Today, President Joe Biden designated a new national monument in honor of Frances Perkins, secretary of labor under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Once more, your letter is here to somehow lift our spirits. Hard to realize that Biden made a speech today, but all we hear about is Trump, and his inane, rambling, press conference. The legacy media is gone, and your letter is more important than ever. Thank you Professor 🙏
Accurate journalism informs the public, protecting truth and democracy when authoritarian forces seek to manipulate, divide, and suppress. Truth is resistance.
President Biden has been expediting the appointment of federal U.S. District Judges in the last days of his Presidency with success. Every lifetime trial level appointment counts as thousands of yearly federal cases that are adjudicated at local district court level. Only 80 or so make it to SCOTUS.
Biden just placed SERENA RAQUEL MURILLO on the Senate Executive Calendar. Judge Murillo is headed for the Central District of California a very active federal Bench in CA.
Finally, a National Monument for FRANCES PERKINS whose public works projects are still the living flesh & bones of many New Deal projects across the land! Check out the Zimmerman Library at the University of New Mexico; the Perkins' building is architectural art & the aerial photo of the construction of the Norris Dam above the Tennessee River.
Many historical photos, graphs & data of Frances' government work are still with us & are collected in the August 2010 IRLE Working Paper: "The Living New Deal: the Unsung Benefits of the New Deal for the United States & California" by RICHARD WALKER & GRAY BRECHIN. Those benefits are not unsung now.
You can access the history & photos including well executed photographs of Gray Brechin at irle.berkeley.edu/workingpaper.
"IRLE" stands for Institute of for Research on Labor & Employment. Well done.
Thank you Barbara, one of the many Substack’s I look for and read every day.
Thank you Joe Biden for the best example of Best President ever🙌
Getting rich gets so much more thought than being fair
Avoiding accountability costs far surpass waste, your donations pay for it . Not fair, but elected regardless.
Word salads, double talk, broken trust, lies upon lies, ethics tossed for egos sake..grew out of the promise to …Make America Great Again which became known as…
MAGA
What has come of this is what caused it in the first place …fairness ,equality, laws ,established rights ..broken, greed bringing the richest county - once upon a time #1 ….to laughing supreme stocks of the world courted treasonously/sadly …to its knees …no longer ‘The Dream’ .
Oh, people are thinking where can I move that’s safe from this ?
But wait…we got 600 millionaires …plus some billionaires …rolling ,shaking up, replacing YOUR fair for the now acceptable ‘fuck you’ face of failure .
Be sure to thank those 49% voters , the stink tanks Heritage /Federalist/Facists for the next 4 or more year’s ride delivered by the groveling whittled out gop.
Actually, Daniel these writings are revolutionary's way of giving the finger to the politicians who think they can erase history and have us pretend we never had these rights. President Biden actions concerning Frances Perkins are another way of giving the finger to the people who are salivating come January 20 to strip us of all these rights. I see you have a Substack site. Perhaps you could write about your topic there and share parts of it with us all in these comments.
Actually I worked 20 + years in DC for the Department of Labor, and I fear all for naught. In 2017 Trump attacked the "deep state" by elimination of "merit selection" to hire people like me. From there it got worse.
I supported Biden and everything, but I'm afraid he was ineffective in stopping the death of my subect. federal administrative law, and next will be collective bargaining as Musk and Bezos have a consttutional attack of the National Labor Relations Board.
If MAGATs turn the FBI into a Fascist musieum. they will level the Frances Perkins Building, and salt the ground like the Romans did Carthage. Thats where my former colleagues work -- euphemistically judicial dodo birds or mastadons, awaiting extinction.
The Russian takeover is a hell of a lot more important!
Then write about it in your Substack. Dr. Richardson is a self-avowed historian. Commanding an esteemed author to write about what you want is just plain rude. Again. Sounds like you have some background to write about what you want.
Remember, too, Martine, Trump 2.0 is a resurgence of white, patriarchal power anchored to evangelical beliefs. This is what's sweeping into Washington and elsewhere already in the wake of Harris' political defeat. Despite the overall narrow margins, they will run to the limit, and as fast as possible, to cement themselves into Washington. As Miller remarked, like a "lightning bolt".
What a revealing letter of the struggle of a government for the people. all the people. Biden's phrase "decent and fair" so applies to him as well. It hurts so much to keep reading now of the many important things Biden has done and keeps doing. We are down river of a giant dam that has broached.
She would want Biden to instruct the national archivist to publish the Equal Rights Amendment! It is now fully ratified and ready to be added to our Constitution!
I thought the ERA was held up in the courts due to logistics (and the five states that rescinded their votes to ratify).
