Contrast “Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered” with ““The fact that he does not abide by the rules of the democracy that we have established is not of my concern…” - Joe Biden, interviewed recently by MeidasTouch Network’s Ben Meisels (sp?) (I’m sorry Substack doesn’t permit videos be attached to comments. I have posted the video in a Note I posted earlier tonight. I invite you all to find my post so you can hear Joe Biden say these words.)
We live in tragically different times, when those who took an Oath to defend the Constitution can’t be bothered to do so.
No one is going to save us but us. So, let’s get creative, people. We may not have the money, but we have the motivation and the creative intellect to find a way to prevent the permanent destruction of democracy!
It's at the 5:06 mark of the Ben Meiselas Meidas Touch interview with Joe Biden.
But Biden spoke strongly, Steve, against Trump's betrayal of the Constitution.
Anyone can enter into search engine the key words I've indicated above, and see for oneself.
Note: I'm adding this later, as it's become clear Ben Meiselas interviewed Biden at least twice, the two clips I saw first dating from Dec., 2023, and the one to which Steve above was referring being almost exactly one year later -- this month, this year.
Down a bit on this thread Steve has provided a link to the most recent interview.
“Strongly” you say? Then WHY did Biden say what’s in this clip? And more importantly, why isn’t he doing everything he can to prevent Trump taking office? Look up Jessica Denson, who is championing the use of section 3 of the 14th amendment and has interviewed Professor Lawrence Tribe and other constitutional experts. Her videos where these other people call on the use of Procedures that are legal to prevent Trump taking office should be seen by everyone. I stand by my position … Biden is a failure! Here is Jessica…
You ask “And more importantly, why isn’t he [Biden] doing everything he can to prevent Trump taking office?”
As odious as Trump is, he won the election. Biden believes deeply that American is a nation of laws. That is why.
Once Trump is inaugurated and wields the levers of power, all bets are off as to whether and how long America may continue to be a nation of laws and not of men.
Trump broke the Presidential oath of office within minutes of swearing in in 2017. Dollars to donuts, he will break the oath again as he has already done multiple times since Joe Biden swore the oath.
Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:— "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Biden has given several of the best speeches made by any President in history. His delivery is not as charismatic as Obama, but the press has discounted the content time and again due to his delivery.
On the other hand is there a single time Trump has spoken where he hasn't lied?
"That's some weird shit." George W. Bush after Trump's inaugural words in January, 2017.
Bush was silent during the election. As a former President he owed the American people a response to the constitutional crisis we are now facing. He, Jeb and the rest have NO Moxie!
The problem with Biden’s speeches is that too few listened. Even Thomas Payne, as a man of words, needed a man to action. Maybe I read it here in comments or in my morning paper, but there is a time for words and a time for action. This is a time for action. We need a George Washington. Would he or she step forward.
I am half way through that interview. As obvious as Trump being an insurrectionist may be to you and me, we share an opinion, not a fact from what I have read. Frankly, you are cherry-picking.
No one has established that Trump committed insurrection. One can argue that, at worst, Trump instigated a riot, not an insurrection. Rep. Cheney tried hard to connect those dots of insurrection.
She and the 06jan21 committee implied that Trump committed insurrection by sitting on his fat ass for three hours while others arguably committed insurrection, making him an accessory.
So taking the actions you advocate could precipitate a civil war. Trump clearly violated the Constitution in, at least, one other way (i.e., emoluments). So, why not pursue those infractions?
The question I have is: ¿will the Democrats ever learn? Rep. Pelosi thwarting young progressives further alienates younger voters . . . STUPID. That is why SecState Clinton lost.
Ned. I hear you. But I think the "civil war" has already been ignited. The "MUSKet" has been fired. Congress has been conquered.
Biden and Harris need to lead.
What "established" for me that Trump committed insurrection was on TV. Run the tape where he goads the crowd of supporters to march on the Capitol. Watch the assault. Remember the almost three hours where he watched it on TV and refused to stop what he started. Nobody needs Merrick Garland to tell them that was an insurrection.
Time for America to use some "Common Sense" and dump this reincarnation of King George.
However much Trump is clearly a de facto insurrectionist, he is not an insurrectionist de jure.
That said, it feels like we are spiraling into constitutional terra incognita, a la…
“The Constitution is not a suicide pact" is a phrase in American political and legal discourse. The phrase expresses the belief that constitutional restrictions on governmental power must be balanced against the need for survival of the state and its people.”
Why are you ignoring the MAGA politicians in Congress who have no morals about the constitution? Why is everyone blaming Biden when no one will stand behind him?
As with any explorers who find themselves in terra incognita, it is up to competent cartographers to draw a new and accurate map so as to mark the dangerous parts to allow those come after to travel safely.
As to the de jure part, it will be interesting to see what the as of now unreleased materials compiled by Mr. Smith reveal.
I think there's a major conflict as I think it is Congress alone that has the power to enforce the 14th Amendment. This means that President Biden has no power to invoke it.
Thank-you for sharing this link. It makes it clear that Trump is Constitutionally disqualified to ascend to the presidency due to his being an insurrectionist. I encourage others to watch this piece.
You’re welcome. Yes… it’s really very straight forward.. factual reality… for those that believe we should follow the Constitution. Problem is… people only want to follow it when it’s convenient / easy… including Biden. This is why I say America is no longer a “serious” democracy.
Trump is not convicted of insurrection. It has been 4 years. I don’t even think chargers were brought against him. The constitution calls for the right to a speedy trial, he was never brought to trial. That is a real sim.
Please do more research. This video in which Jessica Denson interviews constitutional experts including Lawrence Tribe shows that Trump
was declared an insurrectionist by a state Supreme Court which said he should not be allowed on the ballot. Then the US Supreme Court said the state had no such power WITHOUT ever ruling that Trump was not an insurrectionist
To prevent trump from taking office under any guise is wrong Steve. We are all terrified and exhausted. Do we really want to further weaken the Democracy?
trump won the vote. The time to stop him should have begun 9 years ago.
I agree Barbara. Now we just need to stand up to him, by pointing out his BS because the corporate media won't.
What kind of billionaire would each of us be? Would we have supported Trump or Harris knowing that Trump is hell bent on making the US a kleptocracy for the rich and by the rich?
If you believe the Constitution is the law of the land, then you need to understand that defending the Constitution means not letting Trump take the out of office. Please watch Jessica Denson who interviewed Professor Lawrence Tribe and other constitutional experts in this video from her YouTube channel. It will open your eyes to what the founding fathers are calling on us to do but which sadly as my original post showed Joe Biden is not up to doing. If Romania can declare it will redo its election because it’s Supreme Court ruled Russian influence had resulted in a bad election result, America, which claims to be the world‘s pre-eminent democracy can do something this bold as well.
Article 14, Section Three is perfectly explicit, Barbara.
If U.S. Senate Dems voted whether or not the orange felon's disqualification from any further public office should be lifted, the Senate would not have the 2/3 necessary and the disqualification would stand.
Phil, you raise an intriguing issue, whether anyone has or can be prosecuted for violating an oath unless s/he has been indicted and convicted for breaking a law? I believe that was exactly what Jack Smith was working on until DOJ policy to not initiate legal proceedings against a sitting president. This strikes me as another peculiarity wherein a policy takes precedence over laws.
Amen, Barbara, nine years ago and yet here we are. I just hope that enough people will stand up to him. Personally, I think it could happen if enough Rs said we are not going to kowtow. But what do we have....little Johnson planting his face on the ground in a servile manner and muskrat putting his oar in. It will be interesting to see if they actually find a way to fund the government by tomorrow.
I'm guessing that many people figured the problem of trump would flame out and disappear. Everyone hoped and assumed his popularity would wane and the nation could move forward. Belligerence and aggressive action and neutrality and compromise dont seem to work to be able to sustain our government. We are caught in an endless loop of right/ left dominating power.
I've not seen it yet -- it's 20 minutes long and I just want to thank you first.
That Ben Meiselas, Joe Biden interview was apparently some time before Trump was a nominee for the presidency in 2024 -- I've since found another video of that, of one minute and thirty seconds, with the key exchange in it. Dated Dec. 3, 2023. Both in the first one of a total of 7:41 (seven minutes and forty-one seconds -- with the key exchange at the 5:06 mark) and in the shorter one, Biden is firm, for democracy, and very concerned at the Trump criminality and treason.
You’re welcome. The 20 min goes by fast. It’s a passionate but also fact-based video. I look forward to hearing what you think of it after you’ve watched it.
If Romania can declare it will re-run its election after uncovering massive Russian interference, I’d like to think the Democrats would use all legal tools available too.
Ben has been “selling” this interview intensely for about a week before releasing it the other day. My assumption without confirming the sitdown date was that the interview took place after the election. So, I find it hard to believe it would’ve taken place as long ago as one of the dates you mention.
The bottom line for me is, Trump is an insurrectionist. No court has said he is not and if we swear him in as president, then it is we who are breaking the constitution not Trump. So for all the people who say Trump is gonna destroy the constitution, I say guess what we’ve already done so
One great take-away in the 20-minute Jessica Denson, Steve.
She discusses someone else's idea that U.S. Senate Dems could call for a vote on whether to give felon Trump amnesty for having been an insurrectionist.
If convicted criminal and rapist Trump does not get 2/3 vote for amnesty -- just in the Senate alone -- then that vote will let stand the force of the Constitution's Article 14, Section Three. That is, Trump remains an insurrectionist. He simply cannot take office, as Article 14, Section Three clearly says.
The U.S. House of Representatives need not do anything. If felon Trump fails to get the 2/3 vote for amnesty in either the House of the Senate, the disqualification against him remains constitutionally in effect. (As says the last line of Article 14, Section Three.)
Interesting and intriguing….but, alas, would we not then be left w/ Vance as POTUS???? And, then, who would he select as a VP, someone who would need, as I understand it, a majority vote of approval in both houses of Congress.
Thank you, Steve -- this at 30 minutes different from the two I'd seen.
When he says it's not his concern that the orange felon doesn't abide by the rules of democracy doesn't mean he accepts that behavior.
He was, after all, answering Ben Meiselas' Q as to how could he have been so polite to someone so aggressively and dangerously hostile. And he was replying that his behavior, being polite, generous (in transfer of administrations) was part of the America he believed in.
We are at war with fascism. Biden may think he should model the polite world of democracy that he dreams of, but that world is a fantasy. We don’t need modeling of a dream. We need a commander-in-chief fighting to preserve what the founding fathers created, and what he took an oath of office to defend. You may be okay with Biden‘s answer, but I am not. It’s a free country and you can be happy with what he said, I am not. So, we will agree to disagree as the saying goes.
I’m looking for my president to fight for the soul of the nation as he declared he was doing. But of course, if you read Sarah Kendzior’s two best selling books, you will understand that Biden‘s actions regarding the election is all a performance. He did some things that were good economically, but he was always meant to be a placeholder president between Trump‘s first and second terms. He sabotage the Democratic Party by going back on his word to be a one term president. He should’ve let the party decide who was going to run way earlier in the process. Then we might’ve had a candidate who could win even with the Russian influence that has still yet to be fully accounted for (as the people in Romania fully accounted for it). Romania deciding to re-run its election is a role model for the world. What we have let happen shows that we are now an un-serious democracy.
Clearly Biden is guilty of doing/saying too little too late. The election is over. The die are cast. The barbarians have breached the gates. Anything Biden has to say now is meaningless, and I am not sure what he can "do" in any meaningful way.
Certainly not the first time. If not the previous four years, the events of Jan 6 certainly should have brought home to Biden, not by any means ignorant of the lessons of history, what kind of nastiness Trump was up to. Certainly by the time of the 2022 mid-terms he should have been able to detect what was in the wind, that Trump and the MAGAs were not going to blow away, and that Trump was aiming at taking another attempt on the White House.
