I am at home for a short break, and Buddy and I have spent the day taking it easy, a plan I intend to continue for the next several hours. But rather than posting a picture and taking the night off, I am reposting one of my favorite pieces ever because of what it says about love, loss, humanity... and history.
Wonderful, sad, poignant post. Sitting here looking at the diary page and weeping for the loss caused by filth and overcrowding. How far have we come? Not far enough.
Kari THANK you! This is A WONDERFUL glimpse into the initially sad life of an enormously gifted rebel!
She was a vivid demonstration of someone who made lemonade, no, mimosas, of the lemons life threw at her; it's not what happens to you that defines you or what your life will be like but what one does with what life throws at you.
I wonder how different her life would have been if, had her Fathers grief turned the other way! It goes to show how truly our connections or disconnections can shape us, influence us, effect and impact who we become.
Doris Kearns Goodwin wrote a wonderful biography of TR and WH Taft, his Lingtime political ally in “The Bully Pulpit”. A favorite book and historian of mine, along with HCR, of course!
I highly recommend the book Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough. It’s a biography of TR. He does discuss Alice a bit. If memory serves, TR sent her to his sister to raise. He could barely stand to see her because she reminded him of his wife, not because he didn’t care for her. I forget which sister raised her.
His sister Anna (known as Bamie) primarily raised Alice until TR married his second wife, Edith Kermit Carow, on December 2, 1886. However, TR was rarely away from New York for more than a few months at a time and spent a lot of time with his sister and daughter when he was home.
Today HCR shares a poignant memory of the proto-fascist Theodore Roosevelt, who used his "big stick" to break dark-skinned countries in the name of corporate exploitation. T. Roosevelt was to McKinley as Tyler was to Harrison, as G.H.W. Bush was to Reagan (almost), as the proto-fascist Coolidge was to Harding.
T. Roosevelt's uncle was the head of the Confederate Secret Service.
TR was hardly a proto-fascist. A cute, pseudo intellectual term and hardly applicable to TR. TR was not trying to establish a one party terror dictatorship. Just like FDR was a communist because he increased the rights of unions.
Not too long ago trolls like you were using the term socialism. Then people pointed out that all those socialism hating red states actually receive a great deal of socialism in the form of money from the fed.
You display your ignorance, and buy into a one-dimensional stereotype of fascism, which always had a socialistic element to it.
p.s. As I've said before, I'm an old-school FDR Democrat. I'm not allergic to socialism, as the term is loosely used. Beyond that, I think there are examples around the world of hybrid economic systems that include both private and government-owned factories.
Knows how to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, or something like that. There is a lot to criticize TR for, but there is so much to admire. I think his pluses outweigh the negatives. Wish that applied to all of us.
But unlike Trump he actually stood up to the oligarchs instead of depending on their deep pockets to get keep him and his party in power. He was far from a conservative. Like all Presidents he was flawed but who isn't, especially when you are under the microscope 24/7.
Perhaps his biggest political mistake was declaring on the night of his reelection in 1904 that he would not run for President again in 1908.
T. Roosevelt, like Putin, made it clear to the oligarchs that he was one of them, and not their servant. Like a good imperialist heir to the Confederacy, Roosevelt made the Caribbean littoral safe for banana plantations.
Many reformers have blank spots in their vision. Florence Nightingale is one, for example. I think we have to acknowledge that, as you've done, but also not use that to deny the value of what they accomplish.
Perhaps it is correct to call T. Roosevelt a "kinder, gentler" proto-fascist. Fascism, in Italy and Germany and the U.S.A., includes a prominent gesture toward the will of the people and limits (domestically) the excesses of savage capitalism.
Glad you're taking a break. You and Buddy deserve it.
This is such a sad, sweet story, I can hardly imagine how TR was able to go on. Strength of character is only discovered in adversity. Best wishes for you both.
It not the only test, but a telling one. What one does with power is another.
"Once there, he worked to clean up the cities and stop the exploitation of workers, backing the urban reforms that were the hallmark of the Progressive Era."
One would think that chump might find a little strength of character in his current woes, but for two things. He has no strength of character, not one iota, and he doesn’t see his current woes as adversity. Just opportunity to pull the ultimate scam, and get revenge, and, after all, his ugly mug is on every tv screen. Win, win, so far…
Read this when you first published it~ & it still brings tears, both for his personal tragedy, which I known of, marginally—& for the socio-historical context in which you placed it- An already clear vision of his for social reform, galvanized to a deeper passion - by the impact of society’s ills on his own family. Brilliant, deeply moving piece. Thank you.
Trying to do good for ordinary people is always irritating to the greedy, the opportunistic, the power hungry, the narcissistic, the soulless, and so many people who are in positions of power.
Yes, and some here in Oregon, but we are in a revised legislative map for the state and both our senator and our rep are horrible. Our national pols are fine.
ANY boon or call for justice for workers is labeled "Job Killing" while anything that sheds jobs, such as offshoring and monopolization/downsizing is "efficiency". Recall that financial press was claiming that (literally) that the US financial system would collapse if bankrupted bankers were not paid public backed bonuses, but it was only common sense to tear up the contracts of union workers during the Subprime Ponzi crash. Any effort to aid the suffering public was repeatedly condemned as "moral hazard'; the difference between the mission of "of the people, by the people, for the people" VS "winner (by whatever means" take all".
Power tends to corrupt, so it makes good sense and justice to divide it widely, as in the form of a republic. Those who would be dictator are always scheming to sabotage divided power and hoover it up all for themselves. History is stuffed with examples.
Indeed it is. I reading right now a history of Rome and Persia (at one time Parthia). I am in the part where no Roman emperor lives for very long. This book is replete with executions, murders, and massacres on the way to power.
A man who took two horrible losses, and a clear view of the causes, and went on to do much good in the world. I can't help thinking that at least part of what drives our president is similar losses suffered in his early adulthood, and a desire to balance them with good.
Aeschylus famously said wisdom comes alone through suffering. I've never believed that's the only way to compassion, but am grateful that leaders like Biden and TR found it, however it happened.
Suffering gets our attention, but it is not the source of compassion or wisdom. To be wise and kind, one needs a secure base to grow from. For that, one needs people who love them.
So many repubs are based in shifting sands. It’s not just that they are flawed, the evil seems to ooze and metastasize. Never seen that before, except in one “religious” woman years ago.
Mary Trump's memoir, "Too Much and Never Enough," recounts the toxic environment tffg grew up in. No wonder he is the poster boy for a myriad of personality disorders.
Wisdom also comes from making mistakes and learning from them. When I first started programming computers in the 1970's I was on call 24/7. Back then, a call meant, you got dressed and drove to the office and then figured out how to fix the abend. Many times you only had one chance to try a fix otherwise the computer would be unavailable when people came into the office in the morning. Much of what I know about programming I learned by being forced to focus on analyzing the best way to resolve the problem, coding a fix and letting the batch cycle run. It's a terrible feeling to watch people come into the office and not have the tools they need to do their job --- and it's your fault.
After awhile you have the confidence and wisdom to get the cycle running again.
So, I agree with you and Aeschylus -- wisdom does come through suffering and the fear of suffering.
Some learn to do better, some learn to deflect the blame. From chump, 2005, Sun “You never blame yourself. You have to blame something else. If you do something bad, you never, ever blame yourself.” My Momma would have tanned his hide, but he taught this to his children.
Deny Deny Deny Attack Attack Attack. Lie Lie Lie. Trump's strategy to life in a nutshell.
