Today, more than 100 scholars who study democracy issued a letter warning that “our entire democracy is now at risk.” The letter explains that the new election laws in Republican-led states, passed with the justification that they will make elections safer, in fact are turning “several states into political systems that no longer meet the minimum conditions for free and fair elections.”
As an American living in Australia, I can tell you that the comments in the scholarly letter regarding other countries attracting America's best and brightest (and those with money to invest) to emigrate is real. New Zealand is actively taking this course of action and why not? NZ (and Australia if they would wake up to the opportunity) can offer democratic stability, relatively strong economies, rational government intervention in society (look at the pandemic response), high-quality affordable nationalized health care, great public transportation, almost no gun crime, public investment in beautiful public spaces, spectacular natural areas ....the list goes on. It has been painful to watch the decline of America under the previous administration (he who shall go unnamed) and while as an optimist I have to believe the decline can be reversed, it will take a huge effort. It is a shame that is has gotten to this- my Australian friends (who universally admire America) can't believe what they see before their eyes. The world needs America as it sees itself - the old (and getting a bit worn) "beacon on a hill" metaphor. If that light goes out, where will the world look?
Dave. I'm in CT. It's 3:30 am here and I'm reading this. To think of people fleeing this country, fleeing THE US to go to more stable, functioning, flourishing democracies is not going to let me sleep tonight. I did not know NZ is actively recruiting our best and brightest. Already. And if things do not shift, and shift very very soon, it will not only be the best and brightest fleeing to God knows where because places like NZ will naturally only want highly educated, specialized (healthy) people, not refugees. I cannot believe I am writing these words. Two generations ago, my family (Jewish) came HERE to flee endless persecution, to pursue a life where their children could live and thrive in relative safety, with opportunities that Jews rarely had in Europe. I was born in 1967, and though always aware that as a Jew one is never quite "safe," I certainly grew up with the knowledge that I was lucky to be in America, in this beacon on a hill, as you called it.
"If that light goes out, where will the world look?" I am literally praying for that light to remain.
Hey, Nomi. My grandmother sailed the Atlantic with my grandfather when she was pregnant, birthed my mother just a month after they landed on U.S. shores. They fled the rise of Mussolini, leaving the bulk of their wealth behind to start a new and free life in the United States.
Staying here in Virginia (the former seat of the confederacy...now blue) to keep the light burning.
My grandfather left Mother Russia in 1921 during the height of the Russian Revolution (not an easy thing to do). He was a 'White Russian' while his sister was a Bolshevik, or 'Red Russian'. His sister turned in their mother to the KGB.
He left, knowing that he would never see his own mother or family ever again. He attended USC to study engineering. One day while vacationing in Yosemite National Park, a Montessori teacher (who studied with Maria Montessori and opened the first Montessori school in San Francisco) saw this young man diving off a bridge into the south fork of the Merced River. She said to one of her assistants, 'bring that young man over to me, I'd like him to meet my daughter'. This is how my grandparents met.
I am not leaving this country of such beauty and strong spirit. Though I have traveled all over the world and seen a great deal of beauty elsewhere, I consider the greatness and promise of this country worth keeping.
Hopefully, there are exceptions to my following comments:
Capitalism has little allegiance to any nation. The investments they make in politics and religion are made in view of profits and lessening of regulations. During the Reagan administration when laws were passed making it more profitable for manufacturing to move out of the country, every company that could roll up their tents immediately made a bee-line for Mexico, China, Thailand, etcetera. Wherever they could employ slave labor or children, that is where they bought tickets for.
If the United States becomes too unstable to ensure their businesses can survive, there will be no need for active recruitment; the capitalists will be there, looking for the best labor and tax options.
And the church? Likewise. Whether it's the rich capitalists or authoritarian governments, the church will be camping there.
Hey, Lynell, I highly recommend a book by Jennifer Anton : “Under the Light of the Italian Moon”. It is historical fiction, based on her family’s travails in Italy under Mussolini during WWII.
Hello Dave, I’m in Australia too, but am American to the core. What would I do without Heather! I watch in despair as so much of our country seems to slide down the ‘hill’. My friends here find it also hard to believe. But read Don Watson’s American Journey and see revealed the America that is now showing itself and gaining power. I can only hope the republicans come to their sesnses. Deb
Deb and Dave, I have many friends who either are from Australia or work there and my impression is that often, its politics resemble the USA in that the Conservatives are blinkered blowhards, climate change has been ignored until recent catastrophic events forced people to be aware, and the oppression of non-white people (which as I have understood recent Australian history also has included Greeks and Turks), especially indigenous peoples, is pervasive and hard to get under control. What's your impression? I would sincerely like to know because my Aussie friends are super worried about their country.
I too had that thought. That is not to say I don't like Australia, I do. Especially I admire her actors, film, and other art based contributions. But I think it is true that it also has a blemished history and current iron-fisted conservatism.
**HCR friends: THE INTERVIEW above by the LINCOLN PROJECT WITH STEVEN HASSAN, FORMER CULT MEMBER, IS WORTH ½ hour OF YOUR LIFE! Thank you, Diane LeClaire for posting this. Five years+ we have been watching the negative mental programming spread across our country and the world like wildfire by authoritarian leaders and regimes seeking total power and control.
Sorry to yell above, but this is critical in understanding what is going on and how Putin, Pence, TFG, and all their comrades are operating. The great puppeteer of TFG & his comrades, points frequently to Putin, who may be the major cult leader as he knows the brainwashing tactics from years in the KGB and in controlling his own people via propaganda and fear.
I have spent years studying cults and brainwashing trying to understand how Hitler and other deranged dictators can manipulate and control the vast majority of a nation. I have also read some of Steven Hassan's works, most of which are very good. Many friends of mine have relatives who became "under the influence" of TFG via Fox which is a repetitive mind control tool as are TFG's rallies and former tweets. Anyone who has friends or family members who have been hypnotized by the GOP will find very useful information in how to gently begin to bring them out of their trance states. This takes a lot of love and a long dedication of time to help them begin to think for themselves.
I find this a very significant issue to educate ourselves in if we are to learn to fight this modern psychological warfare battle. I do not know how we do it, but we need to stop the flow of hypnosis from TFG, Putin, Fox, Breitbart, Qanon, Proud boys, KKK, etc.
I know this sounds really strange, but I wonder if some of our "plops" here are watching us to see what kind of information and ideas we are sharing. That is how cults work as they find out who is groom-able and who might thwart their agendas.
Critical thinking skills are numbed. We have a lot to do America, a lot. We have never been at this critical place in our history due to the internet combined with a global pandemic. Not many of us in the psych field, as Hassan mentions, are trained in how to deal with masses of hypnotized people. We need to all learn how to gently undo this hold, individually, on our peers as well as suspend the flow of proven mind control venues that are detrimental to the well-being of our democracy. I know, I know, freedom of speech and all that-- but we need to grapple with these massive speech tactics that involve manipulation and mind-control. Perhaps if it meets the criteria for negative, corruptive and undue influence then it could be suspended? If we do not learn how to stop/intervene in psychological cyber warfare via neurolinguistic means, our freedoms of speech and democracy will become relics of our American history, anyway.
Fig, I was going to try to be really positive and uplifting today... then Diane woke me up! It is actually positive to understand how we got where we are in this dangerous predicament we find ourselves in today.
Thank YOU, Penelope, for articulating that which I find difficult to express, but feel the weight of, the frustration of being unable to break through the propaganda fog that has enveloped friends and family. Quite sure I haven’t gone about it the right way, or a helpful way, but if a door cracks open, hopefully sooner than later, I aim to try a different tact.
We forget how important the "bully pulpit" is. In my view Biden is handling it very well in his low key but unmistakably firm, non inflammatory manner. Now, it is up to the Democratic leadership in the House and in the Senate as to what to do next. I think it will be necessary to suspend the filibuster, a parliamentary procedure in the Senate used for over 100 years to restrict voting rights for all. I cannot imagine a more fitting reason to suspend it than to obtain voting rights for all who wish to vote and to assure an accurate vote count. Our democracy depends on the outcome of this fight. The current Republican Party has abandoned its support of democracy and with the exception of a few Republicans in the House and even fewer in the Senate and, of course, a great number of former Republican elected officials, cannot be trusted as a partner in the venture of obtaining voting rights for all. It is wonderful that Biden has given the important work of coordinating the fight for equal voting rights to the Vice President. This is a powerful statement on his part. While I am at it, I want to say how right it is that Biden is not touching any of the delusional material coming from the ex President and from the Republican base. In treating delusional patients, psychiatrists learn early on not to directly challenge the person with the delusion, nor do they agree about the delusional idea, but they patiently work with those around the patient to produce a healing atmosphere and wait until the delusional person gradually comes into their right mind.
One of my relatives posted on facebook the other day. It was a slightly customized repetition of radical right campaign talk about Biden's cognitive capacity. She got quite offended when two of us pointed that out, insisted she was making an independent non-political medical judgment (based on 'news' video clips) out of concern for the poor man.
MaryPat I admire your optimism. But I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you. I was in a relationship in which I thought that witnessing measured and rational discourse would change the mind of the person with whom I was partnered. He just got worse.
Kinzinger's family members, I think about ten of them, apparently wrote a scathing public letter ripping him apart for not supporting their naked emperor. He needs our support!
Former president Donald Trump’s blog, celebrated by advisers as a “beacon of freedom” that would keep him relevant in an online world he once dominated, is dead. It was 29 days old.
Upset by reports from The Washington Post and other outlets highlighting its measly readership and concerns that it could detract from a social media platform he wants to launch later this year, Trump ordered his team Tuesday to put the blog out of its misery, advisers said.
On its last day, the site received just 1,500 shares or comments on Facebook and Twitter — a staggering drop for someone whose every tweet once garnered hundreds of thousands of reactions.
Trump still wants to launch some other platform — timing not yet determined — and didn’t like that this first attempt was being mocked as a loser, according to a Trump adviser who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk frankly about the former president’s plans.
An invaluable review and measured assessment of the historical highlights of the day, Prof. HCR. Thank you!
I wonder why the scholars took this long to pen their concerns. While it is not my place to critique their motives for this time and this day (1st June, 2021), their timing fits in splendidly with President Biden's words and actions -- almost as though they were choreographed to bring his presidency to its climax a mere four months since its inception and as a counter pirouette to 45's acceptance of a new insurgence to place him on the throne of his imagination.
The names Manchin and Sinema will, no doubt, go down in history as semi-insurgents in this fight for democracy. They couldn't have been as effective had they been Republican plants, which, to my mind, appears to be a likely scenario. How can any Democrats be so determined to undermine their party's survival?
President Biden's speeches on this 1st June, 2021, give me hope that his leadership will be filled with the vim and vigor of a founding parent -- a mama bear who will protect her cubs and her freedom at all costs! And I am willing to give heart and soul to the unfolding of his vision. In the words of my college's signatory battle cry: Audeamus, Let Us Dare!
Good morning, Lynell! That's a wonderful story. Thank you! It just goes to show the amount of strength a teenager can muster when her mama bear instincts come to the fore!!!
