Sometimes HCR's letters give me a pit in my stomach. This is one of those times. The school where my mom was principal for 15+ years burned down in Altadena this past week - a school where I painted the Kinder classrooms for a few summers -- and today's letter managed to make me further worried. UGH. Exhausted in SoCal.
I am so sorry for the overwhelming losses you are going through. You must be completely weary, and the news just adds to your exhaustion. I don't know that it will help, but please know there are many of us who care very much. Many of us who will contribute and assist in any way we can.
That has been my experience in every community no matter where it is across the US. Whether it's hurricanes in FL, tornados in NE, or Noreasters in ME neighbors help each other.
And when the job is too big for friends and neighbors to handle, that's when FEMA and the Red Cross are there to help.
Gary, and, it's people all over the country who support FEMA with taxes and the Red Cross with donations. We really are one nation. I just wish more people believed it instead of a sad, angry old man who cares for nothing and no one but money, power, and all of that for himself.
I don't trust FEMA. Back when Hurricane Irene hit NJ, FEMA let me down. I didn't have flood insurance because I wasn't in a flood zone. My house became an island and the walls sucked up the water like a dry sponge. I had it tested and found there were over 10 different kinds of mold including fecal coliforms, yes shit. I applied to FEMA and they kept turning me down. I finally found out there was no line item for that particular disaster for mold or mildew damage. I had to leave my house after a month with respiratory problems and finally had to do a short sale on my house to get rid of it. I know this is way different for the people of California and I pray FEMA works real hard for them. I just lost faith in them. I pray for everyone involved with these terrible fires everyday.
James Lee Witt was the best director of FEMA according to the emergency responders I knew in California back in the 1990s after he stepped in following Hurricane Andrews Response during the late Bush 41 Administration. He headed FEMA in what I think of as their golden years, especially compared to what Appointees before and after him did. The California Emergency Responders I knew said none of the best in the country would accept the position the way the Bush 43 Administration wanted it to be run.
"...First, “People.” When Witt took over at FEMA in 1993, employee morale could only be described as being at rock bottom. The agency had often been held up to public ridicule during the heyday of nuclear civil defense and now was an object of contempt following its seeming indifference to the plight of Hurricane Andrew's many victims.
But the employees of FEMA felt they were getting a bad rap. Why should they be blamed for the mistakes and failures of their bosses? FEMA employees wanted to support the agency's mission, but found themselves pushed aside or ignored when they tried to do so. Moreover, many of the staff believed that their own bosses lacked management skills, knowledge of disasters or just plain human empathy, and were themselves part of the problem.
On April 14, 1993, after barely two weeks in office, Witt issued a succinct, one-page memo to all FEMA employees. The title of the memo was “Open Door Policy,” and it stated in plain language that any FEMA employee who could not get a problem resolved within his or her normal chain of command was welcome to meet face to face, one on one, with Director Witt. No forms to fill out, no permission required from your boss, no minimum grade level … just dial up Witt's executive assistant and make an appointment. Staff began to meet with Witt and he began to hear firsthand how disorganized things were within the agency.
He was told, for example, that most FEMA employees were neither trained nor rostered ahead of time for disaster duty, meaning that sending FEMA employees to work at a disaster was a bit like a game of pickup basketball. (Immediately after the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, for example, when FEMA staff were desperately needed in California, a FEMA supervisor was seen running breathlessly from one employee's desk to the next … “Can you go to California … Can you … How about you?” Any staffer who evenly hesitantly nodded yes was told, “Quick, go home and pack and fly to San Francisco. Someone will tell you what to do when you get there.”)
Witt also heard endless tales of supervisors who abused and mistreated their staff. In one office, ten of the 11 staff members met with Witt, begging to be transferred to a different office and away from their current boss.
As Witt learned more about his people, his people were learning more about him. Witt was businesslike and decisive, but he was also plainspoken and unpretentious. Any staffer running into Witt standing in line at the local deli was free to talk with him, in fact, was expected to. When meeting with employees in his office, Witt would listen intently, often while chewing tobacco and spitting the juice into a foam cup he held in his hand. (One long-time Washington staffer came away from such a meeting much taken aback, believing that Witt had been spitting into his coffee.)
Witt soon made staff understand that FEMA was a team, that team members were expected to do their jobs, that team members were to respect each other and that he, Witt, was not an outsider … he was the team captain..."
I'd really recommend reading the whole article, another sample of appointing competent people and building the best support for the employees with the most experience and passion for the work:
"...Morale was visibly improving within the agency, but strengthening the “People” factor at FEMA would not be enough. “Programs” were next. Flip charts of blank paper began appearing next to the elevators, with FEMA employees invited to write their own ideas for strengthening the agency. How can we respond better to disasters? How can we better serve the American people? How can we make FEMA a better agency?
Bit by bit, changes began to appear. For example, the “Federal Response Plan” already existed, but was considered by most to be a “paper plan” only. That is, FEMA offices as well as other federal agencies might make numerous commitments within the plan for what they would do in a disaster, but in reality, would not have sufficient staff or resources to actually carry out those promises. Under Witt, the plan would become real – any and all commitments or promises for disaster response must be backed up by the necessary staff, funds and legal authorities to actually do the job if and when called upon to do so.
The Federal Response Plan, or FRP, would remain the key to FEMA's successful disaster responses for the next eight years. The backbone of the FRP consisted of 12 “Emergency Support Functions,” or ESFs. The ESFs were simply a list of the 12 main types of jobs the federal government might have to perform during a disaster response:
Transportation -
Communications -
Public Works and Engineering -
Firefighting -
Information and Planning -
Mass Care -
Resource Support -
Health and Medical Services -
Urban Search and Rescue -
Hazardous Materials -
Food -
Energy -
From there, each ESF would be assigned a lead federal department or agency having the most expertise in that particular field and disaster response planners within that agency would focus only on that ESF. So, for example, ESF number 1, “Transportation,” would be assigned to the US Department of Transportation (USDOT). Disaster planners at USDOT would be told to plan for all the transportation-related aspects of disaster response, how to transport federal responders to and from the disaster site, how to prioritize the repair of damaged transportation infrastructure in the disaster area, and so forth. But don't worry about medical care, food or electrical power; another agency with another ESF will take care of each of those tasks.
The concept was simple, but it worked. Each federal agency would focus on its own specialty in disasters and FEMA would orchestrate the entire effort like a traffic cop directing traffic to avoid gridlock. In addition to making things better organized, an added benefit was that FEMA would actually economize disaster response by drawing on existing resources of the federal government wherever possible. (A foreign visitor to FEMA, who had seen news reports of the federal government's disaster relief efforts, asked where FEMA kept the airplanes it used to carry in relief supplies after a disaster. The answer: We don't have airplanes at FEMA; we know where to get them.)
At the same time as the FRP was being brought into the real world, FEMA staff themselves were at long last being trained and rostered for disaster duty, so that in the event of a major incident, everyone would know what he or she was expected to do. There would be no more “paper plans” at FEMA and disaster response would no longer be a game of pickup basketball.
I am sorry for what you had to suffer thru, but I wonder sometimes if we don’t expect too much from government. From what I am hearing from CA, people are expecting to come out whole, with little to nothing coming out of their own pockets. Unfortunately, things don’t work that way. 😢😢😢 Life sucks and then we die. I feel so badly for them.
I see the Supreme Court has rejected a bid by oil companies to toss Honolulu's climate suit. Maybe this will be how we fight back for property in the face of natural forces we simply can’t contend with.
I take some of it with a particularly large grain of salt and suggest a wider view in some places such as:
"...Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, Congress passed the Homeland Security Act of 2002, which created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to better coordinate among the different federal agencies that deal with law enforcement, disaster preparedness and recovery, border protection and civil defense. FEMA was absorbed into DHS effective March 1, 2003.[18] As a result, FEMA became part of the Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate of Department of Homeland Security, employing more than 2,600 full-time employees. It became Federal Emergency Management Agency again on March 31, 2007, but remained in DHS.[19]
President Bush appointed Michael D. Brown as FEMA's director in January 2003. Brown warned in September 2003 that FEMA's absorption into DHS would make a mockery of FEMA's new motto, "A Nation Prepared", and would "fundamentally sever FEMA from its core functions", "shatter agency morale" and "break longstanding, effective and tested relationships with states and first responder stakeholders". The inevitable result of the reorganization of 2003, warned Brown, would be "an ineffective and uncoordinated response" to a terrorist attack or a natural disaster.[20]..."
Whatever his real qualifications were compared to James Lee Witt, I think the mess was the tangled mix of too many layers where legislators could try to micromanage situations that were best handled by the way Witt organized it, motivated and kept competent and dedicated employees, prepared as much as possible in advance, and quickly responding to the anticipated and new real needs effectively.
"...Hurricane Katrina in 2005 demonstrated that the vision of further unification of functions and another reorganization could not address the problems FEMA had previously faced. The "Final Report of the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina", released February 15, 2006, by the U.S. Government Printing Office, revealed that federal funding to states for "all hazards" disaster preparedness needs was not awarded unless the local agencies made the purposes for the funding a "just terrorism" function.[21] Emergency management professionals testified that funds for preparedness for natural hazards were given less priority than preparations for counter-terrorism measures..."
I would wonder how any FEMA administrators could function as well under such a monstrous administrative organization as DHS seemed to have become. It would seem to require many James Lee Witts working together with each others and their agencies (like a well oiled civil service with experienced, competent and dedicated non-partisan civil service version of "deep bench state" (as compared to a more realistic smaller and more malicious deep state of Trump enablers).
I have zero expectation of Trump installing a crippling cesspool of incompetent loyalists that will streamline the structure in any "better" way other than to make him more irresponsibly powerful.
Thank you, Jim. I live in Helene territory, and the local news highlights FEMA, but with little but opinion, the vast majority unfavorable. I have wondered what the real story was. I share your expectations regarding Trump, but I'll be glad to write a letter to our local newspaper quoting Brown's words to Bush.
Melinda, my local Public Broadcasting station, WHYY has a program called "Good Souls" that celebrates community and the ways people in communities in the area work together to make life better. I would love to see a concept like that in communities across the country. Maybe it would let more people see the value of community and actively participating to make one's community better rather than just complaining about how bad things are.
"...One of TenaVel T. Thomas’ childhood heroes growing up in the U.S. Virgin Islands was Neil Armstrong. Now, they share something in common. Both are recipients of the Arthur S. Flemming award, which has honored outstanding federal employees for 75 years.
“The thought that my name is now on a list with his was extremely overwhelming,” she said. “When I called my dad, and I told him about the award and started to tell him about previous recipients, I mentioned Neil Armstrong, and he said, ‘Oh my God, my daughter's walking on the moon!’ It’s like, daddy not quite, but I guess that’s a good association.”
Armstrong received the Flemming award in 1969, the same year that he became the first person to walk on the moon. Thomas, who works for Customs and Border Protection, is the first employee from the Homeland Security Department to be given the honor.
She has led a specialized human trafficking unit and spearheaded the establishment of a center at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City that can process thousands of asylum seekers. Despite the partisan acrimony associated with immigration issues, she said that CBP officers rise above the fray.
“We serve the American people. We serve the government regardless of what the administration is. We take an oath to perform our duties every single day, and all of the CBP employees do it so valiantly,” she said. “We're able to block out the noise, if you will.”
Cool! I knew Gordon when he was a garden designer -- attended conferences together, heard him speak on occasion, and I still have one or 2 of his books on garden design. He was always very much a gentleman; I'm glad to see him actively doing other interesting things in retirement.
Rickey, yeah, pretty stupid isn't it! That private charity thing is BS. They can help in some ways, but not with the kinds of disasters we are facing now. Republicans/Libertarians are so self-centered they can't see beyond whatever Fox Not Nearly News broadcast they just watched or stupid post they read online. However, FEMA is only as good as the president and congress in power. They will not do well for the next 4 years, that is unless Trump's palace/golfcourse is endangered. Then, they will cover any losses plus some on top to show Trump their loyalty. Ugh!!
Herbert Hoover was an anomaly to me with his thoughts on self-reliance (but often helping disaster relief efforts around the world as far as I can remember) He started the infrastructure projects like Hoover/Boulder Dam, putting many to work with government contractors but I think the FDR projects like the TVA were better managed and far more socially beneficial in the long term.
There are many good links to TVA history but I'll just point out that one with a meaningful map of an 8 state area where they helped control floods, with high country dams, helped river navigation with low dams and locks, generated power in a far wider area and at half the price of private profit would be monopolizers. They saved soil for farmers and other infrastructure that could have washed away in the climate and flood risks of the worst climate they could imagine.
I wish they had anticipated the climate neglect that let so much of Asheville be damaged, though I don't know how they could have since even the most conscientious climate scientists under estimated how risky it is becoming (despite a lot more work than most realize in flood control). They underestimated the worst dangers, and face severe criticism of updating the estimates based on new evidence.
Anyways just look at the map and consider looking for other sites based on where you are interested in the successes and few failures to prepare .
Wondering if Biden announce a major funding for rebuilding SCal. This might prevent Trump ordering major tax cut for wealthy - a totally inappropriate action now when there are so many citizens suffering.
Please don't conflate the name of the worst president ever with a secondary sex characteristic that is celebrated in paintings and sculpture, and admired by people of both genders, which evolved among our hunter-gatherer ancestors along with body hairlessness, the achilles tendon, the nuchal ligament (holds the head steady when humans run), and other adaptations so that they could pursue prey animals over long distances, eventually tiring them out. And, yes, both women and men pursued prey animals, and both now participate in marathons. Harvard Universities Daniel Lieberman has written extensively about these adaptations.
I feel so sorry for everyone in LA going through these fires. Altadena is a gem. I hope there’s a way people can recoup their losses. Sending love your way.
It's not just government workers who are making a difference. There are crews from many states, neighboring states, yes, but also from my state, MA. And let's not forget to thank the Canadian and Mexican governments which have sent fire-fighting planes and personnel. Strength and resilience are evident in the face of unthinkable disaster.
It takes a pretty empty soul to lay on burdens to others suffering in a disaster zone. And that appeals to so many claiming to be Christian? The likes of Trump and Musk would be driving the nails.
My daughter just posted on Instagram that it has been Dems who have laid the fires in Lahaina and LA to "promote our case for climate change". Upon my questioning her sanity, she blew me off with, first, a tirade of invective about trying to control her communications and "freedom of speech" and said: "her comment was mostly satire anyways". As if that is Okay! Who uses other people's tragedy for satire and spreading falsehoods...??? My daughter, I guess. I commented that I supposed her definition of "freedom" and mine were diametrically opposed. It is a truly lost cause. I hope you folks don't have to experience the like. Sleep becomes difficult. I'm a pretty tough, rational thinker (I hope), but this is beyond the pale, for me.
Ah, it must be so hard to hear your child under such terrible illusions. My mother fell under the spell of Rush Limbaugh (and of the wealth of her second husband and his "fiscal conservatism") and is now a frightened, vindictive Fox zombie. There are So many topics we have to avoid that I barely speak to her for more than 5 minutes at a time. She used to be such a happy person. I hope the spell will lift for her and for your daughter.
Rupert is still spewing bullschittery. Apparently, nobody can stop him. He has his Russian fifth wife (I think) and his connections with Vlad and their billionaire cronies are all set to rule all of us. Remember you are dealing with a cult. It takes deprogramming or Ike to break the spell.
I am so sorry. My father-in-law was already a racist Adam Henry when I first met him 40+ years ago. He became a full-blown MAGA (minus the hat) in the 5 years before he died.
(Adam Henry is police code for the letters "a" and "h" and used to reference a part of the human anatomy generally in charge of the exit of fecal matter from the human body. For a time, we had to go "in service" with our badge number and our initials. Every morning at 0540 hours, I would go in service with "C540 in service, Adam Adam Henry, 540". My dispatchers could barely respond the first couple times they heard that.)
Lol. That daughter is learning the correct lessons even if she’s got a few details wrong. All statewide office holders in California are Dems. And basically all LA office holders with relevant responsibilities are Dems. The catastrophe in LA and near surrounds is not that Dems “have laid the fires in Lahaina and LA”, as a matter of intention. Nor as a protest about climate change. It is because they are fatally incompetent AND that incompetence derives from an infantile romance with the false prophet of climate change dogma and wokeness that blinds them to the mundane reality of public preparedness to create and maintain sufficient water supplies and remedial land use practices (periodic clearing of deadwood and underbrush) to fight disastrous wildfires. Look in the mirror folks. Ain’t nobody to blame but Dems.
The last national election shows 10-12 previously blue counties in California turning red. This latest utter catastrophe will turn the state red. That’s my prediction. And I’m most certainly correct. It isn’t only handover twice the size of Manhattan that’s burned to a crisp along with entire communities of residential and commercial buildings and wealth. The reputations of Newsom and LA’s socialist/communist mayor and the statewide political party with it.
I am sorry about the discord in your family and hope that it improves. A woman in my extended family, who I liked, turned raging MAGA and hostile. I think there is a difference between those who get snared in the lies, and those who knowingly concoct them. Especially those who lie who accept positions of public trust.
Of course, cults must have a leader. What is different here is that chump has all kinds of money and power glom onto him like he has a magnetic field. So hope I live to see the pin prick the blimp and see the air deflate the whole mess. Since Ike is gone, it’s about all we have…
The pain of losing a family member to the MAGA cult of lies is hard. I am sorry for your troubles. My late mother's last vote was for T**** in 2016, and I'm still trying to deal with it.
it is tough, James. Maybe reject any anger or guilt as not being yours. Push it aside mentally and let your Neurons learn to do so automatically. Just a thought from what helps me.
