On this day in December 1783, General George Washington stood in front of the Confederation Congress, meeting in the senate chamber of the Maryland State House, to resign his wartime commission.
That first president so much closer to Cincinnatus, so famous for the power he gave up.
Trump is of course his diametrical opposite -- but for the very simple reason that America finally grew a class of billionaires who fed only on the cancers of commercialism: the most cynical packaging, numbering, labeling, commodifying, and monetization of all life.
America, where the greatest universities in the world reigned from the Justin Morrill land grant legislation of 1862 to the Powell memo of 1971, when the rich united in gutting, rotting, turning the best inside out instead for schools of business -- for bankers, standardized testers, phalanxes of totally dehumanized fellow predators.
Yes, there's a fat, orange Donald Trump -- in such contrast to Washington. But there's such a deep, extensive, festering history buoying the fat orange one.
A true leader, intent on public service, will turn over the job at the end of their term of office or when there is a better successor. A megalomaniac will assume, true or false, that there is no better leader. Couple that psychopathy with wanting to beat the charges against them by self-pardoning or targeting their enemies and we have one possible prediction for 2025.
One loves country and the ideal of social justice and the other has an ego caught in a pernicious feedback loop, sort of the character equivalent of what happens when a PA system microphone is too close to the speakers.
Washington was both wealthy and a slave holder, so let us not forget that. He returned to his plantation wealth off the backs of slave labor. That is not social justice. That is racism and horror. Washington was wealthy from land speculation and slavery. Pretty much the circumstances that Trump wants to return us to.
The difference pointed out is that he did not choose or need to be a dictator for his lifestyle to be privileged and supported by the country in which he lived.
Something I was actually taught in high school in the early 1960s was a German word "Zeitgeist." Literally "Time Spirit" in that we can't judge ppl outside of the time in which they lived.
Yes, it was wrong to own other humans. It was wrong that Mrs. Washington was subservient to the will of her husband and did not own property without his blessing in the 18th Century. In earlier centuries it was wrong that witches were burned for causing plagues and that the Catholic Church burned Heretics.
And, in the century which I was raised, It was wrong that women couldn't vote. It was wrong that Atheists, could not hold public office (despite the First Amendment) & that homosexuals could be put in prison and not allowed to serve in the military or police department and that black ppl were subservient to white ppl and the law prevented them from intermarrying until 1967 in many states.
Right now in some way shape or form most Americans are beneficiaries of child labor/slave labor that help manufacture some of our consumer products. It's so easy to point at historical figures and find culpability, but we turn a blind eye on ourselves today.
Yet we must know our history to not repeat it. Therefore we are called upon to use judgement as change is inevitable, which I see the present ‘far wrong radical hate mongering’ republicans want, no really insist upon having a clock in place that runs historically backwards.
This is a concept that I have used with my adult children when they object to something that I did as a young adult. "You weren't there; so, you can't understand how it was."
Fast forward to the 20th century. I was a small boy in Texas in 1946 when my mother complained to me how the husband legally had complete control over the community property that they owned. Of course, I sided with my mother and trace my advocacy to equal rights for females back to that time. The law later changed, giving wives equal control over the couple's community property. It's true, the context has to be taken in the times in question. Fast forward. Women are still amazingly put down by Islam and the Roman Catholic Church. Without advocacy, nothing changes.
As when my friend justified Female Genital Mutilation by saying it belongs to a culture, Zeitgeist does not excuse the atrocious things people do, nor does Culture. While I can see it within his times, it does not make Washington more noble that he accepts people as less than human. I find both Washington and Trump to be evil characters. https://www.un.org/en/observances/decade-people-african-descent/slave-trade
The deaths of 15 million of any group cannot just be seen as an acceptable behavior because of the Zeitgeist. We can always judge the times in which people lived and the fact that they do not see through it. I am less sympathetic to using the Zeitgeist as an acceptable excuse since I have been watching Hotel Europe (Nazi rise to power in Germany along the Rhinelands), World on Fire (WWII from the point of view of Polish, British, English and French characters which included Black, Gay, Jewish and "handicapped" characters), as well as Berlin Wall (set in 1987-1989 DDR, and focusing on the illegal trade deals made between leaders in the DDR and others). Resistance has been a theme in all of these series which is why Zeitgeist does not excuse everyone. I wonder whether people will be using the term "Zeitgeist" in accepting that millions of Americans are devoted to Donald Trump. So, we can judge people, even if we do not personally understand the things that compelled rich, White men to take advantage of their privilege in oppressing others.
I've read that when Washington was elected first President of the United States, people wondered how to refer to him. Many wanted him to be king, called 'your Highness' or other lofty titles, but he insisted that he just be called "Mr. President" or better yet, "Mr. Washington".
Despite his flaws, he was a totally sincere, caring, brilliant individual who loved his country and who set a pattern of statesmanship for all. His memory, and what he gave to America, should be cherished.
Yes, and from 1872-2017 a statue of Roger Taney, the fifth chief justice of the Supreme Court, stood outside the statehouse. Taney wrote the majority opinion in the Dred Scott case, which ruled that black people—regardless of whether or not they were slaves—could not be considered citizens of the United States.
Enslaved people built some of the buildings and worked in the seminary I attended in 2018-20, Virginia Theological Seminary. They have established an endowment fund for reparation payments to descendants of those people, whom they have begun searching for.
Linda: You are right of course to remind me--I need to remember that part of Washington’s story too. The stain of chattel slavery marks our country. Washington had his huge estate where everything was done for him by people he “owned.” They had no choices. He probably had slaves with him when he was a general. Washington had a lot to protect for his own sake. I am grateful for the founding of our country but I also need to remember our founders were not saints.
He definitely had William Lee, his body man or valet, with him throughout the war and we know he had a cadre of slaves with him in Philadelphia when he was president. They are vividly remembered at the Washington house display on the mall in Philadelphia, right next to the Liberty Bell pavilion, if you're ever there. He had to send them back to Virginia every six months for a different set or else, under Pennsylvania law, he would have had to free them.
I also note: Washington was white. I happen to be a big fan of Washington as well as John Adams (who did not have a slave per se), neither of whom were concerned about the enslaved humans in America or women or the Native Americans. In fact Washington began the process of wiping out the Native people of America.
But?? I have a friend who often tells me: "Hey, Nobody's Perfect". He usually says this in the context of a conversation around Hitler or something to be funny.
But, it is actually true. Those guys who were wedded to the British mindset of white, male superiority CAN be judged, but, as Jeri notes below, we are all partly a product of our times.
So was Washington. For better and for worse.
And? Nobody is Perfect.
Plus, now we have Clarence Thomas (thanks Biden) and his massive clerkship nuts out there influencing things. Thomas makes Washington look like an angel from Heaven.
I think it hardly fair to blame Clarence Thomas on Biden. Who nominated this pathetic man to replace Thurgood Marshall but HW,whose father Prescott was involved in the rise of Nazi Germany. And attempting to remove FDR from office, using Smedley Butler.
I read it this morning. Horrifying!! There is NO way this corrupt SCOTUS judge will ever face consequences or even pay taxes on his ill gotten luxuries. Even his luxury forays with his loyal #&**(*%!'s are funded by billionaire right wingers. Really Scary!!!
The commenter thanking sarcastically Biden (whom I am a supporter of and will vote for again) refers to his chairing the committee who heard Anita Hill testify and still voted for him to take a seat on the SCOTUS. Biden has since apologized to Dr. Hill. At the very least he demonstrates growth and humility.
Now is a time that challenges each of us. Security is a delectable illusion while the dynamics of 'extended families', gang mentalities, and IN networks function as norms that slow progress. At the same time, other networks are building that fortify ways of being that are simply kind, that nurture reciprocity, and that are respectful of land and critters (outside of hierarchical power).
See the movie "Amsterdam" or Google Smedley Butler if you want to learn a little more about Butler and the Industrialists' attempted coup. They tried to use Butler for cover but he blew the whistle on them instead. Vey admirable.
His vision was, however, for a man of his times, exceptional as was that of all of those who pledged their “lives, fortunes, and sacred honor.” That is courage and foresight which are rare characteristics in anyone at any time.
Washington was a man of his time. It doesn’t serve us to judge him by today’s standards. It doesn’t hurt to add that he owned slaves or that he didn’t respect the humanity of the indigenous population. That is fact. But those facts do not diminish the fact also he was a great man and if not for his actions, our country would not exist as independent nation.
Indeed, Linda: the "nobility" of the slave-holding members of the Continental Congress (including the, for me, ultimate hypocrite, Thomas Jefferson) and the "altruism" of the nascent robber barons from the northern colonies who profited from enslaved people's labor has to be measured against their bigotry and persistence in traumatizing an entire population for their own comforts. If you want to read a very good book about the contrasts within the Washington household, I recommend Erica Armstrong Dunbar's book, "Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge."
I came across a used book once; "Jefferson's Letters" which shows some first-person history, and he actually did anguish over slave holding in his writings to ppl in France, where he met free blacks who demonstrated intelligence which he did not see in his slaves.
I have donated that book to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture, but had transcribed some excerpts.
Here is one letter:
To M. Henri Gregoire, Bishop and Senator, Paris.
Washington, February 25, 1809
Sir, - I have received the favor of your letter of August 17th, and with it the volume you were so kind as to send me on the "Literature of Negroes." Be assured that no person living wishes more sincerely than I do, to see a complete refutation of the doubts I have myself entertained and expressed on the grade of understanding allotted to them by nature, and to find that in this respect they are on a par with ourselves. My doubts were the result of personal observation on the limited sphere of my own State, where the opportunities of the development of their genius were not favorable, and those of exercising it still less so. I expressed them therefore with great hesitation; but whatever be their degree of talent it is no measure of their rights. Because Sir Isaac Newton was superior to others in understanding, he was not therefore lord of the person or property of others. On this subject they are gaining daily in the opinions of nations, and hopeful advances are making towards their re-establishment on an equal footing with the other colors of the human family. I pray you therefore to accept my thanks for the many instances you have enabled me to observe of respectable intelligence in that race of men, which cannot fail to have effect in hastening the day of their relief.
This entire nation was “built on the backs of” those who lived here centuries before anyone from England, Spain, Russia, etc ever landed on these shores.
You want “on the backs of”? read of the thousands who died just from the diseases Spaniards brought to the Southwest.