Trump's tired MO has poisoned the American psyche. I have been gathering a list of things I blame Trump for. It's contains over 50 items and just the tip of the iceberg.
A lifelong project. I'd like a list of the people he has blamed for his actions. And after he blames others, he tries to get revenge on them for what he has done. Unf**kingbelievable.
Maybe he should have snuck in a year as a cowboy. It’s what Rove tried to do with W, who did have the hat, and a few cattle. But he was just another spoiled brat, who felt entitled to whatever he could land on his name, his dad’s name, and the family money. BTW, Prescott Bush was one of the rich dudes who signed on to the Coup of 1933, the goal of which was to get rid of Teddy’s cousin, another do-gooder for the people.
"Walk softly, and carry a big stick," and use it repeatedly to pummel those dark-skinned countries for the benefit of imperialist corporations. Send in the Marines...
A well deserved break. I don’t think anyone here is going to complain. LOLOL. My wife and I are celebrating 40 years of marriage this year and we take breaks regularly with each other, from everyone else. 🤓
Jeri, in the late 1990's, Oregon added a constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between one man and one woman. During that time, I was in the report writing room at the SO, another deputy was at a computer next to me. He asked how long Karyn and I had been together, and I told him 20 years. He said "Well, I've been married and divorced three times. Which one of us is a danger to the institution of marriage?"
In our alternative reality world today, perhaps you are, and that's the GOOD part. It's THEIR institution that you are a threat to. Keep up the good work and enjoy LOVE!
Bob, congratulations on your 40th anniversary! Marriage presents a lot of challenges, and I've found that having a sense of humor is a necessary ingredient in helping to stop little issues from become big issues.
I share a birthday, Feb 12, with Alice Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.
One year, my husband presented me with a box which contained a birthday cake. When I opened it, there was "Happy Birthday, Pat." My name is Pam.
I asked who Pat was and if the cake was on sale. (The lady who made the the cake heard Pat instead of Pam).
Anyway, I've had fun sharing that incident over the years.
On my husband's next birthday, his cake read, "Happy Birthday, Robert". His name is Ronnie.
Laughter eases tensions and gets us through hard times.
We all need a lot of laughter in the sadness and uneady times that are upon us.
When I hear stories of "mixed (political) marriages" I always want to ask if they laugh a lot.
Many of us here are Old Timers who may remember Mary Matalin and James Carville. She worked for the Republicans and he worked for the Democrats. I've read that they agreed to avoid talking politics at home. Carville is still doing his thing, on Youtube and perhaps elsewhere. His commentary is always incisive, and often hilarious. The one I watched this evening is about Rep Johnson, Speaker of the House. Carville and Johnson both grew up in Louisiana, went to the same law school (a generation or more apart in time, no doubt). Carville was born in October 1944.
Bob, you sound like my hubs and I. Met in ‘71, lived in sin for 5 1/2 years, married in ‘76. Coming up on 48 years. Has it always been joyous? Hell no, but it works!
My wife and I lived in sin for only about two years, so I figure I’ll have to do less time in purgatory than you will. That sin was very costly (as most of them are). My Irish Catholic love continued to pay the rent on the apartment that she no longer occupied simply to maintain a chaste facade for her quite orthodox Irish Catholic parents. I was a sailor at the time, and I think prim and proper couldn’t compete with my rough edges.😉
HA! My hubs is Irish Catholic and I am Jewish. Quite a tug of war on my parents side until we married. Then they had to wait another 7 years for grandkids. By then they mellowed. We call our girls JIrish! Jews don’t believe in heaven or hell so I guess you will be there by yourself, William!😄
You want to reform society -- any part of it, lots of it -- make it personal, make it human, make it real.
Look at the Republicans today. They have ideology (thank you arrogating ideologues of Supreme Court). They have lots of bribery and other loot from the predator billionaire classes (enjoying it, angry, angry, corrupt Clarence?). They have lies, lies, lies from their humanly empty, orange-encrusted turd. More lies from Speaker of the House Howdy Doody. More lies from the sea of white trash Congress people -- totally dehumanized, ever foaming in their black hole hatreds.
Teddy Roosevelt had love. Lost. Double lost, as our Heather here chronicles. But that love fueled him -- in ways our perverse and their monied emptiness can never, will never fathom.
Though, too, I think you feel about humor, needed sarcasm, also doubly as do I.
I happen to know a lot of kids. A lot of old people. Many, many young and not-so-young mothers. They're getting killed -- deliberately, wantonly killed -- in Ukraine. Their homes destroyed by screaming banshee missiles, their schools set afire, exploded. Fathers killed. And our fool Howdy Doody couldn't care less. He's so duped in his cult worship of the stinking diaper guy, in that orange-encrusted fat guy's worship of murderous dictators, that he can't feel or see anything human.
The Russian aggression in Ukraine has got to be stopped. Yes, without dark humor, I may go insane, so thanks for understanding. The mere fact that the GOP is currently answering to one private citizen is disgusting beyond measure. The criminality of that pumpkin tinted citizen should prevent him from ever being in a position to influence foreign policy again.
I often think of the horror they suffer everyday and night and how we are so uncaring. Nobody is bombing my apartment, now. But repubs are bombing our country with bull Schitt. It is toxic. Yes, I am as disgusted with Netanyahu as anyone, he needs prison time. Don’t wait Israelis
30 years ago, Jeri, I was living in Hungary, right next door to the Balkans.
I could not understand the deliberate mass murders and destruction being committed against the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina, and in particular the siege of Sarajevo. It maddened me that fellow Europeans in "civilized" Europe basically stood by, while the Serbs especially did their madness.
Worse, it drove me crazy how all the leaders fomenting on their mass murders and destruction were high-ranking university people. I was a university teacher. How could anyone anywhere in that profession indulge such nationalist abstractions, tribalism, genocide by group-think?
Eventually I would see how around the world universities were gutting, marginalizing, confining to neutered silos their humanities. Started with deliberate, well-funded, organized campaigns with the Powell memo in 1971. And spread.
To me, it was the most deliberate and evil targeting of a population for the purpose of genocide. I certainly don't know all the details, but I blamed Milosevic and his ilk for the carnage. It wasn't idiots.. It was the learned power structure against the "lessers." Is the hatred still the "go to" in that area. I heard a quote by a taxi driver from that area, that he sees the same targeted hatred in his travels around New York. Thank you for a report from the boiling pot. I had to depend on Bob Simon.
If your readers have not yet seen it, I highly recommend the 1996 PBS series “TR” on American Experience. This tragic episode in his life was heartbreakingly presented, along with the transformative trip to the Dakotas. Thank you for this essay; beautifully done. As someone who now works in public health comms, we owe much to Roosevelt’s muckraking spirit.
No, it was part of American Experience, but Ken Burns’ series is also good! American Experience is such a gem; its latest doc, Nazi Town USA, was harrowing, probably because it hits so close to home these days.
For a fuller picture and broader context for Nazi Town USA, listen to Rachael Maddow's podcast Ultra, and/or read her book Prequel. All three of these fine histories of the American GOP's traitorous involvement in promoting Nazi propoganda in the run-up to WWII provides the connection to today's GOP love affair with Putin and 45. America has always had an influential minority of citizens enamored of despotic tyrants.