As has been lamented often in Monday morning QB mode, if Biden had declared in 2022 his intention to not seek the nomination in 2024, a proper vetting process for suitable candidates and subsequent nominating convention could have been held. Whether or not Harris would have emerged as the candidate is not the point. It is that we never got through that selection and decision making process.
Trying times for our souls, indeed. At least for those who can still claim them as their own.
This election was so close that if Elon hadn't had the bully pulpit with Twitter forcing everyone on twitter to receive his tweets, and then pouring an additional $250 million to support Trump, would Trump have won?
And then there were all of the other oligarchs, buying Senate seats in Ohio, Florida and Montana, not to mention the 15 or so Congressional seats Elon financed.
Citizen's United gave Carte Blanche to the rich to buy the Federal Government. Unfortunately, the sheeple didn't even realize what was happening.
There was a Wall Street Journal Article today that stated that Joe Biden's Infirmities became almost overwhelming since the beginning of his Term as President... They were hidden by his Staff... The WSJ allegedly talked to about 50 of Biden's Staff for the Article.... What We Saw During The DJT Debate Was Joe Biden UnShielded.... Joe Biden should have been more Self-Aware... A Smart Aging Athlete Knows To Quit At, Or Near The Top... Not Go Down In Humililation... Joe Biden Should Have Kept His Word To Only Serve One Term... The Democratic Leadership Definitely Needs Younger Blood...
The WSJ is owned by Murdoch Apache. I do not consider a reliable source at all. You can always check any publication's rated biases:
From Media Bias Fact Check
RIGHT-CENTER BIAS
These media sources are slight to moderately conservative in bias. They often publish factual information that utilizes loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by appeals to emotion or stereotypes) to favor conservative causes. These sources are generally trustworthy for information but may require further investigation. See all Right-Center sources.
Overall, we rate the Wall Street Journal Right-Center biased due to low-biased news reporting combined with a strong right-biased editorial stance. We also rate them Mostly Factual in reporting rather than High due to anti-climate, anti-science views, and occasional misleading editorials.
Thanks Barbara... Let's see if there is further Collaboration... But if True, it would explain alot, especially Biden's unfettered support of Netanyahu... Hareetz, an Israeli Newspaper is starting to report IDF War Crimes... Regardless, the Democrats need Younger Leadership... Nancy Pelosi is a National Treasure, but she is in her Mid-80s... I also would have liked to have seen AOC elevated to Leadership as well...
I seriously doubt that. The WSJ is a Murdoch rag and they have published several very questionable stories in praise of Trump and denigrating Democrats.
At my 50th high school reunion I had drinks with a former class mate that was a journalist at WSJ when Murdoch purchased it. She said Murdoch came in to speak with all of the staff after the sale and it was such BS that she became physically ill. The next time he entered the building she immediately left until she heard he was gone. It took her and her husband a few months to find new jobs, but she refused to work for a rag that had lost all integrity.
Well if true (and I have no reason to doubt it) then that is sad. Some sort of intervention was needed early on. I know that is hard to do, but still . . . .
Biden did not lose the election the Dems lost it for him. A better approach id to start campaigning right now. Not to beat trump up but put forth why we are the better party.
Biden is a failure in multiple ways. Simply look at Ukraine: FAIL. Look at Israel: FAIL. Staying too long before bowing out of the Party nomination. His delay hamstrung the Party. I went to the suggested Jessica Benson video. Thank you!
Forgive the cynic in me (which took years to develop!), but those many who "seem [not] to realize" are often ill-informed or misinformed by choice. I attribute that factor to laziness. Or, "that sounds about right and I'll buy it." Where we really need and needed leaders, we got politicicans. And now we have two clowns dictating to one political party on how to administer the economic affairs of our country. Musk is an Afrikaner with all the racist trimmings. AND, he is an IMMIGRANT! Is that an expletive, now, "immigrant"? Trump? That's a whole other story.
While Biden did some good things he also did some incredibly stupid things which contributed significantly to our titanic loss this election. But not just Biden.
The corporate Democrats are mainly responsible for our loss. Obama, Clinton, Clyburn, Schumer and Pelosi. Pelosi is still screwing over the Democrats with her move to block AOC from advancing. Pelosi has been arrogant, bitter and stupid. This will come back to damage the party - and the country.
Here it comes, the blame game. There is enough of that going around without us contributing to it. We are where we are because we are ALL to blame. The question I keeping coming back to is: What is the most effective thing that WE can do now?
I’m afraid the “corporate democrats” ARE the Democratic Party. What you and I and others in this Substack community want are something closer to the Democratic Socialists or Occupy Wall St. to be running the show. Pelosi just demonstrated her power…heck, she just published a how-to book about it.
absolutely we have only us to save us........creativity is vital......but first and foremost "they" must not shut down our various outlets for news and communication and sharing.....Remember that other wordsmith from our past, "We must all hang together or most assuredly , we shall all hang separately". How brave are we?
Elon Musk made over 150 social media posts about what is going on in congress right now. That is probably more than all the democrats together. If you control the messsage you control the government.
I prayed for the GOP to self-implode after I found out trump had won in 2016 but now I feel that if they implode today they will take everyone down with them. A quote that never left my mind was "Nothing is worse than creativity without taste," to which I've added, "with a lot of money." Here we have the most powerful man in the world who is stupid partnered with the richest man in the world who is brilliant. Both are megalomaniacs and creative. I can't think of anything worse. It's terrifying....
Sophia, Musk is stupid. And cruel. He has relied on the government and the brilliance of people working for him to get where he is today. He is a parasite who has attached himself to a madman.
The irony is that trump is not powerful. He has stolen a seat at the Resolute Desk of the most powerful Country in the world.
Trump is weak and cruel. Musk is stupid and cruel.
Did anyone in the Democratic leadership push back on those lies? If they let them stand unchallenged, shame on them and the Democrat’s communications team that should be working this. Of course, given the venue, even if they did diligently try to respond with some facts, their clarifications and corrections could have been “Xed” out.
Yes! Remembering the “war effort” of WWII, it’s time to “do something.” (France, 2942, Michelle Obama US, 2024.) Find your local Indivisible chapter and join up!
Joe has no power to change this. Should not have conceded, but they did, not realizing the machinations and close race. The reason chump still yammers about the stolen 2020 election is to keep Dems from making the same claim today. They stole it but saying so will erupt in a civil war. Joe won’t say it. But it will have to be said eventually.
Unlike Donald, Joe Biden actually believes in his oath of office. The first duty of the President is to preserve and protect the Constitution. The President is charged with enforcing the laws and protecting the nation from enemies, foreign and domestic.
Joe's inaction, so far, to arrest the criminals in Trump World and protect the nation from these enemies of our Democracy, is inconsistent with his oath.
Joe and the Democratic leaders must tell the truth about Trump's treason, the corruption, the alliances with our foreign adversaries, the money scams, the frauds. Trump disqualified himself from any office of trust in this country. Musk and his fellow autocrats have taken control of our government. And Joe has the power to stop it. Seems our leaders don't have the balls to stand up to this evil.
Thank you Burke. Asking the last person (possibly for all time) who took the oath of office as Commander-in-Chief to do an end-run around it, is madness. Do not ask a Statesman to be an anarchist.
It’s not madness. It’s actually following the Constitution, as this video in which Jessica Denson interviews constitutional experts including Lawrence Tribe shows…
“I call not upon a few, but upon all: not on this state or that state, but on every state: up and help us; lay your shoulders to the wheel; better have too much force than too little, when so great an object is at stake,” Paine wrote. “Let it be told to the future world, that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet and to repulse it.”
This is a time for all of us to pull together. Whether it is making phone calls, writing letters or just speaking out. Heather’s writing today gives me hope that we might awake the sleeping dragon of apathy and rise up and get ready to fight back. We can do it folks. Let's not capitulate and lose what we have. I will tell you that no one wants to live under a dictator where all our rights are taken away so let’s get to work. We just need someone to lead and motivate us. I am old but I will do what I can to save democracy for my grandchildren and great grandchildren and for yours too!
I refer you to the Georgia Fisanick Substack on just this topic:
On the Silence of the Dems
What's the best strategy?
Georgia Fisanick
Dec 20
She writes:
Belle, my personal favorite common sense political analyst these days, has a take that floored me. I have been a great proponent of Democrats’ need to make as much NOISE as possible as we act in opposition to Trump. So have most of the other Democratic commentators on Substack. I have been filled with outrage over Trump’s supposed “mandate.” But Belle is making me rethink what a successful opposition strategy needs to be about. I am not sure she is right. But she has gotten me above my fear and rage to a vantage point where I can begin to assess additional possibilities.
She may have a point. Going limp and putting all the responsibility for success onto the Trimp-ist's shoulders might be effective.
After all, "Conservatives" tend to fall to pieces when you call their bluff. They're notorious for loudly proposing yet routinely failing to perform, so once they've made a dog's breakfast of the job American voters will wake up. Usually that requires the Misery Index climb sky high first, but then, that's in the cards anyway, isn't it?
Very good point! Did the deplorables know that when they voted for the Groper-in-Chief they were electing President Musk? Did the Groper-in-Chief know that he was campaigning for the election of President Musk?
Good on you, Barbara! Fear and rage keep us too occupied for no good purpose and unable to see things clearly as one might. We are on the defensive at this juncture. There may be opportunity in that. All I know is to stand fast. Be of strong heart and good courage!
Contrast the Bravery of those that fought that Winter, and helped establish the United States with those that Can't Be Bothered To Vote... Contrast the Oratory of Thomas Paine with the Incholate Tweets of Elon Musk, and DJT... George Washington is definitely the Greatest American President So Far... Definitely Not DJT... The Only Race That DJT Is In, Is The Worst President Yet.... It Is A Contest of DJT vs G.W.Bush For The Worst....
These days I hear a lot of talk about young people not being up to the task of defending our democracy in the event of civil. Past generations (e.g., the Oxford Union in the 1930s) have shown reticence before war only to triumph over evil decisively. Why not with these young people? Unless, of course, they support Trump.
I wish trump , Vance, shadow VP Musk the puppet master, will never be sworn in but if you don't follow the rule of law that we believe in, you are asking for a civil war with the Trump followers.
Do you believe the Trump followers are waking up to his plans? Our country is already so divided. Many of my family members will not even speak to others who voted for Trump in 2016.. I get that their goal is to destroy the economy and the country. Seal team 6?
I write to Jamie Raskin constantly. My husband has been down to the Capitol building with signs multiple times. We give generously to the Democratic party. We descended on Washington 8 years ago to participate in the huge women's rally; and we'll go again this year if scheduled. We live within our means; we donate to charities. The interests of the US should have some non-stupid, non-craven, non-nutball types in the executive branch. People have become unmoored from decency and respect. How to get strangers from both sides to cooperate with one another. It seems like a Sysyphean effort....
We all have more than most of the Revolutionaries had. They fought , most of the time, with no pay and no equipment provided by the newly formed but penniless government. Probably the best and most readable version of this is Rabble in Arms by Kenneth Roberts written in 1937 or if you want it from the British perspective, Oliver Wiswell by the same author. Many Americans were persecuted by the Revolutionaries who weren't loyal to Britain. Both these books are germane to the present situation. DonOLD has shown already although not even inaugurated that he has no interest in governing, no interest in the American people and only mouthed those campaign platitudes to stay out of jail. We've got 4 weeks. He belongs in jail (and not some candy-ass home detention with an ankle bracelet).
