President Joe Biden launched his reelection campaign today with a speech at Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. He spoke after a visit to nearby Valley Forge, where General George Washington quartered his troops from December 1777 to June 1778 during the Revolutionary War in which the former colonies sought to establish their independence from Great Britain.
It’s a common tendency to think where we would move in case of an unthinkable Trump victory this year. Canada. Costa Rica. New freaking Zealand (“freaking” only b/c it’s such a long flight!). But when we consider the abject misery Washington’s Army endured wintering over in Valley Forge in the service of fighting tyranny, or what my grandfathers endured in WW2 fighting Nazis… We should not be thinking about going anywhere if he wins. Flawed and often broken, this country is still the essential nation, and we must keep fighting for its better nature now and forever.
I’m camped out here in Philly, voting and hustling, and I’ll be damned if I’m leaving.
Thank you, President Biden for delivering one of the most important speeches in the nation’s history. May it long be remembered as pivotal to saving our democracy and preventing dictatorship.
This reminds me of the Normandy invasion , the big opening salvo against those who would destroy Western Democracy. We are granted sacred Freedoms and those must be protected.
I would also commend President Biden in reaching out to historians on this past Wednesday including you Heather for the long view. How important that is that your influence reached both us and the highest levels. Thank you for that!
The former president has been howling, snarling and snorting, while raking it in; lying, cheating, sexually attacking women, verbally attacking every group imaginable, except for most White supremacists, and claiming to be the victim; destroying institutions and transforming the Party, formally known as The Grand Old Party (GOP, a.k.a. the Republican Party). He’s wildly popular with about a quarter of the American people, and he led his party in busting out of democracy; so imprisoning as in slowing their goal to destroy the state and make their fortunes the easy way. Isn’t that exactly what they have been doing for the last 45 years; yes, and no! Now, they’ve got Putin and Orban, more billionaires than ever, more Americans who welcome a strongman, and an authentic, charismatic, lying, crooked lunatic The Republicans had other good years back in the day, along with Democrats, but that’s another story. There hasn’t been anything like this before, but let’s not forget The Civil War!
The former president's accomplishments were infamous, but that old pol, a relic of the senate called, Biden, beat him for the Presidency in 2020. The presidency had to be stolen back for Trump because he claimed that ‘the election was rigged’. Stealing it back for the former president would be under the aegis of ‘Stop the Steal’. Wasn’t that a clever switcheroo?
It was time for a battle party. The former president planned it for January 6th, 2021 and tweeted his supporters, ‘Be There. Will Be Wild!’.
It was wild, and it was dangerous, and it was deadly.
Now, it is time to call upon the fine former Madame, Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, who happened to attend the former president’s battle party on January 6th.
'What January 6 Made Clear to Me'
'Our democratic institutions are only as strong as the courage of those entrusted with their care.'
By Nancy Pelosi
THE SIXTH OF JANUARY is the date prescribed in United States law for Congress to count the electoral votes in the presidential election. It is an occasion of high drama with specific requirements: the security of the mahogany boxes containing the states’ Electoral College certificates; the timing of the joint session of Congress, called to order at 1 p.m.; the precise rules that spell out that the debate on objections to the count shall proceed “clearly and concisely.”
On January 6, 2021, my daughter Alexandra brought her two sons to the Capitol to witness this historic occasion of a peaceful transfer of power. My grandsons did witness history that day, just not the history anyone expected.
The former president had long planned for the nullification of the election, sowing doubt about the results even before ballots were cast and challenging the results in the courts. So before the joint session, we prepared for the possibility of objections to the Electoral College votes by Republican members of Congress. It was clear that the results from Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin would be the targets. Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland strategized with members of Congress from those states about how we would respond to and defeat the objections on the House floor, based on the facts and the laws.
The joint session on January 6 was called to order at 1 o’clock by the vice president. The first Republican objection to a state electoral vote came with Arizona. During that debate, at about 2:15 p.m., my security detail rushed to the speaker’s chair and told me that I had to leave immediately. We left so fast that I didn’t even have time to bring my cellphone with me.
Having failed to overturn the election results in the courts or in Congress, the president had resorted to insurrection in the Capitol. A violent mob—enflamed by the “Stop the Steal” rally held by the former president—had marched to the Capitol, broken through the outer police barrier, and reached multiple entrances to the building. Smashing in windows and breaking down doors, they stormed inside, seeking to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power.
