Family members, friends, and political leaders gathered today at the Washington National Cathedral to honor the life of former president Jimmy Carter, who died on December 29 at age 100.
As I watched Jimmy Carter’s service in Washington, I was profoundly moved. One doesn’t necessarily shed grieving tears for a rare and special man who filled his century on earth with extraordinary accomplishments…none greater than simply and so naturally modeling how to well live one’s life.
My tears tonight were mixed; most were those welling from heartfelt gratitude for - and celebration of - his countless and lifelong examples of pure, native decency and grace.
My other tears were the ones of actual mourning…grief for the current deviation in the moral compass of so many in this country. Through an imperfect storm of fear, ignorance and malignancy, 75 millionAmericans elected to empower hate with safe harbor, as was pointedly referenced from the national cathedral’s pulpit today.
But I believe – and I am bedrock certain that Jimmy Carter would have us all understand, and believe in our hearts – that there is absolutely more goodness than bad in this world. He led a life that demonstrated how each and every one of us must - repeat “must”- pitch in, lend a hand (with or without a hammer in it), BE the Light and share that Light.
“Power and title,” as also referenced today, are not at all the answer. “Do unto others…” is.
I’ll vote for that as long as I can. Thank you Jimmy and Rosalyn.
Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood's simple, yet simply gorgeous, rendition of Imagine was oh so appropriate. I cried hearing it. I've long said that John Lennon's beautiful ode to the planet, and to humanity, should be our national anthem. Jimmy Carter lived that song his entire long life.
His choice of music was just perfect, particularly the entrance piece, The Road Home by Stephen Paulus, and makes me cry every time I hear it. He was welcomed home by Rosalyn and is at peace. He gave us so much and yesterday reminded us of just what that was. Now it is ours to continue in his honor.
I feel certain that God said to Jimmy Carter, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Welcome home.” What a powerful example Jimmy Carter was of living one’s faith.
Yes he did. That song tugs at my heart and I offer it whenever a loved one leaves us. It is so poignant. I also had the good fortune to have a son who sang in a men's chorus in college, and while they never sang this particular piece, they did many very similar works. Just beautiful balm for the soul at times like these.
Harvey, "Imagine" was our class song in 1973. I recall not voting for it (I was clearly a stupid graduate) and can't remember what I did vote for, but Lennon's beautiful anthem of peace and brotherhood was indeed the best choice for then as well as today and tomorrow.
Donny was fighting every instink to try to be the center of attention…watching him fidgeting when they were standing to leave was actually funny! Such a little boy!
That's why Obama 'was talking with' him -- Trump kept leaning over and saying stuff. I don't know how it would have worked out for him to more seriously snub him....
Thank you, Ron, for the link. I loved hearing it yesterday and it still brings tears today. Has always been my favorite song, too. Garth and Yearwood's rendition is simply lovely.
How does one resolve the apparent conflict between a tribute to a person of faith with a song promoting “no heaven and no religion” ideas? By recognizing that real religion involves making heaven on Earth by repeatedly strengthening the bonds that keep us from thinking it’s “us” against “them” (“re” = redo and “ligion” = ligament = binding), while also recognizing that the phrase “no phony religion” in a beautiful song would sound discordant.
My take away from Carter requesting John Lennon's song Imagine, is that while Carter was a Christian of deep faith...he saw that it's not the only way. There are a number of faith traditions across the planet and that if we are to get to the goal of peace, we have to respect each other...and love each other, no matter the details of our faith. I believe the line that matters the most is that "we live as one".
James, I'm very fond Jimmy Carter, Dalai Lama, the teachings of Jesus, and John Lennon. If John were here he could but probably would not try to explain why he added "and no religion too" to that song. It matters not to me where someone gets his or her morality. I was a bit surprised to hear that wonderful song in church though. But then again it's been a minute since I've been to church.
There is a huge gulf between the teaching and the monied, organized power structures that are the unholy outcomes of seeking power…Romans wanted power! They rewrote the teaching to assure this, for men. Jesus was a commitment to community….not power. He was, after all, the first liberal!
Ryan Collay, 😄 Maybe so! When you say "they" rewrote "the teaching", I'm not exactly sure who and what you mean. I can't remember where I got this idea, although it might have been from a book called 'Who Wrote the Bible?', but I heard that the New Testament was written about 80 years after the Crucification. As a child I had assumed that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and the other Books, were written by the actual disciples of Jesus Christ. And although I heard it called "The Gospel" many times, I can't swear that it's historically accurate, much less the gospel truth. That said, I have found much wisdom in it, (other than Revelations which always sounded insane to me) and I've also found some wisdom in certain Books of the Old Testament. So that in a nutshell is why I no longer call myself a Christian, but I do call myself a Christian Humanist, because I remain somewhat influenced by my indoctrination.
Ah…yes, some inadvertently good stuff, true…although Ben Franklin wrote good stuff too. I am not an expert but my favorite version is the Jeffersonian Bible where he removed the dogma and only included those comments directly attributed to the man…in part because he, like many at the time, was a believer in God, yet did not believe in the ‘son of god thing.’ But like you he thought that buried that his statements were good ideals…as did Jimmy Carter…it’s online, short read.
The gospels were not written at the time and they had a specific purpose, shared later by the Romans, to make Jesus the messiah. As a Jews at the time didn’t see him as such this took much creative writing. And there are likely many more items stashed away in Vatican vaults…a wife, a mother-in-law, children…he liked women. And he was a liberal.
I think you're right about Carter's viewpoint, Mike Wicklein, and I also think that the Lennon/Ono objection to religion is more about its perennial call for war than about faith or spirituality. Many of us feel a spiritual connection without espousing any particular religion.
James, faith does not require adherence to a religious doctrine. It may be nice if the two converge, but for many, they do not. In the case of Christians, faith in Jesus Christ can stand alone, without the discordance organized religion brings.
I agree, but a religious practice is the application of a religious tradition’s founding principles. Without those principles, you don’t have a faith or a religion. With those principles, you do have a faith that is independent of context, and then you need to understand how to apply the principles in specific contexts, which is when a religious practice inevitably emerges.
You are correct in saying that faith in Jesus Christ can stand alone without the discordance organized religions bring, but there’s only one reason why organized religions bring discordance, and that reason is when a religious institution starts disregarding their tradition’s founding principles.
For the record, the two Christian principles are stated by Jesus several times throughout the four Gospels including in Matthew 22:34-40. Everything else is a context-specific application of, or a context-specific disregard for, those two context-independent principles.
James…there are no longer founding principles for current Christianity that hold…we hold these truths to be self evident might be one. The rest are about a power structure.
I'll agree with you if you agree with me that there is no bedrock because people are constructing buildings on unstable foundations. In other words, the idea that there is bedrock and there are Christian principles is a fact, and the idea that they no longer exist is a reality-defying perception.
Yes, there are people who believe that perception is reality, like the incoming POTUS.
The difficulty as you say comes when religious leaders discard (or ignore) their faith’s principles. Leaders In my denomination (and some others) have too regularly ignored Jesus’s commands.
Biden's concluding remark, "Not for reward, but in reverence for the incredible gift of life we’ve all been granted. To make every minute of our time here on Earth count.” is IMO the most significant reminder to everyone of us. Because it reminds us that God has given everyone of us an incredible gift of life on this earth. We have responsibility of how to respond to this gift.
Yes! Grace in the line of fire! It always reminds me of harm ‘Religion’ creates when we replace truth with power over others, particularly females! Preaching, screeching hate is not supposed to be the found of the God of love! Stop them before they get a handmaid on the Supreme Court!
Yes, except for the "and no religion, too" part. Sadly, religions have become deeply entangled in power and money in ways that work against the positive aspects invoked in "Imagine". The New Apostolic Reformation is MAGA hiding in sheep's skin. If it is a religion at all, it's a religion wolf hiding in the sheep's clothing of pseudo-Christian political domination. It has hijacked the fervour of southern evangelical Christianity and put it at the service of the MAGA movement. They are religious fanatics and they are armed and dangerous.
President Carter's accomplishments post Presidency exemplify what an amazing man he was. For someone that has not been President for 45 years, it is amazing to see the genuine love and respect from so many people who were touched by perhaps the greatest humanitarian ever.
And Rosalyn, redefined the role of First Lady participating during his Presidency and long after, like no other First Lady except perhaps Eleanor Roosevelt.
The music documentary of Duane Allman reminds us of Carter's love of music and how much musicians thought of him. The Allman brothers were in their early 20's and were all-in on Jimmy Carter.
Jimmy Carter was a person of true faith. He understood that you don’t just hope for the best or prepare for the worst. You do what you can to make the world a better place, and his life proved that he was right. Now he’s left that legacy for us to follow.
Personally, I think it's true that the good die young based on my definition of old. To me, when a person thinks they know everything, and they're always right, they're old regardless of their chronological age. By that definition, Jimmy Carter died young. As for me, I hope I die before I get old.
James, nicely put. I am actually old in years, but I hope that I can keep realizing how much I do not know and continue learning as i do from so many who post here. I thought the eulogies were on point as a tribute to Carter and also a pointed reference in some cases to death star.
Trae Crowder, a comedian who calls himself the “liberal redneck” (and is worth following), said “Jimmy Carter, who died at the age of 100, or, as the Democrats would say, in the prime of his life …” Touché, especially with 91-year-old Chuck Grassley third in line to the throne… oops, I meant the presidency (sorry Chief Roberts).
I tend to believe the scheduling conflict, as she always says to go high. And I do think she would have given him a look that would have shriveled the mushroom.
If the OM squirmed, that would suggest (1) that he understood what he was hearing, and (2) that he has enough self-awareness to realize the contrast. I doubt it. OTOH, it might have meant that his girdle was too tight. That I could believe.
I think so but, going back to the admissible facts of Trump's systemic business falsifications, it is now confirmed for history that Donal J. Trump is a liar & a jury determined felon on 34 specific counts. Hope Hicks also lied. Michael Cohen repeatedly lied & was jailed before & during Covid.
This a New York State convictions cannot be pardoned by Trump II.
Absolutely correct. I'm only repeating commentary made by someone I heard on the radio today, that an appeal will be made, and settlement is likely years away. And I can live with that except that (and I'm clearly no lawyer nor ever played one on TV,) I believe if Trump were to die before his appeal was decided, the conviction gets cleared off his record. Am I correct?
When GWB was in office, I thought he was an absolute idiot. I'm still not very fond of him, but a year or so ago, I read something that redeemed him somewhat. I've recommended this book on this forum often" "Shall We Wake the President: Two Centuries of Disaster Management from the Oval Office" by Tevi Troy.
Apparently, while in office, Bush read about the 1918 Flu and was so concerned that he took some action! I am very concerned that should another pandemic happen under Trump Part Two that this world would not get off as "easy" as it did with COVID. I think a great percentage of the populace absolutely will not wear masks, take a vaccine, etc.
Miselle, let's not forget that he disbanded the program which monitored possible emerging health threats early in his presidency, and IIRC also got rid of a lot of equipment, such as ventilators which were held in storage -- equipment which was badly needed once the virus struck.
Unfortunately, in today's America, there is more bad than good, as evidenced by a plurality of citizens who voted for Trump to return to the White House to continue his evil and chaotic ways. We, collectively, cannot say "That's not who we are." Elections have consequences.
Yes, there is no Trump mandate.Also people did not sign off of what he is pushing.No one voted for annexing Canadá and invading Greenland not even the rubes who voted for him.There was no mention in the Republican platform of taking over the Panama Canal and renaming it.This is the stuff of a madman and I and others won’t buy any of it. Smh
It's a distraction while he robs the country and supports billionaires and dictators in lining their already full to bursting pockets. His only goals are staying out of jail and stealing as much of the country's wealth as he can.
Distraction, smokescreen, gaslighting, call it what you will. He throws this stuff out to rile up others while he continues on his plunder. But we cannot take anything this madman says as pure jest. He is like a loose cannon and it is hard to tell where he is going with a lot of this bs, be it a"distraction" or no. Germans did not take Hitler seriously until it was too late.
I had the pleasure of listening to Simon Rosenberg and Hopium yesterday. He pointedly says not to just brush off his rantings as distractions, Trump just being Trump. The president of the US is a powerful position and his proclamations have ramifications, no matter how harebrained they may seem. We need to hold him and his administration accountable for the things they say, and so does our media, as weak-kneed as it is these days.
Yes, the media is weak-kneed but Meidas is fighting the good fight against MAGA disinfo!
“Anyway, I posted the Trump screenshot, and in ALL CAPS (because we know that’s how MAGA prefers to communicate), I wrote:
WAKE UP! ALL OF THIS IS TO DISTRACT YOU! PRICES ARE NOT GETTING LOWER. HOUSING IS NOT BEING SOLVED. THERE IS NO UKRAINE PEACE DEAL. HE IS A WEAPON OF MASS DISTRACTION. DO NOT FALL FOR IT AGAIN!!
Here’s the post, which has been viewed over 1.2 million times in 48 hours (mostly by my target audience: MAGA).”
From what I understand MAGA is not happy. These oligarchs actually want to import immigrants, raise the debt ceiling to accommodate their outlandish increases and immigrants themselves. (all stuff MAGA hates)
Thank you Barbara, you provided about the same answer I would have. …there’s the number of registered voters (approximately a third) who just do not participate in or fulfill one of the few - but most important civic duties - that of educating themselves, if not at least once every two years, once every four years and participating in our wonderful society by VOTING. …and then there is that significant number of those who voted for Biden/Harris in 2020, who did not seem to vote in the 2024 election. What happened to or where were they?
We - Democrats and…along with other wise, sane and smart Americans [yes, most Democrats do seem to be smart, sane and wise] - have to mobilize like minded individuals to fulfill their civic duty in 2026 and the Party needs to use/spend/invest the monies they solicit and receive smartly and wisely [it’s sometimes referred to as being prudent] and help find and motivate some superb democratic candidates to run for local, state and national positions. The handwriting is on the wall, the Democrats must have as one of their top objectives after the 2028 election: increasing the size of the Supreme Court!
I agree most Americans are good people who want peace and prosperity in their lives. The 15 million missing voters haunts me. I can't shake the gut feeling there was some dark fooling around with ballots.
Jim, I've been pounding this issue for quite some time. More people did not vote than voted for either Harris or TCF (now in capitals, because he will be sentenced today).
I can't assume that. The political climate in America is so corrupted and chaotic right now. The propaganda machine has been at work for many years. Too many Americans think up is down. Also. Gerrymandering and voter suppression have taken their toll.
What does disturb me is the deliberate choice people made to vote for someone they know in their heart is evil and a clear and present danger to our Democratic way of life. That hurts.
Thank you. "Save Our Democracy!" is the rallying cry these days, but "our democracy" was in real trouble before Trump was elected the first time but many people -- primarily white middle-class-and-up straight people, I suspect -- didn't realize it and weren't already fighting (and voting) to make it better.
I've never been in the "If you don't vote, you can't complain" camp. Some people who don't vote have a better understanding of the situation than many of those who do vote. I take the existence of non-voters and even Trump voters as a challenge to those of us who vote in every election, from the most local to the presidential. We need to make the connections clearer between "government" and our daily lives. And we need to hold our elected officials accountable.
Yes, he won by a slim margin. But it WAS a plurality of voters because more voters voted for Trump than for second place Kamala Harris, with fewer votes for another candidate. That's the definition of plurality; please don't confuse it with the word "majority," which he did not win. As far as good and bad, we're discussing the election and, in my view, more people voted for the bad guy than for anyone else. As I said, elections have consequences, one of which is that all Americans (and the rest of the world) are stuck with the evil Donald Trump for the next four years, at minimum. Who knows what he will do in office in his quest for lifetime dictatorship. For sure, it won't be good.