__'At least 8 children among 22 hit by gunfire at end of Chiefs' Super Bowl parade; 1 person killed'
‘KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Eight children were among 22 people hit by gunfire in a shooting at the end of Wednesday's parade to celebrate the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl win, authorities said, as terrified fans ran for cover and yet another high-profile public event was marred by gun violence. One person was killed, a mother of two identified by her radio station as a DJ.’
__'Three D.C. police officers shot; suspect in custody after 13-hour standoff' (WAPO)
__'Congress has ignored gun violence. I hope they can't ignore the voices of the victims.
Hearing each of the victims' voices is unsettling. What's more unsettling is that we've reached a point where recreating the voices of the dead may be one of the only ways to get Congress' attention. (USA TODAY)
'Six years ago today at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, 17 students and school staff were shot and killed, and 17 more were wounded.'
'And yesterday marks one year since the deadly mass shooting at Michigan State University, where three students were shot and killed and five others wounded.'
'And today in Atlanta, four students were shot and wounded after school in the parking lot.'
'And just hours ago, another community was terrorized by gun violence: At the Super Bowl Championship parade in Kansas City, where at least one person was killed and many wounded.
Once again, everyday moments and celebrations have turned into tragedy.'
'And once again, entire communities are picking up the pieces from preventable acts of gun violence.
Our kids can't go to school in peace. Our parades are soundtracked with gunshots. What are our lawmakers doing?'
'To put it plainly: We're up against a lot. Gun companies continue to rake in huge profits, all while our communities reel from the devastation caused by their weapons.'
'We're not only holding the line against powerful gun manufacturers but also gun lobby-backed groups who are fighting to dismantle the existing laws that keep us safe. Right now in Florida, gun rights extremists are working to roll back the life-saving policies passed in the wake of the Parkland shooting.'
'Our children have a right not to be gunned down at school. We have a right to celebrate without being shot. These tragedies certainly aren't the norm in our peer nations—and they DON'T have to be our norm.'
'That's why we won't stop fighting for our right to a future free from gun violence.'
'As a movement of Americans fighting for common-sense gun policies, we depend on contributions from supporters like you to fund important work to reduce gun violence.'
The situation right within our own country with firearms is far more dangerous and serious than the border issue, yet Republicans refuse to even discuss gun reform. Which issue constitutes the greater threat to our children?? Republicans only want children to be born. After that, if they're blown to kingdom come then, in the words of their Orange Jesus, they should just "get over it".
And everybody acted like they don't know what the problem is. We all know what the problem is and the majority want something done about it. But even when the voters passed a gun control measure here in Oregon, an eastern Oregon judge (deliberately chosen) has held it up and there is still no resolution. My husband and i both said we would never attend anything where there is a big crowd. Two books this week reviews in the NYT book review on gun violence.
Today, there is no safe haven! No person is immune to gun violence, but our lawmakers don’t appear to care enough to actually address the issue! Seems guns are available on every corner. That’s not what was intended when the Second Amendment was passed!
'No Blame?' ABC News finds 54 cases invoking 'Trump' in connection with violence, threats, alleged assaults.' (excerpt)
'President Donald Trump insists he deserves no blame for divisions in America.'
'President Donald Trump has repeatedly distanced himself from acts of violence in communities across America, dismissing critics who point to his rhetoric as a potential source of inspiration or comfort for anyone acting on even long-held beliefs of bigotry and hate.'
"I think my rhetoric brings people together," he said last year, four days after a 21-year-old allegedly posted an anti-immigrant screed online and then allegedly opened fire at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, killing 22 and injuring dozens of others.'
'But a nationwide review conducted by ABC News has identified at least 54 criminal cases where Trump was invoked in direct connection with violent acts, threats of violence or allegations of assault.'
'After a Latino gas station attendant in Gainesville, Florida, was suddenly punched in the head by a white man, the victim could be heard on surveillance camera recounting the attacker’s own words: “He said, ‘This is for Trump.'" 'Charges were filed but the victim stopped pursuing them.'
'When police questioned a Washington state man about his threats to kill a local Syrian-born man, the suspect told police he wanted the victim to' "get out of my country," adding, "That’s why I like Trump."
'Reviewing police reports and court records, ABC News found that in at least 12 cases perpetrators hailed Trump in the midst or immediate aftermath of physically assaulting innocent victims. In another 18 cases, perpetrators cheered or defended Trump while taunting or threatening others. And in another 10 cases, Trump and his rhetoric were cited in court to explain a defendant's violent or threatening behavior.' (ABCNews) See link below.
'Study Finds That Dropping Training Requirement to Obtain Concealed Carry Permit Leads to Significant Increase in Gun Assaults' (publichealth) See link below.
'Two months after Donald Trump egged on his supporters as they violently marched on the U.S. Capitol, the Public Religion Research Institute and the Brookings Institution decided to start asking Americans about their stomach for political violence. The way they measured this was asking if respondents agreed that' “because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country.”
'That first time, in March 2021, pollsters found 15% of Americans agreed.'
'More than two years and eight surveys later, the pollsters found the support for that statement rising to 23%. It's the first time they found more than 1 in 5 Americans open to condoning political violence.'
'Put another way: the chaos unleashed on Congress on Jan. 6, 2021, is going mainstream. That has seismic consequences for the country in ways that neither party properly appreciates.' (Time) See link below.
'More say violence could be necessary to restore Trump to White House: survey'
'A recent survey shows increasing support for the use of violence to restore former President Trump to the White House.'
'The report, titled “Dangers to Democracy” and released by the Chicago Project on Security Threats (CPST) earlier this month, found that 7 percent of Americans from April 6 to June 26 agree that “the use of force is justified to restore Donald Trump to the presidency.”
'That number is an increase from 4.5 percent, or “the equivalent of an estimated shift from 12 million to 18 million American adults,” according to the survey, which was conducted by CPST and NORC.' (thehill) See link below.
Trump is the face of evil. There’s no denying that! Each time he opens his vile mouth, he spews hate. All one has to do is listen and! Take the plugs out of your ears people!
He can deny till hell freezes over. He deserves the blame for our discontent and our current horror, domestically, and internationally. I can’t think of one crisis we are facing today that repubs have either not created or made worse. Not one.
I realize that, but large crowds seems to be tempting along with enclosed spaces. The state justice department here in Oregon has asked the Oregon Supreme Court to left the injunction by the eastern Oregon judge. I hope they will make a decision soon although I am sure the Oregunians as they call themselves would appeal to federal courts. I notice that Missouri is a state that has very loose gun laws.
No, he is, I think, in Malheur County, which is further south. In Oregon we refer to part of the Columbia as the Gorge. Also there is central Oregon where I would place Bend. Malheur is a large county which also has the refuge taken over by Bundy and his cohorts. Burns would be a town nearby. We spent some time at the refuge on a birding trip where we also visited Steen's Mountain. The refuse is a lovely place and the occupiers did damage while they were there. Eastern Oregon is sparsely populated for the most part and has lots of ranchers. Also water problems.
The leading cause of death among children (ages 1 - 18 years) in the US is from being shot with guns: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2201761. That alone should be a clarion call to action to all people of all political stripes. Thank-you Fern, for this post on a VERY important subject.
Thank you for this letter….. I am on this day in the Israel Family Hospice House in Ames, Iowa where my husband of 61 years is struggling to stay alive and calling the shots of when he chooses to join his beloved father and mother, his oldest brother, and three sisters. We love you so much and will miss you terribly. You are such a wonderful loyal, and hardworking husband, partner and friend, father, and grandfather, teacher and mentor, and brilliant scientist. We will miss you terribly, peace be with you, Mohammed Ali Tabatabai 🙏❤️.