More than 2,000 rioters made it inside the building. Some in the mob were yelling “Hang Mike Pence”—angry that the vice president refused to follow the former president’s diabolical order to overturn the election results. At the same time, the massive crowd swarmed outside my office chanting “Nancy, Nancy, Nancy,” even screaming about wanting to put a bullet in my head. (AtlanticMag.) See gifted link below for Nancy Pelosi’s piece.
President Biden’s speech at Valley Forge was his best. He spoke of Arlington National Cemetery and President Trump’s contempt for those buried there. Biden personalized his campaign for the presidency, he discussed the disgraceful behavior of President Trump. Joe Biden gutted Donald Trump in a personalized manner.
President Biden attacked former President Trump. Biden attacked banality, antisemitism, monarchy, Biden did not mince his words. He attacked. He focused his campaign on democracy. He drew the line between good and bad, democracy and dictatorship. Biden was uncharacteristically blunt. He expressed exasperation and contempt for Trump, for Trump and Trumpism. Biden attacked. Be was emotional. He used the bully pulpit and issued the cry. Who are we? We, the people.. who are we? We see who Trump is and was.
Who are we? He asked. And he answered his own question. Find those words and you will find President Biden.
Tonight on the news, I heard part of an interview with Harry Dunn, one of the police officers at the Capital during the insurrection. Dunn is running for Congress. Four years short of qualifying for his pension, he is moving from one form of public service, in the Capitol police, to pursue another avenue, as a legislator. It's a crowded field in the primary, but he offers a history that the other candidates do not. Check him out at https://harrydunnforcongress.com/.
President Biden was on fire! Loved how he leveraged history. I wonder if a certain extraordinary historian was a resource to Biden and his speech writers...
Tomorrow is the last anniversary of the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol before the election. Perhaps this a good time to watch or rewatch The Hearings of The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. If you care about America it will be emotional to watch. But we need to remember those feelings. Please pass this idea on, especially if you have stubborn Republican family and friends.
You can find them on PBS and YouTube. If you just don't have that kind of time at least watch Hearing 10 which includes a good summary.
Even though I couldn't find Hearings 9 or 10 on PBS I would suggest watching the first 8 Hearings there. On YouTube you have to speed scroll through the breaks or just wait through them. On PBS you have commentary during the breaks and I found it to be somewhat helpful and professional, as opposed to the boring personal opinions that most networks provide.
PBS
Hearings 1 -8. I had to use the search option to find these.
Hearings 9 & 10 (which is a good summary) are labeled as Business Meetings instead of hearings because 9 includes a supeona for Donald Trump and 10 includes an official call for Indictments for Trump and for lawyer Eastman.
I had watched most of the hearings live in 2022 but still found these to be very moving more than a year later, and after I had read books by Cheney, Kinzinger, and surprise key witness Cassidy Hutchinson.
This was one of the best speeches I believe President Biden has ever delivered. Just in case you didn’t get a chance to watch it, here is a link to it. I highly recommend watching this video.
IMHO I thought the President was awesome today. This is what leadership sounds like and acts like. I am so tired of all the legal gyrations consuming so much time. I am disgusted that we have essentially abandoned the Ukrainians who have shown us for almost 3 years now the true love of democracy and their unbelievable sacrifice to defend and save democracy. I am thankful for you Professor and your dedication to democracy and us in sharing your gift that always sheds light in this tumultuous time.
The criminal Trump is merely symptom of the disease that has become the American political system. It has been overrun by vast amounts of dark money. It is the highly concentrated wealth, the outcome of economic policies dating back to the Reagan administration.
Any meaningful form of democracy requires an educated, informed, and engaged society. The erosion of public education, the consolidation of media (broadcast and social), and toxic political campaigns continue to assault all three vital guardrails against the rise of the incompetent and corrupt.
The intent of the GOP is to continue to concentrate wealth (and thus power) while keeping Americans divided through fear and hatred.
I argue that if you were to assemble small groups of Americans around a kitchen table, and asked "what kind of outcomes would you like to see occur for the future of the United States" far more people would agree on fundamental issues. Consolidated media owned by people like Rupert Murdoch or the Sinclair Broadcasting Group do not want to bridge the divide. Zuckerberg's Facebook and Musk's Twitter rely on division, the spread of propaganda, and disinformation.
Make no mistake. Trump is a symptom of the disease. The influence of concentrated wealth is the root cause of this rapid decay -and the reality is the GOP can run anyone they want for the Presidency -(or Congress, or State/Local government) and it will be a close, money-influenced race. One need not look beyond the divided U.S. Senate, or the slim House majority held by extremists who will happily subvert democracy while talking to their constituents about 'Jewish Space Lasers'.