I general I think people are more "good" than bad, but bad has a practical advantage as it can ride on entropy. It's so much easier to bully than liberate. So much easier to destroy than build something worthwhile. Though ugliness gets old at some point.
J L--I don't think quantifying "bad" vs "good" has any practical purpose. Doesn't matter how many good people there are if they are not engaged in the process. And being engaged takes work. And yes, as you note, hate is easier than love--or even "like."
Or even tolerance.
Love takes work, attention, selflessness . . .
And when the two are competing, "bad" definitely has the advantages of being ignited by hate, sustained by ignorance, and "riding on entropy,"* in its inexorable trajectory of destruction. Tragically, once it "gets old," who will be able to do anything about it?
_____________________________
*Your phrase, "riding on entropy" is so poetic, it ironically evoked dark alternate lyrics for "Walking in Rhythm":
“At our best,” Biden said, “we share the better parts of ourselves: joy, solidarity, love, commitment. Not for reward, but in reverence for the incredible gift of life we’ve all been granted. To make every minute of our time here on Earth count.” “That’s the definition of a good life,” Biden said. It was the life Jimmy Carter lived for 100 years: a “good life of purpose and meaning, of character driven by destiny and filled with the power of faith, hope, and love.”
Many disagree with my including President Ford as one of the two best Presidents of my life-time, right along there with President Carter. President Carter and President Ford exchanged pre-written eulogies for their eventual funerals. Those dueling eulogies deepen my conviction that two men of impeccable characters and divergent politics really can like and esteem the best each sees in the other.
Oregon had the same treat with Gordon Smith (R) and Ron Wyden (D) as our Oregon senators in the early 2000's. They walked into the Senate chamber every morning, side by side, shook hands, and went to their respective "sides". Both worked, first and foremost, for Oregon.
Thank you for your eloquent and heartfelt remarks. They inspired me to repost my reply to Substack’s Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance:
"Jimmy Carter seems to have timed his death to send the country a much needed message."
He couldn't have timed it better for another reason. It could not have been just me listening to eulogy after eulogy praising President Carter's stellar character and not think of the spectacular contrast to that of the scumbag who will reoccupy the WH.
I will forever treasure meeting President Carter and our correspondence. He told me that he never felt any conflict between his scientific background and his faith. He had the kIndest face I've ever seen. I sent him my first book, not knowing if he would bother reading it. Not only did he read it but he sent me an incredibly thoughtful letter about how much he enjoyed it and went on to encourage my writing. I believe that he was the closest thing to Jesus on this earth. I brought it to his attention that they even shared the same initials....
Peter, I regret I could only give Professor Richardson one ❤️ for today’s letter and I regret I can only give you one ❤️ for this comment. Well said, thank you.
I loved Carter’s grandson’s story of how he would make pancakes and how he made a cradle with his own hands for any one of his grandchildren. The best, however, came from Joe Biden when he spoke about the dignity and respect Jimmy Carter gave everyone, no matter who they were. When Biden was speaking, he glared right at Donald who was squirming in his seat like a child who is bored. Melania never smiled or made any expression. This is what we get to look forward to.
I was going to comment about the “hand over heart” gesture that everyone else made except the felon-in-chief, but this is about the character of dear President Carter, who truly earned the honorary title forevermore. Rest in peace, sir.
I watched him as the Flag went past, when it was already gone, he finally put his hand over his Stomach. Must not have learned too much in his previous 4 years in office.
Susan, that is what I call the "ballpark salute" where caps (on the occasion that they are worn) are removed and placed on the stomach, rather than the correct position, with the hand over the heart.
When the US National Colors are presented in a procession, uniformed personnel should render the military salute (right hand to right eyebrow). All citizens should render the hand salute, which is the right hand held over the heart; if a cover (hat) is worn and not part of a uniform, it should be removed and positioned at or above the left shoulder so the hand remains over the heart. As the presentation passes, the salute is slowly released. Remain standing until directed to sit.
I know the feeling but harbor no ill will against the dead. I protected all I could, Vietnamese civilians and soldiers, as much as I could, ready to kill any attacking them if there was no other way to stop them. But, if they had been killed, to me judgement of them was up to God to whom I was willing to apologize for not being able to find another way.
It was moving to see President Biden and others, gently touch Jimmy Carter's coffin as they approached or left the pulpit. Jimmy Carter's service was about love! Love is an action verb. To love your neighbor is to do something for them. Jimmy Carter embodied that kind of love.
Yes, and today, Trump has to go before Judge Merchon to receive his sentence for campaign finance violations. I hope, even if it’s a flutter, that he realizes how out of his depth he is at leading this nation.
It affects the Trump organization’s dealings in NY. It also changes his travel status - countries would have to make exceptions to allow a felon to enter their country.
Read the Frozen River. Takes place in the late 1700s. A rich and powerful judge commits rapes and was told to spend time at home (don't leave the country type of thing), but he flees the county, but does show up for court. Of course, he was found innocent by a jury of all men He then resumes his judge position. Does this sound familiar?
Well, it’s not just getting tossed out because of that ridiculous SC decision… it shouldn’t be, but so many bend over to give him break after break. It’ll stick in his craw.
I've been occupied by watching the evolving consequences of the urban wildfires in an area we left because of ever increasing heat wave extremes in both maximum heat and duration of long dry spells, combined with periods of heavier rainfall in shorter periods that cause floods that exceed the mitigation efforts designed for older climate conditions.
Apparently, as of yesterday, 16 families that our family's friends in Pasadena know, may have lost their homes in Altadena. I do know at least the auditorium of the Eliot Middle School was on fire in a little pocket in the larger area of the southern edge of a much larger area. I had attended a lot of Pasadena IBM User Group (PIBMUG) meeting there during the dozen years I worked in Pasadena. PIBMUG earlier meetings had started at Caltech with some interesting guest speakers. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7KQibWUDcM
I don't remember exactly where Steve Bass live(d/s) but I believe it was in the Eaton fire burned (or evacuation area if he lived in Pasadena. Part of Steve's author's bio on Amazon:
"...I first learned about computers in 1982 with an IBM PC I bought from Computerland. When I asked them for support, they said, "Don't use it in the shower."
The following day, I founded the Pasadena IBM Users Group. After 24 years, I finally closed the organization, releasing the over 2,400 former members onto the streets (http://www.pibmug.com). Be careful out there. And in the late 1980s, I co-founded the Association of Personal Computer User Groups (http://www.apcug.org), a nationwide organization serving user groups..."
Then there is one of my favorite Data Scientists who(while working with Caltech, I assume) left a future Nobel Prize winning team (for their LIGO work and I'd seen when later visiting the Hanford LIGO site), to take up the climate data challenges at JPL. I don't know if he still lives about 3 miles from JPL but I ran across the following article that describes how he and his family felt during the Bobcat Fire that threatened the area for months in 2020.
I'm no where near as smart or dedicated as Peter, but I have a strong dose of concern for what he sees as some of the best data and analysis of the trouble we are facing if we don't redouble or triple our efforts to limit climate heating. Last I knew he was living within 3 miles of JPL and at least in the evacuation zone.
Big Oil may deny what they really know about climate change costs, but I have to believe the Insurance Companies losses will make insurance impossible to provide at affordable prices. How can anyone imagine trying to replace all that is being lost already, much less how much more will be lost if no changes are made?
Read the article and then realized it was written FOUR YEARS AGO!
Thanks, Jim - I get it as so many of us really do, and then we go along with our lives! I doubt at almost 87, I'll be around "down the road" but my kids, grandkids, and great grandkids will be.
I used the latest I had on people I knew that lived in the area with what I knew about where Peter (the best data scientist I knew) lived, in what turned out to be a neighborhood that he described this morning as having been lost to the Eaton fire. I knew the links were old but not if the two people I knew back then still lived there. I found out this morning, as my wife had Democracy Now on her computer, and we saw Peter's interview. We found out this morning that they had moved out two years after we did, in his case, after they were threatened by the Bobcat Fire.
He being the extremely competent and dedicated climate scientist couldn't get enough people to listen, but finally decided he couldn't risk his family staying there any longer (moved to North Carolina, I think).
I have to add, on one of the interviews in LA - the reporter spoke to someone in the municipal government who was "explaining" how some of the hydrants were "challenged"(?) - she also added that when the water system was first installed/set up/etc. there were only a couple homes in the area - now how many more? This says to me that like in every other town/city/village, mainly in the West (but likely all over the country) as they build more more more developments/communities/homes - pushing back nature/wildlife/wildlife habitat - there is very little concern in looking towards WHERE THE HELL the water is going to come from.
Now I realize of course we need more "affordable" housing but where will we put it? Exactly WHERE is the water that each home/office/hospital will need? Because WATER - clean, unpolluted water - is something that none of us can exist without.
The problem wasn't as much with the quantity available as with the pressure that could be maintained with so many people trying to use it at the same time. Fire savvy homeowners in Pacific Palisades in particular, may have done like some of the engineers I worked with and made sure they had full swimming pools with pumps and generators (along with better control of embers getting into flammable areas). The maps show some parts of neighborhoods that might have been saved by such preplanning.
Usually they could use fleets of aircraft, fixed wing and helicopters to pick up water from the ocean, reservoirs, etc to really help in the worst cases, but the winds were so extreme they couldn't use them for some periods when they really would have helped.
It was a hard lesson learned when, in this case, some secret program operators seem to have failed to report hard landings that should have triggered special inspections. My son was a C-2130 Crew Chief and told me of the respect he had for a pilot that reported a hard landing that the higher echelons wanted him to not report, even threatening to ground him, or worse, if he insisted on triggering the extra inspections from making the hard landing. He learned from the guys that would do anything with whatever could fly if the need was great enough, but refuse to take a potentially unsafe aircraft off until it was assured to be as safe as it should be.
In addition to good "carpenters" I appreciate good scientists. An update on JPL Data Scientist/Climate Scientist, Peter Klamus, who I feared still lived in Altadena:
The rushed transcript (including what h couldn't say in an opinion essay for The New York Times):
"...AMY GOODMAN: We begin today’s show looking at the devastating fires in Los Angeles, where at least 10 people have died. More than 10,000 homes and offices have been damaged or destroyed. Entire neighborhoods have burned down. The death toll is expected to rise. More than 35,000 acres have already burned. The fires continue to burn due to high winds and dry conditions. The largest blaze, the Palisades fire, is just 6% contained. The Eaton fire near Pasadena remains 0% contained. Analysts project the costs of the fires may reach a record $150 billion. The climate-fueled fires come as scientists at the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service have confirmed last year was by far the hottest year on record, with global temperatures exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial times for the first time.
We’re joined now by Peter Kalmus, climate activist, climate scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab. He’s speaking on his own behalf, not on behalf of NASA. He’s just written an opinion essay for The New York Times headlined “I’m a Climate Scientist. I Fled Los Angeles Two Years Ago.” He joins us now from Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Peter, thanks so much for joining us today. Explain why you fled Los Angeles two years ago.
PETER KALMUS: Well, Amy, I just have to take a moment to — I don’t know what to say anymore. I’ll get to that in a second, but I just want to make sure — the reason I wrote the piece was because we have to acknowledge that this is caused by the fossil fuel industry, which has been lying for almost half a century, blocking action. They’re on the record saying that they will continue to spread disinformation and continue to attempt to block action. They’ve known the whole time that the planet would get hotter like this and that impacts like this fire would happen.
And then, something I really wanted — a point I really wanted to make in the piece, which they wouldn’t let me make, is that this is still just the beginning. It’s going to get way worse than this. Two years ago — well, 2020, when the Bobcat Fire happened, the whole time I was living in Altadena, it was getting hotter and more fiery and drier and smokier. And it just didn’t feel like I could stay there. Like, I could — you know, when you have a trendline, things getting worse every year — right? — like, where’s the point where something — where it breaks? You know, like, you keep going, keep pushing the system, getting hotter and hotter, getting drier and drier — right? — like, emitting more and more carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels, eventually things break. I didn’t expect my neighborhood to burn this soon.
AMY GOODMAN: Explain what’s happened, Peter, in Altadena, in the town that you left.
PETER KALMUS: It’s complete devastation. I mean, your audience probably has seen some of the images. The neighborhood I lived is gone. I would say the majority of my friends have lost their homes there. Every now and then, there’s a home that’s still standing amidst the ashes and the devastation. I don’t even know what kind of rebuilding after this is going to look like and feel like. I don’t know how this is going to affect the housing market, the insurance industry going forward.
The thing, again, you know, I think everyone needs to understand, and I wish The New York Times would have let me make this point, that this is going to get worse. I can see that today just as clearly as I could see how hotter and drier and more fiery Los Angeles was getting. I mean, I think, in the future, if we don’t change course very quickly — and maybe it’s even too late to avoid some of these much more catastrophic impacts, but I am fully expecting heat waves to start appearing where 100,000 people die, and then maybe a million people die, and then maybe more after that, as things get hotter and hotter, because there’s no — there’s no upper limit, right? Like, we keep burning these fossil fuels. The fossil fuel industry keeps lying. The planet just keeps getting hotter. These impacts just keep getting worse.
It’s not a new normal. A lot of climate messaging centers around this idea that it’s a new normal. It’s a staircase to a hotter, more hellish Earth. And, you know, a lot of climate impact predictions have erred on the side of least drama. It’s hard for even scientists to wrap our heads around how everything is changing right now on planet Earth. No matter where you look, the indicators — you know, when spring comes, how hot the winter is, habitats that are moving, ice that’s melting — everywhere you look in the Earth system, including, of course, ocean temperatures and land surface temperatures, you’re just on this trend towards a hotter planet and all of the impacts that are associated with it. And I don’t know what it’s going to take for us to stop all these stupid wars and come together and actually deal with the emergency that our planet is in the process of becoming less and less habitable and everything that means. We, humanity, we’ve got a real crisis here, and we’re ignoring it.
You know, another paragraph they took out of the piece, both the Democratic presidents, Obama, President Obama, and President Biden, they were very proud to expand fossil fuels. President Obama said, you know, “All that oil and gas expansion, that was me, people” — right? — right after he was done being president, at a lecture he gave at Rice University. And now, of course, we have a Republican president coming into office who says this is a hoax, who’s gaslighting the people who are following him. Like, I don’t know how long it’s going to take for conservative working-class people to believe what’s right in front of their eyes, that the planet is getting hotter, and that we have to come together and stop listening to these clowns who say it’s a hoax. I mean, look at — it’s all around us. Why do I have to be on Democracy Now! saying this? Right? It’s very obvious what’s happening.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Peter, we thank you for being with us. We’re so sorry about what’s happening there in your community and all over Los Angeles. And, of course, we’re talking about a heating world, so around the world. And we hope to have you on next week.
PETER KALMUS: My heart —
AMY GOODMAN: Peter Kalmus is a —
PETER KALMUS: My heart breaks for all the victims, too. It’s just — I can’t wrap my head around what’s happening.
AMY GOODMAN: Peter Kalmus is a climate scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, speaking on his own behalf, not on behalf of NASA. We will link to your piece in The New York Times, “I’m a Climate Scientist. I Fled Los Angeles Two Years Ago.” And just reading his last sentence of his op-ed, “Nothing will change until our anger gets powerful enough. But once you accept the truth of loss, and the truth of who perpetrated and profited from that loss, the anger comes rushing in, as fierce is the Santa Ana winds.” Peter Kalmus, the NASA scientist, has been arrested numerous times for his climate change activism.
Yet, all I saw yesterday was how Michelle Obama missed the service and how Mrs. Pence ignored trump ( I didn't know about the Bush snub) and Kamala looked at trump. Of yes, one person must have not read or just watched the clip of Kamala looking at trump and made the comment that Biden wasn't there! It goes to show you how a cherry picked snippet influences gullible people.
