“If destruction be our lot,” he said, “we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”
Lincoln was our greatest President. Trump and MAGA are worse than Jefferson Davis and Confederates. Now they have fired my partner and thousands of civil servants who were trying to protect our democracy with diversity, equity, and inclusion: https://democracydefender2025.substack.com/p/dei-public-servant-fired
Yes, I am sorry that this is happening to you and your partner.FFOTUS is taking a machete to our dear land and in just one week today has done irreparable damage.Every day brings a thousand sorrows.
We are all directly affected!!! Let us not forget that everyday some are blatantly running very red lights, going speeds guaranteed for airplanes about to take off, lying by the minute, cruising in low slung cars with blackened windows smoking drugs “while driving”…… if this doesn’t affect us all????? And it is because those scaly bastards who think for one minute that they can ignore the rule of law,YES you John Roberts, and all who have made “being accountable for one’s’ actions “ a phony parable, may you be affected by it ALL. Scum is what is tearing this country apart. Scum that the rest of us think won’t start a ring around our tub??????? Wake up America… the scum is drowning us.
I agree that Trump and his cronies have influenced a lot of the bad behavior we see now. I hate to drive anywhere when I'm in Florida helping out my Dad. As my sister (who also lives in FL) put it, "people are driving as if they're TRYING to get into an accident!" At least it's not that bad where I live in upstate NY.
Only if we let them. But I agree 100% about blatant disregard for the law today down to the most local level of people deciding stop signs, speed limits and red lights are optional. And beyond.
I wish there was a 'sad", "angry", or "not like" button as well as a "like". I am sorry about the loss of your jobs and can't help but bang my head into the wall because we don't ever seem to learn!
How we might deal with collaborators AND the betrayal of our leaders...who do nothing.
"Collaborators will be killed or shorn, paraded and shunned." A paraphrased quote from France after WWII.
“A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not to be trusted by anybody” . This quote reflects a broader principle that lack of accountability fosters mistrust and injustice. Thomas Paine
“The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating that civilisation cannot tolerate their being ignored because it cannot survive their being repeated” . This statement underscores the necessity of holding collaborators and perpetrators accountable to prevent future atrocities. Justice Robert H. Jackson, Nüremberg
“Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for the freedom of their people” . While not directly about collaborators, this quote contrasts the moral stance of true leadership with betrayal or collaboration against one’s people. Nelson Mandela
AOC is 🎯 regarding $ in politics. Where are our Dem leaders calling us to action? We hit them where it hurts by withholding our money and our labor, but the Dem leadership won’t forgo the political donations from the rich
She is right. We can either wallow or defend the Country. I keep thinking of the soldiers who went to war, the people of the underground French Resistance and the Civil rights workers in the South.
Social media and comments sections are good. They also can be a place of complaining and whining that preclude action. I always get pushback that people are just venting. I ask everyone this: what is your ratio of venting to action?
Popock and Ben Medidas acquiesced to the "peaceful takeover" and never interviewed people like Palas and lost Jessica Denson, who advocated the 14th Amendment objection.....
Birthright citizenship should be a lay down.......
On the ground, here in Baghdad By the Sea, people who had valid humanitarian visas that were invalidated could have gummed up the entire shock and awe......
Barbara, it’s so easy for us to point our fingers to the other side. We must realize that in doing so we point 3 figures back to ourself! I so agree, what are each of us actively doing to rectify the situation?
Hold them accountable for their votes. It's interesting that all the coverage on the ridiculous and deeply flawed vote on Hegseth focused on the three Republicans who voted against him, when instead the focus and constant accountability should be focused on all the Republican senators who voted to confirm him. This won't be the last horrible confirmation. There's more to come (Kennedy, Gabard, Patel, and more!). Hold them accountable for their votes. All of them.
I'm not sure that the world is ready for Felon47 to take a walk of shame a la Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones, but it would certainly bring a quick end to any notions of greatness on his part.
More seriously, and like several other writers, I wonder what has become of all the elected Democrats other than Chris Murphy and AOC. If there's going to be a loyal opposition, they need to start demonstrating their loyalty.
I think we need to stop fighting the culture wars and look at the bigger picture. Our democracy is threatened and we are too focused on the identity issues. We need to win the war to save our democracy and then we can fight the other battles . We will not win the larger war if we keep fighting the smaller battles because the smaller battles cannot be won without first saving our democracy.
That sounds good in a gauzy generalized way. But are identity issues categorically distinct and separate from the “war to save democracy”? I’m not so sure.
Excellent quotes. Let’s hope all Americans awaken and demand reforms to prevent oligarchy from taking hold ever again —assuming we survive this self-inflicted disaster.
From Meidastouch: … Trump-loving Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) sent out a panicked, urgent letter to Homeland Security urgently begging them not to deport Cuban, Venezuelan, and Nicaraguan migrants in her district because many of them may have legitimate asylum claims. I guess she believed Trump when he said he was only going to deport “the criminals.”
Their visas were voided Jan 21. Many came on humanirtarian visas, backed by sponsors who will lose bigly, it taxed the costs involved.
Trump is cunning in feral sort of way and avails himself of all evil tolls that serve his ends. There are no moral or ethical guardrails. Only strategic and tactical considerations.
I cannot "like" your comment, Mike. However, coming for us all means for Republicans too. I hope they will sing a different tune before the midterms, so we need to do all we can to make sure they get the message.
Not likely. My evangelical mom is a member of the Trump cult (not sure there's difference). They have an interesting way of evaluating U.S. fortunes under a Republican majority. When things are going well, it's due to Republican leadership. When things are not going well, it's the fault of "the government," the nameless, faceless institution that causes problems. When Democrats are in charge, a sudden blindness prevents Mom from seeing anything good. When Republicans sabotage progress, she returns to blaming "the government."
These mental gymnastics are enabled by a lifetime of evangelical dogma. When good things happen, they are "answers to prayer." When bad things happen, it was "God's will."
With so many thousands being fired from governmental positions by MAGA for simply upholding US constitutional democratic guardrails has anyone yet started to organise a statewide alternative government union of exiled governmental expertise ?
Lincoln sacrificed his whole self for this country and ended up being murdered by a deranged citizen.
So few understand such character within a human being ....character though not perfected but character that compels one to desire to continue growing intellectually even as one works hard physically to survive. Character that understands mercy and grace.
Garfield was another. They both grew up in abject poverty. Both Lincoln and Garfield enjoyed reading even though they had so little of this physical or financial world to call their own.
Garfield was also shot by a deranged person and due to the very poor treatment of his doctor, he died slowly from sepsis as a result of the gunshot wound.
Lincoln and Garfield gave their best and their all to any task before them. They gave themselves to hard work for the sake of survival. They gave the same passion and character pursuing their education. They were elected by the people to serve this country and to them that meant everyone...no matter the color of their skin.
Various opinions were respected even if disliked.
These were true heroes. These were the great men of character our country needs again.
We have stood by and watched our country choose "I will only be a dictator on day one..." as the President of the United States of America. Do you not believe this is happening now????
It is a little late to be asking citizens for money when Trump and his minions plan to do away with Social Security and Medicare. There are most of us who have worked and given to these programs and now in our later years, some of us dealing with health issues and or financial responsibilities or have saved , not for ourselves only, to pay our bills but also to assist with the college education of our hardworking grandchildren.
Trump and his chosen minions could care less about our plans for our families....our savings to help our children and grandchildren to have opportunities for a better future.
Trump's plans are not for just four years. Are you not listening??? Do you not see this new reality being built before us not only in Washington DC but in every state!!!!
Yes, fellow citizens WAKE UP!!!! Look at the "ROBOTS" being voted into the highest offices of America!!! Their lack of character and experience is appalling!
Those who are allowing themselves to be used during these days will face their own problems when their usefulness is over.
Garfield was a janitor had Hiram College then found a way to attend college there. I have passed his first home many times and it is a very small log cabin on the side of a now big road.
Survey groups that are doing their damnedest (ie Indivisible, immigrant support groups, climate/democracy groups like thirdact.org, ACLU, local independent media, progressive Dems recruiting and supporting mid-term and ‘28 candidates) but mainly stay connected with friends, faith groups, activists and creatives inspired by long global history of nonviolent resistance to and overthrow of dictators, and fascist regimes. (Check out the Chilean students filling streets singing El Derecho de Vivir en Paz day after day before they reclaimed their country) MAGA goal is goal is to shock, terrify and isolate us, strip away the capacity for joy and community building that sustains us and will ultimately bring them down.
Oh, I am so sorry. You are in the thick of it. And I believe the worst is yet to come. Reading your post today not only makes me angry, it makes me want to work even harder to right the wrongs.
My family and I have through the years ( I am a 76 year old licensed psychologist) benefited from individual public servants. I experienced this not as a “ handout “ but as an investment and feel a responsibility to pay it forward. The public servant , that person who comes into our lives quietly and humbly without fanfare , just doing their duty and perhaps never realizing the good they do. Thank you so much
Trump talked about the thrill of pushing “the button” in 2015 but the idiots elected him anyway. Destroying anything or anyone is power to his demented brain. He would love to destroy another country.
Hobbes (1651) wrote: "there ought to be such Lawes, as may encourage all manner of Arts; as Navigation, Agriculture, Fishing, and all manner of Manifacture that requires labour."
While MAGA ends explicit support for DEI, we must insist on laws that encourage labor for all who have strong bodies and minds. Don't retire, make your next career much better!
Project 2025 is succeeding so far in their desire to destroy our institutions. Let us hope that after this disaster is over we will be able to reestablish our institutions better and stronger as a result of the mess they have created. (I can dream can't it?)
I’m so sorry to hear that. I hope your partner and the other dedicated public servants get their jobs back. Without them all of us are in terrible danger.
Or, in more succinct and modern terms, as Pogo said, "We have met the enemy, and he is us." If we don't want the enemy to win, we must choose not to die by suicide. We must find whatever ways work for each of us and triumph over the lawlessness that is rampant in our country today.
One of my favorite quotes. Pogo (Walt Kelly )must have taken this lesson from Lincoln. I agree that it’s disturbingly prescient. Indeed, we must stop it before it metastases further. Today was yet another frightening day as Trump suggested relocating the Palestinian people while Gaza was rebuilt. A new job for Donald Trump, Jr. and friends. I’m sure the first building completed will be a Trump Hotel. He also explicitly threatened Republican senators who voted against his cabinet picks; that is beyond disgusting. He’s thrown down the glove; wanna bet who will challenge him now. The Senate should protect its institution, but I have no faith in the Republican Party. I had hoped John Thune would step up, but he failed the first test.
We need to resist, and keep clear heads. Prioritize the information too. What should we note and what can we do something about, be it just writing our elected officials to let them know how we want them to vote and thanking them when they vote as we ask.
“All things are done at once by Caesar.” And so it went one day in 57 BCE when Caesar had to keep a clear head as he confronted numerous crises simultaneously in fighting a Celtic tribe, the Nervii, in Belgium and had to put out a series of serious fires over a large battle field all at once. Caesar of course was a shameless self-promoter and had an interest in presenting himself as a clear-headed leader.
But in fact, he appears to have actually been so. The lesson he teaches is clarity under tremendous pressure. When overwhelmed, know what to address first and how. For Trump this means a lawsuit here, a strategic blockade of an army or police recruitment center there, a human chain to resist mass arrest of people to be deported in another place, a strategic public confrontation or humiliation there against his minions in Congress and the administration, or highlighting of tragedy to drive home his and his party’s cruelty – women dying in parking lots for lack of reproductive care, children separated from mothers, veterans deprived of benefits on the streets.
Maintain moral clarity. Yes, you saw what you saw: Musk gave a Nazi salute; a representative suggested deporting a bishop who is a citizen for preaching the ministry of Christ; Trump wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. It’s all insane.
But there are deeper reasons for concern and they need the real focus and resistance: the desire for Greenland is a way to break up NATO; his executive orders on abortion will kill tens of thousands here and abroad; his pardons are a direct blow to the rule of law and a first step in creating a private militia; each of his nominations are designed not for management and governance but performance art destruction of the US – witness feather-weight Rubio’s body blow against American soft power in suspending all foreign aid except for Israel and Egypt; his revocation of Biden’s infrastructure initiative will do enormous damage to the economy, and his tariffs will be an added body blow.
It's a lot, but his opponents – we - are many. This is not unstoppable: the elephant crushes thousands of ants but the ants eventually overwhelm it. Keep your head clear. Don’t focus on the performative cruelty. Focus on what we can do. Remember, the Assad family was going to go on forever, the Roman empire was going to be imperium sine fine, the Civil War seemed endless . . . until it didn’t, until it wasn’t, and until Appomattox.
Stop retreating, turn around, fix your shield, aim your spear, and thrust it in the eye of a shocked Spartan, who thought he was invincible until Epaminondas of Thebes showed everyone otherwise. Stopping this may come through a single shock, or through a series of cumulative actions. History can be written by us if we choose, pen in one hand, the sword of righteousness in the other.
" the desire for Greenland is a way to break up NATO"... Breaking up NATO is one of Putin's Dreams... Hasn't Russian Money Floated the Trump Organization since Y2K? I fervently hope the Evil Orange Clown doesn't Sell-Out the Brave, Brave, Ukrainians... Slava Ukraine!!!
Did you see that both Zelenskyy and Putin coincidentally came out this weekend saying they both "ALWAYS" thought Trump won the 2020 election? Quid Pro Quo much?
They both know that Trump has the power to cause great harm to either country when he decides who wins the war and who loses. This lie by both leaders is just the ante to start the negotiations.
Thank you. This will take years, it won't be a one-and-done. I may not live to see good triumph, but I have to keep trying. One way, in addition to whatever we can do on the federal level, is to work on the local and state level. There are and will be plenty of opportunities
Thank you. America is now in political chaos and this offers a hostage to fortune for its major political enemies. For instance, UK’s Reform party leader Nigel Farage gave a Stars and Stripes and The Union Jack celebratory MAGA party for Trump’s inauguration. It’s main sponsor was the New Federal State of China. This organisation is also the most recent financial sponsor for Steve Bannon and his followers. Although it is not entirely clear whether it has any direct political links with the Chinese government it is worth keeping an eye on. The article can he found here under And Here We Go Again:
Trump's getting into it with Colombia now, as president Gustavo Petro blocked two US military aircraft carrying deported Colombians from landing in his country. He's ordered the doubling of tariffs to 50% (not great news for fans of Colombian coffee) and Petro announced on X that he has ordered the “foreign trade minister to raise import tariffs from the U.S. by 25%”. His ethnic cleansing plan in Gaza has been widely condemned across the Middle east. It's just utter chaos, not governance and it's actually already worse than his last time in office.
My heart goes out to those poor Colombians being dragged from pillar to post. Looks like this is how it will play out where humans are treated as political pawns.
The BBC is reporting that the Colombians have now agreed to accept deportees so something has been arranged to the mutual satisfaction of both countries.
My primary care physician in Jacksonville was from Colombia. She had been in the US long enough to have children that grew up here. But, I can see ICE raiding her office because she was one of the few doctor's that was bilingual in Spanish and English. She saved my life so I am eternally grateful to her.
There were many doctors at the MAYO in JAX that were from other countries. Trump wouldn't hesitate to deport them or their families.
way way way worse..Project 2025 is the mandate they created and overwhelming is the Autocratic was to destabilize until they have all the strings secured in their favour. Not Democracy and not going to effect ONLY the US...I fear he will align with Putin (openly ) India and the other BRICS to control...Peace time is over and Freedom is no longer FREE....it will need to be WON BACK xo
But there's no mandate for Project 2025. Even Trump during the campaign was forced to distance himself from it claiming fthat he didn't know what it was (even though it was staffed by people who were in his first administration). A Republican adviser, Mark McKinnon, today on CNN compared the new Trump administration with the last one as the difference between a train crash and a bullet train. Let's see how long this 'bullet train' stays on the rails! Right now, Trump is threatening Putin with further sanctions because his promise to end the Ukraine war on his first day didn't quite transpire as he might have hoped. At the same time, he's softening his approach to China (tariffs and TikTok) and instead threatening to impose tariffs on Mexico and Canada and to take over Greenland.
Call or write the DNC, and demand a reorganization into Offensive and Defensive Shadow Govt. teams....and that they be staffed with people with the right skills to inform and "guide" our Democrat members.
Ask the DNC to establish Timothy Snyder's "Shadow Cabinet" that will follow each MAGA monster and provide regular updates on their efforts to dismantle American Civilization.
Each Shadow would present the New Democrats platform that reflects the values, needs and human rights of the Working Class.
As Snyder says, this is a tradition in the UK. It's a way for us to have hope and demand media attention to the horrors unfolding. But mostly, it is a way to offer Americans a clear alternative to our fascist oligarchy.
Krugman and Reich - for Treasury, Labor or Commerce?
Buttigieg for any of them :) Most needed for DOD right now...
I actually had been thinking that the DNC, or rather democrats should be organizing into teams like the Republicans did and drafting their own version of Project 2025, targeted for the next democratic Presidential administration of 2029. This document would then guide policy and form a cohesive policy.
Bruce.., wheww.. I dunno. Help me: Who or what is the "reorganization" to be composed of? The DEI team? The LGBTQ+Tg team? The homeless street dweller team? The Recycle plastic waste team? The Motor Voter team? The No ID needed team. The Non-traditional marriage team? The Green team? These are all the kinds of "teams" the MAGAtts rode on to get numbnuts in office. Put all those categories together and you end up with some kind of "brexit" mentality. Right now, we just need to do things which don't crash the ship. The 48% of us need to get a grip. We'll get more flies with honey than with salt. Along with accepting the fact that common-sense has not been our forte'. This is the result and a good place to start. Freedom from religious dictates needs to be on the table and instead of the 10 commandments, a banner on the wall which says Exercise common sense for the good of mankind.
Bruce, a shadow cabinet like the one the British have of the opposition party. If you don’t know the details and I totally think you all do, wiki spells it out. I’ve thought naming it properly so hewhosinsane isn’t completely threatened…
Of course he’ll threaten to do atrocities not only to it but also to each member ..
Thinking of Pete Buttigieg
as one, Liz Cheney for balance, Stacey Abrams, etc..
top military and diplomatic. You can certainly add others better than I can. Of course with profound thanks once again to HCR who lifts me up each time she shares her knowledge and intelligence.
Yes, the sheer disorienting cacaphony is itself a defense of sorts as it is hard to hit a moving target, especially a multifaceted one like his Orange stickiness.
Did DJT ask the Indigenous Eskimos? I doubt that any belong to Mar-a-Lago... There are about 56,000 permanent Inhabitants of Greenland... ~6,000 are European Descendants... ~50,000 are Eskimos... Did DJT Jr. talk to them during his Photo Op? I don't trust any of the Trump Clan....
I do not think he talked to the indigenous people, instead he talked to the PM of Denmark who told him that Britain has right of first refusal if they were to sell Greenland, which they are not planning on doing. They are moving in the direction of giving the Greenlanders autonomy.
That Britain would have the first right of refusal of buying Greenland should set alarm bells ringing. The alt right Reform party of UK’s arch Brexiteer Nigel Farage is now gaining political popularity in the GB polls as Labour leader Starmer’s government is proving to follow in the unpopular 40 year old neo liberal political footsteps of the Conservative party. Many now calling both The Uniparty. Reform could well form the next UK government. Farage gave a Stars and Stripes and The Union Jack celebratory pro MAGA event for Trump’s inauguration, primarily funded by Bannon’s newest backer, New Federal State of China. Details can be found under the article Here We Go Again: https://broligarchy.substack.com/p/seig-heil-tesla
The actors in this "dicombobulation" will all be very visible, though. Make a list of their Names and faces...So that we remember every collaborator when the time comes for punishment.
