Thank you Heather. Someone wrote somewhere something like ' if the United States saw what the United States was doing to the United States the United States would step in and save the United States from the United States.' It is as though we are hanging on by a feather. These extremists must be muzzled and put back into their caves and u…
Thank you Heather. Someone wrote somewhere something like ' if the United States saw what the United States was doing to the United States the United States would step in and save the United States from the United States.' It is as though we are hanging on by a feather. These extremists must be muzzled and put back into their caves and under rocks. Every single one of those who have broken their oath of office and participated in the overthrow of our government must be held accountable. We all must speak up and speak out everywhere possible. On their twitter pages. On their Instagrams. On their FB pages. Including those of the NYT that seems to delight in posting Biden's numbers and having misleading lead ins on its social media. We also have to demand that something like The Fairness Doctrine be put back into our federal government to hold all the liars accountable.
Indeed. It might be interesting to assemble a compendium of Heather's last paragraphs. Great writing includes a lead that ropes you in, a story line that keeps you engaged and then...the wrap up. It is an art form.
What does "passed" mean? Passed by in the car driving him back kicking and screaming to the White House? Passed walking on the street on his way to hold up the Bible in front of the church? Passed gas (the equivalent of his rhetoric)? "Passed away" has come to mean "died", but why not just say "died"? Now please donate.
I can't tell you how in the face of all the horrible news--too much to grasp, really--what gratitude I have for possibly the only other person on the planet who is as irritated as I am by that use of the word "passed." It's another word that means also;lutely nothing and is used for precisely that reason. Another effect avoidance of reality.
Dean - Very glad to hear I'm not alone in that regard. But don't get me started on irritating usages -- I would run over the word limit here (if there is one), and likely disturb my sleep. It's like trying to fill in the ocean with a shovel. (There's actually a better but indelicate metaphor.)
On a more serious note, I think it's indicative of the degradation of the language, but that's a long conversation for elsewhere.
Here, here. We don't say my hydrangea or my cat passed. I know that using "passed" is a cultural thing in certain parts of the country but still. Another euphemism that I find very irritating is "expired." Milk expires, so do driver's licenses. Living things die.
It's an interesting conversation and I think, at bottom, just about a culture that is pathologically unable or unwilling to face death as a part of the cycle of life. We have somehow gotten so far from any sense of connection with the natural rhythms of this planet where we live that it all seems to be--to a lot of people--kind of distasteful and improper. I'm rambling here. I don't suggest we throw virgins into volcanoes, but those rituals that remind us that we are part of that whole death/rebirth thing might be useful. Anybody have a virgin they'd like to volunteer?
And as for you, Heather, you have become our most invaluable writer! Your missives are painting the portrait of a nation teetering on the brink — of collapse or reawakening.
19 states, including mine, are already over the edge. Can we scramble back up with the election fraud already put in place by our own little nazi dictator? Hope, a fragile thing.
It is so important to put the emphasis on Light. The Universe hears our promise of awakening. And it’s not “hope”. I understand the intent of hope. What the Universe hears is that one is not sure and keeps a situation in “hope” mode. A promise, speaking as if what is right is strong and healthy is heard and accomplished. It’s why, every day, even with the doubt created by the tide of evil challenging We the People….all of us this time, I reaffirm and reset my thought that Light is filling the cracks of darkness and thank the Universe that this is so. I will not succumb to being scared. Afraid, yes. But not scared. I know the power people have to turn any evil on its behind and vanquish it. It’s in our words, thoughts, and actions that demonstrate….We are all in this together. There is enough to go around. I maintain that thought as the original download from our Creator that humans may choose the path to live and flourish. It is Love.
Christine I love this so very much We the People have it - the power -if we would all harness it. Too many wring their hands and wait for others to save the planet or save the government or save them. Those who fought for independence had it. Those who sat on the sidelines waiting to see which side would win were many. We can take back our democracy. Not only take it back, but cherish it and protect it as it has not been cherished and protected for many decades. We can do it.
Rowshan, such daily prayed for "Reawakening," of America's righteousness is up to us to protect and make flourish in coordination with the overwhelming majority of true Patriotic United States of American Citizens.
Let us help each other keep from yielding to the temptation of defeatism's wake of America's cremains, Eh!?
Gailee, The stench of America is inescapable. Sometimes, as with the experiences of the 10 year old girl and the behavior of too many afterward -- irredeemable.
A portrait of corruption, crime, agony, inhumanity, lies, and deception are the siren cries emanating from of this morning’s Letter. It more than whispered calls to investigate the Secret Service. Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist, Carol Leonnig, did just that in her book, 'Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service', which was published last year. Vice President, Pence, knew better than to enter a car driven by a Secret Service agent on January 6, out of concern that the driver might not follow his instructions. (Letter)
What Mike Pence knows about the former president and the administration he was a complete lackey to --will he ever tell? It has been 20 months since the end of that scandal ridden administration and not one person has come forward to admit their participation in the plot to subvert the election and overthrow the government of the U.S. There was no demonstration of rampant fraudulent voting in any state, nevertheless, millions of Americans believe that the election was stolen.
