The Republican’s offer of 600 B as a compromise should be considered with appropriate solemnity, and a counter offer of 2.0 T should be made by President Biden. The President and his spokespersons should highlight to all Americans that are in food lines, homeless, cold, desperate and disillusioned that it is Republicans that feel enough has been done. Every governor and mayor across the land should speak to the needs of the states to provide resources to get vaccines to the people. TO PREVENT FURTHER DEATH of innocent people.
West Virginia has the lowest average family income in the country, if I read the articles properly. Manchin and his family make millions off of energy holdings every year. He is a two term governor and now must be in his 3rd term as senator. So what indeed has he done for his people? Protected them from having their guns taken away, from having transgender bathrooms, gay marriage? Not of course improving school systems or health care, or curtailing mining practices that destroy state resources. Not sending new generations into mines that destroy lungs.
Biden and his team should go to every red state to hold seminars and press briefings weekly. Press the issues to the real people who are suffering. Put it in the face of every republican voter.
Biden and Harris should invite Manchin and Sinema to tea. They should also invite Stacey Abrams.
Finally I wish again to call attention to the fact that we will see the death toll of INNOCENT AMERICANS reach 500 THOUSAND by the end of February!
This is NOT an ecomomic crisis. This is a NATURAL DISASTER causing and ecomomic crisis. We cannot spend ENOUGH MONEY FAST ENOUGH to fight covid. There is not any room for rational debate.
Knowing the "loyal opposition" is going to take an axe to any legislation the 2020 election winning team puts on the table, to show their home-voters they're very serious gum-chewers (and I should talk with my $2/day Orbit gum habit), a good strategy is to add some boiler-plate idiot must-have programs for the axe hackers to have something to wack on. I suggest, provision for a committee to study the idea of getting the Earth to reverse its direction of spin; fund a foundation to promote the cause of supporting motherhood and fighting death. My fall-back for a super-spender event relief spend-away winner is the (in development) do-it-yourself prefrontal lobotomy kit, small, medium, or large, with a high-tech kazoo and self-guiding instructions about how to whistle while you work as a come-on.
I agree that there need to be someone(s) going to red states to hold press briefings and seminars or whatever on a weekly basis. “Press the issue to the real people who are suffering. Put it in the face of every republican voter.” Yes! Get local and hammer on the facts and the message. This needs to be done.
"Biden and his team should go to every red state to hold seminars and press briefings weekly. Press the issues to the real people who are suffering. Put it in the face of every republican voter."
I like this idea! Do you mind if I pass it along to my Senators (Murray and Cantwell) and Representative (Larsen)?
The pandemic I would agree is a natural disaster. But the failure of our government to provide for its citizens is a "failure by design" enacted by radically dangerous Republicans for the last 50 years. It is time politically to return these dangerous anti-democratic minds to the underside of the political rock from which they emerged, working to make as whole as possible all those seriously wounded or killed by their rapacious and reckless actions.
Your musing is not some wild concoction. There is moral substance to it. Politicians should be held accountable for egregious actions which harm people and our republic. At this time, our congress is struggling with that very question, and we can see how averse the practitioners of predatory capitalism are against having to answer that question.
Ah, there you are, Judith! I've been looking everywhere for you!!
I could not for the life of me locate your post in this avalanche, the post which says "Really? The U.S. problems and the threat to Free Enterprise are the Biggest Problems in the World?? The manta Rays and sharks are dying off as they swim in the heated oceans, and the threat to freedom is the Biggest Probl . . . " and then it was cut off. [I corrected a few of your typos]
So here's my reply.
"Of course Judith, you are correct. Allow me to rephrase.
I listed the biggest political problems in the world, the biggest problems of policy in society. We are on Heather Cox Richardson's platform, in her living room.
The number one biggest problem in the world is overpopulation. Overpopulation and mismanagement of the planet by human society is way more important than society's problems, OF COURSE. You are absolutely correct."
Hello Roland, I deleted my comment because I realized before I finished since this is a history and political thread, you probably were focused on the largest political problem.
I see 2T. and 600B. as opening bids in this extremely high stakes poker game. I see the numbers as where compromise begins. And it’s not just money; it’s each side needing to say for political reasons that it negotiated itself into being the winner and its opponent is thus the loser. Both parties need to stop operating as if this is a “game” and a zero-sum game at that. Otherwise, compromise, so badly needed now, will never be seen as a positive, valuable, and essential approach to legislating.
People are suffering, dying every day! People seem more concerned with Reddit, Robinhood, and integrity of the stock market. EVERYTHING IS RELATED TO STOPPING COVID! Remember that we can barrow FREE money. Interest rates near zero.
And climate change will make Covid look like a picnic. We must control the virus and it’s offspring now and start re-tooling for for the climate changes in a continuous effort.
This is the logical outcome of “government is the enemy”. Government is the means to stop wars! Agreeing to honor law and elections peacefully.
There is no "compromise" to be had, since if Biden was stupid enough to take the bait, after they knocked his package down, they wouldn't vote for it - the same trick they pulled with the Recovery Relief Act in 2009.
Every single one of them needs to be sprayed in the face from a distance of 2 feet with Mace aerosol. A good 2 minute dose. Then leave them writhing and screaming in agony.
He has to try. He also has to make it known that he is trying to help the American people while they are not. He’s not stupid and he and his people are politically savvy.
This idea that $600B is a "compromise" proposal is ridiculous and insulting. It's 1/3 of what Biden is planning for. The Republicans are saying either, a) the plans are bloated with 3x inflated estimates, or b) 2/3 of what's in the plan is unnecessary and should be eliminated. Either interpretation is a slap-in-the-face insult. If that's the best the Republicans can to toward "bipartisanship," they need a little picture drawn for them to explain exactly where they can put their bipartisanship.
How do you cut 2/3 out of the estimated cost of rebuilding a basic house? Eliminate three walls, tilt the fourth wall to serve as as a lean-to, roll in a couple of 50 gallon drums full of garbage for heat, and dig a privy in the back yard?
Manchin is profiting from the scalping and shaving of Beautiful West Virginia mountains. A friend in Richwood where I once lived said that their "100 year flood" which ruined our town a few years back, was actually caused by big mining and forestry corporations denuding the mountains up river so there was none of the normal rain absorption (he hikes back in to his old family homestead). Thousand out of work and homeless. Oh, well.
This thing that we have been living with for the past four years is not over. I cannot understand the thinking that drives people to support this - it is utter insanity to me. But they will not go quietly into the night and I fear our country is in further danger of being ripped apart by this hate that walks among us. I never thought we would see this kind of evil in our country, in our lifetimes yet, here it is. Every bit as ugly as the evils we fought in WWII, if not worse. I don’t know how or where to run for safety but I also don’t know how to fight.