Here's an excerpt on legislation that has been proposed last year but not voted upon. Perhaps I'm wrong (I hope I am, because I came here to ask why this bill isn't being voted on to get our equal rights in the Constitution:
"The Equal Rights Amendment was originally proposed to the states in 1972. The original proposal included a deadline for ratification of March 22, 1979; Congress subsequently extended the deadline to June 30, 1982. Although the requisite 38 states have ratified the amendment, three of these states did so after the deadlines, and five states subsequently rescinded their ratifications. The status of the amendment has been the subject of litigation."
Go to VoteEquality us for great information on why Biden can and should have the National Archivist sign and publish the ERA. Over 400,000 lawyers have concluded that imposing a deadline for an amyis in and of itself unconstitutional. 46 Senators have written Biden urging him to do it as well as 120 House members. I wish I could send you those letters. They are very strong. And yes it couyget challenged but how would that look? For many folks in the know, it's now or never!!
Right ON! I have written Biden. I hope every substack reader emails, writes, phones Biden. Publish the ERA now - it needs to be added to our Constitution. Why is it taking so long?
I am a fan of the very human package that constituted FDR. While imperfect, flawed, prone to acts of selfishness, he simultaneously worked untiringly for individuals who needed assistance. I became aware of France’s Perkins role in creating a government “for” the people through two terrific biographies. H W Brands’ Traitor to his Class, and Doris Kerns Goodwin’s No Ordinary Time.
The role of women in our society has consistently been underplayed. Thank you Heather for this wonderful letter recognizing one woman’s contributions.
Our nation missed a real opportunity to do just that, in the spirit of FDR, Biden & Perkins, by electing the Harris/Walz team. We sure shot ourselves in the foot.
I used to think that was THE answer but then along came BBBBB (aka Marjorie Taylor Greene), Lauren Bohnert, Nancy Mace, Kristie Noem, Kay Ivey, Virginia Foxx, Marie LePen, Giorgia Meloni, et alia such that now I accept that not just any woman but one who understands the assignment.
So those who understand the assignment might have a turning-point decision to make if they've (or we've) been behaving in arenas of comfortable contribution. Time to sharpen tongues and pens, get out the dancing shoes and bright colors?
"By 1979, religious traditionalists had rejected the modern move toward women’s rights and made common cause with Republicans eager to derail the New Deal."
I am really sick of the Left ceding ground to conservatives who are little better than Pharisees.
Let’s review since it is the season of Christmas:
Jesus and his family were political refugees – that is the Christmas story; the president elect rejects refugees. Jesus stood for helping the stranger; the president elect rejects them. Jesus was about challenging the power structure; the president elect lusts after it. Jesus stood for the disenfranchised and deviant; the GOP hates them. Jesus told his followers to put down their swords; the GOP says pick up your guns. Jesus stood for helping the poor and disabled; the GOP is about mocking and making life even more difficult for them. Jesus called on us to sacrifice; Trump is all about consumption instead. Jesus fed the hungry; Trump would starve them. The president elect covets the kingdoms of the earth; Jesus, tempted by Satan, rejected them. Trump and his party are all about conformity; Jesus, who consorted with tax-collectors and prostitutes, is all about the disenfranchised and the deviant. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees as hungry for gain and as hypocrites; Trump embodies the same hypocrisy and selling of religion. Trump says “pick up your guns”; Jesus says put away your sword. Trump and his party persecute the sexually different; his apostles welcomed them into the fold, as in the case of Philip and the eunuch.
Is the former GOP president the Anti-Christ? Maybe, maybe not. But he and is party are as anti-Christian as anything that can be imagined.
Because if Caesar is right, then Jesus is wrong. If guns are right, then Jesus is wrong. If supporting power and laying the weak by the heal is right, then Satan and Trump are right, and Jesus is wrong. I have no idea what scripture the GOP reads. I’ve had the good fortune to pour over it in Greek and publish books on Jesus’ radicalism. Jesus was a wildly radical Jewish heretic. The GOP? Intellectually and morally sloven and shabby.
I too am not Christian yet admire Jesus's kindness and consider kind Christians allies. I keep hoping that those who admire what Jesus is reported to have said rather than greed and sociopathy will join and speak louder and more clearly about what they respect, and how it differs from self-centered MAGA.
In this you are in league with Nietzsche who was agnostic or atheist, but could not reject Jesus as he was truly the only Christian. This is not the fault of atheists or agnostics, it is the fault of CINOs, who seem to forget that helping your neighbor is central to the gospel - and defined the neighbor as the enemy instead.
Jesus wasn’t trying to get people to memorize his Sermon on the Mount. He was trying to tell us who he is and who we all are but don’t yet know it.
Because many didn’t understand Jesus’s message, his words were misinterpreted, often on purpose for nefarious reasons, targeting those who were looking for a savior.
CINOs (Christians In Name Only)? How about HINO (Human in Name Only)?
Search for 'Human in Name Only'. Google returns:
Human in name only" means someone who is technically considered a human, but lacks the essential qualities or behaviors typically associated with being human, like empathy, compassion, or morality, essentially acting in a way that is not aligned with what is considered "human" behavior."
