Just before sunrise on a November day in 1861, Massachusetts abolitionist Julia Ward Howe woke up in the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C. She got out of bed, found a pen, and began to write about the struggle in which the country was engaged: could any nation “conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal” survive, or would such a nation inevitably descend into hierarchies and minority rule?
The motto of Boston College, where Heather is a distinguished Professor of American History, is Aien Aristeuein (English letters in place of Greek), which means EVER TO EXCEL. Heather always excels in her daily "Letters from an American." I at least skim if not read the daily op-ed pieces in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Washington Post. None of the regular columnists on their op-ed pages comes close to matching the quality of Heather's Letters. Her letters are filled with relevant history and are written in a style that grabs our attention and helps us understand the complicated country and world we live in. She is never dull, she ALWAYS EXCELS. And we are better people thanks to you, Heather. Joe Parkes, NYC
Dr. Richardson is a Professor of History and, also, (and this skill was likley acquired long before she went to college), she is an benchmark writer of the English language.
The combination of being a truly passionate, and well trained Historian and a top flight writer?
Yes, Indeed. Even when she writes a date, "January 6, 2022," e. g., she puts the Oxford comma after "2022," which so many people, including those who claim to be journalists, often fail to do.
The Oxford comma, also known as the serial comma, is optional and involves lists not dates. But you're correct that a comma should follow the year, as in your example. Don't be too harsh on journalists for such small errors. Except for a precious few large newspapers and magazines, staffs have been whittled away to a bare minimum yet are publishing on multiple platforms. Copy editors, who used be the last line of defense for fixing such things as punctuation and grammar mistakes, are an endangered species.
Thanks, Michael, for correcting my error about the Oxford comma. Now if we in the U.S. were to write dates as is done in most other countries, we wouldn't need to write any commas, e.g., "6 January 2022 is a great day!'
Sorry, Richard, but the Oxford comma is placed right before a conjunction ("and," "or," etc.) in a series of three or more terms. The "January 6, 2022," date format is not governed by the Oxford comma rule.
"Style manuals, including the Chicago Manual of Style and AP Stylebook, recommend using commas in pairs to set off the year. A comma should appear both before and after the year."
Agree with your praise of HRC’s insights and enlightenments. She is undeniably a daily treasure.
One point I can’t agree with: “… the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Washington Post. None of the regular columnists on their op-ed pages comes close to matching the quality of Heather's Letters.” Each of those publications has some phenomenal thinkers and writers and analysts among their staff. Maybe not daily columnists, but regulars certainly. Just saying. OK, defending.
Joe Parkes, I could not state it better nor agree more. I am hopeful that in the quiet moments of most Americans' lives, they care as much about our freedom, our right to vote for choice in our destinies as I do when I read the words of a scholarly, patriotic American professor, Heather Cox Richardson. May justice come to bear now lest we have to fight again for our freedom and all that our blessed America stands for, at a cost I can't bear to consider. PWR, American
Excellent comment, Joe! I find lots of the headlines of the Washington Post, to which I subscribe, often misleading. I often criticize them in my responses to their stories, both negatively and positively.
Listening to President Biden’s speech yesterday, I was proud of him, and proud to be a patriotic American! Joe threw down the gauntlet and called out the malignancy of his predecessor and his enablers.
I didn’t spend 26 years in the Navy, protecting our country and its Constitution, just to see it all shredded by a mob of ignorant, despicable traitors, egged on by the worst treat to Democracy since the founding of this great nation…Donald J. Trump!
Yes, especially the Representative in my district. He is name Scott Perry, PA-10 (R). He is a total tRUMPER, and also a General in the PA National Guard. Ain't that scary!
Then publicly call him out. No one should be allowed to hide behind a religious organization. Time to call out those Mormons who, knowing who follows the path of evil, allow themselves to provide cover are no better.
Sadly there are so many other horror shows who belong to the same club. I wont say serves with him because they serve no one but themselves and the former guy.
I hope they are investing Grassley, who sent out a weird tweet on January 5th, claiming that HE would be in charge of the Senate, not Pence - who would not be present. What?
Then you know what your duty demands. Not every person who has fought and died for this nation held an elected office - but all of us have benefitted from their sacrifice. We owe it to them.
LaMalfa and McClintock are both worthless. Every workday, I have the (not so) good fortune of driving through their districts, and the Nunes and McCarthy districts. 🙄
Well said, Sailor. (I would have said "shipmate" since the Navy was the branch of service I had chosen until I discovered that being gay was (in 1977) a bar to service.)
Unfortunately, Trump's malignancy seems to be spreading throughout the country. President Biden's speech was excellent and timely. If only he had been speaking out forcefully over his first year as Commander In Chief, just maybe the media would have shut down their daily, no hourly, mention of the former autocratic ruler we had from 2017 to January 20, 2021. May we remember the words of The Battle Hymn of the Republic.
Sadly, it would not have changed the words at the media Republicans and Trumpists listen to. Rupert Murdoch and whoever is funding the others want this democracy pulled apart and down. Interesting to read Dr. Richardson's history of this hymn that has always brought tears to my eyes.
Reaching the hardcore Trumpers is hopeless, granted. But the mainstream media's reluctance to acknowledge what the Republicans are up to is making it easy for many USians to avoid thinking too hard about what's happening. I'm continually amazed by how lackadaisical many of the non-activists I know are. These people vote regularly and are reasonably well informed, but some of them at least still think the rest of us are hyperventilating. It's frustrating.
I was disappointed with the Washington Post article in this morning’s Albuquerque Journal. Under the headline “Biden pillories Trump over Jan. 6”, 25% of the article was devoted to Trump’s response. The media needs to quit volunteering “both sides are equal” coverage.
So many people seem to be expecting a civil war, some hoping for it. Americans always want a blowout and we haven’t had one since ww2. Here we are reading the words of the battle hymn of the republic. You have to wonder, How much testosterone is the right amount. When do you stand up like an oak and show some spine, and when do you bend like a willow and do you trust to electionElection Day
...and when do you bend like a willow and trust to Election Day? Does confrontation increase the possibility of violence, or is it coming, no matter what, so let’s get those juices flowing. If you’re going to get into a war of words, you have to shoot from the lip. take no prisoners. None of that pussyfootin’ and no mansplainin’. Dems need writers, bad. They need that killer instinct.
Absolutely. I was working and couldn't see it live, but I watched the video when I got home, then stood and saluted. I feel very much the same about my 24 years in the USAF, but wondering more and more if I wasn't defending the right of some Americans to be as stoopid as they want to be.
One of the toughest assignments I had was to provide part of a "police security barrier" for some anti-abortionists when they protested the opening of a new Planned Parenthood clinic. Those people were so antithetical to what I believe.
I think of the Capitol Police who committed suicide. Can you imagine if you had dedicated your life to protecting democracy and the Constitution and the U.S. Capitol, and then your neighbors and perhaps friends and relatives show up like they did on January 6?
On the first anniversary of Jan. 6, Biden delivered a brave, necessary, intelligent address . I wish we hadn't had to wait so long for it, but it finally came, definitive and unflinching, true right down to the bone. Well-reasoned and thrilling. I'm proud to be on his side and to have heard this speech.
I was very pleased by Biden’s overdue but well-delivered, excellent speech. I wish the previous day’s speech by AG Garland had been as clear and forthright.
It is important to understand that the attack on the Capitol was a very dark day in our nation's history and I am eager to see those who participated, planned, coordinated, and financed it held accountable. However, the larger crime is the attempt to interfere with the certification of the electoral count by Congress and overturn the results of the election. This is a very serious federal crime under federal law. For those interested the statute is 18 USC 1512, conspiring to interfere with and obstruct an official proceeding to certify an election. Further and more serious counts could well be brought against Trump and many others who conspired to overturn the results of a free, fair, and secure election. I wish to see that investigation proceed, charges brought, and indictments delivered.
Exactly. This could/should mean that participating Republicans would go to jail and not be allowed to hold office again. This is more important, imo, than jailing the actual rioters.
So do all of us who live outside the beltway and the media world. Whether it happens or not depends on the presence of courage and integrity in that little community of frenemies and therein lie the doubts. I don't see a Sam Ervin, Howard Baker, Fred Thompson or Sam Dash anywhere on the horizon and, so far, there doesn't seem to be a John Dean either.
There are to my understanding a good number of first hand witnesses cooperating. J6 is so much larger, more complicated, and with far more criminal acts than Watergate. There will be multiple mini-me Deans.
Saying it is one thing, seeing it will be believing. I profoundly hope that Mr. Garland is sincere and will be effective but, so far, it remains to be seen.
I will continue to point out that a case against Trump has to be more of a slam dunk than any other slam dunk, more airtight than any other airtight case. Were he indicted and tried, and got off, it would be a million times worse than if he had never been charged at all.
A lot depends on the trial judge and what court the process starts in. We all know where it's going to end up. No one will want to risk a reversal of even a ruling let alone a decision. I'm not trying to minimize the challenges Garland and the DoJ face but there is an effective time limit as well.
While the time limit the congressional 1/6 committee faces (this fall's elections) doesn't affect the DoJ, they do have a time limit: if they don't make their move before TFG declares for re-election, they will be constrained by the DoJ's own rules that they cannot bring cases that "may affect the outcome of a political campaign." So you are right, there are time limits all around. I was just IMing with a friend today about the over-under he'd announce at his Wankfest in Phoenix a week from tomorrow. He's been told there are campaign finance laws that would restrict his activities if he announced too soon, but he may not worry about that if he wants to use the campaign to block prosecution.
Once again I must quote the great journalist from the past, I. F. Stone: "Governments lie." I agree with you, Dave, 'seeing it will be believing,' or "The proof is in the pudding.' I think I have that quote correct.
Because we vote for people who we thought had some integrity and the good of the country at heart. We common folks' lies don't have the same importance or effect.
The insurrectionists who have gone to trial have gotten slaps on wrists. Black people have gotten longer prison sentences for minor drug possession. Being white really acts as a shield against any real justice.
It's so sad that there were not enough police and troops there on 1/06/21, to arrest every stinking one of those that did the attack. Forcefully entering the U.S. Capitol and causing injuries and damage is a felony.
Not having enough troops was a deliberate move by tRump and Miller. When the mayor of DC said early in the morning of January 6th that they had 360 Capitol Police officers on duty, I screamed at the TV, "You need 36,000!" We in Michigan who had watched our state capitol takeover by machine gun toting magats knew exactly what was going to happen, especially after word of changes to head Defense Department personnel a few days before. Luckily at 1:30 pm on the 6th I took a 3 hour nap or I might have destroyed my TV and had a heart attack.
I'd like to see Bannon immobilised and made as uncomfortable as possible while he awaits trial. Meanwhile that weevil Farage continues to pop up unheralded.
Anne-Louise, and the same to Roger Stone. It galls me that he was pardoned by iDJT and is now right back to his old tricks.
Gosh, there is an awfully long list of despicable characters surrounding the defeated and beaten egotistical former …. I can’t even bring myself to say his name.
I think the Dems are beginning their battle and starting it en masse. I agree with MaryPat about strategy. The administration has now established both a great offense and a great defense. Charge!!
As a former lobbyist, I do not agree that Biden's speech yesterday was long overdue. In politics timing is everything. First things first - focus on cooperation with legislators to save (vaccines) then improve ($$$$$) lives of Americans. Second - don't rile up your opposition, at least not before you get #1. Third, don't lead until you have gotten the people headed in your direction. Fourth, lead.
sounds like advice from a political operative...I am not one, but it seems to me that there are both overt AND covert agendas that must be respected in order to prevail in the political arena.
How about this alternative set of rules...
First, count the votes
Second, determine which of your opponents are vulnerable at the mid-terms
Third, work with the local/state party organizations to find early/vocal political opponents in anticipation of next election cycle, help by feeding them talking points from inside the beltway
Fourth, wage a daily war of information to counter disinformation at every level. Lead by creating the narrative rather than ignoring it or reacting to it.
Interesting. I hadn't said it was "long overdue," but that "I wish we hadn't had to wait so long for it" which implies an understanding that there were reasons for the wait. Respecting those reasons, it still felt like a very long time between extreme provocation and measured, appropriate response.
Not overdue, at all. It was 'a President' explaining in no uncertain terms how this Country had been violated, right under the nose of a derelict Commander, "The Big Loser"... toting "the Big Lie".
You tell me. The GOP hasn’t been normal for a long time. MaryPat’s outlined steps is absolutely spot on with timing. And that is absolutely called for when a leader is being challenged by brutes.
Timing. What I am seeing locally and at our state level in Michigan is promising . For example, two promininent conservative legislators running for office describing themselves as "moderate" Republicans. That would have been a death knell a year ago. Heather Cox Richardson reporting in a chat (last week) that the tRumper congresspeople terrified Mitch McConnel (and those who bankroll him) when they were refusing to raise the debt ceiling, which would have devastated our economic standing in the world. My local (trumper country, Sinclair Broadcast Group ) newspaper actually calling the January 6th event "The Insurrection" on the front page yesterday. Those are legislators and media I could work with. Wouldn't have been possible a year ago.
Because so many people believe "it can't happen here," it was necessary to allow the time for things to happen so people could start to see they were wrong. If Biden had given this speech the first week in office, it would have had almost no effect. As MaryPat says, "timing is everything." Particularly in politics.
You are so right, Sophia. Biden must understand that the GOP wants to continue locking him through this year's November election, which likely will win them the House and maybe even the Senate. If that happens, please look back to recent history and note that the same damned thing happened to Obama!
Especially MCS. 70 years ago, she was calling out her fellow Republicans for riding on the backs of the “Four Horsemen of Calumny–Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear" in her famous speech against McCarthyism. Little has changed in the GOP except that the MCS's of the party have all been purged.
So in your compliment there is a caveat. I believe it’s all the caveats that are hindering our fight for democracy. For every caveat and implied criticism, there is a way for treason to defeat reason.
I do not disagree or resent your opinion. My opinion stated above is that I cringe at the “FINALLY” juxtaposed with a statement that we can at last quote President Biden. And while many have waited, the only one quoted has been the former and his band of merry traitors.
Sophia and Christine, thanks for your opinions. We are still lucky that we can put our opinions in print and not get arrested, imprisoned, or disappeared, as happens in so many other countries. May we hope that we shall be able to continue to do so.
As a psychotherapist in the northeast I am privileged to witness and hear my clients’ innermost thoughts and feelings.
While those I serve are reporting anxiety about what they are reading or watching on the news, very few seem to understand exactly how a loss of democracy or the vote could affect them. Unfortunately, many young people suggest that all politicians are awful and they do not believe their vote can make a difference.
Heather, I think we need to help the public understand the real-life consequences of autocracy.
We need a National Campaign for Democracy. Or it could be called Democracy Now. Anyway it would NOT have flowery, self aggrandizing speeches from politicians. The contents? A bullet point by bullet point comparison of life for the average person under a Dictatorship and a Democracy. It would have footage of people oppressed by dictators speaking and images of their Countries. I see a bullet point presentation of the rights we have now that have been threatened by which person. For example trump saying he wanted to eliminate the tax that funds Social Security. This exhibit would travel from City to City and set up in schools, Malls, outdoor Plazas.
I am going to contact The Lincoln Project with this idea.
I think this is a good general concept. One of the Congresspeople made a similar point last night, saying how do we walk people back from extremism ? We were created to get out from under monarchy.
I contacted The Lincoln Project with this idea. We will see. And if anyone knows of a nonpolitical organization who would have the funds to take this on that would be great.
We need a serious rededication to educating all Americans, beginning with the youngest. Since Reagan, we have starved our schools, underpaid our teachers and allowed local school boards to hollow out any semblance of civic education. A democracy cannot subsist without and engaged and informed public. We now have at least 3 generations of under-educated Americans who don’t know anything about their own government or their responsibilities regarding it. Into this situation step those who foment hate, dispense lies and grab for power. The undereducated are the perfect target. Until we get very serious in our nationwide support for universal, quality education for all, our democracy will be at risk. Just imagine for a moment what could happen if the military budget became the education budget! My heart soars!
Centuries before Reagan. Going back to the "1 room schoolhouse," women were the teachers in almost all cases, and grossly underpaid. Because "women's work" is so highly valued in the US. /s
Yes, yes, yes! Absolutely agree we need to improve our educational system. And yes, check out the significant differences in budget allocation for education compared to military. I’m a retired teacher, 30 plus years, early education through college, including ESL, and government Title I programs. We need to improve and recognize the inequality built into the system through lack of funding. Much of district budgets are state and local. And funded by different tax laws and regulations. Compare quality that includes curriculum and “extras” and the campus and buildings. Zip codes in communities often tell us about our local schools and funding, poverty, diversity and/or lack of diversity. And appropriate curriculum must include civics and government and history for all students starting in earliest grades. We have great challenges: how political education is in USA, number of schools, districts and students in such a huge country. Diversity of our population. And definition of “appropriate.” Currently fights about telling the truth, Critical Race Theory, CRT, not really taught, yet the subject of disagreement at school board meetings. Onward. We can’t ignore that public education is a foundation of our democracy.
We've been trying to do democracy "on the cheap" for a long time now, and we're seeing the consequences. Some other countries treat their public teachers as valued professionals who are paid commensurate to their education and responsibilities. We leave our public teachers to crowdsource funding for teaching supplies or pay for them out of their own, meager salaries. (How many of us saw that video of a scrum of grade school teachers fighting each other for dollar bills for their classrooms on the floor of a basketball court during a break in the game as entertainment for the crowd? That's the America we've built.)
I think it is vital right now. There are millions of people who will suffer greatly under a Dictatorship. And they are being fleeced and deceived by former guy. I firmly believe a national education program touring Cities will make a difference.
I would include a targeted social media campaign with outreach. It's got to become "not cool" to support the big lie...it's got to be understood as anti-American.
Yes indeed. Meanwhile this is more a public relations program aimed at "educating" the public on the realities of living in a Democracy vs. a Dictatorship. Food, transportation, medicine. For example how long are the food lines? Can people get medicine? etc.
Yes I have been thinking that too - I met a Russian immigrant in the library right before the pandemic started and he told me that he and his family had won the "Golden Ticket" - he explained only a certain few people are allowed to leave Russia for the USA and he was thrilled to get to come with his wife and son who was in high school. I don't know his name but I wish he could write an article about the differences they have found living here these last 3 years --it would be very powerful reading or better yet on the TV news show.
Thank you, Barbara! As a retired teacher, I think your idea is "spot on" (I hope my commas are right, Oxford or otherwise. ) for the reason you mention -- most people don't realize how different our lives would be under authoritarian rule.