Pain brings focus, and makes for complicated personalities. I drive people crazy when I say I am a Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt disciple. Both of them placed the Common Good above all to ensure the health of our nation and its democratic principles. More of us need to follow their examples now, and sometimes accept the necessary indirection that is necessary to get th goal line. Teddy would appreciate that.
She helped spearhead UN Declaration of the Rights of Man i believe, based in no small part from a lawyer from the small town of Hampton in New Brunswick Canada. Relaxing small scale tourist country!
Same here. Neither of us has info on a website on which we both appear by name and town. I sleuthed a bit, and believe I found an address, so I will drop a note in the mail.
This is a lovely, stunning story. I have shared it and hope it will remind each of us that we too can make a difference, even thought our hearts are broken.
Life can be so hard. Not easy to predict outcomes. How we move forward after tragedy speaks to the possibilities life provides. As I read the story you retell in this letter, it gives me hope. Thank you.
Wow, it’s the second time I’ve read this brilliant essay, but it’s the first that I’ve noticed that the awful X in the diary could have been the predecessor to the angry X running roughshod over our society today.
You have in the sharing of Roosevelt's loss, rekindled the light of love in me that still burns as I weep for my late wife Jeannette. Happy Valentine's Day to you and Buddy...and many happy returns...
TR was one of our good ones. He was asthmatic, caring and brave. His life surpassed tragedy. His cousin FDR was one of the great ones; he surpassed polio..and WW II. With Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln, these two rank. History cannot judge the present.. but I believe that Biden will be judged with the best. Overcoming personal tragedy, mastering chaos and war.. antisemitism and raging prejudice… addressing dictatorships, and there are many, creates greatness. Dealing with Trump domestic and international fascism elevates Biden. He has mastered NATO and Covid-19 and more.
Sandy, I’m a huge fan of Biden. I think he’s been the best president of my lifetime. But Covid policy is one place where the administration falls woefully short. We have had four years to implement the mitigations that would really help, with air quality in schools being the big one, and we haven’t done it. The pandemic isn’t over, and we will be paying for it for decades as the long term effects become better known. Our pillars of control need to be indoor air quality (ventilation and filtration), vaccination (with near universal uptake), testing and isolation when sick, and yes, masking. Unfortunately the political costs of the last two, thanks to Trump, have made them impossible to achieve. The CDC continues to place economic issues over public health, most recently rescinding guidance to isolate when Covid positive. That’s insane.
I am immunocompromised from chemotherapy. I am very careful, masking indoors and avoiding crowded indoor spaces (I don’t go out to eat anymore, for example). Our kids test twice before coming home to visit. If we do socialize, windows are open and hepa filters are on. But my husband is a professor, and gets exposed at work. Students aren’t very careful, and he doesn’t mask, which I kind of hate and kind of understand. My cancer was caused by a virus I likely caught 40 years ago. No one knows what a Covid infection will cause 40 years from now. I won’t be around to see it, but I think we’re playing with fire and getting burned already. There were approximately 1,400 Covid deaths per week in January. But since we’re not testing, and we’re not counting things like heart attacks in the few months after having Covid as Covid deaths, this is likely a significant undercount.
I will add that I’m actually not particularly worried about acute Covid. I’m fully vaccinated, and I’ve had Covid twice. My chance of dying from Covid isn’t particularly high. It’s Long Covid that has me scared, both on my own behalf and on behalf of society.
Wonderful, sad, poignant post. Sitting here looking at the diary page and weeping for the loss caused by filth and overcrowding. How far have we come? Not far enough.
Cannot help wondering what happened to the baby? 🥲🥲🥲
Judith, I had the same thought. I did a bit of digging and found this:
https://reagan.blogs.archives.gov/2023/04/17/white-house-kids-series-alice-roosevelt-longworth/
Kari THANK you! This is A WONDERFUL glimpse into the initially sad life of an enormously gifted rebel!
She was a vivid demonstration of someone who made lemonade, no, mimosas, of the lemons life threw at her; it's not what happens to you that defines you or what your life will be like but what one does with what life throws at you.
I wonder how different her life would have been if, had her Fathers grief turned the other way! It goes to show how truly our connections or disconnections can shape us, influence us, effect and impact who we become.
Yes, I think about this too
Thank you, that was fascinating!
Brava Alice!
Thank you for the info on Alice. I had no idea of her antics.
You mean amber show of freedom?
Ty for this! Juicy little history!
Doris Kearns Goodwin wrote a wonderful biography of TR and WH Taft, his Lingtime political ally in “The Bully Pulpit”. A favorite book and historian of mine, along with HCR, of course!
She did it her way! 😉
Oh my gosh, that was a great story, thank you for sharing! I loved her, what an inspiration! :-)
Thank you Kari, wish Alice was still alive and be politically active.....
Thanks so much for this stunning article! What a pip! Brilliant!
She was a pistol!
So interesting thank so
Much
Thank you, Kari.
Alice Roosevelt Longworth was quite a character. She was famous for saying, ‘If you don’t have anything nice to say, come sit next to me.’
I would have like to have known her IRL. I think we would have been fast friends. I hate people, too.
I just say it like it IS so there
I highly recommend the book Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough. It’s a biography of TR. He does discuss Alice a bit. If memory serves, TR sent her to his sister to raise. He could barely stand to see her because she reminded him of his wife, not because he didn’t care for her. I forget which sister raised her.
Re Wikipedia: Her aunt was Anna, she knew as Bamie or Bye. She later said of Bye, “If auntie Bye had been a man, she would have been president”
Alice lived with her aunt right after her mother's death. At 3 she was brought home to stay.
His sister Anna (known as Bamie) primarily raised Alice until TR married his second wife, Edith Kermit Carow, on December 2, 1886. However, TR was rarely away from New York for more than a few months at a time and spent a lot of time with his sister and daughter when he was home.
I'll second that recommendation.
third
Fourth! This book by the incomparable David McCullough is required reading for anyone interested in American history.
In her teens she was known as Alice blue gown. She was a belle of New York society. Very proud of her father and campaigned for him.
She lived a long life. Died in 1980. I believe that’s what I’ve read.
A book of it’s own
Life is always full of battles. We all have struggles and can feel hopeless. I am so grateful for those who support me and one another through them.
This is also a story of how tragedy and hardship can be turned around and help us become stronger and better.
This is a story of hope. Heather usually gets that message out. Thanks...to her and all of the rest of my allies.
I have hope that many Americans will emerge from the trump nightmare more knowledgeable, stronger, wiser and better.
Today HCR shares a poignant memory of the proto-fascist Theodore Roosevelt, who used his "big stick" to break dark-skinned countries in the name of corporate exploitation. T. Roosevelt was to McKinley as Tyler was to Harrison, as G.H.W. Bush was to Reagan (almost), as the proto-fascist Coolidge was to Harding.
T. Roosevelt's uncle was the head of the Confederate Secret Service.
TR was hardly a proto-fascist. A cute, pseudo intellectual term and hardly applicable to TR. TR was not trying to establish a one party terror dictatorship. Just like FDR was a communist because he increased the rights of unions.
Not too long ago trolls like you were using the term socialism. Then people pointed out that all those socialism hating red states actually receive a great deal of socialism in the form of money from the fed.
Just more bovine excrement from you.