On connected issue -your help is needed.
In the United States, in 2024, democracy is on the ballot. Recent research states 75% of people consume their news on social platforms. With so much at stake, do you trust Musk and Zuckerberg -or is it time for an ad-free, subscriber-supported civic social network that doesn't sell or share data with marketers, shadowy political operatives, or billionaires.
Wow, Go Joe Go. Frame it, don't blame it, Make it strong, and unavoidably clear the choice we have to make this year. And it doesn't hurt that Joe and Kamala's vision for America is actually working. I see a steam-roller a comin down the road!
I am an Episcopalian, and one of the things I really treasure about our tradition is that Christmas is a season, not a day. It goes from Christmas Day, December 25th to the 5th of January. That is the basis for the old 12 days of Christmas carol. It ends on the 6th of January, the Feast of the Epiphany. It makes me very angry that I will never again be able to fully enjoy this tradition without thinking of the insurrection perpetrated on the United States by the former president and the thugs who support him.
Many thanks to the President for finally stating the issue in the election, and to Heather for her excellent article. We all need to take this seriously and do everything we can to preserve our democracy.
Love that speech! Today I realized that the strongest weapon in war and politics is doubt. If you can sow doubt, you’ll reap discord, and then you win. That is, sadly, why Biden pulls on the shortest straw: he wants to build things up, which is almost infinitely more difficult to do than breaking things down - which is the goal of the Orange Menace.
I watached the CNN coverage of the speech. Biden's words got about 3 minutes, Trump's idiocy got at least twice as much time, including making fun of Biden's stuttering, which was not very obvious during his speech.
Democracy is a cause and the most valid we as a people of our truly great nation have. There are many nations with decent and fair governments, but only one America. Our nation must be saved from both internal and external forces that seek to enrich themselves through our mental and physical enslavement; a harsh term, but the only one that supports a dictator's method.
It’s a common tendency to think where we would move in case of an unthinkable Trump victory this year. Canada. Costa Rica. New freaking Zealand (“freaking” only b/c it’s such a long flight!). But when we consider the abject misery Washington’s Army endured wintering over in Valley Forge in the service of fighting tyranny, or what my grandfathers endured in WW2 fighting Nazis… We should not be thinking about going anywhere if he wins. Flawed and often broken, this country is still the essential nation, and we must keep fighting for its better nature now and forever.
I’m camped out here in Philly, voting and hustling, and I’ll be damned if I’m leaving.
Thank you, President Biden for delivering one of the most important speeches in the nation’s history. May it long be remembered as pivotal to saving our democracy and preventing dictatorship.
This reminds me of the Normandy invasion , the big opening salvo against those who would destroy Western Democracy. We are granted sacred Freedoms and those must be protected.
I would also commend President Biden in reaching out to historians on this past Wednesday including you Heather for the long view. How important that is that your influence reached both us and the highest levels. Thank you for that!
The former president has been howling, snarling and snorting, while raking it in; lying, cheating, sexually attacking women, verbally attacking every group imaginable, except for most White supremacists, and claiming to be the victim; destroying institutions and transforming the Party, formally known as The Grand Old Party (GOP, a.k.a. the Republican Party). He’s wildly popular with about a quarter of the American people, and he led his party in busting out of democracy; so imprisoning as in slowing their goal to destroy the state and make their fortunes the easy way. Isn’t that exactly what they have been doing for the last 45 years; yes, and no! Now, they’ve got Putin and Orban, more billionaires than ever, more Americans who welcome a strongman, and an authentic, charismatic, lying, crooked lunatic The Republicans had other good years back in the day, along with Democrats, but that’s another story. There hasn’t been anything like this before, but let’s not forget The Civil War!
The former president's accomplishments were infamous, but that old pol, a relic of the senate called, Biden, beat him for the Presidency in 2020. The presidency had to be stolen back for Trump because he claimed that ‘the election was rigged’. Stealing it back for the former president would be under the aegis of ‘Stop the Steal’. Wasn’t that a clever switcheroo?
It was time for a battle party. The former president planned it for January 6th, 2021 and tweeted his supporters, ‘Be There. Will Be Wild!’.
It was wild, and it was dangerous, and it was deadly.
Now, it is time to call upon the fine former Madame, Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, who happened to attend the former president’s battle party on January 6th.