Bruce, I don't know if this will help, or applies to your situation, and I’m probably going to regret saying anything at all, but it’s worth a try.
As I've said here, many times, I’ve maintained strong and close relationships with relatives and friends who happen to be Trump supporters. With very few exceptions, dependency, not politics, is the dividing line between us.
I was 17 when I started my business. While I worked for other companies through college, I kept my business going. Fifty years later, I closed my business and retired.
Very early on, I had to confront the fact, that my employee’s dependency on me creating work for them, was killing my business. Simply put, my company sold creative work which depends, entirely, on independent thinkers. Since dependent people cannot think creatively, I had to let them go. And so I ask…
Is your daughter dependent on other people, for work, income, and/or direction? If so, that might explain her attraction to Trump. Does she see in Trump, the traditional male role of provider in her life? This is a patriarchal society issue, not a daddy issue.
If you expect her to be an independent woman, and she wants to be dependent, she might feel attracted to Trump who promises to take care of her. If your daughter really likes being dependent, she is probably fighting to remain dependent. If she wants dependency enough, she will even fight you to get it.
Good points. None of my family MAGAts are dependent . They worked hard but are fearful that some undeserving person will get a crumb that should be theirs.
Very interesting Raffey. If you can find it, read my post later on in the stack about my experience in my business...we had the same instincts. I was able to implement some guidelines that made sense to some, but never enough.
To your comment: "Is your daughter dependent on other people?" That is an interesting question. Yes she is in a quasi Pyramid organization, and she works from home as the kids go to a coalition of home schooled ...schools. She has a trad marital relationship, and is in a very co-dependent relationship with her husband.
Yes, I agree with your assessment, and understand it. That doesn't mean I won't continue to remind her even while we are able to establish boundaries of behavior when I am with them. It is the only way that I can visit with my grandchildren. Just by being there, someone who is quite different in their lives, living 13 hours away by airplane, telling them about the strange, different history of their family. My "Leib" is with them, without breaking boundaries which would cut off access to them, even if it hurts to not try to teach them my truth.
Pretty simple, they're sucking eggs. And, when the eggs run out God will rescue them.. Their minds are made up. You're the one confused by 'facts'.. not them! Yupp.., just 'believe'. Need an example? How about the plane crash in S.Korea. Was that not an "act of God"? Huricane Helene? The Palisades? These jerks are "dependent" upon Trump, who, to them is an "act of god". Gag me!
I had children that went wild after their mother died. People deal with situations uniquely/differently. Mine were just MAD at the universe and had no one but me to take it out on. It took over twenty years of non-stop interventions on my part to reach any resolution at all. Now, things are coming together. We are speaking the same language. We all have to decide if we are in it for the long run. If we want truth and justice to prevail, we have to put in the work.
There is a lot of truth to what you say, Craig. My daughter's and Son's issues although very different had a similar nexus. Their mother left us to live with another man and his family, very abruptly. That has also been a long haul issue. And, I made several mistakes, which both hold me accountable to and will not forgive. With constant work, I have at least been able to visit with my grandkids, and my daughter with some degree of muzzling agreed to all round. My son, my best friend for so long, is a different story which I will not accost y'all with. At least he is not MAGA.
That's interesting Craig. First, so sorry for your loss and what happened with your children. My brothers both went a little crazy when our mother died. One a total q anon trumper the other just depressed and isolated but dependent on the trumper emotionally. Both have attacked me several times and now I'm just done...a very sad state of affairs I tried to avoid.
I'm so sorry to know you're going through this, Bruce. As parents, worry never really leaves our side and patience always seems to be in shorter supply when the worry pops to the forefront. Be good to yourself, please.
Accurate 1st Amendment "FreeSpeech" constitutional law is even misunderstood even by cops & many others.
See, anything by Professor Lawrence Tribe. See, also Ari Melber analyses. Ari handled the "1st Amendment" common confusion for SDNY in his earlier role as a federal Prosecutor. 👍
So much in so many ways, Kathy. That is an impossible question for me to answer satisfactorily. However, she does say, on Medical and health science issues, for example. That she has far more expertise than any doctor or scientist because of her amazing abilities as a researcher. Says the woman who flunked out of first year undergrad after a 4.0+ GPA throughout high School, providing entrance into one of our best and (I'll say it) most expensive Universities. Not that the money really matters, it's the general lack of respect for ones own future that I don't understand, and the coincident lack of respect for others, who have driven themselves to achieve their goals.
Unfortunately her attitude toward "Freedom from" distorts her views on many many subjects, where she gets her information, and how she applies it.
My eldest voted for trump not because he believes his bullsh*t… he’s a successful authoritarian who doesn’t care about the common good. When I said Republicans will raise the retirement age, he replied, “You can work.” I have quit talking to him.
bruce, I am very sorry that your daughter has become a conspiracy theorist. Fortunately, all the family here on the west coast are sane. I am not going to vouch for my family in the midwest being the same. I do not think they pay too much attention to politics and are in some kind of dismal swamp where those who have little education and scut jobs (if they have a job) dwell. They are very good, however, at producing children. I am about to become a great great aunt again and I think this makes it over a dozen.
"beyond the pale".., it certainly is Bruce. Trouble is, it's impossible for you and I or the rest of our fellow 48 percenters, to walk in the shoes of your daughter or any one else, in order to see things as they see em. And, to think that posting the 10 commandments all over the place is going to have some profound effect. While we're at that.., lets plaster Trumps puss on buildings along with the caption: E pluribus Unum.
If you’re not being called an anti-semite NAZI, you’re doing better than me. So sorry for your situation. Grown adults get to make their own choices I suppose. That doesn’t make it any easier
J L, already we have at least one House member who wants to withhold help from CA until the pols there have policies that are the same ugly propositions and laws that Rs inflict on people elsewhere.
As a Topangan I say we are always grateful for the fire crews. In awe of them, really. Our own at Station 69, and those who leave their faraway homes to join the battle, as well as the prisoners on the front lines.
They are a part of the government that dates back to Ben Franklin in our country, and I believe to thousands of years ago in Imperial Rome and China? And our government has forged international agreements not just with our neighbors, but with with countries as far away as Australia, where fires are also a major natural threat, made so much more deadly and unnatural by human waste and inaction.
May these catastrophes serve to break across boundaries of create a global resistance to the Oiligarchs and their new Plutocracy - the United States of America.
...And we won't copy Benjamin to go and secure our own allies in the upcoming fight. They have already sent out Elon. But he has been making mistakes, so the time is ripe for one of ours to go out. Were are they, WTF is going on, there seems to be a stunned silence. The Canadians and Danes and Mexicans are raising their voices. Let's allign with the Europeans, and get funding, alliance people. We have to get a coordinated hard edge going before he is inaugurated and the shit really starts coming down. Where is the Offensive coordinator for the DNC????
I'm a lot more familiar with the Altadena, Pasadena, Sierra Madre, and Arcadia areas, having worked there for a dozen years. Checking on the fires that are burning further than ever below the mountains (from near JPL to Sierra Madre in the east), I see some of the evacuation points where ordinary people put in so much extra help or the outside fire agencies stage to respond all along the fire lines.
As expected, the Santa Anita Horse Race Track is providing a spacious facility to operate in or from for fire crews and citizens helping each other.
Who in the world can teach us better practices in emergency preparedness and prevention?
I avoided it except passing it to get to a friend's house in Arcadia, mostly because I had no interest in something that close to gambling (my father was a gambling addict enough to nearly get him killed 50 years ago). Another reason was of its use to process 90,000 Japanese internees like George Takei and his family, before they were sent off to a longer term camp in Arkansas.
I'm glad to see it still being available for such good use, though.
P.S. I cheat a bit on my mostly vegetarian diet, justifying it as supporting fire fighters. I can't afford to do much but I still can't resist donating a bit when eating at Firehouse Subs. See their shift in donations from 99.06% R, 0.94% D in 2012, to 66.52% D, 33.48% R in 2020 at https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/firehouse-subs/totals?id=D000033667
Betsy, several people have mentioned in particular the crews from other countries as well as inmates fighting the fire. I did see one meme where it was apparent it was addressing false info put out by Rs. Very disgusting to see the attempts to divide and yet to take heart from the help that is coming from many places. We have family in Burbank and are glad they are OK, but they did post pictures of the sky, smoke, etc.
So sick. Here we are, in a real-time crisis dealing with Mother-nature, with a convicted mofo about to take charge.And, that incoming train is already off-the-rails. And, you know.., who'se gonna take (be given by MSN) the blame for the pile-up, right? God? Uh uh. Mother-nature be screwed, DEI's and Democrats are to blame! Oh yeah..., so sick!
Mark Elias did an interview with Allison Riggs (elected to the N.C. Supreme Court) about the GOP trying to throw out 60,000 votes to prevent her from taking her seat on the bench. Below is a link to the interview and info for those who would like to help with her legal costs. This is an IMPORTANT case because if the GOP is successful in N.C. they will try it in other states too.
There are 15 judges on the NC Court of Appeals; only 3 are Democrats. Allison Riggs’s re-election maintains the current makeup of the court. The Republicans changed judicial elections from nonpartisan to partisan. That automatically gives the NC courts the appearance of bias.
The Republicans have been grabbing power since 2011. Redistricting was only one of their power grabs, but it is the foundation that all their other power grabs are based on. It is all about personal power and lining their pockets and the pockets of those they favor. Public education at all levels has been one of their biggest targets.
For context, David R. Lewis (R-Harnett County) who was quoted in HCR’s post today as saying that he thought it was better to elect Republicans rather than Democrats. It was better for the country. Lewis was convicted of campaign finance violations because he tried to siphon money from his campaign to his family farm, his business. Such action is a form of fraud. He resigned from his legislative seat. He received probation. Of course, he did! The Republicans in NC are out for themselves, and they will use any means necessary to get and keep power. Google Phil Berger, who is the leader of the NC Senate. A disgusting person.
I hate what NC has turned into, but it’s not the only backward facing state at this point.
Yes, I donated because Justice Riggs has to pay court costs and this fight has dragged on and on. Please donate to help her: https://www.riggsforourcourts.com/
When justice and truth are in plain sight to even your average Joe without a law degree, how can courts rule in favour of corruption and be allowed to get away with it?
Sometimes HCR’s letters give me a pit in my stomach, too. And this is one of those times. I feel so disheartened at my fellow Americans. And frustrated that there’s so little than I can do. I’m so sorry, Lauren, at what you and other Californians are going through. It is just heart-wrenching, devastating to watch the devastation. I hope you’ll be able to stay safe where you are.
Lincoln was right; Mass public opinion even shifts the earth under SCOTUS. But that is exactly the tricky part JL, especially under the current circumstances wherein much of the MSM is complicit due to their business models.
Yes! Join your local Indivisible group or start one. The focus is totally on what we can do to protect our freedoms, our families, and our futures. This national movement is a rock star at getting support to the grassroots.
As a 48%'er, our strongest suite is going to be non-violent. A violent crowd will be met with overwhelming 'enforcement'.., resulting in arrests and confinement in many separate locations rendering the resistance neutered. Call it divide and conquer. I don't see 'the 48 percenters' capable of conducting a violent crusade. A massive movement.., shutdown.., refusal to co-operate, etc.., is possible though. Drowning out MSN being part of it. It's got to be solid - no tea-party. The night-time may be the right-time.
In 2016 we worked with people like the current head of the California Sierra Club, volunteers for Willie Velasquez's (non-partisan, enough for Rick Perry to declare May 9th "“Willie Velásquez Day” in Texas), Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project, and former ACORN community help organizations. Most I knew were obviously inclined to follow Martin Luther King Jr's non-violent principles (and work with members of both parties such as the Republicans who helped pass the Civil Rights and voting acts).
I was determined to leave if they ever accepted any volunteers that advocated fighting as dirty as a Republican fundraiser asked some of us to, "Fight dirtier than Democrats." I left the party because of that request. I sat back and just watched the first time a young couple came in to volunteer suggesting we should fight fire with fire. The leaders listened until they finished then told them we didn't accept any who would use such tactics (don't become the monsters you are fighting, in effect). They did stay and seemed willing to stick to our principles.
The former ACORN volunteers seemed particularly good at spotting provocateurs after their organization was split up by the likes of James O'Keefe. Many continued the good fight in splinter groups even more dedicated and focused after O'Keefe's treachery.
We are more dedicated than ever to the high road, ourselves, if for no other reason than any stooping to their level is massively counter-productive to winning public support.
I am very sorry for your losses. While we moved to Sacramento 10 years ago to be closer to our growing grandchildren, I spent the entirety of my life before that in SoCal, first as a child adjacent to the Palisades, then as an adult raising our family adjacent to Altadena. We are gutted by all of the losses, all of the suffering. These communities have lost so much. Our oldest friends lost their family home, and every day either we, or our children, hear of someone else we know, or know of, who have suffered same. It is so exhausting, and now with the regime change about to take place, not sure where I will find the energy to get through the next four years.
I am borrowing a quote by Ram Dass: Whether tomorrow brings the apocalypse or not, our work is the same: Love one another and alleviate suffering for all. This helps me so much. I hope it helps you, too. There are many examples of support and selflessness during the fires while our so-called leaders-to-be throw foul-mouthed invectives. This is a battle of love vs. hatred.
Last night's 60 Minutes from Altadena and Pacific Palisades was just heart breaking. I thought of every little square viewed from above as unit of sorrow, each family bearing its burden of loss. We simply must find ways to support these Americans, even as the president-elect casts derision on elected California officials. Just as those poor people in North Carolina lost their communities to flooding and, later political plundering, we must make sure their voices are heard and their needs addressed.
I would like to see so much emphasis by our government (present administration!!) to provide unprecedented (expenditure$$, manpower, equipment, resources) to assist these two recent natural disasters that it eclipses the inauguration. These people need much more than "community cohesiveness". This is an American disaster in the making.
Compare Clinton's competent , dedicated and fully supported FEMA director James Lee Witt's clean up of the Hurricane Andrew mess after August of Bush 41's administration and early Clinton administration, then the Republican trashing the reforms at FEMA back to the "Turkey Farm" model as Senator Fritz Hollings called it, in the Bush 43 years. The incompetence and lack of support showed how disastrous that could be in the Hurricane Katrina "response."
Thank God Altadena and the Palisades areas are receiving the Democratic version of FEMA aid (which also responded to all disasters in Red states with the best they had, no political games in infrastructure improvements and disaster response).
There was a photo that broke through my protected approach to all the horror and moved me to understand the power and strength of the people who are suffering but not ever giving up. It was one of the photos of the evacuation of a care home for the elderly. The evacuation order only gave them minutes to get everyone out so they came up with a plan to move everyone to a parking lot a block away where others were organizing transport to get them to safety. It was all being done on a wing and a prayer, trusting that the transportation would be there when they reached the parking lot.
The photo was of a very old woman hunched in a wheeled chair, gripping the arms of the chair and hanging on for dear life.The wheels were the small ones put on a rattan patio chair so you can move it around your deck... not an actual wheel chair. Pushing the chair was another woman, not young, gripping the back of the chair, leaning into the push to add every ounce of her strength. Behind them was an advancing wall of flame and smoke and death.... but they were not deterred. They were grim but they were moving. They were going to get to that parking lot. The elderly woman would be whisked away to safety. The other woman would wheel that chair back and get another resident who needed to take that ride. The strength, the determination, the courage were all there and they were inspiring, fighting through the fire, the smoke and the heat, saving lives. It was the worst of times. It was the best of humanity.
I was concerned about the MonteCedro Retirement Community a block away from the Eliot school where I used to attend Pasadena IBM User Group (PIBMUG) evening meetings. It seems to have been evacuated the 1st day but eventually almost completely surrounded by fire and partially burnt down by midnight last night.
I suspect the picture you saw might have been evacuation from The Terraces at Park Marino, less than a mile and a half from where I worked in the Hastings Ranch portion of Pasadena and about a half mile from the Pasadena High School and Victory Park area where the Rose Parade Floats park before the Floatfest is expanded to be displayed along East Washington Blvd and Sierra Madre Blvd for a day or two. Since a number of our employees were volunteers, they would take guests to see the Floats parked there later in the day of the parade. Seeing the Floats after the parade was easier than trying to get a good spot to watch it, especially when the engineers could describe the features of the floats that could shrink them to fit under the freeway overpass and other ways of adding motion of features.
Memories like that make me think about why so much of the public isn't as concerned about global warming as I am. It seems too personal to me and other people who think about how such areas are immune to climate change (at least before the catastrophes). I've traveled much of the areas devastated by these particular fires so, to me, these are at least a hint of large urban areas usually only destroyed in wars in other countries.
It feels inexcusable to not have tried to prevent as much of it as possible, at least somewhat like we did during WWII with blackouts and Civil Defense preparations. We were somewhat prepared but spared the worst of the needs compared to so much of the rest of the world where the fighting and bombings created such greater need.
Better to be prepared relative to the real risks and not need it than to not be prepared. Better to do the real work of lowering the risk by ding the greater attention to rational long term climate warming prevention than too late attempts at adaptation.
Does it have to happen in their neighborhoods to make it real to them (way too late)?