Seems to me that abuse of power is humanity's most tragic and dangerous, perhaps fatal flaw. We have met the enemy and he is us. Can we learn from past mistakes before it's too late?
God I hope we are given Guidance to step away from misleading misanthropes who are multiplying around the doors into the Oval Office. I am also working now, because of the humane gifts from Jimmy Carter’s funeral service today, to turn my prayers to light and connection with my neighbors and coworkers in every encounter hence forward.
Fear is not a comfortable feeling. Whatever is coming will be met best with every effort to connect, exchange plans to deal with our challenges and create safety for all.
I’m so pleased I had the opportunity to ‘attend’ the whole funeral service on the internet today.
We might have been far better off keeping Carter, but I was a junior in high school and had concerns about Reagan. Carter was almost universally reviled then, but he told us what we needed to hear. Reagan told many people what they wanted to hear while laying the groundwork for our current mess.
I was busy doing family things and didn't even turn the television on or search for it on the Internet, but I'm going to make time to watch President Carter's entire funeral. Somehow I know I'm going to be inspired by it. Something you said clicked, and I asked myself, how can I make America a better place other than voting? And it occurred to me that in order to help my community I need to connect more with my neighbors. To be honest I've always left the vast majority of that to my wife. It's time for me to get more involved. I may be old, but I can still learn a few more tricks.
Same here, Justin. I have a free day today (except for taking the cat to the vet. Stupid Orange Boy, yet again...) and would like to watch it in its entirety.
I'm a Christian Humanist, but I must admit that there are certain pearls of wisdom from Sunday School I should have adapted more strongly, such as "Love your neighbor as yourself". I mean no offense to atheists here. I know that there are many paths to morality.
Inattentive is a kind way to describe him. Whenever the camera panned around to the row of presidents. he looked either asleep or unconscious. Or daydreaming, about goodness knows what. But thoroughly unengaged. The antithesis to President Carter and the gravity of the Oval Office.
Jennifer, I am currently reading To Make Men Free, and am reminded that among other things, that conspiracy theories and propaganda aren't new in US history. That does give me some solace. Judging by the last election alone I would have to say you are right. But I have to think that some Republicans are already regretting their vote, and wishing that they had listened to Kamala Harris when she urged them to close the book on Trump and join us in a new path forward. So there's that.
When President Carter worked on building houses with Habitat, he got his hands dirty. When he worked the peanut fields, he got his hands dirty. When he went to impoverished countries to help monitor elections and spread health initiatives, he got his hands dirty. As dirty as his hands got, his ideals were about as clean and pure as any person. Juxtaposing Carter’s funeral with Trump’s inauguration obviates how low our standards have become.
Phil, I have posted this here a few times, but never know who sees it, so will post again….one of my favorite poems “To Be of Use” by Marge Piercy, to me it describes those who just do the right thing….because it’s the right thing to do: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57673/to-be-of-use Jimmy Carter was the first president I was eligible (21 was the age limit then) to vote for…and did so twice & very sad he didn’t win reelection—I mean you could tell he was an agent of positive change! Highest praise: He was a good man. Although I am not at all a deist or religious, I will say Amen to that!
Hello Barbara... Thanks for illustrating how Jimmy Carter put his Post-Presidency to use furthering Humankind... Contrast this Service with how DJT has put his Post-Nov 5 2020 time to use, and where DJT has spent it...
Yeah, Apache, building up versus tearing down….they could not be more opposite in character/actions. I hope his example and his & Rosalynn’s actions serve as an example to all, especially to our youth who are/will be stepping up to lead
It seems to me rather unprecedented that the Republicans would follow the dictates of an ex-president and now his megalomaniac backroads on how and what to vote for, yet this is where we are.
Jimmy Carter was the antithesis of a Southerner MAGA. He loved everyone. They hate everyone. He was progressive. They are regressive.
Change is hard and change is usually good, but Project 2025 is not good change. Project 2025 is not conservative, it is regressive and who we were in the past is not worth returning to.
Barbara, the year was 1972 when 18-year-olds were allowed to vote: I know this because I was 18 that year and was able to vote for Joe Biden as Delaware’s Democrat Senator. I’m a born and raised Delawarean and stood about 10 feet in front of him and his late wife Neilia at a Democratic rally at Christiana High School (Newark, DE) days before the 1972 election. He was our first Democrat Senator in my then young life and we were hopeful that things would change that year, but unfortunately, many changes were not for the better in so many ways (Mrs. Biden and their daughter would die the next month and Nixon won another term). It’s a memory that will always be happy and sad for me. I volunteer for the League of Women Voters and we go to high schools and register 17-1/2 and 18-year-olds to vote and I tell young people that I was the first generation of 18-year-olds who would eligible to vote—they don’t know that the voting age was changed from 21 because it’s been this way for over 50 years—we take it for granted. I also tell them that the 18-year-olds did not make a difference in 1972 national election because they didn’t vote in significant numbers (low turnout) and I encourage young people that they are our future and can make a difference. Perhaps they will understand in 2028?
Also, Jimmy Carter has been the only President that I’ve ever been able to shake hands with—he jumped the lines that separated us from him (as he was known to do!) and made his way to greet the crowd waiting to get a chance to see him exit from attending an speaking event in Columbia, MO when he was then President! The Secret Service guys moved at the speed of light to get to him! Bless him and his family and loved ones ☮️💟
Linda, I, too, voted for the first time in a midterm election (1975 for me) and it is hard to reconcile the breezy dismissal of the importance of voting that happens nowadays with the struggles we had to get the voting age lowered to 18. Carter was the first presidential candidate I was able to vote for. I very much wish he had been a better campaigner who could have tanked Reagan's steamroller but his commitment to integrity, truth, and reality ran counter to the fantasies of most Americans--long before the current Disinformation Media Flood--and was a scary sign of things to come.
But, Linda, doncha know….Reagan was on the TeeVee and big screen, so he must have been a real good guy!!! Just like you know who playing a successful businessman (should have been a comedy show!) reaching into many homes on the TV (never watched the show..ick). s/
Yeah, Linda H., by the time the 26th Amendment was passed, lowering the age to 18, I’d already turned 21. Realized I misremembered the year he ran for POTUS, thinking, incorrectly, it was ‘72 when it was really ‘76. Guess my brain is overstuffed with factoids & getting harder to access the correct ones!!!
Yeah, Gigi, I have several of her poetry volumes. I was first introduced to her by my first husband (and forever family) when he gave me a volume of hers, The Moon Is Always Female, on the occasion of my divorce from my second (and last!) husband in ‘95. Her words spoke to me and I sought out more.
Thank you for posting the poem. It makes one think about what is truly important in life. We need more helpers and fewer destroyers. Trump, I'm looking at you.
Barbara, thanks for the poetry link. What a lovely thought to start the day. Enjoyed listening to the funeral on the way to an appointment and happy to hear it continuing when the appointment finished. It was a heartfelt and fitting tribute to a wonderful man. The world needs more like him.
Since I am late on the forum, you might not see the link I am posting today. Our beloved HCR in a 42 minute interview, two days ago on the Meidas Network youtube channel "Politics Girl". So worth the time!
...and you are one to give of yourself by sharing this powerful poem with us (even I, an "old folk" am encouraged)....there are ways even I can give....
Barbara, Carter was the first president I voted for as well. I turned 18 in 1976, and was able to vote in Oregon's primary that May. It was ratified in 1971, and I believe that 1972 was the first presidential election that was impacted by it.
I note with pride that the case was Mitchell v. Oregon.
This is my first reading of this poem and it is beautiful, as it is also inspiring. I love it. Thank you. You shared at the right time for the right occasion.
Barbara Keating, Thank You for posting this. It’s my first time reading this poem! Very heartfelt and uplifting. In one sense, the World is as it’s ever been. Who we are in this Play is up to us.
You might find this one of hers, The Low Road, to be of interest as well. It speaks to me especially as we seek to come together, organize and resist an authoritarian takeover of our country: https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/piercylowroad.html The volume of poetry it was printed in, and my introduction to her work, is the wonderful The Moon Is Always Female given to me in 1995. I was lucky enough to see her at a local independent bookstore for a reading in 2004, and I brought my copy along to be autographed.
Agreed. I think it was part of one of the most fundamental of Christian values that Carter practiced, which is humility. You might be the son of God, you still wash your disciples' feet.
When his grandson told the story of his grandfather calling him I laughed through my tears. I’m not calling you. I’m taking a picture. Thank you President Carter for your selfless service to our county.
If I had to rate them, I would say Jason Carter's eulogy was the best. He honored our tears and provided us a reason to laugh/smile for our 39th President.
They were all excellent, with Jason Carter's and President Biden's perhaps the most memorable for me, but Andrew Young's homily was deeply moving, when he said Jimmy Carter "had a tough mind and a tender heart" and "symbolized the greatness of America." I feel that Carter's memorial service from beginning to end was like a long and beautiful meditation on heart and spirit.
I found it grotesque to see Trump there on the eve of his sentencing, eyes closed like a dozing reptile, surrounded by former presidents and vice presidents, all of whom at least understood the immense responsibility of the job and their oath to uphold the constitution. And Hillary and Kamala, the women he verbally assaulted to defeat them, having to sit just a few feet away, as if none of it had ever happened.
He is the antithesis everything Jimmy Carter was, in all things.
I felt the exact opposite. He sat there squiring, uncomfortable and afraid to be in the company of goodness. He was shunted to the side in the second row and had to listen to good people talk of character. I saw a symbol in the videos. He was outnumbered by the good people. Our ancestors Washington, Hamilton, MLK, JFK, Mondale, Rosa Parks, and all our historical and memorable voices of freedom and patriotism showed up in the Cathedral yesterday. They reminded us we will be ok. We need to fight like they did.
Barbara, I also appreciate your take on it. The glass half-full is not something I do well!
But I take issue with you saying he was squirming while good people spoke of character. Any normal person would squirm, but he is not normal. He hasn't a shred of a conscience. I suspect the only thoughts going through his deranged head were of self-pity and that these guys were a bunch of losers. Weak. He is motivated by revenge and greed. (I kept thinking how Carter lived by the Bible while Trump sells bibles to line his pockets.)
He's never acknowledged wrong-doing, even when convicted of 34 felonies by a jury. Why would the words spoken yesterday make any difference to him now?
And there he was, sitting at the end of the row, stewing in his hatred while his wife stewed in hers. Each word spoken came from a mouth he cannot wait to spike onto his nailhead of loathing. That box, that casket casting its cold breath of mortality across the orange leather of his skin, infuriating under that honored flag that should fly at full mast every day since his glorious exaltation back to the presidency. There will be no half-mast come January 21. No hands to the heart, no pledge to decency or character. Just his half-closed eyes envisioning them all cast into the Hell he cannot wait to unleash upon the earth.
I think it might be more appropriate to refer to Melania as Donald's escort. I'm pretty sure she stopped being his wife some 18 years ago. These days, her public appearances with Donald are limited to those specified and compensated according to a contractual agreement. When "off the clock," she's a cougar on the prowl.
I found Andrew Young’s remarks particularly poignant, but it was President Carter’s grandson Jason Carter who brought it home for me. These two men, who knew Jimmy Carter so well, defined him as a man whose moral compass was always true: I couldn't agree more.
It was difficult watching the service – catching occasional glimpses of DJT who is the living antithesis of everything Jimmy Carter represented.
When isn’t he scowling? When isn’t he lying? Trump is telling the truth about how he wants to be a dictator, and about the nasty things he plans to do. I think he won’t leave office.
I "liked" your comment .......................I also believe that anyone who thinks
Trump will leave the Presidency in 4 years is out of their minds. Reality has been slapping us in the face more and more since he left his first catastrophic term!!! We have been made aware of his convictions and yet we ignore the reality of losing freedoms we have gained due to the spilt blood of American patriots. Trump calls these patriots, "losers".
Our laws are not holding back a tyrant and not even "in and of himself" a capable tyrant. I say once again, he is a willing puppet being placed in a position of power by his puppeteers. He is just basking in power. He loves the attention! The hungry wolves lusting after money and power are close on his heels! He is THEIR pathway to power!!!
Thank you President Biden for your decency and leadership and faith!
I only wish we had given Netanyahu NOTHING until the hostages were brought home. By making the choice to send weapons, we gave him power to rip apart the lives of innocent and helpless people in the Middle East including citizens in Israel and to build up more poverty....take away education opportunities for thousands of children, and to increase hatred against America.
Thank you Jimmy Carter!!! May you rest in peace. We need more like you.
Agreed - the contrast could not have been more striking. The “love and respect” with which Jimmy Carter met the world and lived his life are not in Trump’s vocabulary or world view.
Beautifully told How strange that we are going from the passing of Carter such a honorable man and president so close to the day that his exact opposite is supposed to be “sworn “ in A good man who loved his neighbor to the exact opposite Someone who told the truth and followed the constitution to…. Someone who did good to…. So unbelievable and tragic for this country
I was not thinking of blue, white and red hats with golden letters and not even a slogan, my intention was to point to a goal at the end of the tunnel. After your reply I understand some people would adopt it as slogan. Point well taken Barbara.
I think we should acknowledge that we are only a part of one of three "Americas". Central America and South America also exist. My quick google search tells me there are 31 countries in North America, yet 3 on the continental land mass. The other 28 are mostly island nations in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Caribbean oceans.
Elegant, insightful. Thanks for this. But a thought hovered over it all ... one more helicopter and we never get Reagan. What would our world look like with another four years with Carter?
What would our word look like with 4 years (or more) of Al Gore, instead of Bush Jr? Just think of the progress that would have been made toward addressing climate change.
What would our world look like with 4 years (or more) of Hillary Clinton, instead of Trump? Just think if Putin would not have been emboldened to invade Ukraine, and how the US would have addressed the pandemic from a position of medical knowledge, and how white supremacists would not have been emboldened as they were under Trump, etc, etc.
"While Obama, sitting next to Trump, spoke to him, former president Bush refused to acknowledge Trump, instead walking past him and giving a familiar greeting to Obama."... Even though none of the Bushes gave endorsements in the last Election. at least GWB seems to acknowledge how bad DJT is... I also saw a clip of DJT glaring at Karmala... I hope that DJT doesn't make her Public Enemy #1... Finally some Good News out of the Supreme Court Today... DJT's Appeal to delay his NYC Sentencing was DENIED.... Maybe the Walls-Are-Starting-To-Close-In on DJT.... In Addiction, part of Jack Smith's Mar-a-Lago Stolen Classified Documents Report will be released... More Good News...
Former President Obama is much more dignified than the Orange Menace, but the Orange Menace threw shade on the former president every chance hegot. Ta-Nehisi Coates, who is one the best writers of our time, notes we got Trump precisely because of electing Obama.
I have thought for a long time that this is the backlash for electing a black president. And one as articulate and compassionate, accomplished and unflappable as Obama is, makes some people in this country all the more angry. I just don't get how they can hold on to all that animosity, and then vote to throw everything away based on it.
I always felt then - and certainly now, as probably Biden regrettably feels - that it should have been, if not a Biden/Hillary ticket, Biden along with someone, that was offered up to the American voters in the 2016 presidential election!
Yes, he will have the title of felon, but without any consequences. He will still rule with a heavy hand, spew lies and hate, and do as he pleases. One thing he will never have is the title of A Good Man.
We should be concerned about Trump's manipulation of SCOTUS. Look at the many terrible decisions they have handed down since Trump left office.
