Pundits are saying that the Senate will vote to acquit former president Donald Trump at the end of his second impeachment trial, set to start on Tuesday.
“So for a Republican senator, what’s the political calculation on impeachment?” There is part of the problem, isn’t it, Dr. Richardson? Not how to uphold the oath they swore, not how to best serve their state, not how to best serve the country, but what is the political cost. They need to have their oaths repeated to them over and over and over. “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.”
Nauseous politics as usual no more. Wasn't this a prime pillar of trumpism? Wouldn't it be down right refreshing if politicians put country over party?
I wonder what kind of impact these words, the oath, would make on the general voting populace? Would it make more of them pause and think about who they are voting for? How much of the general populace is even familiar with this oath? Maybe it needs to be put out there and discussed more than it is.
Sadly, I believe that few people understand the gravity of an oath. I distinctly recall as I was being sworn into my position of a deport sheriff wondering if the “keep my private life unsullied” portion would ever be used as termination fodder simply because I am gay. It wasn’t, I am completely out at the Office, and am into my 36th year of service.
The act of oath-taking is serious and not pro-forma.
Our City Manager had everyone witness new employees oath taking. I do have to say I still get a chuckle out of the phrase "without mental reservation". I wondered what I was getting myself into that I was not aware about! But the public oath taking kept it current for all employees.
This is the problem. Oaths are simply the price of admission to a prestigious club. Easily sworn and quickly forgotten.
“Republicans must focus all their energy on regaining the majority in Congress. To do so, consult a third Victorian-era prime minister, Benjamin Disraeli, who believed in party loyalty. “It is not becoming in any Minister to decry party who has risen by party,” he declared. “We should always remember that if we were not partisans, we should not be Ministers.”
Thank you for the reference to the book about Disraeli and Gladstone, which I found a review of in The New York Times; I remember reading a biography of Disraeli in high school. But while I spent quite a bit of time searching for the meaning of "GOM," I could not find a definition appropriate to what I suspect is its context.
The Republican Party is splitting in two. Republicans are going to find it more and more difficult to straddle the schism by keeping a foot on each side. The impeachment vote is going to force many Republicans to choose which Republican Party is most likely to survive, especially in light of the corporate financial backing that is no longer a sure thing. Republican senators who abstain the impeachment vote, who are not "present" that day, may be seen by the Tumpistas as de facto votes to convict, or perhaps they can claim to be boycotting an "unconstitutional" process and thus escape responsibility, and choosing sides, for the moment.
A lot depends on the propaganda wing of the party; Limbaugh, Hannity, et al. One would like to see a corporate sponsorship abandonement/boycott of these media fountains of dis-information similar to what has occurred in the political wing. That kind of financial strangling, along with pending libel lawsuits, could go a long way to setting the Republican Party on the track toward sanity and decency and honesty and integrity it used to have. Well, sort of.
Bumper sticker I just thought of; "Sanity not Hannity!"
The newly launched multi-billion dollar law suites against Fox must be making even Hannity chose very carefully his words. People trying to straddle the two "floating wings" of the GOP will fall down a big hole in the middle and be swept away by the current to disappear far over the horizen
I just don’t want him to “slip away” though. He and his cohorts are so guilty of spreading fallacies and untruths to the point of people either killing themselves or others. They deserve only to be behind bars.
Has anyone heard of Sleeping Giants? I heard an interview with its founder months ago. They go after irresponsible corporations as I recall. Look on Twitter to see what they are currently doing.
Absolutely! Everyone should be considering an (all-)electric car for their next passenger vehicle. Unless daily driving exceeds 220 miles or so (batteries run best for long lifetimes when operated between the 80% and 20% of full capacity—but just before leaving for a long trip, can be charged a lot higher than the 80% level. EV trucks are in sight (Ford) and there is growing competition for larger (SUV size?) passenger EVs. Check Kelly's Blue Book for its description and ratings of EVs.
While the initial cost is higher, the operating cost of an EV (not necessarily a Hybrid) is much less: my Tesla Model 3 costs about 4 cents a mile to drive, plus another cent or so for cabin heating or cooling, depending on outside temperature. And next to no maintenance: checks only every 2 or four years plus rotating the tires every 7 thousand miles. That hybrid still has all the ICE maintenance. Drove from Massachusetts to Washington, DC, with 4 stops for charging, each less than 40 minutes. Superchargers can put 300 to 400 miles per hour of energy into a battery.
There are studies out showing the overall EV ownership cost is equivalent or less than for an ICE vehicle.
Thank you Heather. I appreciate this dissection of the political layout.
In my opinion, this trial will render to the number of Republicans that are willing to live with the consequences of their vote. Its not about ethics, its simply a numbers game. It is sad for the Nation that the trial has nothing to do with with facts, but self preservation for members of a failing political party.
We must remember these obnoxious trump Republicans are nothing more than the loud children in class that thrive on attention to bolster themselves where they are sorely lacking substance. We truly need a teacher at the helm to wrangle these Members back in order.
As I read numerous accounts of Matt Gaetz traveling to Wyoming to piss on Liz Cheney's lawn, figuratively, I find I am more repulsed by him than any of the other attention seekers. He actually got on my radar when he forced his way into the chambers where Dr Fiona Hill was testifying on Trumps first Impeachment. My first blush of him was accurate as I thought, what an ass*hole. This still rings true today.
I wish, that the theme of the Impeachment trial would be "let your conscience be your guide".
If they had well- formed consciences, would we even be having these discussions? Therein lies the problem. People are electing power-hungry weasels (sorry Heather, critters is too nice).
IMO, as a Floridian, my state has been victimized by Republicans’ myriad voter suppression, gerrymandering and ugly campaign tactics. I believe Florida is more “purple” than it appears. Keep in mind that DeSantis only won by a razor-thin margin. In 2018, for example, more than 60% of Florida voters approved Amendment 4, a long-overdue reversal of an immoral Jim Crow law that deprived ex-felons, who already paid their price to society, the right to vote - for life. Exasperatingly, Tallahassee Republicans over-ruled Florida voters and stacked up more hurdles for ex-felons to su-essay their votes. Did it matter in the 2020 election? Of course it did. There are 1.4 million ex-felons in Florida and many are black and brown who suffered draconian convictions in the first place. We need Stacey Abrams down here.
Amen sister!! We need help. I will attend my first virtual charlotte county Democrat meeting this evening. I am one small voice willing to get my hands dirty, but I know I need leadership.
So the question is, what makes Florida turn out to vote for these people? WhaT promises have been made to them? Sounds like Florida needs some stand-up, honest voices to start spreading the word. Take a few pages out of Stacy Abrams' books...
So I think one of the problems with Florida is that it doesn't have a personal income tax, so its revenue is heavily reliant on taxes that are defined as "regressive": sales and property taxes and fines that inordinately affect the poor and working-class more than the wealthy. The poverty-wealth gap in FL is extreme--#2 or 3 in the USA--with the top 1% earning about 40 times more than the AVERAGE for the rest of the 99%. Infrastructure supports the top 10% and neglects the rest. There are a lot of very poor white people in Florida, with little control over things like the drugs trade and support of public services. The state has pitted poor whites against BIPOC for generations in ways that have demonized Black people and non-Cuban Latin-x people. So it's a real mess because the state is ripe for a fascist takeover, which has been (in my opinion) a slow-moving train wreck for decades.
Florida residents tolerate its horrid politics and government because of its bengn climate and its cultural and recreational opportunities. Otherwise they wouldn't be here. Here's the text of a letter I recently sent to a local paper (which was not published.):
"How long will the working people of the State of Florida, especially in the northern parts of the State, keep electing Republican legislators? Anyone who reads the papers knows that Florida Republicans are against (1) raising the minimum wage as approved by the State’s voters, (2) improving the nation’s worst unemployment benefit program and (3) accepting increased Federal support for the State’s Medicaid program. These measures are not “socialism” any more than are Social Security and Medicare for seniors nor are they efforts to redistribute wealth. They are simply government efforts to provide minimal benefits to working people who might need them. Any working person who votes for Republicans should have their head examined. I guess they don't read the papers."
It’s not just the northern part of the state. I am in deep red Pasco County and my congressman is Gus Bilirakis. Residents here keep electing him as well. He touts his support of veterans and that is one thing that keeps him in office. But the other 99% of his policies are tRump supporting abominations and I get his “newsletters” which spout all the standard propaganda. I have also written numerous letters to the editors of the Tampa Bay Times, all of which have gone unpublished.
Do you have a homeless population in your area? Many of them will be veterans that have been neglected by your representatives. We need to start highlighting the number of veterans that get left behind. I don’t care what party is in office, it is an abomination the way those that went to war have been treated since coming home. Non-veterans also care about this issue so it’s a good one to get on board with and push by writing letters.
There is a thing called Resistbot that you can send letters directly to your representative. On Twitter just put the @ in front of it. If you’re a Messenger user just type in Resistbot. There is no cost to use it and there is no length limit.
Yes. In addition, we have a service-based economy, a tourism tax, and many many retirees on fixed incomes who feel they have already done a lifetime of tax duty in northeastern and midwest states and vote down referenda to raise taxes on gasoline,for instance, designated to pay for the education of other people's kids. ( in echo chamber enclaves like The Villages) Demographics are everything and they are shifting. Central Florida is almost at a 25% Latin-x population which is only growing in a flight from sinking South Florida. Having said this, it remains that not all in Florida fit the media characterization of " the white Florida Man (Woman)", who, as you point out, have some cause for legitimate anger in the Sunshine State. As do Floridians of all color stuck in low paying and insecure tourism-, agricultural- and service- based jobs. They are considered "essential workers" in many cases but are not paid accordingly and right now, in some sectors, not paid at all. Despite our duly elected quartet of Scott, Rubio, DeSantis and Gaetz there are pockets of progressives working to change things. I,for one, am hoping DeSantis is a one-termer!