It is why I get angry at EU countries whining about their immigrant problem, when they were happy to take Marshall Funds off of the USA whose money was made off of the backs that people in the EU do not want in their countries, let alone all of the countries who got rich off of exploiting African countries and peoples. I feel the same way about US citizens who complain about refugees coming here. They don't know their history, and DeSatan denying it will not make it go away, but they won't learn it. I know that this nation was built by many groups of people and not all of them get credit for it, or are treated like they belong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. I was taught that Washington was honorable because he chopped down the cherry tree and told his father, "I cannot tell a lie. I chopped down the cherry tree." That is what I remember from that story, told to me in first, second and third grade. The noble "Father of our Country!" Luckily I went to college in a time when we deconstructed these myths.
That Washington became The Distiller for America, which surely must have played a factor in the launching of the Militias towards Western PA in response to The Whiskey Rebellion of 1791-4.
However, when his 2nd term was coming to an end, rather than listen to those admirers and synchophants around the small Country who want to make his term 'for Life' and more monarchal, George again responded as Cinncinatus for the 2nd time.
There are those who do not realized that 'Branding' comes from personal character, too. His Orangeness is not as savvy of a brander as he thinks. His brand will live long in the company of a Benedict Arnold, not of a George Washington.
George, I would not have been a slave holder, but a slave! In Nazi Germany, while not Jewish the fate of Brown German children could take several paths, such as being made to perform naked in movies swinging from vines, and sterlization and perhaps the death camp, but I would not be differentiated from Romani people. Might just have had to face a lot of racism each day, even though my non-German parent might have been in Germany as a relic of their African colonies.
He IS that shocking shriek we keep on hearing. We must silence that obnoxious assault on our brains through our collective speech, our actions and our VOTES.
He's a crook. He invaded the White House, and as such a thing had never happened before, nobody knew what to do about it. It was so contrary to all the standards set up by Washington and maintained, for better and worse, ever since. The elevator. The glamorous exotic wife. The shadowy sidekicks. Did it really happen? What was it that really happened?
Too many today don't read books, but let the social media billionaires suck them into the mosh pits of divisiveness, group labeling, and massive black holes of loneliness.
If they don't read books, easy for them to fall for seeing others as menacing, abstracted foreign entities, rather than as individuals which good books and decent literacy help us nurture.
So many dictators, nationalists, and such feeding on the vulnerable, Anne-Louise.
Hate to use the cliché 'dumbing down of America' , but it's true, and it's accelerating.
Much, if not all, of MAGA's outrage stems from visually entertaining communication. Reading comprehension in this country is dismal and there's few alarms sounding about it; the oligarchs are fine with that.
I like your "mosh pits of diviseness, group labeling, and massive black holes of loneliness." It gave me a new thought....what if the adults had stayed out of the children's play ground, if moms hadn't gleefully invaded Facebook land and Dad didn't think twittering made him cool...just imagine ..... We have a deficit of adults. We have a lot of old immature and unlearned people. Now we have a bunch of rebellious, angry teenagers mad that there are rules in place to keep chaos at bay.
Jenn, iirc, didn’t he pay someone to go get those poor people *in Texas*, and fly them to MV? And he thinks no one will use that against him? Like, I dunno, Other Republicans?
My daughter recently moved back to Maine from Jacksonville. Her class was the second one to attend the high school for all four years. Within a year after the school opened it was already above the 1500 student capacity. She had excellent teachers there and the school board was very supportive of all of the schools in the district. There was never a discussion of banning books or ridding the schools of books the faux-Christians were against.
And then DeSatan became governor and all of this faux-Christian book banning and altering history took place.
Thank goodness he has the personality of a fish and has no chance of becoming President.
He certainly has a talent for choosing sycophants. He’s also the only governor to turn down Federal funding to combat climate change. Thank goodness some down here realize he just threw their Federal tax dollars down the drain.
And like I posted the other day. Florida has the HIGHEST property and casualty insurance rates in the country--NO. ONE!
They have a state run Homeowner's insurance company that is losing billions. Millions of Floridians can no longer afford homeowners insurance yet, their mortgage companies require it and are notified by the company if the insurance lapses.
I will be shocked if FL doesn't come begging for money to bail them out next FL legislative session.
Ummm....that's what we thought about DJT--that he had "no chance" of winning. He, too, was a joke. We're through the looking glass now. Nothing can surprise me after 2016.
I want so desperately to share your faith, Phil; but I don't. From where I'm sitting, it looks like the Dems and other so so called "liberals" are really just the opposite side of the same coin. The prettier side, the BETTER side, if you will; but still the same coin. I'm gonna bet on them (the liberals) anyway - I'm not self destructive enough to bet against them - that would be madness. But, oh, how I long to share your faith!
“Some voters have been swayed by contact from the super PAC, but many remain unconvinced. Some said the door knockers were indifferent or rude, while others said the full-court press from Never Back Down felt inauthentic. And, in a particularly brutal twist, some of the door knockers openly told Iowans that they themselves were in fact Trump supporters.”
Kathy I’m beginning to feel that if a book isn’t banned, it’s not worth reading.A number of my favorites have been so honored. Ah, To Kill a Mocking Bird is killed. Clearly deSantimonius. Trump wouldn’t know, since he has never even read his ghostwritten book, Art of the Shlemiel. .
My project this summer was to read banned books. Some of these books I had never heard of and their titles held no interest for me. Why read them? Someone told me NOT do. The one that boggled my mind the most was "Where the Wild Things Are." The other books I found very depressing, racial discrimination, some sexual stuff-yeah-but then if the censors are being arrested for rape and menage a trois what can I say.
A lot of the books (Handmaid's Tale, The Giver, Fahrenheit 54, 1984 are all prophetic showing us things that are happening incrementally now: banning books, control of women's bodies, discrimination (classes).
Schools can teach students to write essays where central to them is quoting others.
As individuals -- in the same room.
Quotes may be direct quotes, or summaries, indirect quotes.
Students in one class all write introductory essays. Everyone details how one lives, specifying food, clothing, shelter (this last includes interiors of one's buildings, and exteriors, landscapes, including how one travels). Everyone reads everyone's. Everyone then revises, to quote sympatico others one has read.
Keep it going in the same room, expanding to citing novels, films, songs that echo oneself or one's peers.
Eventually send a round of all essays at some later point to another group, across the city or in a neighboring culture where good English teachers can help with mechanics and skills in making essay connections.
It's all personal. Others -- all -- are individuals and deserve good listening to, good quoting in their cultures, in their contexts.
They don't read books, newspapers or listen to non-partisan news. We have become a society with divisions, perpetuated by left and right wing social media and cable TV. With Tucker Carlson announcing his new network, his fans will never hear other points of view.
Just the idea that we’d have to pull this off” in order to save our country from a lying, grifting, traitorous, abusive POS makes my blood boil. I know he has lots of followers, but they were hiding out in dark corners, mostly, until he woke them, like an army of orcs, to follow him to the bowels of hell.
True, but what we saw, at that time, was the glamour girl. We were later informed that she was a qualified designer (really?), a linguist (definitely not), or that she was sick of effing Christmas trees....all that was to come, along with I dont care, do u? Oh, and destroying Jackie Kennedy's rose garden.
Lots of contradictory information out there. Several sources (local newspapers, NPR) say yes to lots of book banning. Snopes (which sometimes gives me info that shoots down my ideas) said that the FL ban list was put on Twitter by someone who was mocking various schools which were removing books in response to political pressure. I guess that is why there are so many " What the heck?!" books on the list. Snopes did comment that FL has made it a lot easier to challenge books.
I find it interesting that some FL Moms for Liberty need to clean up their houses before they start determining what is age appropriate material.
To be fair, it wasn’t impeachment that emboldened him. It was the refusal of Republicans to hold him to account for his impeachable behavior that emboldened him.
I found these two sentences at Wikipedia about Lewis Powell.
"His experiences as a corporate lawyer and a director on the board of Phillip Morris from 1964 until his appointment to the Supreme Court made him a champion of the tobacco industry who railed against the growing scientific evidence linking smoking to cancer deaths.[16]
He argued, unsuccessfully, that tobacco companies' First Amendment rights were being infringed when news organizations were not giving credence to the cancer denials of the industry.[16]"
So, the guy who started it all was an all out liar. No surprise.
Without mentioning his name once, Heather masterfully captures the conduct between a gentleman and an oaf. You rightly spotlight the historical grift of billionaires that trump exemplifies, but I'd like to u-turn back to another contrast between these two figures--someone who as a child purportedly said, "I cannot tell a lie" with the biggest liar the world has ever seen....
Wow, Phil! I think that may be the most profound and incisive comment I’ve ever read on this site.Although it’s not exactly the way I wanted to feel here in the wee hours before dawn on Christmas Eve, surrounded by my kids and grandkids, the truth will indeed set us free. Thank you.
Phil Balla, your post was at the top of the Comments section when I read HCR’s Letter this morning and I’m thankful for that. I spend a lot of time posting about Neoliberalism because, despite its having dominated American economics and politics for forty years, I think too few of us are familiar with it and that leads to many mistakes about who or what is responsible for the current, sorry state of our Union. Many think, mistakenly, the blame rests with the Democratic Party in spite of the plain fact that President Biden’s is the first Administration to do an about-face, moving our economy and society away from Neoliberalism. But my posts all seem to be, like this one, too long and repetitive. Your post this morning is nothing like that. Yours is direct, economical, well informed, and eloquent. I am so thankful for it!l
I'm reminded of Neil Armstrong's "One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." Whatever the imperfections, Washington's replication of Cinicinnatus's example, was one giant step in setting a firmer foundation for our country, something so many more could add to and improve. It was a step into a better future, not a step into a darker past.
The experiment of Capitalism isn’t finished evolving. Anything in its extreme is typically bad. And we live in extreme times.
Interestingly, utter these words to a Republican and they’ve been conditioned to immediately call you a Socialist — even though in reality, unless they are an American oligarch, they too have been hurt by extreme Capitalism.
My hope is the experiment of Capitalism continues and as a society we can learn to moderate the darker impulses of greed, power, and control.
The deep, festering underbelly of NYC (where Trump was nurtured) was the subject of a masterful April 2018 article by Frank Rich. It's a painful read for me, since I grew up in NYC and once thought some of the people named were great men. But it's important to understand the rot that exists in NYC overall... which Trump was drawn to like a bear to honey. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/04/frank-rich-roy-cohn-the-original-donald-trump.html
This 2018 article is confirmation of all I have believed about the NYC glitterati. But when one becomes a dictator in waiting, the glitter falls into the gutter.