Here’s another option Karen. This week is really important. There is no safe place from crazy and fighting won’t work against truck fuels of guns, but you can call and email your reps and the White House and let them know where you stand and why. Especially the Republicans.
I'm glad you do bother to write! My husband was a Congressional staffer for many years, and he always told me they carefully track and count calls and emails on the issues. It matters what you're doing - thank you. In my blue state, I need to be better about regularly calling my Democratic reps and senators to say I stand with them and thank them
The times I've called my Democratic Senators, I can almost hear the staffer's shoulders relax a notch when I tell them I appreciate their work and everything the Senator and her/his staff do for us. It makes me so sad that they're now literally risking their lives as Members and Congressional staff
Yes, I get lazy about calling Hickenlooper, DeGette and Bennet. Boebert, from the other side of the state is a real nut case and most Coloradans that I talk to can’t stand her. I also thought this was over. Biden CANNOT COMPROMISE! But I think he knows that!
Yes, I tend to take the wonderful Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters for granted (and then we almost lost Peters to Republican deception and lies and mendacity and ...)
I wrote to Upton, Stabenow, and Peters last night.
Feel free to use any of my text.
I said household because we have 4 registered voters here.
In hindsight, I should have listed more than MTG, but it was late!!
" I appreciate your stance to vote in favor of proceeding with the impeachment of our former president. I hope you remain steadfast in and vote to convict. Our household believes that the former president should be held accountable for his words and actions."
The second issue is that our household is vehemently against Representative Marjorie Taylor-Greene. It is appalling that she has been assigned to an education committee. She should not serve on ANY committee. She may be an elected representative and my opinion can't change that. I urge you to denounce her rhetoric, and vote to remove her from ANY committees. Again, this household is politically engaged and will monitor your actions. Please consider the opinions of this constituent.
So glad you did. I have a state senator who is a Republican. It takes extra thought to contact him. I remind myself that I'm his constituent and that a careful, firm, reasoned, passionate statement FROM HIS CONSTITUENT at the least tells him that not every voter in his district supports nonsense.
We have 4 registered voters in our household. (3 of the 4 did NOT vote for him in the last election.)
Message:
I appreciate your stance to vote in favor of proceeding with the impeachment of our former president. I hope you remain steadfast in and vote to convict. Our household believes that the former president should be held accountable for his words and actions. We will monitor your stance and votes going forward. Your decisions will affect our future votes for you should you run for office again.
We share concern and hope for your continued safety. It is awful that this is another issue for you to monitor. Stay safe and well.
The second issue is that our household is vehemently against Representative Marjorie Taylor-Greene. It is appalling that she has been assigned to an education committee. She should not serve on ANY committee. She may be an elected representative and my opinion can't change that. BUT, I urge you to denounce her rhetoric, and vote to remove her from ANY committees. Again, this household is politically engaged and will monitor your actions.
Please consider the opinions of this constituent. Thank you.
I am inspired! I was cleaning out papers yesterday and came upon a response in 2019 from my (pre-seditious) congressman, which ended with "I will keep your thoughts in mind should any legislation related to the Green New Deal comes before me for a vote in the House of Representatives...I am here to help in any way possible...I look forward to hearing from you again." Well guess who he's gonna be hearin' from again and again, as Biden's matter-of-fact environmental measures, which "cleanly" resemble the GND, hit Congress! The Republican party is now split 3 ways to Sunday - NOW is the time to Act! Write, Call, March, Donate..."
MaryPat and I was having such a wonderful fantasy of your congressman being a doofus . . Ah well. I am not faulting you for rapid typing--I have to be vigilant about my own posts!!
Everyone should. If you vote in Florida, here are two numbers to call: Sen. Rick Scott - 202 224 5274 and Sen. Marco Rubio - 202 224 3041. You can leave a message which will be counted.
Twenty years ago I read that the White House considers each call or communication as representing opinions of 100 other people. Congressional offices make similar calculations. Write on!
Zowie MaryPat. I knew that illiterates were running the show but that is stunning. Do you think he wrote it and had an intern send it out without spellcheck enabled? Or the other way around?
Rep. Kinzinger says that people who used to be friends have declared that he's joined Satan's army and they won't have anything to do with him anymore, and he's very conservative.
So maybe it's hopeless, but I figure a lot of these guys think everyone agrees with them because we don't take them on and they never get out of the echo chamber. I've decided to fight them, not let this nonsense go unanswered. I find a popular political video or article then scan for the Q-crazy/Trumpian comments--they're always there, and they're all outrageous, but they're repetitive (it wasn't MAGAhats at the Capitol, it was Antifa, etc.), and I've got a collection of good sources to back me up. Most fight back but some concede, which makes my day.
Let's just take them on, point by point, claim by absurd claim, and just not let them carry the day by our silence
If you don't convince the True Believers to change their tune, at least you demonstrate skillful persuasive conversation. Invite them to join you in joyful sanity.
The later it gets the meaner I get, but it seems to work better when I don,'t call them Deplorables and do address the issue rather than their, shall we say, gullibility--take the attitude that they're just lacking data
Use your anger to fight. There are many more of us. We need all the seditionists to be removed by legal means. I have written or called every one of them and demanded they step down as they are demonstrating they do not support our democratic republic. They do not deserve to be civil servants of our country. Take them down for seditious acts. We have their signed statements that they want to throw out our 2020 election despite 60+ courts that said they have no proof. Reasoning will not work with fanatic cult members. We need our laws to support our democracy.
I agree. Our passionate clear firm statements of the facts of the matter, and our statement to officials, elected or appointed, make a huge amount of sense. -- Flood the zone with good sense. --
Q believers and their slightly less psychotic brethren -- the ordinary Trumpists -- don't respond to any zone that is flooded with good sense. I think they must turn around and walk the other way when they get to one of those zones.
Apparently the Proud Boys replaced their usual costumes with all black for the attack on the Capitol. Some people may genuinely mistaken them for antifa as a result. That's in addition to all the outright lies blaming antifa, which were quickly shredded by the rioters themselves.
I have been observing this for quite some time now. There’s a lot of tribalism involved here. I think that you cannot browbeat people into agreeing with you. You cannot shame people into changing their mind. I think that many are very uneducated and relying on a false sense of religion a false idea of Christianity, of which I am not a member. But I do know that shame and confrontation when use together does not work to change minds.
My elected officials at the moment are all on the side of the angels, but whenever they ask for comments, I definitely oblige.
On the other hand, my own sister voted for Trump and asked me a while ago what I thought about the story that Hillary had had her aide killed--I silenced her with a barrage of outrage but now realize that I may never again get the chance to convince her because she might never again tell me what she's thinking.