I would concur. Their use of Christianity to drive a politics of division is contemptible, and it is not at all new. What is new is how much it drives much of the Republican agenda. They are misogynistic, and it shows.
I especially like "shabby." Yes - what a scruffy lot - from trump in his too big suits to Two Shirts Bannon who never looks washed - to Big Plastic Boots Ron. An absolute shower.
It may seem paradoxical to say that "I'm a Christian," and then say "I'm also an atheist."
But when someone says, they are Southern Baptist or Catholic or an Evangelical do we think, "Wow, they must be a good person because the leaders of their church are such good examples of what a Christian should be" or "The church is such a shining example of what the golden rule says."
Estimates are there are around 10,000 religions in the world most of them based on Christianity, Judaism, Muslim, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. How many of the religions suggest that we should kill those that don't follow our religion? Millions of people have died or been persecuted because they refuse to say they are Christians.
Isn't this one of the basic tenets of today's Republican Party under Trump?
Gary...I'm reading Tim Alberta's newest book. It's an eye opener. I'm about halfway through and I feel nauseous. An elderly neighbor wanted me to read it. He is a devoted christian who can't believe what is happening to our country.
I think a person can embrace the teachings of religious figures like Jesus or Buddha about how to live a fulfilling life and get along without belief in the whole nebulous all knowing paternal power.
cameron, I have a dear friend (high school bandmate) who is a rock solid conservative Christian who is also one of the few Christians that I see who walk Christ's path (as I, as a non-theist, understand it to be.) She told me years ago (after leaving our local university to attend the college affiliate with her flavor of Christianity**side bar** there's a clue for you**) told me "After being surrounded by people of faith, learning far more about the Bible and Christ than I could ever have imagined, I have to tell you that, as a non-believer, you are one of the most Christian people I know".
I distill it to "I don't need a book or an imaginary sky pilot to tell me how to be or coerce me into being a good person."
Thank you. This needs to be said more widely, very loudly, and repetitively by all Democratic candidates. The forces of enlightenment have ceded the language of morality to the regressive side. The political and religious right wing claims - very loudly - that they are moral, when they are not. They claim decency while being grotesquely indecent.
People may argue about policy, and debate ideology,but there’s no denying history.
Joe Biden will go down as a champion of women, minorities, and the marginalized. His presidency will be remembered as one “of the people,by the people, and for the people”.
His decency and dogged determination to fight hate and defend democracy will be what historians write about for the decades to come.
They say that you get the government you deserve. We didn’t deserve Joe Biden, he was too good for America. We did not appreciate him. We cast him aside, and for what?
Thank you, Joe Biden, for over half a century of putting people over property!
And still today. Biden gets little to no coverage but the lying felon elect gets covered for every little comment. BTW, msm does not have the balls to challenge the lies in real time. And because they don’t call him out, people believe what he says as truth and fact. Shameful.
Long overdue recognition on a grand scale of all that Frances Perkins had accomplished in her time!
Quoting Dr. Heather:
"The creation today of the Frances Perkins National Monument tied together Perkins’s expansion of the government and the centrality of women to the American story. The event took place in the Frances Perkins Building, the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., where acting secretary of labor Julie Su noted that Biden has been “the most pro-worker, pro-union president in history,” protecting pensions, defending unions, creating good jobs, and unapologetically wielding the power of the presidency on behalf of working people."
One wonders, given how she has impacted our lives, why she is not more honored with a prominent place on a coin or monetary note, a monument or even museum on the National Mall, a Monday holiday. She has impacted and improved far more lives than some presidents (hello George, good morning Donnie!)
Look to the patriarchy whose members are excellent at feathering their own nests and advancing their own interests at the expense of, well, women. Time to defeat the patriarchy, starting with Trump. I only hope he lives long enough to see historians trash him.
Trump has been thoroughly trashed by historians, journalists , world leaders, and politicians. It’s like pissing in the wind,; it has no effect other than poking the bear. The man is incapable of critical self reflection. I hope he does NOT live long enough to destroy our country.
Alas, the US has done a really subpar job establishing any female role models on currency. In Sweden there Astrid Lindgren (20 SEK smallest/common paper currency), Birgit Nilsson (500sek largest common paper currency) and Greta Garbo( 100 SEK). Dag Hammarskjöld is I’m the 1000, not a note you see much. https://www.riksbank.se/en-gb/payments--cash/notes--coins/notes/valid-banknotes/
To really honor women and protect us from the reassertion of the patriarchy, Biden should instruct the national archivist to publish the now fully ratified Equal Rights Amendment as the 28thAmendment to our Constitution. We need deeds, not mere words, Mr. President!
Thanks for planting another flag on the steep hill Frances Perkins climbed to lay the groundwork for some of the great social actions of the twentieth century.
I am always amazed as I read - and today re-read - the list of Frances Perkins accomplishments - how much of what we think of as the accomplishments of the New Deal were really programs, services and values championed by her.