Similarly, an older president can call to those very same impulses, hidden deep within, to defend the country that he loves from her most dangerous, white supremacist enemies.
Wow! Thank you for sharing this, Lynell! Others have remarked that her actions were foolish and, from the standpoint of her personal safety, maybe so. But I know I would do something similar, given a similar situation. I walk my dogs (who are now trending towards ‘elderly’) daily and often think of how I would protect them from an attack by my neighbor’s dogs should that be necessary - we have had a lot of trouble with their dogs in the past and it could happen again at any time. I would also do the same without thinking twice to save my children or grandchildren from harm. Never underestimate the power and ferocity of a protective mamma!
I had to laugh at that one - I'm sure it would have been a different story if those cubs had gotten between their mom & that gal - not funny then. And truly have to wonder exactly this gal's reaction after the fact - possibly after seeing that video? I'm betting that took some recovery time.
So-called "black bears" come in many colors from black to gold, and this one just happened to be a brown black bear. Black bears are generally pretty mellow. Still, a mama bear.
Definitely not a grizzly, though- which are easy to tell from their hump and size. I have waited out a mama grizzly with 3 cubs, one with her and two on the other side of the road. I backed up to a curve to give her space and made sure that cars behind me (well-traveled mountain road in CO) understood what was happening. I could see that somebody on the other side had done the same thing. We waited quietly and patiently for her to get it across. The remaining cub, smallest, hid and took more time. Eventually she went over, clearly distressed, and nudged it out and gave it a swat in the direction of the road, then nudged it into running. We all gave her a few minutes to collect everyone and continue downhill in the brush before proceeding, waving and grinning at each other as we passed. Patience and common sense saves lives. So does advance warning. On the trail, wear bells or rattles and chatter as you walk. Not kidding.
Oh, I'm full of wilderness stories- you don't want to encourage me! Love the western mountains and deserts, and out of the way places. Hiking, snowshoeing. Getting a bit long in the tooth now, and focusing a bit closer to my own yard. But yeah, I do enjoy my memories. Lucky to have experienced them. No videos, do have a few thousand photos.
"How can any Democrats be so determined to undermine their party's survival?" Isn't it, How can any Democrats be so determined to undermine their nation's democracy?
Rowshan, scholars, singly and as groups, have been commenting all along about their concerns. Scholars are not a monolith in opinion; if they were, they would not be scholars, whose goal is exploration and discourse. This particular group of scholars is a group of people who found themselves sharing concerns and, as scholars do, issued a statement about things that they substantially agree about. Being scholars, I'm sure they gave some thought to the timing. But also please keep in mind that 100 scholars (+/-) are 100 scholars (+/-) out of many thousands. Lots of time for more scholarly collaboration and exploration and discourse. There will be more announcements. In the meantime, these people make a good point for us to consider in our own ponderings.
Martin Luther King said we have 3 evils to contend with. Racism, militarism and poverty (economic exploitation). All 3 are tightly wound up in our corporatocracy , our oligarchy. Exactly where did the significant funds come from that support and supported those Republican legislators behind the insurrection, the traitorous drive in States to limit the vote and discount the voice of the people? What has been the role of the Chamber of Commerce and ALEC? Can we have a genuine democracy with flourishing monopolies, an unnatural, obscene wealth gap, corporations buying up large swaths of real estate, corporations paying no taxes, and where inherited mega wealth creates a class with assured guaranteed unearned political power? I look forward to the day when Americans are given a big green light to have the kind of serious discussions about our contemporary form of capitalism attendant to the required structural reforms.
Capitalism is sacrosanct in this society, more so than faith or a moral imperative. Capitalism IS the moral guide, as we refuse to confront the inherent greed in capitalism. My liberal friends take in enormous profit from renting their multiple units, while at the same time decry higher taxes on their greed.
Capitalism is the primacy of capital. Socialism is the primacy of society, including spouse, partner, children, family, neighbors and beyond. Socialism is society, which includes everybody.
Democracy is something different. It is our decision making apparatus in America. And it is owned by capitalists as corporations are defined as people, and exert undue and unnatural influence on our decision making. Which makes America an oligarchy, I guess.
Now I will raise the blinds of my bedroom, to view a socialist, city street. And I see my next door neighbors yard, where we together will host our city counselor tomorrow night, at a neighborhood gathering. And everyone will come via the socialist sidewalk.
Our sacrosanct capitalism has enjoyed the favor of our immense government since the first farm bill was passed. We are a government of, by, and for corporations as I see it.
I hang onto this quote from Ursula K. Le Guin: "We live in capitalism, its power seems inescapable – but then, so did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art. Very often in our art, the art of words." - Excerpt from Ursula K Le Guin's speech at National Book Awards
Le Guin feels that the arts have power especially the are of words. "Silent Spring" changed our whole relationship to the environment. But, as consumers, we need to stop buying stuff for starters. There would be no "corporatist abuse of the planet and of people" is we stopped buy anything but necessities, even for a year. WE are also part of the problem. The larger problem seems to me to be that we don't demand that manufacturers provide a cradle to grave strategy for the disposal or recycling of products before they can manufacture anything. That would require dedicated politicians which would require campaign finance reform that prevents corporations from "buying" our politicians.
I agree with your conclusions, janjamm. I've been saying for a long time that campaign finance reform has to be one of the critical first steps.
I am fascinated that you reference two women who have been huge influences on my life. LeGuin was a thoughtful and imaginative writer of fiction that reflected our own society by looking at redefinitions of it, and creating a revisioned philosophy around it. She was a remarkable philosopher.
Rachel Carson was a scientist who went beyond collecting facts into looking at human beings as a philosopher as well. Add HCR: historians by nature are philosophers. Philosophy begins by making assumptions about (or defining, if you prefer) what it means to be a human being in the world, and then figuring out how those people operate in the world we create. Most of the disagreements, I think, derive from the differences in how human beings are defined, and the characteristics ascribed them by different thinkers.
George Lakey's name has come up several times recently. He puts this aspect of defining the nature of human beings front and center in his teaching related to economics as well as his teachings about social change. It can bend some people's minds, because it just doesn't fit with our "individualistic" perspective, something that is relatively recent in human thought.
I delighted recently when Heather laid our her vision of how human beings function at their best, and emphasized the word community. I hope I am accurately reflecting her intent here. Janjamm, you hit on the same track in your post above. You took your discussion all the way from something essentially human (art and words) through our relationship with the earth, consumerism, the recognition that we are being used to maintain an artificial economy, and ended with two solutions: the first being evaluating what we really need for a fulfilling life, and, second, recognizing that when we do create or make something, we also recognize all the costs associated and plan accordingly. Finally, you offer the beginning point that might get us started on our way there.
Thank you, ma'am. Not bad at philosophy yourself.
And this has gotten my mind started on remembering the many names of unexpected philosophers who have influenced the way we look at each other and how we do things. I often stumble across them through other readings, conversations with friends (or strangers), off-hand suggestions. Found a few here, some in the flesh, some in references. I can tell I'm going to finish this evening by pondering some of what I've learned. And anticipating what I might find out tomorrow.
You raise a lot of valid points, especially "full cost pricing” - where nothing is left out of the cost, which now society ends up bearing the costs. Such as pollution; carcinogenic products, reuse and recycling. I feel you are speaking of a transformative capitalism, and I feel that Joe Biden is actually pushing our society far beyond anyone in our lifetime. Look at the issues: climate chaos; reparations and racial justice; ensuring our democracy; but perhaps most importantly - Joe Biden “gets it” that we are all in this struggle with life together, as one nation and one society. With the efforts around found the climate - we may see the dramatic design changes which you address! Look at how far the auto industry is pushing the envelope
Remember when the POSer POtuS made a disparaging comment about “Shithole Nations?” Well, because of him and the Repugnant Party the U.S. has become a Shithole Nation. And, as I reflect on my ¾ century of experience, despite the lies otherwise, I grew up in a Shithole Nation. And now, as the lies come to lite I see us crumbling into disarray worse than the Third World nations I visited in the 1970s.
“As a nation spirals downward, the political scientists, sociologists, and government scholars explain, ‘violence and corruption typically flourish,’...” As Bob Dylan sang in 1965 “You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” Almost daily for the past month there has been a fatal shooting or mass shooting in South Florida, and tho we lead the nation we are not alone in this senseless violence. We are a nation at war with itself and on the ‘eve of destruction.’
It is comforting to hear President Biden finally say what every liberal voice has been saying for months – forget the facade of “bipartisan,” and try to find a way to go it alone to get the necessary job done. You cannot negotiate with the fascist Repugnant Party. Mitch McConnell has said as much and there are too many insane cult followers within that party to have any meaningful dialogue. They are too busy catering to their ignorant cult base, literally the barbarians at the gates of democracy as they were on January 6.
I’ve always assumed when Biden talks about bipartisan he refers to “we the people” and not the well known obstructionists that have been Citizen’s United into leadership
Have you noticed that for some reason after the recent larger number of "mass shootings" that we dont hear any more sad, serious public statements of "sending their thoughts & prayers" or that its too early after the "event" to think about or reps DOING something to prevent the next one? Just silence.
Dear Heather -- I don't mean this to be a public comment -- I'm a subscriber, and a musician. I wrote a song that was released yesterday that I'm hoping will help people have a better summer than expected -- it's called, "The Best Summer." I think your subscribers would find it soothing and maybe even inspiring. Hope you will have your best summer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIWsJgfq_Nw
Amazing. We left D.C. for SS when I was about 7 years old. Lived there off East-West Highway til the early seventies, though my mom stayed there longer. Remember the Silver theater, Reindeer ice cream shop, Hecht's, etc., all on Colesville Rd? Rock Creek Park was (and still is) fabulous. We hung out at Meadowbrook and Pegasus stables. Played at Candy Cane City. Oh, my goodness, a blast!
Great song, Christine! I have some of your albums and love them. I've always admired your ability to create a memorable melody and give it humorous words that make a serious point. Great to see you here!
Great song and video! You are a NE folk icon, so great to hear your new work. My best friend and I, at 65 and 60, are looking forward to boogie boarding the gentle waves of the NH and southern ME beaches very soon. It saved us last summer and maybe this one will be the best yet!
It is disheartening and exhausting every day to watch these evil greedy almost inhuman beings lead these easily influenced haters down the path of destroying our Democracy. They would rather burn it all down that build it up with all. I am sadly not certain what we the majority can do to stop this madness. But do something we Must. I donate, call, speak up and try to have a positive influence. But these evil racist hear nothing but their own voices and those that say what they agree with. Their way will destroy our country. We must find a way to help pass the For the People Act. Call not only your Senators but ALL of them. Keep up the pressure. Jo Manchin and Kyrsten Cinema are enemies in the fight we must turn them toward democracy. Let them know that we are all watching. We must not allow McConnell and his crew to block our freedoms any longer.