Please do not feed the troll
Bret Yeilding,
You display your ignorance, and buy into a one-dimensional stereotype of fascism, which always had a socialistic element to it.
p.s. As I've said before, I'm an old-school FDR Democrat. I'm not allergic to socialism, as the term is loosely used. Beyond that, I think there are examples around the world of hybrid economic systems that include both private and government-owned factories.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzz..........
You refuse to listen.
.
..
.
.
You are Dark Linus, wrapping a stiff fetid blanket around everything. Thank you for the contrast. Be well.
Knows how to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, or something like that. There is a lot to criticize TR for, but there is so much to admire. I think his pluses outweigh the negatives. Wish that applied to all of us.
please do not feed the troll
Theodor Roosevelt had a Trumpish desire to have his face carved on Mount Rushmore.
But unlike Trump he actually stood up to the oligarchs instead of depending on their deep pockets to get keep him and his party in power. He was far from a conservative. Like all Presidents he was flawed but who isn't, especially when you are under the microscope 24/7.
Perhaps his biggest political mistake was declaring on the night of his reelection in 1904 that he would not run for President again in 1908.
Please do not feed the troll.
T. Roosevelt, like Putin, made it clear to the oligarchs that he was one of them, and not their servant. Like a good imperialist heir to the Confederacy, Roosevelt made the Caribbean littoral safe for banana plantations.
Hahahahahahahahahaha.
Silly man thinks he's smart.
Smart like his orange stank.
Please do not feed the troll.
Beth Cobb stanks orange now.
.
.
Many reformers have blank spots in their vision. Florence Nightingale is one, for example. I think we have to acknowledge that, as you've done, but also not use that to deny the value of what they accomplish.
Please do not feed the troll
Perhaps it is correct to call T. Roosevelt a "kinder, gentler" proto-fascist. Fascism, in Italy and Germany and the U.S.A., includes a prominent gesture toward the will of the people and limits (domestically) the excesses of savage capitalism.
I said more in my reply here:
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/february-14-2024/comment/49598408
.
I too had tears in my eyes…
Glad you're taking a break. You and Buddy deserve it.
This is such a sad, sweet story, I can hardly imagine how TR was able to go on. Strength of character is only discovered in adversity. Best wishes for you both.
It not the only test, but a telling one. What one does with power is another.
"Once there, he worked to clean up the cities and stop the exploitation of workers, backing the urban reforms that were the hallmark of the Progressive Era."
Thank you Richard, I second all your words here. It is darkest before the dawn. Thank you Heather, as always!
One would think that chump might find a little strength of character in his current woes, but for two things. He has no strength of character, not one iota, and he doesn’t see his current woes as adversity. Just opportunity to pull the ultimate scam, and get revenge, and, after all, his ugly mug is on every tv screen. Win, win, so far…
Thank you for this letter. Heart breaking all these years later. We need to take care of everyone. Teddy got that.
We take care of each other, to create an environment of e pluribus unum. That's the open secret.
Read this when you first published it~ & it still brings tears, both for his personal tragedy, which I known of, marginally—& for the socio-historical context in which you placed it- An already clear vision of his for social reform, galvanized to a deeper passion - by the impact of society’s ills on his own family. Brilliant, deeply moving piece. Thank you.
"... they tried to ignore his irritating interest in reforming society." The irritating interest in reforming society
seems to run in the Roosevelt line doesn't it?
Love them cousins.
Trying to do good for ordinary people is always irritating to the greedy, the opportunistic, the power hungry, the narcissistic, the soulless, and so many people who are in positions of power.
Yes, we need more politicians who put ego after the common good- there ARE some.
Conscience
Compassion
Patriotism (not nationalism)
It needs to get at least equal time with malignant narcissism.
Not in Rupert’s world.
Yes, and some here in Oregon, but we are in a revised legislative map for the state and both our senator and our rep are horrible. Our national pols are fine.
Cretins know how to take over states first, then it goes national. Just ask Texas…
They don't seem to be Republicans in this day and age.
Different from "The Party of Lincoln", that's for sure, back in the day when Republicans were on the Union side of the Civil War.
Also this: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/april-18-2022
Boy, they could put that truth in stone. Truman knew that to be true. “Socialism is their name for almost anything that helps all the people.”
ANY boon or call for justice for workers is labeled "Job Killing" while anything that sheds jobs, such as offshoring and monopolization/downsizing is "efficiency". Recall that financial press was claiming that (literally) that the US financial system would collapse if bankrupted bankers were not paid public backed bonuses, but it was only common sense to tear up the contracts of union workers during the Subprime Ponzi crash. Any effort to aid the suffering public was repeatedly condemned as "moral hazard'; the difference between the mission of "of the people, by the people, for the people" VS "winner (by whatever means" take all".
Not a new story, is it...
Power tends to corrupt, so it makes good sense and justice to divide it widely, as in the form of a republic. Those who would be dictator are always scheming to sabotage divided power and hoover it up all for themselves. History is stuffed with examples.
Indeed it is. I reading right now a history of Rome and Persia (at one time Parthia). I am in the part where no Roman emperor lives for very long. This book is replete with executions, murders, and massacres on the way to power.
And the plutocrats are still up to no good.
A man who took two horrible losses, and a clear view of the causes, and went on to do much good in the world. I can't help thinking that at least part of what drives our president is similar losses suffered in his early adulthood, and a desire to balance them with good.
Was just thinking the same thing, David, reading these comments reminded me of Joe’s dedication to “the people, all of them”.
Yes! We are lucky to have him in the White House. He's gained wisdom from his 50-plus years in politics, and his 81 years on the planet.
Damn, wise elders? A dead idea among repubs. Chump learned The Art of the Steal
Aeschylus famously said wisdom comes alone through suffering. I've never believed that's the only way to compassion, but am grateful that leaders like Biden and TR found it, however it happened.
Suffering gets our attention, but it is not the source of compassion or wisdom. To be wise and kind, one needs a secure base to grow from. For that, one needs people who love them.
So many repubs are based in shifting sands. It’s not just that they are flawed, the evil seems to ooze and metastasize. Never seen that before, except in one “religious” woman years ago.
Mary Trump's memoir, "Too Much and Never Enough," recounts the toxic environment tffg grew up in. No wonder he is the poster boy for a myriad of personality disorders.
She did a damn good job on that book.
Wisdom also comes from making mistakes and learning from them. When I first started programming computers in the 1970's I was on call 24/7. Back then, a call meant, you got dressed and drove to the office and then figured out how to fix the abend. Many times you only had one chance to try a fix otherwise the computer would be unavailable when people came into the office in the morning. Much of what I know about programming I learned by being forced to focus on analyzing the best way to resolve the problem, coding a fix and letting the batch cycle run. It's a terrible feeling to watch people come into the office and not have the tools they need to do their job --- and it's your fault.
After awhile you have the confidence and wisdom to get the cycle running again.
So, I agree with you and Aeschylus -- wisdom does come through suffering and the fear of suffering.
Some learn to do better, some learn to deflect the blame. From chump, 2005, Sun “You never blame yourself. You have to blame something else. If you do something bad, you never, ever blame yourself.” My Momma would have tanned his hide, but he taught this to his children.
Deny Deny Deny Attack Attack Attack. Lie Lie Lie. Trump's strategy to life in a nutshell.
Trump's tired MO has poisoned the American psyche. I have been gathering a list of things I blame Trump for. It's contains over 50 items and just the tip of the iceberg.
A lifelong project. I'd like a list of the people he has blamed for his actions. And after he blames others, he tries to get revenge on them for what he has done. Unf**kingbelievable.