I have family in Gaetz’s district. The district has large military bases. It also is pretty rural even though there are several large cities such as Pensacola, Ft. Walton Beach and Niceville. I visited before the election and there were LOTS of tRump flags and signs as well as Confederate battle flags. Gaetz is an attention seeking political opportunist, looking only to advance himself .
I am disappointed at the amount of Trump support among the military, as well as among law enforcement. They mistook loyalty to the ex-president as loyalty to the country, and many still do.
Did you see the plea by an ex-military to stop playing Fox TV 24/7 on military bases here and around the world? He said it was the only station ever played so no wonder.
It is up to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Secretary of Defense to purge the military of loyalty to the ex-president rather than loyalty to the nation and the Constitution.
Some of you have read pervious posts that I have written about my right wing evangelical sister who is a Covid denier. I discovered a short while ago that her Representative is Gaetz! They deserve each other.
This Letter should be part of a new chapter in a revised edition of To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party. It already shows a good grasp of the GOP's long-term trajectory and a sense of what may happen next. Its split is an epochal event in US history.
Clayton L. Thyne, a political scientist, is getting some exposure (e.g. Boston Globe interview) for stating that Jan 6 doesn't amount to a coup. Since Dr Richardson has stated repeatedly that it WAS an attempted coup, she should challenge him to a public debate. The public needs to be educated on America's right-wing coup d'etat, which proved that It Can Happen Here, and that American exceptionalism is a false idol.
I agree that the American public needs to be educated. I do think that most media sources are referring to January 6th as an insurrection, at a minimum, and many are referring to it as an attempted coup, However, there are many Americans who really aren’t as tuned into all of this as, for example, the individuals discussing every nuance in this forum. How the evidence is presented at the Senate trial is going to be so important. The trial will be the key opportunity to put Trump’s whole sordid trail leading to his self-coup together for the American public. I hope the impeachment managers hit everyone watching, including the recalcitrant, amoral Republican Senators, right between the eyes with clear evidence that is well organized to tell the story in a manner that is incontrovertible, as a prosecutor would present evidence in a murder trial.
Fiona Hill is so right on. And, I'm surprised her opinion piece didn't more attention. Wish Biden would pull her into his administration in some way, along with the Vindman brothers and Maria Yovanovitch.
Unfortunately the media outlets that actually publish the true information are not the ones that mainstream people watch. How many Republicans do you know that watch MSNBC or even CNN? I think this info needs to be part of “60 Minutes” or “Dateline” or one of those other news programs that attract a variety of audiences.
The full video should be in the Just Security article at the beginning. That is where I watched it. Don’t skip the frame by frame analysis in the article, though. The author explains the fascist/authoritarian messaging and intent so well.
The only thing "exceptional" about America was observed 97 years ago by H.L. Mencken in the midst of the hysteria ginned up across the country by the Scopes Monkey Trial: "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public." The exceptional moron stupidity of roughly 47% of the population is what differentiates this country from the rest of the world.
I'm not so sure. I think realizing that it is the case brings you to understand that America is as badly educated as most other countries......and isn't eceptional, at least on this point.
No. There is no extra dose of innate stupidity in Americans. We are just as capable of forming a working democratic republic as anyone.
We are a rich country, and people want that power and money. Our conservative citizens have been especially targeted by tidal waves of manipulative messages from corrupt leadership since Nixon.
And we have, so far, survived. It’s pretty amazing, given where we were just two years ago.
Definitely lacking in "critical thinking skills," however else they might be characterized, another one of which could be "ignorant," including "willfully ignorant."
And those who are willfully ignorant may actually have some measure of critical thinking skills, but which they choose not to use or display so as to pursue an agenda they consider more important.
I’d pay to watch HCR debate any Conservative. That would be pretty cool. These letters could become more powerful in a Netflix documentary. Shed light, spread light before the mid terms.
I'm not sure if Clayton Thyne is conservative. Maybe he simply can't yet grasp the enormity of what happened on Jan 6, and thus won't revise a pet theory on coups.
Love the idea. Now if we can only get some of the Trump groupies to produce some actual evidence. I'm guessing Dr Thyne might fall in the range of "semi-respectable" given he's hardly the first to argue 1/6 wasn't an actual coup. I've seen some interpret it thusly because the military wasn't directly involved.
Be that as it may, I think your idea is important also as a series on civics. - yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Why are we do upset? How did civics education, to the extent it was held, inform our expectations? Why is it no longer taught as part of a core curriculum? Why did Utah allow a school district to NOT teach about the. BLM movement.
You've probably seen this but I'd highly recommend this article by a professor at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill). She grew up in Turkey and has a personal perspective of how a coup may play out.
I've followed her for some time via The Atlantic and referrals from other sources, though I'm not clear on what department she's part of. She's always incisive and the personal connection to the story I linked made it much more gripping as political analysis.
I've been in situations in my professional career where I've felt like a coward because I had a boss or supervisor asking me to do things I did not like. But because I was in a personal place in my life where I needed the job and medical benefits, I had to play a long, and sometimes stressful game. I don't agree with many of the GOPers and what they are doing to maintain job security. But I understand it. I would hope that their values would be displayed differently and the seriousness of the position they swore to do -- uphold the constitution. At the same time, and when I found myself in professional situations that made me ashamed of my behaviors, I always had a long term plan. I always thought of ways I could get out of the job and move forward. It might have taken a year or two or three. But I had a plan. Some of these folks don't seem to have a plan. They seem to have settled in to jobs that they are not qualified to perform.
Greed and power seem to be motivating the GOP in Congress. Term limits and stopping the unlimited flow of money into politics are the best ways to return government to conscience.
Consider the consequences (expected & unexpected) of term limits. Off the top of my head: lobbyists become more powerful, loss of institutional knowledge, pool of candidates becomes ever smaller (because who in their right mind wants to put up the negativity thrown at them?), ever more time and money spent campaigning.
I agree that there are members of congress that have overstayed and term limits is a nice fantasy. Some other options, may be an upper age limit? I would dearly love to limit the amount of time and the amount of money spent on campaigns. It's ridiculous that representatives are already planning the next election
But she did mention limits to the amount of money permitted to be spent, and one would hope where it can come from with transparency. I wouldn't wish to impose an upper age limit which seems to me to be ageist. Some of the better officials are older and some of the worst are younger so age is not a co-variable with performance. I'm sure there are sufficient records to provide institutional memory to counter any potential advantage to having been in the office accruing contacts and obligations which would help level the playing field between longer term and newer members. Surely, given the population sizes involved, these few are not the only or even the best these districts have to offer?
I was thinking along pilots mandatory retirement and have ageist misgivings too. We don't get the best & brightest running for office now. Would you run? I have a sil who was a state senator. The comments she had to tolerate were bad & that was before social media got going.
I like to think about potential drawbacks. Term limits might work but it needs to be looked at from many angles.
Campaign-finance reform, please. Spending caps and public financing of elections would help a lot. It would prioritize ideas and policy over fundiraising ability; make campaigns more competitive; and enable less business-friendly candidates to get a fair hearing.
They already spend time and money on campaigning, how would that be worse? I'm particularly offended by money coming from out-of-state. And institutional knowledge? PACs and think tanks are writing the legislation. People could work in different civil service positions after serving a couple of terms. Lobbyists need limits to access to Congress too.
True but that gets to the real issue here -- and that is elected officials' voting records. And that their constituents follow in order to decide re-election. For some, it's job security. As much as we don't like hearing this or seeing it, it is the reality of the situation.
The Washington Post has been tracking individual senators and putting them in categories, which are:
In favor of conviction, 40
Open to conviction, 21
Opposed to conviction, 37
Undecided, 2
I believe the evidence the House managers will present will be shocking and conclusive and, for the sake of argument, assume all those open to conviction and undecided will be convinced to convict. I thought four of those opposed would have to change their minds, but Heather shows another path. If six of those opposed were absent, 63 votes would be sufficient to convict. So there are some more possibilities, certainly more than I'd thought of. Thank you Heather: as usual, you've opened a new door and given me a fresh view.
I am certainly hoping (and praying a little) that the House Managers have something spectacular up their sleeves. Like videos of those seditious jurors opening side doors to let insurrectionists into the Capitol or proof positive that Boebert and/or Greene were conducting a “tour”. Honestly, I think, for once, the Tiger’s got the tail.
Wow. The depths to which we have fallen. I wonder how future generations will look back on this time in history. It’s bad enough to have the usual sleazy politicians, but this is a low I still can’t wrap my head around.
Yes I knew about her just getting her GED and her rap sheet. I also read that she and her husband own a couple restaurants. One of those restaurants gave people food poisoning at some event. A dangerous brat and POS!
I don't see how the 'open to' and 'undecided' folks can vote nay after what I've heard is going to be presented. There's a lot of information, videos, timelines, plots that the FBI has uncovered and that we haven't even heard about yet. Schumer alluded to this in an interview. I perused these lists this past weekend and the 'opposed' are lost causes. I only hope, whatever the outcome of the vote, that any congress person who votes 'nay' is made well known far and wide in news articles, Lincoln Project videos, billboards, etc. and nonstop until mid terms. As President Biden continues to meet the immediate needs of suffering Americans, the stark difference between what was and what now is will be enough for many Americans to stop and think anyway. Even some MAGAs I'm hoping.