I am glad that Biden is finally disputing the zero-sum game language that Repugnants consistently use. This is not just a problem in politics. The notion of the zero-sum game has been the tool that has oppressed all underrepresented minorities and majorities (i.e. women, who make up more than 50% of the population). When, in the previous "recovery" (substantially blocked by the Right) after the Great Recession, women returned to the workforce in greater numbers than men--at least initially--the right-wingers complained that white men were being kept away from jobs because they were going to all . . . those . . . women. It was not that at all: women returned to work first because the lower-wage service jobs that women are typically compelled to take were the first jobs to return (the Wal-Mart clerk type jobs). Now, as millions of women are still unable to return to work because they lack appropriate chid care and elder care, the Repugnants are totes fine with that--they don't see the utility of adding child and elder care to definitions of infrastructure because, as overwhelmingly privileged white guys, they have their Stepford Wives doing all that stuff for them. And if defining child and elder care as infrastructure would also mean that women who are BIPOC and AAPI could return to work and get paid a living wage--often as (duh) child and elder care providers--then they don't want any part of it. Because the entire purpose of every. single. initiative of the Ghastly Obstructionist Party is designed to suppress and oppress the people Biden and Harris are deliberately and vocally trying to lift up.
Thank for summing up today's events. It was a monumental day for Biden and for Harris too. Mostly, it was for Greenwood to have a president show up for the first time in history to denounce the massacre. It’s way past time for reparations. There are still three individuals who witnessed the devastation and are alive. That, in itself, is simply remarkable!
As far as Manchin and Sinema are concerned, their feet must be held to the fire until they cry “uncle”. Democracy must find a home again. As it stands now, all of our voting rights are threatened. RISE UP!
RISE UP I'm wearing that T-shirt right now, but it is from the Hamilton musical. Still, I intend to share the sentiment on voting rights. I'm reading Lawrence Lessig's book "They Don't Represent Us", which part way in is talking about disenfranchisement, such as the red states are now enacting.
I thought there was only one survivor left... ? She spoke of how she would never forget the smell of burning smoke, and other memories. I only learned of Greenwood yesterday morning not even 24hrs ago and am feeling stunned still that a small town of 1100 buildings was destroyed along with hundreds of people shot and killed as well as airplanes dropping bombs, and not a whisper of it in my lifetime til now. 💔
There is something most people interested in throttling voters' rights are not saying OR they don't understand. Right now, the thrust is voter ID to make sure that "only qualified" voters can cast a ballot. Obviously, it's not a legitimate issue because very few people cast fraudulent ballots. But what happens after the Republicans push through the various voting restrictions they're now hell bent on passing? Is the next campaign going to be level of education or property ownership or sex or religious affiliation? Will there be a maximum voting age? This is what so many eager to restrict voting don't understand - there is nothing to stop the Republicans (or anyone else) from adding multiple layers of restrictions thereby ensuring, for example, that only white, college educated, Christian, male property owners, between the ages of 18 & ?, have the right to vote. In this day and age, those people willing to curtail the individual rights of "the other" simply do not understand that they could be the next class of people to have their right to vote, and other rights, yanked away from them. Everyday Republicans need to look at the big picture and not just the tiny vignette being presented by those in power today.
There is a determination among Republican politicians that our republic should be governed like the original democracies in ancient Greece; Only the landed aristocrats were allowed to participate in government. No women, slaves, or the general populace.
Old, white, rich men. 2500 years or so, and we have come this far. This is their mindset.
Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution states, "The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators." https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articlei#section4
Every voter in every state should have the same opportunities to register and vote. The John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the For The People Act will standardize registration and voting requirements nationwide. They aren't controlling the elections, they are providing the standards by which the states will control the elections. The only problem I have with any of it is that I think pre-clearance should be mandatory for all changes to voting laws, no matter where in the nation they happen.
Reasonable access by whose standards and for whom, David? A nine to fiver? A stay at home soccer mom? Someone who works 2 or 3 jobs? And what does Open Borders on voting even mean? Spin it any way you like, you are advocating voter suppression. If I walk into my polling place and the registrar asks my name and address and I provide the correct information, my name is ticked off and I'm allowed to vote. The suggestion that 27* other people are going to go to my polling place OR try to vote absentee OR vote by mail in MY name us absurd. And you know it. Stop being absurd.
You should have a voter ID so the "correct" information can be verified. The time should be reasonable and flexible. That is not voter suppression at all. I have given voter ID in both NY and Va to vote. No big deal at all.
The problem with the "Voter ID" push by the Republicans is not that they want voters to identify themselves, but they want voters to be able to identify themselves using only certain forms of [difficult to obtain] identification. If they thought they could get away with banning passports and military IDs, they'd do it in a heartbeat. In fact, at least one of the early drafts of Voter ID laws explicitly excluded ALL forms of ID that didn't display the voter's home address.
What's not true? That Voter ID isn't intended to limit who can vote? Believe as you like, but if the intention isn't to limit who can vote, then why limit the forms of ID? Why can't student IDs be used any more? Why is one form of work ID (military ID) acceptable, but another form of work ID isn't? They are all based on the same documents. What's wrong with the non-picture method of identification (two or more bills or statements with name and address) that most states have successfully used for decades? What are we protecting against? Voter impersonation is the only form of election fraud that Voter ID protects against, and impersonation is an absolutely idiotic way to try to manipulate an election. Even trump went after the machines and the software.
And the solution to "election integrity" is simple: a National ID card. Blue=citizen, green=resident alien, red=temporary resident (e.g. migrant worker, etc.). First issued at to citizens at 18 and updated at 10-year intervals thereafter. At no cost to the holder, of course, because if you HAVE to have it to vote, requiring you to pay for it constitutes a poll tax.
Thanks for this crucial letter, for giving everyone a heads up and for the warning that we must not shrivel in our current situation. It's hard to hold hope and grief togehter in our hearts, such disparate pieces have to be held. We're in trouble (as you say Heather) and every small effort by everyone and anyone towards our liberties does count. I'm so glad you are here Heather and rowing this boat with us.
Hard to hold hope and grief together in your heart. You said a mouthful. I find it almost unbearable. I think that's why some have already decided we are doomed, that it's already happened. I really (really) have to limit my time on Twitter largely because of this. Today I read this comment:
"This is so reminiscent of pre-Hitler Germany. Horrifying that 35 members of Senate hold the country hostage. The republic will not survive this. History will record @Sen_joemanchin as a central cause for the death of the United States."
I do not agree. Because we are in a moment similar to another time in history, doesn't not mean the same outcome will occur. But this is bone-rattlingly terrifying.
The Letter from an American began today with Heather noting that more than 100 scholars who study democracy wrote a 'Statement of Concern'. Their statement ended with 'Our democracy is fundamentally at stake.' Read their statement without fail. It speaks to our understanding as citizens, our fears, our hopes and our determination to persevere.
From the scholars' concern, the Letter continued with Biden's trip to Tulsa yesterday on the 100 year anniversary of the race massacre, which took place there. An unknown number of Black Americans were killed in the Greenwood section of Tulsa, Oklahoma on May 31 and June 1st, 1921. '... mobs of White residents, many of them deputized and given weapons by city officials, attacked Black residents and burned businesses ...' Alternatively known as the Black Wall Street massacre or the Tulsa race riot, it marks one of "the single worst incident(s) of racial violence in American history". '... The attack, carried out on the ground and from private aircraft, destroyed more than 35 square blocks of the district – at that time the wealthiest Black community in the United States...'
'More than 800 people were admitted to hospitals, and as many as 6,000 Black residents were interned in large facilities,...'
'About 10,000 Black people were left homeless, ...' 'Many survivors left Tulsa, while Black and White residents who stayed in the city kept silent about the terror, violence, and resulting losses for decades. The massacre was largely omitted from local, state, and national histories.' (Wikipedia)
After reading Heather's Letter, I thought first about slavery in America and then Jim Crow. 'Jim Crow was the name of a minstrel routine (actually Jump Jim Crow).' (Britannica) Jim Crow laws were state and local laws and statutes in the South, which enforced or legalized racial segregation and the oppression of Black Americans. 'These laws lasted for almost 100 years, from the post-Civil War era until around 1968, ...' (gcsu. edu)
'In Tulsa today, Biden called the Republican efforts to restrict voting a “truly unprecedented assault on our democracy.” He urged voting rights groups to redouble their efforts to register and educate voters, and then he put pressure on Democratic senators Joe Manchin (WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), who continue to say they will not challenge the Republican use of the filibuster to stop passage of voting rights bills.' (The Letter)
'Trump has reportedly been telling people he'll be 'reinstated' by August' (Yahoo News). Yes, our life as a Democracy will take voting rights groups and Democratic senators, such as Manchin and Sinema, but, most of all, it will take the American people to stop the Big Lie, the Republican moves to steal the rights of the American people as well as those who have accepted the lies, Dark Money, conspiracy theories and White Supremacy, which continue to keep America from fulfilling its purpose.
“This nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government
of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Fern, let me reply to you and I wish it could be in tiny letters because it’s a thought I have held privately, my own outlandish backward conspiracy theory. It rose to the surface like chicken fat from a cooling pot of soup when I saw Powell talking to the Q’s about the new inauguration date. I think that the former president has gathered those in the back room willing to lead a number of states in seceding from the Union. In his twisted plan, he is the modern Jefferson Davis. August is the new target date.
Christine, Of course your scenario is possible, but I believe that he wants the whole enchilada. Often the faces of Trump, Stone, Manafort, Bannon, Flynn, Giuliani, Christopher Ruddy, My Pillow Man, Ivanka, Tommy Tuberville, Ted Cruz, Mo Brooks, Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, Devin Nunes, Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz, Greg Pence, Steve Scalise, Madison Cawthorn, Nicole Malliotakis, Elise M. Stefanik, Jim Jordan, Louie Gohmert, Rick Scott, Cindy Hyde-Smith and Mitch McConnell flash in my mind. Can you see them together? These teeny, tiny mugs taking down the United States of America. Stephen King, Clive Barker, Hitchcock, John Carpenter...who could have imagined this and it is so serious? Each of us to our nightmare reality.
I’ve had to conjure up a response to that thought of all of ‘dem you mention Fern being together fomenting ultimate insurrection and a new civil war. And I certainly do not welcome states seceding as a solution that David applauds. Ugh.
You know they're not 'dems', for sure. Christine, you move thru this forum almost as a dance, until you stop to leave a thought, a nod or a question. It is always a gift when you stop by. Along with the folks I mentioned, Joe Biden is on my mind much more. I take it altogether; what he has been through; his deep care; all that weighs on him; how he negotiates and what he acts upon. Biden and his team are the models we have joined. There are others on the front lines, fine public servants, the free press, other engaged citizens and people in need. You have always smiled at me, and I smile at you.
I'd welcome the succession of a bunch of red states. Besides ensuring the continuance of our Democracy, we'd be a wealthier nation (per capita) as the red states mostly get more money from the federal gov't than they pay in taxes, unlike the blue
The following 13 Southern states (Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia) are home to 52% of the Black population in the United States (2018 data). Just FYI…
I would expect them to be welcomed up north, and for all anti-Democracy types to go South. Really, I don't expect any of this to happen, and I'm sure others could come up with further problems with this idea, but I'd love not to have to worry about our Democracy being overthrown.
We're talking people's lives here, not chunks of real estate. People who are citizens of the United States. People who work, have families, pay taxes, vote in spite of obstacles, stand up for their rights in the face of even more obstacles. And you are talking about getting more money for yourself by throwing a bunch of other people off the edge. So much for the shining light from the city on a hill.