It is also important to remember that Frances Perkins was a devout Christian - Episcopalian - and that, for her, promoting the objectives for which she worked so devotedly was, for her, a fulfillment of her Christian faith and deeply consistent with it.
Biden's tribute today was long-overdue, particularly as we enter a period when small-minded men are going to try to undo everything she accomplished. Let's hope they are not successful and do our best to stop them. Perkins represented everything that Christianity used to stand for, but too often today does not. Why do we never learn about the accomplishments of such women in our history classes?
Heather Thank you so much for your letter as the story of Frances Perkins needs to be told and her memory honored.
What a wonderful remembrance of a remarkable woman who deserves recognition for her many accomplishments. Sadly, President Biden's actions are not being reported to the American people by the major media outlets. Thank you for recognizing the significance of the event.
No doubt, Heather, that your writings kept Frances Perkins in the president’s vision. I know I’ve learned about her through your writings. Keeping her legacy noticed surely helped this acknowledgment! We need more history to all Americans so they can see where it all began and how important our history is towards our future. Here’s hoping enough people are ready to take up oxygen and fight for our democracy!
I think we’d be best served to LIVE OUR DEMOCRACY in our daily lives. It’s 3AM so I’m
Not certain how this will work out, but if we at least began each day with the freedom to be the best we can be for this day, there’s a chance the “living democracy”could flourish 🤗🇺🇸💕💕
Carol, I have always had as my mantra "Do the absolute best I can today". Some days, that is about half of "normal". Other days (fewer, but so, so notable) I can give far, far more. Just give it my best of what I have to give today.
In successive Letters, Heather has spoken eloquently about two major issues we as a society continue to grapple with, our environmental and labor standards, highlighted by two distaffed Colossuses, in Rachel Carson and Frances Perkins.
Francis Perkins story is a good example of how brilliantly she had to navigate a man’s world. Recommended reading “Becoming Madam Secretary “. It’s obvious that women have valuable answers and ideas, are more than capable to be leaders….but men refuse to be led. Look what they did to Martha Stewart, Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris. If we are going to survive the future we must evolve
Once more, your letter is here to somehow lift our spirits. Hard to realize that Biden made a speech today, but all we hear about is Trump, and his inane, rambling, press conference. The legacy media is gone, and your letter is more important than ever. Thank you Professor 🙏
Accurate journalism informs the public, protecting truth and democracy when authoritarian forces seek to manipulate, divide, and suppress. Truth is resistance.
TRUTH IS RESISTANCE.
H A L L E L U J A H 🇺🇸
Just made a beautiful tee shirt saying that on lines waving amidst amber waves of grain. Doesn't matter that it's imaginary, I'm wearing it.
Democracy is fragile. Perhaps there is some truth to the quote from Plato: “Tyranny follows Democracy.”
Resistance is what these criminals are doing.
These authoritarian forces are the resistance.
They’re trying to foist lies on people’s natural impulse toward simple common sense.
It’s an onslaught against truth and facts.
It’s truth and facts that stand immovable. Truth and facts don’t need to resist anything.
They need to be fought for.
Truth is resistance.
Yes, and . . .
Which is why, on a daily basis, I share the Professor's letters on Facebook, with the title, "Today's truth".
Martine, I posted a link to this SubStack recently here, but never know who all sees it, so will post again…covers a lot that the MSM doesn’t: What Did Joe Biden Do Today? https://whatdidbidendotoday.substack.com/p/what-did-joe-biden-do-today-e54?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=954002&post_id=153241499&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=6wq7j&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
Superlative links Barbara Keating. 🙏
President Biden has been expediting the appointment of federal U.S. District Judges in the last days of his Presidency with success. Every lifetime trial level appointment counts as thousands of yearly federal cases that are adjudicated at local district court level. Only 80 or so make it to SCOTUS.
Biden just placed SERENA RAQUEL MURILLO on the Senate Executive Calendar. Judge Murillo is headed for the Central District of California a very active federal Bench in CA.
Finally, a National Monument for FRANCES PERKINS whose public works projects are still the living flesh & bones of many New Deal projects across the land! Check out the Zimmerman Library at the University of New Mexico; the Perkins' building is architectural art & the aerial photo of the construction of the Norris Dam above the Tennessee River.
Many historical photos, graphs & data of Frances' government work are still with us & are collected in the August 2010 IRLE Working Paper: "The Living New Deal: the Unsung Benefits of the New Deal for the United States & California" by RICHARD WALKER & GRAY BRECHIN. Those benefits are not unsung now.
You can access the history & photos including well executed photographs of Gray Brechin at irle.berkeley.edu/workingpaper.
"IRLE" stands for Institute of for Research on Labor & Employment. Well done.
Thank you Bryan
The link didn't work for me, but this one did where you can download the file. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6c1115sm
I also subscribe to what did joe biden do today.