Please let us know what you hear back from the Lincoln Project.
I thought I saw something about the production of videos, but it is disappeared at present. Viral tictocs would be very cool, but closer to the election?
Good idea. We have three categories suggested by Barbara -- food, healthcare and prices (presumably for consumer goods). What are three more key categories? Policing? Freedom of the press (too abstract?) Freedom of speech (what happens to you if you criticize the President or even a local official in a dictatorship vs a Democracy?) For each category, what are three key differences? Make those examples very concrete, something people will relate to their own lives.
Add in freedom of movement. ie reprisals, indoctrination and fear based living. Also the infrastructure crumbles without adequate funding. The Republicans did not support the Infrastructure Plan. What happens when the baby is sick.
Identify the issue:
1. Healthcare
2. Life without any care
etc
Constant compare/contrast.
Lots of research. What is life like under Belasario or in Hungry, in Russia?
Just a good-hearted quibble: while perhaps not an “Anglophile”, I am proud of my British heritage. I am proud of the contributions to Constitutional law, the arts, and the thousand years of honing those gifts.
I am not proud of their corporate contributions, expanded and empowered by their American cousins, nor am I proud of their feudal pretensions; mirrored in this country by our celebrity worship and created through media manipulation.
Not the point of the program. Whether it is fascism, communism or whatever repressive regime is running a Country the average citizen suffers greatly in trying to live a quality, sustainable life.
Once again I am talking the nuts and bolts of the kitchen table lives people live. Doesn't matter the label or the politics. Here is what your life looks like now as opposed to the future.
I have friends here in Spain whose fathers were imprisoned by Franco. I love this idea. We could create an organization from those of us who wish to take it on. My email is gaileegailee@gmail.com. I can produce videos.
I will see if Mikel can talk about his father. Also another friend was not allowed to use her Basque name during that period. We sold all of our camera and editing equipment before moving here, so it would probably be with my phone, although Mikel was a camera operator for USPN in NY and has friends here who are in the business.
Yes, do contact The Lincoln Project with this great idea! As TCinLA said in his recent Another Fine Mess column, in November we will be voting for Democracy or Not Democracy.
I think the workers believe the wealthy elite when they are told if they will just work hard enough they can be wealthy too. This is why they vote for people who expect to be served instead of those willing to serve. They want to be like the wealthy and truly believe hard work will get them there.
Barbara, have you also contacted the office of the U.S. Secretary of Education? The website describes a Constitution Day, September 17, which would be perfect for launching such an initiative as you describe. It states, "This posting is intended to remind affected educational institutions of this responsibility and to provide resources for them to use in developing their program." Every educational institution receiving federal funds is obligated to provide a program on the constitution!
Yesterday was also the beginning of the uprising in Kazakistan to overthrow their kleptocratic dictator being propped up by Putin. Putin’s response was to send in the Russian military to Kazakistan, a country on Russia’s East at the same time as he has been massing troops to the west of Russia to prop up the dictatorship in Belarus and to try and reinstate the dictatorship in the Ukraine.
Meanwhile footage of burning government buildings and reports of dozens or hundreds killed in Kazakistan.
There is a direct line from the dictatorships supported by Putin in Belarus, in The Ukraine, in Kazakistan and the GOP under TFG.
If America does not protect its democracy now by voting, then the burning government buildings and masses shot in the streets will be the price of trying to reclaim democracy.
I have a friend trapped in Kazakhstan. His wife (a former bandmate of mine, and a retired English teacher who has been teaching in China since her retirement a few years ago) had her flight there cancelled, and is still in the states with family. John is hunkered down, waiting for the "all clear".
May everyone who wishes to get home be able to do so. I also have a friend teaching music at an international school in China for the past 2.5 years, mostly during lockdowns. I hope he can come home when he wants to.
Even if every Democrat votes, will it be enough to offset the gerrymandering and voter suppression going on? I'm hoping that a coalition of Dems, Repubs, and Independents will make it so.
In his Jan. 6 post, Timothy Snyder describes in broad strokes what could happen if Trump is installed as president despite losing the election. Buckle up:
"The precise scenario of the collapse of the United States is impossible to predict, but some of the following is likely to happen, and quickly.
"Tens of millions of people protest. Paramilitaries on both sides emerge. Violence leads to fake and real stories of deaths, and to revenge. Police and armed forces will know neither whom they should obey nor whom they should arrest. With traditional authority broken, those wearing uniforms and bearing arms will become partisans, take sides, and start shooting one another. Governors will look for exit strategies for their states. Americans will rush to parts of the disintegrating country they find safer, in a process that looks increasingly like ethnic cleansing. The stock market and then the economy will crash. The dollar will cease to be the world currency."
I recall an account published a few months ago in the NYTimes by a Uighur man who had just barely gotten himself and his family out China before he was sent, again, to one of their "reeducation camps." He said that at one point, everyone in his household was summarily ordered to report immediately to the police station for a long, drawn out, photography session. In that session, the Uighurs were made to stand before an unusual looking camera and have their video image taken as they looked up, down, side-to-side, from behind, and how they walked.
The purpose, of course, was to enter them into a facial recognition database so that they could be tracked anywhere in the world. Afterward, they were allowed to go home, knowing that everytime they used their cellphones, went to a public place, or even went outside and looked at the sky, the Chinese police could find them. (And we might want to speculate briefly on the possible research directions a government unfettered by notions of civil rights and accountability might take regarding weapons, biological systems, and surveillance technologies.)
Is this a true story? The Chinese government denies it. But that's what its like to live in an autocracy.
I have a younger brother and sister and three millennial aged nephews, so this anecdotal observation hardly makes me at all qualified from a professional psychological vantage , but here goes.
Their responses range from “I don’t do politics.” to a genuine lack of concern. My sister is a diehard Trumper/QAnon to the hilt supporter and boy does she care…
I am also a firm believer in the work of Dr. Bandi X. Lee, who had the courage to lead a team of peers that wrote “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump.” Ultimately she sacrificed her teaching post at Yale for daring to submit to the BS edict of the American Psychology Association over the so called “Goldwater Rule.” as opposed to the safety of Democracy.
The feeling of helplessness among Millennials and “Z” generations is completely understandable as they face a life of peonage over student debt, rental prices that insure the will never own a home and dead end careers save the dream of becoming an “influencer.”
I might engage you in a bit of Frank Lutz “focus group” here; What sounds worse: autocracy or fascism? I ask because it is astounding how many Americans have a hard time excepting Fascism as our collective future reality.
Well future generations, I’m here to suggest you better get used to and over it, because in 2024 Democracy will be a “quaint” memory of the past.
On election day in 2018 I gave my standard charge to the students in my classes. "It's election day. Be sure to vote. If you don't you forfeit your right to criticize." I think they were a bit unsure about having a reason to vote, but that year, after the surprising result of 2016, many seemed startled and then they nodded and smiled.
True-true. Here's your brain on democracy. Here's your life in autocracy. Here's how your vote and the votes and voices of your friends matter. Here is how one could alleviate anxiety by taking action. Elevate the leaders of your generation; find the diplomats and statespeople and recruit them to represent you.
Another letter that passes easily (cleverly, subversively, revealingly -- choose your adverb) through the line between history and journalism.
For those readers who would like to participate in nominating Prof Richardson for a Pulitzer Prize in Journalism, we will need 15 samples from the year. Since yesterday, readers have proposed 7.
Thank you. They would all be useful in helping to give the jurors a sense of the quality and power of her writing. We could use more from the spring and summer.
Anyone interested in participating in this effort to broaden and strengthen Prof Richardson's audience is welcome to recommend others that might be included in a submission. No need to review all 365 of her letters for 2021. Just suggest one that was particularly moving, insightful, or personally relevant and I'll add it to the bundle, to be siftted through next week.
As several of you noted, she sometimes posts a photo of her harbor or sky at home with a brief comment. One of those that helped see you through to her next letter might be a good addition to the bundle.
Our deadline for submission is now just over two weeks away.
Thanks, too, to those who suggested that a journalism prize competition might not be the most appropriate for someone who regards herself as an historian. Others posted that she could certainly be (and is) both a historian and a journalist. Fortunately, for this most famous of literary prizes (other than the Nobel), there is a history category, historically (apologies) reserved for books. That category closed for entries in October. If unsuccessful with our journalism application, we can always try again later this year in the history section.
Excellent idea. I subscribe to her Letters and watch her vids. And I’m not American. From all the way down under in Australia. she is educating and informing us who have been bewildered as to how America came to this pivot point and giving us insights into the foundational myths that have proven to be somewhat shaky.
Nothing prevents Canadians or Australians from suggesting a letter to be included in a Pulitzer entry. First half of 2021 would be helpful, if you have a favorite.
Mike, thank you, but the calendar year is the strict limit. We can save that one for a history prize entry. We're heavy on the second half of the year now. Particularly need letters from January, February, March and June. Any suggestions?
Albert, I took a look back, bearing in mind your request for letters from the first half of the year. It was fascinating just to look at the letters' titles from a year ago - we forget so much in such a short time! Here are mine:
This is what Heather said about that photo: "I took this photo a year ago today, when Trump was still president, the pandemic was still new, and I was just becoming acclimated to isolation. It seems to me that, completely by accident, my camera caught the brittle fragility of that terrifying moment." She did capture that.
This letter was not a recap of the news, per se, but an explanation of, and a call to defend, our democratic principles. It is especially poignant to me because of what happened the following day, on January 6, 2021.
This letter covers the inauguration with a focus on Amanda Gorman's beautiful words. This day looms especially large for me, as it was such a day of hope with Biden's inauguration, but was also personally catastrophic, as it was the day I was diagnosed with cancer.
This letter covers the history of the civil rights movement, elegantly tying that to today's struggle for voting rights, and ends beautifully with John Lewis' “Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”
In this letter, Dr. Richardson taught us about the Tulsa Massacre, and tied that event, again, to the struggle for voting rights.
I see two themes across the letters which resonated the most to me: letters which teach us about democracy and the daily work necessary to keep it, particularly with reference to race and voting rights, and letters which provide us with a message of hope during turbulent, frightening times both politically and in terms of the pandemic. Dr. Richardson's letters, as well as this community here, have provided me with that desperately needed hope.
Thank you for doing this, please let me know if I can help further!
Kathy, a terrific packet. Thank you. That fills in the gaps very nicely. I have a few nominations from different readers for the same letter, but for the most part they are neatly spread out through the year.
Thank you! I am doing really well - it was an awful year to be sure, but I am now 6 months out from treatment with no evidence of disease. I feel just so lucky. I had a very poor prognosis with a Stage 3 cancer, so to be where I am feels like an incredible gift. The awful year also held great joy - our two sons both graduated college, and our daughter married a wonderful guy, and I was well enough to enjoy it all.
Thanks for taking the lead, Albert. For me, the most impactful of Heather's letters begin with historical references that then connect with todays events.
Thank you for pulling this together. I have so many favorites!
I haven't gone back to the first half of 2021 yet, but wanted to send off the second half suggestions: 6/19/21, 7/26/21, 8/16/21, 9/5/21, 9/17/21, 12/7/21, 12/30/21.
Last night watching “Preserving Democracy: Pursuing a More Perfect Union” on PBS I was struck by how deeply embedded slavery and racial suppression exists in Trumpism. I remembered Dr. Richardson’s letter in which she revealed how the issue of abortion was brought into politics during the Nixon era to divide and distract us. Racial suppression, abortion, gun rights, immigration (and what else?) are issues used as weapons to divert the populace from the actions of those who want to destroy our democracy and institute an autocracy. We must help bring our sisters and brothers into understanding that these issues used as zero sum games are being used against us to serve the selfish desires of the greedy. Too simplistic?
NOT simplistic: Elegant. We must loudly acknowledge the +2,000-year history of megalomaniacs becoming autocrats, oppressing people, and prosecuting unnecessary wars in the name of their “righteousness cause” of the moment. Democracy has always been under subtle and open attack by those who “know better.” Causing divisions and chaos are the subtle methods of the “superior man” to keep his power and avert his own deep fear.
Yes, Mr. Aune. I woke up yesterday morning wondering why we have monuments to the “megalomaniacs” rather than those who work everyday feeding their families and caring for others. I remember as a child visiting the grave of the unknown soldier. So very moving. I think of the great pyramids and how they have become monuments to those who built them rather than those who had them built.
We know the great names (Plato, Jesus, Voltaire, Hobbes, Madison, etc.), and attribute great thinking to them as though it was some breakthrough to a new paradigm of existence that they achieved in isolation, all on their individual thought and effort. The truth is that these iconic individuals learned from many conversations with many “average” contemporaries, synthesized those learnings, and wrote them down. Same for megalomaniacs: They ride a wave of the average persons passion to be greater (a false flag). Our culture imposes the idea of great men (sexism intended) to reinforce the superiority of a few “kings” who deserve better treatment, even at the expense of those “average” and less fortunate.
" Racial suppression, abortion, gun rights, immigration (and what else?) are issues..."
Thanks to Dr Richardson's essays we are so much more aware of how these issues have been used to suppress participation in our democracy. Add to this the so-called 'War on Drugs' and the current controversies which remain about cannabis (and the number of people still incarcerated for personal use), too many citizens have been disenfranchised. Three generations have been frightened by these policies. Time for this to be over!
See my comment. I think a number of us are thinking along the same line of an education based look at the benefits of living in a Democracy versus living in a Dictatorship.
I sincerely believe we can use the straightforward, non lecturing, non political method of simply giving people the facts.
I sincerely propose a ZOOM meeting to brainstorm this.
Let me run this by you Janet for your consideration and I’m not out to “man ‘splaying. It’s just a sort of a unified theory of why we are on the brink of Fascism. Slavery is in the DNA of what has come to modern Fascist ideology. Now to save lots of time, Slavery is predicated on Christian, Teutonic Knight, White racism that finds it’s way into Anti Semitism (remember these guys firmly believe the Jews killed Christ). Really wealthy birthright classes buy into this belief and as Capitalism enters the landscape exploiting the masses. The White masters too are only to willing to embrace an entitlement justified by a Christian God who smiles upon the wealthy as righteous and vindicated by the “Prosperity Doctrine.”
As well enslaving and exploiting non-whites, they became ever more concerned over the less than humans (mud people, untermenschen) breeding to a point where they can overwhelm the Whites. So, one way to maintain purity was to sterilize and or out and out kill the less than humans.
Thus came the rise of eugenics and bastardized science of Darwin and the “survival of the fittest,”
I think you get an idea of how these American/British White man supreme ideologies were not only picked up by the Germans, but put into full loan aktion in genocide of over 1 million people who were suffering mental illness or congenital defects.
Once the Nazis so that nobody cared they were off to the main target of killing every Jew they could.
So, these ideas continue, the rich elites really are all about this garbage and they intend to finish the job as it were.
I agree with everything you say except for the part about immigration. ***Too much*** immigration has caused major problems in our country.
There is a new book, Back of the Hiring Line: 200 years of Immigration Surges, Employer Bias, and Depression of Black Wealth. Yes, even before the Civil War, employers in the northern states were sending ships to Europe to bring back white Europeans so that they could fire their (free) Black workers. During the current surge, which began in earnest in the '70s, employers have been major forces in pushing immigration numbers up from a few hundred thousand to well over a million.
As one example of many, meat packers, including African Americans, had fought their way to making middle class wages (~$50/hour), but their wages plummeted during the 1980s, to barely above minimum, affecting not only Blacks, but Whites and immigrants. In fact, mass immigration has been a major part of what hollowed out the American middle class.
(In 2015, Bernie Sanders famously said when interviewed on Vox, that open borders "is a Koch Brothers policy.")
The book surveys the relevant academic economic literature (296 footnotes), and multiple government commissions on immigration reform, including Barbara Jordan in '96, under Clinton, all of which recommended greatly reducing immigration, because an oversupply any resource (in this case low/no-skilled labor) devalues that resource). The author also quotes multiple labor economists that tight labor markets are beneficial.
The author also quotes Black leaders beginning with Frederick Douglas, whose sons were all downwardly mobile because of mass immigration, and quotes from Black periodicals.
The author repeatedly makes the point that immigrants should not be blamed--that the fault lies with Congress. He also notes that the people coming to the US are the kinds of people who--if we didn't keep the floodgates open--are the kinds of people who would likely be causing change to happen in their native countries.
The book is $9 from Amazon, and is also available in audio.
What a brilliant letter. The Battle Hymn of the Republic was my Dad’s favorite song! When we kids were getting antsy in the car my mom would get us singing and then we’d dive into the Battle Hymn of the Republic. This letter is brilliant. I got goosebumps reading it. The spineless republicans disgust me. All 147 of them. Thanks
Sweet memory. I’ve loved it too having sung it often as an anthem in church growing up. Often made me cry but embarrassed to admit I don’t remember focusing on the Civil War meaning of it. Finding Quakerism later in life and its peace testimony, I’ve not sung the song in quite a while. Now reading your rousing letter, HCR, I have a stirring appreciation of the power of music and storytelling, especially during these fraught times.
I share that memory. And like you, I have no recollection of incorporating history into my appreciation! Slowly reading the extraordinary words of the Battle Hymn is so powerful with no music (which has its own power and inspiration) to distract my focus. But this happens me frequently.
We rented a house when I was five where the owners had a record of Civil War songs, including this one. I LOVED all the songs of the North. I wore that record out during that year. My father bought the owners a new copy. I don't know why my father didn't get us a new copy. But 60 years later, I discovered a place where I could get one last March, and another place where I could have CDs made. I have a CD in the car's CD player, and I often have it on, singing along with it, including that wonderful Battle Hymn.
Spineless indeed. And yet somehow they have enough spine to relentlessly propagate the big lie and stand together against any of their number who dares to call it out.
Thanks for this HCR. The Republic-cons proved today what spineless, worthless traitors they are, and Biden gave the speech of his life. I do believe there is a glimmer of the slightest pre-dawn greyness on the eastern horizon, messenger of the coming sunrise.
I was greatly encouraged by his saying he would stand in the breach. Do you think any of the spineless R’s recognize his language as biblical? Think how much courage it takes to “stand in the breach”?
The current anarchy party is NOT the party of Lincoln. It is the party of southern planters and robber barons by another name. Nixon’s politics had more in common with the planter class than Lincoln.
I truly want to agree with you that a new dawn is breaking but it’s a huge struggle as I watch the realities of voter suppression, Manchin and Sinema opposing voter legislation, redistricting, Republicans taking local control of the voting process, approaching midterms. Some days it’s hard to keep the faith when reality keeps hitting me in the face.