Like most of us, though, I'm surrounded by people of similar beliefs, which makes us lazy about putting them into convincing words and lulls us into assuming that our rationality will carry the day. We're our own echo chamber, which leads us to be shocked into silence when we do hear the lying messages from the other side.
The fighting I was talking about, though, is with strangers on the Internet, not Q Anon sites per se, just articles and videos, like Schwarzenegger's speech, or even Washington Post articles, which attract a lot of comments from both sides. I comb them, groom them from top to bottom and answer/argue with any I find to be untrue (not just angry).
Only one person so far has noticed that I appear over and over on the same string--they're mostly just interested in responses to their own comments. Some people do battle with me day after day, and one got frantic when I'd been away for a while, assumng more and more heinous reasons for my silence. Still, after a while, many calm down and find something to agree about.
The Q people (or maybe just Fox Trumpites) have a set range of responses on every issue, and these people just feel they're asserting absolute truth when they put one of those statements out there. It's become easy to counter them (at first, I would have to do research--what on earth is this loony talking about?) even using sources they might respect (a local Fox station, for instance) as well as the fact-checking sites. For the Capitol incursion I've saved a set of links for every occasion--BLM murdered thousands (nope) and cities are still burning (nope) so why don't you criticize those? (many did), just stating the counter-facts clearly before giving the link (to stir them up enough that they actually look at the source that's got them so outraged). When I'm tired I might slip up and call them idiots, but usually a flat statement of fact gets more of a reaction.
And it's fun. And addictive. Some nights I forget to go to bed. I like the sites that let you go back and correct an earlier post--those late nights are no friends to grammar and syntax.
I do exactly that, too. Recently I did a lot of commenting on another substack blog, one run by Matt Taibbi. He has attracted a lot of Trumpers as well as a few anti-Trumps. Usually only the pro-Trumps comment, but a few anti-Trumps might back me up from time to time. However, I've quit that now because it turns out there are just not enough thinkers, mostly just troll types. Very disappointing. Here on Heather's substack, I get real conversations with real people! On the Taibbi blog, some of the commenters actually seem to be bots! So silly, really. What is the point? Well, I think those trolls and their troll-bots basically want to disrupt our dialog. It's just one more way to weaken the US.
Thank you, P and R. I came here partly as a refugee from the Boston Globe's inanities and trolls; not worth the aggravation tho I kept the subscrip. There is much value in congregating among like-minded folks. There is an echo-chamber aspect, but also many good insights and phrasings that go beyond simple reinforcement. And so many helpful links, book titles, resources. Keep them coming.
I subscribe to the Dispatch on Substack and there are mostly anti-Trumpers, some real died in the wool conservatives/Republicans and a good number of those left of center who are veterans of battling on NRO. There are a few proTrumps but they end up incensed and tend to flounce. Anyhow, I have found that Trumpers and Qholes are generally impermeable to facts and the only reasonable people left on the Right are Never-Trumper Conservatives. We disagree but it is good to keep the conversational and debate muscles working because worthy intellectual opposition is what protects us from our own excesses. It also keeps me in practice of understanding others and keeping in mind we are all Americans with many other things in common. Some things I learned is that we all do not want the same things with just different ways of getting there. I have no illusion that anything I post will cause them to reexamine their own beliefs or opinions on points of contention. They have their litany of democratic sins which appear to leap across decades and decades with an almost reptilian memory.
By NRO do you mean National Review Online? It seems you and I might have some common factors in our politics.
With respect to Never-Trump Conservatives, I am favorably impressed with some of them. I never admired Reagan-style conservatism because of the religious fanatics, racists and other bad types who climbed onto the Reagan bandwagon.
But when I was younger there were decent real conservatives who had nothing to do with these various mad factions, and some of their ideas were not bad.
Unfortunately I've never been able to vote for a real conservative because they basically either disappeared or signed up with one or more of the other "Republican big tent" extremist factions.
Now, when I watch the never-Trump Republicans finally show some honesty and backbone, I can forgive some of their former excesses.
At the moment I feel very unsure about most Democrats. My impression is that Democrats right now seem able to survive without taking strong stands on much of anything, so they seldom have to reveal their political beliefs. One strong point In favor of Democrats is that they do not seem to be mixed up with too many cult-like factions, which is indeed a relief. Currently I am cautiously optimistic about Joe Biden.
That sounds like a pretty good idea, as long as you can be calm and methodical, not angry and emotional. Usually I can do that in a comments section like this one. Unfortunately in person or on the phone I'm not so great at it.
You are exactly right. This is why I find this so incredibly distressing - we were the ones who fought the evil in WWII so now that we have become the evil it is hard not to despair. This feels like a truly existential crisis for humanity and the world.
Be involved as much as you can. Your vote counts also. Do not let the craziness rule your life, this does not change who you are and what values you stand for.
Karen, my mom and I write postcards for PostcardsToVoters.org, an organization that started in 2017. There are 80,000 of us across the country now writing millions of postcards to Democratic voters. We have made an amazing difference in races that likely would have gone to the Republican candidate. There is something about getting a handwritten card that affects people: They put the card on their fridges; they bring them to the polling station.
We have not stopped just because the presidential election is over. We are involved in every level of elections. And as we now understand more than ever how important state legislatures are, state level judiciary election, local elections of all sorts, this is something concrete to fight for. We have the numbers in so many places. We just need to continue to get them out.
I have called Reps and Senators, and I do think that's important. But writing these cards feels much more tangible. There is an army of us, Karen, quietly writing these cards all the time. On the site, you can read about the races where our cards made a real difference. If you are not a phone banking person (I am not!), if you are not always sure where to send a limited amount of money, I invite you to join us.
Please know I am not dismissing anything you say here. Every bit as ugly as the evils we fought in WWII -- YES. And that feeling of not knowing where to run for safety but also not knowing how to fight? Wow, well put. I am living with that terror as well and it is excruciating. I'm only mentioning one way that I have found that gives me some sense that I can do my part in not allowing them to win.
I'm not sure if I learned about PostcardstoVoters.org from you, Nomi, or from someone else on this forum; however, I did write 100 to GA voters and you have now given me the impetus to check the website again for other elections - perhaps even for my own state, which while predominantly Blue in national elections has numerous Red counties with at least two US Reps who signed on to the efforts to declare the Presidential election a steal. I'm not their constituent but I know there are quite a few voters in their districts that must be disgusted.
Lanita, hi! At the moment, there is no active campaign. But do keep checking. We just wrote for a few special elections, and there will be others.