Thanks, Barbara, signed up, free to me though!
Thank you Barbara, one of the many Substack’s I look for and read every day.
Thank you Joe Biden for the best example of Best President ever🙌
Getting rich gets so much more thought than being fair
Avoiding accountability costs far surpass waste, your donations pay for it . Not fair, but elected regardless.
Word salads, double talk, broken trust, lies upon lies, ethics tossed for egos sake..grew out of the promise to …Make America Great Again which became known as…
MAGA
What has come of this is what caused it in the first place …fairness ,equality, laws ,established rights ..broken, greed bringing the richest county - once upon a time #1 ….to laughing supreme stocks of the world courted treasonously/sadly …to its knees …no longer ‘The Dream’ .
Oh, people are thinking where can I move that’s safe from this ?
But wait…we got 600 millionaires …plus some billionaires …rolling ,shaking up, replacing YOUR fair for the now acceptable ‘fuck you’ face of failure .
Be sure to thank those 49% voters , the stink tanks Heritage /Federalist/Facists for the next 4 or more year’s ride delivered by the groveling whittled out gop.
I’m disappointed…and NOT done😉
I have noticed more flags saying "Take America Back" rather than the usual MAGA. Chilling to me.
so true
Another deflction to aviod talking about the Russian takeover.
Actually, Daniel these writings are revolutionary's way of giving the finger to the politicians who think they can erase history and have us pretend we never had these rights. President Biden actions concerning Frances Perkins are another way of giving the finger to the people who are salivating come January 20 to strip us of all these rights. I see you have a Substack site. Perhaps you could write about your topic there and share parts of it with us all in these comments.
Actually I worked 20 + years in DC for the Department of Labor, and I fear all for naught. In 2017 Trump attacked the "deep state" by elimination of "merit selection" to hire people like me. From there it got worse.
I supported Biden and everything, but I'm afraid he was ineffective in stopping the death of my subect. federal administrative law, and next will be collective bargaining as Musk and Bezos have a consttutional attack of the National Labor Relations Board.
If MAGATs turn the FBI into a Fascist musieum. they will level the Frances Perkins Building, and salt the ground like the Romans did Carthage. Thats where my former colleagues work -- euphemistically judicial dodo birds or mastadons, awaiting extinction.
The Russian takeover is a hell of a lot more important!
Then write about it in your Substack. Dr. Richardson is a self-avowed historian. Commanding an esteemed author to write about what you want is just plain rude. Again. Sounds like you have some background to write about what you want.
Remember, too, Martine, Trump 2.0 is a resurgence of white, patriarchal power anchored to evangelical beliefs. This is what's sweeping into Washington and elsewhere already in the wake of Harris' political defeat. Despite the overall narrow margins, they will run to the limit, and as fast as possible, to cement themselves into Washington. As Miller remarked, like a "lightning bolt".
What a revealing letter of the struggle of a government for the people. all the people. Biden's phrase "decent and fair" so applies to him as well. It hurts so much to keep reading now of the many important things Biden has done and keeps doing. We are down river of a giant dam that has broached.
So grateful to Frances Perkins for being the the motivator she was. She had vision and was able to find support for those. Forever in her debt.
She would want Biden to instruct the national archivist to publish the Equal Rights Amendment! It is now fully ratified and ready to be added to our Constitution!
Are we waiting for men to decide if women are equal?
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
I thought the ERA was held up in the courts due to logistics (and the five states that rescinded their votes to ratify).
Here's an excerpt on legislation that has been proposed last year but not voted upon. Perhaps I'm wrong (I hope I am, because I came here to ask why this bill isn't being voted on to get our equal rights in the Constitution:
"The Equal Rights Amendment was originally proposed to the states in 1972. The original proposal included a deadline for ratification of March 22, 1979; Congress subsequently extended the deadline to June 30, 1982. Although the requisite 38 states have ratified the amendment, three of these states did so after the deadlines, and five states subsequently rescinded their ratifications. The status of the amendment has been the subject of litigation."
HERE'S A LINK TO THE LEGISLATION ITSELF:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-joint-resolution/25#:~:text=Although%20the%20requisite%2038%20states,been%20the%20subject%20of%20litigation.
I REALLY hope I'm wrong on this one.
Take good care,
B
Go to VoteEquality us for great information on why Biden can and should have the National Archivist sign and publish the ERA. Over 400,000 lawyers have concluded that imposing a deadline for an amyis in and of itself unconstitutional. 46 Senators have written Biden urging him to do it as well as 120 House members. I wish I could send you those letters. They are very strong. And yes it couyget challenged but how would that look? For many folks in the know, it's now or never!!
Right ON! I have written Biden. I hope every substack reader emails, writes, phones Biden. Publish the ERA now - it needs to be added to our Constitution. Why is it taking so long?
👍
I agree. I think this is what feminists are waiting for from Biden.