Today it was announced that a moderate Republican was running against Boebert in the Colorado Republican primaries. The article essentially said, “lots of luck with that. She is worshipped in her district “.
There is hope in Colorado. Unaffiliated voters are allowed to vote in the primary of their choosing. So there is about a third of the electorate who is unaffiliated and many of us are going to vote against Boebert in the primary.
Thank you! I'm a Colorado voter (Boulder County) permanently living in Canada, and am greatly heartened by learning that! Even though I can't participate in Boebert's district.
Although I know it’s wrong, I find myself feeling very angry at the citizens everywhere who are electing people of such low intelligence and character to positions of power. Do people not realize just how powerful their vote is? We all have the power to shape what MY future, and what YOURS looks like. If there are not competent, intelligent, moral people in the positions of policy making for the general public, then the downward spiral in to authoritarianism is all but certain.
About Boebert and the reasons for her popularity in her deep, deep red congressional district. In fact, the recent redistricting in CO made her district even more red.
“She wears her hatred and her racism on her sleeve,” Donovan said. “And it’s very sad that an individual like that is now the voice of the Western Slope in Colorado.”
One very enlightening tactic is to tabulate what the representative has actually done on a legislative basis over the current term, in contrast to the noise they have made. I recently read a piece on what Greene has done for real work; it's downright pitiful, even absurd. Publicizing the votes, the sponsorships, the drafts and submitted bills (both number and content) tends to expose the elected official for what they really are.
Well said TC, many a morning I have watched that first pre-dawn grayness appear in the east heralding the beginning of a new day where the collaborative work would be hard but the results worth all of the effort. I pray 🙏 that yesterday when our President stood firmly upon the rock of truth that the new day will begin to be born, and it’s light will blanket our land.
I woke this morning with an image of tfg encircled by restraints that were gradually growing tighter around him. My sense is the various actors investigating the rot of the last administration are working toward the goal of accountability in a coordinated manner. A flurry of statements from the J6 committee; DOJ restating commitment to rule of law; President Biden’s speech, among the most obvious. I wonder if the timing, content and those releasing the statements has been carefully planned for maximum impact. Seems as if tfg is feeling the heat? My waking vision contains the glimmers of light suggested by the sunrise imagery. Thanks, TC!
Oh that your vision would come to pass! Tfg needs to finally be held accountable. He’s engaged in criminal activity his whole adult life and literally thinks he can get away with murder.
Thank you Kathe!! I interpret your imagery to mean that the entire collection of extremists, as symbolized by DJT, is being held in check ever tighter. Beautiful imagery thank you 🙏
I am going to take a page from Scott Snyder‘s playbook, and also Rowshan yesterday when she listed in gratitude all the people who participated in her thread, and make a list.
TC, I see your faint faint glimmer of dawn, and I raise you a golden age of eternal sunshine.
Guru Nanak. Abraham, the ancestor of the founders of both Islam and Christianity. Mitra. Zarathustra. Mahivira the Jain. Ramses/Ramoses/Moses. Bahaullah. Ann Lee. Don Genaro and Don Juan, from the life of Carlos Castaneda. Midas. Annie Besant. George Gurdjieff. Helena Blavatsky. Mary of Magdala. Mary the mother of Joshua of Nazareth.
May the wisdom of the ancients guide us and bring us optimism and joy and a full heart and eternal passion as we venture forward in our quest to bring society into a golden age.
Joe Biden can cement his legacy if he merely continues to speak publicly on behalf of the principles that have sustained this democratic experiment over 240+ years. These words beget policy, policy begets legislation, legislation, vetted and refined by judicial review, are the ingredients of law. All of these are made possible and shaped by preserving the franchise.
"The poor will always be with us"...a quote from the Bible, defines a mandate of government. Measures to keep food on the table and equal access to education offers each generation the chance for upward mobility, prepares the next generation of workers in society. We fail to achieve this obligation and a fraction of them fail to reap the rewards of this public investment, thus we continue to have an underclass. However, failure to perfect the execution of the mandate is no justification for abandoning it on the grounds of budgetary concerns? How many of today's fabulously successful and wealthy citizens came from lower and middle class parents? Where would we be if our social investment matched our defense budget? The dawn of a new era in democracy demands that we focus like a laser on the lessons of our history, how we became what we are, both for better and worse, in order to continue perfecting our union. Our president HAS the bully pulpit, if he chooses to use it. He needs to usher TFG off the stage and into the audience. He needs to call out the press for giving voice to the lies. I respect the desire to get to work, simply ignore the traveling carnival sideshow and hope it extinguishes itself, but wildfires can start with a single spark. A fraction of them go on to unimaginable destruction. Thus, they are ignored at our corporate peril.
Public service was on display yesterday during President Biden’s speech as it was the previous day when Merrick Garland spoke to the country. Daily, HCR is a perfect example of a public servant who grinds out their self-assigned responsibilities when it’s dark, cold and the future looks grim. We’ve been a fortunate country to have had people willing to shoulder the burden of being public servants. Joe Biden is following in the footsteps of those hard working patriots. POTUS is a very difficult job for any person at any age, but I find it especially inspiring to watch a seventy-nine year old guy do it day after day. Boula, boula, Joe!
As an OLD female Dem, I am also struck by Nancy’s ability to function at a level I never reached as a young pup. Joe is competent, has America’s future in his sights, and leads us all, not following a hate-filled horde. As to chump, I don’t think he found it difficult at all. Just enjoyed the perks of power, followed the hate, picked the worst people he could find and improved on that strategy til the last hour. So glad every hour of every day that he no longer commands any respect as the occupier of the WH.
I look at how president's have aged in office. Those who strive to put the good of the country first are the ones who really turn gray. Reagan & Trump.....not much.
They just had good make up people, or they were Dorian Gray to begin with. Sorry, but chump is the ugliest man on planet earth, no matter his ridiculous make up.
I find it so discouraging that all of our top political people are in their 70s and 80s. No offense meant but this generation has been in charge since the 90s and needs to retire.
Shucks, Joe, at 88 I feel that I am only approaching late middle age. I feel that I have more wisdom and insight than such youngsters as Pelosi and Biden, but I’d only be able to keep their pace for 30-45 minutes a day. I’m already feeling a mite tired, so I’ll slither aside for those young ‘ens, Biden and Pelosi. I wonder who is promising in the little league.
Keith; just remember that societies, including the most primitive of them, have revered their elders as keepers of history, wisdom, culture and continuity across the millenia. Our generation sees an elderly population in institutional care, plagued by illness, dementia and no longer "useful". Back in the day, only the most robust survived to become elderly, thus they were few, precious, and never stopped working, even if "work" was limited to less arduous tasks for fewer hours.
So, contribute what you can and continue remindgin the rest of us that wisdom, experience are borne of advancing age .
Nathan Thanks. Still, I remember in an Indian society where they gave their grandfather a sumptuous last meal and then led him into the forest. So far, I’m not really hungry.
Her reflections yesterday were powerful....she stood strongly and confidently on her experience in law enforcement as she praised the Capitol Police for protecting her and our democracy on the 6th.
This older than dirt Dem agrees. Waiting for someone who lights a fire. Warren, Harris, Abrams, Franken, where are you. If anybody stands out, the propaganda machine will fire up as it did with HRC.
Roger Stone spends every waking moment sniffing out any vulnerably in any Dem and gets Dems to trash them. James O’Keefe does his own trashing with the most vile “editing.” All on top of Fox’s 24/7 blast of evil. That’s just a few. Dems still think it’s a political game. To paraphrase Shakespeare, hell is empty and all the devils are here.
I was struck by those words as well, Suzette. I remember Heather talking about how hard it was for her to see that flag carried into the Capitol. And, I think it remians painful for her.
“ Julia Ward Howe woke up in the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C. She got out of bed, found a pen, and began to write about the struggle in which the country was engaged: could any nation “conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal” survive, or would such a nation inevitably descend into hierarchies and minority rule? ”
Beautiful words, but America was not “conceived in liberty”. It was stolen from the indigenous peoples with lies, cheating, horrendous violence, and with disease. First we stole the land and then we settled it and transformed it using slave labor. I have used the following quote several times, but it’s always valid when discussing most any political news or history regarding America:
“A ‘better world’ bought by atrocities will be rotten at the core.” (Ilona Andrews)
Privileged and entitled White men paved the way with greed, selfishness, and complete disregard for human beings. Their evil deeds were rewarded as they are their own judges and jury.
America is so rotten at the core, they’ve sanitized history and painted a fantasy of a great nation. Make no mistake, there are many people who deserve to be called great Americans, but they can’t erase the truth.
The truth keeps reminding us with every act which protects the privilege & entitlement of a few at great cost to many.
If we didn’t have the Freedom to learn truth through History like many countries don’t. How would you know ? Not to mention Lisa you are ‘Freely ‘ on an Internet Forum of a Top notch History Professor helping you learn. And you can speak ‘Freely ‘ w/out being censured . Compared to 99% of the worlds population it is you and I that are rich, privileged and entitled . They haven’t burned our books yet. I can’t go back and change the ‘Wrongs ‘. But I can go forward and try to help it to be ‘Improved’. Invest in America. Do what you can. We are not broken. We just aren’t finished yet. Forward is the only way.❤️🦋
I don’t disagree with her Joe. I’m asking her now to think of 3 solutions . I’ll ask you what does reckoning/ reconciliation look like ? Those solutions ?
You ask for solutions; we need to acknowledge that there is a problem first. The 1619 Project seems to be a great start in looking at the fundamental problem of the ingrained belief that those whose skin tones were different were inferior and could be enslaved, or those whose concepts of land ownership were not "in line" with European concepts and could be "bought for trinkets" and later lied to again and again "because we could". The vehemence with which the white right opposes anything to do with the 1619 Project is a clue to why we're not getting anywhere.
Thank you - this for me is key so I can truly learn. I know I’ve heard ideas for solutions before as well, but unlike so many of you, I have SO MUCH to learn and can struggle to recall. Everything can still run together for me.
And maybe it’s not so much for me as having the solutions but on how to think of it, with that truth, to understand it, move forward. For me, otherwise I start losing hope.
Any solutions start with radical honesty… calling things what they are.. genocide, colonization, white supremacy. Your comment sweeps all that under the rug. What are your solutions?
Respectfully Joe, who over the age of let’s say 25 doesn’t know that ? I have lived in FL 62 yrs. I came from up north. We had a City public pool. My pool buddy was a little black girl . It wasn’t until the trip to FL and then living here I saw what was going on. Actually didn’t even see black Ppl. I don’t know how old you are or where you live but it’s now not the Fl I came to as a child. But still so racist. Trust me When I say they know the history as well. I believe with a 100% of my being that the white suprematist thinks if Ppl of color have Equal Rights it equates less Rights for them. The idea of having to compete with assertive Ppl of color frightens them. Obama proved that. When my daughter was murdered in 1993 the first question was “ Was he a Black Guy ? “ No. Does Battered, Raped and Strangled make it more tolerant because he was white ? No ! I choose Ppl based on Integrity and Character. I was raised/ taught the Golden Rule. “ Treat Ppl the way you want them to treat you. “ There’s really only 2 kinds of people in America . Those who ‘Choose ‘ to be a part of the Problem. Or those who ‘Choose ‘ to be a part of the Solution. “ I was not allowed to say, while growing up that I “ Hated a Person “ I could only say I disliked what they did. These were the yrs after the Holocaust. Don’t know if that was why ? I could say I hated a thing. To this day I still practice this. I wonder if we are even conscious/ aware how many of us say it ? That and sit downs with respectful dialog with those different than us I think would be a good beginning. I forgave My daughters murderer, for me. Anger and hate is a big burden to carry. In pulls you down and shuts out love and light. Yes , it took a while.I was so conflicted, I had that anger down pat. But just could not submit to hate. Joe always let Ppl see your Love & Light. ❤️🦋
Marcia, I could not follow what the differences you, Joe, Ally and Lisa were having and didn't want to cut in. First of all, I didn't know that your daughter was murdered. If you open to telling me about it, please do. Now, getting back to four way exchange you were engaged in, what was the issue? How are you? Your subscriber friend, Fern
JoeBurly, I have read through the exchanges between you Lisa, Marcia and Alley, which prompted a few questions. What is your concept of 'radical honesty'? Would suggest a governmental commission? In addition to fact-finding, which departments of government, academia, business etc., are responsible for remediation (if that is called for), systemic changes and education? In conjunction with that, what are your remedies for people in need of proper governmental support and whose financial security hanging by a thread other than those proposed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Biden administration? May some poor and regular folks feel that there seem to be more calls for tribunals to try the guilty, to comb through family histories for evidence of discrimination, racism, bigotry, scapegoating, physical and economic harm to others as the safety net for Americans has been torn to shreds over the past 45 to 50 years? Thanks.
The core of one of America’s biggest problems is like addictions and other mental health issues. Therefore we must first recognize and acknowledge the problem. Until then, we can’t going forward, only in circles.
Sanitizing and outright falsifying history is a symptom. Yes, we have access to the truth (some have more access than others), but if we don’t know we’re hearing a lie when we are in school, we won’t know to look for the truth. Until then, we believe the White American Fantasy.
I love the analogy you make with comparing the true roots of American success (genocide of the Indigenous peoples to acquire their ancestral land and the enslavement of Blacks to gain wealth so quickly) to the successful treatment of addiction as acknowledging the "problem" exists and must be addressed before treatment can happen.
Germany as a nation looked at the results of WWII and what the Nazis did and said "never again." We (as a nation) flat refuse to look at how we were founded and see that this fruit of our labors is indeed rotten in the middle.
As a nation, yes, we refuse to see that America’s history is rotten to the core, but here on this forum, we are now having the discussion. Treating all humans as equals, nobody being in a superior class, is one part of the solution. What we have been calling “democracy.“ Lisa’s argument suggests we need to stop sanitizing and white washing the facts. I agree. I would not have used the words that Heather uses. But I cut Heather some slack because she is responsible for the fact that we are even having this discussion. We are in her auditorium.
What I enjoy is that you beautiful people and I are having this discussion together.
If you take a world view, all human history is rotten to the core. Think Ghengis Kahn & genocide. Think the Jews being enslaved as in the old testament. It seems like every empire had slaves. In my mind the discussion needs to include what is inherent in humans to make them think it's OK to enslave another. Why are some humans so fixed on lording it over others?
Just throwing out what I've been muddling over....
Thank you for this reminder Betsy. We get all caught up in the drama of the moment (daily news reports), the little showcase that is American society. We forget that we are reversing thousands and thousands of years of history. Slavery did not begin with the English colonizers of eastern North America and the Caribbean.
Don’t ever say that the democracy battle in the USA has no bearing on the rest of the world. Baloney. The entire world watches what happens in this fishbowl, right now it’s a dirty fishbowl. The entire world is fighting its own democracy battles as well. Kazakhs read the news too. As a civilization, humans are in the midst of reversing a nasty tradition that goes back into the dim mists of history.
Don’t ever think that what you say and write, the actions you take in your personal life with family and friends and workmates, your political advocacy work, everything you do to further the installation of a strong democratic society on this planet, is pointless or meaningless, is too small to matter. It matters. We are changing history. We are changing a massive massive problem. Remember that. This is not small potatoes.
Lisa I can hear the tone of your concern through your typed words. I’m going to give you a challenge. Today, think of 3 solutions to understanding the difference between a politician or the elite’s lies and finding out Truth .I would look forward to you’re replay. And it was no fantasy in the origins of our Country. But then that ‘Striving ‘ began to make it equal for not just rich white land owners. Women weren’t considered citizens until they married because they weren’t allowed to own land or Vote. “We’ve come a long way Baby ! “ Not going to go backwards.But just think of 3. It’s going to be alright.❤️🤍💙
I do not deny the good people’s progress, even though the reasons behind some of that progress was due to self-serving political tactics.
I’m just saying that the core of America is rotten and the ‘offspring’ of that core (genetic and in spirit/belief) are those who are currently paying the politicians to keep an unlevel playing field, stagnate wages/salary, dumbing down American education, imposing spyware on workers, gerrymander and put up roadblocks to keep BlPOC from the polls, etc.
Privilege and entitlement is the root cause of the disease we’re fighting. It’s in most of us.
It is true for me. I do not recognize all privilege and entitlements because I am White and often do not see what is under my nose. The only think I can say for sure is that I do not wish for others to have less than me.
Yes. But humans are all perfectly imperfect, likewise as for our Union. It’s the “STRIVING “ that we must keep in perpetual motion. Throughout my entire lifetime I have witnessed and been affected by some of both. And none of us are lacking from complaining. But then I get reminded that when ‘ Others ‘ do it wrong that as bad as it may seem America still beats whatever is in 2ed place. So we dust ourselves off. Get back up to that striving thing. I trust in Ppl like you.And there is I believe, more that want it to thrive while we continue to strive.The World told Biden” Glad America is back ! “ Funny about that, even some that aren’t our BFF 😂.Do what you can however small it maybe.
Marcia, how do we go forward in anything resembling a positive way, if we don't look the sins of our fathers in the eye, and take responsibility for blindly skipping along and patting ourselves on the back? We need, first of all - in the words of Crosby, Stills and Nash - to teach our children well their fathers' hell. Shame and repentance are the only paths to the kind of change this country desperately needs.
At best you can only say you are sorry for their suffering. And what I already suspect from you is to just be better than the past Fathers were. I think you must have been fixing the other post like this. I answered it. ❤️🦋
Thank you for this much-needed truth, Lisa. It is fact that we live on stolen land and our country was built on the graves of the indigenous people from which it was taken and on the backs of slaves. America's promises only applied (apply?) to a few. My hope is that we can move forward in a way that enables us to finally achieve "liberty and justice for ALL." It will be a massive undertaking, for sure, but one that is worth the effort.
Thank you Lisa. These days, when I look at shopping centers and housing projects, roads and powerlines, I see a blight plastered all over mother nature. A blight created by the European Invasion of the Americas. Once in a while, I think that every structure that has been constructed on top of the land of this country should pay a tax to the native peoples who were custodians before the Europeans arrived. One penny tax, say, for every square foot of structure, payable to the nearest native nation-tribe.
It was a genocide that allowed the Europeans to take control of this continent. Even the idea of a United States was probably borrowed, without accreditation of course, from the idea of the Iroquois Confederacy.
