On February 4, 1870, the Chicago Tribune announced: “The rebellion may now be regarded as over and the great war finished.” Referring to the Civil War, which had ended just five years before, the paper’s editor explained: “That rebellion was undertaken to preserve and perpetuate human slavery, and, within ten years from the date of the first secession ordinance, the great struggle has been terminated in the adoption of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments….”
Heather, thank you for the history lesson on these important amendments. I’d never heard about the Black Codes. The inclusion of prison enslaved labor, combined with the unequal incarceration of people of color and the poor, is a stain on the justice system to this day.
Errr ahh...."talented"..albeit 'spineless' regarding what America stands for. But, to more accurately depict what #45 has carried on stage, I would offer a malaise exists...perhaps an even more appropriate pig-latinesque title for that spinelessness would be: E-rect-ile dis-function humanus maggotus (R). Thank you.
I was about to question the word "talented" as a description of the lawyers defending political criminals for "fame and money". Fortunately many in the profession still have a conscience.
Do you have a point here? If so, it is entirely lost on me. Who do you think won more than 60 cases upholding the 2020 election? Lawyers and conscientious members of the Judiciary. You frown upon attorneys until you, a member of your family, or the country needs one. Yikes.
I believe you are replying to J L Graham's listing of the enablers of trump and the corruption of the radical right wing republican party. Sure there were good and patriotic lawyers on those cases, but if not for the lawyers, media, lobbyists and politicians that enabled trump & the GOP there would not have been those cases to begin with.
I don't see the point perhaps because as expanded upon here, it is fuzzy, juvenile, and unmoored. That's the most I can see and the best I can say. Thank you.
The world has returned to a time when powerful men have gathered the biggest weapons, a ruthless police/ army, corrupt the courts,and take control. Right now, in the US, Trump has everything but the army. That seems to be forming in Texas. Will that be the final step or will the courts and government defend our freedom? No solid sign of that yet.
Respectfully, I would ask you to consider the following. To be sure, the mission of the country’s most powerful law firms is to make money for the firms’ partners. As a general matter, the work that drives the profits - M&A, capital markets transactions, IP litigation etc. however, pits business entities against other business entities rather than business interests against individuals seeking to protect their rights. These same firms do often represent individuals and groups that speak for individuals in protecting rights from encroachment by government or other forms of organized power and do so without charge. The role of lawyers in the administration of laws as those laws affect the less advantaged is far from ideal, but it tends to be on the side of those wronged by such administration and not those responsible for the inequitable enforcement.
MÁS, the role of lawyers in defending indigent clients is far from ideal: they either get overworked public defense attorneys or “green” attorneys from private law firms (required pro bono work). Wealthy clients whose cases turn up on the local news have top lawyers defending them and, according to the news stories, rarely get more than a slap on the wrist.
I confess I have not read Honig’s book. I do know from my experience that good law firms staff pro bono matters in the same way as those of paying clients. Senior people supervise closely the work of more junior ones. Each time you see a third or fourth year lawyer representing someone in, for sake of example, a proceeding under the Violence Against Women Act, there are three, four or five other lawyers who are working on the matter and one or more of those will be a partner of the firm. Because I think I know my audience here, I would note to your point that the wealthy show up on the evening news with fancy lawyers ordinary people could not afford to pay, a man with “the greatest assets, the best brands, the most beautiful properties” and the orangest hair was represented by a complete clown in the E. Jean Carroll matter.
Despite all the rhetoric abt democracy, the major political parties have for many generations been wealth/business financed, unapologetically so, based on the very old idea that inequality is fundamental. In short wealth or privelage is just another specialization without which civilization wouldn't exist. Interestingly Trump is hugely populist financed but hardly entirely. Dont forget recent Supreme Court ruling of 2010 Citizens United et al per a companion posting with detail. Giving wealth based corporations "personal rights"?
Regarding the destruction of over a century of anti-corruption legislation and the legalization of bribery, we have the trio of Supreme Court abominations: Buckley (1976), Bellotti (1978) and Citizens United (2010). When we have the Congress that can overthrow the said abominations, the legislation should include a reference to the Constitution's Article III, Section 2, Clause 2 language: "...the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make." followed by an instruction to the Supreme Court that this legislation is passed outside of their jurisdiction.
Actually, the parties are now financed more heavily by small donors than they have been for many years. That does not stop the abomination of secretive super-PACs, but it’s important and worth noting.
It IS there more now than before [financing by small donors], but it still does not come close to eclipsing Big Money donations. And without being organized and speaking to each other, small donors have trouble reaching legislators with “one clear voice,” to petition for their interests. Big donors far more often ARE one person/one voice — an oligarch, for instance — or they are in PACs. Nice for the rest of US little donors to eschew PACs, but we need to have a vehicle for our voice to be heard, clearly and cogently.
That’s terrifically true, but when we DO vote, we have to decide who is the MOST likely not only to advocate for our own passions, but who will listen to us about a whole range of issues and give us a fair hearing, or are we lone voices screaming into the void?
And in this age when some researcher or other found the voice of the individual voter no more impactful than a light breeze in Washington, we have to find like minds to amplify the influence we have, or we’re just f-ing lost.
Nice enough to say we are not on some bandwagon and we’re not one-issue voters. That’s true.
After we say that, we stop and think about how to be effective voters, and make common cause with others who share our bedrock principles as a way to do that.
Liberty requires diversity and responsibility, else it’s not really liberty. Solidarity, not imposed conformity. Guardianship of each other’s right to pursue diverse paths of sufficiently responsible happiness. If rights are universal, then we avoid transgressing the rights of others. We achieve an environment of liberty and justice by building, maintaining and guarding such environments together. We watch each other’s backs.
Not enough is about this in our political conversations. In my experience, GOTV public service announcements emphasize personal choice; but we also, as consent-of-the-governed citizens to make informed and responsible decisions for our nation as a whole, even our whole planet. It appears to me that those who suffer the most from unwise political choices tend to be those who are most deprived already; compounding injustice. Abstention can be as consequential in this respect as a recorded choice. Where it seem impossible to prevent harm, it is at least most responsible to minimize harm, as a doctor must sometime do in a effort to avert complete disaster. Which terrible choice provides the best chance of partial recovery? What choice might mean “game over” and which provides a foothold from which to fight? Not just for our personal agenda, but for liberty and justice for ALL?
Liberty requires both diversity and solidarity; some level of social contract that defends diverse (yet responsible) methods of pursuing happiness. Beehive conformity is the authoritarian agenda.
This just came out from the Run for Something newsletter. They had to let go of staff for lack of funding but they are up against:
“ALEC has announced a strategic partnership with Run GenZ, the Republican org that supports young conservatives running for state and local office. This is a critical reminder: The GOP is all-in on investing hundreds of millions of dollars for as long as it takes. That’s one of many reasons why RFS can’t go away after election day.”
Christy, thank you for reminding us of the importance of reaching out to young voters about the importance of their voting and how to critically evaluate news sources and coverage.
A reminder that republicans seem to be good at investing big for the long run. Democrats seem to lack that talent. Where is evidence of dedicated Democrat think tanks planning strategically for the future (also with money)?
The power has been shifting from the major parties to individuals, extremists, who are splintering the two parties and enabling an outsider, Trump in 2016, to win in spite of not being initially supported by the GOP establishment.
In today's NYT, "Individual donors and spenders are among the most ideological sources of money (and are far more ideological than the average citizen). That’s particularly true of small donors.” and "It is important to recognize that individuals who donate to campaigns tend, in general, to be considerably more ideologically extreme than the average American."
It seems to me no amount of laws are sufficient for the lawless whether it’s flagrant disregard, manipulation through clever but deviant interpretation , lying/conspiracy or financial persuasion.
Trusting the highest is no longer a forgone conclusion…who is accountable for that loss and why hasn’t this been addressed.
Surely I’m not the only one to question this.
Is the constitution not law?
Are the principles within not sufficient to go beyond any preponderance of doubt.
Does this Civil War need fought again, shed more blood over wording , over principle, let’s throw religion in there too….asking for my friend , The World.
Liberty, and for that matter love, thrives in an environment of prudent trust. Trust is effectively a living thing. It has to be fed and cared for, or it dies. It has to be protected and defended; and predators repelled or vanquished. Is it for living things in a universe laced with entropy. There can be resting spots, but never abandonment of vigilance. Life as a whole is resilient, but individuals and even species are ultimately fragile.
My daughter shared living space in college with a young woman who said she grew up in a war zone. She and her family went to bed full clothed every night, in case they had to run. That's not much freedom. We protect ourselves by protecting each other; solidarity. It is the most sustainable defense against entropy and predation.
Although it's obviously statistically meaningless, my perceptive Canadian son in law claims that American society strikes him as noticeably more punitive than his own. Probably both cultures are more similar than different, but at least one statistic does stand out in the US world record for incarceration. I also recall a BBC interview back in the days of the Irish "Troubles", where one of the panel members pointed out that while a certain Irish city had a reputation for violence, the homicide rate was still low compared to some cities in the US. Perhaps because we created this nation in the wake of war (and conquest) there seems to be a certain cultural glorification of violence. Even the National Anthem is an emphasis of our victory in war, rather than a celebration of the land and it's people, or of our constitutional republic. It strikes me that our whole culture of guns, not just possession of a weapon, but of almost gun as talisman of a declared right to kill when "sufficiently" provoked sometimes presents with a fervor that seems muddled with religion. And religion itself appears in both highly punitive and exceptionally forgiving and compassionate strains, Desmond Tutu an example of the latter.
We are born dependent on others, and we navigate our lives in need of influencing the behavior of other people. Violence is a quick and dirty way to coerce the behavior of others, but also the most problematic. I am not a complete pacifist, and would meet violence with violence as a last resort, but our own violence is also the most destructive problem our species faces; and it appears in many forms. If we don't get dramatically smarter with its management, we are arguably on a trajectory for our own extinction.
We have become inured to it. The mainstream new I see often speaks of popular initiatives that are rebuffed by a "powerful lobby" and therefore not viable. Who grants "powerful" (i.e. well funded) lobbies that power? How is that not corrupt? Where is democracy when billionaires openly threaten to withdraw funding of candidates if their political wishes are withdrawn, and are taken seriously? Money is free speech? Only in Orwell's universe..
The soul of the country is found in fairness and equality to all regardless of race, gender, or any diversity that we have. As I was reading this, I could flashback on how each amendment laid a platform for the next amendment. Each solution was incomplete or created another flaw that hadn't been noticed. The modern-day US has been a product of a work in progress, not a final destination. And that should be the basis of any civilization. Each regime reveals the weakness of the previous amendment. To some, unfortunately, with the likes of the DTs of this world, a flawed amendment is a gateway to gain selfishly at the expense of the society. But, thank God the amendments have laid down a solid foundation that's hardly overpowered individually.
Hypocrisy. Just another 'tool' in their (R) Gerrymander Toolbox. Right next to the adjustable wrench I refer to as "truth social", needle-nose pliers=Rush Limbahh, Smoke&mirrors=FauxNoose, S-putin=Rasputin ,Kaliedascope=Foto-shop, andof course the Calendar of pin-up girls=Sara huckabucket, K-leeMac, etc. And they don't clean them after use..., they just toss em in a drawer.., even if they're Code 780 (bent, buckled, twisted, or distorted). Yupprr.., The (R) toolbox. You read it here.
Yup.., and their (excuse the term) "boy" Clarence was merely a 'token' the (R) bagboys needed to illustrate how the "lib-tards" were trying to keep a good man down. A "good man., being falsely accused (of rape ?!!)... a "good man".., no less! They (the R's) knew that Clarence would come in handy one day. And, so he has. Originalist(s) My foot!
The power of the Constitution lies in the ongoing fitness to the principles it prescribes. The history of those who penned those thoughts is biography and an essential part of tracking the evolution of our governing philosophy; but is not a proof of the soundness of it's concepts. That is demonstrated (or not) in it's application; thus the provision for amendments.
Do you think the so-called strict constructionists consider the amendments as less binding? I suspect they do. God knows that they can rationalize anything to fit the Procrustean beds inside their heads.
The "so-called originalist Supreme Court" has defended and upheld the Constitution in ruling how demagogues and religious zealots need to rule women, need to make personal and family decisions for them.
Doesn't that align with the original Constitution, which allowed no voting rights for women, which saw women as nothings except insofar as (some) men deemed them?
Phil, good point. There are still doctors who perform vasectomies on demand without questioning the man, but will only perform tubal ligations if the woman meets their criteria for sterilization (old enough, enough children, etc.).
Substack moves my posts from their original spot for some reason. So sometimes the thread doesn't follow. If I see a post similar to mine as I look a few down, I try to reference it, but with things out of order, it may not make sense. So no worries.
Okay, here's a post which will not get any likes in this forum, but I've been listening and thinking.
The Supreme Court will assuredly *not* disqualify the Republican candidate, for whatever reason, and I think it's just as well.
For a court to disqualify a candidate, who rec'd some 70 million votes in 2020, on a point of law which is not crystal clear on what constitutes insurrection, would in the long run be a catastrophe.
If Biden wins, and I pray he does, he needs to do it in the balloting. We all need to help.
Hey Marshall, the strangest thing happened on a different Substack this am - YOUR photo thumbnail was attached to MY comment somehow - I checked and I had NO thumbnail assigned in my profile! Wondering if there was a thumbnail indexing bug based on first three letters of my name+ last initial. I forget the stack, may have been Vance or Heather Cox Richardson. So odd...
That *is* very strange. I’ve avoided installing the substack app ‘cuz my phone is so crowded, but maybe I’d better. The web interface is pretty awkward. Has that error persisted or happened anywhere else? Very odd indeed.
We are still struggling to "form a more perfect union" and to accomplish the other goals set forth in the Preamble: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." We are still far from implementing the provisions of the Reconstruction Amendments. There's still a lot of work to do as we attempt to accomplish our stated ideals.
When I was in high school being taught by the Jesuits in the early 60’s I had no idea how animated I would be at this stage of my life by these constitutional questions. We have to get this right to give our heirs the same chance we have had. We inherited an imperfect world our parents left us after WWII, but it was a world given to us at great cost of blood and treasure. Time is running out for my generation to put its mark on our nation’s greatness, that thought is what animates everything that I write. A lot of us will be listening on Thursday to see if those who sit on the court who are from my generation are up to the task. “Thoughts and prayers” is usually a cop out for responsibility, but in this case anything that will animate the majority to come to the right conclusion is appropriate.
Directly stated. I was taken aback to consider how the present day state governments and SCOTUS have taken an "Originalist" stand thus returning women back to being property with the over turn of Roe v Wade. Just my POV.
Don't forget. This is a fundamental Biblical view adopted by many Jews, Christians, and Muslims. "Woman" was created out of Adam and became subordinate because of her failure to follow God's edict not to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. This origin story is the source of a woman's place in western society. A rise in fundamental followers of Biblical teachings will return women's standing from partner to subordinate.
Don't forget in the 1960's women still faced issues getting something we take for granted today, getting a credit card, which required a father's or husband's signature to obtain. Into the 1930's, a woman's US citizenship would be nullified if she married a foreign national. If he died or she divorced, she would have to go through naturalization procedures to reclaim her citizenship and wouldn't have birth right status.
There are women who by their religious faith believe they must adopt whatever stance their husband supports. They vote as they are told. They raise their children as instructed. They believe the travails of childbirth are a part of Eve's punishment. Look into the faces of "pro-life" women who show little empathy with their fellow women's reproductive suffering and you will see anger against protecting mothers of wanted pregnancies and you'll see an overriding righteous indignation at women who they feel are shirking a God ordained birth.