Beautiful! So timely in these final days of Joe Biden ‘s Presidency !
what is the hesitation on Biden's part?
The rules for passing an amendment stop him. The majority of white women voting for Trump stop him.
I am a fan of the very human package that constituted FDR. While imperfect, flawed, prone to acts of selfishness, he simultaneously worked untiringly for individuals who needed assistance. I became aware of France’s Perkins role in creating a government “for” the people through two terrific biographies. H W Brands’ Traitor to his Class, and Doris Kerns Goodwin’s No Ordinary Time.
The role of women in our society has consistently been underplayed. Thank you Heather for this wonderful letter recognizing one woman’s contributions.
As the singer/songwriter Keb’ Mo’ sang…Put A Woman In Charge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FciQeRGYFlw
Our nation missed a real opportunity to do just that, in the spirit of FDR, Biden & Perkins, by electing the Harris/Walz team. We sure shot ourselves in the foot.
I used to think that was THE answer but then along came BBBBB (aka Marjorie Taylor Greene), Lauren Bohnert, Nancy Mace, Kristie Noem, Kay Ivey, Virginia Foxx, Marie LePen, Giorgia Meloni, et alia such that now I accept that not just any woman but one who understands the assignment.
So those who understand the assignment might have a turning-point decision to make if they've (or we've) been behaving in arenas of comfortable contribution. Time to sharpen tongues and pens, get out the dancing shoes and bright colors?
Barbara, thank You for posting the link to "Put a Woman in Charge". Makes me happy!
Keb Mo get's it...and a lot of other things...everyone wants to party, but no one wants to clean up....
I love to clean up -- it's the quiet communal dance (so to speak). Sometimes I clean up in the midst of parties, like being a fly on the wall.
Good one ! Thanks.
so perfect a song for this moment. What a huge opportunity squandered.
It is definitely time to put a woman in charge. Look where we are with men in charge.
Thank you Barbara. I always enjoy your well thought out comments.
And this comment is coming from a man. Can we clone you Gary?
There are people with that vision and heart out there. Somehow we need to back them up.
Can you give us your thoughts on the status of the Equal Rights Amendment?
Behind a great man, there's always a greater woman. It's time to bring them forward!!!
-And……I know the perfect Sculptor for her monument?
A progressive, principled, tireless advocate/educator from Maine whose work is immensely relevant today. Remind you of anyone else?
Read my mind!
I had that thought too....
"By 1979, religious traditionalists had rejected the modern move toward women’s rights and made common cause with Republicans eager to derail the New Deal."
I am really sick of the Left ceding ground to conservatives who are little better than Pharisees.
Let’s review since it is the season of Christmas:
Jesus and his family were political refugees – that is the Christmas story; the president elect rejects refugees. Jesus stood for helping the stranger; the president elect rejects them. Jesus was about challenging the power structure; the president elect lusts after it. Jesus stood for the disenfranchised and deviant; the GOP hates them. Jesus told his followers to put down their swords; the GOP says pick up your guns. Jesus stood for helping the poor and disabled; the GOP is about mocking and making life even more difficult for them. Jesus called on us to sacrifice; Trump is all about consumption instead. Jesus fed the hungry; Trump would starve them. The president elect covets the kingdoms of the earth; Jesus, tempted by Satan, rejected them. Trump and his party are all about conformity; Jesus, who consorted with tax-collectors and prostitutes, is all about the disenfranchised and the deviant. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees as hungry for gain and as hypocrites; Trump embodies the same hypocrisy and selling of religion. Trump says “pick up your guns”; Jesus says put away your sword. Trump and his party persecute the sexually different; his apostles welcomed them into the fold, as in the case of Philip and the eunuch.
Is the former GOP president the Anti-Christ? Maybe, maybe not. But he and is party are as anti-Christian as anything that can be imagined.
Because if Caesar is right, then Jesus is wrong. If guns are right, then Jesus is wrong. If supporting power and laying the weak by the heal is right, then Satan and Trump are right, and Jesus is wrong. I have no idea what scripture the GOP reads. I’ve had the good fortune to pour over it in Greek and publish books on Jesus’ radicalism. Jesus was a wildly radical Jewish heretic. The GOP? Intellectually and morally sloven and shabby.
A very important reminder, thanks for posting this! We should rub this in the face of all these CINOs (Christians In Name Only)….
And I write that as no Christian, but a militant and confirmed agnostic.
I too am not Christian yet admire Jesus's kindness and consider kind Christians allies. I keep hoping that those who admire what Jesus is reported to have said rather than greed and sociopathy will join and speak louder and more clearly about what they respect, and how it differs from self-centered MAGA.
this is just how I feel also.
Well articulated, J L.
I am not a follower of Christ, or any religion.
In this you are in league with Nietzsche who was agnostic or atheist, but could not reject Jesus as he was truly the only Christian. This is not the fault of atheists or agnostics, it is the fault of CINOs, who seem to forget that helping your neighbor is central to the gospel - and defined the neighbor as the enemy instead.