AND what exactly would you have him do? This administration tried every legal means that I know of to drop him and stop him and still people voted for the felon. Many would love to see the felon in jail yet the voters spoke. Look how Muskrat interferes. How is that to be stopped. Deport him? Same with Ramaswamy.
As the sixth great grandson of Isaac Cleaver, a Quaker from Germantown, Pennsylvania, who left the church to join the Pennsylvania militia and was one of the 2,400 who crossed the Delaware with General Washington, I can tell you that there is at least one account - his, in a letter to his sister the week after Trenton, which was among the materials donated to the Quaker Museum in Philadelphia by my father in the 1970s - in which mention is made of their officer reading "Mr. Paine's latest essay" to the men. I remember that, from when my father asked the newly-certified Master of History degree holder (me) to look through the materials that had been handed down to him through the family, to pick out the most important. Unfortunately, the most valuable object, the sword of the Sergeant of the Hessian Guard, which Isaac took from the man after his surrender, has not been donated anywhere because - despite the fact it has been certified by armorers as being Hessian and made in 1767, and the kind of weapon carried by NCOs - there is no "firm provenance" of its ownership (too bad Isaac was too busy that day to get a formal signed receipt). So it hangs on the wall in my writing office, a daily admonition to me to live up to my ancestors' actions.
Your family history is so very incredible-wow! Thx for sharing this. Now, today, you as his descendant (and we) carry on the same fight to preserve what he fought to help create. Humbling. Beautiful. Inspiring. We resist-and we fight however we can.
Wow TC.. Oh, btw, I nearly fell out of my chair when I read your comments yesterday which included special references to the.. how did you term it, "The Right Reverend MAGA Mike". Lol ! Bravo ~
Fascinating, thank you so much for sharing. And VERY COOL that you have that sword even if he hasn’t been given an “firm provenance”. My husband has his great great grandfather’s Civil War sharp shooters Springfield rifle hanging in his office. Not quite as cool but still History in all forms.
That's still pretty damn cool. I'm thinking that rifle would have been the latest firearm technology at the time. You and your husband might be interested in a book--Rufus: A Boy's Extraordinary Experiences in the Civil War. Phoebe Sheldon, a contemporary of ours, took her great great grandfather's letters home, and crafted them into a fascinating narrative. Rufus Harnden volunteered in 1862, at age 17. He was wise for his age, and we get a soldier's eye account, including of the shooting of Stonewall Jackson which led to his death, I forget how many days later.
That's a family history to be VERY proud of....and a very impressive artifact of liberty to have hanging on your wall. Trenton was one of those critical moments.
The previous year he wrote: “When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon.”
And in early 1776: “Could the straggling thoughts of individuals be collected, they would frequently form materials for wise and able men to improve into useful matter.”
And in 1791, long after the Revolutionary War was settled, he wryly observed: “Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it.”
We still seem to be suffering from the harsh truth of that one today.
Sigh, B.E., looking for a splatter guard to protect me from the sh*t show about to be unleashed. I’d crawl under my bed if I could fit & then think hell no & lace up my boots…as I’ve said before, I may be too old to kick ‘em in the ass, but I can still reach to kick ‘em in the shins!!! Resist and persist!!!!
If you are going to be kicking I'd suggest aiming a little higher and more to the front. Maybe start those stretching exercises. Even us of the elderly demographic can benefit from a little yoga! 😉
Time to wake up was before the election and before, during and immediately after the impeachment and also during all the time lost before the trials . But it is what it is. There's no time to waste.
Just watch some Fox if you have the stomach and learn that for them and the ignorant orde that follow their script, everything it's under control and going well.
In ways that are both good and bad. Etymologically (or so I have read) the word "men" meant any person before it was sexually exclusive, but whatever the case the intent of the Declaration left out human rights for a massive section of the population. We can be grateful to the founders for the depth of thought placed in founding documents that assisted Abolition and extensions of more perfectly (though still troublingly imperfect) rights. MAGA is not a return to the start of the American Experiment, but rather to the tyrannical, plutocratic, aristocracy that it was crafted to replace.
Interestingly, JL, I recently discovered that the word “girl” referred to a child of EITHER gender in the Middle Ages…had no clue. Kinda interesting rabbit hole to briefly explore.
Who needs MAGA when Biden’s own choice for Archivist intervenes to pre-empt any order to publish the ERA as the 28th amendment, against the views of the American Bar Association and prominent constitutional law experts—and HCR won’t even mention it? Talk about summer patriots…
Exactly right JL, and now, they are replacing us. It's like the American experiment is going backwards before goes forward towards a more perfect union. Lesson is: don't take anything for granted. Learn how to appreciate what you have and how to defend it.
This is the lesson that history repetitively teaches: everyone wins in a government of the people for the people by the people, including the rich, whereas everyone loses in a government of the rich for the rich by the rich, including the rich. We do learn. We just need to be reminded every now and then.
I read somewhere that he also said that the women in the American colonies are far superior in terms of merit, intelligence, and determination, than the men--a statement that doesn't get reproduced very often at all.
It does not need to hurt to change course and truly learn to communicate in the fashion that the republicans communicate. The pain is from not meeting them MAGA) where they are by taking back (controlling) the message. Few people in the US are going to take the time to read the type of long but accurate message that HCR writes. We were made to learn history in school.Where and when did we learn to communicate in a way (social media) that actually reaches the masses?
I and many others read Paine back 6 decades ago when I was young, and it helped form my orientation to hope, justice and the promise of America. But I fear such tracts are seldomn shared with young students today -- I'm pretty sure neither of my 40 somethings read Thomas Paine in school -- and a lack of grounding in the ideals of Revolutionary America -- however poorly applied to life and government in the years following--may be a big part of why so many today seem willing to let MAGA rip it away. Thanks to HCR for sharing these. We should be spreading them as widely as possible among young people.
Paine’s words resonate as a reminder that collective action, even in the darkest moments, can achieve extraordinary things. The story of Trenton and Princeton feels like a lesson in resilience we could all use right now. Hang in there.
Lately I have been reminding myself and my husband that our parents, grandparents, and ancestors went through some tough times, including two world wars and the Great Depression. They faced numerous struggles. Yet we are all here today, a reflection of our resilience. Although it won't be easy, we too will survive the "darkest moments."
We and I mean all of us here who read and comment on Heather’s essay and all of the other essays we read and comment on daily are participating in a grand tradition of communication that has the power to “stir men’s souls”. My distant ancestor Montaigne is credited with developing this form of communication which has a unique power to focus the mind. It does however, require that you know how to read or at least understand language. The people of this land just elected a man who has never demonstrated that ability to do that, not at least with any useful comprehension. His understanding of history, both of our own as well as world history, is pathetically lacking. That is why he gravitates to the power of money, he adores it, and it’s why Muck seems to be grafted onto him at the shoulder. It’s sad really, really sad.
I think that the biggest surprise to the electorate is that Elon Musk has become the power behind the throne, almost as if he's a ventriloquist putting words in his dummy's mouth. That he is a loose canon cannot be denied. Sadly, the Republican politicians continue to cower before Musk and his dummy whose threats to support opposing candidates in the primaries keeps them in line. Rarely has there been such a menagerie of politicians so willing to sacrifice their oath of office to the rantings of a billionaire car manufacturer and his mouthpiece. .
Lines of battle are still visible? I live in NC and I bet 70% to 90% of the voters don’t know they are voting for Republicans that are doing away with public schools. 614 mil in vouchers in 10 years and that issue never came up in local elections. No offense to anyone but the Dems are not showing up to the battleground, social media. Where are the short soundbites we need on social media. Where are the top ten things Biden accomplished? Please HCR. Add some post we can use to take to battle. Musk had 150 social media posts yesterday
Exactly right Sandra; They didn't 'seem to' anyway 'cuz they aren't getting the press. They only dabbled lightly in the social media battleground. The far right wing saturated all means. The extreme left did more on social media than the centrists - you know who I mean. The ones that kept kneecapping Biden from far left. The hell of it is, that the greater mass of voters, including any silent grouping, trend toward the middle, not the extremes of either party. You're also right about the 'ammunition' and need for short soundbites. Those request were made long ago, but there is the next dust up to consider. I also like your school comments. I sorta' feel like at some point when the realities of all that stuff - vouchers taking away from public school funding, the greater mass of folks who can't afford private schooling should become righteously po'd.
Biden put the country back on track to help people and build infrastructure. He was doing a great job. Who are these Democrats who are not talking about that? You and me. We are the party and we let Biden and ourselves down by our silence and passive support. Trump wins because he and his supporters are out yelling their heads off every day. We don’t need silly legal strategies or better and younger people. We just need to roll up our sleeves and get to actual work for what we believe in.
D4N, just how did the “far left” kneecap Biden? If by left you are referring to the likes of AOC and Sanders, they have been clearly on board with Biden’s legislative efforts and supported both his and Harris’ candidacies. The great failing of the Biden administration was not prosecuting trump and his minions quickly and hard for their numerous crimes up to insurrection. This was a great failure of centrism, along with the failure to support Ukrainian victory to the fullest extent possible. I see no extremism from the legislative American left impeding Biden, far from it. The corporate “centrist” Democrats are the ones responsible for the fix we are in now.
In my opinion, it was neither the "far left" nor "centrism" that led to the mess we're in. The Democratic Party is known for its "big-tentedness," which allows members from a spectrum of viewpoints to have a seat at the table. Without outside interference, it works just fine.
Biden's forced error was giving Merrick Garland the attorney general's position as a consolation prize for not getting his rightful seat on SCOTUS. Garland's careful, methodical approach and his obsession with nonpartisan appearances are perfect characteristics for a supreme jurist and dreadful for an AG, who must swiftly and aggressively prosecute criminals without fear or favor.
Rather than blaming policies and positions, blame the person who created the disaster: Mitch McConnell.
I agree completely. I understand the Democratic Party to be a big tent, within which we can freely argue policy without being accused of kneecapping party leaders. Which is why I push back on claims like the “far left” or progressives are impeding our ability to govern. They aren’t.
Blame goes to the Republicans for sure, but the tepid response to their open attempts to destroy our government by the administration played right into their hands. If Democrats refuse to uphold the rule of law then nobody will.
Dan and Sandra Simpson, so glad schools came up here. With all of the discord we are experiencing in our new digital era, local public schools are the last standing domain for common ground to be found.
Maybe we should show up at the next sporting event in our community and cheer for the home team while we sit in the stands and chat with our neighbors who we have never gotten to know? Maybe we can link to local school boards’ newsletters to find opportunities to support and engage with local school initiatives.
Common ground must be cultivated to grow consensus.
The comments this morning are inspiring…we need to be inspired and fired up! Thank you, HCR.
Robert Reich’s Inequality Media is all over the place. Along with many excellent online news journals and substack offerings like HCR’s and podcasts—who do you mean by Dems? I delete all the stuff that enters my Inbox from Democratic politicians, except Senators Warren and Sanders, because they offer so little information, but still there’s tons of upset mail from them. It seems to me that the main place Dems are “silent” is in the legacy news media, which is the media’s fault. I’ve ended my subscriptions to the NYT and Washington Post and read the Boston Globe only for Massachusetts news. (I will say that HCR’s silence on the bad-looking and mysterious story of the Archivist’s pre-emptive refusal, along with the deputy Archivist!?, to publish the ERA is also hugely disappointing. The war on women is not news, or historically significant, in the story of the elimination of rights and law?)
Thanks! I’m very happy to hear that though I can’t watch it. I’d be interested to know what she said, but the really disturbing thing has been to find it, as I thought, unmentioned. Grateful for this note.