A good number of years ago when my own daughter was in elementary school, I had a part time job in a bank branch. Another of us had a very young child who was diagnosed with cancer. A customer was tacky enough to ask my colleague how she was able to cope. She managed to say, “One day at a time, one hour at a time, sometimes one minute at a time” while the rest of us sat in stunned silence. We are in that situation now, and will get through in the same way: one day, one hour, one minute. We can also take heart that with Letters like this, a bright light shines on the tactics being used to disenfranchise voters as NC is trying to do, information that was not so available 200 years ago. I am convinced that Washington, where I live, has one of the best, if not *the* best election system in the country, implemented by a Republican Secretary of State, Kim Wyman …who now has a job in election security in the Biden administration (can you even imagine P-E Trump, CF, having such an office?). We started with ballot drop boxes, though not that many at first. Every year more were added. We could mail ballots via USPS for the cost of a stamp, but that wasn’t quite so easy for many voters. Every year more drop boxes were added; a few years ago the King County Executive announced that the county would make its ballots postage-paid. That way, people who didn’t have a drop box near them - yet - would have an easier time voting. More conservative counties erupted that it was unfair to them; the Governor, a Democrat, agreed and said that the state would make ALL ballots postage paid. Our processing systems are secure, unconnected to the internet. Secretary Wyman also wanted to register automatically all young residents on their 18th birthday. So: we can do this: we can emulate Mrs. Pence, we can buoy our spirits with the Full Frontal episode titled “Trump in Scotland”, and think of new and creative ways to mock him. As the farmer said, “He’ll crack up.” Join the League of Women Voters, any group that can create links with other states…
I miss mutual greetings from election workers, and the polling place, but mail-in voting works and leaves a physical paper trail. Wyman is one of the very few Republicans I ever voted for.
I mentioned it before, but I find much to admire in books by Edith Eger.
Indeed, this was one of the best changes in our political processes that we have made here in Washington State. Now if only we could rewrite our constitution and make it a legal framework instead of the disastrous list of elevated and amended laws that it is; or maybe we could straighten out our state's horrible tax system which has to be one of the most regressive in the country. And oh, the ferry system is short five much needed boats, and way understaffed. Oh well - one battle at a time. We are making progress slowly but surely. And yeah, I have to confess that I broke my usual rule of not voting for any R's and consistently voted for Kim. She did a fantastic job.
So deeply sorry for the losses in Southern California, and your town in particular. What a horrid tragedy. I can only imagine how overwhelmed you are with the chaos in the country, let alone suffering through the fires' losses. Concentrate on what little you can control right now and know that the majority of us across our country are with you in spirit.
Lauren, it’s no wonder you feel the way you do. You are witnessing and living in trauma. You rightly feel grief and loss. Give yourself time to process all of this. Seek out supportive friends, and be kind to yourself. We will be here when you’re ready to re-join the fight.
''...when a Republican candidate calls for throwing out the votes of 60,000 voters to declare victory in an election he lost, they have abandoned the principles of democracy in favor of a one-party state that will operate in their favor alone...''
My stomach hurts, too. From this letter, sadly. And from a friend's son in Altadena who told his mom across the country, "Don't worry. The fire is 35 miles away." Then, within the hour, they escaped with only the clothes on their backs and their lives. Everything turned to ash. Your sorrows are my sorrows.
I am sorry for your family's loss in California. While I can understand nature's flames of destruction, I am at a loss in understanding Maga's desire to burn down our democracy. Sadness overwhelms me.
Lauren, I almost hate to say I “like” your post. Please take the heart ❤️ as a hug, to you and your neighbors. Don’t worry about our foolishness here in NC. We stand with you and there are people in our state who stand ready to help our friends in Cali.
I taught in Altadena and to see the devastation is life-rattling as it truly is for so many friends and colleagues; I keep wondering how my former students are fairing. And I, too, had that gut punch feeling after reading this letter. To see how quickly the fires have been blamed on everyone and everything except science and geography is sickening. Indeed, exhausted in SoCal.
I am so sorry for the devastation in LA - parts appear to have been vaporized. Words can't express how tragic it is or how my heart aches for you all. Our son was born in LA and, while we haven't lived there for many, many years, I still feel that connection.
What boggles my mind is the energy that these (apparently) talented people are expending on these devious ploys, while real problems, like homelessness & hunger are so prevalent. These issues could actually be resolved with this sort of determination, yet it is spent on control & greed. Oh my gawd, it is getting more disappointing by the hour. 😥
As a linguist I can see a creative beauty in the synonyms you create. Flamboyant words like gerrymandering and filibuster to replace a good hardworking Anglo Saxon word like "cheat".
Thank you Christopher, from the deeply gerrymandered state of Fl. Oh, our governor drew the congressional districts. Although, they have been declared unconstitutional, I’ve heard nothing about the court case that was supposed to take place after the election. I’m so sick and disgusted with all of the cheating, my vote is worth nothing in this state. 😢
Phyllis, you deserve many liked because you are describing what's going on in many states and that's only one of the ways the 1% billionaires and the maga minority are going to try to stay in power no matter what. It's important to be on top of that reality day in day out. Please keep posting about it. People need to open their eyes!!!. Thanks for your input.
Katherine I think you are paying attention to the real problem. As tragic as the fires in California are, you used the phrase "losing power" to focus on what the 1% and maga is doing to the democracies in this country and abroad.
I've been writing lately that once those people gain powe as they been doing in some states and in the last election in most of the country, they are going to be in control for a long, long time . For those of us that hope the midterm election is going to take some of that power away and then in four years we'll be back in the White House, I think don't have the whole clear picture of how deeply the situation changed already. They been secretively for at least since Regan times, little by little, planning, executing, trying again and investing billions of dollars. Such an effort and investment finally presented them with control of the 3 branches of government and the media. They are not to risk all that plying nice and in one or few elections. They are here to stay they have contingency plans. We have to open our eyes and act ASAP. What's going on in NC is proof enough. Look Oklahoma , Texas and Wisconsin to name a few states. And pay attention to the relentless campaign against Governor Newsom, most likely one of the leading presidential contender for the next election due " his criminal behavior during the fires " .Stay put.
Don't forget to blame all of the fire on the response of "lesbian firefighters" based on the first female LAFD Chief, who is lesbian, and has been with LAFD for 22 years.
Absolutely Mike, hope is not a plan but we have to have a clear and realistic view of the field where we have to confront them and their strengths and weaknesses before drowning plans. Time is essential here, not to waste any or we risk everything. We have to start using what we have at hand already, our leaders and legislators by pressuring them to take action, create obstacles at every step to prevent them to establish total control.
I also think that the vile lies being spread about the LA fires is part of the longterm strategy. Blue California is not as unified as the pundits would have us believe. The "Newscum" just might trigger some gun nut to try to rid the state of our governor (I truly hope he has top level security!). Taking over California is the dream...and if the lies get loud enough, the reactionaries might bring back the Reagan era. I hope not but I live in a red part of the state.
You are absolutely right Juanita. They are counting on flipping California red and expect 4 years of relentless media lies and calls for investigations . In response Governor Newsom opened a website to counteract those lies. Where's your megaphone Governor?????
Those falling down the economic ladder don’t have power, that’s the point of cutting taxes for the wealthy and cutting services for ordinary Americans and those in need. Money = power.
Some people have little imagination and less empathy, so if they're not homeless or hungry themselves, they can't understand the plight of those who are.
You hit the nail on the head - the lack of empathy. So many are no longer capable of it - I’ve wracked my brain trying to figure that one out. ASD is much more prevalent, along with more narcissism - I mean, it just wasn’t so obvious 30 years ago, now it’s every time I turn around. Empathy isn’t really something that can be taught (seems like we all used to have it - not so any longer). 😥
Republicans do whatever they want; they don’t follow rules because for all intent and purpose there are literally no consequences. Litigating is inconsequential when it comes to people who have money, power and tactics to delay things. They are above the law. Rules, equity and ethics only work when people have a code of honor, or at a minimum some self respect. Here, we are being told that they will cheat and steal votes; let the litigating begin. The lying and alternative facts have been normalized-lying, cheating, stealing. Welcome to America.
But they love to say things like "no one is above the law," or "justice for all" as they take away the right to vote or make medical choices about our own bodies.
TR, so much for the hallowed "rule of Law" as Joyce calls it in her Substack. Since when has the ever been a rule of Law under our constitution. In America, it has always been the "Law of the Ruler". So what do you do about that? Constitutional reform. We (with our Allies) gave another country and thereby the region a new basic law which works pretty well in 1949. I speak of Germany and parts of Europe. Maybe we should look at that again.
The Dems, thru dark money sources, collected and spent $1.3 billion in 11 weeks of campaigning. Far, far more than trump. Money, power and tactics didn’t work FOR the Dems. So why complain.
In some cases it goes beyond "lack of empathy". That lack of empathy is one of the traits listed in a description of "psychopathy". For example, consider the practice during 45's term where asylum-seeking families were separated without keeping records of where their children were sent. That was the work of a psychopath. They are not just indifferent to the lives of other people, they are hostile. And they have managed to convert people with good hearts to vote for their evil ways. More than 11% of Americans are living in poverty -- more than 30 million of US. These people need our empathy.
I’ve never seen more damaged people elevated to places of power who have for the entire lives been boosted by making others hurt. Whether they were the schoolyard bully, the racist landlord, the theme of sexual assault is pretty rampant, the cage match beat downs, etc.
And America said, “ok, I’m hurting, may as well vicariously hurt others.”
Mark Zuckerberg built an empire on rating woman as farm animals, harming out kids, etc and now won’t even supply truth? Whose speech is being protected. His other Harvard twin bros brought legitimacy to drug dealers and child pimps, rapists via Bitcoin. They peddle addition for pro and video games to the point of men failing in school, relationships or simple eye contact. They stalk and follow and track via the internet every thing we do and ask we say thank you.
Apple tags are just the newest way to hunt - but don’t forget it’s illegal to put them on people! Thanks for the get out of jail free card when they are slipped into significant others, workers, politicians, bosses. Yes, our completely law abiding society will only use that for luggage and wallets! Because we haven’t seen any sort of privacy invasion used to hurt people. And yet we seem to be totally helpless. Just a tiny kitten in a tree when miraculously, other nations can say, “um, no. Sell your product of harassment of teens, addiction and laundering money for arms and drug dealers some other way.”
Funny @uck isn’t doing away with fact checkers worldwide. Just here. Just to be shoved into a locker by MAGA. I guess all those martial arts cage matches didn’t grow a spine.
You're right. CFDT spouts his nonsense 24/7/365, so we become outraged for 5 minutes and then he brings up another stupid thing like immigrants eating pets.
And that is what our corporate media gloms on to instead of the fact that CFDT was crushed in his debate with Kamala and then refused to debate her again.
How many times has the corporate media pointed out that CFDT is a demented fool unqualified to be President. Instead, they focus on his latest ridiculous diversion.
CFDT has arguably picked 4 or 5 cabinet candidates that are unqualified to do anything and yet the media and Republicans have mostly accepted that they might actually be approved to positions that only CFDT can remove them from.
Exactly. Apathy will destroy us. Can’t tell you how many people I love and respect just shrug or worse, don’t want to hear factual reporting.
The people about to take over are not dumb. They are master salesmen who give what they have collected decades of data to distract people from any control over their lives.
Deep dive into how destroying the Dept of Ed might lead to privatizing student loans and giving private schools (religious and otherwise) taxpayer money or mindless labradoodle videos and guys getting hit in the nuts after a day at work?
We know the answer. But when your kids schools can’t afford pencils and the other side of town where they make 30 X more than you are sending their kid private, you might want to learn a bit. As far as I’ve heard, there is no wealth restriction on vouchers. So the guy making 750,000 a year will have his kid’s tuition supplemented by the single dad making 50k and praying his kid will get a decent education.
As a person familiar with private schools, the big draw is donations and literally not allowing kids in. The idea is to appear exclusive. So do MAGA a parents with a 80k salary think their kid, even with the voucher, will be attending school with the billionaire babies? And even if by the genetic gods, they are good athletes, they will need to travel most certainly 30, 40, 1 hour away. Hopefully their boss doesn’t mind work hours from 9 to 3 because they aren’t supplying buses.
Opportunistic narcissists only ever see themselves.
Scarily, Musk doesn’t even seem to have any love for his own child and made making the lives of children like his own flesh and blood miserable.
Why would he in a million years are about others children or their future?
Donald Trump seems not overly concerned with the people he brought into this world. He’s going to care about my kids and grandkids?
Peter Thirel….no kids. According to JD Vance he should be running a daycare for the employees of factories. Oh, wait, childless cat ladies get the diapers, childless cat dudes get the kings to the kingdom even though they also, according to Vance, have no allegiance to the perpetuity of America.
If is true that Mu$k doesn't have any love for his own children, and I agreed it's totally true, what to expect to get from him when his decisions in government stat affecting the rest of us, the no related in flesh and blood (luckily). Felon 34 belongs to the same breed obviously preferring one over the others. Rupert Murdock also in the same trend with only one of his clan in charge of his empire and the rest dismissed as second class relatives.
As for Peter Thiel, I think he adopted Manchurian candidate Vance. Apparently it was love at first sight and he is being groomed at high speed to appear in official photos, smile and insult women. Official function as they say.
Bottom line, you can't run a country as it were a business.
And the sheeple vote for them because they can spew hate and fear. The Republicans have found a way to buy their way into several Senate seats like JD, Cruz, Scott, etc. with their lies and disinformation.
As one writer I read recently said, “MAGA has nothing to offer. All they have left is cruelty.” We on the other hand, have hearts and hands to offer our scared and struggling people.
Some people seem obsessed with lording over others. It seems to be humanity's actual original sin, and the historical source of most of humanity's avoidable sufferings. Abuse of power is, literally is, evil. Throughout history some have dreamed of societies in which people prosper in peace, but that state is always fragile, and never completed large scale. I keep thinking that we, as a people, could deescalate violence if we chose to.
For a moment, imagine an America without corporations. When I imagine such an America, I see a country where everyone stands on a level playing field... a country without the wealth and power that only corporations can accumlate, and no man can generate on his own... a country that nurtures creativity, innovation, independent thinking and collaboration... a country that puts children first... a country that values peace more than wealth and happiness more than strife... a country where fair is an adult word, not a child's word.
I don't have to imagine that. We, as citizens, had that vision starting with the Progressive movement in the late 19th century. Continuing with Brandeis anti trust law and then with FDR and the New Deal. Corporate power must be checked by the countervailing power of government regulation and enforcement power to promote fairness and competition. We had that in our grasp, but gave it up with the election of Nixon and Reagan.
Gregg, I was talking about ending corporations altogether, and putting business people back in control of business. Government can serve as a capital accumulator for public good, much better than corporations.
It's their plan Jonathan, they planned and invested long and big for this moment. They are here to stay. The remaining question is what to do about it.
Yes, witness the insurrection. Which succeeded In the long run.
The most serious mistake Joe Biden made in his presidency was not immediately pursuing punishment of Trump and his enablers. Because of Garland‘s foot-dragging we are now preparing for a second Trump term.
The Republican supermajority in our (MO) legislature fight the results of every referendum that they don't approve of. So much for the much vaunted "will of the people." They are hell bent on creating a fascist theocracy that they don't even try to hide it anymore. (Hawley is my "representative. Dog help me).
Don't get me started about the fine art of gerrymandering here in NC. They carve towns and counties up into little odd-shaped quilt pieces and stitch districts back together in contorted ways. This state is so progressive in so many ways and places but 50 years behind in others. As a former Chicagoan, I thought I'd seen it all but NC continues to surprise me monthly.
I live in North Carolina currently and have lived here since 1975. I have seen all the craziness upfront. It’s exasperating to vote to learn this challenge is going on to the NC State Supreme Court.
Jeff Jackson was my US House member and he was gerrymandered out and then chose to run for Attorney General of NC.
I am appalled by the political tricks going on now. Reading tonight’s letter, thank you, Heather Cox Richardson, for the historical perspective. The patterns of our past are repeating themselves. This, sadly, doesn’t mean progress at all. Repeating bad patterns for political gain, power, influence and control limits/restricts “we the people “ in favor of the powerful. This has not been a successful strategy for sustained progress. It undermines democracy. It undermines democratic principles and values.
Which Department of Justice? The US Department of Justice or in NC? I don’t know what Jeff Jackson, the new Attorney General or Josh Stein, our new Governor can do.
The NC Dept if Justice is party-aligned and generally gop. That's one reason this race is so important. I was surprised down here to learn justices have short terms and run on party sponsorship. Of all the positions that could have term limits here, it's the governor and justices. NOT LEGISLATORS.
Vicky, what they are doing in NC it's one of the many experiments they might apply to other states and vice-versa. They are here to stay and be prepared to hear "we have a mandate" at nauseum.
Eventually, the US will have to pass laws that forbid gerrymandering. If we avoid a catastrophic dictatorship and manage to regain control of our country.
The failure of the founders to protect the right to vote as inviolate strikes me as a huge oversight. It seems to me that the mission of the Constitution is blatantly undermined by any schemes to distort equal justice, protection, and representation of any citizen that is otherwise qualified to vote.
Even if by honest error, deprivation or unreasonable barriers to the right to vote should be considered an intolerable injury to both affected individuals and the whole of society; and actively remedied. The vote-distorting shenanigans $COTUS winks at are Tyrannosaurus-rex-in-room corrupt as hell, and a clear and present danger to the Republic.
The right to vote, and have every vote count, needs to be held sacrosanct.
The Founders envisioned a Republic where only white men of property could vote, so saw no need to protect that. Unless you add another amendment to protect everyone’s right to vote, or better still, replace your 18th Century document with one fit for a modern democracy, I can’t see how you can protect your country from the anti-democratic power grabs of those who believe the Founders were right.