No, we don’t have a history of saintly behavior here. But when we are born here, we have to play the cards we’re dealt, sullied as those cards are.
Like 9-11, I avoid viewing images and videos of the January 6, 2020 insurrection - they being so terribly painful and shameful to view. That said, I’m grateful to Nancy Pelosi and Chuch Schumer, to our president Joe Biden and to Merrick Garland for their integrity, leadership and class. And I gotta say, the words to “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” are as stirring and relevant now as when the Civil War was raging. Thank you Heather for sharing that.
May we beat back the brutes and take back our beloved nation. 🙏🏻🇺🇸
President Biden's speech yesterday was one for the history books. I am so glad he directly called out TFG in forceful language. Should he have been doing it all along, as some wondered? I think it was all the more powerful to wait until the anniversary. The speech would not have been nearly as powerful if he had been sniping at TFG all year. Instead, he spent the last year doing his job as president, putting the country's needs first, and letting the House Jan 6th committee accumulate the facts of what happened that day. I think it was a smart move.
I agree that it was more powerful at the anniversary. I am sure this was debated within the administration as to when to do this, with the hope that some of the Republicans in the past year would grow a spine. Unfortunately, did not happen. And I look forward to other retired Republican leaders making their voices heard.
My suggestion is that we shelve our own egos, and get to work. The idea of stripped down communication in order to educate is really good. Signing up people to vote. But explanation of what we stand to lose is so important.
Well said! I think Joe Biden and the Democrats have turned the corner on this thing. From what I hear and read, the House Select Committee has compiled an enormous database that will elucidate and substantiate the committee's findings of fact, and its recommendations for laws that need to be changed or enacted so as to put teeth into the democratic and institutional norms that heretofore have gone relatively unchallenged. Undoubtedly, the committee staff are already circulating drafts of chapters that will appear in the Final Report, as well as any Interim Report that the committee chooses to make. The commemorative ceremonies of yesterday, today and tomorrow must be treated as the springboard for a public awareness campaign that constantly re-emphasizes the lessons of January 6: That democracy is fragile, and it needs to be protected, now mostly from its domestic enemies and those who would profit by its demise. That in the year leading up to the 2020 election, there were no provable instances of voter fraud apart from those that were early on discovered, and were committed entirely by supporters of Donald Trump. That over the past several years, Trump supporters and now the Republican Party have engaged in an ongoing campaign to denigrate democracy and voting through falsehoods, inflammatory propaganda themselves based upon falsehoods and mischaracterizations, and that those efforts are continuing and need to be opposed. That in the postelection year leading up to the January 6 insurrection, the various attempts by Republican Party operatives to cast doubt on the validity of elections, specifically in Maricopa County, Arizona, Atlanta, Georgia, and elsewhere, have yielded results that in no way substantiate the allegations of election fraud or official misconduct; and if anything, those post-election reviews have yielded findings that showed that Joe Biden won by even larger majorities that had been recorded during the official vote counting. Then all Republican efforts to reduce access to the polls have been done in bad faith and are presumptively illegitimate.
It also appeared in the news of today that the Select Committee is looking seriously into whether the former president can be charged with a federal crime based upon his refusal to act during the 187 minutes that the Capitol building was under attack. The committee seems to have focused on dereliction of duty by the former president, who spent those precious minutes sitting in the White House dining room watching television with rapt attention, and tweeting up a storm to encourage his followers to press their assault even harder. I fail to see why there should be any legitimate controversy over the eventual prosecution of Donald Trump for criminal misconduct in office. The January 6 assault on the Capitol was not spontaneous by any stretch of the imagination. It was planned, paid for in advance, and attracted followers who participated in the pre-assault rally at the White House on the morning of January 6 from everywhere in the United States. Local news coverage here in California mentioned that no fewer than 40 individuals who are California residents have been identified as being among those several thousand individuals who participated in the attempt to halt the counting of the votes cast in the November election. California is a long way from Washington DC by some 3,000 miles; and if anything stands out, it's the need for advanced planning to make sure that everything comes together at once. Logistics are the heart and soul of any large-scale, multifaceted, personal participation in an event or thousands are expected to show up. What happened was not a flash mob: airline tickets require advanced reservations, and seats are limited. If people are going to drive the distance, traveling to Washington from anywhere west of the Mississippi River is going to take time. In my lifetime, I've had the pleasure of driving cross-country three times, albeit during different eras, and whether in the 1950s, or the 1970s, travel time was always between seven and ten days. The point I am making is that this logistical effort had to go back months in order to find places for overnight lodging, feeding, and caretaking for literally thousands of people, even if they are traveling on their own dime. I am confident that the Select Committee is delving into the money trail, starting with who donated money to this effort, and how it was distributed. Also to be noted on the subject of logistics would be the happenstance that large numbers of people showed up both at the President's rally speech at the White House, and an hour later in front of the Capitol, armed with all sorts of makeshift weaponry, and some of the constituting firearms and ammunition, even as the rally organizers were cautioning would-be attendees to leave their guns at home. Others showed up in tactical gear consisting of body armor, helmets and facemasks, which strongly suggests that they were preparing themselves for hand-to-hand combat. Still others showed up with chemical sprays like the so-called 'bear spray' that several individuals used to neutralize Capitol Police officers and others. This is not the kind of stuff that would escape notice by TSA in vetting travelers on a cross-country flight. The planning for this was therefore deep, and thorough, with certainly more thought put into it then someone might do to plan a fishing or camping trip into the outback. Looking at the calendar for 2020 would have shown that opponents of Joe Biden's election would have to be working over the nine consecutive weeks between Election Day on November 3 and January 6, with the greatest level of activity following the Christmas holidays into the first week of January. That is an enormous amount of effort by a great number of people who had to coordinate with one another, and marshal the resources necessary to carry off this coup d'état. Donald Trump might have been personally incapable of pulling this off on his own, but he had a great deal of help from the ranks of his followers, and their financial supporters. I have no doubt that the White House staff coordinated much of that effort.
Altogether, what we have is a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States Government of the benefits of a fair election. That is a crime. And it doesn't matter which party is in charge. It is still a crime. A prosecutor does not have to show that the leader of a criminal conspiracy has a hand in, or even knowledge of, every detail that conspiracy encompasses in pursuit of its criminal goals. It is enough that he set the conspiracy in motion, and generally oversaw its accomplishment. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's post-January 6 condemnation of Donald Trump basically laid out a federal prosecutor's opening statement in a criminal trial on the same facts of what Trump did, and what he also failed to do. Dereliction of duty is a crime under military law; and here Trump was withholding armed force to suppress the insurrectionists to accomplish his own criminal purpose. Trump's Oath of Office includes both his duty to enforce the laws of the country he was elected to serve as its President, and to protect and defend the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic. The duty to protect and defend requires affirmative action on the part of the official charged with that duty, and Trump did nothing, even as his senior advisers and others were beseeching him to take some sort of action to end their insurrection and send the insurgents home. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy angrily telephoned Trump demanding he call a halt to the attack; Trump refused, reportedly telling McCarthy, "Well, Kevin, I guess they care more about the election then you do." Trump knew what was going on, and he approved of everything he was seeing on his television set. That is the only conclusion that logic and the law will allow. Trump saw what was going on, and he resisted all pleas to end it, until it was obvious that the coup had failed.
The failure of the insurrection in its earliest stages by allowing senators and Members of Congress to escape, made it impossible for Trump to succeed with his gambit. The fact that Trump failed does not lessen his criminal culpability one iota. He is guilty as charged. What we need now is an Attorney General who will take that lesson to heart.
...don't forget the zip ties. Our nation has to take a good look at the laws around presidential and congressional behavior. (I am concerned about this bad behavior becoming normalized. Look at the way people are talking about Liz Cheney, as if she has done something stellar when she is doing what every single congressperson SHOULD do.) It's one thing if the people take up arms but another if the president and congresspeople are aiding and abetting. Another thing I wonder about is what people in government knew about the planning. I heard it was done pretty much in plain sight on the internet. People talking about carpooling and discussing car trunk size with regard to what weapons would fit. Did the FBI know about this planning??? (They must have!) Did they tell the administration? Was it ignored? Was it not reported to the administration?
What puzzles me to this day is how little preparation there was from the myriad of federal agencies that HAD to know what was afoot. It speaks of incompetence (bad), lack of perception (also bad), or agreement (much worse) when it comes to evaluating the risk posed to the Capitol. It was either an epic command and control fail or acquiescence to the "cause".
Kim, your questions at the end here are telling. I have to assume that the FBI knew something was afoot. Was it negligence (not telling because they didn't want to "stir the pot), intentional (not wanting to disrupt the "plan") or conspiratorial (they wanted the plan to succeed); it also matters that there are more than a few appointees that are loyal to the "plan".
Every word true. There was indeed fraud in the 2020 election, all of it by republicans, wish this were mentioned every time talking heads say there was no fraud.
The Villages here in FL. Think there were like 8 Ppl arrested . It’s a well to do Senior like little City. Republicans. They go everywhere in their Golf Carts.TFG went there and likewise DeSantis.
Yes, Marcia, DeSantis often gives press conferences from the Villages with 80,000 residents/supporters. I’m sure he was speaking to them when he called the 1/6 coverage “nauseating”.
It was said he was MIA over the Holidays. Anyone check Mar-A-Lago ? Don’t think we heard a peep out of him for 2 weeks ? TFG always has his New Years Eve Tux and Tie shindig .
And DeS's speech from Kissimmee was clearly that of a man who was ill or having a panic attack.....gasping for breath. If he had COVID we will never know.
Marcia, DeSantis spoke 9 miles from Mar-A-Lago yesterday. I usually refrain from writing to DeSantis, Scott ,Birther Bill Posey et al…..although it really struck a nerve when DeSantis said the 1/6 coverage would be “ nauseating”. I told him it didn’t matter where you were on the political spectrum, lives were lost that day. RESPECT.
If you believe for a second that Atty Gen Merrick Garland does not have the wherewithal to take that lesson to heart, then there is no chance for the rule of law to succeed.
I agree with Christine, Arthur, I was with you 100% until the last sentence. I listened to the AG’s speech the day before and I was heartened by not only what he said but how he said it, this will be the test of his lifetime and I believe that he will be up to the task.
Thanks for your post,Arthur. Not to mention the committee has worked every.single.day. Including the holidays.
I thought Biden’s messaging was spot-on yesterday, including calling out “the former defeated president “ and pointing out the Republicans did not protest ANY OTHER ELECTION ! We The People need to keep spreading that message!
The “fraud” affected only the choice for President and Vice President. Republican Senators, Representatives, dog catchers on the same ballots were elected without question. Those committing “fraud” to favor Democrats must have been incompetent.
I have no doubt that any protest to a future prosecution of Trump, and those he conspired with, would not be legitimate. But that hasn't stopped the entire Republican contingents in the House of Representatives and in the Senate from trying to get people to forget what they saw, and what they know to be true. This is all about power; and Republicans believe that power in the hands of Democrats is by definition illegitimate, and power in their own hands is entirely legitimate. Republicans seem to have a sense of entitlement justified by wealth, and their inflated sense of self-worth. Voters should not put Republicans in charge of anything, because those Republicans have no commitment to either sound governance, or the public good. That's just the way it is. It wasn't always that way; I worked in four presidential administrations, three of which were Republican, dating back to 1973. Back then, Republicans believed in good governance, at least the better ones, and they perform valuable public service in crafting broad-based public policies. That hasn't been true since the Reagan administration. If you look at the number of members of Congress who have been prosecuted for federal crimes, chiefly revolving around defrauding the government, the vast majority of them were Republicans. It's not the Democrats are basically more honest than Republicans, although that may indeed be true, especially in recent years, but Democrats are not there to pad their incomes, or stock portfolios. I say mostly, because the Senate is essentially a rich man's club; and no one ever got rich just by getting a paycheck. Nonetheless, since the Reagan years, Republicans have been much more active in subverting the values of democracy and sound governance. And that is, unfortunately, a fact of life.
The motto of Boston College, where Heather is a distinguished Professor of American History, is Aien Aristeuein (English letters in place of Greek), which means EVER TO EXCEL. Heather always excels in her daily "Letters from an American." I at least skim if not read the daily op-ed pieces in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Washington Post. None of the regular columnists on their op-ed pages comes close to matching the quality of Heather's Letters. Her letters are filled with relevant history and are written in a style that grabs our attention and helps us understand the complicated country and world we live in. She is never dull, she ALWAYS EXCELS. And we are better people thanks to you, Heather. Joe Parkes, NYC
Dr. Richardson is a Professor of History and, also, (and this skill was likley acquired long before she went to college), she is an benchmark writer of the English language.
The combination of being a truly passionate, and well trained Historian and a top flight writer?
Well, we are here to see the result.
Yes, Indeed. Even when she writes a date, "January 6, 2022," e. g., she puts the Oxford comma after "2022," which so many people, including those who claim to be journalists, often fail to do.
The Oxford comma, also known as the serial comma, is optional and involves lists not dates. But you're correct that a comma should follow the year, as in your example. Don't be too harsh on journalists for such small errors. Except for a precious few large newspapers and magazines, staffs have been whittled away to a bare minimum yet are publishing on multiple platforms. Copy editors, who used be the last line of defense for fixing such things as punctuation and grammar mistakes, are an endangered species.
Thanks, Michael, for correcting my error about the Oxford comma. Now if we in the U.S. were to write dates as is done in most other countries, we wouldn't need to write any commas, e.g., "6 January 2022 is a great day!'
Sorry, Richard, but the Oxford comma is placed right before a conjunction ("and," "or," etc.) in a series of three or more terms. The "January 6, 2022," date format is not governed by the Oxford comma rule.
"Style manuals, including the Chicago Manual of Style and AP Stylebook, recommend using commas in pairs to set off the year. A comma should appear both before and after the year."
https://editorsmanual.com/articles/commas-in-dates/
My editorial brain appreciates this post immensely, Mim!
Thank you, Ashley.
Seem to recall she has a master’s in English?
Agree with your praise of HRC’s insights and enlightenments. She is undeniably a daily treasure.
One point I can’t agree with: “… the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Washington Post. None of the regular columnists on their op-ed pages comes close to matching the quality of Heather's Letters.” Each of those publications has some phenomenal thinkers and writers and analysts among their staff. Maybe not daily columnists, but regulars certainly. Just saying. OK, defending.
Great comment, Joe …Go, Heather and Go BC!
👍👍👍👍
She always excels.
Thanks for this Joe!!
And I agree 100%. She is Our Angel😊💕
Joe Parkes, I could not state it better nor agree more. I am hopeful that in the quiet moments of most Americans' lives, they care as much about our freedom, our right to vote for choice in our destinies as I do when I read the words of a scholarly, patriotic American professor, Heather Cox Richardson. May justice come to bear now lest we have to fight again for our freedom and all that our blessed America stands for, at a cost I can't bear to consider. PWR, American
Excellent comment, Joe! I find lots of the headlines of the Washington Post, to which I subscribe, often misleading. I often criticize them in my responses to their stories, both negatively and positively.
News headlines, yes, Richard, have to agree. (NYT is the worst offender.) Several OPINION WRITERS, however, are quite good.
Absolutely agree!
Listening to President Biden’s speech yesterday, I was proud of him, and proud to be a patriotic American! Joe threw down the gauntlet and called out the malignancy of his predecessor and his enablers.
I didn’t spend 26 years in the Navy, protecting our country and its Constitution, just to see it all shredded by a mob of ignorant, despicable traitors, egged on by the worst treat to Democracy since the founding of this great nation…Donald J. Trump!
Of all the traitors the ones are not called out yet and are the worst are the Republicans in Congress
Yes, especially the Representative in my district. He is name Scott Perry, PA-10 (R). He is a total tRUMPER, and also a General in the PA National Guard. Ain't that scary!
I’m one of the fortunate ones. CA45 has Rep. Katie Porter. I hope we keep her. Midterms coming!
My Representative Rodney Davis and the Rep next door, Darin LaHood, are Trumplicans, also. They voted with him and are anti-Biden.
Now that you know them, actively work for the opposition candidates.
Then you know what you must do, starting with your state Democrat Party committee.
I’m stuck with Andy Biggs in Arizona. This is such a Mormon Republican district that even with his seditious behavior they won’t vote against him.
Then publicly call him out. No one should be allowed to hide behind a religious organization. Time to call out those Mormons who, knowing who follows the path of evil, allow themselves to provide cover are no better.
Sadly there are so many other horror shows who belong to the same club. I wont say serves with him because they serve no one but themselves and the former guy.
I hope they are investing Grassley, who sent out a weird tweet on January 5th, claiming that HE would be in charge of the Senate, not Pence - who would not be present. What?
Grassley is ancient and needs to retire and go lie in the grass. I don't think the grass would mind that kind of lying.
LOL! True!
under the grass
Lee Zeldin, repping a section of Long Island, NY, was one of the “rats” who wouldn’t certify the election…and is eyeing the Governorship. Hell NO!
Then you know what your duty demands. Not every person who has fought and died for this nation held an elected office - but all of us have benefitted from their sacrifice. We owe it to them.
We are saddled with Doug LaMalfa in my N CA Representative! Abhorrent to say the least.
Then get active and support his opponent. You have the right to demand honorable people to represent you.
LaMalfa and McClintock are both worthless. Every workday, I have the (not so) good fortune of driving through their districts, and the Nunes and McCarthy districts. 🙄
Ugh
Well said, Sailor. (I would have said "shipmate" since the Navy was the branch of service I had chosen until I discovered that being gay was (in 1977) a bar to service.)
It was yet another painful and shameful day when tfg turned back the hard won right for trans persons to serve.
I'm sorry you couldn't fulfill that particular dream at that time. From someone who grew up in a family with three tuba players!
Unfortunately, Trump's malignancy seems to be spreading throughout the country. President Biden's speech was excellent and timely. If only he had been speaking out forcefully over his first year as Commander In Chief, just maybe the media would have shut down their daily, no hourly, mention of the former autocratic ruler we had from 2017 to January 20, 2021. May we remember the words of The Battle Hymn of the Republic.
Sadly, it would not have changed the words at the media Republicans and Trumpists listen to. Rupert Murdoch and whoever is funding the others want this democracy pulled apart and down. Interesting to read Dr. Richardson's history of this hymn that has always brought tears to my eyes.
Reaching the hardcore Trumpers is hopeless, granted. But the mainstream media's reluctance to acknowledge what the Republicans are up to is making it easy for many USians to avoid thinking too hard about what's happening. I'm continually amazed by how lackadaisical many of the non-activists I know are. These people vote regularly and are reasonably well informed, but some of them at least still think the rest of us are hyperventilating. It's frustrating.