I have no intention of committing suicide (I do know what Lincoln meant), so if I go missing in all of this, find the fu**..ing collaborator and make him/her pay for me. The Norwegians took care of their own collaborators during and after WWII, be like Vikings.
I am sure there are other such initiatives. I would also like to know who has copied the information deleted from the Government websites on things like health, scientific research, weather tracking, etc...
keep a list for your own state, as I am doing for New Mexico. We can compare notes. We'll see who the next DNC chair is if that person takes on what's happening full bore.
Who does Trump think he is, threatening PM Christensen like that? He’s acting as if he thinks he was elected Dictator and has the right to order around our allies.
Trump is carrying out Putin's work of breaking up the US and NATO. Greenland is the route he has chosen for the latter. It will polarize. Can we still impeach him and throw him into prison? Has that ship sailed or will there be those who rethink it?
Pogo was the one comic strip my parents enjoyed and sometimes read to me. I laughed and laughed at some of the things the characters said, and at their facial expressions, especially Albert. I was oblivious to most of the puns and the political themes embedded in the word play.
And not a peep of outrage from those who screamed incessantly about “Genocide Joe” and “Killer Kamala” No comments from the legacy media. Where are the college protestors? It’s almost like the point was to trash the Democrats’ chance of re-election, not help the Palestinians.
“It’s literally a demolition site right now,” Trump said, referring to the vast destruction caused by Israel’s 15-month war with Hamas, now paused by a fragile ceasefire.
“I’d rather get involved with some of the Arab nations, and build housing in a different location, where they can maybe live in peace for a change,” Trump said.
Jsred is his daddy-in-law’s envoy. They want to rake Gaza and build there also. Kush didn’t get $2 bil for nothing from the Saudi Prince. He got our government secrets!
All the Republicans willing and capable to defend our institutions and country against Trump are gone. Don't expect anything good coming from the rest Kim.
Good points. But it won't be Don Jr., it will be Kushner, whose family ties go back long and deep with Netanyahu.
On November 26, 2023, Dr. Sarah Kendzior wrote:
"There should be a plan to rebuild Gaza under Palestinian sovereignty but you’re more likely to see Kushner beachfront property over Palestinian child corpses."
Four months later, on March 20, 2024, when Kushner expressed interest in the 'very valuable' potential of Gaza's waterfront property Kendzior made this observation:
“Kushner has praised the ‘very valuable’ potential of Gaza’s ‘waterfront property’ and suggested Israel should remove civilians while it ‘cleans up’ the strip.” As I’ve said for months, Israel is engaging in pre-construction demolition and clearance.
Talk about prescient! But she's been right about everything, from saying in 2015 Trump would win, to saying in Spring, 2021 that Trump would never be convicted--that Garland would drag his feet and run out the clock. Sadly, we saw that play out.
Oh, and if I may, one more thing she said in August 2019, when Trump first expressed an interest in buying Greenland, and we all laughed:
"You should take the Greenland shit more seriously. It's not just theatrical assholery; Trump and his backers are seeking to profit off climate change in a world without old alliances or protocol."
I couldn’t remember Kushner’s name at the time, being 79 with memory lapses. He did have his eye on the Gaza Strip coast line and developing it. I can’t imagine obtaining Greenland. The Bulwark, where I have a free subscription still posts interesting articles and it was either them or The Contrarian that had the article about Musk’s unpopular meddling European politics. Narcissism and oligarchy lives in America. European countries have strict limitations on political contributions. There are complaints about changes in TikTok from who knows where. God forbid that it becomes another Musk source of disinformation.
Agreed. I have my list of Congressmen who are going to hear from me today.
And we must VOTE! Joni Ernst is running for reelection in 2026. Iowians should vote her out of office. She put party over country and voted for Peter Hegseth the unqualified alcoholic allege sexual predator for Sectary of Defense. She is the party of the Jan 6 Insurrectionist and her constituents need to remember that come November.
Senator Ernst and every Republicans who puts party over country should be voted out of office.
I've been advocating to be in touch with our legislators in Congress for weeks whether to push them to act or to support them in their fight. I call them, our first responders, our first line of defense. Thanks Christine.
Ricardo, I am lucky to have reps I support and periodically contact them to thank them for their efforts & am on their constituent mailing lists for updates.
I was feeling sad and helpless about a friend whose son and daughter in law work for the NIH and their jobs are threatened. So I wrote her a card to tell her I am thinking of her.
Hard time to be a civil servant. 45 and his minions want to take us back to the 1830’s when Andrew “Trail of Tears” Jackson was president. He was a proponent of the “spoils system.” To the victor belong the spoils, an ANCIENT concept of warfare, positively animalistic.
Jennifer, I wonder how they dare to talk about meritocracy for any job or position when they would look only at party affiliation and unconditional loyalty to the felon policies. Thanks for your reply.
The MAGA crowd thrives on chutzpah and hypocrisy. They have NO shame, zero, zilch, nada. They only think things are fair when they get their way. Contrast the 2020 election that #45 lost, and 2024 that he won. You heard nothing this time about fraud and stealing the election.
We have now arrived again in the circumstances Lincoln described, but the minions of destruction today have AK-47s with bump stocks and an inclination to use them.
You might be on to something. I’m a Canadian, we have a different system here. However, I’ve always wondered why it’s always them, on the right, who are expected to act violently and we “ the rational ones” never hit back.I may have lost a step or two over the years, but I’ve been in lotsa fist fights, maybe we oughta meet the thugs where they are.
But AR15 is smaller and easier to conceal plus the most dangerous weapons today are those reproduced by 3D printing and thus having no metal parts to set off detectors (not that tht deters elected officials apparently eg Bobie and MTG)
The fact that most Americans don't understand the term "fascism" means we need to use other terms that will be understood so that people can prepare themselves for the times in which we are living.
There is a good book review of a study of the origins of the salute that Musk has tried to "Roman-wash" as an ancient gesture, which it is not. BTW, why is it any better if it were Roman rather than Nazi? Rome was an oligarchy then a dictatorship and practiced institutional sadism not to mention slavery (and I say this as one who taught Latin and Roman history my entire adult life).
Yes Susan, but there is a contingent that wants that, and they are not MAGAs, they are the White Power Movement, with a lot being militia, who find Trump a useful tool to accomplish their goals. Here is Prof. Kathleen Belew talking about White Supremacy in the US, her area of expertise. https://youtu.be/OhXb90TI7As?si=sm4w_5bUOX5tALss
Her book Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America is what opened my eyes to the recent history of the White Power movement, and their goals to change their outsider status and enter the mainstream and part of this to reframe their overt racist rhetoric into a more "palatable" anti-immigrant rhetoric.
I agree we need to find more accessible ways to focus on fascism, and flesh out carelessly use keywords, such as "freedom" and "justice". What can be reasonably and supportably said about what these words, in a sense that is widely accessible, practical, and defensible mean? Some words that are universally used are often misapplied, often deliberately so; fouled up beyond all recognition.
Agreed: "Fascist" has lost its sting, especially as Trump (incorrectly) used it against the democrats. We need NEW descriptive labels that call out what they're doing in clear, unambiguous language. Hopefully some of the wonderful writers on our side can create something to hang on them.
We also need to keep an eye on Elon Musk. This Musk Watch article today is certainly turning the tables. Given that Project 2025 has vilified Russia, but China is the big bad guy all through the document, now this turn around because of Musk is quite the switch.
Musk's messing in Germany the country in which I mainly live is very concerning. A lot of people want to shut him down, as he is being such a Nazi. Still Profs Ben-Ghiat and Harrigton say that Trump is beholden to Putin and Broligarchs, and of the latter, Musk is clearly number 1.
Interesting article. We are seeing people's true colors. Since Musk's and Trump's behaviors are so alien to the way we were brought up, it becomes too easy, at least for me, to dismiss them as nuts. Both are mentally impaired as demonstrated, at least in the latter case, by Dr Bandy Lee. 😲
Dr Lee has an interesting take as an M.D. and nationally recognized expert on mitigating violent behaviors in jailed perpetrators. She also has an M.Div. Here nuanced take on Trump -- and her insight applies to Musk -- is that Trump is mentally deficient but remains morally responsible for his axions. ⚖️
I disagree, keeping our eye on fascism is essential. It
I disagree, fascism is the conceptual sinew that binds Trump/Stephen Miller etc to its previous outbreak in Hitler’s Germany and Mussolini’s Italy to Romania’s Nicolae Ceaușescu, which fell a mere 35 years ago. The coals of fascism are still hot.
“ Fascism (/ˈfæʃɪzəm/ FASH-iz-əm) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement,[1][2][3] characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation or race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy.[2][3] Opposed to anarchism, democracy, pluralism, egalitarianism, liberalism, socialism, and Marxism,[4][5] fascism is at the far right of the traditional left–right spectrum.[6][5][7]”
Linda, many people are like the Germans in the 30’s where they bury their heads in the sand. They totally ignore what is going on around them until it hits them in their pockets.
Apparently, President Lincoln took a raft down the Mississippi to Nawlins. Carl Sandburg describes the almost traumatic resonance seeing a slave auction had on the future President. From then on, he detested slavery. Perhaps a decade later, President Lincoln gave the Lyceum speech. Within a decade came the invasion and seizure of 55% of Mexico.
President Lincoln, in the House of Representatives at the time, opposed the war as a pro-slavery land-grab. While I believe that the Great Civil War started in the mid-1850s with Bleeding Kansas, President Lincoln might well argue that the Mexican-American War made the Civil War inevitable. We may be in bleeding Kansas now.
Lincoln was correct about this. Southern politicians sought to expand slavery into territory captured from Mexico, and they did manage to do this in Texas.
''Lincoln saw trouble coming, but not from a foreign power, as other countries feared. The destruction of the United States, he warned, could come only from within.''
Amen! I have come to believe that the Civil War really started in bleeding Kansas; much like the European theatre of World War II started with the Rhineland. lt took time for the South to arm and prepare and for the North to understand what President Lincoln had in 1838. I believe we are in as-yet non-lethal form of bleeding Kansas.
We can leave our names in the history as the savior of the nation. Trump or hereos and their followers, either side can leave names in the history. We have Professor to guide us.
Lincoln “called for Americans to exercise “general intelligence, sound morality, and in particular, a reverence for the constitution and laws.”
Unfortunately that ship has sailed. Republicans ran for their lives on January 6 and then refused to find the instigator guilty when he was impeached. Now those rioters are released and ready to listen to more lies and defend the liar. When Nixon did his midnight massacre, brave people including a Richardson fought back and the news media covered it. Now IGs fired at midnight on a weekend barely makes the news. P4547 is testing us and it will get worse. I’m looking for Republicans for a sign of general intelligence, sound morality and a reverence for the constitution and laws. Helloooooooo????
Thank you, Professor I wonder what what’s his name would honestly think after he read this? If he could even read. Sorry I don’t like being snarky. How can you not become a better person and be inspired by the words of the great emancipator. He will not go down in history he will just go down and forgotten. Peace of love everybody. Stay true, to yourself and the constitution, stay strong, stay together.
Have you seen that guy's reaction to Bishop Budde's sermon? I'm guessing his response to Lincoln would be something like that. "She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart... Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one. She is not very good at her job!"
That sermon might have been spoken by Jesus himself. It will echo for a very long time, long after we are rid of this pestilence. And if we are not rid of it, it will be an epitaph on why we failed as a nation.
Thank you Mike! Well said. We must remain laser focused and not get distracted with all the nonsense and we know there will be lots and lots of nonsense coming from this administration.
From a metaphysical perspective, Musk, Trump, McConnell, Graham, Republicans who chose party over country etc… are operating on a lower energy level which cannot support itself. If we give it attention, that gives it energy and keeps it going. The trick is we need to talk about these things because they are important but we can’t give it intention. That’s where staying laser focused on the facts and the truth is the way to let this lower energy burn itself out. We need to spread higher energy (ie love, peace)
It's simple, Mike. In his view, the Convicted Orange Felon IS already the perfectest, the bestest and bigliest person in the world. There is nothing to improve, and certainly no old historic guy can tell HIM, the Orange God-Emperor himself, anything that he doesn't already know in his all-compassing, divine wisdom...
We are about to find out if there is a right and a wrong; whether science is dependable, and whether ethics and morality matter. We are about to experience a philosophical collision of a nuclear magnitude about integrity and whether there remain people who will insist upon correctness and who are willing to stand up to wrongdoing. The Oligarchs bought a nation. I hope there is a way to bring our nation into trim for the future. I am flabbergasted, no... gobsmacked... no, astounded... no, stunned... (total loss for words) that so many people line up behind a demagogue, a sub-human life-form, a bacteria, maniac who should be in a mental hospital to prevent further injury to our country and to civilization. We are on course to hit an iceberg a billion times more fatal than anything the Titanic hit. COVID was a "heads-up" for this incoming administration. There is no vaccine about what is about to happen. I feel like saying, "woe is us, Eor. Whattagonnadru?"
I am first generation, Poland. My Dad came here in 1921. I was born in 1947; 77 years... into the era of Jewish Holocaust survivors... so I am a card carrying, Board Certified Bleeding Heart Liberal Out to Save the World. I have devoted my entire life to helping people. (Omitting Anglo-Saxonisms...) The Problem is that "no one is listening" to Democrats. January 6th "said it all." "They" are not on our channel...There is not even "thanks for your point of view...but..." They urinated and defecated "all over our heads." ...and continue to do so. The ONLY power "we" have, short of a Bolshevik revolution-sort-of event, is VOTE. ...but, ya' know what? Our platform can't be exclusively "against Pumpkinhead." (I do not ..or I try not...to use the name...) "WE" need something — an ideal — something that is real — to support. What do WE support on immigration, naturalization, voter rights, international policy? I do not think we can "fight" hate with more hate...or should we? Do we want government goons "disappearing" our children back to Guatemala? Do we support warrantless detentions... and more executions? But are we "sugar and spice" and everything nice? What do we stand for? ...and that is the Question...How many miles must we walk down before significant opposition to Fascism...for real? Have you seen the movie The Pianist about the Warsaw Ghetto? How do we oppose "them" building "us" into a Ghetto and annihilating us?
Most welcome these cuddly, fleece-lined platitudes in this bleak Montana winter...but other than choking on our John Lennon spiritually infused almond milk with a dash of lemon grass, we have to come up with something people can vote for...What is it? We need something more potent than Yoko Ono...
Very soon, the entire legal system will collapse with lawsuits. Pumpkinhead has the accelerator and “we” have Bic pens and file lawsuit after lawsuit … but nothing happens. Pumpkinhead made a complete mockery out of the DOJ and the Supreme Court. The Checks have not balanced; they have bounced.
As a Member of a 500+ Year Resistance, some observations... DJT high-jacked a Dark Mood in the USA amongst those that weren't Respected, or paid Attention to... Their Communities are called 'Fly-Over' by the Coastal Elites... DJT is an Entertainer who incessantly pays attention to the Right-Wing Infosphere... As an Entertainer he postures as a 'Tough-Guy'... That plays to his base, DJT watches his Ratings... So does Tucker Carleson... Americans Love Outlaw Cowboys, and Gangsters... Personally I prefer to be an Apache... FDR laid the Foundations for Modern Post-WWII American Society which were Strengthened until Reagan... FDR's Constituency made it thru the Great Depression, WW2, and Korea together... The Sense was, 'We Are All In This Together'... Post-Reagan, the Fabric of American Society started to be torn apart... Greed Became Good, it became an ethic, 'I want it all NOW'... One became defined by their Possessions, and $$$... American Elections, driven thru the Corporate MSM, became hideously Expensive... That opened the Door for Big-Corporate $$$... Think 'Citizens United'... Think Presidential Immunity... Now WE have an arguably Insane Demagogue for POTUS with a Genius For Evil... So now if we are to work thru the DNC we need New Fresh Young Leadership... Kamala stuck too close to Biden... She Had Too, Kamala was his VP after all... A New Movement needs to be started... It needs to start working from the 'Bottom-Up'... Obama in 2008 is a Good Example... His error was that he too overly Cautious once in Power... He didn't fundamentally change anything... All he did tangibly was Save The Big Banks, and expand Healthcare... We need a Inspiring Figure, a True Leader, a Joan of Arc Figure... I nominate AOC... She is Young, Smart, Passionate... She Is Fun To Watch... Time Is Running Out... Mother Earth, Mother of Us All, Is Angry... Hurricane Helene, the L.A. Fires are Portents of a Possible Future...
Apache, I agree AOC is excellent. My first thoughts are she seems too young and too inexperienced in politics. But my mind is open. Her passion, oratory skills, and genuine understanding and compassion make her very compelling.
Thank You M Tree... Too Young? Other Countries like Finland, and New Zealand have had Young Female Leaders in their 30s... How Old Was Queen Elizabeth I & II when they ascended to the Throne, and led England? Times Make The Leaders... An American Epoch Is Ending... A New One Is Being Born... Birth Can Be Painful...
More intellect in one of her fingernail clippings that the whole of the Orange Menace. And while young, typically one of the emotional adults in the room. I encounter Democrats who absolutely hate her, but I think maybe too much Reagan-think rubbed off on them. Government of, by and for the people. I agree that opportunities were missed to reach out to forgotten, disadvantaged workers. If they saw the larger picture they wouldn't keep Republicans in power.
AOC was also a BarTender/Hostess before she was in Congress... She has Worked her way up, and hasn't forgotten her Roots... She knows how to talk to People because she was one of the People...
I agree with all the comments about AOC. I just think we need to keep perspective about every person who we think might be a potential "higher office" candidate. This was one of the arguments I made re Harris last year. Of course I supported her, but I was cautious even though I always thought she was one of the best and brightest bulbs in the room.
But what ***i*** think is not the same as who I think can get elected. Personally I am a far left almost "commie" who wants to see radical change in our system.
But as an advocate for wide spread politics, I recognize how unlikely my personal passions will resonate with the average voter. And so I tend to do dramatically moderate those leftist views when seeking viable candidates.
Like Hilary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, and Kamala Harris, she is a smart, powerful, thoughtful, (thus) threatening woman. GOP went after, fear-mongering and demonizing AOC with a load of lies.
The kings and queens of the UK are weak arguments for "young leaders". In modern reality (particularly QE2) they lead little as their role is to be a figurehead. There have been very young head royalty in England due to the rule of primogeniture (inherited status) so QE2 was in her young 20s when she became Queen, but again she was not truly the political leader of England, that was held during her reign by the Prime Minister, men and a few women in their 40s to 70s
The Prime Minister of England is the real leader and to be fair there has not been a very young Prime Minister (under 40) in a very long time. You have to go back to the 1700s (when life spans were much shorter) to find a very young Prime Minister of Britain (William Pitt the Younger) as young as AOC is at 35 (who is JUST barely eligible to be President).
Jon, I thought this too. Both Elizabeths were only queens because no males were available who were first in line....also Mary Tudor, Victoria, and Mary Stuart. The first Elizabeth was the real leader with no prime minister but she did have a wily first minister. She was 25 on her accession. She spent a lifetime being a woman in power while managing the men around her with various ploys. I think the modern elected women make a much better example. I would agree that we need younger people. Part of the problem also is when someone emerges, that person is immediately demonized by the R media machine. I do like AOC by the way. Pols need to be careful how they label themselves because no one here in Oregon IDing as a socialist can win. Another thing standing in the way is the enormous amount of money needed to win. Also people need to understand who the real enemy is.