Well you can hope, but I'm already seeing some articles blaming Biden for things that are clearly left over conditions from the prior four years. For just one example, a New York Post article about how Biden doesn't even know how much vaccine we have as if that's on him. The depth of hypocrisy and agreement to nod along with useful lies is astounding, and doesn't water the old sprig of hope very well.
I see your name MaryPat, so I am writing to you HERE. My earthlink.net email server CANNOT get me back to the exact thread of comments. Or is this a problem with this ‘substack’ platform? ggggerrrr. I appreciate so much your encouragement; thank you, dearly.
I particularly like your thought that several could help edit my prose. I suppose my syntax, punctuation symbols, and noun/verb agreements can, shall I say, ‘wander’?
I feel some enthusiasm, over a joint effort for publication. I would write the vast majority, and others in the community could add their ideas on salient points, such as the answer to: "What is democracy?”, and/or “What is capitalism?”
A second thought: what if "Democratic Capitalism" is taught in Civics classes, matter of factly, as the basic premise of our government, which works best (and capitalism thrives more) when grounded in the 3 purposes of government (as HCR outlines):
1. Infrastructure
2. Social Safety Net
3. Rules and Regulations.
So our children will not be taught any of the John Wayne Cowboy mythology , but instead are grounded in Abraham Lincoln "We the People," All of Us This Time, truth.
Well, the text books on “Demo Cap” will have to be written! So, I think we would redefine the role of democracy (govt) and the role of economics (capitalism)
There is much to unpack there. I love your idea of addressing the mythologies underlying our nation, and our notions!
Yes! And thank you. And wow, so many implications and applications. (And probably should be written on something a little bigger than my phone.) As an RN, one of my most important roles is interpreting "medicalese" for patients and the public, and to make health topics interesting, even fun. That's what I see missing from "government" - often all we see are detailed, dreary complexities of law and governance, then long, frustrating stalemates. I am wandering here. I did find much of the prosecution's case in the tRump trial riveting, compelling, and inspirational. But just the idea that so many folks don't connect government and their taxes to the essentials of their everyday lives and futures boggles me. MUCH to be done, and your thesis is an excellent start!
ha - I found your post! Without oo much to say right now - other than I am totally impressed with Citizens Climate Lobby (just had a zoom with local resents w/ CCL organizers). I’m encouraged, but then I always am
And neither my wife nor I have seen a drop of the DC hearing today. No wonder we feel liberated 😂
This morning, news reports indicate that Senator Shelby of Alabama is considering not running for re-election. He's to make a statement soon. That makes four GOP senators who won't have a dog in the hunt in 2022.
"An ABC News/Ipsos poll released today shows that 56% of Americans believe that Trump should be convicted and barred from ever holding office again." Fifty-six percent. That, to me, is a stunningly low number.
Until now, this quasi-Pollyanna has held out some hope that Americans might finally reject the dangerous, authoritarian traitor they elected. I believed that the January 06 sedition riot would tip the balance.
I understand the allegiance of terrorist groups to the ex-president. Those are his darlings. They're perfect for each other. As for the remainder, I find their blind loyalty deeply disturbing, to say the least. Or, in the jargon of the day, "concerning."
I just don't understand listening to the polling. They haven't been right for the past couple of years. Still, we are a pretty evenly divided country. I don't know how we overcome that. That was the danger of waiting until Feb.9th to have the trial.
Part of polling not being right might very well be active voter suppression and the possibility that voting counts were corrupted. Some agency must investigate Kentucky.
Polls are rarely neutral but sponsored by people who have a point of view and a product to sell. I'm not being cynical, here. It's the way it is. What is at play is that TV and cable news need viewers so they commission polls to help create the impression that everything is a very close horse race, that anything good or bad could happen. Those folks want you to be anxious to tune in later to watch their program. They also seldom give you the context or the full picture of the results, just the stuff that creates a "cliff hanger" environment. The worst offenders are Fox, CNN, and MSNBC. On the honesty scale of 10 they are never better than a 3... on a good day.
Stacey Abrams wrote an opinion piece in the Washington Post on Feb. 7 entitled “Our democracy faced a near-death experience. Here’s how to revive it.” I’m quoting the the second half of it here:
“One of the first steps must be an overhaul of the Senate filibuster, which has long been wielded as a cudgel against the needs of millions who struggle. Today, the parliamentary trick creates a sinister threat to our nation: the ability of a minority of senators, who represent 41.5 million fewer people than the Senate majority, to block progress favored by most Americans. Democrats in Congress must fully embrace this mandate to fast-track democracy reforms that give voters a fair fight, rather than allowing undemocratic systems to be used as tools and excuses to perpetuate that same system. This is a moment of both historic imperative and, with unified Democratic control of the White House and Congress, historic opportunity. The agenda to restore democracy also includes passing the For the People Act to protect and expand voting rights, fight gerrymandering, and reduce the influence of money in politics; the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to restore full protections of the 1965 Voting Rights Act; and the Protecting Our Democracy Act to constrain the corruption of future presidents who deem themselves above the law. These landmark bills have broad-based support, and would have passed long ago were it not for the obstructionist leaders who fear losing their influence if the American people have more power of their own. Further, fixing our democracy requires we finally allow our fellow Americans in D.C. and Puerto Rico, the vast majority of whom are people of color, to have full access to our democracy. That means D.C. statehood and bonding self-determination for Puerto Rico. In the District, as white extremist mobs destroyed the Capitol, murdered a police officer, and threatened the lives of elected officials and residents, Washingtonians were left defenseless because D.C. is not a state and it’s chief executive head had no authority to deploy the National Guard.
Time is short. The forces standing against a democracy agenda seek to preserve and expand paths to power by shrinking the voting pool rather than winning votes over. In reaction to the historic turnout of 2020 and Democratic victories in Georgia, already this year, more than 100 bills have been put forward in state legislatures seeking to restrict voting access. These efforts will not end without a fight.
We don’t know how many chances we will get to reverse democracy’s near-death experience. We must not waste this one. We must go big-the future of democracy demands it.”
One of the High Crimes and Misdemeanors in Trump's second impeachment trial that has yet to be addressed was his dereliction of duty. From the time of the election through the day he left office, Biden's predecessor did not significantly address the ongoing plague of Covid-19 that faced the country. In terms of American lives lost, the status of the virus was the biggest challenge the country was facing. But other than off the cuff remarks to reporters, Trump quite simply dropped the ball. Why? Because it wasn't about him. The accusation that he never really cared about individual citizens was in clear view. It's shocking that this presidential vacuum was not called out more pointedly as events transpired. When is it acceptable that a wartime president suddenly and egregiously drops accountability and communication with Americans because he feels wronged personally? That was the real crime.
The saddest part of Trump Impeachment 2.0 is that Republicans will once again fall into line and put party ahead of country. If inciting insurrection isn't grounds for conviction, why even have an impeachment process? If there were term limits perhaps our so-called leaders would vote their consciences, which are swiftly becoming a fading luxury of a bygone era.
Not just dereliction of duty. Add the intentional cabinet insertions (thinking DoD here). I’m sure there are others my second cup of coffee will remind me of.
Yes, regardless dereliction of duty. Why it's so important that after a conviction vote there are further votes to strip him of all benefits former presidents receive -- lifelong pension, top healthcare, yearly travel allowance, security detail. He deserves none of these since he didn't so the job of POTUS.
According to the NYT Covid-19 GitHub, the deaths attributed to the disease on Nov 3 was 232,607. As of the end of the day yesterday (Feb 7) the total was 463,338. That near-doubling of deaths confirms his negligence. What compounds it is his lack of concern.
I need to keep my expectations in check-- and this gives me some hope that justice might be served in this instance. The sad truth is that justice has nothing to do with the outcome. It's about power & money (the same in this instance). And so it is in our "justice" system writ large. Still I will hope because I cannot stand the thought of that man calling himself "former" and living off the dole of my tax $$ anywhere but prison!
Maybe there should be a special tax for his wealthy supporters to pay for his prison expenses. I know I have less money than I did four years ago! Let those that benefited from the tax cuts and becoming billionaires and trillionaires continue to support trump. If they love him so much!
Using the presidential seal and other emblems of office is a federal crime punishable with fines and prison. Proving that charge looks very straightforward.
...an attempted coup by THE president of the United States--which Trump was before, during and even for two weeks after the attempted coup; he was the POTUS AS the attempted coup was under way and made little effort to stop it once under way. We have to keep re-inforcing that. These charges have nothing to do with him as "former" president. He was acting in his official/legal capacity AS the president, leveraging the power AND the resources of his office and command.
The 1st amendment protects private citizens' speech from government attack as long as it is not inciting physical harm, which of course Tr***p was - but it is irrelevant, since he was inciting that riot in his role as head of government, not as a private citizen.
The cult members claim that the events in the Capitol weren’t violent or even actually a riot. Certainly not sedition. Just no big deal. Not like AntiFa completely burning down multiple cities last Summer. Most importantly, their strongman t****p had nothing to do with it.
How the rest of us can persuade our troubled fellow citizens that facts even exist is a challenge beyond my imagination.
A detailed account of a “cross-partisan campaign to protect the election–an extraordinary shadow effort dedicated not to winning the vote but to ensuring it would be free and fair, credible and uncorrupted... The scenario the shadow campaigners were desperate to stop was not a Trump victory. It was an election so calamitous that no result could be discerned at all, a failure of the central act of democratic self-governance that has been a hallmark of America since its founding.”