I love men, couldn't live without them. But I will not accept the judgement or punishment of Eve. I will not accept laws that make my right to self determination subordinate to my reproductive capabilities. People refused what they perceived as mandated vaccinations because of their personal rights. Why should I have any fewer rights over my personal medical decisions? The fetus has rights you say? This then becomes a philosophical discussion not a legal one because both mother and potential child contribute to society. A much more complicated discussion than the fetus always wins.
The founding fathers were right. The church must be separated from the state. Whenever the two are entangled, the right to be who you wish to be is lost. The rule of law determines society's behavior and the majority decisions determine the rule of law. I accept the rule of law. At least the rule of law doesn't carry the baggage that a judgement of God asserts and can be changed as human understanding changes.
Well put, Paula. I do love the Christmas Eve service from King's College, Cambridge. However, I grind my teeth at the first reading blaming Eve for the expulsion from Eden. One of my favorite books is Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven which is the history of the nonsense in Christianity with regard to sexuality. It is pretty clear to me that sexuality and women were much on the minds of the men of the Church. They imagined women doing all sorts of things. I personally think it it is some kind of primal fear of the power of women, so they must be controlled and in some places covered from head to toe. Also important to patriarchy is who the father is and so another reason to keep women hidden away as in ancient Athens....not the prostitutes of course, but the wives and daughters who were never considered adult and alway had to be under the control of some male. With matriarchy we always know who the mother is. Also I recommend God: An Anatomy for a look into the god of the OT.
My mother-in-law was the first women to have a credit card in her name for a local department store and I think this happened in the 1960s.
The Founders had plenty of fairly recent history to look at when they decided on separation of church and state.
Is this the right time to remind that the Roman Catholic Church gave souls to women in the twelfth century? But now we are deprived of bodies by SCOTUS which would kill us, if necessary to possibly save the life of a child on a planet with 6 million more people than it can support. Can we digest that irony?
They waited until the 12th century? Until then I guess Mary, the mother of Jesus had no soul. What about the mother of Constantine who reputedly found pieces of the True Cross....no soul either.
Paula, the government does not (and I believe should not) require someone to put their health at risk to save a life by donating bone marrow. The health risk of such a donation is minuscule when compared to the risk of pregnancy and childbirth. As far as I can determine, pregnancy is the only time (other than during the draft) in which a US citizen is forced to put their health at risk to save a life.
I heard this argument explained by a Unitarian minister a few years ago, and found it the most compelling pro-choice justification that I've ever run across. Thanks for bringing it up.
To put some meat on the bones (using the form that I heard it): If a) parents get acrimoniously divorced, b) their child, who lives with the mother, gets a form of cancer requiring a bone marrow transplant to successfully treat it, c) the father is a perfect genetic match, and d) he refuses to donate his bone marrow for the child's treatment, there is no law or legal principle that says that he must. If the child dies for lack of a bone marrow donor match, the father will never be charged with a crime. So why are women or their doctors to be punished for ending a POTENTIAL life that depends on the pregnant woman's decision?
Welp...since I'm not going along with societal or tribal or religious customs or practices... what a woman does with her body is her choice to make as a human being. That's why I don't quite see why "a womans right to an abortion" was put into the Constitution in the first place. To me it was a 'human right' and not to be infringed upon. All this 'stuff' being done (FM, circumcision, other invasions) without the consent of the individual are out of place. Particularly if driven by some religious or mythological reasoning, divine guidance, or parental/non-medical decision. I'm confident I'm going to get x-coriated over this post.. oh well :))
One caveat.., Neutering #45 should have been done, cause just like Geo Thorogood's song... "The head nurse spoke up., Said, "Leave this one alone" She could tell right away.., That I was bad to the bone" . Neutering would have been appropriate in #45's case. Definitely a screw-up there.
Remember all, the resconstruction amendments were effectively undermined in the South, reneged upon in the North to fair degree, because of intense racist resistance in the South. Undoing this was very long in coming, but coming it has!
Here's an online education site especially for North Carolinians. Note this is aimed at high school students. It pays to continue reading, esp the white supremacy section, and notes to teachers. https://www.ncpedia.org/anchor/reconstruction-north
At some point, we have to reconcile that it is human nature to back away from the hard stuff...to be okay with, "it's good enough". Until then....we will always be abandoning vulnerable populations and compromising our own good intentions....and allowing Citizens United type of deals to occur (believing it won't be that bad). In the meantime...as we squabble and are distracted....global warming will take us all out.
YES - evolving. And there is not an end to that evolution…it responds to changing times to remain functional and viable, based on certain foundational principles. There’s the task, to always shore up those principles, lest they be undermined.
I did not learn of the Black Codes either in school, Mary. It was only through Heather's teachings via LFAA that I learned of them. What I learned in school was there was this thing called the Civil War, after which the slaves were freed. I was so happy to be living in a time where freedom for black people was not a question anymore. I was so naive.
I was a history major in college with a specialization in American history and I only had one professor who taught us the truth about the Civil War, Black Codes and all. His classes were riveting and sometimes made me sick to my stomach when the truth about the treatment of enslaved black and brown people was discussed.We are doing our children and grandchildren a grave disservice by white washing the Civil War and it's aftermath.
Don't stop there. Go back to the essays of the 1619 Project. In one, it asserts that indentured servants (slaves, but of limited duration and expected to die before their indenture ended) and enslaved Blacks (life enslavement) were kept from forming alliances which enslavers feared would cause the enslaved to fight for their freedom. From the beginning the "least" of us have been "othered" by our "betters". Open your hearts and minds to the humanity of us all in all of our diversity. Say No to Othering.
perhaps I was lucky to do my American history degree at a liberal leaning northern university. I do remember a grad seminar with several other students taking the position that slavery was only one of the causes of the Civil War. The professor cleared that away within a few meetings. I wonder if those men, (all men btw,) are Haley supporters?
As was I, but when I grew up in the South, the hatred was hidden, but the white supremacy was not. But, my dad was ashamed of things he said (that I pointed out) and he apologized. Not so much anymore. Self-righteous godliness is putrid and unapologetic.
I remember separate schools, separate water fountains, separate entrances to buildings, etc. I also remember KKK cross burnings being shown on local news. I grew up in rural eastern NC.
Jenn, I have lived in NC for more than 3 decades. But during my early decades I lived in New England.
While living in Vermont my husband and I sponsored a family from Laos.
Within a year of their arrival a burning cross was placed in their yard. I was shocked.
Some years before a group of the KKK attempted to hold a rally in Brattleboro VT. Much of the town turned out. We shouted ourselves hoarse for nearly an hour. Despite their P.A. system our voices drowned them out. They eventually packed up and left.
Some her have already suggested Fever in the Heartland about the KKK in the 1920s focusing on Indiana, but mentioning other states as well including Oregon. The student teacher before me at Kalamazoo Central was a Catholic whose grandfather had a crossed burned in his yard in St. Joseph, Michigan. Once I did a paper in sociology and needed to check census records for my home county, Elkhart, and all black people lived in a thin line south of the railroad in Elkhart. They couldn't stay overnight in that bastion of Christianity and county seat, Goshen either. When my grandparents lived in Arkansas, my grandmother was considered white trash because she did her own laundry. Racism goes deep.
Jenn, we had a cross burned on our lawn in Oklahoma for allowing blacks to tour our house when it was for sale. Also had a rock (with hateful message) thrown through a window.
Good point. I never saw it as hatred, per se, but disdain, and as you said, rightful superiority. I grew up in the military, and when we moved to Fayetteville NC I was shocked that there was actually a separate high school for black students. It just didn’t ’compute.’
Lynching required hatred I think. Righteous hatred as many lynchings were scheduled after church on Sunday. Families had picnics. I never saw such, but genealogy research revealed more than I ever wanted to know.
Of course, they did, because it was entertainment as were public executions in England for example. I can't even imagine enjoying violence for any reason.
How true, but white people (my parents included) thought they were being magnanimous when they tried to act on christian teaching to any extent. I still remember my kind and loving b-i-l complementing a black medical helper but adding "and she is black." Generations of bull schitt hard to penetrate. To this very minute.
So right-it has been hard to penetrate because it is sanctioned by law, custom and violence-the answer to the question about whether America is a racist country is Y-E-S
Grew up in segregated Oklahoma City and never heard one word about the Tulsa Massacre until a few years ago! I visited Tulsa many times growing up, it was only an hour away.
How could such a catastrophic thing happen so nearby and never be noticed or mentioned?? (Rhetorical question.)
This ("I did not learn of the Black Codes either in school") brings to mind that one of the core items the MAGA Republicans harp on is CRT (Critical Race Theory), a college course whose name they have adopted to represent their goal of preventing school students from learning of America's past race history. Which brings to mind also the elimination of civics from the students' curriculum.
Interesting since Black Codes are part of any reputable high school or postsecondary American history program, its what Heather teaches. Also Wikipedia is a nice trove of information, even find material in eg Virginian educational online material abt the civil war etc
Thanks, Frank. For my part, I am talking about the late 1950's and some years after when I was in school. I am glad to hear from you that the history books since have been updated to reflect this historical fact.
I have edited my comment to make it crystal clear that I am NOT blaming Mary for the SYSTEM'S failure, as some people here have mistakenly read it. I would never, under any circumstances, say or imply that children are responsible for the manipulation of the educational system by white supremacists. ————Mary, it is appalling that you've never heard of the Black Codes. And the tragedy is, it's not surprising. That is an egregious failure of the education system. The system has failed you as an American citizen and human being. Teaching of history varies so wildly state by state, and the success of the political descendants of the slaveholding elite is crystal clear in the omission of facts - like the imposition of Black Codes - from textbooks in the same states that are forcing authoritarian laws on people of color, women, LGBTQ+ and people of non-evangelical religions. History is everything. It is imperative that we spread factual history and counteract this malicious, systematic whitewashing.
Alexandra, IMO, you made your point without calling Mary “an egregious failure”…”as an American citizen and a human being” for not knowing history that is not taught and is actually suppressed.
Marge, you misread my comment. I said "That is an egregious failure of the education system". NOT at all Mary's fault. I'm sorry if you or anyone read it that way but that is not at all what I said or meant.
Heather, again, I said "That is an egregious failure of the education system". NOT at all Mary's fault. I'm sorry if you or anyone read it that way but that is not at all what I said or meant.
Reading comprehension is a skill. Not meaning to say that as a slight to those who commented to you, just stating a fact. I am often guilty of scanning what I am reading, and not even being aware that I am doing that until I suddenly think "what?" and have to go back and reread a paragraph. Then I realized I misread it.
I recommande viewing the documentary “13th “ which documents and reveals the history and perpetuation of slavery of men of color through the US prison system. I knew about the Black Codes. This documentary goes further.
Arlene, 100% agree. A brilliant documentary. Ava DuVernay's "When They See Us" and "Selma" are also must-sees - all riveting and profoundly educational dissections of systemic racism.
DHcases -YES. Another fact of history that's being actively suppressed by the descendants of slaveholding elite. It's so clear, the instantaneous, concerted, funded backlash to the growing awareness of real historical injustices.
Right. I'll get right at it once I get home from work, take two grandkids to different sporting venues, pick-up dinner for my extended family (my spouse works a second shift so she is usually unavailable), get the kids situated at the kitchen table to do homework, and then, get them prepped for bedtime and bring them to their parent's home for tucking-in.
Peter, the great thing about Ava DuVernay's movies is that you can watch them with the family and everyone benefits while spending quality time together. Entertainment that educates can change the world.
Peter, you sound incredibly busy. My grandparents had “book night” on Saturday nights to share important books with us—it was a treasured time of conversation and shared ideas.
If you don't have time to teach your grandchildren important moral history, why do you think your neighbors will have time to do it for you? Priorities and multitasking moments are choices. We live by our choices.
Recently, our 15 year old granddaughter was discussing Russian authors at the dinner table. When I asked what she knew about the Holocaust, she knew nothing. We tried to fill her in. Next I will ask what she knows about the Black Codes.
Oh, yes. How stupid am I to not realise your solution is so simple. I must be an awful granddad. Perhaps the children's parents will take it up. I'll be sure to remind them.
You’re not stupid, Peter. You are a very engaged granddad and probably a wonderful one. Good and fair education comes from us who have lived through many points of history. I bet they would enjoy learning about your own too.
Peter, you are one of the grandparents making your grandkids (and our country) better by being there for them. Our son is grown and not yet married, but I'm amazed at what it takes to keep our K-12 kids ok now, especially with all they went through in the pandemic. So many grandparents like you have done so much for so long, and imo it's truly God's work you do. Praying for you and yours, and also wound up again that our Congress would do more for the families they serve, rather than just for themselves or especially the Orange Menace.
Lynell, I grew up in California, where there is less whitewashing of curriculum - there's still a LOT - but not anywhere near the systemic whitewashing deliberately imposed on school textbooks by "former" Confederate states. And my parents were both educators, so I was aware early on that history is very deliberately manipulated by forces with a specific, racist political agenda.
Morning, Lynell. As I recall, I learned about the Black Codes in conjunction with the state history of Oregon, which had some awful things codified at the state level regarding where Black people could live, and was awash in "sundown towns" (including my home town of Medford.).
Morning, Ally! I am curious. Did you learn this in a school curriculum or on your own? My own memory is pretty dim but I'm pretty sure when I was growing up in the Maryland suburbs, it was a given that the Black people had their place and it was not alongside the White people. To be sure, where I lived there was a section known as the Black section of the neighborhood, and that was that. Nobody questioned it on either side. Black Codes in practice if not codified in name.
I grew up in Dallas. I lived in one of the tiny neighborhoods that ringed it. There were no Blacks. They lived in the flood plains of the Trinity River, in areas defined by elevated highways, and around the edges of beer joints and manufacturing. Ramshackle places with nice cars in the driveway. When I was a child, I was thinking about the poor investments the Blacks were making. They were spending more on cars than their homes. Then the reality of it all struck me. They weren't allowed access to the nicer neighborhoods. They were living within the artificial limits the community at large allowed. That's why they were being bussed into my neighborhood to attend my school where higher property tax revenue driven by greater property values made my school better funded than theirs. Separate but equal an architecture predetermined to failure. Although I've never been a "racist", public school was my "white privilege". The "white neighborhood" nestled among the nicely groomed lawns, neighborhood grocery stores, and controlled traffic was a gift of safety and security that my Black school friends didn't have. Their neighborhood zoning allowed for bars, pawn shops, and other businesses that didn't promote neighborhood security. My "white privileges" were many. Some I have just begun to see.
Alexandra, having studied American history in high school in Oklahoma, I also was not taught about the Tulsa, Oklahoma race massacre of 1921. This is not surprising to me—Oklahoma City schools were not fully integrated at the time that I was taking the class and the public library still had segregated water fountains.
" Even if we admit that every generation has the right to write its own history, we admit no more than that it has the right to rearrange the facts in accordance with its own perspective; we don't admit the right to touch the factual matter itself." --- Hannah Arendt
Strongly suggest reading Freedom’s Dominion by J. Cowie. Won a Pulitzer in 2022. LOTS of background on Amendments 13-15... and the fundamental issue in current politics - what “freedom” means differs for MAGAts v the rest of America.
Also covering the period and the subject, an easier (but no less gut-wrenching) read than the DuBois, is Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s "Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy and the Rise of Jim Crow." A warning, though: the history in all these books will radicalize your Black children and risks making your White children feel guilty about being descended from the melanin-deficient folks of the past (and being privileged by that descent). If some Confederate symp knows of a book with the actual history but a different slant on that period, please name it; skeptical, but I'll give it a try.