And they have used Trump (and Cohn's) delay tactic to delay decisions involving Trump. What other citizen could petition SCOTUS to have them intervene in a personal Federal case? Trump and his billionaire buddies are truly above the law.
I thought he was trying to bully her. It felt like it did on the stage with H. Clinton at the debate. VP Harris and her husband looked in all kinds of pain (so sad to see.) I was also concerned for the Bidens. They looked grim and frail.
I was pleased at the Bush maneuver but surprised at Obama. Can you explain what Obama was up to being so friendly?
It has been said that Trump’s motivation to run for President was inspired by Obama’s comments about him during the 2015 Correspondents dinner/roast…Call it up on YouTube and watch Trump really squirm…
One can never really know where the path not taken would led, but before Reagan, Carter and even Nixon favored environmental protection. I wonder where we would be had unbroken efforts continued.
Yeah, Arthur, the big “what if”! I voted for him (2nd time) to be re-elected and was sorely disappointed when he didn’t win…such a lost opportunity. Same, too, as others here have commented on Gore’s (questionable) loss. Dunno, perhaps somewhere in this massive Universe there is an alternative reality playing out…would be interesting to see IF such a path made any consequential differences. Guess we’ll never know!
Much of history turns on what, in retrospect, are flukes. The ones that we find compelling are those that had significant implications. There were, are, will be -- must be -- innumerable others that weren't significant because, well ... because they weren't. I'm not trying to be obtuse here ... just probabilistic. Consider where we'd be today if the bullet that pierced Trump's ear was two inches to the left.....
Yeah, Ricardo, aren’t Dems supposed to be able to control the weather (per MTG)….so we libs (Dems & others) should be able to make it so….er, make it snow!
I believe there is an infinite number of alternate realities; it’s just this one where our consciousness resides. And it’s really, really hard to be positive when things are so badly mangled.
Psychologist know that well but ultimately there's only one real real reality and in this case we have a very good reason to be negative. Once we reach that conclusion, then we have infinite options (relatively speaking).
The hard part is to analyze and opt for a few to be implemented. When is something personal, normally involves few people or just one. If I understand your concern correctly, then we need a village.
Thank you, Dr. Richardson. I have always admired President Carter as a human being and as the only living Christian I've ever heard of. While I don't share his belief, I deeply respect and admire him.
Like our current President, Joe Biden, Jimmy Carter accomplished far more in his four years of the Presidency than he was ever given credit for. It wasn't until he died that I learned all his wonderful accomplishments. I had the pleasure of working on helping to build a couple of homes in his Habitat for Humanity - what a marvelous gift that was both for the givers and the receivers. I'm proud that I voted for Jimmy Carter in 1976 and 1980.
As a young Argentinian living Buenos Aires at that time in the middle of a bloody military dictatorship ,President Carter and his active defense of human rights was the only hope we had and actually save hundreds of young people's lives. Thanks MrPresident .Eternity .
Where will we find that person? Where will we find such bravery...such goodness...such character!!! It is easy to find those who want money, power and position. Do they think they are going to gain without losing their souls. Maybe we have forgotten we have souls? Maybe we are so excited about short term gain that we have forgotten that there are consequences!!!!
Those who have dared to stand against evil have been met with "death threats" not only for themselves but their families.
These are truly dangerous times. We have overlooked so much that has already taken place such as the books being banded in public schools. This is one of the actions Hitler took.
Education/reeducation has always been used as a brainwashing technique!
Also the control of information has been going on through various channels of communication especially for those who are willing to believe lies...and there are many! We have forgotten our histories!!!
Citizens are so vulnerable to lies and so easily swayed.
"The frogs in the kettle" are slowly and with unawareness being cooked alive....it is hard to watch!!!!! We are too vulnerable! We are NOT paying attention and we do NOT appreciate our freedoms that have been fought for by "the Fathers of our Country"....all races of "our Fathers" and "Mothers"!!!
Trumps "placeholders" for powerful positions have rightfully NOT been approved ! We as a nation have never been more vulnerable.
Yes I agree with you too and have often thought that Jimmy Carter was one of the best examples of a Christian that I know of. While I don't identify as Christian myself I do know that Christ was the Prince of Peace. And that's exactly how he lived his life, as President Carter and as citizen Carter, constantly working for Peace, Love and Understanding in this world.
May there be more like him and a role model to look up to in these uncertain times.
Thanks Horhai, I identify as a non-theist, but I respect other people's right to believe as they choose so long as they don't try to enforce their beliefs on me. I do think the man, Jesus of Nazareth was a great orator, and a person of parallel to Jimmy Carter, in other words a truly good human being. I do wish we had more Jesus and Jimmy Carter's than trump's, putin's, musk's, and similar creeps. But as long as people worship wealth over kindness - it ain't gonna happen.
I admit to being rather suspicious about the election, but unlike MAGA, I won't rant. I keep hearing Trump tell Johnson they "have a little secret" and wonder what that was. Trump never said what it was, but he also can't keep his mouth shut.
Biden can carry forward Carter’s work on the ERA and direct the archivist to publish it, since it is fully ratified as of 2020. Let the litigation continue after it’s published! I’d love to see the “originalists” contort themselves to deny its validity when it has met the requirements plainly stated in the Constitution.
🤞I am hoping & holding my breath as the days whittle away that this will come to pass….not sure what the possibility is or is not as, as far as I can tell, there is NO indication as to where the chips may fall on this.
Thank you for writing perhaps the most historically important essay of yours I’ve ever read. I say that because it describes a north star that guided Jimmy Carter‘s life although someone would say he was guided by Jesus Christ. I prefer north star because it’s a term sometimes associated with sailors And he was in the Navy. The north star of his values and of how he acted on those values to make the world a better place, including attempting to do so while president (although he was thwarted by political forces he could not control) should in a perfect world guide every politician in America… or at least every member of the Democratic Party. And so, while I marvel at the example of a good life so many spoke of, I am in pain because I know following that example will not happen except in the margins in the years ahead. Unless the Democratic Party breaks with the big money interests that Carter himself hated (Citizens United 😡), it will never direct its energies to defeating the evil that exists in society today (Putin, Trump, Musk Alito, et al) by offering the American people the transformational, sustainable development based future that’s out the waiting to be born…. which Carter knew existed.
Thank you Heather for such a great synopsis of the service today which honored the life of former president Jimmy Carter. As I listened to both Mondale's son and Ford's son share the eulogies their fathers had written YEARS AGO--I couldn't help but realize it was a complete and accurate indictment on Trump (and his supporters) as though it was written today!
Each time I read an article or watch a story of Carter I learn more and more how truly forward thinking and visionary he was. I had not realized his quest to elevate women to positions of power and authority--VERY Jesus like actually :) His early awareness of the effects of climate change, etc...he was truly a MUCH better man than what he was recognized for by our press and fellow politicians. Glad to have been educated!
I was heartened by the emphasis that was placed on the 39th President's achievements while in office. Too often we've heard about how great he was after his term was over.
If Jimmy Carter taught us anything, it was that we should not dwell on the negativity of our circumstances but, instead, going forward, to keep our eye on the goals we want to achieve for our country.
The Southern Democrats were still transitioning from being racist, misogynistic and xenophobic to being Republicans. Today, the Democrats would have embraced him like they did with Obama.
Hopefully the Persimmnon Putz's ears were burning throughout. He has no joy, his only solidarity is in service of himself, he wouldn't know what love is, and his only commitment is to "getting over" on whoever he is dealing with. As Lawrence O'Donnell, Jimmy Carter was the anti-Trump, and the Traitor was the anti-Carter. I loved that karen Pence wouldn't recognize him, and that G.W. Bush wouldn't acknowledge him. He w as the piece of shit that got dragged in, with its nose pressed against the glass door no one will ever open for him to allow him into civilized society. It must have burned - I hope it did.
Did Melania exchange a word or a glance with anyone at all? When at one point she swung her head to the right for a second, there was something frightening in her dull eyes.
That huge "puritan collar" with a magnified photographic print of a Rodin-like kiss. The Sydney Morning Herald had a teaser headline about a "death stare", but as I refuse to subscribe it won't let me in to see what they were talking about.
I never want to assume what someone else is thinking/feeling, but her facial visuals suggest that she might want to be somewhere, anywhere, else. Dunno…maybe that’s just her “resting face”.
She did smile once, and it was when Carter’s grandson was speaking - it was fleeting but the cameras caught it. She probably got jabbed in the ribs by the guy sitting next to her.
As I watched Jimmy Carter’s service in Washington, I was profoundly moved. One doesn’t necessarily shed grieving tears for a rare and special man who filled his century on earth with extraordinary accomplishments…none greater than simply and so naturally modeling how to well live one’s life.
My tears tonight were mixed; most were those welling from heartfelt gratitude for - and celebration of - his countless and lifelong examples of pure, native decency and grace.
My other tears were the ones of actual mourning…grief for the current deviation in the moral compass of so many in this country. Through an imperfect storm of fear, ignorance and malignancy, 75 millionAmericans elected to empower hate with safe harbor, as was pointedly referenced from the national cathedral’s pulpit today.
But I believe – and I am bedrock certain that Jimmy Carter would have us all understand, and believe in our hearts – that there is absolutely more goodness than bad in this world. He led a life that demonstrated how each and every one of us must - repeat “must”- pitch in, lend a hand (with or without a hammer in it), BE the Light and share that Light.
“Power and title,” as also referenced today, are not at all the answer. “Do unto others…” is.
I’ll vote for that as long as I can. Thank you Jimmy and Rosalyn.
Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood's simple, yet simply gorgeous, rendition of Imagine was oh so appropriate. I cried hearing it. I've long said that John Lennon's beautiful ode to the planet, and to humanity, should be our national anthem. Jimmy Carter lived that song his entire long life.
His choice of music was just perfect, particularly the entrance piece, The Road Home by Stephen Paulus, and makes me cry every time I hear it. He was welcomed home by Rosalyn and is at peace. He gave us so much and yesterday reminded us of just what that was. Now it is ours to continue in his honor.
I feel certain that God said to Jimmy Carter, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Welcome home.” What a powerful example Jimmy Carter was of living one’s faith.
And Jimmy replied to God, "How may I help you?"
Yes, Kathleen, I thought it was perfect, simply perfect, for the procession of Carter's casket. Stephen died too soon.
Yes he did. That song tugs at my heart and I offer it whenever a loved one leaves us. It is so poignant. I also had the good fortune to have a son who sang in a men's chorus in college, and while they never sang this particular piece, they did many very similar works. Just beautiful balm for the soul at times like these.
One of the great songs of all time was John Lennon's, ode to the Planet.
Harvey, "Imagine" was our class song in 1973. I recall not voting for it (I was clearly a stupid graduate) and can't remember what I did vote for, but Lennon's beautiful anthem of peace and brotherhood was indeed the best choice for then as well as today and tomorrow.
We as teenagers are not who are as adults - thank god!!!
"If a man would register all his opinions upon love, politics, religion, learning, etc.,
beginning from his youth and so go on to old age, what a bundle of inconsistencies and contradictions would appear at last!"
-Jonathan Swift
Margaret MacKenzie -- "Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood's simple, yet simply gorgeous, rendition of Imagine was oh so appropriate."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBhchwPGzZE
It must have been torture to tfg keeping his mouth shut at Carter’s funeral. He embodies everything opposite to the man Carter was.
Donny was fighting every instink to try to be the center of attention…watching him fidgeting when they were standing to leave was actually funny! Such a little boy!
That's why Obama 'was talking with' him -- Trump kept leaning over and saying stuff. I don't know how it would have worked out for him to more seriously snub him....
Good point. That makes a lot of sense. Like a parent trying to calm down an out of control child before the church service starts.
https://theonion.com/jealous-trump-throws-own-state-funeral-to-upstage-carters/
Thank you, Ron, for the link. I loved hearing it yesterday and it still brings tears today. Has always been my favorite song, too. Garth and Yearwood's rendition is simply lovely.
Thanks for the link.
I had a medical appointment and so I missed watching this. Thanks for the link. How beautiful in it's simplicity.
I missed it too. I am going to dig around and see if I can find a link.
Ron posted it a couple comments above. Knowing that you are a musician, I'm sure you'll appreciate it. Here it is so you don't need to search.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBhchwPGzZE
That is beautiful.
Thanks for posting that link to Imagine.
Thank you , Ron🫶
Thank you.
Thank you for the link.
How does one resolve the apparent conflict between a tribute to a person of faith with a song promoting “no heaven and no religion” ideas? By recognizing that real religion involves making heaven on Earth by repeatedly strengthening the bonds that keep us from thinking it’s “us” against “them” (“re” = redo and “ligion” = ligament = binding), while also recognizing that the phrase “no phony religion” in a beautiful song would sound discordant.
My take away from Carter requesting John Lennon's song Imagine, is that while Carter was a Christian of deep faith...he saw that it's not the only way. There are a number of faith traditions across the planet and that if we are to get to the goal of peace, we have to respect each other...and love each other, no matter the details of our faith. I believe the line that matters the most is that "we live as one".
"My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness." —Dalai Lama
James, I'm very fond Jimmy Carter, Dalai Lama, the teachings of Jesus, and John Lennon. If John were here he could but probably would not try to explain why he added "and no religion too" to that song. It matters not to me where someone gets his or her morality. I was a bit surprised to hear that wonderful song in church though. But then again it's been a minute since I've been to church.
There is a huge gulf between the teaching and the monied, organized power structures that are the unholy outcomes of seeking power…Romans wanted power! They rewrote the teaching to assure this, for men. Jesus was a commitment to community….not power. He was, after all, the first liberal!
Ryan Collay, 😄 Maybe so! When you say "they" rewrote "the teaching", I'm not exactly sure who and what you mean. I can't remember where I got this idea, although it might have been from a book called 'Who Wrote the Bible?', but I heard that the New Testament was written about 80 years after the Crucification. As a child I had assumed that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and the other Books, were written by the actual disciples of Jesus Christ. And although I heard it called "The Gospel" many times, I can't swear that it's historically accurate, much less the gospel truth. That said, I have found much wisdom in it, (other than Revelations which always sounded insane to me) and I've also found some wisdom in certain Books of the Old Testament. So that in a nutshell is why I no longer call myself a Christian, but I do call myself a Christian Humanist, because I remain somewhat influenced by my indoctrination.
Ah…yes, some inadvertently good stuff, true…although Ben Franklin wrote good stuff too. I am not an expert but my favorite version is the Jeffersonian Bible where he removed the dogma and only included those comments directly attributed to the man…in part because he, like many at the time, was a believer in God, yet did not believe in the ‘son of god thing.’ But like you he thought that buried that his statements were good ideals…as did Jimmy Carter…it’s online, short read.
The gospels were not written at the time and they had a specific purpose, shared later by the Romans, to make Jesus the messiah. As a Jews at the time didn’t see him as such this took much creative writing. And there are likely many more items stashed away in Vatican vaults…a wife, a mother-in-law, children…he liked women. And he was a liberal.
Well said, Mike.
I think you're right about Carter's viewpoint, Mike Wicklein, and I also think that the Lennon/Ono objection to religion is more about its perennial call for war than about faith or spirituality. Many of us feel a spiritual connection without espousing any particular religion.
Perfectly put, Mike.
James, faith does not require adherence to a religious doctrine. It may be nice if the two converge, but for many, they do not. In the case of Christians, faith in Jesus Christ can stand alone, without the discordance organized religion brings.
I agree, but a religious practice is the application of a religious tradition’s founding principles. Without those principles, you don’t have a faith or a religion. With those principles, you do have a faith that is independent of context, and then you need to understand how to apply the principles in specific contexts, which is when a religious practice inevitably emerges.