Jesus wasn’t trying to get people to memorize his Sermon on the Mount. He was trying to tell us who he is and who we all are but don’t yet know it.
Because many didn’t understand Jesus’s message, his words were misinterpreted, often on purpose for nefarious reasons, targeting those who were looking for a savior.
. . . A savior they COULD understand.
They found one!
CINOs (Christians In Name Only)? How about HINO (Human in Name Only)?
Search for 'Human in Name Only'. Google returns:
Human in name only" means someone who is technically considered a human, but lacks the essential qualities or behaviors typically associated with being human, like empathy, compassion, or morality, essentially acting in a way that is not aligned with what is considered "human" behavior."
I would concur. Their use of Christianity to drive a politics of division is contemptible, and it is not at all new. What is new is how much it drives much of the Republican agenda. They are misogynistic, and it shows.
Thank you. Well said...and "intellectually and morally sloven and shabby"is about as concise and accurate as it can be described.
"Intellectually and morally sloven and shabby."
What a great description!
I especially like "shabby." Yes - what a scruffy lot - from trump in his too big suits to Two Shirts Bannon who never looks washed - to Big Plastic Boots Ron. An absolute shower.
It may seem paradoxical to say that "I'm a Christian," and then say "I'm also an atheist."
But when someone says, they are Southern Baptist or Catholic or an Evangelical do we think, "Wow, they must be a good person because the leaders of their church are such good examples of what a Christian should be" or "The church is such a shining example of what the golden rule says."
Estimates are there are around 10,000 religions in the world most of them based on Christianity, Judaism, Muslim, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. How many of the religions suggest that we should kill those that don't follow our religion? Millions of people have died or been persecuted because they refuse to say they are Christians.
Isn't this one of the basic tenets of today's Republican Party under Trump?
Gary...I'm reading Tim Alberta's newest book. It's an eye opener. I'm about halfway through and I feel nauseous. An elderly neighbor wanted me to read it. He is a devoted christian who can't believe what is happening to our country.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/112975131-the-kingdom-the-power-and-the-glory?from_search=true
I think a person can embrace the teachings of religious figures like Jesus or Buddha about how to live a fulfilling life and get along without belief in the whole nebulous all knowing paternal power.
cameron, I have a dear friend (high school bandmate) who is a rock solid conservative Christian who is also one of the few Christians that I see who walk Christ's path (as I, as a non-theist, understand it to be.) She told me years ago (after leaving our local university to attend the college affiliate with her flavor of Christianity**side bar** there's a clue for you**) told me "After being surrounded by people of faith, learning far more about the Bible and Christ than I could ever have imagined, I have to tell you that, as a non-believer, you are one of the most Christian people I know".
I distill it to "I don't need a book or an imaginary sky pilot to tell me how to be or coerce me into being a good person."
I’m not even religious and I like your comments! I hope I can remember them when I am around people in the next week or so!
Thank you. This needs to be said more widely, very loudly, and repetitively by all Democratic candidates. The forces of enlightenment have ceded the language of morality to the regressive side. The political and religious right wing claims - very loudly - that they are moral, when they are not. They claim decency while being grotesquely indecent.
Philoctetes , I always think about what you have posted, but t not so summarized and organized. Thank you.
People may argue about policy, and debate ideology,but there’s no denying history.
Joe Biden will go down as a champion of women, minorities, and the marginalized. His presidency will be remembered as one “of the people,by the people, and for the people”.
His decency and dogged determination to fight hate and defend democracy will be what historians write about for the decades to come.
They say that you get the government you deserve. We didn’t deserve Joe Biden, he was too good for America. We did not appreciate him. We cast him aside, and for what?
Thank you, Joe Biden, for over half a century of putting people over property!
I appreciate him mightily and lament that the bloviating bully was the “shiny object” the MSM gave all the air time to….same as it ever was.
And still is!
“Bright Shining Lie”.
And still today. Biden gets little to no coverage but the lying felon elect gets covered for every little comment. BTW, msm does not have the balls to challenge the lies in real time. And because they don’t call him out, people believe what he says as truth and fact. Shameful.
Thank you Herbert! SO true!
Long overdue recognition on a grand scale of all that Frances Perkins had accomplished in her time!
Quoting Dr. Heather:
"The creation today of the Frances Perkins National Monument tied together Perkins’s expansion of the government and the centrality of women to the American story. The event took place in the Frances Perkins Building, the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., where acting secretary of labor Julie Su noted that Biden has been “the most pro-worker, pro-union president in history,” protecting pensions, defending unions, creating good jobs, and unapologetically wielding the power of the presidency on behalf of working people."
One wonders, given how she has impacted our lives, why she is not more honored with a prominent place on a coin or monetary note, a monument or even museum on the National Mall, a Monday holiday. She has impacted and improved far more lives than some presidents (hello George, good morning Donnie!)