Unfortunately, for MAGA and sometimes less fringe GOP, their choices demonstrate *their* freedom is more important to them than the freedom of those who aren't like them. The face eating leopards they're riding now won't protect their faces after they've used them up to get what they want.
Exactly. This point - that a different [intolerant, un-American, “freedom from federal oversight”] notion of ‘freedom’ motivates MAGAts and their similar slave-holding and Native American killing ‘philosophical’ ancestors - is the core of historian Jefferson Cowie’s 2022 Pulitzer Prize winning book, Freedom’s Dominion.
Same book is an excellent background for 13th-15th Amendments.
We need to correct the teaching of the concept of freedom in mandatory grade school civics classes, thru high school, as well as consistently calling out this misbegotten notion in public discourse… at least as consistently as others repeat the big lie!
When I was discharged from the U.S. Army in Feb. 1964, I returned to West Texas for several months before enrolling at Whittier College in Calif. to finish my degree. I went to work for Retail Credit Company (now Equifax) as an investigator. I had a case in Pecos, Texas where I discovered that my subject was in jail, but not in jail, but rather out on a farm working for a friend of the sheriff. No, it was not voluntary labor, but forced labor. My subject had not been convicted of anything. The "good ol boy system" was still alive and well in the 1960's.
And America loves to point to China or other nations that operate labor camps…we still have them and yes they’re filled by Black people (who by the way are not “Black” but yellow, brown and all shades in between because of “race mixing”.)
Bobbi, thank you for reminding me of Sounder! As a teacher in NC during the mid-nineties I, and some of my fellow 5th grade teachers, used the book Sounder, by William Armstrong, as a focus for a Language Arts and Social Studies unit during Black History Month. It provided plenty of opportunities for discussion, writing, critical thinking, and research and fulfilled many of the state mandated objectives. We capped the unit by showing our classes the movie, Sounder. Standardized testing was being developed and NC was one of the trial states. Testing had not yet taken such a big bite out of the school day and teaching and learning were still FUN. Those were the days!
It’s still alive today. The loophole in the 13th amendment allows for “involuntary servitude”. Most Americans don’t realize that a lot of our products and services are being produced by inmates (disproportionately Black people) who are “paid” 15 cents up to $2.00 an hour.
The prison industrial complex is even more egregious than the military industrial complex.
Have you seen Ava DuVerney's film "13th"? It's an exposé of how the amendment has led to the mass incarceration of black people over the past century. Very powerful.
Sad to say, I learned a lot from 13th. As someone whose career was in the criminal justice system, I had never heard of "for profit" prisons, and it has been only the last 10-15 years I have learned of "for profit" juvenile detention centers. Disgusting.
These “for profit” prison corporations are traded on the stock exchange. Check out who’s making the $ on the backs of prisoners. America is addicted to free and cheap labor!
It’s so disheartening to realize that most Americans are not educated about how America really functions.
I can remember as a kid riding with my grandfather in Florida in the 1960's seeing chain gains swinging scythes to cut down the grass between the north and southbound lanes.
Driving north from the Florida Panhandle into Alabama at dusk I passed through Atmore Prison Farm just as the prisoners, both black and white, were walking in from a day in the fields. Behind them were white men with rifles on horseback. The scene from the late '60's is burned into my memory.
Amazing that Americans never heard of the Black Codes. Watch the movie (or read book) Slavery by Another Name by Douglas Blackmon.
It’s a shame that too many people know so little about American history. It’s indeed been “whitewashed”. Black history is American history-we can learn a lot about our conflicts today by understanding how racism has shaped this nation (and world).
I too had never heard “Black Codes” even though I had seen a chain gang once as a child and, of course, more than once in movies. The sight of shackles still horrifies me. What does it do to a person’s brain to be shackled? We worry about the rage of Palestinians from the expression of Israeli fury. Isn’t shackling guaranteed to produce fury in most persons?
Heather, this such a fine historical framing of the mess in which we find ourselves now, and one that your vision declaws and restores confidence in our power to overcome the crazies if the will to do so is there.
“As a result, of all these changes in our politics (most driven by five corrupt Republicans on the Supreme Court putting oligarchy above democracy), Princeton scholars Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page famously found that the odds of average Americans’ political desires being translated into policy are about the same as “random noise,” whereas what they referred to as “economic elites” frequently get everything they want from the political class.
They wrote that we still have the “features” of democracy like elections, but ended their paper with this cautionary note:
“[W]e believe that if policymaking is dominated by powerful business organizations and a small number of affluent Americans, then America’s claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened.””
Excellent article. A must read. Truth. Terrifying. In the sense that most Americans don't understand the extent to which we are being ruled by the rich. I call it the "New Feudalism". A time when the "peasants" are being impoverished and they have been convinced that the thieves are us.
As Tom Rush sings: "The problem with America is that the poor have too much money and the rich don't have enough..." /s
Additional links from the weekend, which you might not find as interesting, but I did. Speaking of the poor having too much money, there’s a great segment in the first link in which David Frum actually blames the border crisis on migrants being too prosperous. I kid you not.
Useful Idiots Monday Mourning, where politicians from both parties, corporate media, and spokespeople for American Empire and hegemony are skewered with acerbic and comedic zeal.
A look back at Russiagate, when the Democratic Party and the DC establishment lost its collective mind over Trump, and wasted years chasing its tail with Russian hysteria instead of pursuing actual Trump malefeasance.
Tom, in the link from Common Dreams you posted, Thom Hartmann says:
"We now have police intervening in elections, privatized corporate voting systems, and a massive voter suppression campaign to prevent elderly, young, and non-white Americans from being able to vote."
When we have the Congress to do it, a piece of legislation they could pass (with authorization in the Constitution's Article I, Section 4, key word: "Manner") would DESTROY ALL forms of voter suppression: comprehensive, exclusive vote-by-mail federal elections. Universal automatic citizen's registration could be based on a national registry kept constantly up to date, with vigilant surveillance (under a Congressional Standing Committee representing all political parties) for quality control. Ballots would be mailed nationally well before the election date to all citizens to allow for study of the candidates. It would include a post-paid return envelope for a signed acknowledgement of receipt. (Its return would be necessary to activate the ballot.) Another post-paid envelope would be pre-addressed to the appropriate state office for tallying ballots. The legislation would nationalize any restriction on citizen eligibility (such as current incarceration after criminal conviction, although some European countries allow such people to vote: something to consider?) States would be prohibited from adding additional restrictions.
The legislation could also mandate Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) for all federal elections. This eliminates the "voter's dilemma" and the consequent spoiler effect. (Do I vote my actual choice or choose one of the "lesser of two evils" so my vote is effective? With RCV the voter ranks his true preference first and his "lesser of two evils" second. If his first choice is eliminated in the instant runoff rounds, his second choice is counted.) And candidates, wanting to gather second choices, third choices, etc., in order to accumulate a majority in the instant runoff tallies, will be motivated to be moderate, rational, and conciliatory in their presentation to the electorate. Extremism loses.
Dah! If and when Americans wake up and do something about the fact that we are Dino = a democracy in name only. The Senate, Gerrymandering, Citizens United, etc. have put us on a path to fascism.
Jim, you might, as well, say that that this framing of our laws points out how much our Department of Justice has reneged on their job to enforce the law.
I have never heard of any one of the states that turn away thousands from voting, through one tactic or another, being challenged with loss of representation in Congress.
I hereby declare that Heather Cox Richardson be appointed the United States of America's national history teacher, due to her deep understanding of our history, and her profound ability to put current events into historical perspective in a readily accessible literary manner.
Furthermore...
I declare that her "Letters from an American" be required reading by every elected official, and their staffs, and be provided free of charge to every public and private high school student.
There! That should resolve a lot of the problems we've been having lately.
So many of our problems escalated when we lost the Fairness Doctrine in 1987 which mandated that broadcast networks devote time to contrasting views on issues of public importance. That brought us "alternate facts news" which has created division and confusion on purpose. Whoever is controlling the system we have now (think Leonard Leo and Robert Mercer) needs to be stopped. We need the Fairness Doctrine back so some light can be let in where now it does not shine. I love Letter from an American but so many people who need to, never see it.
I think Leo is the “mastermind”, quite frankly. He has created quite a number of so-called not-for-profit shell companies in which money is being funneled through each and every one of them. In other words, laundering. Ginni Thomas’s company is involved too. The Mercers are the ones with dark money as are the Koch Industries but there is also Harlan Crowe and his buddies. The Catholic Church is the heavy, as well, but it’s unknown if the present pope is caught up in these schemes. More than likely there are conniving bishops in high offices who are, however. It’s all very very dirty, very murky. Sheldon Whitehouse and his team have been vigorously working to expose Leo.
Don’t forget Rupert. He would be so disappointed if he is not given sufficient credit for the dissolution of the American Dream. It was his and Ronnie’s plan.
I sorta thought Leo was the ideas guy, and didn’t his hands stained with dirty money. Good to know there might be a route to prosecuting his nasty little person, along with all the other politicians-crooks. It is about time the American people ceased tolerating these bloodsucking lampreys who flaunt democracy’s ideals while damaging the American experiment for their own gain.
MLMinET, the current pope does not appear to be, but were previous popes? The current bishops got their “permission” from someone—either an archbishop or the pope.
I very much doubt that Pope (Saint) Francis is caught up in these conniving bishops' schemes. I am currently reading "Playing God: American Catholic Bishops and The Far Right" by Mary Jo McConahay." Most of our bishops have opposed (or ignored) Francis in their quest to subjugate women, weaponize abortion, and preserve their wealth.
Those were the pre-cable days. It would be much harder to implement the fairness doctrine these days, media being what it is. But the more responsible channels sometimes bend over backward too far to provide both sides of a story, even when one side is erroneous and a perpetuation of misinformation.
The fairness doctrine applied to all over-the-air (OTA) broadcasting, both television and radio. In rural America, radio has been taken over by right wing owners and is a source of mis-information and dis-information.
Hmmm. How to apply the "Fairness Doctrine" to today's media? Most people are getting their news from social media. OTA broadcasting is ancient history (except for a few of us cord cutters), cable viewing is shrinking.
I've got it! We ask an AI app to review every statement, every post, every comment and where the truth is twisted or simply ignored, the AI software program automatically posts a clarification.
Some fool would post:
"January 6th was just an unruly group of protesters - tourists who made a mess."
The AI app would post:
"False. The events of January 6th, 2021 were a coordinated insurrection with the specific goal of overthrowing the existing system of our national elections. The effort was encouraged and promoted by the existing president who was attempting to remain in office as a dictator. There have been many trials and there will be more as the truth is revealed."
I have an AI app called "Pi". I just asked him (it) if the events of January 6th was just an "unruly protest". Here is Pi's response:|
"Well, based on the aftermath of the events of January 6th, it seems clear that the riot was much more than just an unruly protest. There were serious consequences for those involved, including charges being brought against individuals who participated in the riot. The fact that the Supreme Court has even been urged to rule on Trump's eligibility to be president again due to his involvement in the riot shows how serious it was. So I think it's safe to say that the January 6th riot was more than just a protest gone wrong."
Bill, it all depends on what information sources are used to “teach” AI. Imagine what AI would post if their only sources were Fox News, OANN and Infowars.
Maybe within a year or two. From what I've read, the current apps sometimes "hallucinate" because of corruption in some of the data used in their growth. It would be nice to hear from an AI expert on this.
The Fairness Doctrine applied only to free, over the air TV. It never applied to cable, which is where all the distortion of various political viewpoints occurs. In any event, Reagan killed it in 1987.
Please don’t ignore the influence of ALEC when laying out accountability for the destruction of our democracy.
“ The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a nonprofit organization of conservative state legislators and private sector representatives who draft and share model legislation for distribution among state governments in the United States.
…
“ ALEC's activities, while legal,[15] received public scrutiny after news reports in 2012 from outlets such as The New York Times and Bloomberg Businessweek described ALEC as an organization that gave corporate interests outsized influence.[9][10] Resulting public pressure led to a number of legislators and corporations withdrawing from the organization. In 2022, however, Insider reported that a political commentator addressing the July policy summit of ALEC stated that if the objective of the conservative constitutional convention movement that "is gaining momentum" largely out of public view is successful in its effort to rewrite the constitution, the USA will become the "conservative nation" ALEC has been working toward.”
Riddle me this: what is the matter with humans that we don’t learn from past mistakes?! It is clear that we as a species maintain Einstein’s definition of insane…doing the same thing repeatedly and hope for different results. That’s all I’m saying about that. For now.
I wonder that when my daughter wants to make her own mistakes instead of learning from mine. How deluded I was to think I could help her see the semis bearing down…
But to get parenting wrong is a tragedy that lives on and on. As Jackie Kennedy said. If I fail as a parent, what does it matter what else I accomplish. Or something like that.
But what does it mean to fail as a parent? We can find some horrifying examples, but I think that thoughtful parenthood is always something of a muddle, always to some degree a matter of guesswork, because we are all the same and all unique and life is complicated and in flux. And what is the goal? Honesty, the safety to allow one's vulnerabilities to be seen, and caring and feeling fundamentally cared for are surely some of the keys to "success" whatever the packaging. One of the last lucid things my mother said to me when she was dying was that the best thing she ever did was to have me as her son (I was an "only"). That counts more than anything, and I have tried to pass it on to my daughter.
It seems to me that we get to impart quite a bit of our collected knowledge to our kids and also are obliged to watch in both delight and troubled frustration as they live their own lives. My daughter happens to be vising and I am most definitely experiencing all of that.
Susan, Jennifer & J L, it seems there are at least two attributes of humans which contribute to "repeating past mistakes": 1) humans don't like and have a hard time adjusting to change; we LIKE our patterns of living and thinking because they feel familiar and comfortable or at the very least leave us knowing what comes next;
2) on a very elemental level of brain structure we need to identify with our kin, our tribe, "our people." This is built into our brain's very structure with the emotional centers, the "fight, flight or freeze" reaction centers perched right on top of the brainstem (our "reptile brain") greeting and sorting all those incoming signals from our bodies and the environment before those signals get sent outward to the grey matter structures of our hemispheres which do the analyzing and MIGHT help us not repeat past mistakes. Identification and affiliation with tribe were likely far more important to survival than correct analysis of the effects of past behavior.
All more often preservation of old wwys are emedded in society from family to church to barbershop let alone media, in conscious resistance to unwanted change. Evangelical for example
I see a divide between people who trust information they draw from circumstances and trails of connections and differences between those circumstances and those who place their ultimate confidence in some special person. I think we all do both to some degree, but it seems to me that some person or persons have special knowledge beyond what they can defend with relevant logic and evidence is superior to empirical arguments. Aristotle argued that the heavier the object the faster it fell, which can in fact be observed under special circumstances, for example a feather compared to a shot-put, but that due to air resistance. Galileo actually measured objects responding to gravity and uncovered a profound constant. Just about anyone could repeat his process. It's not that Galileo himself was infallible, but he know how to set up a proof, in an very innovative way.
We shouldn't criticize those past lawmakers for any shortcomings in implementing those amendments today. Keep in mind that those who resent and oppose those laws have had over a hundred years to chip away at how they're implemented, plus once again they've packed the courts and legislaures with their paid stooges. Now is the time to reassert the intent of the Reconstruction Amendments.
It's up to us. We can still achieve this with refreshed laws and our votes .
The Constitution attempts to describe the the outlines of liberty and justice. Those now alive, and those who will be living to come, need to do our best to live it, and do our best to improve it.
Well said J L. As I read this, I wondered how Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Comey-Barrett and Thomas could have ignored the 14th amendment when writing the Dobbs decision..
And now both Alabama and Texas are ignoring SCOTUS by refusing to redistrict and refusing to take down the razor wire in the Rio Grande.