You are correct in saying that faith in Jesus Christ can stand alone without the discordance organized religions bring, but there’s only one reason why organized religions bring discordance, and that reason is when a religious institution starts disregarding their tradition’s founding principles.
For the record, the two Christian principles are stated by Jesus several times throughout the four Gospels including in Matthew 22:34-40. Everything else is a context-specific application of, or a context-specific disregard for, those two context-independent principles.
James…there are no longer founding principles for current Christianity that hold…we hold these truths to be self evident might be one. The rest are about a power structure.
I'll agree with you if you agree with me that there is no bedrock because people are constructing buildings on unstable foundations. In other words, the idea that there is bedrock and there are Christian principles is a fact, and the idea that they no longer exist is a reality-defying perception.
Yes, there are people who believe that perception is reality, like the incoming POTUS.
The difficulty as you say comes when religious leaders discard (or ignore) their faith’s principles. Leaders In my denomination (and some others) have too regularly ignored Jesus’s commands.
Thank you James. So deep , so true, so sought by too few.
Embrace complexity.
Yes, but as the Zen philosophers advise, with a beginner's mind.
One humorous take was Andy Borowitz’s piece yesterday, “Jimmy Carter Says Best Part of Heaven is He Will Never See Trump”
Biden's concluding remark, "Not for reward, but in reverence for the incredible gift of life we’ve all been granted. To make every minute of our time here on Earth count.” is IMO the most significant reminder to everyone of us. Because it reminds us that God has given everyone of us an incredible gift of life on this earth. We have responsibility of how to respond to this gift.
Yes! Grace in the line of fire! It always reminds me of harm ‘Religion’ creates when we replace truth with power over others, particularly females! Preaching, screeching hate is not supposed to be the found of the God of love! Stop them before they get a handmaid on the Supreme Court!
Yes, except for the "and no religion, too" part. Sadly, religions have become deeply entangled in power and money in ways that work against the positive aspects invoked in "Imagine". The New Apostolic Reformation is MAGA hiding in sheep's skin. If it is a religion at all, it's a religion wolf hiding in the sheep's clothing of pseudo-Christian political domination. It has hijacked the fervour of southern evangelical Christianity and put it at the service of the MAGA movement. They are religious fanatics and they are armed and dangerous.
“…more goodness than bad…” I hope so!
Your eloquence with words matches your artistry with photography. Thank you, Peter.
President Carter's accomplishments post Presidency exemplify what an amazing man he was. For someone that has not been President for 45 years, it is amazing to see the genuine love and respect from so many people who were touched by perhaps the greatest humanitarian ever.
And Rosalyn, redefined the role of First Lady participating during his Presidency and long after, like no other First Lady except perhaps Eleanor Roosevelt.
The music documentary of Duane Allman reminds us of Carter's love of music and how much musicians thought of him. The Allman brothers were in their early 20's and were all-in on Jimmy Carter.
Yes, by his actions he was the closest thing to Jesus Christ here in earth. How coincidental that they share the same initials….
My thoughts exactly.
Well said Ally.
Jimmy Carter was a person of true faith. He understood that you don’t just hope for the best or prepare for the worst. You do what you can to make the world a better place, and his life proved that he was right. Now he’s left that legacy for us to follow.
James, that's so true. And his long and productive life disproves the notion that "the good die young" -- thankfully, James Earl Carter didn't.
Personally, I think it's true that the good die young based on my definition of old. To me, when a person thinks they know everything, and they're always right, they're old regardless of their chronological age. By that definition, Jimmy Carter died young. As for me, I hope I die before I get old.
James, nicely put. I am actually old in years, but I hope that I can keep realizing how much I do not know and continue learning as i do from so many who post here. I thought the eulogies were on point as a tribute to Carter and also a pointed reference in some cases to death star.
Some of the news accounts I read mentioned "staring obviously at tcf" as they talked about Carter's attributes.
Ally, I was looking for that and it certainly appeared so as Biden was saying "abuse of power".
I didn't catch the death star thing but it fits perfectly with my new name for "Incoming" as Darth T
Indeed, it does.
Well-thought and said, James. And may we all.
Trae Crowder, a comedian who calls himself the “liberal redneck” (and is worth following), said “Jimmy Carter, who died at the age of 100, or, as the Democrats would say, in the prime of his life …” Touché, especially with 91-year-old Chuck Grassley third in line to the throne… oops, I meant the presidency (sorry Chief Roberts).
Peter, your eloquently expressed feelings and values are clearly the foundation for your photographs that we dearly treasure.
Saw a bill board with his pic online with the inscription: ChARacTER
Guess who most distinctly lacked it? I hope it made the Orange Menace squirm, and I don’t blame Karen Pence or GWB for snubbing Trump.
I wouldn't have thought Karen Pence had it in her -- good for her. And good for Bush.
Looks like Michelle Obama could not bear to sit next to him and did not attend. Hers is a conspicuous absence.
I tend to believe the scheduling conflict, as she always says to go high. And I do think she would have given him a look that would have shriveled the mushroom.
“Scheduling conflict”
I say bravo for her --
Also, tfg’s expression never changed from his usual scowl.
If the OM squirmed, that would suggest (1) that he understood what he was hearing, and (2) that he has enough self-awareness to realize the contrast. I doubt it. OTOH, it might have meant that his girdle was too tight. That I could believe.
More than a snub coming in Judge Merchan's Courtroom this Friday 1/10/25 morning in less than one hour from now.
Felon 34X sentencing set for 9:30AM Eastern & 6:30 AM Pacific.
****************
Sentence Hearing Completed:
Felon 34X did speak on the record as is ALL felons right with his standard Campaign riffs.
Judge Merchan spoke at 10:02 am. Audio of the hearing will be broadcast soon after the hearing ends. Available before 11:00 AM Eastern.
Paraphrasing Merchan "Unconditional Discharge" period.
The Judge OFF the Bench abruptly at 10:08 am Eastern.
FINAL: The President Elect is a formally convicted felon 34X.
Bryan, is it too early for popcorn?
Convicted and soon to be in the history books.
I think so but, going back to the admissible facts of Trump's systemic business falsifications, it is now confirmed for history that Donal J. Trump is a liar & a jury determined felon on 34 specific counts. Hope Hicks also lied. Michael Cohen repeatedly lied & was jailed before & during Covid.
This a New York State convictions cannot be pardoned by Trump II.
Absolutely correct. I'm only repeating commentary made by someone I heard on the radio today, that an appeal will be made, and settlement is likely years away. And I can live with that except that (and I'm clearly no lawyer nor ever played one on TV,) I believe if Trump were to die before his appeal was decided, the conviction gets cleared off his record. Am I correct?
Place cornels in popcorn machine and pop but don’t eat yet.
Now eat the popcorn.its final. Convicted forevermore in the history books.
Counselor, if there is a link to that, can you post it? My search skills suck, and my scatterbrain goes down too many rabbit holes when looking.
Ally, if you mean a link to the sentencing hearing, the LIVE audio is widely available on many platforms.
A search of "LIVE audio of Judge Merchan's sentencing hearing today" should do it Officer.
When GWB was in office, I thought he was an absolute idiot. I'm still not very fond of him, but a year or so ago, I read something that redeemed him somewhat. I've recommended this book on this forum often" "Shall We Wake the President: Two Centuries of Disaster Management from the Oval Office" by Tevi Troy.
Apparently, while in office, Bush read about the 1918 Flu and was so concerned that he took some action! I am very concerned that should another pandemic happen under Trump Part Two that this world would not get off as "easy" as it did with COVID. I think a great percentage of the populace absolutely will not wear masks, take a vaccine, etc.
Miselle, let's not forget that he disbanded the program which monitored possible emerging health threats early in his presidency, and IIRC also got rid of a lot of equipment, such as ventilators which were held in storage -- equipment which was badly needed once the virus struck.
Wow!!! Brilliant!!!
Unfortunately, in today's America, there is more bad than good, as evidenced by a plurality of citizens who voted for Trump to return to the White House to continue his evil and chaotic ways. We, collectively, cannot say "That's not who we are." Elections have consequences.
It was not a plurality.
He won by a slim 1.48% margin
1.7% did not vote for either candidate
15 million did not vote.
Most Americans did not vote for trump.
There are the slimmest of margins in the Congress.
He has no mandate.
There is more good than bad in America. Don't let the evil loudmouths make you think otherwise.
Yes, there is no Trump mandate.Also people did not sign off of what he is pushing.No one voted for annexing Canadá and invading Greenland not even the rubes who voted for him.There was no mention in the Republican platform of taking over the Panama Canal and renaming it.This is the stuff of a madman and I and others won’t buy any of it. Smh
It's a distraction from the who knew bringing down prices was so hard guy.
Mandate or not, he has all the power come 1/20 and he's going to use it as best he can to benefit himself and his rich buddies.
Hey maga, how does putting rich people in charge drain the swamp?
It's a distraction while he robs the country and supports billionaires and dictators in lining their already full to bursting pockets. His only goals are staying out of jail and stealing as much of the country's wealth as he can.
Distraction, smokescreen, gaslighting, call it what you will. He throws this stuff out to rile up others while he continues on his plunder. But we cannot take anything this madman says as pure jest. He is like a loose cannon and it is hard to tell where he is going with a lot of this bs, be it a"distraction" or no. Germans did not take Hitler seriously until it was too late.
I had the pleasure of listening to Simon Rosenberg and Hopium yesterday. He pointedly says not to just brush off his rantings as distractions, Trump just being Trump. The president of the US is a powerful position and his proclamations have ramifications, no matter how harebrained they may seem. We need to hold him and his administration accountable for the things they say, and so does our media, as weak-kneed as it is these days.
Yes, the media is weak-kneed but Meidas is fighting the good fight against MAGA disinfo!
“Anyway, I posted the Trump screenshot, and in ALL CAPS (because we know that’s how MAGA prefers to communicate), I wrote:
WAKE UP! ALL OF THIS IS TO DISTRACT YOU! PRICES ARE NOT GETTING LOWER. HOUSING IS NOT BEING SOLVED. THERE IS NO UKRAINE PEACE DEAL. HE IS A WEAPON OF MASS DISTRACTION. DO NOT FALL FOR IT AGAIN!!
Here’s the post, which has been viewed over 1.2 million times in 48 hours (mostly by my target audience: MAGA).”
https://www.meidasplus.com/p/maga-attacked-me-for-this-simple?
From what I understand MAGA is not happy. These oligarchs actually want to import immigrants, raise the debt ceiling to accommodate their outlandish increases and immigrants themselves. (all stuff MAGA hates)
Thank you Barbara, you provided about the same answer I would have. …there’s the number of registered voters (approximately a third) who just do not participate in or fulfill one of the few - but most important civic duties - that of educating themselves, if not at least once every two years, once every four years and participating in our wonderful society by VOTING. …and then there is that significant number of those who voted for Biden/Harris in 2020, who did not seem to vote in the 2024 election. What happened to or where were they?
We - Democrats and…along with other wise, sane and smart Americans [yes, most Democrats do seem to be smart, sane and wise] - have to mobilize like minded individuals to fulfill their civic duty in 2026 and the Party needs to use/spend/invest the monies they solicit and receive smartly and wisely [it’s sometimes referred to as being prudent] and help find and motivate some superb democratic candidates to run for local, state and national positions. The handwriting is on the wall, the Democrats must have as one of their top objectives after the 2028 election: increasing the size of the Supreme Court!
I agree most Americans are good people who want peace and prosperity in their lives. The 15 million missing voters haunts me. I can't shake the gut feeling there was some dark fooling around with ballots.
I listened to an interview Tim Miller of The Bulwark did with Derek Thompson yesterday. It was absolutely fascinating. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bulwark-podcast/id1447684472?i=1000683368866
Thank you! I like Tim Miller
Jim, I've been pounding this issue for quite some time. More people did not vote than voted for either Harris or TCF (now in capitals, because he will be sentenced today).
See how they did it in Georgia, where one woman "challenged" the registrations of 32,379 voters in: https://www.watchvigilantesinc.com/
Then there is https://www.propublica.org/article/right-wing-activists-georgia-voter-challenges
Better yet an expansion of individuals who's the "Vigilantes Inc" votes were suppressed at "Suppressed & Sabotaged 2024 • BRAVE NEW FILMS (BNF)
on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t_boQO6Yyc
What you have to do to try to stop the "vigilantes" from sabotaging your right to vote n Georgia. See https://www.splcenter.org/georgia-voter-challenges-know-your-rights
I’m going to attempt to find sometime this weekend to view and/or read your linked items…Thanks.
Yup, silence is complicity.
I can't assume that. The political climate in America is so corrupted and chaotic right now. The propaganda machine has been at work for many years. Too many Americans think up is down. Also. Gerrymandering and voter suppression have taken their toll.
What does disturb me is the deliberate choice people made to vote for someone they know in their heart is evil and a clear and present danger to our Democratic way of life. That hurts.
But their pastor told them to
: ((
Thank you. "Save Our Democracy!" is the rallying cry these days, but "our democracy" was in real trouble before Trump was elected the first time but many people -- primarily white middle-class-and-up straight people, I suspect -- didn't realize it and weren't already fighting (and voting) to make it better.
I've never been in the "If you don't vote, you can't complain" camp. Some people who don't vote have a better understanding of the situation than many of those who do vote. I take the existence of non-voters and even Trump voters as a challenge to those of us who vote in every election, from the most local to the presidential. We need to make the connections clearer between "government" and our daily lives. And we need to hold our elected officials accountable.
(Overruling Citizens United would also help.)
Overruling Citizens United is essential!
"We need to make the connections clearer between "government" and our daily lives." Great point!!
This is a hard sell if the media is complicit in spreading lies about the good the Democrats do for people.
I'm with you on that. They made a decision that has an effect on all of us and I resent that.
Spot on, Barbara. There *is* more good than bad in America, except for our collective memory, which is really bad. But we will soon be reminded.
Yes, he won by a slim margin. But it WAS a plurality of voters because more voters voted for Trump than for second place Kamala Harris, with fewer votes for another candidate. That's the definition of plurality; please don't confuse it with the word "majority," which he did not win. As far as good and bad, we're discussing the election and, in my view, more people voted for the bad guy than for anyone else. As I said, elections have consequences, one of which is that all Americans (and the rest of the world) are stuck with the evil Donald Trump for the next four years, at minimum. Who knows what he will do in office in his quest for lifetime dictatorship. For sure, it won't be good.
I general I think people are more "good" than bad, but bad has a practical advantage as it can ride on entropy. It's so much easier to bully than liberate. So much easier to destroy than build something worthwhile. Though ugliness gets old at some point.
J L--I don't think quantifying "bad" vs "good" has any practical purpose. Doesn't matter how many good people there are if they are not engaged in the process. And being engaged takes work. And yes, as you note, hate is easier than love--or even "like."
Or even tolerance.
Love takes work, attention, selflessness . . .
And when the two are competing, "bad" definitely has the advantages of being ignited by hate, sustained by ignorance, and "riding on entropy,"* in its inexorable trajectory of destruction. Tragically, once it "gets old," who will be able to do anything about it?
_____________________________
*Your phrase, "riding on entropy" is so poetic, it ironically evoked dark alternate lyrics for "Walking in Rhythm":
https://youtu.be/5y3CBI260Z8
- Pulled Quote -
“At our best,” Biden said, “we share the better parts of ourselves: joy, solidarity, love, commitment. Not for reward, but in reverence for the incredible gift of life we’ve all been granted. To make every minute of our time here on Earth count.” “That’s the definition of a good life,” Biden said. It was the life Jimmy Carter lived for 100 years: a “good life of purpose and meaning, of character driven by destiny and filled with the power of faith, hope, and love.”
Amen.