I live in Bordentown, NJ, once the home of Thomas Paine, so I frequently walk past a statue of him located here. This prompts me to think often of his stirring words in "Common Sense." Our current times are constantly trying my soul, but his words offer comfort and, sometimes, hope. Thank you, Heather, for this reminder.
I attended New Rochelle High School, which is across the street from Tom Paine's cottage, now a museum and monument. His words have a Kennedy esquee cadence, yes: “I call not upon a few, but upon all: not on this state or that state, but on every state: up and help us; lay your shoulders to the wheel; better have too much force than too little, when so great an object is at stake,” Paine wrote. “Let it be told to the future world, that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet and to repulse it.”
In reference to what is going on in congress. The NYT reported that Trump, who quickly endorsed the new deal (in order to keep the government for shutting down), had publicly turned against Mike Johnsons initial proposal after Elon Musk openly opposed it. Musk made more than 150 social media posts attacking the earlier deal, including threats of political retribution for anyone who voted for it. The deal’s failure was in part a display of Musk’s newfound political strength.
And proposed editor of the new constitution. A tighten up version to address:
Further qualifications of a president other then being US born and their age. Such as:
- Must be able to obtain a top secret clearance and not have been convicted of a felony. This is also for Vice President and Speaker of House. Direct lines to the presidency.
Address critical issues that we need guidance on, such as:
- Women’s right to choose what they can and cannot do with their body. Minimally addressing when a women’s life is in danger and pregnancy from incest and/or rape while also protecting the medical staff and hospitals/clinics performing these procedures. Both criminal and civil.
- clear separation of church and state. An Alabama senator can not be able, single handily, hold up military promotion based on religious beliefs.
- popular vote. This nation is tired of the few states electing the president and the gerrymandering that has evolved from this making the electoral college vulnerable, or of being stolen, as documented by the January 6th committee.
- second amendment change to clearly separate the right to bare arms for hunting and self defense from military style weapons and non-trackable guns. Our forefathers can not have imagined what a musket has evolved to and the damage it has done in our society.This will be handled through grandfather clauses yet the bullets and magazines of this military style guns will be made illegal to manufacture. We can’t be breaking down doors to grab these guns. But we can offer money for them to be turned in.
- a simple statement that this constitution recognizes the right to choose your sexual preference and identity including heterosexual. No more alphabet soup acronyms. ALL.
This great constitution has remain as a starting point for other countries and should remain as a starting point for our great nation. It’s non-specificity has been very powerful to this date but has now been abused by the rich, powerful, and church.
And what is worse, a felon that could never get a top secret clearance, who has twisted our Supreme Court to change our women’s right to allign to religious beliefs, who will allow assault weapons to shot off his other ear, or worse, and setting back EPA again,
He is representing the rich and powerful, while gaslighting the middle class.
And wants to be a dictator.
Time to tighten her up for another 250 years.
I propose Dr. Heather Cox Richardson to be our James Madison to make this happen with carefully selected, bi-partisan staff. There are good republicans out there very concerned about our constitution and what it has evolved to, indirectly.
Draft to be made available to all by 2026 and voted by The People if the desired changes be considered, and voted in, during the 2028 election.
THANK YOU, first of all. We love, need, treasure, and value your knowledge and historical perspective. As I just said to my wife however, "Heather Cox Richardson's email is really, really important, interesting and educational. But, not bedtime stories". ANY chance you might consider setting to send in the morning, vs here in USA Mountain Time 9:45pm. In a world bereft with sleepless nights, I think you should consider morning sends vs evening. Even seeing the notification that your email has arrived stimulates the 'fight or flight' syndrome. Thank you!!!!
I live in the Pacific Northwet. I HAVE to wait for the morning to read it, otherwise my mind won't let me sleep. I love the days she posts it at much, much later times. Fewer comments shorten my morning and let me get more real work done.
I’m reading your comment at 10:28 AM Ally and I live near Atlanta, see my comment above about essays. We are participating no matter what time we do it, and I think that is a good thing. We are creating a community where 10 years ago there was none, it has been a spontaneous response to the threat we all feel and see. It’s like a seed releasing its energy after being dormant in the ground for decades or even centuries. Wildflower seeds sprout only when lying on the ground, if they are buried they wait until something exposes them. I think of all of us as wildflowers and there are a lot of us 💐🙏
"~~~What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.” I wonder if perhaps it's time to us to edit that statement to "What we have enjoyed for 250 years too easily, we esteem too lightly." It seems that since the end of WWII, while there has been upheaval & conflicts rage around the US, the country has enjoyed an astounding amount of good fortune. Too many have become complacent, too busy to care, to uninvolved to learn or pay attention to what is going on around us. Too many have turned off their brains & instead have been lead by false prophets, all kinds of false prophets~~~sports heroes that receive enormous salaries to play a damn game; politicians who are only in it for themselves; corporate boards that abuse employees & customers alike in pursuit of the almighty dollar, or will that be changed to BitCoin so that no one knows who has the money & where it has come from or who it is going to.
~~~ And speaking of false prophets, there are the churches & televangelists that promise all kinds of God's love if you only give one more dollar to praise him! I have to admit I do not know exactly how accurate what I will be telling you next is. I went to Catholic grammar school & when we learned about the Protestant Reformation we were told that one of the reasons Martin Luther broke from the Catholic church was because of the sale of indulgences, you know if you pay or contribute to the church you get a get out of hell free slip of paper that absolves you of your sins so that you can enter the pearly gates! And there probably was some anger, at the fat friars while the little people starved but still had to pay their tythe. And of course the literal fat cats at the top, the Bishops, Cardinals, Monsigniors, the Pope & his prelates had their jewels, their furs, their art works, their basilicas. You know what I"m talking about.
~~~So we have a whole new batch of false prophets working in the Re-Mag Party who seem to be happy to let Elon Musk run the show, or maybe I should say run the country into the ground!
It seems to me that religion that is humble and compassionate has been of historical value to humanity such as the faith of MLK or Gandhi as opposed to claim of religious privilege; the "divine right of kings" or the Spanish Inquisition being one of many examples. They are almost diametrically opposed, and got both King and Gandhi politically murdered. (Jesus as well, for that matter). We hear plenty from tyrants citing "religious" authority. I know that they don't speak for every variety of religious person. It seemed to me that in my youth, many churches were visible supporters of Civil Rights. Resistance to the demagoguery of modern Republicans has seemed far less visible to me, I continue to hope that such a voice might emerge and be heard. MAGA despises the kindness, anti-materialism, and inclusivity that is attributed by the Bible to Jesus.
We can take solace from Tom Paine, from Washington and his men, and from Heather.
Solace that words do matter.
That people will put their personal concerns for how democracy lets us treat each other fairly, decently, as fellow citizens. And if we remain true to this, some of us may console, inspire each other in this terrifically dark time when truly nihilist, cynical billionaires think they've a mandate to trample on our democracy, to eff us over, grow their wealth gap over us.
This is one of my favorite stories about the revolution, and it is relevant to today. General John Glover's regiment of men from Marblehead, MA, my home town, ferried many of Washington's men across the Delaware. When I think of those men, cold and ill clad, crossing the river at night, I think that we need to be willing to fight that hard for our democracy.
I fail to understand how anyone can hold President Biden accountable for refusing to take responsibility to keep Trump from taking office. Regardless of his personal thoughts and feelings, the people have spoken and he has sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution. Anyone who believes that "defense" of the Constitution means taking whatever means is necessary to keep someone whose credentials are questionable from assuming office is misreading the Constitution. That responsibility belongs with the House and Senate. I believe President Biden is acting wisely and taking the "High Road", which many in Washington seem to have a difficult time doing.
Agreed. Biden would be violating his oath of office if he took any step to block Trump's inauguration. It is up to the Congress to take such steps but of course they won't.
Agreed. Also, the electoral college is supposed to be the check against “mob of voters” electing a clearly unqualified doofus. Well, that check failed in 2016, and again in 2024.
The electors certified their votes I believe this week, right? Narry a news mention. The count of those certified votes is the formality on January 6, the casting and certification was (i think) this week. Or something like that.
Contrast “Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered” with ““The fact that he does not abide by the rules of the democracy that we have established is not of my concern…” - Joe Biden, interviewed recently by MeidasTouch Network’s Ben Meisels (sp?) (I’m sorry Substack doesn’t permit videos be attached to comments. I have posted the video in a Note I posted earlier tonight. I invite you all to find my post so you can hear Joe Biden say these words.)
We live in tragically different times, when those who took an Oath to defend the Constitution can’t be bothered to do so.
No one is going to save us but us. So, let’s get creative, people. We may not have the money, but we have the motivation and the creative intellect to find a way to prevent the permanent destruction of democracy!
It's at the 5:06 mark of the Ben Meiselas Meidas Touch interview with Joe Biden.
But Biden spoke strongly, Steve, against Trump's betrayal of the Constitution.
Anyone can enter into search engine the key words I've indicated above, and see for oneself.
Note: I'm adding this later, as it's become clear Ben Meiselas interviewed Biden at least twice, the two clips I saw first dating from Dec., 2023, and the one to which Steve above was referring being almost exactly one year later -- this month, this year.
Down a bit on this thread Steve has provided a link to the most recent interview.
“Strongly” you say? Then WHY did Biden say what’s in this clip? And more importantly, why isn’t he doing everything he can to prevent Trump taking office? Look up Jessica Denson, who is championing the use of section 3 of the 14th amendment and has interviewed Professor Lawrence Tribe and other constitutional experts. Her videos where these other people call on the use of Procedures that are legal to prevent Trump taking office should be seen by everyone. I stand by my position … Biden is a failure! Here is Jessica…
https://youtu.be/gOXsuiyWu4w?si=sxw5JxAQ5oId6kQQ
You ask “And more importantly, why isn’t he [Biden] doing everything he can to prevent Trump taking office?”
As odious as Trump is, he won the election. Biden believes deeply that American is a nation of laws. That is why.
Once Trump is inaugurated and wields the levers of power, all bets are off as to whether and how long America may continue to be a nation of laws and not of men.
If you believe the Constitution is the law of the land, then you CANNOT let an insurrectionist become POTUS!
This is Jessica Denson with Lawrence Tribe and others. They all believe the Constitution demands Trump not be sworn in…
https://youtu.be/gOXsuiyWu4w?si=sxw5JxAQ5oId6kQQ
Trump broke the Presidential oath of office within minutes of swearing in in 2017. Dollars to donuts, he will break the oath again as he has already done multiple times since Joe Biden swore the oath.
Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:— "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Biden has given several of the best speeches made by any President in history. His delivery is not as charismatic as Obama, but the press has discounted the content time and again due to his delivery.
On the other hand is there a single time Trump has spoken where he hasn't lied?
"That's some weird shit." George W. Bush after Trump's inaugural words in January, 2017.
Bush was silent during the election. As a former President he owed the American people a response to the constitutional crisis we are now facing. He, Jeb and the rest have NO Moxie!
And who is holding trump accountable!
The problem with Biden’s speeches is that too few listened. Even Thomas Payne, as a man of words, needed a man to action. Maybe I read it here in comments or in my morning paper, but there is a time for words and a time for action. This is a time for action. We need a George Washington. Would he or she step forward.
You noted “ Trump broke the Presidential oath of office within minutes of swearing in in 2017.”
No. Trump broke it, by telling a lie during the swearing in itself when swore to defend the constitution.
But I take your point.
I am half way through that interview. As obvious as Trump being an insurrectionist may be to you and me, we share an opinion, not a fact from what I have read. Frankly, you are cherry-picking.
No one has established that Trump committed insurrection. One can argue that, at worst, Trump instigated a riot, not an insurrection. Rep. Cheney tried hard to connect those dots of insurrection.
