556 Comments

As a physician I am enraged when politics undermine science and medicine. It has been a decades long pattern, as described in Chris Mooney’s book “The Republican War on Science” published 17 years ago. Republican stances on masking, lax vaccination, and disposable health care workers/teachers/service industry workers have certainly killed hundreds of thousands.

In terms of kids wearing masks while we are in the peak of the worst wave yet, and seeing Omicron cases (some mild, others not) spread even among vaccinated and boosted teachers and families, it is unethical and savage really to capitulate to parents who think masking their kids causes some greater harm.

My masked kid has had an opportunity to learn about community sacrifices, the greater good, deferred gratification, and mutual respect for the safety of other people. She has worn an N95 with grit, and has not spread Covid nor received an unnecessary lungful of coronavirus that could imperil her own and her parents’ short and long term health, and her grandparents’ very lives.

We need to instill a sense of duty and purpose in our children, and not make them feel like they are too fragile to put up with a mask for as long as it takes. Republican governors and politicians who undermine scientific truths, meddle with specific monoclonal treatment guidelines when variants render them obsolete, undermine basic public health measures that could limit deaths which are back up towards 4K/day- are they not practicing medicine without a license, and malpracticing it at that?

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I am an elementary school counselor and we have almost no issues with kids keeping their masks on throughout the day. When they lose one to the floor or snow, I see them stopping by the health office to ask for a fresh one. So often, I think the Republican “leaders” need a review of kindergarten classroom rules for safety and kindness and learning.

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I'm with you ScannyDo. As a substitute elementary teacher I see how seamlessly kids of different ages adapt to mask wearing. Some middle school students told me they really like masks because they don't feel stress about pimples or braces, and can make faces if they want.

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Kids not worrying about pimples or braces and making faces under the masks… my best chuckle of the week!

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That goes for me. It hides my wrinkles!

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Oh, Sharon! The wrinkles on people with good souls make them look even better.

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Thank you!

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And I lost 2 teeth in the last 2 years!! Haha. Thankfully they are located in the rear of my mouth and I have a small "flipper" to replace them. But who needs to wear it with a mask on!?

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I was in that position when we first started wearing masks. I wasted money on an appliance that I never wore!

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Yes, when students catch a glimpse of us with masks down they say "Oh, Teacher! Put your mask back up, you look so old!" Bless their young little honest hearts.

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We have been experiencing frigid temperatures in Illinois, and I find wearing a mask keeps my face warm! Win!

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I run and when it's below 10 degrees I wear the mask to prevent my cheeks from freezing.

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Same here in VT, Christi. I am sure not the only driver wearing a mask! And I don't have to fiddle with getting it one if I have to stop somewhere.

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Even here in mild-weather Brussels the mask is a great for outdoor winter comfort.

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I agree with what you are saying about kids and masks. I live within walking distance of our town's elementary and middle schools and I see lots of kids walking to school with masks on. I think that, of course, it is the parents who are trying to put the kibosh on masking and distancing. The wearing of masks would not be an issue today if our leaders, right at the pandemic's start, would have encouraged the wearing of them. It simply would have been no big deal. I truly believe that we could have eradicated this virus if the right measures were used right from the beginning. The global pandemic is a world health issue, not political fodder.

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100% true, chump has blood on his hands

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He is not the only one. Many people around him placated him and his dismissive, uncooperative ways, hoping that in a moment of clarity, or weakness, he would acknowledge the seriousness of the situation. When it was obvious that he was saying it’s nothing simply because other people were saying it’s something, someone should have stepped up. Somebody who didn’t need the job, someone who could give independent press conferences, someone to create outside pressure. But Fauci is too nice, and he can make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich sound complicated. in the end it was too little, too late. Better late than never, though.

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I'd add the media helped him and his sycophants spread these false statements and attitudes.

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Had Hillary been our president it would be a whole lot different. However, the Republicans would still have fought her! Can you imagine all of the lies they would have told!

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I still fantasize about waking up on Nov. 7, 2016 to find out that Hillary had won.

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She did! So did Al Gore and now Joe. In each case, electoral skulduggery took place. This time it was stopped in its tracks. Yet, millions of Americans can't believe it because they are so used to the ends justifying the means— by whatever means possible.

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Or, they are simply naive and can't believe anyonce could cheat like that.

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And I should add that I voted for Sanders in the primary.

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I seriously doubt she would have survived. So deep was the hatred against her, including by Vladimir Putin, that an assassination would have been justified by the same mentality as the Jan 6 insurrection.

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Every once in a while I ponder what our world would be like if Hillary Clinton had not been slandered and had been able to claim her rightful victory. The woman is brilliant, and had the capacity to truly guide our country in the direction we need. Certainly we would not have had to deal with the chaos of a failed response to the pandemic. It still might well have happened, but I have no doubt that our response would have been more orderly, more timely, and more effective.

I have long thought that the right-wing Republicans hated her so much simply because they were still trying to get at Bill, and Bill was their target because of Nixon: payback. So much that they were willing to accept something like Trump to keep Hillary out. We are paying the price. I struggle to understand how the Republicans allowed themselves to be taken over by so many people with such shallow senses of ethics and public responsibility. So many of the good Republicans forced out of office during that period by one means or another. And set the party up for takeover by people who are essentially out-of-control or complicit by silence. Makes me value those who do speak up all the more. And hope that somehow they can regain control of a once valuable partner in governing this nation still in progress.

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Thank you, Annie.

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Their "ethics and public responsibility"are so shallow but opaque that it makes it hard for those who follow them to see their failures and the depth of their lust for power and money which are SOOO deep.

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But Bill actually invited Nixon to the White House early in his presidency because he wanted to pick Nixon's brain. And I think Nixon came. So this doesn't make sense. But then, almost nothing today's GOP does makes sense.

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I agree!

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Hillary was right about a vast right wing conspiracy. The right demonized her unmercifully for years. She did not help herself with the “basket of deplorables” comments. The dark money was against her, but her mistakes were costly.

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HRC was a terrible candidate. Certainly better than Don, but so bad people just stayed away from the polls.

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Before George Floyd was killed, I imagined making a documentary about Colin Kaepernick, including a scenario with a different president, a woman perhaps, kneeling with him in honor of all our fallen Black Americans who died at the hands of police AND all of our fallen police officers who died in the line of duty. How would America look today?

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This fight by ignorant and entitled parents (almost entirely white) I fear will cause much anxiety in children. Elementary-aged children tend to adore their schools and teachers. I know from experience, that an angry vocal parent can cause behavioral struggles in their kids. I always told parents that you have every right to disagree with anything we do, but please don't talk about it in front of your children. As they grow older, and the messages are consistent from parents, you will see many children adapt to and adopt these messages. Isn't that how bias of any kind is developed?

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As a kid in the 1930s my buddies and I clamored to get and wear a Lone Ranger and/or a Green Hornet mask. We were really upset when teachers didn’t let us wear them in class. I’m delighted and jealous that masks are now required in classrooms. Can I get a Lone Ranger N95 mask?

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Scannydo, Good for the kids at your school. A friend who an elementary school paraprofessional told me kids show up without masks at her school every morning even though they are required. They tell her their parents think masks are stupid

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Too many Americans have decided that "You are not the boss of me" is a good substitute for a political philosophy.

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How is it that the stance of “you are not the boss of me” doesn’t extend to them telling women how many children they choose to bear and raise?

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I’ve been asking the same question Jackie.

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Too many Americans don't have a clue about history and the lessons to be learned from it. As I spend each morning with Heather and all of you, and then go to a school board meeting or community forum on FB it is glaringly clear there are two different worlds.

I'm not convinced we can bridge the gap

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You must add the ignorance of math and science to the list many Drump supporters possess. Often their statements are purely stupid. The biggest "evidence" for not wearing a mask is the caveat on the package that indicates a mask doesn't protect you from germs.

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They need lessons on the Golden Rule. And how many have died of Covid or been seriously harmed. And those whose health is compromised and cannot vaccinate.

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They need to be asked if they ever taught their kids to not run out into traffic without looking both ways first! Of course they have. How is that different from wearing a mask...the kid who runs into traffic will either get killed or cause the death of someone else.

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From a retired special educator, I can attest that some parents have not taught this lesson to their kids as well as some other pretty basic skills. Do you know how the numbers are growing of children entering kindergarten not potty trained? It's crazy.

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Jan 29, 2022·edited Jan 29, 2022

Retired school nurse here. And these are not special ed kids. Parents say “I thought the school would take care of that”

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Maybe the kids should bring their parents to school! Sounds like their education wasn’t very good!

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Parents will do horrible things to their children and this is a great example. They push the No masks ides on their kids creating a fear of the parent. I bet most those kids willing put on the mask provided by the school and don’t have an issue with it. The mental health damage is coming from inside the home, not the mask. Can you imagine the hate these parents give off non-stop?