I’m not saying it will be easy, but did your ancestors have it easy? Was it easy to wrest the Civil Rights Act or the 19th Amendment from « white men of property »? Did mine, who were left alone to fight Hitler in 1940 ? Fighting fascism and plutocracy to obtain more power for ordinary citizens is never easy.
Your reply is well taken Sophie. I never said we should not try because it would be hard. I'm just pointing out who we are going to confront and how well organized they are. We should fight and prevail. I'm with you 💯 %.
Joanna, ask the 1% billionaires class and ignorant maga if they think it is your inalienable right. See what's happening in NC, Texas Florida, Wisconsin just to name a few.
Remember that the founders we so revere were themselves slaveholders and wealthy white MEN. They were just as interested in preserving their property rights as self determination by ballot.
Self determination was, after all, only a right accorded to white MEN.
It's really no surprise this fatal flaw in our origination documents haunts us to this day.
This is the most succinct comment I have seen yet regarding HCRs post today. YES to what you wrote here. It summarizes everything that has gone so wrong for the U.S. in recent years - One corrupted political party ie Republicans cheating and maneuvering to win, with disregard for the rule of law and the rights of voters. So much needs fixing and it's easy to get distracted by all the side shows and drama -but the solution starts with crystal clear focus on defining the problem.
Have AI tackle the job of setting up fair congressional districts, and then have Congress vote to mandate pursuant to the 14th amendment that the states redistrict in accordance with the results. Then Republicans can challenge the new law and take it to our current Supreme Court - where good ideas go to die.
I think they are going to start a new Civil War if they start loosing elections, if we have them (?) .Because they invested so much time planning and so much money, they won't allow some elections results to be on their plans to keep power .
Christopher it's not how much only, it's also for how long. They had planned that situation for a long time and invested fortunes . They are not going to loose another election,by design. Controlling the 3 branches of government and the media and not having any concience it's almost a guarantee to stay in power.
This breakdown of North Carolina politics—and I have lots of friends and colleagues who teach in the UNC system, which has been historically inclusive, liberal, and challenging of the status quo—demonstrates exactly what Jamelle Bouie wrote in his Friday column in The NY Times: there was no “peaceful transfer of power” in the federal election. The neofascists and christofascists won. So they took office because Dems followed the rules and let them. But what if Harris had won? Would there have been a “peaceful transfer of power”? Vide North Carolina.
The Democratic Party failure to invoke section 3 of amendment 14 shows they were not in the election to win. And using section 3 of amendment 14 actually would be playing by the rules of the constitution. So to me, the party is a total disgrace.
Please don’t take my comments as directed at you, they are not. The NYT’s perspective is cynical and irresponsible at best, considering their role in consistently upholding narratives that sustain oligarchs main goals, and undermining the Biden/Harris administration. With that said, President Biden is still the President, and the Commander in Chief, still responsible for upholding the Oath to defend our Constitution, IMHO.
Zelita, the NYT editor is a total m*therf*cker kowtowing to the owners. I absolutely agree. But Jamelle is an independent actor and if you read his stuff, he takes them to task on a regular basis. Nick Kristoff quit in part because one of his op-ed pieces was rejected. I am sure that Bouie is getting lots of pushback and I am also sure he would dump the Times if they cross him. He is one of the most compelling voices who just happens to publish a weekly essay in the Times--but he can be found elsewhere as well.
What to do? When the rules don't hold? I an seeing comments here today about a revolution or civil war.
There has to be a resistance and " the pendulum has to swing". I keep thinking about how narrow Trumps victory was. Half of the voters wanted Kamala for our next president. We are still here.
I am not sure what happens next. Maybe there has to be a period of waiting while we understand what exactly this new administration will do. Will it be Trump or will it include Musk or will this be Project 2025? Then it will be clear what we are fighting against. We definitely have to return to " following the rules," protecting our democracy and honoring our Constitution. We can't let this plundering and greed and creating laws and policies based on the beliefs of extremist minorities . This must be stopped. I am not sure how yet.
Stephanie, thanks for your reply. I don't have all the answers to your concerns and the answers I have, don't know if they are the right ones, but I try anyway. Regarding what to do when the rules don't hold? Create new rules, some of them like those used by our opponents even if they run against our nature of decent people. Definitely I'm not proposing a revolution or civil war although we might be forced into it. Remember that in that situation we might lose which would be the end of everything. The half that voted for Kamala is still there, providing we counteract the massive misinformation thrown at them with clear, simple and massive messaging, laud and clear!!!!
Definitely it shouldn't be a period of waiting to figure out which direction felon 34 will drive our country. Any direction would be catastrophic, and will give them time to consolidate.
What to do??? The hardest question Stephanie and the most consent of them all. Since they are our "first responders" we should put a lot of pressure on our leaders and legislators to block and obstaculice, even legally every intent by maga and felon 34 to implement proyect 2025 and in the meantime find a way to convey our message to we the people mostly towards the working class if which we lost a good part of it and apologize for neglecting them during the Clinton and Obama administration.
They are going to screw up big time on almost everything and they are going to try distraction as usual. I can keep going Stephanie but for today I think we have enough to think. 🤗
. . . And each time I look for an update on the horrific LA fires (I am so, so sorry to those here who are directly affected by them) I see another awful lie spread by Trump and his right-wing media megaphone. Just now, he posted a picture of the Hollywood Hills (with Hollywood sign) burning, with the words "TRUMP WAS RIGHT". And Republicans in the House are already talking about how they will withhold federal funding from California unless various "conditions" are met.
What is the MOST ironic thing is that California sends so much federal money to the "taker" states - the red states. California is the fifth largest economy in the entire world. And to be vilified by these uninformed GOP members? Crazy.
I'd love to see Newsom figure out a way around the tax code to keep some of our CA tax dollars from heading to the Plutocracy's coffers this year. Let the Billionaire's Congress figure out how to fund their Red State pork barrel projects without our largesse. Sorry, I try not to be selfish, and I know we are basically feeding the poor in the South, and wherever Walmart and Amazon Dist. Centers are the only jobs left, but it is really starting to rankle.
Especially when we could be spending it here to develop new Green Tech and Sustainable Farming and to AI and its guardrails, and of our course, Housing and services for our own poor and homeless, in a state suffering from its own success and income inequality.
I only regret that there is so much lying about the fire. The real problem is the climate change Republicans pretend isn’t happening, and the president elect’s bff is out there using his social media site to spread lies and misinformation.
Yes Joanna, Newsom started a website and the orde owns the media and the megaphone and they are going to relentlessly use against the governor, possible a contender for the next presidential election, if we ever have another one. They won't stop shouting for four years. Good luck with your website Governor 👍.
P D, don't forget to share the link, at any time, no rush.
I lived in a purple Florida county. De Santis chopped a little blue off one end, added some red on the other and now we are solidly red. Years ago voters amended the constitution to discourage gerrymandering . Republicans have spent millions of taxpayers money evading it. They have also made it harder to vote and vote early. Im afraid this could get lots worse really fast.
Heather's reporting on North Carolina politics today only reaffirms everything Didion was writing in the last years of her life.
She was reporting, really, from many places. But Washington D.C. politicians underlined all the more the charades, the lives-in-abstractions, and the repetitions of similarly dehumanized power players (both parties) all playing only that they and their teams stay in power.
Didion had to repeat, often, that these games always went on totally and completely apart from any factual observations of the public at whose expense the elites indulged their charades.
I can't let a comment equating "both parties" slip by without a caution. "Politicians are all the same" and "both parties are corrupt" have been the PR of the powerful (read WASP patriarchy) since our union was founded. It continues to work, thanks to the willingness of engaged leftists to let perfection be the death of progress in our limited electoral system. There is a CLEAR difference between the parties, and women have Always been able to see it more clearly than men, at least in one life or death aspect.
Please be careful not to smear Democrats with the same brush as Republicans this way.
Please, Patrice, note one key difference between today's era and that of Joan Didion.
She very specifically chronicled how both political parties in the 1980s and '90s limited their public utterances to abstractions, team slogans, stereotypes of the other, and other packaging rhetoric. The worse part of this for her was the relentless predictability that both parties would, for their conceits, also avoid citations of "observable fact" as any decent writer or journalist knows should be key.
Joan Didion's alarm at these behaviors then yet obtain today insofar as American schools went full throttle since then to stigmatize anyone ever using any humanities. Thus the parties Heather cites in North Carolina today show themselves all aloof from, illiterate to parallels to any novels, memoirs, histories, films, or other arts aptly grounding policy and politics in observable human circumstances.
I disagree. Didion wrote from a strictly privileged perspective. A second reading of "The Year of Magical Thinking" convinced me that she was completely detached from, and incapable of understanding, how the majority of people live.
Of course you're correct, Katherine, in some ways.
She was born to and raised in an affluent northern California family. She knew publishing success at an early age and had the benefit all her life of access to the best publishing houses in New York and the best film studios in Hollywood, for whom she and her husband co-wrote many successful screenplays.
She knew everybody in power.
Of all this, yes, something like "The Year of Magical Thinking" sets her as insider elite.
But you err, Katherine, if you ignore the many other books of journalism where she was on the ground -- widely in the U.S. and similarly so in foreign countries where she could see and did see, did report on the damages done by U.S. elites and covered up by U.S. institutions, from universities to government agencies she knew and named all too well.
I’m heartsick at what’s going on in North Carolina, where I lived from 1991 to 2014. I remember the years when voting rights were expanding. And I remember the 2010 census and the subsequent REDMAP gerrymandering with “surgical precision” to create a minority rule.
I volunteered in NC in October to help elect Josh Stein. I’m furious that the NC legislature is looking for, and finding, ways to constrain him and his AG. It’s un-American. 😡
Nothing says we cannot build a platform that will draw voters on both sides. We can present the things we know that are needed. A single-payer universal healthcare system has been a dream. It would save us $460 billion a year. Why have we not proposed that???? Free child care. Free college. Supplemental income below $30,000. Why have we not proposed that???? Free school lunches. Why not? It is needed and it is time. Why not? A lack of courage is why not. Did you know that courage is what overcomes fear? Would a brave soul stand up, one that can infuse us with courage? https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/start-our-movement?r=3m1bs
But all of those have been proposed over and over! And they've been blocked over and over. It's not that Democrats don't propose or even make serious efforts to make those things happen.
Still, there have been pilot programs for supplemental or universal basic income, and they've done well.
And here in New Mexico, we do have free school lunches for all kids in public schools.
the people/corporations who make money under the present system work very hard and spend a lot of money to ensure that the presesent system does not change. Health insurers do not want a single-payer universal health care system. Where is their role in that? Nowhere - so they resist. Likewise income supplements - but they go to people that for Republicans are the wrong color.
So many reforms that could be possible, but money and racism and blunt stupidity ensure that they are fervently opposed, even by people who would benefit from them. Alas...
As the richest nation in the world, we do not have universal health care, we have untold numbers of homeless people, we have children who go to school hungry every day, and children who live in cars with their families. My daughter lives in Germany. People pay into the health care system, but they have excellent health care. About three years ago I needed a CT scan and had to pay out of pocket. The cost of the scan was 40 euros, about $40. If people want additional services that are not covered, they can pay out of pocket, but they don't have to mortgage their homes to do so.
The balance in the legislature will change in 2026. It is the 2028 platform that can change this. The people have to opt for this as a platform for it to become an Act, and it will take a good margin in House and Senate. It is that journey of 1000 miles.
So wrong so unbelievable Denying the votes and choices of citizens And agree with comments above feel the immorality and anti democratic principles of this in pit of stomach And all of this with the fires blazing destroying and a immoral so called president elect - if really elected - who doesn’t care
Sometimes HCR's letters give me a pit in my stomach. This is one of those times. The school where my mom was principal for 15+ years burned down in Altadena this past week - a school where I painted the Kinder classrooms for a few summers -- and today's letter managed to make me further worried. UGH. Exhausted in SoCal.
I am so sorry for the overwhelming losses you are going through. You must be completely weary, and the news just adds to your exhaustion. I don't know that it will help, but please know there are many of us who care very much. Many of us who will contribute and assist in any way we can.
The outpouring of community has been incredible - Community gets sh!t done - even if tRumpf's "gov" wont.
That has been my experience in every community no matter where it is across the US. Whether it's hurricanes in FL, tornados in NE, or Noreasters in ME neighbors help each other.
And when the job is too big for friends and neighbors to handle, that's when FEMA and the Red Cross are there to help.
Gary, and, it's people all over the country who support FEMA with taxes and the Red Cross with donations. We really are one nation. I just wish more people believed it instead of a sad, angry old man who cares for nothing and no one but money, power, and all of that for himself.
I don't trust FEMA. Back when Hurricane Irene hit NJ, FEMA let me down. I didn't have flood insurance because I wasn't in a flood zone. My house became an island and the walls sucked up the water like a dry sponge. I had it tested and found there were over 10 different kinds of mold including fecal coliforms, yes shit. I applied to FEMA and they kept turning me down. I finally found out there was no line item for that particular disaster for mold or mildew damage. I had to leave my house after a month with respiratory problems and finally had to do a short sale on my house to get rid of it. I know this is way different for the people of California and I pray FEMA works real hard for them. I just lost faith in them. I pray for everyone involved with these terrible fires everyday.
That is terrible. Just always remember, republicans set things in motion to make sure the government agencies don't work
true but Irene was well into the Obama era. There may have been a real problem at FEMA that isn't partisan
Jeanne, I’m SO sorry. That’s just terrible.
James Lee Witt was the best director of FEMA according to the emergency responders I knew in California back in the 1990s after he stepped in following Hurricane Andrews Response during the late Bush 41 Administration. He headed FEMA in what I think of as their golden years, especially compared to what Appointees before and after him did. The California Emergency Responders I knew said none of the best in the country would accept the position the way the Bush 43 Administration wanted it to be run.
See https://truthout.org/articles/part-two-fema-and-disaster-a-look-at-what-worked-and-what-didn-t-from-a-fema-insider-1993-2000/
A sample:
"...First, “People.” When Witt took over at FEMA in 1993, employee morale could only be described as being at rock bottom. The agency had often been held up to public ridicule during the heyday of nuclear civil defense and now was an object of contempt following its seeming indifference to the plight of Hurricane Andrew's many victims.
But the employees of FEMA felt they were getting a bad rap. Why should they be blamed for the mistakes and failures of their bosses? FEMA employees wanted to support the agency's mission, but found themselves pushed aside or ignored when they tried to do so. Moreover, many of the staff believed that their own bosses lacked management skills, knowledge of disasters or just plain human empathy, and were themselves part of the problem.
On April 14, 1993, after barely two weeks in office, Witt issued a succinct, one-page memo to all FEMA employees. The title of the memo was “Open Door Policy,” and it stated in plain language that any FEMA employee who could not get a problem resolved within his or her normal chain of command was welcome to meet face to face, one on one, with Director Witt. No forms to fill out, no permission required from your boss, no minimum grade level … just dial up Witt's executive assistant and make an appointment. Staff began to meet with Witt and he began to hear firsthand how disorganized things were within the agency.
He was told, for example, that most FEMA employees were neither trained nor rostered ahead of time for disaster duty, meaning that sending FEMA employees to work at a disaster was a bit like a game of pickup basketball. (Immediately after the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, for example, when FEMA staff were desperately needed in California, a FEMA supervisor was seen running breathlessly from one employee's desk to the next … “Can you go to California … Can you … How about you?” Any staffer who evenly hesitantly nodded yes was told, “Quick, go home and pack and fly to San Francisco. Someone will tell you what to do when you get there.”)
Witt also heard endless tales of supervisors who abused and mistreated their staff. In one office, ten of the 11 staff members met with Witt, begging to be transferred to a different office and away from their current boss.
As Witt learned more about his people, his people were learning more about him. Witt was businesslike and decisive, but he was also plainspoken and unpretentious. Any staffer running into Witt standing in line at the local deli was free to talk with him, in fact, was expected to. When meeting with employees in his office, Witt would listen intently, often while chewing tobacco and spitting the juice into a foam cup he held in his hand. (One long-time Washington staffer came away from such a meeting much taken aback, believing that Witt had been spitting into his coffee.)
Witt soon made staff understand that FEMA was a team, that team members were expected to do their jobs, that team members were to respect each other and that he, Witt, was not an outsider … he was the team captain..."
I'd really recommend reading the whole article, another sample of appointing competent people and building the best support for the employees with the most experience and passion for the work:
"...Morale was visibly improving within the agency, but strengthening the “People” factor at FEMA would not be enough. “Programs” were next. Flip charts of blank paper began appearing next to the elevators, with FEMA employees invited to write their own ideas for strengthening the agency. How can we respond better to disasters? How can we better serve the American people? How can we make FEMA a better agency?
Bit by bit, changes began to appear. For example, the “Federal Response Plan” already existed, but was considered by most to be a “paper plan” only. That is, FEMA offices as well as other federal agencies might make numerous commitments within the plan for what they would do in a disaster, but in reality, would not have sufficient staff or resources to actually carry out those promises. Under Witt, the plan would become real – any and all commitments or promises for disaster response must be backed up by the necessary staff, funds and legal authorities to actually do the job if and when called upon to do so.