TFFG has boxed in all of the Republicans in the House. It would be another fiasco if they called for a vote to oust him because of the funding bills that have to pass. And they will only pass in time if Johnson retains the speakership.
Thank you, Heather for this reminder about how little The United State respects and follows the 14th Amendment - one of the most important Amendments written. I have been concentrating so much on Section 3 recently that I have neglected Section 2 "establishing that states that did not permit Black men to vote would lose representation in Congress in proportion to the number of people they disenfranchised". States, such as Florida, North Carolina, Mississippi, Missouri, and all of that ilk, should lose 1 member of the House of Representatives proportional to the number of people they disenfranchise by gerrymandering, purging, and other schemes to limit the number of avid Democrats to vote.
Fay Reid, I have wondered more than once, how do people and an entire party who win by cheating and fraud walk so proudly? They are not winners, but cheaters and fraudsters. How does one be proud of that? Perhaps, because they think that makes them smarter than and therefore superior to Dems? Twisted misters and mizzes.
My former Republican state rep (and FORMER friend) met me at our local watering hole one day in 2010, and gleefully announced, "We've gerrymandered this state so bad those f@%#ing Democrats will never win again!"
MaryPat Sercu - MI, and if I remember right, they did until the people-led redistricting commission and the ensuing MI trifecta happened. I am sure Dems have done such things somewhere (and I'd be against that too), but Repubs do an ever- increasing whole lotta of cheating, fraudalent, and anti-democratic actions around voting.
I put people on a continuum of bad/good so I can be alert to protecting myself and those R's who knowingly lie and cheat constantly have a bad rating on my badness scale. But I don't hate anyone or see anyone has an enemy and so, I know they have good qualities too. :-)
Yes and yes, and yes. And good that you protect yourself from, well, evil. .Another one of my political friends (I was a lobbyist for several health organizations here) wrote most of the UN-gerrymandering citizen's initiative language, and they worked hard to get it on the ballot and approved. Wish every state could, get it, too.
How appropriate that the wisdom expressed by Edwin Ngetich should come to our shores from Africa.
He gets right to the heart of the matter. Well, soul, actually.
One of the overwhelming lessons of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments is that we must be constantly critical of and vigilant regarding our ability to "get things right" the first time. If we fail to track our performance, the essential learning is lost regarding what works and what does not, what options exist to correct the deficiencies, how best to improve our legislative guidance--and why. Look no further than Article V of the Constitution for evidence that our Founding Fathers understood this truth. Absent this mindset and the practices that give it life, we are trapped in the destructive snares of arrogance. Such blindness will never serve us well. Frustrating as it may be, we are engaged in a governance enterprise that has no end state; it is a work in progress under the best of circumstances and a downward spiral under the worst. It is for "we the people" to decide which it is and it will always be challenging. No one ever said it would be easy, and they were right.
Whatever else we may take from our current distress, there is ample evidence that a lot of Americans understand all of this and have no intention of giving up. With Heather's relentless microscope, we have the benefit of understanding how we got here. That is an essential first step toward figuring out how to get better.
The year 2024 will put us to the test like no other in my ninety years on the planet. Yes, not even the horror of World War II. Why? It goes back to Edwin's first sentence. In World War II, our lives were at stake; today, our souls are. We don't have to wonder what soulless life looks like; we have seen it before and it is visible today as well.
What we think has little impact if we do nothing. So we do need to show up and multiply our insights and energies. Three colleagues and I in Arizona have embarked on an endeavor to inform and motivate the now more than one third of Arizona voters who are registered as "No Party Preferred" to show up and make a difference. Other amazing endeavors are taking place here as well. At azindvoters.net, we seek to build on that foundation Edwin so effectively described. I don't know what impact we will have. What I do know is that the wisdom and inspiration in Letters from an American will aid our endeavors and operate to keep us in the game.
For 25 years, I was a civil rights lawyer enforcing the 14th Amendment, which among other things, was intended to bar insurrectionists like Trump from office. I predict the Supreme Court will so rule.
Thank you for your work. Most of the training that I delievered was based on Graham v. Connor and Tennessee v. Garner, both of which brought police use of force (via the 14th amendment) to apply to all the states under the 4th amendment (with "force", up to and including deadly force).
What stuns me is that Dobbs basically said the 14th was the "wrong vehicle" and that such decisions should be left up to the states. (I know that most of the argument centered around the right to privacy, but holy moly, that was some convoluted "reasoning")
I've always thought that the 1st Amendment would have been a stronger tool, but the basic groundwork had not been successfully laid by the time Roe was argued. Why? Because objections to abortion access is based on religion, not science or even history. Restrictions on abortion are an obvious imposition of a specific religious view. Using the 14th Amendment worked (and still works) logically, but avoided the core question of: Can a religious minority or even a religious majority impose its values on those who don't agree?
Having said the above, I'm glad the pro choice advocates succeeded in using the tools they had to get the Roe v. Wade decision. I just wish that the core argument had been addressed. It's never too late.
Alas, Will the Federal govt send in troops to Texas as 17 State Governors lend a hand to Abbott defying Federal laws regarding immigration? 1960’s anyone as Southern Governors tried to block integration? So ironic, these grandstanders, when a bill by the Senate solves most of those problems RIGHT NOW but their State Representatives don’t want to sign it because it would do exactly that! So, the 13th-15th amendments were a great idea. It’s the GOP Congress that has it backwards today in enforcing them. Southerners. Sigh.
Yes, the Federal Government was very strong in forcing school integration in the Southern states. They seem considerably weaker now. There is a lot of free-floating fear in the country amongst all levels of government, including the judiciary. I’m so very concerned about the seeming unwillingness of the three women of the DC Appeals Court to make a ruling on Trumps “immunity” case. Now the election interference (Judge Chutkan) case has been postponed till who knows when.
At the time, the Federal Government was in the power of LBJ. He forced it through, being a "southerner" himself and with sharp elbows and strong words made those states bend to his will. "Bless their hearts"
Not so quick to ridicule the DC Appeals Ct. The ruling must be crafted to withstand SCOTUS review upon future appeals. These justices asked thoughtful questions and must research previous rulings to close the loopholes of interpretaion.
Texas has a huge problem with voter apathy and disenfranchisement of voters due to their voter suppression laws. Maybe Taylor Swift can help young people vote in TX like she is doing elsewhere.
Always. Greedflation is rampant. Many companies saw their margins shrink by a point or due when they finally gave workers the raises they have deserved for years. And, of course many did it just because they could.
A huge problem is back then the new media was far less tied to partisan viewership and readership. Today's obstruction on the border, in DC, and everywhere else is performative, to get video clips edited for partisan audiences, to rile them up, to get advertising dollars. They want nothing more than an armed confrontation on the border. That's exactly their objective and today we know this is their ally Putin's objective too.
Twenty-five historians signed onto the amicus brief explaining how the 14th was established and why Section 3 is so significant. That is a whole lot of award-winning experts all agreeing to the actual intentions of the written words. Heather, though I have not found out who all of the 25 are, I can only assume your name is among them. Scotus has been inundated with these briefs and rightfully so. All of these proceedings because of one imbecilic power-driven man who wants to be king, are unprecedented. We have never EVER witnessed a former president incite a band of people to commit insurrection. Is he one himself? Yes, he is. Why? Because January 6th was premeditated by him and others. I believe this to be fact.
The 14th Amendment and the documented intent of Congress could not be clearer insofar as banning anyone and everyone who engaged in insurrection, and who had previously been sworn to uphold the Constitution as a federal officer, from again holding any federal office. There is no exception for any federal office. I believe that the main issue that will confront the Supreme Court is the uniformity issue. This is a federal question, and the Court cannot countenance some states enforcing the ban and other states (such as those dominated by MAGA leaning state legislatures) ignoring it. I believe that the federal judiciary needs to take the lead in deciding the qualifications of federal officers, the results of which should be the law of the land.
Would it be a bad thing if the Supreme Court were to declare that the application of Section 3 of Amendment XIV to Donald J Trump is a "political question," not for the courts to decide? That would pass the burden of resolving the question to the elected representatives of the people -- that is, the two chambers of Congress.
In my view, that is where the action should be. All of the knotty questions of definition and application can and should be determined in the political branch, where the participants are (at least theoretically) responsible to the electorate. A definite result, if one can be achieved, will be final and will set the rules for the next attempt at insurrection.
Do we trust our representatives and senators? We should. What else is there, ultimately?
In response to your comment Mr. Schumacher, should this or any other clause of the U.S. Constitution be declared a "political question", it would exalt the will of Congress and vagaries of the people over the fundamental precepts embodied in our Constitution. In the present matter, we have an outgoing President who is alleged to have fraudulently sought to overturn the lawful will of the people by rigging the election results to remain in power. Enabling a Republican controlled House of Representatives and/orSenate to ratify a coup would be anathema to the fundamental principles of our democracy.
Our Heather clearly enumerates how the federal government once surmounted the enslavers.
Thanks to ALEC, the Heritage Foundation, and other organs erected by the rich following the Powell memo, states under Republican control have been challenging the services and rights which we thought guaranteed.
Women in these states must cede their personal and family lives to ideologues such as the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Howdy Doody. Persons, soil, water, and soil poisoned by polluters must accept much of that getting poisoned. The ill who can barely eke out a living on minimum wages must endure a new near-enslavement while the rich get richer. Those same persons must also endure indignities of below-minimum health care while Big Parma and private insurance companies all get much richer. Students must live with historic debt to the banks for "higher" education while corporate profiteers privatize university research that used to be public and for the public good.
Our Heather nicely follows the massive thefts and extortions that long ago used to be simply black and white, used to be called simply slavery.
Now its poisons permeate more widely, deeply. And as the Republicans enable this poisoning, they also show by their positions on aid to Ukraine that their real loyalty is to dictators like Putin.
They won't go away, these whom the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were thought to have set under civilization.
They're not at all civilized, but hydra-headed evil, not just owning slaves, but now also social media platforms further to spew hate. They are owning, too, regimes of standardized testing so schools further reduce humanities, our civilization further vulgarized.
Heather, thank you for the history lesson on these important amendments. I’d never heard about the Black Codes. The inclusion of prison enslaved labor, combined with the unequal incarceration of people of color and the poor, is a stain on the justice system to this day.
As does the power of extreme wealth to seriously warp the promise of "government of the people, by the people, for the people".
J L, the ability of the extremely wealthy to hire the most talented lawyers also contributes to the inequality in the administration of the laws.
Lawyers, media, lobbyists, politicians.
JL, truth
Errr ahh...."talented"..albeit 'spineless' regarding what America stands for. But, to more accurately depict what #45 has carried on stage, I would offer a malaise exists...perhaps an even more appropriate pig-latinesque title for that spinelessness would be: E-rect-ile dis-function humanus maggotus (R). Thank you.
I was about to question the word "talented" as a description of the lawyers defending political criminals for "fame and money". Fortunately many in the profession still have a conscience.
Do you have a point here? If so, it is entirely lost on me. Who do you think won more than 60 cases upholding the 2020 election? Lawyers and conscientious members of the Judiciary. You frown upon attorneys until you, a member of your family, or the country needs one. Yikes.
I believe you are replying to J L Graham's listing of the enablers of trump and the corruption of the radical right wing republican party. Sure there were good and patriotic lawyers on those cases, but if not for the lawyers, media, lobbyists and politicians that enabled trump & the GOP there would not have been those cases to begin with.
I'm puzzled as to why you don't see this point.
I don't see the point perhaps because as expanded upon here, it is fuzzy, juvenile, and unmoored. That's the most I can see and the best I can say. Thank you.
The world has returned to a time when powerful men have gathered the biggest weapons, a ruthless police/ army, corrupt the courts,and take control. Right now, in the US, Trump has everything but the army. That seems to be forming in Texas. Will that be the final step or will the courts and government defend our freedom? No solid sign of that yet.
Ugh 😣
Respectfully, I would ask you to consider the following. To be sure, the mission of the country’s most powerful law firms is to make money for the firms’ partners. As a general matter, the work that drives the profits - M&A, capital markets transactions, IP litigation etc. however, pits business entities against other business entities rather than business interests against individuals seeking to protect their rights. These same firms do often represent individuals and groups that speak for individuals in protecting rights from encroachment by government or other forms of organized power and do so without charge. The role of lawyers in the administration of laws as those laws affect the less advantaged is far from ideal, but it tends to be on the side of those wronged by such administration and not those responsible for the inequitable enforcement.
MÁS, the role of lawyers in defending indigent clients is far from ideal: they either get overworked public defense attorneys or “green” attorneys from private law firms (required pro bono work). Wealthy clients whose cases turn up on the local news have top lawyers defending them and, according to the news stories, rarely get more than a slap on the wrist.
Elie Honig’s book “Untouchable” lays it out.
I confess I have not read Honig’s book. I do know from my experience that good law firms staff pro bono matters in the same way as those of paying clients. Senior people supervise closely the work of more junior ones. Each time you see a third or fourth year lawyer representing someone in, for sake of example, a proceeding under the Violence Against Women Act, there are three, four or five other lawyers who are working on the matter and one or more of those will be a partner of the firm. Because I think I know my audience here, I would note to your point that the wealthy show up on the evening news with fancy lawyers ordinary people could not afford to pay, a man with “the greatest assets, the best brands, the most beautiful properties” and the orangest hair was represented by a complete clown in the E. Jean Carroll matter.
MAS, point noted
MÁS, he started with great lawyers until he refused to follow their advice and refused to pay them. He appears to be an anomaly.
Despite all the rhetoric abt democracy, the major political parties have for many generations been wealth/business financed, unapologetically so, based on the very old idea that inequality is fundamental. In short wealth or privelage is just another specialization without which civilization wouldn't exist. Interestingly Trump is hugely populist financed but hardly entirely. Dont forget recent Supreme Court ruling of 2010 Citizens United et al per a companion posting with detail. Giving wealth based corporations "personal rights"?
Regarding the destruction of over a century of anti-corruption legislation and the legalization of bribery, we have the trio of Supreme Court abominations: Buckley (1976), Bellotti (1978) and Citizens United (2010). When we have the Congress that can overthrow the said abominations, the legislation should include a reference to the Constitution's Article III, Section 2, Clause 2 language: "...the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make." followed by an instruction to the Supreme Court that this legislation is passed outside of their jurisdiction.
Actually, the parties are now financed more heavily by small donors than they have been for many years. That does not stop the abomination of secretive super-PACs, but it’s important and worth noting.
It IS there more now than before [financing by small donors], but it still does not come close to eclipsing Big Money donations. And without being organized and speaking to each other, small donors have trouble reaching legislators with “one clear voice,” to petition for their interests. Big donors far more often ARE one person/one voice — an oligarch, for instance — or they are in PACs. Nice for the rest of US little donors to eschew PACs, but we need to have a vehicle for our voice to be heard, clearly and cogently.
Issue with this thought is that “our voice” is not unitary; our views differ, and we are not one issue voters.
That’s terrifically true, but when we DO vote, we have to decide who is the MOST likely not only to advocate for our own passions, but who will listen to us about a whole range of issues and give us a fair hearing, or are we lone voices screaming into the void?
And in this age when some researcher or other found the voice of the individual voter no more impactful than a light breeze in Washington, we have to find like minds to amplify the influence we have, or we’re just f-ing lost.
Nice enough to say we are not on some bandwagon and we’re not one-issue voters. That’s true.
After we say that, we stop and think about how to be effective voters, and make common cause with others who share our bedrock principles as a way to do that.
Don’t miss the forest for the trees here ….