Where is our D media machine? HCR and the others on Substack do their best but we need these solists to join in one great chorus to drown out the rubbish of noise.
Thank you, Apache, for your long-term point of view. Mother Earth is indeed angry with us. I am with you on AOC. We need her passion, her views, and her willingness to engage.
I love AOC and hope in 8-12 years she is considered for President but I think she is too young to be considered a serious candidate for President in 2028 when she will be just 38, which would make her the youngest President in history were she to win.
Jon, I don't think this country, in its current state, is ready to elect a woman as president, much less an outspoken woman of color. Maybe in 20 years, but certainly not now.
Have to agree, Ally. Outspoken intelligent women are considered threats even in ordinary situations and need mansplaining to straighten them out. My neighbor recently contradicted everything I said including that Chopin's music is difficult. He apparently played some Chopin when a piano student, nothing difficult I would bet and as my husband observed, just the top notes. That went by him.
These Are Trying Times... DJT is dismantling this Country... The Navajo Nation has just issued an advisory that Tribal Members carry their Tribal ID since several have been stopped & interrogated by ICE... The Indigenous are Brown People after all... This is State-Sanctioned Terrorism... In 2028, this Country may be in a Heap... AOC, or Someone like her, may be absolutely Necessary... Desperate Times, Require Desperate Measures...
I’m not sure I agree with you on AOC, but that’s the only thing, and I’m open to leadership that has vision and knows how to lead. I thought Kamala had all the skills to do that job, I can’t think of anything she said that indicated otherwise, unlike the insipid orange turd, she had brilliant ideas for the betterment of all Americans. As you well know Apache, we are a deeply racist nation, and those ideas coming from a woman of color made them untenable no matter how much they would have benefited all of us. If he had spoken them, and without the intervention of the great spirit a seeming impossibility, they would have been embraced as an enlightened path forward. We need another Lincoln, without someone with a vision like he had, I fear we may be lost. We have only so much time, both personally and as a culture, by the time they are done with their destructive spree there may be only rubble left of our republic, and while we might be able to use some of the rubble to rebuild, we likely won’t live long enough to see it happen, at 78 I doubt I will. 🤬
This was a hard post to read. I thought Harris did have positive things to offer ordinary people, but it got lost in the din of whatever death star was saying. Of course, there is also the power of money and a population glued to their devices. I suspect that more and more ordinary folks are finding out that they voted for the wrong person or that they should have gotten up off their rears and voted.
JL, I think it was a recent Lawrence O’Donnell segment that showed the Press Corp’s disparity of treatment of TFFFG (polite, courteous) and Biden (a raucous shouting free-for-all). Wow, how quickly they “fell in line” to dear leader…scary & disappointing.
Oh good grief JL.. Most of "they" are regular people poorly informed but unfortunately witness to exactly what they were being told. Bad news sells, and that is what they saw. I do agree, there was dishonesty (so diluted), and malicious (intent), all effectively obscured by the (R)s from their minions. The "press" or the media has admitted to have been part of the problem with less-than objective reporting. We'll see. Meantime, I see The Atlantic has been bought out and is firmly in the propaganda mode..., so they suck.
Willful ignorance, blind faith, complacency, self-serving ideology...again and again: History matters. Truth matters. We can be part of that turnaround on a micro-level. Share historical narratives and real-life stories to counter abstractions.
What if? .. they are not ignorant. Instead, they are reactively angry, even feel humiliated, so "let's burn it all down and know my misery." The Greeks in Alexander's age believed that the feeling of humiliation was the a sure way to drive a man to kill another.
Keith they are reactively angry and humiliated but if you are not ignorant, you canalize those feelings in a controllable way insteadof burn it al down. Appreciate your comment.
Yet so many manipulated into incuriousness. Many from birth. Taking comfort in too-easy answers. Organized propaganda is a powerful too. Whole books have been written about that. We used to have more protection from that here, but threw it all away for the glitter of a B-movie TV star. Follow the money.
I agree. We just don't have the kind of leaders in the Democratic, or any other party, that are necessary to defend this bunch of egotistic, lawless, ruthless, rabid men and women. I am hoping some of the younger generation who have so much promise and desire for a better world, will force their way to the front of the line of leadership. This is not the time of soft and dreamy beautiful promises. I wish it was, but the slap in the face of the election proved us wrong. They need to come in as the 1970s young people did with strength, anger, fearlessness, and determination, as well as workable plans for the world they are inheriting.
The Cristo-fascists don't know yet that Trump is not a Christian, and until they do, you will have to fight them too. So, it might be a little early. How can they be taught? I'm not sure if they are capable of learning. They need some cult-deprogramming work first. Economic pain is coming soon for millions of Americans and maybe in that there'll be some elucidation. Austerity and a little prepper action can keep us alive, and then we need to educate for a better way.
Gordon, I am not sure that these people can ever be reached. They believe in the Second Coming and the idea that God is behind everything that they do.
I would very much welcome more political engagement and leadership from the young. I think it's essential. That said, we need the same from every stage and walk of life. Generally speaking, we can learn and are capable of insight until the day we die, and government of, by and for the people means all of the people. The young are unburdened by the compromises (but also some of the nuances) we older ones make to negotiate our ongoing survival. We typically teach children more ideal civil values in childhood than we tolerate from them in the work-a-day world, and most adapt to what is expected of them, sometimes forsaking what is most precious in human and civil experience. I saw a lot of 1970s young people turn bitter and cynical; and you can see why.
In the '80's I got sick of hearing the phrase "I'm a realist not an idealist", but people who actually raise the bar have to be both; and I think that wisdom must involve a honed sense both of what is real and practical, what is unknown and what is possible, and what is ultimately likely to be most worthwhile.
Absolute limits on individual wealth would solve a lot of problems because such limits would go a long way toward equalizing personal political influence.
Despite being a communist myself, you may be surprised that I am NOT in favor of "absolute" limits on wealth.
Hoeven I AM in favor of significantly progressive tax rates as we once had in this country. People may forget that at one time the top marginal tax rate was 90%. That was levied on income above $5 million, back in the 50s. That would translate to about $35 million today, but it still would put a pretty serious limit on significant wealth growth.
I am fine with people making lots of money if they earn it but at some point the taxes need to be in place to create incentives for wealthy people to contribute much of their wealth to the good of the country. Returning to a top tax rate of at least 75% and preferably over 80% would go a long way to providing that incentive.
Consider that Musk now has a $50 BILLION income package from Tesla now. Assuming only 10% of that is annual earnings, that's still $5 billion dollars on which he SHOULD pay s tax rate of about 37% (about $1.8 billion). If we just went to 75%, it would double his taxes. And of course when ever he would cash in the stock from his package by sale, he would owe billions more.
I am fine with rich purple making lots of money, but the amounts now in play are so huge that no one should be able to retain that much of the wealth of our country especially money made by their employees. One big incentive is to see that money distributed downward so that their employees make much more. The best way to avoid taxes is to spend the money on your employees and grow the wealth base of the country. It worked in the 50s and 60s, but it is failing us now as the money is getting more and more concentrated on a few people.
Could we start with increasing minimum wage nationally? Even to $10.00/hr would be better if we can’t get $15.00/hr! It’s not an all or nothing at all situation. I am so ashamed of the state I live in with it’s $7.50/ hour.
Yep this is essential. The federal minimum wage has been around $7 for over 30 years. That's crazy. House prices have almost triple in that time. Rents have gone up by a factor of 3-4. Food us more than 3x as expensive.
$7.50/hr (~$15k/yr ) is below the poverty line in most states.
Jon, Thank you for your well thought out comment. It's a keeper even though I disagree with you.
We need wealth limits for the same basic reasons we have speed limits on highways. Not to raise revenue; but to prevent disastrous personal behavior.
The revenue a 100% taxation over, say, 200 million dollars, would be trivial compared with the burn rate of the US government. But it would positively reduce the influence of money on our politics.
As an aside here; as a child I personaly experienced that 50's-60's model due to the business/friendship relationship between my father and a wealthy supplier to the company he worked for, with which he had a high level executive position. "Joe" (not his real name) entertained these friends at several clearly recreational locations that were owned, staffed and supported by his company. I personally went with my Mom and Dad on vacation trips to three of them when I was between the ages of 9 and 11. I have clear and detailed memories of those vacations. In those times a wealthy business owner could do that with his recreational properties and limit the amount of 90% taxes he had to pay on his own income. I have no way of knowing if Joe used those vacation spots to entertain selected politicians. I suppose he could have.
Joe and Dad are gone, Dad's employer ceased to exist 15 year later. Modern laws have prevented such things today in favor of allowing unlimited income at minimal tax rates. And so it goes.
Somehow the US survived, even flourished in an era of higher taxes on corporations and the rich. Meanwhile, the middle class expanded. On other blogs I have been told by other posters that money is limitless and we could all be billionaires if we worked harder, but that seems patently, willfully naive logic. Wealth is always relative. If we all had a billion in the bank. a cup of coffee might cost $50,000. The wealth of nations is a system, comparable to an ecosystem in some ways. like a model of ocean currents. A significant lack of balance in one segment leads to lack of balance in others. Lack of contrast disables productive movement. Over concentration means something is going to break or blow.
Great comment JL. I also think that ABSOLUTE limits on wealth are potentially bad because with NO incentive to earn more in a capitalistic society people just stop working. But very high tax rates still provide you with the option to earn more. (Great communist I am, eh? LOL)
A graduated tax system would be helpful. How many billionaires pay comparatively little or no taxes at all? Some very wealthy people even support such reforms, but others would rather be kings, or "robber barons", as we are seeing presently. We fought these battles before, and then lost the plot.
Monopoly and oligarchy should not be the ultimate goal of a "free market". Capture of intensely asymmetric power, of any sort, is exactly what a free market or a free society ISN'T. Feudalism, where the serfs owned next to nothing and were subjugated by the rich and powerful, wasn't.
Despite crazy rhetoric on the right, I'm not advocating communism, which I think has inherent problems of it's own, but rather a dynamically balanced society (no not "centrist", but dynamically balanced by as much as it takes and not in excess, or as close as we, as humans, can come).
I would not call the period between the Gilded Age and Reagan "the good old days" because it was not very good for a lot of people, including women, racial, and sexual minorities, but I think we had more widely shared momentum for the "right idea", about working to maximize unalienable individual human rights for all, and promotion of the common good for everyone. Isn't that what Lincoln championed? Is that not based on some of our founding ideals?
The post WW2 era had some good things about it as you note and also many bad things (as you also note). Most of the latter issues were artificially induced and perpetuated (racial divisions particularly but the others you noted too). We have made progress in eliminating some of the latter but we also gave away far to much to the ultra wealthy. As you note we need balance. Unfortunately I don't know if we will actually get another chance to do it better.
I think we would need to refine some of those initiatives, but yeah, it all sounds good. Anything that dilutes the right and the full influence of every single vote needs scrutiny. Cheating, such as gerrymandering, is a blatant crime against democracy. And money, you can't get it all out of the political process as it's how we get things done, but within limits. Automobiles are dangerous, but you can't make use of them if you don't allow them to move. Yet it would be crazy not to limit the speed and prohibit certain kinds of movements that cost lives. Why would we not regulate sometime as consequential as political integrity? Is there justice and integrity in a system where one person can spend a quarter of a billion dollars to work their political will, while millions struggle to pay for bare necessities, let alone to buy political results. Equal justice and protection under law?
The stewardship of public trust should be a great honor and grave responsibility, with zero fudging. Significant conflicts if interest should not be tolerated. I you can't take the discipline and transparency, stay the hell out of the kitchen. There is far too much at stake.
In my Opinion, based on experience. What we need right now, and we are a week in arrears, is a total reorg of the DNC into an competitive team which relies on clear and strong intelligence by an intelligence organization Team which will feed offensive and defensive strategies to Shadow government teams which will inform and guide (threaten if necessary) our house members with a play-by-play plan. I think Tim Snyder should lead that team, and Senator Whitehouse should organize and oversee the Shadow governments. The objectives should include a LOUD and aggressive Media Presence calling the Plays as they happen. Why can we do it in sports and business and not in politics??
I think "war-gaming" political scenarios should be part of our democrat strategy. Better participants be unnamed actor/employees/contributors. I'd gladly contribute blindly to such a weapon in the hands of our party. I see this as a much better investment than sending $10-20 to various entities that seem to be doing little more than asking for money to keep the lights on for the next 4 years.
Because politics is an individual "sport" not a team sport. And ib expect it will be very hard to get anyone who plays that "game, " to go along with this idea. It would be great but I don't think it can ever happen in the US.
Outstanding comment, Doc. Your question is a good one: What do we stand for? My question in response is "Are we willing to stand up for what we believe in?" All I am seeing these days is rolling over, giving our soft belly to today's Nazi-based regime, and going all Niedermeyer "Thank you sir, may I have another!"
What I see is a country not worthy of what our forbears gave to us: Unwilling to stand on right and principle, more willing to follow propaganda, mindless entertainment, and fear of conflict. Favoring the dopamine hit from our entertainment devices over the hard work of democracy.
You perfectly put into words my loss to find words. My father came from Greece in 1909 all by himself at the age of 15 (he convinced them he was 18, the minimum age of entry) and I am 73. He was the embodiment of the American dream. Uneducated, he looked upon education as church and educators as gods. He loved Franklin D. Roosevelt. I can assure you he is rolling around in his grave....
Sophia, hmmmm how about instead of rolling in their graves, all their spirits head to the WH to linger and haunt TFFFG’s dreams (and drift with him wherever he goes)?
History suggests America either breaks into distinct regions at war with each other with perpetual violent left v right revolutions every decade like Kissinger’s created South American dictatorships, or there is a quick, well organised military coup akin to the era of the Greek Regime of Colonels (1967-74) that begins to restore constititutional law and order. Or by economic default % MAGA’s US political chaos China and Russia simply become the prime arbiters of a New World Order and the US becomes their dependent political satellite. However, until such time as a world court is created to rein in the global criminal mobster oligarchy, they will continue to make vast profits out of human suffering and abandon any nation state for financial pastures new if their profiteer engendered social chaos proves dangerously uncontrollable.
Comparing America which is one of the largest nations on earth both in income and population to Greece is fairly ludicrous IMHO. And the likelihood of a military coup here is less than 0.1%. The strength of our military and the risks taken to pull off such a stunt are virtually unheard of. It's one thing to do that in a weak country with a population of 10 million people and no major international responsibilities and quite another to do that in a country with one of the biggest and strongest militaries in earth.
The military leadership in this country is NOT going to organize a successful coup against the federal government. It can't and therefore won't happen. We aren't a country with muskets or even M16 rifles anymore, we have tanks and drones and jets and missiles and oh yeah, nuclear weapons. A coup is a fever dream.
Sorry not trying to be bombastic, just looking at the reality.
Sorry I wasn't saying that and i apologize if i wasn't clear. I was saying that the chances of the US having a military overthrow of the civilian government are very small at best. That does happen in smaller countries like Greece but i think we are too large for even a determined military to reverse course. Which is unfortunate as they might be our best hope.
That’s funny for the same background. but I got smart real quick. I became an independent voter. Everybody here could qualify as being inculcated by each other.
Actually, you might wanna stop the fascist nonsense and I bet that you believe in climate change too Omg. Poor soul.
We do have a point of reference, perhaps the only one, in the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights. But maybe you are lamenting our current lack of sustaining passion. I hope (and pray) that emerges as the dangerous and immoral actions of this repugnant administration become more widely known. Right now the freakazoids among us are dancing their war dances, but as they are Hollow Men, they won't be able to sustain it long enough to bring the rest of us down.
I have never seen a larger pool of people who are negative in advance than the people who are participating in this conversation. I actually feel sorry for you. I’d say pity, but you don’t need pity. You’re handling the pity by providing it from one to the other on this very site. This country is coming back from an administration of a semi cadaver. They didn’t know what the hell he was doing and was wrong in almost everything he did do. And then you voted for a person who couldn’t run a fast food restaurant and you were going to make her president of the United States and leader of the free world and you’re supposed to be the intelligencia? Yikes.
The sun is starting to shine on the United States once again. And it’s only been four days, where he has done more in four days to help this country than anyone has in the past four years.. while we dealt with runaway inflation prices at the grocery store that nobody could afford prices at the gas pump that nobody could afford prices on a mortgage that nobody could afford and progress along those lines nowhere after four years. Honestly, a lot of you need some more introspection to figure out what just happened to get Donald Trump elected you need about 72 million mirrors.
Washington also predicted the challenges ahead. In his farewell address in 1796, Washington said, [political parties] “are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.”
I see a pattern with organizations of all sorts, historically and currently, where the growth and power of the organization, and of those who rule it becomes an end in itself and often neglects or even conflicts with the mission around which the organization was founded. There are many examples in many walks of life, the Republican Party included. It is part and parcel to power tending to corrupt, and I think, a common problem. The willingness of parties and politicians to abuse their positions to maximize personal gain, at the expense of the welfare of others, even of their nation (or planet).
Democratic leaders can help us focus, and seed ideas around which support may or many not accumulate, but our Lincoln focused on "government of the people, by the people, for the people", not just as a slogan but as a philosophical foundation. Lincoln also said "
With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed. Consequently he who moulds public sentiment, goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or pronounces decisions.
"He" (sic) could be a lying propagandist, or a lucid teller of truth. It is also the "We" in "We the People" and I think that good faith conversion is the primary guide by which a just democracy accomplishes its goals.
Said another way, we can be greatly helped by charismatic leaders, elected and "grass roots", but they cannot, without our mutual engagement with them and with each other, make a just democracy happen. I am thankful for the environment for engagement provided here by Heather and the many civil, informed, and thoughtful responses all of us provide each other. May the power and awareness of such conversations grow.
In other words, democracy is not a spectator sport. It requires our active attention and participation. Fox and its related media seek to discourage it. Our educational system doesn’t teach kids how our government is supposed to work, nor do they learn accurate history.
Agree 👍 but I think there is so much negative “brand” baggage attached to the Democratic Party we need a new party. A political party which is for the people by the people. As the Professor wrote about just a few days ago, this is not about race this is about class. The top 1% ruling the majority 99%. We need a new political party which reflects the majority. Something catchy like the “Main Street 99” 😂 instead of the “Billionaire Club”
They are and will always be gagged and bound by global oligarch owned media portals. Murdoch is like a corrupt High Priest whose personal corrupting mediated Bible is the only allowable narrative.
David French, a NYT conservative columnist, wrote today about Trump splits the world into friends and enemies. Once friends of his John Bolton and Mike Pompeo now are his enemies so he withdraws security protections. Two quotes below reverberate in a Lincoln way:
He quotes an Idaho pastor: “When you worship power, compassion and mercy will look like sins.”
And French goes on to say:
“Because our civics depends on our ethics, we should be teaching ethics right alongside civics. Sadly, we’re failing at both tasks, and our baser nature is telling millions of Americans that cruelty is good, if it helps us win, and kindness is evil, if it weakens our cause. That is the path of destruction.
As the prophet Isaiah said, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.”
Benjamin Cremer is the Idaho pastor to whom French referred. I’ve been receiving Ben’s weekly newsletter on Sundays for sometime and find his insight enlightening and encouraging. Though from an evangelical background, he embraces progressive Christian values that may have universal appeal for many, regardless of religious affiliation.