It's is not as if political parties don't organize fanatically for every hard fought election. They do. It takes tens of thousands of people going door-to-door, working the polls, producing ads, coordinating local, district, state, regional and nation responses. It requires coordination at the grassroots level, all the way to the top, to Podhorzer's brilliant skills at anticipating Trump's moves and then coordinating national responses. The difference, as communicated in this article, was that THIS time concerned citizens HAD to win. A rousing and also chilling article. Democracy is so fragile.
What a fantastic story; thank you Skeller! What a thrill to know that there was this band of progressive political operatives working to counter the massive network masterminded by the Koch brothers' billionaire allies, to the tune of 13 billion dollars. I have added several new names into my pantheon of heroes; Mike Podhorzer out in front.
There was a moment in Philadelphia outside the vote counting room where there was a surge of antagonistic Trumpsters ready to start a fight and a dj, hired by the Working Families Party, blasted a tune so danceable that the street became a disco. Big danger avoided... a beautiful story.
I hope your assessment is correct. A conviction could prove to be the catharsis the nation needs, even if it causes the hardcore Trump extremists to snarl and otherwise rage. (I suspect the prospect of prison has cowed them sufficiently to prevent uprisings, now that they've seen so many insurrectionists arrested and charged.) Enough Republican senators may finally decide to make a clean break from the madness that Marjorie Taylor Greene personified last week, making the GOP look positively wacko. I still see conviction as a longshot, given all the cowardice we've seen in Congress the last four years. But you've given us a reason for hope.
We live in illogical times. Our political norms have become corrupted by a confluence of greed and self-interest becoming more important than simple patriotism. We have a legislative branch infected by undereducated people who are unable to tell the difference between fact and fiction. We have mass media that has abandoned sound journalistic practices in favor of speed and profit. We have huge numbers of voters who have been displaced by technology with no government leadership on how to cope with the unintended consequences of technological change. We have fear dominating people's actions and thoughts caused by a pandemic and an international sea change caused by unchecked religious nonsense and aggression. We have a government, a legislative branch populated by little men and little women who run in packs, vote in packs, and who simply have not have developed a congnitive ability within normal ranges. Our senators have already made up their minds in their fear and self-interest and no amount of fact, no logical presentation of the law, and no appeal to patriotic appeal to have the courage of doing what is right will hold sway. And sadly, these pathetic people are a reflection of their constituents.
While I think much of what you write is true (at least for Republicans), I think you are shotchanging the efforts of the bright, open-minded, hard working young people of this country (and at my age, "young" is anyone under 50) who see through the morass and are working to restore democracy, a healthy economy, clean environment and honesty. My kids and grandkids inspire me!
A couple of days ago, I revisited the book The Mortal Republic by Edward Watts, which I believe should be assigned as a mandatory read for every government official. The signs of decline are pretty darn close and with lighting fast speed in the past four years. Now is the time to go back to the basics of what our country was built upon such as integriy and the honor of service.
I'm not a professional historian. However, I am reader of history. The decline of the Roman Empire is a very good blue print for what we are experiencing today. I proudly wore the uniform of the U.S.A. and was faithful to the oath I took. I understood that oath. I believed in that oath and I meant what I said. Since the emergence of the first metaphorical maggot of decline, one Newt Gingrich, I have watched the erosion of the ideas written about in "Profiles in Courage" and have become witness to the failure of the great experiment. I recall having heated discussions with people from other western countries in my NATO assignment and disagreeing that America and the then, USSR were the same in their behavior and attitude. Today, in my 80s, I understand those arguments better and I am no longer blinded by youthful idealism and visceral patriotism. The USA is strong but it has lost its way...not just internationally, but here at home. Religious bigotry rampant and irrational, racial animosity practiced by our government at local and federal levels, legislatures dominated by old white men desperate to hold on to their sheckels and their pathetic self-image, and a technological revolution that makes the industrial revolution look like a simple head-cold. Yes, we have temporarily thrust aside a despotic fool but the cancer he has spread is still with us and no one, not even a political Fauci, can stop the decline. I am so sad for what we are leaving our children.
You remind me of my Dad; WWII Army Veteran, no college degree but an avid student of history. His “go to” books were “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” and “Rise and Fall of the Third Reich”. During the Watergate hearings, he and my group of friends would watch and discuss (my Dad was pretty liberal and my friends came from relatively conservative families.)
My Dad would be 105 this year, had he lived. I so wish I could talk to him about current events.
My father would be 104 now, and served with honor in WW2. When Trumpsky called veterans "losers" and "suckers," it felt like he defecated where we scattered dad's ashes. His service was strictly stateside admin in a Naval Intelligence unit breaking Japanese codes. He liked to say that he served in the wooden navy because he sailed a desk in Washington DC.
I am cautiously optimistic that American democracy will survive, but there are ominous parallels in ancient history. Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is the classic study of the fall of state power. Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War is classic on the death of democracy.
The erosion of the Roman Republic in the late 2C and early1C BCE may be the most instructive precedent, especially the failure of its institutions to restrain ambitious warlords like Sulla or Julius Caesar. Two books titled "Are We Rome?" make valid if somewhat superficial comparisons. I'm not familiar with the extensive recent scholarship on the late Roman Republic, but a couple of 20C standards are still very worthwhile. When senators denounced Sulla as his men massacred thousands while he addressed the Senate, he said "they are merely admonishing my opponents." Trumpsky's unrealized template?
“So for a Republican senator, what’s the political calculation on impeachment?” There is part of the problem, isn’t it, Dr. Richardson? Not how to uphold the oath they swore, not how to best serve their state, not how to best serve the country, but what is the political cost. They need to have their oaths repeated to them over and over and over. “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.”
Nauseous politics as usual no more. Wasn't this a prime pillar of trumpism? Wouldn't it be down right refreshing if politicians put country over party?
I wonder what kind of impact these words, the oath, would make on the general voting populace? Would it make more of them pause and think about who they are voting for? How much of the general populace is even familiar with this oath? Maybe it needs to be put out there and discussed more than it is.
Sadly, I believe that few people understand the gravity of an oath. I distinctly recall as I was being sworn into my position of a deport sheriff wondering if the “keep my private life unsullied” portion would ever be used as termination fodder simply because I am gay. It wasn’t, I am completely out at the Office, and am into my 36th year of service.
The act of oath-taking is serious and not pro-forma.
Congratulations on your version of oath keeping. An also on being at ease with who you are.
Our City Manager had everyone witness new employees oath taking. I do have to say I still get a chuckle out of the phrase "without mental reservation". I wondered what I was getting myself into that I was not aware about! But the public oath taking kept it current for all employees.
This is the problem. Oaths are simply the price of admission to a prestigious club. Easily sworn and quickly forgotten.
“Republicans must focus all their energy on regaining the majority in Congress. To do so, consult a third Victorian-era prime minister, Benjamin Disraeli, who believed in party loyalty. “It is not becoming in any Minister to decry party who has risen by party,” he declared. “We should always remember that if we were not partisans, we should not be Ministers.”
Hugh Hewitt in today’s Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/02/07/republicans-stop-fighting-among-yourselves/
Gladstone was a well-meaning drip; Disraeli was witty and incisive, a better dinner guest. But for policy and principle I'll take the GOM any time.
R Aldous, The Lion and the Unicorn
Thank you for the reference to the book about Disraeli and Gladstone, which I found a review of in The New York Times; I remember reading a biography of Disraeli in high school. But while I spent quite a bit of time searching for the meaning of "GOM," I could not find a definition appropriate to what I suspect is its context.
The Republican Party is splitting in two. Republicans are going to find it more and more difficult to straddle the schism by keeping a foot on each side. The impeachment vote is going to force many Republicans to choose which Republican Party is most likely to survive, especially in light of the corporate financial backing that is no longer a sure thing. Republican senators who abstain the impeachment vote, who are not "present" that day, may be seen by the Tumpistas as de facto votes to convict, or perhaps they can claim to be boycotting an "unconstitutional" process and thus escape responsibility, and choosing sides, for the moment.
A lot depends on the propaganda wing of the party; Limbaugh, Hannity, et al. One would like to see a corporate sponsorship abandonement/boycott of these media fountains of dis-information similar to what has occurred in the political wing. That kind of financial strangling, along with pending libel lawsuits, could go a long way to setting the Republican Party on the track toward sanity and decency and honesty and integrity it used to have. Well, sort of.
Bumper sticker I just thought of; "Sanity not Hannity!"
The newly launched multi-billion dollar law suites against Fox must be making even Hannity chose very carefully his words. People trying to straddle the two "floating wings" of the GOP will fall down a big hole in the middle and be swept away by the current to disappear far over the horizen
I would love to see him disappear along with Lou Dobbs and Bill O'Reilly.
I just don’t want him to “slip away” though. He and his cohorts are so guilty of spreading fallacies and untruths to the point of people either killing themselves or others. They deserve only to be behind bars.
Has anyone heard of Sleeping Giants? I heard an interview with its founder months ago. They go after irresponsible corporations as I recall. Look on Twitter to see what they are currently doing.
I love it! What a great bonus for David Hogg’s pillows!
Maybe they’ll just say they’re quarantining after exposure and can’t come.
I'll take a bumper sticker with a car attached to it.
Something German, goes kinda fast?
Preferably a car w/out internal combustion. IC is a crime against humanity.
Absolutely! Everyone should be considering an (all-)electric car for their next passenger vehicle. Unless daily driving exceeds 220 miles or so (batteries run best for long lifetimes when operated between the 80% and 20% of full capacity—but just before leaving for a long trip, can be charged a lot higher than the 80% level. EV trucks are in sight (Ford) and there is growing competition for larger (SUV size?) passenger EVs. Check Kelly's Blue Book for its description and ratings of EVs.