Look to the patriarchy whose members are excellent at feathering their own nests and advancing their own interests at the expense of, well, women. Time to defeat the patriarchy, starting with Trump. I only hope he lives long enough to see historians trash him.
Our Father who art etc. is patriarchal bullshit.
Trump has been thoroughly trashed by historians, journalists , world leaders, and politicians. It’s like pissing in the wind,; it has no effect other than poking the bear. The man is incapable of critical self reflection. I hope he does NOT live long enough to destroy our country.
Alas, the US has done a really subpar job establishing any female role models on currency. In Sweden there Astrid Lindgren (20 SEK smallest/common paper currency), Birgit Nilsson (500sek largest common paper currency) and Greta Garbo( 100 SEK). Dag Hammarskjöld is I’m the 1000, not a note you see much. https://www.riksbank.se/en-gb/payments--cash/notes--coins/notes/valid-banknotes/
To really honor women and protect us from the reassertion of the patriarchy, Biden should instruct the national archivist to publish the now fully ratified Equal Rights Amendment as the 28thAmendment to our Constitution. We need deeds, not mere words, Mr. President!
You can tell him yourself here:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/share/
Thanks Lynell: done!
Thank you. Done
Thankyou for making it so easy to do this ( again, & again)!
Morning, Lynell, and thanks for the link!
Linda, I have contacted the WH several times to request just that. Nary a whisper of info/possibility that I have heard about it tho. Keeping my 🤞!
Thanks for planting another flag on the steep hill Frances Perkins climbed to lay the groundwork for some of the great social actions of the twentieth century.
I am always amazed as I read - and today re-read - the list of Frances Perkins accomplishments - how much of what we think of as the accomplishments of the New Deal were really programs, services and values championed by her.
It is also important to remember that Frances Perkins was a devout Christian - Episcopalian - and that, for her, promoting the objectives for which she worked so devotedly was, for her, a fulfillment of her Christian faith and deeply consistent with it.
Biden's tribute today was long-overdue, particularly as we enter a period when small-minded men are going to try to undo everything she accomplished. Let's hope they are not successful and do our best to stop them. Perkins represented everything that Christianity used to stand for, but too often today does not. Why do we never learn about the accomplishments of such women in our history classes?
Because the wieners write history
Heather Thank you so much for your letter as the story of Frances Perkins needs to be told and her memory honored.
What a wonderful remembrance of a remarkable woman who deserves recognition for her many accomplishments. Sadly, President Biden's actions are not being reported to the American people by the major media outlets. Thank you for recognizing the significance of the event.
IF every person reading this does a search for Perkins on their online media news feed of choice, it might start to trend.
No doubt, Heather, that your writings kept Frances Perkins in the president’s vision. I know I’ve learned about her through your writings. Keeping her legacy noticed surely helped this acknowledgment! We need more history to all Americans so they can see where it all began and how important our history is towards our future. Here’s hoping enough people are ready to take up oxygen and fight for our democracy!
I think we’d be best served to LIVE OUR DEMOCRACY in our daily lives. It’s 3AM so I’m
Not certain how this will work out, but if we at least began each day with the freedom to be the best we can be for this day, there’s a chance the “living democracy”could flourish 🤗🇺🇸💕💕
Carol, I have always had as my mantra "Do the absolute best I can today". Some days, that is about half of "normal". Other days (fewer, but so, so notable) I can give far, far more. Just give it my best of what I have to give today.
Thank you for this. You ate a gift to so very many of us.
“Perkins’s work to build FDR’s New Deal sparked the modern American state.”
It seems to me it was FDR who worked to build Frances Perkins’ New Deal. It was much more her ideas than his.
ObsmaCare would more accurately be called PelosiCare given Nancy Pelosi’s efforts to enact the ACA.
I think neither woman would care much about the semantics as long as the laws were passed.
In both instances, it was women who did the heavy lifting. And, it is a.woman who brought us this illuminating history lesson today.
Thank you, Heather Cox Richardson, and Frances Perkins, and Nancy Pelosi, and all the women who hold the world together.
Maybe things would be better if…….
….if Harris/Walz had won the election perhaps? A step, hell, stride in the right direction it would have been!
And what would SCOTUS look like if Hillary had won.
That’s why I was thinking maybe things would be better if…. women ran things for a while.
In successive Letters, Heather has spoken eloquently about two major issues we as a society continue to grapple with, our environmental and labor standards, highlighted by two distaffed Colossuses, in Rachel Carson and Frances Perkins.
Touche!
Francis Perkins story is a good example of how brilliantly she had to navigate a man’s world. Recommended reading “Becoming Madam Secretary “. It’s obvious that women have valuable answers and ideas, are more than capable to be leaders….but men refuse to be led. Look what they did to Martha Stewart, Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris. If we are going to survive the future we must evolve
of Religion reinforces patriarchy. Love you HCR