As a huge Lincoln fan, I am always thrilled to see HCR write about him. Sometimes I like to amuse my idle mind by pondering random thoughts, and one of those random thoughts frequently is how incredibly BRILLIANT Lincoln's mind was! I've read many books on him, toured the Springfield Illinois Museum (a must see!) and Gettysburg, and loved Daniel Day-Lewis as the great man in the movie. I especially loved Doris Kerns Goodwin's "Team of Rivals".
Sleep well, HCR and the forum family! It's sure to be another firehose of chaos this week.
Miselle, have you read about Lincoln and the 19th Century Lancashire cotton workers here in the UK.Manchester has a statue to the great man, worth researching, a great story of sacrifice.🇬🇧🇺🇸
Norman, I had not!!! THANK YOU! I just read about it and I love finding new information about Lincoln. You've given a new coat of polish to the image in my mind.
For anyone else who might read this, here's a link.
Miselle, I'm pleased the story expanded your knowledge, on a similar theme but not actually Lincoln related, look up "The Battle of Bamber Bridge" during WW2 in the UK .Another egalitarian story of Lancashire people.
Norman, I was unaware of this incident as well. (One of the many reasons I love the Letters comment area--I learn so much!) What a terrible tragedy all due to racial hatred! I was so happy when Obama was elected--I naively thought racism was past us. Not hardly. :-(
True, we have fallen, and in large part we have ourselves to blame. We didn't take the threat from internal forces seriously. Our schools failed to teach adequately civics, history, critical thinking and the like. The proof of that failure is all around us.
Richard. It is true that we are not well educated in the things that would make a difference like those you mentioned. As a former educator, I can only say you can take the horse to the river. I know many, many teachers who have given their all: their passion for learning, their heart, and their soul to try to help kids and send them on to a better life. Right now a friend of ours is front and center as president of his district's education association in the fight over deportation. He works in a heavily Hispanic town. It is difficult for teachers to fight family dynamics, foolish nonsense from above like standardized tests, too much attention given to I am sorry to say, athletics, too many cultural things to battle. Now we have things cell phones which schools are now trying to put in pouches, etc. We have a nation locked in on celebrity and being on devices all the time. We also have a populace that does not want to pay taxes for anything including 24/365 fire service. And we have a party of death which is determined to destroy us from within as Lincoln predicted.
Having had a long career in education, it is too easy to blame teachers for the failings of our students and our country, but let me give you a bit of insight. I started teaching in the early 70’s. If I had an issue with a student, generally one phone call to a parent and the issue was taken care of by the parent. That began to change in the early 80’s when the idea of education was that of a consumer. Parents stopped being supportive. If there were discipline issues or educational issues with their child it began to be “the teacher’s fault,” and the partnership between school and home began to fray. Educational policy became a top down process. Rather than asking for input from the person in the classroom teaching, we were constantly being bombarded with whatever new theory was coming down the road. People who could left the profession for business that paid better in the early 80’s. Women who had not been able to break into other professions left for better opportunities in the private sector. The quality of educators coming into the profession were not as high. What I called the Freudinization of American society, where there was a lot of blaming being directed at teachers for failures in parenting, contributed to a further exodus of educators into other professions. Our way of paying for education, is highly inequitable based primarily on property taxes. Ironically, as I learned from my daughter who taught in IB level schools abroad for ten years, the best practices in those schools come from educational research done in the U.S. which is not used in American schools. Then came the Stem movement in school and liberal arts like history, literature, civics, became less important. Ironically those courses are exactly the ones needed for children to learn to think and struggle with ideas that are not as easily solved in a math equation. We need to once again make education a partnership between teachers and parents. We need to listen to what teachers are telling us to improve education. I know no one who ever went into education to make millions,but because they truly loved working with children. I lived for the spark I saw in my students eyes when I knew they understood something I wanted them to learn. We need a Sputnik moment in education to turn things around. Given the current quality of our leadership in government I am not hopeful unless the American people rise up and demand better for our children and our country. As Heather pointed out in her talk on Facebook we all need to do what we can to shape the country we want. Time for pointing fingers is over. The future of our democracy, as messy as it often is, is at stake v
Carol S. —Thank you for relating your experiences as a teacher. They were very similar to what I have observed over the years, and also my experiences as a student.
I hated school! It was boring and except for a few classes that truly allowed us personal political or social opinion, it seemed pointless.
I was never taught to either respect or truly understand that school was a necessary foundation, and without this foundation I would remain ignorant of our path and be unable to appreciate what I added to this path.
Lincoln was very wise to see and observe human nature as he did. The reason why destruction comes from within is part of our modus operandi as a species., I’m afraid.
Carol, my Mom started teaching in the early 70's (in her 50's!) and had a realization that the teaching component of English (as it was taught then) was not what she was cut out to do, and got out before it drove her crazy.
Richard, I had some dental work done last year, during the now-convicted felon's trial. While waiting quite some time for the dentist, I chatted with the young dental tech who told me that until a day or so before she wasn't even aware that he was on trial, or all the other legal issues that he was facing. No, she said, she hates the news, doesn't watch it or read about it. It's boring, she said. She hated history in school.
The only reason she heard about the trial was her 12 or so year-old daughter (tech is a single mother who had the daughter as a teenager, went to school to become an endodontal tech.) Her daughter tries to keep her informed but she finds it all boring.
Her story has stuck with me -- here is a young woman who got pregnant at a young age, had the smarts to attend school to have a career, (otherwise her life may very well have gone in a different direction given her situation), but can't be bothered to inform herself about what is going on. She has no interest or investment in her future, or that of her daughter.
Its part of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Civic understanding comes well after individual and family concerns. Most people, even educated reasonably well paid endodontsl techs, barely have enough time to deal with their own personal and family issues, let alone to focus on even local politics let alone in national politics.
I agree, Jon, but at least in her case it wasn't a matter of time, but interest. She finds the news boring and prefers to keep it out of her life. If she had more time I doubt she’d have more interest.
And yes, it is truly tragic to not care about what is going on.
Vastly different time. Mass media in that era was on a totally different scale. Other than newspapers (which required reading) there was no mass media like today (TV, radio, film, internet, cellphones, etc)
It is not just the Schools that have failed to Educate the ~53% that can't Read above 6th Grade... There is also Family Dynamics that fail to impart a Love-Of-Learning, and Self-Improvement... Entertainment over Self-Growth... The Hand-Held Heroin-Drips are Mind-Killers... There is also a lack of Civic-Purpose & Engagement... Mandatory National Service to build Community, and a Sense-That-We-Are-In-This-Together would help... Washington, and Lincoln were Prescient in their Warnings... DJT, and his Evil Siths with their Minions are Destroying the Best in this Country....
So what is the solution? I see a lot of hand wringing about the problems but rarely any solutions except those that are simply absurd like a military coup.
Like it or not, we got here and somehow we will have to dig ourselves out or die trying. I wish I had an answer but I don't.
Sometimes it’s a perfect storm. Joe Biden should never have run in 2020. His time was 2016 but the Clintons offered him something to drop out. Then they lost. Trump is a manifestation of everything that is evil. Biden was to be a transactional president but forgot his original promise. A perfect storm.
We are watching some of the most unreliable people get confirmed in the Senate to be the leadership of our country's Departments. We are watching Trump honor convicted seditionists with seats on the dais next to him. Trump is disemboweling the community of watchdogs put in place to thwart corruption in government. It is difficult to comprehend these are the same people who say they are doing this to protect and improve the country. How did they manage to stray so far from the intent of the founding fathers and protectors like Lincoln?
How: an affinity for power and greed which has been with us for millennia. Now we have incredible technology as well. Only the powerful win and the rest are peons. These people are at best, sociopaths, and some of them may be actual psychopaths. We have criminal corrupt monsters running the country and they care only for themselves. In the end their money will not save them mainly because of climate change.
But they are so selfish Michele, that they know the full impact of climate change will be fully felt by the next generation. In the meantime, they are safe.
Indeed they are selfish and they truly believe that their money will always save them. Maybe they should look at the wealthy enclaves in places like CA where, btw, a couple of them are already suing the government there like that will help. I understand that for the time being, a lot of them will be OK, but most of them have children and direct descendants. In the meantime, some people do not know who the enemy is. I was on a thread yesterday where the meme suggested places to shop and places not to shop. Of course, there was a long post complaining that they are not sensitive to those who don't have options like rural areas (I think this mainly applies to Amazon) and going for the liberal urban/rural divide. I answered that while people know that not all can do this, those that can, should make the attempt and that it was good info for them. So, I got the old I know you mean well, blah, blah, blah. I told that person as far as I was concerned, we are all in this together and outlined who the real enemies are. I also welcomed her solutions. As of last night, no reply.
Michele, I bet those suing the state government in California are Republicans and the paty apparatus together with Fox will notice and start a campaign of lies, disinformation and distortion 24/7 from now to the end of the trial.
Regarding where not to buy products and services I don't think we have too many options. Because of one of my hobbies I buy stuff at Amazon and if I stop doing so my only other option is Home Depot. Which option is less corrupt?
And if you think they billionaires are going to stop getting richer and less hungry for power because they have a family, think again. They live in today's time, what happens tomorrow is not their problem.
Our problem Michele is to get organized and with a good, simple message to the midterm election and winn it (if we have one).
I just read that the guy heading Home Depot just died and also maybe that they are a better option than Lowe's. i would have to find where I saw that. I do understand why people use Amazon, but for those who don't need to like us, we do not except on very rare occasions. People are desperate to do something, anything, and they do not always think about the situation of every person who might not have other options.
They are by definition psychopathic neo-fascists. I thought neo-Nazi at first. But the fascist Nazi political party was a doctrine focused on decimating the Jewish population. Not so with this group of psychopathic neon-fascists.
They are NAZIs. Look at what happened in Germany in the 1930's, and look at what's happening here now. It is virtually exact. They are NAZIs, and have to be stopped now, before the concrete has time to set; it's already been poured. Once it sets, we are in for both a civil war, and a world war. I'm not sure which will hit us first.
I’m grateful for all your knowledge. That you share so very freely with us readers of your letter is a grand testament to your noble job: teaching. Nothing matches that undertaking ever.
I’m enjoying being a student (of advanced age) in your classroom!
You are a modern day prophet pointing us to our past. Whenever you need to know what to do, study history!! That advice was given to my husband, an environmental lawyer hired to get the US Navy to stop practice bombing Vieques, a luminescent bay in PR. History showed him how to win the case. Amen and thank you.
Again we are reminded of our good luck in having a historian who can do linkages. This speech is to cherish as we try to survive our Brown Shirts and the Felon and family. At least we can remember Pogo fondly on bad days as we rededicate ourselves to the work we must do to preserve the Union.
The most prescient speech in American history.
“If destruction be our lot,” he said, “we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”
As we see this last week that seemed like a year.
Lincoln was our greatest President. Trump and MAGA are worse than Jefferson Davis and Confederates. Now they have fired my partner and thousands of civil servants who were trying to protect our democracy with diversity, equity, and inclusion: https://democracydefender2025.substack.com/p/dei-public-servant-fired
I’m so sorry to hear that you and your partner are directly affected.
Yes, I am sorry that this is happening to you and your partner.FFOTUS is taking a machete to our dear land and in just one week today has done irreparable damage.Every day brings a thousand sorrows.
We must ensure that it is not irreparable, Victoria. We have a long March ahead.
I'm sorry Elizabeth that you and so many others might need to repeat so often similar expression of sorrow in the coming four years.
We are all directly affected!!! Let us not forget that everyday some are blatantly running very red lights, going speeds guaranteed for airplanes about to take off, lying by the minute, cruising in low slung cars with blackened windows smoking drugs “while driving”…… if this doesn’t affect us all????? And it is because those scaly bastards who think for one minute that they can ignore the rule of law,YES you John Roberts, and all who have made “being accountable for one’s’ actions “ a phony parable, may you be affected by it ALL. Scum is what is tearing this country apart. Scum that the rest of us think won’t start a ring around our tub??????? Wake up America… the scum is drowning us.
I agree that Trump and his cronies have influenced a lot of the bad behavior we see now. I hate to drive anywhere when I'm in Florida helping out my Dad. As my sister (who also lives in FL) put it, "people are driving as if they're TRYING to get into an accident!" At least it's not that bad where I live in upstate NY.
Only if we let them. But I agree 100% about blatant disregard for the law today down to the most local level of people deciding stop signs, speed limits and red lights are optional. And beyond.
I wish there was a 'sad", "angry", or "not like" button as well as a "like". I am sorry about the loss of your jobs and can't help but bang my head into the wall because we don't ever seem to learn!
How we might deal with collaborators AND the betrayal of our leaders...who do nothing.
"Collaborators will be killed or shorn, paraded and shunned." A paraphrased quote from France after WWII.
“A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not to be trusted by anybody” . This quote reflects a broader principle that lack of accountability fosters mistrust and injustice. Thomas Paine
“The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating that civilisation cannot tolerate their being ignored because it cannot survive their being repeated” . This statement underscores the necessity of holding collaborators and perpetrators accountable to prevent future atrocities. Justice Robert H. Jackson, Nüremberg
“Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for the freedom of their people” . While not directly about collaborators, this quote contrasts the moral stance of true leadership with betrayal or collaboration against one’s people. Nelson Mandela
Unfortunately it appears we have no real leaders...
Not in the media, but we have strong advocates in the legal professions, and in states, and they are already fighting…
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf-tbDSLaGc>
The Contrarion and The Guardian say that they are working to preserve our democracy. Leaders, of course, must have followers....
I agree the corporate billionaire media is useless. I was actually speaking of the democratic senators and congress people - totally useless as well.
https://pca.st/episode/1b916ec9-1c81-4a72-93c2-4e9600b21133
AOC is 🎯 regarding $ in politics. Where are our Dem leaders calling us to action? We hit them where it hurts by withholding our money and our labor, but the Dem leadership won’t forgo the political donations from the rich
I LOVE AOC!! She does not take any lobbyists money from anyone. In a recent podcast with Jon Stewart, she said her constituents pay $17.
We had one in Biden however, he should have quit while he was ahead. Worst of all, they had no PLAN B😳😳😳😳😳😳
One will surface - I hope.
Some practical things we can do:
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/what-you-can-do?r=5izv6&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true#:~:text=What%20you%20can,resist%20Trump%20II
What you can do
Ten ways to resist Trump II
And Heather gave a pep talk yesterday with concrete ways to resist and fight back.
She is right. We can either wallow or defend the Country. I keep thinking of the soldiers who went to war, the people of the underground French Resistance and the Civil rights workers in the South.
Social media and comments sections are good. They also can be a place of complaining and whining that preclude action. I always get pushback that people are just venting. I ask everyone this: what is your ratio of venting to action?
We can only prevail through action.
Legal fights are afoot!
< https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf-tbDSLaGc>
Was it on Facebook?
How did you get her pep talk? How else do you connect with her?
THEY NEED LAWYERS!
See #5 from Reich's list
and
https://www.tristansnell.com/p/keep-calm-and-court-challenge-on?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=2236040&post_id=155831535&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=dv3vh&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email#:~:text=Keep%20calm%20and,we%20can%20help.
THE INDIVIDUALS BEING DEPORTED NEED LAWYERS.
As ususal they missed the forest for the trees.
What do you think of these, Daniel?
< https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf-tbDSLaGc>
There are multiple issues.....
Popock and Ben Medidas acquiesced to the "peaceful takeover" and never interviewed people like Palas and lost Jessica Denson, who advocated the 14th Amendment objection.....
Birthright citizenship should be a lay down.......
On the ground, here in Baghdad By the Sea, people who had valid humanitarian visas that were invalidated could have gummed up the entire shock and awe......
Barbara, it’s so easy for us to point our fingers to the other side. We must realize that in doing so we point 3 figures back to ourself! I so agree, what are each of us actively doing to rectify the situation?
Read this. Good suggestions. One was to subscribe to HCR as a source of truth!
Hold them accountable for their votes. It's interesting that all the coverage on the ridiculous and deeply flawed vote on Hegseth focused on the three Republicans who voted against him, when instead the focus and constant accountability should be focused on all the Republican senators who voted to confirm him. This won't be the last horrible confirmation. There's more to come (Kennedy, Gabard, Patel, and more!). Hold them accountable for their votes. All of them.
or the six (6) Dems that voted for them
Ignore that - it was Stefanik that 6 Dems voted for - NOT Hegseth!
Got carried right away there.
AND once again I apologize - it was Noem who got the six Dems votes.
I dont really know if there were Dems voting for anyone else. The thing was, five of the six were very unexpected - the sixth - Fetterman!
I'm not sure that the world is ready for Felon47 to take a walk of shame a la Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones, but it would certainly bring a quick end to any notions of greatness on his part.
More seriously, and like several other writers, I wonder what has become of all the elected Democrats other than Chris Murphy and AOC. If there's going to be a loyal opposition, they need to start demonstrating their loyalty.
I think we need to stop fighting the culture wars and look at the bigger picture. Our democracy is threatened and we are too focused on the identity issues. We need to win the war to save our democracy and then we can fight the other battles . We will not win the larger war if we keep fighting the smaller battles because the smaller battles cannot be won without first saving our democracy.
That sounds good in a gauzy generalized way. But are identity issues categorically distinct and separate from the “war to save democracy”? I’m not so sure.
Excellent quotes. Let’s hope all Americans awaken and demand reforms to prevent oligarchy from taking hold ever again —assuming we survive this self-inflicted disaster.
They also tarred and feathered
So sorry to hear trump's ignorance and carelessness has affected on such a personal level.
Ignorance and carelessness, and most unfortunately, deliberate cruelty.
It’s not carelessness. It’s ruthlessness.
That's a better choice: Ruthless. Bravo James.
Ruthless pursuers of self service.
From Meidastouch: … Trump-loving Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) sent out a panicked, urgent letter to Homeland Security urgently begging them not to deport Cuban, Venezuelan, and Nicaraguan migrants in her district because many of them may have legitimate asylum claims. I guess she believed Trump when he said he was only going to deport “the criminals.”
Their visas were voided Jan 21. Many came on humanirtarian visas, backed by sponsors who will lose bigly, it taxed the costs involved.
His ignorance and carelessness is coming for us all.
I once read a quote that says: rudeness and tyranny are closely related; genius and evil are not compatible.....
Evil describes Trump. Genius does not. Describing him as intelligent is a stretch.
Project 2025 that was written by very "intellect " minds - ethics be gone.......Trump is NOT intelligent ....
Of course he is not a genius He Said he was. I definitely réfute that!!
Judy, A black hole.
Trump is cunning in feral sort of way and avails himself of all evil tolls that serve his ends. There are no moral or ethical guardrails. Only strategic and tactical considerations.
I cannot "like" your comment, Mike. However, coming for us all means for Republicans too. I hope they will sing a different tune before the midterms, so we need to do all we can to make sure they get the message.
"Just you wite, 'enry 'iggins"!! (from My Fair Lady): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNQ5eznqdqU
Sadly, it has and it will affect us all, one way or another, on a personal level.
Trumps ignorance is going to affect so many on a personal level that maybe, just maybe the cult will wake up
Not likely. My evangelical mom is a member of the Trump cult (not sure there's difference). They have an interesting way of evaluating U.S. fortunes under a Republican majority. When things are going well, it's due to Republican leadership. When things are not going well, it's the fault of "the government," the nameless, faceless institution that causes problems. When Democrats are in charge, a sudden blindness prevents Mom from seeing anything good. When Republicans sabotage progress, she returns to blaming "the government."
These mental gymnastics are enabled by a lifetime of evangelical dogma. When good things happen, they are "answers to prayer." When bad things happen, it was "God's will."