While the initial cost is higher, the operating cost of an EV (not necessarily a Hybrid) is much less: my Tesla Model 3 costs about 4 cents a mile to drive, plus another cent or so for cabin heating or cooling, depending on outside temperature. And next to no maintenance: checks only every 2 or four years plus rotating the tires every 7 thousand miles. That hybrid still has all the ICE maintenance. Drove from Massachusetts to Washington, DC, with 4 stops for charging, each less than 40 minutes. Superchargers can put 300 to 400 miles per hour of energy into a battery.
There are studies out showing the overall EV ownership cost is equivalent or less than for an ICE vehicle.
Thank you Heather. I appreciate this dissection of the political layout.
In my opinion, this trial will render to the number of Republicans that are willing to live with the consequences of their vote. Its not about ethics, its simply a numbers game. It is sad for the Nation that the trial has nothing to do with with facts, but self preservation for members of a failing political party.
We must remember these obnoxious trump Republicans are nothing more than the loud children in class that thrive on attention to bolster themselves where they are sorely lacking substance. We truly need a teacher at the helm to wrangle these Members back in order.
As I read numerous accounts of Matt Gaetz traveling to Wyoming to piss on Liz Cheney's lawn, figuratively, I find I am more repulsed by him than any of the other attention seekers. He actually got on my radar when he forced his way into the chambers where Dr Fiona Hill was testifying on Trumps first Impeachment. My first blush of him was accurate as I thought, what an ass*hole. This still rings true today.
I wish, that the theme of the Impeachment trial would be "let your conscience be your guide".
Stay safe, stay well.
If they had well- formed consciences, would we even be having these discussions? Therein lies the problem. People are electing power-hungry weasels (sorry Heather, critters is too nice).
Vicious weasels.
Exactly.
Don't insult the weasels!
Floriduhhhhh needs ALOT of help. We suffered through Scott, then got desantis and Scott. We suffer through steube, then along came gaetz!
IMO, as a Floridian, my state has been victimized by Republicans’ myriad voter suppression, gerrymandering and ugly campaign tactics. I believe Florida is more “purple” than it appears. Keep in mind that DeSantis only won by a razor-thin margin. In 2018, for example, more than 60% of Florida voters approved Amendment 4, a long-overdue reversal of an immoral Jim Crow law that deprived ex-felons, who already paid their price to society, the right to vote - for life. Exasperatingly, Tallahassee Republicans over-ruled Florida voters and stacked up more hurdles for ex-felons to su-essay their votes. Did it matter in the 2020 election? Of course it did. There are 1.4 million ex-felons in Florida and many are black and brown who suffered draconian convictions in the first place. We need Stacey Abrams down here.
Let’s turn Florida Blue!
Amen sister!! We need help. I will attend my first virtual charlotte county Democrat meeting this evening. I am one small voice willing to get my hands dirty, but I know I need leadership.
*Supress* (not su-essay)
For the life of me I could not understand ‘su-essay’ - so I thought it was a French idiom
Something like a sous-chef?
LOL!
Your spellcheck is worse than mine. 🙄
So the question is, what makes Florida turn out to vote for these people? WhaT promises have been made to them? Sounds like Florida needs some stand-up, honest voices to start spreading the word. Take a few pages out of Stacy Abrams' books...
So I think one of the problems with Florida is that it doesn't have a personal income tax, so its revenue is heavily reliant on taxes that are defined as "regressive": sales and property taxes and fines that inordinately affect the poor and working-class more than the wealthy. The poverty-wealth gap in FL is extreme--#2 or 3 in the USA--with the top 1% earning about 40 times more than the AVERAGE for the rest of the 99%. Infrastructure supports the top 10% and neglects the rest. There are a lot of very poor white people in Florida, with little control over things like the drugs trade and support of public services. The state has pitted poor whites against BIPOC for generations in ways that have demonized Black people and non-Cuban Latin-x people. So it's a real mess because the state is ripe for a fascist takeover, which has been (in my opinion) a slow-moving train wreck for decades.
Florida residents tolerate its horrid politics and government because of its bengn climate and its cultural and recreational opportunities. Otherwise they wouldn't be here. Here's the text of a letter I recently sent to a local paper (which was not published.):
"How long will the working people of the State of Florida, especially in the northern parts of the State, keep electing Republican legislators? Anyone who reads the papers knows that Florida Republicans are against (1) raising the minimum wage as approved by the State’s voters, (2) improving the nation’s worst unemployment benefit program and (3) accepting increased Federal support for the State’s Medicaid program. These measures are not “socialism” any more than are Social Security and Medicare for seniors nor are they efforts to redistribute wealth. They are simply government efforts to provide minimal benefits to working people who might need them. Any working person who votes for Republicans should have their head examined. I guess they don't read the papers."
It’s not just the northern part of the state. I am in deep red Pasco County and my congressman is Gus Bilirakis. Residents here keep electing him as well. He touts his support of veterans and that is one thing that keeps him in office. But the other 99% of his policies are tRump supporting abominations and I get his “newsletters” which spout all the standard propaganda. I have also written numerous letters to the editors of the Tampa Bay Times, all of which have gone unpublished.
Do you have a homeless population in your area? Many of them will be veterans that have been neglected by your representatives. We need to start highlighting the number of veterans that get left behind. I don’t care what party is in office, it is an abomination the way those that went to war have been treated since coming home. Non-veterans also care about this issue so it’s a good one to get on board with and push by writing letters.
There is a thing called Resistbot that you can send letters directly to your representative. On Twitter just put the @ in front of it. If you’re a Messenger user just type in Resistbot. There is no cost to use it and there is no length limit.
Chances of getting a letter published increase if it keyed, usually in its first sentence, to a something that was just published by that paper.
Someone should publish s book of great letters to the editor that never appeared. I bet there are some real doozies.
Perhaps Twitter them. Then, they will get the attention of mainstream media.
Yes. In addition, we have a service-based economy, a tourism tax, and many many retirees on fixed incomes who feel they have already done a lifetime of tax duty in northeastern and midwest states and vote down referenda to raise taxes on gasoline,for instance, designated to pay for the education of other people's kids. ( in echo chamber enclaves like The Villages) Demographics are everything and they are shifting. Central Florida is almost at a 25% Latin-x population which is only growing in a flight from sinking South Florida. Having said this, it remains that not all in Florida fit the media characterization of " the white Florida Man (Woman)", who, as you point out, have some cause for legitimate anger in the Sunshine State. As do Floridians of all color stuck in low paying and insecure tourism-, agricultural- and service- based jobs. They are considered "essential workers" in many cases but are not paid accordingly and right now, in some sectors, not paid at all. Despite our duly elected quartet of Scott, Rubio, DeSantis and Gaetz there are pockets of progressives working to change things. I,for one, am hoping DeSantis is a one-termer!
YES!!
My condolences. 😔
Ted Yoho
Re: Gaetz ... his is a bleeping a-hole. Period. End of story.
Yet his district keeps electing him. That sez a lot.
I have family in Gaetz’s district. The district has large military bases. It also is pretty rural even though there are several large cities such as Pensacola, Ft. Walton Beach and Niceville. I visited before the election and there were LOTS of tRump flags and signs as well as Confederate battle flags. Gaetz is an attention seeking political opportunist, looking only to advance himself .
I am disappointed at the amount of Trump support among the military, as well as among law enforcement. They mistook loyalty to the ex-president as loyalty to the country, and many still do.
Did you see the plea by an ex-military to stop playing Fox TV 24/7 on military bases here and around the world? He said it was the only station ever played so no wonder.
It is up to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Secretary of Defense to purge the military of loyalty to the ex-president rather than loyalty to the nation and the Constitution.
Police/military Trumpskyism may be the most frightening aspect of Jan 6, not to mention the last several years before the insurrection.
I hoped he'd be trampled by a cattle stampede in Wyoming.
Some of you have read pervious posts that I have written about my right wing evangelical sister who is a Covid denier. I discovered a short while ago that her Representative is Gaetz! They deserve each other.
Linda, how do you really feel? 😂 Love it!👏👏👏
Sharon, was to it much ? 😆
Oh no... it was perfect! 😉😂
That’s dead on target, Linda 👍
That’s dead on target, Linda 👍
This Letter should be part of a new chapter in a revised edition of To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party. It already shows a good grasp of the GOP's long-term trajectory and a sense of what may happen next. Its split is an epochal event in US history.
Clayton L. Thyne, a political scientist, is getting some exposure (e.g. Boston Globe interview) for stating that Jan 6 doesn't amount to a coup. Since Dr Richardson has stated repeatedly that it WAS an attempted coup, she should challenge him to a public debate. The public needs to be educated on America's right-wing coup d'etat, which proved that It Can Happen Here, and that American exceptionalism is a false idol.
I agree that the American public needs to be educated. I do think that most media sources are referring to January 6th as an insurrection, at a minimum, and many are referring to it as an attempted coup, However, there are many Americans who really aren’t as tuned into all of this as, for example, the individuals discussing every nuance in this forum. How the evidence is presented at the Senate trial is going to be so important. The trial will be the key opportunity to put Trump’s whole sordid trail leading to his self-coup together for the American public. I hope the impeachment managers hit everyone watching, including the recalcitrant, amoral Republican Senators, right between the eyes with clear evidence that is well organized to tell the story in a manner that is incontrovertible, as a prosecutor would present evidence in a murder trial.