Yesterday, a ‘… group of Republican staffers and officials …released a 70-plus-page report … “Lost, Not Stolen,” , . ’ which concluded ‘… that Donald Trump and his supporters had their day in court and failed to produce substantive evidence to make their case.’ It…’destroys the Big Lie but does not call for getting rid of the many new state laws based on that lie, laws that seem designed to cement the rule of Republicans in certain states regardless of the will of the majorities in those states. ‘ (Letter)
The rapes, pregnancy, and abortion of a 10-year-old girl was the centerpiece of this painful portrait of America. The rapist and mistaken factchecker for WAPO, Glen Kessler, were not alone in voraciously feasting on her tragedy. Megan Fox of far-right website PJ Media, Tucker Carlson, the Wall St. Journal, Washington Post, and conservative politicians licked their chops, while challenging the story's veracity. Conservative media outlets, such as The Daily Caller, pressed Dr. Bernard for more details, …' 'South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a rising star in Republican circles, denounced CNN host Dana Bash for trying to "trap me" by asking her about the incident. "Now it looks like the story was fake to begin with," Noem tweeted on July 8. "Literal #FakeNews from the liberal media." 'The Wall Street Journal editorial page called it a "fanciful tale" in a piece representing the official editorial position of the paper, headlined "An Abortion Story Too Good To Confirm." Fox News's Emily Compagno, co-host of Outnumbered, told viewers abortion activists were ignoring real rapes to propel their cause: "What I find so deeply offensive, is that they had to made up a fake one!" "There have been a number of false or inaccurate claims made about abortion law and the Dobbs decision, including false claims that women can be prevented from traveling for medical care or that ectopic pregnancy treatments are now barred as abortion in some states," George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, a Fox News contributor, wrote in a column for the New York Post. "These false accounts can be a dangerous form of disinformation if women believe that they cannot receive treatment for legal procedures." 'The Republican attorney general of Indiana, Todd Rokita, appeared with Fox's Jesse Watters tonight, tweeting that Watters was fighting "fake news." He announced to Watters' viewers he would be scrutinizing Bernard's record to see if he could challenge her medical license.' (NPR) The attorney general of Indiana, Todd Rokita, talked about seeing if he could challenge the medical license of Dr. Caitlin Bernard, a prominent obstetrician-gynecologist who is an assistant professor at Indiana University's medical school and the source of the girl's story.
There is. perhaps, no bottom to what Republican politicians and foxy media stars, such at Tucker Carlson, will do to take more meat off the bones on this 10 year old child, but let’s leave the last act, for the time being, to Senator James Lankford (R-OK). He ‘… blocked an attempt by Senate Democrats to pass a law protecting the right of women to cross state lines to get abortion care. Apparently unaware that one of the key hallmarks of an authoritarian state is its refusal to let citizens cross borders, Lankford indicated he was willing to keep pregnant people from crossing state lines. “Does that child in the womb have the right to travel in their future?” Lankford said. “Do they get to live?” (Letter)
These horrible vultures called politicians jump on anything to bring attention to themselves. We need to call these people what they are, not conservatives, but radical regressive Republicans, who want to take America back centuries. Steve Schmidt said the Republican Party should be burnt down, and he’s right.
I have long referred to them as exactly what you have posted. Conservative might apply to those Rs who are still sane enough to leave the party and criticize it like my next door neighbor.
"Radical regressive Republicans" is too complicated a name. The bulk of Trump supporters, and, unfortunately, likely most Americans, will not know what it means. PRP, as suggested below by Marlene L-B, is pretty good.
"’Radical regressive Republicans’ is too complicated a name“ Yes but it is very syllabic, don’t you think! I’d like to hear it used in a Broadway musical.
Oklahomans have long known of the perfidy of James Langford; just when you think that he can go no lower, he effectively says “hold my beer” (apologies to Kavanaugh).
Mary - really? Then where are OK voters? Please clarify. OK is as red a state as any in the union, is it not? I live in TN, anther blood red state, and if I hear anyone say that Tennesseans have long known the perfidy of Marsha Blackburn - I would respectfully and emphatically disagree. I'd put a big caveat on that statement, to say "a small minority of...". Oh - and Marsha has plenty of perfidy believe me.
And that is part of the problem with the men who weigh in on this. Something tells me that they would see to it that an abortion occurred including flying over state lines if a family member was raped or their mistresses got pregnant.
I keep wondering why no one says the obvious of the zealots: if NO abortions are allowed, that means NO abortions for ANYONE ... NO exceptions ... at all... anywhere... ever. Literally.
And no one brings that up. No one asks out loud of those who want this to be the law if that means EVERYONE - rich, poor and everyone in between. Just so they have to actually answer.
Well, they are calling the situation with the 10 year old not an abortion. On the news I also saw a "pro-life" gyn when asked say the 10 year old should have not had the procedure. This was a woman too. I hope people avoid her like the plague if they have PG problems.
Women and Men identify with the aggressor as they want to be on what they perceive as the winning side. It takes courage to speak the truth, to have empathy, to see the big picture, to be able to see and hold the fear and pain if we allow ourselves to see what is. It is this forum and people like Heather who are courageous to speak the truth.
Some like the Gnome in South Dakota have political ambitions. She is busy dragging her campaign sack all over the country and riding around for her dog and pony show. My spouse has a cousin in Rapid City who keeps us apprised of what the Gnome is doing and she posts every day the number of COVID deaths there. Others are following their religious beliefs although the NT has not one word about it. Jesus was a Jew and fetuses are human when they take their first breath.
The good, by the the freely given grace of GOD unto all American Patriot Citizens, perseveres over the bad every time on earth as it is in Heaven, Fern, Eh!?
Rowshan. I posted a lengthy comment on another Substack referencing the testimony of Steven Ayres at the Tuesday Jan 6th Committee hearings. That was the day the two witnesses were the former Oathkeepers digital and graphic design collaborator and Steven, charged with misdemeanor for entering Capitol during insurrection.
I find his testimony fascinating and important. It is important to hear from one on the “inhumane radical white nationalist side” of how they teetered but came back from the brink of insanity. I got from listening to him, that he explained his indoctrination, his blind loyalty to evil, his experience of losing his job and home… but in such a way that did not express self deprecation as much as this was then and this is now and I messed up AND HAD TO LEAVE SOCIAL MEDIA behind. I found it truthful that it was hard for him to admit but he would not have gone that day if he knew at the time that “his president” offered him bogus claims and and lies. He has to cope with being used like an idiot. He still struggles but that is the cost. I do not pity him, I loathe his actions on that day, I consider him to be in company with thousands of duped and blind Trump followers there that day.