Mr *Steven Ford's reading of President Ford's eulogy. The apple does not fall far from the tree. https://www.c-span.org/clip/public-affairs-event/user-clip-like-father-like-son-chapter-1/5148595 (I had to re-do this clip due to so many mistakes.)
Many disagree with my including President Ford as one of the two best Presidents of my life-time, right along there with President Carter. President Carter and President Ford exchanged pre-written eulogies for their eventual funerals. Those dueling eulogies deepen my conviction that two men of impeccable characters and divergent politics really can like and esteem the best each sees in the other.
Oregon had the same treat with Gordon Smith (R) and Ron Wyden (D) as our Oregon senators in the early 2000's. They walked into the Senate chamber every morning, side by side, shook hands, and went to their respective "sides". Both worked, first and foremost, for Oregon.
Politics and Politeness are not mutually exclusive. Thank you, Ally.
It is exchanges like this one that make my day.
A democracy can not survive people failing to see the good in others (and preparing for bad behaviors of a certain few).
So well said, Peter. I grieved for what was lost in our recent election, the character that Carter lived and I believe Biden reflects.
Thank you for your eloquent and heartfelt remarks. They inspired me to repost my reply to Substack’s Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance:
"Jimmy Carter seems to have timed his death to send the country a much needed message."
He couldn't have timed it better for another reason. It could not have been just me listening to eulogy after eulogy praising President Carter's stellar character and not think of the spectacular contrast to that of the scumbag who will reoccupy the WH.
I will forever treasure meeting President Carter and our correspondence. He told me that he never felt any conflict between his scientific background and his faith. He had the kIndest face I've ever seen. I sent him my first book, not knowing if he would bother reading it. Not only did he read it but he sent me an incredibly thoughtful letter about how much he enjoyed it and went on to encourage my writing. I believe that he was the closest thing to Jesus on this earth. I brought it to his attention that they even shared the same initials....
Well said; thank you, Peter.
Peter, I regret I could only give Professor Richardson one ❤️ for today’s letter and I regret I can only give you one ❤️ for this comment. Well said, thank you.
Beautiful. Thank you.
Magnificent, Peter!
thank you -- beautiful
Wonderful comment!!
I loved Carter’s grandson’s story of how he would make pancakes and how he made a cradle with his own hands for any one of his grandchildren. The best, however, came from Joe Biden when he spoke about the dignity and respect Jimmy Carter gave everyone, no matter who they were. When Biden was speaking, he glared right at Donald who was squirming in his seat like a child who is bored. Melania never smiled or made any expression. This is what we get to look forward to.
Thank you Heather.
I was going to comment about the “hand over heart” gesture that everyone else made except the felon-in-chief, but this is about the character of dear President Carter, who truly earned the honorary title forevermore. Rest in peace, sir.
President Carter saved so many lives around the world that should be called the first "President Pro Life"
I watched him as the Flag went past, when it was already gone, he finally put his hand over his Stomach. Must not have learned too much in his previous 4 years in office.
trump was always bad with geography. I guess that applies to anatomy also. maybe he has no heart, and this was the closest to one he could get.
Well said!
Who nudged or poked him? /s
🤣🤣🤣
Susan, that is what I call the "ballpark salute" where caps (on the occasion that they are worn) are removed and placed on the stomach, rather than the correct position, with the hand over the heart.
When the US National Colors are presented in a procession, uniformed personnel should render the military salute (right hand to right eyebrow). All citizens should render the hand salute, which is the right hand held over the heart; if a cover (hat) is worn and not part of a uniform, it should be removed and positioned at or above the left shoulder so the hand remains over the heart. As the presentation passes, the salute is slowly released. Remain standing until directed to sit.
I saw that too. Reprehensible in his disrespect.
trump was complaining about the flag being lowered. hmmmm. I think he was there only because if he didn't show up, it would look bad.
Should we suppose he won't mind having no flags lowered for his funeral?
His funeral can’t get here soon enough for me! I don’t want his big ass body to be in the rotunda.
I know the feeling but harbor no ill will against the dead. I protected all I could, Vietnamese civilians and soldiers, as much as I could, ready to kill any attacking them if there was no other way to stop them. But, if they had been killed, to me judgement of them was up to God to whom I was willing to apologize for not being able to find another way.
He should be buried at his golf course. Didn't he say something about it being a family plot?
It was moving to see President Biden and others, gently touch Jimmy Carter's coffin as they approached or left the pulpit. Jimmy Carter's service was about love! Love is an action verb. To love your neighbor is to do something for them. Jimmy Carter embodied that kind of love.
Dignity. A concept worthy of contemplation and guidance. Where does it show? Where does it lack? How is it done?
Yes, and today, Trump has to go before Judge Merchon to receive his sentence for campaign finance violations. I hope, even if it’s a flutter, that he realizes how out of his depth he is at leading this nation.
The judge has already said he will not impose jail time, fines, or probation… so what’s the point?
It affects the Trump organization’s dealings in NY. It also changes his travel status - countries would have to make exceptions to allow a felon to enter their country.
JD,
Also there's 🎶 Money money money MONEY 🎶
Now trump would have to have world leaders come bow to him at Mar a Lago. A sign of power like his handshakees.
Or they can blow him off and stay in their home countries.
There is no punishment, yet there is a conviction. It is important, as many felons are not permitted to vote...
Read the Frozen River. Takes place in the late 1700s. A rich and powerful judge commits rapes and was told to spend time at home (don't leave the country type of thing), but he flees the county, but does show up for court. Of course, he was found innocent by a jury of all men He then resumes his judge position. Does this sound familiar?
Sounds like the Roy Moore story.
He is a convicted felon - officially! THAT was the point.
Well, it’s not just getting tossed out because of that ridiculous SC decision… it shouldn’t be, but so many bend over to give him break after break. It’ll stick in his craw.
Oh yes they sure do bend over, dont they?
SR B, or to put it in his terms, he'll be a LOSER!
From what I understand, it completes the process of dealing with breaking the law, which involves charging, trying, pronouncing a verdict, sentencing.
Ellen,
I would be interested in seeing HCR or Joyce Vance or Lawrence O'Donnell answer that question.
JaneDough56, Oh, I wish I could agree, but I think everything is just a game and a show for him. He should have stopped with The Apprentice.
So not surprised!
It has renewed my respect for good "Carpenters"
I've been occupied by watching the evolving consequences of the urban wildfires in an area we left because of ever increasing heat wave extremes in both maximum heat and duration of long dry spells, combined with periods of heavier rainfall in shorter periods that cause floods that exceed the mitigation efforts designed for older climate conditions.
Apparently, as of yesterday, 16 families that our family's friends in Pasadena know, may have lost their homes in Altadena. I do know at least the auditorium of the Eliot Middle School was on fire in a little pocket in the larger area of the southern edge of a much larger area. I had attended a lot of Pasadena IBM User Group (PIBMUG) meeting there during the dozen years I worked in Pasadena. PIBMUG earlier meetings had started at Caltech with some interesting guest speakers. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7KQibWUDcM
I don't remember exactly where Steve Bass live(d/s) but I believe it was in the Eaton fire burned (or evacuation area if he lived in Pasadena. Part of Steve's author's bio on Amazon:
"...I first learned about computers in 1982 with an IBM PC I bought from Computerland. When I asked them for support, they said, "Don't use it in the shower."
The following day, I founded the Pasadena IBM Users Group. After 24 years, I finally closed the organization, releasing the over 2,400 former members onto the streets (http://www.pibmug.com). Be careful out there. And in the late 1980s, I co-founded the Association of Personal Computer User Groups (http://www.apcug.org), a nationwide organization serving user groups..."
Then there is one of my favorite Data Scientists who(while working with Caltech, I assume) left a future Nobel Prize winning team (for their LIGO work and I'd seen when later visiting the Hanford LIGO site), to take up the climate data challenges at JPL. I don't know if he still lives about 3 miles from JPL but I ran across the following article that describes how he and his family felt during the Bobcat Fire that threatened the area for months in 2020.
See https://www.propublica.org/article/the-climate-crisis-is-worse-than-you-can-imagine-heres-what-happens-if-you-try
I'm no where near as smart or dedicated as Peter, but I have a strong dose of concern for what he sees as some of the best data and analysis of the trouble we are facing if we don't redouble or triple our efforts to limit climate heating. Last I knew he was living within 3 miles of JPL and at least in the evacuation zone.
Big Oil may deny what they really know about climate change costs, but I have to believe the Insurance Companies losses will make insurance impossible to provide at affordable prices. How can anyone imagine trying to replace all that is being lost already, much less how much more will be lost if no changes are made?
Read the article and then realized it was written FOUR YEARS AGO!
Thanks, Jim - I get it as so many of us really do, and then we go along with our lives! I doubt at almost 87, I'll be around "down the road" but my kids, grandkids, and great grandkids will be.
I used the latest I had on people I knew that lived in the area with what I knew about where Peter (the best data scientist I knew) lived, in what turned out to be a neighborhood that he described this morning as having been lost to the Eaton fire. I knew the links were old but not if the two people I knew back then still lived there. I found out this morning, as my wife had Democracy Now on her computer, and we saw Peter's interview. We found out this morning that they had moved out two years after we did, in his case, after they were threatened by the Bobcat Fire.
He being the extremely competent and dedicated climate scientist couldn't get enough people to listen, but finally decided he couldn't risk his family staying there any longer (moved to North Carolina, I think).
I have to add, on one of the interviews in LA - the reporter spoke to someone in the municipal government who was "explaining" how some of the hydrants were "challenged"(?) - she also added that when the water system was first installed/set up/etc. there were only a couple homes in the area - now how many more? This says to me that like in every other town/city/village, mainly in the West (but likely all over the country) as they build more more more developments/communities/homes - pushing back nature/wildlife/wildlife habitat - there is very little concern in looking towards WHERE THE HELL the water is going to come from.
Now I realize of course we need more "affordable" housing but where will we put it? Exactly WHERE is the water that each home/office/hospital will need? Because WATER - clean, unpolluted water - is something that none of us can exist without.
The problem wasn't as much with the quantity available as with the pressure that could be maintained with so many people trying to use it at the same time. Fire savvy homeowners in Pacific Palisades in particular, may have done like some of the engineers I worked with and made sure they had full swimming pools with pumps and generators (along with better control of embers getting into flammable areas). The maps show some parts of neighborhoods that might have been saved by such preplanning.
Usually they could use fleets of aircraft, fixed wing and helicopters to pick up water from the ocean, reservoirs, etc to really help in the worst cases, but the winds were so extreme they couldn't use them for some periods when they really would have helped.
Some of the students at our community college aeronautics courses went on to work on the aerial tankers, and pointed me to how turbulent and dangerous it is flying close enough for the most effective water or fire suppressant chemical drops. I've met a few who I believe worked on and may have flown the C-130 described at https://theaviationgeekclub.com/the-sad-story-of-tanker-130-the-c-130-whose-wings-fall-off-during-the-2002-fire-season/
It was a hard lesson learned when, in this case, some secret program operators seem to have failed to report hard landings that should have triggered special inspections. My son was a C-2130 Crew Chief and told me of the respect he had for a pilot that reported a hard landing that the higher echelons wanted him to not report, even threatening to ground him, or worse, if he insisted on triggering the extra inspections from making the hard landing. He learned from the guys that would do anything with whatever could fly if the need was great enough, but refuse to take a potentially unsafe aircraft off until it was assured to be as safe as it should be.
In addition to good "carpenters" I appreciate good scientists. An update on JPL Data Scientist/Climate Scientist, Peter Klamus, who I feared still lived in Altadena:
See https://www.democracynow.org/2025/1/10/peter_kalmus_los_angeles_wildfires_climate
The rushed transcript (including what h couldn't say in an opinion essay for The New York Times):
"...AMY GOODMAN: We begin today’s show looking at the devastating fires in Los Angeles, where at least 10 people have died. More than 10,000 homes and offices have been damaged or destroyed. Entire neighborhoods have burned down. The death toll is expected to rise. More than 35,000 acres have already burned. The fires continue to burn due to high winds and dry conditions. The largest blaze, the Palisades fire, is just 6% contained. The Eaton fire near Pasadena remains 0% contained. Analysts project the costs of the fires may reach a record $150 billion. The climate-fueled fires come as scientists at the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service have confirmed last year was by far the hottest year on record, with global temperatures exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial times for the first time.
We’re joined now by Peter Kalmus, climate activist, climate scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab. He’s speaking on his own behalf, not on behalf of NASA. He’s just written an opinion essay for The New York Times headlined “I’m a Climate Scientist. I Fled Los Angeles Two Years Ago.” He joins us now from Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Peter, thanks so much for joining us today. Explain why you fled Los Angeles two years ago.
PETER KALMUS: Well, Amy, I just have to take a moment to — I don’t know what to say anymore. I’ll get to that in a second, but I just want to make sure — the reason I wrote the piece was because we have to acknowledge that this is caused by the fossil fuel industry, which has been lying for almost half a century, blocking action. They’re on the record saying that they will continue to spread disinformation and continue to attempt to block action. They’ve known the whole time that the planet would get hotter like this and that impacts like this fire would happen.
And then, something I really wanted — a point I really wanted to make in the piece, which they wouldn’t let me make, is that this is still just the beginning. It’s going to get way worse than this. Two years ago — well, 2020, when the Bobcat Fire happened, the whole time I was living in Altadena, it was getting hotter and more fiery and drier and smokier. And it just didn’t feel like I could stay there. Like, I could — you know, when you have a trendline, things getting worse every year — right? — like, where’s the point where something — where it breaks? You know, like, you keep going, keep pushing the system, getting hotter and hotter, getting drier and drier — right? — like, emitting more and more carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels, eventually things break. I didn’t expect my neighborhood to burn this soon.
AMY GOODMAN: Explain what’s happened, Peter, in Altadena, in the town that you left.
PETER KALMUS: It’s complete devastation. I mean, your audience probably has seen some of the images. The neighborhood I lived is gone. I would say the majority of my friends have lost their homes there. Every now and then, there’s a home that’s still standing amidst the ashes and the devastation. I don’t even know what kind of rebuilding after this is going to look like and feel like. I don’t know how this is going to affect the housing market, the insurance industry going forward.
The thing, again, you know, I think everyone needs to understand, and I wish The New York Times would have let me make this point, that this is going to get worse. I can see that today just as clearly as I could see how hotter and drier and more fiery Los Angeles was getting. I mean, I think, in the future, if we don’t change course very quickly — and maybe it’s even too late to avoid some of these much more catastrophic impacts, but I am fully expecting heat waves to start appearing where 100,000 people die, and then maybe a million people die, and then maybe more after that, as things get hotter and hotter, because there’s no — there’s no upper limit, right? Like, we keep burning these fossil fuels. The fossil fuel industry keeps lying. The planet just keeps getting hotter. These impacts just keep getting worse.
It’s not a new normal. A lot of climate messaging centers around this idea that it’s a new normal. It’s a staircase to a hotter, more hellish Earth. And, you know, a lot of climate impact predictions have erred on the side of least drama. It’s hard for even scientists to wrap our heads around how everything is changing right now on planet Earth. No matter where you look, the indicators — you know, when spring comes, how hot the winter is, habitats that are moving, ice that’s melting — everywhere you look in the Earth system, including, of course, ocean temperatures and land surface temperatures, you’re just on this trend towards a hotter planet and all of the impacts that are associated with it. And I don’t know what it’s going to take for us to stop all these stupid wars and come together and actually deal with the emergency that our planet is in the process of becoming less and less habitable and everything that means. We, humanity, we’ve got a real crisis here, and we’re ignoring it.