The Federal Response Plan, or FRP, would remain the key to FEMA's successful disaster responses for the next eight years. The backbone of the FRP consisted of 12 “Emergency Support Functions,” or ESFs. The ESFs were simply a list of the 12 main types of jobs the federal government might have to perform during a disaster response:
Transportation -
Communications -
Public Works and Engineering -
Firefighting -
Information and Planning -
Mass Care -
Resource Support -
Health and Medical Services -
Urban Search and Rescue -
Hazardous Materials -
Food -
Energy -
From there, each ESF would be assigned a lead federal department or agency having the most expertise in that particular field and disaster response planners within that agency would focus only on that ESF. So, for example, ESF number 1, “Transportation,” would be assigned to the US Department of Transportation (USDOT). Disaster planners at USDOT would be told to plan for all the transportation-related aspects of disaster response, how to transport federal responders to and from the disaster site, how to prioritize the repair of damaged transportation infrastructure in the disaster area, and so forth. But don't worry about medical care, food or electrical power; another agency with another ESF will take care of each of those tasks.
The concept was simple, but it worked. Each federal agency would focus on its own specialty in disasters and FEMA would orchestrate the entire effort like a traffic cop directing traffic to avoid gridlock. In addition to making things better organized, an added benefit was that FEMA would actually economize disaster response by drawing on existing resources of the federal government wherever possible. (A foreign visitor to FEMA, who had seen news reports of the federal government's disaster relief efforts, asked where FEMA kept the airplanes it used to carry in relief supplies after a disaster. The answer: We don't have airplanes at FEMA; we know where to get them.)
At the same time as the FRP was being brought into the real world, FEMA staff themselves were at long last being trained and rostered for disaster duty, so that in the event of a major incident, everyone would know what he or she was expected to do. There would be no more “paper plans” at FEMA and disaster response would no longer be a game of pickup basketball.
I am sorry for what you had to suffer thru, but I wonder sometimes if we don’t expect too much from government. From what I am hearing from CA, people are expecting to come out whole, with little to nothing coming out of their own pockets. Unfortunately, things don’t work that way. 😢😢😢 Life sucks and then we die. I feel so badly for them.
I see the Supreme Court has rejected a bid by oil companies to toss Honolulu's climate suit. Maybe this will be how we fight back for property in the face of natural forces we simply can’t contend with.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna186164
I do wonder what Witt thought of how FEMA was swept into the Department of Homeland Security. Wikipedia has an interesting history of FEMA at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Emergency_Management_Agency
I take some of it with a particularly large grain of salt and suggest a wider view in some places such as:
"...Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, Congress passed the Homeland Security Act of 2002, which created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to better coordinate among the different federal agencies that deal with law enforcement, disaster preparedness and recovery, border protection and civil defense. FEMA was absorbed into DHS effective March 1, 2003.[18] As a result, FEMA became part of the Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate of Department of Homeland Security, employing more than 2,600 full-time employees. It became Federal Emergency Management Agency again on March 31, 2007, but remained in DHS.[19]
President Bush appointed Michael D. Brown as FEMA's director in January 2003. Brown warned in September 2003 that FEMA's absorption into DHS would make a mockery of FEMA's new motto, "A Nation Prepared", and would "fundamentally sever FEMA from its core functions", "shatter agency morale" and "break longstanding, effective and tested relationships with states and first responder stakeholders". The inevitable result of the reorganization of 2003, warned Brown, would be "an ineffective and uncoordinated response" to a terrorist attack or a natural disaster.[20]..."
Whatever his real qualifications were compared to James Lee Witt, I think the mess was the tangled mix of too many layers where legislators could try to micromanage situations that were best handled by the way Witt organized it, motivated and kept competent and dedicated employees, prepared as much as possible in advance, and quickly responding to the anticipated and new real needs effectively.
"...Hurricane Katrina in 2005 demonstrated that the vision of further unification of functions and another reorganization could not address the problems FEMA had previously faced. The "Final Report of the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina", released February 15, 2006, by the U.S. Government Printing Office, revealed that federal funding to states for "all hazards" disaster preparedness needs was not awarded unless the local agencies made the purposes for the funding a "just terrorism" function.[21] Emergency management professionals testified that funds for preparedness for natural hazards were given less priority than preparations for counter-terrorism measures..."
I would wonder how any FEMA administrators could function as well under such a monstrous administrative organization as DHS seemed to have become. It would seem to require many James Lee Witts working together with each others and their agencies (like a well oiled civil service with experienced, competent and dedicated non-partisan civil service version of "deep bench state" (as compared to a more realistic smaller and more malicious deep state of Trump enablers).
I have zero expectation of Trump installing a crippling cesspool of incompetent loyalists that will streamline the structure in any "better" way other than to make him more irresponsibly powerful.
Thank you, Jim. I live in Helene territory, and the local news highlights FEMA, but with little but opinion, the vast majority unfavorable. I have wondered what the real story was. I share your expectations regarding Trump, but I'll be glad to write a letter to our local newspaper quoting Brown's words to Bush.
Why would muskrat care about FEMA?
Lauren, here's to community, a concept foreign to Trump, Musk, and their whole disgusting crew.
In the midst of endless bad news, journalist Gordon Hayward of southern Vermont has turned his ear and his pen to reminding me of unsung neighbors:
https://www.vermontpublic.org/local-news/2025-01-13/good-news-gordon-hayward-story-share
Melinda, my local Public Broadcasting station, WHYY has a program called "Good Souls" that celebrates community and the ways people in communities in the area work together to make life better. I would love to see a concept like that in communities across the country. Maybe it would let more people see the value of community and actively participating to make one's community better rather than just complaining about how bad things are.
I'd add https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2024/11/awards-program-spotlights-federal-governments-unsung-heroes-critical-time-public-service/400942/
"...One of TenaVel T. Thomas’ childhood heroes growing up in the U.S. Virgin Islands was Neil Armstrong. Now, they share something in common. Both are recipients of the Arthur S. Flemming award, which has honored outstanding federal employees for 75 years.
“The thought that my name is now on a list with his was extremely overwhelming,” she said. “When I called my dad, and I told him about the award and started to tell him about previous recipients, I mentioned Neil Armstrong, and he said, ‘Oh my God, my daughter's walking on the moon!’ It’s like, daddy not quite, but I guess that’s a good association.”
Armstrong received the Flemming award in 1969, the same year that he became the first person to walk on the moon. Thomas, who works for Customs and Border Protection, is the first employee from the Homeland Security Department to be given the honor.
She has led a specialized human trafficking unit and spearheaded the establishment of a center at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City that can process thousands of asylum seekers. Despite the partisan acrimony associated with immigration issues, she said that CBP officers rise above the fray.
“We serve the American people. We serve the government regardless of what the administration is. We take an oath to perform our duties every single day, and all of the CBP employees do it so valiantly,” she said. “We're able to block out the noise, if you will.”
Actually there is a website called “Nice News”!
Monday afternoon UPDATE: Cool Marlene; I will check it out.
But, Marc Elias' platform, Democracy Docket has nice news too. Marc's afternoon Headline: "NC Judge denies R's case to Toss 60,000 NC Voters' Ballots".
The case is captioned, TEILA KIVETT, et al vs. North Carolina Board of Elections is case: #24CV041789-910.
Good job Teila & Friends. One down & the other is being "attacked on the pleadings".
Good riddance.
Cool! I knew Gordon when he was a garden designer -- attended conferences together, heard him speak on occasion, and I still have one or 2 of his books on garden design. He was always very much a gentleman; I'm glad to see him actively doing other interesting things in retirement.
Actually, that is what they want. Read the libertarian party platform. No government, only private charity.
Rickey, yeah, pretty stupid isn't it! That private charity thing is BS. They can help in some ways, but not with the kinds of disasters we are facing now. Republicans/Libertarians are so self-centered they can't see beyond whatever Fox Not Nearly News broadcast they just watched or stupid post they read online. However, FEMA is only as good as the president and congress in power. They will not do well for the next 4 years, that is unless Trump's palace/golfcourse is endangered. Then, they will cover any losses plus some on top to show Trump their loyalty. Ugh!!
So sad!
Herbert Hoover was an anomaly to me with his thoughts on self-reliance (but often helping disaster relief efforts around the world as far as I can remember) He started the infrastructure projects like Hoover/Boulder Dam, putting many to work with government contractors but I think the FDR projects like the TVA were better managed and far more socially beneficial in the long term.
See https://www.tva.com/environment/environmental-stewardship/water-quality/tva-regional-contacts
There are many good links to TVA history but I'll just point out that one with a meaningful map of an 8 state area where they helped control floods, with high country dams, helped river navigation with low dams and locks, generated power in a far wider area and at half the price of private profit would be monopolizers. They saved soil for farmers and other infrastructure that could have washed away in the climate and flood risks of the worst climate they could imagine.
I wish they had anticipated the climate neglect that let so much of Asheville be damaged, though I don't know how they could have since even the most conscientious climate scientists under estimated how risky it is becoming (despite a lot more work than most realize in flood control). They underestimated the worst dangers, and face severe criticism of updating the estimates based on new evidence.
Anyways just look at the map and consider looking for other sites based on where you are interested in the successes and few failures to prepare .
Do you remember Hooverville? Great lead up to Trump's help with the unfortunate!
Wondering if Biden announce a major funding for rebuilding SCal. This might prevent Trump ordering major tax cut for wealthy - a totally inappropriate action now when there are so many citizens suffering.
I love it...tRumpf's...haven't read that before! Lynda Greer, Atlanta, GA.
Ha! its the only way my fingers will type its name...the disdain over here for that soulless wonder is palpable. Take care Lynda and thanks
Please don't conflate the name of the worst president ever with a secondary sex characteristic that is celebrated in paintings and sculpture, and admired by people of both genders, which evolved among our hunter-gatherer ancestors along with body hairlessness, the achilles tendon, the nuchal ligament (holds the head steady when humans run), and other adaptations so that they could pursue prey animals over long distances, eventually tiring them out. And, yes, both women and men pursued prey animals, and both now participate in marathons. Harvard Universities Daniel Lieberman has written extensively about these adaptations.
I feel so sorry for everyone in LA going through these fires. Altadena is a gem. I hope there’s a way people can recoup their losses. Sending love your way.
Take heart that government workers are working tirelessly to help. We will rebuild SoCal with a focus on equity and undermine Trump’s MAGAts in DC. North Carolina is making progress towards becoming deep blue like California! https://democracydefender2025.substack.com/p/resisting-project-2025-from-within-government
It's not just government workers who are making a difference. There are crews from many states, neighboring states, yes, but also from my state, MA. And let's not forget to thank the Canadian and Mexican governments which have sent fire-fighting planes and personnel. Strength and resilience are evident in the face of unthinkable disaster.
It takes a pretty empty soul to lay on burdens to others suffering in a disaster zone. And that appeals to so many claiming to be Christian? The likes of Trump and Musk would be driving the nails.
My daughter just posted on Instagram that it has been Dems who have laid the fires in Lahaina and LA to "promote our case for climate change". Upon my questioning her sanity, she blew me off with, first, a tirade of invective about trying to control her communications and "freedom of speech" and said: "her comment was mostly satire anyways". As if that is Okay! Who uses other people's tragedy for satire and spreading falsehoods...??? My daughter, I guess. I commented that I supposed her definition of "freedom" and mine were diametrically opposed. It is a truly lost cause. I hope you folks don't have to experience the like. Sleep becomes difficult. I'm a pretty tough, rational thinker (I hope), but this is beyond the pale, for me.
Ah, it must be so hard to hear your child under such terrible illusions. My mother fell under the spell of Rush Limbaugh (and of the wealth of her second husband and his "fiscal conservatism") and is now a frightened, vindictive Fox zombie. There are So many topics we have to avoid that I barely speak to her for more than 5 minutes at a time. She used to be such a happy person. I hope the spell will lift for her and for your daughter.
Rupert is still spewing bullschittery. Apparently, nobody can stop him. He has his Russian fifth wife (I think) and his connections with Vlad and their billionaire cronies are all set to rule all of us. Remember you are dealing with a cult. It takes deprogramming or Ike to break the spell.
Oh Patrice, we know, and I feel for you too. Nevertheless I find great humor in "Fox Zombie".
I am so sorry. My father-in-law was already a racist Adam Henry when I first met him 40+ years ago. He became a full-blown MAGA (minus the hat) in the 5 years before he died.
(Adam Henry is police code for the letters "a" and "h" and used to reference a part of the human anatomy generally in charge of the exit of fecal matter from the human body. For a time, we had to go "in service" with our badge number and our initials. Every morning at 0540 hours, I would go in service with "C540 in service, Adam Adam Henry, 540". My dispatchers could barely respond the first couple times they heard that.)
It is terrible for this kind of political split within families and neighbors. There was a time when it didn't matter. But now it is scarry.
I’m so very sorry. It must be so hard to have one of your children go MAGA.
Lol. That daughter is learning the correct lessons even if she’s got a few details wrong. All statewide office holders in California are Dems. And basically all LA office holders with relevant responsibilities are Dems. The catastrophe in LA and near surrounds is not that Dems “have laid the fires in Lahaina and LA”, as a matter of intention. Nor as a protest about climate change. It is because they are fatally incompetent AND that incompetence derives from an infantile romance with the false prophet of climate change dogma and wokeness that blinds them to the mundane reality of public preparedness to create and maintain sufficient water supplies and remedial land use practices (periodic clearing of deadwood and underbrush) to fight disastrous wildfires. Look in the mirror folks. Ain’t nobody to blame but Dems.
The last national election shows 10-12 previously blue counties in California turning red. This latest utter catastrophe will turn the state red. That’s my prediction. And I’m most certainly correct. It isn’t only handover twice the size of Manhattan that’s burned to a crisp along with entire communities of residential and commercial buildings and wealth. The reputations of Newsom and LA’s socialist/communist mayor and the statewide political party with it.
I am sorry about the discord in your family and hope that it improves. A woman in my extended family, who I liked, turned raging MAGA and hostile. I think there is a difference between those who get snared in the lies, and those who knowingly concoct them. Especially those who lie who accept positions of public trust.
Of course, cults must have a leader. What is different here is that chump has all kinds of money and power glom onto him like he has a magnetic field. So hope I live to see the pin prick the blimp and see the air deflate the whole mess. Since Ike is gone, it’s about all we have…
Ain't that the truth, JL
The pain of losing a family member to the MAGA cult of lies is hard. I am sorry for your troubles. My late mother's last vote was for T**** in 2016, and I'm still trying to deal with it.
it is tough, James. Maybe reject any anger or guilt as not being yours. Push it aside mentally and let your Neurons learn to do so automatically. Just a thought from what helps me.
Bruce, I don't know if this will help, or applies to your situation, and I’m probably going to regret saying anything at all, but it’s worth a try.
As I've said here, many times, I’ve maintained strong and close relationships with relatives and friends who happen to be Trump supporters. With very few exceptions, dependency, not politics, is the dividing line between us.
I was 17 when I started my business. While I worked for other companies through college, I kept my business going. Fifty years later, I closed my business and retired.
Very early on, I had to confront the fact, that my employee’s dependency on me creating work for them, was killing my business. Simply put, my company sold creative work which depends, entirely, on independent thinkers. Since dependent people cannot think creatively, I had to let them go. And so I ask…
Is your daughter dependent on other people, for work, income, and/or direction? If so, that might explain her attraction to Trump. Does she see in Trump, the traditional male role of provider in her life? This is a patriarchal society issue, not a daddy issue.
If you expect her to be an independent woman, and she wants to be dependent, she might feel attracted to Trump who promises to take care of her. If your daughter really likes being dependent, she is probably fighting to remain dependent. If she wants dependency enough, she will even fight you to get it.
Good points. None of my family MAGAts are dependent . They worked hard but are fearful that some undeserving person will get a crumb that should be theirs.
Very interesting Raffey. If you can find it, read my post later on in the stack about my experience in my business...we had the same instincts. I was able to implement some guidelines that made sense to some, but never enough.
To your comment: "Is your daughter dependent on other people?" That is an interesting question. Yes she is in a quasi Pyramid organization, and she works from home as the kids go to a coalition of home schooled ...schools. She has a trad marital relationship, and is in a very co-dependent relationship with her husband.
Yes, I agree with your assessment, and understand it. That doesn't mean I won't continue to remind her even while we are able to establish boundaries of behavior when I am with them. It is the only way that I can visit with my grandchildren. Just by being there, someone who is quite different in their lives, living 13 hours away by airplane, telling them about the strange, different history of their family. My "Leib" is with them, without breaking boundaries which would cut off access to them, even if it hurts to not try to teach them my truth.
Pretty simple, they're sucking eggs. And, when the eggs run out God will rescue them.. Their minds are made up. You're the one confused by 'facts'.. not them! Yupp.., just 'believe'. Need an example? How about the plane crash in S.Korea. Was that not an "act of God"? Huricane Helene? The Palisades? These jerks are "dependent" upon Trump, who, to them is an "act of god". Gag me!
I had children that went wild after their mother died. People deal with situations uniquely/differently. Mine were just MAD at the universe and had no one but me to take it out on. It took over twenty years of non-stop interventions on my part to reach any resolution at all. Now, things are coming together. We are speaking the same language. We all have to decide if we are in it for the long run. If we want truth and justice to prevail, we have to put in the work.
There is a lot of truth to what you say, Craig. My daughter's and Son's issues although very different had a similar nexus. Their mother left us to live with another man and his family, very abruptly. That has also been a long haul issue. And, I made several mistakes, which both hold me accountable to and will not forgive. With constant work, I have at least been able to visit with my grandkids, and my daughter with some degree of muzzling agreed to all round. My son, my best friend for so long, is a different story which I will not accost y'all with. At least he is not MAGA.