Annie, the money is absolutely the least of it. It's a nice little side effect. I'm talking about relieving us of the fear of having our Democracy taken away. I suspect that if it really happened, there would be a lot of movement of progressives from the red to the blue, and nonprogressives from the blue to the red. And maybe "Red America" would ultimately realize their vision didn't work very well, and they'd become blue.
Annie, the thought of losing our Democracy scares the sh!t out of me (and probably most of HCR's subscribers). Just the day before yesterday, I wrote to both of my senators asking them to pressure Manchin or ask Biden to pressure Manchin to do away with the filibuster to make sure the two voting rights laws get passed. Unless you're looking for ways to disrespect me, you should have realized that the money was an afterthought, and not a significant one.
I have been saying probably since McConnell refused to allow a vote on Garland's nomination to the Supreme Court that I wish Lincoln had let the South go. I even have a book called "Better Off Without 'Em: A Northern Manifesto for Southern Succession."
If I cared about the money, I'd have gotten some numbers, but I haven't done that and have never had any plans to do that. But I HAVE thought a lot about what a wonderfully progressive country we could have without them.
Your comments are nasty and hurtful. Do you really want to be that way with someone with whom you probably agree on 90% of issues? (My politics are probably more like Sanders and Warren than the rest of the candidates.)
Fascinating. Last night I wrote to my state reps asking them (like spitting into the wind) to oppose the bills and amendments added to the state budget that have nothing to do with the budget. Like preventing the state with complying with the For the People Act if it passes. Like preventing the state from complying with an imagined Presidential Executive Order repealing the right to bear arms, or any federal mandate they don't happen to like. Truly, this is the intention of the amendment, quite straightforward. I wrote to them that it sounded like a lead up to secession, but I didn't realize they might actually mean it until just now when I read your post.
No contestant on Jeopardy last night recognized the source of that phrase "This nation...of the people, by the people, for the people sha not perish from the earth."
Since it appears that Manchin and Sinema will remain true to the people who fund them and not the people they supposedly represent it will take the likes of Romney, Murkowski ,Collins and a few others to cross the aisle (all unlikely) to get rid of the filibuster and to pass any legislation, but most of all currently the For the People Act. There are constitutional ways to overthrow the plethora of voter suppression laws in the pipeline right now. Sadly the ACLU can't be everywhere all the time.
As the country starts to come to grips with things that we were not taught in school...Tulsa, lynchings, Jim Crow, Trail of Tears, the government sanctioned school that removed indigenous children from their families and oft times killed them. Do not think that the current outcry over what happened in Canada to those 215 children was limited to Canada. We need critical race theory not because it teaches children to hate our country, but because it teaches our children to realize that we are human, have made mistakes and that being white is not a reason for superiority.
My understanding is that what happened at the residential school in Kamloops British Columbia is not isolated. A headline in today’s Globe and Mail reads, ”Sinclair says more remains will be found at residential school sites”. (Murray Sinclair is a distinguished Canadian, former head of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.)
This is Canada’s original sin. Our indigenous people have never recovered from our early treatment of them. Even today dozens of native bands live year round under boil water advisories.
We are right in there with you. Just not on your scale.
That either has survived at all is deeply red states (WV & AZ) shows a political skill of some sort. They represent a red constituency as democrats, that's a rare situation. Maybe they are DINOs, but would we rather have a raving Republican in their place?
2021 and the literature suggests that American elections are not free and fair. What a disgrace for this country. Born and raised in the US. Travelled extensively - both professionally and personally. I never backed American exceptionalism. How does one believe we are the greatest country in the world when you have never left Arizona? Indiana? Wherever? When dumpster fire was elected in 2016, I set myself a goal to move out of the country. Those plans are still in place. It isn’t that I won’t fight, it’s that the fight is taking the life out of me and I want to live not fight. I’m so tired of fighting for equal rights across any number of issues. But I know for now, we can’t give up or in. Not yet anyhow . . .
Your comment says a good deal about how too many engaged citizens feel about living in the USA now. The demands on us are forbidding. As time passes we wonder if this is the right way to spend the rest of our days. I hope for you, Laurie, and the rest of us that we will see the power of us together, hard work and the commitment to equality as never before. Otherwise, we will know the defeat of more than I express; it cannot end that way.
Yesterday on "Deadline Whitehouse," MSNBC contributor Jason Johnson took President Biden to task for his comments about the Greenwood Massacre, saying that Biden was apparently "surprised" and should not have been at that horrific history of homeland violence and wholesale murder. If I had the chance to speak to JJ myself, I would have to confess to him that NOTHING was ever said about that massacre in any of my years of schooling and the same can be said of everyone I know. Then, later on, as Joy Reid was interviewing the new Democratic candidate for governor of Florida, she mentioned to her almost in passing (because Nikki Fried had commented on the Greenwood Massacre) that there had been a similar attack in Florida. So, here I go again, confessing that I have never heard of this one either. I am wondering now how many other such atrocities have gone on over the years that were never spoken of, never written about, never acknowledged?
As for the appointment of Kamala Harris to take on the protection of our voting rights, I can't think of a better person. I'd put her up against the likes of Ken Paxton and Greg Abbott any old day. Those jerks may have "legal" backgrounds, but both are crooks and numbskulls and she has a long track record of putting folks like them behind bars. I don't know how she'll manage Manchin and Sinema (who either have lost their minds or are in some sort of devil's league with the trumplican party) and the other Dem senators, who it seems are hiding behind the M&S coattails and allowing those two to take the heat, when in reality, there are others who will not vote for the For the People Act.
I've seen at least a couple interviews of young, college students (African American) that came from Tulsa, and until they went away to college, had never heard of the massacre! Why wouldnt Biden - who grew up on the East Coast, served in Congress & the White House on the East Coast, be surprised? And Ellen, I have heard of a massacre in NC - and after the last few years am not the least shocked at the idea there were more.
Those massacres were preceded by the Elaine, Arkansas riot and massacre in 1919, an attack on African Americans who were trying to unionize to obtain financial relief from cotton brokers. The total blacks murdered and tortured is in the hundreds.
Read "Damaged Heritage: The Elaine Race Massacre and A Story of Reconciliation" by J. Chester Johnson. I can't remember reading about massacres involving African Americans in school. A grandson of a participant and the granddaughter of a victim share their remembrances.
If the Democrats in the Senate do not do what is necessary to pass the For the People Act and save our democracy, we will lose our democracy. If this happens, we must never forgive the Democratic Party. Any real patriot must abandon it and start a new movement for democracy and leave the former Democrats to their speaking fees and cosy corporate-funded sinecures, assuming the Republicans allow them those things. If the Democratic Party cannot save our democracy when it controls the White House and both houses of Congress, then it is useless and does not deserve to exist.
When I was a young girl in Florida, I vaguely recall a story of a mostly Black town where pencils were made. This small industry gave some income and pride to the residents. It too was burned to the ground.
As an American living in Australia, I can tell you that the comments in the scholarly letter regarding other countries attracting America's best and brightest (and those with money to invest) to emigrate is real. New Zealand is actively taking this course of action and why not? NZ (and Australia if they would wake up to the opportunity) can offer democratic stability, relatively strong economies, rational government intervention in society (look at the pandemic response), high-quality affordable nationalized health care, great public transportation, almost no gun crime, public investment in beautiful public spaces, spectacular natural areas ....the list goes on. It has been painful to watch the decline of America under the previous administration (he who shall go unnamed) and while as an optimist I have to believe the decline can be reversed, it will take a huge effort. It is a shame that is has gotten to this- my Australian friends (who universally admire America) can't believe what they see before their eyes. The world needs America as it sees itself - the old (and getting a bit worn) "beacon on a hill" metaphor. If that light goes out, where will the world look?
Thanks for what you do.
Dave. I'm in CT. It's 3:30 am here and I'm reading this. To think of people fleeing this country, fleeing THE US to go to more stable, functioning, flourishing democracies is not going to let me sleep tonight. I did not know NZ is actively recruiting our best and brightest. Already. And if things do not shift, and shift very very soon, it will not only be the best and brightest fleeing to God knows where because places like NZ will naturally only want highly educated, specialized (healthy) people, not refugees. I cannot believe I am writing these words. Two generations ago, my family (Jewish) came HERE to flee endless persecution, to pursue a life where their children could live and thrive in relative safety, with opportunities that Jews rarely had in Europe. I was born in 1967, and though always aware that as a Jew one is never quite "safe," I certainly grew up with the knowledge that I was lucky to be in America, in this beacon on a hill, as you called it.
"If that light goes out, where will the world look?" I am literally praying for that light to remain.
Hey, Nomi. My grandmother sailed the Atlantic with my grandfather when she was pregnant, birthed my mother just a month after they landed on U.S. shores. They fled the rise of Mussolini, leaving the bulk of their wealth behind to start a new and free life in the United States.
Staying here in Virginia (the former seat of the confederacy...now blue) to keep the light burning.
Morning Lynell, morning all.
My grandfather left Mother Russia in 1921 during the height of the Russian Revolution (not an easy thing to do). He was a 'White Russian' while his sister was a Bolshevik, or 'Red Russian'. His sister turned in their mother to the KGB.
He left, knowing that he would never see his own mother or family ever again. He attended USC to study engineering. One day while vacationing in Yosemite National Park, a Montessori teacher (who studied with Maria Montessori and opened the first Montessori school in San Francisco) saw this young man diving off a bridge into the south fork of the Merced River. She said to one of her assistants, 'bring that young man over to me, I'd like him to meet my daughter'. This is how my grandparents met.
I am not leaving this country of such beauty and strong spirit. Though I have traveled all over the world and seen a great deal of beauty elsewhere, I consider the greatness and promise of this country worth keeping.
Wow, Stephen...Such sadness and joy all rolled into one.
Will be on this end covering the East while you cover the West!
Someone needs to cover the North....I may be too old.
Such richness in your story 🤩
Bittersweet, Stephen and I’m with you 1000%.
Hopefully, there are exceptions to my following comments:
Capitalism has little allegiance to any nation. The investments they make in politics and religion are made in view of profits and lessening of regulations. During the Reagan administration when laws were passed making it more profitable for manufacturing to move out of the country, every company that could roll up their tents immediately made a bee-line for Mexico, China, Thailand, etcetera. Wherever they could employ slave labor or children, that is where they bought tickets for.
If the United States becomes too unstable to ensure their businesses can survive, there will be no need for active recruitment; the capitalists will be there, looking for the best labor and tax options.
And the church? Likewise. Whether it's the rich capitalists or authoritarian governments, the church will be camping there.
Thank you, Lynell, for staying in Virginia to fight the good fight.
Hey, Lynell, I highly recommend a book by Jennifer Anton : “Under the Light of the Italian Moon”. It is historical fiction, based on her family’s travails in Italy under Mussolini during WWII.
Thanks, Annette. Will check it out.
Thank you!
“If that light goes out, where will the world look?” How awful that some people are working hard to put out that light.