I maintain that if social media were put on pause IMMEDIATELY for a period of 1-3 yrs, there would be an immediate reset. Yes, some good efficiency would be lost but more importantly, the intent of indoctrination and spread of misinformation exposed clearly. And healing possible.
We are past the point almost where people acting in an evil way are on a rolling tide with false power and see it as reality. Cannot be further from the TRUTH.
I consider this indoctrination and misinformation the mightiest tool in the toolkit of evil. Remove it and watch the miracle of the Light which does not need any tool to function perfectly.
Yes I agree that right wing reaction to the pregnant 10 year old story is as low as it gets. My god - it's so disgusting. As for Pence - "What Mike Pence knows about the former president and the administration he was a complete lackey to --will he ever tell?" Anyone who sees Pence as as hero is not paying attention. Is the bar so low now that refusing to fully submit to Trump's attempted coup is now a hero? Same with Casey Hutchinson, but I am prepared to forgive her - she is young and impressionable. She may come around one day. These "heroes", especially Pence, enabled that sorry excuse for a human being to do what he did for 4 years (actually more if you include the 2016 campaign, and his antics up until today). Pence is a low life - a spineless boot licker who had to have countless sleepless nights during that 4-year nightmare but did absolutely nothing to push back. He is almost as poison as Trump himself, IMHO. I can partially answer your question - he will tell if and only if he sees it as advantageous to his own aspirations for POTUS and the furtherance of the agenda of the evil political party he is a member of. I think that means no. Democracy be damned.
I agree! Pence's only desire has been to be President of the USA! To do that he is not beyond doing anything to get there - even to sell his soul which he has done!!!! They all had time to do the "right thing" and stop the 4 year madness that we endured. There were two opportunities that were lost to take care of our future....and they were complicit! Amen!
Mr. Pence is a soulless weasel, perfectly willing to be "handled" for his own success. Much of his political energy has gone into support of Conversion Camps for gay teens. I think he is right at the top of the list of overlooked and very dangerous Republicans.
James, you're right about Pence's aspirations to be POTUS. He claims in his book (which I've only seen quoted, not read it myself) that God told him God wants him to be president! I think he was in high school when God sent this (ambitious, self-agga
randizing) boy the "message." I prefer the humble, even reluctant, prophets like Jonah and Jeremiah, Amos and Isaiah, and Moses and john the Baptist.
On what grounds would the Supreme Court uphold barring pregnant women from traveling out of state? Let me consult the Monk Manuscripts of the Dark Ages. Wait, the only copy is checked out of the Library or Congress by some guy named Alito.
“ The efforts of states to criminalize the out-of-state conduct of their citizens and citizens of other states harkens back to one of the darkest chapters in our nation’s history. In 1850, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act that allowed owners of enslaved persons to pursue so-called “fugitive slaves” across state lines. To enforce that shameful mandate, the Fugitive Slave Act included the following national enforcement mechanisms:”
Cute. I want to see it enforced. Walls with mandatory pregnancy tests at State border? Ankle bracelets once a pregnancy is confirmed? Involuntary incarceration “to prevent a planned murder”?
No legal grounds, but the wife of a fortune to be made. Shares are being sold for a new factory in the U.S. they will manufacture chastity belts in all sizes. (this is a satirical remark. Don’t panic!)
Thank you FERN, as of 5:15 pm Eastern, Indiana Univ Health ( IUH) confirms that Dr. Caitlan Bernard complied with all Indiana privacy laws. Another Lie shot down. Her attorney has served a formal cease & desist demand on the renegade AG. On defamation per se that is only Step One.
I am really glad that her attorney is fighting defamation. If shining a light on the unrelenting hate speech of the far right exposes their lies, then just maybe our poor nation will heal itself.
Hopefully such contemplated litigation will be expanded into a massive class-action strategy designed to bankrupt all the scumbags promoting anti-freedom of choice doctrine's attempt to disguise their congenital bigotry as religion!
Fern, my wonderfully articulate friend, my blood “boileth” over! These white people, whose hoods and robes are fully revealed, are monsters. They have gone hog wild with what they think they can do. Like modern day Draculas, , they suck the life out of people and for what? The love and respect of Jesus?? Nope…power and obnoxious deadly greed. Stomp the little guy down while they climb the ladder. Always has been their goal, going back to the establishment of our nation. Ashamed of my race.
That is the advantage FOX Entertainment has in prostituting as 'news'. They are not news, therefore they do not have to retract or correct any lie, falsehood, miss or disinformation.
The lives of Lankford, Bopp, and Trump demonstrate that the birth of a child is by no means a "blessed event," unless you count blessings by the Prince of Darkness. (I hate to ascribe metaphysical adjectives like "evil" to people, but damn, it sure seems to fit sometimes.)
Oh Fern. When I read your words - crashing against one another with all of the harsh reality of a party of decay and corruption it fortifies me to take them all down and to put them all behind bars for the rest of their fetid lives.
Gailee, I just reread yours. Oh Gailee...the corruption, the cruelty. Of course, the actors who would do what they are doing would have to be horrid creatures without consciences … I have been around, not a sheltered life, but that human beings can be so loathsome... Reading and being realistic didn't prepare me for this. We'll talk. I'm going see what Heather has unloaded. Salud, Gailee.
Yes, this is quite a story. And now that it is fact, some lame attempts to call it not an abortion. As I was born and raised in Indiana, I am both ashamed and not surprised by the behavior of the AG there. I do wonder how my ex-classmate whose support of death star was at least partly based on the abortion issue feels about this story. It's been crickets about January 6th from the time it happened until now. I may have to visit her page to see if she has posted anything about the current abortion situation including the case of the 10 year old. I see lots of dogs, flowers, and food. Lankford turns my stomach.
Fern. As I referenced on another Substack, am in contact with a fam member in Ohio, an activist lawyer. She said there are some beginning efforts to provide a network of help from people for this child and her caregivers. The emphasis right now is preserving her identity and anonymity which the Atty Gen in both Ohio and Indiana have almost destroyed along with their corrupt media mouthpieces.