'What January 6 Made Clear to Me'
'Our democratic institutions are only as strong as the courage of those entrusted with their care.'
By Nancy Pelosi
THE SIXTH OF JANUARY is the date prescribed in United States law for Congress to count the electoral votes in the presidential election. It is an occasion of high drama with specific requirements: the security of the mahogany boxes containing the states’ Electoral College certificates; the timing of the joint session of Congress, called to order at 1 p.m.; the precise rules that spell out that the debate on objections to the count shall proceed “clearly and concisely.”
On January 6, 2021, my daughter Alexandra brought her two sons to the Capitol to witness this historic occasion of a peaceful transfer of power. My grandsons did witness history that day, just not the history anyone expected.
The former president had long planned for the nullification of the election, sowing doubt about the results even before ballots were cast and challenging the results in the courts. So before the joint session, we prepared for the possibility of objections to the Electoral College votes by Republican members of Congress. It was clear that the results from Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin would be the targets. Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland strategized with members of Congress from those states about how we would respond to and defeat the objections on the House floor, based on the facts and the laws.
The joint session on January 6 was called to order at 1 o’clock by the vice president. The first Republican objection to a state electoral vote came with Arizona. During that debate, at about 2:15 p.m., my security detail rushed to the speaker’s chair and told me that I had to leave immediately. We left so fast that I didn’t even have time to bring my cellphone with me.
Having failed to overturn the election results in the courts or in Congress, the president had resorted to insurrection in the Capitol. A violent mob—enflamed by the “Stop the Steal” rally held by the former president—had marched to the Capitol, broken through the outer police barrier, and reached multiple entrances to the building. Smashing in windows and breaking down doors, they stormed inside, seeking to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power.
More than 2,000 rioters made it inside the building. Some in the mob were yelling “Hang Mike Pence”—angry that the vice president refused to follow the former president’s diabolical order to overturn the election results. At the same time, the massive crowd swarmed outside my office chanting “Nancy, Nancy, Nancy,” even screaming about wanting to put a bullet in my head. (AtlanticMag.) See gifted link below for Nancy Pelosi’s piece.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/01/three-years-after-january-6-capitol-insurrection-trump/677024/?gift=HXqjFN-j-dud0TbzU8NbDuRz1IgqvX9gIPIXb7Sueck&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
President Biden’s speech at Valley Forge was his best. He spoke of Arlington National Cemetery and President Trump’s contempt for those buried there. Biden personalized his campaign for the presidency, he discussed the disgraceful behavior of President Trump. Joe Biden gutted Donald Trump in a personalized manner.
President Biden attacked former President Trump. Biden attacked banality, antisemitism, monarchy, Biden did not mince his words. He attacked. He focused his campaign on democracy. He drew the line between good and bad, democracy and dictatorship. Biden was uncharacteristically blunt. He expressed exasperation and contempt for Trump, for Trump and Trumpism. Biden attacked. Be was emotional. He used the bully pulpit and issued the cry. Who are we? We, the people.. who are we? We see who Trump is and was.
Who are we? He asked. And he answered his own question. Find those words and you will find President Biden.
Biden showed his teeth. Biden issued the call.
Biden was a president that meant business.
The campaign began with the idea that mattered.
Tonight on the news, I heard part of an interview with Harry Dunn, one of the police officers at the Capital during the insurrection. Dunn is running for Congress. Four years short of qualifying for his pension, he is moving from one form of public service, in the Capitol police, to pursue another avenue, as a legislator. It's a crowded field in the primary, but he offers a history that the other candidates do not. Check him out at https://harrydunnforcongress.com/.
President Biden was on fire! Loved how he leveraged history. I wonder if a certain extraordinary historian was a resource to Biden and his speech writers...
Tomorrow is the last anniversary of the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol before the election. Perhaps this a good time to watch or rewatch The Hearings of The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. If you care about America it will be emotional to watch. But we need to remember those feelings. Please pass this idea on, especially if you have stubborn Republican family and friends.
You can find them on PBS and YouTube. If you just don't have that kind of time at least watch Hearing 10 which includes a good summary.
Even though I couldn't find Hearings 9 or 10 on PBS I would suggest watching the first 8 Hearings there. On YouTube you have to speed scroll through the breaks or just wait through them. On PBS you have commentary during the breaks and I found it to be somewhat helpful and professional, as opposed to the boring personal opinions that most networks provide.
PBS
Hearings 1 -8. I had to use the search option to find these.