With so many thousands being fired from governmental positions by MAGA for simply upholding US constitutional democratic guardrails has anyone yet started to organise a statewide alternative government union of exiled governmental expertise ?
They will move on to other heinous things that will steal the headlines. Still, any pushback is not wasted.
England has a “shadow” government of the loyal opposition.
Public Servant
Lincoln sacrificed his whole self for this country and ended up being murdered by a deranged citizen.
So few understand such character within a human being ....character though not perfected but character that compels one to desire to continue growing intellectually even as one works hard physically to survive. Character that understands mercy and grace.
Garfield was another. They both grew up in abject poverty. Both Lincoln and Garfield enjoyed reading even though they had so little of this physical or financial world to call their own.
Garfield was also shot by a deranged person and due to the very poor treatment of his doctor, he died slowly from sepsis as a result of the gunshot wound.
Lincoln and Garfield gave their best and their all to any task before them. They gave themselves to hard work for the sake of survival. They gave the same passion and character pursuing their education. They were elected by the people to serve this country and to them that meant everyone...no matter the color of their skin.
Various opinions were respected even if disliked.
These were true heroes. These were the great men of character our country needs again.
We have stood by and watched our country choose "I will only be a dictator on day one..." as the President of the United States of America. Do you not believe this is happening now????
It is a little late to be asking citizens for money when Trump and his minions plan to do away with Social Security and Medicare. There are most of us who have worked and given to these programs and now in our later years, some of us dealing with health issues and or financial responsibilities or have saved , not for ourselves only, to pay our bills but also to assist with the college education of our hardworking grandchildren.
Trump and his chosen minions could care less about our plans for our families....our savings to help our children and grandchildren to have opportunities for a better future.
Trump's plans are not for just four years. Are you not listening??? Do you not see this new reality being built before us not only in Washington DC but in every state!!!!
Yes, fellow citizens WAKE UP!!!! Look at the "ROBOTS" being voted into the highest offices of America!!! Their lack of character and experience is appalling!
Those who are allowing themselves to be used during these days will face their own problems when their usefulness is over.
Garfield was a janitor had Hiram College then found a way to attend college there. I have passed his first home many times and it is a very small log cabin on the side of a now big road.
I'm so sorry. Are there ways that people can fight back?
Survey groups that are doing their damnedest (ie Indivisible, immigrant support groups, climate/democracy groups like thirdact.org, ACLU, local independent media, progressive Dems recruiting and supporting mid-term and ‘28 candidates) but mainly stay connected with friends, faith groups, activists and creatives inspired by long global history of nonviolent resistance to and overthrow of dictators, and fascist regimes. (Check out the Chilean students filling streets singing El Derecho de Vivir en Paz day after day before they reclaimed their country) MAGA goal is goal is to shock, terrify and isolate us, strip away the capacity for joy and community building that sustains us and will ultimately bring them down.
Oh, I am so sorry. You are in the thick of it. And I believe the worst is yet to come. Reading your post today not only makes me angry, it makes me want to work even harder to right the wrongs.
My family and I have through the years ( I am a 76 year old licensed psychologist) benefited from individual public servants. I experienced this not as a “ handout “ but as an investment and feel a responsibility to pay it forward. The public servant , that person who comes into our lives quietly and humbly without fanfare , just doing their duty and perhaps never realizing the good they do. Thank you so much
That can be just a start. Trump can start a nuclear war.
Trump talked about the thrill of pushing “the button” in 2015 but the idiots elected him anyway. Destroying anything or anyone is power to his demented brain. He would love to destroy another country.
Hobbes (1651) wrote: "there ought to be such Lawes, as may encourage all manner of Arts; as Navigation, Agriculture, Fishing, and all manner of Manifacture that requires labour."
While MAGA ends explicit support for DEI, we must insist on laws that encourage labor for all who have strong bodies and minds. Don't retire, make your next career much better!
I’m horrified at this, and I hope your partner can find work soon.
Project 2025 is succeeding so far in their desire to destroy our institutions. Let us hope that after this disaster is over we will be able to reestablish our institutions better and stronger as a result of the mess they have created. (I can dream can't it?)
Your partner has fallen victim to the forces of evil and corruption as surely as anyone who fell at Gettysburg or The Bulge.
I’m so sorry to hear that. I hope your partner and the other dedicated public servants get their jobs back. Without them all of us are in terrible danger.
Let us hope that the haters lose in the end - if we work together to defeat them.
Just for some perspective, Davis and his henchmen held almost 4 million humans in slavery, and the Civil War cost three quarters of a million lives.
Or, in more succinct and modern terms, as Pogo said, "We have met the enemy, and he is us." If we don't want the enemy to win, we must choose not to die by suicide. We must find whatever ways work for each of us and triumph over the lawlessness that is rampant in our country today.
One of my favorite quotes. Pogo (Walt Kelly )must have taken this lesson from Lincoln. I agree that it’s disturbingly prescient. Indeed, we must stop it before it metastases further. Today was yet another frightening day as Trump suggested relocating the Palestinian people while Gaza was rebuilt. A new job for Donald Trump, Jr. and friends. I’m sure the first building completed will be a Trump Hotel. He also explicitly threatened Republican senators who voted against his cabinet picks; that is beyond disgusting. He’s thrown down the glove; wanna bet who will challenge him now. The Senate should protect its institution, but I have no faith in the Republican Party. I had hoped John Thune would step up, but he failed the first test.
Trump also had a nasty call with Denmark's PM claiming that the people of Greenland want to belong to the US, which they don't.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/26/donald-trump-residents-greenland-us
Prof. Ruth Ben-Ghiat says that Trump is bombarding us with actions both
domestic and international to discombobulate us.
https://lucid.substack.com/p/autocrats-want-to-traumatize-us-but
We need to resist, and keep clear heads. Prioritize the information too. What should we note and what can we do something about, be it just writing our elected officials to let them know how we want them to vote and thanking them when they vote as we ask.
“All things are done at once by Caesar.” And so it went one day in 57 BCE when Caesar had to keep a clear head as he confronted numerous crises simultaneously in fighting a Celtic tribe, the Nervii, in Belgium and had to put out a series of serious fires over a large battle field all at once. Caesar of course was a shameless self-promoter and had an interest in presenting himself as a clear-headed leader.
But in fact, he appears to have actually been so. The lesson he teaches is clarity under tremendous pressure. When overwhelmed, know what to address first and how. For Trump this means a lawsuit here, a strategic blockade of an army or police recruitment center there, a human chain to resist mass arrest of people to be deported in another place, a strategic public confrontation or humiliation there against his minions in Congress and the administration, or highlighting of tragedy to drive home his and his party’s cruelty – women dying in parking lots for lack of reproductive care, children separated from mothers, veterans deprived of benefits on the streets.
Maintain moral clarity. Yes, you saw what you saw: Musk gave a Nazi salute; a representative suggested deporting a bishop who is a citizen for preaching the ministry of Christ; Trump wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. It’s all insane.
But there are deeper reasons for concern and they need the real focus and resistance: the desire for Greenland is a way to break up NATO; his executive orders on abortion will kill tens of thousands here and abroad; his pardons are a direct blow to the rule of law and a first step in creating a private militia; each of his nominations are designed not for management and governance but performance art destruction of the US – witness feather-weight Rubio’s body blow against American soft power in suspending all foreign aid except for Israel and Egypt; his revocation of Biden’s infrastructure initiative will do enormous damage to the economy, and his tariffs will be an added body blow.
It's a lot, but his opponents – we - are many. This is not unstoppable: the elephant crushes thousands of ants but the ants eventually overwhelm it. Keep your head clear. Don’t focus on the performative cruelty. Focus on what we can do. Remember, the Assad family was going to go on forever, the Roman empire was going to be imperium sine fine, the Civil War seemed endless . . . until it didn’t, until it wasn’t, and until Appomattox.
Stop retreating, turn around, fix your shield, aim your spear, and thrust it in the eye of a shocked Spartan, who thought he was invincible until Epaminondas of Thebes showed everyone otherwise. Stopping this may come through a single shock, or through a series of cumulative actions. History can be written by us if we choose, pen in one hand, the sword of righteousness in the other.
" the desire for Greenland is a way to break up NATO"... Breaking up NATO is one of Putin's Dreams... Hasn't Russian Money Floated the Trump Organization since Y2K? I fervently hope the Evil Orange Clown doesn't Sell-Out the Brave, Brave, Ukrainians... Slava Ukraine!!!
Did you see that both Zelenskyy and Putin coincidentally came out this weekend saying they both "ALWAYS" thought Trump won the 2020 election? Quid Pro Quo much?
They both know that Trump has the power to cause great harm to either country when he decides who wins the war and who loses. This lie by both leaders is just the ante to start the negotiations.
Eloquently put!
Thank you.
Thank you. This will take years, it won't be a one-and-done. I may not live to see good triumph, but I have to keep trying. One way, in addition to whatever we can do on the federal level, is to work on the local and state level. There are and will be plenty of opportunities
Thank you. America is now in political chaos and this offers a hostage to fortune for its major political enemies. For instance, UK’s Reform party leader Nigel Farage gave a Stars and Stripes and The Union Jack celebratory MAGA party for Trump’s inauguration. It’s main sponsor was the New Federal State of China. This organisation is also the most recent financial sponsor for Steve Bannon and his followers. Although it is not entirely clear whether it has any direct political links with the Chinese government it is worth keeping an eye on. The article can he found here under And Here We Go Again:
https://broligarchy.substack.com/p/seig-heil-tesla
Farage is a jerk.
Whom can we trust to be clear-eyed in the crisis and know what to do first? Do we have any leaders? Real ones, I mean.
Your comparison to Caesar is apt, and I’m going to take it further. Beware the Ides of March, and sic semper tyrannis.
Thanks for your clarity.
Trump's getting into it with Colombia now, as president Gustavo Petro blocked two US military aircraft carrying deported Colombians from landing in his country. He's ordered the doubling of tariffs to 50% (not great news for fans of Colombian coffee) and Petro announced on X that he has ordered the “foreign trade minister to raise import tariffs from the U.S. by 25%”. His ethnic cleansing plan in Gaza has been widely condemned across the Middle east. It's just utter chaos, not governance and it's actually already worse than his last time in office.
My heart goes out to those poor Colombians being dragged from pillar to post. Looks like this is how it will play out where humans are treated as political pawns.
The BBC is reporting that the Colombians have now agreed to accept deportees so something has been arranged to the mutual satisfaction of both countries.
My primary care physician in Jacksonville was from Colombia. She had been in the US long enough to have children that grew up here. But, I can see ICE raiding her office because she was one of the few doctor's that was bilingual in Spanish and English. She saved my life so I am eternally grateful to her.
There were many doctors at the MAYO in JAX that were from other countries. Trump wouldn't hesitate to deport them or their families.
way way way worse..Project 2025 is the mandate they created and overwhelming is the Autocratic was to destabilize until they have all the strings secured in their favour. Not Democracy and not going to effect ONLY the US...I fear he will align with Putin (openly ) India and the other BRICS to control...Peace time is over and Freedom is no longer FREE....it will need to be WON BACK xo
But there's no mandate for Project 2025. Even Trump during the campaign was forced to distance himself from it claiming fthat he didn't know what it was (even though it was staffed by people who were in his first administration). A Republican adviser, Mark McKinnon, today on CNN compared the new Trump administration with the last one as the difference between a train crash and a bullet train. Let's see how long this 'bullet train' stays on the rails! Right now, Trump is threatening Putin with further sanctions because his promise to end the Ukraine war on his first day didn't quite transpire as he might have hoped. At the same time, he's softening his approach to China (tariffs and TikTok) and instead threatening to impose tariffs on Mexico and Canada and to take over Greenland.
RE: Prof. Ruth Ben-Ghiat says that Trump is bombarding us with actions both domestic and international to discombobulate us.
I agree with this statement. We need a solid strategy.
"Kayfabe"
Call or write the DNC, and demand a reorganization into Offensive and Defensive Shadow Govt. teams....and that they be staffed with people with the right skills to inform and "guide" our Democrat members.
Ask the DNC to establish Timothy Snyder's "Shadow Cabinet" that will follow each MAGA monster and provide regular updates on their efforts to dismantle American Civilization.
Each Shadow would present the New Democrats platform that reflects the values, needs and human rights of the Working Class.
As Snyder says, this is a tradition in the UK. It's a way for us to have hope and demand media attention to the horrors unfolding. But mostly, it is a way to offer Americans a clear alternative to our fascist oligarchy.
Krugman and Reich - for Treasury, Labor or Commerce?
Buttigieg for any of them :) Most needed for DOD right now...
I actually had been thinking that the DNC, or rather democrats should be organizing into teams like the Republicans did and drafting their own version of Project 2025, targeted for the next democratic Presidential administration of 2029. This document would then guide policy and form a cohesive policy.
Bruce.., wheww.. I dunno. Help me: Who or what is the "reorganization" to be composed of? The DEI team? The LGBTQ+Tg team? The homeless street dweller team? The Recycle plastic waste team? The Motor Voter team? The No ID needed team. The Non-traditional marriage team? The Green team? These are all the kinds of "teams" the MAGAtts rode on to get numbnuts in office. Put all those categories together and you end up with some kind of "brexit" mentality. Right now, we just need to do things which don't crash the ship. The 48% of us need to get a grip. We'll get more flies with honey than with salt. Along with accepting the fact that common-sense has not been our forte'. This is the result and a good place to start. Freedom from religious dictates needs to be on the table and instead of the 10 commandments, a banner on the wall which says Exercise common sense for the good of mankind.
Bruce, a shadow cabinet like the one the British have of the opposition party. If you don’t know the details and I totally think you all do, wiki spells it out. I’ve thought naming it properly so hewhosinsane isn’t completely threatened…
Of course he’ll threaten to do atrocities not only to it but also to each member ..
Thinking of Pete Buttigieg
as one, Liz Cheney for balance, Stacey Abrams, etc..
top military and diplomatic. You can certainly add others better than I can. Of course with profound thanks once again to HCR who lifts me up each time she shares her knowledge and intelligence.
Not Trump. He just signs his name and continues campaigning with his lies. Project 2025 and Stephen Miller.
Yes, the sheer disorienting cacaphony is itself a defense of sorts as it is hard to hit a moving target, especially a multifaceted one like his Orange stickiness.
Did DJT ask the Indigenous Eskimos? I doubt that any belong to Mar-a-Lago... There are about 56,000 permanent Inhabitants of Greenland... ~6,000 are European Descendants... ~50,000 are Eskimos... Did DJT Jr. talk to them during his Photo Op? I don't trust any of the Trump Clan....
I do not think he talked to the indigenous people, instead he talked to the PM of Denmark who told him that Britain has right of first refusal if they were to sell Greenland, which they are not planning on doing. They are moving in the direction of giving the Greenlanders autonomy.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/26/donald-trump-residents-greenland-us
That Britain would have the first right of refusal of buying Greenland should set alarm bells ringing. The alt right Reform party of UK’s arch Brexiteer Nigel Farage is now gaining political popularity in the GB polls as Labour leader Starmer’s government is proving to follow in the unpopular 40 year old neo liberal political footsteps of the Conservative party. Many now calling both The Uniparty. Reform could well form the next UK government. Farage gave a Stars and Stripes and The Union Jack celebratory pro MAGA event for Trump’s inauguration, primarily funded by Bannon’s newest backer, New Federal State of China. Details can be found under the article Here We Go Again: https://broligarchy.substack.com/p/seig-heil-tesla
"Kayfabe"
https://www.google.com/search?q=kayfabe&oq=kayfabe&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCDM2MTdqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
The actors in this "dicombobulation" will all be very visible, though. Make a list of their Names and faces...So that we remember every collaborator when the time comes for punishment.
I have no intention of committing suicide (I do know what Lincoln meant), so if I go missing in all of this, find the fu**..ing collaborator and make him/her pay for me. The Norwegians took care of their own collaborators during and after WWII, be like Vikings.
Be Like The Apache In How We Fight, And Deal With Traitors...
Wish someone would keep a list of all that is being done by this administration.
Amy Siskind is keeping a new weekly list. She published her list during dingus’s first term.
https://theweeklylist.org/
Joyce Vance is doing this.
Zeteo has a weekly update, but it is paywalled. A complaint about democratic sources vs. the unpaywalled right wing sources.
https://zeteo.com/p/this-week-in-democracy-a-new-series-trump-orders-week-one
Judd Legum of Popular Information, has a new Substack called Musk Watch with a weekly update.
https://www.muskwatch.com/p/the-week-in-musk-heil-to-the-chief
Joyce Vance is doing a democracy index in The Contrarian.
https://joycevance.substack.com/p/the-democracy-index-and-the-contrarian
I am sure there are other such initiatives. I would also like to know who has copied the information deleted from the Government websites on things like health, scientific research, weather tracking, etc...
Linda, I’ve read about the Democracy Index but does it exist somewhere? I’m a little confused.
Maybe you could help out by making that list and posting it here.
That is the job of the new DNC, Jenn.
keep a list for your own state, as I am doing for New Mexico. We can compare notes. We'll see who the next DNC chair is if that person takes on what's happening full bore.
As say I, and remember them critically in the aftermath when we deal with the collaborators.
I believe that Joyce Vance is keeping such a list.
George Cummings’ What Did Donald Trump Do Today Substack follows on his What Did Biden Do Today…basically following POTUS actions. A lot of what the Biden admin did never seemed to make the MSM (and I found the info he provided enlightening)….Trump’s outrageous bombshells usually do tho’. Check it out here: https://whatdiddonaldtrumpdotoday.substack.com/p/what-did-donald-trump-do-today-ebc?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=954002&post_id=155775076&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=6wq7j&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
Seriously, I want to throw up, Barbara, but I just keep on going.
Who does Trump think he is, threatening PM Christensen like that? He’s acting as if he thinks he was elected Dictator and has the right to order around our allies.
Trump is carrying out Putin's work of breaking up the US and NATO. Greenland is the route he has chosen for the latter. It will polarize. Can we still impeach him and throw him into prison? Has that ship sailed or will there be those who rethink it?
McConnell is individually responsible for where we are today, both SCOTUS and tfg’s second term. One greedy man.
Unfortunately, that ship was never built, Linda!
But it’s one of his “official duties” so Roberts (who is also a collaborator) says it’s ok.
Roberts is the leader of the INJUSTICES 6.
Oh yeah, Kathy, he certainly sees himself as Dick-tator and Lyin’ King all rolled into one, thus fat & lumpy….
Pogo was the one comic strip my parents enjoyed and sometimes read to me. I laughed and laughed at some of the things the characters said, and at their facial expressions, especially Albert. I was oblivious to most of the puns and the political themes embedded in the word play.
And not a peep of outrage from those who screamed incessantly about “Genocide Joe” and “Killer Kamala” No comments from the legacy media. Where are the college protestors? It’s almost like the point was to trash the Democrats’ chance of re-election, not help the Palestinians.
Funny, that.
It is Jared who wants to turn Gaza into a resort. His 3 million from the Saudis.
$2 billion from the Saudis and $1B from Qatar.
Urban renewal.
“It’s literally a demolition site right now,” Trump said, referring to the vast destruction caused by Israel’s 15-month war with Hamas, now paused by a fragile ceasefire.
“I’d rather get involved with some of the Arab nations, and build housing in a different location, where they can maybe live in peace for a change,” Trump said.
Not to mention all those potential golf resorts.
What a grifter git we have as POTUS!🤬
!