Liberty requires diversity and responsibility, else it’s not really liberty. Solidarity, not imposed conformity. Guardianship of each other’s right to pursue diverse paths of sufficiently responsible happiness. If rights are universal, then we avoid transgressing the rights of others. We achieve an environment of liberty and justice by building, maintaining and guarding such environments together. We watch each other’s backs.
Not enough is about this in our political conversations. In my experience, GOTV public service announcements emphasize personal choice; but we also, as consent-of-the-governed citizens to make informed and responsible decisions for our nation as a whole, even our whole planet. It appears to me that those who suffer the most from unwise political choices tend to be those who are most deprived already; compounding injustice. Abstention can be as consequential in this respect as a recorded choice. Where it seem impossible to prevent harm, it is at least most responsible to minimize harm, as a doctor must sometime do in a effort to avert complete disaster. Which terrible choice provides the best chance of partial recovery? What choice might mean “game over” and which provides a foothold from which to fight? Not just for our personal agenda, but for liberty and justice for ALL?
Liberty requires both diversity and solidarity; some level of social contract that defends diverse (yet responsible) methods of pursuing happiness. Beehive conformity is the authoritarian agenda.
Even when it comes to the binary choice of oligarchy versus democracy?
This just came out from the Run for Something newsletter. They had to let go of staff for lack of funding but they are up against:
“ALEC has announced a strategic partnership with Run GenZ, the Republican org that supports young conservatives running for state and local office. This is a critical reminder: The GOP is all-in on investing hundreds of millions of dollars for as long as it takes. That’s one of many reasons why RFS can’t go away after election day.”
https://rfsfeelgoodupdates.substack.com/p/rfs-feel-good-update-25-some-sad?utm_source=%2Finbox&utm_medium=reader2
Christy, thank you for reminding us of the importance of reaching out to young voters about the importance of their voting and how to critically evaluate news sources and coverage.
Speaking of ALEC and the power of money, the Guardian has this article about how ALEC writes bills to protect companies from prosecution:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/05/public-nuisance-laws-business-opioids
Checking out RFS
A reminder that republicans seem to be good at investing big for the long run. Democrats seem to lack that talent. Where is evidence of dedicated Democrat think tanks planning strategically for the future (also with money)?
The power has been shifting from the major parties to individuals, extremists, who are splintering the two parties and enabling an outsider, Trump in 2016, to win in spite of not being initially supported by the GOP establishment.
In today's NYT, "Individual donors and spenders are among the most ideological sources of money (and are far more ideological than the average citizen). That’s particularly true of small donors.” and "It is important to recognize that individuals who donate to campaigns tend, in general, to be considerably more ideologically extreme than the average American."
There is no GOP establishment anymore. Gone for 8 years.
And it's not just elections that are affected by plutocratic overwhelm.
Rights, but responsibilities? Not so much.
Which is really the tyrants dream.
It seems to me no amount of laws are sufficient for the lawless whether it’s flagrant disregard, manipulation through clever but deviant interpretation , lying/conspiracy or financial persuasion.
Trusting the highest is no longer a forgone conclusion…who is accountable for that loss and why hasn’t this been addressed.
Surely I’m not the only one to question this.
Is the constitution not law?
Are the principles within not sufficient to go beyond any preponderance of doubt.
Does this Civil War need fought again, shed more blood over wording , over principle, let’s throw religion in there too….asking for my friend , The World.
💙💙VOTE ALL THE COMPLICIT OUT💙💙
Liberty, and for that matter love, thrives in an environment of prudent trust. Trust is effectively a living thing. It has to be fed and cared for, or it dies. It has to be protected and defended; and predators repelled or vanquished. Is it for living things in a universe laced with entropy. There can be resting spots, but never abandonment of vigilance. Life as a whole is resilient, but individuals and even species are ultimately fragile.
My daughter shared living space in college with a young woman who said she grew up in a war zone. She and her family went to bed full clothed every night, in case they had to run. That's not much freedom. We protect ourselves by protecting each other; solidarity. It is the most sustainable defense against entropy and predation.
How lovely that first paragraph JL Graham.
PTSD is long term, that poor woman..too many of her/ that PTSD , an edge I hope America does not endure, nor I wish upon anyone .
We are at that precipice ... There are ,in our very midst, rotten apples.
Although it's obviously statistically meaningless, my perceptive Canadian son in law claims that American society strikes him as noticeably more punitive than his own. Probably both cultures are more similar than different, but at least one statistic does stand out in the US world record for incarceration. I also recall a BBC interview back in the days of the Irish "Troubles", where one of the panel members pointed out that while a certain Irish city had a reputation for violence, the homicide rate was still low compared to some cities in the US. Perhaps because we created this nation in the wake of war (and conquest) there seems to be a certain cultural glorification of violence. Even the National Anthem is an emphasis of our victory in war, rather than a celebration of the land and it's people, or of our constitutional republic. It strikes me that our whole culture of guns, not just possession of a weapon, but of almost gun as talisman of a declared right to kill when "sufficiently" provoked sometimes presents with a fervor that seems muddled with religion. And religion itself appears in both highly punitive and exceptionally forgiving and compassionate strains, Desmond Tutu an example of the latter.
We are born dependent on others, and we navigate our lives in need of influencing the behavior of other people. Violence is a quick and dirty way to coerce the behavior of others, but also the most problematic. I am not a complete pacifist, and would meet violence with violence as a last resort, but our own violence is also the most destructive problem our species faces; and it appears in many forms. If we don't get dramatically smarter with its management, we are arguably on a trajectory for our own extinction.
Big money is so out of control in our elections and campaigns 😬
We have become inured to it. The mainstream new I see often speaks of popular initiatives that are rebuffed by a "powerful lobby" and therefore not viable. Who grants "powerful" (i.e. well funded) lobbies that power? How is that not corrupt? Where is democracy when billionaires openly threaten to withdraw funding of candidates if their political wishes are withdrawn, and are taken seriously? Money is free speech? Only in Orwell's universe..
All too true
The soul of the country is found in fairness and equality to all regardless of race, gender, or any diversity that we have. As I was reading this, I could flashback on how each amendment laid a platform for the next amendment. Each solution was incomplete or created another flaw that hadn't been noticed. The modern-day US has been a product of a work in progress, not a final destination. And that should be the basis of any civilization. Each regime reveals the weakness of the previous amendment. To some, unfortunately, with the likes of the DTs of this world, a flawed amendment is a gateway to gain selfishly at the expense of the society. But, thank God the amendments have laid down a solid foundation that's hardly overpowered individually.
Now, we will see if a so-called originalist Supreme Court will defend and uphold the United States Constitution.
They are anything but originalists. They are the southern agitators in the garb of founders.
In other words hypocrites who selective chose what’s original
HYPOCRITES, who care not what the founders meant. Just what is of use to monied traitors.
Hypocrisy. Just another 'tool' in their (R) Gerrymander Toolbox. Right next to the adjustable wrench I refer to as "truth social", needle-nose pliers=Rush Limbahh, Smoke&mirrors=FauxNoose, S-putin=Rasputin ,Kaliedascope=Foto-shop, andof course the Calendar of pin-up girls=Sara huckabucket, K-leeMac, etc. And they don't clean them after use..., they just toss em in a drawer.., even if they're Code 780 (bent, buckled, twisted, or distorted). Yupprr.., The (R) toolbox. You read it here.
Dont forget white Christian nationalists, thats hardly just the south
Exactly so, Frank.
Hear, hear!
Yup.., and their (excuse the term) "boy" Clarence was merely a 'token' the (R) bagboys needed to illustrate how the "lib-tards" were trying to keep a good man down. A "good man., being falsely accused (of rape ?!!)... a "good man".., no less! They (the R's) knew that Clarence would come in handy one day. And, so he has. Originalist(s) My foot!
We've been watching this for decades. When will it be seen for what it is
The power of the Constitution lies in the ongoing fitness to the principles it prescribes. The history of those who penned those thoughts is biography and an essential part of tracking the evolution of our governing philosophy; but is not a proof of the soundness of it's concepts. That is demonstrated (or not) in it's application; thus the provision for amendments.
Do you think the so-called strict constructionists consider the amendments as less binding? I suspect they do. God knows that they can rationalize anything to fit the Procrustean beds inside their heads.
Or their Procrustean agenda.
This Court’s loyalty is greater to the rich and the Federalist Republican Party.
Their legal philosophy seems to be, "We must uphold the purity of our vision of the Constitution no matter how many die as a result."
Of their vision, not of the originalists
It's already done that, Marshall.
The "so-called originalist Supreme Court" has defended and upheld the Constitution in ruling how demagogues and religious zealots need to rule women, need to make personal and family decisions for them.
Doesn't that align with the original Constitution, which allowed no voting rights for women, which saw women as nothings except insofar as (some) men deemed them?
Phil, good point. There are still doctors who perform vasectomies on demand without questioning the man, but will only perform tubal ligations if the woman meets their criteria for sterilization (old enough, enough children, etc.).
My thought too, Marshall We will see how their originalist doctrine holds up on this one. They are going to have to twist themselves into pretzels.
Pretzels! Wonderful and accurate. If I’d seen your post first, Michele, I wouldn’t have bothered with my last post.
Substack moves my posts from their original spot for some reason. So sometimes the thread doesn't follow. If I see a post similar to mine as I look a few down, I try to reference it, but with things out of order, it may not make sense. So no worries.
I was just about to say the same. I fear that the SCOTUS will not defend nor uphold the US Constitution.
Okay, here's a post which will not get any likes in this forum, but I've been listening and thinking.
The Supreme Court will assuredly *not* disqualify the Republican candidate, for whatever reason, and I think it's just as well.
For a court to disqualify a candidate, who rec'd some 70 million votes in 2020, on a point of law which is not crystal clear on what constitutes insurrection, would in the long run be a catastrophe.
If Biden wins, and I pray he does, he needs to do it in the balloting. We all need to help.
Don't count on it....
Nope and nope
that was exactly what I was thinking Marshall. Thanks for posting this sentiment.
Hey Marshall, the strangest thing happened on a different Substack this am - YOUR photo thumbnail was attached to MY comment somehow - I checked and I had NO thumbnail assigned in my profile! Wondering if there was a thumbnail indexing bug based on first three letters of my name+ last initial. I forget the stack, may have been Vance or Heather Cox Richardson. So odd...
At least you have the right substacks!
That *is* very strange. I’ve avoided installing the substack app ‘cuz my phone is so crowded, but maybe I’d better. The web interface is pretty awkward. Has that error persisted or happened anywhere else? Very odd indeed.
We are still struggling to "form a more perfect union" and to accomplish the other goals set forth in the Preamble: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." We are still far from implementing the provisions of the Reconstruction Amendments. There's still a lot of work to do as we attempt to accomplish our stated ideals.
When I was in high school being taught by the Jesuits in the early 60’s I had no idea how animated I would be at this stage of my life by these constitutional questions. We have to get this right to give our heirs the same chance we have had. We inherited an imperfect world our parents left us after WWII, but it was a world given to us at great cost of blood and treasure. Time is running out for my generation to put its mark on our nation’s greatness, that thought is what animates everything that I write. A lot of us will be listening on Thursday to see if those who sit on the court who are from my generation are up to the task. “Thoughts and prayers” is usually a cop out for responsibility, but in this case anything that will animate the majority to come to the right conclusion is appropriate.
Always appreciated Obama’s call backs to “perfecting” the union...!
Directly stated. I was taken aback to consider how the present day state governments and SCOTUS have taken an "Originalist" stand thus returning women back to being property with the over turn of Roe v Wade. Just my POV.
Don't forget. This is a fundamental Biblical view adopted by many Jews, Christians, and Muslims. "Woman" was created out of Adam and became subordinate because of her failure to follow God's edict not to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. This origin story is the source of a woman's place in western society. A rise in fundamental followers of Biblical teachings will return women's standing from partner to subordinate.
Don't forget in the 1960's women still faced issues getting something we take for granted today, getting a credit card, which required a father's or husband's signature to obtain. Into the 1930's, a woman's US citizenship would be nullified if she married a foreign national. If he died or she divorced, she would have to go through naturalization procedures to reclaim her citizenship and wouldn't have birth right status.
There are women who by their religious faith believe they must adopt whatever stance their husband supports. They vote as they are told. They raise their children as instructed. They believe the travails of childbirth are a part of Eve's punishment. Look into the faces of "pro-life" women who show little empathy with their fellow women's reproductive suffering and you will see anger against protecting mothers of wanted pregnancies and you'll see an overriding righteous indignation at women who they feel are shirking a God ordained birth.
I love men, couldn't live without them. But I will not accept the judgement or punishment of Eve. I will not accept laws that make my right to self determination subordinate to my reproductive capabilities. People refused what they perceived as mandated vaccinations because of their personal rights. Why should I have any fewer rights over my personal medical decisions? The fetus has rights you say? This then becomes a philosophical discussion not a legal one because both mother and potential child contribute to society. A much more complicated discussion than the fetus always wins.
The founding fathers were right. The church must be separated from the state. Whenever the two are entangled, the right to be who you wish to be is lost. The rule of law determines society's behavior and the majority decisions determine the rule of law. I accept the rule of law. At least the rule of law doesn't carry the baggage that a judgement of God asserts and can be changed as human understanding changes.
Well put, Paula. I do love the Christmas Eve service from King's College, Cambridge. However, I grind my teeth at the first reading blaming Eve for the expulsion from Eden. One of my favorite books is Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven which is the history of the nonsense in Christianity with regard to sexuality. It is pretty clear to me that sexuality and women were much on the minds of the men of the Church. They imagined women doing all sorts of things. I personally think it it is some kind of primal fear of the power of women, so they must be controlled and in some places covered from head to toe. Also important to patriarchy is who the father is and so another reason to keep women hidden away as in ancient Athens....not the prostitutes of course, but the wives and daughters who were never considered adult and alway had to be under the control of some male. With matriarchy we always know who the mother is. Also I recommend God: An Anatomy for a look into the god of the OT.
My mother-in-law was the first women to have a credit card in her name for a local department store and I think this happened in the 1960s.
The Founders had plenty of fairly recent history to look at when they decided on separation of church and state.
Is this the right time to remind that the Roman Catholic Church gave souls to women in the twelfth century? But now we are deprived of bodies by SCOTUS which would kill us, if necessary to possibly save the life of a child on a planet with 6 million more people than it can support. Can we digest that irony?
They waited until the 12th century? Until then I guess Mary, the mother of Jesus had no soul. What about the mother of Constantine who reputedly found pieces of the True Cross....no soul either.
Paula, the government does not (and I believe should not) require someone to put their health at risk to save a life by donating bone marrow. The health risk of such a donation is minuscule when compared to the risk of pregnancy and childbirth. As far as I can determine, pregnancy is the only time (other than during the draft) in which a US citizen is forced to put their health at risk to save a life.
I heard this argument explained by a Unitarian minister a few years ago, and found it the most compelling pro-choice justification that I've ever run across. Thanks for bringing it up.
To put some meat on the bones (using the form that I heard it): If a) parents get acrimoniously divorced, b) their child, who lives with the mother, gets a form of cancer requiring a bone marrow transplant to successfully treat it, c) the father is a perfect genetic match, and d) he refuses to donate his bone marrow for the child's treatment, there is no law or legal principle that says that he must. If the child dies for lack of a bone marrow donor match, the father will never be charged with a crime. So why are women or their doctors to be punished for ending a POTENTIAL life that depends on the pregnant woman's decision?
Excellent example. Another example of the double standard.
Tyler, thanks for this example—I’ll use it in the future.
Here, here!!!
Great overview of conditions of which many are not aware, nor do they consider generational impact.
From a long line of suffragettes, studying the lives of females through women's studies reveals many injustices.
