government. Hamas attacks said government with the stated intent of creating an overreaction (which is spectacularly an over reaction) by Israel. The Gaza strip (reportedly very concentration-camp like in its pre Oct.7, 2023 days) has been reduced to rubble with no delineation between the Palestinians who live there and Hamas.
In many circles (LFAA among them) there seems to be no room for anything other than a completely pro-Israel (and anyone who criticises anything is branded an "anti-Semite") stance. To my way of thinking, both sides have done wrong; the anti-Palestinian stance of Israel leads to Hamas, Hamas attack leads to Israeli attempted obliteration of the Gaza strip in an attempt to eliminate Hamas.
I am not an anti-Semite OR anti-Palestinian. I believe that the situation there has been exacerbated by white Europeans attempting to "regulate" the area in an "equitable" manner (Balfour) and to atone for the lack of response to Hitler's extermination of the Jews in Europe. (Oh, and protect petroleum sources for western useage. How could I forget.) Both "sides" are both right and wrong.
I appreciate your last three paragraphs. It sums up what I believe as well, but much more founded in knowledge and experience.
Tuba I almost expect to be attacked as ‘antisemitic’ because of my straight forward assessments of what is occurring in the Israel/Gaza situation.
I strongly supported the creation of the State of Israel. I lunched with David Ben-Gurion in 1954. I was invited to spend a month at the Israeli Defense College in 1960, the year my book on Nasser’s Egypt was banned by Nasser.
I strongly resent that the ‘antisemitism’ charge is being thrown at informed people who disagree with what Netanyahu has sought to create for nearly 20 years. Over the last two years, this was a topic of conversation at the bat and bar Mitzahs of two of my grandchildren.
Not so incidentally, there has been a strong denigration of Arabs who, like Jews, are Semitic.
Jews and non-Jews can criticize the government of the State of Israel without being guilty of anitsemitism or of anti-Zionism.
Taxation without representation is still anathema to a democracy. Winner-take-all electoral college votes can make a citizen living in a strongly partisan state feel that, for the election of the president and vice president, their vote doesn’t count. A proportional number of electoral votes apportioned according to the percentage of votes won by each candidate would help to alleviate the problem and dilute the power of the swing states.
How about just a straight out count of the votes? We don't need any damn electoral votes.
TC,
The concept of a less democratic body (the Senate, and the electoral college) comes from John Adams Massachusetts's Constitution written around 1779 in his home in Braintree Massachusetts.
There he wrote the template for the US Constitution. A tripartite constitution with a Judicial Branch, a "House of Representatives" (democratically elected by white males), and then he put in the "Senate" where a derivative of the people were used to select the representatives in the Senate. The Senate was not directly elected by popular vote.
It would be fascinating to talk to Adams or see if any of his letters contain a clear underpinning, rational reason for this division and for the Senate.
Maybe Adams, having gone to Harvard, "believed" there was an upper crust of people who were better able to "represent" than the "commoners". But, he also believed "commoners" should have a say.
Although, Adams barely got into Harvard because he, himself, was not from a wealthy family. He had to find a wealthy sponsor.
Remember, British culture was well embedded in the white male community of that time. Never mind Adams' break from a desire for a King.
And even 40 years ago the Caste system in Britain remained rigid. I don't know about today.
I had an older gentleman who was a close friend from Britain who married a beautiful Irish girl he met while he was still in Britain.
He literally had to move to America to not be treated like dirt because he married an Irish girl. That would have been around 1970.
Mike S, I may be on shaky ground here but I thought the tripartite nature of our government was Judicial, Executive (president) and Legislative branches with the bicameral structure of the Congress including the Senate (with 2 Senators per state regardless of population) as well as the House of Representatives (with representation based on numbers of people) to ensure less populated states they wouldn't always be dominated by the more populated states. Leading to our current dilemma of repeatedly feeling the low-populated states dominate "the majority of people."
Oversimplification perhaps, but I've seen the argument that "the coasts" get too much power in voting, which I take to mean the MAGAs don't like all the liberals in urban areas. I counter with we "urban liberals" have LESS power, because of the Senate!! I've asked why less populous states get as much senatorial representation as states with populations much larger? While I'm all for bison herds, I don't think they should get as much representation as humans do.
Well, I guess I would if senators really gave a shit on the living conditions of the bison.
Climate change, you know.
The electoral college gives more power to lower-population states, so I don’t see getting enough votes for the required constitutional amendment.
The 1773 Boston Tea Party is legendary in American history. In fact, as Heather points out, the British, in an effort to rescue the East India Company, provided it a tea monopoly in the American colonies. Despite a small tea tax, this would have provided cheaper tea than what was being smuggled in.
John Hancock, perhaps the largest smuggler in the colonies, was furious at this challenge to his smuggling business. A story that I find credible is that Hancock, in cahoots with Sam Adams (most famous today by his beer), arranged the Boston Tea Party.
This triggered a massive British crack down on Boston which, in turn, consolidated cohesive opposition by the colonists. After the battle of Lexington, the American revolution commenced.
John Hancock desperately wanted to be appointed commander of the American troops. However, John Adams, seeking to unify the colonists, supported Virginian George Washington, who just happened to appear at the colonist gathering in his French-Indian War military uniform.