Jsred is his daddy-in-law’s envoy. They want to rake Gaza and build there also. Kush didn’t get $2 bil for nothing from the Saudi Prince. He got our government secrets!
All the Republicans willing and capable to defend our institutions and country against Trump are gone. Don't expect anything good coming from the rest Kim.
There is NO Republican Party, only a MAGAt party.
The Cult.
Good points. But it won't be Don Jr., it will be Kushner, whose family ties go back long and deep with Netanyahu.
On November 26, 2023, Dr. Sarah Kendzior wrote:
"There should be a plan to rebuild Gaza under Palestinian sovereignty but you’re more likely to see Kushner beachfront property over Palestinian child corpses."
Four months later, on March 20, 2024, when Kushner expressed interest in the 'very valuable' potential of Gaza's waterfront property Kendzior made this observation:
“Kushner has praised the ‘very valuable’ potential of Gaza’s ‘waterfront property’ and suggested Israel should remove civilians while it ‘cleans up’ the strip.” As I’ve said for months, Israel is engaging in pre-construction demolition and clearance.
Talk about prescient! But she's been right about everything, from saying in 2015 Trump would win, to saying in Spring, 2021 that Trump would never be convicted--that Garland would drag his feet and run out the clock. Sadly, we saw that play out.
Oh, and if I may, one more thing she said in August 2019, when Trump first expressed an interest in buying Greenland, and we all laughed:
"You should take the Greenland shit more seriously. It's not just theatrical assholery; Trump and his backers are seeking to profit off climate change in a world without old alliances or protocol."
I couldn’t remember Kushner’s name at the time, being 79 with memory lapses. He did have his eye on the Gaza Strip coast line and developing it. I can’t imagine obtaining Greenland. The Bulwark, where I have a free subscription still posts interesting articles and it was either them or The Contrarian that had the article about Musk’s unpopular meddling European politics. Narcissism and oligarchy lives in America. European countries have strict limitations on political contributions. There are complaints about changes in TikTok from who knows where. God forbid that it becomes another Musk source of disinformation.
And it will not be a single thing that any of us does. We must use every opportunity to create power by joining others and counter their vicious acts.
One thing to fo is to dtay in touch w/congressional members; they must know we disapprove!
Agreed. I have my list of Congressmen who are going to hear from me today.
And we must VOTE! Joni Ernst is running for reelection in 2026. Iowians should vote her out of office. She put party over country and voted for Peter Hegseth the unqualified alcoholic allege sexual predator for Sectary of Defense. She is the party of the Jan 6 Insurrectionist and her constituents need to remember that come November.
Senator Ernst and every Republicans who puts party over country should be voted out of office.
Today’s comments from this peanut gallery.
I've been advocating to be in touch with our legislators in Congress for weeks whether to push them to act or to support them in their fight. I call them, our first responders, our first line of defense. Thanks Christine.
Ricardo, I am lucky to have reps I support and periodically contact them to thank them for their efforts & am on their constituent mailing lists for updates.
We need them as they need us. Good job 👏
I was feeling sad and helpless about a friend whose son and daughter in law work for the NIH and their jobs are threatened. So I wrote her a card to tell her I am thinking of her.
We must find the way Betsy, we must !!!
Hard time to be a civil servant. 45 and his minions want to take us back to the 1830’s when Andrew “Trail of Tears” Jackson was president. He was a proponent of the “spoils system.” To the victor belong the spoils, an ANCIENT concept of warfare, positively animalistic.
Jennifer, I wonder how they dare to talk about meritocracy for any job or position when they would look only at party affiliation and unconditional loyalty to the felon policies. Thanks for your reply.
I think, Ricardo, loyalty IS the only “merit” they see!
😄 totally right Barbara.
The MAGA crowd thrives on chutzpah and hypocrisy. They have NO shame, zero, zilch, nada. They only think things are fair when they get their way. Contrast the 2020 election that #45 lost, and 2024 that he won. You heard nothing this time about fraud and stealing the election.
That is called decency Jenn. They have just not shame but also no decency.
We have now arrived again in the circumstances Lincoln described, but the minions of destruction today have AK-47s with bump stocks and an inclination to use them.
And they are the minority, Rex. Minority rule by threat and treachery. Not what the Founders had in mind.
A minority with all the power all the weaponry all the media all the money
😩
Remember that we too enjoy the right to bear arms.
We have the right to bear arms. We don’t necessarily enjoy it. That’s a difference between us and them.
Good point. I've never touched a gun. Image comes to mind of catching flies with two chopsticks.
You might be on to something. I’m a Canadian, we have a different system here. However, I’ve always wondered why it’s always them, on the right, who are expected to act violently and we “ the rational ones” never hit back.I may have lost a step or two over the years, but I’ve been in lotsa fist fights, maybe we oughta meet the thugs where they are.
And their voices amplified by those who control the media (i.e. Musk, Zuck & Bezos).
Technically, the "weapon of choice" in that crowd is the AR-15. AK-47 is a Soviet military weapon similar to the US M14.
But AR15 is smaller and easier to conceal plus the most dangerous weapons today are those reproduced by 3D printing and thus having no metal parts to set off detectors (not that tht deters elected officials apparently eg Bobie and MTG)
Also easier to shoot, and with an ACOG or EoTech sight almost impossible to miss with.
Yeah, I kinda knew that, I guess, but somehow AK-47 came to mind first. My bad.
For so long, the AK-47 has been the “enemy rifle” that it makes sense that you’d inadvertently use it in place of the AR-15.
Our laws are being mowed down by Trump. We need to support those who are using the legal system to uphold our democracy.
Here is a discussion of the Musk Sieg Heil salute in The Guardian that is saying something important about this moment in our history. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/26/elon-musk-far-right-antisemitism?utm_term=679631f97a9063a144823d6fd46e3eb7&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUS&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUS_email
It ties together with this article about the rise of the Neo-Nazi's and there supporting Trump's immigration policies to help them make the US a Whites Only Nation. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/26/neo-nazis-trump-extremism?utm_term=679631f97a9063a144823d6fd46e3eb7&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUS&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUS_email
The fact that most Americans don't understand the term "fascism" means we need to use other terms that will be understood so that people can prepare themselves for the times in which we are living.
There is a good book review of a study of the origins of the salute that Musk has tried to "Roman-wash" as an ancient gesture, which it is not. BTW, why is it any better if it were Roman rather than Nazi? Rome was an oligarchy then a dictatorship and practiced institutional sadism not to mention slavery (and I say this as one who taught Latin and Roman history my entire adult life).
https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009.08.45/
I think Jeff Tiedrich did an excellent job of rooting out what it is, and someone else isolated this meme that he posted in his Substack. https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F82b253bd-280b-4f75-8665-01d7be095d79_465x225.gif
No doubt about it, Muskrat’s gesture was the Nazi Roman Salute. It was the same one Mussolini’s Fascisti used to greet Mussolini.
Use "Nazi." Americans get that. And don't even use "neo-Nazi" because there's nothing neo- about them.
Exactly what I've been saying!! There is no longer any denying who and what they are. Don't wait for the extermination camps to realize what's here.
AMEN! Daughter of Holocaust victims here.
Of course, we never were a Whites Only nation, just as Germany never was an Aryans Only nation!
Yes Susan, but there is a contingent that wants that, and they are not MAGAs, they are the White Power Movement, with a lot being militia, who find Trump a useful tool to accomplish their goals. Here is Prof. Kathleen Belew talking about White Supremacy in the US, her area of expertise. https://youtu.be/OhXb90TI7As?si=sm4w_5bUOX5tALss
Her book Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America is what opened my eyes to the recent history of the White Power movement, and their goals to change their outsider status and enter the mainstream and part of this to reframe their overt racist rhetoric into a more "palatable" anti-immigrant rhetoric.
Hard to hit the heart button but thank you for bringing more information to our awareness of the White Power Movement.
It sounds thoroughly disgusting. Whites still hold the majority of power in this country, and Trumpies want to keep it that way.
Here is another informative article from the Guardian supplying context for Musk's world view:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/26/elon-musk-peter-thiel-apartheid-south-africa
Another article less obviously directly relevant but a key part of the picture nevertheless;
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/bishop-trump-threats-mariann-budde-b2686665.html
I agree we need to find more accessible ways to focus on fascism, and flesh out carelessly use keywords, such as "freedom" and "justice". What can be reasonably and supportably said about what these words, in a sense that is widely accessible, practical, and defensible mean? Some words that are universally used are often misapplied, often deliberately so; fouled up beyond all recognition.
Agreed: "Fascist" has lost its sting, especially as Trump (incorrectly) used it against the democrats. We need NEW descriptive labels that call out what they're doing in clear, unambiguous language. Hopefully some of the wonderful writers on our side can create something to hang on them.
We also need to keep an eye on Elon Musk. This Musk Watch article today is certainly turning the tables. Given that Project 2025 has vilified Russia, but China is the big bad guy all through the document, now this turn around because of Musk is quite the switch.
https://open.substack.com/pub/elonmuskwatch/p/how-do-you-explain-trumps-abrupt?r=f0qfn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Musk's messing in Germany the country in which I mainly live is very concerning. A lot of people want to shut him down, as he is being such a Nazi. Still Profs Ben-Ghiat and Harrigton say that Trump is beholden to Putin and Broligarchs, and of the latter, Musk is clearly number 1.
Interesting article. We are seeing people's true colors. Since Musk's and Trump's behaviors are so alien to the way we were brought up, it becomes too easy, at least for me, to dismiss them as nuts. Both are mentally impaired as demonstrated, at least in the latter case, by Dr Bandy Lee. 😲
https://youtu.be/FZOc_iqBDqg 🪞
Dr Lee has an interesting take as an M.D. and nationally recognized expert on mitigating violent behaviors in jailed perpetrators. She also has an M.Div. Here nuanced take on Trump -- and her insight applies to Musk -- is that Trump is mentally deficient but remains morally responsible for his axions. ⚖️
I disagree, keeping our eye on fascism is essential. It
I disagree, fascism is the conceptual sinew that binds Trump/Stephen Miller etc to its previous outbreak in Hitler’s Germany and Mussolini’s Italy to Romania’s Nicolae Ceaușescu, which fell a mere 35 years ago. The coals of fascism are still hot.
“ Fascism (/ˈfæʃɪzəm/ FASH-iz-əm) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement,[1][2][3] characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation or race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy.[2][3] Opposed to anarchism, democracy, pluralism, egalitarianism, liberalism, socialism, and Marxism,[4][5] fascism is at the far right of the traditional left–right spectrum.[6][5][7]”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism
Linda, many people are like the Germans in the 30’s where they bury their heads in the sand. They totally ignore what is going on around them until it hits them in their pockets.
Apparently, President Lincoln took a raft down the Mississippi to Nawlins. Carl Sandburg describes the almost traumatic resonance seeing a slave auction had on the future President. From then on, he detested slavery. Perhaps a decade later, President Lincoln gave the Lyceum speech. Within a decade came the invasion and seizure of 55% of Mexico.
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7289514685077356544/
President Lincoln, in the House of Representatives at the time, opposed the war as a pro-slavery land-grab. While I believe that the Great Civil War started in the mid-1850s with Bleeding Kansas, President Lincoln might well argue that the Mexican-American War made the Civil War inevitable. We may be in bleeding Kansas now.
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7259852498906025984/
Lincoln was correct about this. Southern politicians sought to expand slavery into territory captured from Mexico, and they did manage to do this in Texas.
“we may be in bleeding Kansas now”, Dorothy, Ned!
Where is Toto when we need that measley mutt?
- Pulled Quote -
''Lincoln saw trouble coming, but not from a foreign power, as other countries feared. The destruction of the United States, he warned, could come only from within.''
Now is the time. Let's get to work!
Amen! I have come to believe that the Civil War really started in bleeding Kansas; much like the European theatre of World War II started with the Rhineland. lt took time for the South to arm and prepare and for the North to understand what President Lincoln had in 1838. I believe we are in as-yet non-lethal form of bleeding Kansas.
We can leave our names in the history as the savior of the nation. Trump or hereos and their followers, either side can leave names in the history. We have Professor to guide us.
An excellent list of what we can do from Robert Reich.
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/what-you-can-do?r=5izv6&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true#:~:text=What%20you%20can,resist%20Trump%20II
Lincoln “called for Americans to exercise “general intelligence, sound morality, and in particular, a reverence for the constitution and laws.”
Unfortunately that ship has sailed. Republicans ran for their lives on January 6 and then refused to find the instigator guilty when he was impeached. Now those rioters are released and ready to listen to more lies and defend the liar. When Nixon did his midnight massacre, brave people including a Richardson fought back and the news media covered it. Now IGs fired at midnight on a weekend barely makes the news. P4547 is testing us and it will get worse. I’m looking for Republicans for a sign of general intelligence, sound morality and a reverence for the constitution and laws. Helloooooooo????
Gigi, and some powerful hutzpa!
Wrenching…. Thank YOU
Thank you, Professor I wonder what what’s his name would honestly think after he read this? If he could even read. Sorry I don’t like being snarky. How can you not become a better person and be inspired by the words of the great emancipator. He will not go down in history he will just go down and forgotten. Peace of love everybody. Stay true, to yourself and the constitution, stay strong, stay together.
Hi Mike, the person you refer to is incapable of being “inspired” by anything honorable.
I know think we fight back in every way possible!
Have you seen that guy's reaction to Bishop Budde's sermon? I'm guessing his response to Lincoln would be something like that. "She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart... Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one. She is not very good at her job!"
That sermon might have been spoken by Jesus himself. It will echo for a very long time, long after we are rid of this pestilence. And if we are not rid of it, it will be an epitaph on why we failed as a nation.
She was speaking truth to power gently, respectfully even, and everyone in that room KNEW it.
You bet they did. That’s why they squawked so loud. The proverbial shoe really did fit.
Thank you Mike! Well said. We must remain laser focused and not get distracted with all the nonsense and we know there will be lots and lots of nonsense coming from this administration.
From a metaphysical perspective, Musk, Trump, McConnell, Graham, Republicans who chose party over country etc… are operating on a lower energy level which cannot support itself. If we give it attention, that gives it energy and keeps it going. The trick is we need to talk about these things because they are important but we can’t give it intention. That’s where staying laser focused on the facts and the truth is the way to let this lower energy burn itself out. We need to spread higher energy (ie love, peace)
It’s going to be a long 4 years. 🥲
OK, here's something I am doing: I ordered two bumper stickers (with magnets):
A Vote for Republicans
Is a Vote for Billionaires
and
OGLIARCHY
Look it up
At least maybe a couple of Magats will look it up....
Spellcheck?
Ha. Am I like they are ??
It's simple, Mike. In his view, the Convicted Orange Felon IS already the perfectest, the bestest and bigliest person in the world. There is nothing to improve, and certainly no old historic guy can tell HIM, the Orange God-Emperor himself, anything that he doesn't already know in his all-compassing, divine wisdom...
Yeah, Dutch Mike, his overly generous glorious “gut” guides him…or so he’s said.
Or was it his overly generous glorious butt?
Hmmm…honestly can’t tell which is which!!!!🤪
*LOL* Yeah, it's difficult: they are both orange... ;)
Lincoln's words remain prophetic. Once again, you have demonstrated the livingness of history!
We are about to find out if there is a right and a wrong; whether science is dependable, and whether ethics and morality matter. We are about to experience a philosophical collision of a nuclear magnitude about integrity and whether there remain people who will insist upon correctness and who are willing to stand up to wrongdoing. The Oligarchs bought a nation. I hope there is a way to bring our nation into trim for the future. I am flabbergasted, no... gobsmacked... no, astounded... no, stunned... (total loss for words) that so many people line up behind a demagogue, a sub-human life-form, a bacteria, maniac who should be in a mental hospital to prevent further injury to our country and to civilization. We are on course to hit an iceberg a billion times more fatal than anything the Titanic hit. COVID was a "heads-up" for this incoming administration. There is no vaccine about what is about to happen. I feel like saying, "woe is us, Eor. Whattagonnadru?"
I am first generation, Poland. My Dad came here in 1921. I was born in 1947; 77 years... into the era of Jewish Holocaust survivors... so I am a card carrying, Board Certified Bleeding Heart Liberal Out to Save the World. I have devoted my entire life to helping people. (Omitting Anglo-Saxonisms...) The Problem is that "no one is listening" to Democrats. January 6th "said it all." "They" are not on our channel...There is not even "thanks for your point of view...but..." They urinated and defecated "all over our heads." ...and continue to do so. The ONLY power "we" have, short of a Bolshevik revolution-sort-of event, is VOTE. ...but, ya' know what? Our platform can't be exclusively "against Pumpkinhead." (I do not ..or I try not...to use the name...) "WE" need something — an ideal — something that is real — to support. What do WE support on immigration, naturalization, voter rights, international policy? I do not think we can "fight" hate with more hate...or should we? Do we want government goons "disappearing" our children back to Guatemala? Do we support warrantless detentions... and more executions? But are we "sugar and spice" and everything nice? What do we stand for? ...and that is the Question...How many miles must we walk down before significant opposition to Fascism...for real? Have you seen the movie The Pianist about the Warsaw Ghetto? How do we oppose "them" building "us" into a Ghetto and annihilating us?
Most welcome these cuddly, fleece-lined platitudes in this bleak Montana winter...but other than choking on our John Lennon spiritually infused almond milk with a dash of lemon grass, we have to come up with something people can vote for...What is it? We need something more potent than Yoko Ono...
Very soon, the entire legal system will collapse with lawsuits. Pumpkinhead has the accelerator and “we” have Bic pens and file lawsuit after lawsuit … but nothing happens. Pumpkinhead made a complete mockery out of the DOJ and the Supreme Court. The Checks have not balanced; they have bounced.
Love the observation: " The Checks have not balanced; they have bounced."
It’s also reminiscent of Dr. King’s remark about America writing a bad check to its African American citizens.
Sounds like a great bumper sticker!
As a Member of a 500+ Year Resistance, some observations... DJT high-jacked a Dark Mood in the USA amongst those that weren't Respected, or paid Attention to... Their Communities are called 'Fly-Over' by the Coastal Elites... DJT is an Entertainer who incessantly pays attention to the Right-Wing Infosphere... As an Entertainer he postures as a 'Tough-Guy'... That plays to his base, DJT watches his Ratings... So does Tucker Carleson... Americans Love Outlaw Cowboys, and Gangsters... Personally I prefer to be an Apache... FDR laid the Foundations for Modern Post-WWII American Society which were Strengthened until Reagan... FDR's Constituency made it thru the Great Depression, WW2, and Korea together... The Sense was, 'We Are All In This Together'... Post-Reagan, the Fabric of American Society started to be torn apart... Greed Became Good, it became an ethic, 'I want it all NOW'... One became defined by their Possessions, and $$$... American Elections, driven thru the Corporate MSM, became hideously Expensive... That opened the Door for Big-Corporate $$$... Think 'Citizens United'... Think Presidential Immunity... Now WE have an arguably Insane Demagogue for POTUS with a Genius For Evil... So now if we are to work thru the DNC we need New Fresh Young Leadership... Kamala stuck too close to Biden... She Had Too, Kamala was his VP after all... A New Movement needs to be started... It needs to start working from the 'Bottom-Up'... Obama in 2008 is a Good Example... His error was that he too overly Cautious once in Power... He didn't fundamentally change anything... All he did tangibly was Save The Big Banks, and expand Healthcare... We need a Inspiring Figure, a True Leader, a Joan of Arc Figure... I nominate AOC... She is Young, Smart, Passionate... She Is Fun To Watch... Time Is Running Out... Mother Earth, Mother of Us All, Is Angry... Hurricane Helene, the L.A. Fires are Portents of a Possible Future...