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I understand that many children do struggle with learning facial features wearing a mask all the time. But, you social distance and purposely teach these skills at home and at school. Good educators are understanding this downside to masks.

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I have learned that we all rely on lip reading to some degree after teaching with masks for 1.5 years. But the students and I talk about it and have learned to adapt:)

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Here, here. They seem to have missed those lessons, or had their humanity curtailed by parents. Saw that happen a lot.

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This is an ongoing problem, handed down one generation to the next and is hard to address.

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Yes - "everything I ever learned, I learned in kindergarten"

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And the innate good sense of the young child. Walking along a very busy city street in Italy once; my 3-year-old was amusing herself by ducking in and out of the decorative safety chains strung along the sidewalk. Not wanting to plant the idea in her head by naming the danger, I tried to take her hand, cheerfully suggesting we walk together. She looked up at me sideways: "I'm not going to walk on the road, you know!"

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It is common practice to underestimate the smarts of a child... They know much more than the average parent understands. LOL

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Robert Fulghum :)

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Perfectly said!

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Yes, I also fear a society already demonstrating a willingness to figuratively burn books and legislate restriction on the teaching of actual history is only a small leap from assembling in real mobs to actually burn books and begin actual witch trials of teachers. I have already taken the step of using their lists of forbidden books to fill the Chiristmas present list of books for my grandchildren and books to add to my own home library to be sure they are available to them.

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The two graphic novels by Pulitzer Prize winner Art Spiegelman have been banned from classroom use by a Tennessee School Board. “Maus” tells the poignant and tragic story largely though the dialog of Art and his father about his experiences in the Holocaust.

As a professional illustrator for over 25 years, it still holds a firm place in my heart as to what the real power of the graphic novel is. Art is also just a brilliant, individual beyond his art form.

“This banning is really the tip of the “CRT,” “you’re making my innocent child suffer guilt.” assault on public schools to end exposure for our kids on the realities of the greatest mass murder in history and to make opaque the racist institutions and the culture it supports for a White privileged nation to this day.

Again I reiterate that all these “thousand cuts” to Democracy are all part of the massive 2.0 Fascism that is hellbent on becoming what our nation is and will be from 2024 for the next 1,000 years.

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Learning the truth about the Holocaust also teaches the children that wearing a mask or getting a vaccine does not equate to what happened when they murdered 6 million people because they were Jewish. Children that old enough will make the comparison easily and I hope rebel.

My father was a racist. I had a huge crush on a Jewish boy in the third grade and wasn’t allowed to be friends with him. I didn’t know what it meant to be Jewish but I remember being taught it was “bad”. When I learned all these things later in life I called him out on his behavior towards POC and other religions. Oddly sometime in my families past they left the Lutheran church for the Methodist church because of rules that they couldn’t marry outside their religion.

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Sharon, thanks for your insights and experiences, because really human empathy is really only what separates us from monsters.

I took a course in the Holocaust and Jewish literature in the aftermath from USC online.

In my research I remember finding documents that were like spreadsheets reporting the mass murders of over 30,000 Jews (Men women and children) in just one week by one unit of a German SS Unit working with local units allied with them. The method was simple mass shooting. It. is literally beyond any decent persons comprehension to visualize this event,

So when disgusting list of hedge fund managers, fascist loving tech CEOs and scum like MJT, liken themselves to these people whose only crime was being of the wrong religion, truly illustrates just what's in store for our society if they are enabled to take over this nation as the great experiment in Democracy.

Because clearly these sociopaths have no recognition of other humans other than as a means to whatever greedy little ends they need to satisfy their malignant narcissistic needs.

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Thanks for reminding me of Maus. Among the books I recommend again and again

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That’s a good idea. There are 125 books on a list by Matthew Krause, Texas House Rep. There are pictures of those books being boxed up and taken out of a Library in a Texas school district. Disturbing, I am so concerned for our public schools, it’s on my mind constantly. I have grandchildren. I am a retired public school teacher 32 years. This is killing me to watch.

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“The road to Auschwitz was paved with indifference”. In a way, all these identity politics issues involve indifference towards our fellow citizens. Indifference always leads to decay, in people, families, communities, countries.

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And they wonder why progressives sometimes characterize them as Nazis?

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There are memes going around that suggest that kids should read the forbidden books. This does work as my h.s. English lit teacher told us about the Miller's Tale in the Canterbury Tales and said he couldn't teach it, so we all rushed over to the public library and got a copy. Every time I read about what's happening in the country about books and teaching about race, I think that i had an easy time of it as a librarian and teacher. I had to fend off a few people, but not many. We did have a case involving one of our English teaches which was revenge against her. In a very complicated story we had the principal who was being sued for harassment and his curriculum coordinator who has issues with our English department, use some collections of plays as a hammer even though the teacher made clear that students could choose plays that were not a problem for them. The irony was that the curriculum coordinator (and evangelical Christian) was supporting the very bad behavior right in front of her over events that people could read about in newspapers. She also complained in the a school board meeting that the English department taught novels. Horrors I say. I am long retired and glad to be so. In some good news the school district north of us (Woodburn) just gave its teachers a $2000 bonus. We have two friends who teach there and are both wonderful teachers.

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My wife and I are lifetime supporters of the performance of live classical music. We are patrons and supporters of two symphony orchestras and also have, before the pandemic, support an annual series of chamber music performances in “non-traditional” rural venues such as senior centers, nursing homes, and others where access to live classical music is often lacking. Recently, a neighbor who is an outspoken Trump supporter questioned why we did not support more performances of music by American composers. 🤷‍♂️ I explained that our Symphony actually did in fact perform music written by American composers as well and provided a number of examples including the next concert where the Symphony will be performing A Soldiers Tale by Igor Stravinsky. Their retort was that Stravinsky did not sound like an American name. 🤦‍♂️ I explained that though he was born in Russia he immigrated in his early years to Switzerland, later France, and finally to America in 1939, where he became an American citizen and lived until his death in 1971. My neighbor’s response was, “Ah, I knew he wasn’t an American with a name like Stravinsky.”

Willful ignorance seems often to be identically twinned to intolerance and bigotry.

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A prime example of why so many changed their last names when they immigrated. This is always a good opportunity to ask what country their family immigrated from and what their last name was when they did.

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It is also an opportunity to point out that unless an individual is of Native American heritage their forebears once immigrated to this country as well.

I have also pointed out on several occasions to the evident horror of some of my evangelical and conservative acquaintances that humans or Homo Sapiens first appeared on the earth in Southern Africa. This normally engenders a scoffing retort that is “just wrong and not possible.” Explaining that the anthropological and fossil evidence on that is quite clear is often met with the reply, “That’s not what the Bible says.” 🤦‍♂️

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Jan 29, 2022·edited Jan 29, 2022

I must have hit a quota for likes, I can’t like any more comments! I usually like them all anyway. This blog is full of my people. It gives me hope. Thanks for trying with your neighbors, Bruce!

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Somehow it's never occurred to me that there are people who don't realize H.sapiens came from Africa. But given how badly educated a lot of Americans are, it's not surprising.

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Ancient DNA says otherwise, but your acquaintances have probably done their own "research" and of course, the Bible...which says all sorts of things.

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Drumpf underwent a little surgery which made it even worse.

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We too are supporters of classical music although we no longer go to live performances. Our local classical station (all classical Portland OR) plays all sorts of music by American composers most people have probably never heard of. Does your neighbor accept only names that sound English....a lot of us are in trouble.

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Lucky you. Basically ALL of the stations here in the Atlanta area that used to broadcast classical music are now pretty much all talk all the time. I've always believed the shift to all talk was to counter the overwhelming presence of right-wing radio all over the airwaves, AM and FM. The station out of Athens (where UGA is) has classical music, but I can't pick it up. So, I have to go online to listen to music as there is no more classical music available through the ether. (I have like a thousand CDs, but right now I have no way to play them, and a lot of them are packed up and in storage.)

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You can stream all classical 24 hours a day.

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Soon there will be no teachers. Fear of being persecuted will make them quit or not enter teaching. It will be back to religious zealots, unqualified to teach, in private schools and we will sink further down the ladder in education and innovation in this country. This is why China is surpassing us.

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I have thought this too. Not many health care workers either.

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Schools of education at universities are experiencing drops in enrollment for teacher preparation. Why would a young person want to go into a profession that has historically low pay, is greatly disrespected, and in the case of NC, under attack by the legislature? The legislature doesn’t attack engineers or the the schools that train them. I taught school many years ago, and I would not go into teaching today. The mental health stresses are too great.

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There will always be hedgerow schools.

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What are they?

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in 18th- and 19th-century Ireland, designed to secretly provide the rudiments of primary education to children of 'non-conforming' faiths (Catholic and Protestant mostly)

often in a barn, with a look out posted to warn of approaching

tattle-tales who would have them punished.

