December 2, 2020 (Wednesday) Yesterday evening, Trump’s disgraced former National Security Advisor, retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn-- whom Trump recently pardoned after he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with then-Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak before Trump took office-- retweeted a news release from a right-wing Ohio group called “We the People Convention.” That release contained a petition asking Trump to declare martial law, suspend the Constitution, silence the media, and have the military “oversee a national re-vote.”
Oh how incredibly ironic it is that Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, who stole the election from Stacey Abrams by using voter suppression, must now defend Georgia’s voter integrity!!!
Pardon me, but I can’t muster much compassion today for my fellow Americans who supported Republicans senatorial candidates in the recent election.
So much for the wisdom of those who voted against Trump but returned the Senate to McConnell & Co as a “check” on incoming President Biden. When I heard that rationale, I nearly became ill, as I see the results playing out today, my stomach churns and my heart aches.
Who among us here, at least those from my generation who grew up in the 60s, would have imagined the military as the last line of defense against a President and his political party run amok, standing up to the Commander in Chief and proclaiming in effect - not on our watch!
Our family has a long military tradition, dating back to before the American Revolution, so I have always had a strong measure of respect for those who sacrificed all to protect our liberty. But I have also been wary of the institution and its immense power.
And here we are today. For the first time in my life, I find myself taking comfort in the knowledge that our military will not permit a sitting President to oust his duly-elected successor, and realize just how slippery a slope it is from where we find ourselves today, to accepting if not supporting, the military leadership should it decide the time had come to oust a sitting President.
I do not believe it will happen this time, but I fear we have crossed an ominous threshold.
I've only seen clips of Trump's 46-minute, demented-loser rant. After raking in $170 million in a blatant con of his supporters, I'm sure he's looking forward to further fleecing of his cult by declaring his candidacy for 2024.
But I think this is much more of a defense mechanism for his trampled psyche. We've all read more than we ever thought we would about malignant narcissistic personality. Clearly, Trump's overwhelming defeat is a wounding that carries a depth of emotional pain we can't fathom. But who really cares after the damages he's inflicted and will continue to inflict?
To me, the biggest story is Senate Republicans and other GOP leaders not speaking out for the sanctity of an election long ago decided. Chuck Grassley, 87, and certainly in his last term, can't bring himself to say publicly that Biden has won. Trump can do him no harm. I don't understand the fear, nor the calculation these elected officials make in not defending what once was sacred. How do they sleep at night?
I'd like to advance an alternate theory for both Trump and the Republicans politicians supporting him. I think they are TRYING to destroy the government. Consciously. Deliberately.
Point: there is a strong thread of racism in the entire Trump phenomenon, based on the caste system of the US Southern States, which resulted in a civil war in the mid-1800's. The point of that war was -- quite explicitly -- to destroy the Yankee Government, and go back to state rule.
Point: the narrative theme of the modern Republican Party, with roots back in the Nine Words of Reagan (echoing racist sentiments going back to the Civil War) was eventually explained by Grover Norquist as the desire to "shrink the government until it can be drowned in a bathtub."
Point: no one -- to my knowledge -- has proffered ANY coherent explanation of how current Republican behavior serves the country. They've pretty much stopped even trying to explain their behavior in those terms.
Republicans represent people still carrying a blood-grudge over a military defeat a century-and-a-half ago (this is quite recent in blood-grudge terms). Republicans have SAID they want to drown the government in a bathtub: it's been their New Deal. The current Republican behavior is destabilizing the government.
I'm having trouble seeing this as a series of unfortunate coincidences....
Joseph Nye Welsh shook his head at McCarthy’s recklessness and cruelty and asked: “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?
This is what we need to hear from the senate floor. I find it hard to believe that there is no way to stop his behavior or Flynn's. He is a clear danger to our government and yet our elected Republican Senators are not standing up and saying, ENOUGH!