You know, another paragraph they took out of the piece, both the Democratic presidents, Obama, President Obama, and President Biden, they were very proud to expand fossil fuels. President Obama said, you know, “All that oil and gas expansion, that was me, people” — right? — right after he was done being president, at a lecture he gave at Rice University. And now, of course, we have a Republican president coming into office who says this is a hoax, who’s gaslighting the people who are following him. Like, I don’t know how long it’s going to take for conservative working-class people to believe what’s right in front of their eyes, that the planet is getting hotter, and that we have to come together and stop listening to these clowns who say it’s a hoax. I mean, look at — it’s all around us. Why do I have to be on Democracy Now! saying this? Right? It’s very obvious what’s happening.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Peter, we thank you for being with us. We’re so sorry about what’s happening there in your community and all over Los Angeles. And, of course, we’re talking about a heating world, so around the world. And we hope to have you on next week.
PETER KALMUS: My heart —
AMY GOODMAN: Peter Kalmus is a —
PETER KALMUS: My heart breaks for all the victims, too. It’s just — I can’t wrap my head around what’s happening.
AMY GOODMAN: Peter Kalmus is a climate scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, speaking on his own behalf, not on behalf of NASA. We will link to your piece in The New York Times, “I’m a Climate Scientist. I Fled Los Angeles Two Years Ago.” And just reading his last sentence of his op-ed, “Nothing will change until our anger gets powerful enough. But once you accept the truth of loss, and the truth of who perpetrated and profited from that loss, the anger comes rushing in, as fierce is the Santa Ana winds.” Peter Kalmus, the NASA scientist, has been arrested numerous times for his climate change activism.
Yet, all I saw yesterday was how Michelle Obama missed the service and how Mrs. Pence ignored trump ( I didn't know about the Bush snub) and Kamala looked at trump. Of yes, one person must have not read or just watched the clip of Kamala looking at trump and made the comment that Biden wasn't there! It goes to show you how a cherry picked snippet influences gullible people.
This will be a good fight. Truth matters - good wins in the end.
It was a beautiful service, befitting the man Carter was, decent, honest, respectful, and generous.
I noted that when Biden uttered the words "abuse of power", he pointedly looked towards Trump. Message sent, but I doubt it was received.
Seems to me that abuse of power is humanity's most tragic and dangerous, perhaps fatal flaw. We have met the enemy and he is us. Can we learn from past mistakes before it's too late?
God I hope we are given Guidance to step away from misleading misanthropes who are multiplying around the doors into the Oval Office. I am also working now, because of the humane gifts from Jimmy Carter’s funeral service today, to turn my prayers to light and connection with my neighbors and coworkers in every encounter hence forward.
Fear is not a comfortable feeling. Whatever is coming will be met best with every effort to connect, exchange plans to deal with our challenges and create safety for all.
I’m so pleased I had the opportunity to ‘attend’ the whole funeral service on the internet today.
We might have been far better off keeping Carter, but I was a junior in high school and had concerns about Reagan. Carter was almost universally reviled then, but he told us what we needed to hear. Reagan told many people what they wanted to hear while laying the groundwork for our current mess.
Thank you Carol O,
I was busy doing family things and didn't even turn the television on or search for it on the Internet, but I'm going to make time to watch President Carter's entire funeral. Somehow I know I'm going to be inspired by it. Something you said clicked, and I asked myself, how can I make America a better place other than voting? And it occurred to me that in order to help my community I need to connect more with my neighbors. To be honest I've always left the vast majority of that to my wife. It's time for me to get more involved. I may be old, but I can still learn a few more tricks.
Thanks again for the inspiration 👍
Same here, Justin. I have a free day today (except for taking the cat to the vet. Stupid Orange Boy, yet again...) and would like to watch it in its entirety.
Carol O, I did watch it, and I was very much inspired! All of the eulogies were great. I was especially inspired by our president.
I'm a Christian Humanist, but I must admit that there are certain pearls of wisdom from Sunday School I should have adapted more strongly, such as "Love your neighbor as yourself". I mean no offense to atheists here. I know that there are many paths to morality.
Reading Heather's words, I couldn't help thinking, 'Are you listening to this Trump? Are you listening to this GOP?'
I don’t, unfortunately. The Orange Menace was inattentive as he wasn’t the center of attention.
Inattentive is a kind way to describe him. Whenever the camera panned around to the row of presidents. he looked either asleep or unconscious. Or daydreaming, about goodness knows what. But thoroughly unengaged. The antithesis to President Carter and the gravity of the Oval Office.
Not unlike his inattentiveness at his trial.
They probably gave him another horse tranquilliser so he’d be a good boy.
Not us, him and his cult, and the repubs in general.
Can we? Most certainly. Have we? No
Jennifer, I am currently reading To Make Men Free, and am reminded that among other things, that conspiracy theories and propaganda aren't new in US history. That does give me some solace. Judging by the last election alone I would have to say you are right. But I have to think that some Republicans are already regretting their vote, and wishing that they had listened to Kamala Harris when she urged them to close the book on Trump and join us in a new path forward. So there's that.
I do hope you are right Justin. Historically we do not learn as evidenced by war after war, continued Mysogny, racism, etc etc.
Definitely was not received, no capacity for that.
Djt's face was a 'mask' throughout the service...or so it seemed
His eyes were closed half the time like a bored little kid.
DJT looked to me like an Orange Jaba-The-Hutt….
He was chewing his teeth and contorting his mouth like a coke head.
Sandra, much of the time he looked asleep....or fighting sleep!!!!
When President Carter worked on building houses with Habitat, he got his hands dirty. When he worked the peanut fields, he got his hands dirty. When he went to impoverished countries to help monitor elections and spread health initiatives, he got his hands dirty. As dirty as his hands got, his ideals were about as clean and pure as any person. Juxtaposing Carter’s funeral with Trump’s inauguration obviates how low our standards have become.
Phil, I have posted this here a few times, but never know who sees it, so will post again….one of my favorite poems “To Be of Use” by Marge Piercy, to me it describes those who just do the right thing….because it’s the right thing to do: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57673/to-be-of-use Jimmy Carter was the first president I was eligible (21 was the age limit then) to vote for…and did so twice & very sad he didn’t win reelection—I mean you could tell he was an agent of positive change! Highest praise: He was a good man. Although I am not at all a deist or religious, I will say Amen to that!
Hello Barbara... Thanks for illustrating how Jimmy Carter put his Post-Presidency to use furthering Humankind... Contrast this Service with how DJT has put his Post-Nov 5 2020 time to use, and where DJT has spent it...
Yeah, Apache, building up versus tearing down….they could not be more opposite in character/actions. I hope his example and his & Rosalynn’s actions serve as an example to all, especially to our youth who are/will be stepping up to lead
Hello Barbara... Maybe the Seeds of a Campaign once DJT is no longer President... Hmm?
Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter were such an amazing team. Is there another couple that accomplished so much in their lifetimes in the service of mankind.
Their example is humbling as well as inspirational.
It seems to me rather unprecedented that the Republicans would follow the dictates of an ex-president and now his megalomaniac backroads on how and what to vote for, yet this is where we are.
Jimmy Carter was the antithesis of a Southerner MAGA. He loved everyone. They hate everyone. He was progressive. They are regressive.
Change is hard and change is usually good, but Project 2025 is not good change. Project 2025 is not conservative, it is regressive and who we were in the past is not worth returning to.
Thanks, Barbara, for re-posting this poem. To me, it's the very definition of Jimmy Carter.
Barbara, the year was 1972 when 18-year-olds were allowed to vote: I know this because I was 18 that year and was able to vote for Joe Biden as Delaware’s Democrat Senator. I’m a born and raised Delawarean and stood about 10 feet in front of him and his late wife Neilia at a Democratic rally at Christiana High School (Newark, DE) days before the 1972 election. He was our first Democrat Senator in my then young life and we were hopeful that things would change that year, but unfortunately, many changes were not for the better in so many ways (Mrs. Biden and their daughter would die the next month and Nixon won another term). It’s a memory that will always be happy and sad for me. I volunteer for the League of Women Voters and we go to high schools and register 17-1/2 and 18-year-olds to vote and I tell young people that I was the first generation of 18-year-olds who would eligible to vote—they don’t know that the voting age was changed from 21 because it’s been this way for over 50 years—we take it for granted. I also tell them that the 18-year-olds did not make a difference in 1972 national election because they didn’t vote in significant numbers (low turnout) and I encourage young people that they are our future and can make a difference. Perhaps they will understand in 2028?
Also, Jimmy Carter has been the only President that I’ve ever been able to shake hands with—he jumped the lines that separated us from him (as he was known to do!) and made his way to greet the crowd waiting to get a chance to see him exit from attending an speaking event in Columbia, MO when he was then President! The Secret Service guys moved at the speed of light to get to him! Bless him and his family and loved ones ☮️💟
Linda, I, too, voted for the first time in a midterm election (1975 for me) and it is hard to reconcile the breezy dismissal of the importance of voting that happens nowadays with the struggles we had to get the voting age lowered to 18. Carter was the first presidential candidate I was able to vote for. I very much wish he had been a better campaigner who could have tanked Reagan's steamroller but his commitment to integrity, truth, and reality ran counter to the fantasies of most Americans--long before the current Disinformation Media Flood--and was a scary sign of things to come.
But, Linda, doncha know….Reagan was on the TeeVee and big screen, so he must have been a real good guy!!! Just like you know who playing a successful businessman (should have been a comedy show!) reaching into many homes on the TV (never watched the show..ick). s/
Yeah, Linda H., by the time the 26th Amendment was passed, lowering the age to 18, I’d already turned 21. Realized I misremembered the year he ran for POTUS, thinking, incorrectly, it was ‘72 when it was really ‘76. Guess my brain is overstuffed with factoids & getting harder to access the correct ones!!!
My first Presidential vote as well!
Thank you for sharing “To Be of Use.” Marge Piercy is quite an interesting person. MargePiercy.com
Yeah, Gigi, I have several of her poetry volumes. I was first introduced to her by my first husband (and forever family) when he gave me a volume of hers, The Moon Is Always Female, on the occasion of my divorce from my second (and last!) husband in ‘95. Her words spoke to me and I sought out more.
I had never seen this poem before. I loved it. Thank you
Thank you for posting the poem. It makes one think about what is truly important in life. We need more helpers and fewer destroyers. Trump, I'm looking at you.
Barbara, thanks for the poetry link. What a lovely thought to start the day. Enjoyed listening to the funeral on the way to an appointment and happy to hear it continuing when the appointment finished. It was a heartfelt and fitting tribute to a wonderful man. The world needs more like him.
Beautiful share Barb; I love that.
Thank you for that link! Beautiful.
Since I am late on the forum, you might not see the link I am posting today. Our beloved HCR in a 42 minute interview, two days ago on the Meidas Network youtube channel "Politics Girl". So worth the time!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXpORF73n_8
That was a great listen!
With no slight to meant to you, I felt that not having a full orchestra behind them made it all the better for this moment.
No slight taken! Tubas are left out of a lot of things. A lot of orchestral material doesn’t have tubas.
Barbara Keating,
...and you are one to give of yourself by sharing this powerful poem with us (even I, an "old folk" am encouraged)....there are ways even I can give....
Barbara, Carter was the first president I voted for as well. I turned 18 in 1976, and was able to vote in Oregon's primary that May. It was ratified in 1971, and I believe that 1972 was the first presidential election that was impacted by it.
I note with pride that the case was Mitchell v. Oregon.
This is my first reading of this poem and it is beautiful, as it is also inspiring. I love it. Thank you. You shared at the right time for the right occasion.
Barbara Keating, Thank You for posting this. It’s my first time reading this poem! Very heartfelt and uplifting. In one sense, the World is as it’s ever been. Who we are in this Play is up to us.
You might find this one of hers, The Low Road, to be of interest as well. It speaks to me especially as we seek to come together, organize and resist an authoritarian takeover of our country: https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/piercylowroad.html The volume of poetry it was printed in, and my introduction to her work, is the wonderful The Moon Is Always Female given to me in 1995. I was lucky enough to see her at a local independent bookstore for a reading in 2004, and I brought my copy along to be autographed.
That is an amazing poem, one I first read in the 9th grade.
Agreed. I think it was part of one of the most fundamental of Christian values that Carter practiced, which is humility. You might be the son of God, you still wash your disciples' feet.
Yet for all the hard work done with those hands, they remained clean.
When his grandson told the story of his grandfather calling him I laughed through my tears. I’m not calling you. I’m taking a picture. Thank you President Carter for your selfless service to our county.
If I had to rate them, I would say Jason Carter's eulogy was the best. He honored our tears and provided us a reason to laugh/smile for our 39th President.
They were all excellent, with Jason Carter's and President Biden's perhaps the most memorable for me, but Andrew Young's homily was deeply moving, when he said Jimmy Carter "had a tough mind and a tender heart" and "symbolized the greatness of America." I feel that Carter's memorial service from beginning to end was like a long and beautiful meditation on heart and spirit.
Yes. And Ted Mondale's eulogy was wonderful as well.
Agree, Gloria. Actually, all of them were wonderful, now that I think about it!
I neglected to mention the eulogy of President Ford’s son - Steve Ford.
Yes!!
Good morning, Lynell! Sad that I missed this.
I found it grotesque to see Trump there on the eve of his sentencing, eyes closed like a dozing reptile, surrounded by former presidents and vice presidents, all of whom at least understood the immense responsibility of the job and their oath to uphold the constitution. And Hillary and Kamala, the women he verbally assaulted to defeat them, having to sit just a few feet away, as if none of it had ever happened.
He is the antithesis everything Jimmy Carter was, in all things.
I felt I was watching the funeral of democracy.
I felt the exact opposite. He sat there squiring, uncomfortable and afraid to be in the company of goodness. He was shunted to the side in the second row and had to listen to good people talk of character. I saw a symbol in the videos. He was outnumbered by the good people. Our ancestors Washington, Hamilton, MLK, JFK, Mondale, Rosa Parks, and all our historical and memorable voices of freedom and patriotism showed up in the Cathedral yesterday. They reminded us we will be ok. We need to fight like they did.
Thank you, Barbara. I love your perspective.
I like what you said, but he was not “shunted to the side.” There is a deliberate formality to the seating.
Thank you for the clarification. Still. The visuals were good with him off to the side.
Yes!
Barbara, I also appreciate your take on it. The glass half-full is not something I do well!
But I take issue with you saying he was squirming while good people spoke of character. Any normal person would squirm, but he is not normal. He hasn't a shred of a conscience. I suspect the only thoughts going through his deranged head were of self-pity and that these guys were a bunch of losers. Weak. He is motivated by revenge and greed. (I kept thinking how Carter lived by the Bible while Trump sells bibles to line his pockets.)
He's never acknowledged wrong-doing, even when convicted of 34 felonies by a jury. Why would the words spoken yesterday make any difference to him now?
And there he was, sitting at the end of the row, stewing in his hatred while his wife stewed in hers. Each word spoken came from a mouth he cannot wait to spike onto his nailhead of loathing. That box, that casket casting its cold breath of mortality across the orange leather of his skin, infuriating under that honored flag that should fly at full mast every day since his glorious exaltation back to the presidency. There will be no half-mast come January 21. No hands to the heart, no pledge to decency or character. Just his half-closed eyes envisioning them all cast into the Hell he cannot wait to unleash upon the earth.
I think it might be more appropriate to refer to Melania as Donald's escort. I'm pretty sure she stopped being his wife some 18 years ago. These days, her public appearances with Donald are limited to those specified and compensated according to a contractual agreement. When "off the clock," she's a cougar on the prowl.
Well spoken Susan!
I found Andrew Young’s remarks particularly poignant, but it was President Carter’s grandson Jason Carter who brought it home for me. These two men, who knew Jimmy Carter so well, defined him as a man whose moral compass was always true: I couldn't agree more.