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Our small local library had on display a table full of books that had been banned at some time or place, with a poster of banned titles they didn't have on hand. People donated extras to fill in gaps. Happy to say the place was packed with supporters bringing their kids and checking out books. My kids are long grown and so are (yikes) most of my grandkids. But the little ones coming up are still the future of their world, and my support part of my legacy to them

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I think the only reason conservative groups have not yet decided to ban Melville’s Moby Dick from schools is because the whale was white.

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And the removal of "Maus" was downright political as well as antisemitic.....maybe they are the same. I will certainly try to buy that one for the future. Altho, using animals......not sure about that

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Someone put up a link to download it free so we got a copy. Amazon sold out right away and it has moved up quickly on the best sellers list.

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Every time they ban one, I’m going to buy it.

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Or two.

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Rats were used to depict Nazis because Nazis referred to Jews as "vermin."

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It is an excellent book.

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Yes, I remember when it came out. One of the first graphic novels.

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Marquette, Michigan physician, "Dr. Bob" Lorinser, is running for Michigan's 1st Congressional District on the Democratic ticket against the current seditionist, Republican Rep Jack Bergman. Dr. Bob is currently the medical officer for the Marquette County Health Department, formerly practiced as a family physician for 20 years, then spent 10 years in our U.S. Diplomatic corps in foreign service. He is a superb candidate! Please help us to support his campaign!! Michigan loses one Congressional seat this year - let's make sure it's a Republican.

https://www.votedrbob.com/

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With my limited extra funds, I'm supporting three additional candidates for office this year, as well as Adam Schiff. Val Demmings is on my new list and now Dr. Bob may be too. I'm also looking for a school board member to support -- doesn't have to be local. .

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My list keeps growing while my funds stay the same! Overloaded in GA with Warnock, Flowers (U.S. Congress), and Abrams. Then Fetterman in PA, Schiff in CA, and Kelly in AZ...not to mention my Virginia folks.

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Jan 29, 2022·edited Jan 29, 2022

Last night, I got an email from Dr. Kermit Jones, who is running for the newly formed 3rd Congressional District of California. I realize he's a long shot in the red Eastern Sierras, but, I am going to hope. So, I

sent him a donation, because I need a little hope right now. He sounds like the exact opposite of some of the jokers that the GQP have elected. Well, at least the odious Jay Obernolte will no longer be my Representative!

https://kermitjonesforcongress.com

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So many candidates and not enough money.

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Bob Lorinser's website says he is against mandatory masking in schools in favor of "recommending" masks for children. This contradicts physicians like Ryan McCormick who commented above about masking teaching children responsibility toward others.

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My 2022 election cycle bumper sticker:

RESIST SINGLE ISSUE VOTING.

I think Mr. Lorinser's approach for a Public School environment is the best we can do at this point. It has been proven that the Republicans will attack and court challenge, and legislate against mandatory masks. Mr. Lorinser's approach involves the parents in the care of their children and keeps the issue off the desks of Republicans.

Everything does not and cannot pass a purity test folks.

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for some reason the like button is not responding to my click. But I think your comment is excellent.

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David, I’m having the same “heart glitch.” It seems to click after a delay.

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Someone else mentioned the same problem. I haven't gotten it to work after a delay, but occasionally it works normally.

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With you, Barbara!

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Yes. I almost mentioned his posiition on masking in my comment above, but feared folks wouldn't read any further about Dr. Bob. I agree with you and not Dr. Bob on masking, and will talk to him about it tomorrow when we meet. It is timely since our local schools just had to shut down again this week because so many teachers and other staff are out with COVID. The problem Dr. Bob faces is the one our superb, much beloved Grand Traverse County Medical Officer faced when he publicly opposed our (tRumper) county commission on their no-mask mandates position: Dr. Collins was fired. Also, while science still fully supports masking, the reality with the Omicron variant is that it is so contagious, one needs to wear a well fitting N95 mask. The feds are making them available for free at drug stores, but then do we have to mandate what type of mask? The dilemmas we have faced in public health in my nearly 50 years as an RN in this field are almost always both political and scientific. We know Dr. Bob's opponent, the incumbent Republican Jack Bergman, always toes the tRumper (and Enbridge Line 5) line of politics over science. Dr. Bob is our best hope for ousting him.

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It gets complicated ~ ie, what kind of mask specifically. I have been in 2 places this week, including a pharmacy in a grocery store where a staffer waiting on me wore a mask, but it's below their nose. In the end, I stood 6 ft away, and then came home and changed my pharmacy to one that delivers via mail.

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I understand Dr. Bob’s position and agree with Barbara about not getting bogged down with a single issue. Agree ( former PH prof) that dilemmas have always been about science and politics .Although now it’s much more extreme.Local FL health depts have been silenced.🤐

Just donated to Dr. Bob. Keep us posted !💙

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My point is this. Can we make sure we do not get bogged down in a single issue that the Republicans have foisted upon us?

I have visited in the Traverse area. It is so beautiful there.

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Yes, Barbara, thanks. And I hope you can come back to visit our beautiful Traverse City area again sometime! Our region remains beautiful in large part because of the hard (and gracious) groundwork of our longtime Republican governor, William Milliken. A conservative, he fought for conservation, the environment, and small business, while his wife, Helen, started Planned Parenthood in our state. Since the tRumpers stole our party, I am hearing more folks whisper that they are "moderate" Republicans. Our biggest industry "up north" after farming (and cherries!) is healthcare. With this COVID fiasco, I predict our hospital and long term care facility administrators, physicians, donors and board members - who typically vote Republican- will support Dr. Bob. The tide is turning.

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Bless you, MaryPat. Thanks for this insight.

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And thanks for checking out Dr. Bob's website, Melinda!

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Thx for checking the website Melinda.

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We are talking Michigan here. Sometimes in some places you have to adjust your message a little.

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Let me know when to start writing postcards for this campaign.

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I sent a small donation. Please keep us updated on this. Thanks!

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🙏 Marypat! Donating to his effort now.

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Thank you! You have said everything so well. It’s been a challenging two years for everyone. And the anti maskers and anti vaxers continue to perpetuate it for their perceived individual freedom. All the while pushing our hospitals and healthcare workers to the breaking point.

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I spent months in the hospital 2020/2021 for non Covid reasons but I got to know the staff. They are the heroes in our community. Everyone from the docs and nurses to people cleaning the rooms, suited up and showed up. Their sense of duty to their patients and colleagues was an inspiration.

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Morning, Karen. Your statement about our healthcare workers being pushed to the breaking point really resonates with me. While so much emphasis is being put on young people masking to protect their elders (as it should be), lost in there is the idea masking would help healthcare workers who definitely need it.

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Morning Lynell, thank you for pointing that out. It is incredibly sad that so many are being so reckless and selfish, and passing on these values to their children.

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Your daughter is lucky to have such a good dad!

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Ryan, For me, your standout posting raises the question of whether there are enough of us to reclaim the fundamental values upon which democracies are predicated—mutual respect, personal responsibility, and social accountability.

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I agree. Politicians that work against the people should be called out for treason.

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There very likely are enough of us but we'll need to work together and make enough noise to be noticed.

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A mask is an easy accommodation, not an infringement of liberty. I wonder what anti-mask folks would think if they were wheeled into an OR and looked up to see that the surgeon and staff were maskless?

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And coughing.

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“ We need to instill a sense of duty and purpose in our children, and not make them feel like they are too fragile to put up with a mask for as long as it takes. ”

Thank you! This should go the a letter to the editor. We make kids go through active shooter drills and wear bulletproof backpacks for a small chance of an active shooter but have issues with a mask for a 100% exposure to Covid.

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I am moved by your statement that this is an opportunity to learn. Similarly, there is an opportunity for children to learn about others, their feelings, their hardships when teaching about race related history in schools. But the parents only focus on their own feelings. And if their children feel uncomfortable, there is also an opportunity for the parents to explain to their kids that it's not about making the kids feel badly or guilty, it's about recognizing how someone else feels and understanding what they have been trough. But the parents don't see that as an option.

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Seems like a novel concept these days, sad to say

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That's a very good and respectable way to explain, Kim. To divert away from using the CRT label, and outline the process exactly as you have, Kim. Using this approach with parents and others who have concerns could go a long way. I am going to adapt your words and pass them on. It is the kind of statement that makes very powerful testimony at school boards and at other events. Avoid the use of the term CRT at all, and focus on what we teach our kids about history. Thank you.