NYC is truly a microcosm of America. From the best of what we can be (Broadway Theater, world-class museums, the Statue of Liberty) to the worst of what we can be (what's in the Frank Rich article). Were law enforcement to ever attempt to total cleanup of NYC's underbelly, the effort could transform America. But first things first. Trump (who benefitted from living in that cesspool) must be convicted and barred from public life for life.
When the orange balloon is at last punctured by our legal processes what will that picture look like and how will our artists depict the scene? I believe it will resemble the chaos at the end of “The Untouchables” when Al Capone receives the verdict of the judge. The painting will serve as a warning.
With over half of the adults in the country read at a 6th grade level or below, a good portion of the MAGANAZIs don't read. Imagine HCR trying to write this wonderful newsletter at a 4th grade level.
Meanwhile, a different argument was presented to the Maine Secy. of State regarding Trump's name being on the ballot.
"While two of the three challenges in Maine focus on the 14th Amendment, the third, brought by Paul Gordon, a lawyer in Portland, argues that Mr. Trump should be found ineligible for the ballot under the 22nd Amendment, which says that “no person should be elected to the office of president more than twice.” The basis for his argument is that Mr. Trump has repeatedly claimed to have won the 2020 election.
Mr. Trump could “remove this obstacle” to qualify for the ballot, Mr. Gordon said in his complaint, by “acknowledging that he lost the 2020 election and repudiating all previous statements undermining the integrity of that election.”"
Like his giving up of the fiction that Obama was not truly born in Hawaii, which he did after much damage was done, he could well give up his claim to have won in 2020 later in the campaign. And thereby "silence" his critics.
Many poisons kill because they bind with some essential chemical process in the body and block the body's interaction with what it needs. Sometimes lies work that way too.
Deep in the back of their minds they might suspect it and it's scary because they can't logically defend their views. They're reduced to relying on dogma and a 'might makes right' belief system.
“ “I think Democrats wake up every morning and they look at the calendar on the iPhone and it says January 6th. The date never changes,” Conway claimed. “And then they get into an electric vehicle and go get an abortion.”
And I will keep beating the same drum about Civics courses in schools being a mandatory requirement. I will never understand why they were dropped from the essentials of American education, but my cynical side thinks the ignorance that omission created in a large swath of the population has benefitted those who wish to destroy our democracy.
Ms Wilcox, that is the frustrating part. If only they felt the “need”. If only they allowed skepticism and curiosity into their minds. Or compassion as in “there but for the Grace of ( fill in the blank) go I or my loved ones.
Those supporters of tfp lack a basic knowledge of democracy and the sacrifices of others which have so benefitted them. They are ungrateful and are unaware of what will befall them if the are successful.
It amazes me that tfg says if he is in the White House again, Social Security and Medicare will be gone. Why don't they see they are voting against their own best interests?
What an incredibly appropriate and moving historical moment to recall in these troubled times! May we always remember the humility and nobility of our first president and require the same traits in all who would follow him in office. He gave us a great gift, first in resigning his commission and later in stepping down from the presidency after 2 terms. He was truly a great man.
My dad once voted for Trump but hopefully won't do so again. He is a *huge* George Washington and Abraham Lincoln fan. And so I think I can remind him fruitfully of Washington stepping down.
Remind your dad that Al Gore also gracefully stepped away & admitted his "defeat" in 2000, after the Supreme Court stopped the counting of the votes in Florida - even though Gore ended up winning the popular vote! And Gore was Vice President at the time, so he was the one who had to accept the certification of the electoral college votes. That must have been extremely difficult. Yet Al Gore didn't incite an insurrection, but conceded his loss, for the good of the country.
Why do the Democrats have to be the ones who save democracy?
Because Republicans are the ones seeking to tear down the government and replace it with fascistic dictatorship. If Republicans were not doing so, the United States might instead combat fascism overseas.
Mr. Gore like Jimmy Carter is a decent man who believes in justice and democracy. Our president Biden is pretty much the same. But the American public is the product of “reality “ tv and loves flash and bang. So in some ways Trump is the American president.
It may be helpful for you to learn the factual history of what the privileged, racist, misogynist slave holding rapist you call a great man did to the Indigenous peoples of this continent most especially what he and the men who followed him did to the Oneida peoples who saved his and his men's lives.
I am fully aware of the complete history of George Washington’s life and it is arrogant of you to assume I don’t. All of the leaders of the Revolutionary period had back stories that by our contemporary values were odious. It doesn’t change the fact that his model of public service set our country on a course to model the peaceful transition of power that stood us in good stead for 240 years until the previous president came along. No person is perfect, including you or me. However, some of us do great good that doesn’t cancel the evil, but weighs in the balance when we calculate their lasting legacy.
My wife reminded me that Oliver Cromwell, an extreme Puritan (so much so that he went along with parliament banning Christmas), refused the crown after Charles the 1st was beheaded, becoming 1st Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland , and Ireland instead refusing to be a king. He was extreme but still had some principles.
I read many posts bringing out what was wrong with George Washington. If not GW, what example would be preferable? Or can no comparison be made to contrast Trump against? Right or wrong, you tell me: was GW recognized in his time as a great man? If right, why do you think that might have been? If wrong, who was that great person?
Viewing history with transactional analysis is precisely the justification Washington and the other psychopaths and sociopaths like him in gov't used to ignore and dismiss the genocide, rape, murder, torture, theft in which they engaged. You could have said Washington's decision was imperative to the building of this Nation. You did not have state he was a great man. He was not. He made a momentous decision. If you had to witness first hand what he did to his troops, his enslaved humans and to Indigenous people you could not sit comfortably hundreds of years later and state his vile behavior was on balance cancelled out. As you have had no direct effect on you, you justify claiming he was a great man on balance. That is colonialism.
How wondrous it must be to be so self-righteously judgmental! And on top of that to be able to know my entire history and what has and has not had a direct effect on me. That's awesome! But as awesome as that may be, you still don't get to police my language or tell me what or how to think. In fact, I suspect you haven't witnessed first hand what he did to his troops, his enslaved humans and to indigenous people either unless you are the oldest person on Earth. So what makes you justified in claiming you know better? My side of this conversation is ended.
Trump is pretty subterranean, but yes, it's startling to recall the range of persons who have occupied the office of president; an even more pointed reminder that Trump is a particularly egregious aberration.
Or better yet, if some intrepid reporter could sneak onto one of his "Married to the Mob" golf courses and catch him dropping his ball 50 yards further than his chip shot carried the ball initially, that might be even more representative!
In the bathroom with the boxes of documents he stored there. It must be an important place since pictures show lots of boxes. I do believe he hated Obama so much that trump did not observe the 40 year old tradition of having the unveiling of Obama's picture. Biden did it ( in a way, it was nicer to have a friend and not a hostile entity do the honor). Let's see what happens when it comes time for trump's picture to be unveiled.
It seems that the democrats have taken the high road on everything. I wonder if Jill will give the traditional tour to Melania (who did not observe the tradition-surprise). Will Biden unveil trump's picture? I get the impression he pretty much follows traditions and plays by the rules and is a much bigger person than trump. But then the good guy doesn't always win by playing by the rules.
After they are done shaving his head looking for lice, will be the perfect time for his official photo. That may be the only time I will enjoy seeing a picture of his face. 🤷♂️
Also: The Art of the Deal and the coffee table book: Letter to Trump..both books with rave reviews, most likely written by MAGAs. Many photos of tfg in hero costumes.
If he knew, he would call George Washington a weak sucker and a loser. We must vote in massive numbers to ensure he never gets near the White House again. And then we must be ready for the hell he will unleash at having been “cheated again.”
You can tell when someone else has written trump's speech and he is actually staying with it on the monitors. Look for "big" words. Otherwise you get word salad. "I'm going to maybe-and I'm looking at it very seriously-we're doing some other things that you probably noticed like some of the very important things that we're doing now." pause for breath. With a speech like that, you know trumpers are not listening or comprehending what he is saying. My take on this excerpt is that he is looking at something ( he really doesn't know what it is) and we're doing some vague, unnamed important things ( once again he doesn't know specifics).
"You know what uranium is, right? It's this thing called nuclear weapons, and other things like lots of things are done with uranium including bad things." And he is in control of the nuclear football. Let's hope we have generals like Millie who will just say no.
King George III asked his American painter, Benjamin West, what Washington would do after winning independence. West replied, “They say he will return to his farm.” “If he does that,” the incredulous monarch said, “he will be the greatest man in the world.”
I do hope all Americans understand the importance of Washington's resignation in the light of January 2021. I also hope that everyone understands that one day as dictator is enough to end democracy, especially given the preparations that have been going on for some time at the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025.
He lies, day one will just be his first official as dictator. Project 2025 will soon find a smarter and more malleable representative for the oligarchs. Sort of like House Mike…
It is a family grave site. The zoning would only him have 9 or 10 plots He wanted to have enough for club members could have one, too. Always a gimmick. As long as he is not buried in Arlington where SOLDIERS are buried.
This is what makes America America… that our political leaders voluntarily GIVE UP POWER when they lose an election. I saw this history portrayed at the end of the Disneyland tribute to our presidents which can be found on YouTube (s number of versions … since Disney now changes the show when we have a new president. Here’s one of the best versions… created for when Barack Obama was president. Enjoy!
Well… okay… maybe we could allow ourselves a moment of enjoyment. Afterwards, it would be a good idea to remember the dark American underbelly that has been festering and revealing itself by stages since 1968. We got some relief from thinking about it under the optimistic tutelage of Obama, but his “one United States of America” turned out to be a grossly over-optimistic characterization of the character of our citizenry. Most of us, certainly including me, gladly accepted the brief respite the first two years of Obama’s presidency afforded us, but not all of us were oblivious. Below is a link to Charlie Pierce’s prescient, 2008 essay on our prospects at the time. We may yet, with monumental effort, save the republic, but the odds are far from good. 50-50 is probably an overestimate. Merry Christmas.
Let it be a strong reminder that we and every human being have within us the antidote to resignation and despair. The courage to be ourselves, to turn away from darkness, from all that we are not, and trust in what we are: Children of the Light.
Thanks for highlighting. I remember thinking (before thump) that Bernie was America’s “only chance”. Now who could do it? Crawling back into my cave of despair.
I think it’s a mistake to wait for political ‘leaders’ to fix things. Change always comes from pressure from the grassroots. Absent that, politicians will continue to gorge themselves at the corporate donor trough, and ‘govern’ accordingly.
If you have time, get yourself involved in a get-out-the-vote project. That's our only hope, so your work might help, and it might relieve some of the despair. Works for me.