I was disappointed with the Washington Post article in this morning’s Albuquerque Journal. Under the headline “Biden pillories Trump over Jan. 6”, 25% of the article was devoted to Trump’s response. The media needs to quit volunteering “both sides are equal” coverage.
It's maddening, both the madnesses you address. I won't shut up if I start talking about this, but, yeah, "It's frustrating." Good God.
I admit to never paying much attention to the hymn. That is until Heather’s post. Now :’-)
So many people seem to be expecting a civil war, some hoping for it. Americans always want a blowout and we haven’t had one since ww2. Here we are reading the words of the battle hymn of the republic. You have to wonder, How much testosterone is the right amount. When do you stand up like an oak and show some spine, and when do you bend like a willow and do you trust to electionElection Day
...and when do you bend like a willow and trust to Election Day? Does confrontation increase the possibility of violence, or is it coming, no matter what, so let’s get those juices flowing. If you’re going to get into a war of words, you have to shoot from the lip. take no prisoners. None of that pussyfootin’ and no mansplainin’. Dems need writers, bad. They need that killer instinct.
Thank you for your service to our country, James.
Absolutely. I was working and couldn't see it live, but I watched the video when I got home, then stood and saluted. I feel very much the same about my 24 years in the USAF, but wondering more and more if I wasn't defending the right of some Americans to be as stoopid as they want to be.
One of the toughest assignments I had was to provide part of a "police security barrier" for some anti-abortionists when they protested the opening of a new Planned Parenthood clinic. Those people were so antithetical to what I believe.
I think of the Capitol Police who committed suicide. Can you imagine if you had dedicated your life to protecting democracy and the Constitution and the U.S. Capitol, and then your neighbors and perhaps friends and relatives show up like they did on January 6?
I have spent time thinking about this, and looking where I see my fellow retirees. I can't even imagine that stress.
I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. Being driven to suicide. It’s horrific to contemplate.
It is indeed.
Hmm. You have 262 ❤️s. Looks like a few people agree with you.
On the first anniversary of Jan. 6, Biden delivered a brave, necessary, intelligent address . I wish we hadn't had to wait so long for it, but it finally came, definitive and unflinching, true right down to the bone. Well-reasoned and thrilling. I'm proud to be on his side and to have heard this speech.
I was very pleased by Biden’s overdue but well-delivered, excellent speech. I wish the previous day’s speech by AG Garland had been as clear and forthright.
It is important to understand that the attack on the Capitol was a very dark day in our nation's history and I am eager to see those who participated, planned, coordinated, and financed it held accountable. However, the larger crime is the attempt to interfere with the certification of the electoral count by Congress and overturn the results of the election. This is a very serious federal crime under federal law. For those interested the statute is 18 USC 1512, conspiring to interfere with and obstruct an official proceeding to certify an election. Further and more serious counts could well be brought against Trump and many others who conspired to overturn the results of a free, fair, and secure election. I wish to see that investigation proceed, charges brought, and indictments delivered.
Exactly. This could/should mean that participating Republicans would go to jail and not be allowed to hold office again. This is more important, imo, than jailing the actual rioters.
Yes! But, to get the participating Republicans, DOJ must start with flipping the rioting pawns.
So do all of us who live outside the beltway and the media world. Whether it happens or not depends on the presence of courage and integrity in that little community of frenemies and therein lie the doubts. I don't see a Sam Ervin, Howard Baker, Fred Thompson or Sam Dash anywhere on the horizon and, so far, there doesn't seem to be a John Dean either.
There are to my understanding a good number of first hand witnesses cooperating. J6 is so much larger, more complicated, and with far more criminal acts than Watergate. There will be multiple mini-me Deans.
Saying it is one thing, seeing it will be believing. I profoundly hope that Mr. Garland is sincere and will be effective but, so far, it remains to be seen.
I will continue to point out that a case against Trump has to be more of a slam dunk than any other slam dunk, more airtight than any other airtight case. Were he indicted and tried, and got off, it would be a million times worse than if he had never been charged at all.
"When you attack the king, you MUST kill him."
A lot depends on the trial judge and what court the process starts in. We all know where it's going to end up. No one will want to risk a reversal of even a ruling let alone a decision. I'm not trying to minimize the challenges Garland and the DoJ face but there is an effective time limit as well.
While the time limit the congressional 1/6 committee faces (this fall's elections) doesn't affect the DoJ, they do have a time limit: if they don't make their move before TFG declares for re-election, they will be constrained by the DoJ's own rules that they cannot bring cases that "may affect the outcome of a political campaign." So you are right, there are time limits all around. I was just IMing with a friend today about the over-under he'd announce at his Wankfest in Phoenix a week from tomorrow. He's been told there are campaign finance laws that would restrict his activities if he announced too soon, but he may not worry about that if he wants to use the campaign to block prosecution.
Once again I must quote the great journalist from the past, I. F. Stone: "Governments lie." I agree with you, Dave, 'seeing it will be believing,' or "The proof is in the pudding.' I think I have that quote correct.
Quoting Dr. Gregory House, "Everybody lies." So why wouldn't governments?
Because we vote for people who we thought had some integrity and the good of the country at heart. We common folks' lies don't have the same importance or effect.
Great! I'm so pleased I can see reruns of Dr. House during the day. But that does take away from other valuable things I could be doing.
Agree completely. Many a slip twist the cup and the lip.
The insurrectionists who have gone to trial have gotten slaps on wrists. Black people have gotten longer prison sentences for minor drug possession. Being white really acts as a shield against any real justice.
It's so sad that there were not enough police and troops there on 1/06/21, to arrest every stinking one of those that did the attack. Forcefully entering the U.S. Capitol and causing injuries and damage is a felony.
Not having enough troops was a deliberate move by tRump and Miller. When the mayor of DC said early in the morning of January 6th that they had 360 Capitol Police officers on duty, I screamed at the TV, "You need 36,000!" We in Michigan who had watched our state capitol takeover by machine gun toting magats knew exactly what was going to happen, especially after word of changes to head Defense Department personnel a few days before. Luckily at 1:30 pm on the 6th I took a 3 hour nap or I might have destroyed my TV and had a heart attack.
Not sad. Part of the plan.
I'd like to see Bannon immobilised and made as uncomfortable as possible while he awaits trial. Meanwhile that weevil Farage continues to pop up unheralded.
Anne-Louise, and the same to Roger Stone. It galls me that he was pardoned by iDJT and is now right back to his old tricks.
Gosh, there is an awfully long list of despicable characters surrounding the defeated and beaten egotistical former …. I can’t even bring myself to say his name.
An elegant fantasy Sophia; one can always hope.
I think the Dems are beginning their battle and starting it en masse. I agree with MaryPat about strategy. The administration has now established both a great offense and a great defense. Charge!!
As a former lobbyist, I do not agree that Biden's speech yesterday was long overdue. In politics timing is everything. First things first - focus on cooperation with legislators to save (vaccines) then improve ($$$$$) lives of Americans. Second - don't rile up your opposition, at least not before you get #1. Third, don't lead until you have gotten the people headed in your direction. Fourth, lead.
sounds like advice from a political operative...I am not one, but it seems to me that there are both overt AND covert agendas that must be respected in order to prevail in the political arena.
How about this alternative set of rules...
First, count the votes
Second, determine which of your opponents are vulnerable at the mid-terms
Third, work with the local/state party organizations to find early/vocal political opponents in anticipation of next election cycle, help by feeding them talking points from inside the beltway
Fourth, wage a daily war of information to counter disinformation at every level. Lead by creating the narrative rather than ignoring it or reacting to it.
All of this, too. Thank You.
Interesting. I hadn't said it was "long overdue," but that "I wish we hadn't had to wait so long for it" which implies an understanding that there were reasons for the wait. Respecting those reasons, it still felt like a very long time between extreme provocation and measured, appropriate response.
Sorry, someone else said long overdue, and I should have placed this comment there.
As for #1, President Biden has bent over backwards trying to get cooperation. It well past time that he realized that it won't work.
❤️❤️❤️ always love your posts 🙏
Not overdue, at all. It was 'a President' explaining in no uncertain terms how this Country had been violated, right under the nose of a derelict Commander, "The Big Loser"... toting "the Big Lie".
You tell me. The GOP hasn’t been normal for a long time. MaryPat’s outlined steps is absolutely spot on with timing. And that is absolutely called for when a leader is being challenged by brutes.
Timing. What I am seeing locally and at our state level in Michigan is promising . For example, two promininent conservative legislators running for office describing themselves as "moderate" Republicans. That would have been a death knell a year ago. Heather Cox Richardson reporting in a chat (last week) that the tRumper congresspeople terrified Mitch McConnel (and those who bankroll him) when they were refusing to raise the debt ceiling, which would have devastated our economic standing in the world. My local (trumper country, Sinclair Broadcast Group ) newspaper actually calling the January 6th event "The Insurrection" on the front page yesterday. Those are legislators and media I could work with. Wouldn't have been possible a year ago.
Because so many people believe "it can't happen here," it was necessary to allow the time for things to happen so people could start to see they were wrong. If Biden had given this speech the first week in office, it would have had almost no effect. As MaryPat says, "timing is everything." Particularly in politics.
You are so right, Sophia. Biden must understand that the GOP wants to continue locking him through this year's November election, which likely will win them the House and maybe even the Senate. If that happens, please look back to recent history and note that the same damned thing happened to Obama!
I'm pretty sure that even life-long Republican Margaret Chase Smith would have been proud of that speech.
Especially MCS. 70 years ago, she was calling out her fellow Republicans for riding on the backs of the “Four Horsemen of Calumny–Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear" in her famous speech against McCarthyism. Little has changed in the GOP except that the MCS's of the party have all been purged.
So in your compliment there is a caveat. I believe it’s all the caveats that are hindering our fight for democracy. For every caveat and implied criticism, there is a way for treason to defeat reason.
I do not disagree or resent your opinion. My opinion stated above is that I cringe at the “FINALLY” juxtaposed with a statement that we can at last quote President Biden. And while many have waited, the only one quoted has been the former and his band of merry traitors.
Sophia and Christine, thanks for your opinions. We are still lucky that we can put our opinions in print and not get arrested, imprisoned, or disappeared, as happens in so many other countries. May we hope that we shall be able to continue to do so.
Amen!
Correct. The media campaign began on Day 1. Dosed through the recognised left and right wing outlets.
Oh, he quotes me all the time! ;-)
Hahaha so he does...
LOL😆😆😆
As a psychotherapist in the northeast I am privileged to witness and hear my clients’ innermost thoughts and feelings.
While those I serve are reporting anxiety about what they are reading or watching on the news, very few seem to understand exactly how a loss of democracy or the vote could affect them. Unfortunately, many young people suggest that all politicians are awful and they do not believe their vote can make a difference.
Heather, I think we need to help the public understand the real-life consequences of autocracy.
I said this same thing yesterday,
We need a National Campaign for Democracy. Or it could be called Democracy Now. Anyway it would NOT have flowery, self aggrandizing speeches from politicians. The contents? A bullet point by bullet point comparison of life for the average person under a Dictatorship and a Democracy. It would have footage of people oppressed by dictators speaking and images of their Countries. I see a bullet point presentation of the rights we have now that have been threatened by which person. For example trump saying he wanted to eliminate the tax that funds Social Security. This exhibit would travel from City to City and set up in schools, Malls, outdoor Plazas.
I am going to contact The Lincoln Project with this idea.
I think this is a good general concept. One of the Congresspeople made a similar point last night, saying how do we walk people back from extremism ? We were created to get out from under monarchy.
I contacted The Lincoln Project with this idea. We will see. And if anyone knows of a nonpolitical organization who would have the funds to take this on that would be great.
Effective education that relies on historic facts is going to be very important in the near future.
We need a serious rededication to educating all Americans, beginning with the youngest. Since Reagan, we have starved our schools, underpaid our teachers and allowed local school boards to hollow out any semblance of civic education. A democracy cannot subsist without and engaged and informed public. We now have at least 3 generations of under-educated Americans who don’t know anything about their own government or their responsibilities regarding it. Into this situation step those who foment hate, dispense lies and grab for power. The undereducated are the perfect target. Until we get very serious in our nationwide support for universal, quality education for all, our democracy will be at risk. Just imagine for a moment what could happen if the military budget became the education budget! My heart soars!
Centuries before Reagan. Going back to the "1 room schoolhouse," women were the teachers in almost all cases, and grossly underpaid. Because "women's work" is so highly valued in the US. /s
Well said, MHanni. One quibble: Our democracy already IS at risk.
Yes, yes, yes! Absolutely agree we need to improve our educational system. And yes, check out the significant differences in budget allocation for education compared to military. I’m a retired teacher, 30 plus years, early education through college, including ESL, and government Title I programs. We need to improve and recognize the inequality built into the system through lack of funding. Much of district budgets are state and local. And funded by different tax laws and regulations. Compare quality that includes curriculum and “extras” and the campus and buildings. Zip codes in communities often tell us about our local schools and funding, poverty, diversity and/or lack of diversity. And appropriate curriculum must include civics and government and history for all students starting in earliest grades. We have great challenges: how political education is in USA, number of schools, districts and students in such a huge country. Diversity of our population. And definition of “appropriate.” Currently fights about telling the truth, Critical Race Theory, CRT, not really taught, yet the subject of disagreement at school board meetings. Onward. We can’t ignore that public education is a foundation of our democracy.
We've been trying to do democracy "on the cheap" for a long time now, and we're seeing the consequences. Some other countries treat their public teachers as valued professionals who are paid commensurate to their education and responsibilities. We leave our public teachers to crowdsource funding for teaching supplies or pay for them out of their own, meager salaries. (How many of us saw that video of a scrum of grade school teachers fighting each other for dollar bills for their classrooms on the floor of a basketball court during a break in the game as entertainment for the crowd? That's the America we've built.)
I think it is vital right now. There are millions of people who will suffer greatly under a Dictatorship. And they are being fleeced and deceived by former guy. I firmly believe a national education program touring Cities will make a difference.
I would include a targeted social media campaign with outreach. It's got to become "not cool" to support the big lie...it's got to be understood as anti-American.
Yes indeed. Meanwhile this is more a public relations program aimed at "educating" the public on the realities of living in a Democracy vs. a Dictatorship. Food, transportation, medicine. For example how long are the food lines? Can people get medicine? etc.
Yes I have been thinking that too - I met a Russian immigrant in the library right before the pandemic started and he told me that he and his family had won the "Golden Ticket" - he explained only a certain few people are allowed to leave Russia for the USA and he was thrilled to get to come with his wife and son who was in high school. I don't know his name but I wish he could write an article about the differences they have found living here these last 3 years --it would be very powerful reading or better yet on the TV news show.
Thank you, Barbara! As a retired teacher, I think your idea is "spot on" (I hope my commas are right, Oxford or otherwise. ) for the reason you mention -- most people don't realize how different our lives would be under authoritarian rule.
Please let us know what you hear back from the Lincoln Project.
League of Women Voters?!
Not a bad idea as long as we can keep it apolitical. I was hoping for an Educational/nonprofit organization.
See my reply above
I thought I saw something about the production of videos, but it is disappeared at present. Viral tictocs would be very cool, but closer to the election?
Why not start drafting it here in these comments?
Good idea. We have three categories suggested by Barbara -- food, healthcare and prices (presumably for consumer goods). What are three more key categories? Policing? Freedom of the press (too abstract?) Freedom of speech (what happens to you if you criticize the President or even a local official in a dictatorship vs a Democracy?) For each category, what are three key differences? Make those examples very concrete, something people will relate to their own lives.
Add in freedom of movement. ie reprisals, indoctrination and fear based living. Also the infrastructure crumbles without adequate funding. The Republicans did not support the Infrastructure Plan. What happens when the baby is sick.
Identify the issue:
1. Healthcare
2. Life without any care
etc
Constant compare/contrast.
Lots of research. What is life like under Belasario or in Hungry, in Russia?
See my reply above
so, what do you need to make videos?
I already have.
"We were created to get out from under monarchy."
And then show a photo of Charles and Camilla. Do we REALLY want this again?
Too many are Anglophiles and would.
Just a good-hearted quibble: while perhaps not an “Anglophile”, I am proud of my British heritage. I am proud of the contributions to Constitutional law, the arts, and the thousand years of honing those gifts.
I am not proud of their corporate contributions, expanded and empowered by their American cousins, nor am I proud of their feudal pretensions; mirrored in this country by our celebrity worship and created through media manipulation.
And you should be proud. I didn't express myself well. Royalists would have been better for what I was trying to say.
P.S. I am not a troll, just an observer. I thank both of you for your comments.
People do not understand the difference between Communism and Socialism, and indeed, they are unaware of what Socialism really is.
Not the point of the program. Whether it is fascism, communism or whatever repressive regime is running a Country the average citizen suffers greatly in trying to live a quality, sustainable life.
Once again I am talking the nuts and bolts of the kitchen table lives people live. Doesn't matter the label or the politics. Here is what your life looks like now as opposed to the future.
Not questioning your idea, just making an observation. Good luck on your intents.
Oh ok. Thanks. So darn hard to tell in a commenters forum.
I have friends here in Spain whose fathers were imprisoned by Franco. I love this idea. We could create an organization from those of us who wish to take it on. My email is gaileegailee@gmail.com. I can produce videos.
That could be very powerful. Is it possible for you to shoot a short interview as a demonstration ?
I will see if Mikel can talk about his father. Also another friend was not allowed to use her Basque name during that period. We sold all of our camera and editing equipment before moving here, so it would probably be with my phone, although Mikel was a camera operator for USPN in NY and has friends here who are in the business.
I'm going to e mail you
Yes, do contact The Lincoln Project with this great idea! As TCinLA said in his recent Another Fine Mess column, in November we will be voting for Democracy or Not Democracy.
I sent them an outline this morning. I have been a longtime early supporter of them so maybe they will notice.
Hey, Barbara. Also, explaining what "tax cuts" really means, robbing Peter to pay Paul maybe?
Staying with the kitchen table issues. How are the wealthy elite living in a Dictatorship and how are the workers living?
I think the workers believe the wealthy elite when they are told if they will just work hard enough they can be wealthy too. This is why they vote for people who expect to be served instead of those willing to serve. They want to be like the wealthy and truly believe hard work will get them there.
I know! I don't understand that.