Hello Dave, I’m in Australia too, but am American to the core. What would I do without Heather! I watch in despair as so much of our country seems to slide down the ‘hill’. My friends here find it also hard to believe. But read Don Watson’s American Journey and see revealed the America that is now showing itself and gaining power. I can only hope the republicans come to their sesnses. Deb
Deb and Dave, I have many friends who either are from Australia or work there and my impression is that often, its politics resemble the USA in that the Conservatives are blinkered blowhards, climate change has been ignored until recent catastrophic events forced people to be aware, and the oppression of non-white people (which as I have understood recent Australian history also has included Greeks and Turks), especially indigenous peoples, is pervasive and hard to get under control. What's your impression? I would sincerely like to know because my Aussie friends are super worried about their country.
I too had that thought. That is not to say I don't like Australia, I do. Especially I admire her actors, film, and other art based contributions. But I think it is true that it also has a blemished history and current iron-fisted conservatism.
It may be beyond their conscious senses based on what I learned from a former cult member while listening to an intense conversation on The Lincoln Project podcast recently. Don’t let the title fool you. It goes way back before tRump. https://open.spotify.com/episode/5TuxYlpUNYRjihg5Olj8tn?si=lfLr5YSbRc--EL0ZZhKZ9Q
**HCR friends: THE INTERVIEW above by the LINCOLN PROJECT WITH STEVEN HASSAN, FORMER CULT MEMBER, IS WORTH ½ hour OF YOUR LIFE! Thank you, Diane LeClaire for posting this. Five years+ we have been watching the negative mental programming spread across our country and the world like wildfire by authoritarian leaders and regimes seeking total power and control.
Sorry to yell above, but this is critical in understanding what is going on and how Putin, Pence, TFG, and all their comrades are operating. The great puppeteer of TFG & his comrades, points frequently to Putin, who may be the major cult leader as he knows the brainwashing tactics from years in the KGB and in controlling his own people via propaganda and fear.
I have spent years studying cults and brainwashing trying to understand how Hitler and other deranged dictators can manipulate and control the vast majority of a nation. I have also read some of Steven Hassan's works, most of which are very good. Many friends of mine have relatives who became "under the influence" of TFG via Fox which is a repetitive mind control tool as are TFG's rallies and former tweets. Anyone who has friends or family members who have been hypnotized by the GOP will find very useful information in how to gently begin to bring them out of their trance states. This takes a lot of love and a long dedication of time to help them begin to think for themselves.
I find this a very significant issue to educate ourselves in if we are to learn to fight this modern psychological warfare battle. I do not know how we do it, but we need to stop the flow of hypnosis from TFG, Putin, Fox, Breitbart, Qanon, Proud boys, KKK, etc.
I know this sounds really strange, but I wonder if some of our "plops" here are watching us to see what kind of information and ideas we are sharing. That is how cults work as they find out who is groom-able and who might thwart their agendas.
Critical thinking skills are numbed. We have a lot to do America, a lot. We have never been at this critical place in our history due to the internet combined with a global pandemic. Not many of us in the psych field, as Hassan mentions, are trained in how to deal with masses of hypnotized people. We need to all learn how to gently undo this hold, individually, on our peers as well as suspend the flow of proven mind control venues that are detrimental to the well-being of our democracy. I know, I know, freedom of speech and all that-- but we need to grapple with these massive speech tactics that involve manipulation and mind-control. Perhaps if it meets the criteria for negative, corruptive and undue influence then it could be suspended? If we do not learn how to stop/intervene in psychological cyber warfare via neurolinguistic means, our freedoms of speech and democracy will become relics of our American history, anyway.
Fig, I was going to try to be really positive and uplifting today... then Diane woke me up! It is actually positive to understand how we got where we are in this dangerous predicament we find ourselves in today.
Thank YOU, Penelope, for articulating that which I find difficult to express, but feel the weight of, the frustration of being unable to break through the propaganda fog that has enveloped friends and family. Quite sure I haven’t gone about it the right way, or a helpful way, but if a door cracks open, hopefully sooner than later, I aim to try a different tact.
Ditto here in Portugal
If I were four decades younger I'd be choosing between those two and Scandinavia.
Moving to New Zealand from the US
“New Zealand is actively seeking international investors to settle or spend time living here.”
https://www.newzealandnow.govt.nz/choose-new-zealand/compare-new-zealand/usa
We forget how important the "bully pulpit" is. In my view Biden is handling it very well in his low key but unmistakably firm, non inflammatory manner. Now, it is up to the Democratic leadership in the House and in the Senate as to what to do next. I think it will be necessary to suspend the filibuster, a parliamentary procedure in the Senate used for over 100 years to restrict voting rights for all. I cannot imagine a more fitting reason to suspend it than to obtain voting rights for all who wish to vote and to assure an accurate vote count. Our democracy depends on the outcome of this fight. The current Republican Party has abandoned its support of democracy and with the exception of a few Republicans in the House and even fewer in the Senate and, of course, a great number of former Republican elected officials, cannot be trusted as a partner in the venture of obtaining voting rights for all. It is wonderful that Biden has given the important work of coordinating the fight for equal voting rights to the Vice President. This is a powerful statement on his part. While I am at it, I want to say how right it is that Biden is not touching any of the delusional material coming from the ex President and from the Republican base. In treating delusional patients, psychiatrists learn early on not to directly challenge the person with the delusion, nor do they agree about the delusional idea, but they patiently work with those around the patient to produce a healing atmosphere and wait until the delusional person gradually comes into their right mind.
I agree with this about not challenging the person with delusions. But, I doubt tRump will ever come to his "right mind."
tRump won't ever. But perhaps my 3 trumper brothers will.
Fingers crossed for you and your brothers.
One of my relatives posted on facebook the other day. It was a slightly customized repetition of radical right campaign talk about Biden's cognitive capacity. She got quite offended when two of us pointed that out, insisted she was making an independent non-political medical judgment (based on 'news' video clips) out of concern for the poor man.
MaryPat I admire your optimism. But I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you. I was in a relationship in which I thought that witnessing measured and rational discourse would change the mind of the person with whom I was partnered. He just got worse.
Kinzinger's family members, I think about ten of them, apparently wrote a scathing public letter ripping him apart for not supporting their naked emperor. He needs our support!
Speaking of Bully Pulpit's...
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/02/politics/donald-trump-blog-scaramucci/index.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/06/02/trump-blog-dead/
Former president Donald Trump’s blog, celebrated by advisers as a “beacon of freedom” that would keep him relevant in an online world he once dominated, is dead. It was 29 days old.
Upset by reports from The Washington Post and other outlets highlighting its measly readership and concerns that it could detract from a social media platform he wants to launch later this year, Trump ordered his team Tuesday to put the blog out of its misery, advisers said.
On its last day, the site received just 1,500 shares or comments on Facebook and Twitter — a staggering drop for someone whose every tweet once garnered hundreds of thousands of reactions.
Trump still wants to launch some other platform — timing not yet determined — and didn’t like that this first attempt was being mocked as a loser, according to a Trump adviser who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk frankly about the former president’s plans.
An invaluable review and measured assessment of the historical highlights of the day, Prof. HCR. Thank you!
I wonder why the scholars took this long to pen their concerns. While it is not my place to critique their motives for this time and this day (1st June, 2021), their timing fits in splendidly with President Biden's words and actions -- almost as though they were choreographed to bring his presidency to its climax a mere four months since its inception and as a counter pirouette to 45's acceptance of a new insurgence to place him on the throne of his imagination.
The names Manchin and Sinema will, no doubt, go down in history as semi-insurgents in this fight for democracy. They couldn't have been as effective had they been Republican plants, which, to my mind, appears to be a likely scenario. How can any Democrats be so determined to undermine their party's survival?
President Biden's speeches on this 1st June, 2021, give me hope that his leadership will be filled with the vim and vigor of a founding parent -- a mama bear who will protect her cubs and her freedom at all costs! And I am willing to give heart and soul to the unfolding of his vision. In the words of my college's signatory battle cry: Audeamus, Let Us Dare!
Morning, Rowshan!! Great battle cry and so relevant. Invoking the "mama bear" into this reminds me of the story I heard yesterday about the woman who saved her dogs from a mama bear who was protecting her cubs. My first thought was it's the women/mothers who will do the saving. I was struck by the fact that she was able to push that huge bear off the ledge, and the bear did not attack her but walked away. Truly amazing!! https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=woman+pushes+bear+off+ledge&docid=13903298632523&mid=192CF7D5606E721DD322192CF7D5606E721DD322&view=detail&FORM=VIRE
Good morning, Lynell! That's a wonderful story. Thank you! It just goes to show the amount of strength a teenager can muster when her mama bear instincts come to the fore!!!
Similarly, an older president can call to those very same impulses, hidden deep within, to defend the country that he loves from her most dangerous, white supremacist enemies.
PaJoe celebrated legacy of Greenwood and made it something special yesterday. Pivotal speech for freedom.
Loved it!
Stellar in my book.
Boy Howdy, Rowshan. My thoughts exactly.
Wow! Thank you for sharing this, Lynell! Others have remarked that her actions were foolish and, from the standpoint of her personal safety, maybe so. But I know I would do something similar, given a similar situation. I walk my dogs (who are now trending towards ‘elderly’) daily and often think of how I would protect them from an attack by my neighbor’s dogs should that be necessary - we have had a lot of trouble with their dogs in the past and it could happen again at any time. I would also do the same without thinking twice to save my children or grandchildren from harm. Never underestimate the power and ferocity of a protective mamma!
She is a teenager! Brave and foolish and lucky. It’s an amazing video.
Morning, Kathy!! Best wishes for you today.
Thank you! Surgery went well. I’m home, up and about, pain isn’t too bad which is probably drugs and the nerve block but I’ll take it!
Wonderful news, Kathy! Hoping soon you will be hanging out with Peter and Hudson.
I had to laugh at that one - I'm sure it would have been a different story if those cubs had gotten between their mom & that gal - not funny then. And truly have to wonder exactly this gal's reaction after the fact - possibly after seeing that video? I'm betting that took some recovery time.
She was interviewed about it last evening. Basically said she did what she had to do.
She sure did!
WHOA!!! Amazing. And I don't think it was just any bear, but a brown bear -- a grizzly! (I'm not an ursa expert.)
Well done on both sides -- real bear and dog mama.
So-called "black bears" come in many colors from black to gold, and this one just happened to be a brown black bear. Black bears are generally pretty mellow. Still, a mama bear.
Definitely not a grizzly, though- which are easy to tell from their hump and size. I have waited out a mama grizzly with 3 cubs, one with her and two on the other side of the road. I backed up to a curve to give her space and made sure that cars behind me (well-traveled mountain road in CO) understood what was happening. I could see that somebody on the other side had done the same thing. We waited quietly and patiently for her to get it across. The remaining cub, smallest, hid and took more time. Eventually she went over, clearly distressed, and nudged it out and gave it a swat in the direction of the road, then nudged it into running. We all gave her a few minutes to collect everyone and continue downhill in the brush before proceeding, waving and grinning at each other as we passed. Patience and common sense saves lives. So does advance warning. On the trail, wear bells or rattles and chatter as you walk. Not kidding.