I was not going to post anything. I have enough on my plate today as I am attending the funeral of my second brother today (private, family only, social distancing). He had a long history of severe respiratory problems and was in and out of the ICU of their local hospital for over a week. He tested negative for COVID on admission to the hospital; however, he died without his wife and children with him due to visitation restrictions secondary to COVID. I know in my bones that his nurses and aides were there with him (I am a retired nurse) but we as medical staff are poor substitutes for family. I count his death as COVID related.
I too am perturbed by the rhetoric surrounding the election results, of the death threats and attempts to subvert the process. It seems overwhelming. I shake my head at the cowardice of those in the Republican Party who refuse to stand up to 45. My question to them is why do you want people to support you who threaten violence against other citizens. They can just as easily turn against you even if you toe their line.
My solution is to be a gadfly to Mr. McConnell who is unfortunately my senior senator. And by the way, thanks to the person who posted a couple of days ago asking what was wrong with Kentucky Republicans and did not throw all Kentuckians into the mix. However, much we may think our voices do not matter, we have to keep raising them in such a number we are too loud to ignore. I have already been sending daily emails to Mr. McConnell's office about the rhetoric surrounding the election results and also about COVID relief. I am one person with the most hated person in the US next to45 as my senator but I can be a gadfly. And by the way, I am constructing a letter to the Kentucky Democrat Party to needle them into more action.
Forgive any punctuation, spelling and format errors. This is a difficult day.
He might be doing so for the money—he has raised $170 million so far on promises to challenge this election—or because he is worried about the lawsuits he can expect as soon as he is not protected by the presidential office.
That's doors numbers 1 and 2. Door #3 has "both" on it, and that's the door I'll take, Monty.
At the risk of becoming redundant, everyone needs to memorize the following description of the modern American Right, researched by Dr. Theodore Adorno 71 years ago and described by Richard Hofstadter 65 years ago. The truth of the analysis is only more obvious today.
"Unlike most of the liberal dissent of the past, the new dissent not only has no respect for non-conformism, but is based upon a relentless demand for conformity. It can most accurately be called pseudo-conservative — I borrow the term from the study of The Authoritarian Personality published five years ago by Theodore W. Adorno and his associates — because its exponents, although they believe themselves to be conservatives and usually employ the rhetoric of conservatism, show signs of a serious and restless dissatisfaction with American life, traditions and institutions. They have little in common with the temperate and compromising spirit of true conservatism in the classical sense of the word, and they are far from pleased with the dominant practical conservatism of the moment as it is represented by the Eisenhower Administration. Their political reactions express rather a profound if largely unconscious hatred of our society and its ways — a hatred which one would hesitate to impute to them if one did not have suggestive clinical evidence.
"From clinical interviews and thematic apperception tests, Adorno and his co-workers found that their pseudo-conservative subjects, although given to a form of political expression that combines a curious mixture of largely conservative with occasional radical notions, succeed in concealing from themselves impulsive tendencies that, if released in action, would be very far from conservative. The pseudo-conservative, Adorno writes, shows “conventionality and authoritarian submissiveness” in his conscious thinking and “violence, anarchic impulses, and chaotic destructiveness in the unconscious sphere. . . . The pseudo conservative is a man who, in the name of upholding traditional American values and institutions and defending them against more or less fictitious dangers, consciously or unconsciously aims at their abolition.”
To me, trump's current behaviour, brooding in the dark, 46 minutes social media rants, pardons and threatening GOP opponents comes down to status, money and psychology.
Not coming out of his lair other than to go to his golf course represents both a need to hide from reality and to recharge his psychic batteries in a safe "comfort zone".
Rants on video release a bit of the extreme psychic tension resulting from exposure of his perversity and paranoia; a massive affront to his narcissism. They are a pathetic attempt to close the stable door after the horse has bolted, to show that his balloon isn't deflated. The resultant downplaying of the "speech" by all the media and lack of real impact on his "difficulties" will redouble his sense of betrayal by the media and both increase his angry frustration and inevitably deepen his depression caused by his growing impotence. Now he needs scapegoats! It, of course, isn't HIS fault!