She and the 06jan21 committee implied that Trump committed insurrection by sitting on his fat ass for three hours while others arguably committed insurrection, making him an accessory.
So taking the actions you advocate could precipitate a civil war. Trump clearly violated the Constitution in, at least, one other way (i.e., emoluments). So, why not pursue those infractions?
The question I have is: ¿will the Democrats ever learn? Rep. Pelosi thwarting young progressives further alienates younger voters . . . STUPID. That is why SecState Clinton lost.
Ned. I hear you. But I think the "civil war" has already been ignited. The "MUSKet" has been fired. Congress has been conquered.
Biden and Harris need to lead.
What "established" for me that Trump committed insurrection was on TV. Run the tape where he goads the crowd of supporters to march on the Capitol. Watch the assault. Remember the almost three hours where he watched it on TV and refused to stop what he started. Nobody needs Merrick Garland to tell them that was an insurrection.
Time for America to use some "Common Sense" and dump this reincarnation of King George.
"No one has established that Trump is an insurrectionist."
Established in the Colorado hearing in Anderson. Not disturbed in the decision. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_v._Anderson
You nailed with Pelosi. She should hit the pasture!
We missed our opportunity that existed the last 4 years. The evidence the committee collected is now deemed irrelevant
Please finish watching the video.
However much Trump is clearly a de facto insurrectionist, he is not an insurrectionist de jure.
That said, it feels like we are spiraling into constitutional terra incognita, a la…
“The Constitution is not a suicide pact" is a phrase in American political and legal discourse. The phrase expresses the belief that constitutional restrictions on governmental power must be balanced against the need for survival of the state and its people.”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Constitution_is_not_a_suicide_pact
Why are you ignoring the MAGA politicians in Congress who have no morals about the constitution? Why is everyone blaming Biden when no one will stand behind him?
As with any explorers who find themselves in terra incognita, it is up to competent cartographers to draw a new and accurate map so as to mark the dangerous parts to allow those come after to travel safely.
As to the de jure part, it will be interesting to see what the as of now unreleased materials compiled by Mr. Smith reveal.
Without accountability none of this matters. If you cant bring a person up on charges in 4 years you have no accountability
I think there's a major conflict as I think it is Congress alone that has the power to enforce the 14th Amendment. This means that President Biden has no power to invoke it.
Thank-you for sharing this link. It makes it clear that Trump is Constitutionally disqualified to ascend to the presidency due to his being an insurrectionist. I encourage others to watch this piece.
You’re welcome. Yes… it’s really very straight forward.. factual reality… for those that believe we should follow the Constitution. Problem is… people only want to follow it when it’s convenient / easy… including Biden. This is why I say America is no longer a “serious” democracy.
Trump is not convicted of insurrection. It has been 4 years. I don’t even think chargers were brought against him. The constitution calls for the right to a speedy trial, he was never brought to trial. That is a real sim.
Please do more research. This video in which Jessica Denson interviews constitutional experts including Lawrence Tribe shows that Trump
was declared an insurrectionist by a state Supreme Court which said he should not be allowed on the ballot. Then the US Supreme Court said the state had no such power WITHOUT ever ruling that Trump was not an insurrectionist
https://youtu.be/gOXsuiyWu4w?si=df6YstvHy4W86b1S
To prevent trump from taking office under any guise is wrong Steve. We are all terrified and exhausted. Do we really want to further weaken the Democracy?
trump won the vote. The time to stop him should have begun 9 years ago.
I agree Barbara. Now we just need to stand up to him, by pointing out his BS because the corporate media won't.
What kind of billionaire would each of us be? Would we have supported Trump or Harris knowing that Trump is hell bent on making the US a kleptocracy for the rich and by the rich?
I know people with a lot of zeroes behind numbers in their banking accounts. They are not billionaires but are far from these awful people.
Gary, if I were rich, I would hope that I would be like the ex of Jeff Bezos. We are not rich, but we try to be generous as much as we can.
Nicely stated, Barbara. Thank you.
If you believe the Constitution is the law of the land, then you need to understand that defending the Constitution means not letting Trump take the out of office. Please watch Jessica Denson who interviewed Professor Lawrence Tribe and other constitutional experts in this video from her YouTube channel. It will open your eyes to what the founding fathers are calling on us to do but which sadly as my original post showed Joe Biden is not up to doing. If Romania can declare it will redo its election because it’s Supreme Court ruled Russian influence had resulted in a bad election result, America, which claims to be the world‘s pre-eminent democracy can do something this bold as well.
Here is Jessica…
https://youtu.be/gOXsuiyWu4w?si=df6YstvHy4W86b1S
But, Barbara, the Constitution says what it says.
And all those public officials took oaths to it.
The constitution says a lot of things. Interpreting it is a whole other matter.
Article 14, Section Three is perfectly explicit, Barbara.
If U.S. Senate Dems voted whether or not the orange felon's disqualification from any further public office should be lifted, the Senate would not have the 2/3 necessary and the disqualification would stand.
Especially with trump supreme court
Phil, you raise an intriguing issue, whether anyone has or can be prosecuted for violating an oath unless s/he has been indicted and convicted for breaking a law? I believe that was exactly what Jack Smith was working on until DOJ policy to not initiate legal proceedings against a sitting president. This strikes me as another peculiarity wherein a policy takes precedence over laws.
Amen, Barbara, nine years ago and yet here we are. I just hope that enough people will stand up to him. Personally, I think it could happen if enough Rs said we are not going to kowtow. But what do we have....little Johnson planting his face on the ground in a servile manner and muskrat putting his oar in. It will be interesting to see if they actually find a way to fund the government by tomorrow.
Barbara, watch the video Steve linked.
I'm guessing that many people figured the problem of trump would flame out and disappear. Everyone hoped and assumed his popularity would wane and the nation could move forward. Belligerence and aggressive action and neutrality and compromise dont seem to work to be able to sustain our government. We are caught in an endless loop of right/ left dominating power.
Thank you for the Jessica Denson, Steve.
I've not seen it yet -- it's 20 minutes long and I just want to thank you first.
That Ben Meiselas, Joe Biden interview was apparently some time before Trump was a nominee for the presidency in 2024 -- I've since found another video of that, of one minute and thirty seconds, with the key exchange in it. Dated Dec. 3, 2023. Both in the first one of a total of 7:41 (seven minutes and forty-one seconds -- with the key exchange at the 5:06 mark) and in the shorter one, Biden is firm, for democracy, and very concerned at the Trump criminality and treason.
You’re welcome. The 20 min goes by fast. It’s a passionate but also fact-based video. I look forward to hearing what you think of it after you’ve watched it.
If Romania can declare it will re-run its election after uncovering massive Russian interference, I’d like to think the Democrats would use all legal tools available too.
Ben has been “selling” this interview intensely for about a week before releasing it the other day. My assumption without confirming the sitdown date was that the interview took place after the election. So, I find it hard to believe it would’ve taken place as long ago as one of the dates you mention.
The bottom line for me is, Trump is an insurrectionist. No court has said he is not and if we swear him in as president, then it is we who are breaking the constitution not Trump. So for all the people who say Trump is gonna destroy the constitution, I say guess what we’ve already done so
Off to bed now. Have a good one.
One great take-away in the 20-minute Jessica Denson, Steve.
She discusses someone else's idea that U.S. Senate Dems could call for a vote on whether to give felon Trump amnesty for having been an insurrectionist.
If convicted criminal and rapist Trump does not get 2/3 vote for amnesty -- just in the Senate alone -- then that vote will let stand the force of the Constitution's Article 14, Section Three. That is, Trump remains an insurrectionist. He simply cannot take office, as Article 14, Section Three clearly says.
The U.S. House of Representatives need not do anything. If felon Trump fails to get the 2/3 vote for amnesty in either the House of the Senate, the disqualification against him remains constitutionally in effect. (As says the last line of Article 14, Section Three.)
Interesting and intriguing….but, alas, would we not then be left w/ Vance as POTUS???? And, then, who would he select as a VP, someone who would need, as I understand it, a majority vote of approval in both houses of Congress.
DJT is also a Traitor, and Putin's & Musk's Puppet... That Definitely Makes Him A Traitor...
I agree. If only (some of us) could be convicted on the basis of the company we keep. But that would be a dangerous precedent to set.
This Ben Meisalis interview was filmed post election, as they talk about it.
One last point… here’s the recently release Biden interview with Ben. It says it took place Dec 16, 2024
https://youtu.be/TJfOAjUleTc?si=EqDuvCgi6BgfSPLZ
Thank you, Steve -- this at 30 minutes different from the two I'd seen.
When he says it's not his concern that the orange felon doesn't abide by the rules of democracy doesn't mean he accepts that behavior.
He was, after all, answering Ben Meiselas' Q as to how could he have been so polite to someone so aggressively and dangerously hostile. And he was replying that his behavior, being polite, generous (in transfer of administrations) was part of the America he believed in.
We are at war with fascism. Biden may think he should model the polite world of democracy that he dreams of, but that world is a fantasy. We don’t need modeling of a dream. We need a commander-in-chief fighting to preserve what the founding fathers created, and what he took an oath of office to defend. You may be okay with Biden‘s answer, but I am not. It’s a free country and you can be happy with what he said, I am not. So, we will agree to disagree as the saying goes.
I’m looking for my president to fight for the soul of the nation as he declared he was doing. But of course, if you read Sarah Kendzior’s two best selling books, you will understand that Biden‘s actions regarding the election is all a performance. He did some things that were good economically, but he was always meant to be a placeholder president between Trump‘s first and second terms. He sabotage the Democratic Party by going back on his word to be a one term president. He should’ve let the party decide who was going to run way earlier in the process. Then we might’ve had a candidate who could win even with the Russian influence that has still yet to be fully accounted for (as the people in Romania fully accounted for it). Romania deciding to re-run its election is a role model for the world. What we have let happen shows that we are now an un-serious democracy.
www.sarahkendzior.com
Clearly Biden is guilty of doing/saying too little too late. The election is over. The die are cast. The barbarians have breached the gates. Anything Biden has to say now is meaningless, and I am not sure what he can "do" in any meaningful way.
Certainly not the first time. If not the previous four years, the events of Jan 6 certainly should have brought home to Biden, not by any means ignorant of the lessons of history, what kind of nastiness Trump was up to. Certainly by the time of the 2022 mid-terms he should have been able to detect what was in the wind, that Trump and the MAGAs were not going to blow away, and that Trump was aiming at taking another attempt on the White House.
As has been lamented often in Monday morning QB mode, if Biden had declared in 2022 his intention to not seek the nomination in 2024, a proper vetting process for suitable candidates and subsequent nominating convention could have been held. Whether or not Harris would have emerged as the candidate is not the point. It is that we never got through that selection and decision making process.
Trying times for our souls, indeed. At least for those who can still claim them as their own.
This election was so close that if Elon hadn't had the bully pulpit with Twitter forcing everyone on twitter to receive his tweets, and then pouring an additional $250 million to support Trump, would Trump have won?
And then there were all of the other oligarchs, buying Senate seats in Ohio, Florida and Montana, not to mention the 15 or so Congressional seats Elon financed.
Citizen's United gave Carte Blanche to the rich to buy the Federal Government. Unfortunately, the sheeple didn't even realize what was happening.
There was a Wall Street Journal Article today that stated that Joe Biden's Infirmities became almost overwhelming since the beginning of his Term as President... They were hidden by his Staff... The WSJ allegedly talked to about 50 of Biden's Staff for the Article.... What We Saw During The DJT Debate Was Joe Biden UnShielded.... Joe Biden should have been more Self-Aware... A Smart Aging Athlete Knows To Quit At, Or Near The Top... Not Go Down In Humililation... Joe Biden Should Have Kept His Word To Only Serve One Term... The Democratic Leadership Definitely Needs Younger Blood...