Whoa, Annie. That story is too cool by half! What a memory to hold and refer to throughout your life. Just priceless. Thanks so much for sharing.
Oh, I'm full of wilderness stories- you don't want to encourage me! Love the western mountains and deserts, and out of the way places. Hiking, snowshoeing. Getting a bit long in the tooth now, and focusing a bit closer to my own yard. But yeah, I do enjoy my memories. Lucky to have experienced them. No videos, do have a few thousand photos.
Have seen a couple videos of that scene. Wasnt it cool tho?
Saw something similar to that as well, Maggie. And yes, way cool!
Amazing video! Mama bears do what they need to do to protect. Thanks for this Lynell.
Lynell! Amazing video.
That is a great video! She just did what she had to do. I’m sure she surprised the mama bear.
A mother bear with cubs. Consider that.
"How can any Democrats be so determined to undermine their party's survival?" Isn't it, How can any Democrats be so determined to undermine their nation's democracy?
They are totally focused on their personal political survival and nothing else.
It’s all about me.
💯
Democrats?
Marcy...I believe this references Manchin and Sinema.
Absolutely! I was writing at 3 am. 😏
Wasn't meant as criticism, Roshan. This community has a nice amplifier effect. ❤
I know, Kelly!
It's called either money or power. I suspect both.
Rowshan, scholars, singly and as groups, have been commenting all along about their concerns. Scholars are not a monolith in opinion; if they were, they would not be scholars, whose goal is exploration and discourse. This particular group of scholars is a group of people who found themselves sharing concerns and, as scholars do, issued a statement about things that they substantially agree about. Being scholars, I'm sure they gave some thought to the timing. But also please keep in mind that 100 scholars (+/-) are 100 scholars (+/-) out of many thousands. Lots of time for more scholarly collaboration and exploration and discourse. There will be more announcements. In the meantime, these people make a good point for us to consider in our own ponderings.
Martin Luther King said we have 3 evils to contend with. Racism, militarism and poverty (economic exploitation). All 3 are tightly wound up in our corporatocracy , our oligarchy. Exactly where did the significant funds come from that support and supported those Republican legislators behind the insurrection, the traitorous drive in States to limit the vote and discount the voice of the people? What has been the role of the Chamber of Commerce and ALEC? Can we have a genuine democracy with flourishing monopolies, an unnatural, obscene wealth gap, corporations buying up large swaths of real estate, corporations paying no taxes, and where inherited mega wealth creates a class with assured guaranteed unearned political power? I look forward to the day when Americans are given a big green light to have the kind of serious discussions about our contemporary form of capitalism attendant to the required structural reforms.
Capitalism is sacrosanct in this society, more so than faith or a moral imperative. Capitalism IS the moral guide, as we refuse to confront the inherent greed in capitalism. My liberal friends take in enormous profit from renting their multiple units, while at the same time decry higher taxes on their greed.
Capitalism is the primacy of capital. Socialism is the primacy of society, including spouse, partner, children, family, neighbors and beyond. Socialism is society, which includes everybody.
Democracy is something different. It is our decision making apparatus in America. And it is owned by capitalists as corporations are defined as people, and exert undue and unnatural influence on our decision making. Which makes America an oligarchy, I guess.
Now I will raise the blinds of my bedroom, to view a socialist, city street. And I see my next door neighbors yard, where we together will host our city counselor tomorrow night, at a neighborhood gathering. And everyone will come via the socialist sidewalk.
Our sacrosanct capitalism has enjoyed the favor of our immense government since the first farm bill was passed. We are a government of, by, and for corporations as I see it.
I hang onto this quote from Ursula K. Le Guin: "We live in capitalism, its power seems inescapable – but then, so did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art. Very often in our art, the art of words." - Excerpt from Ursula K Le Guin's speech at National Book Awards
“Power to the People” - how do we get there? How do we move away from corporatist abuse of the planet and of people?
Le Guin feels that the arts have power especially the are of words. "Silent Spring" changed our whole relationship to the environment. But, as consumers, we need to stop buying stuff for starters. There would be no "corporatist abuse of the planet and of people" is we stopped buy anything but necessities, even for a year. WE are also part of the problem. The larger problem seems to me to be that we don't demand that manufacturers provide a cradle to grave strategy for the disposal or recycling of products before they can manufacture anything. That would require dedicated politicians which would require campaign finance reform that prevents corporations from "buying" our politicians.
I agree with your conclusions, janjamm. I've been saying for a long time that campaign finance reform has to be one of the critical first steps.
I am fascinated that you reference two women who have been huge influences on my life. LeGuin was a thoughtful and imaginative writer of fiction that reflected our own society by looking at redefinitions of it, and creating a revisioned philosophy around it. She was a remarkable philosopher.
Rachel Carson was a scientist who went beyond collecting facts into looking at human beings as a philosopher as well. Add HCR: historians by nature are philosophers. Philosophy begins by making assumptions about (or defining, if you prefer) what it means to be a human being in the world, and then figuring out how those people operate in the world we create. Most of the disagreements, I think, derive from the differences in how human beings are defined, and the characteristics ascribed them by different thinkers.
George Lakey's name has come up several times recently. He puts this aspect of defining the nature of human beings front and center in his teaching related to economics as well as his teachings about social change. It can bend some people's minds, because it just doesn't fit with our "individualistic" perspective, something that is relatively recent in human thought.
I delighted recently when Heather laid our her vision of how human beings function at their best, and emphasized the word community. I hope I am accurately reflecting her intent here. Janjamm, you hit on the same track in your post above. You took your discussion all the way from something essentially human (art and words) through our relationship with the earth, consumerism, the recognition that we are being used to maintain an artificial economy, and ended with two solutions: the first being evaluating what we really need for a fulfilling life, and, second, recognizing that when we do create or make something, we also recognize all the costs associated and plan accordingly. Finally, you offer the beginning point that might get us started on our way there.
Thank you, ma'am. Not bad at philosophy yourself.
And this has gotten my mind started on remembering the many names of unexpected philosophers who have influenced the way we look at each other and how we do things. I often stumble across them through other readings, conversations with friends (or strangers), off-hand suggestions. Found a few here, some in the flesh, some in references. I can tell I'm going to finish this evening by pondering some of what I've learned. And anticipating what I might find out tomorrow.
I bow to you.
You raise a lot of valid points, especially "full cost pricing” - where nothing is left out of the cost, which now society ends up bearing the costs. Such as pollution; carcinogenic products, reuse and recycling. I feel you are speaking of a transformative capitalism, and I feel that Joe Biden is actually pushing our society far beyond anyone in our lifetime. Look at the issues: climate chaos; reparations and racial justice; ensuring our democracy; but perhaps most importantly - Joe Biden “gets it” that we are all in this struggle with life together, as one nation and one society. With the efforts around found the climate - we may see the dramatic design changes which you address! Look at how far the auto industry is pushing the envelope
Remember when the POSer POtuS made a disparaging comment about “Shithole Nations?” Well, because of him and the Repugnant Party the U.S. has become a Shithole Nation. And, as I reflect on my ¾ century of experience, despite the lies otherwise, I grew up in a Shithole Nation. And now, as the lies come to lite I see us crumbling into disarray worse than the Third World nations I visited in the 1970s.
“As a nation spirals downward, the political scientists, sociologists, and government scholars explain, ‘violence and corruption typically flourish,’...” As Bob Dylan sang in 1965 “You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” Almost daily for the past month there has been a fatal shooting or mass shooting in South Florida, and tho we lead the nation we are not alone in this senseless violence. We are a nation at war with itself and on the ‘eve of destruction.’
It is comforting to hear President Biden finally say what every liberal voice has been saying for months – forget the facade of “bipartisan,” and try to find a way to go it alone to get the necessary job done. You cannot negotiate with the fascist Repugnant Party. Mitch McConnell has said as much and there are too many insane cult followers within that party to have any meaningful dialogue. They are too busy catering to their ignorant cult base, literally the barbarians at the gates of democracy as they were on January 6.
Lots of classic 60’s music references in your post today, Rob. And you are spot on.
I’ve always assumed when Biden talks about bipartisan he refers to “we the people” and not the well known obstructionists that have been Citizen’s United into leadership
Have you noticed that for some reason after the recent larger number of "mass shootings" that we dont hear any more sad, serious public statements of "sending their thoughts & prayers" or that its too early after the "event" to think about or reps DOING something to prevent the next one? Just silence.
"our reps"!
Dear Heather -- I don't mean this to be a public comment -- I'm a subscriber, and a musician. I wrote a song that was released yesterday that I'm hoping will help people have a better summer than expected -- it's called, "The Best Summer." I think your subscribers would find it soothing and maybe even inspiring. Hope you will have your best summer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIWsJgfq_Nw
Terrific song, Christine. Calls for us all to remember our Best Summer! Mine was riding our bikes to Silver Spring and back.
Ha! Lynell! Maybe I ran into you while riding my bike in Silver Spring!!
So that was you, Daria...I thought I recognized that spark in your eye!
Yes Lynell! SS MD was my stomping ground...Sligo Creek Park, Rock Creek Park.
Amazing. We left D.C. for SS when I was about 7 years old. Lived there off East-West Highway til the early seventies, though my mom stayed there longer. Remember the Silver theater, Reindeer ice cream shop, Hecht's, etc., all on Colesville Rd? Rock Creek Park was (and still is) fabulous. We hung out at Meadowbrook and Pegasus stables. Played at Candy Cane City. Oh, my goodness, a blast!
I do remember all of those places! We lived across from Holy Names Academy then later in 4 Corners. SS was a great place to grow up!
Thanks, Christine for that lovely song. I've enjoyed your music for many years.
Great song, Christine! I have some of your albums and love them. I've always admired your ability to create a memorable melody and give it humorous words that make a serious point. Great to see you here!
How lovely. Thank you for sharing this. And, I do hope this summer will be the "best summer" rather than the "long, hot summer."
The best summer, when voting rights are protected, is coming up.
from your mouth to Gd's ears!
Lovely song, nice production - and the water and waves. I know that place. :’-) Thank you. 🤙🏻
Wonderful song and instrumentals. For those who have a fear of drowning, hang on, and listen to the music.
Your song is beautiful! Thanks for sharing it with us. Was the video filmed on Breezy Point, NY? The video is beautiful, too.
Great song and video! You are a NE folk icon, so great to hear your new work. My best friend and I, at 65 and 60, are looking forward to boogie boarding the gentle waves of the NH and southern ME beaches very soon. It saved us last summer and maybe this one will be the best yet!
thank you
Beautiful, Christine, thank you.
And we are lucky to have such lovely memories
Lovely song Christine...now I’m remembering sweet Island summers of my own.
The song was lovely and matched the scenery. In my case the site was Lake Michigan.
Christine, that was quite moving. Thank you.
I love it!