Barbara, have you also contacted the office of the U.S. Secretary of Education? The website describes a Constitution Day, September 17, which would be perfect for launching such an initiative as you describe. It states, "This posting is intended to remind affected educational institutions of this responsibility and to provide resources for them to use in developing their program." Every educational institution receiving federal funds is obligated to provide a program on the constitution!
https://www2.ed.gov/policy/fund/guid/constitutionday.html
I will!
Yesterday was also the beginning of the uprising in Kazakistan to overthrow their kleptocratic dictator being propped up by Putin. Putin’s response was to send in the Russian military to Kazakistan, a country on Russia’s East at the same time as he has been massing troops to the west of Russia to prop up the dictatorship in Belarus and to try and reinstate the dictatorship in the Ukraine.
Meanwhile footage of burning government buildings and reports of dozens or hundreds killed in Kazakistan.
There is a direct line from the dictatorships supported by Putin in Belarus, in The Ukraine, in Kazakistan and the GOP under TFG.
If America does not protect its democracy now by voting, then the burning government buildings and masses shot in the streets will be the price of trying to reclaim democracy.
I have a friend trapped in Kazakhstan. His wife (a former bandmate of mine, and a retired English teacher who has been teaching in China since her retirement a few years ago) had her flight there cancelled, and is still in the states with family. John is hunkered down, waiting for the "all clear".
May everyone who wishes to get home be able to do so. I also have a friend teaching music at an international school in China for the past 2.5 years, mostly during lockdowns. I hope he can come home when he wants to.
Ally, 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻For your friend John.
Thank you!
🙏🏻
Christian Z, I learned this morning there is now a “shoot to kill” authorization.
Horrible and horrifying. :’-(
Even if every Democrat votes, will it be enough to offset the gerrymandering and voter suppression going on? I'm hoping that a coalition of Dems, Repubs, and Independents will make it so.
In his Jan. 6 post, Timothy Snyder describes in broad strokes what could happen if Trump is installed as president despite losing the election. Buckle up:
"The precise scenario of the collapse of the United States is impossible to predict, but some of the following is likely to happen, and quickly.
"Tens of millions of people protest. Paramilitaries on both sides emerge. Violence leads to fake and real stories of deaths, and to revenge. Police and armed forces will know neither whom they should obey nor whom they should arrest. With traditional authority broken, those wearing uniforms and bearing arms will become partisans, take sides, and start shooting one another. Governors will look for exit strategies for their states. Americans will rush to parts of the disintegrating country they find safer, in a process that looks increasingly like ethnic cleansing. The stock market and then the economy will crash. The dollar will cease to be the world currency."
https://snyder.substack.com/p/a-dream-of-power-an-awakening-to
I recall an account published a few months ago in the NYTimes by a Uighur man who had just barely gotten himself and his family out China before he was sent, again, to one of their "reeducation camps." He said that at one point, everyone in his household was summarily ordered to report immediately to the police station for a long, drawn out, photography session. In that session, the Uighurs were made to stand before an unusual looking camera and have their video image taken as they looked up, down, side-to-side, from behind, and how they walked.
The purpose, of course, was to enter them into a facial recognition database so that they could be tracked anywhere in the world. Afterward, they were allowed to go home, knowing that everytime they used their cellphones, went to a public place, or even went outside and looked at the sky, the Chinese police could find them. (And we might want to speculate briefly on the possible research directions a government unfettered by notions of civil rights and accountability might take regarding weapons, biological systems, and surveillance technologies.)
Is this a true story? The Chinese government denies it. But that's what its like to live in an autocracy.
Agreed. Frightening. But people do not believe that could happen to them. Here. In the United States of America.
I have a younger brother and sister and three millennial aged nephews, so this anecdotal observation hardly makes me at all qualified from a professional psychological vantage , but here goes.
Their responses range from “I don’t do politics.” to a genuine lack of concern. My sister is a diehard Trumper/QAnon to the hilt supporter and boy does she care…
I am also a firm believer in the work of Dr. Bandi X. Lee, who had the courage to lead a team of peers that wrote “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump.” Ultimately she sacrificed her teaching post at Yale for daring to submit to the BS edict of the American Psychology Association over the so called “Goldwater Rule.” as opposed to the safety of Democracy.
The feeling of helplessness among Millennials and “Z” generations is completely understandable as they face a life of peonage over student debt, rental prices that insure the will never own a home and dead end careers save the dream of becoming an “influencer.”
I might engage you in a bit of Frank Lutz “focus group” here; What sounds worse: autocracy or fascism? I ask because it is astounding how many Americans have a hard time excepting Fascism as our collective future reality.
Well future generations, I’m here to suggest you better get used to and over it, because in 2024 Democracy will be a “quaint” memory of the past.
On election day in 2018 I gave my standard charge to the students in my classes. "It's election day. Be sure to vote. If you don't you forfeit your right to criticize." I think they were a bit unsure about having a reason to vote, but that year, after the surprising result of 2016, many seemed startled and then they nodded and smiled.
True-true. Here's your brain on democracy. Here's your life in autocracy. Here's how your vote and the votes and voices of your friends matter. Here is how one could alleviate anxiety by taking action. Elevate the leaders of your generation; find the diplomats and statespeople and recruit them to represent you.
Another letter that passes easily (cleverly, subversively, revealingly -- choose your adverb) through the line between history and journalism.
For those readers who would like to participate in nominating Prof Richardson for a Pulitzer Prize in Journalism, we will need 15 samples from the year. Since yesterday, readers have proposed 7.
Thank you. They would all be useful in helping to give the jurors a sense of the quality and power of her writing. We could use more from the spring and summer.
Anyone interested in participating in this effort to broaden and strengthen Prof Richardson's audience is welcome to recommend others that might be included in a submission. No need to review all 365 of her letters for 2021. Just suggest one that was particularly moving, insightful, or personally relevant and I'll add it to the bundle, to be siftted through next week.
As several of you noted, she sometimes posts a photo of her harbor or sky at home with a brief comment. One of those that helped see you through to her next letter might be a good addition to the bundle.
Our deadline for submission is now just over two weeks away.
Thanks, too, to those who suggested that a journalism prize competition might not be the most appropriate for someone who regards herself as an historian. Others posted that she could certainly be (and is) both a historian and a journalist. Fortunately, for this most famous of literary prizes (other than the Nobel), there is a history category, historically (apologies) reserved for books. That category closed for entries in October. If unsuccessful with our journalism application, we can always try again later this year in the history section.
Excellent idea. I subscribe to her Letters and watch her vids. And I’m not American. From all the way down under in Australia. she is educating and informing us who have been bewildered as to how America came to this pivot point and giving us insights into the foundational myths that have proven to be somewhat shaky.
Canadians are benefitting as well, and most grateful to HCR for her daily letters.
Nothing prevents Canadians or Australians from suggesting a letter to be included in a Pulitzer entry. First half of 2021 would be helpful, if you have a favorite.
Thank you for letting all of us know that.
Thanks for the opportunity, Albert. Hard to pick just one Letter. To me, they're all pure gold.
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/december-1-2021/comments
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/november-30-2021/comments
Unfortunately, the jurors (volunteer journalists) won't have time to review all 365. We have to do some sifting for them.
See my comment below!
Are you suggesting November 30 and December 1?
Albert, I see you need some from earlier in 2021. Here is her Letter from the day after January 6, 2021. It, to my mind, is written in journalistic terms: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/january-6-2021/comments
Since you have many from later in the year, I will rescind my two submissions from November 30 and December 1. Thank you!
Albert,
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/january-1-2022
I know this was recent, but, this one article shows her power of blending History with Today.
That blending, which she routinely does with apparent ease? THAT is Nobel Prize stuff.
I hope nobody already nominated it. If so, let me know and I will go find another example like this.
But, this particular letter, I feel, is a sterling example of what she brings to the world's table.
Yes! This clearer unpacking is a necessary read.
Mike, thank you, but the calendar year is the strict limit. We can save that one for a history prize entry. We're heavy on the second half of the year now. Particularly need letters from January, February, March and June. Any suggestions?
Also, Albert, let me know if I can support in any other way as well.
Without a doubt in my mind or pen, today’s letter.
Thank you, but only calendar year 2021 is eligible.
Ok. Then I will go ahead and submit that one for her nomination of 2022 for a guidepost warrior of history.
Good idea. Entry for 2022 opens on 1 January 2023.
September 5, 2021, about Frances Perkins. It ends with “Happy Labor Day.”
Also March 14, 2021, (appeared March 15–“Beware the adze of March”) about Maine statehood, the Missouri Compromise, and the Republican party.
I don’t know how to send the links — sorry.
Peggy, I totally agree. If I could only pick one I would pick the one about Frances Perkins.
It was so great! (They’re all so great. Unbelievable.)
Here you go, Peggy!
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/september-5-2021/comments
Thanks so much, Lynell-for this and for all your comments!
...and: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-14-2021/comments
I remember being particularly moved by this one.
Yes! With thanks to HCR, Francis Perkins is a hero!
A major American She-ro! Thank you, HCR, for teaching us all!
A “she-ro” - I like it!
Albert, I took a look back, bearing in mind your request for letters from the first half of the year. It was fascinating just to look at the letters' titles from a year ago - we forget so much in such a short time! Here are mine:
Photo: 6/18/2021 https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/june-18-2021
This is what Heather said about that photo: "I took this photo a year ago today, when Trump was still president, the pandemic was still new, and I was just becoming acclimated to isolation. It seems to me that, completely by accident, my camera caught the brittle fragility of that terrifying moment." She did capture that.
1/5/2021 https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/january-5-2021
This letter was not a recap of the news, per se, but an explanation of, and a call to defend, our democratic principles. It is especially poignant to me because of what happened the following day, on January 6, 2021.
1/20/2021 https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/january-20-2021
This letter covers the inauguration with a focus on Amanda Gorman's beautiful words. This day looms especially large for me, as it was such a day of hope with Biden's inauguration, but was also personally catastrophic, as it was the day I was diagnosed with cancer.
3/7/2021 https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-7-2021
This letter covers the history of the civil rights movement, elegantly tying that to today's struggle for voting rights, and ends beautifully with John Lewis' “Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”
6/1/2021 https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/june-1-2021
In this letter, Dr. Richardson taught us about the Tulsa Massacre, and tied that event, again, to the struggle for voting rights.
I see two themes across the letters which resonated the most to me: letters which teach us about democracy and the daily work necessary to keep it, particularly with reference to race and voting rights, and letters which provide us with a message of hope during turbulent, frightening times both politically and in terms of the pandemic. Dr. Richardson's letters, as well as this community here, have provided me with that desperately needed hope.
Thank you for doing this, please let me know if I can help further!
Kathy, a terrific packet. Thank you. That fills in the gaps very nicely. I have a few nominations from different readers for the same letter, but for the most part they are neatly spread out through the year.
Thank YOU, dear Kathy, for diligently revisiting the letters and culling out such a stellar sample💙!
It was truly worthwhile! It’s so stinking cold here, I stayed home today and procrastinated on housework because this was more fun. Thanks, Ashley.
Happy New Year, Kathy! Awesome review!
Happy New Year, Christine! Here’s to a better 2022!
Thank you Kathy - and may you be delivered and restored. 🙏🏻
Thank you! I am doing really well - it was an awful year to be sure, but I am now 6 months out from treatment with no evidence of disease. I feel just so lucky. I had a very poor prognosis with a Stage 3 cancer, so to be where I am feels like an incredible gift. The awful year also held great joy - our two sons both graduated college, and our daughter married a wonderful guy, and I was well enough to enjoy it all.
We’re pleased and relieved that what was wrong was righted. Congratulations to you, your sons, your daughter and her wonderful guy!
The letter of January 16, 2021 is a good candidate, I think. It’s an excellent recounting of how “socialism” came to be so inappropriately understood in our politics. https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/january-16-2021
My first read of this. Wonderful candidate!
August 5th & 6th, which should be read as one Letter, July 10th and December 10th.
Agree with December 10th. https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/december-10-2021/comments
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/august-6-2021
This is pretty powerful.
Thanks Again, here are some suggestions from the first half of 2021:
1/6/21,
1/14/21(Movement Conservatism),
1/20/21,
3/7/21,
3/14/21,
3/15/21,
3/25/21 (There is only one story...)
4/8/21 (Ulysses Grant),
4/22/21,
5/23/21 (Frederick Douglass).
You may be overloaded now, but I propose Dec 25, 2021. Magnificent prose; keen insight; and all the usual rest......
Thanks for taking the lead, Albert. For me, the most impactful of Heather's letters begin with historical references that then connect with todays events.
Thank you for pulling this together. I have so many favorites!
I haven't gone back to the first half of 2021 yet, but wanted to send off the second half suggestions: 6/19/21, 7/26/21, 8/16/21, 9/5/21, 9/17/21, 12/7/21, 12/30/21.
April 25, 2021.
Thank you!
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-14-2021?r=k7f56&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=direct
This confluence of stories is remarkable! Main’s statehood, the Missouri Compromise, Lincoln…
Last night watching “Preserving Democracy: Pursuing a More Perfect Union” on PBS I was struck by how deeply embedded slavery and racial suppression exists in Trumpism. I remembered Dr. Richardson’s letter in which she revealed how the issue of abortion was brought into politics during the Nixon era to divide and distract us. Racial suppression, abortion, gun rights, immigration (and what else?) are issues used as weapons to divert the populace from the actions of those who want to destroy our democracy and institute an autocracy. We must help bring our sisters and brothers into understanding that these issues used as zero sum games are being used against us to serve the selfish desires of the greedy. Too simplistic?
“…and what else?”
Flag burning and school prayer.
May I quote you?
Certainly.
NOT simplistic: Elegant. We must loudly acknowledge the +2,000-year history of megalomaniacs becoming autocrats, oppressing people, and prosecuting unnecessary wars in the name of their “righteousness cause” of the moment. Democracy has always been under subtle and open attack by those who “know better.” Causing divisions and chaos are the subtle methods of the “superior man” to keep his power and avert his own deep fear.
Yes, Mr. Aune. I woke up yesterday morning wondering why we have monuments to the “megalomaniacs” rather than those who work everyday feeding their families and caring for others. I remember as a child visiting the grave of the unknown soldier. So very moving. I think of the great pyramids and how they have become monuments to those who built them rather than those who had them built.
We know the great names (Plato, Jesus, Voltaire, Hobbes, Madison, etc.), and attribute great thinking to them as though it was some breakthrough to a new paradigm of existence that they achieved in isolation, all on their individual thought and effort. The truth is that these iconic individuals learned from many conversations with many “average” contemporaries, synthesized those learnings, and wrote them down. Same for megalomaniacs: They ride a wave of the average persons passion to be greater (a false flag). Our culture imposes the idea of great men (sexism intended) to reinforce the superiority of a few “kings” who deserve better treatment, even at the expense of those “average” and less fortunate.
My thoughts exactly - though certainly going far further back.
Nixon = the maturing of fear mongering by the GOP as a strategy to win votes. It goes on unabated by dopey don and his propaganda mill.
" Racial suppression, abortion, gun rights, immigration (and what else?) are issues..."
Thanks to Dr Richardson's essays we are so much more aware of how these issues have been used to suppress participation in our democracy. Add to this the so-called 'War on Drugs' and the current controversies which remain about cannabis (and the number of people still incarcerated for personal use), too many citizens have been disenfranchised. Three generations have been frightened by these policies. Time for this to be over!
See my comment. I think a number of us are thinking along the same line of an education based look at the benefits of living in a Democracy versus living in a Dictatorship.
I sincerely believe we can use the straightforward, non lecturing, non political method of simply giving people the facts.
I sincerely propose a ZOOM meeting to brainstorm this.
Let me run this by you Janet for your consideration and I’m not out to “man ‘splaying. It’s just a sort of a unified theory of why we are on the brink of Fascism. Slavery is in the DNA of what has come to modern Fascist ideology. Now to save lots of time, Slavery is predicated on Christian, Teutonic Knight, White racism that finds it’s way into Anti Semitism (remember these guys firmly believe the Jews killed Christ). Really wealthy birthright classes buy into this belief and as Capitalism enters the landscape exploiting the masses. The White masters too are only to willing to embrace an entitlement justified by a Christian God who smiles upon the wealthy as righteous and vindicated by the “Prosperity Doctrine.”
As well enslaving and exploiting non-whites, they became ever more concerned over the less than humans (mud people, untermenschen) breeding to a point where they can overwhelm the Whites. So, one way to maintain purity was to sterilize and or out and out kill the less than humans.
Thus came the rise of eugenics and bastardized science of Darwin and the “survival of the fittest,”
I think you get an idea of how these American/British White man supreme ideologies were not only picked up by the Germans, but put into full loan aktion in genocide of over 1 million people who were suffering mental illness or congenital defects.
Once the Nazis so that nobody cared they were off to the main target of killing every Jew they could.
So, these ideas continue, the rich elites really are all about this garbage and they intend to finish the job as it were.
Thanks for your consideration.
I agree with everything you say except for the part about immigration. ***Too much*** immigration has caused major problems in our country.
There is a new book, Back of the Hiring Line: 200 years of Immigration Surges, Employer Bias, and Depression of Black Wealth. Yes, even before the Civil War, employers in the northern states were sending ships to Europe to bring back white Europeans so that they could fire their (free) Black workers. During the current surge, which began in earnest in the '70s, employers have been major forces in pushing immigration numbers up from a few hundred thousand to well over a million.
As one example of many, meat packers, including African Americans, had fought their way to making middle class wages (~$50/hour), but their wages plummeted during the 1980s, to barely above minimum, affecting not only Blacks, but Whites and immigrants. In fact, mass immigration has been a major part of what hollowed out the American middle class.
(In 2015, Bernie Sanders famously said when interviewed on Vox, that open borders "is a Koch Brothers policy.")
The book surveys the relevant academic economic literature (296 footnotes), and multiple government commissions on immigration reform, including Barbara Jordan in '96, under Clinton, all of which recommended greatly reducing immigration, because an oversupply any resource (in this case low/no-skilled labor) devalues that resource). The author also quotes multiple labor economists that tight labor markets are beneficial.
The author also quotes Black leaders beginning with Frederick Douglas, whose sons were all downwardly mobile because of mass immigration, and quotes from Black periodicals.
The author repeatedly makes the point that immigrants should not be blamed--that the fault lies with Congress. He also notes that the people coming to the US are the kinds of people who--if we didn't keep the floodgates open--are the kinds of people who would likely be causing change to happen in their native countries.
The book is $9 from Amazon, and is also available in audio.