Welp...since I'm not going along with societal or tribal or religious customs or practices... what a woman does with her body is her choice to make as a human being. That's why I don't quite see why "a womans right to an abortion" was put into the Constitution in the first place. To me it was a 'human right' and not to be infringed upon. All this 'stuff' being done (FM, circumcision, other invasions) without the consent of the individual are out of place. Particularly if driven by some religious or mythological reasoning, divine guidance, or parental/non-medical decision. I'm confident I'm going to get x-coriated over this post.. oh well :))
One caveat.., Neutering #45 should have been done, cause just like Geo Thorogood's song... "The head nurse spoke up., Said, "Leave this one alone" She could tell right away.., That I was bad to the bone" . Neutering would have been appropriate in #45's case. Definitely a screw-up there.
Disregarding the equality clause....see Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling on womens right to control their bodies.
Remember all, the resconstruction amendments were effectively undermined in the South, reneged upon in the North to fair degree, because of intense racist resistance in the South. Undoing this was very long in coming, but coming it has!
In NC, Black voters were disenfranchised by the state legislature, the Reconstruction amendments notwithstanding.
Here's an online education site especially for North Carolinians. Note this is aimed at high school students. It pays to continue reading, esp the white supremacy section, and notes to teachers. https://www.ncpedia.org/anchor/reconstruction-north
At some point, we have to reconcile that it is human nature to back away from the hard stuff...to be okay with, "it's good enough". Until then....we will always be abandoning vulnerable populations and compromising our own good intentions....and allowing Citizens United type of deals to occur (believing it won't be that bad). In the meantime...as we squabble and are distracted....global warming will take us all out.
Happy to know about it.
YES - evolving. And there is not an end to that evolution…it responds to changing times to remain functional and viable, based on certain foundational principles. There’s the task, to always shore up those principles, lest they be undermined.
Edwin, thank you.
Yes Edwin, I like.
I did not learn of the Black Codes either in school, Mary. It was only through Heather's teachings via LFAA that I learned of them. What I learned in school was there was this thing called the Civil War, after which the slaves were freed. I was so happy to be living in a time where freedom for black people was not a question anymore. I was so naive.
I was a history major in college with a specialization in American history and I only had one professor who taught us the truth about the Civil War, Black Codes and all. His classes were riveting and sometimes made me sick to my stomach when the truth about the treatment of enslaved black and brown people was discussed.We are doing our children and grandchildren a grave disservice by white washing the Civil War and it's aftermath.
Don't stop there. Go back to the essays of the 1619 Project. In one, it asserts that indentured servants (slaves, but of limited duration and expected to die before their indenture ended) and enslaved Blacks (life enslavement) were kept from forming alliances which enslavers feared would cause the enslaved to fight for their freedom. From the beginning the "least" of us have been "othered" by our "betters". Open your hearts and minds to the humanity of us all in all of our diversity. Say No to Othering.
Sickening!
perhaps I was lucky to do my American history degree at a liberal leaning northern university. I do remember a grad seminar with several other students taking the position that slavery was only one of the causes of the Civil War. The professor cleared that away within a few meetings. I wonder if those men, (all men btw,) are Haley supporters?
You got a great education in that class. Wish all of us had…
As was I, but when I grew up in the South, the hatred was hidden, but the white supremacy was not. But, my dad was ashamed of things he said (that I pointed out) and he apologized. Not so much anymore. Self-righteous godliness is putrid and unapologetic.
I remember separate schools, separate water fountains, separate entrances to buildings, etc. I also remember KKK cross burnings being shown on local news. I grew up in rural eastern NC.
Jenn, I have lived in NC for more than 3 decades. But during my early decades I lived in New England.
While living in Vermont my husband and I sponsored a family from Laos.
Within a year of their arrival a burning cross was placed in their yard. I was shocked.
Some years before a group of the KKK attempted to hold a rally in Brattleboro VT. Much of the town turned out. We shouted ourselves hoarse for nearly an hour. Despite their P.A. system our voices drowned them out. They eventually packed up and left.
My first brushes with overt racism. In the north.
Some her have already suggested Fever in the Heartland about the KKK in the 1920s focusing on Indiana, but mentioning other states as well including Oregon. The student teacher before me at Kalamazoo Central was a Catholic whose grandfather had a crossed burned in his yard in St. Joseph, Michigan. Once I did a paper in sociology and needed to check census records for my home county, Elkhart, and all black people lived in a thin line south of the railroad in Elkhart. They couldn't stay overnight in that bastion of Christianity and county seat, Goshen either. When my grandparents lived in Arkansas, my grandmother was considered white trash because she did her own laundry. Racism goes deep.
Fever in the Heartland is just a stunning read.
OMG. That's just awful.
Martyrita, Would you mind giving the approximate date of that VT KKK rally? So very interesting, as a NEglander myself.
Me, in Piedmont. Remember the "separate" crap, but not cross burnings. Genealogy research made me so ashamed. Such proud ignorant hatred.
Oklahoma City, circa 1950. Whites only, coloreds, on drinking fountains, in train stations, etc. I was confused.
Yep, I remember too. Remember all of the white revival tents you’d see along the highways? Are they still there?
Jenn, we had a cross burned on our lawn in Oklahoma for allowing blacks to tour our house when it was for sale. Also had a rock (with hateful message) thrown through a window.
Good point. I never saw it as hatred, per se, but disdain, and as you said, rightful superiority. I grew up in the military, and when we moved to Fayetteville NC I was shocked that there was actually a separate high school for black students. It just didn’t ’compute.’
Lynching required hatred I think. Righteous hatred as many lynchings were scheduled after church on Sunday. Families had picnics. I never saw such, but genealogy research revealed more than I ever wanted to know.
Of course, they did, because it was entertainment as were public executions in England for example. I can't even imagine enjoying violence for any reason.
Beyond my comprehension also.
It must be really horrible to know your ancestors did those things. I'd be ashamed and horrified too if I found that in my lineage. I don't look.
Be careful, they were people of the times, just like we are.
The hatred was NEVER hidden from Black people. It has been clear as day for centuries.
How true, but white people (my parents included) thought they were being magnanimous when they tried to act on christian teaching to any extent. I still remember my kind and loving b-i-l complementing a black medical helper but adding "and she is black." Generations of bull schitt hard to penetrate. To this very minute.
So right-it has been hard to penetrate because it is sanctioned by law, custom and violence-the answer to the question about whether America is a racist country is Y-E-S
Grew up in segregated Oklahoma City and never heard one word about the Tulsa Massacre until a few years ago! I visited Tulsa many times growing up, it was only an hour away.
How could such a catastrophic thing happen so nearby and never be noticed or mentioned?? (Rhetorical question.)
YES, and some are so proud. When I came of age, people were ashamed of such. Well most I knew. Definitely two steps back.
This ("I did not learn of the Black Codes either in school") brings to mind that one of the core items the MAGA Republicans harp on is CRT (Critical Race Theory), a college course whose name they have adopted to represent their goal of preventing school students from learning of America's past race history. Which brings to mind also the elimination of civics from the students' curriculum.
The new target for racists is now DEI-no diversity, equity or inclusion allowed in America.
Yup! Hence Gay and other presidents' stepping down. DEI is just a cover for racism and fear of poor people who will vote.
Interesting since Black Codes are part of any reputable high school or postsecondary American history program, its what Heather teaches. Also Wikipedia is a nice trove of information, even find material in eg Virginian educational online material abt the civil war etc
Reading the text of the Black Codes is illuminating-great insight into how white supremacy works-even today.
Thanks, Frank. For my part, I am talking about the late 1950's and some years after when I was in school. I am glad to hear from you that the history books since have been updated to reflect this historical fact.
me too!
Me 3.
I have edited my comment to make it crystal clear that I am NOT blaming Mary for the SYSTEM'S failure, as some people here have mistakenly read it. I would never, under any circumstances, say or imply that children are responsible for the manipulation of the educational system by white supremacists. ————Mary, it is appalling that you've never heard of the Black Codes. And the tragedy is, it's not surprising. That is an egregious failure of the education system. The system has failed you as an American citizen and human being. Teaching of history varies so wildly state by state, and the success of the political descendants of the slaveholding elite is crystal clear in the omission of facts - like the imposition of Black Codes - from textbooks in the same states that are forcing authoritarian laws on people of color, women, LGBTQ+ and people of non-evangelical religions. History is everything. It is imperative that we spread factual history and counteract this malicious, systematic whitewashing.
Alexandra, IMO, you made your point without calling Mary “an egregious failure”…”as an American citizen and a human being” for not knowing history that is not taught and is actually suppressed.
Marge, you misread my comment. I said "That is an egregious failure of the education system". NOT at all Mary's fault. I'm sorry if you or anyone read it that way but that is not at all what I said or meant.
Thank you Marge. The quoted remark was appalling for someone who is a professional wordcrafter.
Heather, again, I said "That is an egregious failure of the education system". NOT at all Mary's fault. I'm sorry if you or anyone read it that way but that is not at all what I said or meant.
Reading comprehension is a skill. Not meaning to say that as a slight to those who commented to you, just stating a fact. I am often guilty of scanning what I am reading, and not even being aware that I am doing that until I suddenly think "what?" and have to go back and reread a paragraph. Then I realized I misread it.
Marge, you need to reread what Alexandra clearly wrote…IMO
I did re-read after she made edits. Thanks.
I recommande viewing the documentary “13th “ which documents and reveals the history and perpetuation of slavery of men of color through the US prison system. I knew about the Black Codes. This documentary goes further.
Arlene, 100% agree. A brilliant documentary. Ava DuVernay's "When They See Us" and "Selma" are also must-sees - all riveting and profoundly educational dissections of systemic racism.
Alexandra, thank you for your recommendations—I’ll look for “When They See Us” and “Selma”.
Thank you Arlene.
Arlene, thank you for sharing the documentary “13th”. I’ll look for it.
local police departments were invented in the first place to suppress Black freemen and labor strikes
DHcases -YES. Another fact of history that's being actively suppressed by the descendants of slaveholding elite. It's so clear, the instantaneous, concerted, funded backlash to the growing awareness of real historical injustices.
And the DOJ was created to keep the KKK in check..
America has been shaped by racism for centuries.
Right. I'll get right at it once I get home from work, take two grandkids to different sporting venues, pick-up dinner for my extended family (my spouse works a second shift so she is usually unavailable), get the kids situated at the kitchen table to do homework, and then, get them prepped for bedtime and bring them to their parent's home for tucking-in.
Peter, the great thing about Ava DuVernay's movies is that you can watch them with the family and everyone benefits while spending quality time together. Entertainment that educates can change the world.
Peter, you sound incredibly busy. My grandparents had “book night” on Saturday nights to share important books with us—it was a treasured time of conversation and shared ideas.
If you don't have time to teach your grandchildren important moral history, why do you think your neighbors will have time to do it for you? Priorities and multitasking moments are choices. We live by our choices.
Recently, our 15 year old granddaughter was discussing Russian authors at the dinner table. When I asked what she knew about the Holocaust, she knew nothing. We tried to fill her in. Next I will ask what she knows about the Black Codes.
Great idea! If you need help about the Holocaust, let me know. I am the daughter of Holocaust victims.
Ok. Thanks. Currently I am reading "The Holocaust, an Unfinished Story" by Dan Stone, c2023.
Oh, yes. How stupid am I to not realise your solution is so simple. I must be an awful granddad. Perhaps the children's parents will take it up. I'll be sure to remind them.
You’re not stupid, Peter. You are a very engaged granddad and probably a wonderful one. Good and fair education comes from us who have lived through many points of history. I bet they would enjoy learning about your own too.
Peter, you are one of the grandparents making your grandkids (and our country) better by being there for them. Our son is grown and not yet married, but I'm amazed at what it takes to keep our K-12 kids ok now, especially with all they went through in the pandemic. So many grandparents like you have done so much for so long, and imo it's truly God's work you do. Praying for you and yours, and also wound up again that our Congress would do more for the families they serve, rather than just for themselves or especially the Orange Menace.
Love the "tucking-in" part. What the Danes refer to in their commitment to childcare.
Generally history hasnt topped the popularity list in school education, in usa or canada.
How did you come to know about the Black Codes, Alexandra?
Lynell, I grew up in California, where there is less whitewashing of curriculum - there's still a LOT - but not anywhere near the systemic whitewashing deliberately imposed on school textbooks by "former" Confederate states. And my parents were both educators, so I was aware early on that history is very deliberately manipulated by forces with a specific, racist political agenda.
Morning, Lynell. As I recall, I learned about the Black Codes in conjunction with the state history of Oregon, which had some awful things codified at the state level regarding where Black people could live, and was awash in "sundown towns" (including my home town of Medford.).
Morning, Ally! I am curious. Did you learn this in a school curriculum or on your own? My own memory is pretty dim but I'm pretty sure when I was growing up in the Maryland suburbs, it was a given that the Black people had their place and it was not alongside the White people. To be sure, where I lived there was a section known as the Black section of the neighborhood, and that was that. Nobody questioned it on either side. Black Codes in practice if not codified in name.
It was a mixture; I learned it mostly at home, although I did have a teacher in high school discuss the Black Codes in a sociology class.
Alrighty, then!
I grew up in Dallas. I lived in one of the tiny neighborhoods that ringed it. There were no Blacks. They lived in the flood plains of the Trinity River, in areas defined by elevated highways, and around the edges of beer joints and manufacturing. Ramshackle places with nice cars in the driveway. When I was a child, I was thinking about the poor investments the Blacks were making. They were spending more on cars than their homes. Then the reality of it all struck me. They weren't allowed access to the nicer neighborhoods. They were living within the artificial limits the community at large allowed. That's why they were being bussed into my neighborhood to attend my school where higher property tax revenue driven by greater property values made my school better funded than theirs. Separate but equal an architecture predetermined to failure. Although I've never been a "racist", public school was my "white privilege". The "white neighborhood" nestled among the nicely groomed lawns, neighborhood grocery stores, and controlled traffic was a gift of safety and security that my Black school friends didn't have. Their neighborhood zoning allowed for bars, pawn shops, and other businesses that didn't promote neighborhood security. My "white privileges" were many. Some I have just begun to see.
Alexandra, having studied American history in high school in Oklahoma, I also was not taught about the Tulsa, Oklahoma race massacre of 1921. This is not surprising to me—Oklahoma City schools were not fully integrated at the time that I was taking the class and the public library still had segregated water fountains.
" Even if we admit that every generation has the right to write its own history, we admit no more than that it has the right to rearrange the facts in accordance with its own perspective; we don't admit the right to touch the factual matter itself." --- Hannah Arendt
The edits clarify. Thanks.
Strongly suggest reading Freedom’s Dominion by J. Cowie. Won a Pulitzer in 2022. LOTS of background on Amendments 13-15... and the fundamental issue in current politics - what “freedom” means differs for MAGAts v the rest of America.
'what “freedom” means differs for MAGAts v the rest of America.' Therein lies the heart of it, it seems to me. Thanks, Mark.
Indeed, a smart MAGAt that I know screams “freedom isn’t free”
nonstop. He’s never had anything but privilege, and has never walked in the shoes of others, even metaphorically.
Wait, I thought the MAGAt version was spelled, as it should be, "freedumb!" (Yes, the exclamation point is part of their word.)
Pleasure, Lynell!
;)
2 great books on this point: Democracy Awakening by HCR and Freedom's Dominion by Jefferson Cowie
I have read HCR's Democracy Awakening and it's terrific. Will look into Freedom's Dominion on your recommendation, Mark...thanks!
Going on my TBR list, thanks!
Try HCR's "How the South Won the Civil War." If you have a strong stomach and want more, read WEB DuBois's "Black Reconstruction in America."