It is disheartening and exhausting every day to watch these evil greedy almost inhuman beings lead these easily influenced haters down the path of destroying our Democracy. They would rather burn it all down that build it up with all. I am sadly not certain what we the majority can do to stop this madness. But do something we Must. I donate, call, speak up and try to have a positive influence. But these evil racist hear nothing but their own voices and those that say what they agree with. Their way will destroy our country. We must find a way to help pass the For the People Act. Call not only your Senators but ALL of them. Keep up the pressure. Jo Manchin and Kyrsten Cinema are enemies in the fight we must turn them toward democracy. Let them know that we are all watching. We must not allow McConnell and his crew to block our freedoms any longer.
I am glad that Biden is finally disputing the zero-sum game language that Repugnants consistently use. This is not just a problem in politics. The notion of the zero-sum game has been the tool that has oppressed all underrepresented minorities and majorities (i.e. women, who make up more than 50% of the population). When, in the previous "recovery" (substantially blocked by the Right) after the Great Recession, women returned to the workforce in greater numbers than men--at least initially--the right-wingers complained that white men were being kept away from jobs because they were going to all . . . those . . . women. It was not that at all: women returned to work first because the lower-wage service jobs that women are typically compelled to take were the first jobs to return (the Wal-Mart clerk type jobs). Now, as millions of women are still unable to return to work because they lack appropriate chid care and elder care, the Repugnants are totes fine with that--they don't see the utility of adding child and elder care to definitions of infrastructure because, as overwhelmingly privileged white guys, they have their Stepford Wives doing all that stuff for them. And if defining child and elder care as infrastructure would also mean that women who are BIPOC and AAPI could return to work and get paid a living wage--often as (duh) child and elder care providers--then they don't want any part of it. Because the entire purpose of every. single. initiative of the Ghastly Obstructionist Party is designed to suppress and oppress the people Biden and Harris are deliberately and vocally trying to lift up.
Thank for summing up today's events. It was a monumental day for Biden and for Harris too. Mostly, it was for Greenwood to have a president show up for the first time in history to denounce the massacre. It’s way past time for reparations. There are still three individuals who witnessed the devastation and are alive. That, in itself, is simply remarkable!
As far as Manchin and Sinema are concerned, their feet must be held to the fire until they cry “uncle”. Democracy must find a home again. As it stands now, all of our voting rights are threatened. RISE UP!
RISE UP I'm wearing that T-shirt right now, but it is from the Hamilton musical. Still, I intend to share the sentiment on voting rights. I'm reading Lawrence Lessig's book "They Don't Represent Us", which part way in is talking about disenfranchisement, such as the red states are now enacting.
That’s the kind of comment that is FABULOUS for today. May we seize the day and the times, Marlene!
There are three witness to Greenwood still alive? I didn't know that. They must have been small children?
I thought there was only one survivor left... ? She spoke of how she would never forget the smell of burning smoke, and other memories. I only learned of Greenwood yesterday morning not even 24hrs ago and am feeling stunned still that a small town of 1100 buildings was destroyed along with hundreds of people shot and killed as well as airplanes dropping bombs, and not a whisper of it in my lifetime til now. 💔
3. They testified before Congress last year.
There are 3. 2 are sisters.
Yes. To live with that memory from childhood must be horrifying.
The oldest is 107 years old. Amazing!
It is amazing.
There is something most people interested in throttling voters' rights are not saying OR they don't understand. Right now, the thrust is voter ID to make sure that "only qualified" voters can cast a ballot. Obviously, it's not a legitimate issue because very few people cast fraudulent ballots. But what happens after the Republicans push through the various voting restrictions they're now hell bent on passing? Is the next campaign going to be level of education or property ownership or sex or religious affiliation? Will there be a maximum voting age? This is what so many eager to restrict voting don't understand - there is nothing to stop the Republicans (or anyone else) from adding multiple layers of restrictions thereby ensuring, for example, that only white, college educated, Christian, male property owners, between the ages of 18 & ?, have the right to vote. In this day and age, those people willing to curtail the individual rights of "the other" simply do not understand that they could be the next class of people to have their right to vote, and other rights, yanked away from them. Everyday Republicans need to look at the big picture and not just the tiny vignette being presented by those in power today.
There is a determination among Republican politicians that our republic should be governed like the original democracies in ancient Greece; Only the landed aristocrats were allowed to participate in government. No women, slaves, or the general populace.
Old, white, rich men. 2500 years or so, and we have come this far. This is their mindset.
Let's not insult ancient Greeks by speaking of them in the same breath as contemporary degenerates.
My apologies. Democritus must be spitting mad.
Daria, Voter ID, Reasonable access. No big deal. Open Borders on voting or control by the Federal Government? In my view a non starter.
Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution states, "The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators." https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articlei#section4
Every voter in every state should have the same opportunities to register and vote. The John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the For The People Act will standardize registration and voting requirements nationwide. They aren't controlling the elections, they are providing the standards by which the states will control the elections. The only problem I have with any of it is that I think pre-clearance should be mandatory for all changes to voting laws, no matter where in the nation they happen.
Reasonable access by whose standards and for whom, David? A nine to fiver? A stay at home soccer mom? Someone who works 2 or 3 jobs? And what does Open Borders on voting even mean? Spin it any way you like, you are advocating voter suppression. If I walk into my polling place and the registrar asks my name and address and I provide the correct information, my name is ticked off and I'm allowed to vote. The suggestion that 27* other people are going to go to my polling place OR try to vote absentee OR vote by mail in MY name us absurd. And you know it. Stop being absurd.
*27 or 4 or 100. Pick a number.
You should have a voter ID so the "correct" information can be verified. The time should be reasonable and flexible. That is not voter suppression at all. I have given voter ID in both NY and Va to vote. No big deal at all.
The problem with the "Voter ID" push by the Republicans is not that they want voters to identify themselves, but they want voters to be able to identify themselves using only certain forms of [difficult to obtain] identification. If they thought they could get away with banning passports and military IDs, they'd do it in a heartbeat. In fact, at least one of the early drafts of Voter ID laws explicitly excluded ALL forms of ID that didn't display the voter's home address.
Not true. It’s easy. Come now.
What's not true? That Voter ID isn't intended to limit who can vote? Believe as you like, but if the intention isn't to limit who can vote, then why limit the forms of ID? Why can't student IDs be used any more? Why is one form of work ID (military ID) acceptable, but another form of work ID isn't? They are all based on the same documents. What's wrong with the non-picture method of identification (two or more bills or statements with name and address) that most states have successfully used for decades? What are we protecting against? Voter impersonation is the only form of election fraud that Voter ID protects against, and impersonation is an absolutely idiotic way to try to manipulate an election. Even trump went after the machines and the software.
And the solution to "election integrity" is simple: a National ID card. Blue=citizen, green=resident alien, red=temporary resident (e.g. migrant worker, etc.). First issued at to citizens at 18 and updated at 10-year intervals thereafter. At no cost to the holder, of course, because if you HAVE to have it to vote, requiring you to pay for it constitutes a poll tax.
Thanks for this crucial letter, for giving everyone a heads up and for the warning that we must not shrivel in our current situation. It's hard to hold hope and grief togehter in our hearts, such disparate pieces have to be held. We're in trouble (as you say Heather) and every small effort by everyone and anyone towards our liberties does count. I'm so glad you are here Heather and rowing this boat with us.
Hard to hold hope and grief together in your heart. You said a mouthful. I find it almost unbearable. I think that's why some have already decided we are doomed, that it's already happened. I really (really) have to limit my time on Twitter largely because of this. Today I read this comment:
"This is so reminiscent of pre-Hitler Germany. Horrifying that 35 members of Senate hold the country hostage. The republic will not survive this. History will record @Sen_joemanchin as a central cause for the death of the United States."
I do not agree. Because we are in a moment similar to another time in history, doesn't not mean the same outcome will occur. But this is bone-rattlingly terrifying.
Nomi. It is terrifying.
The Letter from an American began today with Heather noting that more than 100 scholars who study democracy wrote a 'Statement of Concern'. Their statement ended with 'Our democracy is fundamentally at stake.' Read their statement without fail. It speaks to our understanding as citizens, our fears, our hopes and our determination to persevere.
From the scholars' concern, the Letter continued with Biden's trip to Tulsa yesterday on the 100 year anniversary of the race massacre, which took place there. An unknown number of Black Americans were killed in the Greenwood section of Tulsa, Oklahoma on May 31 and June 1st, 1921. '... mobs of White residents, many of them deputized and given weapons by city officials, attacked Black residents and burned businesses ...' Alternatively known as the Black Wall Street massacre or the Tulsa race riot, it marks one of "the single worst incident(s) of racial violence in American history". '... The attack, carried out on the ground and from private aircraft, destroyed more than 35 square blocks of the district – at that time the wealthiest Black community in the United States...'
'More than 800 people were admitted to hospitals, and as many as 6,000 Black residents were interned in large facilities,...'
'About 10,000 Black people were left homeless, ...' 'Many survivors left Tulsa, while Black and White residents who stayed in the city kept silent about the terror, violence, and resulting losses for decades. The massacre was largely omitted from local, state, and national histories.' (Wikipedia)
After reading Heather's Letter, I thought first about slavery in America and then Jim Crow. 'Jim Crow was the name of a minstrel routine (actually Jump Jim Crow).' (Britannica) Jim Crow laws were state and local laws and statutes in the South, which enforced or legalized racial segregation and the oppression of Black Americans. 'These laws lasted for almost 100 years, from the post-Civil War era until around 1968, ...' (gcsu. edu)
'In Tulsa today, Biden called the Republican efforts to restrict voting a “truly unprecedented assault on our democracy.” He urged voting rights groups to redouble their efforts to register and educate voters, and then he put pressure on Democratic senators Joe Manchin (WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), who continue to say they will not challenge the Republican use of the filibuster to stop passage of voting rights bills.' (The Letter)
'Trump has reportedly been telling people he'll be 'reinstated' by August' (Yahoo News). Yes, our life as a Democracy will take voting rights groups and Democratic senators, such as Manchin and Sinema, but, most of all, it will take the American people to stop the Big Lie, the Republican moves to steal the rights of the American people as well as those who have accepted the lies, Dark Money, conspiracy theories and White Supremacy, which continue to keep America from fulfilling its purpose.
“This nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government
of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
President Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address
Hopefully the former guy will be under indictment by August
Fern, let me reply to you and I wish it could be in tiny letters because it’s a thought I have held privately, my own outlandish backward conspiracy theory. It rose to the surface like chicken fat from a cooling pot of soup when I saw Powell talking to the Q’s about the new inauguration date. I think that the former president has gathered those in the back room willing to lead a number of states in seceding from the Union. In his twisted plan, he is the modern Jefferson Davis. August is the new target date.
Christine, Of course your scenario is possible, but I believe that he wants the whole enchilada. Often the faces of Trump, Stone, Manafort, Bannon, Flynn, Giuliani, Christopher Ruddy, My Pillow Man, Ivanka, Tommy Tuberville, Ted Cruz, Mo Brooks, Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, Devin Nunes, Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz, Greg Pence, Steve Scalise, Madison Cawthorn, Nicole Malliotakis, Elise M. Stefanik, Jim Jordan, Louie Gohmert, Rick Scott, Cindy Hyde-Smith and Mitch McConnell flash in my mind. Can you see them together? These teeny, tiny mugs taking down the United States of America. Stephen King, Clive Barker, Hitchcock, John Carpenter...who could have imagined this and it is so serious? Each of us to our nightmare reality.