That's interesting Craig. First, so sorry for your loss and what happened with your children. My brothers both went a little crazy when our mother died. One a total q anon trumper the other just depressed and isolated but dependent on the trumper emotionally. Both have attacked me several times and now I'm just done...a very sad state of affairs I tried to avoid.
Sorry for your loss Craig
I love some MAGAts as well. The challenge of my life. I have lost them in ways that are hard to explain.
I'm so sorry to know you're going through this, Bruce. As parents, worry never really leaves our side and patience always seems to be in shorter supply when the worry pops to the forefront. Be good to yourself, please.
Oh lordy - I'm so sorry.
Accurate 1st Amendment "FreeSpeech" constitutional law is even misunderstood even by cops & many others.
See, anything by Professor Lawrence Tribe. See, also Ari Melber analyses. Ari handled the "1st Amendment" common confusion for SDNY in his earlier role as a federal Prosecutor. 👍
What misinformation is she getting?
So much in so many ways, Kathy. That is an impossible question for me to answer satisfactorily. However, she does say, on Medical and health science issues, for example. That she has far more expertise than any doctor or scientist because of her amazing abilities as a researcher. Says the woman who flunked out of first year undergrad after a 4.0+ GPA throughout high School, providing entrance into one of our best and (I'll say it) most expensive Universities. Not that the money really matters, it's the general lack of respect for ones own future that I don't understand, and the coincident lack of respect for others, who have driven themselves to achieve their goals.
Unfortunately her attitude toward "Freedom from" distorts her views on many many subjects, where she gets her information, and how she applies it.
My eldest voted for trump not because he believes his bullsh*t… he’s a successful authoritarian who doesn’t care about the common good. When I said Republicans will raise the retirement age, he replied, “You can work.” I have quit talking to him.
several of us seem to have fam woes. Just remember you did what you could, even your best. It is no longer your responsibility. Still hurts.
bruce, I am very sorry that your daughter has become a conspiracy theorist. Fortunately, all the family here on the west coast are sane. I am not going to vouch for my family in the midwest being the same. I do not think they pay too much attention to politics and are in some kind of dismal swamp where those who have little education and scut jobs (if they have a job) dwell. They are very good, however, at producing children. I am about to become a great great aunt again and I think this makes it over a dozen.
Oh they can procreate, such and act of critical thinking and research.
"beyond the pale".., it certainly is Bruce. Trouble is, it's impossible for you and I or the rest of our fellow 48 percenters, to walk in the shoes of your daughter or any one else, in order to see things as they see em. And, to think that posting the 10 commandments all over the place is going to have some profound effect. While we're at that.., lets plaster Trumps puss on buildings along with the caption: E pluribus Unum.
If you’re not being called an anti-semite NAZI, you’re doing better than me. So sorry for your situation. Grown adults get to make their own choices I suppose. That doesn’t make it any easier
No, I have not. That sucks. Yes they do. I think I just wrote a similar not to Tracy above. Birds of a feather?
I'm so sorry you have to deal with that Bruce. It's so disheartening.
J L, already we have at least one House member who wants to withhold help from CA until the pols there have policies that are the same ugly propositions and laws that Rs inflict on people elsewhere.
As a Topangan I say we are always grateful for the fire crews. In awe of them, really. Our own at Station 69, and those who leave their faraway homes to join the battle, as well as the prisoners on the front lines.
They are a part of the government that dates back to Ben Franklin in our country, and I believe to thousands of years ago in Imperial Rome and China? And our government has forged international agreements not just with our neighbors, but with with countries as far away as Australia, where fires are also a major natural threat, made so much more deadly and unnatural by human waste and inaction.
May these catastrophes serve to break across boundaries of create a global resistance to the Oiligarchs and their new Plutocracy - the United States of America.
They reject everything that Ben Franklin saw as necessary for our fledgling country. That is the ultimate crime against our founders
What stupidity!
...And we won't copy Benjamin to go and secure our own allies in the upcoming fight. They have already sent out Elon. But he has been making mistakes, so the time is ripe for one of ours to go out. Were are they, WTF is going on, there seems to be a stunned silence. The Canadians and Danes and Mexicans are raising their voices. Let's allign with the Europeans, and get funding, alliance people. We have to get a coordinated hard edge going before he is inaugurated and the shit really starts coming down. Where is the Offensive coordinator for the DNC????
Smirk all you want, personally I think we should believe their awful promises. The good promises, not so much…
I'm a lot more familiar with the Altadena, Pasadena, Sierra Madre, and Arcadia areas, having worked there for a dozen years. Checking on the fires that are burning further than ever below the mountains (from near JPL to Sierra Madre in the east), I see some of the evacuation points where ordinary people put in so much extra help or the outside fire agencies stage to respond all along the fire lines.
As expected, the Santa Anita Horse Race Track is providing a spacious facility to operate in or from for fire crews and citizens helping each other.
Who in the world can teach us better practices in emergency preparedness and prevention?
I avoided it except passing it to get to a friend's house in Arcadia, mostly because I had no interest in something that close to gambling (my father was a gambling addict enough to nearly get him killed 50 years ago). Another reason was of its use to process 90,000 Japanese internees like George Takei and his family, before they were sent off to a longer term camp in Arkansas.
I'm glad to see it still being available for such good use, though.
P.S. I cheat a bit on my mostly vegetarian diet, justifying it as supporting fire fighters. I can't afford to do much but I still can't resist donating a bit when eating at Firehouse Subs. See their shift in donations from 99.06% R, 0.94% D in 2012, to 66.52% D, 33.48% R in 2020 at https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/firehouse-subs/totals?id=D000033667
And Ukraine is sending Fire Fighters!
And I’m afraid the Orange Menace will turn around and stab the Ukrainians in the back at Putin’s wishes.
So I see at https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-volodymyr-zelenskyy-offers-send-150-firefighters-help-california-battle-wildfires/
And, "becoming blue" particularly in the "Triangle" zone spreading throughout the state of NC. HCR's analysis on LFAA is Spot On ... as usual.
Betsy, several people have mentioned in particular the crews from other countries as well as inmates fighting the fire. I did see one meme where it was apparent it was addressing false info put out by Rs. Very disgusting to see the attempts to divide and yet to take heart from the help that is coming from many places. We have family in Burbank and are glad they are OK, but they did post pictures of the sky, smoke, etc.
So sick. Here we are, in a real-time crisis dealing with Mother-nature, with a convicted mofo about to take charge.And, that incoming train is already off-the-rails. And, you know.., who'se gonna take (be given by MSN) the blame for the pile-up, right? God? Uh uh. Mother-nature be screwed, DEI's and Democrats are to blame! Oh yeah..., so sick!
“
There is a certain creative beauty in the synonyms you create in the US.
It should be appreciated. Flamboyant words like gerrymandering and filibuster to replace a good hardworking Anglo Saxon word like "cheat".
Exactly
Well said! I totally agree!!!
Mark Elias did an interview with Allison Riggs (elected to the N.C. Supreme Court) about the GOP trying to throw out 60,000 votes to prevent her from taking her seat on the bench. Below is a link to the interview and info for those who would like to help with her legal costs. This is an IMPORTANT case because if the GOP is successful in N.C. they will try it in other states too.
https://youtu.be/Xzh1904ujRI?si=4v7U86KxndHnw-Nd
There are 15 judges on the NC Court of Appeals; only 3 are Democrats. Allison Riggs’s re-election maintains the current makeup of the court. The Republicans changed judicial elections from nonpartisan to partisan. That automatically gives the NC courts the appearance of bias.
The Republicans have been grabbing power since 2011. Redistricting was only one of their power grabs, but it is the foundation that all their other power grabs are based on. It is all about personal power and lining their pockets and the pockets of those they favor. Public education at all levels has been one of their biggest targets.
For context, David R. Lewis (R-Harnett County) who was quoted in HCR’s post today as saying that he thought it was better to elect Republicans rather than Democrats. It was better for the country. Lewis was convicted of campaign finance violations because he tried to siphon money from his campaign to his family farm, his business. Such action is a form of fraud. He resigned from his legislative seat. He received probation. Of course, he did! The Republicans in NC are out for themselves, and they will use any means necessary to get and keep power. Google Phil Berger, who is the leader of the NC Senate. A disgusting person.
I hate what NC has turned into, but it’s not the only backward facing state at this point.
Despicable!
Thanks for posting the link. The relentless attacks on our democracy are exhausting but also enraging… we must persevere!
Yes, exhausting and enraging.
Yes, I donated because Justice Riggs has to pay court costs and this fight has dragged on and on. Please donate to help her: https://www.riggsforourcourts.com/
When justice and truth are in plain sight to even your average Joe without a law degree, how can courts rule in favour of corruption and be allowed to get away with it?
Corruption is the means by which they plan to rule
It’s also inherently unstable and we may wind up with a dictatorship.
As he promised
Public Servant, thank you and your buddies for your tireless work.
Thank you for the link. It gives me a bit of hope. We have to have hope.
I dream, but not with the MAGAts I know there.
Possibly rebuild in adobe fireproof and reduce AC needs.
And we have to remember how important blue states are in our total economy. They subsidize the red states. https://substack.com/home/post/p-154682655
Sometimes HCR’s letters give me a pit in my stomach, too. And this is one of those times. I feel so disheartened at my fellow Americans. And frustrated that there’s so little than I can do. I’m so sorry, Lauren, at what you and other Californians are going through. It is just heart-wrenching, devastating to watch the devastation. I hope you’ll be able to stay safe where you are.
Lincoln claimed that public sentiment is everything. Are there effective ways we can influence that? Organize?
Lincoln was right; Mass public opinion even shifts the earth under SCOTUS. But that is exactly the tricky part JL, especially under the current circumstances wherein much of the MSM is complicit due to their business models.
Yes! Join your local Indivisible group or start one. The focus is totally on what we can do to protect our freedoms, our families, and our futures. This national movement is a rock star at getting support to the grassroots.
As a 48%'er, our strongest suite is going to be non-violent. A violent crowd will be met with overwhelming 'enforcement'.., resulting in arrests and confinement in many separate locations rendering the resistance neutered. Call it divide and conquer. I don't see 'the 48 percenters' capable of conducting a violent crusade. A massive movement.., shutdown.., refusal to co-operate, etc.., is possible though. Drowning out MSN being part of it. It's got to be solid - no tea-party. The night-time may be the right-time.
In 2016 we worked with people like the current head of the California Sierra Club, volunteers for Willie Velasquez's (non-partisan, enough for Rick Perry to declare May 9th "“Willie Velásquez Day” in Texas), Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project, and former ACORN community help organizations. Most I knew were obviously inclined to follow Martin Luther King Jr's non-violent principles (and work with members of both parties such as the Republicans who helped pass the Civil Rights and voting acts).
See https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/hispanic-heritage-month-2016/pbs-showcases-willie-vel-squez-latino-voting-rights-hero-n657556
I was determined to leave if they ever accepted any volunteers that advocated fighting as dirty as a Republican fundraiser asked some of us to, "Fight dirtier than Democrats." I left the party because of that request. I sat back and just watched the first time a young couple came in to volunteer suggesting we should fight fire with fire. The leaders listened until they finished then told them we didn't accept any who would use such tactics (don't become the monsters you are fighting, in effect). They did stay and seemed willing to stick to our principles.
The former ACORN volunteers seemed particularly good at spotting provocateurs after their organization was split up by the likes of James O'Keefe. Many continued the good fight in splinter groups even more dedicated and focused after O'Keefe's treachery.
We are more dedicated than ever to the high road, ourselves, if for no other reason than any stooping to their level is massively counter-productive to winning public support.
I am very sorry for your losses. While we moved to Sacramento 10 years ago to be closer to our growing grandchildren, I spent the entirety of my life before that in SoCal, first as a child adjacent to the Palisades, then as an adult raising our family adjacent to Altadena. We are gutted by all of the losses, all of the suffering. These communities have lost so much. Our oldest friends lost their family home, and every day either we, or our children, hear of someone else we know, or know of, who have suffered same. It is so exhausting, and now with the regime change about to take place, not sure where I will find the energy to get through the next four years.
I am borrowing a quote by Ram Dass: Whether tomorrow brings the apocalypse or not, our work is the same: Love one another and alleviate suffering for all. This helps me so much. I hope it helps you, too. There are many examples of support and selflessness during the fires while our so-called leaders-to-be throw foul-mouthed invectives. This is a battle of love vs. hatred.
What the world needs now...
Always has.
Last night's 60 Minutes from Altadena and Pacific Palisades was just heart breaking. I thought of every little square viewed from above as unit of sorrow, each family bearing its burden of loss. We simply must find ways to support these Americans, even as the president-elect casts derision on elected California officials. Just as those poor people in North Carolina lost their communities to flooding and, later political plundering, we must make sure their voices are heard and their needs addressed.
What is hard is that those who need our love and support value it less than their community of hatred.
I would like to see so much emphasis by our government (present administration!!) to provide unprecedented (expenditure$$, manpower, equipment, resources) to assist these two recent natural disasters that it eclipses the inauguration. These people need much more than "community cohesiveness". This is an American disaster in the making.
Compare Clinton's competent , dedicated and fully supported FEMA director James Lee Witt's clean up of the Hurricane Andrew mess after August of Bush 41's administration and early Clinton administration, then the Republican trashing the reforms at FEMA back to the "Turkey Farm" model as Senator Fritz Hollings called it, in the Bush 43 years. The incompetence and lack of support showed how disastrous that could be in the Hurricane Katrina "response."
Thank God Altadena and the Palisades areas are receiving the Democratic version of FEMA aid (which also responded to all disasters in Red states with the best they had, no political games in infrastructure improvements and disaster response).
See https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/storm/interviews/witt.html
Who would Trump voters or supporters want taking care of their infrastructure and emergency relief?
There was a photo that broke through my protected approach to all the horror and moved me to understand the power and strength of the people who are suffering but not ever giving up. It was one of the photos of the evacuation of a care home for the elderly. The evacuation order only gave them minutes to get everyone out so they came up with a plan to move everyone to a parking lot a block away where others were organizing transport to get them to safety. It was all being done on a wing and a prayer, trusting that the transportation would be there when they reached the parking lot.
The photo was of a very old woman hunched in a wheeled chair, gripping the arms of the chair and hanging on for dear life.The wheels were the small ones put on a rattan patio chair so you can move it around your deck... not an actual wheel chair. Pushing the chair was another woman, not young, gripping the back of the chair, leaning into the push to add every ounce of her strength. Behind them was an advancing wall of flame and smoke and death.... but they were not deterred. They were grim but they were moving. They were going to get to that parking lot. The elderly woman would be whisked away to safety. The other woman would wheel that chair back and get another resident who needed to take that ride. The strength, the determination, the courage were all there and they were inspiring, fighting through the fire, the smoke and the heat, saving lives. It was the worst of times. It was the best of humanity.
What an image.
I was concerned about the MonteCedro Retirement Community a block away from the Eliot school where I used to attend Pasadena IBM User Group (PIBMUG) evening meetings. It seems to have been evacuated the 1st day but eventually almost completely surrounded by fire and partially burnt down by midnight last night.
I suspect the picture you saw might have been evacuation from The Terraces at Park Marino, less than a mile and a half from where I worked in the Hastings Ranch portion of Pasadena and about a half mile from the Pasadena High School and Victory Park area where the Rose Parade Floats park before the Floatfest is expanded to be displayed along East Washington Blvd and Sierra Madre Blvd for a day or two. Since a number of our employees were volunteers, they would take guests to see the Floats parked there later in the day of the parade. Seeing the Floats after the parade was easier than trying to get a good spot to watch it, especially when the engineers could describe the features of the floats that could shrink them to fit under the freeway overpass and other ways of adding motion of features.
Memories like that make me think about why so much of the public isn't as concerned about global warming as I am. It seems too personal to me and other people who think about how such areas are immune to climate change (at least before the catastrophes). I've traveled much of the areas devastated by these particular fires so, to me, these are at least a hint of large urban areas usually only destroyed in wars in other countries.
It feels inexcusable to not have tried to prevent as much of it as possible, at least somewhat like we did during WWII with blackouts and Civil Defense preparations. We were somewhat prepared but spared the worst of the needs compared to so much of the rest of the world where the fighting and bombings created such greater need.
Better to be prepared relative to the real risks and not need it than to not be prepared. Better to do the real work of lowering the risk by ding the greater attention to rational long term climate warming prevention than too late attempts at adaptation.
Does it have to happen in their neighborhoods to make it real to them (way too late)?
Yes it is! And to borrow from Wonder Woman, “Only love can truly save the world.”
Thank you for sharing the wisdom of Ram Dass.
That’s a good one. Quite consistent withJesus’s teaching too.