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Ryan,

Indeed there are important moral and practical lessons for our children to learn in the pandemic, lessons in citizenship and lessons in self-reliance and care for others. A new effort is being made to instruct students about democracy, what it means, what it requires of responsible citizens, what it even means to be a citizen, EDUCATING FOR AMERICAN DEMOCRACY -- https://www.educatingforamericandemocracy.org/

I learned of this project from Barbara Walter's recent book "How Civil Wars Start." I taught philosophy for a number of years, and what I know to be true is this. If a democratic culture ceases to teach its young the Idea of Democracy, it will eventually fail to be one. The Idea of Democracy is a socially created construct and must be taught and modeled.

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My sister just sent me a copy of the beautifully illustrated and inspiring children's book, "Justice is..." by Preet Bharara, illustrated by Sue Cornelison. I imagine it will inspire many important conversations with my grandchildren.

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My sentiments EXACTLY. My grands wear masks and are bullied for it. When I worked at public schools. It wasn’t the administration that did the bullying

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That is appalling. Bullying should never be tolerated. The people who want the freedom to not wear a mask should respect the people who want the freedom to wear a mask. If anyone says anything to me my prepared remark is to simply tell them I am free to make my own choices.

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I recently met a nurse whose daughter could not get vaccinated due to serious medical problems. She eventually contracted the virus and as her parents watched her cling to life, two young people were rolled by, having died from Covid. As the father of two daughters, I would be satisfied with the lifting of school mask mandates if there were a requirement for in school students to be vaccinated. If they, or rather their parents, refuse, they must resort to online instruction. Problem solved.

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Oh, I can't imagine that horror. I agree fully with both mask mandates and vaccine mandates in schools (as our local schools had to close down yet again last week due to teacher and staff members out with COVID). It's the only hope we have for protecting our children.

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Exactly, Randy. It must be one (and/) or the other!

Pray tell, the nurse’s daughter is thriving now?!

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Thank you, Ryan. You've articulated hard truths that everyone needs to hear, especially those hell-bent on undermining public health, not to mention the emotional well-being of our children.

"Savage" is an adjective I've not heard to describe aspects of the pandemic. But reading it now, I apply it to virulent anti-maskers, especially parents. It's the perfect adjective, capturing the essence of their behavior. They scream, unmasked, at children en route to and from school. Their faces contort with rage. They seek to intimidate, oblivious to the emotional damage they inflict. The children are frightened, confused, even resentful. What seeds are being sown in malleable minds?

This savagery isn't just in the moment, it ripples out into the world, spreading not just a deadly virus but hate and havoc. Where does the savagery come from? The trifling inconvenience of wearing a piece of cloth over part of the face to protect the human race of 7.9 billion people, including those guilty of savage behavior? No, it springs from hate, a hate bubbling forth from flawed hearts. It's a darkness we've seen over and over and over throughout history.

If only there was a vaccine for hate.

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A vaccine for hate could come via other public health programs such as expansion of maternal and infant support services, and family planning, as well as expansion of early childhood education, mental health and social services services, jobs programs and...all the supports Heather speaks of as essential for our democracy. Plus regulation of hate spewers like Fox "Entertainment." Just wish we could regulate sermons.

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Tolkien could not have stated this better, well said, thank you

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This article in The Atlantic suggests the term savagery is appropriate:

Since last summer, the conservative campaign against vaccination has claimed thousands of lives for no ethically justifiable purpose. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/01/human-sacrifice-ritual-mass-vaccination/621355/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

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“ If only there was a vaccine for hate.” Would that a remedy could be so. Those who most need such vaccination would have to be told it was a one-shot cure for their high BP/cholesterol, etc. to get it. 😔

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Jan 29, 2022·edited Jan 29, 2022

The very people who decry "participation trophies" think their own children are too fragile to endure wearing a mask and learning "divisive concepts".

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I suppose we will have to stop explaining gravity to schoolchildren as a force that holds them down. When did teaching children truth, a moral framework, ethics, empathy, kindness, civics, and civility become controversial? I along with my children have now taken on the responsibility completely for teaching these subjects to my grandchildren to complement the education they are receiving inpublic schools as we can no longer be assured they are being taught as part of the public school curriculum.

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I think it is the role of parents to teach their children all those things you mention, with the schools being the complement to what they are taught at home. Just my two cents.

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If that were the case, we'd still be in segregated schools, and my children would still be excluded from most activities because attitudes toward indigenous people are still all too common, and acted out. The schools I went to taught civics and civility, empathy and kindness as part of both the curriculum and the expectations of behavior toward both teachers and other students. As an expression of a societies values, schools are an entirely proper place to teach these things. I chose to raise them where I did because there was a school organized around those principles.

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It became controversial with values clarification in the 70s.

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Right. And divisive how? Denying the realities of slavery and racism is at least as divisive as acknowledging them.

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Understatement. Thank you for pointing out something that should be readily obvious, Joan.

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“We need to instill a sense of duty and purpose in our children…”

Yes, for too long our society has gravitated to a culture of “What’s in it for me?” instead of considering the greater good. We refer to “the greatest generation” as those who came of age during the Depression and WWII. One of their greatest attributes is the attitude “We’re all in this together” so they worked together for the greater good.

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What’s happening in our country today is an absolute disgrace! I applaud your Daughter’s good sense and responsible character! Her actions speak well of her upbringing! Traits that aren’t exhibited by many in today’s society. How have we become so self centered and totally unaware of our surroundings? As an example, while grocery shopping the other day…at least half the people were without masks and oblivious of safe distancing mandates. Facts the guy (middle aged?) behind me was apparently clueless of. For when I asked him to back off a bit…he glared at me and said, “ his ears were fine but he couldn’t understand a word I was saying with that thing (mask) over my mouth…and added, expletive (a slang word for Anal Orifice) deleted!” I couldn’t help myself and left him to ponder what I meant by, “ears be damned…because sound doesn’t travel in a vacuum!” At that point my Wife stepped between us. Later she chided me by questioning how old I would be on my next birthday….which she thought would be 80 and not 18! Oh well! It must be a sign of the times? Fueled by totally irresponsible media, tin pot Governors and an out of sync Government we’re spinning out of control.

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I now live in snowy PA, but I was fortunately raised in Fairfax County, VA. As a retired teacher and daughter of a 32 year retired teacher, I am happy to report that Youngkin's call lines are blocked and filled with parents calling in to report that their child's teacher is guilty of teaching their child. Youngkin is being constipated by the truth.

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Lots of credit to the younger people's TikTok campaign!

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Love this: “Constipated by the truth.” Could the same explain why so many Republicans can’t see clearly?

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When the whites of your eyes turn brown, it tends to cloud your vision...

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I preferred the unedited version, Nathan

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Yeah, but vulgarity, ya know.

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Ally, without vulgarity, there would be little need for clever, humorous euphemisms.

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As one who speaks profanity as a second language, I so agree.

I also know that there is, occasionally, a time and place for profanity (along with blasphemy and vulgarity)!

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This has truly gone viral. Even here in Wisconsin, we have teachers that are sharing posts of Younkin's reporting information on social media. These posts tell folks that they "definitely should not" flood the website or call line with false reports.

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Jan 29, 2022·edited Jan 29, 2022

The tax payer funded private/ religious schools thing has my skin crawling. I’m hoping some Madrasas step in, and maybe a Wiccan group to fight for their dough.

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How long has the USA been trying to balance on the head of pin? How many times has America been in such bad shape? Was it bred in the bone? How many times did we think it would finally be over for Donald J. Trump? Was he bred in our bones, too!

The following are excerpts from 'How America Changed During Donald Trump’s Presidency' a report by the Pew Research Center.

'Donald Trump stunned the political world in 2016 when he became the first person without government or military experience ever to be elected president of the United States. His four-year tenure in the White House revealed extraordinary fissures in American society but left little doubt that he is a figure unlike any other in the nation’s history.'

'Other presidents tried to unify the nation after turning from the campaign trail to the White House. From his first days in Washington to his last, Trump seemed to revel in the political fight. He used his presidential megaphone to criticize a long list of perceived adversaries, from the news media to members of his own administration, elected officials in both political parties and foreign heads of state. The more than 26,000 tweets he sent as president provided an unvarnished, real-time account of his thinking on a broad spectrum of issues …'

'He achieved a string of long-sought conservative victories domestically, including the biggest corporate tax cuts on record, the elimination of scores of environmental regulations and a reshaping of the federal judiciary. In the international arena, he imposed tough new immigration restrictions, withdrew from several multilateral agreements, forged closer ties with Israel and launched a tit-for-tat trade dispute with China as part of a wider effort to address what he saw as glaring imbalances in America’s economic relationship with other countries'.

Deeply partisan and personal divides

'Even before he took office, Trump divided Republicans and Democrats more than any incoming chief executive in the prior three decades.1 The gap only grew more pronounced after he became president. An average of 86% of Republicans approved of Trump’s handling of the job over the course of his tenure, compared with an average of just 6% of Democrats – the widest partisan gap in approval for any president in the modern era of polling.'