The pardons have nothing to do with rewarding loyalty, but everything to do with showing his regal munificence and maintaining his patriarchal position in his family and close circle of "servants". I find it difficult to accept that his psychosis would allow him, however, to accept that he would need a pardon....having done only wonderful things for every "ungrateful son-of-a-bitch"....and as he as President can commit no crime!
Threats to all and sundry standing in his way would be par for the Bully's course; he knows no other way. He does not expect it to rectify the election errors but offers him the chance to push the button of similarly paranoiac, sycophantic followers and offer up to them human sacrifices.......bread and games in the election Coliseum!
As his troubled mind will double down on his own "divinity"and the normal "trappings" of such an elevated status, it is normal that he "tax" his "wage slaves" to the hilt in order to offer the vision of pomp and splendor fitting to his rank to his subjects. Nobody can get in the way of this natural process in his mind.....his lawyers will see to that.....and they need money to do the job.
Not a very thrilling prospect for the non-perverse, non-paranoiac other half of the population. However, as this fantasy plays out in Trump's mind somebody else is supposed to organize all this. He has decreed its necessity and rectitude. We are back to Henry 11 of England and his dear Archbishop of Canterbury! However, just like the absent 50,000 poll watchers, he has no tanks, no armies on the move and no General Patton to lead the charge. He will blame them all and devote his life to fighting the courts and taking vengeance on the GOP that just sat on their hands and played the 3 wise monkeys when he needed them to move their rear ends! And with this the constant rant "I will be back"....to make you all pay!
Every day, I think that there can’t possibly be news that is more shocking, damaging and disheartening than what we have witnessed the day before and then we are subjected to shocking, damaging, disheartening news, yet again. This morning, I read the news about General Flynn sharing the call for martial law, suspension of the Constitution and a demand for a re-vote. This was astonishing and I have been thinking about it all day. I knew he was a treasonous liar, but there must be some sound reasons that he achieved the rank of general and, yet, here he is, a week after he is pardoned for lying and deceit, living up to his pardon bargain with Trump in spades by publicly promoting sedition. Then I hear about the rally in Georgia at which Lin Wood and Sydney Powell called out election officials by name and urged Republicans not to vote, since their votes won’t be secure. Honestly, hearing them urging Republicans not to vote made me laugh out loud, but it was still astonishing. Then, I hear about the dozens of in-house Christmas parties that Trump, Pompeo and others are hosting, which really ticked me off. All of this news, capped off by the grim Coronavirus data, made for another horrible day for America. This is all absolutely crazy and exhausting. And, of course, you have covered it all so well in your daily Letter, Heather. I think that I need to reduce my news consumption and simply read your communication. I can take only so much shock and astonishment in my life and this is all is bat $#*t crazy.
I have also been thinking about all of this in relation to the Questions you posed this week, Heather, about themes in our country’s history and how we might write a new narrative. It is all intertwined, of course. To write a new, more positive narrative, we - the big “we” - need to have a significant shift in many of our persistent themes, our priorities, our institutions and the power structure in this country. Just for starters, we need to change the theme of white supremacy and racism that is woven into every aspect of our country and its institutions. And we need to elect capable, ethical representatives at all levels of our State and federal government. If we don’t do those things, at a minimum, it is going to be very difficult to change or improve our direction and forge a more just and equitable future.
It is way past time when all of us ought to call out the Republican Party - especially their leadership - for aiding and abetting the president's heinous aspirations. Since when have we not understood that "Silence is consent"?To meet their
unequivocally thunderous public silence in response to Agent Chaos's traitorous provocations with vacuous silence --instead of the People's inescapable "No" "How Dare You!" "Shame shame shame!"-- is to leave the "field of sound" reverberating with an unacceptable tone of faux helplessness and denial. In anticipation to those who say - oh, no, that would be more fuel for the fire - it would alienate those crazed millions and bring out the guns! Which is along the same vein of avoidance of drawing a line that has afflicted our governments' past leadership - witness, the barons of Wall Street off scot free from society's (once judicial) requirement to suffer consequences for hurting others, lots of others in 2008. When unlawful behavior by mis-"leadership" by the Peoples' elected representatives is not named in the public arena for what it is --"traitorous complicity by Silence" -- where do you think all that corrupted energy goes? Do you think it just disappears into thin air? Is it not similar to telling your daughter who was just molested by her kind old uncle, "oh, darling, he didn't mean it. Let's not have any more talk of this." Someone wise has said - if you want your "yes" then you must first claim your "no." You can't have your "yes" (to justice) without your "no" (to irresponsibility). We can't have our "yes" to liberty without our "no" to ir-responsibility. Liberty requires responsibility. Right Action. Truth. Justice.