Sad but true Jeri
Maybe he should have snuck in a year as a cowboy. It’s what Rove tried to do with W, who did have the hat, and a few cattle. But he was just another spoiled brat, who felt entitled to whatever he could land on his name, his dad’s name, and the family money. BTW, Prescott Bush was one of the rich dudes who signed on to the Coup of 1933, the goal of which was to get rid of Teddy’s cousin, another do-gooder for the people.
He was also a sickly child his parents constantly worried that he wouldn't survive until adulthood.
Trump? Too bad he survived.
I was unaware of that. Thanks!
"Walk softly, and carry a big stick," and use it repeatedly to pummel those dark-skinned countries for the benefit of imperialist corporations. Send in the Marines...
A well deserved break. I don’t think anyone here is going to complain. LOLOL. My wife and I are celebrating 40 years of marriage this year and we take breaks regularly with each other, from everyone else. 🤓
We hit 40 years last year. We've been legally married for 15 years, since that was never an option for us until then.
Ally, you deserve an extra 25 for weathering it through that egregious discrimination. Congratulations!
So happy for all who were denied for so long, and for what? The judgment of those who matter not.
Jeri, in the late 1990's, Oregon added a constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between one man and one woman. During that time, I was in the report writing room at the SO, another deputy was at a computer next to me. He asked how long Karyn and I had been together, and I told him 20 years. He said "Well, I've been married and divorced three times. Which one of us is a danger to the institution of marriage?"
In our alternative reality world today, perhaps you are, and that's the GOOD part. It's THEIR institution that you are a threat to. Keep up the good work and enjoy LOVE!
Know more than a few of those. Oh, the self-righteous cretins have no shame.
Bob, congratulations on your 40th anniversary! Marriage presents a lot of challenges, and I've found that having a sense of humor is a necessary ingredient in helping to stop little issues from become big issues.
I share a birthday, Feb 12, with Alice Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.
One year, my husband presented me with a box which contained a birthday cake. When I opened it, there was "Happy Birthday, Pat." My name is Pam.
I asked who Pat was and if the cake was on sale. (The lady who made the the cake heard Pat instead of Pam).
Anyway, I've had fun sharing that incident over the years.
On my husband's next birthday, his cake read, "Happy Birthday, Robert". His name is Ronnie.
Laughter eases tensions and gets us through hard times.
We all need a lot of laughter in the sadness and uneady times that are upon us.
If illness is part of the equation, it is a necessary ingredient
Congratulations! 40 years!!! Great job, much 💕 I'm sure
Met in 1977. Married in 1984. My true love and liberal soul mate.
Lucky to have each other during these trying times. I have a liberal friend married to a trump supporter! All I can say is "Yikes"!!!
I can't stand a Trump supporter in my house. Forget in my bed.
Extra ❤️
Gosh. And, I REALLY meant it.
Ouch. I can’t imagine what that would be like. I’m so sorry for your friend.
When I hear stories of "mixed (political) marriages" I always want to ask if they laugh a lot.
Many of us here are Old Timers who may remember Mary Matalin and James Carville. She worked for the Republicans and he worked for the Democrats. I've read that they agreed to avoid talking politics at home. Carville is still doing his thing, on Youtube and perhaps elsewhere. His commentary is always incisive, and often hilarious. The one I watched this evening is about Rep Johnson, Speaker of the House. Carville and Johnson both grew up in Louisiana, went to the same law school (a generation or more apart in time, no doubt). Carville was born in October 1944.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPsQOPY6_MA (if the video begins in the middle, just move the time slider to the beginning.)
Where is Mary now. I have wondered, she wasn’t a fixture in The chump WH like she was with W/Dickie.
My version of hell.
Bob, you sound like my hubs and I. Met in ‘71, lived in sin for 5 1/2 years, married in ‘76. Coming up on 48 years. Has it always been joyous? Hell no, but it works!
My wife and I lived in sin for only about two years, so I figure I’ll have to do less time in purgatory than you will. That sin was very costly (as most of them are). My Irish Catholic love continued to pay the rent on the apartment that she no longer occupied simply to maintain a chaste facade for her quite orthodox Irish Catholic parents. I was a sailor at the time, and I think prim and proper couldn’t compete with my rough edges.😉
I loved me some rough edges too.
HA! My hubs is Irish Catholic and I am Jewish. Quite a tug of war on my parents side until we married. Then they had to wait another 7 years for grandkids. By then they mellowed. We call our girls JIrish! Jews don’t believe in heaven or hell so I guess you will be there by yourself, William!😄
How smart of you. Best way to keep intimacy, which is the bond that lasts.
It's personal.
You want to reform society -- any part of it, lots of it -- make it personal, make it human, make it real.
Look at the Republicans today. They have ideology (thank you arrogating ideologues of Supreme Court). They have lots of bribery and other loot from the predator billionaire classes (enjoying it, angry, angry, corrupt Clarence?). They have lies, lies, lies from their humanly empty, orange-encrusted turd. More lies from Speaker of the House Howdy Doody. More lies from the sea of white trash Congress people -- totally dehumanized, ever foaming in their black hole hatreds.
Teddy Roosevelt had love. Lost. Double lost, as our Heather here chronicles. But that love fueled him -- in ways our perverse and their monied emptiness can never, will never fathom.
I shall, in the future, refer to the current Speaker of the House as ‘Howdy Doody’! It fits perfectly, he’s a puppet of both tfg and Putin.
Go with it, Sharon.
Though, too, I think you feel about humor, needed sarcasm, also doubly as do I.
I happen to know a lot of kids. A lot of old people. Many, many young and not-so-young mothers. They're getting killed -- deliberately, wantonly killed -- in Ukraine. Their homes destroyed by screaming banshee missiles, their schools set afire, exploded. Fathers killed. And our fool Howdy Doody couldn't care less. He's so duped in his cult worship of the stinking diaper guy, in that orange-encrusted fat guy's worship of murderous dictators, that he can't feel or see anything human.
The Russian aggression in Ukraine has got to be stopped. Yes, without dark humor, I may go insane, so thanks for understanding. The mere fact that the GOP is currently answering to one private citizen is disgusting beyond measure. The criminality of that pumpkin tinted citizen should prevent him from ever being in a position to influence foreign policy again.
I often think of the horror they suffer everyday and night and how we are so uncaring. Nobody is bombing my apartment, now. But repubs are bombing our country with bull Schitt. It is toxic. Yes, I am as disgusted with Netanyahu as anyone, he needs prison time. Don’t wait Israelis
30 years ago, Jeri, I was living in Hungary, right next door to the Balkans.
I could not understand the deliberate mass murders and destruction being committed against the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina, and in particular the siege of Sarajevo. It maddened me that fellow Europeans in "civilized" Europe basically stood by, while the Serbs especially did their madness.
Worse, it drove me crazy how all the leaders fomenting on their mass murders and destruction were high-ranking university people. I was a university teacher. How could anyone anywhere in that profession indulge such nationalist abstractions, tribalism, genocide by group-think?
Eventually I would see how around the world universities were gutting, marginalizing, confining to neutered silos their humanities. Started with deliberate, well-funded, organized campaigns with the Powell memo in 1971. And spread.