The WSJ is owned by Murdoch Apache. I do not consider a reliable source at all. You can always check any publication's rated biases:
From Media Bias Fact Check
RIGHT-CENTER BIAS
These media sources are slight to moderately conservative in bias. They often publish factual information that utilizes loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by appeals to emotion or stereotypes) to favor conservative causes. These sources are generally trustworthy for information but may require further investigation. See all Right-Center sources.
Overall, we rate the Wall Street Journal Right-Center biased due to low-biased news reporting combined with a strong right-biased editorial stance. We also rate them Mostly Factual in reporting rather than High due to anti-climate, anti-science views, and occasional misleading editorials.
Thanks Barbara... Let's see if there is further Collaboration... But if True, it would explain alot, especially Biden's unfettered support of Netanyahu... Hareetz, an Israeli Newspaper is starting to report IDF War Crimes... Regardless, the Democrats need Younger Leadership... Nancy Pelosi is a National Treasure, but she is in her Mid-80s... I also would have liked to have seen AOC elevated to Leadership as well...
Barbara- I said the same thing above (probably below now).
Will he ever die?
I seriously doubt that. The WSJ is a Murdoch rag and they have published several very questionable stories in praise of Trump and denigrating Democrats.
At my 50th high school reunion I had drinks with a former class mate that was a journalist at WSJ when Murdoch purchased it. She said Murdoch came in to speak with all of the staff after the sale and it was such BS that she became physically ill. The next time he entered the building she immediately left until she heard he was gone. It took her and her husband a few months to find new jobs, but she refused to work for a rag that had lost all integrity.
Well if true (and I have no reason to doubt it) then that is sad. Some sort of intervention was needed early on. I know that is hard to do, but still . . . .
Biden actually mouthed that he would be a one-term president, but then ego got the best of him.
Biden did not lose the election the Dems lost it for him. A better approach id to start campaigning right now. Not to beat trump up but put forth why we are the better party.
I disagree. He should have stayed with his first impulse to be a "one-term" president. He failed.
Biden is a failure in multiple ways. Simply look at Ukraine: FAIL. Look at Israel: FAIL. Staying too long before bowing out of the Party nomination. His delay hamstrung the Party. I went to the suggested Jessica Benson video. Thank you!
You’re welcome! And thank you for watching the video I recommended. We are in a much more challenging time than many seem to realize.
Forgive the cynic in me (which took years to develop!), but those many who "seem [not] to realize" are often ill-informed or misinformed by choice. I attribute that factor to laziness. Or, "that sounds about right and I'll buy it." Where we really need and needed leaders, we got politicicans. And now we have two clowns dictating to one political party on how to administer the economic affairs of our country. Musk is an Afrikaner with all the racist trimmings. AND, he is an IMMIGRANT! Is that an expletive, now, "immigrant"? Trump? That's a whole other story.
While Biden did some good things he also did some incredibly stupid things which contributed significantly to our titanic loss this election. But not just Biden.
The corporate Democrats are mainly responsible for our loss. Obama, Clinton, Clyburn, Schumer and Pelosi. Pelosi is still screwing over the Democrats with her move to block AOC from advancing. Pelosi has been arrogant, bitter and stupid. This will come back to damage the party - and the country.
We need to dump the corporate Democrats - now.
Here it comes, the blame game. There is enough of that going around without us contributing to it. We are where we are because we are ALL to blame. The question I keeping coming back to is: What is the most effective thing that WE can do now?
I’m afraid the “corporate democrats” ARE the Democratic Party. What you and I and others in this Substack community want are something closer to the Democratic Socialists or Occupy Wall St. to be running the show. Pelosi just demonstrated her power…heck, she just published a how-to book about it.
absolutely we have only us to save us........creativity is vital......but first and foremost "they" must not shut down our various outlets for news and communication and sharing.....Remember that other wordsmith from our past, "We must all hang together or most assuredly , we shall all hang separately". How brave are we?
How brave are we? We are going to find out!
Yes we are.
I’m afraid they were made of stronger stuff than a great many of us are made of. I hope I am wrong.
Elon Musk made over 150 social media posts about what is going on in congress right now. That is probably more than all the democrats together. If you control the messsage you control the government.
Musk & Trump crashed & burned today with 38 House R's saying NO!
Friday Morning Postscript: And, it takes a 2/3 vote folks.
There's some hope in that worth grasping for.
That's only one battle, the war is just beginning.
No to what?
Fund Wreck's giveaways to the richest-of-the rich through 2027 via massive Deficit Spending & trying burden Biden with fraudulent accounting.
"Never Interfere With an Enemy While He’s in the Process of Destroying Himself"
Source disputed
According to some opinions the Democrats are letting the Republicans implode all by themselves.
That should not be the only strategy. There's too much at risk.
I prayed for the GOP to self-implode after I found out trump had won in 2016 but now I feel that if they implode today they will take everyone down with them. A quote that never left my mind was "Nothing is worse than creativity without taste," to which I've added, "with a lot of money." Here we have the most powerful man in the world who is stupid partnered with the richest man in the world who is brilliant. Both are megalomaniacs and creative. I can't think of anything worse. It's terrifying....
Sophia, Musk is stupid. And cruel. He has relied on the government and the brilliance of people working for him to get where he is today. He is a parasite who has attached himself to a madman.
The irony is that trump is not powerful. He has stolen a seat at the Resolute Desk of the most powerful Country in the world.
Trump is weak and cruel. Musk is stupid and cruel.
Got that right Sophia & hat tip to Timothy Snyder who has named it ...
"The Mump Regime".
And most of Musk's many tweets were either inaccurate or bald-faced lies.
Someone get that man a Xanax.
Did anyone in the Democratic leadership push back on those lies? If they let them stand unchallenged, shame on them and the Democrat’s communications team that should be working this. Of course, given the venue, even if they did diligently try to respond with some facts, their clarifications and corrections could have been “Xed” out.
Yes! Remembering the “war effort” of WWII, it’s time to “do something.” (France, 2942, Michelle Obama US, 2024.) Find your local Indivisible chapter and join up!
Oops, 1942! With apologies, everyone.
🤷♂️🙏
No problem Virgina -- one of those three little dots off to the right "..." is an edit tool --- helpful for my stubby fingers. : ---)
https://indivisible.org/
Thank you, Mr. Drinkwater. Having been part of Indivisible since 2016, I was unaware of this site.
Joe has no power to change this. Should not have conceded, but they did, not realizing the machinations and close race. The reason chump still yammers about the stolen 2020 election is to keep Dems from making the same claim today. They stole it but saying so will erupt in a civil war. Joe won’t say it. But it will have to be said eventually.
Unlike Donald, Joe Biden actually believes in his oath of office. The first duty of the President is to preserve and protect the Constitution. The President is charged with enforcing the laws and protecting the nation from enemies, foreign and domestic.
Joe's inaction, so far, to arrest the criminals in Trump World and protect the nation from these enemies of our Democracy, is inconsistent with his oath.
Joe and the Democratic leaders must tell the truth about Trump's treason, the corruption, the alliances with our foreign adversaries, the money scams, the frauds. Trump disqualified himself from any office of trust in this country. Musk and his fellow autocrats have taken control of our government. And Joe has the power to stop it. Seems our leaders don't have the balls to stand up to this evil.
Let's hope for a strong, strong summary report by special prosecutor Jack Smith.
Thank you Burke. Asking the last person (possibly for all time) who took the oath of office as Commander-in-Chief to do an end-run around it, is madness. Do not ask a Statesman to be an anarchist.
It’s not madness. It’s actually following the Constitution, as this video in which Jessica Denson interviews constitutional experts including Lawrence Tribe shows…
https://youtu.be/gOXsuiyWu4w?si=df6YstvHy4W86b1S
- Pulled Quote -
“I call not upon a few, but upon all: not on this state or that state, but on every state: up and help us; lay your shoulders to the wheel; better have too much force than too little, when so great an object is at stake,” Paine wrote. “Let it be told to the future world, that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet and to repulse it.”
NOW is the time!
Now is the time…
To do what?
Inspiring
This is a time for all of us to pull together. Whether it is making phone calls, writing letters or just speaking out. Heather’s writing today gives me hope that we might awake the sleeping dragon of apathy and rise up and get ready to fight back. We can do it folks. Let's not capitulate and lose what we have. I will tell you that no one wants to live under a dictator where all our rights are taken away so let’s get to work. We just need someone to lead and motivate us. I am old but I will do what I can to save democracy for my grandchildren and great grandchildren and for yours too!
I refer you to the Georgia Fisanick Substack on just this topic:
On the Silence of the Dems
What's the best strategy?
Georgia Fisanick
Dec 20
She writes:
Belle, my personal favorite common sense political analyst these days, has a take that floored me. I have been a great proponent of Democrats’ need to make as much NOISE as possible as we act in opposition to Trump. So have most of the other Democratic commentators on Substack. I have been filled with outrage over Trump’s supposed “mandate.” But Belle is making me rethink what a successful opposition strategy needs to be about. I am not sure she is right. But she has gotten me above my fear and rage to a vantage point where I can begin to assess additional possibilities.
She may have a point. Going limp and putting all the responsibility for success onto the Trimp-ist's shoulders might be effective.
After all, "Conservatives" tend to fall to pieces when you call their bluff. They're notorious for loudly proposing yet routinely failing to perform, so once they've made a dog's breakfast of the job American voters will wake up. Usually that requires the Misery Index climb sky high first, but then, that's in the cards anyway, isn't it?
The Democrats are making hay about how the Musk/trump funding Bill failed. Even Chip Roy is screaming at the MAGAs.
Let them destroy themselves. But. This is a tricky play. We need to know when to scream and when to let them fail.
"when to let them fail"
Very good point! Did the deplorables know that when they voted for the Groper-in-Chief they were electing President Musk? Did the Groper-in-Chief know that he was campaigning for the election of President Musk?
Good on you, Barbara! Fear and rage keep us too occupied for no good purpose and unable to see things clearly as one might. We are on the defensive at this juncture. There may be opportunity in that. All I know is to stand fast. Be of strong heart and good courage!
Contrast the Bravery of those that fought that Winter, and helped establish the United States with those that Can't Be Bothered To Vote... Contrast the Oratory of Thomas Paine with the Incholate Tweets of Elon Musk, and DJT... George Washington is definitely the Greatest American President So Far... Definitely Not DJT... The Only Race That DJT Is In, Is The Worst President Yet.... It Is A Contest of DJT vs G.W.Bush For The Worst....
These days I hear a lot of talk about young people not being up to the task of defending our democracy in the event of civil. Past generations (e.g., the Oxford Union in the 1930s) have shown reticence before war only to triumph over evil decisively. Why not with these young people? Unless, of course, they support Trump.
Ah, but there was no social media and so forth back then!😊
Fine insight there, Robert. Thank you.
I wish trump , Vance, shadow VP Musk the puppet master, will never be sworn in but if you don't follow the rule of law that we believe in, you are asking for a civil war with the Trump followers.
Do you believe the Trump followers are waking up to his plans? Our country is already so divided. Many of my family members will not even speak to others who voted for Trump in 2016.. I get that their goal is to destroy the economy and the country. Seal team 6?
I write to Jamie Raskin constantly. My husband has been down to the Capitol building with signs multiple times. We give generously to the Democratic party. We descended on Washington 8 years ago to participate in the huge women's rally; and we'll go again this year if scheduled. We live within our means; we donate to charities. The interests of the US should have some non-stupid, non-craven, non-nutball types in the executive branch. People have become unmoored from decency and respect. How to get strangers from both sides to cooperate with one another. It seems like a Sysyphean effort....