A couple of articles that we can be sharing far and wide to help educate people include Fiona Hill’s January 11th article in Politico, in which she provided ample evidence that January 6th was a coup attempt. Maybe the Globe should interview Ms. Hill. I thought her detailed analysis in this article was spot on: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.politico.com/amp/news/magazine/2021/01/11/capitol-riot-self-coup-trump-fiona-hill-457549
Add to that this analysis of the propaganda movie shown at the ellipse right after Trump’s incitement speech to the insurrectionists. I don’t know why this hasn’t gotten more media coverage. It draws a chilling picture of Trimp’s intent. https://www.justsecurity.org/74504/movie-at-the-ellipse-a-study-in-fascist-propaganda/
Fiona Hill, Vindman brothers, Marie Yovanovitch. Immigrants get the job done!
Fiona Hill is so right on. And, I'm surprised her opinion piece didn't more attention. Wish Biden would pull her into his administration in some way, along with the Vindman brothers and Maria Yovanovitch.
Yes! They are true patriots.
Unfortunately the media outlets that actually publish the true information are not the ones that mainstream people watch. How many Republicans do you know that watch MSNBC or even CNN? I think this info needs to be part of “60 Minutes” or “Dateline” or one of those other news programs that attract a variety of audiences.
Excellent links, Mary Anne. Thank you.
Mary Anne: thank you for posting the Dr Fiona Hill opinion article. I read it and agree. I then shared it to my 4 progressive FB pages I belong to.
Needless to say, I meant “Trump,” not “Trimp.” I often misspell a word by mistake and notice it as soon as I click a “Post.”
Trimp, Chimp, Chump...we knew who you meant. 🙃
Right! And Pimp came to mind, as well.
Search for "trimp slang" and you won't mind the typo so much. It's related to "short-fingered vulgarian" but is more vulgar. Fair warning.
Sounds like a fit, TPJ.
Wow. Damn.
Thanks Mary Anne for two great articles. The video shown at the 1/6 rally was chilling.
Here's a good part of the problem, right from the teachers mouths.
https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2021/02/02/davis-how-teachers-are-answering-the-call-for-more-civics-education
I wish I could find the propaganda video itself. I've searched Google, youtube, etc., and can't find it. I'd like to see it for myself.
The full video should be in the Just Security article at the beginning. That is where I watched it. Don’t skip the frame by frame analysis in the article, though. The author explains the fascist/authoritarian messaging and intent so well.
Thank you!
It is in the 2nd article Mary Anne cites above.
The only thing "exceptional" about America was observed 97 years ago by H.L. Mencken in the midst of the hysteria ginned up across the country by the Scopes Monkey Trial: "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public." The exceptional moron stupidity of roughly 47% of the population is what differentiates this country from the rest of the world.
I'm not so sure. I think realizing that it is the case brings you to understand that America is as badly educated as most other countries......and isn't eceptional, at least on this point.
With some countries you might even say.."Wow, only 47%, America is exceptional!"
No. There is no extra dose of innate stupidity in Americans. We are just as capable of forming a working democratic republic as anyone.
We are a rich country, and people want that power and money. Our conservative citizens have been especially targeted by tidal waves of manipulative messages from corrupt leadership since Nixon.
And we have, so far, survived. It’s pretty amazing, given where we were just two years ago.
I would substitute "gullible" for stupidity.
"Gullible" for some, but "stupid" for waaayyyy too many.
Definitely lacking in "critical thinking skills," however else they might be characterized, another one of which could be "ignorant," including "willfully ignorant."
And those who are willfully ignorant may actually have some measure of critical thinking skills, but which they choose not to use or display so as to pursue an agenda they consider more important.
I’d pay to watch HCR debate any Conservative. That would be pretty cool. These letters could become more powerful in a Netflix documentary. Shed light, spread light before the mid terms.
I'm not sure if Clayton Thyne is conservative. Maybe he simply can't yet grasp the enormity of what happened on Jan 6, and thus won't revise a pet theory on coups.
Love the idea. Now if we can only get some of the Trump groupies to produce some actual evidence. I'm guessing Dr Thyne might fall in the range of "semi-respectable" given he's hardly the first to argue 1/6 wasn't an actual coup. I've seen some interpret it thusly because the military wasn't directly involved.
Be that as it may, I think your idea is important also as a series on civics. - yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Why are we do upset? How did civics education, to the extent it was held, inform our expectations? Why is it no longer taught as part of a core curriculum? Why did Utah allow a school district to NOT teach about the. BLM movement.
You've probably seen this but I'd highly recommend this article by a professor at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill). She grew up in Turkey and has a personal perspective of how a coup may play out.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/12/trumps-farcical-inept-and-deadly-serious-coup-attempt/617309/
I discovered Dr Zeynep Tufekci last month. she is a shrewd and fearless analyst of Turkey and other authoritarian political systems.
I've followed her for some time via The Atlantic and referrals from other sources, though I'm not clear on what department she's part of. She's always incisive and the personal connection to the story I linked made it much more gripping as political analysis.
If the Senate had a secret vote on whether to convict, I do believe Trump would be toast.
Cowards
Yes, secret ballot ... "Vote your conscience not your cowardice." (Sadly, I believe they are more co-conspirators than cowards.)
I've been in situations in my professional career where I've felt like a coward because I had a boss or supervisor asking me to do things I did not like. But because I was in a personal place in my life where I needed the job and medical benefits, I had to play a long, and sometimes stressful game. I don't agree with many of the GOPers and what they are doing to maintain job security. But I understand it. I would hope that their values would be displayed differently and the seriousness of the position they swore to do -- uphold the constitution. At the same time, and when I found myself in professional situations that made me ashamed of my behaviors, I always had a long term plan. I always thought of ways I could get out of the job and move forward. It might have taken a year or two or three. But I had a plan. Some of these folks don't seem to have a plan. They seem to have settled in to jobs that they are not qualified to perform.
Greed and power seem to be motivating the GOP in Congress. Term limits and stopping the unlimited flow of money into politics are the best ways to return government to conscience.
Term limits - absolutely!
Consider the consequences (expected & unexpected) of term limits. Off the top of my head: lobbyists become more powerful, loss of institutional knowledge, pool of candidates becomes ever smaller (because who in their right mind wants to put up the negativity thrown at them?), ever more time and money spent campaigning.
I agree that there are members of congress that have overstayed and term limits is a nice fantasy. Some other options, may be an upper age limit? I would dearly love to limit the amount of time and the amount of money spent on campaigns. It's ridiculous that representatives are already planning the next election
But she did mention limits to the amount of money permitted to be spent, and one would hope where it can come from with transparency. I wouldn't wish to impose an upper age limit which seems to me to be ageist. Some of the better officials are older and some of the worst are younger so age is not a co-variable with performance. I'm sure there are sufficient records to provide institutional memory to counter any potential advantage to having been in the office accruing contacts and obligations which would help level the playing field between longer term and newer members. Surely, given the population sizes involved, these few are not the only or even the best these districts have to offer?
I was thinking along pilots mandatory retirement and have ageist misgivings too. We don't get the best & brightest running for office now. Would you run? I have a sil who was a state senator. The comments she had to tolerate were bad & that was before social media got going.
I like to think about potential drawbacks. Term limits might work but it needs to be looked at from many angles.
Campaign-finance reform, please. Spending caps and public financing of elections would help a lot. It would prioritize ideas and policy over fundiraising ability; make campaigns more competitive; and enable less business-friendly candidates to get a fair hearing.
They already spend time and money on campaigning, how would that be worse? I'm particularly offended by money coming from out-of-state. And institutional knowledge? PACs and think tanks are writing the legislation. People could work in different civil service positions after serving a couple of terms. Lobbyists need limits to access to Congress too.
I wish that employees could fire their bosses.
True but that gets to the real issue here -- and that is elected officials' voting records. And that their constituents follow in order to decide re-election. For some, it's job security. As much as we don't like hearing this or seeing it, it is the reality of the situation.
True conscience following should be a no brainer. As such acting otherwise is just cowardice.
The Washington Post has been tracking individual senators and putting them in categories, which are:
In favor of conviction, 40
Open to conviction, 21
Opposed to conviction, 37
Undecided, 2
I believe the evidence the House managers will present will be shocking and conclusive and, for the sake of argument, assume all those open to conviction and undecided will be convinced to convict. I thought four of those opposed would have to change their minds, but Heather shows another path. If six of those opposed were absent, 63 votes would be sufficient to convict. So there are some more possibilities, certainly more than I'd thought of. Thank you Heather: as usual, you've opened a new door and given me a fresh view.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2021/senate-impeachment-whip-count-where-democrats-republicans-stand/
The article makes all the senators by category so we can get to work on any that we can reach, particularly if we're constituents.
Or we can invite them to go for a nice drive in the countryside.
I am certainly hoping (and praying a little) that the House Managers have something spectacular up their sleeves. Like videos of those seditious jurors opening side doors to let insurrectionists into the Capitol or proof positive that Boebert and/or Greene were conducting a “tour”. Honestly, I think, for once, the Tiger’s got the tail.
I still wonder how the senators who went along with the coup leader are impartial jurors. They should be excused for cause.
Are peremptory challenges allowed against Senatorial jurors? Those who voted to overturn Biden's victory have a gross conflict of interest.
I don’t know. I do know that in a criminal or civil trial, they’d be dismissed for cause, without having to use a peremptory challenge.
Wow. The depths to which we have fallen. I wonder how future generations will look back on this time in history. It’s bad enough to have the usual sleazy politicians, but this is a low I still can’t wrap my head around.
And she has such a loud mouth.
Her GED?? Really? Wonder why she got elected ...
She’s a gun zealot.
An ammosexual.