There is effort to bury this story and relegate it to “unimportant”. But just like Uvalde and other events, not a chance of that happening.
I just can't imagine being 10 years old and carrying a baby to term. And then enduring the birth process. How horrible. It is bad enough when you are an adult and have an idea what to expect! I had by first daughter when I was near 19 and I was an innocent. I couldn't sit for 3 weeks after....
One could make the case that anyone who votes for a party, that believes forcing a ten year old rape victim to carry a pregnancy and delivery a rape child, raise that rape child without any consent, without ever having a chance to develop as an adult, gaining the education and path to resources to required to become a qualified and responsible parent, is not really voting for a political party candidate or even near sane or humane policy. They are voting to confirm their identity in a cruel and inhumane cult where there is no differentiation between being a human being or dumb beast that lives in a cave. Moderate Republican's have to either leave that cult and vote for Democrats, or they gain the designation Christian Fascist Party. As this is now a clear fact. As their "dog has caught the car", that is exactly who they are: "Christian Fascist Republican". This is where we all are in our history. The whole ordeal reeks of white male privilege. The whole mess reeks of a cruel and sinister identity politics, that seeks to maintain high levels of childhood hunger, childhood poverty, reduction in quality education, elimination from equal opportunity to pursue life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, before they are even ready to know what that means to them. The motive is an immoral one, it is a policy of voter suppression of women. This decision robs women and girls of their chance to even feel what it is to be an American.
Oh, there are rules for length of comments about a newsletter? Link me, please. I surely don't want to cross that line! And do they apply if one crosses state lines?
“…the laws he, [Jim Be Bopp, who is the general counsel for the National Right to Life Committee], would like to enact, the 10-year-old victim “would have had the baby, and as many women who have had babies as a result of rape, we would hope that she would understand the reason and ultimately the benefit of having the child.”
WTF!
The ONLY party in the US to ever draft and deceptively attempt to pass legislation lowering the age of consent for sex, not just once but many times, (even as low as 13 years old in that great Appalachian Mt. incestuous state of Alabama), was and is the Republican party.
Senator James Lankford in addition to being the only one to block an attempt by Senate Democrats to pass a law protecting the right of women to cross state lines to get abortion care, has a very long sketchy history of perverse obsessions about sexual habits of little girls and women.
Lankford was a camp coordinator at the Baptist Summer Church Camp called Falls Creek. He testified to the attorneys of a 15-year-old boy who was charged with raping a 13-year-old girl that a 13-year-old girl was old enough to give sexual consent.
13 years young preciously innocent child!
WTF two times!!
Where in the hottest chamber of the burning hell of eternal damnation do these authoritarian miscreants come from…
Lots of MSM is busy with click bait headlines and I no longer read any of it. I hope we can get rid of the extremists which means that people must vote D.
Ah, yes! The Fairness Doctrine. Killed by Reagan, opening the door wide for the evil tentacles of the Murdochs to reach deep into the American psyche. Years ago I read M. Scott Peck's "People of the LIe." Time to read it again.
Yes to all you wrote. I am about to send a letter to the NYT and quit my subscription. The same applies to PBS' Newshour. Especially the latter's tepid Cook report on Monday which is nothing more than a self-perpetuating survey aimed at the Biden administration.
Thank you Heather. Someone wrote somewhere something like ' if the United States saw what the United States was doing to the United States the United States would step in and save the United States from the United States.' It is as though we are hanging on by a feather. These extremists must be muzzled and put back into their caves and under rocks. Every single one of those who have broken their oath of office and participated in the overthrow of our government must be held accountable. We all must speak up and speak out everywhere possible. On their twitter pages. On their Instagrams. On their FB pages. Including those of the NYT that seems to delight in posting Biden's numbers and having misleading lead ins on its social media. We also have to demand that something like The Fairness Doctrine be put back into our federal government to hold all the liars accountable.
Well said, Gailee.
And well reported, Professor Richardson. Another barnburner with that closer of a last sentence.
Unita. 🗽
Indeed. It might be interesting to assemble a compendium of Heather's last paragraphs. Great writing includes a lead that ropes you in, a story line that keeps you engaged and then...the wrap up. It is an art form.
Effective Writing is power. So is propaganda. May the good guys prevail…
Such a great idea!
Amen
The professor is indeed the master of the understatement. Her closing sentence, a svelte 16 words, lands with the force of a lightning bolt.
Just think about it: your former wife, mother of your three children, dies unexpectedly and you use the event to solicit money — for yourself.
Excuse me while I take a shower to wash off the stench of depravity.
He just keeps proving there is no bottom to his deviancy.
Bet whenever an announcement happens that Trump himself has passed, there will be a similar “donation” button.
Hope we have the opportunity to ignore that button very very soon.
ignore it now ❤️😊
You mean donate to all his sexual assault victims?
What does "passed" mean? Passed by in the car driving him back kicking and screaming to the White House? Passed walking on the street on his way to hold up the Bible in front of the church? Passed gas (the equivalent of his rhetoric)? "Passed away" has come to mean "died", but why not just say "died"? Now please donate.
I can't tell you how in the face of all the horrible news--too much to grasp, really--what gratitude I have for possibly the only other person on the planet who is as irritated as I am by that use of the word "passed." It's another word that means also;lutely nothing and is used for precisely that reason. Another effect avoidance of reality.
Dean - Very glad to hear I'm not alone in that regard. But don't get me started on irritating usages -- I would run over the word limit here (if there is one), and likely disturb my sleep. It's like trying to fill in the ocean with a shovel. (There's actually a better but indelicate metaphor.)
On a more serious note, I think it's indicative of the degradation of the language, but that's a long conversation for elsewhere.
Here, here. We don't say my hydrangea or my cat passed. I know that using "passed" is a cultural thing in certain parts of the country but still. Another euphemism that I find very irritating is "expired." Milk expires, so do driver's licenses. Living things die.