We all have more than most of the Revolutionaries had. They fought , most of the time, with no pay and no equipment provided by the newly formed but penniless government. Probably the best and most readable version of this is Rabble in Arms by Kenneth Roberts written in 1937 or if you want it from the British perspective, Oliver Wiswell by the same author. Many Americans were persecuted by the Revolutionaries who weren't loyal to Britain. Both these books are germane to the present situation. DonOLD has shown already although not even inaugurated that he has no interest in governing, no interest in the American people and only mouthed those campaign platitudes to stay out of jail. We've got 4 weeks. He belongs in jail (and not some candy-ass home detention with an ankle bracelet).
AND what exactly would you have him do? This administration tried every legal means that I know of to drop him and stop him and still people voted for the felon. Many would love to see the felon in jail yet the voters spoke. Look how Muskrat interferes. How is that to be stopped. Deport him? Same with Ramaswamy.
As the sixth great grandson of Isaac Cleaver, a Quaker from Germantown, Pennsylvania, who left the church to join the Pennsylvania militia and was one of the 2,400 who crossed the Delaware with General Washington, I can tell you that there is at least one account - his, in a letter to his sister the week after Trenton, which was among the materials donated to the Quaker Museum in Philadelphia by my father in the 1970s - in which mention is made of their officer reading "Mr. Paine's latest essay" to the men. I remember that, from when my father asked the newly-certified Master of History degree holder (me) to look through the materials that had been handed down to him through the family, to pick out the most important. Unfortunately, the most valuable object, the sword of the Sergeant of the Hessian Guard, which Isaac took from the man after his surrender, has not been donated anywhere because - despite the fact it has been certified by armorers as being Hessian and made in 1767, and the kind of weapon carried by NCOs - there is no "firm provenance" of its ownership (too bad Isaac was too busy that day to get a formal signed receipt). So it hangs on the wall in my writing office, a daily admonition to me to live up to my ancestors' actions.
Your family history is so very incredible-wow! Thx for sharing this. Now, today, you as his descendant (and we) carry on the same fight to preserve what he fought to help create. Humbling. Beautiful. Inspiring. We resist-and we fight however we can.
Wow, TC, awesome family history!!!!
Write on.
Wow TC.. Oh, btw, I nearly fell out of my chair when I read your comments yesterday which included special references to the.. how did you term it, "The Right Reverend MAGA Mike". Lol ! Bravo ~
Fascinating, thank you so much for sharing. And VERY COOL that you have that sword even if he hasn’t been given an “firm provenance”. My husband has his great great grandfather’s Civil War sharp shooters Springfield rifle hanging in his office. Not quite as cool but still History in all forms.
That's still pretty damn cool. I'm thinking that rifle would have been the latest firearm technology at the time. You and your husband might be interested in a book--Rufus: A Boy's Extraordinary Experiences in the Civil War. Phoebe Sheldon, a contemporary of ours, took her great great grandfather's letters home, and crafted them into a fascinating narrative. Rufus Harnden volunteered in 1862, at age 17. He was wise for his age, and we get a soldier's eye account, including of the shooting of Stonewall Jackson which led to his death, I forget how many days later.
Thank you for the information!
BTW just ordered it. ;-)
Indeed. A Springfield is definitely cool.
This articulate and fascinating account is a pleasure to read. Thank you for several reasons... and an admoniion
(Sp!!) Admonition to us all
That's a family history to be VERY proud of....and a very impressive artifact of liberty to have hanging on your wall. Trenton was one of those critical moments.
firm provenance, TC: providence had nothing to do with it. ;-)
You are of course right. :-)
Fixed.
Which you do and thank you for it!
Thank you Emily.
TC, a remarkable story from an amazing writer and historian.
Thank you, Tom.
Thanks, TCinLA, for sharing this precious and invaluable family history. This history is a daily reminder to/for us all.
TC you have become an inspiration to me and so many others over the last year. Thank you.
Thank you.
What a great comment to read on a Friday like this.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👍🏻👍🏻💥
No Paine, no gain, as I always say.
The previous year he wrote: “When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon.”
And in early 1776: “Could the straggling thoughts of individuals be collected, they would frequently form materials for wise and able men to improve into useful matter.”
And in 1791, long after the Revolutionary War was settled, he wryly observed: “Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it.”
We still seem to be suffering from the harsh truth of that one today.
https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/no-paine-no-gain?r=bx&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
I often wonder if we learned anything from our history. Ignorance is a high price to pay to lose our democracy. It’s time to wake up now
We, and the people who voted for him, are about to get a reminder of what the first trump term was like. The chaos has started already.
Sigh, B.E., looking for a splatter guard to protect me from the sh*t show about to be unleashed. I’d crawl under my bed if I could fit & then think hell no & lace up my boots…as I’ve said before, I may be too old to kick ‘em in the ass, but I can still reach to kick ‘em in the shins!!! Resist and persist!!!!
If you are going to be kicking I'd suggest aiming a little higher and more to the front. Maybe start those stretching exercises. Even us of the elderly demographic can benefit from a little yoga! 😉
That mode of attack is effective only if there are some nuts to crack. All I'm seeing is a lot of empty sacks. 🤭
Time to wake up was before the election and before, during and immediately after the impeachment and also during all the time lost before the trials . But it is what it is. There's no time to waste.
With fewer guardrails.
Just watch some Fox if you have the stomach and learn that for them and the ignorant orde that follow their script, everything it's under control and going well.
I guess that's why my MAGA friends have gone all silent.
MAGA people going silent it's great !!!
We seem very far from the ideals of our forefathers.
In ways that are both good and bad. Etymologically (or so I have read) the word "men" meant any person before it was sexually exclusive, but whatever the case the intent of the Declaration left out human rights for a massive section of the population. We can be grateful to the founders for the depth of thought placed in founding documents that assisted Abolition and extensions of more perfectly (though still troublingly imperfect) rights. MAGA is not a return to the start of the American Experiment, but rather to the tyrannical, plutocratic, aristocracy that it was crafted to replace.
Interestingly, JL, I recently discovered that the word “girl” referred to a child of EITHER gender in the Middle Ages…had no clue. Kinda interesting rabbit hole to briefly explore.
Who needs MAGA when Biden’s own choice for Archivist intervenes to pre-empt any order to publish the ERA as the 28th amendment, against the views of the American Bar Association and prominent constitutional law experts—and HCR won’t even mention it? Talk about summer patriots…
Exactly right JL, and now, they are replacing us. It's like the American experiment is going backwards before goes forward towards a more perfect union. Lesson is: don't take anything for granted. Learn how to appreciate what you have and how to defend it.
Many of us on this writing still have those ideals.
Cynthia, i would said most 8f not all of us.
This is the lesson that history repetitively teaches: everyone wins in a government of the people for the people by the people, including the rich, whereas everyone loses in a government of the rich for the rich by the rich, including the rich. We do learn. We just need to be reminded every now and then.
I read somewhere that he also said that the women in the American colonies are far superior in terms of merit, intelligence, and determination, than the men--a statement that doesn't get reproduced very often at all.
Still largely true.
It does not need to hurt to change course and truly learn to communicate in the fashion that the republicans communicate. The pain is from not meeting them MAGA) where they are by taking back (controlling) the message. Few people in the US are going to take the time to read the type of long but accurate message that HCR writes. We were made to learn history in school.Where and when did we learn to communicate in a way (social media) that actually reaches the masses?
I and many others read Paine back 6 decades ago when I was young, and it helped form my orientation to hope, justice and the promise of America. But I fear such tracts are seldomn shared with young students today -- I'm pretty sure neither of my 40 somethings read Thomas Paine in school -- and a lack of grounding in the ideals of Revolutionary America -- however poorly applied to life and government in the years following--may be a big part of why so many today seem willing to let MAGA rip it away. Thanks to HCR for sharing these. We should be spreading them as widely as possible among young people.
Marketing 201
Paine’s words resonate as a reminder that collective action, even in the darkest moments, can achieve extraordinary things. The story of Trenton and Princeton feels like a lesson in resilience we could all use right now. Hang in there.
Lately I have been reminding myself and my husband that our parents, grandparents, and ancestors went through some tough times, including two world wars and the Great Depression. They faced numerous struggles. Yet we are all here today, a reflection of our resilience. Although it won't be easy, we too will survive the "darkest moments."
We and I mean all of us here who read and comment on Heather’s essay and all of the other essays we read and comment on daily are participating in a grand tradition of communication that has the power to “stir men’s souls”. My distant ancestor Montaigne is credited with developing this form of communication which has a unique power to focus the mind. It does however, require that you know how to read or at least understand language. The people of this land just elected a man who has never demonstrated that ability to do that, not at least with any useful comprehension. His understanding of history, both of our own as well as world history, is pathetically lacking. That is why he gravitates to the power of money, he adores it, and it’s why Muck seems to be grafted onto him at the shoulder. It’s sad really, really sad.
I think that the biggest surprise to the electorate is that Elon Musk has become the power behind the throne, almost as if he's a ventriloquist putting words in his dummy's mouth. That he is a loose canon cannot be denied. Sadly, the Republican politicians continue to cower before Musk and his dummy whose threats to support opposing candidates in the primaries keeps them in line. Rarely has there been such a menagerie of politicians so willing to sacrifice their oath of office to the rantings of a billionaire car manufacturer and his mouthpiece. .
Musk bought control of the US Government for a bargain of $250M. As his money talks, our Constitution walks.
I do NOT consent to this incoming Trumpmuskovian government! ( with thanks to Timothy Snyder for that brilliant naming)
I lived in Princeton for four years. The lines of battle are still visible 250 years later.
Lines of battle are still visible? I live in NC and I bet 70% to 90% of the voters don’t know they are voting for Republicans that are doing away with public schools. 614 mil in vouchers in 10 years and that issue never came up in local elections. No offense to anyone but the Dems are not showing up to the battleground, social media. Where are the short soundbites we need on social media. Where are the top ten things Biden accomplished? Please HCR. Add some post we can use to take to battle. Musk had 150 social media posts yesterday
Exactly right Sandra; They didn't 'seem to' anyway 'cuz they aren't getting the press. They only dabbled lightly in the social media battleground. The far right wing saturated all means. The extreme left did more on social media than the centrists - you know who I mean. The ones that kept kneecapping Biden from far left. The hell of it is, that the greater mass of voters, including any silent grouping, trend toward the middle, not the extremes of either party. You're also right about the 'ammunition' and need for short soundbites. Those request were made long ago, but there is the next dust up to consider. I also like your school comments. I sorta' feel like at some point when the realities of all that stuff - vouchers taking away from public school funding, the greater mass of folks who can't afford private schooling should become righteously po'd.
Biden put the country back on track to help people and build infrastructure. He was doing a great job. Who are these Democrats who are not talking about that? You and me. We are the party and we let Biden and ourselves down by our silence and passive support. Trump wins because he and his supporters are out yelling their heads off every day. We don’t need silly legal strategies or better and younger people. We just need to roll up our sleeves and get to actual work for what we believe in.
You'll never catch me disagreeing with you on all that Janis. The extremists of both parties drown out the middle it seems.
D4N, just how did the “far left” kneecap Biden? If by left you are referring to the likes of AOC and Sanders, they have been clearly on board with Biden’s legislative efforts and supported both his and Harris’ candidacies. The great failing of the Biden administration was not prosecuting trump and his minions quickly and hard for their numerous crimes up to insurrection. This was a great failure of centrism, along with the failure to support Ukrainian victory to the fullest extent possible. I see no extremism from the legislative American left impeding Biden, far from it. The corporate “centrist” Democrats are the ones responsible for the fix we are in now.