Only hope? I categorically reject that notion, as I believe the rot in our electoral landscape is so extensive that elections will not save us now. But you’re right about getting involved; citizen action is the only way out. My particular piece of the activist puzzle is to try and neuter the Supreme Court via eliminating the concepts of money as speech and corporate personhood - MoveToAmend.org
Contact your congressional representative and demand they cosponsor HJR-54, and threaten to withhold your vote if they don’t. And spread the word. Thanks.
Yes. I'm familiar with that place. Been there since 1968. Not sure how I haven't succumbed to despair, but I haven't. I'm not optimistic, but I do not despair. Maybe it's because I'm only a month short of 80, which makes every day I wake up a good day.
I guess I should have made my point clearer. The video is not a celebration of Obama. It’s a celebration of the American spirit with a focus on Washington and Lincoln. Maybe I should have posted a version from an earlier year when the show more overtly minimized present day leadership. Then I would not have triggered you with the inclusion of Obama… who, by the way, I am no fan of despite meeting him early in his initial run for the presidency and joining Obama For America (the civic engagement organization that helped him win in 2008 only to then be shut down because he either felt he no longer needed it or was told he had to by the Democratic Party which saw it as a threat). Ultimately, a fatally timid man IMHO. And I’ll leave it at that.
I invite you to watch the entire Disney video. Again, it’s not about Obama.
Gee, I must be dense, for I did not see the video to be about Obama at all. I saw it as about an unbroken chain of passing on the power of presidents through the people who elected them. I also saw it as a reminder of our roots as a country.
Your point was plenty clear. My comment isn't about Obama, either. It's about America's underbelly, namely the 74 million Americans the world would be better off without and that we must keep firmly in mind as we do what we can to save the republic.
I truly doubt it's 74 million any more. First of all, Covid-19 killed off at least 3/4 of a million of them. And then there's the natural attrition of the elderly MAGANAZIs and the white Faux-Christian Nationalists. And also, the millions of voters that voted for. the Orange Julius before the coup attempt that won't vote for him again.
And then again, many of the 2020 Trump voters aren't paying attention to politics anyway. Those are the ones that we need to target with the truth about TFFG.
Good point. And good riddance to the dead ones. I don’t think there’s much percentage in looking for converts. Much more efficient to work to get Democratically inclined voters to cast ballots. Concening conversions, it is my hope that 5% or maybe 10% of the white working class women who voted for Trump will self-convert by recognizing that Republicans consider them to be nothing more than brood mares. Those votes would be enough for Dems to run the table.
By the way, just so you don't think I live in a "positive information only" bubble, the deep, festering underbelly of NYC (where Trump was nurtured) was the subject of a masterful April 2018 article by Frank Rich. It's a painful read for me, since I grew up in NYC and once thought some of the people named were great men. But it's important to understand the rot that exists in NYC overall... which Trump was drawn to like a bear to honey. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/04/frank-rich-roy-cohn-the-original-donald-trump.html
I would only say that less than give up their power, the return it to it's rightful owner. It is lent to them on a basis of contract and trust. Of the people, by the people, for the people.
You're welcome, Lynell. While not an instant cure for the challenges we face, I find it important to be reminded of the values, heart and soul of America... and history... something Disney is pretty good at doing. Again, not perfect, but pretty good. Here's one other production Disney offers: the American Adventure... hosted by animatronic versions of Ben Franklin and Mark Twain. Enjoy!
Wonderful, succinct exercise in the fine art of contrast by HCR tonight.
I forget the author's name, but I read a history of the American Revolution many years ago titled "Infidels" wherein the author portrayed with great poignancy the day that Washington returned to New York, in late November, 1783, a mere month before the events Heather discussed in tonight's letter. After he had escaped the British naval and ground forces from Brooklyn Heights in 1776, he returned in well earned if fatigued glory, after the long slog of the Revolutionary War, in late 1783. Along with a contingent of his most loyal troops, he marched down the "Great Broad Way" as it was known then, to reclaim the City and symbolically the Country, after two long years of negotiations leading to the Treaty of Paris, after the British surrender in 1781 at Yorktown, VA.
When they reached the Battery, he ordered a young soldier to climb the flagpole to take down the still flying Union Jack, only to find that the British, in all their dastardly arrogance, had greased the flagpole. The soldiers hammered stakes into it, climbed it, and tossed the Union Jack downward, while raising the newly minted Stars and Stripes.
Before he left New York within a week or so, he dined with his officers, some of whom had been with him since Valley Forge, at the Fraunces Tavern off of Broadway, tears flowing freely as each of them came to shake his hand, prior to his departure to his "retirement" at Mt. Vernon.
What a contrast.
That first president so much closer to Cincinnatus, so famous for the power he gave up.
Trump is of course his diametrical opposite -- but for the very simple reason that America finally grew a class of billionaires who fed only on the cancers of commercialism: the most cynical packaging, numbering, labeling, commodifying, and monetization of all life.
America, where the greatest universities in the world reigned from the Justin Morrill land grant legislation of 1862 to the Powell memo of 1971, when the rich united in gutting, rotting, turning the best inside out instead for schools of business -- for bankers, standardized testers, phalanxes of totally dehumanized fellow predators.
Yes, there's a fat, orange Donald Trump -- in such contrast to Washington. But there's such a deep, extensive, festering history buoying the fat orange one.
Phil, exactly right about Washington and TFG.
A true leader, intent on public service, will turn over the job at the end of their term of office or when there is a better successor. A megalomaniac will assume, true or false, that there is no better leader. Couple that psychopathy with wanting to beat the charges against them by self-pardoning or targeting their enemies and we have one possible prediction for 2025.
One loves country and the ideal of social justice and the other has an ego caught in a pernicious feedback loop, sort of the character equivalent of what happens when a PA system microphone is too close to the speakers.
Washington was both wealthy and a slave holder, so let us not forget that. He returned to his plantation wealth off the backs of slave labor. That is not social justice. That is racism and horror. Washington was wealthy from land speculation and slavery. Pretty much the circumstances that Trump wants to return us to.
https://research.colonialwilliamsburg.org/Foundation/journal/winter13/washington.cfm
The difference pointed out is that he did not choose or need to be a dictator for his lifestyle to be privileged and supported by the country in which he lived.
We all are forever tied to the times in which we live.
Something I was actually taught in high school in the early 1960s was a German word "Zeitgeist." Literally "Time Spirit" in that we can't judge ppl outside of the time in which they lived.
Yes, it was wrong to own other humans. It was wrong that Mrs. Washington was subservient to the will of her husband and did not own property without his blessing in the 18th Century. In earlier centuries it was wrong that witches were burned for causing plagues and that the Catholic Church burned Heretics.
And, in the century which I was raised, It was wrong that women couldn't vote. It was wrong that Atheists, could not hold public office (despite the First Amendment) & that homosexuals could be put in prison and not allowed to serve in the military or police department and that black ppl were subservient to white ppl and the law prevented them from intermarrying until 1967 in many states.
When did they quit teaching ppl about Zeitgeist?
Right now in some way shape or form most Americans are beneficiaries of child labor/slave labor that help manufacture some of our consumer products. It's so easy to point at historical figures and find culpability, but we turn a blind eye on ourselves today.
Rob, Zeitgeist. Interesting. Hmm 🤔
Yet we must know our history to not repeat it. Therefore we are called upon to use judgement as change is inevitable, which I see the present ‘far wrong radical hate mongering’ republicans want, no really insist upon having a clock in place that runs historically backwards.
This is a concept that I have used with my adult children when they object to something that I did as a young adult. "You weren't there; so, you can't understand how it was."
Fast forward to the 20th century. I was a small boy in Texas in 1946 when my mother complained to me how the husband legally had complete control over the community property that they owned. Of course, I sided with my mother and trace my advocacy to equal rights for females back to that time. The law later changed, giving wives equal control over the couple's community property. It's true, the context has to be taken in the times in question. Fast forward. Women are still amazingly put down by Islam and the Roman Catholic Church. Without advocacy, nothing changes.
"Zeitgeist" - Yes Rob, thanks for bringing this up.
We definitely need it. I sort of thought it was common sense, but common sense doesn't seem too common.
As when my friend justified Female Genital Mutilation by saying it belongs to a culture, Zeitgeist does not excuse the atrocious things people do, nor does Culture. While I can see it within his times, it does not make Washington more noble that he accepts people as less than human. I find both Washington and Trump to be evil characters. https://www.un.org/en/observances/decade-people-african-descent/slave-trade
The deaths of 15 million of any group cannot just be seen as an acceptable behavior because of the Zeitgeist. We can always judge the times in which people lived and the fact that they do not see through it. I am less sympathetic to using the Zeitgeist as an acceptable excuse since I have been watching Hotel Europe (Nazi rise to power in Germany along the Rhinelands), World on Fire (WWII from the point of view of Polish, British, English and French characters which included Black, Gay, Jewish and "handicapped" characters), as well as Berlin Wall (set in 1987-1989 DDR, and focusing on the illegal trade deals made between leaders in the DDR and others). Resistance has been a theme in all of these series which is why Zeitgeist does not excuse everyone. I wonder whether people will be using the term "Zeitgeist" in accepting that millions of Americans are devoted to Donald Trump. So, we can judge people, even if we do not personally understand the things that compelled rich, White men to take advantage of their privilege in oppressing others.
Thank you for making this point, Rob. It has expanded and deepened my thinking.
🤨
I've read that when Washington was elected first President of the United States, people wondered how to refer to him. Many wanted him to be king, called 'your Highness' or other lofty titles, but he insisted that he just be called "Mr. President" or better yet, "Mr. Washington".
Despite his flaws, he was a totally sincere, caring, brilliant individual who loved his country and who set a pattern of statesmanship for all. His memory, and what he gave to America, should be cherished.
Any critics would have to be perfect in my opinion. Way more positives than negatives
Thank you for making this point. As I read this wonderful letter, I was struck that enslaved people built the building that this moment happened in.
Yes, and from 1872-2017 a statue of Roger Taney, the fifth chief justice of the Supreme Court, stood outside the statehouse. Taney wrote the majority opinion in the Dred Scott case, which ruled that black people—regardless of whether or not they were slaves—could not be considered citizens of the United States.
Dave Lincoln placed pro-South Taney under virtual house arrest during the Civil War.
Enslaved people built some of the buildings and worked in the seminary I attended in 2018-20, Virginia Theological Seminary. They have established an endowment fund for reparation payments to descendants of those people, whom they have begun searching for.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/27/us/virginia-seminary-reparations-trnd/index.html#:~:text=In%202019%20the%20school%20announced,of%20those%20who%20worked%20there.