It was difficult watching the service – catching occasional glimpses of DJT who is the living antithesis of everything Jimmy Carter represented.
For DJT to be so upset over the flags being at half mast and staff during his inauguration shows just how petty Trump really is.
And whose constant scowl was disgusting. He just can’t handle it when it’s not all about him.
When isn’t he scowling? When isn’t he lying? Trump is telling the truth about how he wants to be a dictator, and about the nasty things he plans to do. I think he won’t leave office.
Kathy Hughes,
I "liked" your comment .......................I also believe that anyone who thinks
Trump will leave the Presidency in 4 years is out of their minds. Reality has been slapping us in the face more and more since he left his first catastrophic term!!! We have been made aware of his convictions and yet we ignore the reality of losing freedoms we have gained due to the spilt blood of American patriots. Trump calls these patriots, "losers".
Our laws are not holding back a tyrant and not even "in and of himself" a capable tyrant. I say once again, he is a willing puppet being placed in a position of power by his puppeteers. He is just basking in power. He loves the attention! The hungry wolves lusting after money and power are close on his heels! He is THEIR pathway to power!!!
Thank you President Biden for your decency and leadership and faith!
I only wish we had given Netanyahu NOTHING until the hostages were brought home. By making the choice to send weapons, we gave him power to rip apart the lives of innocent and helpless people in the Middle East including citizens in Israel and to build up more poverty....take away education opportunities for thousands of children, and to increase hatred against America.
Thank you Jimmy Carter!!! May you rest in peace. We need more like you.
Frankly, I think his expiration date will come during this term in office.
Agreed - the contrast could not have been more striking. The “love and respect” with which Jimmy Carter met the world and lived his life are not in Trump’s vocabulary or world view.
Beautifully told How strange that we are going from the passing of Carter such a honorable man and president so close to the day that his exact opposite is supposed to be “sworn “ in A good man who loved his neighbor to the exact opposite Someone who told the truth and followed the constitution to…. Someone who did good to…. So unbelievable and tragic for this country
Hope we endure Susan ,and at the end of a tunnel, we can MADA (Make America Decent Again).
Let's focus on that (MADA) for the next four years, Ricardo. I'm in!
👍
I'm there!
Oh please no! No more MA.. anything. Let just go back to being called Americans please.
I was not thinking of blue, white and red hats with golden letters and not even a slogan, my intention was to point to a goal at the end of the tunnel. After your reply I understand some people would adopt it as slogan. Point well taken Barbara.
Well if I did then I guess others would.
I think we should acknowledge that we are only a part of one of three "Americas". Central America and South America also exist. My quick google search tells me there are 31 countries in North America, yet 3 on the continental land mass. The other 28 are mostly island nations in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Caribbean oceans.
We should be USians.
Barbara, I so agree!
Yes, indeed. The contradictions are profound.
Elegant, insightful. Thanks for this. But a thought hovered over it all ... one more helicopter and we never get Reagan. What would our world look like with another four years with Carter?
What would our word look like with 4 years (or more) of Al Gore, instead of Bush Jr? Just think of the progress that would have been made toward addressing climate change.
What would our world look like with 4 years (or more) of Hillary Clinton, instead of Trump? Just think if Putin would not have been emboldened to invade Ukraine, and how the US would have addressed the pandemic from a position of medical knowledge, and how white supremacists would not have been emboldened as they were under Trump, etc, etc.
And now ...
"While Obama, sitting next to Trump, spoke to him, former president Bush refused to acknowledge Trump, instead walking past him and giving a familiar greeting to Obama."... Even though none of the Bushes gave endorsements in the last Election. at least GWB seems to acknowledge how bad DJT is... I also saw a clip of DJT glaring at Karmala... I hope that DJT doesn't make her Public Enemy #1... Finally some Good News out of the Supreme Court Today... DJT's Appeal to delay his NYC Sentencing was DENIED.... Maybe the Walls-Are-Starting-To-Close-In on DJT.... In Addiction, part of Jack Smith's Mar-a-Lago Stolen Classified Documents Report will be released... More Good News...
Former President Obama is much more dignified than the Orange Menace, but the Orange Menace threw shade on the former president every chance hegot. Ta-Nehisi Coates, who is one the best writers of our time, notes we got Trump precisely because of electing Obama.
I have thought for a long time that this is the backlash for electing a black president. And one as articulate and compassionate, accomplished and unflappable as Obama is, makes some people in this country all the more angry. I just don't get how they can hold on to all that animosity, and then vote to throw everything away based on it.
The tea party agrees with Coates
I always felt then - and certainly now, as probably Biden regrettably feels - that it should have been, if not a Biden/Hillary ticket, Biden along with someone, that was offered up to the American voters in the 2016 presidential election!
Yes, he will have the title of felon, but without any consequences. He will still rule with a heavy hand, spew lies and hate, and do as he pleases. One thing he will never have is the title of A Good Man.
We should be concerned about Trump's manipulation of SCOTUS. Look at the many terrible decisions they have handed down since Trump left office.
And they have used Trump (and Cohn's) delay tactic to delay decisions involving Trump. What other citizen could petition SCOTUS to have them intervene in a personal Federal case? Trump and his billionaire buddies are truly above the law.
Poverty is the opposite of Justice.
I thought he was trying to bully her. It felt like it did on the stage with H. Clinton at the debate. VP Harris and her husband looked in all kinds of pain (so sad to see.) I was also concerned for the Bidens. They looked grim and frail.
I was pleased at the Bush maneuver but surprised at Obama. Can you explain what Obama was up to being so friendly?
I believe he is following what MIchelle always preaches, to "go high".
I have mixed feelings about that belief. In my heart, I want to follow it, but my brain says that ancient customs of shunning should come back.
It has been said that Trump’s motivation to run for President was inspired by Obama’s comments about him during the 2015 Correspondents dinner/roast…Call it up on YouTube and watch Trump really squirm…
Playing out, “When they go low, we go high”…
One can never really know where the path not taken would led, but before Reagan, Carter and even Nixon favored environmental protection. I wonder where we would be had unbroken efforts continued.
Good point J L. Reagan, the Bushes and Trump have all supported the fossil fuel industries to the detriment of the environment and our health.
Don’t put a Bush in with the good guys…
USA Incorporated.
And if RFK and MLK? It’s been going on for a sad long time.
Cathy, your wish list is absolutely right.
Thanks for the etc, etc instead of mentioning all the things that are going to get bad and worse under the felon president.
Yeah, Arthur, the big “what if”! I voted for him (2nd time) to be re-elected and was sorely disappointed when he didn’t win…such a lost opportunity. Same, too, as others here have commented on Gore’s (questionable) loss. Dunno, perhaps somewhere in this massive Universe there is an alternative reality playing out…would be interesting to see IF such a path made any consequential differences. Guess we’ll never know!
Much of history turns on what, in retrospect, are flukes. The ones that we find compelling are those that had significant implications. There were, are, will be -- must be -- innumerable others that weren't significant because, well ... because they weren't. I'm not trying to be obtuse here ... just probabilistic. Consider where we'd be today if the bullet that pierced Trump's ear was two inches to the left.....
Yes, the “butterfly effect”….and all the “what if’s?”, which honestly could be applied to many aspects of our lives…not just the “grand stage” ones.
or the bullets targeting Lincoln and Kennedy missed.....
Or, more recently, what if winter storm Blair, with its 9 inches of city-stopping snow in DC on 1/6/25, had happened 4 years ago?
Pax ,I wish that would be repeated on January 20th. Just in case, I'm thinking of a snow storm and frigid temperatures 😄
Yeah, Ricardo, aren’t Dems supposed to be able to control the weather (per MTG)….so we libs (Dems & others) should be able to make it so….er, make it snow!
We can't control maga and the orange felon how are we going to control the weather 🤔.
😄
Tru dat!!!! Dang!!!!
Well, it'll be cold, most likely (for DC). Can't promise a storm, though!
I know you can't promise but try hard ok? 😄
I believe there is an infinite number of alternate realities; it’s just this one where our consciousness resides. And it’s really, really hard to be positive when things are so badly mangled.
I love that.
Psychologist know that well but ultimately there's only one real real reality and in this case we have a very good reason to be negative. Once we reach that conclusion, then we have infinite options (relatively speaking).
The hard part is to analyze and opt for a few to be implemented. When is something personal, normally involves few people or just one. If I understand your concern correctly, then we need a village.
An amazing example of the contingent nature of history.
Oh, the contrast between Carter’s well-lived life and Trump’s parasitic mimic of a human.
Thank you, Dr. Richardson. I have always admired President Carter as a human being and as the only living Christian I've ever heard of. While I don't share his belief, I deeply respect and admire him.
Like our current President, Joe Biden, Jimmy Carter accomplished far more in his four years of the Presidency than he was ever given credit for. It wasn't until he died that I learned all his wonderful accomplishments. I had the pleasure of working on helping to build a couple of homes in his Habitat for Humanity - what a marvelous gift that was both for the givers and the receivers. I'm proud that I voted for Jimmy Carter in 1976 and 1980.
As a young Argentinian living Buenos Aires at that time in the middle of a bloody military dictatorship ,President Carter and his active defense of human rights was the only hope we had and actually save hundreds of young people's lives. Thanks MrPresident .Eternity .
Thank you, Ricardo, for this additional testimony to President Carter's love of all mankind.
Fay, we might need another Jimmy Carter, this time, for the American people. Thanks for your comment and reply 👍
Ricardo Grinbank,
Where will we find that person? Where will we find such bravery...such goodness...such character!!! It is easy to find those who want money, power and position. Do they think they are going to gain without losing their souls. Maybe we have forgotten we have souls? Maybe we are so excited about short term gain that we have forgotten that there are consequences!!!!
Those who have dared to stand against evil have been met with "death threats" not only for themselves but their families.
These are truly dangerous times. We have overlooked so much that has already taken place such as the books being banded in public schools. This is one of the actions Hitler took.
Education/reeducation has always been used as a brainwashing technique!
Also the control of information has been going on through various channels of communication especially for those who are willing to believe lies...and there are many! We have forgotten our histories!!!
Citizens are so vulnerable to lies and so easily swayed.
"The frogs in the kettle" are slowly and with unawareness being cooked alive....it is hard to watch!!!!! We are too vulnerable! We are NOT paying attention and we do NOT appreciate our freedoms that have been fought for by "the Fathers of our Country"....all races of "our Fathers" and "Mothers"!!!
Trumps "placeholders" for powerful positions have rightfully NOT been approved ! We as a nation have never been more vulnerable.
Yes I agree with you too and have often thought that Jimmy Carter was one of the best examples of a Christian that I know of. While I don't identify as Christian myself I do know that Christ was the Prince of Peace. And that's exactly how he lived his life, as President Carter and as citizen Carter, constantly working for Peace, Love and Understanding in this world.
May there be more like him and a role model to look up to in these uncertain times.
Thanks Horhai, I identify as a non-theist, but I respect other people's right to believe as they choose so long as they don't try to enforce their beliefs on me. I do think the man, Jesus of Nazareth was a great orator, and a person of parallel to Jimmy Carter, in other words a truly good human being. I do wish we had more Jesus and Jimmy Carter's than trump's, putin's, musk's, and similar creeps. But as long as people worship wealth over kindness - it ain't gonna happen.
So who are we going to run in 2018?
Thats something we need to start focusing on.
What we really need is to GET OUT THE VOTE.
I admit to being rather suspicious about the election, but unlike MAGA, I won't rant. I keep hearing Trump tell Johnson they "have a little secret" and wonder what that was. Trump never said what it was, but he also can't keep his mouth shut.
Me too, Fay, me too. Agree 100%
Thanks Barbara
Biden can carry forward Carter’s work on the ERA and direct the archivist to publish it, since it is fully ratified as of 2020. Let the litigation continue after it’s published! I’d love to see the “originalists” contort themselves to deny its validity when it has met the requirements plainly stated in the Constitution.
🤞I am hoping & holding my breath as the days whittle away that this will come to pass….not sure what the possibility is or is not as, as far as I can tell, there is NO indication as to where the chips may fall on this.
We know Barbara, we know. 🫤
Thank you for writing perhaps the most historically important essay of yours I’ve ever read. I say that because it describes a north star that guided Jimmy Carter‘s life although someone would say he was guided by Jesus Christ. I prefer north star because it’s a term sometimes associated with sailors And he was in the Navy. The north star of his values and of how he acted on those values to make the world a better place, including attempting to do so while president (although he was thwarted by political forces he could not control) should in a perfect world guide every politician in America… or at least every member of the Democratic Party. And so, while I marvel at the example of a good life so many spoke of, I am in pain because I know following that example will not happen except in the margins in the years ahead. Unless the Democratic Party breaks with the big money interests that Carter himself hated (Citizens United 😡), it will never direct its energies to defeating the evil that exists in society today (Putin, Trump, Musk Alito, et al) by offering the American people the transformational, sustainable development based future that’s out the waiting to be born…. which Carter knew existed.
Robert Reich wrote about Jimmy's take on the American oligarchy.
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/what-jimmy-carter-said-about-the
Yes.
Thank you for the link
Thank you Heather for such a great synopsis of the service today which honored the life of former president Jimmy Carter. As I listened to both Mondale's son and Ford's son share the eulogies their fathers had written YEARS AGO--I couldn't help but realize it was a complete and accurate indictment on Trump (and his supporters) as though it was written today!
Each time I read an article or watch a story of Carter I learn more and more how truly forward thinking and visionary he was. I had not realized his quest to elevate women to positions of power and authority--VERY Jesus like actually :) His early awareness of the effects of climate change, etc...he was truly a MUCH better man than what he was recognized for by our press and fellow politicians. Glad to have been educated!
I was heartened by the emphasis that was placed on the 39th President's achievements while in office. Too often we've heard about how great he was after his term was over.
If Jimmy Carter taught us anything, it was that we should not dwell on the negativity of our circumstances but, instead, going forward, to keep our eye on the goals we want to achieve for our country.
The Southern Democrats were still transitioning from being racist, misogynistic and xenophobic to being Republicans. Today, the Democrats would have embraced him like they did with Obama.
Hopefully the Persimmnon Putz's ears were burning throughout. He has no joy, his only solidarity is in service of himself, he wouldn't know what love is, and his only commitment is to "getting over" on whoever he is dealing with. As Lawrence O'Donnell, Jimmy Carter was the anti-Trump, and the Traitor was the anti-Carter. I loved that karen Pence wouldn't recognize him, and that G.W. Bush wouldn't acknowledge him. He w as the piece of shit that got dragged in, with its nose pressed against the glass door no one will ever open for him to allow him into civilized society. It must have burned - I hope it did.
Did Melania exchange a word or a glance with anyone at all? When at one point she swung her head to the right for a second, there was something frightening in her dull eyes.
That huge "puritan collar" with a magnified photographic print of a Rodin-like kiss. The Sydney Morning Herald had a teaser headline about a "death stare", but as I refuse to subscribe it won't let me in to see what they were talking about.
She won't exchange a word with anyone that is not getting 40 million dollars for nothing. Thanks Bezos.
Bezos! Besos? Is this the clue to the kissing print on her collar? :)
😄
I never want to assume what someone else is thinking/feeling, but her facial visuals suggest that she might want to be somewhere, anywhere, else. Dunno…maybe that’s just her “resting face”.
She did smile once, and it was when Carter’s grandson was speaking - it was fleeting but the cameras caught it. She probably got jabbed in the ribs by the guy sitting next to her.
I surprised Pence even acknowledged him, much less shook his hand. Who shakes the hand of the man who tried to have you lynched?