It's an interesting conversation and I think, at bottom, just about a culture that is pathologically unable or unwilling to face death as a part of the cycle of life. We have somehow gotten so far from any sense of connection with the natural rhythms of this planet where we live that it all seems to be--to a lot of people--kind of distasteful and improper. I'm rambling here. I don't suggest we throw virgins into volcanoes, but those rituals that remind us that we are part of that whole death/rebirth thing might be useful. Anybody have a virgin they'd like to volunteer?
This always bothers me as well. There is something a bit creepy about it. An avoidance of death.
Exactly.
It will be drowned out by shouts of delight.
Yes, so tacky. Using every opportunity to raise money. People who donate to this con man are fools.
Thank you Christine.
Spot on, Gailee!
And as for you, Heather, you have become our most invaluable writer! Your missives are painting the portrait of a nation teetering on the brink — of collapse or reawakening.
19 states, including mine, are already over the edge. Can we scramble back up with the election fraud already put in place by our own little nazi dictator? Hope, a fragile thing.
It is so important to put the emphasis on Light. The Universe hears our promise of awakening. And it’s not “hope”. I understand the intent of hope. What the Universe hears is that one is not sure and keeps a situation in “hope” mode. A promise, speaking as if what is right is strong and healthy is heard and accomplished. It’s why, every day, even with the doubt created by the tide of evil challenging We the People….all of us this time, I reaffirm and reset my thought that Light is filling the cracks of darkness and thank the Universe that this is so. I will not succumb to being scared. Afraid, yes. But not scared. I know the power people have to turn any evil on its behind and vanquish it. It’s in our words, thoughts, and actions that demonstrate….We are all in this together. There is enough to go around. I maintain that thought as the original download from our Creator that humans may choose the path to live and flourish. It is Love.
Unidad to all! 🗽
"Choose, then accept the adventure of challenge over a life of ease". That is where hope springs.
Christine I love this so very much We the People have it - the power -if we would all harness it. Too many wring their hands and wait for others to save the planet or save the government or save them. Those who fought for independence had it. Those who sat on the sidelines waiting to see which side would win were many. We can take back our democracy. Not only take it back, but cherish it and protect it as it has not been cherished and protected for many decades. We can do it.
Yes, the upside is reawakening 🙏
Or even those who are finally awakened for the first time.
I pray the latter, Rowshan Nemazee..
Rowshan, such daily prayed for "Reawakening," of America's righteousness is up to us to protect and make flourish in coordination with the overwhelming majority of true Patriotic United States of American Citizens.
Let us help each other keep from yielding to the temptation of defeatism's wake of America's cremains, Eh!?
Thank you Rowshan.
Gailee, The stench of America is inescapable. Sometimes, as with the experiences of the 10 year old girl and the behavior of too many afterward -- irredeemable.
A portrait of corruption, crime, agony, inhumanity, lies, and deception are the siren cries emanating from of this morning’s Letter. It more than whispered calls to investigate the Secret Service. Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist, Carol Leonnig, did just that in her book, 'Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service', which was published last year. Vice President, Pence, knew better than to enter a car driven by a Secret Service agent on January 6, out of concern that the driver might not follow his instructions. (Letter)
What Mike Pence knows about the former president and the administration he was a complete lackey to --will he ever tell? It has been 20 months since the end of that scandal ridden administration and not one person has come forward to admit their participation in the plot to subvert the election and overthrow the government of the U.S. There was no demonstration of rampant fraudulent voting in any state, nevertheless, millions of Americans believe that the election was stolen.
Yesterday, a ‘… group of Republican staffers and officials …released a 70-plus-page report … “Lost, Not Stolen,” , . ’ which concluded ‘… that Donald Trump and his supporters had their day in court and failed to produce substantive evidence to make their case.’ It…’destroys the Big Lie but does not call for getting rid of the many new state laws based on that lie, laws that seem designed to cement the rule of Republicans in certain states regardless of the will of the majorities in those states. ‘ (Letter)
The rapes, pregnancy, and abortion of a 10-year-old girl was the centerpiece of this painful portrait of America. The rapist and mistaken factchecker for WAPO, Glen Kessler, were not alone in voraciously feasting on her tragedy. Megan Fox of far-right website PJ Media, Tucker Carlson, the Wall St. Journal, Washington Post, and conservative politicians licked their chops, while challenging the story's veracity. Conservative media outlets, such as The Daily Caller, pressed Dr. Bernard for more details, …' 'South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a rising star in Republican circles, denounced CNN host Dana Bash for trying to "trap me" by asking her about the incident. "Now it looks like the story was fake to begin with," Noem tweeted on July 8. "Literal #FakeNews from the liberal media." 'The Wall Street Journal editorial page called it a "fanciful tale" in a piece representing the official editorial position of the paper, headlined "An Abortion Story Too Good To Confirm." Fox News's Emily Compagno, co-host of Outnumbered, told viewers abortion activists were ignoring real rapes to propel their cause: "What I find so deeply offensive, is that they had to made up a fake one!" "There have been a number of false or inaccurate claims made about abortion law and the Dobbs decision, including false claims that women can be prevented from traveling for medical care or that ectopic pregnancy treatments are now barred as abortion in some states," George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, a Fox News contributor, wrote in a column for the New York Post. "These false accounts can be a dangerous form of disinformation if women believe that they cannot receive treatment for legal procedures." 'The Republican attorney general of Indiana, Todd Rokita, appeared with Fox's Jesse Watters tonight, tweeting that Watters was fighting "fake news." He announced to Watters' viewers he would be scrutinizing Bernard's record to see if he could challenge her medical license.' (NPR) The attorney general of Indiana, Todd Rokita, talked about seeing if he could challenge the medical license of Dr. Caitlin Bernard, a prominent obstetrician-gynecologist who is an assistant professor at Indiana University's medical school and the source of the girl's story.