“…while the other wants to return to the 50’s…”
The 1850’s preferably.
Democracy does not look white and male. Cult Republicans think that is what it should look like.
I agree. This is the bottom line.
What a brilliant letter. The Battle Hymn of the Republic was my Dad’s favorite song! When we kids were getting antsy in the car my mom would get us singing and then we’d dive into the Battle Hymn of the Republic. This letter is brilliant. I got goosebumps reading it. The spineless republicans disgust me. All 147 of them. Thanks
Sweet memory. I’ve loved it too having sung it often as an anthem in church growing up. Often made me cry but embarrassed to admit I don’t remember focusing on the Civil War meaning of it. Finding Quakerism later in life and its peace testimony, I’ve not sung the song in quite a while. Now reading your rousing letter, HCR, I have a stirring appreciation of the power of music and storytelling, especially during these fraught times.
I share that memory. And like you, I have no recollection of incorporating history into my appreciation! Slowly reading the extraordinary words of the Battle Hymn is so powerful with no music (which has its own power and inspiration) to distract my focus. But this happens me frequently.
Amazing words and pictures in that hymn.
We rented a house when I was five where the owners had a record of Civil War songs, including this one. I LOVED all the songs of the North. I wore that record out during that year. My father bought the owners a new copy. I don't know why my father didn't get us a new copy. But 60 years later, I discovered a place where I could get one last March, and another place where I could have CDs made. I have a CD in the car's CD player, and I often have it on, singing along with it, including that wonderful Battle Hymn.
Regina62, it saddens me that my children and grandchildren have not been taught any of the songs we learned in school in the ‘50’s.
Spineless indeed. And yet somehow they have enough spine to relentlessly propagate the big lie and stand together against any of their number who dares to call it out.
How about the other 74 million?
Thanks for this HCR. The Republic-cons proved today what spineless, worthless traitors they are, and Biden gave the speech of his life. I do believe there is a glimmer of the slightest pre-dawn greyness on the eastern horizon, messenger of the coming sunrise.
President Biden’s speech was spot on!
I was greatly encouraged by his saying he would stand in the breach. Do you think any of the spineless R’s recognize his language as biblical? Think how much courage it takes to “stand in the breach”?
The current anarchy party is NOT the party of Lincoln. It is the party of southern planters and robber barons by another name. Nixon’s politics had more in common with the planter class than Lincoln.
I truly want to agree with you that a new dawn is breaking but it’s a huge struggle as I watch the realities of voter suppression, Manchin and Sinema opposing voter legislation, redistricting, Republicans taking local control of the voting process, approaching midterms. Some days it’s hard to keep the faith when reality keeps hitting me in the face.
Today it was announced that a moderate Republican was running against Boebert in the Colorado Republican primaries. The article essentially said, “lots of luck with that. She is worshipped in her district “.
There is hope in Colorado. Unaffiliated voters are allowed to vote in the primary of their choosing. So there is about a third of the electorate who is unaffiliated and many of us are going to vote against Boebert in the primary.
Thank you! I'm a Colorado voter (Boulder County) permanently living in Canada, and am greatly heartened by learning that! Even though I can't participate in Boebert's district.
Further question: Do you know if a voter from one district can choose to vote in another district instead in the Primaries?
When they mail the ballots they are customized to your precinct so you don’t get to choose what to vote for. It is all laid out for you.
That makes the most sense.
I don’t know for sure but highly doubt it.
Thanks. I'll keep my eyes and ears open and engaged!
Although I know it’s wrong, I find myself feeling very angry at the citizens everywhere who are electing people of such low intelligence and character to positions of power. Do people not realize just how powerful their vote is? We all have the power to shape what MY future, and what YOURS looks like. If there are not competent, intelligent, moral people in the positions of policy making for the general public, then the downward spiral in to authoritarianism is all but certain.
Perhaps they elect such people with "low intelligence and character" because, they, too possess such traits. s/
About Boebert and the reasons for her popularity in her deep, deep red congressional district. In fact, the recent redistricting in CO made her district even more red.
“She wears her hatred and her racism on her sleeve,” Donovan said. “And it’s very sad that an individual like that is now the voice of the Western Slope in Colorado.”
“Own the libs” is priority #1 in her district.
Well, she never will own the hundreds and hundreds in her district and millions national wide that abhor her.
You got that right.
So if I understand your reply, the majority of people who live in her district are full of hatred and racism?!?
Gee, and all this time I was picturing them being embarrassed that they elected her. Our country is in so much trouble 😢.
sounds like it's a very gerrymandered district.
One very enlightening tactic is to tabulate what the representative has actually done on a legislative basis over the current term, in contrast to the noise they have made. I recently read a piece on what Greene has done for real work; it's downright pitiful, even absurd. Publicizing the votes, the sponsorships, the drafts and submitted bills (both number and content) tends to expose the elected official for what they really are.
I honor your anger, Cathy. I cannot agree with you that it is “wrong.” On the contrary, I find it well justified.
My main reason for optimism is more people who weren't seeing the problem are now seeing it. You can't fight what you don't see.
Well said TC, many a morning I have watched that first pre-dawn grayness appear in the east heralding the beginning of a new day where the collaborative work would be hard but the results worth all of the effort. I pray 🙏 that yesterday when our President stood firmly upon the rock of truth that the new day will begin to be born, and it’s light will blanket our land.
I woke this morning with an image of tfg encircled by restraints that were gradually growing tighter around him. My sense is the various actors investigating the rot of the last administration are working toward the goal of accountability in a coordinated manner. A flurry of statements from the J6 committee; DOJ restating commitment to rule of law; President Biden’s speech, among the most obvious. I wonder if the timing, content and those releasing the statements has been carefully planned for maximum impact. Seems as if tfg is feeling the heat? My waking vision contains the glimmers of light suggested by the sunrise imagery. Thanks, TC!
Oh that your vision would come to pass! Tfg needs to finally be held accountable. He’s engaged in criminal activity his whole adult life and literally thinks he can get away with murder.
Thank you Kathe!! I interpret your imagery to mean that the entire collection of extremists, as symbolized by DJT, is being held in check ever tighter. Beautiful imagery thank you 🙏
Yes, TC. That glimmer brings brave tears to my eyes.
I am going to take a page from Scott Snyder‘s playbook, and also Rowshan yesterday when she listed in gratitude all the people who participated in her thread, and make a list.
TC, I see your faint faint glimmer of dawn, and I raise you a golden age of eternal sunshine.
Guru Nanak. Abraham, the ancestor of the founders of both Islam and Christianity. Mitra. Zarathustra. Mahivira the Jain. Ramses/Ramoses/Moses. Bahaullah. Ann Lee. Don Genaro and Don Juan, from the life of Carlos Castaneda. Midas. Annie Besant. George Gurdjieff. Helena Blavatsky. Mary of Magdala. Mary the mother of Joshua of Nazareth.
May the wisdom of the ancients guide us and bring us optimism and joy and a full heart and eternal passion as we venture forward in our quest to bring society into a golden age.
Go Team!
Yes Roland. We have the Team of Light. There is no opposite.
Christine you are THE BEST 🏆🏆❤️❤️
Joe Biden can cement his legacy if he merely continues to speak publicly on behalf of the principles that have sustained this democratic experiment over 240+ years. These words beget policy, policy begets legislation, legislation, vetted and refined by judicial review, are the ingredients of law. All of these are made possible and shaped by preserving the franchise.
"The poor will always be with us"...a quote from the Bible, defines a mandate of government. Measures to keep food on the table and equal access to education offers each generation the chance for upward mobility, prepares the next generation of workers in society. We fail to achieve this obligation and a fraction of them fail to reap the rewards of this public investment, thus we continue to have an underclass. However, failure to perfect the execution of the mandate is no justification for abandoning it on the grounds of budgetary concerns? How many of today's fabulously successful and wealthy citizens came from lower and middle class parents? Where would we be if our social investment matched our defense budget? The dawn of a new era in democracy demands that we focus like a laser on the lessons of our history, how we became what we are, both for better and worse, in order to continue perfecting our union. Our president HAS the bully pulpit, if he chooses to use it. He needs to usher TFG off the stage and into the audience. He needs to call out the press for giving voice to the lies. I respect the desire to get to work, simply ignore the traveling carnival sideshow and hope it extinguishes itself, but wildfires can start with a single spark. A fraction of them go on to unimaginable destruction. Thus, they are ignored at our corporate peril.
Public service was on display yesterday during President Biden’s speech as it was the previous day when Merrick Garland spoke to the country. Daily, HCR is a perfect example of a public servant who grinds out their self-assigned responsibilities when it’s dark, cold and the future looks grim. We’ve been a fortunate country to have had people willing to shoulder the burden of being public servants. Joe Biden is following in the footsteps of those hard working patriots. POTUS is a very difficult job for any person at any age, but I find it especially inspiring to watch a seventy-nine year old guy do it day after day. Boula, boula, Joe!
As an OLD female Dem, I am also struck by Nancy’s ability to function at a level I never reached as a young pup. Joe is competent, has America’s future in his sights, and leads us all, not following a hate-filled horde. As to chump, I don’t think he found it difficult at all. Just enjoyed the perks of power, followed the hate, picked the worst people he could find and improved on that strategy til the last hour. So glad every hour of every day that he no longer commands any respect as the occupier of the WH.
I look at how president's have aged in office. Those who strive to put the good of the country first are the ones who really turn gray. Reagan & Trump.....not much.
They just had good make up people, or they were Dorian Gray to begin with. Sorry, but chump is the ugliest man on planet earth, no matter his ridiculous make up.
I’ve been saying that.
Our FATHER in Heaven blessed us with Joe perfectly timed to calm the troubled American waters!
If that's how you see it.
Is there any other way you can unconditionally trust in?
I find it so discouraging that all of our top political people are in their 70s and 80s. No offense meant but this generation has been in charge since the 90s and needs to retire.
Shucks, Joe, at 88 I feel that I am only approaching late middle age. I feel that I have more wisdom and insight than such youngsters as Pelosi and Biden, but I’d only be able to keep their pace for 30-45 minutes a day. I’m already feeling a mite tired, so I’ll slither aside for those young ‘ens, Biden and Pelosi. I wonder who is promising in the little league.
Keith; just remember that societies, including the most primitive of them, have revered their elders as keepers of history, wisdom, culture and continuity across the millenia. Our generation sees an elderly population in institutional care, plagued by illness, dementia and no longer "useful". Back in the day, only the most robust survived to become elderly, thus they were few, precious, and never stopped working, even if "work" was limited to less arduous tasks for fewer hours.
So, contribute what you can and continue remindgin the rest of us that wisdom, experience are borne of advancing age .
Nathan Thanks. Still, I remember in an Indian society where they gave their grandfather a sumptuous last meal and then led him into the forest. So far, I’m not really hungry.
Bernie has fire in the belly. Trump has fear in the belly. May it remain so.
I’m laughing, Keith, but honestly, I look forward to your comments every day. Your experience and wisdom are invaluable.
Let’s list some of the younger political leaders we count on. I’ll start with the obvious ones: Stacey Abrams, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortes.
Adam Schiff, Jamie Raskin
Val Demings
Her reflections yesterday were powerful....she stood strongly and confidently on her experience in law enforcement as she praised the Capitol Police for protecting her and our democracy on the 6th.
Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar
Kathy Porter
Yes—she is amazing, but I think you meant Katie Porter, D-CA (Orange County).
I did. Thanks for the correction!
You are so welcome—I love your suggestion for Katie Porter—problem is she has three very young children. She really has her hands full, bless her 🤗
Fl House Rep Anna Eskamani
Kamala Harris
Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar
Sheldon Whitehouse, Elizabeth Warren, Chris Murphy
Jamal Bowman
This older than dirt Dem agrees. Waiting for someone who lights a fire. Warren, Harris, Abrams, Franken, where are you. If anybody stands out, the propaganda machine will fire up as it did with HRC.
So sad about Franken, miss him.
Roger Stone spends every waking moment sniffing out any vulnerably in any Dem and gets Dems to trash them. James O’Keefe does his own trashing with the most vile “editing.” All on top of Fox’s 24/7 blast of evil. That’s just a few. Dems still think it’s a political game. To paraphrase Shakespeare, hell is empty and all the devils are here.
Oh, yes! Exactly what I see happening with AOC.
With AOC, the Fox obsession has only added to her appeal.
The best speech President Biden has given.
“Despite the threats to Washington, D.C., and the terrible toll the war took, they made sure the Confederate flag never flew in the U.S. Capitol.
That changed a year ago today.”
Heart-stopping words, Dr. R. and so vivd.Thank you!
I was struck by those words as well, Suzette. I remember Heather talking about how hard it was for her to see that flag carried into the Capitol. And, I think it remians painful for her.
Pam, I share your pain do all of us - for oh so many reasons.
For Heather, that was one of the most heart-stopping moments in our nation's history.
Yeah… :’-(
“ Julia Ward Howe woke up in the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C. She got out of bed, found a pen, and began to write about the struggle in which the country was engaged: could any nation “conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal” survive, or would such a nation inevitably descend into hierarchies and minority rule? ”
Beautiful words, but America was not “conceived in liberty”. It was stolen from the indigenous peoples with lies, cheating, horrendous violence, and with disease. First we stole the land and then we settled it and transformed it using slave labor. I have used the following quote several times, but it’s always valid when discussing most any political news or history regarding America:
“A ‘better world’ bought by atrocities will be rotten at the core.” (Ilona Andrews)
Privileged and entitled White men paved the way with greed, selfishness, and complete disregard for human beings. Their evil deeds were rewarded as they are their own judges and jury.
America is so rotten at the core, they’ve sanitized history and painted a fantasy of a great nation. Make no mistake, there are many people who deserve to be called great Americans, but they can’t erase the truth.
The truth keeps reminding us with every act which protects the privilege & entitlement of a few at great cost to many.
If we didn’t have the Freedom to learn truth through History like many countries don’t. How would you know ? Not to mention Lisa you are ‘Freely ‘ on an Internet Forum of a Top notch History Professor helping you learn. And you can speak ‘Freely ‘ w/out being censured . Compared to 99% of the worlds population it is you and I that are rich, privileged and entitled . They haven’t burned our books yet. I can’t go back and change the ‘Wrongs ‘. But I can go forward and try to help it to be ‘Improved’. Invest in America. Do what you can. We are not broken. We just aren’t finished yet. Forward is the only way.❤️🦋
I think Lisa is investing in America by keeping the truth exposed. Without truth and reckoning there can be no reconciliation.
I don’t disagree with her Joe. I’m asking her now to think of 3 solutions . I’ll ask you what does reckoning/ reconciliation look like ? Those solutions ?
You ask for solutions; we need to acknowledge that there is a problem first. The 1619 Project seems to be a great start in looking at the fundamental problem of the ingrained belief that those whose skin tones were different were inferior and could be enslaved, or those whose concepts of land ownership were not "in line" with European concepts and could be "bought for trinkets" and later lied to again and again "because we could". The vehemence with which the white right opposes anything to do with the 1619 Project is a clue to why we're not getting anywhere.
Ally the first Black Ppl were brought by the Spaniards in the ‘1500’. To FL, Texas and New Mexico. The ‘Why ‘ the first ones that came spoke Spanish.
Thank you - this for me is key so I can truly learn. I know I’ve heard ideas for solutions before as well, but unlike so many of you, I have SO MUCH to learn and can struggle to recall. Everything can still run together for me.
And maybe it’s not so much for me as having the solutions but on how to think of it, with that truth, to understand it, move forward. For me, otherwise I start losing hope.
Any solutions start with radical honesty… calling things what they are.. genocide, colonization, white supremacy. Your comment sweeps all that under the rug. What are your solutions?
Respectfully Joe, who over the age of let’s say 25 doesn’t know that ? I have lived in FL 62 yrs. I came from up north. We had a City public pool. My pool buddy was a little black girl . It wasn’t until the trip to FL and then living here I saw what was going on. Actually didn’t even see black Ppl. I don’t know how old you are or where you live but it’s now not the Fl I came to as a child. But still so racist. Trust me When I say they know the history as well. I believe with a 100% of my being that the white suprematist thinks if Ppl of color have Equal Rights it equates less Rights for them. The idea of having to compete with assertive Ppl of color frightens them. Obama proved that. When my daughter was murdered in 1993 the first question was “ Was he a Black Guy ? “ No. Does Battered, Raped and Strangled make it more tolerant because he was white ? No ! I choose Ppl based on Integrity and Character. I was raised/ taught the Golden Rule. “ Treat Ppl the way you want them to treat you. “ There’s really only 2 kinds of people in America . Those who ‘Choose ‘ to be a part of the Problem. Or those who ‘Choose ‘ to be a part of the Solution. “ I was not allowed to say, while growing up that I “ Hated a Person “ I could only say I disliked what they did. These were the yrs after the Holocaust. Don’t know if that was why ? I could say I hated a thing. To this day I still practice this. I wonder if we are even conscious/ aware how many of us say it ? That and sit downs with respectful dialog with those different than us I think would be a good beginning. I forgave My daughters murderer, for me. Anger and hate is a big burden to carry. In pulls you down and shuts out love and light. Yes , it took a while.I was so conflicted, I had that anger down pat. But just could not submit to hate. Joe always let Ppl see your Love & Light. ❤️🦋
Marcia, I could not follow what the differences you, Joe, Ally and Lisa were having and didn't want to cut in. First of all, I didn't know that your daughter was murdered. If you open to telling me about it, please do. Now, getting back to four way exchange you were engaged in, what was the issue? How are you? Your subscriber friend, Fern
JoeBurly, I have read through the exchanges between you Lisa, Marcia and Alley, which prompted a few questions. What is your concept of 'radical honesty'? Would suggest a governmental commission? In addition to fact-finding, which departments of government, academia, business etc., are responsible for remediation (if that is called for), systemic changes and education? In conjunction with that, what are your remedies for people in need of proper governmental support and whose financial security hanging by a thread other than those proposed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Biden administration? May some poor and regular folks feel that there seem to be more calls for tribunals to try the guilty, to comb through family histories for evidence of discrimination, racism, bigotry, scapegoating, physical and economic harm to others as the safety net for Americans has been torn to shreds over the past 45 to 50 years? Thanks.
https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2019/12/17/views-of-the-economic-system-and-social-safety-net/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/for-americans-struggling-with-poverty-the-safety-net-in-the-united-states-is-very-very-weak-expert-says/2021/06/21/1869c8fc-b27d-11eb-ab43-bebddc5a0f65_story.html
Exactly
Ahhh - truth always
The core of one of America’s biggest problems is like addictions and other mental health issues. Therefore we must first recognize and acknowledge the problem. Until then, we can’t going forward, only in circles.