Is it possible to charge Flynn with inciting violence and attempting yo over throw the government? His ties to Russia were treasonous and should have been charged as such not just for lying to the FBI. Its not even been a week and he is at it again.
In fact, why cant Trump be charged? Words matter. When the words of a President are based on lies and conspiracies intended to overturn election results, democracy and incite violence, something must be done.
We need to stop Republicans attack on our democracy by supporting the run off election in Georgia and taking power away from McConnell. Donate to Jon Ossoff and Rev. Warnock
I am so incensed and I feel so powerless in this black mark on our history with all this sedition and treason and outright disruption, and threatened destruction of our constitution by a crazy man, who is raising millions for this ridiculous onslaught on America and our systems. Firing Chris Krebs, who was in charge of oversight of our elections and who attested to the veracity of the 2020 national presidential elections as one of the most secure. And yet over 40 wasteful and costly lawsuits which Trump instigated and only for one slight favorable ruling there has no gain of any votes or electoral college advantage.
In fact, Biden gained votes in the several recounts Trump demanded.
Worse it is like watching a play in an insane asylum with a terribly inadequate and false speaking cast of characters.
Vehement attacks on many legislators including GOP lawmakers and including one Trump Lawyer, Joe diGenova calling for Chris Krebs to be “taken out at dawn and shot.” Mind you, Chris Krebs did everything right. As did other GOP legislators who would not lie about fraud for Trump are also now peppered with death threats.
I cannot believe my country is being torn apart by this craziness; insanity really. Most of the GOP is silent amidst all of this.
These people work for us...they are not doing their job for us...this is a government “of the people, by the people, for the people” and we, the people are responsible for standing up for our constitution (I vote for non-violently- while many on Trump’s side are threatening violence). After 200 years, we have a mad man for president these 4 years who has literally attacked our constitution and our pillars of government.
We are in midst of the worst worldwide pandemic and the number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths has escalated to unbelievable proportions and rising daily. And Trump has no word to any family or any of us unless she tries to take credit for a stock market number of positive news of vaccines.
And he still has the nuclear codes?
And what is he going to do with pardons?
A lot can happen in 50 days and he has dismantled a lot of the pentagon staff and we have junior lower level Trump loyalists acting in the running of our national defense and security.
The hate and greed was always there. Trump is just the willing poster boy for it. So this is the country we’ve ALWAYS lived in and the BS we bought. There is nothing different here, only now the dragon has left the den and it’s reared it’s ugly head for us to see.
NOW we can face it finally and create something different....
Let’s build it together, not by focusing on the dragon, but by courageously pushing forward.
Like in the jaws movie...keep swimming to the pier, DON’T look back. We can do this as long as we don’t focus on fear and we create what we want. Stay strong and sure my friends!
Yes, Trump sees this as a reality TV event, his followers believe him. People are speaking out, yet the GOP in Congress, particularly Mitch McConnell, say nothing. As if they really do not care. Where are the Republicans who united with Democrats, finally, to take away Joseph McCarthy’s power, and who worked with Democrats to tell Nixon he must go? They have disappeared. Now there are Trumpublicans, who have broken their oath to defend the Constitution. There are still scary times.
Could anyone be induced to invoke the 25th Amendment as Trump's connection with reality is miniscule and he rants on and one with lies.? The Emperor has no clothes!