There is. perhaps, no bottom to what Republican politicians and foxy media stars, such at Tucker Carlson, will do to take more meat off the bones on this 10 year old child, but let’s leave the last act, for the time being, to Senator James Lankford (R-OK). He ‘… blocked an attempt by Senate Democrats to pass a law protecting the right of women to cross state lines to get abortion care. Apparently unaware that one of the key hallmarks of an authoritarian state is its refusal to let citizens cross borders, Lankford indicated he was willing to keep pregnant people from crossing state lines. “Does that child in the womb have the right to travel in their future?” Lankford said. “Do they get to live?” (Letter)
These horrible vultures called politicians jump on anything to bring attention to themselves. We need to call these people what they are, not conservatives, but radical regressive Republicans, who want to take America back centuries. Steve Schmidt said the Republican Party should be burnt down, and he’s right.
They are the Pro-Rape Party. PRP is the acronym for “perp”.
I have long referred to them as exactly what you have posted. Conservative might apply to those Rs who are still sane enough to leave the party and criticize it like my next door neighbor.
Oh I like that. No longer the KKK, but the RRR!
"Radical regressive Republicans" is too complicated a name. The bulk of Trump supporters, and, unfortunately, likely most Americans, will not know what it means. PRP, as suggested below by Marlene L-B, is pretty good.
"’Radical regressive Republicans’ is too complicated a name“ Yes but it is very syllabic, don’t you think! I’d like to hear it used in a Broadway musical.
Oklahomans have long known of the perfidy of James Langford; just when you think that he can go no lower, he effectively says “hold my beer” (apologies to Kavanaugh).
Mary - really? Then where are OK voters? Please clarify. OK is as red a state as any in the union, is it not? I live in TN, anther blood red state, and if I hear anyone say that Tennesseans have long known the perfidy of Marsha Blackburn - I would respectfully and emphatically disagree. I'd put a big caveat on that statement, to say "a small minority of...". Oh - and Marsha has plenty of perfidy believe me.
James, your point is very well stated. The Oklahoma residents that I know are a few voices in the desert.
Mary thank you in the desert for being here.
Blackburn lies just like every other republican who so easily deceives those poor stupid people who continue to support her.....
Mary Hardt!
Wow!
Powerfully concise, unlike some "others"
I happen to have liked Fern’s reply.
Thank you. Mary. Good to see you.
Good news!
But knowing of it & not DOING anything to change it seems to be almost a way of life for some state's voters, doesnt it?
Fern, I simply want to scream with fury! What makes them so inhumane?
They can’t get pregnant.
And that is part of the problem with the men who weigh in on this. Something tells me that they would see to it that an abortion occurred including flying over state lines if a family member was raped or their mistresses got pregnant.
Of course - anyone with financial means or power wont be prevented from obtaining an abortion - period!
I have often said that under the current conditions abortion is now limited to the rich.
I keep wondering why no one says the obvious of the zealots: if NO abortions are allowed, that means NO abortions for ANYONE ... NO exceptions ... at all... anywhere... ever. Literally.
And no one brings that up. No one asks out loud of those who want this to be the law if that means EVERYONE - rich, poor and everyone in between. Just so they have to actually answer.
Well, they are calling the situation with the 10 year old not an abortion. On the news I also saw a "pro-life" gyn when asked say the 10 year old should have not had the procedure. This was a woman too. I hope people avoid her like the plague if they have PG problems.
Suz yes! yes! yes! Me too. Surely they would be caught at some point.
But some are women ...
Women and Men identify with the aggressor as they want to be on what they perceive as the winning side. It takes courage to speak the truth, to have empathy, to see the big picture, to be able to see and hold the fear and pain if we allow ourselves to see what is. It is this forum and people like Heather who are courageous to speak the truth.
To identify with the aggressor because you want to be on the winning side? I never heard it put that way, but it helps me understand those people.
To think about the underdog is what religions around the world advocate.
Some like the Gnome in South Dakota have political ambitions. She is busy dragging her campaign sack all over the country and riding around for her dog and pony show. My spouse has a cousin in Rapid City who keeps us apprised of what the Gnome is doing and she posts every day the number of COVID deaths there. Others are following their religious beliefs although the NT has not one word about it. Jesus was a Jew and fetuses are human when they take their first breath.
'inhumane', yes that depicts our country in too many ways.
The good, by the the freely given grace of GOD unto all American Patriot Citizens, perseveres over the bad every time on earth as it is in Heaven, Fern, Eh!?
George, have you ever lived in Knoxville, TN?
Rowshan. I posted a lengthy comment on another Substack referencing the testimony of Steven Ayres at the Tuesday Jan 6th Committee hearings. That was the day the two witnesses were the former Oathkeepers digital and graphic design collaborator and Steven, charged with misdemeanor for entering Capitol during insurrection.
I find his testimony fascinating and important. It is important to hear from one on the “inhumane radical white nationalist side” of how they teetered but came back from the brink of insanity. I got from listening to him, that he explained his indoctrination, his blind loyalty to evil, his experience of losing his job and home… but in such a way that did not express self deprecation as much as this was then and this is now and I messed up AND HAD TO LEAVE SOCIAL MEDIA behind. I found it truthful that it was hard for him to admit but he would not have gone that day if he knew at the time that “his president” offered him bogus claims and and lies. He has to cope with being used like an idiot. He still struggles but that is the cost. I do not pity him, I loathe his actions on that day, I consider him to be in company with thousands of duped and blind Trump followers there that day.
I maintain that if social media were put on pause IMMEDIATELY for a period of 1-3 yrs, there would be an immediate reset. Yes, some good efficiency would be lost but more importantly, the intent of indoctrination and spread of misinformation exposed clearly. And healing possible.
We are past the point almost where people acting in an evil way are on a rolling tide with false power and see it as reality. Cannot be further from the TRUTH.
I consider this indoctrination and misinformation the mightiest tool in the toolkit of evil. Remove it and watch the miracle of the Light which does not need any tool to function perfectly.