Apache, I agree AOC is excellent. My first thoughts are she seems too young and too inexperienced in politics. But my mind is open. Her passion, oratory skills, and genuine understanding and compassion make her very compelling.
Thank You M Tree... Too Young? Other Countries like Finland, and New Zealand have had Young Female Leaders in their 30s... How Old Was Queen Elizabeth I & II when they ascended to the Throne, and led England? Times Make The Leaders... An American Epoch Is Ending... A New One Is Being Born... Birth Can Be Painful...
And smart too: https://qz.com/1481551/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-won-a-2007-isef-science-fair-prize-for-her-microbiology-research
More intellect in one of her fingernail clippings that the whole of the Orange Menace. And while young, typically one of the emotional adults in the room. I encounter Democrats who absolutely hate her, but I think maybe too much Reagan-think rubbed off on them. Government of, by and for the people. I agree that opportunities were missed to reach out to forgotten, disadvantaged workers. If they saw the larger picture they wouldn't keep Republicans in power.
AOC was also a BarTender/Hostess before she was in Congress... She has Worked her way up, and hasn't forgotten her Roots... She knows how to talk to People because she was one of the People...
I agree with all the comments about AOC. I just think we need to keep perspective about every person who we think might be a potential "higher office" candidate. This was one of the arguments I made re Harris last year. Of course I supported her, but I was cautious even though I always thought she was one of the best and brightest bulbs in the room.
But what ***i*** think is not the same as who I think can get elected. Personally I am a far left almost "commie" who wants to see radical change in our system.
But as an advocate for wide spread politics, I recognize how unlikely my personal passions will resonate with the average voter. And so I tend to do dramatically moderate those leftist views when seeking viable candidates.
I have always thought AOC shows promise, and she will only become more formidable as she gains experience.
Like Hilary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, and Kamala Harris, she is a smart, powerful, thoughtful, (thus) threatening woman. GOP went after, fear-mongering and demonizing AOC with a load of lies.
Like they do any woman seeking “power”…have to nip it in the bud so it doesn’t become a “thing” (you know, normal).
Apache, yes, remaining open is my intent.
The kings and queens of the UK are weak arguments for "young leaders". In modern reality (particularly QE2) they lead little as their role is to be a figurehead. There have been very young head royalty in England due to the rule of primogeniture (inherited status) so QE2 was in her young 20s when she became Queen, but again she was not truly the political leader of England, that was held during her reign by the Prime Minister, men and a few women in their 40s to 70s
The Prime Minister of England is the real leader and to be fair there has not been a very young Prime Minister (under 40) in a very long time. You have to go back to the 1700s (when life spans were much shorter) to find a very young Prime Minister of Britain (William Pitt the Younger) as young as AOC is at 35 (who is JUST barely eligible to be President).
JFK was the youngest US President ever at age 43.
Jon, I thought this too. Both Elizabeths were only queens because no males were available who were first in line....also Mary Tudor, Victoria, and Mary Stuart. The first Elizabeth was the real leader with no prime minister but she did have a wily first minister. She was 25 on her accession. She spent a lifetime being a woman in power while managing the men around her with various ploys. I think the modern elected women make a much better example. I would agree that we need younger people. Part of the problem also is when someone emerges, that person is immediately demonized by the R media machine. I do like AOC by the way. Pols need to be careful how they label themselves because no one here in Oregon IDing as a socialist can win. Another thing standing in the way is the enormous amount of money needed to win. Also people need to understand who the real enemy is.
Where is our D media machine? HCR and the others on Substack do their best but we need these solists to join in one great chorus to drown out the rubbish of noise.
Yes, Churchill was old.
Thank you, Apache, for your long-term point of view. Mother Earth is indeed angry with us. I am with you on AOC. We need her passion, her views, and her willingness to engage.
I love AOC and hope in 8-12 years she is considered for President but I think she is too young to be considered a serious candidate for President in 2028 when she will be just 38, which would make her the youngest President in history were she to win.
Jon, I don't think this country, in its current state, is ready to elect a woman as president, much less an outspoken woman of color. Maybe in 20 years, but certainly not now.
I hate to agree but it seems so.
Have to agree, Ally. Outspoken intelligent women are considered threats even in ordinary situations and need mansplaining to straighten them out. My neighbor recently contradicted everything I said including that Chopin's music is difficult. He apparently played some Chopin when a piano student, nothing difficult I would bet and as my husband observed, just the top notes. That went by him.
These Are Trying Times... DJT is dismantling this Country... The Navajo Nation has just issued an advisory that Tribal Members carry their Tribal ID since several have been stopped & interrogated by ICE... The Indigenous are Brown People after all... This is State-Sanctioned Terrorism... In 2028, this Country may be in a Heap... AOC, or Someone like her, may be absolutely Necessary... Desperate Times, Require Desperate Measures...
My wife just read an article on that topic. Disgusting.
The only people together now are the billionaires.
For convenience. Royalty tended to be backstabbers of kin when they thought they could get away with it. No rules need apply.
Sometimes in certain places, they just killed all their brothers, a real problem in governments where the ruler had multiple wives.
Quite right J L. 👍
Apache I agree with your analysis. You are right on.
I’m not sure I agree with you on AOC, but that’s the only thing, and I’m open to leadership that has vision and knows how to lead. I thought Kamala had all the skills to do that job, I can’t think of anything she said that indicated otherwise, unlike the insipid orange turd, she had brilliant ideas for the betterment of all Americans. As you well know Apache, we are a deeply racist nation, and those ideas coming from a woman of color made them untenable no matter how much they would have benefited all of us. If he had spoken them, and without the intervention of the great spirit a seeming impossibility, they would have been embraced as an enlightened path forward. We need another Lincoln, without someone with a vision like he had, I fear we may be lost. We have only so much time, both personally and as a culture, by the time they are done with their destructive spree there may be only rubble left of our republic, and while we might be able to use some of the rubble to rebuild, we likely won’t live long enough to see it happen, at 78 I doubt I will. 🤬
! ! ! !
I so appreciate your posts, Apache!
Thank You Ann Marie... I Appreciate You As Well ... :-)
This was a hard post to read. I thought Harris did have positive things to offer ordinary people, but it got lost in the din of whatever death star was saying. Of course, there is also the power of money and a population glued to their devices. I suspect that more and more ordinary folks are finding out that they voted for the wrong person or that they should have gotten up off their rears and voted.
The "both sides do it" press was a factor. People are people on both sides, but one side was and is starkly dishonest and malicious. Ain't it obvious?
JL, I think it was a recent Lawrence O’Donnell segment that showed the Press Corp’s disparity of treatment of TFFFG (polite, courteous) and Biden (a raucous shouting free-for-all). Wow, how quickly they “fell in line” to dear leader…scary & disappointing.
Oh, i agree. I just decided to leave out the press factor explicitly. I think that it was part of the din.
Oh good grief JL.. Most of "they" are regular people poorly informed but unfortunately witness to exactly what they were being told. Bad news sells, and that is what they saw. I do agree, there was dishonesty (so diluted), and malicious (intent), all effectively obscured by the (R)s from their minions. The "press" or the media has admitted to have been part of the problem with less-than objective reporting. We'll see. Meantime, I see The Atlantic has been bought out and is firmly in the propaganda mode..., so they suck.
They didn't just voted for the wrong person, they voted carelessly for the wrong ideas. So many chronically ignorants.
Willful ignorance, blind faith, complacency, self-serving ideology...again and again: History matters. Truth matters. We can be part of that turnaround on a micro-level. Share historical narratives and real-life stories to counter abstractions.
Well said Lesley 👏
Thanks for your reply.
To quote Fran Lebowitz, Lasley, “Think before you speak, read before you think.” Sigh, if only!
Brava, Barbara for this post!
What if? .. they are not ignorant. Instead, they are reactively angry, even feel humiliated, so "let's burn it all down and know my misery." The Greeks in Alexander's age believed that the feeling of humiliation was the a sure way to drive a man to kill another.
Keith they are reactively angry and humiliated but if you are not ignorant, you canalize those feelings in a controllable way insteadof burn it al down. Appreciate your comment.
Yet so many manipulated into incuriousness. Many from birth. Taking comfort in too-easy answers. Organized propaganda is a powerful too. Whole books have been written about that. We used to have more protection from that here, but threw it all away for the glitter of a B-movie TV star. Follow the money.
I agree. We just don't have the kind of leaders in the Democratic, or any other party, that are necessary to defend this bunch of egotistic, lawless, ruthless, rabid men and women. I am hoping some of the younger generation who have so much promise and desire for a better world, will force their way to the front of the line of leadership. This is not the time of soft and dreamy beautiful promises. I wish it was, but the slap in the face of the election proved us wrong. They need to come in as the 1970s young people did with strength, anger, fearlessness, and determination, as well as workable plans for the world they are inheriting.
The Cristo-fascists don't know yet that Trump is not a Christian, and until they do, you will have to fight them too. So, it might be a little early. How can they be taught? I'm not sure if they are capable of learning. They need some cult-deprogramming work first. Economic pain is coming soon for millions of Americans and maybe in that there'll be some elucidation. Austerity and a little prepper action can keep us alive, and then we need to educate for a better way.
Seems to me that Cristo-fascists are not Christian either, at least in terms of The Sermon on the Mount.
Yeah, the Sermon was "too woke" for them. 🙄
Waaay too woke.
Gordon, I am not sure that these people can ever be reached. They believe in the Second Coming and the idea that God is behind everything that they do.
Some seem to see that in the rough beast now occupying the Oval Office.
I would very much welcome more political engagement and leadership from the young. I think it's essential. That said, we need the same from every stage and walk of life. Generally speaking, we can learn and are capable of insight until the day we die, and government of, by and for the people means all of the people. The young are unburdened by the compromises (but also some of the nuances) we older ones make to negotiate our ongoing survival. We typically teach children more ideal civil values in childhood than we tolerate from them in the work-a-day world, and most adapt to what is expected of them, sometimes forsaking what is most precious in human and civil experience. I saw a lot of 1970s young people turn bitter and cynical; and you can see why.
In the '80's I got sick of hearing the phrase "I'm a realist not an idealist", but people who actually raise the bar have to be both; and I think that wisdom must involve a honed sense both of what is real and practical, what is unknown and what is possible, and what is ultimately likely to be most worthwhile.
What is it? To start with it's Medicare for all.
It's also outlawing money in politics.
It's ending gerrymandering by having districts drawn by independent entities as is done in California and other states.
It's stripping fossil fuel companies of government subsidies and instead subsidizing green energy.
It's making it illegal for congress to people to trade stocks.
It's reworking the tax codes so the wealthy pay their fair share.
It's free public college for four years.
It's right there in front of us.
Absolute limits on individual wealth would solve a lot of problems because such limits would go a long way toward equalizing personal political influence.
Despite being a communist myself, you may be surprised that I am NOT in favor of "absolute" limits on wealth.
Hoeven I AM in favor of significantly progressive tax rates as we once had in this country. People may forget that at one time the top marginal tax rate was 90%. That was levied on income above $5 million, back in the 50s. That would translate to about $35 million today, but it still would put a pretty serious limit on significant wealth growth.
I am fine with people making lots of money if they earn it but at some point the taxes need to be in place to create incentives for wealthy people to contribute much of their wealth to the good of the country. Returning to a top tax rate of at least 75% and preferably over 80% would go a long way to providing that incentive.
Consider that Musk now has a $50 BILLION income package from Tesla now. Assuming only 10% of that is annual earnings, that's still $5 billion dollars on which he SHOULD pay s tax rate of about 37% (about $1.8 billion). If we just went to 75%, it would double his taxes. And of course when ever he would cash in the stock from his package by sale, he would owe billions more.
I am fine with rich purple making lots of money, but the amounts now in play are so huge that no one should be able to retain that much of the wealth of our country especially money made by their employees. One big incentive is to see that money distributed downward so that their employees make much more. The best way to avoid taxes is to spend the money on your employees and grow the wealth base of the country. It worked in the 50s and 60s, but it is failing us now as the money is getting more and more concentrated on a few people.
Noblesse without the oblige! Or maybe "With great power comes great responsibility" (Thanks, Spiderman).
Could we start with increasing minimum wage nationally? Even to $10.00/hr would be better if we can’t get $15.00/hr! It’s not an all or nothing at all situation. I am so ashamed of the state I live in with it’s $7.50/ hour.
Yep this is essential. The federal minimum wage has been around $7 for over 30 years. That's crazy. House prices have almost triple in that time. Rents have gone up by a factor of 3-4. Food us more than 3x as expensive.
$7.50/hr (~$15k/yr ) is below the poverty line in most states.
Ideally, we would collect the taxes they owe, sans loopholes, Jon.
Jon, Thank you for your well thought out comment. It's a keeper even though I disagree with you.
We need wealth limits for the same basic reasons we have speed limits on highways. Not to raise revenue; but to prevent disastrous personal behavior.
The revenue a 100% taxation over, say, 200 million dollars, would be trivial compared with the burn rate of the US government. But it would positively reduce the influence of money on our politics.
As an aside here; as a child I personaly experienced that 50's-60's model due to the business/friendship relationship between my father and a wealthy supplier to the company he worked for, with which he had a high level executive position. "Joe" (not his real name) entertained these friends at several clearly recreational locations that were owned, staffed and supported by his company. I personally went with my Mom and Dad on vacation trips to three of them when I was between the ages of 9 and 11. I have clear and detailed memories of those vacations. In those times a wealthy business owner could do that with his recreational properties and limit the amount of 90% taxes he had to pay on his own income. I have no way of knowing if Joe used those vacation spots to entertain selected politicians. I suppose he could have.
Joe and Dad are gone, Dad's employer ceased to exist 15 year later. Modern laws have prevented such things today in favor of allowing unlimited income at minimal tax rates. And so it goes.
Somehow the US survived, even flourished in an era of higher taxes on corporations and the rich. Meanwhile, the middle class expanded. On other blogs I have been told by other posters that money is limitless and we could all be billionaires if we worked harder, but that seems patently, willfully naive logic. Wealth is always relative. If we all had a billion in the bank. a cup of coffee might cost $50,000. The wealth of nations is a system, comparable to an ecosystem in some ways. like a model of ocean currents. A significant lack of balance in one segment leads to lack of balance in others. Lack of contrast disables productive movement. Over concentration means something is going to break or blow.
Great comment JL. I also think that ABSOLUTE limits on wealth are potentially bad because with NO incentive to earn more in a capitalistic society people just stop working. But very high tax rates still provide you with the option to earn more. (Great communist I am, eh? LOL)
A graduated tax system would be helpful. How many billionaires pay comparatively little or no taxes at all? Some very wealthy people even support such reforms, but others would rather be kings, or "robber barons", as we are seeing presently. We fought these battles before, and then lost the plot.
Monopoly and oligarchy should not be the ultimate goal of a "free market". Capture of intensely asymmetric power, of any sort, is exactly what a free market or a free society ISN'T. Feudalism, where the serfs owned next to nothing and were subjugated by the rich and powerful, wasn't.
Despite crazy rhetoric on the right, I'm not advocating communism, which I think has inherent problems of it's own, but rather a dynamically balanced society (no not "centrist", but dynamically balanced by as much as it takes and not in excess, or as close as we, as humans, can come).
I would not call the period between the Gilded Age and Reagan "the good old days" because it was not very good for a lot of people, including women, racial, and sexual minorities, but I think we had more widely shared momentum for the "right idea", about working to maximize unalienable individual human rights for all, and promotion of the common good for everyone. Isn't that what Lincoln championed? Is that not based on some of our founding ideals?
The post WW2 era had some good things about it as you note and also many bad things (as you also note). Most of the latter issues were artificially induced and perpetuated (racial divisions particularly but the others you noted too). We have made progress in eliminating some of the latter but we also gave away far to much to the ultra wealthy. As you note we need balance. Unfortunately I don't know if we will actually get another chance to do it better.
It’s still a dream, sadly, David.
I think we would need to refine some of those initiatives, but yeah, it all sounds good. Anything that dilutes the right and the full influence of every single vote needs scrutiny. Cheating, such as gerrymandering, is a blatant crime against democracy. And money, you can't get it all out of the political process as it's how we get things done, but within limits. Automobiles are dangerous, but you can't make use of them if you don't allow them to move. Yet it would be crazy not to limit the speed and prohibit certain kinds of movements that cost lives. Why would we not regulate sometime as consequential as political integrity? Is there justice and integrity in a system where one person can spend a quarter of a billion dollars to work their political will, while millions struggle to pay for bare necessities, let alone to buy political results. Equal justice and protection under law?
The stewardship of public trust should be a great honor and grave responsibility, with zero fudging. Significant conflicts if interest should not be tolerated. I you can't take the discipline and transparency, stay the hell out of the kitchen. There is far too much at stake.
Project 2029?
In my Opinion, based on experience. What we need right now, and we are a week in arrears, is a total reorg of the DNC into an competitive team which relies on clear and strong intelligence by an intelligence organization Team which will feed offensive and defensive strategies to Shadow government teams which will inform and guide (threaten if necessary) our house members with a play-by-play plan. I think Tim Snyder should lead that team, and Senator Whitehouse should organize and oversee the Shadow governments. The objectives should include a LOUD and aggressive Media Presence calling the Plays as they happen. Why can we do it in sports and business and not in politics??
I think "war-gaming" political scenarios should be part of our democrat strategy. Better participants be unnamed actor/employees/contributors. I'd gladly contribute blindly to such a weapon in the hands of our party. I see this as a much better investment than sending $10-20 to various entities that seem to be doing little more than asking for money to keep the lights on for the next 4 years.
Because politics is an individual "sport" not a team sport. And ib expect it will be very hard to get anyone who plays that "game, " to go along with this idea. It would be great but I don't think it can ever happen in the US.
DOnt wait for the DNC to save us.
Outstanding comment, Doc. Your question is a good one: What do we stand for? My question in response is "Are we willing to stand up for what we believe in?" All I am seeing these days is rolling over, giving our soft belly to today's Nazi-based regime, and going all Niedermeyer "Thank you sir, may I have another!"
What I see is a country not worthy of what our forbears gave to us: Unwilling to stand on right and principle, more willing to follow propaganda, mindless entertainment, and fear of conflict. Favoring the dopamine hit from our entertainment devices over the hard work of democracy.
Well said, Ally! Now if we could get folks eyes off their phones for a moment to pay attention, maybe we could get somewhere!
You perfectly put into words my loss to find words. My father came from Greece in 1909 all by himself at the age of 15 (he convinced them he was 18, the minimum age of entry) and I am 73. He was the embodiment of the American dream. Uneducated, he looked upon education as church and educators as gods. He loved Franklin D. Roosevelt. I can assure you he is rolling around in his grave....
Sophia, hmmmm how about instead of rolling in their graves, all their spirits head to the WH to linger and haunt TFFFG’s dreams (and drift with him wherever he goes)?
History suggests America either breaks into distinct regions at war with each other with perpetual violent left v right revolutions every decade like Kissinger’s created South American dictatorships, or there is a quick, well organised military coup akin to the era of the Greek Regime of Colonels (1967-74) that begins to restore constititutional law and order. Or by economic default % MAGA’s US political chaos China and Russia simply become the prime arbiters of a New World Order and the US becomes their dependent political satellite. However, until such time as a world court is created to rein in the global criminal mobster oligarchy, they will continue to make vast profits out of human suffering and abandon any nation state for financial pastures new if their profiteer engendered social chaos proves dangerously uncontrollable.