Having representatives from your own state who are supporting these dangerous lies must be maddening. And, yes, who knows, with more Democratic turnout, they may not have the support they need to get reelected. Wouldn't that be great.
(Deleted the other comments because I misspelled your name.)
I feel the same Karen. The joy of the inauguration was very short lived and on that day I exhaled a lot but also felt an immense sense of foreboding.
For me, and for others for which the entire picture is just too overwhelming to look at, I have 2 causes I focus on: children with disabilities and protecting public lands. These topics are embedded in my career choice and my self care hobby of hiking and being an outdoors woman. In other words, I keep my focus narrow. I oftentimes remind others to choose a cause. There are many. Then roll up your sleeves and get involved in that cause. Or two.
And especially true during this plague, I find solitude and smaller amounts of time with only people who bring me joy to be good self care.
One of my most favorite quotes from Mother Teresa: ‘Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.’
Excellent advice. It's so easy to despair if you look too broadly and deeply into the current situation or into history. Pick an issue that you feel strongly about and concentrate there.
I think we fight by being calm clear and persistent. We keep saying the things that are true. We stand in our strength and we do what we can every day to make this world a better place. I cannot think of anything else to do about this. I also try to educate myself and be an active listener.
"We want to work in good faith...,” the senators wrote. After years in which Republican senators refused to discuss bills with the Democrats, this is a change indeed."
So here I'll say it once again - the GOP's failure to miss the irony in this statement was laughable at one point. It's now contemptible. For Susan Collins, of all people (yes, I know she's HCR's senator) to express her "concerns" about unity while presenting a counterproposal cutting the president's by 66%, after not pushing McConnell to even create a COVID proposal months after the House has submitted one, is pure farce. From whence does her moral authority arise?
We all had high hopes that Trump's exit would signal a period of less contention, if not actual cooperation. Yet each day brings news of greater intransigence, of more attempts to continue Trump's dismantling of democratic processes and norms, of efforts to whitewash, downplay, and evade accountability for those efforts, including the sacking of Congress, and of preposterous behavior by elected officials who don't actually have any constructive political policy agenda.
To anthropomorphize the coronavirus, many in the GOP have themselves become a virus, the symptoms of which are an onset of malaise, tone deaf ears, choking the oxygen from the political collaboration needed to protect the nation's well-being, and generally weakening our system's immunity to corruption and authoritarianism.
We're in the heart of winter, a time Fauci and others feared would exacerbate the damage of coronavirus because we'd be closed in, because the annual flu virus would also be active, because we're tapped out on the isolation of social distancing. I went to Charleston SC this weekend for a golf trip. Golf has been a godsend this past year as it allowed the chance to get out of the house, to spend time with friends while maintaining safe distancesc from each other. We wore masks in the car, walked or took individual carts while playing, and generally taking the precautions we've been advised to take. We made one mistake. We went into the city to go to dinner. In an area where police have occasionally ticketed people for walking in public without a mask, the restaurants and bars were packed, not three slightest pretense of distancing aside from requiring a mask to enter. Once inside one was free to spread contagion. I'm a cancer patient with a lymphocyte count at 40% of normal, even two years in remission. This was an incredibly stupid action on my part. Midway through dinner my anxiety about the environment overcame my desire for a nice dinner with friends and I left. I'm kicking myself for letting my guard down. No symptoms (yet) but it's clear that given half a chance, Americans will want to put safety protocols behind us as fast as we can, telling ourselves most people recover from COVID quickly, or have no symptoms, or just "it's gonna be some other person" who gets sick.
Biden must act on measures which, according to HCR's column, are or would be popular despite the objections of certain Republicans. He must make clear that Trump-like obstructionism doesn't control the conversation anymore. He must prove Robert Reich's premise to be true, that “the real reason Republicans want to block Biden is they fear his plans will work.”
Scott, I feel for you. I am about to start chemotherapy, and my fury that I cannot get vaccinated before I become immunocompromised is pretty overwhelming. I think I’m probably looking at nine more months of isolation, unable to see my children as I embark on this battle. Many of us have let our guards down from time to time - the need for contact is real, too. My thoughts are with you, with fingers crossed.
It is a strong statement of your courage for you to offer encouragement to Scott while in a situation that would move most of us to offer the same for you. It is well said that "what goes around comes around" and I pray that is the case for you and, nine months hence, you rejoin your family after a full recovery.
The ineptitude of our governments in distributing the vaccine is inexcusable, especially in cases like yours and Scott's.
Thank you, Dave. We always knew the rollout would take time, and thank god we have competent people working on it now. I suspect that if I had been diagnosed in March instead of January, I wouldn’t have this problem. My misfortune. Luckily we are resilient, and with improving weather, maybe it won’t be so bad and we’ll be able to meet outdoors.
I love these stories. I too am a breast cancer survivor of just over 5 years. I too wish you health! BTW: people call chemo poison. I called it a lifesaver, albeit a somewhat unsavory lifesaver. Just an aside, I live in CO where marijuana has been legal for quite awhile. Edibles were my saving grace, just sayin’...
Breast cancer survivor here, too. 2.5 years out, ~halfway through My 5-year Tamoxifen course, grateful for this drug. Sending you survivors all my support and good wishes. 💛
The Republican’s offer of 600 B as a compromise should be considered with appropriate solemnity, and a counter offer of 2.0 T should be made by President Biden. The President and his spokespersons should highlight to all Americans that are in food lines, homeless, cold, desperate and disillusioned that it is Republicans that feel enough has been done. Every governor and mayor across the land should speak to the needs of the states to provide resources to get vaccines to the people. TO PREVENT FURTHER DEATH of innocent people.
West Virginia has the lowest average family income in the country, if I read the articles properly. Manchin and his family make millions off of energy holdings every year. He is a two term governor and now must be in his 3rd term as senator. So what indeed has he done for his people? Protected them from having their guns taken away, from having transgender bathrooms, gay marriage? Not of course improving school systems or health care, or curtailing mining practices that destroy state resources. Not sending new generations into mines that destroy lungs.
Biden and his team should go to every red state to hold seminars and press briefings weekly. Press the issues to the real people who are suffering. Put it in the face of every republican voter.
Biden and Harris should invite Manchin and Sinema to tea. They should also invite Stacey Abrams.
Finally I wish again to call attention to the fact that we will see the death toll of INNOCENT AMERICANS reach 500 THOUSAND by the end of February!
This is NOT an ecomomic crisis. This is a NATURAL DISASTER causing and ecomomic crisis. We cannot spend ENOUGH MONEY FAST ENOUGH to fight covid. There is not any room for rational debate.
I love you Bill. Have I told you that recently? " . . . a counter offer of 2.0 trillion . . ."