Also covering the period and the subject, an easier (but no less gut-wrenching) read than the DuBois, is Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s "Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy and the Rise of Jim Crow." A warning, though: the history in all these books will radicalize your Black children and risks making your White children feel guilty about being descended from the melanin-deficient folks of the past (and being privileged by that descent). If some Confederate symp knows of a book with the actual history but a different slant on that period, please name it; skeptical, but I'll give it a try.
Joshua, you’re right—HCR’s book is excellent. I’ll look for WEB DuBois’s “Black Reconstruction in America “.
Rec’d to me by a fellow substacker, Jamie Russell(?), if I remember. Very informative… for mature readers…
Mark, thank you for the suggestion of Freedom’s Dominion by J. Cowie. I’ll look for it.
Unfortunately, for MAGA and sometimes less fringe GOP, their choices demonstrate *their* freedom is more important to them than the freedom of those who aren't like them. The face eating leopards they're riding now won't protect their faces after they've used them up to get what they want.
Exactly. This point - that a different [intolerant, un-American, “freedom from federal oversight”] notion of ‘freedom’ motivates MAGAts and their similar slave-holding and Native American killing ‘philosophical’ ancestors - is the core of historian Jefferson Cowie’s 2022 Pulitzer Prize winning book, Freedom’s Dominion.
Same book is an excellent background for 13th-15th Amendments.
We need to correct the teaching of the concept of freedom in mandatory grade school civics classes, thru high school, as well as consistently calling out this misbegotten notion in public discourse… at least as consistently as others repeat the big lie!
When I was discharged from the U.S. Army in Feb. 1964, I returned to West Texas for several months before enrolling at Whittier College in Calif. to finish my degree. I went to work for Retail Credit Company (now Equifax) as an investigator. I had a case in Pecos, Texas where I discovered that my subject was in jail, but not in jail, but rather out on a farm working for a friend of the sheriff. No, it was not voluntary labor, but forced labor. My subject had not been convicted of anything. The "good ol boy system" was still alive and well in the 1960's.
Watched the movie Sounder yesterday. Takes place in the 1930s. Labor camps full of free Black Americans.
And America loves to point to China or other nations that operate labor camps…we still have them and yes they’re filled by Black people (who by the way are not “Black” but yellow, brown and all shades in between because of “race mixing”.)
I'm GLAD that our self concept IS that American's don't operate labor camps (on the part of most folk, anyway).
I just wish Americans weren't so ignorant and self-righteous about our own behavior & crimes - think perhaps it would be easier to fix them!
Bobbi, thank you for reminding me of Sounder! As a teacher in NC during the mid-nineties I, and some of my fellow 5th grade teachers, used the book Sounder, by William Armstrong, as a focus for a Language Arts and Social Studies unit during Black History Month. It provided plenty of opportunities for discussion, writing, critical thinking, and research and fulfilled many of the state mandated objectives. We capped the unit by showing our classes the movie, Sounder. Standardized testing was being developed and NC was one of the trial states. Testing had not yet taken such a big bite out of the school day and teaching and learning were still FUN. Those were the days!
It’s still alive today. The loophole in the 13th amendment allows for “involuntary servitude”. Most Americans don’t realize that a lot of our products and services are being produced by inmates (disproportionately Black people) who are “paid” 15 cents up to $2.00 an hour.
The prison industrial complex is even more egregious than the military industrial complex.
Have you seen Ava DuVerney's film "13th"? It's an exposé of how the amendment has led to the mass incarceration of black people over the past century. Very powerful.
Sad to say, I learned a lot from 13th. As someone whose career was in the criminal justice system, I had never heard of "for profit" prisons, and it has been only the last 10-15 years I have learned of "for profit" juvenile detention centers. Disgusting.
These “for profit” prison corporations are traded on the stock exchange. Check out who’s making the $ on the backs of prisoners. America is addicted to free and cheap labor!
It’s so disheartening to realize that most Americans are not educated about how America really functions.
Exactly so.
I haven’t but I do intend to watch her newest, “Origin”.
I can remember as a kid riding with my grandfather in Florida in the 1960's seeing chain gains swinging scythes to cut down the grass between the north and southbound lanes.
Debb, they are still picking up trash by the highways here in Texas.
Driving north from the Florida Panhandle into Alabama at dusk I passed through Atmore Prison Farm just as the prisoners, both black and white, were walking in from a day in the fields. Behind them were white men with rifles on horseback. The scene from the late '60's is burned into my memory.
And “Cool Hand Luke” was a great documentary basically
Amazing that Americans never heard of the Black Codes. Watch the movie (or read book) Slavery by Another Name by Douglas Blackmon.
It’s a shame that too many people know so little about American history. It’s indeed been “whitewashed”. Black history is American history-we can learn a lot about our conflicts today by understanding how racism has shaped this nation (and world).
Gina, thank you for your suggestion of “Slavery by Another Name “ by Douglas Blackmon. I’ll look for it.
I too had never heard “Black Codes” even though I had seen a chain gang once as a child and, of course, more than once in movies. The sight of shackles still horrifies me. What does it do to a person’s brain to be shackled? We worry about the rage of Palestinians from the expression of Israeli fury. Isn’t shackling guaranteed to produce fury in most persons?
Mary, I heartily recommend the documentary '13th' to you. Engaging & informative. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5895028/plotsummary/
Jan, Arlene Weingart also recommended it. Thanks for the review link.
Probably won’t find these facts in Texas or Florida textbooks
5 Feb 24
Learn as much as you can between today and 8 Feb. Heather’s blog today is a good start for beginners. So is Laurence Tribe’s interview on iGEN:
https://youtu.be/biaZMS93FYs
John, thanks for the link! I always listen when either Laurence Tribe or Luttig speak.
Check out the stain that resulted from the Compromise of 1877! That compromise led almost immediately to the despicable Jim Crow laws.
Heather, this such a fine historical framing of the mess in which we find ourselves now, and one that your vision declaws and restores confidence in our power to overcome the crazies if the will to do so is there.
Where there is sufficient will, there tends to be a way.
More on the mess:
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/fascism-threatens-democracy-in-us
“As a result, of all these changes in our politics (most driven by five corrupt Republicans on the Supreme Court putting oligarchy above democracy), Princeton scholars Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page famously found that the odds of average Americans’ political desires being translated into policy are about the same as “random noise,” whereas what they referred to as “economic elites” frequently get everything they want from the political class.
They wrote that we still have the “features” of democracy like elections, but ended their paper with this cautionary note:
“[W]e believe that if policymaking is dominated by powerful business organizations and a small number of affluent Americans, then America’s claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened.””
Excellent article. A must read. Truth. Terrifying. In the sense that most Americans don't understand the extent to which we are being ruled by the rich. I call it the "New Feudalism". A time when the "peasants" are being impoverished and they have been convinced that the thieves are us.
As Tom Rush sings: "The problem with America is that the poor have too much money and the rich don't have enough..." /s
Additional links from the weekend, which you might not find as interesting, but I did. Speaking of the poor having too much money, there’s a great segment in the first link in which David Frum actually blames the border crisis on migrants being too prosperous. I kid you not.
Useful Idiots Monday Mourning, where politicians from both parties, corporate media, and spokespeople for American Empire and hegemony are skewered with acerbic and comedic zeal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5BQA_ocMpY
Recent conversation on The Duran, covering the ICJ ruling, Gaza, Ukraine, and U.S. strategy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Jj6SUrasl0&t=475s
A look back at Russiagate, when the Democratic Party and the DC establishment lost its collective mind over Trump, and wasted years chasing its tail with Russian hysteria instead of pursuing actual Trump malefeasance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS0To4jn38M
Tom, in the link from Common Dreams you posted, Thom Hartmann says:
"We now have police intervening in elections, privatized corporate voting systems, and a massive voter suppression campaign to prevent elderly, young, and non-white Americans from being able to vote."
When we have the Congress to do it, a piece of legislation they could pass (with authorization in the Constitution's Article I, Section 4, key word: "Manner") would DESTROY ALL forms of voter suppression: comprehensive, exclusive vote-by-mail federal elections. Universal automatic citizen's registration could be based on a national registry kept constantly up to date, with vigilant surveillance (under a Congressional Standing Committee representing all political parties) for quality control. Ballots would be mailed nationally well before the election date to all citizens to allow for study of the candidates. It would include a post-paid return envelope for a signed acknowledgement of receipt. (Its return would be necessary to activate the ballot.) Another post-paid envelope would be pre-addressed to the appropriate state office for tallying ballots. The legislation would nationalize any restriction on citizen eligibility (such as current incarceration after criminal conviction, although some European countries allow such people to vote: something to consider?) States would be prohibited from adding additional restrictions.
The legislation could also mandate Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) for all federal elections. This eliminates the "voter's dilemma" and the consequent spoiler effect. (Do I vote my actual choice or choose one of the "lesser of two evils" so my vote is effective? With RCV the voter ranks his true preference first and his "lesser of two evils" second. If his first choice is eliminated in the instant runoff rounds, his second choice is counted.) And candidates, wanting to gather second choices, third choices, etc., in order to accumulate a majority in the instant runoff tallies, will be motivated to be moderate, rational, and conciliatory in their presentation to the electorate. Extremism loses.
Dah! If and when Americans wake up and do something about the fact that we are Dino = a democracy in name only. The Senate, Gerrymandering, Citizens United, etc. have put us on a path to fascism.
Great link, thank you.
Highly recommend also Rebecca Solnit’s essay in the February 8 London Review of Books, if you can find a copy.
Tom, thank you for sharing this well written piece. I agree with Bill Astros that it’s a must read.
Jim, you might, as well, say that that this framing of our laws points out how much our Department of Justice has reneged on their job to enforce the law.
I have never heard of any one of the states that turn away thousands from voting, through one tactic or another, being challenged with loss of representation in Congress.
I hereby declare that Heather Cox Richardson be appointed the United States of America's national history teacher, due to her deep understanding of our history, and her profound ability to put current events into historical perspective in a readily accessible literary manner.
Furthermore...
I declare that her "Letters from an American" be required reading by every elected official, and their staffs, and be provided free of charge to every public and private high school student.
There! That should resolve a lot of the problems we've been having lately.
So many of our problems escalated when we lost the Fairness Doctrine in 1987 which mandated that broadcast networks devote time to contrasting views on issues of public importance. That brought us "alternate facts news" which has created division and confusion on purpose. Whoever is controlling the system we have now (think Leonard Leo and Robert Mercer) needs to be stopped. We need the Fairness Doctrine back so some light can be let in where now it does not shine. I love Letter from an American but so many people who need to, never see it.
I think Leo is the “mastermind”, quite frankly. He has created quite a number of so-called not-for-profit shell companies in which money is being funneled through each and every one of them. In other words, laundering. Ginni Thomas’s company is involved too. The Mercers are the ones with dark money as are the Koch Industries but there is also Harlan Crowe and his buddies. The Catholic Church is the heavy, as well, but it’s unknown if the present pope is caught up in these schemes. More than likely there are conniving bishops in high offices who are, however. It’s all very very dirty, very murky. Sheldon Whitehouse and his team have been vigorously working to expose Leo.
Don’t forget Rupert. He would be so disappointed if he is not given sufficient credit for the dissolution of the American Dream. It was his and Ronnie’s plan.
So right, Jeri!
Rules from behind the scenes, with his crew of lying bastards on double time.
I sorta thought Leo was the ideas guy, and didn’t his hands stained with dirty money. Good to know there might be a route to prosecuting his nasty little person, along with all the other politicians-crooks. It is about time the American people ceased tolerating these bloodsucking lampreys who flaunt democracy’s ideals while damaging the American experiment for their own gain.
The pope is not. The American bishops? Entirely possible.
MLMinET, the current pope does not appear to be, but were previous popes? The current bishops got their “permission” from someone—either an archbishop or the pope.
Oh plenty of popes in the past have been schemers.
I very much doubt that Pope (Saint) Francis is caught up in these conniving bishops' schemes. I am currently reading "Playing God: American Catholic Bishops and The Far Right" by Mary Jo McConahay." Most of our bishops have opposed (or ignored) Francis in their quest to subjugate women, weaponize abortion, and preserve their wealth.
Precisely! I am not certain the Pope has anyone in his corner, really.
Those were the pre-cable days. It would be much harder to implement the fairness doctrine these days, media being what it is. But the more responsible channels sometimes bend over backward too far to provide both sides of a story, even when one side is erroneous and a perpetuation of misinformation.
The fairness doctrine applied to all over-the-air (OTA) broadcasting, both television and radio. In rural America, radio has been taken over by right wing owners and is a source of mis-information and dis-information.
Why rural is rabid
Naive me, in the 70s during q cross country trip south of the Great Lakes, i asked whats with the endless born again stuff on the radio?
Karen, don’t forget television stations owned by Sinclair.
Hmmm. How to apply the "Fairness Doctrine" to today's media? Most people are getting their news from social media. OTA broadcasting is ancient history (except for a few of us cord cutters), cable viewing is shrinking.
I've got it! We ask an AI app to review every statement, every post, every comment and where the truth is twisted or simply ignored, the AI software program automatically posts a clarification.
Some fool would post:
"January 6th was just an unruly group of protesters - tourists who made a mess."
The AI app would post:
"False. The events of January 6th, 2021 were a coordinated insurrection with the specific goal of overthrowing the existing system of our national elections. The effort was encouraged and promoted by the existing president who was attempting to remain in office as a dictator. There have been many trials and there will be more as the truth is revealed."
I have an AI app called "Pi". I just asked him (it) if the events of January 6th was just an "unruly protest". Here is Pi's response:|
"Well, based on the aftermath of the events of January 6th, it seems clear that the riot was much more than just an unruly protest. There were serious consequences for those involved, including charges being brought against individuals who participated in the riot. The fact that the Supreme Court has even been urged to rule on Trump's eligibility to be president again due to his involvement in the riot shows how serious it was. So I think it's safe to say that the January 6th riot was more than just a protest gone wrong."
Bill, it all depends on what information sources are used to “teach” AI. Imagine what AI would post if their only sources were Fox News, OANN and Infowars.
Mary, if they were the sources of the information, then it would indeed be "artificial" but not "intelligence" :)
Bill, exactly!
Maybe within a year or two. From what I've read, the current apps sometimes "hallucinate" because of corruption in some of the data used in their growth. It would be nice to hear from an AI expert on this.
An expert, yes. I am a naive novice for sure :)
But first, the "expert" has to pass our "democracy test".
Robert Hubbell’s Substack today is a perfect illustration.
The Fairness Doctrine applied only to free, over the air TV. It never applied to cable, which is where all the distortion of various political viewpoints occurs. In any event, Reagan killed it in 1987.
Needs a resurrection, even if things have changed
Please don’t ignore the influence of ALEC when laying out accountability for the destruction of our democracy.
“ The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a nonprofit organization of conservative state legislators and private sector representatives who draft and share model legislation for distribution among state governments in the United States.
…
“ ALEC's activities, while legal,[15] received public scrutiny after news reports in 2012 from outlets such as The New York Times and Bloomberg Businessweek described ALEC as an organization that gave corporate interests outsized influence.[9][10] Resulting public pressure led to a number of legislators and corporations withdrawing from the organization. In 2022, however, Insider reported that a political commentator addressing the July policy summit of ALEC stated that if the objective of the conservative constitutional convention movement that "is gaining momentum" largely out of public view is successful in its effort to rewrite the constitution, the USA will become the "conservative nation" ALEC has been working toward.”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Legislative_Exchange_Council#:~:text=ALEC%20was%20founded%20in%201973,in%20the%201964%20presidential%20election.