A good number of years ago when my own daughter was in elementary school, I had a part time job in a bank branch. Another of us had a very young child who was diagnosed with cancer. A customer was tacky enough to ask my colleague how she was able to cope. She managed to say, “One day at a time, one hour at a time, sometimes one minute at a time” while the rest of us sat in stunned silence. We are in that situation now, and will get through in the same way: one day, one hour, one minute. We can also take heart that with Letters like this, a bright light shines on the tactics being used to disenfranchise voters as NC is trying to do, information that was not so available 200 years ago. I am convinced that Washington, where I live, has one of the best, if not *the* best election system in the country, implemented by a Republican Secretary of State, Kim Wyman …who now has a job in election security in the Biden administration (can you even imagine P-E Trump, CF, having such an office?). We started with ballot drop boxes, though not that many at first. Every year more were added. We could mail ballots via USPS for the cost of a stamp, but that wasn’t quite so easy for many voters. Every year more drop boxes were added; a few years ago the King County Executive announced that the county would make its ballots postage-paid. That way, people who didn’t have a drop box near them - yet - would have an easier time voting. More conservative counties erupted that it was unfair to them; the Governor, a Democrat, agreed and said that the state would make ALL ballots postage paid. Our processing systems are secure, unconnected to the internet. Secretary Wyman also wanted to register automatically all young residents on their 18th birthday. So: we can do this: we can emulate Mrs. Pence, we can buoy our spirits with the Full Frontal episode titled “Trump in Scotland”, and think of new and creative ways to mock him. As the farmer said, “He’ll crack up.” Join the League of Women Voters, any group that can create links with other states…
I miss mutual greetings from election workers, and the polling place, but mail-in voting works and leaves a physical paper trail. Wyman is one of the very few Republicans I ever voted for.
I mentioned it before, but I find much to admire in books by Edith Eger.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Eger
J L, thanks for the link to Edith Eger's story. She has an indomitable spirit.
Indeed, this was one of the best changes in our political processes that we have made here in Washington State. Now if only we could rewrite our constitution and make it a legal framework instead of the disastrous list of elevated and amended laws that it is; or maybe we could straighten out our state's horrible tax system which has to be one of the most regressive in the country. And oh, the ferry system is short five much needed boats, and way understaffed. Oh well - one battle at a time. We are making progress slowly but surely. And yeah, I have to confess that I broke my usual rule of not voting for any R's and consistently voted for Kim. She did a fantastic job.
It's all harrowing and disgusting that honor, truth mean so little. It's hard to accept.
So deeply sorry for the losses in Southern California, and your town in particular. What a horrid tragedy. I can only imagine how overwhelmed you are with the chaos in the country, let alone suffering through the fires' losses. Concentrate on what little you can control right now and know that the majority of us across our country are with you in spirit.
Lauren, it’s no wonder you feel the way you do. You are witnessing and living in trauma. You rightly feel grief and loss. Give yourself time to process all of this. Seek out supportive friends, and be kind to yourself. We will be here when you’re ready to re-join the fight.
Beyhan, you are a wise and generous soul.
- Pulled Quote -
''...when a Republican candidate calls for throwing out the votes of 60,000 voters to declare victory in an election he lost, they have abandoned the principles of democracy in favor of a one-party state that will operate in their favor alone...''
No comment today.
My stomach hurts, too. From this letter, sadly. And from a friend's son in Altadena who told his mom across the country, "Don't worry. The fire is 35 miles away." Then, within the hour, they escaped with only the clothes on their backs and their lives. Everything turned to ash. Your sorrows are my sorrows.
I am sorry for your family's loss in California. While I can understand nature's flames of destruction, I am at a loss in understanding Maga's desire to burn down our democracy. Sadness overwhelms me.
My fellow SoCal heart goes out to you, Lauren. Stay strong!
Lauren, I almost hate to say I “like” your post. Please take the heart ❤️ as a hug, to you and your neighbors. Don’t worry about our foolishness here in NC. We stand with you and there are people in our state who stand ready to help our friends in Cali.
Prayer your way via FedEx, Lauren. Let us all hang tough together; the madness will burn out, if we remain vigilant.
LAUREN & All SoCal: All Evacuation orders and/or "Red Flag Warnings" have been rescinded as of late Sunday night.
LA winds as of 3 AM Monday: 3 mph NNE. Double check from your trusted official source.
I taught in Altadena and to see the devastation is life-rattling as it truly is for so many friends and colleagues; I keep wondering how my former students are fairing. And I, too, had that gut punch feeling after reading this letter. To see how quickly the fires have been blamed on everyone and everything except science and geography is sickening. Indeed, exhausted in SoCal.
I am so sorry for the devastation in LA - parts appear to have been vaporized. Words can't express how tragic it is or how my heart aches for you all. Our son was born in LA and, while we haven't lived there for many, many years, I still feel that connection.
My heart goes out to you, your mom, the school, and the thousands who lost their communities.
What boggles my mind is the energy that these (apparently) talented people are expending on these devious ploys, while real problems, like homelessness & hunger are so prevalent. These issues could actually be resolved with this sort of determination, yet it is spent on control & greed. Oh my gawd, it is getting more disappointing by the hour. 😥
Those aren't real problems to the people pulling this stunt. Losing power is the only problem.
As a linguist I can see a creative beauty in the synonyms you create. Flamboyant words like gerrymandering and filibuster to replace a good hardworking Anglo Saxon word like "cheat".
I suppose you imagine it best that rather than give you a diagnosis, the doctor simply said, “you’re sick”, and sent you home.
I see what you mean Bill, these wonderfully sounding words are specifying elaborate ways of cheating.
However when the doctor specifies and clarifies my illness, I know I am "sick".
I do not believe that in this case they acknowledge that they are cheating b astards. These synonyms are used to obscure not clarify.
Thank you Christopher, from the deeply gerrymandered state of Fl. Oh, our governor drew the congressional districts. Although, they have been declared unconstitutional, I’ve heard nothing about the court case that was supposed to take place after the election. I’m so sick and disgusted with all of the cheating, my vote is worth nothing in this state. 😢
Phyllis, you deserve many liked because you are describing what's going on in many states and that's only one of the ways the 1% billionaires and the maga minority are going to try to stay in power no matter what. It's important to be on top of that reality day in day out. Please keep posting about it. People need to open their eyes!!!. Thanks for your input.
Katherine I think you are paying attention to the real problem. As tragic as the fires in California are, you used the phrase "losing power" to focus on what the 1% and maga is doing to the democracies in this country and abroad.
I've been writing lately that once those people gain powe as they been doing in some states and in the last election in most of the country, they are going to be in control for a long, long time . For those of us that hope the midterm election is going to take some of that power away and then in four years we'll be back in the White House, I think don't have the whole clear picture of how deeply the situation changed already. They been secretively for at least since Regan times, little by little, planning, executing, trying again and investing billions of dollars. Such an effort and investment finally presented them with control of the 3 branches of government and the media. They are not to risk all that plying nice and in one or few elections. They are here to stay they have contingency plans. We have to open our eyes and act ASAP. What's going on in NC is proof enough. Look Oklahoma , Texas and Wisconsin to name a few states. And pay attention to the relentless campaign against Governor Newsom, most likely one of the leading presidential contender for the next election due " his criminal behavior during the fires " .Stay put.
Don't forget to blame all of the fire on the response of "lesbian firefighters" based on the first female LAFD Chief, who is lesbian, and has been with LAFD for 22 years.
They would use every single stupid reason to keep the heat on .
You got that right!
“Hope” is not a plan.
Absolutely Mike, hope is not a plan but we have to have a clear and realistic view of the field where we have to confront them and their strengths and weaknesses before drowning plans. Time is essential here, not to waste any or we risk everything. We have to start using what we have at hand already, our leaders and legislators by pressuring them to take action, create obstacles at every step to prevent them to establish total control.
I also think that the vile lies being spread about the LA fires is part of the longterm strategy. Blue California is not as unified as the pundits would have us believe. The "Newscum" just might trigger some gun nut to try to rid the state of our governor (I truly hope he has top level security!). Taking over California is the dream...and if the lies get loud enough, the reactionaries might bring back the Reagan era. I hope not but I live in a red part of the state.
You are absolutely right Juanita. They are counting on flipping California red and expect 4 years of relentless media lies and calls for investigations . In response Governor Newsom opened a website to counteract those lies. Where's your megaphone Governor?????
😥True.
Those falling down the economic ladder don’t have power, that’s the point of cutting taxes for the wealthy and cutting services for ordinary Americans and those in need. Money = power.
Some people have little imagination and less empathy, so if they're not homeless or hungry themselves, they can't understand the plight of those who are.
You hit the nail on the head - the lack of empathy. So many are no longer capable of it - I’ve wracked my brain trying to figure that one out. ASD is much more prevalent, along with more narcissism - I mean, it just wasn’t so obvious 30 years ago, now it’s every time I turn around. Empathy isn’t really something that can be taught (seems like we all used to have it - not so any longer). 😥
Republicans do whatever they want; they don’t follow rules because for all intent and purpose there are literally no consequences. Litigating is inconsequential when it comes to people who have money, power and tactics to delay things. They are above the law. Rules, equity and ethics only work when people have a code of honor, or at a minimum some self respect. Here, we are being told that they will cheat and steal votes; let the litigating begin. The lying and alternative facts have been normalized-lying, cheating, stealing. Welcome to America.
But they love to say things like "no one is above the law," or "justice for all" as they take away the right to vote or make medical choices about our own bodies.
And SCOTUS has said that TFG IS ABOVE the law...Hypocrisy much?
TR, so much for the hallowed "rule of Law" as Joyce calls it in her Substack. Since when has the ever been a rule of Law under our constitution. In America, it has always been the "Law of the Ruler". So what do you do about that? Constitutional reform. We (with our Allies) gave another country and thereby the region a new basic law which works pretty well in 1949. I speak of Germany and parts of Europe. Maybe we should look at that again.
‘Power Hungry’😥
The Dems, thru dark money sources, collected and spent $1.3 billion in 11 weeks of campaigning. Far, far more than trump. Money, power and tactics didn’t work FOR the Dems. So why complain.
In some cases it goes beyond "lack of empathy". That lack of empathy is one of the traits listed in a description of "psychopathy". For example, consider the practice during 45's term where asylum-seeking families were separated without keeping records of where their children were sent. That was the work of a psychopath. They are not just indifferent to the lives of other people, they are hostile. And they have managed to convert people with good hearts to vote for their evil ways. More than 11% of Americans are living in poverty -- more than 30 million of US. These people need our empathy.
Republicans breathe malice and cruelty, and proudly display it.
I’ve never seen more damaged people elevated to places of power who have for the entire lives been boosted by making others hurt. Whether they were the schoolyard bully, the racist landlord, the theme of sexual assault is pretty rampant, the cage match beat downs, etc.
And America said, “ok, I’m hurting, may as well vicariously hurt others.”
Mark Zuckerberg built an empire on rating woman as farm animals, harming out kids, etc and now won’t even supply truth? Whose speech is being protected. His other Harvard twin bros brought legitimacy to drug dealers and child pimps, rapists via Bitcoin. They peddle addition for pro and video games to the point of men failing in school, relationships or simple eye contact. They stalk and follow and track via the internet every thing we do and ask we say thank you.
Apple tags are just the newest way to hunt - but don’t forget it’s illegal to put them on people! Thanks for the get out of jail free card when they are slipped into significant others, workers, politicians, bosses. Yes, our completely law abiding society will only use that for luggage and wallets! Because we haven’t seen any sort of privacy invasion used to hurt people. And yet we seem to be totally helpless. Just a tiny kitten in a tree when miraculously, other nations can say, “um, no. Sell your product of harassment of teens, addiction and laundering money for arms and drug dealers some other way.”
Funny @uck isn’t doing away with fact checkers worldwide. Just here. Just to be shoved into a locker by MAGA. I guess all those martial arts cage matches didn’t grow a spine.
“ASD?”
Autism Spectrum Disorder
We're beyond a lack of empathy. It is indifference. The worst crime of all. The one thing that will destroy us.
You're right. CFDT spouts his nonsense 24/7/365, so we become outraged for 5 minutes and then he brings up another stupid thing like immigrants eating pets.
And that is what our corporate media gloms on to instead of the fact that CFDT was crushed in his debate with Kamala and then refused to debate her again.
How many times has the corporate media pointed out that CFDT is a demented fool unqualified to be President. Instead, they focus on his latest ridiculous diversion.
CFDT has arguably picked 4 or 5 cabinet candidates that are unqualified to do anything and yet the media and Republicans have mostly accepted that they might actually be approved to positions that only CFDT can remove them from.
For what it's worth, a line in a Lumineers' song, "Stubborn Love", asserts that "the opposite of love is indifference".
https://genius.com/The-lumineers-stubborn-love-lyrics
Exactly. Apathy will destroy us. Can’t tell you how many people I love and respect just shrug or worse, don’t want to hear factual reporting.
The people about to take over are not dumb. They are master salesmen who give what they have collected decades of data to distract people from any control over their lives.
Deep dive into how destroying the Dept of Ed might lead to privatizing student loans and giving private schools (religious and otherwise) taxpayer money or mindless labradoodle videos and guys getting hit in the nuts after a day at work?
We know the answer. But when your kids schools can’t afford pencils and the other side of town where they make 30 X more than you are sending their kid private, you might want to learn a bit. As far as I’ve heard, there is no wealth restriction on vouchers. So the guy making 750,000 a year will have his kid’s tuition supplemented by the single dad making 50k and praying his kid will get a decent education.
As a person familiar with private schools, the big draw is donations and literally not allowing kids in. The idea is to appear exclusive. So do MAGA a parents with a 80k salary think their kid, even with the voucher, will be attending school with the billionaire babies? And even if by the genetic gods, they are good athletes, they will need to travel most certainly 30, 40, 1 hour away. Hopefully their boss doesn’t mind work hours from 9 to 3 because they aren’t supplying buses.
Or they do but don't care.
Opportunistic narcissists only ever see themselves.
Scarily, Musk doesn’t even seem to have any love for his own child and made making the lives of children like his own flesh and blood miserable.
Why would he in a million years are about others children or their future?
Donald Trump seems not overly concerned with the people he brought into this world. He’s going to care about my kids and grandkids?
Peter Thirel….no kids. According to JD Vance he should be running a daycare for the employees of factories. Oh, wait, childless cat ladies get the diapers, childless cat dudes get the kings to the kingdom even though they also, according to Vance, have no allegiance to the perpetuity of America.
If is true that Mu$k doesn't have any love for his own children, and I agreed it's totally true, what to expect to get from him when his decisions in government stat affecting the rest of us, the no related in flesh and blood (luckily). Felon 34 belongs to the same breed obviously preferring one over the others. Rupert Murdock also in the same trend with only one of his clan in charge of his empire and the rest dismissed as second class relatives.
As for Peter Thiel, I think he adopted Manchurian candidate Vance. Apparently it was love at first sight and he is being groomed at high speed to appear in official photos, smile and insult women. Official function as they say.
Bottom line, you can't run a country as it were a business.
Exactly! Just imagine what could be accomplished if they weren't so corrupted by power and wealth.
And the sheeple vote for them because they can spew hate and fear. The Republicans have found a way to buy their way into several Senate seats like JD, Cruz, Scott, etc. with their lies and disinformation.
As one writer I read recently said, “MAGA has nothing to offer. All they have left is cruelty.” We on the other hand, have hearts and hands to offer our scared and struggling people.
Some people seem obsessed with lording over others. It seems to be humanity's actual original sin, and the historical source of most of humanity's avoidable sufferings. Abuse of power is, literally is, evil. Throughout history some have dreamed of societies in which people prosper in peace, but that state is always fragile, and never completed large scale. I keep thinking that we, as a people, could deescalate violence if we chose to.
For a moment, imagine an America without corporations. When I imagine such an America, I see a country where everyone stands on a level playing field... a country without the wealth and power that only corporations can accumlate, and no man can generate on his own... a country that nurtures creativity, innovation, independent thinking and collaboration... a country that puts children first... a country that values peace more than wealth and happiness more than strife... a country where fair is an adult word, not a child's word.
I don't have to imagine that. We, as citizens, had that vision starting with the Progressive movement in the late 19th century. Continuing with Brandeis anti trust law and then with FDR and the New Deal. Corporate power must be checked by the countervailing power of government regulation and enforcement power to promote fairness and competition. We had that in our grasp, but gave it up with the election of Nixon and Reagan.
Gregg, I was talking about ending corporations altogether, and putting business people back in control of business. Government can serve as a capital accumulator for public good, much better than corporations.
Can you imagine if the money spent on elections went to adequate housing or education? I have a dream.
I often have this thought about criminals in general. If they put half their skill into doing something non-criminal, they'd have great success.
More disappointing by the hour. The reality of next Monday and the resultant alternative dimension is upon us.
I don’t believe they voted this way. The election was hacked with an algorithmic manipulation (see “Dire Talks” YouTube video).
Harris should have demanded hand recounts in the swing states.
Links to Dire Talk’s Newest video - Clark County Nevada - Leaked Data Proves Algorithmic Manipulation. Please look at the proof:
https://youtu.be/qmzGOQwMG_k
https://youtu.be/y3-jqU8m-80?si=AzvhGqSUU-bC6VC1
https://youtu.be/T5cq1ITqzWU
Voters were suppressed:
https://youtu.be/P_XdtAQXnGE
"Republicans refuse to accept the voters’ choice"...except when the voters choose Republicans...
Corrupt as hell.
It's their plan Jonathan, they planned and invested long and big for this moment. They are here to stay. The remaining question is what to do about it.
Yes, witness the insurrection. Which succeeded In the long run.
The most serious mistake Joe Biden made in his presidency was not immediately pursuing punishment of Trump and his enablers. Because of Garland‘s foot-dragging we are now preparing for a second Trump term.
The Republican supermajority in our (MO) legislature fight the results of every referendum that they don't approve of. So much for the much vaunted "will of the people." They are hell bent on creating a fascist theocracy that they don't even try to hide it anymore. (Hawley is my "representative. Dog help me).
I assume that was NOT a misspelling. 😉
Thank you for amplifying this story. Please, everyone, help the NCDP and Justice Allison Riggs fight the GOP attack on democracy!