Oh how incredibly ironic it is that Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, who stole the election from Stacey Abrams by using voter suppression, must now defend Georgia’s voter integrity!!!
Pardon me, but I can’t muster much compassion today for my fellow Americans who supported Republicans senatorial candidates in the recent election.
So much for the wisdom of those who voted against Trump but returned the Senate to McConnell & Co as a “check” on incoming President Biden. When I heard that rationale, I nearly became ill, as I see the results playing out today, my stomach churns and my heart aches.
Who among us here, at least those from my generation who grew up in the 60s, would have imagined the military as the last line of defense against a President and his political party run amok, standing up to the Commander in Chief and proclaiming in effect - not on our watch!
Our family has a long military tradition, dating back to before the American Revolution, so I have always had a strong measure of respect for those who sacrificed all to protect our liberty. But I have also been wary of the institution and its immense power.
And here we are today. For the first time in my life, I find myself taking comfort in the knowledge that our military will not permit a sitting President to oust his duly-elected successor, and realize just how slippery a slope it is from where we find ourselves today, to accepting if not supporting, the military leadership should it decide the time had come to oust a sitting President.
I do not believe it will happen this time, but I fear we have crossed an ominous threshold.
I've only seen clips of Trump's 46-minute, demented-loser rant. After raking in $170 million in a blatant con of his supporters, I'm sure he's looking forward to further fleecing of his cult by declaring his candidacy for 2024.
But I think this is much more of a defense mechanism for his trampled psyche. We've all read more than we ever thought we would about malignant narcissistic personality. Clearly, Trump's overwhelming defeat is a wounding that carries a depth of emotional pain we can't fathom. But who really cares after the damages he's inflicted and will continue to inflict?
To me, the biggest story is Senate Republicans and other GOP leaders not speaking out for the sanctity of an election long ago decided. Chuck Grassley, 87, and certainly in his last term, can't bring himself to say publicly that Biden has won. Trump can do him no harm. I don't understand the fear, nor the calculation these elected officials make in not defending what once was sacred. How do they sleep at night?
I'd like to advance an alternate theory for both Trump and the Republicans politicians supporting him. I think they are TRYING to destroy the government. Consciously. Deliberately.
Point: there is a strong thread of racism in the entire Trump phenomenon, based on the caste system of the US Southern States, which resulted in a civil war in the mid-1800's. The point of that war was -- quite explicitly -- to destroy the Yankee Government, and go back to state rule.
Point: the narrative theme of the modern Republican Party, with roots back in the Nine Words of Reagan (echoing racist sentiments going back to the Civil War) was eventually explained by Grover Norquist as the desire to "shrink the government until it can be drowned in a bathtub."
Point: no one -- to my knowledge -- has proffered ANY coherent explanation of how current Republican behavior serves the country. They've pretty much stopped even trying to explain their behavior in those terms.
Republicans represent people still carrying a blood-grudge over a military defeat a century-and-a-half ago (this is quite recent in blood-grudge terms). Republicans have SAID they want to drown the government in a bathtub: it's been their New Deal. The current Republican behavior is destabilizing the government.
I'm having trouble seeing this as a series of unfortunate coincidences....
Joseph Nye Welsh shook his head at McCarthy’s recklessness and cruelty and asked: “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?
This is what we need to hear from the senate floor. I find it hard to believe that there is no way to stop his behavior or Flynn's. He is a clear danger to our government and yet our elected Republican Senators are not standing up and saying, ENOUGH!
I was not going to post anything. I have enough on my plate today as I am attending the funeral of my second brother today (private, family only, social distancing). He had a long history of severe respiratory problems and was in and out of the ICU of their local hospital for over a week. He tested negative for COVID on admission to the hospital; however, he died without his wife and children with him due to visitation restrictions secondary to COVID. I know in my bones that his nurses and aides were there with him (I am a retired nurse) but we as medical staff are poor substitutes for family. I count his death as COVID related.