Sanitizing and outright falsifying history is a symptom. Yes, we have access to the truth (some have more access than others), but if we don’t know we’re hearing a lie when we are in school, we won’t know to look for the truth. Until then, we believe the White American Fantasy.
I love the analogy you make with comparing the true roots of American success (genocide of the Indigenous peoples to acquire their ancestral land and the enslavement of Blacks to gain wealth so quickly) to the successful treatment of addiction as acknowledging the "problem" exists and must be addressed before treatment can happen.
Germany as a nation looked at the results of WWII and what the Nazis did and said "never again." We (as a nation) flat refuse to look at how we were founded and see that this fruit of our labors is indeed rotten in the middle.
As a nation, yes, we refuse to see that America’s history is rotten to the core, but here on this forum, we are now having the discussion. Treating all humans as equals, nobody being in a superior class, is one part of the solution. What we have been calling “democracy.“ Lisa’s argument suggests we need to stop sanitizing and white washing the facts. I agree. I would not have used the words that Heather uses. But I cut Heather some slack because she is responsible for the fact that we are even having this discussion. We are in her auditorium.
What I enjoy is that you beautiful people and I are having this discussion together.
If you take a world view, all human history is rotten to the core. Think Ghengis Kahn & genocide. Think the Jews being enslaved as in the old testament. It seems like every empire had slaves. In my mind the discussion needs to include what is inherent in humans to make them think it's OK to enslave another. Why are some humans so fixed on lording it over others?
Just throwing out what I've been muddling over....
Thank you for this reminder Betsy. We get all caught up in the drama of the moment (daily news reports), the little showcase that is American society. We forget that we are reversing thousands and thousands of years of history. Slavery did not begin with the English colonizers of eastern North America and the Caribbean.
Don’t ever say that the democracy battle in the USA has no bearing on the rest of the world. Baloney. The entire world watches what happens in this fishbowl, right now it’s a dirty fishbowl. The entire world is fighting its own democracy battles as well. Kazakhs read the news too. As a civilization, humans are in the midst of reversing a nasty tradition that goes back into the dim mists of history.
Don’t ever think that what you say and write, the actions you take in your personal life with family and friends and workmates, your political advocacy work, everything you do to further the installation of a strong democratic society on this planet, is pointless or meaningless, is too small to matter. It matters. We are changing history. We are changing a massive massive problem. Remember that. This is not small potatoes.
Thank you Ally.
The [Great] White American Fantasy. Lisa, you’re a breath of fresh air, thank you.
Lisa I can hear the tone of your concern through your typed words. I’m going to give you a challenge. Today, think of 3 solutions to understanding the difference between a politician or the elite’s lies and finding out Truth .I would look forward to you’re replay. And it was no fantasy in the origins of our Country. But then that ‘Striving ‘ began to make it equal for not just rich white land owners. Women weren’t considered citizens until they married because they weren’t allowed to own land or Vote. “We’ve come a long way Baby ! “ Not going to go backwards.But just think of 3. It’s going to be alright.❤️🤍💙
I do not deny the good people’s progress, even though the reasons behind some of that progress was due to self-serving political tactics.
I’m just saying that the core of America is rotten and the ‘offspring’ of that core (genetic and in spirit/belief) are those who are currently paying the politicians to keep an unlevel playing field, stagnate wages/salary, dumbing down American education, imposing spyware on workers, gerrymander and put up roadblocks to keep BlPOC from the polls, etc.
Privilege and entitlement is the root cause of the disease we’re fighting. It’s in most of us.
2 things I’m sure of . Not you or I. And I trust that there is more of us than them.
It is true for me. I do not recognize all privilege and entitlements because I am White and often do not see what is under my nose. The only think I can say for sure is that I do not wish for others to have less than me.
I keep thinking of … we are striving to form a more perfect union.
Yes. But humans are all perfectly imperfect, likewise as for our Union. It’s the “STRIVING “ that we must keep in perpetual motion. Throughout my entire lifetime I have witnessed and been affected by some of both. And none of us are lacking from complaining. But then I get reminded that when ‘ Others ‘ do it wrong that as bad as it may seem America still beats whatever is in 2ed place. So we dust ourselves off. Get back up to that striving thing. I trust in Ppl like you.And there is I believe, more that want it to thrive while we continue to strive.The World told Biden” Glad America is back ! “ Funny about that, even some that aren’t our BFF 😂.Do what you can however small it maybe.
Marcia, how do we go forward in anything resembling a positive way, if we don't look the sins of our fathers in the eye, and take responsibility for blindly skipping along and patting ourselves on the back? We need, first of all - in the words of Crosby, Stills and Nash - to teach our children well their fathers' hell. Shame and repentance are the only paths to the kind of change this country desperately needs.
At best you can only say you are sorry for their suffering. And what I already suspect from you is to just be better than the past Fathers were. I think you must have been fixing the other post like this. I answered it. ❤️🦋
There is great truth in what you say. Thank you for saying it. All the more reason for making realty match our words.
Thank you for this much-needed truth, Lisa. It is fact that we live on stolen land and our country was built on the graves of the indigenous people from which it was taken and on the backs of slaves. America's promises only applied (apply?) to a few. My hope is that we can move forward in a way that enables us to finally achieve "liberty and justice for ALL." It will be a massive undertaking, for sure, but one that is worth the effort.
Your Vote is your Voice. We need to go at that like our life depends on it because it does !
Thank you Lisa. These days, when I look at shopping centers and housing projects, roads and powerlines, I see a blight plastered all over mother nature. A blight created by the European Invasion of the Americas. Once in a while, I think that every structure that has been constructed on top of the land of this country should pay a tax to the native peoples who were custodians before the Europeans arrived. One penny tax, say, for every square foot of structure, payable to the nearest native nation-tribe.
It was a genocide that allowed the Europeans to take control of this continent. Even the idea of a United States was probably borrowed, without accreditation of course, from the idea of the Iroquois Confederacy.
No, we don’t have a history of saintly behavior here. But when we are born here, we have to play the cards we’re dealt, sullied as those cards are.
She wrote that in the Willard Hotel! That same Willard.
Yep, think the evil plotters planned to rewrite history in that very setting.
I have so little esteem for their mental powers that I think it was just a simple twist of fate. The gods laughed cynically.
I agree! And even if they knew the historical significance of their locale, I doubt they would care.
Like 9-11, I avoid viewing images and videos of the January 6, 2020 insurrection - they being so terribly painful and shameful to view. That said, I’m grateful to Nancy Pelosi and Chuch Schumer, to our president Joe Biden and to Merrick Garland for their integrity, leadership and class. And I gotta say, the words to “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” are as stirring and relevant now as when the Civil War was raging. Thank you Heather for sharing that.
May we beat back the brutes and take back our beloved nation. 🙏🏻🇺🇸
President Biden's speech yesterday was one for the history books. I am so glad he directly called out TFG in forceful language. Should he have been doing it all along, as some wondered? I think it was all the more powerful to wait until the anniversary. The speech would not have been nearly as powerful if he had been sniping at TFG all year. Instead, he spent the last year doing his job as president, putting the country's needs first, and letting the House Jan 6th committee accumulate the facts of what happened that day. I think it was a smart move.
I agree that it was more powerful at the anniversary. I am sure this was debated within the administration as to when to do this, with the hope that some of the Republicans in the past year would grow a spine. Unfortunately, did not happen. And I look forward to other retired Republican leaders making their voices heard.
My suggestion is that we shelve our own egos, and get to work. The idea of stripped down communication in order to educate is really good. Signing up people to vote. But explanation of what we stand to lose is so important.
Well said! I think Joe Biden and the Democrats have turned the corner on this thing. From what I hear and read, the House Select Committee has compiled an enormous database that will elucidate and substantiate the committee's findings of fact, and its recommendations for laws that need to be changed or enacted so as to put teeth into the democratic and institutional norms that heretofore have gone relatively unchallenged. Undoubtedly, the committee staff are already circulating drafts of chapters that will appear in the Final Report, as well as any Interim Report that the committee chooses to make. The commemorative ceremonies of yesterday, today and tomorrow must be treated as the springboard for a public awareness campaign that constantly re-emphasizes the lessons of January 6: That democracy is fragile, and it needs to be protected, now mostly from its domestic enemies and those who would profit by its demise. That in the year leading up to the 2020 election, there were no provable instances of voter fraud apart from those that were early on discovered, and were committed entirely by supporters of Donald Trump. That over the past several years, Trump supporters and now the Republican Party have engaged in an ongoing campaign to denigrate democracy and voting through falsehoods, inflammatory propaganda themselves based upon falsehoods and mischaracterizations, and that those efforts are continuing and need to be opposed. That in the postelection year leading up to the January 6 insurrection, the various attempts by Republican Party operatives to cast doubt on the validity of elections, specifically in Maricopa County, Arizona, Atlanta, Georgia, and elsewhere, have yielded results that in no way substantiate the allegations of election fraud or official misconduct; and if anything, those post-election reviews have yielded findings that showed that Joe Biden won by even larger majorities that had been recorded during the official vote counting. Then all Republican efforts to reduce access to the polls have been done in bad faith and are presumptively illegitimate.
It also appeared in the news of today that the Select Committee is looking seriously into whether the former president can be charged with a federal crime based upon his refusal to act during the 187 minutes that the Capitol building was under attack. The committee seems to have focused on dereliction of duty by the former president, who spent those precious minutes sitting in the White House dining room watching television with rapt attention, and tweeting up a storm to encourage his followers to press their assault even harder. I fail to see why there should be any legitimate controversy over the eventual prosecution of Donald Trump for criminal misconduct in office. The January 6 assault on the Capitol was not spontaneous by any stretch of the imagination. It was planned, paid for in advance, and attracted followers who participated in the pre-assault rally at the White House on the morning of January 6 from everywhere in the United States. Local news coverage here in California mentioned that no fewer than 40 individuals who are California residents have been identified as being among those several thousand individuals who participated in the attempt to halt the counting of the votes cast in the November election. California is a long way from Washington DC by some 3,000 miles; and if anything stands out, it's the need for advanced planning to make sure that everything comes together at once. Logistics are the heart and soul of any large-scale, multifaceted, personal participation in an event or thousands are expected to show up. What happened was not a flash mob: airline tickets require advanced reservations, and seats are limited. If people are going to drive the distance, traveling to Washington from anywhere west of the Mississippi River is going to take time. In my lifetime, I've had the pleasure of driving cross-country three times, albeit during different eras, and whether in the 1950s, or the 1970s, travel time was always between seven and ten days. The point I am making is that this logistical effort had to go back months in order to find places for overnight lodging, feeding, and caretaking for literally thousands of people, even if they are traveling on their own dime. I am confident that the Select Committee is delving into the money trail, starting with who donated money to this effort, and how it was distributed. Also to be noted on the subject of logistics would be the happenstance that large numbers of people showed up both at the President's rally speech at the White House, and an hour later in front of the Capitol, armed with all sorts of makeshift weaponry, and some of the constituting firearms and ammunition, even as the rally organizers were cautioning would-be attendees to leave their guns at home. Others showed up in tactical gear consisting of body armor, helmets and facemasks, which strongly suggests that they were preparing themselves for hand-to-hand combat. Still others showed up with chemical sprays like the so-called 'bear spray' that several individuals used to neutralize Capitol Police officers and others. This is not the kind of stuff that would escape notice by TSA in vetting travelers on a cross-country flight. The planning for this was therefore deep, and thorough, with certainly more thought put into it then someone might do to plan a fishing or camping trip into the outback. Looking at the calendar for 2020 would have shown that opponents of Joe Biden's election would have to be working over the nine consecutive weeks between Election Day on November 3 and January 6, with the greatest level of activity following the Christmas holidays into the first week of January. That is an enormous amount of effort by a great number of people who had to coordinate with one another, and marshal the resources necessary to carry off this coup d'état. Donald Trump might have been personally incapable of pulling this off on his own, but he had a great deal of help from the ranks of his followers, and their financial supporters. I have no doubt that the White House staff coordinated much of that effort.
Altogether, what we have is a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States Government of the benefits of a fair election. That is a crime. And it doesn't matter which party is in charge. It is still a crime. A prosecutor does not have to show that the leader of a criminal conspiracy has a hand in, or even knowledge of, every detail that conspiracy encompasses in pursuit of its criminal goals. It is enough that he set the conspiracy in motion, and generally oversaw its accomplishment. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's post-January 6 condemnation of Donald Trump basically laid out a federal prosecutor's opening statement in a criminal trial on the same facts of what Trump did, and what he also failed to do. Dereliction of duty is a crime under military law; and here Trump was withholding armed force to suppress the insurrectionists to accomplish his own criminal purpose. Trump's Oath of Office includes both his duty to enforce the laws of the country he was elected to serve as its President, and to protect and defend the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic. The duty to protect and defend requires affirmative action on the part of the official charged with that duty, and Trump did nothing, even as his senior advisers and others were beseeching him to take some sort of action to end their insurrection and send the insurgents home. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy angrily telephoned Trump demanding he call a halt to the attack; Trump refused, reportedly telling McCarthy, "Well, Kevin, I guess they care more about the election then you do." Trump knew what was going on, and he approved of everything he was seeing on his television set. That is the only conclusion that logic and the law will allow. Trump saw what was going on, and he resisted all pleas to end it, until it was obvious that the coup had failed.
The failure of the insurrection in its earliest stages by allowing senators and Members of Congress to escape, made it impossible for Trump to succeed with his gambit. The fact that Trump failed does not lessen his criminal culpability one iota. He is guilty as charged. What we need now is an Attorney General who will take that lesson to heart.
...don't forget the zip ties. Our nation has to take a good look at the laws around presidential and congressional behavior. (I am concerned about this bad behavior becoming normalized. Look at the way people are talking about Liz Cheney, as if she has done something stellar when she is doing what every single congressperson SHOULD do.) It's one thing if the people take up arms but another if the president and congresspeople are aiding and abetting. Another thing I wonder about is what people in government knew about the planning. I heard it was done pretty much in plain sight on the internet. People talking about carpooling and discussing car trunk size with regard to what weapons would fit. Did the FBI know about this planning??? (They must have!) Did they tell the administration? Was it ignored? Was it not reported to the administration?
What puzzles me to this day is how little preparation there was from the myriad of federal agencies that HAD to know what was afoot. It speaks of incompetence (bad), lack of perception (also bad), or agreement (much worse) when it comes to evaluating the risk posed to the Capitol. It was either an epic command and control fail or acquiescence to the "cause".
Kim, your questions at the end here are telling. I have to assume that the FBI knew something was afoot. Was it negligence (not telling because they didn't want to "stir the pot), intentional (not wanting to disrupt the "plan") or conspiratorial (they wanted the plan to succeed); it also matters that there are more than a few appointees that are loyal to the "plan".
Every word true. There was indeed fraud in the 2020 election, all of it by republicans, wish this were mentioned every time talking heads say there was no fraud.
The Villages here in FL. Think there were like 8 Ppl arrested . It’s a well to do Senior like little City. Republicans. They go everywhere in their Golf Carts.TFG went there and likewise DeSantis.
Yes, Marcia, DeSantis often gives press conferences from the Villages with 80,000 residents/supporters. I’m sure he was speaking to them when he called the 1/6 coverage “nauseating”.
😂
It was said he was MIA over the Holidays. Anyone check Mar-A-Lago ? Don’t think we heard a peep out of him for 2 weeks ? TFG always has his New Years Eve Tux and Tie shindig .
And DeS's speech from Kissimmee was clearly that of a man who was ill or having a panic attack.....gasping for breath. If he had COVID we will never know.
Marcia, DeSantis spoke 9 miles from Mar-A-Lago yesterday. I usually refrain from writing to DeSantis, Scott ,Birther Bill Posey et al…..although it really struck a nerve when DeSantis said the 1/6 coverage would be “ nauseating”. I told him it didn’t matter where you were on the political spectrum, lives were lost that day. RESPECT.
He won’t care one bit but it made me feel good :)
With respect, I protest your last sentence.
If you believe for a second that Atty Gen Merrick Garland does not have the wherewithal to take that lesson to heart, then there is no chance for the rule of law to succeed.
I agree with Christine, Arthur, I was with you 100% until the last sentence. I listened to the AG’s speech the day before and I was heartened by not only what he said but how he said it, this will be the test of his lifetime and I believe that he will be up to the task.
Thanks for your post,Arthur. Not to mention the committee has worked every.single.day. Including the holidays.
I thought Biden’s messaging was spot-on yesterday, including calling out “the former defeated president “ and pointing out the Republicans did not protest ANY OTHER ELECTION ! We The People need to keep spreading that message!
The “fraud” affected only the choice for President and Vice President. Republican Senators, Representatives, dog catchers on the same ballots were elected without question. Those committing “fraud” to favor Democrats must have been incompetent.
“I fail to see why there should be any legitimate controversy over the eventual prosecution of Donald Trump for criminal misconduct in office.”
I have no doubt that any protest to a future prosecution of Trump, and those he conspired with, would not be legitimate. But that hasn't stopped the entire Republican contingents in the House of Representatives and in the Senate from trying to get people to forget what they saw, and what they know to be true. This is all about power; and Republicans believe that power in the hands of Democrats is by definition illegitimate, and power in their own hands is entirely legitimate. Republicans seem to have a sense of entitlement justified by wealth, and their inflated sense of self-worth. Voters should not put Republicans in charge of anything, because those Republicans have no commitment to either sound governance, or the public good. That's just the way it is. It wasn't always that way; I worked in four presidential administrations, three of which were Republican, dating back to 1973. Back then, Republicans believed in good governance, at least the better ones, and they perform valuable public service in crafting broad-based public policies. That hasn't been true since the Reagan administration. If you look at the number of members of Congress who have been prosecuted for federal crimes, chiefly revolving around defrauding the government, the vast majority of them were Republicans. It's not the Democrats are basically more honest than Republicans, although that may indeed be true, especially in recent years, but Democrats are not there to pad their incomes, or stock portfolios. I say mostly, because the Senate is essentially a rich man's club; and no one ever got rich just by getting a paycheck. Nonetheless, since the Reagan years, Republicans have been much more active in subverting the values of democracy and sound governance. And that is, unfortunately, a fact of life.
Boy, those double negatives get me every time… I think I agree 100%
Haha Jeri , I am still working on it!
With "protest" it's actually a triple negative!