'In a 2019 survey, at least three-quarters of Republicans said the president’s words sometimes or often made them feel hopeful, entertained, informed, happy and proud. Even larger shares of Democrats said his words sometimes or often made them feel concerned, exhausted, angry, insulted and confused.'

'On some issues, there were bigger changes in thinking among Democrats than among Republicans during Trump’s presidency. That was especially the case on topics such as race and gender, which gained new attention amid the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements. In a 2020 survey that followed months of racial justice protests in the U.S., for instance, 70% of Democrats said it is “a lot more difficult” to be a Black person than to be a White person in the U.S. today, up from 53% who said the same thing just four years earlier.'

'A dearth of shared facts and information'

'One of the few things that Republicans and Democrats could agree on during Trump’s tenure is that they didn’t share the same set of facts. In a 2019 survey, around three-quarters of Americans (73%) said most Republican and Democratic voters disagreed not just over political plans and policies, but over “basic facts.”

'Much of the disconnect between the parties involved the news media, which Trump routinely disparaged as “fake news” and the “enemy of the people.” Republicans, in particular, expressed widespread and growing distrust of the press. In a 2019 survey, Republicans voiced more distrust than trust in 20 of the 30 specific news outlets they were asked about, even as Democrats expressed more trust than distrust in 22 of those same outlets. Republicans overwhelmingly turned to and trusted one outlet included in the study – Fox News – even as Democrats used and expressed trust in a wider range of sources. The study concluded that the two sides placed their trust in “two nearly inverse media environments.”

'Conspiracy theories were an especially salient form of misinformation during Trump’s tenure, in many cases amplified by the president himself. For example, nearly half of Americans (47%) said in September 2020 that they had heard or read a lot or a little about the collection of conspiracy theories known as QAnon, up from 23% earlier in the year.4 Most of those aware of QAnon said Trump seemed to support the theory’s promoters.'

'Trump frequently made disproven or questionable claims as president. News and fact-checking organizations documented thousands of his false statements over four years, on subjects ranging from the coronavirus to the economy. Perhaps none were more consequential than his repeated assertion of widespread fraud in the 2020 election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Even after courts around the country had rejected the claim and all 50 states had certified their results, Trump continued to say he had won a “landslide” victory. The false claim gained widespread currency among his voters: In a January 2021 survey, three-quarters of Trump supporters incorrectly said he was definitely or probably the rightful winner of the election.' (PewResearchCenter) See link and the end of the comment.

Surviving and creating a true democracy is the hope and determination of the Joseph R. Biden, his administration and all Americans who know what the alternative would be. Consider who we elected to the presidency in 2016; know the depth of division among our citizens, recognize the major reforms that need to be made and that Donald J. Trump has escaped from punishment for his dishonest, cruel, racist, misogynistic....and treasonous acts, so far. I won't ask the bettors to come forward to provide the odds on his survival in or out of the slammer. What do they know?

We are each finding our way toward tipping the scales in favor of democracy and a new day in America.

https://www.pewresearch.org/2021/01/29/how-america-changed-during-donald-trumps-presidency/

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Thanks for passing this on. It's important to acknowledge that Trump is different in kind from any other president in American history. What he showed us- and many of us wish we could go to our grave without knowing this- is that democracy even in the USA cannot be taken for granted. And that a large percentage of American voters will willingly abandon democracy when told to do so by a ruthless demagogue. These are lessons I wish I had never learned.

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Hundreds of thousands are still going to their graves because of him, the youngest recently just 15 months old.

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Have we “elected” a malignant narcissist before?

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If we did he hid it.

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These are the things that happen when a seriously ill man is elected president. I saw these traits in him from the time he came down his elevator and knew his presidency would be a disaster. I once worked for a narcissist.

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I have known a narcissist my whole life. They are in a class all their own. A psychologist once told me they are untreatable because they lack any ability to get outside of themselves. And I have first hand knowledge of the path of total destruction they leave as they go through life.

I can promise this. trump is in a seething rage at not being President. He craves the spotlight like we crave oxygen. I have a healthy fear of the man.

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I think he also craves the protections granted the POTUS from prosecution.

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Excellent point. I had forgotten that.

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Fear of him is wise, why repubs caved, but where are the repub heroes. Strength in numbers, repubs

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I read yesterday about a woman in Wisconsin, who was with the elections committee. Lifelong GOP. Disgusted by the Big Lie and thinking of leaving the party. But she was quoted as saying it made her sad because she loved Trump’s policies and WORK ETHIC. Sheesh.

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WORK ETHIC!??

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Yeh. Truly bizarre, isn't it?

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You are quite correct.

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These are among the hundreds of externalities from enabling the Far Right Fascist loving Billionaires to make a mockery of 501c and other non-political institutions under the opacity of Dark Money, as well as other 5th column stealth tactics since the Goldwater era.

Now the fascists are coming home to roost. It’s really time for all decent Americans to rise in united opposition to this well orchestrated coup to kill Democracy and set up really what amounts to a Feudal society.

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Yep, but I thought, we reallly aren't that stupid

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Republicans were eager for someone to cheat their way into power, and said it out loud.

Chump was/is a malignant narcissist and will stop at nothing to salve his ego. He is still the world’s biggest LOSER

Propaganda works. What more proof do we need??

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I stopped blaming Trump and his minions long ago for the hatchet job they did to our nation. I blame once common sense Americans who allowed themselves to be turned into right-wing zombies. Sheep, willingly going to the slaughter. Psychologist will be studying why for decades to come.

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Propaganda works, just look at Hitler's "inner circle."

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So, have your received an invitation to Mar-a-lago? Please let us know how the food is.

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Yes, we can fully acknowledge he is 'different,' which by no means implies his difference is noble or honorable. He revealed the fractures in society, relationships, assumptions and institutions--we need to salvage what we can from this wreckage, and also build a monument to honor all those who were harmed or died as collateral damage in this era of horrific revelations.

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Here we go *together*, “ finding our way toward tipping the scales in favor of democracy and a new day in America💙❣️“

Hope this Saturday is treating you well, Fern! Stay warm and safe.

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Hi Asley. Thank you for your message. Wish I could send you a picture. I love the snow and took a short walk in the park. It was a glorious winter moment. Cheers to you, Ashley!

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Glorious, Fern!

Kindred spirit, I’d welcome a walk in the park on a snowy day. I walk daily, yet snow is so rare in this area).

If you’re part of Heather's Herd, my email is on the roster.

Otherwise, when we’re both active here in LFAA, I’ll share my email (and quickly delete — yours truly was raised by a corporate counsel).

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Jan 29, 2022·edited Jan 29, 2022

As always, thank you Heather. I am hoping these investigations actually hold Trump accountable. Also, I live in Florida. I stay here to vote against Death Santis. He is horrific and I am embarrassed he is my governor.

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Thank you for your resident status, Bridget!

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What makes me hopeful is watching TFG’s cash position being exposed as so much less than he boasts, but far more plausible to those members of the press who have watched him pretend to be part of the business class he so wishes he could join. Those old white guys never wanted to let him join that club. When he stopped funding the attorneys who were representing the operatives you did the grunt work of orchestrating the behind the scenes coup attempt, and those grunts realized that they were on their own with the members of the 1/6 committee asking them pointed questions about who did what and when, the wheels began to fall off the clown car of the conspiracy. The committee will be handing the DOJ and the state prosecutors a road map for indictments by their grand juries. I’m looking forward to the carefully reality produced televised public hearings of the findings of the 1/6 committee. Rick Scott, Marco Rubio and Ronnie DeSantis will not be able to hide from their very public support of the Trump coup plotting. It’s doubtful that any amount of public rebuke will sway the MAGA supporters but it is time for NPR and the rest of our public media organizations to stop reporting about the perceived Democratic failures and start talking about how the Biden team is doing the hard work that is slowly improving people’s daily lives. HCR does this daily with LFAA and the rest of the public media needs to follow her lead. They need to stop worrying about keeping their paychecks flowing and return to reporting the actual news and not responding to the FOX news whining from Rupert’s advisors. Roger Ailes is dead!

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But old, ancient Rupert churns on. No wonder that he and chump gee hawed, both malignant, narcissistic bastards.

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To Mr Moloch

Our Controller

Eating people

is normal

Meat-two-veg-

And-potatoes

Daily

Weekly

Monthly

And forever.

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Jan 29, 2022·edited Jan 29, 2022

Peter, Have you been dining with Mr. Moloch? How did you become familiar with his diet?