Ahh
Yes I knew about her just getting her GED and her rap sheet. I also read that she and her husband own a couple restaurants. One of those restaurants gave people food poisoning at some event. A dangerous brat and POS!
I’d forgotten it was a majority of those PRESENT and since so many are cowards, my own senators included, being absent may be seen as an easy way out.
I don't see how the 'open to' and 'undecided' folks can vote nay after what I've heard is going to be presented. There's a lot of information, videos, timelines, plots that the FBI has uncovered and that we haven't even heard about yet. Schumer alluded to this in an interview. I perused these lists this past weekend and the 'opposed' are lost causes. I only hope, whatever the outcome of the vote, that any congress person who votes 'nay' is made well known far and wide in news articles, Lincoln Project videos, billboards, etc. and nonstop until mid terms. As President Biden continues to meet the immediate needs of suffering Americans, the stark difference between what was and what now is will be enough for many Americans to stop and think anyway. Even some MAGAs I'm hoping.
Well you can hope, but I'm already seeing some articles blaming Biden for things that are clearly left over conditions from the prior four years. For just one example, a New York Post article about how Biden doesn't even know how much vaccine we have as if that's on him. The depth of hypocrisy and agreement to nod along with useful lies is astounding, and doesn't water the old sprig of hope very well.
Jeez Louise. I wrote makes but meant names.
I knew what you meant... I have a typo filter.
As my husband always says: “I speak fluent typo.”
Ha!
I read it as "names"!
I see your name MaryPat, so I am writing to you HERE. My earthlink.net email server CANNOT get me back to the exact thread of comments. Or is this a problem with this ‘substack’ platform? ggggerrrr. I appreciate so much your encouragement; thank you, dearly.
I particularly like your thought that several could help edit my prose. I suppose my syntax, punctuation symbols, and noun/verb agreements can, shall I say, ‘wander’?
I feel some enthusiasm, over a joint effort for publication. I would write the vast majority, and others in the community could add their ideas on salient points, such as the answer to: "What is democracy?”, and/or “What is capitalism?”
I certainly welcome your feedback!
A second thought: what if "Democratic Capitalism" is taught in Civics classes, matter of factly, as the basic premise of our government, which works best (and capitalism thrives more) when grounded in the 3 purposes of government (as HCR outlines):
1. Infrastructure
2. Social Safety Net
3. Rules and Regulations.
So our children will not be taught any of the John Wayne Cowboy mythology , but instead are grounded in Abraham Lincoln "We the People," All of Us This Time, truth.
Well, the text books on “Demo Cap” will have to be written! So, I think we would redefine the role of democracy (govt) and the role of economics (capitalism)
There is much to unpack there. I love your idea of addressing the mythologies underlying our nation, and our notions!
Yes! And thank you. And wow, so many implications and applications. (And probably should be written on something a little bigger than my phone.) As an RN, one of my most important roles is interpreting "medicalese" for patients and the public, and to make health topics interesting, even fun. That's what I see missing from "government" - often all we see are detailed, dreary complexities of law and governance, then long, frustrating stalemates. I am wandering here. I did find much of the prosecution's case in the tRump trial riveting, compelling, and inspirational. But just the idea that so many folks don't connect government and their taxes to the essentials of their everyday lives and futures boggles me. MUCH to be done, and your thesis is an excellent start!
Frederick I found one book on Democratic Capitalism, no idea if it speaks to your concept, biut I may order to review (https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/democratic-capitalism-and-its-discontents_brian-c-anderson/1515125/item/6122038/?mkwid=%7cdm&pcrid=450665973549&pkw=&pmt=&slid=&plc=&pgrid=110661787651&ptaid=pla-1121313270952&gclid=Cj0KCQiAyJOBBhDCARIsAJG2h5cpnElH46zDLBz7jjZZPvPKoNQlKpthudIKnsG2jdFexlxufa-AuCwaAmaIEALw_wcB#idiq=6122038&edition=5234911)
P.s. it is sometimes a problem with substack - I think related to too many subs in the stack.
ha - I found your post! Without oo much to say right now - other than I am totally impressed with Citizens Climate Lobby (just had a zoom with local resents w/ CCL organizers). I’m encouraged, but then I always am
And neither my wife nor I have seen a drop of the DC hearing today. No wonder we feel liberated 😂
Exciting! Your writing is natural and excellent. I was thinking editing for focus and just what you said - ideas and clarificatiom. Exciting!
bring them someplace that has mafia ties, they are very good at convincing people
I’m not sure they aren’t the “mafia”.
A drive through city streets might be better.
This morning, news reports indicate that Senator Shelby of Alabama is considering not running for re-election. He's to make a statement soon. That makes four GOP senators who won't have a dog in the hunt in 2022.
Shelby announced his retirement this afternoon 2/8. He can now vote his conscience on conviction, if he has one.
"An ABC News/Ipsos poll released today shows that 56% of Americans believe that Trump should be convicted and barred from ever holding office again." Fifty-six percent. That, to me, is a stunningly low number.
Until now, this quasi-Pollyanna has held out some hope that Americans might finally reject the dangerous, authoritarian traitor they elected. I believed that the January 06 sedition riot would tip the balance.
I understand the allegiance of terrorist groups to the ex-president. Those are his darlings. They're perfect for each other. As for the remainder, I find their blind loyalty deeply disturbing, to say the least. Or, in the jargon of the day, "concerning."
I just don't understand listening to the polling. They haven't been right for the past couple of years. Still, we are a pretty evenly divided country. I don't know how we overcome that. That was the danger of waiting until Feb.9th to have the trial.
Part of polling not being right might very well be active voter suppression and the possibility that voting counts were corrupted. Some agency must investigate Kentucky.
Thousands more votes than voters. Something is rotten in the state of KY.
Yes, start with Kentucky!
Polls are rarely neutral but sponsored by people who have a point of view and a product to sell. I'm not being cynical, here. It's the way it is. What is at play is that TV and cable news need viewers so they commission polls to help create the impression that everything is a very close horse race, that anything good or bad could happen. Those folks want you to be anxious to tune in later to watch their program. They also seldom give you the context or the full picture of the results, just the stuff that creates a "cliff hanger" environment. The worst offenders are Fox, CNN, and MSNBC. On the honesty scale of 10 they are never better than a 3... on a good day.
Barbara, I couldn’t agree more.
Stacey Abrams wrote an opinion piece in the Washington Post on Feb. 7 entitled “Our democracy faced a near-death experience. Here’s how to revive it.” I’m quoting the the second half of it here:
“One of the first steps must be an overhaul of the Senate filibuster, which has long been wielded as a cudgel against the needs of millions who struggle. Today, the parliamentary trick creates a sinister threat to our nation: the ability of a minority of senators, who represent 41.5 million fewer people than the Senate majority, to block progress favored by most Americans. Democrats in Congress must fully embrace this mandate to fast-track democracy reforms that give voters a fair fight, rather than allowing undemocratic systems to be used as tools and excuses to perpetuate that same system. This is a moment of both historic imperative and, with unified Democratic control of the White House and Congress, historic opportunity. The agenda to restore democracy also includes passing the For the People Act to protect and expand voting rights, fight gerrymandering, and reduce the influence of money in politics; the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to restore full protections of the 1965 Voting Rights Act; and the Protecting Our Democracy Act to constrain the corruption of future presidents who deem themselves above the law. These landmark bills have broad-based support, and would have passed long ago were it not for the obstructionist leaders who fear losing their influence if the American people have more power of their own. Further, fixing our democracy requires we finally allow our fellow Americans in D.C. and Puerto Rico, the vast majority of whom are people of color, to have full access to our democracy. That means D.C. statehood and bonding self-determination for Puerto Rico. In the District, as white extremist mobs destroyed the Capitol, murdered a police officer, and threatened the lives of elected officials and residents, Washingtonians were left defenseless because D.C. is not a state and it’s chief executive head had no authority to deploy the National Guard.
Time is short. The forces standing against a democracy agenda seek to preserve and expand paths to power by shrinking the voting pool rather than winning votes over. In reaction to the historic turnout of 2020 and Democratic victories in Georgia, already this year, more than 100 bills have been put forward in state legislatures seeking to restrict voting access. These efforts will not end without a fight.
We don’t know how many chances we will get to reverse democracy’s near-death experience. We must not waste this one. We must go big-the future of democracy demands it.”
Thanks for posting this bit from Abrams, I was unable to see her op-ed because of the paywall.
I simply never disagree with anything Stacey Abrams ever says.
One of the High Crimes and Misdemeanors in Trump's second impeachment trial that has yet to be addressed was his dereliction of duty. From the time of the election through the day he left office, Biden's predecessor did not significantly address the ongoing plague of Covid-19 that faced the country. In terms of American lives lost, the status of the virus was the biggest challenge the country was facing. But other than off the cuff remarks to reporters, Trump quite simply dropped the ball. Why? Because it wasn't about him. The accusation that he never really cared about individual citizens was in clear view. It's shocking that this presidential vacuum was not called out more pointedly as events transpired. When is it acceptable that a wartime president suddenly and egregiously drops accountability and communication with Americans because he feels wronged personally? That was the real crime.
The saddest part of Trump Impeachment 2.0 is that Republicans will once again fall into line and put party ahead of country. If inciting insurrection isn't grounds for conviction, why even have an impeachment process? If there were term limits perhaps our so-called leaders would vote their consciences, which are swiftly becoming a fading luxury of a bygone era.
Not just dereliction of duty. Add the intentional cabinet insertions (thinking DoD here). I’m sure there are others my second cup of coffee will remind me of.