Yes! Every time they undercut the funding, raise the stakes!
Yes! I did this at my yard sale for my father's estate. Anyone who would lowball me I would up the ante. Way fun and satisfying🥰
Knowing the "loyal opposition" is going to take an axe to any legislation the 2020 election winning team puts on the table, to show their home-voters they're very serious gum-chewers (and I should talk with my $2/day Orbit gum habit), a good strategy is to add some boiler-plate idiot must-have programs for the axe hackers to have something to wack on. I suggest, provision for a committee to study the idea of getting the Earth to reverse its direction of spin; fund a foundation to promote the cause of supporting motherhood and fighting death. My fall-back for a super-spender event relief spend-away winner is the (in development) do-it-yourself prefrontal lobotomy kit, small, medium, or large, with a high-tech kazoo and self-guiding instructions about how to whistle while you work as a come-on.
I'd like to add a major project to build a wall around the edge of the earth, so that when people come to the edge, they don't fall off.
Ha-ha.
Why is there no "laugh" emoji? As she laughs.
I agree that there need to be someone(s) going to red states to hold press briefings and seminars or whatever on a weekly basis. “Press the issue to the real people who are suffering. Put it in the face of every republican voter.” Yes! Get local and hammer on the facts and the message. This needs to be done.
Since I can 💙 only once, here it what I really think of your observation: 💕💕💕💕💕💕💕
💜💙💚💛🧡❤
"Biden and his team should go to every red state to hold seminars and press briefings weekly. Press the issues to the real people who are suffering. Put it in the face of every republican voter."
I like this idea! Do you mind if I pass it along to my Senators (Murray and Cantwell) and Representative (Larsen)?
Spread the word!
The pandemic I would agree is a natural disaster. But the failure of our government to provide for its citizens is a "failure by design" enacted by radically dangerous Republicans for the last 50 years. It is time politically to return these dangerous anti-democratic minds to the underside of the political rock from which they emerged, working to make as whole as possible all those seriously wounded or killed by their rapacious and reckless actions.
Which is why I have mused several times about manslaughter. Absolute dereliction of duty. Every elected Republican is complicit!
Your musing is not some wild concoction. There is moral substance to it. Politicians should be held accountable for egregious actions which harm people and our republic. At this time, our congress is struggling with that very question, and we can see how averse the practitioners of predatory capitalism are against having to answer that question.
On human-made "natural" disasters:
Neil Coleman, Johnstown’s Flood of 1889
Mike Davis, Late Victorian Holocausts
Naomi Klein, The Shock Doctrine
Negligent homicide?
In most states, Homeless people.cannot vote.
Ah, there you are, Judith! I've been looking everywhere for you!!
I could not for the life of me locate your post in this avalanche, the post which says "Really? The U.S. problems and the threat to Free Enterprise are the Biggest Problems in the World?? The manta Rays and sharks are dying off as they swim in the heated oceans, and the threat to freedom is the Biggest Probl . . . " and then it was cut off. [I corrected a few of your typos]
So here's my reply.
"Of course Judith, you are correct. Allow me to rephrase.
I listed the biggest political problems in the world, the biggest problems of policy in society. We are on Heather Cox Richardson's platform, in her living room.
The number one biggest problem in the world is overpopulation. Overpopulation and mismanagement of the planet by human society is way more important than society's problems, OF COURSE. You are absolutely correct."
Hello Roland, I deleted my comment because I realized before I finished since this is a history and political thread, you probably were focused on the largest political problem.
😲😥😡
I see 2T. and 600B. as opening bids in this extremely high stakes poker game. I see the numbers as where compromise begins. And it’s not just money; it’s each side needing to say for political reasons that it negotiated itself into being the winner and its opponent is thus the loser. Both parties need to stop operating as if this is a “game” and a zero-sum game at that. Otherwise, compromise, so badly needed now, will never be seen as a positive, valuable, and essential approach to legislating.
Tell Repugs that opening bids start at $1.5 trillion.
heck, counter with original proposal plus checks for the full $2000 now, and again every 6 weeks for 6 months.
People are suffering, dying every day! People seem more concerned with Reddit, Robinhood, and integrity of the stock market. EVERYTHING IS RELATED TO STOPPING COVID! Remember that we can barrow FREE money. Interest rates near zero.
And climate change will make Covid look like a picnic. We must control the virus and it’s offspring now and start re-tooling for for the climate changes in a continuous effort.
This is the logical outcome of “government is the enemy”. Government is the means to stop wars! Agreeing to honor law and elections peacefully.
There is no "compromise" to be had, since if Biden was stupid enough to take the bait, after they knocked his package down, they wouldn't vote for it - the same trick they pulled with the Recovery Relief Act in 2009.
Every single one of them needs to be sprayed in the face from a distance of 2 feet with Mace aerosol. A good 2 minute dose. Then leave them writhing and screaming in agony.
He has to try. He also has to make it known that he is trying to help the American people while they are not. He’s not stupid and he and his people are politically savvy.
This idea that $600B is a "compromise" proposal is ridiculous and insulting. It's 1/3 of what Biden is planning for. The Republicans are saying either, a) the plans are bloated with 3x inflated estimates, or b) 2/3 of what's in the plan is unnecessary and should be eliminated. Either interpretation is a slap-in-the-face insult. If that's the best the Republicans can to toward "bipartisanship," they need a little picture drawn for them to explain exactly where they can put their bipartisanship.
How do you cut 2/3 out of the estimated cost of rebuilding a basic house? Eliminate three walls, tilt the fourth wall to serve as as a lean-to, roll in a couple of 50 gallon drums full of garbage for heat, and dig a privy in the back yard?
Geez....
Manchin is profiting from the scalping and shaving of Beautiful West Virginia mountains. A friend in Richwood where I once lived said that their "100 year flood" which ruined our town a few years back, was actually caused by big mining and forestry corporations denuding the mountains up river so there was none of the normal rain absorption (he hikes back in to his old family homestead). Thousand out of work and homeless. Oh, well.
This thing that we have been living with for the past four years is not over. I cannot understand the thinking that drives people to support this - it is utter insanity to me. But they will not go quietly into the night and I fear our country is in further danger of being ripped apart by this hate that walks among us. I never thought we would see this kind of evil in our country, in our lifetimes yet, here it is. Every bit as ugly as the evils we fought in WWII, if not worse. I don’t know how or where to run for safety but I also don’t know how to fight.
Here’s another option Karen. This week is really important. There is no safe place from crazy and fighting won’t work against truck fuels of guns, but you can call and email your reps and the White House and let them know where you stand and why. Especially the Republicans.