'Moloch (/ˈmoʊlɒk/; Masoretic: מֹלֶךְ, mōleḵ; Ancient Greek: Μόλοχ, Latin: Moloch; also Molech or Molek) is a name or a term which appears in the Hebrew Bible several times, primarily in the book of Leviticus. The Bible strongly condemns practices which are associated with Moloch, practices which appear to have included child sacrifice.[1]'

'Traditionally, Moloch has been understood as referring to a Canaanite god.[2] However, since 1935, scholars have debated whether or not the term refers to a type of sacrifice on the basis of a similar term, also spelled mlk, which means "sacrifice" in the Punic language.[3] This second position has grown increasingly popular, but it remains contested.[4] Among proponents of this second position, controversy continues as to whether the sacrifices were offered to Yahweh or another deity, and whether they were a native Israelite religious custom or a Phoenician import.[5]'

'Since the medieval period, Moloch has often been portrayed as a bull-headed idol with outstretched hands over a fire; this depiction takes the brief mentions of Moloch in the Bible and combines them with various sources, including ancient accounts of Carthaginian child sacrifice and the legend of the Minotaur.[6]'

"Moloch" has been figuratively used in reference to a person or a thing which demands or requires a very costly sacrifice.[7] A god Moloch appears in various works of literature, such as John Milton's Paradise Lost (1667), Gustave Flaubert's Salammbô (1862), and Allen Ginsberg's "Howl" (1955).' (Wiki)

moloch horridus: The thorny devil (Moloch horridus), also known commonly as the mountain devil, thorny lizard, thorny dragon, and moloch, is a species of lizard in the family Agamidae.(Wiki)

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Does anyone know when these hearings will go public?

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I’m pretty sure it was the beginning of February M-F at 8 pm eastern.

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I wish it were February, but "Thompson added that the public hearings could happen in late March or early April, but the committee is still 'working toward' a set date."

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/january-6-committee-primetime-public-hearings

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"His suitability as a political leader might well take an irreparable hit." Sorry Heather, color me doubtful. The word is SHOULD. But if there's one thing I've learned form the Malodorous Misadventures of Misogynist OCP is that all the rules, traditions and incidents of history--not to mention, common sense or even physical science--ever seem to matter with this guy or the increasingly circus-like cast of characters who support him. If there were 4K video showing him filling out the false ballots himself, winking at the camera and bragging about it, I'm STILL doubtful half of these sycophants (or his mindless followers) could find it in their pathetic little things they call hearts to do the right thing here. I'm not convinced that ANYTHING, short of his incarceration will greatly diminish his influence anymore. Jail it must be.

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Quote claimed by several “There go my followers, I must follow them, for I am their leader.” Too many of our “neighbors” are either white “supremacists,” zygote warriors, Pharisees, gun worshippers, power-hungry pols, or just intellectual fools. These capped off with celebrity-worshippers with no brains whatsoever. What chance does sanity have?

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... it's an inside job - just like freedom ... the difference around us just drives us deeper in where we recognize those of like mind/heart simply by the truth in their eyes ...

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... only, that is where his troops are congregating ...

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Send them to Russia!

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His supporters LIKE IT when he breaks laws and norms.

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What’s the phrase? “Lock him up” yeah that’s it. It crosses my mind every day.

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"in the past several weeks, it has become clear that the submission of false electoral votes from seven states was part of a larger scheme to throw the election to then-president Donald Trump. This raises the question of who organized the process of writing false documents and getting a group together to sign them. In a press release announcing the subpoenas, committee chair Bennie Thompson (D-MS) said the committee thinks the individuals it is subpoenaing 'have information about how these so-called alternate electors met and who was behind that scheme.'"

It looks as though anti-tRump winds are picking up speed. I can't wait for the DOJ to pick up speed and gallop towards the arrest and conviction of tfg, his family and all his lackeys!

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As Nicolle Wallace said today, the "alternative voters" scam was run from the top in the White House.

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TC, you think TFG was smart enough to come up with that plan? I don’t. Think Mark Meadows? Let’s not forget about the evil Stephen Miller.

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Chump is smart when it comes to evil doings, especially when it is in service to his wants and needs.

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I just don’t think he knew anything about “policy” though. It had to be people who are familiar with what is required by voters for the electoral college. It screams The Mafia!

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Jan 29, 2022·edited Jan 29, 2022

My money’s on Miller. He’s been really quiet.

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John Flynn

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My mantra is that he and his criminal children, craven cronies, and crazy insurrectionists be showered with arrests, convictions, imprisonment, impoverishment, loss of pensions, and massive financial damage penalties. Did I leave anything out? :)

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You could add revoking their citizenship and packing them off to Russia .

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How about setting them in stocks in Lafayette Park with buckets of cabbages nearby?

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No I think 🤔 that covers it nicely. I have no doubt that will be the result either on this side or the next.

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I honestly will dance in the street naked if they’re thrown in prison!

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If it happens in July l'll join you!

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24/7 Rachel Maddow broadcasts.

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Jan 29, 2022·edited Jan 29, 2022

After watching their kids leave home for the city, their jobs leave for China, and their hope for a better future get left behind, I can see why rural Americans feel resentful towards Democrats, and “outsiders” in general. Republican politicians and antagonists, like Glenn Youngkin and Tucker Carlson, who can often be seen wearing the same white polo shirt and red sweater ensemble, see it too. That’s why Carlson spouts off about the “great replacement theory”, playing on those unjustified, but very real fears of his viewers, night after night.

Rural Republicans have a simple, but very consequential choice in the next election, to follow Republicans down “the trail of fears”, or to follow Joe Biden down the path to prosperity that he has laid out for them in the American Rescue Plan (ARP) and Build Back Better (BBB) bill. The ARP is already making significant investments in rural and native American communities by expanding their internet connectivity and providing homeowners with needed assistance programs. Additionally, the BBB bill will fund and assist those very same communities to create, locally-led, sustainable economic programs that will enrich their communities, keep their families together, and aligning their interests with Democrats. That’s both peace and prosperity. These are the kind of initiatives and infrastructure plans that both rural and urban America needs right now.

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The morons love Trump and the rest of the scumbags for hating the same people they hate.

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The clan spirit encourages them to stay together always harping on the maxim "their friend's enemy is theirs too". These friends are not always their friends though for more time than necessary and for which the link is useful. When the wind turns and the heat rises, those leading renounce, "turn" and start to say that is was the fault of their followers. Consternation and chaos follow as the followers have been deceived and used.....and anger flows in all directions as it doesn't have an anchor any more. That is a very dangerous time in which the last thing that they will see is the "light of day" as proposed by the Democrats....their enemy. They may then doubt their friends but that will not make them doubt their enemy. The Dems will be blamed for forcing them to see reality and loosing the status and certainty that their previous vision of truth gave them.

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True where I am

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TC, while I very much appreciate your irascibleness, lumping all of us rural folks together as morons is not helpful.

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I find it helpful to steal from Jim Wright, who as an “obligatory not all” to insert. It’s how I manage to deal with all of the (deserved) commentary about racist thug cops. That wasn’t me, but far too many of my brethren.

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Yeah, the problem is, one of those guys ruins the work of 100 like you.

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I don't lump all of you, just the idiots.

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Mainstream Republicans have got to be picking up all that “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” culture crap from veterans who returned from the Middle East. It’s ironic, how we send soldiers to spread democracy, but instead, they return home and spread extremism. Regardless, we should try to win back the hearts and minds of all of the extremist “scumbags” we can.

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Gave up, like banging head against a wall, repeatedly.

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There are many more politically efficient ways to invest your time and money than in trying to convert Republicans.

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That’s absurd. We’re not only the precipice of losing democracy, but of losing lives in a civil conflict. We can’t afford not to win those 60 million or so people back.

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Jan 29, 2022·edited Jan 29, 2022

Why do you think we have a Constitution? It a set of principals of politically efficient remedies to keep us together. They are abandoning those common principals and facts that keep us together. We must “convert Republicans” back to the principals that we used share or face peril. You can use more politically efficient ways to deal with adversaries overseas, but not adversaries at home. It becomes a kill or be killed situation. We are not the failed Democracy of Iraq, we are the failed democracy of America, we can’t just leave ourselves.

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Yours is a longterm project. I’m working on a short term one. If we lose the government to the Republicans this year (and we will if we fail to apply ourselves efficiently to to task of winning elections), we almost certainly will have a Republican president in 2024, and that president will formulate orders to the Joint Chiefs that will be close enough to constitutional that they won’t be able to disobey them. Those orders may well convert our government to what amounts to a kleptocratic autocracy, even though the kleptocrats running it will continue to call it a democracy. Those are the stakes.

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Long term tactics = Constitution, short-term tactics = Trump/Putin playbook

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In N.Tex, there are plenty of rural and urban haters, Foxers all

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Stuff like this just makes the situation worse, TC. Wish you'd get over your need to dis people. Too Trump-like.

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We rural Americans need to see a clear connection between Biden and our growing prosperity. Our negative local, state and national headlines muddy up the truth.

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It would help if the media or the democrats would interview actual people benefiting from ARP and BBB.