*”conservative nation” is actually code for “oligarchy”
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Here! Here! Huzzah for Dr. Cox Richardson! Huzzah for Mr. ? Dr. ? Rev. ? Averill!
Alas, merely Mr.
I don't believe the descriptive "mere" applies to much about you. :)
When I used to hear, beware of history repeating itself . . . . I never anticipated living through it. Sadly, we are there.
The same dreary patterns; only different.
Riddle me this: what is the matter with humans that we don’t learn from past mistakes?! It is clear that we as a species maintain Einstein’s definition of insane…doing the same thing repeatedly and hope for different results. That’s all I’m saying about that. For now.
I wonder that when my daughter wants to make her own mistakes instead of learning from mine. How deluded I was to think I could help her see the semis bearing down…
A painful realization for parents. You were hoping Jeri. Nothing wrong with hope!
But to get parenting wrong is a tragedy that lives on and on. As Jackie Kennedy said. If I fail as a parent, what does it matter what else I accomplish. Or something like that.
But what does it mean to fail as a parent? We can find some horrifying examples, but I think that thoughtful parenthood is always something of a muddle, always to some degree a matter of guesswork, because we are all the same and all unique and life is complicated and in flux. And what is the goal? Honesty, the safety to allow one's vulnerabilities to be seen, and caring and feeling fundamentally cared for are surely some of the keys to "success" whatever the packaging. One of the last lucid things my mother said to me when she was dying was that the best thing she ever did was to have me as her son (I was an "only"). That counts more than anything, and I have tried to pass it on to my daughter.
It seems to me that we get to impart quite a bit of our collected knowledge to our kids and also are obliged to watch in both delight and troubled frustration as they live their own lives. My daughter happens to be vising and I am most definitely experiencing all of that.
Susan, Jennifer & J L, it seems there are at least two attributes of humans which contribute to "repeating past mistakes": 1) humans don't like and have a hard time adjusting to change; we LIKE our patterns of living and thinking because they feel familiar and comfortable or at the very least leave us knowing what comes next;
2) on a very elemental level of brain structure we need to identify with our kin, our tribe, "our people." This is built into our brain's very structure with the emotional centers, the "fight, flight or freeze" reaction centers perched right on top of the brainstem (our "reptile brain") greeting and sorting all those incoming signals from our bodies and the environment before those signals get sent outward to the grey matter structures of our hemispheres which do the analyzing and MIGHT help us not repeat past mistakes. Identification and affiliation with tribe were likely far more important to survival than correct analysis of the effects of past behavior.
All more often preservation of old wwys are emedded in society from family to church to barbershop let alone media, in conscious resistance to unwanted change. Evangelical for example
I see a divide between people who trust information they draw from circumstances and trails of connections and differences between those circumstances and those who place their ultimate confidence in some special person. I think we all do both to some degree, but it seems to me that some person or persons have special knowledge beyond what they can defend with relevant logic and evidence is superior to empirical arguments. Aristotle argued that the heavier the object the faster it fell, which can in fact be observed under special circumstances, for example a feather compared to a shot-put, but that due to air resistance. Galileo actually measured objects responding to gravity and uncovered a profound constant. Just about anyone could repeat his process. It's not that Galileo himself was infallible, but he know how to set up a proof, in an very innovative way.
YES Frank, DEEPLY embedded!
We shouldn't criticize those past lawmakers for any shortcomings in implementing those amendments today. Keep in mind that those who resent and oppose those laws have had over a hundred years to chip away at how they're implemented, plus once again they've packed the courts and legislaures with their paid stooges. Now is the time to reassert the intent of the Reconstruction Amendments.
It's up to us. We can still achieve this with refreshed laws and our votes .
The Constitution attempts to describe the the outlines of liberty and justice. Those now alive, and those who will be living to come, need to do our best to live it, and do our best to improve it.
Well said J L. As I read this, I wondered how Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Comey-Barrett and Thomas could have ignored the 14th amendment when writing the Dobbs decision..
And now both Alabama and Texas are ignoring SCOTUS by refusing to redistrict and refusing to take down the razor wire in the Rio Grande.
Power can do what power wants to do
Unless sufficiently opposed by the power of the people.
Texas, and other states, have been busy taking power away from the people. Stamping out purple when they see a tinge. landslide needed.
"refreshed laws", Gary?
Mike Johnson is only willing to bring votes that impeach Biden and Mayorkis up for a vote and to kick the budget bills down the road.
Unless Trump can get credit for something, it ain't gonna pass the House and likely it won't pass the Senate either.
For now. Squeaker Mike is a temporary phenomenon, and I believe he knows that better than anyone else in the room.
TFFG has boxed in all of the Republicans in the House. It would be another fiasco if they called for a vote to oust him because of the funding bills that have to pass. And they will only pass in time if Johnson retains the speakership.
Thank you, Heather for this reminder about how little The United State respects and follows the 14th Amendment - one of the most important Amendments written. I have been concentrating so much on Section 3 recently that I have neglected Section 2 "establishing that states that did not permit Black men to vote would lose representation in Congress in proportion to the number of people they disenfranchised". States, such as Florida, North Carolina, Mississippi, Missouri, and all of that ilk, should lose 1 member of the House of Representatives proportional to the number of people they disenfranchise by gerrymandering, purging, and other schemes to limit the number of avid Democrats to vote.
Fay Reid, I have wondered more than once, how do people and an entire party who win by cheating and fraud walk so proudly? They are not winners, but cheaters and fraudsters. How does one be proud of that? Perhaps, because they think that makes them smarter than and therefore superior to Dems? Twisted misters and mizzes.
Twisted for sure, in the depths of denial and rationalization.
My former Republican state rep (and FORMER friend) met me at our local watering hole one day in 2010, and gleefully announced, "We've gerrymandered this state so bad those f@%#ing Democrats will never win again!"
MaryPat Sercu - MI, and if I remember right, they did until the people-led redistricting commission and the ensuing MI trifecta happened. I am sure Dems have done such things somewhere (and I'd be against that too), but Repubs do an ever- increasing whole lotta of cheating, fraudalent, and anti-democratic actions around voting.
I put people on a continuum of bad/good so I can be alert to protecting myself and those R's who knowingly lie and cheat constantly have a bad rating on my badness scale. But I don't hate anyone or see anyone has an enemy and so, I know they have good qualities too. :-)
Yes and yes, and yes. And good that you protect yourself from, well, evil. .Another one of my political friends (I was a lobbyist for several health organizations here) wrote most of the UN-gerrymandering citizen's initiative language, and they worked hard to get it on the ballot and approved. Wish every state could, get it, too.
https://votersnotpoliticians.com/
MaryPat Sercu - MI, an admirable group of citizens.
Fay Reid, consequential consequences, I love it!
Good points Fay. And Texas should lose at least two with their latest gerrymandering.
And 154 years after ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment, the same struggle continues.
As it has, in one way or another, for eons.
Not the 17th you're after but the 15th, me thinks.
How appropriate that the wisdom expressed by Edwin Ngetich should come to our shores from Africa.
He gets right to the heart of the matter. Well, soul, actually.
One of the overwhelming lessons of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments is that we must be constantly critical of and vigilant regarding our ability to "get things right" the first time. If we fail to track our performance, the essential learning is lost regarding what works and what does not, what options exist to correct the deficiencies, how best to improve our legislative guidance--and why. Look no further than Article V of the Constitution for evidence that our Founding Fathers understood this truth. Absent this mindset and the practices that give it life, we are trapped in the destructive snares of arrogance. Such blindness will never serve us well. Frustrating as it may be, we are engaged in a governance enterprise that has no end state; it is a work in progress under the best of circumstances and a downward spiral under the worst. It is for "we the people" to decide which it is and it will always be challenging. No one ever said it would be easy, and they were right.
Whatever else we may take from our current distress, there is ample evidence that a lot of Americans understand all of this and have no intention of giving up. With Heather's relentless microscope, we have the benefit of understanding how we got here. That is an essential first step toward figuring out how to get better.
The year 2024 will put us to the test like no other in my ninety years on the planet. Yes, not even the horror of World War II. Why? It goes back to Edwin's first sentence. In World War II, our lives were at stake; today, our souls are. We don't have to wonder what soulless life looks like; we have seen it before and it is visible today as well.
What we think has little impact if we do nothing. So we do need to show up and multiply our insights and energies. Three colleagues and I in Arizona have embarked on an endeavor to inform and motivate the now more than one third of Arizona voters who are registered as "No Party Preferred" to show up and make a difference. Other amazing endeavors are taking place here as well. At azindvoters.net, we seek to build on that foundation Edwin so effectively described. I don't know what impact we will have. What I do know is that the wisdom and inspiration in Letters from an American will aid our endeavors and operate to keep us in the game.
I agreed with Edwin, finally
Agreed on all points.
And yet here we are, fighting the Civil War to the present day.
Over and over and over.
For 25 years, I was a civil rights lawyer enforcing the 14th Amendment, which among other things, was intended to bar insurrectionists like Trump from office. I predict the Supreme Court will so rule.
Hoping your instincts ring true here.
Thank you for your work. Most of the training that I delievered was based on Graham v. Connor and Tennessee v. Garner, both of which brought police use of force (via the 14th amendment) to apply to all the states under the 4th amendment (with "force", up to and including deadly force).
What stuns me is that Dobbs basically said the 14th was the "wrong vehicle" and that such decisions should be left up to the states. (I know that most of the argument centered around the right to privacy, but holy moly, that was some convoluted "reasoning")
I've always thought that the 1st Amendment would have been a stronger tool, but the basic groundwork had not been successfully laid by the time Roe was argued. Why? Because objections to abortion access is based on religion, not science or even history. Restrictions on abortion are an obvious imposition of a specific religious view. Using the 14th Amendment worked (and still works) logically, but avoided the core question of: Can a religious minority or even a religious majority impose its values on those who don't agree?
Having said the above, I'm glad the pro choice advocates succeeded in using the tools they had to get the Roe v. Wade decision. I just wish that the core argument had been addressed. It's never too late.
Alas, Will the Federal govt send in troops to Texas as 17 State Governors lend a hand to Abbott defying Federal laws regarding immigration? 1960’s anyone as Southern Governors tried to block integration? So ironic, these grandstanders, when a bill by the Senate solves most of those problems RIGHT NOW but their State Representatives don’t want to sign it because it would do exactly that! So, the 13th-15th amendments were a great idea. It’s the GOP Congress that has it backwards today in enforcing them. Southerners. Sigh.
Yes, the Federal Government was very strong in forcing school integration in the Southern states. They seem considerably weaker now. There is a lot of free-floating fear in the country amongst all levels of government, including the judiciary. I’m so very concerned about the seeming unwillingness of the three women of the DC Appeals Court to make a ruling on Trumps “immunity” case. Now the election interference (Judge Chutkan) case has been postponed till who knows when.
At the time, the Federal Government was in the power of LBJ. He forced it through, being a "southerner" himself and with sharp elbows and strong words made those states bend to his will. "Bless their hearts"
Not so quick to ridicule the DC Appeals Ct. The ruling must be crafted to withstand SCOTUS review upon future appeals. These justices asked thoughtful questions and must research previous rulings to close the loopholes of interpretaion.
Diane,
I say we give Texas back to Mexico. In 10 years it will be a big desert looking for Federal welfare anyway.
Texas has a huge problem with voter apathy and disenfranchisement of voters due to their voter suppression laws. Maybe Taylor Swift can help young people vote in TX like she is doing elsewhere.
Follow the money.
Always. Greedflation is rampant. Many companies saw their margins shrink by a point or due when they finally gave workers the raises they have deserved for years. And, of course many did it just because they could.
Diane, I've wondered the same about the Feds sending troops, after TX ignoring SCOTUS decision. Should the Feds flex some muscle? Could get ugly.
Doing nothing... hasn't that already brought ugly?
Yup.
A huge problem is back then the new media was far less tied to partisan viewership and readership. Today's obstruction on the border, in DC, and everywhere else is performative, to get video clips edited for partisan audiences, to rile them up, to get advertising dollars. They want nothing more than an armed confrontation on the border. That's exactly their objective and today we know this is their ally Putin's objective too.
Twenty-five historians signed onto the amicus brief explaining how the 14th was established and why Section 3 is so significant. That is a whole lot of award-winning experts all agreeing to the actual intentions of the written words. Heather, though I have not found out who all of the 25 are, I can only assume your name is among them. Scotus has been inundated with these briefs and rightfully so. All of these proceedings because of one imbecilic power-driven man who wants to be king, are unprecedented. We have never EVER witnessed a former president incite a band of people to commit insurrection. Is he one himself? Yes, he is. Why? Because January 6th was premeditated by him and others. I believe this to be fact.
Would really like to read these and publicize
The 14th Amendment and the documented intent of Congress could not be clearer insofar as banning anyone and everyone who engaged in insurrection, and who had previously been sworn to uphold the Constitution as a federal officer, from again holding any federal office. There is no exception for any federal office. I believe that the main issue that will confront the Supreme Court is the uniformity issue. This is a federal question, and the Court cannot countenance some states enforcing the ban and other states (such as those dominated by MAGA leaning state legislatures) ignoring it. I believe that the federal judiciary needs to take the lead in deciding the qualifications of federal officers, the results of which should be the law of the land.
Mr (or Ms) Michaels:
Would it be a bad thing if the Supreme Court were to declare that the application of Section 3 of Amendment XIV to Donald J Trump is a "political question," not for the courts to decide? That would pass the burden of resolving the question to the elected representatives of the people -- that is, the two chambers of Congress.
In my view, that is where the action should be. All of the knotty questions of definition and application can and should be determined in the political branch, where the participants are (at least theoretically) responsible to the electorate. A definite result, if one can be achieved, will be final and will set the rules for the next attempt at insurrection.
Do we trust our representatives and senators? We should. What else is there, ultimately?
In response to your comment Mr. Schumacher, should this or any other clause of the U.S. Constitution be declared a "political question", it would exalt the will of Congress and vagaries of the people over the fundamental precepts embodied in our Constitution. In the present matter, we have an outgoing President who is alleged to have fraudulently sought to overturn the lawful will of the people by rigging the election results to remain in power. Enabling a Republican controlled House of Representatives and/orSenate to ratify a coup would be anathema to the fundamental principles of our democracy.
Such a timely and relevant essay! Thank you Heather. I know its about the post civil war but is even more relevant today!
Our Heather clearly enumerates how the federal government once surmounted the enslavers.
Thanks to ALEC, the Heritage Foundation, and other organs erected by the rich following the Powell memo, states under Republican control have been challenging the services and rights which we thought guaranteed.
Women in these states must cede their personal and family lives to ideologues such as the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Howdy Doody. Persons, soil, water, and soil poisoned by polluters must accept much of that getting poisoned. The ill who can barely eke out a living on minimum wages must endure a new near-enslavement while the rich get richer. Those same persons must also endure indignities of below-minimum health care while Big Parma and private insurance companies all get much richer. Students must live with historic debt to the banks for "higher" education while corporate profiteers privatize university research that used to be public and for the public good.
Our Heather nicely follows the massive thefts and extortions that long ago used to be simply black and white, used to be called simply slavery.
Now its poisons permeate more widely, deeply. And as the Republicans enable this poisoning, they also show by their positions on aid to Ukraine that their real loyalty is to dictators like Putin.
They won't go away, these whom the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were thought to have set under civilization.
They're not at all civilized, but hydra-headed evil, not just owning slaves, but now also social media platforms further to spew hate. They are owning, too, regimes of standardized testing so schools further reduce humanities, our civilization further vulgarized.
I wish this Letter could be force-fed to every Republican currently occupying an elected position.
Force feeding changes nothing, sad to say