See this piece on ICE for further evidence
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ice-union-biden-immigration-cuccinelli/2021/02/04/c516a6b4-6666-11eb-8c64-9595888caa15_story.html
Yes, regardless dereliction of duty. Why it's so important that after a conviction vote there are further votes to strip him of all benefits former presidents receive -- lifelong pension, top healthcare, yearly travel allowance, security detail. He deserves none of these since he didn't so the job of POTUS.
According to the NYT Covid-19 GitHub, the deaths attributed to the disease on Nov 3 was 232,607. As of the end of the day yesterday (Feb 7) the total was 463,338. That near-doubling of deaths confirms his negligence. What compounds it is his lack of concern.
Why even have a Senate ???
I need to keep my expectations in check-- and this gives me some hope that justice might be served in this instance. The sad truth is that justice has nothing to do with the outcome. It's about power & money (the same in this instance). And so it is in our "justice" system writ large. Still I will hope because I cannot stand the thought of that man calling himself "former" and living off the dole of my tax $$ anywhere but prison!
Maybe there should be a special tax for his wealthy supporters to pay for his prison expenses. I know I have less money than I did four years ago! Let those that benefited from the tax cuts and becoming billionaires and trillionaires continue to support trump. If they love him so much!
Trump should pay for the damages to the capitol.
I envision rats abandoning that sinking ship when their own personal stash of cheese is threatened!
Oh, he doesn’t call himself former. He pretends he is still what he was, 45.
Yes.. I understand he will not allow anyone to address him as “former” president so apparently he still thinks he is the president?
Using the presidential seal and other emblems of office is a federal crime punishable with fines and prison. Proving that charge looks very straightforward.
...an attempted coup by THE president of the United States--which Trump was before, during and even for two weeks after the attempted coup; he was the POTUS AS the attempted coup was under way and made little effort to stop it once under way. We have to keep re-inforcing that. These charges have nothing to do with him as "former" president. He was acting in his official/legal capacity AS the president, leveraging the power AND the resources of his office and command.
The 1st amendment protects private citizens' speech from government attack as long as it is not inciting physical harm, which of course Tr***p was - but it is irrelevant, since he was inciting that riot in his role as head of government, not as a private citizen.
Exactly!
Ready for what comes, tomorrow. We will touch base tomorrow night. Thank you for being our seamstress of history. No one does it better.
The cult members claim that the events in the Capitol weren’t violent or even actually a riot. Certainly not sedition. Just no big deal. Not like AntiFa completely burning down multiple cities last Summer. Most importantly, their strongman t****p had nothing to do with it.
How the rest of us can persuade our troubled fellow citizens that facts even exist is a challenge beyond my imagination.
There is no evidence they will accept. I’ve tried.
Certain relatives of mine seem to believe that, based on what their pastor has told them.
Time to revisit tax-exempt status of churches.
I have a feeling some of my relatives are in that same pastor led boat. Sad....
😔
Wondering what you think of the Time article? https://time.com/5936036/secret-2020-election-campaign/
Definitely worth reading. Thanks for the link.
A detailed account of a “cross-partisan campaign to protect the election–an extraordinary shadow effort dedicated not to winning the vote but to ensuring it would be free and fair, credible and uncorrupted... The scenario the shadow campaigners were desperate to stop was not a Trump victory. It was an election so calamitous that no result could be discerned at all, a failure of the central act of democratic self-governance that has been a hallmark of America since its founding.”
It's is not as if political parties don't organize fanatically for every hard fought election. They do. It takes tens of thousands of people going door-to-door, working the polls, producing ads, coordinating local, district, state, regional and nation responses. It requires coordination at the grassroots level, all the way to the top, to Podhorzer's brilliant skills at anticipating Trump's moves and then coordinating national responses. The difference, as communicated in this article, was that THIS time concerned citizens HAD to win. A rousing and also chilling article. Democracy is so fragile.
Fascinating article!! Devious and manipulative, yet legal. A joint effort on the part of Dems, Repubs, and liberals. Bravo!
Excellent article. Thank you.
What a fantastic story; thank you Skeller! What a thrill to know that there was this band of progressive political operatives working to counter the massive network masterminded by the Koch brothers' billionaire allies, to the tune of 13 billion dollars. I have added several new names into my pantheon of heroes; Mike Podhorzer out in front.
There was a moment in Philadelphia outside the vote counting room where there was a surge of antagonistic Trumpsters ready to start a fight and a dj, hired by the Working Families Party, blasted a tune so danceable that the street became a disco. Big danger avoided... a beautiful story.
https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia/philadelphia-election-dance-party-philly-elmo-biden-trump-working-families-party-20201109.html
Shared with Michigan Democrats, Michigagan Wonen for Biden and local Women to Women. We all CAN make a difference!
Wow!! Superb article, Amazing accomplishment, Saving Our Democracy! A Must Read. Thank You!
Thank you for this. I will read it slowly and with pleasure.
I thought this was absolutely fascinating.
Yes, thank you for this. I will share with Idaho Women for Biden/Harris. We need this!
Good idea. I will share with Michigan's.
This article is fabulous and fascinating....a must read for everyone
I hope your assessment is correct. A conviction could prove to be the catharsis the nation needs, even if it causes the hardcore Trump extremists to snarl and otherwise rage. (I suspect the prospect of prison has cowed them sufficiently to prevent uprisings, now that they've seen so many insurrectionists arrested and charged.) Enough Republican senators may finally decide to make a clean break from the madness that Marjorie Taylor Greene personified last week, making the GOP look positively wacko. I still see conviction as a longshot, given all the cowardice we've seen in Congress the last four years. But you've given us a reason for hope.
We live in illogical times. Our political norms have become corrupted by a confluence of greed and self-interest becoming more important than simple patriotism. We have a legislative branch infected by undereducated people who are unable to tell the difference between fact and fiction. We have mass media that has abandoned sound journalistic practices in favor of speed and profit. We have huge numbers of voters who have been displaced by technology with no government leadership on how to cope with the unintended consequences of technological change. We have fear dominating people's actions and thoughts caused by a pandemic and an international sea change caused by unchecked religious nonsense and aggression. We have a government, a legislative branch populated by little men and little women who run in packs, vote in packs, and who simply have not have developed a congnitive ability within normal ranges. Our senators have already made up their minds in their fear and self-interest and no amount of fact, no logical presentation of the law, and no appeal to patriotic appeal to have the courage of doing what is right will hold sway. And sadly, these pathetic people are a reflection of their constituents.
While I think much of what you write is true (at least for Republicans), I think you are shotchanging the efforts of the bright, open-minded, hard working young people of this country (and at my age, "young" is anyone under 50) who see through the morass and are working to restore democracy, a healthy economy, clean environment and honesty. My kids and grandkids inspire me!
All hail our wonderful Youngers!
A couple of days ago, I revisited the book The Mortal Republic by Edward Watts, which I believe should be assigned as a mandatory read for every government official. The signs of decline are pretty darn close and with lighting fast speed in the past four years. Now is the time to go back to the basics of what our country was built upon such as integriy and the honor of service.
I'm not a professional historian. However, I am reader of history. The decline of the Roman Empire is a very good blue print for what we are experiencing today. I proudly wore the uniform of the U.S.A. and was faithful to the oath I took. I understood that oath. I believed in that oath and I meant what I said. Since the emergence of the first metaphorical maggot of decline, one Newt Gingrich, I have watched the erosion of the ideas written about in "Profiles in Courage" and have become witness to the failure of the great experiment. I recall having heated discussions with people from other western countries in my NATO assignment and disagreeing that America and the then, USSR were the same in their behavior and attitude. Today, in my 80s, I understand those arguments better and I am no longer blinded by youthful idealism and visceral patriotism. The USA is strong but it has lost its way...not just internationally, but here at home. Religious bigotry rampant and irrational, racial animosity practiced by our government at local and federal levels, legislatures dominated by old white men desperate to hold on to their sheckels and their pathetic self-image, and a technological revolution that makes the industrial revolution look like a simple head-cold. Yes, we have temporarily thrust aside a despotic fool but the cancer he has spread is still with us and no one, not even a political Fauci, can stop the decline. I am so sad for what we are leaving our children.
You remind me of my Dad; WWII Army Veteran, no college degree but an avid student of history. His “go to” books were “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” and “Rise and Fall of the Third Reich”. During the Watergate hearings, he and my group of friends would watch and discuss (my Dad was pretty liberal and my friends came from relatively conservative families.)
My Dad would be 105 this year, had he lived. I so wish I could talk to him about current events.
My father would be 104 now, and served with honor in WW2. When Trumpsky called veterans "losers" and "suckers," it felt like he defecated where we scattered dad's ashes. His service was strictly stateside admin in a Naval Intelligence unit breaking Japanese codes. He liked to say that he served in the wooden navy because he sailed a desk in Washington DC.
Each did what he/she had to do during those times.
I am cautiously optimistic that American democracy will survive, but there are ominous parallels in ancient history. Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is the classic study of the fall of state power. Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War is classic on the death of democracy.
The erosion of the Roman Republic in the late 2C and early1C BCE may be the most instructive precedent, especially the failure of its institutions to restrain ambitious warlords like Sulla or Julius Caesar. Two books titled "Are We Rome?" make valid if somewhat superficial comparisons. I'm not familiar with the extensive recent scholarship on the late Roman Republic, but a couple of 20C standards are still very worthwhile. When senators denounced Sulla as his men massacred thousands while he addressed the Senate, he said "they are merely admonishing my opponents." Trumpsky's unrealized template?
H Scullard, From the Gracchi to Nero
R Syme, The Roman Revolution
Yes
Yes
Well said.