To me, it was the most deliberate and evil targeting of a population for the purpose of genocide. I certainly don't know all the details, but I blamed Milosevic and his ilk for the carnage. It wasn't idiots.. It was the learned power structure against the "lessers." Is the hatred still the "go to" in that area. I heard a quote by a taxi driver from that area, that he sees the same targeted hatred in his travels around New York. Thank you for a report from the boiling pot. I had to depend on Bob Simon.
And he’s such a good Christian, isn’t he?
Or Moses, pick one.
If Johnson encountered a burning bush in the desert that wasn't being consumed by the fire, he would run away in fear.
To be fair, so would I! But I’m not cosplaying Moses, so there’s that.
Loss can suck our energy or give it purpose. He went through the grief and found purpose, like Joe.
If your readers have not yet seen it, I highly recommend the 1996 PBS series “TR” on American Experience. This tragic episode in his life was heartbreakingly presented, along with the transformative trip to the Dakotas. Thank you for this essay; beautifully done. As someone who now works in public health comms, we owe much to Roosevelt’s muckraking spirit.
Thank your for the tip, Andrea !
Was that part of Ken Burn's series on the Roosevelts, including Eleanor? I'd love to see that again.
No, it was part of American Experience, but Ken Burns’ series is also good! American Experience is such a gem; its latest doc, Nazi Town USA, was harrowing, probably because it hits so close to home these days.
For a fuller picture and broader context for Nazi Town USA, listen to Rachael Maddow's podcast Ultra, and/or read her book Prequel. All three of these fine histories of the American GOP's traitorous involvement in promoting Nazi propoganda in the run-up to WWII provides the connection to today's GOP love affair with Putin and 45. America has always had an influential minority of citizens enamored of despotic tyrants.
Prequel was excellent, and I’ll check out the podcast! Thanks for the recc.
__'At least 8 children among 22 hit by gunfire at end of Chiefs' Super Bowl parade; 1 person killed'
‘KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Eight children were among 22 people hit by gunfire in a shooting at the end of Wednesday's parade to celebrate the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl win, authorities said, as terrified fans ran for cover and yet another high-profile public event was marred by gun violence. One person was killed, a mother of two identified by her radio station as a DJ.’
__'Three D.C. police officers shot; suspect in custody after 13-hour standoff' (WAPO)
__'Congress has ignored gun violence. I hope they can't ignore the voices of the victims.
Hearing each of the victims' voices is unsettling. What's more unsettling is that we've reached a point where recreating the voices of the dead may be one of the only ways to get Congress' attention. (USA TODAY)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2024/02/14/congress-must-listen-ai-voices-gun-violence-victims/72581374007/
'Six years ago today at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, 17 students and school staff were shot and killed, and 17 more were wounded.'
'And yesterday marks one year since the deadly mass shooting at Michigan State University, where three students were shot and killed and five others wounded.'
'And today in Atlanta, four students were shot and wounded after school in the parking lot.'
'And just hours ago, another community was terrorized by gun violence: At the Super Bowl Championship parade in Kansas City, where at least one person was killed and many wounded.
Once again, everyday moments and celebrations have turned into tragedy.'
'And once again, entire communities are picking up the pieces from preventable acts of gun violence.
Our kids can't go to school in peace. Our parades are soundtracked with gunshots. What are our lawmakers doing?'
'To put it plainly: We're up against a lot. Gun companies continue to rake in huge profits, all while our communities reel from the devastation caused by their weapons.'
'We're not only holding the line against powerful gun manufacturers but also gun lobby-backed groups who are fighting to dismantle the existing laws that keep us safe. Right now in Florida, gun rights extremists are working to roll back the life-saving policies passed in the wake of the Parkland shooting.'
'Our children have a right not to be gunned down at school. We have a right to celebrate without being shot. These tragedies certainly aren't the norm in our peer nations—and they DON'T have to be our norm.'
'That's why we won't stop fighting for our right to a future free from gun violence.'
JOIN OUR MOVEMENT
Everytown for Gun Safety: Please Donate
https://www.everytown.org/actions/
'As a movement of Americans fighting for common-sense gun policies, we depend on contributions from supporters like you to fund important work to reduce gun violence.'
https://www.everytown.org/actions/
The situation right within our own country with firearms is far more dangerous and serious than the border issue, yet Republicans refuse to even discuss gun reform. Which issue constitutes the greater threat to our children?? Republicans only want children to be born. After that, if they're blown to kingdom come then, in the words of their Orange Jesus, they should just "get over it".
And everybody acted like they don't know what the problem is. We all know what the problem is and the majority want something done about it. But even when the voters passed a gun control measure here in Oregon, an eastern Oregon judge (deliberately chosen) has held it up and there is still no resolution. My husband and i both said we would never attend anything where there is a big crowd. Two books this week reviews in the NYT book review on gun violence.
Today, there is no safe haven! No person is immune to gun violence, but our lawmakers don’t appear to care enough to actually address the issue! Seems guns are available on every corner. That’s not what was intended when the Second Amendment was passed!
'No Blame?' ABC News finds 54 cases invoking 'Trump' in connection with violence, threats, alleged assaults.' (excerpt)
'President Donald Trump insists he deserves no blame for divisions in America.'
'President Donald Trump has repeatedly distanced himself from acts of violence in communities across America, dismissing critics who point to his rhetoric as a potential source of inspiration or comfort for anyone acting on even long-held beliefs of bigotry and hate.'
"I think my rhetoric brings people together," he said last year, four days after a 21-year-old allegedly posted an anti-immigrant screed online and then allegedly opened fire at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, killing 22 and injuring dozens of others.'
'But a nationwide review conducted by ABC News has identified at least 54 criminal cases where Trump was invoked in direct connection with violent acts, threats of violence or allegations of assault.'
'After a Latino gas station attendant in Gainesville, Florida, was suddenly punched in the head by a white man, the victim could be heard on surveillance camera recounting the attacker’s own words: “He said, ‘This is for Trump.'" 'Charges were filed but the victim stopped pursuing them.'
'When police questioned a Washington state man about his threats to kill a local Syrian-born man, the suspect told police he wanted the victim to' "get out of my country," adding, "That’s why I like Trump."
'Reviewing police reports and court records, ABC News found that in at least 12 cases perpetrators hailed Trump in the midst or immediate aftermath of physically assaulting innocent victims. In another 18 cases, perpetrators cheered or defended Trump while taunting or threatening others. And in another 10 cases, Trump and his rhetoric were cited in court to explain a defendant's violent or threatening behavior.' (ABCNews) See link below.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/blame-abc-news-finds-17-cases-invoking-trump/story?id=58912889
'Study Finds That Dropping Training Requirement to Obtain Concealed Carry Permit Leads to Significant Increase in Gun Assaults' (publichealth) See link below.
https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2023/study-finds-that-dropping-training-requirement-to-obtain-concealed-carry-permit-leads-to-significant-increase-in-gun-assaults
'Two months after Donald Trump egged on his supporters as they violently marched on the U.S. Capitol, the Public Religion Research Institute and the Brookings Institution decided to start asking Americans about their stomach for political violence. The way they measured this was asking if respondents agreed that' “because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country.”
'That first time, in March 2021, pollsters found 15% of Americans agreed.'
'More than two years and eight surveys later, the pollsters found the support for that statement rising to 23%. It's the first time they found more than 1 in 5 Americans open to condoning political violence.'
'Put another way: the chaos unleashed on Congress on Jan. 6, 2021, is going mainstream. That has seismic consequences for the country in ways that neither party properly appreciates.' (Time) See link below.
https://time.com/6328179/political-violence-jan-6-extremism/
'More say violence could be necessary to restore Trump to White House: survey'
'A recent survey shows increasing support for the use of violence to restore former President Trump to the White House.'