Linda: You are right of course to remind me--I need to remember that part of Washington’s story too. The stain of chattel slavery marks our country. Washington had his huge estate where everything was done for him by people he “owned.” They had no choices. He probably had slaves with him when he was a general. Washington had a lot to protect for his own sake. I am grateful for the founding of our country but I also need to remember our founders were not saints.
He definitely had William Lee, his body man or valet, with him throughout the war and we know he had a cadre of slaves with him in Philadelphia when he was president. They are vividly remembered at the Washington house display on the mall in Philadelphia, right next to the Liberty Bell pavilion, if you're ever there. He had to send them back to Virginia every six months for a different set or else, under Pennsylvania law, he would have had to free them.
Thanks for this info. I learn not only from HCR but her readers as well!
Great comment Linda.
I also note: Washington was white. I happen to be a big fan of Washington as well as John Adams (who did not have a slave per se), neither of whom were concerned about the enslaved humans in America or women or the Native Americans. In fact Washington began the process of wiping out the Native people of America.
But?? I have a friend who often tells me: "Hey, Nobody's Perfect". He usually says this in the context of a conversation around Hitler or something to be funny.
But, it is actually true. Those guys who were wedded to the British mindset of white, male superiority CAN be judged, but, as Jeri notes below, we are all partly a product of our times.
So was Washington. For better and for worse.
And? Nobody is Perfect.
Plus, now we have Clarence Thomas (thanks Biden) and his massive clerkship nuts out there influencing things. Thomas makes Washington look like an angel from Heaven.
From today's NY times. Gift link.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/24/us/clarence-thomas-supreme-court-clerks.html?unlocked_article_code=1.IU0.y1z9.lqqEAxldi9UH&smid=url-share
I think it hardly fair to blame Clarence Thomas on Biden. Who nominated this pathetic man to replace Thurgood Marshall but HW,whose father Prescott was involved in the rise of Nazi Germany. And attempting to remove FDR from office, using Smedley Butler.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/sep/25/usa.secondworldwar
If we want to place blame, I think starting with wealth is a great place. That isn’t Joe Biden, although his circumstances have no doubt changed.
I read it this morning. Horrifying!! There is NO way this corrupt SCOTUS judge will ever face consequences or even pay taxes on his ill gotten luxuries. Even his luxury forays with his loyal #&**(*%!'s are funded by billionaire right wingers. Really Scary!!!
The commenter thanking sarcastically Biden (whom I am a supporter of and will vote for again) refers to his chairing the committee who heard Anita Hill testify and still voted for him to take a seat on the SCOTUS. Biden has since apologized to Dr. Hill. At the very least he demonstrates growth and humility.
Thank you for the link, I only skimmed it but saved for later.
Now is a time that challenges each of us. Security is a delectable illusion while the dynamics of 'extended families', gang mentalities, and IN networks function as norms that slow progress. At the same time, other networks are building that fortify ways of being that are simply kind, that nurture reciprocity, and that are respectful of land and critters (outside of hierarchical power).
See the movie "Amsterdam" or Google Smedley Butler if you want to learn a little more about Butler and the Industrialists' attempted coup. They tried to use Butler for cover but he blew the whistle on them instead. Vey admirable.
Thanks for the gift link. Sounds alarmingly like a carefully selected cult.
His vision was, however, for a man of his times, exceptional as was that of all of those who pledged their “lives, fortunes, and sacred honor.” That is courage and foresight which are rare characteristics in anyone at any time.
Washington was a man of his time. It doesn’t serve us to judge him by today’s standards. It doesn’t hurt to add that he owned slaves or that he didn’t respect the humanity of the indigenous population. That is fact. But those facts do not diminish the fact also he was a great man and if not for his actions, our country would not exist as independent nation.
Indeed, Linda: the "nobility" of the slave-holding members of the Continental Congress (including the, for me, ultimate hypocrite, Thomas Jefferson) and the "altruism" of the nascent robber barons from the northern colonies who profited from enslaved people's labor has to be measured against their bigotry and persistence in traumatizing an entire population for their own comforts. If you want to read a very good book about the contrasts within the Washington household, I recommend Erica Armstrong Dunbar's book, "Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge."
I came across a used book once; "Jefferson's Letters" which shows some first-person history, and he actually did anguish over slave holding in his writings to ppl in France, where he met free blacks who demonstrated intelligence which he did not see in his slaves.
I have donated that book to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture, but had transcribed some excerpts.
Here is one letter:
To M. Henri Gregoire, Bishop and Senator, Paris.
Washington, February 25, 1809
Sir, - I have received the favor of your letter of August 17th, and with it the volume you were so kind as to send me on the "Literature of Negroes." Be assured that no person living wishes more sincerely than I do, to see a complete refutation of the doubts I have myself entertained and expressed on the grade of understanding allotted to them by nature, and to find that in this respect they are on a par with ourselves. My doubts were the result of personal observation on the limited sphere of my own State, where the opportunities of the development of their genius were not favorable, and those of exercising it still less so. I expressed them therefore with great hesitation; but whatever be their degree of talent it is no measure of their rights. Because Sir Isaac Newton was superior to others in understanding, he was not therefore lord of the person or property of others. On this subject they are gaining daily in the opinions of nations, and hopeful advances are making towards their re-establishment on an equal footing with the other colors of the human family. I pray you therefore to accept my thanks for the many instances you have enabled me to observe of respectable intelligence in that race of men, which cannot fail to have effect in hastening the day of their relief.
This entire nation was “built on the backs of” those who lived here centuries before anyone from England, Spain, Russia, etc ever landed on these shores.
You want “on the backs of”? read of the thousands who died just from the diseases Spaniards brought to the Southwest.
It is the story of this nation.
It is why I get angry at EU countries whining about their immigrant problem, when they were happy to take Marshall Funds off of the USA whose money was made off of the backs that people in the EU do not want in their countries, let alone all of the countries who got rich off of exploiting African countries and peoples. I feel the same way about US citizens who complain about refugees coming here. They don't know their history, and DeSatan denying it will not make it go away, but they won't learn it. I know that this nation was built by many groups of people and not all of them get credit for it, or are treated like they belong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. I was taught that Washington was honorable because he chopped down the cherry tree and told his father, "I cannot tell a lie. I chopped down the cherry tree." That is what I remember from that story, told to me in first, second and third grade. The noble "Father of our Country!" Luckily I went to college in a time when we deconstructed these myths.
That Washington became The Distiller for America, which surely must have played a factor in the launching of the Militias towards Western PA in response to The Whiskey Rebellion of 1791-4.
However, when his 2nd term was coming to an end, rather than listen to those admirers and synchophants around the small Country who want to make his term 'for Life' and more monarchal, George again responded as Cinncinatus for the 2nd time.
There are those who do not realized that 'Branding' comes from personal character, too. His Orangeness is not as savvy of a brander as he thinks. His brand will live long in the company of a Benedict Arnold, not of a George Washington.
Luckily Washington was the only person in US history to own a slave.....
Washington was and still is one of the 2-3 greatest and most important Americans to ever live.
The “founders” decision to enslave Africans and impose a “Perpetual Brand” on them as less than human was DELIBERATE.
Imagine if they decided to take a different road toward “liberty and justice for all”. America would be a totally different nation today.
Trump and the Rs are forcing us to face what kind of nation we really are-we’ll see what 2024 brings.
George, I would not have been a slave holder, but a slave! In Nazi Germany, while not Jewish the fate of Brown German children could take several paths, such as being made to perform naked in movies swinging from vines, and sterlization and perhaps the death camp, but I would not be differentiated from Romani people. Might just have had to face a lot of racism each day, even though my non-German parent might have been in Germany as a relic of their African colonies.
https://www.harpercollins.com/products/destined-to-witness-hans-massaquoi?variant=32129842348066
So, I do not consider myself so pure, I consider myself so non White and male in a White Supremacist society.
He IS that shocking shriek we keep on hearing. We must silence that obnoxious assault on our brains through our collective speech, our actions and our VOTES.
Prediction for 2025? Here's my take , although I try to believe that "right" will win and all the Republican nonsense will end.
(I'm certainly no poet , but here goes....
If it's assumed
that Trump will resume,
and possibly presume
to quiet our freedom tune
with fume, as a buffoon,
the prediction is
Doom and gloom.
He was a squatter in the People’s House.
So true.
He's a crook. He invaded the White House, and as such a thing had never happened before, nobody knew what to do about it. It was so contrary to all the standards set up by Washington and maintained, for better and worse, ever since. The elevator. The glamorous exotic wife. The shadowy sidekicks. Did it really happen? What was it that really happened?
It's still happening, Anne-Louise.
Too many today don't read books, but let the social media billionaires suck them into the mosh pits of divisiveness, group labeling, and massive black holes of loneliness.
If they don't read books, easy for them to fall for seeing others as menacing, abstracted foreign entities, rather than as individuals which good books and decent literacy help us nurture.
So many dictators, nationalists, and such feeding on the vulnerable, Anne-Louise.
We're still in it.
Hate to use the cliché 'dumbing down of America' , but it's true, and it's accelerating.
Much, if not all, of MAGA's outrage stems from visually entertaining communication. Reading comprehension in this country is dismal and there's few alarms sounding about it; the oligarchs are fine with that.
Absolutely.
I like your "mosh pits of diviseness, group labeling, and massive black holes of loneliness." It gave me a new thought....what if the adults had stayed out of the children's play ground, if moms hadn't gleefully invaded Facebook land and Dad didn't think twittering made him cool...just imagine ..... We have a deficit of adults. We have a lot of old immature and unlearned people. Now we have a bunch of rebellious, angry teenagers mad that there are rules in place to keep chaos at bay.
He throws Florida tax money down the drain for performative drama like shipping immigrants to Martha's Vineyard. Anything for attention.
Jenn, iirc, didn’t he pay someone to go get those poor people *in Texas*, and fly them to MV? And he thinks no one will use that against him? Like, I dunno, Other Republicans?
FL has just banned another 300+ books.
My daughter recently moved back to Maine from Jacksonville. Her class was the second one to attend the high school for all four years. Within a year after the school opened it was already above the 1500 student capacity. She had excellent teachers there and the school board was very supportive of all of the schools in the district. There was never a discussion of banning books or ridding the schools of books the faux-Christians were against.
And then DeSatan became governor and all of this faux-Christian book banning and altering history took place.
Thank goodness he has the personality of a fish and has no chance of becoming President.