I too am perturbed by the rhetoric surrounding the election results, of the death threats and attempts to subvert the process. It seems overwhelming. I shake my head at the cowardice of those in the Republican Party who refuse to stand up to 45. My question to them is why do you want people to support you who threaten violence against other citizens. They can just as easily turn against you even if you toe their line.
My solution is to be a gadfly to Mr. McConnell who is unfortunately my senior senator. And by the way, thanks to the person who posted a couple of days ago asking what was wrong with Kentucky Republicans and did not throw all Kentuckians into the mix. However, much we may think our voices do not matter, we have to keep raising them in such a number we are too loud to ignore. I have already been sending daily emails to Mr. McConnell's office about the rhetoric surrounding the election results and also about COVID relief. I am one person with the most hated person in the US next to45 as my senator but I can be a gadfly. And by the way, I am constructing a letter to the Kentucky Democrat Party to needle them into more action.
Forgive any punctuation, spelling and format errors. This is a difficult day.
He might be doing so for the money—he has raised $170 million so far on promises to challenge this election—or because he is worried about the lawsuits he can expect as soon as he is not protected by the presidential office.
That's doors numbers 1 and 2. Door #3 has "both" on it, and that's the door I'll take, Monty.
At the risk of becoming redundant, everyone needs to memorize the following description of the modern American Right, researched by Dr. Theodore Adorno 71 years ago and described by Richard Hofstadter 65 years ago. The truth of the analysis is only more obvious today.
"Unlike most of the liberal dissent of the past, the new dissent not only has no respect for non-conformism, but is based upon a relentless demand for conformity. It can most accurately be called pseudo-conservative — I borrow the term from the study of The Authoritarian Personality published five years ago by Theodore W. Adorno and his associates — because its exponents, although they believe themselves to be conservatives and usually employ the rhetoric of conservatism, show signs of a serious and restless dissatisfaction with American life, traditions and institutions. They have little in common with the temperate and compromising spirit of true conservatism in the classical sense of the word, and they are far from pleased with the dominant practical conservatism of the moment as it is represented by the Eisenhower Administration. Their political reactions express rather a profound if largely unconscious hatred of our society and its ways — a hatred which one would hesitate to impute to them if one did not have suggestive clinical evidence.
"From clinical interviews and thematic apperception tests, Adorno and his co-workers found that their pseudo-conservative subjects, although given to a form of political expression that combines a curious mixture of largely conservative with occasional radical notions, succeed in concealing from themselves impulsive tendencies that, if released in action, would be very far from conservative. The pseudo-conservative, Adorno writes, shows “conventionality and authoritarian submissiveness” in his conscious thinking and “violence, anarchic impulses, and chaotic destructiveness in the unconscious sphere. . . . The pseudo conservative is a man who, in the name of upholding traditional American values and institutions and defending them against more or less fictitious dangers, consciously or unconsciously aims at their abolition.”
To me, trump's current behaviour, brooding in the dark, 46 minutes social media rants, pardons and threatening GOP opponents comes down to status, money and psychology.
Not coming out of his lair other than to go to his golf course represents both a need to hide from reality and to recharge his psychic batteries in a safe "comfort zone".
Rants on video release a bit of the extreme psychic tension resulting from exposure of his perversity and paranoia; a massive affront to his narcissism. They are a pathetic attempt to close the stable door after the horse has bolted, to show that his balloon isn't deflated. The resultant downplaying of the "speech" by all the media and lack of real impact on his "difficulties" will redouble his sense of betrayal by the media and both increase his angry frustration and inevitably deepen his depression caused by his growing impotence. Now he needs scapegoats! It, of course, isn't HIS fault!
The pardons have nothing to do with rewarding loyalty, but everything to do with showing his regal munificence and maintaining his patriarchal position in his family and close circle of "servants". I find it difficult to accept that his psychosis would allow him, however, to accept that he would need a pardon....having done only wonderful things for every "ungrateful son-of-a-bitch"....and as he as President can commit no crime!
Threats to all and sundry standing in his way would be par for the Bully's course; he knows no other way. He does not expect it to rectify the election errors but offers him the chance to push the button of similarly paranoiac, sycophantic followers and offer up to them human sacrifices.......bread and games in the election Coliseum!