'The report, titled “Dangers to Democracy” and released by the Chicago Project on Security Threats (CPST) earlier this month, found that 7 percent of Americans from April 6 to June 26 agree that “the use of force is justified to restore Donald Trump to the presidency.”
'That number is an increase from 4.5 percent, or “the equivalent of an estimated shift from 12 million to 18 million American adults,” according to the survey, which was conducted by CPST and NORC.' (thehill) See link below.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4119386-more-say-violence-could-be-necessary-to-restore-trump-to-white-house-survey/
Trump is the face of evil. There’s no denying that! Each time he opens his vile mouth, he spews hate. All one has to do is listen and! Take the plugs out of your ears people!
He can deny till hell freezes over. He deserves the blame for our discontent and our current horror, domestically, and internationally. I can’t think of one crisis we are facing today that repubs have either not created or made worse. Not one.
I realize that, but large crowds seems to be tempting along with enclosed spaces. The state justice department here in Oregon has asked the Oregon Supreme Court to left the injunction by the eastern Oregon judge. I hope they will make a decision soon although I am sure the Oregunians as they call themselves would appeal to federal courts. I notice that Missouri is a state that has very loose gun laws.
I noticed that too👎🏼😔
There were hostile Indians at the door and no police force (notice “in the absence of an organized militia” as Scalia was incapable of doing.
"East Oregon" ... up the Columbia river drainage, Bend, bent?"
No, he is, I think, in Malheur County, which is further south. In Oregon we refer to part of the Columbia as the Gorge. Also there is central Oregon where I would place Bend. Malheur is a large county which also has the refuge taken over by Bundy and his cohorts. Burns would be a town nearby. We spent some time at the refuge on a birding trip where we also visited Steen's Mountain. The refuse is a lovely place and the occupiers did damage while they were there. Eastern Oregon is sparsely populated for the most part and has lots of ranchers. Also water problems.
2/14/24
🎶 Sometimes all that I need is the air that I breathe.
Yes, to Love you 🎶
Heart tip to The Hollies
Peter Gabriel & Sinead O'Connor - Don't Give Up, Chile 1990
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsxFclkJlIw
Gracias FERN, mi fantastico amigo & amiga Peter & Sinead.
Hola buenas tardes, Bryan.
The leading cause of death among children (ages 1 - 18 years) in the US is from being shot with guns: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2201761. That alone should be a clarion call to action to all people of all political stripes. Thank-you Fern, for this post on a VERY important subject.
Thank you for this letter….. I am on this day in the Israel Family Hospice House in Ames, Iowa where my husband of 61 years is struggling to stay alive and calling the shots of when he chooses to join his beloved father and mother, his oldest brother, and three sisters. We love you so much and will miss you terribly. You are such a wonderful loyal, and hardworking husband, partner and friend, father, and grandfather, teacher and mentor, and brilliant scientist. We will miss you terribly, peace be with you, Mohammed Ali Tabatabai 🙏❤️.
💔 “we are stardust, we are golden, we are billion year old carbon…” I wish for him a gentle, peaceful passing.
Indeed we are, but carbon with a touch of energy. But then our mass fades as our energy soars. So I truly believe.
Yes, I believe that
amen, and you can multiply the billion by 5 to 10. Did you know our galaxy is not much younger than the known universe itself?
Thank you so much
Shalom. Peace to you and Mohammed, Louise.
Thank you so much
Been there and with you in spirit.
Thank you so much
Our hearts are with you today in your grief.
Pain brings focus, and makes for complicated personalities. I drive people crazy when I say I am a Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt disciple. Both of them placed the Common Good above all to ensure the health of our nation and its democratic principles. More of us need to follow their examples now, and sometimes accept the necessary indirection that is necessary to get th goal line. Teddy would appreciate that.
And Eleanor Roosevelt, too!
She helped spearhead UN Declaration of the Rights of Man i believe, based in no small part from a lawyer from the small town of Hampton in New Brunswick Canada. Relaxing small scale tourist country!
Hello, Joe, from a former colleague, Deirdre Harris Robbins.
Go to hear from you. Hope all is well.
As well as can be in this crazy political and social environment!
Try to see if you can connect through LinkedIn. I only keep it to view other folks LinkedIn profiles.
I don't want to post my email, we need to figure out how to exchange contact info.
Same here. Neither of us has info on a website on which we both appear by name and town. I sleuthed a bit, and believe I found an address, so I will drop a note in the mail.
Try LinkedIn to connect.
This is a lovely, stunning story. I have shared it and hope it will remind each of us that we too can make a difference, even thought our hearts are broken.
Life can be so hard. Not easy to predict outcomes. How we move forward after tragedy speaks to the possibilities life provides. As I read the story you retell in this letter, it gives me hope. Thank you.
Wow, it’s the second time I’ve read this brilliant essay, but it’s the first that I’ve noticed that the awful X in the diary could have been the predecessor to the angry X running roughshod over our society today.
Musk's X is for nihilism, for sure.
You have in the sharing of Roosevelt's loss, rekindled the light of love in me that still burns as I weep for my late wife Jeannette. Happy Valentine's Day to you and Buddy...and many happy returns...
💔❤️🩹
TR was one of our good ones. He was asthmatic, caring and brave. His life surpassed tragedy. His cousin FDR was one of the great ones; he surpassed polio..and WW II. With Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln, these two rank. History cannot judge the present.. but I believe that Biden will be judged with the best. Overcoming personal tragedy, mastering chaos and war.. antisemitism and raging prejudice… addressing dictatorships, and there are many, creates greatness. Dealing with Trump domestic and international fascism elevates Biden. He has mastered NATO and Covid-19 and more.
Dealing with chump elevates Biden, what a picker upper…
Sandy, I’m a huge fan of Biden. I think he’s been the best president of my lifetime. But Covid policy is one place where the administration falls woefully short. We have had four years to implement the mitigations that would really help, with air quality in schools being the big one, and we haven’t done it. The pandemic isn’t over, and we will be paying for it for decades as the long term effects become better known. Our pillars of control need to be indoor air quality (ventilation and filtration), vaccination (with near universal uptake), testing and isolation when sick, and yes, masking. Unfortunately the political costs of the last two, thanks to Trump, have made them impossible to achieve. The CDC continues to place economic issues over public health, most recently rescinding guidance to isolate when Covid positive. That’s insane.
I am immunocompromised from chemotherapy. I am very careful, masking indoors and avoiding crowded indoor spaces (I don’t go out to eat anymore, for example). Our kids test twice before coming home to visit. If we do socialize, windows are open and hepa filters are on. But my husband is a professor, and gets exposed at work. Students aren’t very careful, and he doesn’t mask, which I kind of hate and kind of understand. My cancer was caused by a virus I likely caught 40 years ago. No one knows what a Covid infection will cause 40 years from now. I won’t be around to see it, but I think we’re playing with fire and getting burned already. There were approximately 1,400 Covid deaths per week in January. But since we’re not testing, and we’re not counting things like heart attacks in the few months after having Covid as Covid deaths, this is likely a significant undercount.
The pandemic isn’t over. We should act like it.
I will add that I’m actually not particularly worried about acute Covid. I’m fully vaccinated, and I’ve had Covid twice. My chance of dying from Covid isn’t particularly high. It’s Long Covid that has me scared, both on my own behalf and on behalf of society.