He certainly has a talent for choosing sycophants. He’s also the only governor to turn down Federal funding to combat climate change. Thank goodness some down here realize he just threw their Federal tax dollars down the drain.
And like I posted the other day. Florida has the HIGHEST property and casualty insurance rates in the country--NO. ONE!
They have a state run Homeowner's insurance company that is losing billions. Millions of Floridians can no longer afford homeowners insurance yet, their mortgage companies require it and are notified by the company if the insurance lapses.
I will be shocked if FL doesn't come begging for money to bail them out next FL legislative session.
And this 100% a GOP caused problem.
I think fish have more personality than DeSantis!
LOL, I thought about the fish I was insulting with my comment, but I posted anyway.
Does that make me a bad person?
Ummm....that's what we thought about DJT--that he had "no chance" of winning. He, too, was a joke. We're through the looking glass now. Nothing can surprise me after 2016.
And he is term limited as governor. I bet he will give Senator a shot.
This is insulting to fish.
In November, Karen, Dems and independents will make the savages pay for their savagery.
I want so desperately to share your faith, Phil; but I don't. From where I'm sitting, it looks like the Dems and other so so called "liberals" are really just the opposite side of the same coin. The prettier side, the BETTER side, if you will; but still the same coin. I'm gonna bet on them (the liberals) anyway - I'm not self destructive enough to bet against them - that would be madness. But, oh, how I long to share your faith!
Phyla, if you try knocking on doors with this rhetoric, will it get the Dems more votes? Savages? Come on!
What is a good name for people who smear their feces on the walls of the Capitol building? Chimps?
"Deplorables" was gentler, but even if savages understand savagery, deplorables don't understand gentle. Same end result. Urgent therapy:
books, forced reading (and stay out of FL). Have you read "Fahrenheit 451"?
“Some voters have been swayed by contact from the super PAC, but many remain unconvinced. Some said the door knockers were indifferent or rude, while others said the full-court press from Never Back Down felt inauthentic. And, in a particularly brutal twist, some of the door knockers openly told Iowans that they themselves were in fact Trump supporters.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/22/us/politics/desantis-iowa-pac-ground-game.html?mwgrp=a-mbar&unlocked_article_code=1.IU0.cv0r.FwF4tp0qgZZz&hpgrp=ar-abar&smid=url-share
Hope you're right!
“Orange school district pulls 673 books from teachers’ classroom shelves
List includes classics like Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’ and bestsellers such as Grisham’s ‘The Firm’” 📚
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2023/12/20/ocps-books/?share=isotknis2ilropapllks
Kathy I’m beginning to feel that if a book isn’t banned, it’s not worth reading.A number of my favorites have been so honored. Ah, To Kill a Mocking Bird is killed. Clearly deSantimonius. Trump wouldn’t know, since he has never even read his ghostwritten book, Art of the Shlemiel. .
My project this summer was to read banned books. Some of these books I had never heard of and their titles held no interest for me. Why read them? Someone told me NOT do. The one that boggled my mind the most was "Where the Wild Things Are." The other books I found very depressing, racial discrimination, some sexual stuff-yeah-but then if the censors are being arrested for rape and menage a trois what can I say.
A lot of the books (Handmaid's Tale, The Giver, Fahrenheit 54, 1984 are all prophetic showing us things that are happening incrementally now: banning books, control of women's bodies, discrimination (classes).
Why bother with schools at all? Why bother to teach reading? Or, teach only enough to do social media.
🤢
You're so right, Phil. What to do?
Schools can teach students to write essays where central to them is quoting others.
As individuals -- in the same room.
Quotes may be direct quotes, or summaries, indirect quotes.
Students in one class all write introductory essays. Everyone details how one lives, specifying food, clothing, shelter (this last includes interiors of one's buildings, and exteriors, landscapes, including how one travels). Everyone reads everyone's. Everyone then revises, to quote sympatico others one has read.
Keep it going in the same room, expanding to citing novels, films, songs that echo oneself or one's peers.
Eventually send a round of all essays at some later point to another group, across the city or in a neighboring culture where good English teachers can help with mechanics and skills in making essay connections.
It's all personal. Others -- all -- are individuals and deserve good listening to, good quoting in their cultures, in their contexts.
VOTE and be ready Anne-Louise
They don't read books, newspapers or listen to non-partisan news. We have become a society with divisions, perpetuated by left and right wing social media and cable TV. With Tucker Carlson announcing his new network, his fans will never hear other points of view.
And we thought we’d finally awakened from this awful nightmare in November of 2020. Makes me want to cry out in my sleep - enough!
Maureen, my same thought. Were we snookered or just needed to believe in Santa Claus after 4 years of daily lying and upheaval.
I think about that a lot, recently. It's going to be a long haul of damage control if we as a country can pull it off.
Just the idea that we’d have to pull this off” in order to save our country from a lying, grifting, traitorous, abusive POS makes my blood boil. I know he has lots of followers, but they were hiding out in dark corners, mostly, until he woke them, like an army of orcs, to follow him to the bowels of hell.
You forgot Rapist.
Excuse me, the IMMIGRANT wife....
True, but what we saw, at that time, was the glamour girl. We were later informed that she was a qualified designer (really?), a linguist (definitely not), or that she was sick of effing Christmas trees....all that was to come, along with I dont care, do u? Oh, and destroying Jackie Kennedy's rose garden.
I recall MSM reporting/propping up much of this!
They were made for each other....
Faux News.
Lots of contradictory information out there. Several sources (local newspapers, NPR) say yes to lots of book banning. Snopes (which sometimes gives me info that shoots down my ideas) said that the FL ban list was put on Twitter by someone who was mocking various schools which were removing books in response to political pressure. I guess that is why there are so many " What the heck?!" books on the list. Snopes did comment that FL has made it a lot easier to challenge books.
I find it interesting that some FL Moms for Liberty need to clean up their houses before they start determining what is age appropriate material.
▶️ Watch this reel
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/s98tf2EfRYax5A8t/?mibextid=vSrFwX
I love this guy.
This guy is terrific!
Love when he says "...the public school system that you have been, eh, leading..." Yes, he is terrific! Hope we see much more from him in the future!
"Opportunity for themselves" sums it up.
Thank you for that link!
Thanks for the share MaryPat
Mary Pat: You made my day with this link! Thanks!
I don't have Facebook. Who is this guy?
Were you able to watch the video? I think he is a former student at the school where whatshername (of threesome fame) is on the school board.
And Rupert is still going strong, slowed just half an iota by Dominion
Jeri, correct. Just as Impeaching Trump twice did nothing but embolden him.
It seems that holding people to point is feckless.
To be fair, it wasn’t impeachment that emboldened him. It was the refusal of Republicans to hold him to account for his impeachable behavior that emboldened him.
Maybe Biden’s impending impeachment will do the same, HA
Of course, he’s not into phony bravado
Jeri, if that's what it will take to wake up people, I'm all for it.
Phil,
Thanks for the reference to the Powell Memo.
I found these two sentences at Wikipedia about Lewis Powell.
"His experiences as a corporate lawyer and a director on the board of Phillip Morris from 1964 until his appointment to the Supreme Court made him a champion of the tobacco industry who railed against the growing scientific evidence linking smoking to cancer deaths.[16]
He argued, unsuccessfully, that tobacco companies' First Amendment rights were being infringed when news organizations were not giving credence to the cancer denials of the industry.[16]"
So, the guy who started it all was an all out liar. No surprise.
Pitch perfect
"What a contrast"
Without mentioning his name once, Heather masterfully captures the conduct between a gentleman and an oaf. You rightly spotlight the historical grift of billionaires that trump exemplifies, but I'd like to u-turn back to another contrast between these two figures--someone who as a child purportedly said, "I cannot tell a lie" with the biggest liar the world has ever seen....
Well said, shades of Antebellum times ...
Wow, Phil! I think that may be the most profound and incisive comment I’ve ever read on this site.Although it’s not exactly the way I wanted to feel here in the wee hours before dawn on Christmas Eve, surrounded by my kids and grandkids, the truth will indeed set us free. Thank you.
Phil Balla, your post was at the top of the Comments section when I read HCR’s Letter this morning and I’m thankful for that. I spend a lot of time posting about Neoliberalism because, despite its having dominated American economics and politics for forty years, I think too few of us are familiar with it and that leads to many mistakes about who or what is responsible for the current, sorry state of our Union. Many think, mistakenly, the blame rests with the Democratic Party in spite of the plain fact that President Biden’s is the first Administration to do an about-face, moving our economy and society away from Neoliberalism. But my posts all seem to be, like this one, too long and repetitive. Your post this morning is nothing like that. Yours is direct, economical, well informed, and eloquent. I am so thankful for it!l
I'm reminded of Neil Armstrong's "One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." Whatever the imperfections, Washington's replication of Cinicinnatus's example, was one giant step in setting a firmer foundation for our country, something so many more could add to and improve. It was a step into a better future, not a step into a darker past.
The second and third paragraphs so beautifully the horror that I have been intuiting for a long time. Thank you for your description.
Damn...that is one sharp flaying knife. And true. Personally, I believe the '80's gave this problem wings and it really took off.
Kudos.
Well said, Phil!
The experiment of Capitalism isn’t finished evolving. Anything in its extreme is typically bad. And we live in extreme times.
Interestingly, utter these words to a Republican and they’ve been conditioned to immediately call you a Socialist — even though in reality, unless they are an American oligarch, they too have been hurt by extreme Capitalism.
My hope is the experiment of Capitalism continues and as a society we can learn to moderate the darker impulses of greed, power, and control.
Idealistic, I know…
The deep, festering underbelly of NYC (where Trump was nurtured) was the subject of a masterful April 2018 article by Frank Rich. It's a painful read for me, since I grew up in NYC and once thought some of the people named were great men. But it's important to understand the rot that exists in NYC overall... which Trump was drawn to like a bear to honey. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/04/frank-rich-roy-cohn-the-original-donald-trump.html
All I can say: you reap what you will sow.
This 2018 article is confirmation of all I have believed about the NYC glitterati. But when one becomes a dictator in waiting, the glitter falls into the gutter.
NYC is truly a microcosm of America. From the best of what we can be (Broadway Theater, world-class museums, the Statue of Liberty) to the worst of what we can be (what's in the Frank Rich article). Were law enforcement to ever attempt to total cleanup of NYC's underbelly, the effort could transform America. But first things first. Trump (who benefitted from living in that cesspool) must be convicted and barred from public life for life.