I emailed my Trump Sycophant Republican twice last week. I don't know why I bother, however someone has to
I'm glad you do bother to write! My husband was a Congressional staffer for many years, and he always told me they carefully track and count calls and emails on the issues. It matters what you're doing - thank you. In my blue state, I need to be better about regularly calling my Democratic reps and senators to say I stand with them and thank them
Thank you, Claire, for telling me this. Really appreciate encouragement that communicating with them matters. ❤️🤍💙
I also need to be better about contacting my Senators. Both are Democrats and Biden supporters
The times I've called my Democratic Senators, I can almost hear the staffer's shoulders relax a notch when I tell them I appreciate their work and everything the Senator and her/his staff do for us. It makes me so sad that they're now literally risking their lives as Members and Congressional staff
Yes, I get lazy about calling Hickenlooper, DeGette and Bennet. Boebert, from the other side of the state is a real nut case and most Coloradans that I talk to can’t stand her. I also thought this was over. Biden CANNOT COMPROMISE! But I think he knows that!
Yes, I tend to take the wonderful Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters for granted (and then we almost lost Peters to Republican deception and lies and mendacity and ...)
I wrote to Upton, Stabenow, and Peters last night.
Feel free to use any of my text.
I said household because we have 4 registered voters here.
In hindsight, I should have listed more than MTG, but it was late!!
" I appreciate your stance to vote in favor of proceeding with the impeachment of our former president. I hope you remain steadfast in and vote to convict. Our household believes that the former president should be held accountable for his words and actions."
The second issue is that our household is vehemently against Representative Marjorie Taylor-Greene. It is appalling that she has been assigned to an education committee. She should not serve on ANY committee. She may be an elected representative and my opinion can't change that. I urge you to denounce her rhetoric, and vote to remove her from ANY committees. Again, this household is politically engaged and will monitor your actions. Please consider the opinions of this constituent.
Yes. And the Peters race was WAY too close.
So glad you did. I have a state senator who is a Republican. It takes extra thought to contact him. I remind myself that I'm his constituent and that a careful, firm, reasoned, passionate statement FROM HIS CONSTITUENT at the least tells him that not every voter in his district supports nonsense.
I contacted Fred Upton (R) with this:
I am your constituent in Name of City....
We have 4 registered voters in our household. (3 of the 4 did NOT vote for him in the last election.)
Message:
I appreciate your stance to vote in favor of proceeding with the impeachment of our former president. I hope you remain steadfast in and vote to convict. Our household believes that the former president should be held accountable for his words and actions. We will monitor your stance and votes going forward. Your decisions will affect our future votes for you should you run for office again.
We share concern and hope for your continued safety. It is awful that this is another issue for you to monitor. Stay safe and well.
The second issue is that our household is vehemently against Representative Marjorie Taylor-Greene. It is appalling that she has been assigned to an education committee. She should not serve on ANY committee. She may be an elected representative and my opinion can't change that. BUT, I urge you to denounce her rhetoric, and vote to remove her from ANY committees. Again, this household is politically engaged and will monitor your actions.
Please consider the opinions of this constituent. Thank you.
A very sound template, thank you, Julie. One small suggestion is to keep the messages short if possible.
Well said!
I am inspired! I was cleaning out papers yesterday and came upon a response in 2019 from my (pre-seditious) congressman, which ended with "I will keep your thoughts in mind should any legislation related to the Green New Deal comes before me for a vote in the House of Representatives...I am here to help in any way possible...I look forward to hearing from you again." Well guess who he's gonna be hearin' from again and again, as Biden's matter-of-fact environmental measures, which "cleanly" resemble the GND, hit Congress! The Republican party is now split 3 ways to Sunday - NOW is the time to Act! Write, Call, March, Donate..."
MaryPat and I was having such a wonderful fantasy of your congressman being a doofus . . Ah well. I am not faulting you for rapid typing--I have to be vigilant about my own posts!!
He is a doofus though, a smart idiot.
Everyone should. If you vote in Florida, here are two numbers to call: Sen. Rick Scott - 202 224 5274 and Sen. Marco Rubio - 202 224 3041. You can leave a message which will be counted.
I'll exactly that.
Tik Tok, Tik Tok!
I feel the same way. But they’re all I’ve got.
We all must!
Twenty years ago I read that the White House considers each call or communication as representing opinions of 100 other people. Congressional offices make similar calculations. Write on!
Zowie MaryPat. I knew that illiterates were running the show but that is stunning. Do you think he wrote it and had an intern send it out without spellcheck enabled? Or the other way around?
Okay - spelling errors are mine and I was too lazy to delete and repost but I will!
Yes, this! 👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻Keep calling and writing your Senators and Congressional Rep. It can make a difference.
trucks full of guns (to save democracy)
Rep. Kinzinger says that people who used to be friends have declared that he's joined Satan's army and they won't have anything to do with him anymore, and he's very conservative.
So maybe it's hopeless, but I figure a lot of these guys think everyone agrees with them because we don't take them on and they never get out of the echo chamber. I've decided to fight them, not let this nonsense go unanswered. I find a popular political video or article then scan for the Q-crazy/Trumpian comments--they're always there, and they're all outrageous, but they're repetitive (it wasn't MAGAhats at the Capitol, it was Antifa, etc.), and I've got a collection of good sources to back me up. Most fight back but some concede, which makes my day.
Let's just take them on, point by point, claim by absurd claim, and just not let them carry the day by our silence
If you don't convince the True Believers to change their tune, at least you demonstrate skillful persuasive conversation. Invite them to join you in joyful sanity.
The later it gets the meaner I get, but it seems to work better when I don,'t call them Deplorables and do address the issue rather than their, shall we say, gullibility--take the attitude that they're just lacking data
Use your anger to fight. There are many more of us. We need all the seditionists to be removed by legal means. I have written or called every one of them and demanded they step down as they are demonstrating they do not support our democratic republic. They do not deserve to be civil servants of our country. Take them down for seditious acts. We have their signed statements that they want to throw out our 2020 election despite 60+ courts that said they have no proof. Reasoning will not work with fanatic cult members. We need our laws to support our democracy.
I agree. Our passionate clear firm statements of the facts of the matter, and our statement to officials, elected or appointed, make a huge amount of sense. -- Flood the zone with good sense. --
Q believers and their slightly less psychotic brethren -- the ordinary Trumpists -- don't respond to any zone that is flooded with good sense. I think they must turn around and walk the other way when they get to one of those zones.
Extirpate them root and branch. Legally and nonviolently, of course.
Apparently the Proud Boys replaced their usual costumes with all black for the attack on the Capitol. Some people may genuinely mistaken them for antifa as a result. That's in addition to all the outright lies blaming antifa, which were quickly shredded by the rioters themselves.