YouTube
@January6thCmte
https://youtube.com/@January6thCmte?si=hQPqaoH9YXhP4bYM
Hearings 9 & 10 (which is a good summary) are labeled as Business Meetings instead of hearings because 9 includes a supeona for Donald Trump and 10 includes an official call for Indictments for Trump and for lawyer Eastman.
I had watched most of the hearings live in 2022 but still found these to be very moving more than a year later, and after I had read books by Cheney, Kinzinger, and surprise key witness Cassidy Hutchinson.
This was one of the best speeches I believe President Biden has ever delivered. Just in case you didn’t get a chance to watch it, here is a link to it. I highly recommend watching this video.
https://www.youtube.com/live/dPx89J1WuV4?si=MLTdqBBW3npoeg8t
IMHO I thought the President was awesome today. This is what leadership sounds like and acts like. I am so tired of all the legal gyrations consuming so much time. I am disgusted that we have essentially abandoned the Ukrainians who have shown us for almost 3 years now the true love of democracy and their unbelievable sacrifice to defend and save democracy. I am thankful for you Professor and your dedication to democracy and us in sharing your gift that always sheds light in this tumultuous time.
Thank you Heather.
The criminal Trump is merely symptom of the disease that has become the American political system. It has been overrun by vast amounts of dark money. It is the highly concentrated wealth, the outcome of economic policies dating back to the Reagan administration.
Any meaningful form of democracy requires an educated, informed, and engaged society. The erosion of public education, the consolidation of media (broadcast and social), and toxic political campaigns continue to assault all three vital guardrails against the rise of the incompetent and corrupt.
The intent of the GOP is to continue to concentrate wealth (and thus power) while keeping Americans divided through fear and hatred.
I argue that if you were to assemble small groups of Americans around a kitchen table, and asked "what kind of outcomes would you like to see occur for the future of the United States" far more people would agree on fundamental issues. Consolidated media owned by people like Rupert Murdoch or the Sinclair Broadcasting Group do not want to bridge the divide. Zuckerberg's Facebook and Musk's Twitter rely on division, the spread of propaganda, and disinformation.
Make no mistake. Trump is a symptom of the disease. The influence of concentrated wealth is the root cause of this rapid decay -and the reality is the GOP can run anyone they want for the Presidency -(or Congress, or State/Local government) and it will be a close, money-influenced race. One need not look beyond the divided U.S. Senate, or the slim House majority held by extremists who will happily subvert democracy while talking to their constituents about 'Jewish Space Lasers'.
On connected issue -your help is needed.
In the United States, in 2024, democracy is on the ballot. Recent research states 75% of people consume their news on social platforms. With so much at stake, do you trust Musk and Zuckerberg -or is it time for an ad-free, subscriber-supported civic social network that doesn't sell or share data with marketers, shadowy political operatives, or billionaires.
Help us finish something great together: https://wefunder.com/civic.works.corporation.
We want to make the concept of virtual "Kitchen Table Democracy" real for the 2024 elections.
(Learn more at https://civ.works)
Wow, Go Joe Go. Frame it, don't blame it, Make it strong, and unavoidably clear the choice we have to make this year. And it doesn't hurt that Joe and Kamala's vision for America is actually working. I see a steam-roller a comin down the road!
I am an Episcopalian, and one of the things I really treasure about our tradition is that Christmas is a season, not a day. It goes from Christmas Day, December 25th to the 5th of January. That is the basis for the old 12 days of Christmas carol. It ends on the 6th of January, the Feast of the Epiphany. It makes me very angry that I will never again be able to fully enjoy this tradition without thinking of the insurrection perpetrated on the United States by the former president and the thugs who support him.
Many thanks to the President for finally stating the issue in the election, and to Heather for her excellent article. We all need to take this seriously and do everything we can to preserve our democracy.
Love that speech! Today I realized that the strongest weapon in war and politics is doubt. If you can sow doubt, you’ll reap discord, and then you win. That is, sadly, why Biden pulls on the shortest straw: he wants to build things up, which is almost infinitely more difficult to do than breaking things down - which is the goal of the Orange Menace.
I watached the CNN coverage of the speech. Biden's words got about 3 minutes, Trump's idiocy got at least twice as much time, including making fun of Biden's stuttering, which was not very obvious during his speech.
Democracy is a cause and the most valid we as a people of our truly great nation have. There are many nations with decent and fair governments, but only one America. Our nation must be saved from both internal and external forces that seek to enrich themselves through our mental and physical enslavement; a harsh term, but the only one that supports a dictator's method.