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Jan 29, 2022·edited Jan 29, 2022

People who are benefiting from the ARP are being interviewed. Unfortunately the people who are being interviewed are Republicans who are taking credit for it, after opposing it. BTW, the BBB bill has not yet been passed or implemented.

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I did get ahead of myself, thanks. Democrats could do more to take credit for improving lives.

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And ACA. Millions of newly insured, even in red states. Especially in red states.

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And encourage the hard work and innovation Janet Yellen spoke of. No harder than going to the gym...

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Nickolas Kristoff, a NYTimes journalist, who is trying to run for Governor, has drawn up plans that would really stir innovation, by making Oregon a hub for green energy and climate tech. I would encourage any state that has plenty of sun, wind, and/or tides and big spaces to use his example.

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That's kind of a national movement among progressives. It didn't start with Kristoff and, at this point, it doesn't appear he's got much of a chance to even legally run, let alone win.

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He put together a bunch of stuff that are already in motion and then claimed to have created a new vision. Kind of a slap in the face for people who've been working on those things. Not highly regarded in Oregon; many consider him a carper bagger. I am among them. Claimed to be an Oregon resident but met none of the requirements, let alone the requirement that's in the Oregon Constitution that candidates for Governor have to have been residents in the state for 3 years. He's challenging, but it's mainly a way to stay in the news. He seems to impress people outside Oregon who don't know the backstory (or only know his version of it). And maybe that's his real goal.

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Your comment about “carpetbaggers” is the epitome of what I was talking about, in regard to rural folks being fearful of outsiders.

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I live in Oregon, and know the back story. Regardless, I think he loves Oregon and has its best interests at heart. It beats having a New York, who really doesn’t give an orange turd about the people here. Until you or someone can show me how little he cares about Oregon, your little hang up sounds like a rather minor issue.

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Lots of people love Oregon and have its best interests at heart. I was born and grew up there, went to school there, raised my kids there. Ended up in VT via a complex set of circumstances that are not relevent here. Still connected to Oregon and many of the people who deeply care about it, who have worked their butts off trying to get it on track. I follow Oregon politics and social issues so closely I write background and analysis for some of them. How much or how little Kristof cares about Oregon is beside the point. And so is NY. If he is serious about helping Oregon, there are many ways he could do that without trying to insert himself into processes he has little knowledge about, and making false claims about his qualifications (that's where the term carpetbagger comes from, and it is a common term used to refer to him- by people in both parties.

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What I have been going through is a direct result of fear mongering from people like sparking protests here and tearing this city apart. When is enough enough? Til you’ve destroyed us? What purpose does it serve for you?

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And you folks out in the rural areas think you have it hard. We are all having it tough, stop your whining and work with Democrats and carpetbaggers and please the fear mongering and obstructionism, too please.

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You “follow Oregon politics so closely …”? Give me a break. Until you’ve listened to the sirens, helicopters, and gunfire, daring yourself to go to the store, night after night for months on end, and had to smell the rotting corpses of your neighbors who died from heat exposure and COVID, and outlived two of tour roommates, I’d say you’ve been living in a bubble by comparison.

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The Dems need to BE SURE they talk about those improvements ad nauseum to rural residents.

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This may be what America needs, but it's not what it wants. What it wants is to be entertained by reality TV personality conflicts. So that's what the media gives them. It most certainly doesn't give them information about the ARP and BBB.

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It's gonna be a long four years here in Virginia.

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Our condolences from Maine where, thanks to two split vote elections, we had Paul (“I was trump before trump”) LePage for eight years. When he termed out he moved to FL for a few years to beat taxes, but has now moved back and is going to run for Governor again against our present/terrific Gov Janet Mills.

As profoundly as I love Maine, I am deeply ashamed that we have LeRage and spineless Susan Collins here. Thank God for Angus King, Chellie Pingree and the remarkable win of Rep. Jared Golden in the resoundingly conservative Second District.

The situation here is so very much like that throughout much of the country. I am hopeful but the forces of darkness are not far away. These are the times to NOT just sit around wringing our hands about the darkness but, instead, to be doing everything we can to actually move the needle back into the Light….as we all know.

As we await today’s approaching blizzard, I feel the darkness not far away….but then I go back to sleep with gratitude in my heart as I recall, once again, that Maine also has HCR. Yes, in the end, there IS more Light than darkness in the world.

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Morning, Peter! Stepping back to get the wider view, it is no surprise for all of us in this country that there is this almost equal split of what each side wants. To be sure, Maine tells us all we need to know about where we are today. Early signs here in Virginia are that we are not giving up our quest to remain in the light. After all, Virginia once was the seat of the confederacy, so look how far we've come from that "dishonorable" distinction!

Pea green with envy that you are able to claim HCR as your own, but this page has embraced her fully...and I believe she has leaned into it. As well, your pictorial contributions these past years have reminded us what is really important in life. Must be something in the water that you Mainers drink?

I once heard a politician say, after negotiating a solution to a problem, he likes to ask the question, "There, is everybody equally unhappy?" If the answer is yes, then he knows he's on the right track. I am hopeful that we can achieve that "equal unhappiness"!

Stay safe up there while you weather the real storm that's on your doorstep.

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Thanks so much Lynell. Heather may be here in Maine but I think we can all consider ourselves family, if you will. Out driving around in the big blizzard today….haven’t seen one like this in a while.

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Yes, indeed, Peter. I'm the cousin she never had, LOL!

Wow, you all are sure brave up there! Before "climate change," a mere regular rainstorm would cripple us here in the D.C. area. And even talking about the chance of snow sparked pandemonium!

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A light shineth in darkness and the darkness overcometh it not :)

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Youngkin is living proof that Truman was right 74 years ago when he said "the only 'good Republicans' are pushing up daisies," and the white Virginia electorate is proof Mencken was right 98 years ago when he noted that "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the (white) American public."

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Love those two. They knew republicans, as did Stevenson, who said “If my republican friends will stop telling lies about Democrats, I will stop telling the truth about them.”

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Time the media began telling the truth about republicans

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Ohhhh, but THAT wouldn't be "balanced!"

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It’s Not the goal of Rupert who serves the oligarchy

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Lynell, I’ve seen comments in the WaPo articles about yougkin saying he should be recalled. Do you know if that is a possibility?

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Vivian and Jeri, I am not hearing anything from my down ballot politicians about that, but then again I don't see everything that's going on. Just going to keep pushing what I want to see in my state until, as Peter said above, the light shines here again in Virginia!

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I’m in Senator Scott Surovell & Delagate Delegate Paul E. Krizek districts. Attended my first meeting last Saturday via Zoom. Heard no talk either. I’d be surprised with all the smart folks we have here that if it was an option they aren’t already on it. Recently stated following Blue Virginia on twitter to learn. I’m not sure I can handle this for 4 yrs after trump.

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Hey, Vivian. I have Delegate LaRock (R) who has been in office for eons. My senator is Democrat Jennifer Boysko. I agree if there was an option for a recall, there would be more news about it than what I'm seeing. Fortunately, our U.S. Senators are Democrats who will be in office -- Kaine until '24, I think, and Warner just got reelected in 2020, so he'll be around until '26.

I subscribe to Blue Virginia News which is a left leaning publication.

I hear you about "handling it" for four more years!

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Any chance of a recall

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I really feel for you, Lynell.

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Thank you, Morning, Marlene! At least I am in good company with many of the LFAA'ers here from other states who are - and have been - in the same boat.

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Jan 29, 2022·edited Jan 29, 2022

Your Letters fill me - sometimes with dread and other times with hope. Thank you. I also daily thank the Democrats in office who are fighting for the rights of all of us. It is Saturday morning here in Europe. I wish you beautiful sunrises and rest.

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Gailee, where do you live? Or are you in Europe for R&R?

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We live in Spain.

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Jan 29, 2022·edited Jan 29, 2022

I was stationed in Rota, while in the Navy. Love Espana and thought of retiring as an expat there. ❤️💛❤️💛

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Nice! We're in the Rheingau - super wine...

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I am excited to explore all of the wine regions here in Spain. Covid has kept us from traveling.

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Greetings from Portugal

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We had thought of Portugal, but I fell in love with where we live when I was in college and came speaking a little Spanish. We hope to travel if covid stops being an issue for us.

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Stop by Ponte de Lima when travel becomes possible.

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If you are ever in San Sebastián, let us know.

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I think we must assume that Trump or a TrumpLight/TrumpRabid will command the GOP. At best, someone who will give the appearance of playing by the rules, while letting Mitch McConnell et al continue hollowing out the foundations and institutions of government, and creating opportunities for the Roberts Court decimate civil rights. (When Sen. Susan Collins says to go slow on confirming Justice Breyer's replacement, she means to gum up the works, in hopes of a 2022 GOP takeover of the Senate. Collins is in on Mitch McConnell denying a Democratic president a vote on a Supreme Court nominee, again.)