Unita, my Sister. 🗽
❤️
Hormones. + Lack of education.
Fear.
Devil worship obviously...
Yes I agree that right wing reaction to the pregnant 10 year old story is as low as it gets. My god - it's so disgusting. As for Pence - "What Mike Pence knows about the former president and the administration he was a complete lackey to --will he ever tell?" Anyone who sees Pence as as hero is not paying attention. Is the bar so low now that refusing to fully submit to Trump's attempted coup is now a hero? Same with Casey Hutchinson, but I am prepared to forgive her - she is young and impressionable. She may come around one day. These "heroes", especially Pence, enabled that sorry excuse for a human being to do what he did for 4 years (actually more if you include the 2016 campaign, and his antics up until today). Pence is a low life - a spineless boot licker who had to have countless sleepless nights during that 4-year nightmare but did absolutely nothing to push back. He is almost as poison as Trump himself, IMHO. I can partially answer your question - he will tell if and only if he sees it as advantageous to his own aspirations for POTUS and the furtherance of the agenda of the evil political party he is a member of. I think that means no. Democracy be damned.
I agree! Pence's only desire has been to be President of the USA! To do that he is not beyond doing anything to get there - even to sell his soul which he has done!!!! They all had time to do the "right thing" and stop the 4 year madness that we endured. There were two opportunities that were lost to take care of our future....and they were complicit! Amen!
Mr. Pence is a soulless weasel, perfectly willing to be "handled" for his own success. Much of his political energy has gone into support of Conversion Camps for gay teens. I think he is right at the top of the list of overlooked and very dangerous Republicans.
Just as any of the WH bunch has done - AFTER they publish their "memoirs"!
James, you're right about Pence's aspirations to be POTUS. He claims in his book (which I've only seen quoted, not read it myself) that God told him God wants him to be president! I think he was in high school when God sent this (ambitious, self-agga
randizing) boy the "message." I prefer the humble, even reluctant, prophets like Jonah and Jeremiah, Amos and Isaiah, and Moses and john the Baptist.
People like Pence give God a bad name.
He is like an evil marshmallow.
On what grounds would the Supreme Court uphold barring pregnant women from traveling out of state? Let me consult the Monk Manuscripts of the Dark Ages. Wait, the only copy is checked out of the Library or Congress by some guy named Alito.
Perhaps the Fugitive Slave Act ?
Robert Hubbell : https://roberthubbell.substack.com/?r=fqsxl&s=r&utm_campaign=pub&utm_medium=web
“ The efforts of states to criminalize the out-of-state conduct of their citizens and citizens of other states harkens back to one of the darkest chapters in our nation’s history. In 1850, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act that allowed owners of enslaved persons to pursue so-called “fugitive slaves” across state lines. To enforce that shameful mandate, the Fugitive Slave Act included the following national enforcement mechanisms:”
Cute. I want to see it enforced. Walls with mandatory pregnancy tests at State border? Ankle bracelets once a pregnancy is confirmed? Involuntary incarceration “to prevent a planned murder”?
You touched the pain, Michael.
No legal grounds, but the wife of a fortune to be made. Shares are being sold for a new factory in the U.S. they will manufacture chastity belts in all sizes. (this is a satirical remark. Don’t panic!)
❤️ can't heart
Thank you FERN, as of 5:15 pm Eastern, Indiana Univ Health ( IUH) confirms that Dr. Caitlan Bernard complied with all Indiana privacy laws. Another Lie shot down. Her attorney has served a formal cease & desist demand on the renegade AG. On defamation per se that is only Step One.
I am really glad that her attorney is fighting defamation. If shining a light on the unrelenting hate speech of the far right exposes their lies, then just maybe our poor nation will heal itself.
Hopefully such contemplated litigation will be expanded into a massive class-action strategy designed to bankrupt all the scumbags promoting anti-freedom of choice doctrine's attempt to disguise their congenital bigotry as religion!
Go Ducks!
Thank you, Bryan. You know my thoughts about these folks. For words, please use your imagination. Salud.
You, Ellie & Others taught me how to exist in a digital community. The Sum is much greater than the parts.
Wonderful.
Excellent.
❤️can't heart
The power-hungry are ravenous and we are the prey
Fern, my wonderfully articulate friend, my blood “boileth” over! These white people, whose hoods and robes are fully revealed, are monsters. They have gone hog wild with what they think they can do. Like modern day Draculas, , they suck the life out of people and for what? The love and respect of Jesus?? Nope…power and obnoxious deadly greed. Stomp the little guy down while they climb the ladder. Always has been their goal, going back to the establishment of our nation. Ashamed of my race.
My dear Sister Marlene, we direct our care, determination and fury at getting out the vote. 🍎courtesy of NYC.
I'm sure that WSJ, WaPo, Fox "News" et al will not issue a correction to their allegations that the story was fake. Grrr.
That is the advantage FOX Entertainment has in prostituting as 'news'. They are not news, therefore they do not have to retract or correct any lie, falsehood, miss or disinformation.
Fox ‘News’ has Oligarchy sponsored ‘entertainment’ immunity, a privilege journalist do not have from their editors.
They will. 3 lines buried on page 23
The lives of Lankford, Bopp, and Trump demonstrate that the birth of a child is by no means a "blessed event," unless you count blessings by the Prince of Darkness. (I hate to ascribe metaphysical adjectives like "evil" to people, but damn, it sure seems to fit sometimes.)
Dirk Addertongue
Evil is EVERYTHING other than love.....
Oh Fern. When I read your words - crashing against one another with all of the harsh reality of a party of decay and corruption it fortifies me to take them all down and to put them all behind bars for the rest of their fetid lives.
Gailee, I just reread yours. Oh Gailee...the corruption, the cruelty. Of course, the actors who would do what they are doing would have to be horrid creatures without consciences … I have been around, not a sheltered life, but that human beings can be so loathsome... Reading and being realistic didn't prepare me for this. We'll talk. I'm going see what Heather has unloaded. Salud, Gailee.