As his troubled mind will double down on his own "divinity"and the normal "trappings" of such an elevated status, it is normal that he "tax" his "wage slaves" to the hilt in order to offer the vision of pomp and splendor fitting to his rank to his subjects. Nobody can get in the way of this natural process in his mind.....his lawyers will see to that.....and they need money to do the job.
Not a very thrilling prospect for the non-perverse, non-paranoiac other half of the population. However, as this fantasy plays out in Trump's mind somebody else is supposed to organize all this. He has decreed its necessity and rectitude. We are back to Henry 11 of England and his dear Archbishop of Canterbury! However, just like the absent 50,000 poll watchers, he has no tanks, no armies on the move and no General Patton to lead the charge. He will blame them all and devote his life to fighting the courts and taking vengeance on the GOP that just sat on their hands and played the 3 wise monkeys when he needed them to move their rear ends! And with this the constant rant "I will be back"....to make you all pay!
Every day, I think that there can’t possibly be news that is more shocking, damaging and disheartening than what we have witnessed the day before and then we are subjected to shocking, damaging, disheartening news, yet again. This morning, I read the news about General Flynn sharing the call for martial law, suspension of the Constitution and a demand for a re-vote. This was astonishing and I have been thinking about it all day. I knew he was a treasonous liar, but there must be some sound reasons that he achieved the rank of general and, yet, here he is, a week after he is pardoned for lying and deceit, living up to his pardon bargain with Trump in spades by publicly promoting sedition. Then I hear about the rally in Georgia at which Lin Wood and Sydney Powell called out election officials by name and urged Republicans not to vote, since their votes won’t be secure. Honestly, hearing them urging Republicans not to vote made me laugh out loud, but it was still astonishing. Then, I hear about the dozens of in-house Christmas parties that Trump, Pompeo and others are hosting, which really ticked me off. All of this news, capped off by the grim Coronavirus data, made for another horrible day for America. This is all absolutely crazy and exhausting. And, of course, you have covered it all so well in your daily Letter, Heather. I think that I need to reduce my news consumption and simply read your communication. I can take only so much shock and astonishment in my life and this is all is bat $#*t crazy.
I have also been thinking about all of this in relation to the Questions you posed this week, Heather, about themes in our country’s history and how we might write a new narrative. It is all intertwined, of course. To write a new, more positive narrative, we - the big “we” - need to have a significant shift in many of our persistent themes, our priorities, our institutions and the power structure in this country. Just for starters, we need to change the theme of white supremacy and racism that is woven into every aspect of our country and its institutions. And we need to elect capable, ethical representatives at all levels of our State and federal government. If we don’t do those things, at a minimum, it is going to be very difficult to change or improve our direction and forge a more just and equitable future.
It is way past time when all of us ought to call out the Republican Party - especially their leadership - for aiding and abetting the president's heinous aspirations. Since when have we not understood that "Silence is consent"?To meet their
unequivocally thunderous public silence in response to Agent Chaos's traitorous provocations with vacuous silence --instead of the People's inescapable "No" "How Dare You!" "Shame shame shame!"-- is to leave the "field of sound" reverberating with an unacceptable tone of faux helplessness and denial. In anticipation to those who say - oh, no, that would be more fuel for the fire - it would alienate those crazed millions and bring out the guns! Which is along the same vein of avoidance of drawing a line that has afflicted our governments' past leadership - witness, the barons of Wall Street off scot free from society's (once judicial) requirement to suffer consequences for hurting others, lots of others in 2008. When unlawful behavior by mis-"leadership" by the Peoples' elected representatives is not named in the public arena for what it is --"traitorous complicity by Silence" -- where do you think all that corrupted energy goes? Do you think it just disappears into thin air? Is it not similar to telling your daughter who was just molested by her kind old uncle, "oh, darling, he didn't mean it. Let's not have any more talk of this." Someone wise has said - if you want your "yes" then you must first claim your "no." You can't have your "yes" (to justice) without your "no" (to irresponsibility). We can't have our "yes" to liberty without our "no" to ir-responsibility. Liberty requires responsibility. Right Action. Truth. Justice.