Good for you and thank you. It’s not for the faint of heart.
I have been observing this for quite some time now. There’s a lot of tribalism involved here. I think that you cannot browbeat people into agreeing with you. You cannot shame people into changing their mind. I think that many are very uneducated and relying on a false sense of religion a false idea of Christianity, of which I am not a member. But I do know that shame and confrontation when use together does not work to change minds.
I don't think I'd respond well to shaming and browbeating either
Sounds like a sound approach, Pat. Who do you write to -- elected officials, newspapers, friends or acquaintances? Maybe all of the above?!
My elected officials at the moment are all on the side of the angels, but whenever they ask for comments, I definitely oblige.
On the other hand, my own sister voted for Trump and asked me a while ago what I thought about the story that Hillary had had her aide killed--I silenced her with a barrage of outrage but now realize that I may never again get the chance to convince her because she might never again tell me what she's thinking.
Like most of us, though, I'm surrounded by people of similar beliefs, which makes us lazy about putting them into convincing words and lulls us into assuming that our rationality will carry the day. We're our own echo chamber, which leads us to be shocked into silence when we do hear the lying messages from the other side.
The fighting I was talking about, though, is with strangers on the Internet, not Q Anon sites per se, just articles and videos, like Schwarzenegger's speech, or even Washington Post articles, which attract a lot of comments from both sides. I comb them, groom them from top to bottom and answer/argue with any I find to be untrue (not just angry).
Only one person so far has noticed that I appear over and over on the same string--they're mostly just interested in responses to their own comments. Some people do battle with me day after day, and one got frantic when I'd been away for a while, assumng more and more heinous reasons for my silence. Still, after a while, many calm down and find something to agree about.
The Q people (or maybe just Fox Trumpites) have a set range of responses on every issue, and these people just feel they're asserting absolute truth when they put one of those statements out there. It's become easy to counter them (at first, I would have to do research--what on earth is this loony talking about?) even using sources they might respect (a local Fox station, for instance) as well as the fact-checking sites. For the Capitol incursion I've saved a set of links for every occasion--BLM murdered thousands (nope) and cities are still burning (nope) so why don't you criticize those? (many did), just stating the counter-facts clearly before giving the link (to stir them up enough that they actually look at the source that's got them so outraged). When I'm tired I might slip up and call them idiots, but usually a flat statement of fact gets more of a reaction.
And it's fun. And addictive. Some nights I forget to go to bed. I like the sites that let you go back and correct an earlier post--those late nights are no friends to grammar and syntax.
I do exactly that, too. Recently I did a lot of commenting on another substack blog, one run by Matt Taibbi. He has attracted a lot of Trumpers as well as a few anti-Trumps. Usually only the pro-Trumps comment, but a few anti-Trumps might back me up from time to time. However, I've quit that now because it turns out there are just not enough thinkers, mostly just troll types. Very disappointing. Here on Heather's substack, I get real conversations with real people! On the Taibbi blog, some of the commenters actually seem to be bots! So silly, really. What is the point? Well, I think those trolls and their troll-bots basically want to disrupt our dialog. It's just one more way to weaken the US.
Thank you, P and R. I came here partly as a refugee from the Boston Globe's inanities and trolls; not worth the aggravation tho I kept the subscrip. There is much value in congregating among like-minded folks. There is an echo-chamber aspect, but also many good insights and phrasings that go beyond simple reinforcement. And so many helpful links, book titles, resources. Keep them coming.
I subscribe to the Dispatch on Substack and there are mostly anti-Trumpers, some real died in the wool conservatives/Republicans and a good number of those left of center who are veterans of battling on NRO. There are a few proTrumps but they end up incensed and tend to flounce. Anyhow, I have found that Trumpers and Qholes are generally impermeable to facts and the only reasonable people left on the Right are Never-Trumper Conservatives. We disagree but it is good to keep the conversational and debate muscles working because worthy intellectual opposition is what protects us from our own excesses. It also keeps me in practice of understanding others and keeping in mind we are all Americans with many other things in common. Some things I learned is that we all do not want the same things with just different ways of getting there. I have no illusion that anything I post will cause them to reexamine their own beliefs or opinions on points of contention. They have their litany of democratic sins which appear to leap across decades and decades with an almost reptilian memory.
cheerio, thank you for your reply.
By NRO do you mean National Review Online? It seems you and I might have some common factors in our politics.
With respect to Never-Trump Conservatives, I am favorably impressed with some of them. I never admired Reagan-style conservatism because of the religious fanatics, racists and other bad types who climbed onto the Reagan bandwagon.
But when I was younger there were decent real conservatives who had nothing to do with these various mad factions, and some of their ideas were not bad.
Unfortunately I've never been able to vote for a real conservative because they basically either disappeared or signed up with one or more of the other "Republican big tent" extremist factions.
Now, when I watch the never-Trump Republicans finally show some honesty and backbone, I can forgive some of their former excesses.
At the moment I feel very unsure about most Democrats. My impression is that Democrats right now seem able to survive without taking strong stands on much of anything, so they seldom have to reveal their political beliefs. One strong point In favor of Democrats is that they do not seem to be mixed up with too many cult-like factions, which is indeed a relief. Currently I am cautiously optimistic about Joe Biden.
That sounds like a pretty good idea, as long as you can be calm and methodical, not angry and emotional. Usually I can do that in a comments section like this one. Unfortunately in person or on the phone I'm not so great at it.
The difference between now and WW2 is that the evil is here, not there.
You are exactly right. This is why I find this so incredibly distressing - we were the ones who fought the evil in WWII so now that we have become the evil it is hard not to despair. This feels like a truly existential crisis for humanity and the world.
Thank you Claudia, for the reminder.
https://indivisible.org/ Karen, this is worth the read.
Thank you, R Dooley.
I hope you find it helpful - I did.
Great reminder!!
Be involved as much as you can. Your vote counts also. Do not let the craziness rule your life, this does not change who you are and what values you stand for.
Karen, my mom and I write postcards for PostcardsToVoters.org, an organization that started in 2017. There are 80,000 of us across the country now writing millions of postcards to Democratic voters. We have made an amazing difference in races that likely would have gone to the Republican candidate. There is something about getting a handwritten card that affects people: They put the card on their fridges; they bring them to the polling station.
We have not stopped just because the presidential election is over. We are involved in every level of elections. And as we now understand more than ever how important state legislatures are, state level judiciary election, local elections of all sorts, this is something concrete to fight for. We have the numbers in so many places. We just need to continue to get them out.