Read our Heather, then get some sleep!!!
Yes, this is quite a story. And now that it is fact, some lame attempts to call it not an abortion. As I was born and raised in Indiana, I am both ashamed and not surprised by the behavior of the AG there. I do wonder how my ex-classmate whose support of death star was at least partly based on the abortion issue feels about this story. It's been crickets about January 6th from the time it happened until now. I may have to visit her page to see if she has posted anything about the current abortion situation including the case of the 10 year old. I see lots of dogs, flowers, and food. Lankford turns my stomach.
Thank you, Fern! I am saving your comment!
Hello Sharon. To the dear girl and her recovery. May she grow strong with love.
Fern. As I referenced on another Substack, am in contact with a fam member in Ohio, an activist lawyer. She said there are some beginning efforts to provide a network of help from people for this child and her caregivers. The emphasis right now is preserving her identity and anonymity which the Atty Gen in both Ohio and Indiana have almost destroyed along with their corrupt media mouthpieces.
There is effort to bury this story and relegate it to “unimportant”. But just like Uvalde and other events, not a chance of that happening.
Salud, Fern. 🗽
can't ❤️
I just can't imagine being 10 years old and carrying a baby to term. And then enduring the birth process. How horrible. It is bad enough when you are an adult and have an idea what to expect! I had by first daughter when I was near 19 and I was an innocent. I couldn't sit for 3 weeks after....
One could make the case that anyone who votes for a party, that believes forcing a ten year old rape victim to carry a pregnancy and delivery a rape child, raise that rape child without any consent, without ever having a chance to develop as an adult, gaining the education and path to resources to required to become a qualified and responsible parent, is not really voting for a political party candidate or even near sane or humane policy. They are voting to confirm their identity in a cruel and inhumane cult where there is no differentiation between being a human being or dumb beast that lives in a cave. Moderate Republican's have to either leave that cult and vote for Democrats, or they gain the designation Christian Fascist Party. As this is now a clear fact. As their "dog has caught the car", that is exactly who they are: "Christian Fascist Republican". This is where we all are in our history. The whole ordeal reeks of white male privilege. The whole mess reeks of a cruel and sinister identity politics, that seeks to maintain high levels of childhood hunger, childhood poverty, reduction in quality education, elimination from equal opportunity to pursue life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, before they are even ready to know what that means to them. The motive is an immoral one, it is a policy of voter suppression of women. This decision robs women and girls of their chance to even feel what it is to be an American.
Wait a minute! Isn't this the Republican Platform?
Yes!
Thank you Fern. Another barnburner for us to digest today.
Salud! 🗽
And now Mike Pence has jumped on the anti-abortion bandwagon big time.
Hope, that is exactly where Pence has been since his own birth.
Wow!
Fern...
It would seem to most that you monopolized more than your fair of allotted space in this news letter once again, Eh!?
I hope you read it Mr. Dobbs. You've been dropping your wad all over the forum this morning. Cheers!
Nope...
Way too verbose for a News Letter
Sorry, Fern
What scrolling is for. I take it you have a thumb. It's easy.
Oh, there are rules for length of comments about a newsletter? Link me, please. I surely don't want to cross that line! And do they apply if one crosses state lines?
Michael Bales
See Fern...she is the self-professed editor of commenting length....
Bopp the Bopps. Repeatedly. Until they Make America Great Again with their permanent departure.
Are there enough rocks? The slime oozes everywhere… (apologies to slime; as one-celled organism, it has more “intelligence” than any MAGAt.)
Many are from Indiana!
Amen!
Gailee Walker Wells
Thank you.
And...
“…the laws he, [Jim Be Bopp, who is the general counsel for the National Right to Life Committee], would like to enact, the 10-year-old victim “would have had the baby, and as many women who have had babies as a result of rape, we would hope that she would understand the reason and ultimately the benefit of having the child.”
WTF!
The ONLY party in the US to ever draft and deceptively attempt to pass legislation lowering the age of consent for sex, not just once but many times, (even as low as 13 years old in that great Appalachian Mt. incestuous state of Alabama), was and is the Republican party.
Senator James Lankford in addition to being the only one to block an attempt by Senate Democrats to pass a law protecting the right of women to cross state lines to get abortion care, has a very long sketchy history of perverse obsessions about sexual habits of little girls and women.
Lankford was a camp coordinator at the Baptist Summer Church Camp called Falls Creek. He testified to the attorneys of a 15-year-old boy who was charged with raping a 13-year-old girl that a 13-year-old girl was old enough to give sexual consent.
13 years young preciously innocent child!
WTF two times!!
Where in the hottest chamber of the burning hell of eternal damnation do these authoritarian miscreants come from…
Ooops! I believe I just answered my own question.
WTF, indeed! That was my reaction as well. These people are despicable.
can't ❤️
now I could!
👍👍 Fairness Doctrine.
cement overshoes have been out of style for too long
Pamela:
And so have condoms, Eh!?
Lots of MSM is busy with click bait headlines and I no longer read any of it. I hope we can get rid of the extremists which means that people must vote D.
Ah, yes! The Fairness Doctrine. Killed by Reagan, opening the door wide for the evil tentacles of the Murdochs to reach deep into the American psyche. Years ago I read M. Scott Peck's "People of the LIe." Time to read it again.
Cable killed it—private purchase air time.
Gailee, that "United States" quote reminds me of the famous woodchuck quote!
“ with law our land will rise, but it will perish with lawlessness.”
Yes to all you wrote. I am about to send a letter to the NYT and quit my subscription. The same applies to PBS' Newshour. Especially the latter's tepid Cook report on Monday which is nothing more than a self-perpetuating survey aimed at the Biden administration.
I did the same for both. When NPR was acquired by the right a number of years ago, it was a dark day.
Perfect overview!
Thank you Barbara.