John Hancock’s bold signature was the first on the Declaration of Independence.
"John Hancock, perhaps the largest smuggler in the colonies, was furious at this challenge to his smuggling business. A story that I find credible is that Hancock, in cahoots with Sam Adams (most famous today by his beer), arranged the Boston Tea Party."
Keith, this story is backed up by Katherine Drinker Bowen's wonderful Biography of John Adams. In fact, in her retelling of the history, it was John Hancock who organized the Boston Tea Party and MADE SURE that none of the RUM he was running into Boston, to the poor Irish wards, was dumped into the harbor.
Is Sam Adams the rabble-rousing miscreant or the American hero. I vote for the former.
Jeri My recollection is that Sam Adams was a rabble rouser who went increasingly bonkers, while his brother John was more and more distinguished.
I don’t recall that Sam played a significant role after the Declaration of Independence.
Keith, you must be a fan of Catherine Drinker Bowen's biography of John Adams as well!
The story you tell today is straight out of her 1949 biography of John Adams! Although, that bio must be underpinned by other documents someplace.
The original sin today is unlimited funds to determine who successfully runs for office. A corporation is not a citizen as Federalist jurists would like you to believe. Democracy has already been fatally wounded. Now it’s just a matter of time unless decisions can be reversed. And when you have all the money in the world, you can make your own reality. MAGAs are convinced that regulations are not good for the populace. Imagine that. They already won the reality wars.
I think I shall have some tea.
Thank you professor for the history refresher. It now has a deeper meaning.
Family lore says we had relatives there, one can only hope! Thanks Heather, grateful as always for what you do to keep us informed.
Re our First Amendment andfree speech: Areopagetica, a speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parliament of England, is a 1644 prose polemic by the English poet, scholar, and polemical author John Milton opposing licensing and censorship, published November 23, 1644, about 20 pages in an original larger binding I bought from Bernard Quaritch for $20,000 and sold back to Quaritch for $120,000 to gratify an Arab buyer... a few years later... is the first open defiance of the Crown - that leads directly to our First Amendment - indicating that parliament forbid the King of England from taxing the printed word from that day forward. This speech by John Milton was and is critical to American history. It is ignored by American historians.
Areopagitica may be ignored by American historians.
Even more to the point, perhaps, it is ignored by America's book burners, keen to revive Hitler's first bonfires.
First books are burned, then people.
S B, many thanks for the reference to Areopagetica. I have now read a bit about it and found a link to background and the entire speech. Link below. It would appear that Milton's famous speech was, indeed, the underpinning of some of the thoughts that Adams and others had. Thanks for the reference. Link below.
A .pdf of the entire speech/pamphlet by Milton and thanks for the reference.:
https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5QafannrAkOtq4LsGTT_OMnfzyZ0StOn0PFBs53nnw-gwI51zOFG9aFL2IvF65CbkRelob_iodbyjuAFrS3BYYYPh5Faqs0O9z8bUv01Rifpa7LHBeL10roMqYrmxO3y95PlNs28tTYD8h3d902noHROjd42LFv2iTlcVUua710rYyvFxDMxYHj2OF-rWtLs944cYgllZEIX0aCqFtx78tUNMAMcRhc_HwvE-oM6fCnWLGmXUi6EFRSnkjBz8j9pqcWKgzPWR
Also, I found this reference at wikipedia:
"According to George H. Sabine, the Areopagitica presumed and was written for an engaged public:
Its basic principle was the right and also the duty of every intelligent man as a rational being, to know the grounds and take responsibility for his beliefs and actions. Its corollary was a society and a state in which decisions are reached by open discussion, in which the sources of information are not contaminated by authority in the interest of party, and in which political unity is secured not by force but by a consensus that respects variety of opinion.[7]"
" presumed and was written for an engaged public:"
Well, I guess if you think of all those folks in America sitting in recliners watching Fox News all day, we do have an "engaged public".
Yep.
Engaged or enraged by Rupert
YES Mike S, as I read above about Areopagitica I think Milton was also arguing for basing actions on principles and hence the importance of knowing or being clear upon what principe one bases one's actions and therefore the importance of free speech (and writing) to allow enunciation of those principles.
Here's a quiz about the Boston Tea Party, sent by my son in Boston. Have fun! (I flunked.) https://www.boston.com/community/quizzes/for-its-250th-anniversary-test-your-boston-tea-party-knowledge/?p1=hp_primary
Thanks for the link. Learned a lot of history I had missed.
Thanks. I like quizzes. Annoyingly though I have no idea what my “grade” would be. It only tells you the correct answers, you have to go back and grade yourself.
Wow! That was fun! THX!
THIS is why I follow a reputable historian - it's all about context....
Thankyou so much for this concise description of that early turmoil.
I so appreciate reading this. It was so distorted and glossed over in history class.
And lo, 250 years later, the simply idiotic Tea Party Caucus has fully given way to completely delusional sheeple led by the Mad Hatler.
On any given day, as Alice said, I can imagine 6 impossible things before breakfast.
Thank you for the refresher course. I had forgotten so much in the last 60 years. History and art being my favorite classes. I so enjoy your letters about the past and in a lot of cases how the past relates to today.
Fun. More detail than I knew. I'm getting out my indigenous costume for 2024.