I just donated far more than the usual contributions that I've been sprinkling around. This makes my blood boil.
Me too.
Here is a link again to interview with Justice A. Riggs for more info and how to help.
https://youtu.be/Xzh1904ujRI?si=4v7U86KxndHnw-Nd
Don't get me started about the fine art of gerrymandering here in NC. They carve towns and counties up into little odd-shaped quilt pieces and stitch districts back together in contorted ways. This state is so progressive in so many ways and places but 50 years behind in others. As a former Chicagoan, I thought I'd seen it all but NC continues to surprise me monthly.
Money bought the politics a decade ago.
Whatever they do,they do it because they think they are entailed to and because we allow them, plain and simple Sharon.
Ohioan here, also dealing with gerrymandering. Our courts ruled illegal but it continues!
Thank you for the link, B Evans!
Thank you!
I live in North Carolina currently and have lived here since 1975. I have seen all the craziness upfront. It’s exasperating to vote to learn this challenge is going on to the NC State Supreme Court.
Jeff Jackson was my US House member and he was gerrymandered out and then chose to run for Attorney General of NC.
I am appalled by the political tricks going on now. Reading tonight’s letter, thank you, Heather Cox Richardson, for the historical perspective. The patterns of our past are repeating themselves. This, sadly, doesn’t mean progress at all. Repeating bad patterns for political gain, power, influence and control limits/restricts “we the people “ in favor of the powerful. This has not been a successful strategy for sustained progress. It undermines democracy. It undermines democratic principles and values.
My question is WHERE IS THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE throughout this?
Which Department of Justice? The US Department of Justice or in NC? I don’t know what Jeff Jackson, the new Attorney General or Josh Stein, our new Governor can do.
Oh, I’m pretty sure we can count on Josh and Jeff to figure it out!
I agree! Two great people. I am excited to live in NC .
SCOTUS has already ruled that they're fine with political gerrymandering so not much the DOJ could have done.
The NC Dept if Justice is party-aligned and generally gop. That's one reason this race is so important. I was surprised down here to learn justices have short terms and run on party sponsorship. Of all the positions that could have term limits here, it's the governor and justices. NOT LEGISLATORS.
If the opportunity ever arises, term limits for the legislative branch.
Vicky, what they are doing in NC it's one of the many experiments they might apply to other states and vice-versa. They are here to stay and be prepared to hear "we have a mandate" at nauseum.
What will you and other citizens of goodwill do about it?
Eventually, the US will have to pass laws that forbid gerrymandering. If we avoid a catastrophic dictatorship and manage to regain control of our country.
The failure of the founders to protect the right to vote as inviolate strikes me as a huge oversight. It seems to me that the mission of the Constitution is blatantly undermined by any schemes to distort equal justice, protection, and representation of any citizen that is otherwise qualified to vote.
Even if by honest error, deprivation or unreasonable barriers to the right to vote should be considered an intolerable injury to both affected individuals and the whole of society; and actively remedied. The vote-distorting shenanigans $COTUS winks at are Tyrannosaurus-rex-in-room corrupt as hell, and a clear and present danger to the Republic.
The right to vote, and have every vote count, needs to be held sacrosanct.
The Founders envisioned a Republic where only white men of property could vote, so saw no need to protect that. Unless you add another amendment to protect everyone’s right to vote, or better still, replace your 18th Century document with one fit for a modern democracy, I can’t see how you can protect your country from the anti-democratic power grabs of those who believe the Founders were right.
Great and logical proposal Sophie but do we have the numbers for that, or the power, now in the hands of the 1% billionaires and ignorant maga?
I’m not saying it will be easy, but did your ancestors have it easy? Was it easy to wrest the Civil Rights Act or the 19th Amendment from « white men of property »? Did mine, who were left alone to fight Hitler in 1940 ? Fighting fascism and plutocracy to obtain more power for ordinary citizens is never easy.
Your reply is well taken Sophie. I never said we should not try because it would be hard. I'm just pointing out who we are going to confront and how well organized they are. We should fight and prevail. I'm with you 💯 %.
I'm thinking most of us are self-absorbed, maybe too comfortable, possibly too lazy to even notice much less act.
Until it stops being comfortable.
Are you talking about our representatives in Congress Sharon ?😎
Because your description fits them like a glove.
I completely agree with you. It is our right to vote. Our inalienable right.
Joanna, ask the 1% billionaires class and ignorant maga if they think it is your inalienable right. See what's happening in NC, Texas Florida, Wisconsin just to name a few.
Remember that the founders we so revere were themselves slaveholders and wealthy white MEN. They were just as interested in preserving their property rights as self determination by ballot.
Self determination was, after all, only a right accorded to white MEN.
It's really no surprise this fatal flaw in our origination documents haunts us to this day.
You last point J L is what might retake the power from them back to we the people so expect a savage battle from them to prevent that from happening.
The Constitution needs a drastic update. But that is impossible considering the high bar set for amendments and the recalcitrant Republican Party.
This is the most succinct comment I have seen yet regarding HCRs post today. YES to what you wrote here. It summarizes everything that has gone so wrong for the U.S. in recent years - One corrupted political party ie Republicans cheating and maneuvering to win, with disregard for the rule of law and the rights of voters. So much needs fixing and it's easy to get distracted by all the side shows and drama -but the solution starts with crystal clear focus on defining the problem.
Have AI tackle the job of setting up fair congressional districts, and then have Congress vote to mandate pursuant to the 14th amendment that the states redistrict in accordance with the results. Then Republicans can challenge the new law and take it to our current Supreme Court - where good ideas go to die.
Thanks Heather, how much more anti democratic can the United States get? We are on the edge of a civil war, unfortunately!
I seems to me that Republican demagogues have done all the could to rekindle the Civil War. Lincoln would likely be disgusted.
I won’t be surprised if Trump tries having his minions in the militias attack people he hates.
He will try, Jan 6 with him leading
The Atlantic recently published an article about Hitlers first week's in office. An excellent read. By Timothy Ryback.
Let us shine our light on scrutinizing the Military.
Kathy, knowing them, almost guaranteed that situation, specially, if we have ? a midterm election not going their way
We are all disgusted JL.
I think they are going to start a new Civil War if they start loosing elections, if we have them (?) .Because they invested so much time planning and so much money, they won't allow some elections results to be on their plans to keep power .
Christopher it's not how much only, it's also for how long. They had planned that situation for a long time and invested fortunes . They are not going to loose another election,by design. Controlling the 3 branches of government and the media and not having any concience it's almost a guarantee to stay in power.
Less a civil war than a revolution, I suspect.
Can the Republicans in North Carolina sink any lower? Well, the Texas Legislature returns tomorrow, and I'm certain they will try to outdo NC. Ugh!
Can Tennessee or Florida be far behind?
And here comes Ohio, trying to take the lead!
No decency is epidemic in what is left of the
"GOP".
Great line, "No decency is epidemic...."
They suffer from an excess of shamelessness.
This breakdown of North Carolina politics—and I have lots of friends and colleagues who teach in the UNC system, which has been historically inclusive, liberal, and challenging of the status quo—demonstrates exactly what Jamelle Bouie wrote in his Friday column in The NY Times: there was no “peaceful transfer of power” in the federal election. The neofascists and christofascists won. So they took office because Dems followed the rules and let them. But what if Harris had won? Would there have been a “peaceful transfer of power”? Vide North Carolina.
The Democratic Party failure to invoke section 3 of amendment 14 shows they were not in the election to win. And using section 3 of amendment 14 actually would be playing by the rules of the constitution. So to me, the party is a total disgrace.
And the president totally illegitimate.
Please don’t take my comments as directed at you, they are not. The NYT’s perspective is cynical and irresponsible at best, considering their role in consistently upholding narratives that sustain oligarchs main goals, and undermining the Biden/Harris administration. With that said, President Biden is still the President, and the Commander in Chief, still responsible for upholding the Oath to defend our Constitution, IMHO.
Zelita, the NYT editor is a total m*therf*cker kowtowing to the owners. I absolutely agree. But Jamelle is an independent actor and if you read his stuff, he takes them to task on a regular basis. Nick Kristoff quit in part because one of his op-ed pieces was rejected. I am sure that Bouie is getting lots of pushback and I am also sure he would dump the Times if they cross him. He is one of the most compelling voices who just happens to publish a weekly essay in the Times--but he can be found elsewhere as well.
Linda, key words in your comment were "Dems followed the rules" and look at where we are now. "Whan they go low, we go high " is sooo obsolete.
Sadly I have to agree with you Ricardo.
What to do? When the rules don't hold? I an seeing comments here today about a revolution or civil war.
There has to be a resistance and " the pendulum has to swing". I keep thinking about how narrow Trumps victory was. Half of the voters wanted Kamala for our next president. We are still here.
I am not sure what happens next. Maybe there has to be a period of waiting while we understand what exactly this new administration will do. Will it be Trump or will it include Musk or will this be Project 2025? Then it will be clear what we are fighting against. We definitely have to return to " following the rules," protecting our democracy and honoring our Constitution. We can't let this plundering and greed and creating laws and policies based on the beliefs of extremist minorities . This must be stopped. I am not sure how yet.
Stephanie, thanks for your reply. I don't have all the answers to your concerns and the answers I have, don't know if they are the right ones, but I try anyway. Regarding what to do when the rules don't hold? Create new rules, some of them like those used by our opponents even if they run against our nature of decent people. Definitely I'm not proposing a revolution or civil war although we might be forced into it. Remember that in that situation we might lose which would be the end of everything. The half that voted for Kamala is still there, providing we counteract the massive misinformation thrown at them with clear, simple and massive messaging, laud and clear!!!!
Definitely it shouldn't be a period of waiting to figure out which direction felon 34 will drive our country. Any direction would be catastrophic, and will give them time to consolidate.
What to do??? The hardest question Stephanie and the most consent of them all. Since they are our "first responders" we should put a lot of pressure on our leaders and legislators to block and obstaculice, even legally every intent by maga and felon 34 to implement proyect 2025 and in the meantime find a way to convey our message to we the people mostly towards the working class if which we lost a good part of it and apologize for neglecting them during the Clinton and Obama administration.
They are going to screw up big time on almost everything and they are going to try distraction as usual. I can keep going Stephanie but for today I think we have enough to think. 🤗
Not on your life. There’s another would have been mayhem.
It just seems... hopeless. So hopeless right now.
. . . And each time I look for an update on the horrific LA fires (I am so, so sorry to those here who are directly affected by them) I see another awful lie spread by Trump and his right-wing media megaphone. Just now, he posted a picture of the Hollywood Hills (with Hollywood sign) burning, with the words "TRUMP WAS RIGHT". And Republicans in the House are already talking about how they will withhold federal funding from California unless various "conditions" are met.
What is the MOST ironic thing is that California sends so much federal money to the "taker" states - the red states. California is the fifth largest economy in the entire world. And to be vilified by these uninformed GOP members? Crazy.
No, it's vile.
I'd love to see Newsom figure out a way around the tax code to keep some of our CA tax dollars from heading to the Plutocracy's coffers this year. Let the Billionaire's Congress figure out how to fund their Red State pork barrel projects without our largesse. Sorry, I try not to be selfish, and I know we are basically feeding the poor in the South, and wherever Walmart and Amazon Dist. Centers are the only jobs left, but it is really starting to rankle.
Especially when we could be spending it here to develop new Green Tech and Sustainable Farming and to AI and its guardrails, and of our course, Housing and services for our own poor and homeless, in a state suffering from its own success and income inequality.
Totally understand your thoughts
Gov. Newsom started a website because there was so much disinformation and politicizing the LA fire catastrophe. I'm sorry I don't have the link.
I only regret that there is so much lying about the fire. The real problem is the climate change Republicans pretend isn’t happening, and the president elect’s bff is out there using his social media site to spread lies and misinformation.
Kathy, it's not only his social media. Pls pay attention.
Yes Joanna, Newsom started a website and the orde owns the media and the megaphone and they are going to relentlessly use against the governor, possible a contender for the next presidential election, if we ever have another one. They won't stop shouting for four years. Good luck with your website Governor 👍.
P D, don't forget to share the link, at any time, no rush.
"And to be vilified by these uninformed GOP members?"
And their shameless, conscienceless self-serving "GOP" leaders, most of whom I'm sure know very well they lie. I'm sure Trump and Musk do.
I lived in a purple Florida county. De Santis chopped a little blue off one end, added some red on the other and now we are solidly red. Years ago voters amended the constitution to discourage gerrymandering . Republicans have spent millions of taxpayers money evading it. They have also made it harder to vote and vote early. Im afraid this could get lots worse really fast.
“Republicans refuse to accept the voters’ choice.“ A huge part of our current problems.
Joan Didion yet lives.
Heather's reporting on North Carolina politics today only reaffirms everything Didion was writing in the last years of her life.
She was reporting, really, from many places. But Washington D.C. politicians underlined all the more the charades, the lives-in-abstractions, and the repetitions of similarly dehumanized power players (both parties) all playing only that they and their teams stay in power.
Didion had to repeat, often, that these games always went on totally and completely apart from any factual observations of the public at whose expense the elites indulged their charades.
So it goes on. Worsens.
I can't let a comment equating "both parties" slip by without a caution. "Politicians are all the same" and "both parties are corrupt" have been the PR of the powerful (read WASP patriarchy) since our union was founded. It continues to work, thanks to the willingness of engaged leftists to let perfection be the death of progress in our limited electoral system. There is a CLEAR difference between the parties, and women have Always been able to see it more clearly than men, at least in one life or death aspect.
Please be careful not to smear Democrats with the same brush as Republicans this way.
Please, Patrice, note one key difference between today's era and that of Joan Didion.
She very specifically chronicled how both political parties in the 1980s and '90s limited their public utterances to abstractions, team slogans, stereotypes of the other, and other packaging rhetoric. The worse part of this for her was the relentless predictability that both parties would, for their conceits, also avoid citations of "observable fact" as any decent writer or journalist knows should be key.
Joan Didion's alarm at these behaviors then yet obtain today insofar as American schools went full throttle since then to stigmatize anyone ever using any humanities. Thus the parties Heather cites in North Carolina today show themselves all aloof from, illiterate to parallels to any novels, memoirs, histories, films, or other arts aptly grounding policy and politics in observable human circumstances.
I disagree. Didion wrote from a strictly privileged perspective. A second reading of "The Year of Magical Thinking" convinced me that she was completely detached from, and incapable of understanding, how the majority of people live.
Of course you're correct, Katherine, in some ways.
She was born to and raised in an affluent northern California family. She knew publishing success at an early age and had the benefit all her life of access to the best publishing houses in New York and the best film studios in Hollywood, for whom she and her husband co-wrote many successful screenplays.
She knew everybody in power.
Of all this, yes, something like "The Year of Magical Thinking" sets her as insider elite.
But you err, Katherine, if you ignore the many other books of journalism where she was on the ground -- widely in the U.S. and similarly so in foreign countries where she could see and did see, did report on the damages done by U.S. elites and covered up by U.S. institutions, from universities to government agencies she knew and named all too well.
I’m heartsick at what’s going on in North Carolina, where I lived from 1991 to 2014. I remember the years when voting rights were expanding. And I remember the 2010 census and the subsequent REDMAP gerrymandering with “surgical precision” to create a minority rule.
I volunteered in NC in October to help elect Josh Stein. I’m furious that the NC legislature is looking for, and finding, ways to constrain him and his AG. It’s un-American. 😡
Nothing says we cannot build a platform that will draw voters on both sides. We can present the things we know that are needed. A single-payer universal healthcare system has been a dream. It would save us $460 billion a year. Why have we not proposed that???? Free child care. Free college. Supplemental income below $30,000. Why have we not proposed that???? Free school lunches. Why not? It is needed and it is time. Why not? A lack of courage is why not. Did you know that courage is what overcomes fear? Would a brave soul stand up, one that can infuse us with courage? https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/start-our-movement?r=3m1bs
But all of those have been proposed over and over! And they've been blocked over and over. It's not that Democrats don't propose or even make serious efforts to make those things happen.
Still, there have been pilot programs for supplemental or universal basic income, and they've done well.
And here in New Mexico, we do have free school lunches for all kids in public schools.
the people/corporations who make money under the present system work very hard and spend a lot of money to ensure that the presesent system does not change. Health insurers do not want a single-payer universal health care system. Where is their role in that? Nowhere - so they resist. Likewise income supplements - but they go to people that for Republicans are the wrong color.
So many reforms that could be possible, but money and racism and blunt stupidity ensure that they are fervently opposed, even by people who would benefit from them. Alas...
As the richest nation in the world, we do not have universal health care, we have untold numbers of homeless people, we have children who go to school hungry every day, and children who live in cars with their families. My daughter lives in Germany. People pay into the health care system, but they have excellent health care. About three years ago I needed a CT scan and had to pay out of pocket. The cost of the scan was 40 euros, about $40. If people want additional services that are not covered, they can pay out of pocket, but they don't have to mortgage their homes to do so.
We are an embarrassment. We can and should do better, but so many are deliberately fed lies.
The balance in the legislature will change in 2026. It is the 2028 platform that can change this. The people have to opt for this as a platform for it to become an Act, and it will take a good margin in House and Senate. It is that journey of 1000 miles.
So wrong so unbelievable Denying the votes and choices of citizens And agree with comments above feel the immorality and anti democratic principles of this in pit of stomach And all of this with the fires blazing destroying and a immoral so called president elect - if really elected - who doesn’t care