In 2016, I unshakably knew Trump would win. I'd been doing outreach for local Dems for 6 months leading up to Election Day. I've just spent two days trying to collect signatures to get Maine's Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and Maine CD2 Democratic Rep. Jared Golden on the 2022 ballot. I am in a blue dot, in a small purplish circle, in a vast red wasteland.

Republicans are what they are, and the party is out for blood. Sadly, left leaning independents are what they are. The siren song of 'person not party' is still strong. The delusion, that if you vote for 'a candidate' then you are not involved 'in politics' is in play, still. These voters are as unmovable and irrational as the GOP base. And as self righteous.

Somehow, the idea of voting as a personal gesture and an expression of your personal feelings, has gotten confused with taking an ethical stance. In the context of politics, the phrase 'vote your conscience' is a sleight of hand and conceit of sophistry, which turns words on their head and inverts meanings. Conscience - judgements of right and wrong - operates in a social context, with knowledge of and respect for a world outside ourselves.

Appropriating the word 'conscience' to mean prioritizing the feelings in your heart or the rumblings of your gut, over thinking rationally and strategically about your social responsibility, is dishonest. It is an exercise in aesthetics, not ethics. It romanticizes politics. In Germany, such romancing lead to the gas chambers. In America it lead to January 6.

And, I haven't even got to those who won't vote because they believe sitting on their hands means they will never have blood on them.

Or, the very different case of, those who don't vote because being an effective part of representative government is outside their education, experience, and imagination.

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"These voters are as unmovable and irrational as the GOP base. And as self righteous.

Somehow, the idea of voting as a personal gesture and an expression of your personal feelings, has gotten confused with taking an ethical stance."

Thank You for this. I, very much, agree. I also think they take their voting privilege as an entitlement to be protected at all costs. They appear to be a variation of the "no one will tell me what to do" crowd. They have been gumming up the work for quite a while now and need to be called more often and more strongly. Of course they are media darlings. My toes curl every election when the media holds non-productive focus groups after focus groups of independents criticizing the candidates.

We must call these folks out more strongly.

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ThankYou. Probably Coals to Newcastle, or today Snow to Maine ... Writing Letters to the Editor is an opportunity to serve as a corrective.

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I wrote two quite rude feedback letters to CNN last week.

The first complained about idiotic misuse of the word "moderate" to describe distinctly immoderate politicians.

"An abuse of language we've seen too much in recent times, one that suggests that US media have completely lost touch with the reality of their country's steady drift towards a political Niagara.

I'm an old man, I know what I'm talking about, but it is still unnerving to see major news media so caught up in the moment that they've lost all sense of the unfolding process, all sense of context, and end up using terms that have become utterly meaningless."

The second complained about an item full of of jejune disrespect for President Biden, one that stank of ageism and made me feel ashamed for the writer's lack of self-respect as an American.

"...Get the big picture into your heads. If you can.

It will be a start if you can even find the right end of your tunnel-vision spyglass.

Putin shows signs of respecting your president.

Too many Americans don't. Just too dumb and damned superficial to tell the difference between a man and shadow, between appearances and what lies behind them.

CNN meanwhile behaves like a plague of gadflies..."

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ThankYou. Yes. Good points.

Keep 'em on their toes.

But one of the Clinton 'gifts which keep on giving' was a DNC which suppressed the development of a deep bench of contenders, so as to guarantee Hillary 'her turn.' It rippled out to running the similarly unpalatable Terry McAuliffe for VA governor. With the same disastrous results. And left us with a field of contenders many of whom should be out to pasture.

I am in my 70s. Call me ageist, but despite some very able seniors serving, I would like to see upper age limits. And to be voting for people who can shape the world they will be living in longer than I.

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Raskin is right about what they are learning, but I am not going to hold my breath that Moron America will drop its love affair with Fatso Fatass. But I do look forward to the day someone at the DoJ grows a set and decides to take all this evidence and indict the worthless damned traitor. (Looking at YOU, AG Garland)

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Per the 39th US Deputy AG, Lisa Monaco, the DOJ is actively investigating amateur, Rudy G's (Wreck's Campaign) false electors & false certificates emanating from 7 states Biden won. Each of the 7 open scams (including New Mexico) was needed to throw the Electoral count to Wreck's bogus numerical lead. It has statutory name: seditious conspiracy, 18 USC Section 2384.

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Had to giggle, but It’s not so funny when I think of some of my relatives who follow FF. And I like the way raking up the bream leads to catching the whale. Waiting to see if anyone takes on Steve Miller.

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He reminds me of one who would take cyanide when cornered. But only when all is lost.

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Such an arrogant twit.

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I love the name ... an alliterative award accomplishment :-).

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Thanks - made me smile - and it conjures up an all-too-vivid picture.

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Jan 29, 2022·edited Jan 29, 2022

Off topic but important. It concerns Spotify support of Joe Rogan's ongoing dissemination of misinformation/disinformation around Covid. I've been absent from this platform so if this has been covered, I apologize in advance.

This is a letter I sent a few minutes ago to Heather's Herd members. I will be posting it on my Facebook account as well.

Hello friends,

There is another way we can show our strength right now against disinformation is to cancel our Spotify accounts in protest against their choice to continue to allow Joe Rogan to spread Covid disinformation, (among other things). So far, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell have left Spotify in protest. We closed our Spotify account yesterday morning.

Mitchell posted a short note a on her website that "... was accompanied by a link to the open letter published earlier this month by a group of 270 doctors, scientists, professors and other medical professionals expressing concern over Rogan’s platforming of misinformation around COVID-19. In the letter, the signees asked Spotify to implement a misinformation policy as a means of combatting claims made by Rogan and his guests. Among other comments, they noted that Rogan has discouraged young people from receiving the vaccine, incorrectly claimed that mRNA vaccines are “gene therapy” and promoted the use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19, contrary to FDA warnings against using the drug to treat the virus."

Like any other boycott or protest there is strength in numbers. If you are a Spotify account folder, please consider dropping your account until Spotify does the right thing regarding the dangerous misinformation around Covid being broadcast by Rogin and his guests.

Kind regards,

Daria

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Also a repeat From HH:

For anyone who goes to cancel Spotify and cannot reach Customer Service to do so - which is happening a lot - you can remove your credit card info, or change it to be invalid, or if even that does not work, notify your credit card company to reject any future charges from Spotify. If you do the last, also send Spotify an email cancelling and keep a copy.

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Jan 29, 2022·edited Jan 29, 2022

Thanks for adding this here, Joan!!

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The protest is working, thanks to Canadians Young and Mitchell. Spotify lost $4 billion in market value this week.

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Also my husband was just reading to me that Spotify is “listening in” and invading your privacy. They filed a patent for an always on system to listen and detect emotional state, gender, age and accent to recommend music and ads.

We don’t use any of the devices like Amazon Echo or Google Nest. All our devices are Apple and they are good about privacy and security.

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We don't use any devices like Echo, Nest, Siri, etc. We have a totally dumbed down house. It's no surprise that Spotify is spying on its customers.

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Thank you for bringing this up Daria. I don’t have Spotify but am encouraging everyone I know who have it to cancel their account. And Bravo to Neil Young and Joni Mitchell! They are brilliant musical artists living in integrity and standing up for what is true and right. Obviously Spotify and Rogan value profit over human lives.

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Karen, you're welcome. My husband was the heavy Spotify user in this family, primarily for music. He cancelled as soon as he read an article about Spotify choice to ignore Rogin's poison. I know he'll miss the access to the variety of music offered but some things are more important than entertainment.

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“It’s about time we stopped fighting and it’s about time we start working together again,” he said. “We can do an awful lot.”

Amen Mr. Biden, Amen

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Just imagine what we could do if republicans had the balls to do what Teddy Kennedy did with W? Of course that was a big mistake considering the hubris of the republicans. But if both sides had the public interest in focus…. Nah, just a dream with evil on the republican team. Call them what they are…

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The long-awaited implosion seems to have begun.

Hold on! High alert. The coming days and weeks may be more and more dangerous. Beings like this do not go out quietly, if they can they'll bring the world down with them.

A Samson act, a Twilight of False Gods. A Syrian scenario.

May what I have just written be wrong! Too much damage has been done already.

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And as I recall, they have lots of loaded guns.

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Either the law is for everyone or it does not exist.

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Then it hasn't existed for quite some time now.

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Only Shysterstan?

The State of Lawyers?

Has the Wolf digested Grandma?

Have the parasites taken over the host so completely that nothing remains?

If that is the case citizenship has gone with the Law, citizens and their voice are worth nothing. As in Stalin's and Brezhnev's USSR. As in its successor.

I've hoped for decades that Americans would rise from their mattress-graves and disprove this.

I hope still.

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Been hoping for decades too. Always thought there were more sane people, now I’m not sure. I hope still.

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