I have called Reps and Senators, and I do think that's important. But writing these cards feels much more tangible. There is an army of us, Karen, quietly writing these cards all the time. On the site, you can read about the races where our cards made a real difference. If you are not a phone banking person (I am not!), if you are not always sure where to send a limited amount of money, I invite you to join us.
Please know I am not dismissing anything you say here. Every bit as ugly as the evils we fought in WWII -- YES. And that feeling of not knowing where to run for safety but also not knowing how to fight? Wow, well put. I am living with that terror as well and it is excruciating. I'm only mentioning one way that I have found that gives me some sense that I can do my part in not allowing them to win.
I'm not sure if I learned about PostcardstoVoters.org from you, Nomi, or from someone else on this forum; however, I did write 100 to GA voters and you have now given me the impetus to check the website again for other elections - perhaps even for my own state, which while predominantly Blue in national elections has numerous Red counties with at least two US Reps who signed on to the efforts to declare the Presidential election a steal. I'm not their constituent but I know there are quite a few voters in their districts that must be disgusted.
Lanita, hi! At the moment, there is no active campaign. But do keep checking. We just wrote for a few special elections, and there will be others.
Having representatives from your own state who are supporting these dangerous lies must be maddening. And, yes, who knows, with more Democratic turnout, they may not have the support they need to get reelected. Wouldn't that be great.
(Deleted the other comments because I misspelled your name.)
I feel the same Karen. The joy of the inauguration was very short lived and on that day I exhaled a lot but also felt an immense sense of foreboding.
For me, and for others for which the entire picture is just too overwhelming to look at, I have 2 causes I focus on: children with disabilities and protecting public lands. These topics are embedded in my career choice and my self care hobby of hiking and being an outdoors woman. In other words, I keep my focus narrow. I oftentimes remind others to choose a cause. There are many. Then roll up your sleeves and get involved in that cause. Or two.
And especially true during this plague, I find solitude and smaller amounts of time with only people who bring me joy to be good self care.
One of my most favorite quotes from Mother Teresa: ‘Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.’
Peace and love to you, Karen.
Excellent advice. It's so easy to despair if you look too broadly and deeply into the current situation or into history. Pick an issue that you feel strongly about and concentrate there.
Thank you, Tricia. I do try to keep focused on only one or two causes that are meaningful to me. It certainly helps to narrow the focus.
I think we fight by being calm clear and persistent. We keep saying the things that are true. We stand in our strength and we do what we can every day to make this world a better place. I cannot think of anything else to do about this. I also try to educate myself and be an active listener.
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
—Emily Dickinson
Thank Godo we have "Emily's List."
One of my favorite poems !
"We want to work in good faith...,” the senators wrote. After years in which Republican senators refused to discuss bills with the Democrats, this is a change indeed."
So here I'll say it once again - the GOP's failure to miss the irony in this statement was laughable at one point. It's now contemptible. For Susan Collins, of all people (yes, I know she's HCR's senator) to express her "concerns" about unity while presenting a counterproposal cutting the president's by 66%, after not pushing McConnell to even create a COVID proposal months after the House has submitted one, is pure farce. From whence does her moral authority arise?
We all had high hopes that Trump's exit would signal a period of less contention, if not actual cooperation. Yet each day brings news of greater intransigence, of more attempts to continue Trump's dismantling of democratic processes and norms, of efforts to whitewash, downplay, and evade accountability for those efforts, including the sacking of Congress, and of preposterous behavior by elected officials who don't actually have any constructive political policy agenda.
To anthropomorphize the coronavirus, many in the GOP have themselves become a virus, the symptoms of which are an onset of malaise, tone deaf ears, choking the oxygen from the political collaboration needed to protect the nation's well-being, and generally weakening our system's immunity to corruption and authoritarianism.
We're in the heart of winter, a time Fauci and others feared would exacerbate the damage of coronavirus because we'd be closed in, because the annual flu virus would also be active, because we're tapped out on the isolation of social distancing. I went to Charleston SC this weekend for a golf trip. Golf has been a godsend this past year as it allowed the chance to get out of the house, to spend time with friends while maintaining safe distancesc from each other. We wore masks in the car, walked or took individual carts while playing, and generally taking the precautions we've been advised to take. We made one mistake. We went into the city to go to dinner. In an area where police have occasionally ticketed people for walking in public without a mask, the restaurants and bars were packed, not three slightest pretense of distancing aside from requiring a mask to enter. Once inside one was free to spread contagion. I'm a cancer patient with a lymphocyte count at 40% of normal, even two years in remission. This was an incredibly stupid action on my part. Midway through dinner my anxiety about the environment overcame my desire for a nice dinner with friends and I left. I'm kicking myself for letting my guard down. No symptoms (yet) but it's clear that given half a chance, Americans will want to put safety protocols behind us as fast as we can, telling ourselves most people recover from COVID quickly, or have no symptoms, or just "it's gonna be some other person" who gets sick.
Biden must act on measures which, according to HCR's column, are or would be popular despite the objections of certain Republicans. He must make clear that Trump-like obstructionism doesn't control the conversation anymore. He must prove Robert Reich's premise to be true, that “the real reason Republicans want to block Biden is they fear his plans will work.”
Scott, I feel for you. I am about to start chemotherapy, and my fury that I cannot get vaccinated before I become immunocompromised is pretty overwhelming. I think I’m probably looking at nine more months of isolation, unable to see my children as I embark on this battle. Many of us have let our guards down from time to time - the need for contact is real, too. My thoughts are with you, with fingers crossed.
It is a strong statement of your courage for you to offer encouragement to Scott while in a situation that would move most of us to offer the same for you. It is well said that "what goes around comes around" and I pray that is the case for you and, nine months hence, you rejoin your family after a full recovery.
The ineptitude of our governments in distributing the vaccine is inexcusable, especially in cases like yours and Scott's.
Thank you, Dave. We always knew the rollout would take time, and thank god we have competent people working on it now. I suspect that if I had been diagnosed in March instead of January, I wouldn’t have this problem. My misfortune. Luckily we are resilient, and with improving weather, maybe it won’t be so bad and we’ll be able to meet outdoors.
I’ll take your prayers, with gratitude!
I love these stories. I too am a breast cancer survivor of just over 5 years. I too wish you health! BTW: people call chemo poison. I called it a lifesaver, albeit a somewhat unsavory lifesaver. Just an aside, I live in CO where marijuana has been legal for quite awhile. Edibles were my saving grace, just sayin’...
Breast cancer survivor here, too. 2.5 years out, ~halfway through My 5-year Tamoxifen course, grateful for this drug. Sending you survivors all my support and good wishes. 💛
Me too...I am. 2 timer; the last time was 11 years ago. I was on Tamoxifen for 4 yrs 5 mo.