Wow
When the orange balloon is at last punctured by our legal processes what will that picture look like and how will our artists depict the scene? I believe it will resemble the chaos at the end of “The Untouchables” when Al Capone receives the verdict of the judge. The painting will serve as a warning.
tfg's supporters have never learned the history of this country. They need to read your letters!
With over half of the adults in the country read at a 6th grade level or below, a good portion of the MAGANAZIs don't read. Imagine HCR trying to write this wonderful newsletter at a 4th grade level.
Meanwhile, a different argument was presented to the Maine Secy. of State regarding Trump's name being on the ballot.
"While two of the three challenges in Maine focus on the 14th Amendment, the third, brought by Paul Gordon, a lawyer in Portland, argues that Mr. Trump should be found ineligible for the ballot under the 22nd Amendment, which says that “no person should be elected to the office of president more than twice.” The basis for his argument is that Mr. Trump has repeatedly claimed to have won the 2020 election.
Mr. Trump could “remove this obstacle” to qualify for the ballot, Mr. Gordon said in his complaint, by “acknowledging that he lost the 2020 election and repudiating all previous statements undermining the integrity of that election.”"
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/22/us/maine-trump-ballot.html
Love this twisted irony!
Excellent point!!
Brilliant
Like his giving up of the fiction that Obama was not truly born in Hawaii, which he did after much damage was done, he could well give up his claim to have won in 2020 later in the campaign. And thereby "silence" his critics.
if only the MAGAts could just read
If the MAGAs could only consider that their dogma might be flawed. That's a life skill.
They can read! It’s the thinking they have trouble with
Many poisons kill because they bind with some essential chemical process in the body and block the body's interaction with what it needs. Sometimes lies work that way too.
Propaganda is master at this
& some can only read the large print of banner headlines
Deep in the back of their minds they might suspect it and it's scary because they can't logically defend their views. They're reduced to relying on dogma and a 'might makes right' belief system.
Yes. They feel the need to dominate. If they "win," they will have proved the rightness of their cause.
Lol. Sad, but true.
Wayne, i was about to say the exact same thing as you did in your comment. You said it for me....
Cults only hear their leader, only trust their leader, only follow their leader. To hell in the end.
The ignorant and aggrieved are always easy prey for demagogues.
Part of the problem is our lack of available medical care and the rule of corporations and Big Ag (bad food poisoned with Roundup).
And Rupert keeps the aggrieved in perpetual turmoil. Wish repubs left some compunction which might lead to action
They chose to concoct "alternative facts". As such, they somehow fail to satisfy.
Kellyanne Conway’s latest.Twitter X-tra responded.⬇️
“ “I think Democrats wake up every morning and they look at the calendar on the iPhone and it says January 6th. The date never changes,” Conway claimed. “And then they get into an electric vehicle and go get an abortion.”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kellyanne-conway-liberals-abortion_n_65835897e4b0fe4ffe31f025
How did George put up with her so long?
They did it for the kids :). And the kids ended up hating both of them. Oh, the irony.
It must have been torture....for George. Who cares about her; she lives in garbage.
Kelly Anne is like an Anne Coulter with a less manly neck.
Who came up with that term,”alternate facts”?
I remember that the first time I ever heard that term, Kellyanne Conway used it. But it could have been coined by someone else.
It was Kelly on Fox News
Disgustingly brilliant.
And I will keep beating the same drum about Civics courses in schools being a mandatory requirement. I will never understand why they were dropped from the essentials of American education, but my cynical side thinks the ignorance that omission created in a large swath of the population has benefitted those who wish to destroy our democracy.
Ms Wilcox, that is the frustrating part. If only they felt the “need”. If only they allowed skepticism and curiosity into their minds. Or compassion as in “there but for the Grace of ( fill in the blank) go I or my loved ones.
But they need to feel that they are Right. It's the feels!
Those supporters of tfp lack a basic knowledge of democracy and the sacrifices of others which have so benefitted them. They are ungrateful and are unaware of what will befall them if the are successful.
It amazes me that tfg says if he is in the White House again, Social Security and Medicare will be gone. Why don't they see they are voting against their own best interests?
Maybe they need to learn to read first....
They don’t care…..
What an incredibly appropriate and moving historical moment to recall in these troubled times! May we always remember the humility and nobility of our first president and require the same traits in all who would follow him in office. He gave us a great gift, first in resigning his commission and later in stepping down from the presidency after 2 terms. He was truly a great man.
My dad once voted for Trump but hopefully won't do so again. He is a *huge* George Washington and Abraham Lincoln fan. And so I think I can remind him fruitfully of Washington stepping down.
Remind your dad that Al Gore also gracefully stepped away & admitted his "defeat" in 2000, after the Supreme Court stopped the counting of the votes in Florida - even though Gore ended up winning the popular vote! And Gore was Vice President at the time, so he was the one who had to accept the certification of the electoral college votes. That must have been extremely difficult. Yet Al Gore didn't incite an insurrection, but conceded his loss, for the good of the country.
Why do the Democrats have to be the ones who save democracy?
Because somebody has to. However Mike Pence did his job when most needed.
But not without a lot of prevaricating and asking others what he should do. Not a hint of a profile in courage.
Because Republicans are the ones seeking to tear down the government and replace it with fascistic dictatorship. If Republicans were not doing so, the United States might instead combat fascism overseas.
Mr. Gore like Jimmy Carter is a decent man who believes in justice and democracy. Our president Biden is pretty much the same. But the American public is the product of “reality “ tv and loves flash and bang. So in some ways Trump is the American president.
The pattern of GOP abuse followed by Democrats righting must end. Each side blames the billionaires...
I wish you luck, Matt.
May we always remember the humility and nobility of our first president and require the same traits in all.
Immortal.
It may be helpful for you to learn the factual history of what the privileged, racist, misogynist slave holding rapist you call a great man did to the Indigenous peoples of this continent most especially what he and the men who followed him did to the Oneida peoples who saved his and his men's lives.
I am fully aware of the complete history of George Washington’s life and it is arrogant of you to assume I don’t. All of the leaders of the Revolutionary period had back stories that by our contemporary values were odious. It doesn’t change the fact that his model of public service set our country on a course to model the peaceful transition of power that stood us in good stead for 240 years until the previous president came along. No person is perfect, including you or me. However, some of us do great good that doesn’t cancel the evil, but weighs in the balance when we calculate their lasting legacy.
My wife reminded me that Oliver Cromwell, an extreme Puritan (so much so that he went along with parliament banning Christmas), refused the crown after Charles the 1st was beheaded, becoming 1st Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland , and Ireland instead refusing to be a king. He was extreme but still had some principles.
I read many posts bringing out what was wrong with George Washington. If not GW, what example would be preferable? Or can no comparison be made to contrast Trump against? Right or wrong, you tell me: was GW recognized in his time as a great man? If right, why do you think that might have been? If wrong, who was that great person?
Viewing history with transactional analysis is precisely the justification Washington and the other psychopaths and sociopaths like him in gov't used to ignore and dismiss the genocide, rape, murder, torture, theft in which they engaged. You could have said Washington's decision was imperative to the building of this Nation. You did not have state he was a great man. He was not. He made a momentous decision. If you had to witness first hand what he did to his troops, his enslaved humans and to Indigenous people you could not sit comfortably hundreds of years later and state his vile behavior was on balance cancelled out. As you have had no direct effect on you, you justify claiming he was a great man on balance. That is colonialism.
How wondrous it must be to be so self-righteously judgmental! And on top of that to be able to know my entire history and what has and has not had a direct effect on me. That's awesome! But as awesome as that may be, you still don't get to police my language or tell me what or how to think. In fact, I suspect you haven't witnessed first hand what he did to his troops, his enslaved humans and to indigenous people either unless you are the oldest person on Earth. So what makes you justified in claiming you know better? My side of this conversation is ended.
Washington a rapist!? He too?
Thank you Heather, such a gift this was to us all..Merry Christmas..🎄
Masterful use of Washington to take down Trump!
Trump is pretty subterranean, but yes, it's startling to recall the range of persons who have occupied the office of president; an even more pointed reminder that Trump is a particularly egregious aberration.
The thought of the orange one having his picture hanging with other presidents is enough to turn my stomach.
As I am hoping Heather takes the next few days off my wish for everyone is a joyous holiday.
If his picture must hang with the rest, let it be his mugshot.
I was thinking behind bars!
That’s an excellent idea! Orange jumpsuit and shaved head.
Hmmm. An orangeout.
Ha!
Right on Linda!
Or better yet, if some intrepid reporter could sneak onto one of his "Married to the Mob" golf courses and catch him dropping his ball 50 yards further than his chip shot carried the ball initially, that might be even more representative!
In the bathroom with the boxes of documents he stored there. It must be an important place since pictures show lots of boxes. I do believe he hated Obama so much that trump did not observe the 40 year old tradition of having the unveiling of Obama's picture. Biden did it ( in a way, it was nicer to have a friend and not a hostile entity do the honor). Let's see what happens when it comes time for trump's picture to be unveiled.
There should NEVER be a painting of trump on the WH walls.
And if so, only as a warning to all wannabe dictators/traitors.
It seems that the democrats have taken the high road on everything. I wonder if Jill will give the traditional tour to Melania (who did not observe the tradition-surprise). Will Biden unveil trump's picture? I get the impression he pretty much follows traditions and plays by the rules and is a much bigger person than trump. But then the good guy doesn't always win by playing by the rules.
Notice that that bathroom was functional...sink and toilet available to "guests". How many stuffed a souvenir in their pocket?
No, his mugshot was a “glamour shot.” Let it be real, no make up, no $7,000 hair do. Just the real chump
After they are done shaving his head looking for lice, will be the perfect time for his official photo. That may be the only time I will enjoy seeing a picture of his face. 🤷♂️
only if he is in agony. Sorry, kindness is important to me, but a God-awful challenge with him.
Perfect.
I thought that on Nov 9, 2016. My stomach has been turned ever since
Does the White House have a janitorial closet somewhere in which to display tRump's picture or maybe just store it?
They must have someplace they keep the mops.
Maybe a wall of infamy
Can NOT wait for the Trump Presidential Library.
Coloring books and redacted top secret documents?
Richie Rich comic books
Also: The Art of the Deal and the coffee table book: Letter to Trump..both books with rave reviews, most likely written by MAGAs. Many photos of tfg in hero costumes.
So long as it's displayed behind bars.
Sad indeed, the potential we face...Bon courage...and VOTE
Vote that the vote remain decisive. Vote that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
I doubt Trump knows half the words Washington used in his resignation. Or the essence of what he communicated.