I’ve had to conjure up a response to that thought of all of ‘dem you mention Fern being together fomenting ultimate insurrection and a new civil war. And I certainly do not welcome states seceding as a solution that David applauds. Ugh.
It is a nightmare.
You know they're not 'dems', for sure. Christine, you move thru this forum almost as a dance, until you stop to leave a thought, a nod or a question. It is always a gift when you stop by. Along with the folks I mentioned, Joe Biden is on my mind much more. I take it altogether; what he has been through; his deep care; all that weighs on him; how he negotiates and what he acts upon. Biden and his team are the models we have joined. There are others on the front lines, fine public servants, the free press, other engaged citizens and people in need. You have always smiled at me, and I smile at you.
Thank you.
Yes. ‘Dem are definitely not Dems. President Biden is an amazing statesman and plays such a crucial role. And it’s a Dream Team.
I believe.
Biden seems to be one of those rare politicians who has learned well from experience.
You forgot MTG ;-)
I didn't write her down on purpose. I need to have amnesia once in a while. : (
Thanks for your input.
I see it happening when tRump is declared Guilty.
I will not go that far. Please get off that ledge, MaryPat.
I have this neighbor, a boogaloo boy. I'll let you know the plan, the date, the destination...
MaryPat, Please let the FBI know instead.
I'd welcome the succession of a bunch of red states. Besides ensuring the continuance of our Democracy, we'd be a wealthier nation (per capita) as the red states mostly get more money from the federal gov't than they pay in taxes, unlike the blue
The following 13 Southern states (Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia) are home to 52% of the Black population in the United States (2018 data). Just FYI…
You may be interested in this from Brookings Institute. https://www.brookings.edu/research/americas-racial-diversity-in-six-maps/
The maps are fascinating. Thank you.
I would expect them to be welcomed up north, and for all anti-Democracy types to go South. Really, I don't expect any of this to happen, and I'm sure others could come up with further problems with this idea, but I'd love not to have to worry about our Democracy being overthrown.
Ugh. No way David.
We're talking people's lives here, not chunks of real estate. People who are citizens of the United States. People who work, have families, pay taxes, vote in spite of obstacles, stand up for their rights in the face of even more obstacles. And you are talking about getting more money for yourself by throwing a bunch of other people off the edge. So much for the shining light from the city on a hill.
People who are my kids and grandkids.
Annie, the money is absolutely the least of it. It's a nice little side effect. I'm talking about relieving us of the fear of having our Democracy taken away. I suspect that if it really happened, there would be a lot of movement of progressives from the red to the blue, and nonprogressives from the blue to the red. And maybe "Red America" would ultimately realize their vision didn't work very well, and they'd become blue.
You were talking about money, David. Then you did the bait and switch, one of your favorite argumentative techniques. Old hat.
Annie, the thought of losing our Democracy scares the sh!t out of me (and probably most of HCR's subscribers). Just the day before yesterday, I wrote to both of my senators asking them to pressure Manchin or ask Biden to pressure Manchin to do away with the filibuster to make sure the two voting rights laws get passed. Unless you're looking for ways to disrespect me, you should have realized that the money was an afterthought, and not a significant one.
I have been saying probably since McConnell refused to allow a vote on Garland's nomination to the Supreme Court that I wish Lincoln had let the South go. I even have a book called "Better Off Without 'Em: A Northern Manifesto for Southern Succession."
If I cared about the money, I'd have gotten some numbers, but I haven't done that and have never had any plans to do that. But I HAVE thought a lot about what a wonderfully progressive country we could have without them.
Your comments are nasty and hurtful. Do you really want to be that way with someone with whom you probably agree on 90% of issues? (My politics are probably more like Sanders and Warren than the rest of the candidates.)
Fascinating. Last night I wrote to my state reps asking them (like spitting into the wind) to oppose the bills and amendments added to the state budget that have nothing to do with the budget. Like preventing the state with complying with the For the People Act if it passes. Like preventing the state from complying with an imagined Presidential Executive Order repealing the right to bear arms, or any federal mandate they don't happen to like. Truly, this is the intention of the amendment, quite straightforward. I wrote to them that it sounded like a lead up to secession, but I didn't realize they might actually mean it until just now when I read your post.
Terrifying, and very possible.
No contestant on Jeopardy last night recognized the source of that phrase "This nation...of the people, by the people, for the people sha not perish from the earth."
I was shocked at that! Wow.
MaryPat, How is Jeopardy this days?
Great when Aaron Rodgers hosted!! Who da thunk.
Since it appears that Manchin and Sinema will remain true to the people who fund them and not the people they supposedly represent it will take the likes of Romney, Murkowski ,Collins and a few others to cross the aisle (all unlikely) to get rid of the filibuster and to pass any legislation, but most of all currently the For the People Act. There are constitutional ways to overthrow the plethora of voter suppression laws in the pipeline right now. Sadly the ACLU can't be everywhere all the time.
As the country starts to come to grips with things that we were not taught in school...Tulsa, lynchings, Jim Crow, Trail of Tears, the government sanctioned school that removed indigenous children from their families and oft times killed them. Do not think that the current outcry over what happened in Canada to those 215 children was limited to Canada. We need critical race theory not because it teaches children to hate our country, but because it teaches our children to realize that we are human, have made mistakes and that being white is not a reason for superiority.
My understanding is that what happened at the residential school in Kamloops British Columbia is not isolated. A headline in today’s Globe and Mail reads, ”Sinclair says more remains will be found at residential school sites”. (Murray Sinclair is a distinguished Canadian, former head of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.)
This is Canada’s original sin. Our indigenous people have never recovered from our early treatment of them. Even today dozens of native bands live year round under boil water advisories.
We are right in there with you. Just not on your scale.
A Canadian commenter in our community has done judicial work with the Truth and Reconciliation Committee. It is absolutely not isolated. https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/AAA-Hamilton-cemetery-FInal.pdf
An early movie we have watched repeatedly is Map of the Human Heart
I am sure that if residential schools are investigated here in the US we will find the same types and levels of abuse
Happened here in Florida!
"Florida School for Boys - Wikipedia" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_School_for_Boys#:~:text=Because%20of%20questions%20about%20the,100%20deaths%20at%20the%20school.
Maybe Murkowski. Not Collins.
True , Collins goes whichever way the wind blows
She goes only whichever the Republicans tell her to go... she just pretends to have a heart.
That either has survived at all is deeply red states (WV & AZ) shows a political skill of some sort. They represent a red constituency as democrats, that's a rare situation. Maybe they are DINOs, but would we rather have a raving Republican in their place?
A raving GQP would be easier to spot
At least 24 massacres of black communities as noted in this Tweet.
https://twitter.com/chris_notcapn/status/1399201923316715520?s=20
SICKENING!
President Biden and VP Harris give me some measure of hope.
I feel they both represent our “better angels"
Yes me too on my good days.
2021 and the literature suggests that American elections are not free and fair. What a disgrace for this country. Born and raised in the US. Travelled extensively - both professionally and personally. I never backed American exceptionalism. How does one believe we are the greatest country in the world when you have never left Arizona? Indiana? Wherever? When dumpster fire was elected in 2016, I set myself a goal to move out of the country. Those plans are still in place. It isn’t that I won’t fight, it’s that the fight is taking the life out of me and I want to live not fight. I’m so tired of fighting for equal rights across any number of issues. But I know for now, we can’t give up or in. Not yet anyhow . . .
After having pledged my faithfulness to the US, how can I leave? And who would take me at my age?
Rowshan. Any free country will take you. May our country remain as such.
Not at my age, unless I have a good chunk of savings ...
Hah. Not true. Only within the guidelines and I don’t fit in those guidelines.
Yeah, looks like I’ll be left behind to be one of the serfs too. Nice ending America.
Your comment says a good deal about how too many engaged citizens feel about living in the USA now. The demands on us are forbidding. As time passes we wonder if this is the right way to spend the rest of our days. I hope for you, Laurie, and the rest of us that we will see the power of us together, hard work and the commitment to equality as never before. Otherwise, we will know the defeat of more than I express; it cannot end that way.
Right on, Sister Fern.
Yesterday on "Deadline Whitehouse," MSNBC contributor Jason Johnson took President Biden to task for his comments about the Greenwood Massacre, saying that Biden was apparently "surprised" and should not have been at that horrific history of homeland violence and wholesale murder. If I had the chance to speak to JJ myself, I would have to confess to him that NOTHING was ever said about that massacre in any of my years of schooling and the same can be said of everyone I know. Then, later on, as Joy Reid was interviewing the new Democratic candidate for governor of Florida, she mentioned to her almost in passing (because Nikki Fried had commented on the Greenwood Massacre) that there had been a similar attack in Florida. So, here I go again, confessing that I have never heard of this one either. I am wondering now how many other such atrocities have gone on over the years that were never spoken of, never written about, never acknowledged?
As for the appointment of Kamala Harris to take on the protection of our voting rights, I can't think of a better person. I'd put her up against the likes of Ken Paxton and Greg Abbott any old day. Those jerks may have "legal" backgrounds, but both are crooks and numbskulls and she has a long track record of putting folks like them behind bars. I don't know how she'll manage Manchin and Sinema (who either have lost their minds or are in some sort of devil's league with the trumplican party) and the other Dem senators, who it seems are hiding behind the M&S coattails and allowing those two to take the heat, when in reality, there are others who will not vote for the For the People Act.
I've seen at least a couple interviews of young, college students (African American) that came from Tulsa, and until they went away to college, had never heard of the massacre! Why wouldnt Biden - who grew up on the East Coast, served in Congress & the White House on the East Coast, be surprised? And Ellen, I have heard of a massacre in NC - and after the last few years am not the least shocked at the idea there were more.
Wow. NC too. Wonder where one might find more on this horror?
Wilmington insurrection of 1898 - Wikipedia
Not called a massacre of course but an "insurrection"! Sounds familiar, huh?
Those massacres were preceded by the Elaine, Arkansas riot and massacre in 1919, an attack on African Americans who were trying to unionize to obtain financial relief from cotton brokers. The total blacks murdered and tortured is in the hundreds.
So, that's four so far: Greenwood, Wilmington, Elaine, and one in Florida...This needs to be researched and televised.
Read "Damaged Heritage: The Elaine Race Massacre and A Story of Reconciliation" by J. Chester Johnson. I can't remember reading about massacres involving African Americans in school. A grandson of a participant and the granddaughter of a victim share their remembrances.
Thank you!
If the Democrats in the Senate do not do what is necessary to pass the For the People Act and save our democracy, we will lose our democracy. If this happens, we must never forgive the Democratic Party. Any real patriot must abandon it and start a new movement for democracy and leave the former Democrats to their speaking fees and cosy corporate-funded sinecures, assuming the Republicans allow them those things. If the Democratic Party cannot save our democracy when it controls the White House and both houses of Congress, then it is useless and does not deserve to exist.
When I was a young girl in Florida, I vaguely recall a story of a mostly Black town where pencils were made. This small industry gave some income and pride to the residents. It too was burned to the ground.