Comparing America which is one of the largest nations on earth both in income and population to Greece is fairly ludicrous IMHO. And the likelihood of a military coup here is less than 0.1%. The strength of our military and the risks taken to pull off such a stunt are virtually unheard of. It's one thing to do that in a weak country with a population of 10 million people and no major international responsibilities and quite another to do that in a country with one of the biggest and strongest militaries in earth.
The military leadership in this country is NOT going to organize a successful coup against the federal government. It can't and therefore won't happen. We aren't a country with muskets or even M16 rifles anymore, we have tanks and drones and jets and missiles and oh yeah, nuclear weapons. A coup is a fever dream.
Sorry not trying to be bombastic, just looking at the reality.
It could never happen to the rich civilised likes of me or progressive here? Until it does. Best wishes from the North of Ireland 🐈⬛
Sorry I wasn't saying that and i apologize if i wasn't clear. I was saying that the chances of the US having a military overthrow of the civilian government are very small at best. That does happen in smaller countries like Greece but i think we are too large for even a determined military to reverse course. Which is unfortunate as they might be our best hope.
Thanks for the clarification. It is all too easy to be mutually misunderstood in this format 🐈⬛
Until it is not.
Beautifully articulted. I am, too, a first generation Pole; father came from Krakow.
That’s funny for the same background. but I got smart real quick. I became an independent voter. Everybody here could qualify as being inculcated by each other.
Actually, you might wanna stop the fascist nonsense and I bet that you believe in climate change too Omg. Poor soul.
Hard truths, EB, you are likely speaking for many, many people with your spot-on words.
But the Montana kids held the Republicans there up against the wall in support of climate change.
We do have a point of reference, perhaps the only one, in the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights. But maybe you are lamenting our current lack of sustaining passion. I hope (and pray) that emerges as the dangerous and immoral actions of this repugnant administration become more widely known. Right now the freakazoids among us are dancing their war dances, but as they are Hollow Men, they won't be able to sustain it long enough to bring the rest of us down.
I have never seen a larger pool of people who are negative in advance than the people who are participating in this conversation. I actually feel sorry for you. I’d say pity, but you don’t need pity. You’re handling the pity by providing it from one to the other on this very site. This country is coming back from an administration of a semi cadaver. They didn’t know what the hell he was doing and was wrong in almost everything he did do. And then you voted for a person who couldn’t run a fast food restaurant and you were going to make her president of the United States and leader of the free world and you’re supposed to be the intelligencia? Yikes.
The sun is starting to shine on the United States once again. And it’s only been four days, where he has done more in four days to help this country than anyone has in the past four years.. while we dealt with runaway inflation prices at the grocery store that nobody could afford prices at the gas pump that nobody could afford prices on a mortgage that nobody could afford and progress along those lines nowhere after four years. Honestly, a lot of you need some more introspection to figure out what just happened to get Donald Trump elected you need about 72 million mirrors.
Putin; by proxy.
Washington also predicted the challenges ahead. In his farewell address in 1796, Washington said, [political parties] “are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.”
I see a pattern with organizations of all sorts, historically and currently, where the growth and power of the organization, and of those who rule it becomes an end in itself and often neglects or even conflicts with the mission around which the organization was founded. There are many examples in many walks of life, the Republican Party included. It is part and parcel to power tending to corrupt, and I think, a common problem. The willingness of parties and politicians to abuse their positions to maximize personal gain, at the expense of the welfare of others, even of their nation (or planet).
JL, law enforcement sure fits into that category.
The closing words make the blood run cold.
Thank you Lana for pointing out more of Lincoln’s wise and prescient words
Where is our Lincoln? We need leaders NOW who will call out the malefactors.
His name is Bernie Sanders. Oh, for more brave men & women like him on both sides of the aisle.
No reason to wait. Let's call out the malefactors ourselves!
It's time to get LOUD
I was JUST THINKING exactly the same thing!
Agreed, the Orange Colossus is running amok and we have no one at the tiller.
It seems that, apart from a few black woman, and the likes of Liz Chaney, every Democrat, with the exception of Jamie Raskin is on furlow?
Democratic leaders can help us focus, and seed ideas around which support may or many not accumulate, but our Lincoln focused on "government of the people, by the people, for the people", not just as a slogan but as a philosophical foundation. Lincoln also said "
With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed. Consequently he who moulds public sentiment, goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or pronounces decisions.
"He" (sic) could be a lying propagandist, or a lucid teller of truth. It is also the "We" in "We the People" and I think that good faith conversion is the primary guide by which a just democracy accomplishes its goals.
Said another way, we can be greatly helped by charismatic leaders, elected and "grass roots", but they cannot, without our mutual engagement with them and with each other, make a just democracy happen. I am thankful for the environment for engagement provided here by Heather and the many civil, informed, and thoughtful responses all of us provide each other. May the power and awareness of such conversations grow.
In other words, democracy is not a spectator sport. It requires our active attention and participation. Fox and its related media seek to discourage it. Our educational system doesn’t teach kids how our government is supposed to work, nor do they learn accurate history.
Our Lincoln Ref, would have started by denying felon 34 the impunity of claiming a " mandate" and a "landslide".
That's one of the most powerful lies coming out the felon mouth.
Agree 👍 but I think there is so much negative “brand” baggage attached to the Democratic Party we need a new party. A political party which is for the people by the people. As the Professor wrote about just a few days ago, this is not about race this is about class. The top 1% ruling the majority 99%. We need a new political party which reflects the majority. Something catchy like the “Main Street 99” 😂 instead of the “Billionaire Club”
They are and will always be gagged and bound by global oligarch owned media portals. Murdoch is like a corrupt High Priest whose personal corrupting mediated Bible is the only allowable narrative.
She is us
David French, a NYT conservative columnist, wrote today about Trump splits the world into friends and enemies. Once friends of his John Bolton and Mike Pompeo now are his enemies so he withdraws security protections. Two quotes below reverberate in a Lincoln way:
He quotes an Idaho pastor: “When you worship power, compassion and mercy will look like sins.”
And French goes on to say:
“Because our civics depends on our ethics, we should be teaching ethics right alongside civics. Sadly, we’re failing at both tasks, and our baser nature is telling millions of Americans that cruelty is good, if it helps us win, and kindness is evil, if it weakens our cause. That is the path of destruction.
As the prophet Isaiah said, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.”
Benjamin Cremer is the Idaho pastor to whom French referred. I’ve been receiving Ben’s weekly newsletter on Sundays for sometime and find his insight enlightening and encouraging. Though from an evangelical background, he embraces progressive Christian values that may have universal appeal for many, regardless of religious affiliation.
Here’s the link to Ben’s profile.
https://click.convertkit-mail2.com/r8u7mk6g9mioh32w979h2hd79mn66s7/vqh3hrhp6womq7cg/aHR0cHM6Ly9iZW5qYW1pbi1jcmVtZXIuY2sucGFnZS9wcm9maWxlP2ZiY2xpZD1Jd0FSM0dZSjkwWHBXc0dsamNBX3M2VkJDVWxiSW00Qk5TVlh3Znpfa19Wb19vbElIY2lhX2U3MXNMYWxF
If anyone is interested in what the Idaho pastor, Benjamin Cremer, wrote:
https://benjamin-cremer.kit.com/posts/the-politics-of-mercy
Thank you. I did not know Idaho harbored someone with these views, but views sorely needed in this white supremacist state.
I was pleasantly surprised when I first came upon Ben’s writing, too. There is still hope!
Exactly. Thanks JJC in Vermont
Thanks for the talk today, it helps to hear something positive
Agreed ! Thank you ! 💙
Is it true that if one has nothing positive to say in times of distress, better to not say anything at all? Or not.
If we don't speak up Bill, we are lost.
Could not be more timely! Thank you Heather for this essay!
The perfect history lesson for our times The rule of law Thanks Heather I don’t know what we would do without your knowledge and calm 🙏🙏⭐️
As a huge Lincoln fan, I am always thrilled to see HCR write about him. Sometimes I like to amuse my idle mind by pondering random thoughts, and one of those random thoughts frequently is how incredibly BRILLIANT Lincoln's mind was! I've read many books on him, toured the Springfield Illinois Museum (a must see!) and Gettysburg, and loved Daniel Day-Lewis as the great man in the movie. I especially loved Doris Kerns Goodwin's "Team of Rivals".
Sleep well, HCR and the forum family! It's sure to be another firehose of chaos this week.
Miselle, have you read about Lincoln and the 19th Century Lancashire cotton workers here in the UK.Manchester has a statue to the great man, worth researching, a great story of sacrifice.🇬🇧🇺🇸
Norman, I had not!!! THANK YOU! I just read about it and I love finding new information about Lincoln. You've given a new coat of polish to the image in my mind.
For anyone else who might read this, here's a link.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-21057494
Miselle, I'm pleased the story expanded your knowledge, on a similar theme but not actually Lincoln related, look up "The Battle of Bamber Bridge" during WW2 in the UK .Another egalitarian story of Lancashire people.
Norman, I was unaware of this incident as well. (One of the many reasons I love the Letters comment area--I learn so much!) What a terrible tragedy all due to racial hatred! I was so happy when Obama was elected--I naively thought racism was past us. Not hardly. :-(
If only that basic American ideal, so eloquently stated by President Lincoln, were still possible under the current regime. How far we have fallen…
True, we have fallen, and in large part we have ourselves to blame. We didn't take the threat from internal forces seriously. Our schools failed to teach adequately civics, history, critical thinking and the like. The proof of that failure is all around us.
Richard. It is true that we are not well educated in the things that would make a difference like those you mentioned. As a former educator, I can only say you can take the horse to the river. I know many, many teachers who have given their all: their passion for learning, their heart, and their soul to try to help kids and send them on to a better life. Right now a friend of ours is front and center as president of his district's education association in the fight over deportation. He works in a heavily Hispanic town. It is difficult for teachers to fight family dynamics, foolish nonsense from above like standardized tests, too much attention given to I am sorry to say, athletics, too many cultural things to battle. Now we have things cell phones which schools are now trying to put in pouches, etc. We have a nation locked in on celebrity and being on devices all the time. We also have a populace that does not want to pay taxes for anything including 24/365 fire service. And we have a party of death which is determined to destroy us from within as Lincoln predicted.
That is a bleak picture you've painted, Michele. Your last three lines are chilling.
Yes, but I have never been able to sugarcoat things. I wish it were not so. Also I read way too much history to be very optimistic
Having had a long career in education, it is too easy to blame teachers for the failings of our students and our country, but let me give you a bit of insight. I started teaching in the early 70’s. If I had an issue with a student, generally one phone call to a parent and the issue was taken care of by the parent. That began to change in the early 80’s when the idea of education was that of a consumer. Parents stopped being supportive. If there were discipline issues or educational issues with their child it began to be “the teacher’s fault,” and the partnership between school and home began to fray. Educational policy became a top down process. Rather than asking for input from the person in the classroom teaching, we were constantly being bombarded with whatever new theory was coming down the road. People who could left the profession for business that paid better in the early 80’s. Women who had not been able to break into other professions left for better opportunities in the private sector. The quality of educators coming into the profession were not as high. What I called the Freudinization of American society, where there was a lot of blaming being directed at teachers for failures in parenting, contributed to a further exodus of educators into other professions. Our way of paying for education, is highly inequitable based primarily on property taxes. Ironically, as I learned from my daughter who taught in IB level schools abroad for ten years, the best practices in those schools come from educational research done in the U.S. which is not used in American schools. Then came the Stem movement in school and liberal arts like history, literature, civics, became less important. Ironically those courses are exactly the ones needed for children to learn to think and struggle with ideas that are not as easily solved in a math equation. We need to once again make education a partnership between teachers and parents. We need to listen to what teachers are telling us to improve education. I know no one who ever went into education to make millions,but because they truly loved working with children. I lived for the spark I saw in my students eyes when I knew they understood something I wanted them to learn. We need a Sputnik moment in education to turn things around. Given the current quality of our leadership in government I am not hopeful unless the American people rise up and demand better for our children and our country. As Heather pointed out in her talk on Facebook we all need to do what we can to shape the country we want. Time for pointing fingers is over. The future of our democracy, as messy as it often is, is at stake v
Carol S. —Thank you for relating your experiences as a teacher. They were very similar to what I have observed over the years, and also my experiences as a student.
I hated school! It was boring and except for a few classes that truly allowed us personal political or social opinion, it seemed pointless.
I was never taught to either respect or truly understand that school was a necessary foundation, and without this foundation I would remain ignorant of our path and be unable to appreciate what I added to this path.
Lincoln was very wise to see and observe human nature as he did. The reason why destruction comes from within is part of our modus operandi as a species., I’m afraid.
"....taught to either respect or truly understand that school was a necessary foundation........" this I was taught at home.
Carol, my Mom started teaching in the early 70's (in her 50's!) and had a realization that the teaching component of English (as it was taught then) was not what she was cut out to do, and got out before it drove her crazy.
Richard, I had some dental work done last year, during the now-convicted felon's trial. While waiting quite some time for the dentist, I chatted with the young dental tech who told me that until a day or so before she wasn't even aware that he was on trial, or all the other legal issues that he was facing. No, she said, she hates the news, doesn't watch it or read about it. It's boring, she said. She hated history in school.
The only reason she heard about the trial was her 12 or so year-old daughter (tech is a single mother who had the daughter as a teenager, went to school to become an endodontal tech.) Her daughter tries to keep her informed but she finds it all boring.
Her story has stuck with me -- here is a young woman who got pregnant at a young age, had the smarts to attend school to have a career, (otherwise her life may very well have gone in a different direction given her situation), but can't be bothered to inform herself about what is going on. She has no interest or investment in her future, or that of her daughter.
I was gobsmacked.
Its part of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Civic understanding comes well after individual and family concerns. Most people, even educated reasonably well paid endodontsl techs, barely have enough time to deal with their own personal and family issues, let alone to focus on even local politics let alone in national politics.
Truly tragic given our current circumstances.
I agree, Jon, but at least in her case it wasn't a matter of time, but interest. She finds the news boring and prefers to keep it out of her life. If she had more time I doubt she’d have more interest.
And yes, it is truly tragic to not care about what is going on.
I disagree. Take Lincoln, for example.
Vastly different time. Mass media in that era was on a totally different scale. Other than newspapers (which required reading) there was no mass media like today (TV, radio, film, internet, cellphones, etc)
"we have ourselves to blame". This is what Lincoln meant by "suicide".
Sadly true.
It is not just the Schools that have failed to Educate the ~53% that can't Read above 6th Grade... There is also Family Dynamics that fail to impart a Love-Of-Learning, and Self-Improvement... Entertainment over Self-Growth... The Hand-Held Heroin-Drips are Mind-Killers... There is also a lack of Civic-Purpose & Engagement... Mandatory National Service to build Community, and a Sense-That-We-Are-In-This-Together would help... Washington, and Lincoln were Prescient in their Warnings... DJT, and his Evil Siths with their Minions are Destroying the Best in this Country....
So what is the solution? I see a lot of hand wringing about the problems but rarely any solutions except those that are simply absurd like a military coup.
Like it or not, we got here and somehow we will have to dig ourselves out or die trying. I wish I had an answer but I don't.
See Heathers video chat yesterday. i would post the link but it is terribly long.
Sometimes it’s a perfect storm. Joe Biden should never have run in 2020. His time was 2016 but the Clintons offered him something to drop out. Then they lost. Trump is a manifestation of everything that is evil. Biden was to be a transactional president but forgot his original promise. A perfect storm.
Biden didn't run in 2015 because his son Beau was terminally ill and passed away in May. The Clintons had nothing to do with it.
🎯🎯🎯
We are watching some of the most unreliable people get confirmed in the Senate to be the leadership of our country's Departments. We are watching Trump honor convicted seditionists with seats on the dais next to him. Trump is disemboweling the community of watchdogs put in place to thwart corruption in government. It is difficult to comprehend these are the same people who say they are doing this to protect and improve the country. How did they manage to stray so far from the intent of the founding fathers and protectors like Lincoln?
How: an affinity for power and greed which has been with us for millennia. Now we have incredible technology as well. Only the powerful win and the rest are peons. These people are at best, sociopaths, and some of them may be actual psychopaths. We have criminal corrupt monsters running the country and they care only for themselves. In the end their money will not save them mainly because of climate change.
They are psychopathic neo-fascists. By definition. . https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/fight-psychopathic-neo-fascists?r=3m1bs
Carl, I agree.
I love you.
But they are so selfish Michele, that they know the full impact of climate change will be fully felt by the next generation. In the meantime, they are safe.
Indeed they are selfish and they truly believe that their money will always save them. Maybe they should look at the wealthy enclaves in places like CA where, btw, a couple of them are already suing the government there like that will help. I understand that for the time being, a lot of them will be OK, but most of them have children and direct descendants. In the meantime, some people do not know who the enemy is. I was on a thread yesterday where the meme suggested places to shop and places not to shop. Of course, there was a long post complaining that they are not sensitive to those who don't have options like rural areas (I think this mainly applies to Amazon) and going for the liberal urban/rural divide. I answered that while people know that not all can do this, those that can, should make the attempt and that it was good info for them. So, I got the old I know you mean well, blah, blah, blah. I told that person as far as I was concerned, we are all in this together and outlined who the real enemies are. I also welcomed her solutions. As of last night, no reply.
Michele, I bet those suing the state government in California are Republicans and the paty apparatus together with Fox will notice and start a campaign of lies, disinformation and distortion 24/7 from now to the end of the trial.
Regarding where not to buy products and services I don't think we have too many options. Because of one of my hobbies I buy stuff at Amazon and if I stop doing so my only other option is Home Depot. Which option is less corrupt?
And if you think they billionaires are going to stop getting richer and less hungry for power because they have a family, think again. They live in today's time, what happens tomorrow is not their problem.
Our problem Michele is to get organized and with a good, simple message to the midterm election and winn it (if we have one).
I just read that the guy heading Home Depot just died and also maybe that they are a better option than Lowe's. i would have to find where I saw that. I do understand why people use Amazon, but for those who don't need to like us, we do not except on very rare occasions. People are desperate to do something, anything, and they do not always think about the situation of every person who might not have other options.
They are by definition psychopathic neo-fascists. I thought neo-Nazi at first. But the fascist Nazi political party was a doctrine focused on decimating the Jewish population. Not so with this group of psychopathic neon-fascists.
How? The answer is in the wise Lincoln's words.
They are NAZIs. Look at what happened in Germany in the 1930's, and look at what's happening here now. It is virtually exact. They are NAZIs, and have to be stopped now, before the concrete has time to set; it's already been poured. Once it sets, we are in for both a civil war, and a world war. I'm not sure which will hit us first.
"Never award power to those who love it too much."
Roman proverb
I’m grateful for all your knowledge. That you share so very freely with us readers of your letter is a grand testament to your noble job: teaching. Nothing matches that undertaking ever.
I’m enjoying being a student (of advanced age) in your classroom!
You are a modern day prophet pointing us to our past. Whenever you need to know what to do, study history!! That advice was given to my husband, an environmental lawyer hired to get the US Navy to stop practice bombing Vieques, a luminescent bay in PR. History showed him how to win the case. Amen and thank you.
Again we are reminded of our good luck in having a historian who can do linkages. This speech is to cherish as we try to survive our Brown Shirts and the Felon and family. At least we can remember Pogo fondly on bad days as we rededicate ourselves to the work we must do to preserve the Union.