If he knew, he would call George Washington a weak sucker and a loser. We must vote in massive numbers to ensure he never gets near the White House again. And then we must be ready for the hell he will unleash at having been “cheated again.”
Linda, we are looking at the definition of Catch 22 next year. If Trump wins or doesn't, he will rain fire on us either way.
It's his pattern. It's his playbook. So tired of his shit!
He might just have been imprisoned by then.
He says he is willing to go to jail for us. Better late than never.
From your keyboard to God's eyes. We can only hope he has been imprisoned by then.
You can tell when someone else has written trump's speech and he is actually staying with it on the monitors. Look for "big" words. Otherwise you get word salad. "I'm going to maybe-and I'm looking at it very seriously-we're doing some other things that you probably noticed like some of the very important things that we're doing now." pause for breath. With a speech like that, you know trumpers are not listening or comprehending what he is saying. My take on this excerpt is that he is looking at something ( he really doesn't know what it is) and we're doing some vague, unnamed important things ( once again he doesn't know specifics).
Pitch perfect! Thanks for pointing out some humor in this mess!
"You know what uranium is, right? It's this thing called nuclear weapons, and other things like lots of things are done with uranium including bad things." And he is in control of the nuclear football. Let's hope we have generals like Millie who will just say no.
And that works just fine for the mind zombies that attend his rallies.
King George III asked his American painter, Benjamin West, what Washington would do after winning independence. West replied, “They say he will return to his farm.” “If he does that,” the incredulous monarch said, “he will be the greatest man in the world.”
I do hope all Americans understand the importance of Washington's resignation in the light of January 2021. I also hope that everyone understands that one day as dictator is enough to end democracy, especially given the preparations that have been going on for some time at the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025.
He lies, day one will just be his first official as dictator. Project 2025 will soon find a smarter and more malleable representative for the oligarchs. Sort of like House Mike…
Yep. A fall from a window may be in his future.
Maybe he’ll be buried in Ivana’s tomb. That really should be a project for Geraldo Rivera
It is a family grave site. The zoning would only him have 9 or 10 plots He wanted to have enough for club members could have one, too. Always a gimmick. As long as he is not buried in Arlington where SOLDIERS are buried.
He is a “stable genius” at knowing and using every crooked angle. His one skill
🤣🤣😉
Also that Washington resignation was essential to the establishment of the republic. You can't fudge on that one when your time is up.
Beautifully done, thank you.
Grateful for you Heather, once again using history to expose how maga-republicans are the antitheses of what Washington and the Revolution stood for.
Anti-Republicans.
Even when he was President 3 million more people had voted for Hilliary Clinton.
3,000,000 more people.
So even in 2016 he lost by near 2%
You guys have weird elections over there.
Yes, we do. The Electoral College is our joke. Gerrymandering is our punch line. The Senate allows Long long long speeches. Whew!!
Insane, you can win and still lose. It’s called cheating, Russian tilt, the power of money, etc
love that word -
Gerrymandering
Synonym of that short, pithy, late middle English word "cheat"
1 of the Original anti-democratic Sins.
That's why we so often snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
yes, we do
This is what makes America America… that our political leaders voluntarily GIVE UP POWER when they lose an election. I saw this history portrayed at the end of the Disneyland tribute to our presidents which can be found on YouTube (s number of versions … since Disney now changes the show when we have a new president. Here’s one of the best versions… created for when Barack Obama was president. Enjoy!
https://youtu.be/KMn83d4tQp8
Well… okay… maybe we could allow ourselves a moment of enjoyment. Afterwards, it would be a good idea to remember the dark American underbelly that has been festering and revealing itself by stages since 1968. We got some relief from thinking about it under the optimistic tutelage of Obama, but his “one United States of America” turned out to be a grossly over-optimistic characterization of the character of our citizenry. Most of us, certainly including me, gladly accepted the brief respite the first two years of Obama’s presidency afforded us, but not all of us were oblivious. Below is a link to Charlie Pierce’s prescient, 2008 essay on our prospects at the time. We may yet, with monumental effort, save the republic, but the odds are far from good. 50-50 is probably an overestimate. Merry Christmas.
https://link.esquire.com/view/5e4f48b2cdb7ec00db5a61bek4a08.4vg/bcaf72e7
Hedges condensed Charlie’s look at America’s underbelly, and why it voted for Trump, in this piece from 2018:
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-coming-collapse/
A strange message for Christmas Day.
Let it be a strong reminder that we and every human being have within us the antidote to resignation and despair. The courage to be ourselves, to turn away from darkness, from all that we are not, and trust in what we are: Children of the Light.
Thanks for highlighting. I remember thinking (before thump) that Bernie was America’s “only chance”. Now who could do it? Crawling back into my cave of despair.
Only chance? Nah. Last chance? To be determined.
I think it’s a mistake to wait for political ‘leaders’ to fix things. Change always comes from pressure from the grassroots. Absent that, politicians will continue to gorge themselves at the corporate donor trough, and ‘govern’ accordingly.
If you have time, get yourself involved in a get-out-the-vote project. That's our only hope, so your work might help, and it might relieve some of the despair. Works for me.
Only hope? I categorically reject that notion, as I believe the rot in our electoral landscape is so extensive that elections will not save us now. But you’re right about getting involved; citizen action is the only way out. My particular piece of the activist puzzle is to try and neuter the Supreme Court via eliminating the concepts of money as speech and corporate personhood - MoveToAmend.org
Contact your congressional representative and demand they cosponsor HJR-54, and threaten to withhold your vote if they don’t. And spread the word. Thanks.
Yes. There must be more than one way to skin a cat. Thanks for your efforts. I hope you succeed.
Hi Rex. That was quite the article. Comprehensive, intense and surely cynical. I’m afraid it took me to a dark place.
Yes. I'm familiar with that place. Been there since 1968. Not sure how I haven't succumbed to despair, but I haven't. I'm not optimistic, but I do not despair. Maybe it's because I'm only a month short of 80, which makes every day I wake up a good day.
I guess I should have made my point clearer. The video is not a celebration of Obama. It’s a celebration of the American spirit with a focus on Washington and Lincoln. Maybe I should have posted a version from an earlier year when the show more overtly minimized present day leadership. Then I would not have triggered you with the inclusion of Obama… who, by the way, I am no fan of despite meeting him early in his initial run for the presidency and joining Obama For America (the civic engagement organization that helped him win in 2008 only to then be shut down because he either felt he no longer needed it or was told he had to by the Democratic Party which saw it as a threat). Ultimately, a fatally timid man IMHO. And I’ll leave it at that.
I invite you to watch the entire Disney video. Again, it’s not about Obama.
Gee, I must be dense, for I did not see the video to be about Obama at all. I saw it as about an unbroken chain of passing on the power of presidents through the people who elected them. I also saw it as a reminder of our roots as a country.
Morning, Lynell. Nice assessment.
TY, Ally!
Your point was plenty clear. My comment isn't about Obama, either. It's about America's underbelly, namely the 74 million Americans the world would be better off without and that we must keep firmly in mind as we do what we can to save the republic.
Okay. Thanks for clarifying. I thought I had messed up.
Merry Christmas.
I truly doubt it's 74 million any more. First of all, Covid-19 killed off at least 3/4 of a million of them. And then there's the natural attrition of the elderly MAGANAZIs and the white Faux-Christian Nationalists. And also, the millions of voters that voted for. the Orange Julius before the coup attempt that won't vote for him again.
And then again, many of the 2020 Trump voters aren't paying attention to politics anyway. Those are the ones that we need to target with the truth about TFFG.
Good point. And good riddance to the dead ones. I don’t think there’s much percentage in looking for converts. Much more efficient to work to get Democratically inclined voters to cast ballots. Concening conversions, it is my hope that 5% or maybe 10% of the white working class women who voted for Trump will self-convert by recognizing that Republicans consider them to be nothing more than brood mares. Those votes would be enough for Dems to run the table.
I like your phraseology -- brood mares. If that doesn't turn some votes.
Thanks for the link, but doesn’t help me much on the hope side of things.
By the way, just so you don't think I live in a "positive information only" bubble, the deep, festering underbelly of NYC (where Trump was nurtured) was the subject of a masterful April 2018 article by Frank Rich. It's a painful read for me, since I grew up in NYC and once thought some of the people named were great men. But it's important to understand the rot that exists in NYC overall... which Trump was drawn to like a bear to honey. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/04/frank-rich-roy-cohn-the-original-donald-trump.html
Yeah. Plenty of rot in NYC. Still the greatest city in the world, though.
I would only say that less than give up their power, the return it to it's rightful owner. It is lent to them on a basis of contract and trust. Of the people, by the people, for the people.
Thanks so much, Steve. That video is awesome!
You're welcome, Lynell. While not an instant cure for the challenges we face, I find it important to be reminded of the values, heart and soul of America... and history... something Disney is pretty good at doing. Again, not perfect, but pretty good. Here's one other production Disney offers: the American Adventure... hosted by animatronic versions of Ben Franklin and Mark Twain. Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxLhw4nFgSs
Thanks again, Steve. On my way to watch now.
That was great! Thanks for the link.
Evening to All!
Wonderful, succinct exercise in the fine art of contrast by HCR tonight.
I forget the author's name, but I read a history of the American Revolution many years ago titled "Infidels" wherein the author portrayed with great poignancy the day that Washington returned to New York, in late November, 1783, a mere month before the events Heather discussed in tonight's letter. After he had escaped the British naval and ground forces from Brooklyn Heights in 1776, he returned in well earned if fatigued glory, after the long slog of the Revolutionary War, in late 1783. Along with a contingent of his most loyal troops, he marched down the "Great Broad Way" as it was known then, to reclaim the City and symbolically the Country, after two long years of negotiations leading to the Treaty of Paris, after the British surrender in 1781 at Yorktown, VA.
When they reached the Battery, he ordered a young soldier to climb the flagpole to take down the still flying Union Jack, only to find that the British, in all their dastardly arrogance, had greased the flagpole. The soldiers hammered stakes into it, climbed it, and tossed the Union Jack downward, while raising the newly minted Stars and Stripes.
Before he left New York within a week or so, he dined with his officers, some of whom had been with him since Valley Forge, at the Fraunces Tavern off of Broadway, tears flowing freely as each of them came to shake his hand, prior to his departure to his "retirement" at Mt. Vernon.
Fraunces Tavern was the spot. On Broad Street... still there.
May we all serve the nation and people rather than naked self-interest.
The common good.