Is it possible to charge Flynn with inciting violence and attempting yo over throw the government? His ties to Russia were treasonous and should have been charged as such not just for lying to the FBI. Its not even been a week and he is at it again.
In fact, why cant Trump be charged? Words matter. When the words of a President are based on lies and conspiracies intended to overturn election results, democracy and incite violence, something must be done.
We need to stop Republicans attack on our democracy by supporting the run off election in Georgia and taking power away from McConnell. Donate to Jon Ossoff and Rev. Warnock
Thank you for writing this.
I am so incensed and I feel so powerless in this black mark on our history with all this sedition and treason and outright disruption, and threatened destruction of our constitution by a crazy man, who is raising millions for this ridiculous onslaught on America and our systems. Firing Chris Krebs, who was in charge of oversight of our elections and who attested to the veracity of the 2020 national presidential elections as one of the most secure. And yet over 40 wasteful and costly lawsuits which Trump instigated and only for one slight favorable ruling there has no gain of any votes or electoral college advantage.
In fact, Biden gained votes in the several recounts Trump demanded.
Worse it is like watching a play in an insane asylum with a terribly inadequate and false speaking cast of characters.
Vehement attacks on many legislators including GOP lawmakers and including one Trump Lawyer, Joe diGenova calling for Chris Krebs to be “taken out at dawn and shot.” Mind you, Chris Krebs did everything right. As did other GOP legislators who would not lie about fraud for Trump are also now peppered with death threats.
I cannot believe my country is being torn apart by this craziness; insanity really. Most of the GOP is silent amidst all of this.
These people work for us...they are not doing their job for us...this is a government “of the people, by the people, for the people” and we, the people are responsible for standing up for our constitution (I vote for non-violently- while many on Trump’s side are threatening violence). After 200 years, we have a mad man for president these 4 years who has literally attacked our constitution and our pillars of government.
We are in midst of the worst worldwide pandemic and the number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths has escalated to unbelievable proportions and rising daily. And Trump has no word to any family or any of us unless she tries to take credit for a stock market number of positive news of vaccines.
And he still has the nuclear codes?
And what is he going to do with pardons?
A lot can happen in 50 days and he has dismantled a lot of the pentagon staff and we have junior lower level Trump loyalists acting in the running of our national defense and security.
We should all be scared! I am!
The hate and greed was always there. Trump is just the willing poster boy for it. So this is the country we’ve ALWAYS lived in and the BS we bought. There is nothing different here, only now the dragon has left the den and it’s reared it’s ugly head for us to see.
NOW we can face it finally and create something different....
Let’s build it together, not by focusing on the dragon, but by courageously pushing forward.
Like in the jaws movie...keep swimming to the pier, DON’T look back. We can do this as long as we don’t focus on fear and we create what we want. Stay strong and sure my friends!
Yes, Trump sees this as a reality TV event, his followers believe him. People are speaking out, yet the GOP in Congress, particularly Mitch McConnell, say nothing. As if they really do not care. Where are the Republicans who united with Democrats, finally, to take away Joseph McCarthy’s power, and who worked with Democrats to tell Nixon he must go? They have disappeared. Now there are Trumpublicans, who have broken their oath to defend the Constitution. There are still scary times.
Could anyone be induced to invoke the 25th Amendment as Trump's connection with reality is miniscule and he rants on and one with lies.? The Emperor has no clothes!
QUESTION:
Breathes there the man, with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land!
Whose heart hath ne’er within him burn’d,
As home his footsteps he hath turn’d,
From wandering on a foreign strand!
If such there breathe, go, mark him well;
For him no Minstrel raptures swell;
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim;
Despite those titles, power, and pelf,
The wretch, concentred all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonour’d, and unsung.
~ Sir Walter Scott
ANSWER: Yes.