In my opinion, it was neither the "far left" nor "centrism" that led to the mess we're in. The Democratic Party is known for its "big-tentedness," which allows members from a spectrum of viewpoints to have a seat at the table. Without outside interference, it works just fine.
Biden's forced error was giving Merrick Garland the attorney general's position as a consolation prize for not getting his rightful seat on SCOTUS. Garland's careful, methodical approach and his obsession with nonpartisan appearances are perfect characteristics for a supreme jurist and dreadful for an AG, who must swiftly and aggressively prosecute criminals without fear or favor.
Rather than blaming policies and positions, blame the person who created the disaster: Mitch McConnell.
I agree completely. I understand the Democratic Party to be a big tent, within which we can freely argue policy without being accused of kneecapping party leaders. Which is why I push back on claims like the “far left” or progressives are impeding our ability to govern. They aren’t.
Blame goes to the Republicans for sure, but the tepid response to their open attempts to destroy our government by the administration played right into their hands. If Democrats refuse to uphold the rule of law then nobody will.
Dan and Sandra Simpson, so glad schools came up here. With all of the discord we are experiencing in our new digital era, local public schools are the last standing domain for common ground to be found.
Maybe we should show up at the next sporting event in our community and cheer for the home team while we sit in the stands and chat with our neighbors who we have never gotten to know? Maybe we can link to local school boards’ newsletters to find opportunities to support and engage with local school initiatives.
Common ground must be cultivated to grow consensus.
The comments this morning are inspiring…we need to be inspired and fired up! Thank you, HCR.
Robert Reich’s Inequality Media is all over the place. Along with many excellent online news journals and substack offerings like HCR’s and podcasts—who do you mean by Dems? I delete all the stuff that enters my Inbox from Democratic politicians, except Senators Warren and Sanders, because they offer so little information, but still there’s tons of upset mail from them. It seems to me that the main place Dems are “silent” is in the legacy news media, which is the media’s fault. I’ve ended my subscriptions to the NYT and Washington Post and read the Boston Globe only for Massachusetts news. (I will say that HCR’s silence on the bad-looking and mysterious story of the Archivist’s pre-emptive refusal, along with the deputy Archivist!?, to publish the ERA is also hugely disappointing. The war on women is not news, or historically significant, in the story of the elimination of rights and law?)
HCR talked about the era in her politics chat yesterday. It's up on Facebook today.
Thanks! I’m very happy to hear that though I can’t watch it. I’d be interested to know what she said, but the really disturbing thing has been to find it, as I thought, unmentioned. Grateful for this note.
I live in Bordentown, NJ, once the home of Thomas Paine, so I frequently walk past a statue of him located here. This prompts me to think often of his stirring words in "Common Sense." Our current times are constantly trying my soul, but his words offer comfort and, sometimes, hope. Thank you, Heather, for this reminder.
I grew up in Mercer County as well. The little historical tidbits are everywhere. The history was always real to us and we’re all proud of it.
Really ? I find that remarkable.
I attended New Rochelle High School, which is across the street from Tom Paine's cottage, now a museum and monument. His words have a Kennedy esquee cadence, yes: “I call not upon a few, but upon all: not on this state or that state, but on every state: up and help us; lay your shoulders to the wheel; better have too much force than too little, when so great an object is at stake,” Paine wrote. “Let it be told to the future world, that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet and to repulse it.”
Hmmm…Peter, perhaps Kennedy the student and Paine the teacher? Paying it forward….🗽
Ted Sorenson the student of Paine, not Kennedy?
In reference to what is going on in congress. The NYT reported that Trump, who quickly endorsed the new deal (in order to keep the government for shutting down), had publicly turned against Mike Johnsons initial proposal after Elon Musk openly opposed it. Musk made more than 150 social media posts attacking the earlier deal, including threats of political retribution for anyone who voted for it. The deal’s failure was in part a display of Musk’s newfound political strength.
And the total corruption that accompanies unaccountable uses of great sums of money. Always has, always will.
I don’t really like it but we need to know this.
I disagree that the fault lies there; The fault lies properly upon any who weakly enact / vote for his ignorant ideas. What a damn freak he is.
Our Thomas Paine of the next four years- Dr. Heather Cox Richardson.
And proposed editor of the new constitution. A tighten up version to address:
Further qualifications of a president other then being US born and their age. Such as:
- Must be able to obtain a top secret clearance and not have been convicted of a felony. This is also for Vice President and Speaker of House. Direct lines to the presidency.
Address critical issues that we need guidance on, such as:
- Women’s right to choose what they can and cannot do with their body. Minimally addressing when a women’s life is in danger and pregnancy from incest and/or rape while also protecting the medical staff and hospitals/clinics performing these procedures. Both criminal and civil.
- clear separation of church and state. An Alabama senator can not be able, single handily, hold up military promotion based on religious beliefs.
- popular vote. This nation is tired of the few states electing the president and the gerrymandering that has evolved from this making the electoral college vulnerable, or of being stolen, as documented by the January 6th committee.
- second amendment change to clearly separate the right to bare arms for hunting and self defense from military style weapons and non-trackable guns. Our forefathers can not have imagined what a musket has evolved to and the damage it has done in our society.This will be handled through grandfather clauses yet the bullets and magazines of this military style guns will be made illegal to manufacture. We can’t be breaking down doors to grab these guns. But we can offer money for them to be turned in.
- a simple statement that this constitution recognizes the right to choose your sexual preference and identity including heterosexual. No more alphabet soup acronyms. ALL.
This great constitution has remain as a starting point for other countries and should remain as a starting point for our great nation. It’s non-specificity has been very powerful to this date but has now been abused by the rich, powerful, and church.
And what is worse, a felon that could never get a top secret clearance, who has twisted our Supreme Court to change our women’s right to allign to religious beliefs, who will allow assault weapons to shot off his other ear, or worse, and setting back EPA again,
He is representing the rich and powerful, while gaslighting the middle class.
And wants to be a dictator.
Time to tighten her up for another 250 years.
I propose Dr. Heather Cox Richardson to be our James Madison to make this happen with carefully selected, bi-partisan staff. There are good republicans out there very concerned about our constitution and what it has evolved to, indirectly.
Draft to be made available to all by 2026 and voted by The People if the desired changes be considered, and voted in, during the 2028 election.
Noble sentiments, John.
Dream on.
THANK YOU, first of all. We love, need, treasure, and value your knowledge and historical perspective. As I just said to my wife however, "Heather Cox Richardson's email is really, really important, interesting and educational. But, not bedtime stories". ANY chance you might consider setting to send in the morning, vs here in USA Mountain Time 9:45pm. In a world bereft with sleepless nights, I think you should consider morning sends vs evening. Even seeing the notification that your email has arrived stimulates the 'fight or flight' syndrome. Thank you!!!!
I almost always wait to read these wonderful letters in the morning
Me too with coffee
I have been known to stay up till 2 or. 3 to read them!
I live in the Pacific Northwet. I HAVE to wait for the morning to read it, otherwise my mind won't let me sleep. I love the days she posts it at much, much later times. Fewer comments shorten my morning and let me get more real work done.
I’m reading your comment at 10:28 AM Ally and I live near Atlanta, see my comment above about essays. We are participating no matter what time we do it, and I think that is a good thing. We are creating a community where 10 years ago there was none, it has been a spontaneous response to the threat we all feel and see. It’s like a seed releasing its energy after being dormant in the ground for decades or even centuries. Wildflower seeds sprout only when lying on the ground, if they are buried they wait until something exposes them. I think of all of us as wildflowers and there are a lot of us 💐🙏
Agreed, Dick! "a community where there was none" Yes we are!
Middle of the night is only time I have to deal with it. Otherwise I just wait….
"~~~What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.” I wonder if perhaps it's time to us to edit that statement to "What we have enjoyed for 250 years too easily, we esteem too lightly." It seems that since the end of WWII, while there has been upheaval & conflicts rage around the US, the country has enjoyed an astounding amount of good fortune. Too many have become complacent, too busy to care, to uninvolved to learn or pay attention to what is going on around us. Too many have turned off their brains & instead have been lead by false prophets, all kinds of false prophets~~~sports heroes that receive enormous salaries to play a damn game; politicians who are only in it for themselves; corporate boards that abuse employees & customers alike in pursuit of the almighty dollar, or will that be changed to BitCoin so that no one knows who has the money & where it has come from or who it is going to.
~~~ And speaking of false prophets, there are the churches & televangelists that promise all kinds of God's love if you only give one more dollar to praise him! I have to admit I do not know exactly how accurate what I will be telling you next is. I went to Catholic grammar school & when we learned about the Protestant Reformation we were told that one of the reasons Martin Luther broke from the Catholic church was because of the sale of indulgences, you know if you pay or contribute to the church you get a get out of hell free slip of paper that absolves you of your sins so that you can enter the pearly gates! And there probably was some anger, at the fat friars while the little people starved but still had to pay their tythe. And of course the literal fat cats at the top, the Bishops, Cardinals, Monsigniors, the Pope & his prelates had their jewels, their furs, their art works, their basilicas. You know what I"m talking about.
~~~So we have a whole new batch of false prophets working in the Re-Mag Party who seem to be happy to let Elon Musk run the show, or maybe I should say run the country into the ground!
It seems to me that religion that is humble and compassionate has been of historical value to humanity such as the faith of MLK or Gandhi as opposed to claim of religious privilege; the "divine right of kings" or the Spanish Inquisition being one of many examples. They are almost diametrically opposed, and got both King and Gandhi politically murdered. (Jesus as well, for that matter). We hear plenty from tyrants citing "religious" authority. I know that they don't speak for every variety of religious person. It seemed to me that in my youth, many churches were visible supporters of Civil Rights. Resistance to the demagoguery of modern Republicans has seemed far less visible to me, I continue to hope that such a voice might emerge and be heard. MAGA despises the kindness, anti-materialism, and inclusivity that is attributed by the Bible to Jesus.
We can take solace from Tom Paine, from Washington and his men, and from Heather.
Solace that words do matter.
That people will put their personal concerns for how democracy lets us treat each other fairly, decently, as fellow citizens. And if we remain true to this, some of us may console, inspire each other in this terrifically dark time when truly nihilist, cynical billionaires think they've a mandate to trample on our democracy, to eff us over, grow their wealth gap over us.
“The ancestor of every action is a thought.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
That last paragraph; that rings so true for today.
Perhaps a key to wisdom is knowing what you've got (and what's worth protecting) before it is gone.
We don't miss the water till the well runs dry.....
This is one of my favorite stories about the revolution, and it is relevant to today. General John Glover's regiment of men from Marblehead, MA, my home town, ferried many of Washington's men across the Delaware. When I think of those men, cold and ill clad, crossing the river at night, I think that we need to be willing to fight that hard for our democracy.
I fail to understand how anyone can hold President Biden accountable for refusing to take responsibility to keep Trump from taking office. Regardless of his personal thoughts and feelings, the people have spoken and he has sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution. Anyone who believes that "defense" of the Constitution means taking whatever means is necessary to keep someone whose credentials are questionable from assuming office is misreading the Constitution. That responsibility belongs with the House and Senate. I believe President Biden is acting wisely and taking the "High Road", which many in Washington seem to have a difficult time doing.
Agreed. Biden would be violating his oath of office if he took any step to block Trump's inauguration. It is up to the Congress to take such steps but of course they won't.
Agreed. Also, the electoral college is supposed to be the check against “mob of voters” electing a clearly unqualified doofus. Well, that check failed in 2016, and again in 2024.
The electors certified their votes I believe this week, right? Narry a news mention. The count of those certified votes is the formality on January 6, the casting and certification was (i think) this week. Or something like that.